Yu Yu Hakusho: An Alternate Reality
by Last of the Star Makers
Summary: What if Shinobu Sensui had one more bad guy? And what if Kurama's classmate got caught up in the whole saving the world mess? Starting in the midst of the Chapter Black Saga, Episode 73 of the anime, join CrisicMelody and Star's on-going roleplay full of action, adventure, and a little romance along the way. There's probably gonna be fun too. We think so. AU. OC/Kurama, OC/Hiei.
1. Chapter Black Saga :: Episode 73

**Author's Notes:** Greetings and Salutations Yu Yu Hakusho lovers! Last of the Star Makers here, bringing to you the roleplay my dear friend CrisicMelody and I have been working on for a little under a year now!

A special hello to anyone from Quizilla, of course. For those that don't know, the site went down Oct. 1st, 2014 and I know for a lot of us oldies here at FF that's where we got our start.

To anyone who is following me (and subsequently reading this) for the sake of previous fanfics of mine, I, uh, obviously haven't been working on them. Eheh. My most recent endeavor, the Tobuscus fanfic, started to dwindle out when CM and I began writing on this story because most of my time was spent writing and thinking about the RP rather than our beloved -Buscus. Also, I had a giant portion of a story I was working on in the Doc Manager here on FF and I lost everything because I left the document untouched over the ninety days FF allows and it made me extremely upset so I "left" FF for a while because I was so ticked off with the site/myself.

**THINGS TO KNOW:**

1\. THIS STORY CONTAINS ORIGINAL CHARACTERS.

Lots and lots of them in fact.  
Most "importantly" are the two female characters CM and I have inserted:  
Sensui starts out with an extra bad guy, CM's character, Akari.  
Kurama's classmate, Toriko, my/Star's character, gets caught up into the battle with Sensui.

2\. THIS STORY CONTAINS ORIGINAL STORY/STORY ARCS (though it takes until chapter four to get there).

We basically maintain that the story arcs (and characters) up to this point are pretty much the same as before, and if we want to be specific things only go from behind the scenes to actually influencing the direction of the anime about Episode 73 "The Doctor's Disease" (The Stalking, Demonic Hand of the Doctor) where the gang first encounters Kamiya, which is coincidentally where we pick up here on this first chapter. For a while some of the dialogue, as well as the story, will follow right along with the original, and some of it may even be lifted directly from the anime itself. We, of course, do not lay claim to such 'liftings' as they are copyrighted to the original story anyway. Until we launch away from the original story line, there may be some (often large) moments of jumping forward in time, where nothing needs inserted in the original as nothing deviates from it, but by the third chapter, we reach the Alternate Universe and where our story really starts to take off.

3\. THIS STORY IS A ROLE-PLAY AND IS IN ITS ORIGINAL FORMAT (but if I didn't think it worked as a story, trust me when I say I wouldn't have posted it). 

There has been absolutely no adjustments made to the format of our role-play! What you see here is exactly how we handle it in our back and forth, and I think it lends itself rather well to being a cohesive story that any outsider can easily understand. Granted, we each use a different font in GoogleDocs, but that doesn't translate to FF. The symbols we use, however, do. Mostly. See the "Symbols Guide" below for specifics.

4\. THIS STORY IS ON-GOING.

CM and I are still writing on this story/role-play even as you're reading this. In fact, we have over thirty-two hundred pages (yes, that's 3, 200) in GoogleDocs and counting. I hope you'll join us for the long haul as we explore more thoroughly the world(s) of YYH and the denizens within!

...

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

__...__

Both CM and I would like to thank you for taking the time to check our story out. We are very excited to finally be sharing a story we have both come to love and adore and we hope that you will enjoy reading it as much as we are enjoying writing it.

And now, without further ado, I present to you for that YYH itch you've been needing to scratch: An Alternate Reality.

* * *

Orange, almost coppery curls bounced on the girl's shoulders as she padded silently around the waiting area. Hazel-brown eyes searched the white-tiled room in an aggressive manner, searching for the man she needed to speak to, yet he was nowhere in sight. It was almost time for his phase of the this grand plan, and as soon as it started, there would be hell in this hospital.

She moved for a chair on the far side of the room, watching the humans calmly go about their business without a clue in the world to the upcoming events.

Such _naivety_. How could the human race overlook the entire demon populace, as if such a species didn't exist? Surely they weren't all so blind as to not _notice_? Perhaps it was denial.

Akari again glanced at her watch. Mentally, she consulted the schedule.

As if on cue, the front doors to the hospital slid open, and in walked a small group of five. She sneered to herself and watched the small group, noticing that one of the males was shaken up, sweating profusely, whining under his breath to the others around him. It didn't take more than a few minutes for one of the group, the older woman, to glance around, even looking in Akari's direction for a mere moment before turning back to the injured person who clutched at the sides of his head.

The hazel-eyed girl stood and silently moved towards the corridors.

"Miss, can I help you with something?" a passing nurse asked when Akari didn't seem to notice her presence. She paused only briefly.

"No, I'm just visiting a friend is all. Thank you," Akari reassured, putting on her kindest facade before turning and walking down the corridor. It didn't take long to find the office of Kamiya, otherwise known to her as Doctor, and she didn't even knock, simply pushing the door open and traipsing inside. "They're here," she announced in an even tone, glancing at the nurse that was standing to the side only briefly before turning to look at the man who stood across the room,, "and they're ready to see you now, Doctor."

The man smiled and adjusted his glasses, turning to look at the girl. "Good, let's get started." And in a matter of moments, she felt his territory open up and take over the hospital, the chill down her spine hard to miss as his energy enveloped her as well. "Make sure to stay out of my way, Akari. The boy is mine."

"Yes, yes. You've staked your claim. I'm only a _distraction_." she replied tartly as she turned and walked out the door, ignoring the insects that began to form and fly in pairs through the halls. In no time at all, this hospital would be filled with them, and she would be having the time of her _life, _and the rag-tag detective team wouldn't even know what hit them.. _*****_

~!**!~

Toriko gingerly pressed her fingertips to her forehead, squinting a bit as she brushed the bump underneath several swathes of bandages near the top of her head and caused a spike of pain to shoot across her face.

The door to her hospital room opened and Toriko fumbled for the thick glasses she had laid down on the table next to the bed, shoving them on her face so that her green eyes might be blurred and hidden behind them.

"Inyoku, Toriko? How is everything, Miss?" The intruder walked up to the girl who sat propped up with pillows, the sheets of the bed pulled up to her waist.

When Toriko looked up through the lenses of her glasses, she saw the nurse in white sashay into the room, one hand around a clipboard and the other holding a pen.

"E-everything's fine." Toriko stammered, just as quickly lowering her gaze once she saw who had entered the room.

The nurse gently put a hand across Toriko's forehead to check for a fever, brushing her hand underneath a portion of the girl's dark hair, and then wrote something down on her clipboard.

"I'm sure it is, sweetie. The school just wanted to make sure you didn't have a concussion, so they sent you in."

"Y-yes, ma'am."

"You don't need anything?"

"No, ma'am. Th-thank you, ma'am." Toriko pushed her glasses farther up her nose, but still stared down at her hands that she rested on the sheets over her lap.

"We'll just be keeping you here for the next hour or so and then you can check out, alright?"

Toriko nodded and the nurse continued scratching a few more notes onto her clipboard as she left the room.

Heaving a large sigh, Toriko slipped her glasses off her face and put them down in her lap, rubbing her eyes with both hands before reaching up to make sure her hair was still mostly in the tight bun at the back of her head.

Being non-human, the hospital visit had been nerve-wracking enough. Her teacher drove her all the way over here and stayed long enough to make sure the damage was nothing serious, so there wasn't anything Toriko could have done in the matter, but had they attempted to check her heart or blood-pressure...

Toriko shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of thoughts of things that could have been, though the action caused her to grunt uncomfortably.

It was just like her to not be watching where she went. The football fields were along her route home, but the book she had been reading kept her head down and she wandered into one of the iron bars that held up the goal's net. Unfortunately, her teacher saw the whole thing and rushed her to the hospital without so much as a by-your-leave. Her non-human state would have allowed for quick healing, but for fear of revealing her true nature, Toriko felt obliged to do as her teacher-

Toriko sat up straight in bed, yanked harshly from her introspective thoughts, as a wave of energy passed through her room and caused her to freeze in place for a moment. The entire room felt different, but as she scanned it carefully, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary other than...the _feeling_.

Slipping out from under the sheets, Toriko carefully climbed out of bed and worked her feet into her shoes, knowing that the energy she felt was not normal and not wishing to stay any longer than necessary in an atmosphere such as this one.

She opened the door to her room just wide enough to peek an eye through the crack, and found her floor to be deserted, lacking any sound or movement other than her own. She wondered briefly how long she had been sitting there that no one else was around. She stepped out into the extremely empty hallway, not feeling particularly brave, but looking for the fastest way out of the building, and remembering that an elevator brought her to this floor so surely it could take her back out again...3

~!**!~

Akari stood in the middle of the third floor's hallway, watching groups of insects buzz about frantically. darting from place to place while awaiting orders from Kamiya. She even reached out and grasped one, holding it in her palm and using her opposite index finger to stroke the small insect down its center. It quivered with anticipation and then, along with the rest, it shot away from her, buzzing at a loud volume as it flew away from her, and down every flight of stairs in the building.

Moments passed by where the only sound on this floor was the distant hum of insects and the occasional nurse leaving a room, at first seeming like nothing was out of the norm. She waited semi-patiently, until she saw the insects fly by her again and into every room, through every crack in the walls and under the doors, infecting anyone they could.

That meant phase one was complete, and Doctor was beginning to separate the team for his own sick little game. She cracked her knuckles and waited, reveling in the sound of the buzzing. In the sound of the plan _really_ getting into action.

When she could hear footsteps coming up the nearby stairways, she slowly began to meander forward with eyes following the walls, as if she were merely looking for a specific room number. As expected, around the corner came two individuals**:** The spirit detective and the little old, withered woman who had been by him in the waiting room.

"Excuse me," she called, getting their attention with ease. "Do you happen to know which floor is the two-hundred rooms? I'm looking for two-hundred and fourteen."

As anticipated, both pulled to a halt a few feet in front of her, eyeing her up and down. "Go, I'll handle this," the old woman said to Yusuke, and the Spirit Detective nodded and turned away, continuing by her without pause. The old woman- Genkai, she knew the woman's name to be- met Akari's even gaze with a heavy stare. "I suggest you find a better place to be other than the hallways. It's getting dangerous in here; didn't you know there is a madman on the loose?"

Akari found copious amounts of amusement from her warning. The woman was clearly too caught up in the territory to recognize a demon's energy right in front of her. None of this reached her eyes as she responded, however. "No I hadn't," she said slowly, raising a confused brow, "but you aren't a doctor, so how would you know?"

"Look, I don't care-"

Akari grinned as the woman paused, her eyes widening to saucers and glazing over, appearing distant as if lost in thought.

"Heh, I should have known." The woman paused, as if calculating something, and Akari took the moment to step around the woman. To her surprise, the woman followed her movement, cutting off her path and even readying for an attack.

_Intuitive. Wise. _Akari noted those two details carefully. Her power wasn't being used to its full extent, but she didn't want to truly fight the woman who would surely win in a battle of strength and wits. So Akari did as she normally would: She amped up the intensity of her illusion, the image that the woman was seeing before her eyes a false one, and then backed away a few steps.

"That won't get you too far, child." The woman easily adjusted, eyes closing and feet preparing for a strike.

Akari heard an explosion upstairs, breaking glass, and saw a flash of light through the nearby windows.

_That's my cue._

The girl sneered and turned her eyes to the old woman again, who had yet to move. "I don't have time to play anymore. Perhaps I'll see you again." With that, Akari turned and dashed down the corridor and past the nearest elevator, only releasing her energy from the old woman when her feet touched the next floor down.

Now, she would have to be sure Yusuke Urameshi killed Kamiya, and quite honestly, she didn't care. She hated the man and would not dare interfere with the fight in any way. _*****_

~!**!~

Toriko's growing sense of dread was not comforted by the fact that she ran into no one in the hallways. Out of nowhere, she heard glass shatter from somewhere below her and she jumped in fright, throwing her arm up to cover her eyes as brilliant blue light blinded her. When it dissipated, she watched a gigantic bullet of spirit energy shoot off into the distance.

_"Well, that's certainly not something you see every day." _She returned to her wanderings, even more keen to escape. She eventually turned the correct corner and spotted the elevators, making her way over and pushing the 'down' button, wondering why on earth she got put all the way on the eighth floor at the top of the hospital.

"Toriko?"

At the sound of her name, she turned to see Kurama running towards her from the other end of the hall. He stopped just as he reached her.

"Are you okay?" He nodded his head towards her bandages.

Toriko scooted her glasses farther up her nose with a finger, "Mostly."

"Why are you-" Kurama cut himself off and they both whipped around to stare at the elevator door. When Kurama saw Keiko and Shizuru diving out of the elevator with Puu, he grabbed Toriko around her waist and pulled her to the side out of the way of their fall, lashing out with his rose whip at the bugs apparently chasing the other two out of their elevator.

When the coast was clear, Kurama released his hold of Toriko's waist and she readjusted her glasses.

"What are earth are _you _two doing here?" Kurama asked of the new pair.3

~!**!~

Akari ran the last two flights to the last floor, slowing down as her feet touched the white tiles of the platform of the stairs. For now, it seemed Yusuke and Kamiya were not on this floor.

She glanced around, looking for any sign of the fight and finding none. She was about to turn around and go back up the steps when she heard yelling, accompanied by cackling. Insects buzzed all around, but above that it was much too easy to identify Yusuke Urameshi's battle shout and Doctor's maniacal laughter. She turned and slowly made her way down the hallway to the East Wing, taking to the shadows of a corner to observe the fight without being noticed.

She laid eyes on the detective, whose eyes were dark and angry and no longer patient with the man he so obviously would have to kill in order to save his friends.

She watched as Kamiya tried to bribe the detective, actually appearing scared for his life despite his 'immortality'. Akari eyed the vials of liquid he was producing, displaying for Yusuke to see, and she understood. Sure enough, it looked like an antidote to almost anything, but from here she could smell the sugar that was mixed with the water.

_What are you doing, fool? No one would buy that trick, _she thought to herself with a scowl on her lips. She was especially surprised when the detective stepped forward a little, disbelief bubbling to the surface and pulling her copper eyebrows upward.

There was _no way_ he was that stupid.

For a moment, she believed Doctor would get away with killing the detective and began preparing herself for figuring a way to dump the body, to fend off the others in the building that she had seen earlier and very likely more who had arrived. After all, no spiritual being could have missed the blast from the detective.

A loud shout suddenly echoed down the hall from a nearby source and the she-demon turned her eyes to the floor before her. A man, the same man who had come in with the group. who had been injured, was crawling on the floor not ten feet from her with a hand extended to the detective. "Don't do it! It's glucose, sugar water! He's going to kill you if you get close enough!"

Akari moved to hide around the corner again and pulled her demonic energy tighter to her core, avoiding the attention of the detective if he decided to turn and look at the mind reader. Needless to say, she was relieved when the conversation picked up in the middle of the hall, telling her she had gone unnoticed by any but the man crawling nearby.

"Y-Yusuke," the man called out in a weak voice, obviously trying to get the detective's attention again. Akari acted, knowing he would reveal her position if he spoke another word, and she reached around the corner she'd been hiding behind to grab at his ankle and pull him around the corner with her, stuffing a hand in his mouth to silence any sound he made and then wrapping her fingers around his trachea, proceeding killing him the quietest way possible so that _she_ would not be killed too.

He gargled, trying to talk around her fist as her other hand closed around his throat roughly, and she merely sneered at him. "Sweet dreams bub," she whispered as his eyes rolled back into the back of his head.

By the time she stood again and rubbed the saliva from her hand onto the wall, Doctor was receiving a beating from Yusuke, one of his eyes swollen and red. She glanced at the lifeless person slumped against the wall, and sneered. If she could just-

Breaking glass caught her attention and her head popped around the corner so hazel eyes could see Doctor, who was flying through the windows and crashing to the dirt outside. She watched him convulse, choke, and then ultimately go still.

_And that's my cue to get out of here. __*****_

~!**!~

"The hole will be open in only three weeks?" Toriko pursed her lips thoughtfully.

Kurama nodded.

The red-haired classmate had insisted on walking Toriko home himself after the events at the hospital, worried about her injury despite her reassurances. This led to questions she posed about the events she'd been privy to, which Kurama answered as best he could.

"I wondered about all the bugs flying around." She admitted. "So, what's being done about it?"

"Spirit World is attempting to locate exactly where the hole is being opened, but the real question that has everyone stumped is who the mastermind of the operation is."

Toriko eyed Kurama as they walked, "And you have no guesses? Uncharacteristic of you, Kurama."

He simply smiled at her, but couldn't resist the bait, "I most certainly have my own feelings on the matter, but it will have to wait until tomorrow before I can truly pursue the answer I seek."

They arrived at her doorstep and the both of them paused, Toriko staring at the ground intensely.

"Kurama..." She hesitated, and Kurama patiently waited for her to continue, "I-I want to help. I don't know what I can do, but promise me something." She finally met his eyes through her thick lenses, her fists tight at her sides and her expression full of determination, "Promise me that when the time comes, I'll be there with you to stop the end of the world."

This desperate energy that Kurama felt coming off of her softened his gaze. The girl in front of him that he knew, the one that would have just as soon ran from a fight then started it, suddenly had a sense of purpose coursing through her every fiber, and he did not think it was his place to dissuade it.

"I will come for you, Toriko. When the time is right, I promise I will come for you."3

~!**!~

Akari turned on her heel and glanced around herself, finding her eyes going to the ceiling and the cameras that were in periodic intervals along the walls, small red lights blinking to indicate that they were working and recording each event. She growled to herself and moved as quickly as possible, almost not catching the sound of others in the same hallway as herself and thus speeding up her silent pace.

She stepped into a darkened room and slid the door so it was merely ajar to watch the trio walk by.

Kazuma Kuwabara, the orange-haired boy whose energy was grabbing her attention, was accompanied by a blue-haired woman with a wooden oar in her hand and a dark-haired boy she hadn't seen with the gang often enough to know his name. She assessed the situation, watching the trio as they passed by the dead body of their mind-reading acquaintance.

They must have thought he was only unconscious, or perhaps he hadn't even been seen. Either way, it made it much easier for her to sneak out of the room and through the hospital, slipping into the front office inconspicuously. With a sneer, she eyed the many small screens, taking particular interest in the one that showed Doctor laying outside with the small woman she had seen earlier hovering over him. It seemed Kamiya would live after all.

_Oh well._

Without further ado, she stepped away from the entire security system and held her hand out to it, palm facing the mechanics and her energy fluctuating to coat the room in darkness. The shadows in the corners moved and engulfed the electrical equipment, seeping through the keyboards and speakers and the database, and destroyed every bit of video from the day's events.

She didn't need the human police searching for her as well. It would simply be _too _bothersome.

Once she was satisfied with her handiwork, her ears picked up the sound of the exploding cameras all throughout the hallways and people screaming from the commotion in fear of another attack.

Akari merely sauntered her way out the doors, leaving the hospital behind as she searched the nearby rooftops for Sensui. _*****_

~!**!~

Kurama did not appear at school the next day, though his absence did not come as a surprise to Toriko, especially after the words they exchanged on her doorstep.

She found herself distracted throughout her classes by thoughts of the promise she asked Kurama to hold. Would he really come for her? The question was always followed closely by, and what on earth would she do when he did? And what had possessed her to say such a thing in the first place? If it came down to a fight, she would be next to useless, though she supposed she _could_ figure out how to put one punch after the other. For all the good it would do.

As she had no after-school club to attend, Toriko rushed home with a sudden idea. While Kurama was not there for her to ask his assistance in honing her powers, she still had another option, one that she found herself using more and more lately when he was not around.

She tossed her bag onto the floor at the entrance of her home and slipped her shoes off as soon as she got in the door.

"Maneshi!" She called pleasantly, "Maneshi, where are you?"

Toriko took off her glasses and let down her hair, placing her glasses carefully on top of her book bag before stepping into the living room.

"Maneeeshi!" She called again, peeking over into the kitchen to her left. Still not finding what she searched for, Toriko moved for the stairs, going up them and stepping into the first door on her left.

On her bed, curled into a neat and tidy ball, a completely black-furred cat stretched as she entered the room, regarding her by opening his blue eye before closing it and settling back in for more sleep.

"There you are." Toriko put her hands on her hips. "Come here."

The cat did not so much as move.

"I said, come here!" Toriko demanded more insistently.

He yawned at her, and stretched again, but did nothing more.

Toriko tapped her foot impatiently, then sighed and sank to her knees on the floor, staring intently at Maneshi.

After a minute his ear flicked, and he opened his brown eye this time, Toriko finally catching his gaze. At first, nothing happened, the two beings locked in the stare down.

It was roughly three years ago while walking home during the winter season that Toriko came across the black cat now in her bedroom. She had stopped in the middle of the walkway to take her glasses off and wipe away the fog when a tiny mew caught her ear and she looked up at the wall, meeting a small kitten's gaze. He hunched over in the cold with one blue eye and one brown eye. She hadn't meant to look at him, but she did, and as they stared at each other, he lifted his little nose and caught a whiff of her hair on the wind. He mewed inquisitively at her again, coiling up and springing for her shoulder, landing precisely and beginning to rub his head into the bun that already threatened to come down while she walked.

Toriko did not move from where she knelt in the doorway of her bedroom. If she had learned one thing over attempting to recreate the conditions of that day three years ago, it was to be extremely patient. Animals were not the same as humans, and where a wrong move with a human could land her in deep trouble, here the worst fear she had was making Maneshi annoyed by her efforts.

Without breaking the gaze, Toriko tossed her hair over her shoulders, feeling the gesture tap into some form of energy without her meaning it to and making her scalp tingle. She felt something different come over her gaze, and her lips moved.

"Come here." She called sweetly, sounding much different than before.

Maneshi opened both eyes and lifted his head, unblinking.

Toriko's eyes should have dried out and forced her to blink, but the same tingling that spread across the skin underneath her hair now trickled over her eyes. Once more without meaning to, she slowly raised a hand and crooked a finger at the cat, accompanying the gesture with, "Come here."

Slowly, Maneshi uncurled his fluid body and rose up, her beckoning becoming too much to resist. Surely she would rub his tummy and give him treats and caress his ears and he loved it when she caressed his ears because it felt so good and-

"Come, Maneshi."

In her voice he heard all of those things, in her eyes he saw them: all of the desires that she could fulfill that he wanted her to fulfill. She probably even had catnip.

"Maneshi."

He stepped forward and leapt down from the bed, prancing towards her with his head high.

The success of her endeavor finally overcame her and when he got close enough, she grabbed for the cat in her glee, breaking the spell as she held him close and cheered at herself in a sing-song voice, "I did it, I did it!"

The cat flicked his ears back at her sudden outburst, but the unspoken promises she made lingered over his ears and he indulged her for that moment.

Toriko stood up and carried the cat to the kitchen where she fed and petted him while he ate.

~!**!~

"Who is this? What is she doing here?" Genkai demanded as Kurama walked in the door with a girl the old woman did not recognize.

"I-I am Inyoku, Toriko, ma'am." Toriko bowed to the crotchety old lady, pushing her glasses back up her nose when she stood back up.

"She's here to help." Kurama vouched. "She knows about what's going on and I promised she could lend her assistance."

"Hm." Genkai narrowed her eyes at the girl, reaching out through her spirit wave to test her might, doubly surprised to find that the rather normal-looking school girl was a demon. And an old one at that.

She exchanged an anxious glance with Kurama, who correctly read the concern in her eyes and only smiled as if to remind her of _himself_.

"Well. I guess we can take all the help we can get. Come on in, Toriko." Genkai stepped out of the way.

~!**!~

The group around the table looked anxiously at Koenma as the adult-form of the toddler-prince gravely explained the situation.

Introductions had been made between Toriko and the others and she glanced about at those gathered, running their names through her mind again in an attempt to solidify them in her memory. The one she sat across from had called himself 'Yusuke.'

At the exact moment Toriko looked out the window and wondered why a group of people would be staring at them from the building across the way, both Kurama and Yusuke sensed they were being watched maliciously and whipped around in their chairs.

"We're not alone." Yusuke declared.3

~!**!~

For the most part, Akari had lain low for the past few days, merely running small errands here and there and keeping watch over the dealings of Sensui's men. She bore witness the bout between Kuwabara and Mitarai, even letting everything play out on its own and finding herself rather intrigued by the interaction. The way the boy treated his enemy with care, even so much as dragging Sea Man along with his own injured friends away from their battle scene had left her rather curious.

While she had thought about grabbing Mitarai and making sure he was back with Sensui, she had a feeling that it wasn't how the man would want it to go. So, she merely let Kuwabara take Sea Man, and she reported back to Sensui.

He had been ultimately pleased with what she had revealed to him. "We've found our person, it seems," he had spoken to Itsuki, who had only opened a single eye to acknowledge Sensui's words before he went back to meditating, expanding the tunnel. "Well done, Akari. You reacted just as I hoped you would. Now, we can track down the team without you running after them. Now, we will wait."

That had been a day or two ago.

Now, she was walking to the top of a rather tall building, preparing to meet with Sensui and Sniper. Her hands were in her jean pockets as she meandered, slowly making her way up the stairs until she opened up the door to the roof. She paused to catch the eyes of both men, Sensui and Sniper merely watching her, Sniper appearing as if he didn't think she was necessary to this task.

"Apparently, they've had a new addition to the group today, and Koenma has joined the ranks. It's the perfect day, Akari. You and Sniper will be put to the test, and I expect you to perform well."

A sneer pulled a single corner of her thin lips upwards and she nodded. "You know how much I hate standing around. I look forward to this."

"Then come here." Sensui turned his back to her, to look down at the apartment complexes below. "Tell me, what do you suppose they are saying?"

Akari walked forward to the railing of the roof, finding the uncurtained window of the apartment he gestured to easily. She eyed the group that was sitting around the table, and her eyes focused on their moving lips, her ears listening for any sound she might be able to pick up over the sounds of the busy city.

"The girl's a demon, and it appears only one of them knows her well enough to trust her," Akari grumbled, her sneer disappearing as she concentrated. She didn't get too much more from the conversation before a few members of the group were looking towards her and her team. She raised a brow at the eyes of the spectators. "They can't surely be so surprised to see us?"

"They thought they were safe, but Sea Man lead us right to them." Sensui replied, his voice calm and collected. Akari glanced at the men on both sides of her before turning her eyes back to the people in the apartment window. There hadn't been a word uttered, but she saw from the corner of her eye, Sniper moved. He outstretched his arms, taking aim at first at the main group. Then, he shifted his body just a bit, his gaze turning just a fraction and his hand shifting just the same.

Her eyes followed his, and she saw Sea Man sitting on a bed with two women sitting inside the same room. Yet, she kept a calm composure, even smiling wickedly as she turned back to see the reactions of the others near the sliding glass doors in the first room. "Let the games begin," she whispered, her words accented nicely with the sound of Sniper's ammunition whistling through the air. _*****_

"It's him!" Yusuke exclaimed, he and Kurama jumping out of their seats and rushing to the glass doors. "He's listening!"

They watched as the one in the red jacket lifted his hand and Kuwabara jumped out of his seat to dash towards the other room.

"They're after Matari!" He made a beeline for the other room and threw the door open, running violently down the hallway.

Toriko got up and stood on the other side of Kurama, staring intently through her glasses at the three standing on the roof beyond.

"Who are they?" She wanted to know.

"The tall one is Shinobu Sensui." Koenma provided, coming up with Genkai to stand behind them all.

"I believe the one in red is Sniper. That accounts for five of the seven we've heard about." His brow turned down as he regarded the female with them.

"And the girl?" Toriko asked.

"I dunno." Yusuke answered, "We haven't heard anything about her. Think she's Gourmet or Gamemaster, Kurama?"

"I think she's none of the above."

"What?"

"I think she's their ace in the hole, as it were." Kurama glanced down briefly at Toriko before turning back to watch those on the roof, "I'm glad you decided to join us. If we are surprised by their added number, perhaps your presence will do the same for them."

"M-maybe." She stammered at the unwarranted praise, pushing her glasses farther up her nose in her nervousness. _"I just hope I can be of some use when the time comes."_

Suddenly, Yusuke ran out of the apartment, yelling something at Kuwabara as he tried to catch up with him.3

The sound of the die pieces shooting through glass and lodging into the wall of the apartment was music to her ears, though she noticed that Sea Man had been pushed out of the way. There was a part of her, though a very small part of her, that was _glad_. The kid didn't know what was going on, didn't know of Sensui's actual plans in it all.

In fact, no one seemed to have figured out that they would die except herself and Doctor. She didn't even think Sniper had a _single _clue, but she pushed the thoughts away and turned her eyes to the spectators, raising a brow at the words she barely caught from their lips. Her chin lifted in the air a little at the group, lips keeping that same wicked smile that turned her eyes dark.

_I like that._

_The __**Ace**__._

Suddenly, Sensui was speaking and turning away, drawing her attention and turning her expression into a more muted smirk. She listened carefully, having not heard this explanation of Kuwabara's energy before now, of the energy he was seeking. "It's called the Jigen Tou, also known as a dimensional sword. It cuts through physically created space-time, territories, and that includes the most ambiguous territory of all**:** the Kekkai Barrier that divides the worlds." Akari's smirk thinned out as she pursed her lips. _So he is going to capture the boy for his energy, even though it's so unstable?_

"And how do we plan on utilizing that?" she inquired.

"Easily. We have Gourmet." With that, he turned and to exit the rooftop, pausing briefly and saying only a few more parting words. "Keep Kuwabara alive at all costs. Use your own judgement for killing the others."

Akari smirked and nodded simultaneously with Sniper, and then he and herself followed suit until they were all three standing in the street, Akari a bit behind the two men for observation's sake. And it didn't take long for Yusuke and Kuwabara to make their grand appearance as well.

"Well that was fast," she vaguely heard the detective mumble. "Let's do this." _*****_

The group ran forward when Sensui kicked Yusuke away the second time, Kurama communicating his fears about the two Spirit Detectives being too alike to the rest.

When Sensui kicked the ball of spirit energy off into the distance, Kurama exclaimed, "Isn't that Yusuke's apartment?!"

Sensui blocked Kuwabara's attempt to run to his sister's aide.

"I'm no good here. I know nothing of battles. I'll be of more use helping at Yusuke's apartment." Toriko murmured to Kurama, "I'll head there as soon as I get a chance."

Kurama nodded slightly, to indicate he heard her.

Yusuke went neck and neck with Sensui to allow someone to get past, getting himself kicked into a building in the process and chasing after Sensui when he took off with Kurama and Kuwabara following, Toriko, Koenma, and Genkai dashing off to return to Yusuke's apartment.3

Akari watched the scene from a short distance for a bit, not even noticing Sniper's disappearance to antagonize the defenseless part of the group, the non-fighters that were staying with Sea Man. She felt a bit... bored with simply standing there, watching Sensui be the prime fighter.

Of course, she knew it was necessary, so she watched and waited.

When he kicked his orb towards the apartment, she knew that was Game Master's and Gourmet's cues, and she took it for hers as well. Even as she heard the team of spirit detectives scramble to figure a way to get to the injured or likely dead members of their team, she turned and walked the opposite direction, going over the route mapped out in her mind.

A small laugh escaped her lips as she disappeared into the passing crowd, mingling with the humans who were oblivious to the danger nearby.

For a few minutes, that's all she did. Wander.

She skipped to rooftops- despite her hatred of heights- to get a view of where the plan was at certain points and when she would be needed, eventually running into Sniper, who merely nodded when she said it was close to time for him to get busy. As soon as he sped off, she blended in with the passersby again, silently following the chase that she had crossed paths with and watching Sensui play his little game with Yusuke, who clearly had _no _chance of winning. Sensui wasn't even _trying_.

She stood outside the building, watching the silhouettes dash back and forth, listening to the shouts of irritation and challenging of one another.

And then, Sensui was dropping to the ground, glass cascading around him as he made his descent to the sidewalk below before taking off again, the demoness following him all the way to the overpass where Sniper was supposed to show.

Akari took her sweet time joining the crowd that had gathered around Sensui, Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama atop the bridge, and when she did join in she waited silently, easily standing behind a tall man to keep herself from view. _*****_

The group and Sensui exchanged words, Sensui biding his time until he could hear the roar of Sniper's engine coming closer."_Ah, Sniper, good timing." _"Farewell." Sensui sped off with Kuwabara and Yusuke in hot pursuit.

"After him!" The Spirit Detective yelled, giving chase.

As Kurama made a move to follow them, Sniper shot up into the air, ramping into the street with his motorcycle, cutting the red-haired kitsune from his friends.

Seated on his bike, Sniper raised a flattened hand, preparing to flick whatever ammo rested there towards Kurama. Kurama pulled his rose whip up higher towards his face defensively.

"You can't do that with these innocents standing around." His voice wavered, unsure if this 'Sniper' fellow would heed him and positive that he could not save every human that stood gawking at the scenario unfolding before them should Sniper decide to fire.3

Akari glanced around herself, taking in the group of people around her that were watching the scene so intently. Her eyes landed on a woman who stood nearby, cooing her crying child. Akari smiled and stepped forward, her expression deceptively cheerful and kind. "Excuse me, but for this particular stunt that we are filming, I'd like to request your child to be in this scene. I know it's last minute, but it would really help us out," she said calmly, her smile reassuring.

The woman eyed her nervously, then looked at the scene on the other side of the crowd. Her small brain must have taken the story as true, because she nodded and handed her still-crying child to Akari. The demon smiled even wider, "Thank you. She will be handed back as soon as the scene is over," she reassured before turning and wading to the front of the crowd, toddler on her hip.

Sniper was watching the redhead, aiming his ammunition at Kurama. He opened his mouth to speak, but Akari spoke over him. "Sniper, you go on ahead. You have something else to take care of." When the boy's eyes turned on her, eyeing her as if he didn't like her ordering him around, she merely nodded at him, urging him to go. "I have this."

Sniper nodded, and within seconds, he was speeding away, leaving Akari standing before Kurama with a hiccoughing child resting at her hip. She waited, watching him for a moment before glancing to the child. "They're so small, the humans. Fragile. I don't see how you put up with them," she cooed, running a thumb over the child's cheek and allowing its small hand to encircle her index finger. "Tell me, how _do _you tolerate this stench and their naivety?" _*****_

Kurama regarded this newcomer with a wary gaze, unsure of her motives, but certain that he could not attack her without damaging the child. He knew without a doubt that she simply represented a distraction, another sidestep from the real plan that Sensui orchestrated carefully. But why? Why are they forcing them apart? Were they after Yusuke?

While he never lowered his stance, Kurama tread carefully, extra cautious at the sight of the babe she held, despite the apparent ease with which she coddled it.

"I have found that their merits lie deeper than just their smell and their intelligence." His voice rang out calmly over the tension of the staring crowd, his every thought following the path of Kuwabara and Yusuke before him.3

Akari raised a brow at his words, her smile twisting to a sneer. The only merits that the humans had that she'd seen in her _lifetime _was the day Sensui had shown up at the Black Black Club and killed everyone inside, aside from herself. She couldn't decide if Kurama was genuine on his defense or simply trying to reason with her to step aside.

"Interesting point of view you have there," she said, her voice laced with irritation. She opened her mouth to say more, but movement behind Kurama caught her attention. Her eyes darted to a girl who had surfaced from the crowd, calling out. "Kurama!" she yelled, as if she didn't even notice Akari's presence. The demoness acted, though she didn't even have to move a single muscle.

The girl's eyes widened and her entire body stiffened, halting in place. Her body began to tremble, and then she clutched at her head with her hands, dropping the creature she had been holding. A scream ripped from her throat, yelling out the detective's name. Akari's smile widened. "Ah, the person you care for most is the detective. How sweet," she cooed, her own eyes dark with amusement. After all, this particular illusion was her favorite; where the victim got to witness the death of the person closest to them, slowly and painfully.

In the distance, she could hear the squealing of the truck's tires. Soon, she would be taking her leave. _*****_

Kurama's body tensed, but he resisted the urge to break his gaze from the demon before him. Keiko's cry and the girl's response gave him all the information he needed to know.

"Whatever you are doing to her mind, she is not your concern." He stated firmly, "Your fight is with me and it would not bode well for you to involve any others in our exchange."3

Akari's eyes turned to slits at Kurama's threat, but she kept the air around her light, to convey that she was not going to engage in physical strikes against him. It was easy to see that he understood her purpose, her real objective. "It's no fun that way," she murmured, bringing the child to her face as she heard the getaway vehicle round the corner of the nearest intersection.

"Tell me, what will you decide: my death or the child's?" Her smile turned dangerous and she moved, simply moving at a demonic speed to the edge of the bridge and dropping the child. She snickered before she followed suit, leaving enough room between her and the child that he wouldn't be able to strike her and save the child simultaneously. *

Kurama sped down the nearby stairwell to the street, glancing at Keiko heaving for oxygen as he ran past, his decision made before the demon posed it.

He jumped into the air over the cars speeding down the highway even as he heard the desperate scream of the mother on the overpass now above his head. He brandished his whip at a light-pole near where the demon and child left the ground, feeling it wrap firmly about the metal and catch his weight so as to change his trajectory just enough that his arc led him to neatly plucking the wailing infant from its freefall in mid-air, his path continuing up and back over the edge of the overpass where he neatly landed on one knee and recalled his whip to his side.

The inconsolable child now firmly held in one arm, he turned back to the side of the bridge to watch the demon's fate.3

Akari smiled as she dropped through the air, the wind whipping her curls past her face. For a single moment, her heart fluttered at the prospect of the moving vehicles underneath, a moment of fear making her have second-thoughts about this plan. However, her feet landed neatly on the truck that was speeding by, and she smiled with relief as she eyed the tailgate's edge. Her hazel eyes lifted to see Kurama on the bridge, watching.

"Nice speaking with you. Let's do this again sometime," she called with a wave, knowing he would hear her with ease. Her energy snapped back to her core, leaving the human girl on the bridge without the illusion of her friend's death.

She turned back and glanced at Sensui, who nodded in approval and turned to say something to Gourmet. Satisfied, Akari relaxed, lowering herself to simply sitting on the edge of the open tailgate to watch the scenery pass by her. _*****_

* * *

_End notes are going to be in italics just so that they are usually set apart from the end of the chapter._

_I would of course love to hear thoughts about the story via reviews or PMs!_

_For anyone that uses GoogleDocs for their roleplaying (or fanfic writing!) needs, I have found that copying and pasting from there into a LibreOffice doc (free download) will keep your formatting (like italics) intact, and then from there you can save said doc, THEN upload the LibreOffice doc to the Doc Manager on FF. This will ensure that all of your formatting will be retained so you don't have to go back through to make sure it's all there!_

_RIP Quizilla (2002-2014), which is where I first published my original YYH fanfics (as quizzes of course!) over a decade ago, and which is also where CM and I first met less than a year ago!_

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star, yes-I-know-that's-Toby's-outro-it-became-habit-with-my-previous-Tobuscus-fanfic-deal-with-it


	2. Episode 81 - Let the Games Begin

**Author's Notes:** Hello once again for the first time, Audience!

I've always tried to use culture-appropriate names or surnames in any story that I've written (and CM has done so as well for our RP), and as a general rule each name I choose is for a very specific reason, because the name means something specific. I am actually used to using terms like 'Makai' and 'Ningenkai,' but CM was used to the English terms so we went ahead with the English equivalents for that sort of thing (Demon World and Human World in the above examples).

In any case, when a new term/word/name is introduced—and it has a meaning—I will be inserting those at the end of the chapter. Even for familiar ones like 'Kuwabara' of which some people may already know the meaning. I'm starting this at the end of this second chapter as the notes on the first were already pretty long, but here will be included those names that were introduced in the first chapter.

Full names will be in the order "last, first" as that is the typical order you will hear in Japanese. Unless indicated otherwise, any translations I get are typically from jisho dot org, and if the YYH wiki has a different translation I will list that as well.

If I miss any along the way, feel free to point it out!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.__  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."___

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shinobu Sensui has been using Akari for distraction work, and she has her first major encounter with Kurama on an overpass which ends with her escaping onto a passing truck.

Kurama's classmate, Inyoku Toriko, asked the redhead to let her help in the fight against Sensui in whatever way she could.

And now, our favorite gang has come up against Gamemaster in his virtual world made real!

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? Read on to find out!

* * *

Kurama pulled the conversation back to the matter at hand, "Nevermind him, we need to develop a strategy. Now, who among us has played Goblin City?"

Yusuke, Kaito, and Mitarai all spoke up and Toriko chimed in after with, "I-I play."

For the first time since joining their group, Toriko felt that she might be able to contribute something to their cause. When it came right down to it, her presence had felt to her more a burden than a boon, despite Genkai's constant reminders to everyone that they could use all the help they could get.

"Great! That already makes five of us, including myself."

"Make that six." Genkai corrected.

"What, Hiei, no time for video games?" Yusuke teased the only member of their group that had not spoken up.

"Hn." Hiei turned and began walking away from the group across to the side with the screen, where he hoped things would be quieter, calling out as he went, "I know as much of games as I do of hugs and puppies and care for them even less." He sat down with his back against the wall several meters to the left of the screen, "Wake me for the end of the world."

"Alright. Who has actually beaten the game?"

Mitarai did not speak up and Yusuke admitted to being stumped somewhere in the middle. Toriko hesitated, but once Genkai indicated her two successes, answered as well, "I only win about half the time."

Kaito quickly spoke of his seventy-six percent success rate, which Kurama echoed.

"I imagine we each have our game of specialty, so let us see where the dice fall." Kurama and the rest turned to watched the spinning slot-machine.

"Sports. Tennis. Level ten. Which one of you is up for a round of tennis?" The Gamemaster smirked across the room at the little group of would-be players.

Toriko's heart leapt into her throat. This was her game!

"May I?" She asked quietly.

"Level ten is the highest difficulty for this section. Are you sure, Toriko?" Kurama did not want the girl to feel obligated if she was not sure. He had never seen her pick up a tennis ball, much less play any video games. She tended to avoid that sort of thing at school. Perhaps her spare time was spent mastering the sports section of Goblin City. He didn't actually know.

Toriko nodded, pushing her glasses farther up her nose, and Kurama did not stop her when she moved towards the playing area, sensing the determination in her steps and remembering her words to him in front of her house. He knew she needed to feel useful and he silently rooted for his small friend.

"Oh? The little girl has decided to come play?" The Gamemaster sneered, "I figured you spent your time playing with dollies and makeup."

Toriko stepped up to the controls, ignoring his snide remarks. She regarded the Sports Goblin with a bit of surprise when the A.I. extended a hand for her to take in good form.

"Single player! Best of Five! Whoever wins three sets first wins the match!"

Toriko's eyes widened when the tennis court became real before her very eyes, the joystick in her hands morphing into a tennis racket and the controls disappearing.

"What the hell?" Yusuke exclaimed, "What's going on?"

Toriko blocked out the voices that began chattering behind her about the full immersion of the game, gripping the racket tighter and bending her knees as the Sports Goblin appeared on the other side of the court and served.

"_I hope she knows what she's doing." _Kurama clenched his teeth, still unsure of Toriko's athletic abilities.

The ball passed back and forth between the pair of competitors until the Sports Goblin was forced to send a lob over the net. Toriko's eyes flashed and she ran forward, jumping up and grunting as she sent a spike whirling back over to the other side of the court, neatly landing it in bounds two meters out of the Sport Goblin's reach.

She alighted lightly back onto the court, pushing her falling glasses back up her nose.

"And the first point goes to the challenger." Gamemaster almost sounded impressed, "The score is fifteen-love."

Toriko looked up to see the tiny human sitting in his robes at the referee's seat.

"Too bad you look terrible in those glasses. They do nothing to help out your plain appearance!"

As Toriko frowned at him, she heard the Sports Goblin serve again, Gamemaster's distraction forcing her to scramble for the far corner of the court, barely managing to keep the ball in play. As she and the Sports Goblin continued returning back and forth, the Gamemaster kept talking.

"You must be practically blind without them, look at how thick they are! I can't believe you don't just wear contacts. You really must have no idea how ugly you look while wearing them."

His taunting continued, and as he railed on her appearance during the set, Yusuke protested angrily at Gamemaster's distractive talking while Kaito informed him that this behavior was normal for the character.

"Six to One. First set, Toriko."

The serve changed to Toriko, and the Gamemaster's hateful badgering continued.

"Your eyes must be something disgusting to look at if you keep them hiding behind those awful things."

The second set proved much harder, as Toriko expected, and she would have been loathe to admit it, but the Gamemaster's running commentary was steadily prickling under her skin, even as she dove back and forth across the court to make saving plays. Despite her efforts, the second set went to the Sports Goblin, but she pulled out the third by two points.

At the beginning of the fourth set, Toriko stood breathing heavily as she held the ball for the first serve, feeling the sweat across her body leaving a slick sheen that glistened over her skin. She took little notice of the tingling sensation that started at the top of her head and spread down to her very toes, but her hair had begun to come loose from her tight bun, bits of it plastered to her neck and forehead, and she did notice that.

Toriko reached up with the back of the hand that held the ball and moved her wet bangs off of her face, feeling a drop of sweat falling down from her hairline over her glasses. She didn't have time to wipe them off and threw the ball into the air for the serve, making contact in the middle of her racket with as much strength as she could muster, sending it whistling across the court to the other side of the net where the Sport Goblin returned her hit and they started to battle once more.3

Hiei sat on the side, ankles crossed and arms resting across his chest lazily. His eyes were closed, being bored by the games that he knew absolutely nothing about. He was on the verge of sleep, or at least he made it seem so, but his senses were slowly relaying information to him. He listened to his surroundings and let his ears tell him where everyone was. Everything was as he figured it would be, until his nose began tingling. He twitched his nose just a bit and adjusted the way he sat only slightly.

After a few moments, he grew just a tad irritated with the odd sensation in his nose, and he took a moment to register the scent that was catching him so off guard. It was a rather sweet smell, unlike most scents he experienced in this world. His eyes slid open, taking a swift look around the room to find the source. At first, he felt rather calm, nothing more than curious.

However, as the smell strengthened just a bit more over the minutes, his eyes found Toriko. His crimson irises found the glistening beads of sweat on her skin and the strands of hair that were falling from the bun she had so neatly in place. He found himself watching her every move, every twitch of her muscles, as if it were something rather interesting and he would gain something from watching her play this ridiculous game. Even as her hand ran across her forehead, his eyes followed the motion. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to watch her motions, all he knew was that he was curious, and his eyes naturally followed her movements. Almost as if… he were in a trance. *

At the last point of the set, Toriko leapt across the court to try and catch a devastating spike that the Sport Goblin sent careening at the corner opposite her position. Just as she reached out with her racket stretched to its farthest, the beads of sweat that had caught at the top of the frames of her glasses streaked down over the front, costing her vision on the ball and also the point, putting Sport Goblin two ahead of her and losing her the set.

"Oh, too bad you don't have perfect vision. I hope it doesn't end up costing you the game." Gamemaster smiled a smug little grin from his post.

Toriko's rage had been building at a slow simmer with each deprecating comment the Gamemaster aimed at her, and at his last words that rage boiled up and out of her system. She ripped the glasses from her face and tossed them to her left, the sound of the frames scraping and against the ground as they clattered out of the game court she stood in and into the room beyond. She made no indication as to whether she felt concerned about the well-being of the thick lenses, though the pair was hardy and took no damage.

Toriko glared across the court at the A.I. that flashed his pearly whites in her direction as he bounced the tennis ball onto the floor several times. A portion of her hair fell over her eyes as she scowled. Her rage still at the forefront of her emotions, she ripped the ponytail holder that held her hair in place at the back of her head with as much force as she did to her glasses, causing the many bobby-pins she meticulously placed in the back of her hair every morning to pop out and fall to the floor with several tiny plops of sound. Her eyes never leaving the Sport Goblin, she tossed the elastic band aside towards her glasses, landing it neatly between the temples of the frames. She swept her foot behind her in such a way that all the bobby pins she lost skittered across the floor to join them. Her black hair now in a bit of a fuzzy disarray around her head, she pulled one set of fingers up her forehead to push it out of her face, the sweat around her hairline wet enough to keep it there.

Her entire body twinged and prickled and she felt a glimmer cascade over her eyes and settle there, shimmering across the surface of them.

The Sport Goblin still bounced his ball steadily, but a movement she did not expect coming from her left made her twitch and seek out the source with her green eyes almost fizzling about her in head as she did so. She caught Hiei's gaze outside of the playing area and held his crimson stare for a moment before releasing it to turn back to the game when her opponent made his serve.3

Hiei watched the girl from his spot on the floor, every muscle movement being registered in his brain and taken in, noted as if important. An odd feeling swept over him for the briefest of moments before being buried by curiosity. He looked away for a mere moment before the enticing smell brought his eyes back to the girl, watching as she missed the ball. Her breathing was berated, her heart rate erratic. Sweat continued to fall down the lines of her face.

And then he noticed her irritation reaching its peak, her muscles tightening and a scowl triumphing, taking over her features much more noticeably. He raised a brow, momentarily amused by the fact that she seemed so sensitive by a simple child's ramblings. However, a distraction was provided. She flung her glasses aside, momentarily making his eyes follow the lenses, unsure of how he thought of that. His thoughts centered around the doubt that she would be able to see without them. He turned back to watch the girl again, and found his eyes following the flow of her damp hair. The light that seemed to emanate from the sky he knew wasn't real shined on her locks, captivating his attention.

And then, their eyes met. Curiosity peaked, and he raised a calm brow. A sneer formed for a mere moment before she turned away, and he adjusted his sitting position again so he was once again leaning against the wall; when had he leaned away from it? He stretched his arms over his head and laced his fingers behind his cranium, letting them support his skull. His body stretched out just a tad, and he found himself content to see how this ruled out. After all, this was a good time to see how Kurama's friend shaped out. _*****_

With her glasses off and all other distractions removed, Toriko had no problem giving in to the buzz in which her body was submerged at that point. Her eyes flashed at every serve the Sport Goblin threw at her, her smile becoming wickedly sweet in the midst of the action and her fairly plain features taking on a more wicked, alluring aura. She could feel the absolute pleasure of the game down to her very pores, and just for the fun of it, kept the score neck and neck for several rounds, finally pulling ahead by two and sealing her victory.

"Game, set, match, winner! Toriko!" The announcer declared.

Toriko stood in the center of the court, her smile vicious while she watched the Sport Goblin phase out. She threw her racket towards the net and it disappeared along with the tennis court, pulling her back into reality, the console she started the game at appearing a couple of meters behind her.

She turned to Gamemaster, eyes narrowing, "You would do wise not to taunt a woman on her looks next time, boy." Her voice was low and full, almost sultry even in her anger.

The Gamemaster seemed nonchalant at her threat, waving her away and refusing to make eye contact with the winner as he jumped down to prepare for the next game.

Kurama regarded Toriko in a new light at that moment, wondering where she had played tennis with that much prowess before now as the rest of the group collectively provided the appropriate praise for her victory.

The others he stood with were not close enough to notice the change that he saw had come over her when she turned to walk towards her glasses, but in all the time that he had known her, he had not seen her without them and the strangeness of the sight overtook him. The features of her profile seemed more angular and sharp in the moment he caught them before her hair fell down to shadow her face when she bent over to gather her discards, and he glanced around at everyone nearby, worried that perhaps she had lost control of her powers and concerned at the scenario that might take place.

As Toriko made her way over to her glasses, the adrenaline pumping in her veins and the tingling sensation that prickled her skin faded, making her head pound. She squeezed her eyes shut as she leaned over to gather up the small pile she made, making for certain that she did not look in any other direction than the wall she made for after getting her things.

She settled down with her back against the wall, sat criss-cross, and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her free hand, putting everything else down next to her to tend to cleaning her glasses with the bottom edge of her shirt. Putting the glasses back over her eyes, she quickly began gathering her hair together and pinning it back into place, unsure how it had gotten down at all as the last set of the match was fuzzy in her mind, but a very sudden sense of fear hurrying her attempts to smooth it down and restore it to its normal tight bun.3

Hiei watched the game intently, crimson eyes tracking the movements of Toriko. He found himself impressed by the change, amused by the anger she displayed, and the transition that that anger had created, from quietly trying to keep up to simply drawing out the game, playing along as she pleased. It amused the fire demon to what felt like no end, and he couldn't quite help the raised brow of approval in her direction, whether she saw it or not. It was so easy to see that she had this in her favor now, just as she wanted it to be. Her confidence was higher, her movements smoother and her expression more determined. Her reactions to the Gamemaster were priceless to him, and it seemed to fuel her energy even more, fuel her need to show him who the real game master was in that match.

So, when the game ended with the desired outcome for everyone on the Urameshi team, as the group liked to call themselves, he wasn't surprised. In fact, he was rather impressed, though to the point of him letting his eyes slide shut for a mere moment. He acknowledged her effort, replaying a few points in his own mind's eye before they slid open, again finding the girl who seemed to have caught his full attention with her display. He followed her slow movements, eyeing her as she retrieved the objects that she had merely discarded moments ago. He couldn't quite understand the need she seemed to feel to have them with her, but he did find it amusing and curious. Even as she separated herself from the group, he found amusement in her actions.

He stayed where he was for a moment, contemplating the past few minutes until a thought seemingly popped into his head, and he was moving, as if on impulse. He gave a small sound that resembled a scoff, but a calmer sound, and pushed away from the wall. He ignored the team deciding who would go next, the Game Master spinning the machine to reveal the next game. He had his eyes set on one person, and he moved. His feet carried him across the room until he stood over Toriko, eyeing her for a moment. Then, he scoffed and shut his eyes, opening his mouth for his comment, "So you aren't as useless as you make yourself out to be." He paused after saying those words and eyed her once more before deciding. He shifted, pressing his back against the wall until, after a moment, he simply slid to the floor, though in a way that didn't appear he did as such. He stretched his legs out before himself and crossed his arms over his chest, eyes closed. "You might be of use after all," he commented sarcastically, though his tone was quiet and not at all lethal. *

Toriko nearly jumped out of her skin when the spiky-haired demon drew her from the introspective re-assemblage of her hairdo. She had not even noticed him draw close, her mind so involved in completing her task as quickly as possible for reasons that she did not fully understand.

The former buzzing of her body and the heady feeling that had accompanied it were nearly gone now, and as a result he felt very close. In fact, as he slid to the floor, his leg brushed hers and she again almost flinched in fright. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to swallow the lump in her throat to give him some sort of response.

"Th-thank you." She finally managed to blurt, stammering and staring at the floor in front of her, head still slightly bent as she worked on her hair.

The demon next to her, 'Hiei' as she recalled, had been a source of fascination for her ever since she first heard about him from Kurama many years ago, though up to this point she never laid eyes on him.

She often found herself examining him from a distance when she felt sure he was not looking ever since he had joined up with the group-he'd never so much as acknowledged her presence until this very minute-and she did so again now, drinking in his dark hair with white marking across the front and the angular curve of his jaw. Physically she found herself very attracted to him, though she personally felt plain sitting there next to him, and she still somehow managed to be strangely excited by his closeness and the mere fact that he spoke to her even through the awkwardness of her feelings.

Toriko shook her head slightly in an attempt to clear her thoughts, looking back down at the floor, "_What am I? Some teenaged school girl?" _

~!**!~

As the battle with Gamemaster came to a close, Genkai ordered their previous plan to be resumed, that being Mitarai, Hiei, Kurama, and Yusuke forging ahead as the first strike team.

Kaito picked up the limp body of Amanuma and began to follow Genkai back out of the cave. When the old lady turned back to motion to Toriko, the demon shook her head and followed the others.

The abrupt change in Kurama's demeanor troubled her core, and she felt the need to remain nearby, though she hadn't the faintest idea why.

When they walked through the cave system towards their final destination, Toriko listened eagerly as Hiei and Yusuke exchanged words on Kurama's mental condition, watching the red-head walking in front of them with ever-increasing worry.3

~!**!~

Akari sat on the arm of Sensui's chair, eyeing the screen with bored eyes. It was a war movie, not the normal video he showed them. The Chapter Black tape was one she had enjoyed watching; it had given her enough fuel to continue going through with this, even when she had her doubts here and there. It gave her the rage, the resolve she needed to continue striving forward without looking back, without questioning the man who had saved her life so many years ago. However, now, she was merely sitting, waiting. There was no more running around to do. She was stuck here, waiting to become of _actual _use, to be allowed to do what _she_ wanted while at the same time doing what he _needed_ her to do.

The sound of footsteps echoed into the cavern from the mouth of the cave and slowly Akari shifted to eye the team that had shown themselves, quiet and determined. Kuwabara tried yelling over the cloth that bound his mouth to the rag-tag team, but his voice was muffled, restrained.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted once his eyes alighted on the boy, earning much enthusiasm from the spectators on the other side of the tunnel. Demons grumbled and growled and reached, trying to make a grab for the captured human boy.

"Get me off this boat!" Kuwabara managed to enunciate around his cloth gag.

Akari didn't react to the team, not even when Hiei began explaining the level of danger that this tunnel would give. He went on to say that the mere _stench _could kill a human, which made Akari raise a brow; if the detective had thought this would be _easy_, he was much dimmer than she had originally thought.

Even as Sensui spoke up to Yusuke, she didn't react with anything more than a glance at the people. She watched the entire exchange, from Sensui reporting that they had half an hour to stop him, to stop the demons reaching through the tunnel in an attempt to grasp Kuwabara. And her eyes followed the man as he slowly stood, moving to face the group.

The instant Sensui brought up Game Master's death, her body tensed and her eyes dropped to the floor, her mind racing. Aminuma hadn't had a clue, just as she had thought. _He was just a kid._

She became lost in thought for a minute, until movement caught the demoness's attention and brought her eyes up again.

Akari watched as Gourmet stepped forward, smiling in a calm manner as he took to facing the gang. She frowned slightly, remembering what Sensui had informed her of. While she didn't care for her teammates too much, she didn't like this side of Sensui he so openly displayed. He was no longer _pretending _to be the good guy, throwing his team into situations that lead to their deaths.

"It's your choice. If you refuse, I'll deflect any other attack you throw by using Kuwabara as a human shield."

Instinctively, Akari stood and joined Itsuki, Sensui, and Gourmet. She stood closest to the yamanate, waiting for the answer of the team. Silence ensued for a few moments before Gourmet stepped forward, smiling gleefully as if he knew he would win.

However, before she knew it, she found herself eyeing Kurama, who had stepped forward. His gaze was hard, steely, as he stood before Gourmet, a single rose in his hand.

Time stilled as the entire cave silenced.

And then the fox demon moved. His arm lashed out in a blurred flurry, and then the air was filled with the smell of blood. Human blood, and the smell of the elder Toguro underneath. Her nose wrinkled at the stench, not surprised when Kurama called out to the only living Toguro.

Akari turned her eyes to Sensui. He was smiling, glad that this had turned out just as he had wanted.

Toguro laughed, though Akari wasn't sure what he was laughing at. His maniacal voice made her ears ring, and she found herself pulling her gaze up to watch the exchange. "The poor fool didn't even know what hit him! I was the one controlling him!" His laugh echoed some more, ringing for a while. Then, he suddenly stopped. "I will console you a bit though. Your friend didn't suffer the pain of being consumed. No, he was already dead, in the hospital! Our little Ace over there did just as she pleased, killing the person who would have revealed her dirty little secret, and she would have had to fight Yusuke! But the poor girl was afraid, and killed the only person who knew of her thoughts, her whereabouts, and then ran away!"

Akari growled, the skin on her head crawling with anger. "Telling tales will get you nowhere, Toguro," she called to him, earning another laugh.

"Even now, she's afraid, but I bet you can't see it, can you?" He laughed again, his mouth as wide as it could go. He opened his mouth to say more, but to her surprise, Kurama spoke up, cutting him off.

"That is enough." The redhead's voice was so laced with anger, with determination, with hate, that even Akari found herself silencing, waiting to see what he would do next. The redhead moved, circling like a fox enclosing in on its prey. "You've survived for far too long." Kurama took two more concise steps, his eyes darkening from where Akari could see them. "And now it ends."

Toguro laughed, taunting Kurama. "Then _finish me!" _he yelled, his laughter following suit like always. Akari's skin crawled and she found herself rubbing her scalp, her fingertips brushing across lumps of scarred flesh where her demonic canine ears used to be.

She had yelled that very same thing to Sakiyo before he had ordered the removal of all demonic traits that were visible to the naked eye. Before she'd lost her ears, her tail, her whiskers. Before she'd been tossed into-

_No_.

Even as Toguro continued babbling, Akari found herself shrinking away, old memories surfacing and threatening to overwhelm her in the moment. The atmosphere was filled with the very same murderous intent, though it was quiet, that had been shown towards her back then.

For a while, she kept her head down and her eyes hidden behind her bangs, pushing at the very memories she had been throwing away for ten years. And after a while, boiling anger roiled through her, replacing the fear and doubt she had been feeling moments ago. She would not befall to this atmosphere again.

When she lifted her head again, her eyes were darkened, hardened with emotions she no longer bothered to hide. She watched the smoke that swirled around and around, preventing her from watching any of the remaining battle between Kurama and Toguro. She watched intently anyways, waiting for any sign that Kurama was either taken out, or Toguro being thrown around. She didn't trust her ears this time; she knew better than that.

As suspected, Kurama stepped from the smoke, alive and unharmed. She resisted the urge to make a comment, but instead she moved to stand alongside Sensui, to distract the team if they glanced this way. "Akari," Sensui called under his breath for her attention, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. She turned to him, inspecting the look on his face. She knew what he meant.

Next, it was her turn. _*****_

Once Kurama exacted a bit of revenge upon the Older Toguro, Toriko felt his aura calm down and she sighed to herself in relief, quietly moving away from the group as they continued their exchange with Sensui to go perch on a small outcropping of rock that jutted out from the wall to their right, feeling useless and out of place. She pulled one knee up with her hands and rested her chin on the top of it, staring across the water at the large, black hole suspended in the air over a boat.

An empty boat.

A boat she up until that moment had thought held Kuwabara.

A sudden shadow cast itself over her eyes and she looked up, a small gasp of surprise escaping her lips. All she could do was stare at the tied-up red-head as he completed his perfect arc across the water by slamming into her face.

She managed to turn her head enough to the side before he collided with her that when he hit, her glasses went flying off farther to the right and skittered across the ground. Their bodies tangled together and kept going, colliding with the large boulder behind them and breaking it into pieces from the force of their collision, leaving Kuwabara and Toriko mixed up amidst the broken pieces of rock.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted.

"Toriko!" Kurama cried out as well.

The entire group ran to the right, Hiei speeding past the pair in the wreckage to pick something up off the ground, and getting back to Toriko before the others even made it over, a shiny something in his hand.

Toriko groaned, dazed, a large rock jutting uncomfortably into her spine and bits of debris littering the rest of her body. She put a hand up to her head and suddenly realized her glasses were no longer on her face. She started scrambling to get up and managed to a seated position and stare at the ground looking for her glasses just as she felt another shadow falling across her.

"Here." A voice said, two black boots appearing in front of her.

Tentatively, Toriko started to raise her eyes slowly until she saw a hand holding out her glasses. She snatched them away and shoved them on her face.

"Move out of the way next time." The voice sounded irritated, but the hand that previously held her glasses extended with the intent to help her stand.

She took it and found herself easily lifted to her feet just as Kurama ran up, Yusuke going past to check on Kuwabara.

"Are you alright?" Kurama wanted to know.

Toriko nodded, lowering her head a bit and recognizing Hiei as the one who retrieved her glasses and helped her get up.

Kurama nodded and moved over to Kuwabara, "What happened?"

"Th-thank you." Toriko made a small bow at Hiei.

"Hn." He intoned. "Don't mention it." With that, he turned away to Kuwabara as well.

Toriko started to dust herself off and joined the others as Kuwabara tried to explain how he'd gotten launched out of the boat.3

Akari took that moment when the enemy was busy to turn and inspect Kurama's work. _The sinning tree, huh? _she thought, eyeing the plant wearily. Part of her found herself glad that she had gotten away earlier that day, using the life of a human child as bait so she wouldn't become victim of the whip that seemed so favored. However, it seems that the whip would have been much more merciful than _that tree_. She was _not _looking forward to this, if it went as she wanted it to.

It was then that she realized: _If/when I beat Yusuke, I'll be tired, and the next opponent will be dished out. Or, Kuwabara will break through, using that power of his, and then it would be me versus four. _

Her eyes trailed back to the team that were obviously unsuspecting of the creature that was now moving beneath them, practically a shadow. _If Yusuke dies, then I will have to continue fighting. I will, sooner or later, have to fight Kurama, whom, without full strength I will not be able to win against. _

Her breath hitched just as the Uraotoko opened his mouth underneath the grouped together team near Kuwabara, swallowing each and every member. As the dimensional beast moved so he was on the far wall of the cavern, he spit out the detective, who landed in the water of the lake.

_I'll just have to be careful then._

As the boy emerged, sputtering and coughing up water, Akari found her fingers twitched with anticipation and her mind raced; she'd have to fight him hand to hand and save her energy for the rest. She would have to be conservative, and very careful about her own steps.

That was it, she decided. She would fight Yusuke without using any of her spiritual energy, and then she would do the same, if possible, with the next fighter, until she absolutely had to use her energy.

_Surely I won't have to fight them __**all**_… _will I?_

As Yusuke stood across from her, wiping the water from his face, she moved. She stepped towards him, her expression blank and unreadable. "Yusuke, it's a pleasure." Her tone was light and airy. Pleasant even. Her lips turned to a smile that was easygoing, but her eyes turned hard and steely. "I've been waiting for a chance to test your strength. And your luck. From what I've heard, you're a rather interesting character. Dullard, yet smart. Robust, yet impulsive. Good, yet rebellious. I've been curious about those rumors, Yusuke Urameshi. Care to satisfy my curiosity?"

"That is way too many big words, pal." Yusuke replied, eyeing her in an almost bored fashion. His shirt and jeans were dripping with water, shoes squishing with the liquid.

Akari sneered. "You need to brush up on your vocabulary. Here, let me put it simply: You're a fool. A Dunce. Yet, you have power. No tactic, but plenty of energy."

"You're being really nice, asking permission to fight."

Akari threw her head back and laughed, hiding the turmoil of emotions that began to trickle into her consciousness. "Asking? Hardly." And then, she moved.

Akari, using the speed that was natural to her, dashed forward and right into the detective's face to get up close and into his personal space. She swung, and with the doe-eyed expression lingering on his face, Yusuke dodged. She continued to swing at him, landing punches here and there until he landed on his backside, looking up at her as she stood over him. "This is supposed to be my _challenge_?" *

Yusuke regarded the girl with an amused expression as he stood up and dusted off his blue-jeans, "Well, I don't mean to be a prick, but I don't fight with girls." He stood up straight and put his hands on his hips, "Now, if you'd be so kind as to move out of the way, I've got a bone to pick with your boss-man over there."

When Yusuke tried to walk past, Akari came at him again, and again he dodged.

"Look, it's nothing personal!" Yusuke tried to explain as she kept trying to hit him and he continued dodging, "You're a chick! I won't hit a girl, demon or no! Kuwabara would kill me!"3

Akari stood with her feet planted, never moving from in front of Yusuke. Her face changed from slightly pleasant and taunting to an expression of irritation. She _hated _when men said things like that; even demon men said this, and she'd heard it her entire life. It's always either "I won't fight a girl," or "you're too fragile/weak, and not worth my time".

Her mouth continued to have the corners pull down, her eyes watching the detective who seemed unphased by her reaction. "I'm not sorry to say, Yusuke, but I'm not moving aside." For once, she didn't snap at someone for their words. Actually, she felt... calm. "You have to deal with my _annoying _presence until I'm laying on the ground and unable to fight." As soon as she finished with the words, she flexed her muscles a bit and charged again, swinging at his face, kicking at his gut, trying everything in her power to make him understand that she was not moving aside. _*****_

Yusuke grunted as he blocked each hit, looking for an opening and leaping back away from her after her first few attacks. He called out over the girl's shoulder to Sensui.

"Call your girl offa me, yah coward! You're sending her to do your dirty work and I'm not going to satisfy your perverse desire to see me smack some random chick around! Fight me like a man!" Yusuke made a frustrated noise and tried to run past the girl in front of him to get to Sensui, "What did you do with my friends?!"3

Akari felt irritation, disdain, and impatience all at once. She didn't understand why the detective felt as if fighting her was unpleasant, as though it was at some sort of personal level. Her eyebrows twitched, both in irritation and confusion.

She didn't like the feel of Sensui's eyes on her, boring into her back. Though he didn't speak or call out to her, she could sense the impatient air around him. She growled, clenched her teeth, and took a step away from Yusuke as he called to Sensui.

She didn't have a choice. He wasn't taking her seriously, by any means.

"I forgot to ask, detective," she began, her tone curious. "How's that girl of yours?" Her expression twisted, turning into the same sickly smile she had shown to Kurama when she had first stepped in his way at the bridge. "She's quite a naive girl, you know. She completely ignored a demonic threat earlier today… Care to know how that went?" Her eyes became alighted with mischief, her teeth becoming shown through her lopsided grin. "She has a lovely voice." She may not have a choice, but this was the last resort she had until she had to use her energy. She only hoped the taunting would be enough.

...Otherwise she'd be out of ideas. _*****_

At the mention of Keiko, Yusuke's eyes snapped right back to the girl and regarded her in a darker light.

"If you've done something to Keiko, I will end you, girl or not." He narrowed his eyes, his voice low and dangerous.3

Akari felt an immense amount of satisfaction at the response she received, the detective finally seeming to give her a sufficient amount of attention and seeming much more likely to fight. She waited before answering, for a moment regarding the echoing words of Kurama in her head from earlier that day.

"_...it would not bode well for you to involve any others in our exchange," _he had said.

Her mind considered the thought for a moment, wondering just how careful she _should _tread. Gauging Yusuke's hardened, darkened irises, she knew that she was treading very thin ice. She could feel the truth behind his words, but she knew what had to be done. Her expression became clear of all emotions, showing she took his words seriously, but had no intention of backing down.

Because he _had_ to go down, so she could move on to…

Kurama or Hiei.

_Yeah, that sounds right._

...Except it made her pause for a second.

_No, actually. That doesn't sound like a good idea and.._

She cleared her mind all at once with a wave of her hand.

"How touching, the detective is protective of a single female. Too bad it took me bringing up her situation for you to listen to me…" Her eyes watched him carefully, her mouth lightly pursing her lips together. If she could help it, only her words would get his attention, just in case.

But in her soul, she knew that it would not be the case. He wouldn't strike unless he had _proof _of harm. While her skin absolutely crawled at the thought, she found adrenaline beginning to course through her veins, almost in warning and preparation of the next moments. "Are you sure you wish to know, detective?" _*****_

"If you've so much as TOUCHED Keiko with those slimy hands of yours, I'm gonna hafta kick your ass!" Yusuke yelled at her, his fists tightening at his sides.3

Akari took in the changes that came over the boy before her, her expression mildly calm and slightly amused, as if he had just told an older joke that had lost its touch. As she had suspected, he didn't strike on mere words. So, she sighed. "I guess you leave me no choice." Her eyes glazed over, taking on an odd sheen of light, just as his would, as she immersed him and herself in the illusion.

Much like Gamemaster's territory, everything around them seemed real, though only she and Yusuke would see. The first image she conjured was her memory of the moment on the bridge, starting where Keiko, as he had called her, ran in from the crowd. She let him witness the blood-curdling scream of the girl, though instead of her merely clutching her head, she was portrayed to fall on the ground, to her knees, crying, screaming for Yusuke. Of course, she allowed Yusuke to hear Kurama's comment, but as soon as the redhead was done talking, Akari let the image fade, bringing them into a new room.

The walls were darkened with shadows, their color unsure in the iffy lighting. Across from her and on the wall to the right of the detective hung a female, her wrists bound by the chains that kept her a foot from the ground, her toes just missing the dirt below her. Her bowed face was filthy, covered with dirt and grime, and smudges of dried blood, accompanied and finished off by dried rivers where her tears had fallen over what must have been hours ago. "Yusuke," the girl whispered, her voice weak and pleading.

"Isn't she marvelous," Akari taunted, her expression now deadly and dark as she moved to the girl, standing beside the hanging victim. Her hand pulled lightly on the torn and tattered dress the girl wore, bringing the detective's attention to the lacerations that covered the girl's once smooth skin. Dried blood caked the front of her torso, the scarlet substance still oozing from the numerous wounds down the girl's arm, across her collarbone, along her stomach, and various other places. The demon lightly trailed a finger over the sleeping girl's face, shocking her into snapping her head up. Her normally vividly cheerful, soft eyes were wide with terror, her face much too pale to be healthy. Akari smiled wickedly as the girl's eyes shifted from her to the detective, causing the pupils to overcome the irises entirely. "Y-Yusuke! Run!"

Akari sneered, not even looking at the detective as her hand flexed, forming the shadow of a blade, another one of her talents, and she lightly touched the girl's cheek with it. The girl shivered before she shut her eyes. "Sorry doll," Akari said, her expression no longer amused, only dark and dangerous as she plunged the blade into the girl's side. The walls shook from the force of the scream, of the agony that Akary could taste in the false air. The shadow weapon dissipated in the girl's wound, leaving it open to bleed out some more as Akari conjured another, taking a moment to toy with the blade in her hands before she pointed it to the girl again, contemplating the next strike. _How long until he reacts…?_ *

"You BITCH!" Yusuke closed the distance between them with impossible speed before she could get any further, yelling incoherently as he pulled his fist back and drove it solidly into the side of the demon-torturer's face.

The force of his blow lifted her off her feet and sent her scattering backwards across the dirt floor of the cavern.

The world around Yusuke blinked for a moment and he suddenly found that Keiko was no where to be seen, and he was with Sensui, Itsuki, and the fallen demon back in the depths of the Demon's Door Cave. This change of venue did not seem to phase him as he only had eyes for the one who tortured his best friend, and the time or place in which he beat the demon into the ground did not matter.

He shot across the room as she continued sliding and bouncing farther away from his hit, making it to her in record time and popping her into the air with an uppercut to her stomach as one of her turns allowed.3

Akari had no time to react other than turning her head towards the detective, only having time to catch the murderous intent in his gaze before he struck The blow rocked her to the very soul as her energy snapped away from the boy, making the illusion dissipate in a matter of milliseconds. In the blink of an eye, her control had been ripped from her, and with it came the realization and fear.

She tried to land on her feet, but her scattered thoughts and slightly blurred vision left her unable to do much aside from avoiding landing dangerously, avoiding a broken bone or two. She watched her spinning surroundings in disbelief, her mind blank with shock.

_No one… has been able to break my illusions… _she thought, stunned to the point of being unable to move or think properly. Yet, the matter didn't phase Yusuke, she found out. He was striking her again in a flash, his fist connecting dangerously with her abdomen, causing her to taste the coppery liquid she spat up as her body rocketed upwards with the momentum. _This isn't right… How could he have done something like break an illusion?! It's unheard of!_

Her thoughts were suddenly a million miles an hour as her body twisted in the air and she attempted another landing on the ground, this time only managing to land on her knees with an arm covering her pained abdomen. She attempted to stand and move away again, but she found herself unable to think, unable to create movement with her body.

_Sensui knew, _her conscious whispered to her, causing her eyes to widen. Ice cold fear trickled through her body, paling her face and causing her to shake even slightly. _He planned for this. That's why he wanted me on the bridge, to meet the girl… _

As her brain wrapped around the concept, she found herself only watching Yusuke as he charged again, unable to move, his motions as if in slow motion as her mind raced again. _Sensui would never have killed you himself, but the Spirit Detective kills demons for a living. He is leaving your blood for Yusuke's hands._

As her conscious began to whisper the truth to her numb mind, she felt desperation swell in her chest and she moved, her feet wobbly as she stood, not moving more than a few inches from where she had landed.

Whether it be out of shock or simple madness from the prospect that she had underestimated Sensui, Akari found her lips tilting up at one of the corners as Yusuke reached her again.

_I was only ever a pawn… He counted on me to do this, and he's counting on Yusuke to win, just as I had when Yusuke fought Doctor._

_I… I'm going to die here. __*****_

Yusuke dashed forward after Akari, seeing red, his vision tunneled in at the demon girl and ignoring anything around him. His fists flew as he yelled and pummeled her harder than anyone he had ever fought before, and the girl wasn't even responding, wasn't even able to defend herself, the sight of Keiko maddening him beyond all reason.

Sensui and Itsuki merely watched as the boy beat Akari to death, their eyes unchanging as the events unfurled before them.

Finally, after Akari's eyes began to grow deadened to the world, the blood on her face starting to dry, Itsuki waved a hand and reached into a portal, pulling a very surprised Keiko through and into the cavern with them.

"Yusuke!" She shouted, suddenly very nervous about how close she stood to the two tall strangers. She took a step forward, and then another, and when they didn't stop her she ran for Yusuke.

At his name, and a familiar voice calling it, Yusuke's punches slowed and then ceased. Keiko dropped to her knees beside where Yusuke had straddled Akari and he fell over off of her into Keiko's arms, his eyes wide and glassy.

"K-Keiko?"

"Yusuke."

"Keiko, what…?"

"Shh, it's okay now. I'm here."

Yusuke allowed himself to be held by her warm embrace, his entire body limp with the shock of seeing her intact and well.

"What a touching reunion." Sensui commented.

Remembering the other two in the room with them, Yusuke stood, his mind clear, bringing Keiko up to stand with him.

Sensui nodded to Itsuki and the yamanate side-stepped into another portal, reappearing silently behind Yusuke, extricating Keiko from his grasp, and just as quickly disappearing again.

Yusuke didn't even have a chance to react except by yelling into the room, "What the- GET BACK HERE YOU CREEP! WHERE'D YOU TAKE KEIKO?"

"She'll be safe. Itsuki will take good care of her, just as he's taking good care of the rest of your friends. I don't want you to have any distractions during our little skirmish." The former Spirit Detective walked over to where the body of Akari laid on the ground and kicked it out of the way so that the fighting area would be clear.3

* * *

_Had to have Mitarai not be good at tennis in our version so Toriko could accidentally catch Hiei's attention. ^-^ And made Gamemaster's power virtually bring the game to life, for aformentioned reason. Also had Yusuke a little bit more prejudice about not hitting girls. He isn't particularly as insistent about it in the anime (that's Kuwabara), but for our purposes here, he needed to be._

_**From Chapter One:**_

Akari \- **1: **light; illumination; glow; gleam; **2: **lamp; light

Inyoku, Toriko  
Inyoku: lust  
Toriko: **1: **captive; prisoner; **2: **victim (of love, etc.); slave (to one's lust, etc.)

Urameshi, Yusuke  
Urameshi: (as urameshii) reproachful; hateful; bitter -  
Yusuke: no meaning

Genkai \- (jisho) strict guard (wiki) Sea of Illusion

Kamiya \- paper store; paper merchant; paper seller; papermaking; papermaker

Kurama \- no meaning

Kuwabara, Kazuma  
Kuwabara: mulberry field (if repeated as kuwabarakuwabara) charm to ward off lightning and misfortune; knock on wood; touch wood; absit omen!  
Kazuma: Male given name or forename

Maneshi \- copy cat

Mitarai \- is a family or surname

Sensui, Shinobu  
Sensui: fountain; miniature lake  
Shinobu:**1: **to conceal oneself; to hide; **2: **to endure

_**From Chapter Two:**_

Kaito \- Kite

Hiei \- (wiki) Flying Shadow

Amanuma \- no meaning

Itsuki \- no meaning

Toguro \- coil

Keiko \- practice; practise; training; study

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	3. Episode 85 - Spirit Detective Showdown

**A/N:** Hello once again, Audience!

We skip pretty quickly here from episodes 85 through 88. And when I say 'pretty quickly' I mean within the first 40 lines of the chapter, ha! This is where the parallel with the original story takes off and we hit the true point of 'Alternate Universe' in which one little thing changes (you'll see within those first 40 lines what exactly changes) and it launches us into where our story truly starts!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Toriko accompanied Kurama and the others into the depths of Demon's Door Cave  
where Akari finally came face-to-face (and fist-to-face) with Yusuke  
after taking her illusion involving Keiko perhaps a little _too _far.

In an effort to assure him the girl was safe, Sensui had Itsuki bring Keiko to the scene,  
only to whisk her away into the Uraotoko...

* * *

Itsuki appeared in front of Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara, Seaman, and Toriko with his hands on Keiko's shoulders. He shoved her forward at the group and she floated towards them until she collided with Kurama who held her in place.

After exchanging words with them about not wanting to fight and telling them of Sensui's past, the Uraotoko opened its eyes and everyone was able to peer down as the Spirit Detectives, past and present, stared one another down.

~!**!~

The fighting between Sensui and Yusuke wore on as the boy went through Minoru and Kazuya, the latter of Sensui's personality finally getting Yusuke in a compromising position and nearly blowing his head off.

"Shinobu!" Koenma called, getting Kazuya to lower his gun for a moment. "Let him go."

"Shinobu ain't here."

"N-nice timing." Yusuke managed to say.

As the three exchanged words, Yusuke powered up his spirit gun and shot it just as Kazuya managed to kick him away.

Koenma and Kazuya stared one another down, Kazuya starting to explain exactly what was going on in Shinobu's head, split-personalities and all.

Yusuke recovered in due time, knocking Koenma out, and finally managed to call out Shinobu, whose sacred energy proved to be too much for the boy.

Koenma finally saw his opportunity, when Shinobu held the pacifier in his hand, and activated the Ma Fū Kan spell. The cage that formed around the Spirit Detective of ages past contained his powerful sacred energy and decimated all of the low-class demons attempting to get out of the gate. The blinding blue light cause everyone to look away as the Ma Fū Kan filled the entire cavern with its awesome aura.

"Shinobu! No!" Itsuki shouted, clenching his hands together, the first time the demon had grown concerned about the going-ons since the beginning of their operation.

"What's his problem?" Kuwabara yelled at the others, the noise of the Ma Fū Kan drowning out all but the loudest of speech.

"He's dying." Itsuki said under his breath, "He would have been dead in two months anyway and it's all he wanted but to die in Demon World. If it has come to this...I will take him there myself. To die in peace." The green-haired demon blipped out of the Uraotoko and into the cage that Shinobu found himself unable to get free of, even though the interior of the cage had begun glowing a golden color.

Wrapping his arms around the tall, lanky man, Itsuki murmured reassurances into the dying Shinobu's ear and took the both of them out of sight.

Koenma stood with his mouth hanging open, the cage still in place and energy connecting him with it, but no form or shape inside the cage.

"WHAT?" Yusuke yelled, "I WAS READY TO DIE AND EVERYTHING!"

And Koenma had been ready to be the former Spirit Detective's eternal jailer.

Koenma grimaced, the strength of the Ma Fū Kan still flowing before him. "_I can't waste it, then. I've got to send it on before it becomes too much!" _

Pulling his arm back to his side, Koenma grunted as he gathered his thoughts, then yelled and shot his arm forward again, this time aiming for the hole that lead into Demon World.

The Ma Fū Kan expanded and netted itself across the entire hole, gathering the Human World dimensional fold around itself and leaving no trace that the hole ever existed.

Breathing heavily, Koenma slowly lowered his arm as the hole disappeared, his pacifier hanging in mid-air at the location until the very last drop of the hole was gone before splashing down into the water, its work finished.

The ones left inside the Uraotoko stood in shock until Kuwabara found himself.

"That's it? You mean we're...done?" He almost couldn't believe it.

"I...I believe so. To be honest, I did not exactly expect this result." Kurama admitted.

"Ha, ha! Well I didn't doubt it for a moment! I knew we were going to win!"

"You're a fool." Hiei growled.

"I hate to be the one to bring this up," Seaman started to speak, "But how exactly were we planning on getting out of here?" 3

Akari lay on the side, facing the rock walls of the cavern, barely conscious. Her eyes were open but she didn't quite see the surface in front of her, her mind rapidly going numb and all thoughts fading. She had listened to the past few minutes with as much energy as she could, only barely recognizing what was going on as her mind was becoming more and more clouded by the second. Her energy was tapering slowly as the darkness threatened to consume her, though she resisted with everything in her power.

_This is exactly how he wanted it, _she thought numbly, her eyes sliding closed in her own defeat. _Of course he wouldn't have let me live. _

Her mind let those thoughts slip away as her ears listened to the sudden silence in the cave. Dimly, she made out the voices of the people trapped by Uraotoko, though she wasn't sure if she was imagining their conversation or simply zoning into something to keep her conscious.

In the back of her mind, she knew they were trapped within the shadowy dimensional beast, but it took a few moments for her brain to actually _realize _that concept. At the same time, she realized that she had been left here alone, one of the remaining few from the actual group still alive, even if barely so. _And not for long. _

Sensui had left her to die, even kicked her aside like a piece of trash on the side of a road. _I was never important. Never an Ace…_

Just another pawn.

_Itsuki is with Sensui. Uraotoko is still here, despite his loyalty._

_Why? _

Akari attempted to move, to roll over, but she only managed a small sound of pain that she doubted even the demons would hear. She made the same attempt again, but only managed to let her arm fall from her side and hit the dirt ground, causing more pain to rocket through her being and the darkness at the edges of her vision to explode into stars, which were replaced with more darkness than before. The pain was remarkably similar to her days with the Black Black Club, yet she knew it was nothing like then. Nothing compared to the scars that marked her now exposed arms and shoulders, and the few scars that were seen through rips and tears in her shirt.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. _I may have caused a lot of turmoil, and Sensui may be gone and leaving me to die, but… _

Her eyes slid open once more and she gave a small sigh. _No one deserves to be shackled forever, especially to someone who isn't coming back… He deserves the freedom I never gave myself…_

_As do the rest. It's the least I can do before I die._

Akari took a deep breath, ignoring the pain of reopening wounds and throbbing pain of broken bones, her mind focusing on the very last of her energy, deciding that instead of it working to heal her, it would be used as a sort of apology. She closed her eyes again and created one last illusion, immersing herself and Uraotoko in the illusion.

The image was simple; Akari stood in front of the lake, unharmed and smiling at Uraotoko. Her hazel eyes were soft despite the anger she had harbored for over a decade. She had reached her resolve, and she had come to terms with her own state of being. With her own demise.

Now, she would do the last thing she could to show that she regretted the past decade.

"Hello again, friend," she said to the shadow beast, who turned his eyes onto her in what seemed to be surprise. It's eyes shifted to her body that lay in the background, something she hadn't filtered out of her vision. "I don't have much time, so I'll be quick." She took a deep breath, feeling the energy she was using tapering off much quicker than she had anticipated.

"Itsuki is gone now, so you no longer need to stay here. You are not controlled by him anymore. You can return to your life doing as you please. You deserve it." She paused at the sound the dimensional beast made in curiosity. She tilted her head only a bit to convey that she was paying attention.

He made another sound that sounded like nothing but babbling, but Akari knew it was an older form of shadow dialect.

"Yes, I'm saying that you are free to go," she clarified, but quickly held up a hand. "However, before you go, may I ask a parting favor?" He lifted a corner of his lips to convey his response. "Please release your captives before you go. It is the last thing I ask of you."

Uraotoko opened his mouth, his words inquiring of the next time they'd talk. Akari merely smiled, though her expression was forced. "Soon, friend. Soon."

And with that, she waved as the rest of her energy dissipated, making the illusion basically collapse and disappear, as if it had never existed.

Back where she lay, Akari felt her lips turn into the very smile she had shown the dimensional beast as his voice echoed in the cavern with his release of the people he held. And then, all was dark, and Akari was left floating in a sea of numb blackness. _*****_

~!**!~

Toddler Koenma shuffled together a group of the papers on his desk in an attempt to straighten them, "Well, nothing ever stays quiet for long, but I would definitely say the success of this mission ought to give us some peace for a while. Great work, team."

Kurama, Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Hiei stood around Koenma's office back in Spirit World, Toriko standing awkwardly behind them all, not sure of what to make of the situation or her surroundings.

"How's it coming, Botan?" He leaned over the front of the desk to try and get a look at the blue-haired Grim Reaper who sat on the ground with the body of the girl demon they brought with them out of the cavern.

"She's very injured, Koenma-sir." Botan's voice sounded strained. "But I think I'm getting through."

"Good. Let me know as soon as she starts to open her eyes."

"Why'd we hafta bring _her_ with us." Kuwabara grumbled, "It's not like she's done us any favors."

"On the contrary, Kuwabara," Kurama said quietly, "I believe she is the reason the Uraotoko let us out in the first place. And that's more of a favor than either Hiei or I did for you at the time Koenma decided to instate us as part of your team."

"Yeah, but, at least you were doing something to try and help your mom." Kuwabara continued. "All _she's_ done is antagonize us for no good reason."

"No reason that _you're_ aware of, fool." Hiei sneered.

"Wait, she's gonna be part of the team?" Yusuke protested.

"I believe that is the only logical reason as to why Koenma would have had us grab the body before we left." Kurama eyed Koenma now, who was shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Well, um, yes." Koenma laughed nervously, "Even demons need a chance at redemption every now and then, eh?"

Toriko perked up at his words, regarding the toddler-prince in a different light.

"Okay." Botan finally heaved a large breath, lowering her arms. "I think she's coming around. Give it another minute or two."

George stumbled through the walls of the office carrying a chair and rope, "I'm not really sure why you needed this stuff, Koenma-sir. But here it is!"

"Took you long enough!" Koenma scowled, "Now, get the girl and tie her up." He gestured at the demon still passed out on the floor.

George looked back and forth from Koenma to the girl, "Do what?"

"Pick up the girl," Koenma said slowly, his temper rising, "Put her in the chair, and tie her to it."

George made soft noises of protest as he moved towards the girl, "Sometimes I just don't understand you, Koenma-sir."

"You aren't _supposed _to understand me, ogre. You're just supposed to follow orders."

"Yes, sir." George was easily able to lift the girl and place the chair down in front of Koenma's desk, putting her in it and tying her up as her head lolled around in the moments before waking.

"Now, everyone, come here," Koenma motioned for all those in the room to come forward, "Where she will see you when you wake up. On either side of the desk now, thank you. Yes, that's it." He encouraged them as they did so, "And put on your best frowny-face. Let's see what she does when she wakes up." He shifted his own expression to neutral and waited for the demon to open her eyes. 3

Akari felt odd, drifting in this state of darkness the way she was. She didn't have any thoughts that were meaningful, only small thoughts about things such as the time, how long she'd been like this, and others. Her most recent thought was the only one she lingered on:

_This isn't how the rumors of death go._

She wasn't sure what she had expected, but definitely something other than this. The rumors of her life flashing before her eyes seemed nothing more than that, rumors. However, she did know one thing that wasn't happening, and it left her confused.

There was a Spirit World, everyone knew that. Everyone also knew that once you died, you would visit King Enma's son for placement. Yet, here she was, floating in this odd state of being that even she didn't know how to define. She didn't feel as if this were _death_, but was it really life either?

All at once she could feel the discomfort of a continuous twinge of pain through her body and, internally, she winced.

_Wait, there isn't pain in death, is there? _She tried looking around herself, but still she only found darkness with the occasional twitch of her muscles and the oddest sensation of something tightening around her abdomen, arms, and her wrists. She felt awareness creeping in and became aware of the restrictions, which brought her to realizing she hadn't actually died after all.

Slowly, she began hearing a voice. It was a small voice, and it sounded rather funny to her. She couldn't make out any words, but soon enough, she was able to feel the sensation of artificial light on her eyelids, warming them only slightly. Several things hit her at once, all ranging from pain caused by the position she was sitting to curiosity of the voice she could now clearly make words from. It was only a few words, but it was clear that someone was waiting on someone else to awaken. Was it her being waited on, or someone else?

Akari took slow stock of herself before making any movements, any indication that she was awake. She found that for the most part, she had been healed of any dire wounds, which left her a bit confused and, admittedly, breathless with shock. Her head pounded only slightly, and she found she was not fond of the material she was bound by to the chair she only just realized she was sitting in.

Finally thinking it was time to figure out what was going on, she let her eyes slide open. Immediately her eyes burned from the intense lighting, causing her to blink rapidly until her vision cleared. The silence in the room made her look up, lifting her head to meet the eyes of several people. For a moment, she merely met their gazes, and then her thoughts caught up to her and she realized where she was. _Oh hell. I'm not dead. _Her expression shifted from confused to sudden neutrality, feigning the calm she didn't feel even in the slightest. _This… sucks. _She had accepted her death, even welcomed it, and now here she sat, bound by ropes to a chair, very much alive and feeling discomfort. Part of her was angry for having been robbed of her own acceptance, but another part of her felt… grateful. For the moment, she wasn't exactly sure which part of her won over, so she merely feigned calm...

Finally, she spoke.

"You know, if you're going to tie someone up, at least make sure they can tie a decent knot," she said, wiggling her arms to show the loose ropes. However, she made no move to rid herself of them. After all, she was outnumbered and felt much too tired to do anything. "Also, there's no point in tying someone who is without energy."

Slowly, she met the gaze of the red-eyed demon, Hiei, who was staring at her with flashing orbs, as if her words had issued a challenge. Then her eyes roved, meeting everyone's gaze in turn before meeting the toddler's gaze. "I assume you are Koenma," she inquired, raising a brow as she slid lower into her chair, more for her own comfort's sake than anything else. "While most would appreciate the gesture of life, I find that I do not much appreciate being brought back for something of this nature. Even if I wanted to fight, I'm outnumbered and have nothing to fight with." *****

Not wishing to appear badly in front of this potential new recruit, Koenma resisted given George a good whack for not tying the demon up properly, but he could feel his jaw clenching around his pacifier and a vein somewhere near his forehead twitching with annoyance.

"You're not here for a fight." Koenma began, "Or at the very least, not here to fight with us."

"Though I'm sure we could provide you a weapon if you have a death wish." Hiei scowled.

Koenma raised a hand to stay Hiei from further remarking. "No, I'm afraid you don't really have a choice in the matter. I had you brought back and you owe me the debt of your life. In exchange, you are going to serve with Yusuke alongside the others in his job as a Spirit Detective."

At that news, the room erupted into arguments, with Yusuke being the loudest protester along with Kuwabara. Botan voiced her opinion along with George, but the three other demons remained quiet, Hiei closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall in the midst of matters that did not pertain directly to him, and Kurama never moving his gaze from the demon in the chair, his expression giving away nothing of his feelings on the matter.

Toriko didn't really understand any of what was going on, as even her thoughts of Spirit World lay far back in the recesses of her mind among other darker secrets she tried desperately to suppress.

The thing most worrisome to her at the moment was the close proximity of Hiei, who stood on the same side that her, Kurama, and Botan had moved, with George, Kuwabara, and Yusuke on the other side of Koenma. After his strange behavior in the Game Master's cavern, Toriko felt grateful for his lack of interest in her as she hadn't really known what to do at the time. If things had gone her way, she would have been safely back at home as soon as the whole situation with Sensui had been cleaned up. Still, she regarded him tentatively out of the corner of her glasses, careful that he did not see her watching. 3

Akari listened to the commands of Koenma, for a few minutes her brain unregistering the meanings behind them. She simply watched him with a raised brow, choosing to ignore the comment from Hiei and the sudden shouting from the two human boys in the room. If she had had demon ears, they likely would have been turned backwards in irritation and pain from the volume change in the room. And, once her mind too caught up with the conversation, realizing the meaning behind Koenma's words, her expression shifted.

Hiei took note in the change in the female who sat tied in the chair. He found himself quietly amused at the expression that blossomed across her features: a mixture of surprise, confusion, anger, and several other emotions. Her lips had turned downwards and her eyebrows had pulled together, her eyes widening to saucers. Her body had tensed in her slouched position, and he thought he saw the skin near her forehead move at about the time the two fools began yelling at Koenma. _Almost as if she had ears atop her head. _his mind whispered, and he glanced over at Kurama, curious if his comrade had caught the motion. As his eyes shifted, he realized Toriko was standing silently beside him, her eyes cut to the corners. He merely stared at her for a moment before giving a scoff and turning his attention back to the girl who had begun shifting in her chair, obviously unhappy.

"Let me get this straight," Akari spoke, though she doubted Koenma heard her over the loud protests in the room. "You healed me to simply have me as a slave?" Her stomach churned, her mind calling forth the very same thoughts she had had about Sensui a few weeks ago: _This is not how it's supposed to go. This isn't right. I do not accept this. _She clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes at the prince as her own thoughts repeated themselves, her own words of being used the same way again striking her anger. "If that is the only reason, then perhaps you should have let me die, because I have no desire to serve someone merely because they believe they did me a favor by saving my life."

"That can be easily arranged," Hiei spoke up again, not caring what Koenma said this time. He felt that this was useless and a waste of time.

Akari merely glanced at him, but didn't meet his gaze before turning a hard stare back to Koenma, trying to hide the shake from her voice as she spoke again. "I am not a mere pawn for your desired use." *****

The noise in the room died down as the demon continued speaking and by the end of her speech, Koenma's eyes were narrowed, having heard every word, "If that is truly how you feel, then I will personally arrange for your death post-haste."

He cleared his throat, "Let me make it perfectly clear that I _**do not need you**__._ As you can see," here he gestured to indicate either side of him, "I have more than enough employees in my service, and my offer to you is not one of necessity, but rather one of compassion. As it stands," Koenma shuffled through some of the papers on his desk, "The penalties against you for assisting Sensui in his mad plot to destroy the earth as we know it lands you some pretty hard time in Hell upon your death. If you are interested in the position that I am offering you, perhaps we can come to an agreement of some sort as to the length of that time, to the point of negating it entirely should you work hard and earn it."

Here he looked back up at her, "However, if you mean to throw my words back in my face, may I remind you that you _**are**_ speaking with the Prince of the Spirit World, and while I have given you some slack up to this point because of the uniqueness in your case, my mercy is not everlasting and it is at my behest to withdraw my offer at any time I see fit."

He produced a writing utensil from somewhere and pushed both it and a sheet of paper in her direction towards the end of his desk.

"This is a contract stating that when you have served your time under me in an equivalent amount as to negate the demands of Hell on your person, you will be free to do as you please. It also states than any wrongdoings committed during your time as my employee will still count against you, and after the third misdemeanor on your part, the contract will be null and void, releasing you from the protection of the Spirit World, as well as my service, and immediately forfeiting your soul into Hell for the duration of your sentence as it stands now plus the three strikes against you. It also goes on to say that once the contract has been fulfilled, you will be free to do as you please, no longer under protection of Spirit World or myself, with a clean slate. All former crimes forgotten. At that point, any wrongdoings will of course tally up once more against you in preparation for your death and you could obviously land yourself right back where you started should you choose to do so. As a gestured of good faith..." Here Koenma pulled back the contract and signed it first, "I am officially obligated to stick to the letter of the contract as it stands now should you choose to accept."

He pushed it back to the edge of the desk and steepled his fingers to await her answer, "Are you interested? Or should I prepare for your immediate departure to Hell?" 3

Akari immediately silenced herself when Koenma spoke up, his tone and expression very easily conveying that she had struck a nerve with her words. Normally, she would have sneered in a situation similar to this, but at this moment in time, she did not feel very amused about the reaction she had received, especially as the prince went on about the possible duration of her time she would spend in Hell, if she so desired it. That had struck a chord in her being, causing her to listen to every word he spoke and re-evaluate her position and her thoughts on the matter. Which would she prefer? Hell for a very unmeasurable amount of time (or at least it would feel like), or simple service for a few years until she was home free? As he continued to lecture, getting his point across very easily to the female, she found herself sitting up much straighter and working out of the loose ropes that bound her to the chair in which she sat. When she was comfortably unbound and sitting on the very edge of the chair, she let her eyes follow the motion of his pen as Koenma himself signed the contract, and she silently began reconsidering her thoughts.

On one hand, she had practically already died, but this would be the second time in her life she had been cheated of death. But, would it be the second time she be used as a pawn to simply be thrown away at the end of their game? Would this time yield the same results as the last time she found herself in a situation rather similar? Would it be worth it?

_You're already sitting here, alive. _she told herself, her lips twitching as the gears in her mind twisted in thought, her eyes glued to the paper in front of her. _The Prince of Spirit world cannot merely use someone and them have them erased, like Sensui could. But, how long would I be under his every command? How long would I serve his every whim? Surely no longer than the life of the two humans of the group, right? _

Koenma's question brought her back into the room mentally, and her brown eyes shifted from the paper to the two humans who stood on the side. They were rather young humans, but as a demon, the lifespan of a human went by much faster than it appeared it would. It wouldn't even be a dent in the time that could span across a demon's life. She shifted her gaze to the other members of the team, eyeing them as her mind came to its own conclusion that completely went against her earlier statements. No matter how much she didn't like being saved simply to become a member of the very team she had antagonized, she found that the idea of Hell was much less appealing.

Her eyes met Koenma's, her expression slowly reverting to calm once more. "All I have to do is respond to your every whim, and then I am free? No catch, no loophole?" By now, her expression gave no trace of her thoughts, of her feelings. She gave a brief sound that, normally, would have resembled a sigh, but she cut the sound off before it had been completed. She stood and stretched her weak and tired muscles, her lips sealed to keep any sound from leaving them. And then she merely stepped forward and leaned over the paper, forcing herself to sign the contract swiftly before her mind changed itself. As soon as the last letter was formed, she let the pen fall to the wooden surface and she stood up straight once more, ignoring any lingering twinges of pain. "Now what, _**sir**__?" __*** **_

Koenma immediately perked up and reached for the pen and paper, inspecting the name at the bottom briefly before handing them both over to George for safekeeping.

"Well, for the moment, you're free to go! My employees occasionally get to have a vacation-"

"Going back to school does not a vacation equal." Yusuke grumbled.

"Yeah." Kuwabara chimed.

"A vacation," Koenma glared at the boys, "From my services. From the protection of Human World. To get back to your lives." He turned to the demon in front of his desk, "Akari, is it? You'll be free to wander about Human World as you please, though your access to the Demon World is obviously barred, as stated in the contract. When I require you, I will get in contact with you, most usually through Botan, here." He gestured at the blue-haired Grim Reaper beside him. "But for now, I think the aftermath of Sensui's rampage will take care of itself. Do you have any other questions before Botan takes you all back?"3

Akari stayed silent, even after Koenma explained the 'vacation' that his team normally took. The only thing that rang in her mind, but she didn't say aloud, was _where would I go? _She hadn't exactly done much in the Human world. When it came to the subject of where to stay, Sensui always kept her close by; she practically lived with him and Itsuki. She had remained indoors for the longest of time, simply to gain his trust that she wouldn't cause him any problems. And then, when the leash had been loosened, she had still stayed nearby, never really leaving the apartment he had resided in unless he asked a favor of her.

At Koenma's words of Sensui's aftermath, it took everything for her not to cringe. Instead, she simply crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head no, that she had no questions. She'd figure it out on her own, and in the meantime, would stray as far as the prince would allow her. _I suppose I could become more acquainted with the Human world. Perhaps even mingle with the human populace until it is no longer necessary… _*

~!**!~

Settling back into a routine was a lot harder than Toriko thought it would be. Her class work seemed a little duller, her classmates even more so. She avoided any of them as much as possible, and they all seemed to respond as much the same, staying farther away from her than usual. Even when she, on the rare occasion, worked on furthering her abilities with Kurama, her progress seemed frustratingly slow, her fear of truly seducing him still keeping a powerful hold on her body and mind, locking her energy away at every turn. After that one beautifully satisfying moment with her cat, Maneshi, she never seemed to be able to capture his attention again, getting stuck with severe glares he sent in her direction any time she tried.

It was on one such particular day, when both a session with Kurama and then her solo attempts with Maneshi had left her in a much deeper depression even than usual, that she had been forced to shop for groceries if she wanted to eat anything for dinner, having put off the chore for as long as possible as was her usual habit. Her depression was not so overwhelming that she could not move from one spot, and on the contrary she found herself ravishingly hungry, coming out of the store with more bags and packages than was likely necessary, her stomach roiling and squeezing in protest as the sights and sounds of the grocery had left her in an even more agitated state of hunger than before. It wasn't as if the bags were particularly heavy, she wasn't human after all, but her small stature did pose a slight problem in how well she could see around her parcels, so much so that she didn't see the man until she already ran into him.

"Whoops!" His pleasantly tenor voice spoke up as they collided.

Toriko managed to keep a good hold on most of the food, but a few toppled off the top and she made a noise of dissatisfaction as she felt their weight shifting out of her grasp.

Fluidly, the gentleman in front of her swept the falling packages into his arms.

"My apologies!" He cried, sending a half-bow in her direction, the packages securely contained in one arm, "I was so busy enjoying the beautiful day that I was not watching where I was going. I hope you're not injured?"

Toriko's glasses had gotten askew somewhere in the shuffle and she kept her eyes at the ground until she could shift the parcels she still held around enough to slip them back up her face, finally looking up to take in the man now beside her.

His expression was one of concern as she had not answered his question yet, and she shook her head, slightly in awe of his platinum blonde hair and vibrant purple eyes and feeling speechless next to him.

"That's wonderful! I'm so glad." He stood at least a foot taller than her, though the food she held almost reached his chin. "Allow me to assist you." Before Toriko could make any indication to the contrary, he relieved her of at least the top half of the groceries. "I hope you don't have far to go!"

Toriko shook her head again, feeling very uncomfortable with social situations in general and even more so with this almost over-exuberant stranger.

"Lead the way then!"

For some reason, the fact that she didn't seem to need to say anything to him comforted her, if only a little, and she started to continue down the sidewalk, the man falling into step beside her.

Toriko concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, but the man seemed more inclined to chatter on, and he did so.

"Are you cooking for your whole family? That's a lovely gesture for you to buy the groceries and cook the meal. Didn't anyone else offer to go with you? This seems like a terribly large amount of food. Is it for the whole week? That probably is the more efficient way to shop. Looks like enough food for a whole week at least!"

Toriko only half-listened as he yammered on, appearing no more or less satisfied when she did not attempt to interrupt him with answers to his questions, not even pausing in between each one to take a breath before jumping off onto the next thing that came to mind.

He didn't even appear to notice when Toriko got up to her front door and put her packages down by her side to fish the keys out of her pocket, though after unlocking it she hesitated and he did finally take notice.

"Oh! We're here!" He frowned a bit. "Do you live by yourself?"

She nodded, turning the knob to open the door just enough that she would be able to elbow her way in while her hands were full, turning to him and casting her eyes down at the ground, but holding her arms out for the groceries he held.

The man had grown quiet just long enough for the silence to seem strange after his non-stop nonsensical jabber from their run-in until now.

His brow was turned down over his purple eyes, though Toriko sensed only concern and not any malice in his expression.

"Do you go to school?"

"Meiou High." Toriko said quietly.

The look he gave her was unreadable, but she held out her arms more adamantly.

"Oh!" He laughed and broke his somber expression, "Yes, sorry. I wasn't expecting you to invite a complete stranger into your home." He gently gave the groceries back, "And very smart of you too." He winked. "You're a very pretty girl."

Toriko swiftly turned away from him as a blush shot up her neck to her cheeks, easing her front door open as quickly as possible.

The man just laughed at her again and gave a wave as he started to turn to walk back down to the sidewalk.

Toriko whipped back around just as suddenly, almost losing control of her packages again.

"Th-thank you!" She called, feeling obligated to maintain some semblance of Human World normality.

He waved again from the end of her walkway, "Just promise me you won't buy as many groceries next time!" He grinned and continued down the sidewalk before she could respond.

Toriko stepped quickly inside the door to put the groceries down, picking up the pile she sat down first and bringing them in as well, shutting the door behind her and locking it before slipping off her shoes and scurrying to the kitchen to begin putting things away. 3

For the past couple of weeks, things had been peaceful, just as Koenma had said it would be. The humans had continued about their clueless lives and the team had all but disbanded, getting back to whatever they were doing before the end of the world scenario that had been forced upon them. Like usual, Hiei had been simply roaming around, sometimes staying in the warehouses south of town and sometimes just wandering through the shadows of the town.

Occasionally, like today, his curiosity would get the better of him, and he'd take a look at what everyone else was up to. He'd watch the humans filter in and out of large buildings that Kurama had referred to as schools, looking like nothing more than livestock as they came and went. He would reside in one of the trees that skirted the school grounds and watch, seeing if he could figure out the daily routine of some of the people inside and, occasionally, see what the members of Team Urameshi were up to. Eventually, he'd end up bored out of his mind and walk away, only to return when nothing else piqued his interest.

For instance, at this very moment, he was stretched languidly on one of the branches of a tall tree nearby a house of a familiar person. His eyes were closed and he was on the brink of slumber when the hubbub of the human life picked up, the noise on the streets increasing in volume as groups of children ran amok and, with their friends, made evening plans that in no way involved whatever they were supposed to be doing. He hadn't moved other than opening a single eye to watch the groups of people. He'd taken to sitting in the spot recently, more on a whim than for any specific reason.

For a while, he simply stared, as if he were, for once, interested in their desires, their thoughts, their means of amusement. However, the concept perished as he saw Toriko lumber down the sidewalk, a couple of bags in her arms and an unfamiliar person by her side, obviously helping her carry the heavy load. At first, he thought nothing of it; he had seen this at least a hundred times with the humans. While most people would walk by a girl who had too much to carry, there was almost always one person who thought to be the hero and offer their strength, their assistance.

But something bothered him. So much so that he moved just a fraction to sit up, back against the bark of the tree and both eyes keenly watching the male, energy hidden like always. He was chattering, like any human would do. However, he silenced abruptly, and that caught Hiei's attention much more than anything else. His ruby eyes were narrowed as he witnessed the blond's lavender irises moving to the ground.

_Purple is not common on this plane of existence. Not even with false coloring techniques. _He watched carefully, momentarily considering what could happen next; it was odd how he felt no threat from the male who seemed so disappointed in not being invited inside. So, even as he retreated, Hiei kept his eyes close on the person until he was out of sight.

~!**!~

Akari had been doing the same thing for the past few days. She'd been too pent up in the building she had taken over to stay any longer. After all, she didn't much care for sitting in one place anymore. So, she walked the streets, amongst the humans. They seemed uncaring of her existence, as if she actually belonged or perhaps wasn't even there. But occasionally, she would be stopped and questioned, always by men in uniforms who had seen her pass by multiple times. Each time, she had successfully waved them away with a calm explanation of searching for a certain store, and they would point her in the direction they thought she needed to be.

As she walked, she kept a close eye out for those men, making sure she slipped unnoticed out of their sight. Once, she wandered into an alley where a group of men had assembled, and each had told her to get a move on. When she had done as instructed, clearly uninterested, they had taken it as some sort of challenge. They had charged, spitting threats about her telling no one about what she saw, or they'd "end her life". She'd been tempted to fight them, but just as the thought had crossed her mind had Koenma's words echoed in her ears. Instead, she had merely disappeared from their sight, turning and running around the corner before she jumped high onto the rooftops. At least it hadn't been larger than a one-story building. Afterward, she had taken a short nap in the park, unbothered.

Now, she walked the street with a companion on her heels. She glanced back at the canine and eyed the pup wearily as it wagged its tail and yipped at her, its tongue lolling to the side. She gave a sigh; she'd been trying to get rid of it for some time. Yet it always ended up right behind her. "You're hopeless," she grumbled to the dog, earning another yip. Perhaps if she went into the nearest store, it would leave an-

"Hey! No pets in the shops!" A man called to her, making her stop halfway through the glass door of a clothing store. "You should read the signs before entering," the man continued as he approached. As soon as Akari laid eyes on him, she felt irritation blossom in her entire being. "Didn't I see you yesterday?"

Akari released a small sigh; the same police officer twice in a row? What luck she had. "Yes sir. People do leave their homes, correct?"

The look on his face was nothing more than false calm, his eyes betraying the slight exasperation. "Yes, except you're out during school hours. Aren't you supposed to be in class?" He crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow. "You're too young to be out of school."

"I was sent on an errand."

"Where's your uniform?"

"I've changed."

"What school do you attend?"

"Does it matter?"

"Do your parents know you're out on your own?"

"I live alone," Akari retorted, her irritation now completely evident in her tone and expression. She had never been a fan of the 20 questions game.

"Where do you live?"

"Currently on the outskirts of town. I walk each day."

"I think you're lying to me."

"I believe you are paranoid."

At that, the veins in his neck protruded, yet his expression stayed ever-so-calm anyways. "If you are not lying, then take me to your school so I can make sure that you were indeed sent for an errand. If you cannot do that, then I will be forced to-"

"Why trouble yourself? I am a mere child on an errand that could have been done by now. You're wasting both mine and your time."

The man clenched his teeth and took a step forward, now visibly showing his anger with her. "You are disrespecting an officer. It would be easier if you simply give me the information I asked for instead of dodging my questions."

Akari had finally had enough. For the moment, she didn't think Koenma would care if she simply used her energy to walk away from a situation, so she met his gaze full on. In her mind, she pictured the simplest of illusions: him standing before her, talking. And when she was sure it had taken effect, she stepped around him. Or at least, she had tried to. Instead, she ended up grabbed at the elbow and pulled back to where she had been standing, a growling dog at her side and an angry human in front of her. "I'm not done asking questions." _*****_

"Akari! There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." Kurama jogged the last couple of steps to end up beside the demon girl. He continued addressing her once he stood at her side, "I'm so sorry I was late coming to get you." He straightened to his full height and turned to the man. "Is there a problem here, sir?"

Akari felt her entire being tense as her mind processed what had happened, and she didn't have much time to think before Kurama was beside her, talking not only to her, but the officer as well. She only glanced at him, her expression quickly going blank and calm before she turned back to the officer, her mind making quick calculations. There was no way another person, another _human _had broken an illusion, not that quickly.

"You know this young lady?" The officer had released his grip and turned to Kurama, his expression still conveying irritation. "Mind explaining a few things for me? Students out before classes are over is prohibited." Akira scoffed and met his gaze again, trying once more to use her illusions, this time not breaking the eye contact. No reaction occurred, and he kept talking. "Are you family?"

Akira frowned and turned her head to the side, away from both people near her. "Hardly." she grumbled, not hiding her sulking. _What is wrong with me? _

~!**!~

Hiei eyed the small house for a moment, gears turning in his brain before he moved. In one swift motion, he was standing on the ground, looking around himself before turning back to the house. He eyed each window, each door, before he found one that would suffice. Like he would with any other team member, Hiei simply let himself in. How? Well, he simply hopped up onto the nearest window and sat on the windowsill, testing the glass and shaking his head slightly when it gave way, allowing him to slide inside. He glanced around the small bedroom only briefly before shutting the glass window and leaving the room. It didn't take him long to find his way downstairs, walking into the kitchen where he could hear Toriko bustling about.

"Care to enlighten me on your most recent guest?" he called, hands stuffed in his pockets as he stood in the threshold that separated her kitchen from her living room. *****

Toriko jumped at the sound of the male voice behind her, unexpectedly interrupting her focus and causing her hand with the knife to slip, slicing the side of her thumb open. She balled the thumb up in a fist to try and stop the blood that had already begun to spill over her skin a bit and whipped around, eyes widening as she recognized Hiei, though her fear did not decrease any at the recognition. Her one hand tightened absently over the knife she held as their eyes locked, Toriko feeling her energy shimmering over her uncovered eyes and tingling across her scalp.

"What do you want? How did you get in here?" Her voice was laced with the same energy, compelling him to answer, but she shivered and the moment died, the nakedness of her eyes in front of a near-stranger pulling her thoughts completely away from her questions so that she scrambled behind her for her glasses.

She finally turned away when she could not at first find them to place the knife next to the cutting board and snatch up the glasses, hurrying to slip them on over her eyes before facing Hiei again, a bit of her calm restored as she stood hidden behind the frames of her glasses once more.3

* * *

_Changed the strength of the Ma Fū Kan so that there would be no doubt about Sensui becoming captured in it, which lead to Itsuki losing his mind a bit and running off with the former Spirit Detective. As a result, Yusuke does not die (which means his Mazoku blood is not activated) and the subsequent Alternate Reality takes a different path than the canon universe. May I be the first to officially welcome you to our story!_

_Anyone who cares about the logistics of the spell (I'm one who cares, personally) Koenma's using: In the anime, it doesn't properly contain Sensui because Koenma used it to revive Gamemaster and thus reduced the power of it (all part of Sensui's plan). In our version I like to think that somehow Koenma and Kaito (who was carrying Amanuma) missed each other so Koenma did not get the chance to bring the boy back, though I would say Koenma later files a bit of paperwork to make sure Amanuma returns to the living or something. Mostly for Kurama's sanity if not our favorite Prince's at the very least, heheh._

Minoru \- to bear fruit; to ripen

Kazuya \- mass-produced arrows; arrows for target practice

Koenma – King Enma Junior  
King Enma (or Emma in Buddist terms) is also called Yama (king of the world of the dead, who judges the dead)

Ma Fū Kan – (wiki) Demon Seal Ring

Uraotoko – (wiki) a living dimension demon

Botan \- button  
or  
**1: **tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa); moutan;  
**2: **wild boar (meat)

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	4. (AU) Captured Saga :: Episode 89

**A/N:** Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction World!

There will be no update tomorrow because of it being the holidays in my country and I will be out of town! Expect daily updates to pick up again the next evening!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Koenma's Ma Fū Kan spell almost jailed Shinobu Sensui,  
but at the last moment Itsuki escaped with the dying antagonist,  
robbing Yusuke of his fight, but drawing the Chapter Black Saga to a close  
as Koenma transferred the spell onto the hole to Demon World and successfully closed it.

A day or so later and Toriko is followed home after grocery shopping by a mysterious stranger,  
one that Hiei finds suspect and subsequently drops unannounced into Toriko's home to interrogate her about,  
surprising her into slicing a knife through her thumb at his abrupt appearance.

~!**!~

Koenma has forged a contract with Akari that puts her in his employ as a Spirit Detective, much like Kurama  
and Hiei, and releases her into Human World until he has need of her, but being as she looks so young,  
a nosy human has caught her 'out of school,' and with her illusions not working it is Kurama  
who steps up to intervene...

* * *

"We are not related." Kurama found himself responding more quickly than he intended, though his distaste at the thought remained completely hidden within his mind.

"She is a new student at Meiou High School, and it was my responsibility to fetch her at home as she just moved into the area and does not know her way around. I am sorry to say that I neglected that duty and have been summarily punished by her teachers for it with rigorous after-school assignments, one of them being to catch her up on the work that she missed in the meantime. I apologize for any inconvenience upon your person, sir, but we need to return to the school grounds post-haste."

Kurama grabbed Akari's arm firmly, and as he turned to drag her with him, he hoped his glare at her would be sufficient enough to silence any protests she thought to make at their predicament, knowing their chances of slipping away would hinge on her willingness to cooperate through their charade.

"Come along, Akari. Let me explain the streets again."3

Akari held back the urge to rip her arm away from Kurama when he grabbed her, taking her off guard since she hadn't been paying much attention. She let him guide her, catching his glare and meeting it with equal intensity. Her irritation would have normally caused her to give a smart remark, but her mind was too stuck on what had happened to let her speak at all. So, she instead turned her eyes forward. She pulled on her energy, testing the hold she had on it. It seemed fine, completely able to be utilized. So why hadn't an illusion worked? Before long, she found herself grumbling aloud, incomplete sentences galore. "Perhaps it was…. No, that's not it…" Her eyes shifted periodically until she turned her gaze back to the male beside her, deciding she'd simply add to the burning bridge between them and test it again. Yet, she hesitated, and changed her mind. Instead, she tried it on a passing human child, who only continued skipping down the street merrily. Her eyebrows etched together and her eyes turned to the ground. She flexed her fingers, trying to discreetly toy with her own shadow. When she felt the power run through her body, she knew her shadow was morphed, even if just a little. _This isn't right. _As soon as she noticed that Kurama had lead her away from the officer, she pulled her arm away from him. "I appreciate your gesture, but I had the situation under control." She said as her eyes found another human, trying for the third time to create an illusion, which easily was seen to have been a failure. "I didn't ask for assistance."

She glanced down as the dog from a few moments ago hopped, his paws scratching against her calf as he yipped at her again. She sighed, closing her eyes in irritation. There was just no ridding her of the pest, and now she was with the redhead. It just wasn't her day.

~!**!~

Hiei felt slight amusement at Toriko's reaction, but not enough to show any evidence whatsoever to his inner emotions. He eyed her, eyes roving to the cut on her hand as the smell hit his nose. Rustic, metallic. A quieter smell compared to that of the blood of a demon. His eyes roved upwards to meet hers, surprised to see vibrant green orbs meeting his gaze. He held that gaze quietly, finding himself unable to break eye contact once she had spoken.

Immediately, he opened his mouth to answer, feeling as if he had no reason to hold back, no reason to not enlighten her of his entrance into the home in which she resided. "To your first inquiry, I noticed the male who walked you home. He's unnatural compared to the normal human do-gooder. I'm asking if you know him." He paused, watching her turn and fumble for her glasses. He followed her motions, momentarily wondering why she fumbled so desperately for the overly thick lenses. "Two, you left a window open." He didn't specify which one, since she didn't ask, but as he watched the female, a small part of him wondered why he had told her that when, had anyone else asked him, he would've simply brushed it off and waited for them to answer him first. *****

"I have no idea who he was." Toriko pushed her glasses farther up her face with the finger of her uninjured hand, answering his question with as much straightforwardness as he allowed her in a gesture of goodwill.

"I didn't ask for his help." She spat more angrily than she intended, "Nor did I particularly want it. Or need it." She coughed and regained her composure, her former depression bubbling out of her as anger. "Humans don't understand that as a general rule, I've found. So I just let him do as he wished." She shrugged.

Her eyes flickered towards the stairs at the other end of the kitchen beyond the cabinet Hiei stood near, her mind briefly working through the four rooms and bathroom upstairs. She never went in any besides her bedroom, and the bathroom's window was much too small for even her or Hiei to get through, narrowing down the options to the window in her room, which she ruefully remembered leaving open the majority of the time out of neglect, even when it rained. The fresh air kept the room a least a little less stuffy than she felt inside the house, a feeling she carried over from her days before Human World, she was sure, but a feeling she never chose to question for fear of an answer.

"Do you usually enter people's homes unannounced? Or is it just going to be something you reserve especially for me?" She turned back to her cutting board, not expecting an answer from the glowering fire demon behind her, glaring at her balled up fist and squeezing it tight briefly before opening it, glad to see that her non-human state had healed the wound quite nicely and she ran the digit under water and wiped it on her apron, returning to the strawberries whose stems she was removing.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Hiei had not moved, his arms folded over his chest.

"If you aren't leaving, grab me the bucket out of the freezer?" She nodded her head towards the refrigerator to her left, reaching above herself for a second bowl, on a whim intending to make a second ice cream dessert for Hiei, going back to cutting more strawberries so that the both of them would have enough.

~!**!~

Kurama took little notice of Akari's mumblings, refusing to release his grip on her arm until they were around the next corner of the block and out of sight of the man who stopped her.

At that point, he released her and straightened the jacket of his uniform, brushing off some invisible dirt from the hem and eyeing the dog who followed them with careful consideration.

"You're welcome." He provided without prompting, looking her up and down. "I do not think Koenma took into consideration how young you would appear to those of this World, otherwise he would have ensured your enrollment into a school of some sort. Hiei tends to keep to himself well enough, and could just wipe the mind of anyone bothering him if he decided to get caught. You must be having trouble with your illusions to not be able to slip away in a similar matter. That poses a problem."

He considered her again, "I would suggest you either permanently lie low or see to getting into a school." He paused. "If you choose the later, I suppose I could get you into Meiou High School rather easily. Though at the moment the only opening I can think of would be in my class, so we'd be forced to see each other every day. Toriko as well." He raised an eyebrow. "I don't suppose you're interested?"3

Akari's eyes narrowed at his ease of deduction of her situation; she never did well with people who seemed so easily able to figure her out. Out of habit, she merely shrugged a shoulder. "Even if I used an illusion, it wouldn't erase their memory. That sort of thing is not in my power." She had been told of this person's brain capacity, even witnessed it a bit in the cavern a few weeks ago, but she hadn't quite considered that she'd be dealing with it. "You expect me to simply sit inside four walls that happened to be cramped with people, all of whom I care less than nothing about?" Her retort wasn't anything special, nothing really out of the normality for her. However, her need to get away felt as if she was rushing herself, not thinking things through properly. "Why stay cooped up, indoors, when I can roam and do whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like?" She paused, offering a small sneer. "Don't worry, that doesn't include throwing children into traffic."

Again, she paused, thinking to herself. If she roamed, she'd be able to figure out what was happening with her energy. However, if she enrolled into a school, not only would she be around people she didn't care much for, but she'd have plenty of people to test on. Plenty of humans who were plenty susceptible to illusions, because of their own way they illusioned themselves from time to time. She ran her hand through her hair, as if doing so would brush away her headache and clear her mind. _I don't much like lying low either. That would mean completely isolating myself, in a warehouse or perhaps an old building, like I did last week. That's why I took to wandering in the first place. _She huffed. Getting enrolled into a school was not ideal, but staying inside was even less appealing. _It's all about what's less appealing now, huh? _"Would you prefer to keep watch over me, in your own territory? Don't get me wrong, it's not something I enjoy, but I'm practically bored out of my mind." Her eyes rolled first to the sky, then down to the dog at her ankles. It watched her as if it were waiting on her, as if she had something to offer. "Surely it will entertain me enough to…. _**keep me out of trouble, **_no?" The dog barked and hopped around her, causing a small sound of frustration. _Leave, _she thought as she glared at the animal, which, surprisingly, responded with a whine and a tucked tail. Its ears lowered and she stared even harder at it until it gave one last protesting whine and sat on its haunches. She cursed under her breath and turned an annoyed gaze to the redhead. "As much as I would prefer to not stay in your company, being in a place where I can observe humans and not be bored sounds much more appealing. Looks like we'll have to deal with each other more often than desired, unless you can manage a different school, but I doubt that."

~!**!~

Hiei raised a brow at Toriko's question. "Why go through the trouble of making one person feel special?" He retorted, more out of dry humor than to actually answer her question, though it did 'kill two birds with one stone', as the humans often said. He hadn't felt need to respond to her statements about the humans because, well, adding to them was pointless. His view of this plane of existence was surely easy to see, unless the person were a complete dolt. He cared not for the humans or this world, but for now, he had no reason to… what was the word he was looking for? Strike out against them, maybe? Hm, it didn't seem fit.

He stood in his spot, feet planted as he watched her curiously. Her hand moved with precision and skill, as if she'd done this particular thing a million times in her life. Of course, Hiei was fully aware of her demon blood, but not particularly her past. She hadn't seemed the cooking type. After all, she had hidden her gaze with lenses so thick, he had assumed they impaired her vision, rather than helped at all. As the thought crossed his mind, he began watching to see if such a thing was true. It seemed not, as her hand steadily moved the blade over the small fruit, slicing them into small bits with ease. How little he knew of her almost frustrated him, but at the same time, he didn't care enough to pry. He didn't care enough to snoop- at least, not as much as he had when he had seen Kurama. He watched her carefully, as if doing so would crack the code behind her, tell him everything he needed to know about this person who had so recently lumped herself in with the team.

Okay, maybe he was more curious than he let himself believe.

When she tossed a demand at him, he scoffed, for a moment acting as if she had no reign over him. However, he found himself complying. He turned and walked to the freezer, fetching the object she had asked for and setting it beside her before moving away. He planted himself comfortably in a chair, as if he had done so before, and took to looking around speculatively. "What on earth is that odor protruding from that…. thing?" he asked suddenly as his ruby gaze turned to the fruits. They smelled… odd. He wasn't sure what to think of them, their smell was so unique. It burned his nostrils, but interested him at the same time. _*** **_

For some reason, Toriko found herself more at ease around the crimson-eyed male, her mind not constantly reminding her that she was a danger to him seeing as how she knew he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Her nervous stammer hadn't manifested as of yet. It usually did because her thoughts were so hell-bent on protecting everyone else from herself that she hardly had time to consider her words before finding that she was expected to speak.

"You mean the strawberries?" She wanted to know, picking a whole one up and taking an experimental sniff. While her senses weren't quite at human level, after years of disuse and being forced to constantly be around the creatures who infested the planet with their wet sheep smell, they had dulled so she didn't go insane.

She tossed one over her shoulder at him without pausing to look. "Try it."

She cracked open the bucket of ice cream and scooped it into the bowls, giving them both a generous portion and then scattering the strawberries over the top, garnishing it with another, whole strawberry on the side of the scoops.

Toriko pulled out an extra spoon to slip into the extra bowl, gathering the two servings into a balance on her left arm while shutting the bucket and clicking the lid on tightly. The bucket went into the freezer as she reached Hiei in the chair at the table shortly thereafter and plopped a bowl in front of him.

Carrying her own into the chair across from him and promptly sitting down, she began to devour the dessert with fervor, not caring in the slightest what Hiei thought at that moment, her mind's depression compelling her to eat.

~!**!~

Kurama did not respond to Akari goading him with a comment about throwing a child into traffic, which he assumed she did strictly for his reaction.

"My suggestion at you entering Meiou High is less for my personal gain at getting to observe you in a closed environment, as invigorating as I'm sure that would be," He did nothing to hide his dry amusement at her even thinking that was his intention with the offer, "And more a thought as to your pending employment with Koenma. I would do it only because I believe he would have had me do it in the first place were his mind on task, not because I think that forcing you to be cooped up all day is the ideal solution to your problem."

Here he sighed slightly, "As to getting you into a different school, Meiou enrollment would certainly take up less of my time as the paperwork will be an extra breeze and it is unlikely you will not be accepted since you will be doing so at my behest." Here he moved off back in the direction of the school, assuming she would follow, "Just don't expect me to do your homework."3

A small sound of irritation managed to escape Akari's lips for what felt like the thousandth time today. As he droned on and on, or at least that's what it seemed to her, Akari felt tempted to simply walk away. Yet his comment had her standin there, crossing her arms over her chest, lightly tapping her fingers on her arms. She wasn't sure how she thought of this person matching her sarcasm and figuring her out, and then offering to enrol her in the school he attended. He almost seemed as if he was everywhere, a personality almost too large to comprehend- caring to those he worked with and completely cold with those he didn't, yet still seeming to offer assistance. She didn't know how to handle it just yet. So she stuck with what she knew. "Who knows, maybe you'll get a show," she sneered, shrugging her shoulders again. She disregarded anything else he said about enrollment, only having half listened anyways, but as soon as he turned to walk away, she raised a brow. _It isn't that he trusts me, but that he trusts his own capabilities. _This whisper from her conscious brought curiosity with it. Not many times before had she seen someone turn their back on someone who was considered an enemy, or disliked and distrusted in the very least. She huffed another big breath of air and decided to follow, as she assumed he wanted her to do.

She stayed silent a bit, watching his back as he casually strolled down the sidewalk. Part of her wanted to pick him apart, figure out what bothered him and use it, but another part of her recalled the cavern at Demon Door's Cave and shivered internally at the memory. She had sensed his demon energy from the start, yet it seemed no one had known what type of demon he was.

Suddenly, her brain caught up with her, registering the words he had said at least a whole minute earlier. Her expression turned sour, though her lips were curved upwards in mocking amusement. "Please, like I'd ask your help on simple paperwork." She paused, moving just a bit quicker to get only a tad closer, but not enough to be within arm's length of the redhead. "You're putting yourself on a pretty high pedestal, don't you think? You aren't a God."

~!**!~

Hiei raised a brow and glanced at the red fruit in her hand. He scrutinized it from the short distance and found that, at that moment, he wasn't interested in the food. At all. So, when she tossed it to him, he merely caught it out of instinct and stared at it. Again, he didn't know what to make of it, the smell or the appearance. He picked a seed from the outer layer and looked it over with a raised brow of uncertainty. He sniffed it again before giving in to curiosity.

Hiei sunk his teeth into the smallest bite possible, only taking a moment to figure out that it wasn't exactly an enticing treat, but it wasn't something he disliked either. He took another bite, this time taking a mouthful of the red object, and thinking harder about the taste. Bitter, yet kind of sweet. Odd, definitely. Different than anything else he'd eaten before. But he found himself popping the rest of it into his mouth with indifference. Once he had swallowed it, he registered that maybe he actually enjoyed the taste. So, when Toriko slid into a seat across from him and slid a bowl to him filled with the little red fruit called Strawberry, he picked a small piece out and ate it alone while his eyes and nose surveyed the frozen lump of cream-colored something in front of him. He raised a brow and looked up at Toriko, waiting for an explanation about what she had offered him. While he waited, he clasped the spoon and took a small sample of the frozen treat, carefully slipping the spoon into his mouth for the small sample.

The taste was almost an entire shock to Hiei. It was cold and sweet, something he hadn't exactly expected. It froze his teeth and throat, making him give a small cough of surprise and to glare at the bowl, as if it had actually harmed him. And then he turned accusing eyes onto Toriko, silently demanding an explanation for the shock of cold. _*** **_

Ravenously making her way through the treat, Toriko did not look up until she had scraped the end of her spoon at the very bottom in the hopes of getting the last liquid remains of the ice cream into her mouth.

As she sat back from the bowl into her chair, she pushed her glasses up from where they had fallen farther down her nose while she bent over the ice cream, only now taking stock of Hiei and his demanding glare.

"If you don't like it, I'm eating it." She made as if to reach over and take the bowl from him.

~!**!~

Kurama allowed his mouth to twitch into a small smile at Akari's remark, knowing she spoke only out of ignorance on the matter and not allowing himself to become ruffled at her comment.

"A demon not a god among humans?" Kurama mused, "Well, certainly not anyone lower than B Class." He knew perfectly well that her demon class was likely at the low end of the B spectrum at the very least, but he felt as if her arrogance on the matter needed to be met on equal ground or she would never learn. 3

Akari raised a brow at the redhead, unsure of how to react. Several thoughts came to mind, but she refrained for a moment before huffing. Then a sneer formed on her features. Amusement filtered through to the forefront of her mind and dominated her thoughts for a moment. The longer she kept her mouth shut, the wider her grin grew until she snickered aloud. "It's nice to think you're clever. Nice joke though. It actually made me laugh." She forced her hands into the pockets of her jeans as she walked, her expression swiftly shifting. "I'm not sure what you're playing at, but I am no lower than a B class. I thought that was evident, since not many people can create illusions for dimensional beasts." She paused, eyes narrowing at the back of his head. "Maybe I should've let him leave. It'd save me of this trouble, dealing with someone like you. Frankly, you piss me off."

The dog at her heels, which she had forgotten, growled in the direction of the redhead and she rounded on it, waving a hand at it in the calmest way possible. "Shoo, you pest." She hadn't realized that she'd said it in a low voice until s growl vibrated in her chest and the animal tucked tail and walked away. Without thinking much about it, she turned and continued walking, huffing lightly. "And quite frankly, as much as people say you're the smart one on the team of the new detective, I find your thought process closed off and bothersome." Another huff. "_Below B class, my ass."_

~!**!~

Hiei watched Toriko devour her bowlful of the extremely cold treat with a small glare, waiting expectantly. By the time she had raised her eyes to his, he had a bit of strawberry in his mouth, taking the safe route. While his mouth no longer stung from the odd sensation of the overly cold cream, he didn't chance another bite.

However, when she reached for his bowl, his glare darkened and he moved it just out of her reach, merely making his point by grabbing another strawberry bit and popping it into his mouth. He didn't threaten her, by any means, but he wasn't going to waste the strawberries she had cut up, especially since he found himself liking them the more he ate them. "What is this ridiculous substance," he inquired as he poked at the ice cream, watching it move around. Curiously, he chanced another bite, this time finding that it didn't cause sudden pain to his teeth or throat. At least, not to the intensity as before. It was withstandable now that he expected it.

He found that the sugary substance appealed to his taste, causing him to not only take another bite, but to actually almost _crave _the next one before he finished the current spoonful. And, when he decided to try something else and add the strawberry to the cream, he felt the perfect blend of taste. Before he knew it, he was staring at an empty bowl, curiously waiting for an explanation. _What is it and why do I crave more? __*** **_

"The humans call it 'ice cream.'" Toriko explained, "Though it always seemed more like 'sweet snow' to me. I think perhaps they use a type of dairy in the mixture and name it such." She found herself smiling at him as he stared at his bowl, recognizing his expression as she often wore it herself in regards to the dessert.

Before he could say another word, she swept their bowls up off to the counter with the intention of giving them both another serving.

"Do you want more strawberries too?" She called as she fetched the bucket once more from its place in the freezer and returned to the countertop to grab the ice cream scoop.

~!**!~

"Do not mistake me," Kurama said darkly as they continued down the sidewalk, "I find your presence as enjoyable as I did Elder Toguro's. And almost as trying. I don't think you yet realize how much I _do_ know about you, nor how open my mind truly is, but allow me to give you the smallest unadulterated taste of my non-judgemental observations."

He made a small motion to indicate the dog that slowly moved away from them in defeat. "You act as if you have no idea why that dog immediately took a liking to you, and yet I would have thought scars as deep as yours would be a constant reminder as to his avid interest in your person."

He went on without waiting for her reaction, "So, if you're done testing my thought processes, I suggest we get to the school quickly before the teachers leave for the day and we are stuck in one another's company tomorrow once more. I don't think either of us wish to remain in the other's presence for a minute longer than necessary."3

Akari felt the change in the redhead in front of her, felt the change in the air around him, and immediately the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she narrowed her eyes even further. The moment he began speaking, she felt a stir in her stomach that told her she'd picked a fight she wouldn't win. She'd gotten under his skin, just as she'd been trying to do all along, and his response was a complete blow. Her stomach churned and instinctively a hand moved to the top of her head, her fingertips tracing the scars atop her head. She snarled out of mere instinct, feeling backed into a corner even though she had put herself there. Her lips twitched, threatening to pull back over her teeth in an even louder threat that said he had crossed a very thin line. Yet, at the same time, another emotion pulled at the forefront of her mind, echoing in the very recesses of her mind. _I'd forgotten what it feels like, communicating with someone who cares not for my past nor my future. _She wasn't sure what the emotion was; shame or embarrassment, possibly, but her anger shadowed it entirely. Every inch of her being wanted to strike, wanted to show him that she did not enjoy a game of personal attacks, but she refrained, only allowing her snarl to fade off.

She took a deep breath and forced a calm expression, though her tone was anything but unwavering. "It's too bad I can't show you that pain. I'd gladly do so, though I'm sure not only would I end up in a fight that I am not naive enough to instigate, but I'd lose my life in the process. While you may not believe so, I do have things I wish to do, and being near any of you and your team is not on the agenda." She stuffed her balled fists into her pockets again, not really realizing she had been clenching them hard enough to draw blood until that moment. She felt the slightest bit of temptation to bring up the boy he had killed, Game Master, but something told her to refrain. And that is exactly what she did: silenced herself. If possible, she wouldn't say another word.

~!**!~

Hiei didn't react when the bowl was taken from him aside from following Toriko's motions. His mind lulled over the words that made up the name of the treat: _Ice cream, _he thought as he watched her grab the bucket from the freezer again. Like she had said, he didn't agree with the name. As she had indicated, it reminded him of sweetened snow. And he found himself fond of such a thing, such a concept. It had appealed to his taste buds and had tickled his throat once he got accustomed to the cold.

As Toriko spoke, he raised a brow at her, as if the question was unnecessary. Of course, he didn't expect her to see it with her back to him, so he responded with a simple response of what he thought, what he had expected. "Don't they go together?"

In truth, he had thought that the strawberries were _supposed _to go with the sweet snow. He had assumed that the strawberries were made for this very purpose: to accompany the sweet taste and slightly contradict it, yet add to the flavor at the same time. Obviously, he didn't know as much as he had thought he did. _*** **_

Toriko felt a trifle confused at Hiei's question, scooping more ice cream into their bowls. "You mean all the time? No." She began slicing the tops off more strawberries, feeling too impatient to enjoy more of the treat to do any more than slice them in half this time. "Though I suppose that means you want more?"

~!**!~

"I would not wish your circumstances on anyone." Kurama said truthfully after taking a large breath in an attempt to clear his emotions. "And I appreciate you not completely throwing my words back in my face. I did not mean to belittle your situation. I hope that your time under Koenma seems to pass in the blink of an eye." And he meant it.

Neither of them said a word as they made their way the next few blocks to the school. Kurama led her onto the grounds and wove his way through the corridors to where he knew the principal would be at this hour.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir," Kurama started to say when the older man did not take notice of them at his door immediately.

"Minamino!" The principal's face brightened, "What brings you here? Please, come in, sit down. Who's your friend?"

"Her name is Akari, sir. She would like to be enrolled at the school."

The principal sized the girl up for a moment, "Well, if she's here at your request, I don't see why we can't get the paperwork done. Let me dig around here and find it for you. You can attend immediately?" He aimed the last question at Akari as he got up to dig through one of the file cabinets.

Kurama glanced at Akari out of the corner of his eyes and nodded slightly to her in case she was not sure how to answer.3

Akari hadn't said anything to Kurama's words that were, in her opinion, as close to an apology as she would get, not that she wanted one. She had earned a comment, but hadn't been quick enough to expect something of that magnitude. So, she disregarded his words entirely and walked in silence the rest of the way. She took careful mental note of how to get to the building, and even more careful note of the inside when he lead her through the doors.

By the time they were in a small office, Akari had her expression under complete control, her hands at her sides calmly and her breathing normal all over again, as if nothing had happened on the trek up here. She stood to the side, close to the door in case she decided to change her mind.

Yet, when the elder man turned to her and inquired of her availability, she met his gaze evenly and nodded. "Of course. I've just arrived in town, so I'm searching for a school, and this one was recommended. I can appear as soon as you'll have me." She spared no glance to Kurama as she watched the man rifle through files upon files of work, the sound almost irritating her. "If I may ask, what time do classes begin?" she inquired, deciding to at least act like she was from a different area, more as a cover than anything else.

~!**!~

Hiei speculated the new information as he listened to her scoop copious amounts of ice cream into the bowls, his eyes following the motion curiously. It came out of the tub just as easily as he had thought it would, the substance being soft enough to simply abide by the whims of the person who desired it. When he heard her question, he closed his eyes calmly, as if he were suddenly tired, but in reality he was picturing the sweets from Demon world, all of which were nothing compared to this. "Indeed," was his lone response. He wasn't sure what he enjoyed more: the fruit or the sweet snow. _*****_

When Toriko turned around with their bowls and caught Hiei in his moment of thought, she paused in mid-step, appreciating the curve of his cheek and the line of his jaw, finding his appearance quite enjoyable and tilting her head slightly to the side as she stared, unabashedly appreciating the handsomeness of his face while he was not able to look back.

~!**!~

"You will be expected to be in your homeroom at eight-thirty a.m. sharp." The man found the pages he looked for and plopped them down on the side of the desk nearest to her.

"If you decide to pursue some of our extracurricular club activities, some of them have morning practices that require you to be on the grounds as early as seven, though I'm sure they'll tell you that should you be interested."

He sat back down behind the desk, "I imagine Minamino has already informed you that the only opening we have at the moment is in his class, so I'll leave it up to him to show you around. He's more than up for the task. I won't worry about your application being submitted before your attendance. If Minamino here vouches for you, I can't imagine finding a better student to fill the space. Just bring it with you in the morning and hand it directly to me. I'll take care of things from my end and make sure it's official before you set foot on the grounds tomorrow."3

Akari watched the man, nodding when it felt necessary here and there. Occasionally, she made a sound that meant she was listening, but her eyes were elsewhere, taking in the items in and on his desk as he had rifled through everything. However, as soon as the papers slapped onto the surface, she stepped forward with a small smile. "I'm sure," she began, part of her hating what she was about to say, "that Minamino is one of your top students." She felt that she'd complimented him, but it was the only way she could say she acknowledged what the man was saying about accepting her. It took everything in her power to keep a calm smile in place, so much so that she felt a bit of heat in her cheeks. "I'll have this to you first thing," she said calmly, glancing at the paperwork as she picked it up. Her eyes roved over them quickly, gathering some information before looking up again. "I look forward to the classes you have to offer." For a moment, she recalled a couple of kids walking down the street the day before, talking about a very specific school, and she mimicked their words easily. "I've heard much about this school and its high ranks. It will definitely be interesting."

The man smiled at her and suddenly held out a small bag, opening it up to reveal clothing materials. "There are several sizes in here. Take these home, and wear the one that fits you best to school tomorrow."

Akari nodded and accepted the bag, glancing inside for a brief moment. "Thank you." She glanced at the clock on the wall, as if it were significant to check the time. "Now, please excuse me, but I have somewhere else to run to really fast. Thank you for your time." For once, she offered her hand to be shaken and gave a small bow before turning and leaving the room, not caring to wait on Kurama, or _Minamino, _as the man had called him.

~!**!~

Hiei had glanced down without meaning to when he began recalling the different sweets in the demon world. He called several images in his mind of different treats he had indulged in during his free time there, whether he had stolen it or actually earned it did not matter. They had each had their own flavor, their own texture, and he had liked a few of them.

But none of them compared to the substance he found himself suddenly looking up and searching for. Instead, his eyes met Toriko's, and he watched her almost curiously. Her head was turned at an odd angle, as if trying to see something in a different light, and her lips were slightly parted in thought. He raised a brow at her.

"Is there something of interest I can help you with?" he asked, his tone even, as if he wasn't amused by something so small as the way she was watching him. _*** **_

Her eyes roved his profile, still appreciating the cut of his face, and when he turned to look at her, she didn't seem to register that there was anything wrong with how she let her eyes roam over his features, his crimson eyes giving away his real thoughts on the way she looked at him.

Safely behind the thick lenses of her glasses, a slight buzz trickled across her eyes and thrilled through her body as she continued for a moment longer to take in his lips, his hair, one set of fingers encircling a bowl twitching as the brief thought of running them through the spikes flashed over her mind before he spoke and broke the spell she placed on herself.

Just enough of the tingle in her body remained in that next second that she blurted out before she could think, "No. You are simply a remarkably attractive creature and I was briefly distracted."

Her own words sent the tingle dropping out of her toes suddenly and she lowered her gaze, a great nervousness replacing any sense of pleasure looking at him had consumed her with as she did so. "I-I'm sorry." She breathed as she put the bowl down in front of him in a clatter, immediately lowering herself into the chair next to him and burying herself into eating the ice cream as if it would distract her from the awkwardness she felt right then.

~!**!~

Kurama nodded briefly at the principal who just smiled as the redhead swiftly turned and followed Akari out the door, easily able to keep pace with her brusque speed as she found her way outside of the school.

"I admit I'm impressed." He intoned when they made it through the main doors. "I was going to offer to walk you here in the morning, but it appears you are quite capable of handling yourself. See in you class."3

Akari walked calmly through the halls, using small checkpoints she had noted as she passed on her way to the front doors. She ran a hand through her curls and took a deep breath, more than aware of Kurama following behind. And as soon as she stepped foot outside and he spoke, she paused for a mere moment. For a second, she glanced over her shoulder at him, her expression bored. "You didn't expect me to live with Sensui for a decade and not figure out how to make sure I got around, did you? Now _that _would be a stupid assumption." With that, she turned and walked away, hands stretched into the air almost languidly as she left the school gates and headed due north, her mind on getting back to the building she had taken to occupying at night. In her mind, she pictured the things she needed to fill out the paperwork, and for once, she felt a bit of satisfaction at saving something Sensui had done for her. _At least the ID and Social Security Card will be useful, unlike everything else. _she thought as she walked, arms dropping to swing by her sides.

~!**!~

Hiei watched her curiously, all trace of amusement slowly slipping from him as she didn't answer right away. He noted that she didn't move even in inch aside from a few muscle twitches and her eyes, if he was seeing through the lenses correctly. And then his eyes were brought to her twitching hand, and momentarily he felt suspicion. However, the next emotion that came over him was shock; her words left him, at first, stunned and at a loss for words, though his expression gave none of that away. He simply kept a calm atmosphere around himself as he stared at the female who now stuttered an apology out as she slid a bowl to him. Not even the right bowl, but he didn't point it out; he didn't care much about germs- he'd live in a hell if he did care. Instead, he scoffed and picked at the strawberries, eating them first before continuing on with the soft, sweet snow. "Perhaps you should think before you speak, if you're that embarrassed," he said suddenly, not letting his face nor tone give away any of his thoughts on the words she had said to him. In truth, he didn't know how to respond, but he wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself. So he played it off and acted as if he didn't care one way or the either.. _*****_

"But it's true!" She protested, unsure if he thought she was embarrassed for saying something she did think was truth. Which wasn't the case.

She didn't look up from her bowl either way, and squeezed her eyes shut, trying very hard to continue to say what was on her mind as he always did.

A wash of her energy roiled over her entire body, uncalled for, and she found herself speaking miraculously the words at the tip of her tongue without hesitation, spilling out into the air, "You're a very fine specimen of demon, obviously fire-type, though most people couldn't tell that just by looking at you, and your eyes are a fascinating shade of crimson, even if I'm not quite sure why you decided to have aesthetic surgery to add an extra eye, but I'm sure it's just as handsome as the rest of you, though I agree with you decision to keep it hidden while here in Human World as I'm sure it would draw more than a few looks."

She paused to take a breath and her energy swooped back out of her, leaving her a little breathless and turning her cheeks pink as she remembered what exactly she said.3

~!**!~

Akari had walked rather swiftly, as if getting the paperwork done was top priority. However, the moment she stepped into the fully furnished house and her nose caught a huge whiff of the stuffy, dirty air that moved when the wind did, she merely stood for a moment. Then, without thinking twice about it, she tossed the papers unceremoniously onto a nearby surface- a coffee table- and left all over again. She had returned to the park bench where she had taken to use for her afternoon naps when she wanted nothing better than such a thing. And, for a short moment, she lay there in peace, no children around or anything of the sort. She wouldn't sleep, but she felt as if laying here would help her sort her emotions from earlier, help her work through them and them forget them.

Indeed, as she had thought earlier, the redhead's comment had not only angered her, but made her feel ashamed. In the eyes of a demon, their physical traits were everything. Without the things that identified one as a demon, one was almost considered human. It was something Kings in the demon realm established for their servants- disobey and you lose something of your demon skin. It was a symbol of shame, of ignorance being paid off with pain and shame for everyone to see. It was-

Akari's eyes snapped open at the sudden pressure that was added to her stomach, her frayed emotions causing her nerves to become a mirror, and for a second she thought she would have to fight. However, she met soft brown eyes of a small puppy- the same pup she had thought she had gotten rid of- and she immediately sighed a breath of relief. For a few moments, she watched him get comfortable until he was curled on her abdomen, eyes watching her as he laid his chin on his paws. After a moment, Akari sighed again and ran her hand along his soft, thick, light brown fur, and he moved a paw as if to meet her gesture, showing the white on his chest as he gave a small sound that made her smile, for the first time in a very long time, a soft and genuine smile. "You're so small. Tell me, how do _you _make it in this world? Surely you have no owner…." When the dog only responded with a turn of its head, she sighed and rested her head on her arm and closed her eyes. "It's alright. You can stay. I won't harm you."

~!**!~

Hiei had stuffed a spoonful of the sweet snow into his mouth just as Toriko began speaking up again. For a moment, her voice wavered, and then she became completely sure of herself and said her next words with strong dedication. And for a moment, he was more than slightly amused, his sneer being the only hint of such emotions. However, as soon as she began naming what type of demon he was and brought up his third eye, his sneer practically dissolved into the air and he began paying very close attention to every move she made from muscle twitches to deliberate motions of her hands. It was possible Kurama had enlightened her on those facts, except for the way she introduced her knowledge of such things.

Finally, when she commented on how 'beautiful' his Jagan would be, his amusement returned tenfold before shifting again to complete seriousness. He didn't respond right away; no, he was measuring her energy and how it continued to fluctuate. As he eyed her with another spoonful of Ice cream in his mouth, he thought of the various ways she would have figured that all out without anyone telling him. Sure, demons with red eyes normally are fire wielders, but that is only the case with about 75% of the populace with red eyes. Perhaps she had figured it out simply by watching? He wasn't sure, but he opened his mouth anyways.

"If you so believe that my third eye is so beautiful, then you obviously need more time to observe." His tone was even as he stood from his chair and moved to the counter, placing his empty bowl where she had been standing when he first arrived. He considered showing her, but did nothing of the sort. Instead he turned to face her again, eyes dark, though he felt no anger, only slight irritation. "Indeed it has its value, but beautiful is not the word. I do not do anything that pertains to how I look merely because that is a waste of my time. I have no idea what Prosthetic Surgery is, but I can assure you that I have never experienced it, since it seems directly involved with how one looks. I hold no interest in experimenting with my looks, and I never will." _*** **_

Toriko tilted her head to the side as he spoke, though her face still stared deeply into her bowl as if it would reveal the darkest secrets of the universe and she had only to stare. When she spoke again, her voice was much quieter, more even, feeling more herself than she had in the last several moments.

"Why would every part of you _not _be attractive? Even an additional eye?" She shook her head, "I cannot speak for the humans that I find myself surrounded with even after all this time, because I do not see them for what they are, but even in my misplaced memory I can recall no non-human ever having not been so." She finally looked up off into the distance, "Even as twisted as their spirit may be, they are still..." She faded off, feeling her entire body tense as she vaguely touched memories that scared her, as any remembrance of time past tended to do.

_Worthy of love._

She turned around to face him, bringing her bowl with her as she stood and crossed the room, coming up next to him to take his bowl and shifting a few steps to the right to place it and hers in the sink, turning on the water and letting it pour and fill the bowls.

"And I never used the word, 'beautiful.' That was a word of your own conjuring. Though I suppose a swordsman would be familiar with the term, as a blade can be considered very pleasing to the eye." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, just as quickly turning her gaze back to the sink, grabbing a scrubber to rid the bowls of stray food, though her eyes had softened a good deal and she regarded the bowls with a sort of kindness not meant for them.

"I did not mean to presume you were the type to adjust your appearance out of sake of vanity. There are many humans who do so, and not a few non-humans who do the same. The two are not so different, really." She had stopped her business of cleaning and was looking off into the distance again.3

Hiei stayed where he had placed himself, even leaning against the counter in a lazy manner as his eyes calmly followed Toriko when she moved as well. He raised a brow at her words of his eye once more, this time out of curiosity rather than incredulity. He didn't interrupt her as she continued to speak, his mind taking in her words and considering them carefully. He found it odd for a demon to compliment everyone as a whole. It was so unlike anything he'd heard before. Normally a demon would ridicule other demons for not being as fair as they should be, or as fair as the person issuing the insult. Normal demons would think themselves above everyone else in the department of looks, but she seemed to think everyone and everything had worth when it came to that department. His mind ticked through the possible reasons behind her view, but none of them seemed to fit in with her personality. At all. So he settled for simply listening, wondering if she'd drop a hint somewhere subtle where she thought he wouldn't notice. But as her lips continued to move and her words continued on, he found himself unable to figure her out- at least to the depth he wanted to. He shifted his weight just a tad and stood upright, as if he were about to take his leave.

"Perhaps," he said casually, his voice even and betraying no emotions, "one day you will witness it." He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his cloak and turned to face her from where he now stood by the table. His curiosity kept him planted there, whereas normally he would have left much sooner. Much, _much _sooner. However, for now, he felt the need to linger, as if something would come to him, something would come of this, if he stayed. "Then you wouldn't consider it only for looks. After all, why cover something up if it is meant to be shown off?"

"Why?" Toriko went back to her washing, blinking twice in thought, finishing and wiping the bowls dry with a towel before putting them in the drying rack that held her other dishes from dinner. It was at this point she turned to face him, catching his steady gaze in her own.

"Because it is meant to remain hidden. If not for aesthetics, then it serves some deeper purpose, and whatever secret it protects keeps it behind a cloth and out of the direct sight of prying eyes." She did not break her stare with him.

"And why _do _you hide it. That _is _the question." She did not expect him to answer her and did not actually pose it as a question, perse, for a secret was not meant to be shared, and certainly not between two persons who barely knew one another.

So, she took off her apron, slipping it over the top of her head and folding it once before placing it on the counter.

"Stay or leave. My home is open to you. My existence is mundane and I cannot imagine it holding the slightest interest for such a fair beast as wild as yourself, but you will do as you please, I think, for whatever greater purpose your mind deems appropriate." As she spoke, she walked past him without so much as giving him another glance, making her way up the stairs to her bedroom and sitting cross-legged on the bed, wryly taking note of the window open and the curtains blowing in the breeze as she opened a textbook and proceeded to finish her homework.3

Hiei merely met Toriko's gaze and kept it level with his own, not even showing a reaction to her inquiry other than watching her. He didn't feel like answering, since he felt that if she truly wanted to know, she'd either ask Kurama or simply wait and figure it out herself. So he simply turned away to leave, listening as she spoke and pausing with his back to her. And as her words continued, he felt the slightest bit of emotion towards her words; it was ironic that she felt that way, since he found himself even more curious than before about her, yet she saw herself as small and not much worthy of someone's attention. As soon as she passed him, he scoffed and watched her go by before following silently, deciding he'd go the way he came and not bother with the locked front door.

By the time he reached the room he had entered through, she was sitting on her bed, nose in a book and a pen in her hand, but he didn't pause to take it all in. He merely walked by her and lifted himself into the windowsill. With only the smallest glance back for curiosity's sake, he let himself drop to the nearest tree branch and proceeded to vacate the premises entirely.

If curiosity still had this grip on him later, he could always go back for observation. *

* * *

Minamino \- family or surname

Jagan Eye \- (wiki) Evil Eye

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	5. Episode 90 - Meetings

**A/N:** Hello once again, Dearest Yu Yu Hakusho Lovers!

Daily updates will continue for the foreseeable future, and so, I bring to you the humble offering that is the next installment of our story!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog who was met at the very end of the last chapter. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Kurama assists Akari in obtaining the opening in his and Toriko's class at Meiou High School before she retreats  
to the abandoned house she's claimed as her own with a small puppy following after her.

~!**!~

After Hiei finishes interrogating Toriko about the stranger who followed her home,  
she introduces him to ice cream and strawberries before he leaves.

The next day...

* * *

Toriko began gathering her things into her bag in anticipation of the last bell of the day. Since she did not participate in any clubs after school, she always hurried to leave, not expecting anyone to accost her about joining and usually being correct.

She had certainly not expected to see the girl from their previous encounters with Sensui in her home room. Akari was her name, Toriko had learned, and while Toriko could guess why she was there she found herself not particularly caring one way or the other, though she did initially exchange a look with Kurama whose eyes remained neutral on the matter.

After that initial run-in, Toriko's schedule led her into different classes than Akari, though they shared two classes, one of which was math that they had together with Kurama. Besides the initial introduction, where the students were expected to at least greet the new student before she sat down, Toriko went back to her work while ignoring the world as usual.

The bell rang, and Toriko stood up quickly, throwing her bag over her shoulder and lowering her head to bustle out the door as unnoticed as she could possibly manage. Once in the hallway, she got jostled around until set free by the main doors opening into the school grounds where the students spilled out in different directions.

"Uh, Toriko-"

She ran into a firmly planted body before her name registered, looking up and adjusting her glasses to see the green eyes and long red hair of Kurama.

"O-oh, I'm sorry."

"Intent on getting home?"

"Well, y-yes." She cast her gaze to the side, feeling much too exposed around so many people.

"I won't bother you for long, then. Allow me to walk with you to the gates?"

Toriko nodded and began moving again, Kurama walking next to her.

"I have some free time today and was wondering if you needed any tutoring."

Toriko's heart lurched in her chest. Their code for him helping her with her energy was 'tutoring' as 'training' tended to catch more attention and this way was more discreet.

She really wanted to refuse the offer, foreseeing a useless waste of their time, but she did miss his company and they had not spent time together in a long while.

Reluctantly, Toriko found herself nodded, "Allow me to cook dinner as payment."

They had just gotten outside of the gate where the flow of traffic was much less dense, and they both turned right as their houses lie in the same general direction.

Kurama was looking down at Toriko as he continued, "I'll want to drop by my house to see mother first, but I'm sure I can get free fairly quickly after that."

Toriko only half-listened, Kurama saying what she expected him to as part of their usual exchange, her attention divided. She was certain she'd seen a familiar figure with platinum blonde hair disappearing around the corner of the wall as if trying not to be seen, but she only caught a brief glimpse of him and chalked it up to her anxiety about the upcoming session with Kurama.

"I'll see you soon!" Kurama called with a wave as he went ahead and took the crosswalk to get on the other side of the street and towards his home.

"O-okay." Toriko managed to answer while he was still in earshot. The only thought in relation to the evening that pleased her was the decisions she made about dinner on the way home.3

~!**!~

Akari sat in a small desk with various papers strewn about, her eyes roving over each one of them and, for the most part, ending up irritated even more than she already had been. Literature, she understood. She read everything easily and was able to keep up, so the small book that had been given to her to read was no big deal, though she didn't care for it. History had been a breeze when the teacher had brought up the wars, and she'd finished everything easily. Other subjects, however, had left her completely baffled. Math, for example, left her borderline homicidal. The symbols were meaningless to her and the process of getting the answers were beyond bizarre, unlike anything she'd ever seen before. She had watched what the teacher had done in front of the class, but hadn't understood a single word of it in the least. _Reciprocal _and _Dividend _were not in the vocabulary of Demon World, but she knew what it meant to add things and subtract things, to multiply and to divide, yet the symbols did not coordinate with what she had known her entire life. As she went along, she found herself scratching the markings she knew all over the paper and trying to figure out which human symbol went with which demon symbol. In the end, all she'd managed was to match the symbols for adding together, and quietly huffing under her breath to keep from snarling audibly. During gym class, which was another required thing she supposed, she had found herself against each girl in the class, merely because one was a leader and the rest had been too naive and scared to do as they wished. _A bully, I'm sure she would be pegged, _she thought as she gathered her things. Of course, Akari had done well in keeping her temper hidden and dodged the balls that had been thrown at her with ease, even throwing a few back and earning a reprimand for the rubber sphere striking the leader in the face. Some girls had snickered and others had glared, but the teacher seemed the least amused. "It's not like I can control it. It's instinct," she had said, which had earned her a few laps- not that it bothered her.

"This is ridiculous," Akari mumbled to herself as the bell rung throughout the campus, and when she glanced at the clock she felt relief. She could finally get out of this cramped building.

"Hi, you're Akari, right?" A small voice suddenly spoke, making Akari pause in her walk to the door. She glanced at the small human female who looked up at her, her lips quivering in what the demon supposed to be fear, perhaps the smallest dose of it. "I'm Saki, and I just wanted to welcome you personally to Meiou."

"I appreciate the gesture," Akari replied as she turned to leave, hitching her bag over her shoulder and stretching her muscles.

"You did great in gym today; I mean, not many people stand up to Haruno. You're pretty quick too. Do you play sports?"

"No, and I am not interested in them."

"We have Soccer, and tennis. We are lacking players and-"

"Sorry, but as I said, I'm not interested," Akari said, no longer standing around to chit chat. She walked away with an expression of indifference as the girl stammered behind her, but didn't chase after her. By the time she had reached the doors, Akari felt glad to see the sun and be out in the warm air. Her eyes traced the grounds, easily spotting to familiar people walking through the school gate, but she didn't care. Her eyes continued to roam until she caught a quick motion to the right, and her eyes followed the blonde male. A brow raised in curiosity before she shrugged it off and continued on, met at the gate with an eager yip and a wagging tail of the pup she had given up on ridding herself of.

"Let's go. I have work to do," she said to the pup as she passed him, earning a joyous bounce and a chipper bark. "No, no park right now," she responded to the animal, finally finding herself able to pick up on its patterns of the day, and she was trying to adjust them. "First, a book store. Then, home."

"_No park? Why?" _she heard, and her footsteps halted, her eyes turning to the pup in widened surprise. "_But Nabu wants to play with friend! Please?" _For each time the dog's mouth opened, instead of a bark, Akari found herself hearing words, guttural and almost unable to be understood, but words nonetheless. "_Please?"_

Akari stared at the dog for a few extra moments before sighing. "Fine. Ten minutes. Just… don't do that again."

"_Do what?" __*****_

~!**!~

For the umpteenth time, Toriko broke her stare with Kurama, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Toriko. Concentrate." Kurama said patiently. "You have to be looking at me, right?"

"I-I'm sorry. I just...I can't."

"Yes, you can."

Her expression darkened even farther and she looked for pity somewhere on the redhead's face.

"_He doesn't understand. I can't. He's been so good to me and I would never want to do anything to ruin our friendship." _She dropped her gaze again and stared at her hands in her lap. "_I would feel terrible. Plus-"_

"Toriko, stop second-guessing yourself." Kurama reprimanded gently.

"T-that's not it, I..." She couldn't put it into words.

Kurama leaned back to rest and regarded the girl thoughtfully.

The dishes from dinner were downstairs drying in the rack, and the pair had trooped upstairs after the meal as was customary, sitting on the floor and spreading out books in between them to further the charade of working on school. They sat on the carpet amidst the books and things and the window was open, as usual, letting in a soft breeze along with the noise of the city outside and one of the branches of the tree whose leaves would occasionally scrape against the windowsill.

Toriko spoke up again, "You're the first person to actually befriend me who wasn't...influenced by me."

"That fact will not change. And I would hope I was analytical enough to realize what was going on as soon as it happened."

Toriko raised an eyebrow, "I-I don't know about that."

"Well, you've never really tried, so how do we know."

"I'm scared, Kurama." Toriko sighed.

"My opinion of you isn't going to change."

She made unintelligible noises of protest, but couldn't think of any coherent words to put behind them.

"Let's start again. Put your glasses back on." He sat up again, "I'll slowly walk you through some things."

Toriko meekly obliged.

"For now, I want you to simply find your energy. Close your eyes and just listen to my voice."

She closed them, breathing deeply.

"Somewhere inside of you is your reserves of energy. I need you to find it for me."

"Is it somewhere specific?"

"You might be able to feel it as your core, something akin to or near to your heart. But it doesn't matter _where _really. Try to clear your mind and you'll lead yourself to it. It's as much a part of you as breathing."

For another moment, Toriko could feel nothing, but as she sat in the stillness without her eyes to receive data, she started to sense another part of her. Something extra. Something..._else _flowing through her veins besides just blood.

"I-I think I found it."

"Good." Kurama encouraged. "Now, this next part will require you to tap into it. Everyone has a part of their physical body that is easiest to channel their energy through, a part that is like second nature, almost reactive, or instinctive. Like, for Yusuke, it's his fists." Kurama couldn't help the smile that settled onto his lips.

"And for you?"

"My fingers." Kurama provided. "I am able to channel my spirit energy into plants through my fingers very specifically. Now, you still feel your reserves?"

"Yes."

"I want you to tap into them, and notice the first place on your body that buzzes or tingles when you do so."

Toriko found herself biting her lip and she tentatively reached into the power, only slightly. She started back physically when a jolt of energy shot to her eyes, making them fly open in shock, her breath suddenly coming much faster, but any sense of her energy completely gone as she dropped it when she felt the jolt of power.

Kurama's eyebrows were raised, but he said nothing.

Once Toriko caught her breath, she found herself flushed and blinked at the room around her, putting a strand of hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ear.

"Try again." Kurama suggested.

Toriko nodded once and closed her eyes again, finding the energy more quickly the second time, but reaching out even more slowly to access it.

This time, she knew she felt the power shimmer across the front of her eyes and she was able to hold it in place, but she had gotten this far with Kurama before. She already could feel herself starting to seize up at the thought of the next step.

"As slowly as you need to, take off your glasses and place them on the floor in front of you. But keep your eyes closed."

Toriko heard Kurama's words as if from a very far away place, but as she held onto the energy that she could still feel glimmering over her eyes, she allowed her hand to move almost of it's own accord up to her face, but she paused. What had he said? _Not _to open her eyes? That seemed different.

She grabbed one lens and pulled forward, the ends slipping off over her ears, and she let her hand fall back to her side with the glasses in tow.

Without further provocation, her connection to her energy grew stronger, and she had a harder time keeping her eyes closed, struggling not to open them, afraid of what would happen to Kurama, afraid of losing control.

"...Toriko?"

The voice seemed farther away this time, and suddenly the energy surged again, but this time Toriko fought with it, creating this invisible tug-of-war with herself where she tried to shove her energy away, but found she could not let it go.

"...your eyes...just...open."

"_No!" _She shouted inside her mind, pulling at the energy that threatened to spill out.

The third time the energy surged, Toriko's eyes flew open of their own accord and she first saw Kurama, leaning towards her with concern plain on his face.

At the sight of him, all of the memories of the time they had spent together, of their initial encounter where he shared his non-human state with her and they exchanged in secrets no normal human would understand, bubbled up over the energy and just as Kurama looked up deeply into her eyes, she burst into tears, throwing her hands up to hide her face from him, feeling her energy abruptly disappear.

"I-I-" She sobbed, "I c-can't. I ju-" She heaved a breath, tears still running down her cheeks, "I can't."

Kurama's eyes widened at her outburst, having not expected this exact result. He had felt her struggle with her energy before it became even greater, and the realization excited the analytical part of him, hoping that he would finally be able to witness her abilities at work and know exactly what they were dealing with, but perhaps he had pushed her too far this time, maybe they were going too fast and-

"You're much too kind, Kurama." Toriko pulled herself together and sniffed, wiping the back of her hand underneath her nose and unintentionally interrupting Kurama's silent train of thought.

The phrase jogged something within him, and he froze in place, partly stretched over the books set up between them with the intent to comfort her with a pat on the shoulder or head, but her words stirred Yoko's spirit and Kurama felt fragmented memories of the sleeping demon cut over his own mind.

"_You're much too kind, Youko." _He closed his eyes as her words echoed across the plane of his memories, knowing the voice was Toriko's, and yet it was not Toriko's. He heard her sniff, _felt_ rather than saw her wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. Youko's reaction to her words had been one of incredulous cynicism, as if she hadn't known him at all, and yet at that moment she was likely the closest person the kitsune had as a friend. In reality, she had been the one that was much too kind to him.

Kurama felt himself bumped back into the present as Youko's stirring lasted only the fraction of an instant before he returned to slumber within his human host.

He blinked and saw that Toriko had nearly recovered herself, deciding to sit back down on the carpet before she saw his awkward pause, and regarding her in a different light.

"Toriko..." He couldn't help it, he had to know, "How much do you remember?"

"Huh?" She looked up at him, sniffing again and wiping her cheek with the palm of her hand.

"I've heard you talk about how you came to be in Human World fifteen years ago..." Kurama faded off, shocked with himself that he'd never made the connection before. Youko Kurama had inhabited the body of a still-fetal Shuichi Minamino nearly fifteen years ago. He stringed together the information, and Toriko being in this area for the same amount of time led him to believe that, while she may not remember why she ran from Demon World, he had a very good idea as to the circumstances of her escape into the realm of the mortals.

"Kurama?"

His thought process had taken just a moment too long, the silence stretching on into awkwardness.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, Toriko." Kurama smiled and tilted his head at her to try and ease her concerns, "Please think nothing of it."

As far as he knew, any attempts of Toriko to access memories before her Human World time were traumatic and he regretted even mentioning it as little as he did.

"I don't wish to push you in our endeavours. You did very well today." He praised her efforts and noticed the embarrassment start to creep up her neck.

"No, truly." He reassured her, "I believe that's the longest you've held onto your power since we started. You're probably exhausted."

Kurama started to gather up his things, and Toriko mimicked his motions with her own stuff, both of them feeling as if their time together that evening was drawing to a close.

"Thank you." Toriko said quietly, stopping in the middle of her cleaning.

Kurama looked up at her, her eyes still bright from her tears, and felt another jolt of memory from Youko and he desperately tried to hold onto it, but only got impressions.

Carrying her, or rather whatever she was before Human World, her body beaten and bloody, running through a part of the Demon World forest with her, back towards his base, having stumbled across her battered and bruised and being _used _by weaker animalistic demons, killing the lot of them and easily outdistancing anything wanting to chase him down, glancing down at her as he ran when she whispered those words, words no demon in their right mind ever admitted-being indebted to another-and catching sight of her face in the light that occasionally broke through the trees, cracked lips moving easily, sincerely, around her thanks.

Youko had covered her with the upper portion of her yukata, her cheeks were dirty, her hair long but matted and full of leaves and things, still somehow giving off a scent Youko imagined would be intoxicating were it in normal condition. There was a certain thankfulness associated with the fact that her eyes were closed as she drifted into unconsciousness.

"_Don't mention it." _Her lips tugged upwards at the wry request he made of her, but started to bleed in the effort, her tongue snaking out and licking the blood away.

The impression faded and Kurama re-entered the room from the depths of his mind, seeing Toriko almost finished putting her papers and writing utensils away, a stack of her school books neatly piled next to the bed. She hadn't noticed Kurama freezing in place. Kurama quickly caught up and soon had his own bag full of his school things.

"Maybe we'll try again next week some time." Kurama said as he stood up and hitched his bag over a shoulder.

Toriko nodded. A week would probably be enough time for her to forget the trauma, but for tonight, she felt as if curling up by herself in bed as soon as she was alone was her best course of action.

She walked Kurama downstairs and they exchanged good night pleasantries at her door as he went down the walkway to the sidewalk, closing the door as he turned out of sight towards his home. Toriko promptly shut the door at that point, locking it and, leaning her back heavily against it to put a hand up to her face, trying not to recall any of the night's events.

As she slowly shuffled her way back upstairs, turning off all the lights in the house she began taking her hair down and tossed it about her shoulders, fluffing it with a hand as she got back into her room, feeling better just with the simple task completed.

She turned off the light in her room and walked over to pick up her glasses and put them on her bedside table along with the pins she used in her hair.

The sun was nearly setting on the horizon, and despite her initial desire to lay down and curl up tightly to hope for sleep, Toriko made her way over to the open window, sitting on the sill and pulling her legs up as well, scooting over to lean against the side of the window frame and letting one leg hang outside, the other bent at the knee with her inside arm resting over it.

The slight breeze felt nice in her hair, and the outdoor smell and night sounds slowly lulled her into sleep, still dressed in her after school clothes without a care in the world.3

Hiei was dreaming, though he didn't have a clue in the world as to what was going on inside his own sleeping mind. He paid little to no attention to the small pictures that flashed through his mind, because he knew they meant absolutely nothing. After all, Hiei wouldn't walk into a random building and find it filled with strawberries and sweet snow. However, he could actually taste the treats as if he were actually eating them. He enjoyed the flavors, finding himself simply unable to figure out just how much he could eat. It seemed he could eat forever, if he so desired. However, something stirred his dream self, causing him to look around curiously, confused. His eyebrows drew together and he looked around the building, even as it faded. When he was left in nothing but darkness, his feelings of confusion intensified, and within mere moments he found his eyes snapping open and looking around.

The evening rays from the sun filtered in through the leaves of the tree he had taken to perching in, for the second day in a row. The warm beams of light hit his face, even occasionally shining into his eyes from the side, telling him it was almost dark, the sun almost dipping below the horizon. His crimson orbs roved over the birds in the nearest tree, each of them chirping to one another and looking to him and back to the others, as if communicating about the strange being that was in their habitat. He ignored them and continued searching for the reason behind his interrupted slumber, and it didn't take long for him to register the growing source of energy that was alarmingly close to him. He immediately turned in the direction of Toriko's house, his ruby irises quickly falling on the two beings inside the bedroom that he had walked through yesterday.

His eyes zeroed in on the back of Kurama, who sat calmly on the floor, watching Toriko, whose eyes were closed and her face contorted into an odd expression. The power continued to get stronger, and the hairs on the back of Hiei's neck stood on end; he hadn't registered her having so much energy. How did she keep it pent up so long?

He moved to sit up, his curiosity driving him to take in every inch of the scene. Despite the books laid out on the floor, Hiei knew that they were not studying; it was all for show. As Hiei continued to watch, he felt a stunned expression overcome his own features at the sudden outburst from Toriko, tears spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks before she could hide them from view. He heard her stammer her inability to do something, likely handle her own energy, from the way her energy simply dissipated. His eyes narrowed as he listened to the dialogue in the room, their voices clear to his keen ears.

After a few seconds of nothing more happening, Hiei moved to settle into a comfortable position again, bark once more against his back and hands laced behind his head for support. His eyes stayed on the scene, carefully watching to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, he noticed the slightest hesitation in Kurama as he reached to Toriko, and his curiosity exploded into full blown need to figure out what was going on. But the hesitation was no longer than a fraction of a moment, and then it was over, Kurama resting on his haunches and reassuring the female. And as he continued to watch, his curiosity continued to strengthen, continued to grow until it was almost difficult for him to not move forward and inquire from his comrade. Especially at the hesitation of an answer for Toriko.

It struck Hiei that maybe, just maybe, there was a distraction for Kurama from within. It wasn't entirely crazy, wasn't entirely impossible, but if that was the truth then something had happened to stir the fox. He frowned in thought and continued to watch, not allowing himself to move from the spot in the tree, not even when he noted Kurama taking his leave down the sidewalk. For a second, Hiei caught his friend's gaze, and then the redhead was gone from sight and on his way to his human mother.

And Hiei's curiosity continued to burn like a candle in a still, dark room, even as he moved to another tree to remain out of Toriko's eyesight as she settled in her windowsill.

~!**!~

Akari wandered the streets, now in her usual attire of jeans and a loose blouse, her hair up in a ponytail so that the wind didn't slap it into her face so easily. As she was beginning to grow accustomed to, a small pup continued to follow her, bounding and yipping, occasionally making actual words for her to understand, though that was about all she understood. As for speaking to the animal, she had not a clue. She hadn't ever heard of demons communicating with animals before, but she tried her best to ignore the confusing fact; she didn't need anything else to have her confused anymore than she already was.

_Stupid paperwork, _she thought to herself as she walked, ignoring the sudden ramblings from the dog. She'd given up only about half an hour ago on the school work, just in time to keep from ripping it to shreds and simply tossing it away. She had done a bit of looking into the math symbols, and had made at least two more connections and changed them to symbols she recognized, but other than that, she'd made no progress. The book she had been given- a play, she recalled the teacher calling it- was written in an older version of the language she had been taught by Sensui, and it left her just as baffled as the math work. As for the Chemistry class and her class on Psychology, she hadn't even touched those. She knew that Chemistry was a bust, but Psychology told her that she was an arrogant fool, an idiot set up for disappointment and playing _God, _with more issues than the typical comic book, as Mitari would have put it. It only accomplished angering her and causing her to throw the book across the room, putting a hole in the weakened walls, but not damaging the book.

That had been when Nabu, as the dog called himself, had suggested a nightly stroll, for her nerve's sake. Without any response, she had left the building, almost unaware of him following her. "_Maybe you should take a bath. That always helps me, because it makes my coat shine!" _the dog suddenly rambled, and she glanced back at it.

"I don't have a coat of fur, Nabu."

"_But you have hair! It's nice and shiny already, but wouldn't it feel better wet? Oh, there are sprinklers at the park!"_

"No."

"_You're no fun." _Akari scoffed and continued walking in silence. "_So where __**is **__your fur? And your ears? You're a dog, I can tell by your scent!"_

Akari's stomach jolted and rolled, but she didn't reply. Instead, she rounded another block and scoured the sidewalk. For a few moments, everything seemed normal.

That is, until she noticed a blonde standing idly in the center of the sidewalk, looking up at a house. She recognized him from earlier that day and suspicion grew. _Now, who are you following? _she thought as she slowed her pace, hoping she could figure out what he was up to before he decided to leave. _*** **_

The act of following 'Toriko' as he discovered she called herself now, had been no trouble for Otento, but when he found that she only returned to her home after school, he did nothing more in that moment, biding his time, waiting for...something, though he did not know what.

As the sun began sinking in the sky, however, he could no longer keep himself away, his thoughts consumed with her, with the knowledge that he had found her, and so he pointed his long legs once more towards her house, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his khaki-colored pants, smiling congenially at the pairs of females who passed him on the sidewalk giggling and staring at him and his platinum blonde hair that fell freely across his face, wearing it just a little longer than fashionable in the city. When they saw his eyes, amethyst, they would blush further, especially, he found, when he winked at them and smiled widely. He had gotten used to their flirtations, though he had not been in Human World long, and found their attentions strangely satisfying, though his mind always returned to 'Toriko' before long.

And so, as he walked, he kept his head high, feeling better than he had in a long time. That is, until he felt smacked by a wave of energy pulsating from the house just ahead. It felt anxious, but overly familiar. Trying not to bring too much attention to himself, Otento continued walking, but his steps were more measured and careful. When he reached the front of the house, he felt jolted to a stop without meaning to, his heart yearning to be a part of the woman whose energy he felt struggling desperately to be free.

As much as he wished to barge into the home, he held his ground in better judgement, but could not help turning his head to stare long and hard at the house, briefly closing his eyes and letting his senses absorb as much feeling from the energy as possible from this distance.

After too short of a time, the energy disappeared into the nothingness that he was surprised with when he first laid eyes on her several days ago before he helped her with her grocery shopping. He had caught the smell of her hair, a smell he had never forgotten since their first encounter in Demon World, a smell that drove him almost to madness. Her demeanour was different. Her appearance was different. But she could do nothing to mask her scent.

He threw his head back and let a bout of laughter into the night air, thinking that she should have had him killed while she had the chance. He put a hand up to his face as he lowered his head back down, his shoulders still shaking and a chuckle still passing over his lips until he managed to heave a sigh, glancing up at the house to his left one more time before starting to move again, hands in his pockets as he whistled a tune.3

Akari eyed the male with scrutiny from the distance she held between herself and him. She could see that his hair was longer than most human males around here, but she couldn't get a good look at his face. She continued to walk at a slow pace towards him, all senses concentrating on him. Oddly, she felt no energy. None, not even spiritual energy like a human would have. The lack of it made her very suspicious, and the closer she got, the slower she moved. She didn't want to run into him, but she didn't want to walk by him either.

"_Who is that? Why are you watching him?" _the dog below barked, and Akari felt the smallest sense of alarm. She paused mid-step and watched for a reaction, her eyes following his gaze to the house he had been watching. She didn't recognize it, but the energy inside she did. After sitting in the same room as the person, she had come to figure out Toriko's energy, and while it was quiet, hidden almost, she had taken very careful note of it, along with Kurama's.

Then, the male surprised her; he tossed his head back and let out a laugh that she could hear even from this distance, and her eyes widened. The ring to it was not one she recognized, but it made the hairs on her arms stand and suspicion continue to boil in her blood. She hadn't seen him with the group, even before Sensui had engaged with them directly. He hadn't been around. _At all. _And that coupled with the lack of energy made her wary. She may not care about the members of the group, but much like a pup, her curiosity and instincts took over, causing her to watch him as closely as possible, her feet now moving without her consciously telling them to do so. She moved forward, eyeing him as she got closer, listening to the tune he began to whistle as he turned to walk away.

"_Akari, what's wrong?" _the dog yipped quietly, his very aura shaking with the nerves she could tell were frayed. "_You're acting funny."_

"Shut up Nabu, or go away."

"_But he's done nothing wrong to you."_

"Perhaps you should listen to your instincts, you might learn something."

"_My instincts say you're worked up, but the man creeps me out too. He's too tall."_

Akari sighed and glared down at the dog. "What did I say?" He immediately silenced and, with a tucked tail, moved a bit away from her and began watching the man as well, something Akari joined him in doing. _What has you so interested in this team? __*** **_

Otento kept going down the sidewalk, easily able to act as if he did not know he was being followed by someone not very good at stealthy tracking. He continued to whistle with his usual air of nonchalance, hands in his pockets, though he did glance with just his eyes to the right to see if the tracker was stupid enough to let him get a look before he lead them into his trap.

Keeping his stride at a brisk, but leisurely-seeming pace, he made sure he stayed just enough ahead so as to be curious a person to follow, his preferred mystique when all was said and done.

He had to fight down a chuckle as he ducked into the an alleyway between two buildings several blocks away and easily made a leap onto the roof of one of them, waiting for his quarry to turn the corner and realize the alley was a dead end before closing the jaws of his trap.

There she came, curious as a...

He almost laughed at the human colloquialism that jumped into his mind, which did not exactly apply in the case of this young demon and her doggie companion.

On silent feet, he came back down from the edge of the roof and leaned against the side of the alley, waiting until the demon stopped at the end of the alleyway and turned around before speaking, his voice light and pleasant.

"Don't you know that beautiful women shouldn't be walking around by themselves in a city like this after dark? Even demonic girls have to be careful of things lurking around that might mean them harm."3

Akari had stayed back, watching carefully of his movements. Indeed, she caught the male glancing back, but didn't bother acting as if she wasn't following. She knew that being unable to hide her energy was a flaw, and if this person was a demon as she suspected him to be, he would have known from the start that she was there. It wouldn't mean much anyways. So she played along with his little game, though it was convincing enough to almost have her brushing him off and continuing on. And the moment he turned into an alleyway, she raised a brow and straightened her spine even more.

Curiosity blurred her thoughts into nothing other than seeing where he was going and why, and she merely followed upon instinct, not thinking twice about the decision, which she easily deemed as faulty and very stupid of her, especially when she noticed she was met with a dead end and a pair of feet hit the ground behind her. She slowly turned about-face and met his purple gaze evenly, her expression calm and her eyes unwavering as he spoke. At his words of compliment, her lips turned into a crooked smile, as if she took them to heart. Her eyes raked over him and she shifted her standing position, mocking a female human by placing a hand on her cocked hip and tossing her ponytail into the air. "Why thank you, you aren't so bad yourself. However, standing in front of random houses is a turn-off, don't you think?" As she said those words, her smile shifted to one that mocked the flirtatious nature of a human teenager. "I mean, talk about not being over someone, whether it be a friend, an old flame, or maybe even a pet that ran away."

~!**!~

Hiei stood in the tree he had moved to, for some reason finding no reason to sit, as if his instincts told him to wait. His eyes wandered expectantly until he found what his senses had been pointing him to. A blonde passed by the house with hands in his pockets and lips pursed, issuing a tune he didn't recognize. Hiei's brows drew together as he watched him pass by, and a moment later he felt an energy that he hadn't expected. His eyes moved to find Akari walking along the sidewalk, eyes narrowed to something in front of her and her steps full of purpose. He traced her line of sight and judged it to be something he didn't approve of.

Hiei glanced back at the window where Toriko slumbered before turning back to the street. After a mere moment's hesitation, he moved towards the town, his energy still concealed, as always, and his steps quiet as he moved to the nearest rooftop to follow his query. By the time he had caught up, the duo were in an alleyway, conversing casually, exchanging compliments in tones he didn't much care for. While he thought it was sarcastic, it didn't sound as such to his ears. They were both smiling, as if they knew one another, and Hiei felt suspicion arise. He watched for a mere moment, debating whether to stay, or go. But for now, he stayed put, waiting for something to happen.

After all, demons meeting in dark alleyways was not something he enjoyed witnessing unless he could end them himself. _*** **_

Otento found himself grinning widely at this demon and her show of bravery, "So, tell me, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" He said it with as much familiarity for her as he could manage, "I thought I recognized you from somewhere, but I didn't think the higher ups would let you live past Sensui's era. Tell me, you _have _received the invitation, right? Please tell me your answer was yes. I would _adore _getting to see more of you." There was no attempt to hide the obvious interest on his part and he languidly looked her up and down.3

Akari raised a brow and smiled even more at the male, reaching a hand up to twist a strand of hair around her finger in thought. The motion paused at his show of knowledge, but only for a brief moment as she let her smile grow; so, He'd been keeping track of everyone, eh? "Well, let's see, Spirit World seems rather lenient these days. Most of us got away with nothing more than a warning," she retorted, as if she enjoyed the prospect of being tied to the gang, as if she had planned it as such all along and not been practically forced into it. "And the answer to your question is yes, though I highly doubt you'll be receiving much from me after this." Her eyes rolled to the side as she contemplated dropping the charades. She didn't like the way he spoke to her, at all. "You're quite the charmer, aren't you? To the humans, anyways." Now her smile fell into her normal sneer, no longer feeling like pretending to be a promiscuous teen human. "You've been keeping watch. Flattering. Did you know Sensui as well, or are you simply just watching from afar?"

~!**!~

Hiei's ears easily caught each word that was said, and he did not enjoy anything he heard. His suspicion solidified into stone-cold anger, but he pushed it away as the conversation continued. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but this had been not one of the top picks. Yes, the thought had crossed his mind, but the way they spoke brought about a level of intimacy that he hadn't considered. And the moment that the contract with Koenma was brought up, he'd heard more than enough. With his fists stuffed in his cloak pockets and his anger sky-high, he turned and walked away, flashing through the shadows of the now starry night and to a quiet place, where he could consider several options.

While he would enjoy watching the woman's head being dismembered from her body, he decided he'd wait. For a while, at least. He'd simply keep a close eye out. _*** **_

Otento found himself frowning at her. "You didn't actually get an invitation. How sad. Well, I won't question it. There must be some reason why you were left out in the cold." He shrugged it off. "If you didn't get an invitation, then I'm sorry to say that we really have nothing else to talk about and it's here that our conversation ends."

He smiled once more, "I will _definitely _get in contact with you if he ever does decide to send you one, though. You can bet on that. You're quite the cutie and I'd be very interested in seeing more of those scars." He turned as he said the last bit and walked away, waving one hand and then putting it in a pocket, whistling as he turned onto the sidewalk and out of her direct sight, disappearing into the night.3

Akari felt her smile disappear entirely at his remark, finding that she'd been wrong about her assumption. She had assumed he had been referring to Koenma and his lackeys signing her on a contract for her freedom when her time was up, but his words left her stunned and confused. "Invitation?" she repeated after him, eyebrows almost touching as she watched him carefully. "Who would be inviting me, and what would I be invited to?" she asked as he turned away, almost not catching his comment on her scars. "Hey," she called again just as he disappeared, leaving her completely frazzled and confused, unable to comprehend what he'd said even remotely.

"_That was odd."_

"Shut up Nabu."*

* * *

_Several of my OCs I tend to base on the look of another character already in existence mostly because I can't draw and it makes it easier for, say, a role-play partner to picture the character in their head. For example, Otento looks like a slightly taller version of Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club._

Saki \- small peninsula

Otento \- (as otentosama:) the sun

Nabu \- no meaning

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	6. Episode 91 - Temper Tantrums

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!

I've decided that sometimes the chapters are going to dualistic names: one for each scene occurring in said chapter.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Toriko attempts to further access her energy under Kurama's tutelage, but breaks down and can't do it.  
Her words stir memories within Kurama from the slumbering Youko himself, revealing that the kitsune met her some time in the past.

~!**!~

Akari begins to acclimate to Meiou High and later has a run-in with Otento, who appears to believe she was supposed to receive an "invitation,"  
though to what he is unclear. Hiei is privy to their conversation, believing privately that Akari could be in league with Otento.

The next day...

* * *

The sounds in the classroom were noises she'd gotten accustomed to: papers shuffling about, graphite moving across the surface of said papers, the teacher droning on and on, students whispering in the back, and last but definitely not least, sounds of complete and utter irritation from multiple people, Akari included. She rubbed at her forehead as the teacher continued on, showing the biggest problem on the chalkboard and moving rather quickly. As he went on about adding both sides and taking reciprocals, then distributing to the parentheses, Akari made another small sound under her breath and simply marked off the symbols on the page, replacing them with symbols she knew and recognized. That was easy enough now that she'd gotten the basic ones down, but she wasn't able to keep up with the teacher's thinking and speaking, wasn't able to comprehend what was going on as he continued on and on. By the time he set his chalk down and turned to the class, her head was in her hand and her pencil was laying on her desk, her breathing heavy as she tried her best to control her anger at not being able to keep up. _Stupid school, stupid human language. Stupid symbols and stupid-_

She cut her thoughts off entirely and sat up once more with a huge intake of air, slowly releasing it through her lips and meeting the gaze of the teacher, who raised a brow at her, but continued on talking anyways. _Why do I have to sit in the front? _"Now, you have two days to get this packet done and hand it in. Normally it would be an overnight homework assignment, but the sports club has events tonight, and school policy requires an extra day. _Do not _wait until the last minute to work on it, because I guarantee you will not finish it, and even if you do, you'd fail because you rushed. Do not be that student." Again, his eyes flashed to her, but he paced the room, eyes roving over each student. "You have twenty minutes to work on this in class."

As soon as he was done talking, students began moving their desks around to join into groups, feigning work to simply indulge themselves in the latest gossip from around the campus. Meanwhile, Akari picked up her pencil and again looked down at her papers, going over the problem they'd just finished together and trying to put it into demon terms in her mind.

The effort merely left her wishing to bash her head on the desk. Repeatedly.

~!**!~

Hiei moved through the treeline again, looking for the fifth time for a comfortable spot to sit. Each spot had something wrong with it, whether it be weak branches or the sunlight directly in his eyes, he just couldn't find a place to be comfortable. So he continued to move through tree after tree after tree, all the while checking the windows of the school building to ensure no one saw him moving about, not that he was too worried about it.

For the past week and a half, he had done this very same thing. He'd visited the school to keep watch, searching for not only the blonde male he had witnessed passing by Toriko's home and visiting with Akari, but keep his eyes on said demoness and Toriko, making sure nothing happened under the radar. After all, there wasn't much Kurama would be able to do from within the school walls, so he was simple back up, though he hadn't enlightened the fox demon of his presence and his reasons behind it.

Finally, he found a spot that was just right and dropped to his backside so that his back rested on the trunk. His eyes continued to survey each classroom until he laid eyes on the very room where the people he was watching were, and as usual, they were all as they were supposed to be.

He'd been surprised that nothing had happened over the past week. He'd been expecting an attack of some sort. And yet here he sit, still waiting on such a thing, but not seeing any signs of one pending. _*** **_

Toriko rushed out of the building as quickly as she could manage being caught up in the crowd of students attempting to do the same thing. She had not forgotten breaking down in front of Kurama last week and had no desire to go through the trauma again. Perhaps if he happened to catch her, she could convince him that she would practice on Maneshi instead. Or something. Anything to not have to go through that again.

Jostled into the courtyard, Toriko took little notice of a few girls around her grouping together and talking, some of them hurrying over to a corner near the gate and bunching up together around a taller male in the midst of them, concentrating instead on getting out of sight before Kurama decided to pounce or corner her.

"Toriko!"

She ignored the voice, head down, pretending as if she hadn't heard.

"Excuse me, ladies. I am otherwise engaged at the moment, but I would _love _to continue conversing with you all at a later date." Otento walked out from the middle of the group that had formed around him and joined Toriko as she walked out of the gate. He wore the pink male uniform of Meiou High, but his hair and eyes made him stick out almost as much as Kurama.

"May I walk you home?" He asked, though it was rhetorical as he intended to go whether she wanted him to or not.

Toriko was not sure what to make of him, though she knew for a fact that he could not have been a student to her knowledge. She said nothing to him, hoping her silence would bore him and send him away.3

Akari, like normal, took her time in leaving the school building, this time even less happy about the work she'd been given and even less likely to work on it than any others. So with her bag over her shoulder and her breathing forced to be calm, she thought of other things. _Maybe I'll pay a visit to the park again today, earlier though. A nap would be lovely, _she thought as she glanced back at her bag. She didn't want to carry it with her, but she didn't have a choice. _Maybe Nabu will watch over it for me. On second thought, that's a no go, the forgetful thing would let it fall and the wind would carry away everything except the papers I hate most. _Her thoughts made her headache return all over again as she pushed the main doors open and stepped onto the school grounds.

She continued walking, her eyes forward. Had she been looking around like most days, she wouldn't have noticed something that was out of the normality. Her eyes narrowed at the mess of blonde hair that popped from a crowd and joined a bustling Toriko, and it wasn't hard for her to guess the male. She knew not of his name, but she knew that stature; she'd memorized it a week and a half ago. Her mind reeled and she watched curiously as the male accompanied Toriko until they were out of her sight. Akari merely stood there, staring in the direction that they had walked.

~!**!~

Hiei sat up as soon as the bell tolled and he began searching the crowd of students that seemed to pour from the building. His ruby gaze roved over each individual until he found Toriko, the first to emerge out of the three he'd been watching over. He followed her trail, at first not noticing the group of human females that were grouped around a male in uniform. But the moment he broke away from the barrage of flirtatious humans, Hiei's eyes narrowed at their backs.

_Third time, _he thought to himself, his eyes darkening as he turned his head to search for another person. And, as he suspected, she stood watching the two walk away. Hiei's thoughts solidified into action as he turned and began leaping trees, deciding to follow Toriko rather than see what happened with Akari next. After all, Kurama was still on the grounds, but Toriko was alone with someone who was very much a demon, a suspect and a threat in Hiei's mind. And he was not about to let the male make an attack on Toriko without interference, whether she was an official part of the group or not.

After all, demons were not to become known to the human populace. *

Otento went on and on about absolutely nothing as far as Toriko could tell, and no matter how quickly she walked, his long stride allowed him to easily keep a pace with her.

When she arrived at her doorstep, she said nothing, unlocking the door and stepping inside, closing and locking it behind her, leaving Otento on her doorstep staring, his mouth slightly open.

He checked himself, rolling his shoulders and closing his mouth, glaring a bit at the door as if it really were a big hindrance to whatever progress he thought he was making in getting closer to 'Toriko.'

"I'll see you tomorrow, then!" He called, acting as if the entire situation had been planned and walking back down to the sidewalk. His expression darkened and he glanced over his shoulder at the house even as he disappeared down the street.

Toriko leaned her back heavily on the door, thanking her luck that he had not attempted to shove his way in, as she felt sure she would not have been able to stop him.

She placed her things on the couch to her right and her eyes strayed to the kitchen, but food was not her current project.

Free of the fear of Kurama insisting on working with her again, Toriko wandered the house calling for her cat, finding him once again in her bedroom, though this time he lay on the floor in the sunbeam shining through her open window.

She almost didn't want to bother him, looking so peaceful in his sleep, one paw twitching, so instead of immediately gathering him into her arms, she lay down beside him and wondered if she could wake him up with her powers, attempting to find where her energy lay and trying to tap into it, meeting with minimal success.

The sunbeam warmed her body, though, and made it hard to concentrate, and so she gave in to the feeling of slumber and let her eyes close.3

~!**!~

Akari watched the area disband for a moment before turning and continuing on her way, not surprised when a bounding Nabu hopped up to her side, yipping and wagging his tail excitedly. "_You'll never guess what I did today!" _he yipped excitedly, bouncing around and around her as she moved down the sidewalk, constantly adjusting her pace to keep from trampling him.

"Bury another bone that a stranger gave you?"

"_No! Better!"_

"And what could possibly be better than hiding a treat?" she asked, her eyes moving down to him curiously though her mind was elsewhere. "I highly doubt you can top that," she mused dryly.

"_I followed a strange person, and he lead me here! Oh, that's not what I wanted to tell you! I-"_

"A strange person?"

"_\- got into a store today and grabbed something for-"_

"Nabu, elaborate."

"_-your anger. You've been getting really mad lately, and it scares me, so I found something to help you with that weird work you've been doing! A book of symbols! It even has your funny writing in it!"_

Akari raised a brow at him and sighed as she continued her way home. "You found a book?" She paused as she went over his words again, and her mind reeled. "You **stole **a book, Nabu? Are you stupid? Why would you do that? You're aiming to get me killed."

"_Well, this man with a net was chasing me and I just ran in there, saw it on the floor, and ran out. It's full of symbols that I've seen you use before!"_

"I can't believe you."

"_What, you do worse, hurting others emotionally. and I bet with your hands too…"_

"Shut up, Nabu, or you'll be one of those people."

"_I knew it."_

~!**!~

Hiei followed the pair until they were at her house and he was standing across the road from them. For a moment, he felt anger, thinking that the male would enter the house. However, when he witnessed the door being shut in the blonde's face, the fire demon felt an immense amount of satisfaction and, surprisingly, relief. He stood there for a few moments before crossing the street at a leisurely pace, unable to keep from mingling with the humans for a bit before he disappeared from any of their views.

He walked around the house once to ensure no one else was around, though he felt confident that there hadn't been from the beginning, before turning and looking up at the open bedroom window. He contemplated for a moment before turning away and hopping into a nearby tree, careful enough to stay out of view in case she was able to see through the window at that moment. When he turned and looked through the window, he found himself surprised by the peaceful expression he was met with. Toriko lay on her bed, either close to or already in the midst of slumber, laying beside a small cat that twitched an ear and paw, obviously sleeping as well.

Hiei stared for a minute, watching the way the sun glistened against her hair, momentarily mesmerized. However, he snapped out of it before too long and got comfortable higher up than normal, to ensure he wouldn't be seen. He settled in to keep watch for either Akari or the man, his determination to ensure neither of them showed up great enough to keep him out of the state of thinking about a small nap as well.*

When Toriko woke up on the floor, the sunbeam had moved, as had the cat with it, closer to the windowsill. She rolled over onto her stomach and watched Maneshi's tail twitch as if in a dream, bending her knees and kicking her legs absently in the air over her head as she considered his sleek fur.

Her mind returned to her energy and she wondered if she could pull the cat out of his sleep. She sat up, facing the window, and removed her glasses, holding onto them with one hand as she stared at the cat, trying to remember what Kurama said the last time they were together.

Find where the energy rested. Tap into it.

Her eyes started to tingle and she opened her mouth to speak, "Wake up, my darling."

She felt her entire body beginning to buzz and she slipped further into it, the tone of her voice changing, coaxing, "Sleep no more. Awake and come to me." Her words were filled with unspoken dreams, deep desires made complete, calling the sleeper out from his slumber.3

Hiei had fallen asleep, not very much to his surprise, but this time, he hadn't dreamt. He was in a peacefully light slumber that allowed him to be just a bit aware of his surroundings, but at the same time earn some rest. So, when he felt himself being pulled into waking, he thought it might be because someone near the streets were stirring him in his sleep by perhaps lingering too long. His eyes slid open as if he'd been awake but merely resting his eyes. He looked around a bit more until a voice caught his ears.

His entire body stiffened at the feel of energy inside the house, but his mind told him he knew the source. As he turned to look inside the window from above, he found himself watching curiously, a brow raised as his ears picked up on her gentle words, her soft voice that had coaxed him from sleep. As she spoke, his entire being told him to obey, to move forward, but his curiosity held him in place.

Once he figured out that she was trying to tap into her energy like she had with Kurama- and was succeeding in doing so but not getting anything done- he scoffed and dropped to the windowsill, land perfectly on the ledge and crossing his arms at the girl, his expression a bit dark and commanding. "Just what do you think you are doing?" he inquired, his tone only aggressive enough to convey he was not going to accept a roundabout answer. _*** **_

Toriko started back when Hiei dropped into view, any semblance of concentration gone, and she dropped her energy, staring wide-eyed at him with her mouth open a little.

"I-I, uh," She found she couldn't manage any other words but to stare at him, his sudden appearance taking her completely by surprise.

The cat in the sunbeam woke up almost immediately once his light and warmth was blocked and he stretched and cast a dark glare at Hiei before getting up and leaving the room with his tail high, not one for strangers.

Toriko found herself watching the cat get up, ruefully considering how it didn't take much to pull it from sleep.

"I-I was trying to wake him up." She finally managed to say truthfully, finding her voice when she wasn't looking directly at Hiei and continuing to watch the cat as it sauntered out of the room.

When the cat was gone, she turned to her hands sitting in her lap and fiddled with the pleats on the long skirt of her uniform, uncomfortable under Hiei's penetrating gaze. 3

Hiei didn't care about the feline leaving, since to him it was a mere distraction. His brow raised high on his forehead as Toriko stammered, waiting as patiently as he could for an answer. He noted that she wouldn't look him in the eye, or even at him at all, keeping her gaze on the cat as it moved across the room and disappeared out the door. With her answer, his brow raised even higher, though it hadn't seemed possible. "With your energy?" He clarified, eyes slowly narrowing only a fraction. Even as the feline disappeared from sight, she wouldn't look at him, though his eyes never moved from her face, as if she'd give away something in her expressions. "And why would you do that? The mere creature has no reason to berated with demonic energy. After all, too high of a dose for such a weak thing could kill it, and I assume you're fond of the thing." _*** **_

"Um, yes?" There was no point in lying to him. Humans weren't normally aware enough to feel energy of any sort, but Toriko assumed Hiei had or he would not be standing on her windowsill.

"For the practice?" She was reluctant to reveal her ineptitude, though she figured if he felt her attempt he also felt her failure at it. She finally slipped her glasses over her eyes, unsure why she hadn't immediately put them on in the first place, but still refused to look up at him.

"It hasn't ever bothered him before. He mostly just ignores me." She mumbled the last part to herself. "A-and I've never killed anything. Ever."

At that she looked defiantly up into his face. She may not have remembered much of her past, but that was a truth she knew for a fact. She looked back down at her lap, her voice quiet, "What do you care, anyway?" 3

Hiei stared hard at Toriko as she answered, her voice wavering only a touch. At her words of practice, his expression shifted and he gave a small look of irritation. Especially when she began to defend herself. "It matters not if you've killed before," he said over her, meeting her gaze behind her thick lenses. "If you do not have control, it can happen at any moment, no matter the amount of energy you use." His tone became steely and he removed his hands from his pockets, dropping into the room. As she asked her most recent question, her voice wavering and unsure, his eyes darkened. "Do you think Koenma wants an unstable demon in his team, or even roaming the streets? Being unable to control your power is like a serial killer being unable to control his knife-holding hand. It defeats the purpose of staying hidden, staying low until the next strike. And anything can happen. You're unpredictable; a liability." His eyes shifted to the door as he thought of the feline. "And if you can't persuade a simpleminded creature such as a cat into doing as you want, then you are inept of doing much of any good. Your unpredictability will solidify into your power running rampant, until it searches for a way to release itself after being unused because you are _afraid _to exercise your own strength on someone who is clearly able to handle himself." Now, without actually meaning to, he spoke of their session- her's and Kurama's- last week. "You cannot control a power you are afraid of, especially if you keep holding back. And I will not allow someone who has no control over their abilities to roam and cause unnecessary trouble." _*** **_

As Hiei continued speaking, Toriko's jaw began to clench tighter and tighter, her nostrils flaring a bit until he finished, "You speak out of turn, _boy. _I have lived in this plane longer than you have."

Here she stood up, almost trembling in anger at his words, to look him directly in the eye, taking a step closer until their noses were only a few inches apart, "And was probably wandering Demon World before you were even born. If I was as much of a liability as you _presume_ then I would have been caught fifteen years ago when I first set foot on human soil."

Her scalp began to tingle and she clenched her fists together at her sides, taking a shaky breath before suddenly releasing the tension that built up in her system, stepping away from him and casting her eyes back down to the floor as the tingle dissipated along with her anger.

"I-I am out of practice. I know. But I only became interested at Kurama's behest. I'd just as soon not be what I am." She seemed at a loss for words, at a loss for any course of action, her eyes solemn and sad. 3

Hiei was a bit taken aback by the sudden closeness of Toriko, though he didn't show it. Not in the least. He simply stood his ground and met her glare head on, listening to the change not only in her words, but in her voice and even in her aura. Something sparked in the very recesses of his mind, telling him something that he hadn't considered yet. Especially when she suddenly backed down, acting completely on the contrary of what she'd just been saying, her voice going from strong and confident, angry, to soft and nervous, as if she thought he'd strike her for getting so close. His eyes widened a fraction, but his expression stayed neutral for the most part. He stepped up to her after a moment, again closing the gap between them and forcing her to meet his gaze. "What do you fear?" he suddenly asked, his tone mutual, a contradiction to his earlier demanding tone. "What makes you hold back? Because I can assure you, Kurama is capable of fending you off if you do something stupid." _*****_

Now his closeness seemed overpowering without her anger driving her and Toriko flinched, but his questions were valid. What exactly was it she feared? She feared many things. Her past, her memories...herself. And these all made her hold back in most aspects of life. But...as for the redhead...

"I...I do not wish...t-to lose my friendship with Kurama." She finally managed to stammer.

It was rather simple, really.

Kurama had pursued her for companionship a couple of years ago on his picking up on her not being human, and they were fast friends. He was the first being in a long time that enjoyed her company simply for who she was in all her awkward, stammering glory. She felt a sort of kinship with him, a familiarity she could not explain that went beyond the short time they had known each other, and it was a precious commodity to someone who had found themselves utterly alone for over a decade in a realm that was not their home.

"H-have you ever been alone, Hiei?" Her voice was quieter this time, but grew in strength as she continued. "Utterly and completely alone? Forced into a realm you know nothing about because you never considered it beyond the briefest of thoughts, forced away from all the familiar things you ever knew? Leaving behind any face you'd ever recognized?"

She took a breath and continued, "Even humans will form communes or gangs, associating with those like them, rarely traveling for long by themselves, but what about when there are none of your own kind around? ...the isolation year after year will almost drive one mad."

She let out a gentle scoff, "I am a pitiful excuse for a...a..."

She had a hard time even saying the word, admitting what she truly was, "I shouldn't care what Kurama thinks of me or what happens if I actually use my abilities on him...and yet, I can't bring myself to...do it." 3

Hiei couldn't fight the scoff that left his lips at her words. The sound was much louder than he had intended, though he didn't regret the sound. He took a closer look at Toriko, his crimson eyes frowning at her more than his lips were. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. But when he scoffed a second time, he let the words flow from his mouth. "If you lose friends, then were they ever really friends?" He wasn't wise like Kurama- at least not to that degree- and he certainly didn't know very much about friendships, but his ideas about them seemed to be things he observed over the many years he'd been alive. He wasn't one for friendships, but he figured that if he knew anything, he knew this: if you truly cared for someone, you wouldn't simply walk away from them. It was something he experienced with Yukina, though he'd never admit it.

At her next question, about him being alone, he merely stared at her. His expression didn't change at all. Flashes of memories clouded his vision for a few seconds, but no longer than necessary. Normally, he would have barked a remark at such a question, but as memories suddenly continued to berate his mind's eye, he felt that he didn't have the energy to do so. So, he merely stepped away from her. His lips formed into a sneer and his eyes shifted around the room before looking at her again. "If you really want the answer to that question, you should ask your _friend._." he enunciated, referring of course to Kurama. After all, Kurama knew just about all there was to know about them all. He turned and pulled himself onto the windowsill, getting comfortable on the edge so that the sun filtered onto the edge of the planes of his face, warming his left cheek just a bit. "Fearing your own energy is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," he grumbled, not looking at Toriko. _*****_

Once his back was turned, Toriko's eyes narrowed again, her anger stirring somewhere within her.

"You obviously don't understand, nor do I expect you to. Neither am I in a place where I can explain anything to anyone, friend or not, because the simple knowledge will influence them into-" She shook her head, stopped her sentence as she realized how wordy she was about to get.

"You know what? Forget it. Kurama can't know. You can't know. Neither of you will ever _get it._" She turned away in a huff, "Because as soon as you _do _get it- Nevermind. It doesn't matter." Not caring one whit what he did next, she followed the cat out of the room, but headed downstairs, hungry. 3

Hiei, for the most part, ignored the sudden tantrum from Toriko, though it hadn't been much of one. He'd expected her to get angry, perhaps even yell at him, so when she merely cut her own words off and left, he decided to let her go. Normally he would have smart remarks or perhaps he would desire to push her further than her limits, but for the moment, he held no interest in doing so. Her problems were her problems, and he didn't understand why he himself was so bothered by it. He propped an arm on his knee and turned to watch the streets below. He angled his head so that the sunlight didn't shine directly into his eyes, as it seemed it was intent on doing, but he became bored much too quickly. His eyes turned to inspect the door that slowly shut with the evening's breeze, giving a soft click. His ears however tuned into the movement downstairs, listening to Toriko move about.

Part of him did want to argue with her, to prove to her by means of force that holding back was a waste of time and would do no good, like he would with anyone else. But another part of him, the stronger part of him it seemed, held him in his spot, pushing away memories that she had triggered with her inquiries. He briefly recalled his days in demon world, the surrounding around him melting into a scene he had recalled a thousand times- being tossed over a ledge and into icy waters. His mind tried forcing him to remember more, but he immediately shut them out and closed his eyes, resting his head back against the frame of the windowsill. He thought he had dealt with them already.

Movement in the grass below caught his attention and, instinctively, he shifted his gaze below, searching for a threat, only to find a small rabbit hopping from bush to bush, searching for berries or whatever they ate- hell, Hiei didn't know nor care. He scoffed at himself, mentally scolding himself for becoming so ridiculous. He moved to stand, considering leaving, even looking to the closest branch that he would easily get to before moving to another napping area._*****_

Toriko stomped down the stairs. How was she supposed to explain that if she used her powers on Kurama he would never look at her the same again? Everyone always said the same thing, 'It'll be fine, Shikiyoku.' 'Don't worry about me, Shikiyoku.' 'Just this once, Shikiyoku.''You won't know until we try, Shikiyoku.'

...Toriko froze to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, one hand still on the banister and one foot on the floor, one just about to leave the last stair. What had she just thought?

Shili...shali...shiki...

Toriko frowned and shook her head, tossing unbidden memories into the darkest corner of her mind that she could manage and promptly moving her mind onto more pleasant thoughts. Like ice cream. Yes. The whole bucket, in fact. Maybe that would drown her misery.

She walked over to the freezer and grabbed a bucket of chocolate this time, opening the silverware drawer for a spoon and dropping to the tile floor against the refrigerator, sitting cross-legged with the bucket in her lap and ripping the lid off, letting it clatter to the ground next to her, leaning over the bucket and diving her spoon into the cold dessert before putting it up to her mouth and taking the bite, resting back against the fridge as she tried to forget anything she had been attempting to remember.3

Hiei stared at the door behind him, a brow raised as he recalled words of frustration. Suddenly, he scoffed at himself and dropped from the window, feet meeting the soft carpet of the bedroom once more. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and moved until he stood in front of the door, still contemplating. After a few moments, he made a noise under his breath and pulled the door open, turning and walking down the stairs at a leisurely pace. He passed the feline on his way down, the cat glaring at him before running back up the stairs, not that he minded.

When his feet hit the floor below the last step he paused and listened to his surroundings, at first not recognizing the sound he heard. He refrained from raising a brow and turned to follow the noise, and boy was he surprised to see the girl on the floor, scraping a spoon against her teeth as she shoved what he assumed to be sweet snow into her mouth. He felt his expression shift and his eyebrows twitch at random, his mind completely baffled by the odd sight. He'd seen some amusing things before, but the scene of Toriko curled up, hunched over an open container and stuffing food into her mouth definitely left him stunned. His eyes were wider than usual, his cheek twitching just a bit, fighting the motion his lips seemed to want to make without his permission.

He finally regained his composure and stood up straight again, his expression calm and muscles no longer twitching involuntarily. "Is this how you cope?" He voiced, trying to figure out just what exactly he was seeing. Never before had he seen something like this, and he just was not sure how to feel about it. _*** **_

Toriko's lips twitched, but she chunked the spoon at his face.

"You should try it." She reached over into the drawer next to her and grabbed a second spoon, returning to her bucket, but scooted over to make room if he decided to join her. 3

Hiei instinctively caught the spoon in the journey it made through the air, just before it collided with his face. He stared at the object for a moment before turning his crimson eyes back to Toriko, unsure of what was going on still. Again, he felt an eyebrow twitch in confusion before it settled back into place and he merely gave a small sigh, something he didn't normally sound. "How ridiculous," he grumbled as he stepped forward, spoon in hand as he crouched in front of her, balancing on the balls of his feet as he watched her continue on eating as if he weren't there at all. After a moment of inspection, he gave in and shifted to sit beside her, having gotten a scoop of it before moving away and tasting the new flavor she had presented.

The taste was sweet, like the one she had given him a week ago, but much more so, at least to him. The taste was different, but delicious all the same. Before long, he had another spoonful in his mouth, simply giving in to the sweet snow and its temptation as a whole. _*****_

Toriko balanced the bucket on one knee between them as they took turns scooping the treat out from inside.

When they had demolished half of the contents, Toriko stopped, licking her spoon and handing Hiei the bucket before standing and putting her spoon down in the sink.

"I have homework. Feel free to finish it if you like it." She wandered back upstairs and sat down on the carpet to start her school work.3

Hiei considered the bucket now in his possession , his crimson orbs roving over the creamy treat that was melting in his mouth at that very moment. He sifted the contents around on his tongue, momentarily taking a moment to process how much they'd eaten. As soon as the spoonful in his mouth had melted and he had swallowed it, he stuck another spoonful in his mouth and looked up to watch Toriko walk away, completely unaware of the peculiar expression on his face that, normally, he wouldn't show. He felt conflicted: eat the rest now, or put it away and possibly have more another day? He stuck the empty spoon between his lips again in thought before turning his eyes to the freezer, slowly making up his mind. After a single spoonful more, he shoved the lid onto the top, fiddling with it for a moment before it finally fit snugly, and he simply tossed it into the freezer with the other contents. With the spoon still in his mouth, having actually forgotten it, he headed upstairs as well, curious about the work of the humans.

He had seen the school, but never any of what they did inside the walls, though he admittedly was extremely curious. So he walked forward until he was reading over her shoulder, only realizing the spoon was still between his lips when the handle jabbed against the base of her neck and caused it to collide with the roof of his mouth. The pain of it caused him to groan and yank it from his mouth, almost chunking it across the room, but refraining and simply taking to staring at it with realization. _How could I have forgotten to put this away? __*****_

Toriko hadn't even heard Hiei enter the room, much less come up behind her, but she did feel the sharp stabbing pain just underneath her hairline and she slapped her hand on the spot, shifting around to look behind her just in time to see Hiei's obvious expression of pain, his lips curling away from the metal as he spat the utensil into a hand and held his jaw open in discomfort to glare at it.

Toriko shot up and spun around to face him, her own pain forgotten, "Are you hurt?"

That question was dumb, but she followed it up as she continued to move towards him, "Did you break a tooth?"

She grabbed the lower part of his jaw in one hand and forced him to look at her, using the other hand to slip her glasses up onto the top of her head and yanking his mouth open farther as she did so, getting as close to his face as she could and squinting down his open maw to check.3

Hiei hadn't really had much time to react before Toriko was in his face, a hand on his jaw and practically forcing his mouth open. His eyes widened in surprise before a moment, leaving him stunned still in his spot as she inspected him, the other hand moving her glasses from her face. For a moment, he merely stared at her, then he waved his hand as if to wave her away, attempting to pull away, but her grip tightened and he froze, confused. He lightly sniffed at the air, though not enough to be noticeable by the nearby party. _What is that? _he thought, eyes roving over the room and even the person in front of him. He sniffed again before his mind made the connection, producing an image in his head of a small, red fruit. His eyes narrowed a fraction as he watched her carefully, trying to speak with his mouth open, but only managing to make incoherent noise that even he didn't recognize. When he gave up on speaking, his eyes traveled to her hair and he sniffed lightly again. This time, he was confident her hair smelled of strawberries, and he found himself curious. Slowly, he moved a hand with the intent of ruffling through her hair, finding himself wondering if the reason she always kept it so tightly wrapped in a bun was due to hiding strawberries, or rather, the seeds to grow them.

Suddenly, he felt rationality cut into his musings, telling him that it was a ridiculous notion. How could seeds _possibly _awaken a feline from slumber? So, he let his hand drop to his side and simply relaxed, deciding he'd wait just as patient as he could until her inspection was done. *

She let go of him after a moment more, seeing no permanent damage to any of his teeth, but thought the expression in his eyes seemed strange, "Are you okay?" She asked again.3

Hiei snapped his eyes back to Toriko, not realizing he'd been inspecting her hair. He raised a brow and scoffed, his lips tilting into an amused sneer. He met her gaze evenly to let her see the amusement clearly. "You aren't my mother, yet you act like a worried human."

Toriko blinked in surprise at his tone.

"Doesn't everyone need someone to worry about? And someone to worry about them?"

She snatched the spoon out of his hand in a more derisive manner, to hide her tender words and mock her own ridiculous questions, "I mean, honestly I'm more concerned about my spoon."

She coddled it with both hands as she turned to go out the door, cooing as sarcastically as she could manage, "Big ole meany fire demons with their pointy teeth leaving scuff marks all over you, huh? Poor, poor, defenseless shard of metal."

As she turned to go down the stairs she stuck her tongue out at him, primly putting her nose in the air as she walked out of his sight, continuing down the stairs to put the spoon in the sink with its mate. 3

Hiei felt muscles in his face twitch just a bit at her initial words, confused about how he felt about them. His stomach had done something odd and made him feel strange, but as she continued talking. His eyebrows drew together and his expression shifted to one of mock irritation. As she continued to ramble about the damaged spoon, he found himself tracing her every move with his eyes, fighting a sound of exasperation, though he didn't exactly feel exasperated. Perhaps tired, was the right word. "You are possibly the most irritating being I've met," he paused, eyes roving to the ceiling, "excluding Kuwabara." As she walked away and out of his sight, Hiei stuffed his hands into the pockets of his cloak, following after her leisurely, merely out of curiosity to see what she'd do next.

After all, speaking to a spoon had never occurred to his mind to be something she would do, and it definitely left him curious about her next actions. *

"Kuwabara?" Toriko said the name thoughtfully before she recalled the other, larger redhead of the group. "Hmph."

She unceremoniously dumped the spoon into the sink, but before being able to do anything else, nearly jumped out of her skin when someone rang the doorbell. No one ever rang her doorbell. Suddenly very conscious that her glasses were on top of her head, Toriko bit her lip and pulled them down back over her eyes, slowly started to move towards the door, swallowing nervously as she stepped from the tile back to the carpet.

She unlocked and opened the door to find Kurama smiling down at her.

"H-hi!" She stammered unceremoniously.

"Good evening, Toriko!" He tilted his head a little, still smiling pleasantly. "I meant to catch you after school today and ask if you wanted to have dinner? I thought I would cook this time, and afterwards perhaps have a tutoring session?"

Toriko opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, conflicted and suddenly very uncomfortable. She had very specifically escaped school grounds as quickly as possible earlier because she'd thought Kurama would approach her on this matter. Now that he stood at her doorstep, it seemed impolite to turn him away, but she couldn't bear the thought of going through the same ordeal as last week. Crying in front of another was something she reserved as a once in a lifetime event and now was too soon to consider doing it again.3

Hiei slowly stepped down the stairs, not replying whr Toriko repeated the human's name. As soon as he set foot on the last step, he heard a sound echo through the home that he recognized easily as a doorbell, and he paused briefly, inspecting the energy he had somehow missed. As soon as he recognized Kurama's energy, he relaxed, but stayed where he stood, hidden from view, for a moment. He suddenly recalled something he hadn't yet had the chance to speak to the fox demon about yet, and instinctively he stepped off the last stair and into view of the doorway, his expression blank as he caught the green gaze of his friend. After a small moment to take in his friend's pleasant air of cheer, he opened his mouth to speak, not missing the sudden air around Toriko either. "We already ate," he said casually, removing his hands from his pockets, "and I have things to do." He moved forward, nodding his farewell at Toriko, not even waiting for a reaction before his eyes turned to convey his silent message to Kurama that said "_We need to talk". *_

"Oh!" Kurama seemed genuinely surprised at Hiei's presence in the house, but quickly recovered, hearing Hiei's request and picking back up with, "Well, if that's the case, another time then, Toriko."

He went on, hoping to smooth things over in case Toriko felt awkward, "I'm glad Hiei was here, I've been needing to speak with him." He nodded his goodbye to Toriko and turned to follow Hiei down the steps to the sidewalk, knowing Hiei would begin speaking whenever he wished.

Hiei lead the way down the sidewalk calmly, slowly, almost leisurely as his mind roved over the few things he'd discovered in the past few days. At the first topic that popped into his mind, he felt the irritation the swelled up, even felt it making his eyes darken, even if just a tad. He waited until he was sure they were out of sight of Toriko's home before speaking up, just loud enough that the sounds of the busy city would keep humans from listening in, but Kurama could still keep up with the conversation. "Have you noticed a visitor lately?" he inquired bluntly, his red eyes shifting to his friend, not waiting for a reaction. "There's a demon wandering around, completely able to hide his energy." He paused, waiting to tell Kurama the rest of what he wanted to say until he saw his reaction, heard what he had to say about the matter. Surely if Kurama knew about it, he would also know that the demon was interested in a single member of the group, for now anyways. *

Kurama looked thoughtfully into the night air, "Hm. I believe I know who you're talking about, yes. White-blonde hair? Tall? He somehow got a hold of a Meiou High uniform and was on the grounds today after school let out. I didn't think anyone else had noticed him yet, though." He looked down at the fire demon quizzically, unsure how Hiei knew about him unless Hiei had taken to following Kurama about at school again. 3

Hiei nodded at Kurama once to show he acknowledged that Kurama knew who he was referring to, and he waited an extra moment for him to continue on, say something about seeing him multiple times like the fire demon had. But when he glanced at the redhead from the corner of his eyes and caught his waiting expression, Hiei frowned and turned his eyes forward. "He's been around Toriko. Repeatedly. Passing by her home at least twice now, following her the equal amount of times." He stopped talking to allow it to sink into his friend's mind, glancing at Kurama to watch his reaction. *

Kurama's expression darkened, "I was afraid her run-in with him as he walked her home from school today was not the first time they crossed paths. And I don't think Toriko is to blame. She's never mentioned anyone like him to me before, and I would hope if someone was truly bothering her she would speak up and let someone know."3

Hiei's eyes continued to darken further as he watched Kurama from the corner of his eye. "I don't think she's completely noticed his recurring presence yet. At least, not as a threat to make her nervous enough to speak up." He paused and turned his eyes forward again. "Which brings me to the next issue. You aren't pushing her hard enough." He didn't clarify at first, since he figured Kurama knew exactly what he was talking about. "She's been using her pet as a target, and failing might I add. She's controlled by her own fear." *

Kurama kept his expression as neutral as possible, "Actually I'm the one who suggested Maneshi in the first place. I think she's afraid of her energy messing with my mind somehow, and as her abilities do not manifest in a physically-harmful manner, I saw nothing wrong with it if it helped her along." 3

Red orbs shifted to and from Kurama shortly again as the kitsune responded calmly. The fire demon didn't react visibly to the words that reached his ears, but internally he felt conflicted. Part of him wanted to push the issue, but he also knew that he knew next to nothing about the girl who Kurama was watching over, and it wasn't his place to step in. He battled internally with his thoughts for a moment before resigning himself to simply glancing at Kurama once more, this time searching his expression. "As long as you are aware of her instability." he finished, letting that be the conversation ender.*

* * *

Shikiyoku \- lust; sexual appetite

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	7. Ep 92 - The Man with The Purple Eyes

**A/N: **Hello once again, Readers!

I wanted to issue a warning for this chapter, though I will preface it with NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS, but: if this sort of thing bothers you, know that there is a near-rape scene that occurs, though it is in fact interrupted before anything terribly graphic occurs.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

After Akari finishes with her day of school, her and Nabu head to the park.

~!**!~

Embarrassed at breaking down in front of Kurama, Toriko leaves the school grounds as quickly as possible,  
trying to avoid another "tutoring" session with the redhead, only to be followed once again by Otento.  
Once home, she tries her powers on Maneshi, catching Hiei's attention who reprimands her,  
but also steps in to talk with Kurama when the avatar drops by to ask Toriko about tutoring her.

Hiei expresses his concerns about Otento to Kurama and the two of them agree Otento's actions are rather suspect.

The next day...

* * *

Akari sat back in her desk, completely and utterly frazzled. She'd been this way for the past ten minutes, and nothing seemed able to put her in such a state near as often as the very class she was sitting in. The students were chattering about how they thought they did, all the while Akari was rubbing her temple and doing breathing exercises to calm herself. _School, of all things, will be the actual death of me. _she thought, causing her breath to hitch in frustration.

"Alright, quiet down," the teacher suddenly called, instantly silencing the room as he moved around his desk and began passing out the tests that they had concluded a while ago. As he paced down the rows and along the lines of students, his voice rang clearly. "Like usual, Shuichi has the top score, but that is about all I can say about this test. There were more low grades than any other test I've issued this semester, and I can't tell you how disappointed I am." When he passed by her and handed her the test with her name on it and a number written in red, circled, he paused. "see me after class," he said under his breath before continuing on. "There are a few of you who did very well," he paused again, this time in front of Toriko, who sat a row across and several seats behind Akari, muttering the same words under his breath to her despite the high grade she had been issued, "but others… You've left me baffled. Stunned. I don't even want to allow retakes on this one because you did so poorly, but then the parents would complain. So, tomorrow morning, I will be holding a small review session for those of you who are **required **to take the retake." His eyes flickered around the room, and here is where Akari stopped listening altogether.

She clenched her teeth in irritation as she glanced at the red fifteen on her paper and thought about the meaning behind him requesting her audience after class. It took everything in her power not to simply let her head fall and collide harshly with the wooden surface of her own desk, but the action would likely only get her into more trouble.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and the teacher was calling farewell to his students as he settled into his chair at his desk again, this time his eyes watching the people move about in his room until it was almost vacated. *

Kurama accepted his paper with a nod at the professor, and his ears caught both instances of a 'see me after class' comment, the first to Akari, the second to Toriko. When he glanced briefly over his shoulder to see how Toriko took the news, he saw her cheeks turn pink and her eyes quickly scan her own test, searching for the grade. Her expression held only a slight bit of relief, so Kurama assumed the grade must have been high, but that only led him to wonder further as to why she would be needed after class. Surely...surely she was not meant to...

Kurama turned back to face forward, unsure if he would be able to contain his amusement at the prospect. He wouldn't be called for tutoring in this instance as he already had three different math students to tutor for, two below them in grade and another in a different class period, but the thought of poor Toriko being stuck with the fiery Akari struck him as funny.

When the last bell of the day rang, Kurama began gathering his things together as he customarily did, though more methodically this time, standing up and trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, not willing to miss the opportunity to hear the news for himself.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Toriko, her things already in her arms or placed deep within her messenger bag, scurry through the students to the front, in a hurry as usual to get home.

The professor rumbled something at Toriko about waiting until Akari shuffled her way up there, her entire being radiating annoyance at the bother of it all.

"Toriko. I know I would normally delegate something like this to Minamino, but he has a lot on his plate, and your score on this particular test was the second highest in this class, so I'm assigning Akari seven hours of tutoring with you before the re-take."

"Y-yes, sir." Toriko stammered, bowing.

"_Ouch. Seven hours with __**her**__." _Kurama wouldn't have wished that on anyone, especially Toriko, and he felt as if he'd stalled as long as reasonably possible in getting his things together, so he headed out the door.

Toriko didn't really know what to do or say to the demon girl who walked with her the entire way out to the school grounds, so she stayed quiet and let the girl vent as she needed to.3

Akari had taken her sweet, dear time gathering her things, being extra sure to stuff the test out of her sight and into the very recesses of her bag before slowly shuffling to the front of the class- not that it was too far, since she sat on the first row. She had given a small huff at herself merely to keep herself in check before she stood in front of the teacher, bag in her hand and dangling at her side almost lazily as she listened silently. By the time he was done talking, her shoulders were stiffened with anxiety and frustration. Defiance. However, she bowed her head respectfully and moved to leave the room as quickly as possible without giving herself time to grumble something under her breath and cause more issues for herself.

The moment she felt that she was out of earshot of the classroom, Akari let her expression shift to one of complete and utter irritation, to match the air around her, and her mouth opened immediately. "I will not be staying today. I have better things to do than sit around and read ridiculously large textbooks, especially for seven hours." Her tone was quietly angry, though her eyes smoldered with the feelings she'd been cooping up for the past few days. between repeatedly testing her illusions and completely failing in the school she'd allowed herself to be enrolled in, her stress had been mounting up until she felt buried in pent up anger that she wouldn't be able to release without a human bearing witness, or even drawing attention from other demons in the city- namely Koenma's team. And now that this had been added to that pile, she felt ready to pop. "And do not expect me to simply sit around patiently while you give me the same load of crock that the professor gives." She hadn't realized she was venting until she reached the main hallway that stretched to the main doors, and when she did realize, she clamped her jaw shut tightly, only for another comment to escape through her teeth. "This is ridiculous."

As she continued down the hall, not even noticing she was still keeping up pace with Toriko, she made incoherent sounds under her breath that, if clarified, would have been words that she didn't use very often, yet she found them saying them more and more each day. Before now, she'd never seen the purpose behind the colorful language the humans had used, but now she found herself unable to use any other type of vocabulary to express herself.

"Stop it," she growled at herself as she pushed the front doors open, her stride picking up so that she sped her pace up just a bit, intending to leave Toriko behind. But something caught her attention, bringing her out of her thoughts and silencing her altogether. Her eyes searched for whatever was bothering her until they landed on a figure she hadn't seen in a couple of days. She eyed him, momentarily remembering the words he had spoken to her about _invitations _and _scars, _etc. She took a step in his direction, momentarily considering going after him.

But again, she paused and made noise under her breath. _I don't have the patience for you today. As much as I'd love to let my energy loose on you, the time just isn't right. _Her eyes shifted to Toriko, who was only just catching up to her. Without so much as another thought, she reached out and grabbed the girl's wrist and yanked her forward, taking the lead as she walked across the grounds with purpose, her eyes momentarily flickering to the blonde before turning forward again.

She said nothing to the small girl as she lead Toriko down the sidewalk, remembering which house Otento had stopped in front of and watched. She stomped her way through the busy crowds of the city, never once releasing her grip on the poor girl or even looking back at her. If Toriko had protested in any way or said anything, it fell on deaf ears as Akari ignored her entirely, intent only to get the girl to where she needed to be for now.

As soon as the house came into view, she turned down the sidewalk and marched straight up the front steps, pulling the girl all the way to her door before releasing her. She rounded to meet Toriko's gaze, her expression as serious as possible. "Now go do whatever it is you do on your evenings off." she said sternly, indirectly telling her to stay inside, though she didn't mean it as a sentiment to show she cared for the girl. "And don't do anything stupid." With that, she turned and walked down the sidewalk, only pausing to see the door shut behind the girl before she continued her way through the town.

"_**Wow**__, a new friend already?" _Nabu suddenly barked as he pranced out of a bush nearby and caught up to her. When no response was given, the dog gave a small whining sound and lowered his head. "_That's too bad… I bet she's nice." _he paused and looked over his shoulder, as if suddenly reading the air around him and Akari. "_What's wrong?"_

"**What have I told you about babbling, Nabu?**" _*** **_

The hum of the insects and the quiet night-bustle of the city were company enough for Otento that evening as he meandered his way towards a very specific section of a very specific neighborhood.

Seeing 'Toriko' after school had done nothing to satisfy the ache he felt, having not gotten to be near her, to talk to her, having her dragged away by that other demon girl.

A growl started to rumbling deep in his chest, but before it could bubble into any coherent noise past his lips, Otento closed his eyes for just a second to take a breath in his nose and let it fly past his lips, feeling no better for having done so, but losing the desire to growl into the air around him.

The sun had sunk well below the horizon and by the time he spotted the house the stars were a gentle light in the night sky.

He picked up his pace, drawn to the occupant of the house he knew would reside within like a moth to a flame.

He almost groaned out loud when he reached the edge of the sidewalk leading up to her front door, knowing that just beyond the threshold, somewhere inside, the demoness he desired lay sleeping. He closed his eyes as the image of her former self in the radiant glory that the recesses of his mind afford her lay sleeping on a bed, _his _bed.

He could not contain the growl this time and it softly vibrated past his lips into the warm night. He stalked to the right, taking a quick glance around with both eyes and unseen senses to make for certain he would not be bothered.

Otento prowled along the outside of the house like a rabid wolf around the trunk of a tree where its prey had just run up for safety, his nose flaring and eyes twitching about, constantly making sure the area was clear.

And then, when he rounded the other side of the house from the back, he stopped and stood up, immediately aware of something different. He searched almost desperately, looking around the yard, at the tree next to the house, his eyes following the branches until they would just scrape the siding and his heart jumped in his chest.

He could see curtains from the inside billowing in a slight breeze.

Without another thought, his hopes rising, Otento broke into a jog and reached the side of the house in a few easy strides, gathering himself into a coil and jumping up, easily clearing the windowsill, landing just on it in fact. He doubled over in order to duck inside, feet being greeted by soft carpet that muffled any noise he would have made.

His eyes only took a second longer to adjust to the slightly gloomier darkness of the room, and he swept its contents from right to left, the bed and woman he longed for just to his left.

A breath hitched in his throat as he stared. Though she looked completely different now than when they first meet, his eyes still drank in her sleeping form, long hair filling the pillow with dark, soft waves, face free of those awful glasses and etched by the darkness. Her blanket lie discarded at the end of the bed, her legs twisted in the sheets as though she struggled in a dream not too long ago. As a delicious smell wafted over his nose, his eyes closed almost of their own accord so that he could drink it in unhindered by sight, but they opened again just as quickly to stare longer.

He knew it was too early. Knew he was not to move forward yet, but...now that he saw her, it became harder and harder to resist touching her skin, pulling his fingers through her hair, and just those thoughts nearly drove him mad, and so he moved. Moved forward, moved towards her, ever-so-softly getting onto the bed near the wall and climbing the foot or so it took until he could lay next to her on his side.

Memories flooded into his mind now that he was closer, and suddenly, it was not this 'Toriko' laying next to him, but the demoness from eons past. _His _demoness. Their time had been brief, but he had never forgotten. Never relinquished his possession of her within his mind. He knew she was only doing her job, and when she had gotten the information from him, he should have been killed, but here he was and there she lay. He reached over, hesitation only in place to be as gentle as possible, and drew the back of his hand down her cheek, sending a thrill jolting down his arm and causing him to tremble.

Her arm nearest to him was thrown up over the pillow on top of her hair and he leaned closer to softly plant his lips on her skin just past her elbow and up to her wrist, finding that his heart had started to beat wildly in his chest as he did so, his lips tingling as they touched each time, throwing his emotions even farther out of control until he could barely contain himself.

He sat up more, starting to tangle one hand in her hair, unable to resist tugging at it. He sensed her being pulled from her slumber now and before she was fully awake, he straddled her thighs and pinned down her left wrist with his right hand, smiling viciously into her face as her eyes fluttered open, their green color vibrant and captivating without her glasses, even in the dark.

Just as she realized what was happening, just as her eyes started to widen further at the sight of the man over her and her lips began to form a terrified question, he leaned down and let his mouth cover hers in answer, not caring if she recognized him or not.

Her body was so small that any struggling she did was akin to a beetle in the paws of a tom cat. When her legs started to kick, he moved one of his own and put enough pressure on them that they could not move. When she tried to reach up and claw at his face with the arm not already pinned by the hand he tangled up in her hair, he laughed into his kiss and caught it, holding it back down onto the bed easily before breaking away from her to look into her face.

For all her attempts, she only egged him further on, and she started to sheen with sweat at the stress, her demonic energy scattering to fill her body erratically, the usual shimmer coating her eyes and her scalp tingling underneath her hair, but these things did nothing to help protect her, instead only mesmerizing him into bending his head down and planting his lips several times down the line of her jaw.

Breathless and scared, Toriko could not so much as cry out, desperately trying to not get pulled under the waves of energy that swept over her from head to toe, but only just able to stay afloat in her own body, not wanting to give in to his attentions but in dire distress while she resisted. Her energy begged her to stop fighting and simply enjoy what they could offer one another even as she tugged and pulled against it. The waves smoothed through her time and again in wave after wave of power until Toriko could see no way out, her mind beginning to sink beneath the tide…3

Hiei moved about the dying crowd of the city, the amount of people on the streets much fewer in numbers than normal, which made him simply wander the sidewalks back to Toriko's. He hadn't meant to stay in Kurama's company for so long, talking about several things for a while before he had left, and then dozed off for a small nap near the park. His hands were in his pockets, clenching and unclenching as if he were in pain. In reality, he felt a sense of anxiety, a small sense that he needed to be somewhere, and be there as fast as possible. However, not one to rush himself, he simply meandered his way lazily across town. He ignored the humans as he walked, though a few nodded in greeting out of courtesy, which he didn't understand nor care to reply to.

A few moments passed and he felt the feeling in his stomach strengthen, causing him to glance around himself to ensure he wasn't being followed, but he knew it wasn't the case. Again, he brushed it away and continued forth until he saw Toriko's home just down the road. The premises seemed normal, all of the lights turned out and quiet for the most part. He searched for the bedroom window as he closed the distance to the house, and for a moment it all seemed normal, peaceful.

But as soon as he stepped onto the grass of Toriko's yard, he caught sight of a shadowed figure that moved behind the billowing curtains of the open window. He paused, multiple emotions berating him at once simultaneously with Toriko's energy. It was frantic, reaching out almost as if to protect her, but it didn't seem like it was working in the least. His normally bright ruby eyes became darkened with anger, his expressions mirroring the rage he felt tearing through his entire being as he moved, in a moment's notice standing in the top of the tree nearest Toriko's window.

His energy billowed out around him, exploding into the night air and practically swirling with the warning he was giving to the blonde he could now make out in the room. His hand held his katana at his side, his arm shaking with the desire to do nothing but disassemble the demon's head from his shoulders, but if he attacked, he feared he would strike the small girl who was struggling beneath. At first, he spoke nothing, letting his angry, torrenting energy be his warning, but the angry part of his mind made him speak. "If you do not step away, you will find that you will have lost the ability to do so on your own, and you won't have to worry about breathing for very long." His tone was murderous, his eyes continuing to darken as his expression continued to form lines and shadows that seemed to emphasize the killer thoughts that ran through his mind. *

The hairs on the back of Otento's neck began prickling the instant Hiei's energy exploded furiously from beyond the window, but it took the words he released into the night air for Otento to actually be able to pull away from Toriko's neck.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the dark-cloaked fire demon, whose rage was almost palatable, standing in the tree Otento had hardly noticed earlier, but the smell that surrounded him so completely drew his eyes back to Toriko, whose chest moved rapidly up and down underneath him, her eyes wide and the shimmer begging him closer while at the same time screaming at him to go away. He could feel her energy encircling him in ribbons of winding power, an embrace he did not wish to thwart, nor one he would willingly depart from. She held all his deepest desires and they became too much for him to resist, pulling him back down and out of the awareness of the situation around him. 3

Hiei glared daggers at the blonde who glanced only briefly over his shoulder at him. He held the demon's gaze for a moment, to convey that he was one-hundred percent serious about killing him, and wouldn't hesitate to do so if necessary. He waited, watching every muscle twitch of the blonde, and as soon as Otento turned his back on him again, the fire demon's anger mounted to an all-time high. His energy began swirling even more, surrounding not only him, but a good ten-foot radius around him, creating the space around him to darken along with the rest of his being. Without second thoughts, he moved, his feet carrying him swiftly through the window and into the carpeted room, his hand automatically reaching out and grabbing the collar of the demon while his blade pressed into the male's neck, the tip of his katana piercing the skin enough to draw just a bit of blood. With his left arm, Hiei pulled the demon away from Toriko, using his katana-wielding hand shooting between Toriko and Otento so his arm stopped Otento from pulling her with him, tossing the intruder mercilessly into the wall behind them before turning on him. Hiei brandished his sword and took a single step forward. *

At the abrupt displacement of himself from Toriko, Otento immediately felt his mind clear, the bump of his head against the wall doing most of the work, though his nose flared, still full of her scent. He could nearly see the ribbons of energy that had been around him moments before floating around the space he had occupied, but broken apart, still moving slightly as if alive.

The pain in his neck further brightened his eyes into the severity of the situation and when forced to choose between Toriko and life, he knew it was his time to go.

His eyes glanced over at her, seeing that she had sat up and scooted back against the wall with her knees near her face as small as she could make herself, tears now falling silently from her eyes, but she still stared at him from across the room, nearly coaxing him closer once more. He clenched his eyes shut at his mistake, a growl vibrating his chest as he fought for his very life and against Toriko's unwarranted hold over him. He felt Hiei's aura flare dangerously over his body, but only a half a second had passed between being thrown off and looking up, so he gathered his legs underneath him.

"I guess my fun will have to wait." He flashed his eyes at Hiei, making sure to memorize every detail of the swordsman's face for later vengeance at interrupting him and then he uncoiled his body, grabbing for the windowsill and swinging out into the night.3

Hiei felt his chin tip higher into the air as Otento shifted his gaze to Toriko again, the fire demon extending his blade to the demon in preparation of beheading him. However, as soon as he moved, Hiei knew he was leaving before he even spoke; any normal demon would flee if their life were in danger and it was as clear as it was now. His crimson orbs followed the motions of Otento, his ears catching his words just as he disappeared into the darkness of the night world outside the window. Hiei waited, anticipating the demon to come back for an attack, but after a few silent moments, he sheathed his katana and stepped to the window, immediately closing and securing it from the inside. He checked to make sure it wouldn't open without being broken, which would buy him an extra second if the demon returned, and when he was at least reassured, he turned to Toriko, his expression now blank and his energy slowly fading to be hidden once more. He eyed the crying girl for a moment, and the energy he could see moving about in the air around her, and he considered her for a moment, searching for any visible sign of injury.

"Did he harm you?" he said suddenly, his tone flat with the anger he was still trying to suppress. After a moment, he took a careful step forward, making sure to give her time to tell him to stop before he got too close; after all, he wasn't sure how she'd react to another being coming close to her at the moment. *

Toriko stared at the spot on the floor the blonde had occupied moments before, unbidden tears falling down the side of her face leaving silent streaks of distress. She sat up against the wall on top of her pillow, her knees drawn up to her chin underneath her nightgown and her arms encircling them to get them as close as possible to her body, her chin resting on one arm.

Her energy brimmed over her entire body, unchecked and free, but she hardly noticed. The ribbons of demonic energy that had fluttered around Otento were still calmly, gently moving above the bed.

She didn't see Hiei so much as feel his presence, even once he pocketed his energy away.3

Hiei eyed the female warily, wondering if she had even heard him. He took a few more steps closer, stopping before he reached the bed and standing within arm's reach of the edge, though not moving any closer, despite his desire to do so. He felt that caution here would go a long way, not because she was weak, but because he knew that she was upset. So, he blocked out his own energy, his own emotions, and watched her curiously, patiently, silently. He waited for a few more minutes, eyeing the tears that streamed down her face, his mind bringing up the mental image of crying Yukina.

He twitched just a bit in his expression and he gave a small sound that said he suddenly moved forward, surprising himself by sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to her and eyes forward, silently enlightening her of her presence. *

Toriko felt the bed shift slightly under new weight, and she finally blinked, eyes flickering over to Hiei's back as the fire demon sat down. She watched silently as the tendrils of energy still hovering over the bed slowly began to gravitate towards him, starting to circle his body, staying a foot away from him, but circling nonetheless. The movement mesmerized her, coaxed her, until she blinked again and realized she had moved forward, on her knees now and reaching out her right hand towards Hiei's far shoulder. She completed the gesture all at once by moving forward to envelop his shoulders with her torso, slipping her right hand over his right shoulder and pressing up against his back, putting her left arm over his left shoulder and connecting it with her other wrist to rest in about the middle of his chest. She set her chin against the white fabric wrapped around his neck, her lips barely apart and sending her breath over his dark cloak. She let her weight rest onto him, his strength holding her tiny frame up easily, and took a deep breath, finding that he smelled of something like cloves and fiery cinnamon.

She wanted to say something to him, anything, but her mind kept trying to return to the recent encounter and she squeezed her green eyes shut, trying to forget as two more tears slid quietly down her cheeks. 3

Hiei listened to Toriko's breathing pattern, waiting for any sign of her calming down, even if a bit. His thoughts drifted from one thing to another, the block he held on his own emotions keeping his thoughts away from what he should have done, every so often feeling a flash of anger and bloodlust for a single person's death. As the thought crossed his mind, he felt arms wrap around his shoulders, warm hands pressing on his chest lightly as a small, frail body leaned on him completely.

Of two things he was sure of. One, Toriko had no defenses. Two, as she leaned on him, he recognized the smell of tears, and it left him almost unable to function. How did he deal with tears? How did he deal with someone who was emotionally scarred and likely even scared to be near people now? How did he reassure her that no harm was to come to her?

What should he do?

What should he say?

As he sat there, he realized that maybe he didn't have to say anything, and something within him stirred, causing him to lower his head just a bit to tease the end of her nose with his hair. He didn't know Why he felt the need to show Toriko that she was okay, or why he felt the need to ensure her safety, but at that moment, it was all he knew, and he didn't question it.*

Hiei felt warm even through his cloak. That's what Toriko noticed first as she collapsed against him without the strength to move farther. She needed to be near him, needed to feel his solidity and his steadfastness. Didn't know why. Perhaps she felt safer. Yes, that was it. From the instant she felt his demonic energy explode into the night air, she knew she no longer had to worry. And now, here with him, she felt absolute security. Her protector. Her savior. She closed her eyes…

_The demons had become feral, tossing her back and forth between them while they each did as they pleased. Her body was tired, her demonic energy nearly spent. She had tried defending herself before, but she knew it was no good, it just made things that much worse for her. _

_And so, as they used her within an inch of her life, it was all she could do to hold onto a single shred of her sanity, blinking back tears that made streaks in her muddy face as they tracked down towards her jawline. _

_This time, that sanity came in the form a single, white, Demon World bird, whose deathly song she clutched onto as she floated adrift within her own mind, on the brink of madness. As she looked up to catch sight of its pure wings once more, the tiniest flicker of light returned to her eyes when she realized the bird was getting bigger, flying closer, directly towards her and her oppressors. _

_And then it wasn't a bird, but a fox, and then not a fox, but a male demon. His song was not a song, but a vicious growl that tore through the ruckus of the demons around her and turned their indulgent cries into cries of pain as he struck them all down around her, the one that held her dropping her body to the forest floor, where it was all she could do to lay there and watch, hungrily needing to see them die and to watch her savior do it. _

_When the last of them had fallen, he came over and squatted down, seeing her chest still breathing and her eyes glaring at him, green and dangerous. The thought that she still had the strength to appear ferocious in her current state made him stay his hand._

"_H-have you come to kill me, too?" She croaked, her lower lip cracking as she spoke. She didn't have the strength to lick it and clean the blood._

_The demon's silver ears twitched, his tail flicking in amusement. He put his face in hers, nose centimeters away as he sniffed at the blood that was threatening to drip down her lip._

"_Do you wish to die?" He wanted to know, glancing over into her eyes before looking back at her lips and quickly snaking his pink tongue out of his mouth to lick up the blood that pooled over her dry lips. _

_She did not answer him at first, feeling her breath washing over his face and some of it falling back against her own, so close he stayed._

_He sniffed again, "You do not smell like death. Tell me, how good are you with your abilities?" He pulled back from her ever-so-slightly to look into her eyes again. _

_He rocked back on his feet for a moment and pulled the tunic of his yukata off over his head, laying it so that it might cover some of her body._

"_I was taught well." She said after a moment, gathering her strength just to take enough breath to speak._

"_How well?" His eyes narrowed, prepared to kill her then and there if she did not give him a straight answer._

_She searched for the last ounce of her energy and shimmered it into her eyes, the only part of her not desecrated, staring into his yellow irises and simply saying, "Pick me up."_

"_I don't see how that's going to convince me not to kill you."_

_She said nothing, only raising an eyebrow up at him._

_He blinked and realized he had stood up with her in his arms. _

_He almost threw his head back to laugh, but settled for merely a bark of laughter, "Ha! Very well." _

_He felt more than saw that her reserves were depleted and her eyes were fluttering closed. _

"_All the better." He mumbled, "Can't be having you do that to me again." _

_He made sure his fingers held his tunic firmly against her skin so that it did no fly off, and then he dashed off into the trees, unsurprised that her body seemed to be hardly a burden at all for how badly it had been treated. _

_He glanced down to see that she finally shut her eyes and had leaned her head against his chest to rest, but she stirred after a moment._

"_Thank you." It came out as a murmur._

"_Don't mention it."_

_The wryness of his words made her lips twitch as if to smile, but they began bleeding again._

_This time she licked the blood away herself._

Toriko tightened her eyes, already closed, as the memory shot across her mind, flickering past in almost an instant of time before leaving her in peace once more, her breath coming more steadily as she held herself around Hiei's shoulders and followed his intake and exhale of air to calm her own.

Something brushed against her nose, and she twitched her nostrils, eyes slowly opening. When she saw a spike of dark hair that tickled her again, her eyes widened and she felt her chest heave, pulling quickly away from Hiei to sneeze violently onto her arm into the completely silent room. She froze in place, arm over the lower half of her face and staring with her eyes wide at Hiei, unsure how he was going to react. 3

Hiei paused when Toriko moved, for a moment thinking she had flinched away. Then, he heard the small sound of her sneeze, completely shattering the quiet of the room. He glanced over his shoulder at her, a sneer on his face as if he were mocking her. For a moment, he merely let her take in the sneer, then he spoke up in a low voice, quiet as a whisper but as demanding as a shout. "That was pathetic." *

Toriko frowned and lowered her arm, scooting farther away from him to lean back against the wall again and looking away, her nose in the air just long enough to make him think she wasn't going to move again, then she turned and stuck her tongue out at him. 3

Red orbs followed the female as she moved away, his expression never wavering as she scooted further and further from him, ending up in the spot she had started in. With her nose so high in the air, he wasn't sure what to think other than the fact that she looked as if she smelled something appetizing and had the mere thought of following the scent. Like a canine, almost, but he brushed the thought away. When he saw her tongue snake between her lips and aid in forming the most childish expression he'd ever seen on a demon, he raised a brow and turned his eyes away, towards the window to estimate the amount of time he'd spent here, as if checking a clock that was mounted on a wall. By the shadows that the moon created, he hadn't been here near as long as it felt he head, but it didn't matter. He turned his eyes to his feet for a moment in thought before deciding Toriko would need her space, and if possible, some rest. So, he stood once more and turned to face her again, his tone flat but his words a warning. "Remember to lock your windows." He didn't want to make her recall the moments from before, but he felt it needed to be said, as if it would reassure her in some way when he knew it wasn't possible.

Then he turned and stuffed his hands in his pockets, slowly sauntering his way to the windowsill, giving himself time to check the outside of the house before leaving. *

"D-don't leave me..." Toriko pleaded quietly, almost to herself, half-hoping he would not hear her. She could already feel the night closing in around her, and she hugged her arms around herself as if very cold, trembling, but finally looking up to see if he had heard.

"Please...don't go..." Her chin dropped to her chest and she fought back more tears, wishing the tingling over her skin would stop as each prick brought back flashes of blonde hair and her useless struggle. 3

Hiei paused, the small voice taking him off guard. With a blank expression, more to conceal his conflicting emotions than to get away, he looked over his shoulder at Toriko, who had positively sunk into herself by the time his crimson orbs found her in the darkness. She appeared so small, sitting in the corner, folded into herself the way she was. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought she looked just about as human as could be, and it sparked more conflicting emotions. By the time she looked up, he had a frown set into his face, as if it had been etched there millions of years ago. When she repeated herself, he felt his resolve crumble and he finally turned to face her again, wordlessly making his way back to her, sensing the way her energy moved about the room, pulling away from her into the air and then moving freely again.

"Picture a rope." he said suddenly, deciding imagery would not only help her with her concentration, but it would keep her mind busy as well. "Imagine pulling on it, pulling it towards you. Concentrate, and watch your own energy as you do so." *

When he started to move back towards her, Toriko felt that perhaps he might stay, perhaps he might keep her darkness at bay.

She hardly heard his words about a rope, a meaning that escaped her altogether at that moment, but at his suggesting she 'pull,' that's exactly what she did. She sat on her knees and reached out towards him with her hands, calling to her demonic energy that had all but released its hold on him and it sparked back to life, beginning to both visibly and invisibly wind around him once more, ribbons and tendrils drawing him closer, coaxing him back to her, until he stood at her bedside, still looking into her eyes.3

Hiei raised a small brow at the female at the expression that crossed her face momentarily. It was an odd expression to him, but he found that he had felt rather odd about causing the expression on her face, an expression of hope. No one had given him that look before. Shock, yes. Fear, all the time. But hope? Never. When she reached out, he thought the gesture strange, but figured perhaps in moving towards her she might explain, finding himself at her side next to the bed and looking down at her quizzically. Her hands looked so empty and, her eyes looked so welcoming, that before he knew it he had reached up as it to take them in his own, but stopped, hesitating and wondering at the emotions that were stirring inside him at the thought of voluntarily touching her skin.*

Toriko could feel her eyes shimmering as she did not look away from him, and she gave in to the tingle of her body most willingly if it would persuade him to stay. Her lips twitched into a near-smile as he hesitated, wondering at his hesitation.

To her knowledge, there had been no one to refuse any request she made of them. Not for a long time. She drew her power around the room in to surround them both, slowly weaving the two loose circles of ribbons of energy closer together until there was only one circle slowly rotating around them, then drawing it farther inward until it just barely floated above their skin, molding to their bodies. With one last pull, Toriko drew the energy through Hiei and into herself, and at the exact moment it passed through him, he placed his hands within hers, the power disappearing from the room into her body and increasing her strength.

She tossed her head slightly, and her scalp tingled as her hair released a smell into the air of something he desired, "I am tired, Hiei."

Her voice almost did not sound like her own, slightly deeper and laced with her demonic energy, coaxing him, lulling him closer, "Please stay with me. I need you."

She tilted her head to the side and made sure to look him full-on in the face, trying a small, coy smile as she scooted back towards the other side of the bed. "Lie down?"3

Hiei stared at his hands as they landed in Toriko's, registering that her touch was warm and welcoming. His eyes slid up to the female again, catching her gaze in time for her to toss her hair and tilt her head at him, her lips slowly parting to release a sound that soon formed into words. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he registered the change in her voice, but right now, all he knew was that the air smelled sweet, and her voice was telling him that he needed to move, to lay on the bed and relax. So that's what he did.

Hiei moved and stretched out on the mattress leisurely, his legs stretched out in front of him and his head on the pillow that supported its weight. His eyes still lingered on Toriko, watching to see what she'd do next. *

Once he lay on his back, Toriko almost shyly scooted as close as she could to him, laying on her side with her head resting on his shoulder and one hand at his chest.

She could feel her demonic energy fading from the overuse of the night, but his warmth overpowered any reservations her usual self would have with staying this close to him. She found herself nuzzling the side of his face with her nose, and ended up pressing her lips against his cheek once in a small kiss, smiling and feeling wonderfully safe even as her eyes fluttered closed. She frowned and fought back the tiredness that began to overwhelm her, needing to ask him something, needing to hear his answer.

"Hiei...will you promise me something?" She whispered ever-so-softly, lips not far from his ear as she pulled her eyes open into slits.

"Will you...promise...to protect me? Always?" She struggled to stay awake now, desperately wanting to hear his answer before she completely faded away, nudging at his cheek affectionately twice more with her nose and blinking sleepily. 3

Hiei raised a brow as Toriko moved closer, then it settled back into place when she settled against him. He broke his gaze from hers and turned his eyes to the ceiling, as if something there interested him, but in reality he was merely unsure of what to do, suddenly feeling odd that she was so close. His mind reeled, suddenly feeling as if he was clearing of any fogginess, a few thoughts crossing his mind at rapid pace until they drifted away, unimportant.

When he felt her nose brush his face, he closed his eyes as if she were coaxing him into sleep, her lips moving to replace her nose in a gesture he hadn't expected. He eyed her with a single open eye, feeling extremely relaxed now that she seemed relaxed as well, acting as if the blonde demon hadn't been here at all.

When her breath washed over the side of his face and her voice rang in his ears, he continued to eye her until the words, the question that seemed so important to her, registered with his mind. He hesitated for a moment, watching her as she blinked slowly at him with the obvious effort of fighting sleep. He considered the night's events before answering, both eyes now meeting her gaze again as his lips released the words he knew she wanted to hear. "Of course." *

* * *

Shuichi \- Given name or forename (gender not specified)  
Minamino: (wiki) Southern Field  
Shūichi: (wiki) Excellence First

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	8. Episode 93 - Mending Hiei's Cloak

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Enthusiasts!

This chapter consists of only interactions between Hiei and Toriko. Also there is Maneshi.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari drags Toriko home after school, not giving Otento a chance to follow either one of them.

However, Otento comes to Toriko that night with the intent of having his way with her,  
only to be interrupted by Hiei, who only spares him because of Toriko's distress.

She begs Hiei not to leave her by herself, using her energy to coax him to lay down next to her,  
and asks him if he would always protect her. Hiei's answer is yes...

* * *

The sunlight filtering in through the window, closed but its curtains still open wide, slowly drew Toriko out of the most wonderful dream whose memory faded farther the further she awoke.

She felt warm, and in her still-drowsy state, scooted closer to the warmth, burying her face in Hiei's neck.

"_Wha-? _Her mind sleepily asked, becoming more aware of her surroundings, but unsure why Hiei's name came to mind.

Her eyes fluttered open once, but they felt heavy and she let them close again, her right hand clutching a bit of fabric into her fist as she momentarily fought a return to dreamland. In the back of her mind, she realized no alarm had pulled her from sleep and that there was actually no school and that relaxed her enough to drift off again.

Toriko had not woken up enough to notice, but Maneshi had joined them sometime in the night as they slept, laying down on Hiei's stomach and curling his front paws underneath his body, a steady purr persisting even through his own rest at the warmth Hiei unwittingly provided. By the time morning came, he had shifted into a curl, his tail twitching slightly near his face, one paw pinning it to Hiei's cloak. 3

Hiei lay completely comfortable where he sat, other than the fact he had no idea why he was where he was. His eyes stared at the feline curled on his stomach, his ears picking up on the small sound that emitted from the creature, creating a small song with Toriko's soft breathing. His mind reeled, trying to figure out how he had gotten himself into this position, his eyes shifting down to the hand that clutched at the smooth fabric of his precious cloak, making it impossible for him to get away unnoticed.

_This is ridiculous, _he thought to himself, realizing that he shouldn't be worried about waking up Toriko by moving away. After all, he couldn't clearly recall why he was here. Everything after Otento was a blur to him, as if he'd run through a marathon and was trying to recall everything he passed by while on the run. Again, for the fifth time since he had awoken, he scoffed at himself. Why was he still laying here?

Hiei moved, removing his left arm from behind his head and reaching for the feline with the intention of removing him from his person, possibly even toss him out the door. But the moment he touched the cat, its black head shot into the air and slitted heterochromatic eyes glared at him, claws digging into his skin slightly, as if in warning. Hiei glared right back at the cat, his crimson orbs alight with irritation and confusion from the morning's events. Already, today was appearing to be a day he'd rather sleep through.

After his slight hesitation, his eyes narrowed at Maneshi and he proceeded to grab the cat by the nape of its neck, earning a yowl as he dropped the cat to the floor, completely unaware of Toriko's stirrings. *

A yowl cut across Toriko's unconscious mind and she flinched, eyes trembling.

"_Maneshi…" _She thought to herself, intended to part her lips and call the cat's name, but instead coming up with, "Mmm...H-Hiei?"

She shifted around, her head moving over his shoulder to rest right at the place where the socket connected to his arm, squeezing her eyes together as she moved, still not committed to leaving her dreams.3

Hiei glared at the cat that now looked up at him from the floor, hissing once at him and sitting on his haunches, his black tail twitching on the carpet behind him. Maneshi's body shook as he readied to pounce, and Hiei glared harder at the cat. "If you value your life," he began, automatically turning to threats, but he didn't have the opportunity to finish as the cat leapt into the air. Hiei's speed would have allowed him to catch the feline, if it weren't for the fact that he was stuck on his back, pinned now by Toriko's head. Claws sunk into his side as the cat missed his landing target, Hiei having shifted enough to keep the cat from landing on his chest. A snarl left Hiei and he instinctively grabbed the cat again, wasting no time in tossing Maneshi across the room, watching as the cat landed on its feet and meowed loudly at him, protesting. Hiei moved this time, pulling the side of his cloak up to glance at the holes that had ripped at the fabric, his eyes flashing with anger. He continued to move, sitting up now with the intent to toss the cat out the window. _*** **_

Toriko felt herself sliding into a sitting position onto the bed, ending up seated on her feet and at that she finally woke up for real, blinking sleepily and rubbing an eye with one hand as she looked around the room, her mind sobering quickly once she saw the near-murderous intent in Hiei's eyes, one of his hands still holding a part of his cloak that looked damaged, and her black cat meowing angrily at him from across the room.

"N-No!" She exclaimed, her demon energy suddenly thrilling through her body, unfettered by her usual glasses or tight hair style as she rose up onto her knees and threw her arms around Hiei's shoulders with more strength than she had intended, pulling him back down onto the bed next to her and landing on top of him to stop him rising again, his back with their combined weight making a gentle 'poof' against the comforter.

Toriko found herself staring down into Hiei's eyes, their noses almost touching and her dark hair falling down either side of her face, veiling the two of them in their own little world.

Her eyes pleaded with him, unintentionally glimmering with power even in the shade of her hair. "I-I'll mend it." She meant his cloak, "I'll do anything you want. Please don't hurt him." 3

Hiei glared at the cat, taking another step forward, closing the space between himself and the animal. The room was filled with the creature's sounds of warning, its eyes filled with anger and fear as he continued to close in, towering over the small creature. And then, another noise added to the room, momentarily distracting him as he registered her shout, but his eyes never left the growling tom.

Suddenly, he heard movement behind him and he halted in his steps, freezing in place as he was grabbed from behind and practically spun around, landing on his back before he even had time to register what was going on. By the time his mind caught up, still feeling a bit slow and groggy, his ruby orbs were staring straight into emerald ones. He tensed, finding the situation he was in completely out of his norm, and he didn't exactly know what to do. His mind irrationally told him that he could toss her to the side, make her lay on the bed beside him so he could get up and finish his business, but as he realized what she was offering, he merely forced himself to sit there.

He felt desperation in the aura around her, her eyes pleading him just as much as her voice was to leave the cat be. He glanced under her arm to see the cat sitting on the floor where he had landed, tail twitching and eyes watching him warily. Maneshi gave a soft meow, and Hiei resigned to resettling his head on the covers of the bed. "This fabric is from Demon World," he clarified, eyeing her calmly. Of course, he had the fabric. And, of course, he could ask Yukina to mend it as well, but the fact that he was running so low on the material left him touchy about what tore at his fire-resistant cloak.

He eyed her expectantly, waiting for her to remove herself from his personal space, feeling rather calm now that she had offered to mend his cloak. "The cat will come to no harm," he said slowly, subtly informing her that she would indeed be mending the fabric. Then he merely lay there, watching her. _*****_

Toriko wasn't sure that she believed him, but his eyes no longer held quite the fire that they had moments before, and she suddenly realized how fast her heart was beating, blinking several times as they looked at one another.

He was kind of close.

Make that, really close. Toriko bit her lip and shuddered slightly, something else deep within her stirring, waking up and sliding a coy smile across her face.

"Hm." She leaned over, slowly getting closer to his face, then bypassing it before reaching him, moving her head to her left, down to his right shoulder and the dark cloak that covered it, taking a bit of the cloth in her teeth and nimbling gently on it, eyes thoughtfully regarding the fabric, then flickering over briefly to gauge his reaction.

"Fire proof." She said first, smirking around the cloak in her teeth, letting go and moving towards his profile, "Of course."

Going over the white cloth he wore around his neck and putting her cheek against his, then nuzzling down between the cloth and his bare skin until her lips found the collar of the cloak and took it in her teeth again.

"I know this seam too." She let go, but did not retreat, her breath filtering slowly over his skin. She noticed a necklace partially hidden under his clothing, but it was not in her purpose so she said and did nothing with it.

"I actually have an outfit or two made out of this stuff." She began nibbling on his skin, up the side of his neck, moving towards his ear and stopping to breathe, "One can never be too prepared after all."3

Hiei became confused at the expression that swept over the female's face, her smile easy-going, but almost mischievous. He watched her, unsure of what was going on, suddenly feeling very much like he was trapped where he lay beneath her. A change had come over her, that much he knew. But what he didn't know was what caused the change and what she would do.

He didn't move when she leaned towards him even more, her breath brushing his face and caressing the skin of his jawline. As she latched her teeth onto his fabric, he noticed that his entire body had gone still, stiff with anticipation of something that hadn't happened. Even when she spoke around the cloth in her mouth, telling him what he already knew, he didn't move. He didn't even turn his head to get a glance at her. The closer she moved, the more stiff he became, uncertainty and complete expectation keeping him where he lay- not that he had much of a choice. Sure, he could move her, but would she fight back? As her teeth released his cloak and moved closer to his scarf, he cut his eyes at her, narrowing them slightly. Partially not surprising him, but leaving him wary, she took his scarf between her teeth as well, mumbling that she was familiar with the fabric just as she was with the fabric of his cloak.

He felt the scarf fall back into place, but didn't feel her body move. He eyed her, realizing she'd likely see the gemstone necklace he wore concealed, and he prepared for a warning, but had no reason to issue it. However, the feeling of her breath on his neck made a small shiver run up his spine, making him almost miss her comment before her lips pressed to the exposed skin.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he finally barked out, his tone low and eyes narrowed, his entire being still. Even his breathing was shallow, to minimize movement. As her lips continued to move, leaving a warm trail along his skin, pausing at his ear, he gave a sound of warning. His lips parted to show his teeth, though only slightly, as the sound left his throat. "Remove yourself." _*** **_

"Enjoying myself." She responded in answer to his question, taking the end of his ear between her teeth, "And you don't seem to be trying to stop me." She smirked, letting go and putting her lips next to his ear. "So, make me." She breathed again, her demonic energy flowing freely through her body, tugging one last time at his ear.

Releasing him and suddenly sitting up, thighs straddling his stomach, she crossed her arms and frowned at him, "Alright. Take it off." 3

Hiei's eyes narrowed a fraction more at her words, his lips remaining in the position they were in to make sure his small warning still stayed intact. When her teeth met his ear, he physically twitched, not sure what to think of the contact at all. He opened his mouth to say something more, to issue a final warning, but she spoke before he did and released her hold, continuing to speak. At her challenge, he gave a small growl, though it didn't do much more than rumble in his chest, not really making an audible sound.

And then, she was sitting up. His eyes followed her every motion, his arms laying beside him to keep himself from simply tossing her away, like he had with Maneshi. And then her words registered, and his expression shifted to disbelief. Again it shifted, this time displaying irritation and slight arrogance. "And why the hell," he paused, taking another breath, "would I do that for you?" *

"Why not?" She raised an eyebrow lewdly, not attempting to hide her eyes as they swept across him, drinking in his handsome features.

"You _are_ wearing something under it, aren't you?" She pouted a little, "Do I not _please_ you?"

She laughed briefly as if the thought were ridiculous, sighing long-sufferingly at the end, "I suppose you probably shouldn't. It _would_ make things worse for you."

Her smile was alluring and she bent closer, arms still crossed. "But if you don't, I'll do it for you, and you probably won't like it, just like you've never liked anything or anyone in your entire life."

Her smiled never moved from her features and she stared directly into his gorgeous crimson eyes until she almost couldn't hold herself off any longer, sitting up again and regarding him curiously.

"I guess I _could_ command you to do it, but there are few who actually find that order of things fun. And I'm not sure I know you well enough to decide if you'd actually enjoy it or not. Hmph."

She swung her left leg over his body so she could slide off the edge of the bed to the carpet. She shrugged as she started turning towards the door, her loose nightgown fluttering around her ankles, the lacy hem catching a breeze as she moved.

"I suppose if you don't particularly wish for me to hold up my end of our deal, then by all means, keep wearing it. But don't expect me to let you hold it over my head." Her words sounded lofty. "Come, Maneshi. We'll go dig through the storage closet just in case he decides removing it is worth the trouble."

At his name, Maneshi's sleek body unfurled and he trotted to join her as she walked out of the room and down the stairs, his tail crooked into a question-mark as he pranced after her.3

Hiei's brows furrowed at her response, his eyes darkening for a moment at the prospect of what she was saying, what she was hinting. At her dry question, followed by a laugh, he scoffed, but didn't reply because, quite frankly, he didn't know what he would say. So he stared, choosing to not answer at all. He simply waited, patiently, for her to make up her mind.

And then she mentioned removing his cloak for him, and his eyes narrowed again in silent challenge, daring her to try. He dared her silently to reach for his cloak, to try forcing him to do anything. He thought of the different ways he would prevent her of getting her way.

And then she was moving away, nonchalantly shrugging and removing herself not only from his personal space, but from the bed entirely. And her words made a small spark of realization in his mind. He sat up on his elbows to watch her leave, the cat following close behind her, the duo disappearing behind the door that slowly swayed shut.

The fire demon made an incoherent sound that resembled a scoff, his expression turning blank as he realized how ridiculous he must have sounded. Without a second thought, he stood and, in one swift motion, had his cloak folded in his hand, his scarf simply hanging down his chest to hide his necklace, the white cloth almost the same color as the light blue shirt he wore underneath. He looked around the room for a moment before deciding he'd follow Toriko, even if he found that her personality tired him out.

The storage closet was Maneshi's favorite place. He couldn't remember the last time Toriko opened it of her own volition, but here she was going downstairs and turning to the left away from the kitchen towards the living room and then turning left again and almost immediately coming to a door next to the staircase.

When she opened the door, the musty smell of the closet almost overpowered her at first, but after reeling back initially, she huffed through it and went inside. The closet was big enough to be almost another room, were it not for the shelves lining the walls and creating small corridors filled with odds and ends unorganized and in disarray.

Toriko waded in, picking her way through the junk, a stark contrast to the rest of her spotless house. She reached a few feet in from the door and stopped, putting her hands on her hips as Maneshi gleefully started crawling through the mess, sniffing everything.

Her eyes softened as she looked about, recognizing some of the things in the room, memories of days long gone by in Demon World flitting around in her head. This time, the memories didn't seem quite as painful.

The open chest in the corner had weapons sticking out of it. She smiled, but wasn't looking for relics of time past of that sort. She dug through a pile or two before uncovering an old trunk in another corner and kneeling down in front of it, throwing the lid back. That's when her grumbling began.

"...can't believe he thought I would want all this stuff..." She mumbled, eyeing various articles of clothing with increasing ire as she would pick something up and then toss it down on the floor near her.

"As if it hadn't been enough trouble to smuggle them in..." She grabbed a pile from within the trunk and plopped it down next to her, thumbing through it and grumbling again, "Not to mention the trunk itself being contraband when he gave me it..."

She mumbled to herself, cursing the unnamed 'he' in a near-constant dialogue as she bent over the trunk, still searching. 3

Hiei meandered his way down the stairs, casually glancing around the house when he realized he hadn't paid much attention to anything in the house. Everything seemed spotless, not even dust particles floating in the air and landing on any of the decor hanging on the walls. He took in the rooms he passed through almost lazily as he wandered, listening for Toriko as he moved about.

Before long, his ears picked up on a voice- Toriko's voice- mumbling, muffled as if behind a wall. He turned in the direction he heard it coming from, following the voice until he was standing outside an open door, the sound of things moving around inside making him curious enough to step inside as well.

Immediately, his eyes took in the many different things scattered about in this room, all of it from Demon World, and all of it looking rather old, some of it damaged. He eyed everything curiously, all thoughts of her taunting from a few moments ago gone.

"You managed to get all of this by right under Koenma's nose," he commented lightly, curious as to how none of the objects emitted the scent of Demon World or an energy of any kind, as most relics did. *

Toriko glanced up out of habit, though she recognized Hiei's voice and found herself giving him the same soft smile she first addressed the room with, pleased that he seemed to be enjoying himself. She turned to look down at the trunk and her old clothing within.

"Not me." She corrected him. "I...I fled Demon World on, uh, extremely short notice. I didn't have time to grab anything, much less a few prized possessions. I found a dealer shortly after getting here who was more than willing to fetch what I asked, and _he's _the one who did the dirty work."

One of her eyebrows twitched in irritation, "He went overboard, though. Ransacked half our base instead of grabbing the handful of things I asked for from my room."

She mumbled the last sentence as she bent over the trunk again, eyes brightening when she spied the black outfits she searched for at the very bottom.

"Ha!" She exclaimed in triumph, reaching in and tugging one from its hiding spot, holding it up for inspection. "I think I can scrap this." She decided. 3

Hiei let his eyes rove from one thing to another, quietly amazed at the relics that caught his eye. There were shiny ones that gleamed, obviously well taken care of, and there were older, rustic ones that appeared as if they would break if touched. He even saw a bunch of weapons stashed in the far corner, something he found himself naturally drawn to, but he held back and stayed where he stood.

"He must have grabbed what was worth something," Hiei mused, referring to the monetary value of the different items. If she ever decided to return to Demon World, she would definitely be set. Even the clothes he saw here and there were valuable, the fabrics popular.

As his eyes continued to scour the room, he continued to find things that piqued his interest, and it made it very difficult for him to simply stand and stare, and to not touch anything. After all, none of this was his, though he would admit that some of it he wished was his.

At Toriko's outburst, Hiei turned his red eyes to the female, eyeing the clothes she held up. It was easy to see that it was made from the same material as his cloak, simply from the shine it held. It was a dull shine, but easily able to be seen even in the darkened closet. He considered it for a moment, inspecting it for flaws, but found none.

Yet another piece of evidence that said Toriko was well organized and takes care of her possessions.

"Ever think you're too careful with your possessions?" he mused, his lips twisting into a lopsided sneer of amusement. *

Toriko glanced around the room at Hiei's first comment about the dealer grabbing everything worth something.

"I guess?" She shrugged and stood back up, unceremoniously dumping the clothes she did not need back in the trunk, gathering a small bag from among them as she went.

"I never really considered it because I don't really care for any of it. I don't waste my time on things that do not have practical value anymore. And I'm not in Demon World so it's just junk." She started walking towards the door and spoke again as she approached.

"I haven't touched this stuff in over a decade. And I _am _about to scrap a perfectly good outfit for you. I don't know how 'careful' _that_ really is."

She couldn't help her small, suggestive smile, while she walked, "Especially after _meeting _a fire demon. Good thing I have another. Maybe we'll get some use out of it once you change your mind."

On a roll, she proceeded to take his 'careful' comment in a way that she knew he hadn't meant, speaking flippantly as she drew closer, "But I don't _have _to be careful with _anything_ if that's what you prefer."

She stopped and kissed the very tip of his nose as she passed, slipping his cloak out of his hands as she did so and then moving beyond him out of the closet and a few steps into the living room where she promptly knelt down on a large, free space of the carpet, sitting on her feet, and snapped the cloak out of its fold to let it flutter gently onto the ground, carefully beginning to search the fabric for the damage done. 3

Hiei listened to Toriko as she babbled on about his comment of being careful, not really amused with her antics. He was too engrossed in looking over every single thing in the closet to really care, though her last comment successfully pulled his attention to her in time to earn the small gesture of her lips on his nose, her delicate hand slipping the fabric from his own as she continued on her way. His reaction remained contained in his own mind, not giving her the pleasure of his reaction since it seemed that she was all about his reactions. He eyed her as she sat herself down in the middle of the living room, momentarily torn.

Then, he made his decision by turning and walking further into the small closet space, opening a trunk and glancing at the weapons inside. He crouched before it, eyes drinking in the sight of the ancient tools that he once had dreamed of possessing. Though, they seemed less than they had been glorified to be, and he felt a touch of disappointment brush across his conscious. Like everything else, it seemed these weapons were mere legends with tall tales behind them, nearly meaningless. To him, at least.

He ran a finger over one of the rusty blades, the cool metal covered in dust and dried, crust substances he only assumed to be blood. It was obvious they hadn't been touched, much less cleaned, in years. So, curiosity satisfied, he stood up again and stalked his way out of the closet, lingering just outside of it to watch Toriko at work. _*****_

Toriko had grown very quiet as she bent over the cloak. She shuffled bits of the fabric through her hands, examining it closely until she found the area in which Maneshi's claws had ruined it, sitting back again and picking up the dark cloth next to her, frowning as she considered it in her hands and held it up to Hiei's to make for certain they were the same color.

She studiously began tearing her outfit into strips about the width of her hand, then pulled the smaller bag over and rummaged it in for thread and needle. She began to go about her work, making sure to ignore Hiei as he hadn't followed her back out of the closet.

"Maneshi." She hadn't looked up, but her tone was one of warning.

The black cat paused in mid-step, just at the edge of the cloak with one paw poised to place down on the fabric across from her. He raised his eyes, gleaming at her from the other side, moving his paw just an inch closer while he stared.

Toriko cleared her throat and the cat pulled back, sitting tall on his back haunches and wrapped his tail around his legs as if he'd never meant to do such a thing. Though his eyes did rove over the cloak, wondering if it still held any warmth of the man who had been wearing it. 3

Hiei eyed Toriko, momentarily flickering his gaze to the cat that had approached his cloak. He speculated the animal, his eyes slowly darkening the closer it came to the fabric of his beloved article of clothing. Slowly, Hiei too moved forward, pausing as well when Toriko spoke up, his own eyes flickering to her. He waited for only a moment before continuing, moving so that he stood on the opposite side of the fabric that was spread across the floor, not bothering to sit since he felt comfortable just how he was.

He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, feeling odd about not having pockets to stuff his hands into, but dealing with it anyways. Occasionally, he glanced at the small cat that had taken to sitting close, almost too close, to his cloak. "Does it have a death wish?" Hiei suddenly spoke, his calm tone referring to the way the animal was insistent on being at least near the cloak. As if Maneshi understood him, the cat turned his blue and brown eyes to Hiei, the pupils widening only slightly, watching him closely. Hiei merely turned back to Toriko, watching her hands work. *

"Often." Toriko replied, finally looking up and glaring at the cat, who met her eyes with his own before they broke the stare and he lowered his head to sniff at the edge of the cloak, whiskers twitching, but never touching the actual cloth with his nose.

Maneshi got up and skirted the edge of the cloak, getting over to Toriko and gathering his body together, coiling up like a spring before he released and leapt to her shoulders. Her being bent over let him cross to her other side with his front paws and he lay down across them, his stomach tickling the back of her neck.

His fur blended almost perfectly with her hair as he lay in the midst of it, though he peeked his head through the curtain of locks to stare at her while she worked to match up a piece of fabric with the hole.

When she had them held together, she picked up the needle and it began to glow. She passed the needle and thread up and back over the cloak deftly, Maneshi's eyes watching her every move. When she finished, she brought the thread up to her teeth and broke it, twirling the loose end around in her fingers until it simply disappeared.

The needle stopped glowing and she examined the cloak closer, satisfied that it looked as if no hole had been there and moving to work on the next, though each hole's fixing became faster as her fingers recalled doing the work before.

Once she finished, she lay the cloak down on the carpet as flat as she could make it, smoothing out any wrinkles from that area, and then put her other things in a pile to put away later. She stood up, Maneshi still laying around her shoulders with his tail lazily about her neck as if a furry necklace.

"Don't touch it." She told Hiei. "The work still needs to set and it can't be bothered until it's finished. I'll be right back." She felt increasingly uncomfortable walking around in her nightgown and planned on going upstairs to change, then had thoughts of food floating about in mind for after she wore different clothing. 3

Hiei's eyes followed the needle curiously, having never seen his cloak actually mended in person. Normally, he left the job with YUkina and simply went about doing other things, when there were things actually to be done. So, when the needle began to glow, he wondered if it was a normality. For demons, anyway.

He continued to stand, eyes locked on the glowing piece of metal, his mind trying to figure out the process so that, perhaps next time, he would be able to do this himself, though he doubted he would desire doing such a tedious thing. After a few moments, he found himself shifting his weight back and forth, almost impatiently, as he continued to wait. He had thought it was a quicker process.

Toriko snapped the thread with her teeth and suddenly stood, leaving the cloak on the floor looking as if it were new. He scowled and looked to her expectantly, curious as to why she hadn't handed it to him, only to nod and decide he might as well sit. He glanced around the room, eyes roving over the various furniture in contemplation before he decided to plop himself down on the smallest couch, legs stretched out and head propped on his hands, his head turned so that he would see when she reentered the room. Also, it was his way of making sure Maneshi didn't prance into the room and mess with his cloak, like he had noticed he seemed to want to do. The fire demon wasn't sure why the cat liked his cloak, but he sure didn't enjoy the thought of the tom prancing all over it. He didn't think Toriko would be able to stop him from actually harming the creature if his cloak were to be torn again. *

Toriko went to her bedroom and Maneshi promptly jumped from her shoulders to her pillow where he curled up in a tight ball.

Slipping her nightgown off over her head, Toriko pulled on a pair of soft, dark pants from one drawer in her dresser and took a bra and tank top from another, putting them on and frowning as she turned around and didn't see Maneshi on her pillow any longer.

The cat wasn't stupid, but Toriko knew he liked to push the line and she sighed, going back out of the room and downstairs to check on the cloak. She gathered her hair in her hands to pull it out of her face and released it so it all hung down her back together instead of hanging over one shoulder like it had been.

Maneshi had kept one eye open until Toriko's back was turned, leaving as soon as she wasn't looking to go back downstairs. He must figure out the secret of the warm cloak.

Once he hopped down from the last step, he elongated his body in a nice stretch and yawned, knowing perfectly well that the man in the couch was watching him carefully and regally prancing from the stairs over to the cloak, once again skirting the outside of it, but stopping every now and then to sniff at it, never touching it, but very nearly brushing his whiskers on it.

When he got around the edge near where Hiei sat on the couch, he completely ignored the fire demon, but jumped onto the arm of the chair and made his way gracefully to the back where he fluidly wove behind Hiei's arms and sat down just to the side of the back of Hiei's head to regard the latter's hair with great interest, once even raising a paw as if to bat curiously at a spike, but thinking better of it and lowering his paw before actually doing so.

He made the small leap down to the seat of the couch, near Hiei, and made an inquisitive noise as he caught a wave of heat when he passed Hiei's shoulder on the way down.

Deciding to continue to ignore the demon, he stamped across the couch, and subsequently Hiei's lap, taking off at great speed when he felt the fire demon move as if to swat him away, leaping over the other arm of the couch and making a dime-turn to dash madly around the back of the couch for the still-open door of the closet to hide within the confines of the relics it contained.

He felt satisfied at any rate, having felt under his paws warmth as he stepped across Hiei's thighs.

Toriko only came down the stairs in time to see Maneshi disappear to her left, towards the closet, and she made a mental note not to shut him inside. At least not for too long. She felt Hiei's eyes on her but she continued to ignore him and went for the kitchen, thoughts on breakfast. Eggs. Potatoes. Maybe some bacon if she had any.

It didn't take too long for the smell of bacon to permeate the downstairs, followed closely by the spiciness of the home-fry style potatoes Toriko started in another skillet. The eggs were the last addition and they took only a short while to be finished.

Toriko made up two plates of the food, having sensed Hiei moving to the nearby table to sit down and watch her, and turned with them to walk to him, saying nothing, but sliding a plate in front of his nose and going to sit across from him.

"If you don't want it, don't eat it." She said primly, grabbing a fork from the canister she kept on the table with silverware in it and diving in to the food with gusto. 3

Hiei slid into a chair lazily, crimson eyes watching Toriko as she moved about the kitchen, his nose picking up the smell of the different foods being cooked. The different scents had his nose twitching only slightly, his stomach even rumbling even despite his normal dislike of basic human "goods". As his eyes followed Toriko, he searched for the thing he had caught sight of moments ago, wondering if he had merely seen a shadow cast at an odd direction earlier. For now, he saw nothing out of the norm, so he pushed it away from the forefront of his mind, brushing away his thoughts as she turned to him, sliding a plate towards him. His eyes instinctively turned down to the plate, watching as it slid to a stop just before it met the edge of the table.

When a fork was passed, Hiei picked at the contents of the plate for a few moments, as if he thought something might be wrong with it. When she piped, telling him he didn't have to eat it, he glanced at her momentarily before turning back to his plate, slowly bringing the fork to his mouth. The piece of meat he chewed on was salty, but had a hint of something almost sweet. It was chewy, but he found he liked it. He recalled Yusuke eating it once during the Dark Tournament, calling it bacon. He had offered some to Hiei then, but the fire demon had held no interest in anything to do with the team at the time. Now he wondered why he'd ever turned it down; it tasted better than it looked.

When the fire demon sampled the rest, he found he didn't much care for the eggs or the potatoes, and he simply munched on the bacon he'd been given, eyes now looking around the room before roving up to Toriko. It was then that he caught sight of what he'd seen earlier, except this time he knew it wasn't a shadow. However, he didn't exactly know what it was. He stared at it for a few minutes, recognizing that the skin was a bit discolored, turning a shade of blue that a bruise would, but the way it looked didn't strike him as a normal bruise.

When he finished his last bite of bacon, he continued to stare at it, eyebrows knitting together as they fell over his eyes in speculation. Then, he moved, pushing his plate to Toriko and standing, taking the two steps that was required to reach her and pulling back her hair to get a better look, noticing some dried, crusted blood along the nape of her neck. He felt sudden anger boil as he recalled the blonde demon, his mind finally going over the events from the night before, as if a fog had been lifted. His expression shifted only slightly as he stepped away, still staring at the mark. "You need to take care of that," he said, his tone flat and monotonous. *

"Take care of what?" After her initial flinch at Hiei's quick movement, Toriko tried to look down and see what he was talking about, but she couldn't move her chin far enough out of the way to see. She reached up to touch at her neck and went pale as her fingers touched a bit of skin that twinged as she passed over it, feeling something crusty and her hand coming away with what she knew could only be dried blood.

Toriko's stomach churned and she felt her heart skip up to her throat and she blinked as she held her hand up to her face, memories of the night before threatening to spill over and something inside her fighting to maintain control of her mind.

"I...I'm going to...to go..." Her hand still up in front of her eyes, Toriko abruptly stood up and turned towards the stairs, almost tripping over her chair but making it to the banister and pulling herself up.

_Clean it. Just get it clean. Just get it off. _She repeated the mantra to herself, hoping to distract her thoughts from the one that kept rearing its head. _Get to the bathroom. _That would require looking in a mirror. _Clean it. _She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the thought of a mirror. _J-just...c-clean it…_

Once upstairs, she felt her stomach lurch again and she dashed the last few feet down the hall to the bathroom, throwing up the lid of the toilet and vomiting her breakfast inside.

Tears at the corners of her eyes from the effort, she stood up and grabbed a washcloth, mind-numbly sticking her face under the faucet of the sink and washing it and her mouth, then putting the washcloth under the running water, her body visibly shaking as her memories threatened to overtake her consciousness.

_No. She can't take it. No! Stop! Don't think about it! _

Somewhere, the voice inside her was getting drowned out by the wave of last nights events that broiled under the surface, farther up into the forefront of her mind.

_No, wait! _

She started to look up at the mirror in order to clean the wound.

_You're not ready! Hold on! _

When her eyes met themselves in her reflection, Toriko froze, locked onto the image of the blood and the nasty bruise not-so-hidden underneath. The hand that didn't hold the washcloth trembled as it reached over as if to touch it again.

_We can't do this! It's too much. I...I'm sorry..._

All at once, last night's terror enveloped Toriko's mind, upheaving any sane thoughts she'd been able to maintain and twisting them inside out.

She blinked, unable to do anything but stare at the wound, the tears in the corners of her eyes at first one of anger, her jaw clenching, but the furiousness she felt at the predicament could not hold back the fear, the anxiety, the absolute fright that it had happened again.

_I'm so sorry...I tried... _

The voice said again from within, calm. Giving a sigh, it could do nothing but lovingly wash over her consciousness and pull her into a sleep, feeling their body go slack and collapse onto the fluffy rug of the bathroom floor. 3

Hiei watched Toriko as she, at first, confusedly reached up to touch the area he had pointed to, and he felt even his own emotions become darker. Even as she stumbled and fled from the room, ruby orbs following her, the fire demon's mind lingered on the demon, lingered on the thoughts of bringing harm to Otento. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of looking for an actual wound the night before, but now that he had pointed it out, Hiei considered the way Toriko had not only reacted at the feeling of it, but of last night, when she had practically begged him to stay. He realized that the way he had pointed it out to her had perhaps been a not-so-smart thing to do, but it was too late now.

He lingered where he stood, looking around the kitchen and down at the abandoned silverware, the abandoned plates and food. Instinctively, he was listening to the movement upstairs, his ears finding the steps of Toriko as she moved into a room on the side, and after a few moments, the sound of running water. Hiei decided to give her space and began moving the plates, gathering their forks and, easily balancing everything in one hand, began to make his way around the table, using his other hand to move her chair from his path. And then his ears picked up on a sound that made him pause, his red orbs turning up to the ceiling above him, momentarily widening. When he heard no further movement, he stretched his arm in the direction of the table with the intent to put the plates back, only for him to, in his haste, miss the surface, the forks clattering to the floor and one of the plates shattering, food moving across the tiled floor. He glared down at the mess for a mere moment before turning and continuing in the direction he had seen Toriko go.

His feet carried him with haste up the stairs and to the bathroom where he could still hear water running. Instantly he took in the scene, staring down at the fallen girl. He took a deep breath, reassured since he could tell she didn't collide with anything in the room other than the rug on the floor, and he calmly stepped to the sink, a hand pushing the handle to the off position before he knelt beside Toriko, inspecting her for a moment. Then, without any form of hesitation, he swept his arms under her and listed her from the floor, ignoring small memories that flashed across his mind as he moved towards her room, successfully nudging the door open with a foot. _*****_

It wasn't often that Maneshi was allowed time to himself in the depths of the strange closet and he made it a point to sniff everything that he could get his whiskers near, marking the edges of the trunks with the side of his face just in case there would ever be any question as to who _really_ owned anything in here.

He eyed a couple of the top shelves, but became distracted each time by another interesting smell would hit his nose which he would rush through the junk to find.

After a few minutes of rustling, his nose got inundated by bacon and his rummagings became less enthused, but he still enjoyed slipping in and out between the boxes and piles, slightly disappointed to have not found any critters to chase.

A crash of plates made Maneshi jump, the fur on his back standing on end, and he shot back out of the closet, weaving his way back through the piles with expert precision and coming out to look up the stairs, seeing Hiei disappearing at the top.

Maneshi's nose twitched and he went over to inspect the food fallen on the floor, curiously sampling a bit of everything and eating any stray bacon, though he quickly decided the eggs were not for him and the potatoes too spicy.

He flicked his tail in a cat-frown when he heard water being turned off from the upstairs bathroom, but no words being said, and he left the mess on the floor to slip up the stairs, just in time to see Hiei walking through Toriko's bedroom door, her limp frame in his arms.

Maneshi hurried after him into the room, tail cocked in a question mark with kitty concern. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	9. Episode 94 - Maneshi the Cat

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dear Reader!

Not much to say other than I hope you enjoy it!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Toriko wakes up to a spat between Maneshi and Hiei; the cat had torn holes in Hiei's cloak.

She offers to mend it for him and seems to be acting strangely up until Hiei points out the injury Otento gave her,  
a place near her neck where the demon bit her and also left a bruise, whereupon she goes to clean it  
only to be unable to take the memory of what happened the night before and collapsing to the ground in the bathroom.

Hearing her collapse upstairs, Hiei goes and picks her up and carries her back to her bedroom...

* * *

Hiei slowly lowered Toriko onto her bed, eyes methodically checking for additional injuries from her fall before they fell upon the bruise his eyes had found earlier, a frown coming to his face as he caught sight of the dried blood still crusted along the bruise. He gave a small sound that could almost be classified as a sigh and he turned to leave the room again, but his eyes caught sight of the small cat and he gazed down at it for a moment, taking in his curious wide eyes and curled tail. For a moment, he raised a brow, but then decided to continue walking back out the room and into the bathroom once more.

He rummaged through the cabinets, searching for a small rag, only to come up empty handed and a bit irritated. He again searched each cabinet, slightly more content when he found a drawer he hadn't seen the first time, and it held just what he was looking for. He soaked the washcloth in warm water and returned to Toriko's room, unceremoniously dropping the wet cloth from a couple of inches above her skin to her neck, letting it soak up the dried blood without any effort on his part. He glanced behind himself again, eyeing the cat once more with a raised brow. Then Hiei settled himself on the floor curiously, wondering if perhaps the cat would approach. _*****_

Maneshi was not sure what had happened to Toriko, but his eyes never left her, even when Hiei swept by to leave the room again.

The only part of him that moved was his tail, twitching occasionally as he waited for Toriko to get up. This was not sleeping time. This was the awake time. This was the time of day where Toriko played with him when she was home and the fact that she was not up bothered him immensely. He did not quite know what to do, though he certainly felt something was very wrong.

The man with spiky hair came back in again and dropped something while standing over Toriko that Maneshi could not see, though it made a wet noise and caused the cat to shiver at the thought. When Hiei sat down on the floor, Maneshi could feel the fire demon's eyes on him and he twitched his tail twice more in the silence until Hiei got settled.

Moving like fluid across the floor to the bed, Maneshi stood up on his back paws as he reached for the edge, extending the length of his body to rest his front paws near where Toriko's hand had fallen.

Even on his closer inspection, he felt no better about her state, sniffing the hand and getting the same vibe as before.

Momentarily crestfallen that there would be no play time today, Maneshi backed up and landed back down softly on all fours on the carpet, tail lashing once in frustration at the predicament.

He turned to eye Hiei, expression unreadable, then remembered the wet sound that had been dropped higher up, reaching back to put his front paws on top of the bed, this time next to her shoulder, leaning as close as he dared to the damp cloth and giving it a smell, but deciding it was nothing particularly out of the ordinary, though he caught a second scent underneath it that caused his brows to waver.

He dismissed the thought and planted his four paws back on the carpet, meandering over to Hiei and sitting down on his back legs within arm's reach of the demon, concern radiating from every inch of his little fur-covered body, his eyes not leaving his lady's unconscious form.

In a sudden need of comfort, Maneshi stepped closer and butted a hand that Hiei held himself up with on the floor with the top of his black, furry head and made a tiny murl, wondering if this warm non-human was as worried as himself and hoping for pets and maybe a scratch behind the ear. 3

Hiei watched the cat as he moved around, getting different looks at his owner and sniffing here and there. The fire demon himself watched Toriko here and there, inspecting again and again to make sure he didn't miss something such as a cut or another bruise. By the time Maneshi's inspection had been complete and the cat was sitting near him, Hiei had closed his eyes briefly, thinking about the events that had lead to this. There was a part of him that wished he had killed the blonde demon when he'd had the chance, because something told him that he'd see the demon again soon, that something else was going to come of the encounter.

He felt the soft bump of the furry creature's head on his hand and opened a single eye to glance down at Maneshi, noting that the tom was still glancing at Toriko. The aura around the cat was easily readable, like a demon's, and Hiei found himself giving a small huff and resting his hand on the black fur atop the cat's head, scratching the place between his ears. "Tear my cloak again and you _will _die," he said softly, never ceasing in petting the soft, smooth fur of the cat.

He couldn't help but think that the animal was the only one in the human plane he actually didn't mind. *

Maneshi's eyes became half-lidded at the attentions, though when Hiei spoke, he turned his head and flicked one ear back, staring at him candidly as if to say, _You're the one that moved._

He gave a little huff of disapproving air, and turned his head back forward, leaning into Hiei's touch until he nearly fell over, recovering quickly by continuing to move in Hiei's direction, tentatively putting a paw on Hiei's thigh and sitting again, lifting his face towards Hiei's with his eyes closed in a sign of utter kitty contentment, a smile nearly visible on his features as Hiei pet him.

After a moment, he couldn't help himself, and he made the little jump over Hiei's left thigh into his lap, sitting his bottom right between Hiei's legs and resting his front on Hiei's right thigh and settling down, ears and eyes perked towards the bed, his tail getting left behind over Hiei's other thigh, the tip of it twitching occasionally.3

Hiei finally opened both eyes to watch the cat with a blank expression, feeling rather calm considering his train of thought. His hand continued to scratch at Maneshi's head until the cat moved, and Hiei instinctively pulled back to give the cat room to move. He raised a brow as the tom settled in his lap, tail draped over his thigh and twitching from side to side. He waited until the cat was completely still before giving into temptation and simply stroking his left hand down the center of Maneshi's dark fur, the smooth hairs flattening under his touch. The fur of the cat was warm, almost as warm as Hiei himself was, and he found that fact soothing, calming, as he continued to pet along the spine. Before too long, Maneshi was purring, and Hiei merely halted in his stroking, letting his hand rest on the cat as he rested his head back against the wall he was leaning against and turned his eyes to Toriko, patiently waiting for her to wake up. *

Maneshi let out a large breath, sounding almost like a sigh, turning nuzzling briefly the hand Hiei still held on him.

His emotional tank now full, Maneshi dropped himself out from under Hiei's hand and delicately stepped over Hiei back to the bed, clearing the jump in one clean leap, and landing just to the side of Toriko's head, sniffing at her hair once before walking around to her other side and stepping gently on her stomach, slinking cautiously up the middle of her chest and settling down, his paws almost touching the small space in between her collar bone.

He considered the cloth covering part of her bare skin on the left side of her body, nose twitching at the dampness, obviously not pleased.

Taking one velvety paw, claws most carefully absent, Maneshi touched the cloth, jerking his paw back abruptly and standing on his haunches. It was just as wet as he thought. He stared at it a bit longer and seemed to wrestle with something inside himself, finally giving another brief sigh-like sound and batting the cloth off her as fast and gently as he could, shaking his paw in distaste as it slid off her shoulder onto the bed.

The sight of the purple and red bruise on her made him visibly cringe back, lifting his paw close to his chest and his tail lashing once angrily. After the moment of disgust passed, Maneshi moved to where he could plant his front paws on either side of the wound, slowly lowering his head so that he maintained his precarious balance, but getting his mouth close enough and beginning to studiously lick with his rough tongue at the bruise, which started to glow, making sure to cover every single inch of it at least once.

When he had finished, he sat back and admired his handiwork, heartily approving as the bruise began to fade to yellow and brown, disappearing completely and leaving only a bit of cat-kissed sheen behind.

Toriko did not sit up immediately after that, which Maneshi disapproved of. He backed up to lay on her sternum again, curling his front paws under his chest and beginning to rumble a purr, his small motor vibrating cheerily as if to welcome her back into the world.

As he did so, the entirety of his black, short-haired body fainting began glowing. He could feel her mind begin stirring and he closed his eyes, pleased with himself.

After a moment, he turned his regal head towards Hiei, whom he'd felt staring at him and blinked, speaking directly into Hiei's mind:

"_What? You didn't honestly think a __**demon **__would own a __**normal **__cat, did you?" _3

Hiei let his hand fall to his lap as Maneshi slinked away, leaping onto the bed and resting on Toriko, his tongue snaking out and cleansing the wound until, surprisingly, the wound itself was simply washed away, as if the bruise had been nothing more than an illusion of makeup effects. His crimson orbs calmly watched, falsifying his lack of surprise with a facade of calm curiosity. He continued to watch Maneshi, even when the cat turned to look at him, now curled back on Toriko's gut, as if nothing had just happened and this were a normal occurrence.

When he suddenly felt his own consciousness touched by another, almost like the brush of a feather along his mind's eye, he blinked and met the cat's gaze evenly, listening with mild amusement. How he hadn't seen this coming, he didn't understand. He raised a brow at the cat and responded with:

"_Perhaps you __**are **__smarter than the __**normal **__creature of this plane. But I believe your definition of _normal _and mine are two different commodities." _

With that, he gave a small sneer that said he approved of the creature, though it lasted only an instant before it disappeared from his face. *

"_Mm. Perhaps. Perhaps not." _He said cryptically.

Maneshi looked back at Toriko, purring more heartily as she began to stir, his demonic energy still letting out a soft glow from his body.

"_Fascinating creature." _He mumbled to himself before pulling away from Hiei's mind, though whether he spoke of Hiei or Toriko too ambiguous to make out.

Toriko's eyes slowly fluttered open once, falling shut. Maneshi's purr became more insistent until she opened them again, staring blankly up at the ceiling, eyes cringing in the brightness of the room.

As she moved to sit up, Maneshi slipped off her chest and ended up between her legs and purring handsomely up at her, his expression beatific. Though her lips did not mirror it, her eyes smiled down at him and she reached over to scratch at the side of his cheek, a gesture that he leaned into, turning his head slightly for her to get to a different spot.

Toriko let out a deep, shaky breath from her lungs, beginning to move her legs over to the bed, though her whole body ached and she didn't know why.

Maneshi ducked and scooted back out of her way hopping down from the bed and meandering out of the room to places unknown.

For a moment, Toriko stared down at her knees, arms feeling weak, unsure if her legs would be able to hold her up. She glanced to her left and saw the washcloth on the side of her bed, raising her eyebrows and wondering how it got there. 3

Hiei raised an interested brow at Maneshi, waiting for the cat to continue on, but was left rather disappointed as his mind became empty of outside contact. He didn't know much of anything except that not only was Toriko a demon who seemed rather clumsy, and her cat was not a normal one, but he was also almost too curious for his own good. As events continued to unfold, different things happening at once, he found himself wanting to be nearby and figure out this cryptic puzzle of a person and her pet. It reminded him of the promise she had pulled from his lips the night before, and while he would normally be rather upset with such events, he found himself rather amused that he'd agreed and ended up in such curious circumstances.

Hiei pulled himself from his thoughts as he heard Toriko stirring, moving slightly on the bed until she was sitting up, blinking and looking back over her shoulder to the cloth that now lay on the bed, the dampness transferring to the bed sheets and creating a small spot where the water had soaked in. At first, Hiei didn't move. However, when Toriko moved her legs over the side of the bed, looking as if she were about to stand, he eyed her closely, taking note of the slight shake in her arms, the unstableness of her twitching muscles.

"I wouldn't do that," he said calmly, arms crossing over his chest as he crossed his ankles in front of him. "You'll only fall again." *

When she finally lifted her head at the sound of a voice and saw Hiei, her entire body tensed at the sight of him. Why was he here?

Her eyes quickly fell to her left again, to her bedside table, and she scrambled to grab for her glasses, scooting them over her ears and pushing them up the top of her nose, then putting her hands in her lap and staring at them, hardly noticing her hair falling about her shoulders.

She stayed seated, wondering at his warning, her brows turning downwards as she still did not know why he sat there looking so nonchalant. Her memories of the day were...fuzzy at best. The night before just as scrambled in her mind.

"Oh!" She exclaimed in remembrance, standing abruptly. She just as quickly plopped back onto the bed again, too weak, cringing at her achiness, her expression sheepish. "Y-your cloak." She explained. "I need to check on it. There's one last step." She did remember _that _much of the day. 3

Hiei eyed Toriko with a calm gaze, watching every twitch her muscles gave as she moved around, his eyes occasionally looking to the place where the bruise used to be. Part of him was amazed by what had happened, but he kept it contained from his features so that neither she nor Maneshi would be able to read his thoughts from his face.

Hiei nearly jumped when Toriko was on her feet in a quick motion, her voice suddenly loud and echoing in the otherwise quiet room. Her sudden movements caused him to give a huff as she placed herself right back on her bed, her eyes widened with dizziness, so he concluded. Slowly, the fire demon pushed himself to stand, placing himself in front of her so she wouldn't make the same mistake again. "Forget it," he spoke, his tone almost harsh, "it can wait. Don't be stupid." With that, he turned and stalked out of the room, giving her space and time to sort her obviously jumbled thoughts. If she really was that determined, she'd gather herself and follow.

Either way, Hiei still lingered outside the door, standing to the side and listening curiously and cautiously for anything unnatural. *

Toriko watched, mouth slightly agape as Hiei left the room, nearly closing the door behind him, "N-no, wait! You don't understand!"

She reached for a hair claw that sat on the bedside table and gathered her hair up, in too much of a hurry for pinning, twisting it and clamping into place at the back of her head.

She scrambled up out of the bed, managing to make it to the door and latching onto the knob with her right hand, shutting the door in front of her as she leaned heavily on it, feeling weak.

In a sudden flash of anger at her aching body, Toriko curled her left hand into a fist where it had landed near her face to hold her up on the door and slammed it into the wood. She muttered a curse under her breath at her condition, legs giving out underneath her.

She managed to turn around as she slid down the door, ending up seated with her back against the wood, putting her head between her knees and sighing. 3

Hiei listened to the girl's clumsy steps as she tried to catch up, but he didn't move from his spot against the wall in the hallway, back against the wall and eyes on the door. He briefly saw her reaching for the door, just before she slammed it shut, the wood echoing through the house with a loud crack. He raised a brow at her, listening to her breathing to ensure she was still conscious, and finding himself relieved when he confirmed it as so.

At her sudden curse, he snickered, surprising even himself, but that didn't stop the sneer from forming on his face as he pushed away from the wall and stood in front of the door again, hands in the pockets of his pants. "Rush yourself, no matter what it is, and you'll inevitably fall." he spoke, his tone mocking and light. He heard her slide against the wood and plunk down on the carpeted floor, and his sneer grew larger.

He stayed quiet for a few moments more, listening to her short breaths and her sudden sigh with a very small amount of amusement. He waited a few minutes before stepping another foot away from the door, but never turning away from the wooden surface. "Perhaps you should try relaxing and let your body do as it needs to do." he suggested, sounding much more serious than before. "Clumsy." _*****_

"Thanks for the tip." Toriko muttered under her breath, annoyed by advice given from such a youngling. After sighing, her ears perked up again when he spoke the second time, another flash of anger shooting through her body.

She stood up and whipped the door open to see him standing there with a self-satisfied smirk across his face.

"Keep your opinions to yourself, flame-boy."

She stalked out into the hall and brushed past him, getting to the stairs and forcing her body to walk down them without a hitch, just to prove him wrong. She trembled once when she reached the bottom, feeling another breath moving shakily through her body. Gathering her strength, she walked much more evenly towards where his cloak still lay on the floor and her hand flew up to her mouth in amusement, her eyes wide behind the thick frames of her glasses.

Maneshi lay curled up tightly in the neck-hole of the cloak, the entirety of the article of clothing fanned out around him in a smooth circle as Toriko had laid it earlier that morning, not a bit of his fur touching the fabric, his tail tightly pulled against his body, over his feet and covering his nose. He appeared to be asleep, breath steady and slow, his whiskers wavering once as if in a dream. 3

Hiei had taken an extra step back as Toriko flung the door open and brushed by him, her slightly wobbling legs carrying her down the steps ahead of him. He merely raised a brow in her direction, intrigued that she had taken it as a challenge rather than simply making a comment and kicking him out, as most people likely would have. Without being prompted to do so, he followed her steps slowly, leisurely making his way down one step at a time until he stood on the bottom step, glancing around the room, finding himself confused when he took note of the posture in which Toriko stood, the gesture of her hand over her mouth. For a moment, Hiei stiffened in caution.

However, when his eyes landed on the curled up form of Maneshi, laying dead center of the area where his cloak lay, he felt irritation sweep over him and he stalked forward. He paused about a foot away and crouched, his steely gaze searching for any extra rips, tears, or cat hairs on his cloak keenly. He inspected for about three minutes before he rocked back onto his heels, staying crouched but feeling much calmer. He hated when anything got on his cloak, so the fact that the cat had gotten where he had without so much as touching the cloak….

Hiei gave a sneer of respect and scoffed in disbelief. "Fascinating creature," Hiei commented, his shoulders relaxing as he stood upright again, only glancing back at Toriko before continuing to the kitchen.

And the sight he was met with made his eyes widen; he'd forgotten of the mess he'd made. *

As Toriko looked at the sleeping form of the cat, she smiled, lowering her hand the longer she regarded him. She managed to sit down at the edge of the fabric, next to the pile she left early, and passed a hand over the holes she mended, glad to see they had taken and were as seemless as the rest of the clothing. She picked up the small bag she took the needle and thread from the first time and dug into the bottom of it for the lighter she knew was within. Pulling it out, she gently lifted the edge of the cloak, careful not to disturb it so much that Maneshi would be bothered, and flicked the lighter on with her thumb, passing the ensuing flame underneath where her work had been done, setting the work for good with the rest of the cloth.

When she finished, she gazed across it at the cat, "Move now, please."

Maneshi raised his head, to regard her steadily, laying back down and not moving.

Toriko didn't seemed surprised by this, instead lifting the cloak and standing, walking it over to fold it in half in such a way that Maneshi would be left undisturbed, but by himself in the middle of the carpet.

As she moved the fabric, Maneshi lifted his head again and growled, a low tone in his chest.

"Well, then. You should have moved." Toriko replied primly, lifting him up by the waist and lightly tossing him out of the way.

He easily landed on his feet, sitting down on his haunches and staring at her haughtily, curling his tail around his paws and going still as a statue.

Toriko flapped the cloak into the air, turning it over with a flick of her wrist. She sat back down, the cloak scattered over her lap, and flicked the lighter on again, holding it underneath the cloak and passing it by the mending for several seconds. 3

Hiei stared at the mess on the floor of the kitchen, his mind recalling the very moment it had shattered. He had momentarily glanced at it, but hadn't made any mental note of it to be picked up. At least, not a very good mental note.

He glanced back over his shoulder into the living room, eyeing Toriko as she passed a lighter beneath his cloak, and he took the opportunity to slip into the next room. First, he located the trashcan, finding it in the pantry that had been left half-open. He quietly pulled it from its hiding spot and set it nearby, then continued to move about the kitchen, as silently as he could picking up the food that had scattered on the floor and a few stray shards of glass from underneath the table and from the table's surface, where he had no idea how it had gotten.

But he made the mistake of bumping the chair with his elbow, making it skid just a bit on the tiled floor. To this, he halted all movement, silently hoping Toriko wasn't paying attention. Why he didn't want her knowing, however, was beyond him. *

Toriko looked up from the cloak, her glasses on top of her head, intending to pass it to Hiei for inspection and possible approval, but she did not initially see him.

At the sound of a chair squeaking across the floor, Toriko stood, neatly folding up the cloak and intending to move in the direction of the kitchen.

Maneshi acted faster than her, trotting over towards the sound and seeing Hiei frozen in place. Maneshi very nearly stepped his nice, clean paws into the spill, leaping almost instinctively up onto Hiei's shoulders, his tiny frame planted firmly in place, front to the right of Hiei's head, back to the left. Safe from any dirtiness, he collapsed around the back of the fire demon's neck, paws hanging lazily down over Hiei's shoulders and his tail flicking absently.

Toriko walked in on the scene just in time for Maneshi to stare at her as he collapsed around Hiei's neck, trying not to smile at the sight. Her eyes lowered to see the food scattered around, a plate in pieces on the floor.

Silently, very aware that she was barefoot, she carefully stepped around and went over to the sink, grabbing another trash bag and returning to the mess. She squatted down to start picking up the broken shards of plate, putting them inside the trash bag.

At the sight of her doing so, Maneshi let out a demanding 'meow,' intending the outburst to encourage Hiei to help. The immediate result, however, was Toriko practically jumping out of her skin, clutching reactively at the large shard of plate in her hand and slicing her hand open in several places, across her fingers, thumb and palm.

Disgusted, she tossed the piece into the trash bag and clenched her hand tightly together, glaring as a trickle of blood started to seep out from the bottom of her first, then her expression changing to one of resign, holding the hand over the trash bag and waiting. 3

Hiei watched as Maneshi came into the room, Toriko following right after. He was about to move when the pressure of a small, lanky, furry body met his shoulders and draped across the back of his neck. He glanced back at Maneshi with a raised brow, but gave in and simply let the cat stay where he seemed comfortable, ignoring the light flick of the end of his tail. He then watched Toriko as she silently grabbed another trash bag and began assisting in the clean up, in which Hiei continued from where he was under the table, picking up the last bits that were in his reach before he scooted himself out from under the table, using a foot to pull the chair back into its rightful place.

When Maneshi mewed in his ear, he glanced from the corner of his eye at the rom cat, silently saying "yeah, yeah," as he turned around and dumped his handful of shards and food into the trashcan nearby. That was when the coppery scent of blood hit his nose and he immediately turned his head to Toriko, eyes landing on the droplets of blood that were beginning to fall into the bag she held in her uninjured hand. He stared for a moment, internally sighing.

Then, he acted. He took two steps forward, grabbed the wrist of her injured hand, and dragged her to the sink. He grabbed the handle he could easiest reach and unceremoniously forced her hand under the water, eyeing the liquid as it mixed with the blood and ran down the drain, holding back from his comment. *

There wasn't much Toriko could do when the fire demon grabbed her, pulled her to her feet, and dragged her across the tile to the kitchen sink.

The immediate feeling of the water over her cuts was nice and she flexed her fingers a little, feeling how tightly Hiei's grip was around her wrist when she almost couldn't do it.

Seconds later though, the water steamed and burned, Toriko letting out the smallest exhale of air hiss through her teeth in discomfort and jerking her hand out of the sink, clenching her fist to try and get the pressure to stop the bleeding and not leave any drips on the tile.

Hiei's fingers were still clamped around her wrist, and it took a moment for her to realize it, staring over at him with wide eyes behind her thick glasses lenses. 3

Hiei watched the bloody water stream into the sink and down the drain for a few moments, waiting for the color of the water to become clear again. Suddenly, Toriko let out a hiss and pulled away, though Hiei never relinquished his grip. He let her move her hand out from under the faucet, turning a hard stare onto her momentarily before he could practically smell the steam coming from the water, feel the light heat radiating, drifting towards him as an offer of energy. His crimson irises turned to the water that still run steadily, watching the steam roll off of the stream with a calm expression.

Inside, he gave a small sound of discontent, but externally, he merely turned the other knob of the faucet into the on position, switching the knob designated for "hot" off. He himself held his hand under the water, finding discomfort in the cold that ran over his hand again, and once more, he pried Toriko's hand open and stuck it under the running water, letting his own heat balance with the cold of the water so as to keep it from doing more harm than good. *

Toriko let Hiei do as he wished, until she felt his hand begin to get warm underneath hers. The droplets of water stung with the hotness of the combined warmth and cool of Hiei's hand and the water, respectively. At that point, Toriko jerked her hand away from the water again, sending a glare in Hiei's direction and reaching over to turn the hot and cold knobs until they were about even, testing the flow with a finger before pulling the hand Hiei still held back under the faucet and letting it wash away the blood that had accumulated. 3

Hiei gently held Toriko's hand in his, eyes again on the cuts and the watery blood that washed into the sink. And again, she pulled away, and this time he met her gaze with the same amount of frustration as she seemed to have with him. He released her hand and crossed his arms over his chest expectantly, silently waiting for her to say something smart-alecky or to gripe at him, for whatever it was he'd done wrong this time around. "Finicky." he grumbled, red eyes turning back to the mess that remained on the floor behind them. He gave a light scoff and moved to finish up the cleaning job they'd abandoned. *

"Ignorant." She shot right back at him as he moved away, turning to shut the faucet off. If _he_ wasn't going to stand here, she sure wasn't. She refused to look at her hand, not caring if it was healed, but tightened it into a fist, opening it only when she went to grab the trash bag she'd been working with, and then clenching her hand together over it, bending down to pick up more of the pieces and shove some of the larger clumps of food inside as well.

As Toriko worked, her mind tried to sift through the last twenty-four hours, starting with the night before. All she could recall was being awakened by...something. Something that was not particularly friendly. And the next thing she remembered was...Hiei.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, stopping her work. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but something tugged at her inside and she closed it again, turning silently back to the mess. Perhaps she didn't need to know what had happened...

There was only a handful of other instances in her memories where things were blotted out, besides anything before her Human World transfer, which she feared and tried not to think about in the first place.

Most of her fuzzy memories after making it to Human World were what she referred to privately as the 'in between time,' those first few years where she was lost and confused, forced to adapt quickly to survive, before acquiring this house she lived in.

After that, she could remember every detail of her mundane existence, and the next time she really looked around her, nearly a decade had passed and she still felt no desire to try and get back 'home.'

Everything she knew there had likely been destroyed, else why would she have been running away in the first place, though likewise, she knew of nothing here in Human World that really kept her around for the sheer joy of it.

...why was she still alive again?

Toriko made a small sigh, standing up and unceremoniously throwing the trash bag in her hand into the one in the trash bin. She walked over to the cabinet under the sink and squatted down to open it, pulling out some floor cleaner and a bucket, putting a couple of squirts of the former in the latter and placing bucket in the sink, turning the faucet back on, then going over and grabbing a mop propped up in a corner. She stood next to the sink and watched the water fill the bucket, waiting for it to get about half-way.

"Your cloak is finished." She said quietly to Hiei without turning towards him. "It's folded up in the living room. Let me know if something's wrong." She fully expected him to march in there and, if he felt the job was adequate, leave without saying anything else. She frowned at the bucket. She still couldn't remember why he was here in the first place.

When it filled half-way, Toriko easily grabbed and pulled it from where it nestled, laying the bucket on the tile nearest to the first bits of dirty floor and dunking the mop inside, quietly beginning to extricate all traces of the mess. Her brow furrowed again as she did so. How exactly had the mess been made again? She had impressions of making the food, further evidence still sitting on top of the stove in the form of the two skillets, one with bacon grease and the other with bits of potato still inside.

The mopping did not take long. She dumped the dirty water of the bucket into the sink, wringing out the mop and putting it back in inside the bucket and placing them both in the corner, moving to next place all the dishes from the abandoned meal in the sink and clean them. 3

Hiei scoffed in response to Toriko's single-worded retort, but for the most part, he didn't respond. At first, anyways. As he continued picking up the last bits of food, the last shards of glass, he heard himself scoff again, and his own voice echoed through his ears before he'd even realized he was speaking. "The only ignorance I have beared witness to is of you being afraid of a small creature's call," he said, only glancing at Maneshi as the cat still draped over his shoulders, just as calm as could be. He didn't look at Toriko as he stood upright again and dumped a fistful of shards and food remnants into the trashcan that stood near him. He merely stayed where he stood, watching Maneshi, as if the tom would do something interesting.

And then his cloak was brought into the conversation, and his eyes swiftly darted to the living room, searching for the little folded up fabric she spoke of. Without hesitation, he stalked his way into the next room, right up to the folded up, silky-smooth fabric that lay on the arm of the couch. He immediately unfolded it and subjected it to a thorough inspection of the area he had known had been ripped. After a few minutes, a small look of satisfaction crossed his face before disappearing entirely and he easily settled it around his shoulders, only rustling the cat a little so that he still lay across his shoulders, but now across the smooth cloak as well, which earned a soft meow of protest.

He stood in the same spot for a few moment, considering leaving but his eyes found the cat all over again. He felt slightly frustrated that Maneshi still lay on his shoulders, calmly watching him with his yellow eyes. He reached up to remove the cat from his person, but he became suddenly aware of a presence outside the door, just as the person outside it began pounding on it.

~!**!~

Akari frowned down at her papers that were spread out in front of her on the desk, each and every one of them scribbled on in various different ways. Her literature paper was finished, with mistakes here and there, as was her history paperwork. Her math, however was…. a little worse for ware, to say the least. Though she was using a pencil, there were still markings everywhere, most of them faded from the effort of erasing them. There were also other markings that, to any other person, would likely look like random marks of decoration. Symbols were marked out and replaced here and there, some even stacked on one another to show that she wasn't one hundred percent sure on which symbol to use.

She dragged a hand through her hair, raking her scalp with her nails in frustration and plunking her pencil onto the wooden surface of the desk she sat at. Her eyes slid shut and she took to a small breathing exercise- for the third time in the past twenty minutes. She grumbled incoherent curses under her breath and pushed the paper away from herself and stood, intending to take a small walk around town, but her mind told her she'd already done that twice today, and it wasn't helping anything.

Suddenly, she found herself gathering her papers and her pencil, a jacket to hide her scarred arms, and was leaving the house, squeezing through the small hole in the wall of the worn-down building and ignoring the small pieces of rubble that tumbled from her contact with it. She glanced back into the room, catching sight of Nabu sleeping under the small ray of sunshine that filtered through the hole in the ceiling, his breathing even despite the dust particles that drifted around him and landed on his soft fur. She shook her head at him and left without a word, marching down the sidewalk and towards the house of the person that had been assigned to help her. As much as she hated admitting it, she did indeed need that help.

By the time she had arrived, she was even more irritated than before, not happy with the heavy foot traffic on the sidewalks and the fact that she had to come to someone else for help. She stood outside the house for a few moments, searching for signs of people on the inside. After she saw a shadow pass by one of the windows, she approached at a speed that would likely have gotten her into trouble if a human had passed by, and her hand was immediately making rough contact with the door, her balled-up fist hitting on the hardwood with impatience. _*****_

At the sound of pounding, Toriko paused in the middle of her work, ears almost twitching as she realized the sound came from her own front door. She quickly lowered the dish she had in her fingers back into the water and pulled her hands out to grab a towel and dry them as she made her way to the door, ignoring Hiei who still stood in the living room, cloak on, but with Maneshi lazing over his shoulders.

"_Traitor." _She thought to herself as she stalked by, pausing once she reached the door to make sure her glasses were in place, but quickly pulling the claw out of her hair and re-doing the twist, attempting to get as many strands against her head and slightly worried about not having pinned it up today.

Only seconds had passed since the initial knock, but Toriko's heart suddenly lurched in her chest at the prospect of a visitor. She placed her hand on the knob and turned, opening the door inward to see who exactly had come calling.

Seeing Akari on her doorstep, Toriko's eyes widened behind her thick lenses. By the school-work in the girl's arms, Toriko inferred she wanted help, though why she would come to Toriko and not Kurama was not immediately clear. She suddenly remembered the mandate of their math teacher about Akari getting tutoring and nervously looked at the floor. Still speechless, Toriko opened the door wider and stepped to the side to indicate Akari was welcome to enter and Toriko quietly waited for the demon to cross the threshold and explain. 3

Hiei frowned at the door as he recognized the energy beyond the door, a spark of caution coming to life in his mind as he recalled the scene he'd witnessed a while ago. He glanced again at the cat on his shoulders before turning and leaving the room, heading up the stairs with silence as his comrade. He tugged the cat from his shoulders, earning a meow and a small huff as he dropped the cat to the carpeted floor at the top of the stairs. The cat's eyes glared at him as he turned and stepped into Toriko's room, opening up the window and closing it all over again, as if it hadn't been opened at all, and he took to the higher branches of the trees, so as to not be seen as he kept watch.

After all, he wouldn't leave the defenseless girl alone with someone who associates with _that _demon.

~!**!~

Akari's fist lowered to her side when she heard footsteps approaching the door, and her expression was blank as the wooden frame creaked only slightly as the door was pulled open. She stared at the girl for only a moment before stepping in the house, shuffling the two books into her left arm and holding up a single sheet of paper in Toriko's face, inches from the girl's nose. "This," she began, voice filled with the hidden frustration, "Is a monstrosity."

She paused again, her conscious whispering for her to take a moment and breathe, to not disrespect the person who had opened her door to her home, no matter the past experience with the people Toriko associated with. She took three deep breaths and lowered the paper, her eyes shifting to her scribbly work and looped handwriting. "This ridiculous amount of symbols and numbers is meaningless to me, as is Biology," she admitted, her tone still rough with irritation, but expression blank. _*****_

Toriko took little notice of Hiei leaving the room, though she felt aware of his presence moving somewhere else. She shifted her glasses a bit on her face as she regarded the piece of paper when Akari held it up, thoughts stirring in her mind in relation to the abnormal markings she spied scribbled all over the paper before Akari lowered it again. She listened patiently, her mind quickly homing in the situation at hand.

Toriko closed the door, and gestured silently at the cleared kitchen table, moving for it and taking a seat, waiting for Akari to follow.

"I-I think Biology will be less difficult a subject to explain as it is merely a means for humanity to study the world they live in. Th-they feel as if they must explain everything around them and s-stuff it all in these little boxes that they become c-confounded with should anything leave what they have placed it i-in. Math is…" Toriko searched for the right word, but came up with nothing and merely shrugged, "S-somewhat more complicated as it builds more heavily upon itself than even Biology. Miss one l-little thing and you fall much farther behind." She pushed her glasses farther up her nose. "W-would you show me what you've done so far?" 3

Akari listened to the stammering girl with growing impatience, though she tried her best not to show it. She shifted her weight a bit and adjusted her hold on her things once more, tossing her hair over her shoulder and following Toriko as she made her way into the next room. She nodded as the girl continued to speak, though since Toriko's back was to her, she didn't think she saw it. "It isn't too difficult, except that it's not very clear with definitional terms." With her expression a curious one and her tone now calm, she placed her two books on the table with a thud and opened the science book to the page her worksheet indicated. She looked at the page filled with cells and ecosystems, the terms of "Mitochondria" and "Osmosis" that she knew were scattered around in the chapter. Her paper slid from the pages of the textbook and onto the table, the vocabulary written and marked out in several different places, even repeated throughout the blanks that were meant for filing in and labeling the different images of cells, of images of an ecosystem and its parts. While she understood most of it, the parts of the cells that made up the beings of this place seemed to leave her stumped.

"These," she pointed to the cells, where she had labeled the cell wall, but nothing more, "I do not understand." She gave a brief pause and glanced up at Toriko, feeling rather odd, perhaps even calm and a little better about asking someone, though she hated it at the same time. "As I'm sure you know, Demon World has very different concepts of life and how things work, and cells are definitely not a part of that structure." _*****_

Hearing the name of her home, of the other world, aloud sent a flinch of muscles tightening all along Toriko's body.

It had been a very long time indeed since Toriko had done so much as consider the place in any fashion, and even as the non-human girl beside her talked about it with such familiarity, she struggled inwardly to objectively think about the place, a place she tried so hard to deny herself any connection to.

"I-if it helps give you motivation, understanding the cells of the humans and the structures of their bodies will assist in any interactions you have with them. The knowledge could be useful for many different reasons. Most just never care, though if they realized how much more precise their damage could be, they might take a greater interest." It wasn't likely, Toriko thought to herself, as most of the time they overpowered the humans to any extent, but there were always exceptions. Knowledge was power, after all. Toriko leaned over and looked at the worksheet. "If you go small enough, everything is made up of the same stuff, and it's as you get bigger that the complexity plays a part in creating the different beings." Toriko tried scanning the worksheet Akari, "What exactly is troubling you?" 3

Akari stood to the side, arms crossed as she eyed the paper, and then Toriko as she began speaking. She raised a brow at the girl meant to be helping her, indicating that even though she was talking, it didn't help her figure out what the paper wanted from her. After Toriko's question of just what was bothering her, she pointed to the different parts of the cell and asked for brief explanations of each of them and what they did, and for a while, that was all she asked about. She clarified and made sure she understood what was going on, and for what felt like an hour, she found everything much easier to understand. She felt a bit better about the work and was able to finish it on her own. And, despite her earlier dislike of the idea of asking for help, she found herself feeling grateful for the assistance. And, for once, she voiced it with a small, quiet, "thanks" under her breath. She sat back in the kitchen chair she had taken to sitting in, her arms now relaxed as she released a breath and laid her head back, eyes shut. _*** **_

Toriko didn't often get the opportunity to be more of a help than a burden, but the sense of satisfaction that Akari continuously provided for her at each turn when she understood another portion of the assignment made Toriko glad to have been able to help. She thought to herself that with a start like this, perhaps the girl would be able to pursue the studies on her own. Not having had a background in the human schools certainly made things more difficult.

"May I see your math work?" 3

Akari let out another slow breath and crossed her ankles beneath the table, rubbing her face for a moment before she sat upright again and met Toriko's gaze evenly, patiently. As soon as the subject of her math homework left the girl's mouth though, she felt the beginnings of frustration welling up again, calling forth thoughts of her past tries with the work that seemed to never end. She worried at her lip for a fraction of a second before producing it from the math textbook and sliding it to the girl next to her, eyes not again meeting Toriko's as she waited. _*****_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	10. Episode 95 - A Vexing Sort of Demon

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow FanFiction Fanatics!

Another chapter bites the dust...

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

It appears that Maneshi is not simply a normal cat, as proven by how he assists Hiei by healing Toriko of her wound.

After this, Toriko finishes mending Hiei's cloak and it isn't long before Akari shows up to get tutoring from Toriko.

Unwilling to leave Toriko alone with a demon he suspects of being in cahoots with Otento,  
Hiei slips outside and takes his place in the nearest tree...

* * *

Maneshi huffed through his nose at Hiei as he watched the fire demon leave Toriko's bedroom through the window and close it behind him. The cat leapt up onto the windowsill and stared at him intentionally, blinking once and meowing in displeasure at the source of warmth that had so carelessly tossed him away.

Heaving a sigh almost unnatural for a creature of his ilk, Maneshi hopped back down to the carpet and curled up in the sunshine, hoping Hiei would be back.

~!**!~

Toriko took the sheet of paper, feeling Akari's complete uncomfortableness at the subject being broached practically rolling off the other female in waves of frustration.

Saying nothing, Toriko sat and studied the work, frowning, though not in relation to the numerous scribblings and eraser marks.

Other-worldly symbols dotted the page, coupled with what Toriko quickly related to be Akari's attempts at matching them with their Human World equivalents. As far as Toriko could tell, the girl had 'addition' and 'subtraction' down just fine. Toriko's eyebrows twitched, sensing that it would be necessary to access memories she had intentionally stored in the deep recesses of her mind and her apprehension just at the thought of it grew.

Toriko blinked, struggling silently with her innate non-humaness and all the fear she associated with it.

"Y-you're using-" Toriko swallowed, "D-demon World symbols." It wasn't a question.

Her brow furrowed farther and she reached up to connect an edge of the paper that had been torn apart by one too many vigorous erasings.

"May I see your pencil?" She flipped the paper over to the blank side and pressed the writing utensil down after receiving it, scooting her glasses back up her nose with one hand before changing her mind and putting them on top of her head completely.

She went back and forth from either side of the paper, putting the Human World math symbols that the sheet used on one side, and any Demon World symbols Akari had on the other, sitting and staring for a moment before beginning to connect the two sides, writing a small equation for each, Human World on top with Demon World on bottom, down below the markings after pairing them up.

"_Two plus two is four. Addition in Demon World uses __**this **__symbol. Two minus two is zero. Subtraction uses __**this **__symbol..." _Toriko silently walked herself through the more basic symbols, clenching her jaw together in her attempts to keep her mind strictly upon accessing mathematical memories from over a decade past.

"_Multiplication...Division..." _Toriko worked steadily, remembering the symbols for parenthesis, 'less than,' 'greater than,' and 'equal to,' but struggling when she reached 'sine,' 'cosine,' and 'tangent.'

Toriko sat back after what seemed like forever, unable to go any farther as she struggled to keep certain memories from surfacing, shoving her non-human nature as far away as possible.

"H-here." She finally said, scooting the sheet back over towards Akari, who had been steadily becoming more interested in her work the whole time. "It's been over a decade, so this is all I've got so far. You ought to be able to get quite a bit of it done on your own now, though." She squeezed her eyes shut, silently wishing the girl away so that she could deal with regaining herself. "When I recall some of the others, I will let you know."

~!**!~

Maneshi squeezed his eyes tightly together as a tickle began in the back of his head, one that continued to itch in ever-increasing amounts until he raised his head sleepily from where it rested on the floor. He stretched lazily when he did not immediately see any danger, but became more aware of _something_ going on in his domain, though he didn't know what exactly.

Getting up and thoroughly cleaning himself before actually moving, Maneshi made his way out of Toriko's bedroom door and trotted down the steps, his nose immediately picking up a dog somewhere in the vicinity and he froze at the bottom stair, hair prickling along his spine. In his experiences, dogs were either overzealous with affection or over-angry at him for no reason that he could legitimize other than the fact that he happened to be feline in nature. He cautiously took another step forward, but after scanning the room once, he realized where the smell came from and immediately dismissed it, the distress that he'd felt in the back of his head more apparent now that he was in the room with Toriko.

He emitted a sound between a purr and a meow that did not quite pass out his mouth as he quickly pranced across the room and jumped neatly into Toriko's lap, butting his head against her arm and seating himself when she began petting his back absently, tail flicking down the side of the chair over Toriko's thigh as he stared unblinking at the stranger seated next to his Toriko, someone that he somehow felt was connected to the emotions she hid away in her mind. 3

Akari had silently kept up with Toriko's writings, her eyes taking in the words that were slowly forming on the paper underneath her pencil. She recognized that Toriko was making the connections between Akari's own scribblings, and when she even continued further with even more symbols, Akari found herself leaning forward, an elbow on the table and chin resting in her hand as her mind absorbed the new information with interest and curiosity. She could feel a few things click into her mind and she found that she almost felt dumb for not making the connections herself.

Akari watched for what felt like hours as Toriko wrote, connecting symbols from this world with the symbols of her home world, and by the time Toriko had sat back, she felt like she'd just gone through an entire week's worth of study. She didn't move from her relaxed stature, though her eyes did follow Toriko with a small sheen of thankfulness she wouldn't vocalize. Instead, she merely nodded at the girl and retrieved the paper from her, looking over each symbol again and memorizing the connections.

After a few silent moments, the demon shifted and sat back again, stretching her legs out under the table and stretching her arms over her head lazily, eyes roving over to the cat she had barely taken notice of a few moments ago. She raised a brow at him and then glanced at Toriko once more, expression neutral. "How much longer am I required for tutoring?" she finally inquired, glancing at a nearby clock, but not sure what time she had arrived. _*****_

Toriko shifted her glasses up her face, sliding a hand down Maneshi's back gently in a meditative fashion, the motion only helping keep her thoughts grounded a little.

"I don't think you're going to need any more help." Toriko managed to say, "At least not for a while. As we get further into the semester, I will try to provide you will equivalents should find yourself unable. If I am asked I will say that we took the required time needed to catch you up." Toriko stood, scooting her chair back from the table, Maneshi hopping down from her lap to the floor. She waited for a moment to see if Akari would gather her things, assuming the girl would be eager to vacate the premises as Toriko got the feeling she hadn't wanted to be there in the first place.

Toriko turned and slowly began walk towards the front door to give Akari time to get her stuff together, opening the door for and nodding to Akari as she left.

Toriko collapsed against the door, Maneshi having followed her all the way over and standing near her feet, staring up at her, his eyes wide with concern. She didn't hardly notice him, but walked over to the couch in a daze, memories of ages past threatening to spill over her mind. She collapsed onto the cushions, staring at the wall for a moment, then took off her glasses and placed them on the coffee table, rubbing her hands as tears, like her memories, bubbled up without warning. She slowly turned pulled her legs up onto the couch, bending over in what most would consider a deep bow of respect, but her hands covered her eyes in her distress and she tried to block out everything, tried to send her mind into a black nothingness of thought as she started to repeat, "_I don't want to be a demon, I don't want to be a demon, I don't-" _

Maneshi hopped up onto the couch near her head after Toriko curled up over her knees. Still unsure of what to do, he put a paw to the tendrils of her hair sticking up out of the jaw hair-clip she had tightly pinned to her head, and meowed once before falling silent.

He withdrew to lay down on his stomach, facing her and curling his paws underneath his chest. He had considered jumping onto her back, king of all he could see, but her distress bothered him immensely and he did not know what to do.

"_I am sorry, my lady." _He closed his eyes as if pained, "_Were I able to remember human form perhaps better comfort I could provide." _He knew that his presence would simply have to suffice, but he mourned the loss of knowledge silently, in that moment more than ever knowing he would gladly trade the worlds to not be stuck in the small, furry body as he was. 3

Hiei stood on the edge of the branch he had taken residence on, hands stuffed into his cloak pockets as he battled with himself silently. He heard no signs of trouble, but yet he felt this need to get inside, this need to be sure the dog wasn't acting out of line. His hands balled into fists as the inner battle raged on, a growing sense of dread bottoming his stomach and every fiber in his being screamed at him to _move, do something. _He attempted to simply listen to what was going on inside the house, and found it extremely quiet. Whispers here and there. Yet something continued to nag at him, something continued to plea with him to investigate.

Finally, he gave in. With the clenching of his teeth and the silence only he knew, he slipped his way back into the unlocked window, locking it again behind himself and silently leaving the bedroom. Downstairs, he heard the door open, and then snap close, and he paused in thought. Still, something pulled, or rather, yanked at his consciousness and had him cautiously moving down the stairs. The moment his feet hit the base of them, his eyes locked in the living room, his ears making out a distinctive breathing pattern that indicated distress. His crimson orbs locked on the small, curled up body of Toriko, and without much thinking about it, he approached, standing about a foot from the edge of the couch, standing near the end where her head rest. His hands slid into the pockets of his cloak again, unaware that they had left their refuge.

"When you lay like that, you make yourself look pathetic and small," he commented, as if this were his form of consolation. _*****_

Maneshi opened his eyes as he heard Hiei coming down the stairs, coming to a stand and facing him as Hiei stopped to stare at Toriko.

The black cat's heterochromatic gaze regarded Hiei strangely, thoughts stirring in his mind as he looked from the fire demon to the lady on the couch.

"_You..." _Maneshi spoke into Hiei's mind, pausing as he struggled to maintain himself for just a moment longer, his body fighting with him, wanting him to return to the depths of his kitty-ness. "_You can do what I cannot." _Maneshi uncurled his sleek body, moving closer towards Hiei, but remaining on the couch, his eyes flickering back to Toriko's unmoving form, then returning to stare unblinking at Hiei.

He tried to speak again, but only meowed, clenching his eyes together in frustration. He opened them again and reached out towards Hiei with a downturned paw and made an oddly human gesture, as if to draw the fire demon to the couch. "_Sit." _He managed to say. "_Sit. Here." _He trotted over next to Toriko and looked up at Hiei again, leaping up to the back of the couch where he would be out of the way. 3

Hiei's eyes slid to the cat as he moved, sitting on his haunches and facing the fire demon with a seemingly calculating gaze. And when he felt the cat's mind brush his own, a voice echoing for a mere moment, he raised a brow at the furred creature. He waited until the cat had finished speaking, his paw moving just a bit in a gesture the fire demon easily recognized. His brow disappeared under his bangs and he moved forward a few steps, pausing just before touching the couch and glancing at Toriko again. By the time he glanced back at Maneshi, he was comfortable on the back of the couch, watching expectantly.

Hiei's crimson orbs glanced at the spot that Maneshi had gestured to, and slowly, he lowered himself on the very edge of the cushion, silently waiting. For what, he didn't exactly know. Perhaps he was waiting on another prompt from the cat? He didn't know. So his eyes continued to shift between Toriko and Maneshi expectantly and a bit awkwardly, not sure what happens next. _*****_

The breath of a chuckle passed over Maneshi's features.

_He is almost as incapable as I. _He thought to himself, regarding Hiei's unsurety with amusement.

Maneshi fluidly rose from the back of the couch, coming around to Toriko's other side. He moved his face close to hers, sticking his head between the veil of her hair.

"_My lady..." _He called to her mind. "_My lady?"_ He felt a strange emotion wash over him when he touched her mind and he visibly recoiled, glancing over at Hiei and speaking to him once more, shaking his head, "_I...I cannot reach her. Her mind is...dark. Still. A sea of...glass." _He turned back to Toriko, blinking once before raising his gaze back to Hiei. "_...lift her? ...hold...her?" _His words fading, Maneshi sent an image into Hiei's mind instead, one in which Toriko sat on Hiei's lap, her head on his shoulder, his arms holding her to him.

Maneshi moved rapidly over Hiei's lap to the other side of him, turning back around and mewing once very softly in distress, his ears relaxing to the sides in an expression of sadness as he settled back down, eyes now locked on Toriko as he lay down on his stomach, heaving a sigh before his eyes closed, finally falling back down into slumber behind the cat form he inhabited.

When Maneshi looked back up, his eyes were bright, but he said nothing more to Hiei. 3

Hiei eyed Maneshi as he moved, scowling at the cat's thoughts that Hiei had unintentionally listened into. He fought the urge to give a remark back, deciding that he didn't care what the cat thought of him. His eyes continued to follow the sleek, long, black body of the feline as he closed in on Toriko's face, and for a few moments, the room was silent. He waited just as patiently as he could until he heard the cat's voice in his mind again, and he gave a small sound of impatience.

When the mental image of him cradling Toriko struck his mind, his expression shifted to incredulity and he stared at the feline in disbelief. "Surely you do not peg me as a lover?" he remarked, his lips stretching downwards into a scowl. He may not know much about intimacy, but he did know that what the cat was asking was more intimate than anything Hiei had ever even thought about in his life; and anything such as hugs or anything more were completely out of the question.

Then he registered what the cat had said. _Her mind is dark? _he mused, eyes turning to Toriko in thought. He himself let his mind reach out to her, his own consciousness meeting her own. He found himself a bit surprised to feel nothing within her, not even the darkness that Maneshi had spoken of. He continued to reach into her mind, but also continued to find nothing, which left him baffled and irritated. He tried even harder, still finding nothing.

His mind receded from hers and he scoffed. His expression suddenly shifted, becoming much more of a tell-tale of his impatience, of his irritation. He stood abruptly, and without hesitation, he placed a hand on Toriko and shook her roughly by her shoulder, frown dominant on his features even as he spoke.

"Do not run away. It makes you weak. Sit up, and face your demons yourself." _*****_

Somewhere and nowhere, Toriko felt...something. It was not enough at first to stir her from her darkness, her stillness. The second time, she recognized the one who abruptly forced into her head, but could not greet him, could do nothing as his presence became irritated and left her alone once more.

Her ears became suddenly aware of sound...of movement, then she felt a hand drop onto her shoulder, jarring her thoughts back into place, heard a voice speaking words she did not at first understand. She did not lift her head immediately following, but at a mildly aggravated hiss from Maneshi, she sat up, feeling the soft couch cushion beneath her.

The cat glared angrily at Hiei, ears back and teeth parted. He caught her movement out of the corner of his eye and stood just as abruptly as she had risen to sit, eyes wide.

Toriko stared blankly at the room, though when her mind played back Hiei's demand a shiver passed over her body as the word 'demons' echoed terribly in the emptiness of her mind before she could stop it.

Maneshi hurried to her side and stepped onto her thigh, peering curiously into her face. She made no move to acknowledge his presence, not even when he released a small meow from his throat, his whiskers trembling slightly. 3

Hiei retracted his hand as soon as Toriko stirred, letting it slide back into his cloak pocket as his eyes followed Toriko's movements. He registered her blank stare, her blank expression that told him she registered nothing more than being stirred by an outside force, and his scowl deepened further, completely ignoring the previous hiss of warning from Maneshi. He waited for something to happen, but when nothing did, he took another step forward until he towered over her, crimson eyes bearing down on her.

"Being afraid of yourself only creates problems for yourself. You become unstable, and weak. You have to deal with it, or else you will die." His words were harsh, but he felt they were necessary to get her attention, to bring her back to reality in some way, shape or form. "If you run from yourself, you will be taken advantage of for an eternity." _*** **_

"Heh." She finally spoke, a merciless laugh that held no humor as she reached up and pulled the claw out of her hair, letting her dark locks settled around her shoulders. The one bark of laughter turned into a brief chuckle, mirthless but almost wild.

Her eyes suddenly narrowed at him, her expression dangerous, "And what exactly is it you think you know of fear? What exactly do you know of being taken advantage of?" Her eyes flashed and she was suddenly standing in front of him, her aura snapping into existence around them, filling the room with waves of yellow energy that threatened to envelop him.

Just as abruptly, the energy left and she collapsed back down on the edge of the couch, staring forward again. "You know nothing." She finished half-heartedly. 3

Hiei watched Toriko as her lips parted and released a dry laugh. His eyes widened a fraction, and in the blink of an eye, Toriko was in his personal bubble. He stood in his spot, refusing to back down as her energy not only swept over him, but exploded around him and engulfed the room with momentary anger, then it was gone just as quick as it had become known. His expression had darkened and his eyes had hardened, and the moment she sat down, Hiei followed her steps and stood over her again.

"I don't have to know anything about your past. It's there for a reason. Now either you can move past it and move on, or you can be an empty shell afraid of yourself." His voice became a low growl, a low rumble of a threat as his own anger mounted at the prospect of this girl challenging him. "The only person who even remotely cares about your past is you, and it _only _matters to you because you **run from it**." He paused, narrowed eyes taking in her features once more. "If you are too weak to control your own energy, then me being here is useless, and my word to you will become void." _*****_

Toriko worked her jaw around, tightening her teeth together as he spoke, his tone grating her anger back into existence before she spoke up, her voice quiet, and almost velvety smooth, but seething with an underlayer of deeper emotions.

"It must be nice," She began, words articulate and crystal-clear, "To have nothing in your past that drives you to the brink of madness. To have such an exemplary existence of perfection that you have no memories to haunt you. How utterly disgusting of you to have not faced such hardships. You must either be an idealist of the highest caliber or you have not yet lived long enough to know of such things."

Her eyes snapped back to his face, "And my lack of control is absolutely none of your concern whatsoever, so I wouldn't advise sticking your nose in places that it doesn't understand. Regardless of whatever 'word' you are claiming to be in keeping of." 3

With every word spoken, every word even uttered or breathed, Hiei's own irritation mounted into anger, his mind wrapping around her words and registering them as a challenge, as before. His eyes narrowed to the smallest of slits at the girl, his teeth grinding only slightly against one another as his mind conjured many different thoughts on how he could handle the situation. His dominant hand twitched inside the pocket of his cloak, and for only a moment, his chest rumbled with a growl of anger. He shifted his weight, as if indecisive, and then with a malicious sneer, he took a step towards Toriko again, closing the last of the space between them, his shadow falling over her small frame.

Hiei stood over her for only a moment, his turbulent thoughts rampaging, rolling over different words he could say, different things he could do to get his point across. Then, out of the blue, his mind became blank and he was stepping back, expression turning neutral as he turned away from her and stalked out of the room, feet carrying him up the stairs and into her bedroom before he slipped out the window, not caring for anything he heard behind him. _*****_

~!**!~

It didn't take long after the school bell rang for the yard just outside the building to begin filling with students.

Otento's eyes saw them all, the slight breeze lifting his white-blonde hair and tossing it around a little. He leaned against the outer wall, though standing within the school yard itself, carefully watching the main doors, one hand in a back pocket where he fingered an intricately sealed envelope whose contents made him smile as he did so.

It had finally happened. She would finally be receiving her invitation. Granted, it had been through no small effort on his own part to get his boss' approval, but his plan needed to be moving forward. The contact with Toriko had driven the point home. He needed her. And he needed her sooner rather than later.

Kurama came down the steps and resisted stretching his arms above his head. The day had seemed longer than usual, but he rationalized that it was only because he had other things that needed doing and they weren't going to get done until after the school day had finished.

He stuck a hand in his pocket and threw his other hand holding his bag up to his shoulder where the bag would hanging down his back. His eyes caught a brief flash of green at the school gates and he let a small smile pass over his features. He hadn't been expecting Yusuke and Kuwabara to be as on time as they were and he frowned briefly, wondering if perhaps one or the both of them skipped class, using the meeting Kurama wished to have with them as an excuse to miss an entire day.

Without having to glance up, Kurama could feel that Hiei sat nearby, hidden behind the leaves of a tree somewhere, well within range of listening in on the conversation Kurama was going to start. After all, the fire demon prompted this entire situation by coming to Kurama not two days previously and explaining in as little detail as possible about the purple-eyed demon getting into Toriko's room.

Kurama had refrained from pushing Hiei about why he had been at Toriko's house at precisely the right moment to have witnessed, and Kurama assumed, stopped, the event because throughout their conversation Kurama's shorter companion had been particularly irritated at the whole thing, becoming more angry when he found out that Toriko had not said anything to Kurama up to that point about the interaction.

He wasn't surprised exactly at the fact that Hiei had been there to stop it so much as Hiei's emotional reactions being more raw and readable while he informed Kurama as such. Though, only through their years of acquaintanceship did Kurama even notice in the first place. The differences were slight, as always, but they were there, and that raised more questions than the fire demon had answered.

Kurama froze in place just a handful of steps down from the stairs leading up to the school, continuing to move forward after only a brief pause that no one seemed to notice.

His eyes fell upon the white-blonde head of the demon that this entire situation revolved around, leaning casually against the inside of the wall that surrounded the school yard, dressed in the uniform of the school once more. Today, however, the girls seemed to take little notice of him, where usually they would have flocked about his person.

Kurama kept his pace slow, but steady, his head turning left and right in an attempt to see if Toriko was out of the building yet. The teacher needed to speak with her after class, so Kurama hoped the demon would be gone before she came out, but he was prepared to stall her himself should she come out the doors.

Moving to the right, Kurama leaned up against a tree as if waiting for someone, able with his positioning to clearly watch both the main doors of the school as well as the demon by the gate. He desperately hoped the demon was not here to see Toriko. Kurama could think of several reactions the girl might have to Otento's presence, and none of them were pleasant ones. He frowned.

Akari stalked out of the main doors and Kurama took little notice of her until an expression of recognition lit up the male demon's face and he began moving towards her.

"_See."_

Kurama acknowledged the fire demon's voice in his mind. Hiei had already mentioned Akari and this demon being associates, though initially Kurama waved off the speculation as the shorter demon's paranoia.

"_It seems your concerns were not misplaced."_

"_Hn."_

Hiei's presence left Kurama's mind and Kurama focused on the situation at hand. He did not expect any major clashes. Not here. Not in front of these students. And with how Hiei talked of the demon, Kurama felt as if subtlety was a big part of how this demon worked.

Kurama watched carefully, not missing a single moment of the event unfolding before his eyes.

The demon approached Akari. Pulled out an envelope from his back pocket. Handed it to her with a flourish and a bow, his eyes sparkling with expectation. Akari took the envelope, but the two said nothing to one another, the demon turning and leaving the grounds, Akari following at a much slower pace, turning his gift over and over in her hands as she went out the gates.

Kurama heaved a sigh, then pushed himself off of the tree to follow after, fully expecting to stop and talk with Yusuke and Kuwabara about the fellow. Hopefully they were paying attention and saw him. This encounter would be important later, Kurama felt sure.

He glanced once over his shoulder, still not seeing Toriko, thanking the Kamis for small favors. Surely this conversation between he and the other two would be short and they could be finished before she emerged. He wanted to work with her again. According to Hiei, she had been completely at the mercy of the demon, no defenses whatsoever.

Privately, Kurama hoped Hiei would continue to take it upon himself to watch over Toriko. Kurama had other concerns, his mother came to mind, and could not protect her every moment of the day, namely in the evenings. And he did not think the other two Spirit Detectives up for the task either.

"KURAMA!" Yusuke shouted as he peeked between the school gates and saw the red-haired demon walking towards the exit.

Kuwabara nudged Yusuke harder than necessary with an elbow, "You _idiot_, he's Shuichi here, remember?"

"Aw, crap, yeah."

Kurama came up to them with a mildly amused expression, "Thankfully, I do not believe anyone noticed." He frowned, "Speaking of noticing, you did not happen to see a man with white-blonde hair leaving? Akari would have followed shortly."

"Yeah, you know, now that you mention it..." Yusuke put a hand thoughtfully up to his chin, "Nah, I got nothing. Didn't even see Akari leave."

"He had on a Meiou uniform, right?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"Yes, that's correct."

"I saw him." Kuwabara said darkly, "He didn't feel right to me. Had this self-righteous smile on his face too. As if he'd just done something he was real proud of."

"Yes. He handed an envelope of some sorts to Akari."

"Think they're up to no good, huh?" Yusuke noted.

Kurama nodded, "Yes, that's the idea." He went on to explain what Hiei had been witness to.

"That little CREEP!" Kuwabara shouted, "That's terrible! How could a guy DO something like that?!"

"I think we need to start taking steps-"

"To make sure it never happens again! Yeah!" Kuwabara interrupted him.

"Is Toriko okay?" Yusuke wanted to know, thinking how small the girl was, "Hiei stopped the guy, right?"

"I believe she came to no harm. Hiei intervened."

"Good." Kuwabara crossed his arms over his chest, "Maybe the short punk isn't so bad after all."

"I do not think this is an unrelated even to him approaching Akari, however. I would bet he is going to go after Toriko again as well."

"So, what're we gonna do about it?" Yusuke leaned up against the wall.

"I'm hoping we can put our heads together and come up with a plan to catch this demon in the act."

"You mean put Toriko in danger again?" Kuwabara protested, "No way!"

"Yes, and no." Kurama allowed, "I will keep as close an eye on her as possible, but I think in the near future we should set something up."

"A trap." Yusuke surmised.

Kurama nodded, "One that we spring before anything actually happens."

"I like it. As long as Toriko is safe." Kuwabara rubbed his hands together, "Then we can give this little creep what-for!"

"You have not heard anything from Koenma?" Kurama turned to Yusuke.

The boy frowned, "No."

"I did not assume as much. I might talk with him about this. Hiei seemed to think the demon was specifically after Toriko, and I do not disagree. There have been one too many 'coincidences' of the two of them meeting for that to be the case." Kurama's eyes fell onto Toriko who had just come down the steps of the school, "I, uh, don't think we should concern Toriko any more than necessary. Let's just keep this to ourselves for the moment."

Yusuke agreed, "No telling what that guy really did to her. I wouldn't want to hear about it if I was her."

"We all seem to be in agreement then. If I come up with any ideas later, I'll get in contact with you. Toriko!" He called as she approached, smiling at her when she looked around before spying him with Kuwabara and Yusuke right outside the school gates. "You remember Kuwabara and Yusuke, yes?" He asked once she approached them.

She bowed shyly, "H-hello."

"Hiya, Toriko!" Yusuke cheerfully greeted.

"We, uh, we gotta go, but it was nice seeing you!" Kuwabara grabbed at Yusuke's arm and pulled him off.

"May I walk you home?" Kurama gestured in the direction Toriko would be walking.

She nodded.

They said nothing to one another for a long while, Kurama wishing that she would mention the demon to him, tell him something about what happened. He didn't find himself surprised when she did not, but rather disheartened by the fact that she shared nothing of it.

"I've had another revelation about a technique we could use with your energy." He finally said as they approached her front door. "If you are feeling up to it today, we could give it a try."

Toriko still said nothing, but nodded again as she fished her keys from her pocket and unlocked the door, stepping inside and slipping off her shoes with Kurama following.

Maneshi trotted up to greet them as they entered and closed the door behind them, setting about to sniffing their shoes once they had them sitting neatly on the floor.

"W-would you like something to eat first?" Toriko asked as she and Kurama set their things on the table.

"That would be lovely." He followed her across from the carpet to the tile and as she went about preparing a snack, he reached up for a pair of glasses in the cabinet and poured them water to drink.

~!**!~

Toriko fiddled with the pleats on her school skirt, feeling awkward and disappointed, a little embarrassed as well.

"Hm. Well, how about we try-" Kurama went off on another idea and Toriko only half-listened.

More than a couple of hours had passed at this point. The two were seated amongst their books and things on the floor of her bedroom as was their custom, but whatever progress Kurama had been hoping to make had been thwarted at every turn.

Ever since Hiei stormed out of her house a handful of days previous, Toriko had found herself completely incapable of accessing any energy at all. She couldn't even feel the stuff, much less take a hold of it and do anything. After short moments of trying since then by herself, Toriko barely felt any remorse, wondering if perhaps she had finally rid herself of the entire mess.

At the moment though, she simply felt terrible at what she believed to be disappointing Kurama in her inability to do any of what he kindly suggested for her to do. He was so patient, so unfazed when at every turn she seemed to stump him. Or rather, her energy seemed to. And it wasn't for lack of trying on Toriko's part. The effort she exerted was matched only by the lack of response her energy gave her, though it did drive her into putting less and less effort out.

Toriko nodded when she heard Kurama pause for a response, and she closed her eyes, searching somewhere inside for any sign of power and coming across nothing whatsoever. She took a deep breath and tried again. No buzz of energy across her scalp, her hair still up in its tight bun. No shimmer of power across her eyes, her glasses still firmly in place across her face.

"I'm so sorry, Kurama." She finally breathed, opening her eyes but keeping them downcast at the carpet. "I...I feel nothing." She tried not to let her relief at the revelation creep over her features. She didn't feel any pressure at all in regards to using her powers on him. Normally a sense of apprehension would have been the most prominent emotion on her mind, fear that she would accidentally do something to Kurama that would forever change their relationship. As it was, she could simply do nothing. Nothing at all.

Kurama regarded her with a sense of pity. She still had said nothing to him about the encounter with the demon in her room, and Kurama felt certain that whatever Hiei witnessed was connected deeply with her inability to access her energy. He had several guesses as to how or why, but each one made a flash of anger cross his mind and he tried not to consider them.

"Don't worry about it so much." Kurama smiled at her, "You're not going to disappoint me unless you don't try at all. Perhaps next week we'll come across an astounding method that suddenly allows you to do anything you've ever wanted with your energy."

Toriko nodded, feeling apprehensive at the thought.

"I am supposed to be home in time for dinner this evening." He said apologetically, starting to gather his things.

Toriko began scooping up her papers and books as well, getting them into a pile and leaving them as Kurama stood with his bag, the two of them walking down stairs and Toriko escorting him to the front door.

"See you at school!" Kurama called as he waved and headed down the sidewalk.

Toriko said nothing, but waved and shut the door, turning back to the empty living room to heave a relieved sigh, closing her eyes and starting to walk back towards the stairs, opening them and freezing in place. Hiei stood between her and the way up to her room. 3

Hiei had seen enough. From his perch in the trees nearby Toriko's window, he had beared witness to another small session between Kurama and Toriko, and he hadn't been too happy at the results. Toriko had kept her head down almost the entire time, had avoided eye contact and had achieved nothing at all. Not even a spark of energy. At first, Hiei hadn't cared; he'd simply dismissed it as a minor annoyance.

That was before he had put things together. That was before his mind had wandered over past events and tried to find reason for everything going on. That was before he had talked to Kurama about the happenings with the blonde demon and Akari, which had brought his attention to his own inconsistencies, his own odd behaviour as of late. That was before he had realized the reason behind Toriko's thick, useless glasses and tightly bound-up hair, her standoffish nature and her reluctance to use her energy.

And yet, even as he stood in front of the female, absolutely seething with anger, he didn't know what to say, what to do. His arms hung at his side, his shoulders tensed as he continued to think about his revelation, and part of him wondered why Kurama hadn't said a word to any of them over the dangers of having such a demon nearby. Having a demon around who could not only gain whatever she wished with a simple glance, but a demon who couldn't control such power! His fist clenched tightly at the mere prospect of it; Kurama was in over his head, and now Hiei was too.

Not for long, however.

He had seen enough. He had become fed up with her cowardly way of thinking; fed up with the way she ran away from her own power and put others under her own mercy. He had had enough.

"Do you believe yourself courageous? Wise? Strong, even?" he suddenly rumbled, tone low and voice almost too quiet to be heard. But he knew a demon would hear him. "Let me clarify: you are _none _of those things. You are small and unstable, weak, untrustworthy, and pitiful. You are a disgrace to demons, a nuisance hiding behind useless materials such as lenses and clips. You are nothing more than an obstacle in our way, more trouble than your life is worth. Yet, you continue to be nothing more than a bother by denying yourself of your own abilities, which in the end lead to more weakness, more harm than good. You continue to hide your power for fear of being a bother, and yet you continuously create problems for those around you. Your power is unstable, and because of that you are a nuisance; a child begging for protection from those who embrace their own power."

Hiei paused, tone suddenly much deadlier than before, eyes dark and lips twitching only slightly downward as he fought the expression that threatened to take over, threatened to become a dangerous glower. "You say you wish to keep your friendship with Kurama, and yet you continue to push his efforts away and use him as a bodyguard. And you claim you have been through hardship, yet you continue to use your power to utilize people, manipulate them into becoming your pet." He took a small step forward, glare darkening further. "If you do not get it under control, you will be left alone, likely killed in the next twenty-four hours." He paused, nose flaring with his seething anger. "And yet, I couldn't care less."

With that, he shot forward, ripping three bobby pins from her hair in an instant, standing a good three feet away from her and holding them up for her to see, not yet going back for the rest. _*** **_

If Toriko could even think of something to say, if coherent sentences could have even spilled out of her mouth, it didn't matter, because the infuriated fire apparition before her did not pause to give her a moment to speak.

She didn't get a chance to put a word in edgewise, not about the fact that she didn't _want _to be a-well, a _demon_ with every fiber of her being, nor about half of the things he said regarding herself and her powers, many of which she felt he had wrong and was over-generalizing about in a way that someone who only knew half the story could do.

Didn't she keep her image, glasses and all, simply because she feared her abilities and especially feared using them even if she could no longer remember why? Had she not spent nearly fifteen years keeping her powers under wraps so that she could exist among the humans unnoticed? She did not go around flaunting herself like some other low-class demons might do, sitting around in luxury with anything and everything at her beck and call. In fact, quite the opposite.

And yet here Hiei stood, very nearly accusing her of all these things and more. She could not stand the thought of manipulating others, hated the thought that anyone would be in her company simply because they had to, because they didn't have any choice in the matter. What company was that? Had she not spent ample time before being exiled to Human World living life handed to her on a silver platter once Youko rescued her? Was it not okay for her to wish for simplicity, for something truer than the unspoken desires of another that she could fulfill with merely a glance?

She had lived like that before, and it was unsatisfying. Perhaps in the next century of her life she would find herself longing for it once more, but she could not stand the thought of it now, and so her powers lay dormant, and her out of practice with them, wishing they would disappear completely so that she could never use them for as long as she lived.

She blinked and Hiei had dashed forward before she could even process his angry observations about 'protection', pulling pins out of her meticulously smoothed hair and then standing before her, taunting her with them just out of reach.

"W-what are you-?" Her eyes widened, "Give them back!" She took a step forward and lifted her hand as if to take them from him. 3

Hiei gave a dark look at Toriko's advance, only issuing a silent warning as she approached with an outstretched hand, to which he mirrored by placing them out of her immediate reach. He felt an emotion seep into the back of his mind, and very vaguely, he registered that he got an unnatural amount of satisfaction from her fumbling around for the pins he had pulled from her hair. So, without much thought, he repeated the action, this time taking not only a few more pins, leaving a couple for his own continuing satisfaction, but the claw as well. Within a mere millisecond, he was back where he had been standing, silently glowering at her as if saying she had put this on herself, and he didn't care what she thought she needed. *

"Y-you don't understand!" Toriko's hands flew up to her head, "I need those. I-I have to have them."

She stepped forward again, her voice becoming panicked, her expression the same.

Her memories flew to early years in Human World where she felt forced to forge the bobby pins into her needs in order to survive. To hide herself away, her powers had to be suppressed, contained, and so she took bobby pins and wove into their fibers a seal. A seal to hold back her demonic energy, folding it away deep inside of her body so far that she could no longer remember how to use it, so far that her very form would change, render her a mere humanoid.

Because-Toriko blinked as she further accessed memories that had long been stored away-because the same squad sent by Spirit World, the Hunters, who had nearly captured and destroyed Youko had also been after her.

Her very aura when in demon form called to them and they had a warrant out for her arrest. One that gave them permission to tear out her eyes and rip her hair from her head upon her capture.

She sat in a dark place, hunched over the bobby pins as her life depended on it, pins she'd pilfered from the trashcans of humans, looking over her shoulder in fear, weaving the spell for the seal as quietly as she could manage, hurriedly, nearly frantic.

She would not be able to evade the Hunters on her own for much longer. They were more than prepared for what her powers allowed her to do. She finished the seal and twisted her grungy, matted hair up, cringing at the mess she had not had time to groom for weeks. She hesitated only for the briefest of moments before plunging the bobby pins in one by one, feeling her powers draining away as each seal made contact, feeling her form twist and shrink and morph. The prickle on her scalp filtered away, the shimmer over her eyes trickled into nothingness, leaving her empty and feeling half-dead. She collapsed into a heap in the alleyway...

"You don't know what you're doing! I have to have them!" Toriko shouted desperately, moving forward, going for Hiei, "Stop!" 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	11. Episode 96 - Hiei's Desires

**A/N: **Hello once again, Beloved Yu Yu Hakusho Fans!

Once again, this chapter contains exclusively interactions between Hiei, Toriko, and Maneshi.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Toriko assists Akari with her schoolwork, but at the cost of her mental well-being.

Meanwhile, Akari receives an invitation from Otento to join his cause,  
and Kurama and the others plot to set a trap for the purple-eyed man.

Kurama attempts to further assist Toriko in using her energy,  
but ever since her encounter with Otento she has been unable to even _feel _it.

Fed up with her in more ways than one, Hiei swoops in  
and starts to remove the bobby pins from Toriko's hair.

Suddenly fearful, remembering the original need for the bobby pins  
which actually have a spell woven into them to seal her energy away,  
Toriko demands Hiei returns them...

* * *

Hiei noted the small pause Toriko gave, but it was only a fraction of a moment, something only a Jagan would be able to catch. Curiosity bubbled before it was smothered by the anger he felt as he stepped around Toriko's second advance, simply standing to the side and watching her with narrowed eyes. He allowed her to come at him again, and this time he used her momentum as an advantage and simply slid by her, taking her glasses and the last two bobby pins from her hair, leaving her without her precious items. Again, he stood a good three feet away from her, though this time he let his hands drop the items into his cloak pockets as he glared at her, waiting expectantly for her to start freaking out and possibly even screaming that she needed them. *

Toriko's eyes flashed dangerously at Hiei, her anger at his comments, at his audacity to even touch her without permission, much less take her precious seals off her person, flooding her every pore.

"How. Dare you." Her words came through clenched teeth. Quiet. Icey. Deadly. Dripping with a barely contained fury that could nearly kill in and of itself. Her eyes were menacing, full of unspoken rage aimed completely at the fire demon before her.

The anger suddenly swept up from her feet, and Toriko could feel it traveling at an unstoppable pace to her shoulders, and for the first time in her entire life, she tightened her fists and trembled just a fraction with violent intent, taking a more deliberate step towards Hiei, one that would set her body and let her swing a punch forward in the momentum with the maximum amount of force she could muster behind it.

Just as she meant to raise her arm, Toriko lurched in place mid-step, stopping her in her tracks, her expression falling blank and unreadable as she paused, eyes staring very far away from the moment at hand.

Nothing changed on the outside. No sudden outward explosion of energy, no indication that anything was different at all. Just...a pause, as if Toriko stood frozen in time.

Within Toriko's body, her demonic energy erupted, filling her to the brim, and yet remaining just at the surface, trickling underneath her skin without giving away any hints that it was there. Her scalp tingled, her eyes shimmered, but everything that happened was not noticeable to anyone other than herself.

And then...Toriko was in control. But not simply the plain, everyday Toriko. Her true spirit unleashed from its shackles in a jolt to consume her as Hiei inadvertently broke the contact she had with her seals in too abruptly a manner for her to adjust gradually. Her two personalities merged together in the blink of an eye and she was complete once more.

She remembered everything, every detail, and she reveled in all of them, from before her exile into Human World up to this very moment, shivering once with pleasure, the first movement since she froze, as each memory poured into her head before her mind's eye. She even remembered her own name.

She tilted her head slightly at the remembrance, a small smile playing across her lips, but not truly coming to rest. She wondered at how she still stood in this human-form, full of power as she was, and as she inwardly searched, she found that she would not at this moment be able to regain her demonic appearance. Oh well. Hiei had enough trouble on his hands with her true nature alone being free.

At that thought, she lifted her head to meet his gaze. Not ten seconds had passed since Toriko intended to raise her fist at Hiei, and he had not moved an inch since that moment. She blinked once slowly, and when she opened her eyes to look back into his, she had him captivated, unable to look away from her whether he knew it or not. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders, releasing a scent into the air that began subtly filling the room.

Maintaining the mesmer by keeping her eyes locked with his, unblinking, Toriko dashed towards him with demonic speed, giving him no chance to react before she closed the small distance between them, grabbed his shoulders and kept going, slamming his back into the locked front door with enough force to jarr his hands from his pockets.

"Mm." Her voice was low and velvety and the same playful smile as before ghosted over her features. "You're playing a _very _dangerous game, Hiei." The smile tugged at one corner of her lips, "And your opponent has _centuries _of experience."

Her face was inches from his own, her hands now pressed to his chest between the two of them, pinning him in place against the door, her lips slightly parted as she stared into his very soul, her entire aura radiant with the promise of his deepest desires fulfilled. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the angered Toriko, the gesture being the only sign that he was even remotely aware of the emotion she displayed, and cared even less of it. He stood his ground, slowly pulling his fists from his cloak as she moved forward, raising an arm as if to strike. He prepared himself to stop the blow with an easy hand, but the gesture was unnecessary. He was left with his hand in the air for no apparent reason, Toriko pausing in place and staring at him. He sneered at her bemusedly, wondering if her fear of him striking back had stopped her. But as the thought crossed his mind, she shifted and lifted her gaze to meet his, her expression surprising him enough to re-raise his brow.

And that was when his mind went blank. For a few moments, he merely stared at Toriko, her gaze holding his very easily, helping his entire body relax and his hand to fall to his side finally, as if no attack had ever been imminent. She tossed her head, and he dimly noted a pleasant smell in the room.

She closed in on him much quicker than he had anticipated; in the smallest moment of a second, she had achieved pinning his back to the door, his head lightly touching the surface. Still, his gaze remained on hers and he reacted only minimally, raising his arms just enough to keep the jolt in his body from the contact to a bare minimum. As she leaned in closer to him, hands on his chest, he found himself slightly leaning away, then swaying forward momentarily before leaning away again.

As her words echoed in his ears, he felt the smallest tremor run down his spine, her voice coaxing him to listen to every single word she spoke. If she spoke too softly, he would lean forward to catch her words, but it was unnecessary. She did so for him, leaning in so that their noses nearly touched, her breath almost washing over his skin. The tip of his nose where it did brush tingled, and his entire being was suddenly focused on finding some desirable thing to be fulfilled; sure, he held desires, like any other person, but his mind rationalized that all of his current ones were only to be achieved by his own hands, or it would mean nothing. This left him mentally fumbling for something, anything, that this girl could give him that would be of value.

Too bad she couldn't get him out of this damned world. That would have done nicely, except that he'd only be dragged right back.

As his mind continued to fumble, coming up with countless meaningless things he could have if he only asked, and she complied, his lips parted and spoke without his bidding. "A dangerous game indeed." _*****_

His expression had hardly changed from the moment she came at him, but as former experience flooded back into Toriko's psyche, his eyes gave him away and one of her eyebrows twitched upwards briefly with amusement, impressed at his facial restraint, though it triggered something inside her that wanted more reaction. She quickly buried the knee-jerk response her body supplied, which was one of desiring more from him, knowing full-well that he was completely in her power without any further admission on his part.

As she stared into his crimson eyes, Toriko found herself tilting her head ever-so-slightly at him with curiousness. In ages past, the demons she had been ordered to seduce, or otherwise engaged for her own amusements, would often provide her with the next step of their own volition. She was no telepath, but instead a master of reading body-language, something that came with the territory, with the years of experience. At the moment, her readings were providing her with utter indecisiveness from the fire demon in her grasp, a revelation that nearly made her laugh out loud. All of the worlds at his fingertips in her presence and he had not one thing he could decide upon.

"Interesting." She murmured, though she didn't smile, with an obvious sense of delight behind her words. Even the demons she'd been given to play with as entertainment knew exactly what they wanted from her the instant she'd so much as hinted at anything.

"Well, if you aren't going to decide," She leaned to the side of his face, brushing her cheek against his as she moved her lips closer to his ear, "I'm afraid I'll have to do something _dreadful._" 3

Hiei kept his gaze even with Toriko's, waiting expectantly, but at the same time, his mind continued to fumble. His thoughts ran as fast as his feet would at top speeds, each thought passing and being replaced by another. His eyes remained on the girl, but his mind was registering nothing of her actions, only centered around something he would desire.

And then a small memory popped into his head- or rather, several at once. Images of a trapped Yukina flashed through his mind's eye, and his entire mind was consumed with the image. The ice maiden sat behind a barred window, eyes staring at a small cluster of birds perched in the window, each chirping cheerily as her soft voice whispered to them words he couldn't hear. One stood on her index finger, its head swiveling from side to side and chirping a song with its friends. And then, the image of Toguro killing it crossed his mind's eye, and he was pushed back into the room he had been stuck in, eyes refocusing on Toriko all over again.

He realized she had gotten much closer than before, and immediately, his mind reeled, searching for something else to think about other than Yukina. However, her prompting words slid into his ear, her breath washed over his skin, and unbeknownst to him, his lips parted and his voice rumbled low.

"She enjoys the company of birds," he said slowly, his mind registering that he'd spoken a moment too late. However, as he searched for Toriko's gaze again, his mind became a hum once more and he waited her answer. _*****_

Once he gave her an answer, Toriko found herself smiling, leaning back over his shoulder to his ear and finding that she couldn't stop smiling, though she paused before saying anything more. His answer was definitely not normal, and it left her even more intrigued. She felt even through her fingers his strange response and a sudden thought entered her head.

Just how young _was _her newest acquisition?

This was not the first time he had side-stepped her advances, and she knew it could not be through any fault of her own. What was the word she looked for? Oh yes. Innocence.

For a moment, Toriko wondered about his past, and how he came to be so very reserved and discrete and...innocent. And usually, she would have simply drilled any being she desired answers from, as it was in large part her former job in Demon World. This one, however...

Toriko surprised herself with the flush of differing, conflicting emotions that came over her.

Surely she could not _care_ for this one. That was not in her directive, not in her nature. One with her role did not create ties for very specific reasons and besides, she knew absolutely _nothing _about him. He was just another demon...

But why did she want to know? And why did she hesitate to ask him? Here he stood, overwhelmed by her, wrapped about her finger, completely and utterly entranced by her presence and yet...and yet...

Toriko took in another breath and the fluttering of his hair next to her face brought her back to their current position, that being one she had a definite advantage in. The closeness of his body nearly drove her mad and she shut her eyes, unable to resist any longer, but still wanting to distract herself from the matter at hand, until she could gauge him better...know him...better? She trembled.

Keeping her body pressed against his, not that she expected him to struggle to get away, she reached up behind his head and untied the strip of cloth hiding his forehead, pulling the fabric away with one hand that she kept buried in his hair after getting the cloth in her grasp.

Her lips parted a little in awe as the third eye slowly opened to regard her with an unreadable stare. She immediately recognized the purple iris and peculiar shape to be one of a Jagan and her own eyes widened at the revealing, taking this secret in place of the thousands of others she had up until that moment fought silently with herself to keep from asking and extracting every answer from him until she was satisfied.

She had not imagined Hiei would be hiding this _specific_ eye on his forehead, but the discovery lead her mind through several different scenarios she could see playing out in their current situation.

She briefly passed her other hand across the bangs that fell down over Hiei's face, making for certain that she stared into the Jagan for a moment, though she very purposefully made sure she did not attempt to captivate it, then rested that hand at the back on Hiei's neck, looking into his eyes once more with a greater sense of admiration and hope for her own future before drawing her face down until she nearly touched his skin with her lips.

There had only been one other time in all her centuries that she had been brought a demon with a Jagan, and he had been likely twice as old as the fire demon currently in her arms if not more, but Toriko knew a light-tread would be prudent at this juncture. The sudden thought of being overwhelmed by it thrilled her senses just as it had all those years ago, though she had a protector then. Someone to watch over her. Not so, now. The knowledge that Hiei had to be a telepath as part of the pact the Jagan gave him produced for her a way out however, and she felt her heart rate rising with the excitement the next few seconds could contain.

She teased Hiei's neck with her breath, knowing that her hair would be close enough to his nose to fill his sense of smell with her scent.

"I suppose I'll just have to make you _feel._" She murmured, silently inviting the Jagan's telepathy inside her mind, taking a chance in the ability to join her thoughts together with Hiei's as she had centuries before with the other demon.

The abrupt, absolute rage she felt in its presence was only matched by her own all-consuming pleasure, just as it had been in the time previous, and with its attention upon her person, she went ahead and gently pressed her lips onto Hiei's neck for an instant before pulling back again to let her breath flow over his skin once more, knowing that the buzzing bliss she got in doing so would be translated into their minds and be felt for them as both the ones receiving the kiss as well as the ones giving the kiss.

The feeling hit her too a half a moment later and she felt heady, tingling down to her toes. She did not know if the both of them would accept this, the only sort of offering she had at her disposal to lay at their feet, but she made it perfectly clear within her thoughts by making herself as open as possible that there was nothing else they could hope to gain from her through her demise nor through her separation from them, though they were more than welcome to do whatever they wished to her should they find her lacking or displeasing. As was their prerogative, so too must she acquiesce.

Her overpowering aura of desires fulfilled could not be contain from them inside her mind, but she neither flaunted it nor hid it, simply letting it be as it had to be and awaiting a reaction. 3

Hiei stood in silence, waiting. He didn't know exactly what was going on, other than the fact that his mind was still scrambling for things he could have, things this girl could give him. And, as she leaned in further, her breath washing over the skin of his neck and ear, his body tensed for only a second before relaxing again, his entire being telling him to stay calm and trust this person. Why, he didn't understand. All he knew was that Toriko was offering to grant a wish of his, and he couldn't even think of something other than Yukina and birds; why had that come to mind anyway?

A few minutes passed and he was still stuck against the door, Toriko much closer than any other person, much less a gemon, had even dared to be. In the back of his mind, buried under the feeling of cheer over getting a wish granted, he felt a sense of unnerve. His eyes remained on her even though he was unable to see her face through her curtain of hair, which was all but covering his nose with her scent. It almost drove him mad.

And suddenly, he felt her move, and the bandage from his forehead fell away to reveal his Jagan. At first, he didn't much react, but after a few moments, after the Jagan had fully opened and transfixed upon Toriko, his entire body went stock still, tense, rigid. He felt its power awaken in his bones, as if it had been slumbering and had been rudely awakened and wasn't very happy about it. Its anger was overwhelming in the moment, completely shocking his system and jolting his brain into complete awareness of his surroundings. The intake of her surprised breath, the way her hand stayed on the back of his head. For a mere moment, its anger became his own.

And then his senses were barraged again, and his mind went silent despite the still-fierce energy of the Jagan coursing through his body. Dully, he heard her velvety voice speaking, and his mind registered her words a moment later, just before he felt his mind being coaxed to hers, and the Jagan's angry energy linked itself onto her, searching her mind. It was equally met with an energy that was excited, happy, and bubbly, which completely contradicted the type of energy a person being invaded by a Jagan would normally have.

Hiei hadn't been exactly aware of Toriko's movements at that moment, so when her lips touched his skin briefly before retracting again and letting her breath move over the spot, her mind transmitting her own feeling towards the contact and further scattering his thoughts. His own feelings were mixed; confusion and curiosity mingled with the sudden calm of the Jagan. The energy quieted despite its normal anger, and after a moment, he felt the connection be severed and his own mind was shut off from Toriko's, leaving him to his own scrambled thoughts and unable to hear hers, unable to feel any of her emotions.

The fire demon felt his expression become neutral once more, replacing the confused expression he hadn't been aware he'd been displaying moments before. Normally, the Jagan would overpower anyone who dared to invite it into their mind, but for some reason unbeknownst to him, it had completely ignored Toriko. He wasn't sure what it meant, and with Toriko's breath still moving across his skin, he didn't find much capability of thinking it over. _*****_

The sudden rush of adrenaline that had coursed through Toriko's body during the wait did not subside when she felt the Jagan pulling away from her without interest. She released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in a whoosh, her body trembling once as thoughts of her previously pending demise rose to the surface. Thoughts of what might have happened had the Jagan decided she'd been too intrusive and deserved immediate eradication.

Two times she faced a Jagan. Two times she knew she would be walking away from it, but the complete disregard for her this time stirred a good deal of irritation and a bit of amusement within her at the same time.

It was the first time any being had ever passed her by once she released her power. She tried to reconcile herself with the situation by maintaining that she could not be at full strength without her demon form. For all the good it did her at that moment.

But at the same time, if the Eye was a reflection of its owner in specific regards, then Hiei's innocence in certain matters was more thoroughly prominent than Toriko first assumed, if even the Jagan did not even know what to do with her as its complete lack of interest led her to believe.

Heart pounding madly in her chest, Toriko became very aware of all the pent up energy she'd been unconsciously collecting in preparation for whatever the Jagan would do and as she pulled back into the present situation and out of Hiei's mind, her energy threatened to take her over, this fire demon's body against her driving the fulfillment of her own desires.

She fought against it for reasons she still had no answers to, clenching her teeth together as her entire body drew taut in resisting, but the smell of his skin and the warmth of him next to her slowly pulled her down into the wave of power she had created for herself.

At the same time, she felt her face moving back down towards his neck in unconscious response, though this time she bared her teeth and a growl rumbled low in her chest for just a moment in protest of her inability to control herself before she found that she had begun to kiss him again and the noise faded. She made a line of kisses with her lips along his neck to his jaw where she managed to forced herself back and away from him, the effort it took to do so as the rest of her shrieked silently in protest almost causing her to faint. She slowly withdrew her hands from his hair and neck, not getting them any farther than the door behind him, planting her palms against the wood. She closed her eyes and stood face-to-face with him once more until she could do it no longer, opening her eyes and staring into his again, her gaze flicking down to his lips and returning to his crimson stare.

"_No. No, no, no." _She found herself trying to convince the power that nearly overtook her now, as if her silent words would truly turn the tide. It wasn't that the idea was particularly displeasing, her whole body screaming at her the opposite in fact, but not here. Not now. Not like this.

Why did it matter so much? Standing before her was a perfectly good demon, and an attractive one at that, a combination of elements she had not been faced with over a decade, and certainly not while her true powers were released.

The harder she tried to hold herself at bay, the more difficult it became and she found herself pulling her lips into her mouth and brushing them with her tongue before releasing them, feeling her chest rising and falling rapidly against Hiei's and working herself up into a frenzy.

In a rush, her head moved forward, but she turned it to the side in a last-ditch effort, ending up with her cheek against his, her mouth nearly touching his ear. The denial sent her head spinning in a frenzy and she closed her eyes.

"You..." She breathed softly, struggling with the effort of her restraint, "...what _are _you?"

She wasn't even sure herself what answer she expected to received, though the question was almost rhetorical and served other purposes than the usual drilling of information she did to her victims at that moment. Her breathing was ragged and her muscles continued to tighten and relax throughout her body as she fought with the different ideas it had about what to do with the prey in her grasp.

As her hands meant to move on their own for some ulterior purpose, Toriko bit her nails into the wood of the door, making tiny dents in the smooth surface as she clenched her fingers in place in a desperate attempt to prevent whatever her body devised for them to do.

She lost control of one hand and it smoothed down the side of Hiei's neck towards his chest, gathering the fabric of his cloak upon reaching just below his chin and pulling it down and to the side, her face following shortly after and giving him more kisses along his collarbone.

Her stomach roiled as she tried to stop, her system starting to rebel against her efforts and stars coming into view before her eyes as her vision darkened. She struggled for a moment longer until she nearly collapsed to the floor, but she just as quickly let go before it could actually happen. All at once the pain stopped and the pleasure of the moment washed over her entire body, sending her afloat on a sea of her power that seemed to her vast and endless.

She slowly drew her head back from Hiei to look him eye-to-eye, taking in his features through the energy she now embraced, a small smile settling on her lips.

"_...-yoku..."_

Toriko took in an easy breath, filling her nose with Hiei's fiery scent and blinking once, her lips breaking apart ever-so-slightly.

"_...-yoku!"_

She followed the wishes of her energy and her body now entwined tightly together and began to lean forward, moving the hand still at his collarbone back up his neck and letting it lightly rest just at the bottom of his hairline. Time appeared to slow as their faces grew only inches apart. She flickered her eyes nearly closed keeping Hiei's lips in sight between her lashes as she closed the distance between them.

"_YOKU!"_

~!**!~

Maneshi yawned and stretched his slender body, opening one eye to the darkness that was the underside of Toriko's bed. His mind slowly fed him information it picked up during his light sleep and he recalled the one that smelled like flowers leaving the room with his lady.

He frowned, opening both eyes as he remembered another, more fierce smell intruding upon the bedroom and he slunk out from underneath the bed, blinking in the warm, soft light of the sunset coming in from Toriko's window.

As his face followed the trail of the second smell, he noted the window as the entrance and the bedroom door as the exit. His mind placed the scent as that of the warm demon and he nearly pranced out of the room at the idea of the intruder being one who might consent to letting the cat lay across his shoulders.

Maneshi halted at the top of the stairs, fur along his spine prickling into a stand as he became aware of several things at once and deep within, hiding underneath the cat, Maneshi truly began to awaken.

He felt more than saw the energy of a Jagan at the end of its presence before it drew completely away, but there was no mistaking the position Hiei and Toriko were in up against the front door. His eyes took in the entire room, his heightened senses almost able to see the perfume Toriko practically radiated. Before he could help himself, he had taken two or three steps down the stairs towards the source of the smell.

He stopped, one paw in the air, and took another experimental sniff.

This...this was not Toriko with the fire demon.

The smell sent memories flying through Maneshi's head, memories he had nearly forgotten, buried behind countless decades of being stuck as a cat, stirred by the tingle that had settled on his nose.

"_It...it's her..." _

Her body was not the one he remembered, for before him was most definitely the more human-like Toriko, but the smell...there was no mistaking the smell.

The instant he noted her movement, strained as she reached down to clear away cloth from Hiei's skin so she could plant her lips at his collarbone, he knew something had to be wrong. The demoness he knew did not hesitate.

It all came flooding back to him: the intrusion of the blonde, Toriko's powerlessness, Hiei's intervention and finally her plea of the fire demon for protection and his affirmative reply.

Fully awake now in his cat-form, Maneshi's eyes widened as he took in Hiei with this new information in mind.

Her Champion. He was her Champion. A pact formed out of their spoken word and weaving their lives together inescapably as long as it did not expire.

Her kind had no defenses of their own and never lived beyond the first few years of their powers manifesting as a result of the unsavory situations they always became caught up in.

So, there was a pact. A second demon was required, one strong enough to be able to offer up his or her protection. And the demon could not agree to take part in the pact, even under the influence of the first's powers, unless they truly understood the powerlessness of the one they would be in charge of protecting and felt ready to come to their defense should the need arise.

Maneshi, frozen in place, felt his heart leap in his chest at the urgency of the situation before him.

Her powers, having been dormant for so long, would be just barely within her control, and there were stipulations upon her person that came with her side of the pact.

He reached out through his mind to come in contact with Toriko's, a torrent of passionate emotions roughly jostling his attempt to get her attention. He struggled to speak with her, managing to whisper her true name at the outermost reaches of her mind.

"_...Shikiyoku..."_

It did not seem to make a difference in her advances even as she slowly pulled away from Hiei's shoulder to look at his face. Maneshi could feel the change that had come over her, her acceptance of her powers. She may not have understood why she struggled, why she attempted to resist giving in and taking this fire demon as her own, but Maneshi knew full well what could happen.

The pact... Once activated, she was not allowed to seduce him with her powers unless they were already engaged in such activities with one another regularly. Accidental attraction because of her nature, normal circumstances of two beings enjoying one another's company, these types of things posed no threat.

"_Shikiyoku!" _He cried within her again, wrestling against her blindness to him, trying to be heard, his ever fiber bent on distracting her, pulling her away.

Should she force herself upon him...his reactions being so heavily influenced by her energy that he could not rightly defend himself...where in his right mind he would have not given his consent...and she went through with it...she would die.

"_YOKU!" _He finally shouted into her head, desperate to break through, to make her see. Did she truly not realize what she was doing, who this fire demon was for her now? Or was it simply that she could not fight the tide of energy held back from her grasp for these long, hard years among the humans?

~!**!~

At the sound of her nickname, Toriko paused in place before reaching Hiei's lips for a kiss, causing her to blink in surprise.

She had not been called that since...since Youko. His pet name for her when there were no others within earshot. One he reserved when admonishing her for a mistake or praising her for a job well-done.

The tense strain across her shoulders relaxed for a moment as her mind flooded with images of her time within Youko's gang of thieves, but the nostalgia did not hold her back for long.

"_Yoku...please..."_

Just as the storm of emotions and energy began to stir within her again, the voice in her mind brushed lightly with words once more. Its pitiful plea, its interruption of her work rapidly twisted her pleasure of the situation at hand into one of rage at the intrusion.

She spun around away from Hiei with all the pent-up energy wavering below the surface of her body until that instant and violently slashed her arm across her body, whipping the awaiting storm at the owner of the voice, where it crackled angrily across the room and struck Maneshi, his body absorbing it and taking it into his own.

His eyes brightened significantly and he happily trotted down the rest of the staircase and across the room with an excited murl.

With her pent-up energy now gone, Toriko took a shaky breath and squatted down onto her toes as Maneshi approached and circled her with kitty pleasure obvious as he rubbed his side all along her body until he came back around to her front, purring madly and putting his front paws on one of her knees, his one blue-eyed one brown-eyed, black-furred face blinking with a near-smile up at her, ears forward with great interest and his whiskers quivering slightly.

Toriko heaved another sigh with a bit of a chuckle behind it.

"You're lucky I can't kill you with that stuff." She obliged his awaiting head by sliding a hand down between his ears to the middle of his back. "Or I'd likely have had a mental breakdown at the thought of having brought about your death, little one." She rested one elbow on her thigh and put her cheek in that hand, continuing to pet him. "And it's hard to stay angry at something who becomes so eager to please after you blast them."

Maneshi interrupted his purr only briefly with an affirmative meow, closing his eyes and pulling his ears to the sides as she scratched the fur between them.

Toriko let the repetitive gesture calm her down, her thoughts still reeling with Hiei's smell and skin, but in a much more manageable way.

Maneshi dropped back down to the floor and scampered around her to Hiei as she turned in place to watch him. Maneshi stood up on his back feet and rested one paw curiously on Hiei's leg with the other front paw hanging near his chest, giving a meow for attention to the fire demon before continuing his purr. 3

Hiei's eyes became half-lidded with the sudden relaxation of his muscles, contradicting the torrent of emotions inside his mind and stomach. Without knowing it, he had pressed his back as much against the door as possible, all but standing on the tips of his toes as Toriko pressed even closer. Dimly, somewhere in the quiet recesses of his mind, he recognized that she was struggling with herself, though he didn't know why. He couldn't spare any brain power to think about it, as his entire being was concentrated on the closeness of this girl's body on his, of the quivering of her lips that still occasionally touched his skin, that made her breathing trail over his skin and warm the spot it brushed. Another shiver passed over his spine, tingling from his head to his toes as her cheek pressed against his.

Slowly, his eyes slid the rest of the way closed, silently allowing whatever would happen to happen, because every fiber in his being screamed that this was what he desired most of all. Companionship. Care from another; someone to rely on and someone who understands him in his entirety.

And her actions, her power that sang through the air, told him that Toriko was that very person. She would take him as he was, and wouldn't doubt his actions when he couldn't give all of the details. In return, he would protect her, just as he had promised. A small smirk formed on his lips as the thoughts ran across his mind, and instinctively, his arm moved and his hand touched her hair with a feather-light brush. His nose flared as he took a gigantic breath of her scent, and it overwhelmed his senses.

She was everything he would need. He would be able to go to Demon World with her, be able to do whatever he wanted without her getting in his way. She wouldn't stop him from doing whatever he pleased; she'd simply agree, and add to those plans. She would become his partner in crime.

He would gain someone close to him, someone to care for him as he watched over her.

His hand brushed her hair again, and then dropped to his side as the smirk left his lips, creating a neutral expression once more.

This was what he wanted, and she would fulfill his desires. Every last one of them.

Suddenly, Toriko was away from him, her energy flying through the air and her voice ringing loud into the silence of the room, followed by the sound of Maneshi meowing. His red eyes snapped open and he immediately was watching Toriko, suddenly very confused and thinking of the most recent event, though he wasn't much sure what had just happened. He still felt lingering emotions that left him baffled, left him unable to think straight and unable to make any logical deduction.

So he settled for watching Maneshi and Toriko, as different as she suddenly seemed, interact for a few moments until Maneshi pranced his way of to Hiei. The fire demon stepped a single foot away from the wall, his cloak sticking to his skin from the pressure that had been applied between his skin and the smooth wood of the door. As Maneshi placed a paw on his leg, Hiei's mind began to clear, slowly but surely. His eyes slid down to the cat, observing the difference in the demeanor from his usual actions. And then his mind caught up with what had happened, and his eyes slid back up to Toriko, brows furrowed. She'd struck the cat with her energy, just as she'd barraged him with it as well. His eyes darkened only slightly as a small amount of realization hit him, but he found himself incapable of figuring out why that was so bad.

She'd revealed his deepest desires, and even now she could still grant them. He only need to ask.

Instead, however, he turned his eyes to Maneshi again and crouched to the cat, not reaching out to him but not pushing him away either.

"_What are you?" _he mirrored Toriko's earlier question, not even sure himself if he was speaking to Toriko or Maneshi. _*****_

Too overwhelmed by what was left of Toriko's power still washing over him, Maneshi could do little else but give Hiei another mew, his tail curling and uncurling briefly as he shifted when Hiei squatted to end up with a paw on Hiei's knee. He pranced back and forth from resting one paw on the fire demon to placing the other down, flitting back and forth earnestly, wanting attention.

When the fire demon did not immediately oblige the black cat by touching him, Maneshi let himself fall back to the ground, turned in a circle three times as if chasing his own tail, then stopped and stared up at Hiei again, dashing off in a sudden run and disappearing underneath the couch. He poked his tiny pink nose out from under the edge as if expecting to be chased, but just as quickly the nose left as he rummaged around for the toy he _knew _had to be under here somewhere...

Toriko could think of nothing to say to Hiei when they were left by themselves for the moment, though her mind filled with questions she did not think anyone could answer. The main gist of her thoughts centered around her hesitations concerning Hiei, a completely new occurrence to her knowledge, which led her down the path of hearing a voice in her head that she was fairly certain belonged to...

"Maneshi." She nearly growled, squatting down and waiting for the cat. "Come here."

The cat appeared over the top of the couch's other side, having slinked out from under the couch and lept up gracefully, the tail of a toy mouse in his teeth, and the body bobbing around as he trotted along the couch and easily made the jump to the floor to where Toriko and Hiei were. He stopped just out of Toriko's arm's reach and stared at her.

"Here." She said with just as much emphasis, pointing to a bit of carpet in between her legs.

More cautious now, but just as compliant, Maneshi obliged and sat down just where she had gestured, blinking up at her with the mouse still hanging from his jaws.

"Since when," She softly tapped the cat's nose with a single finger, "Have you been able to speak? Hm?"

Maneshi said nothing of course, blinking at her once more before flowing under her bent knee like liquid and moving for Hiei, gathering his sleek body and alighting on the fire demon's shoulders, spreading out as seemed to be his custom, Toriko looking on with a bemused expression. 3

Hiei frowned down at the floor as Maneshi pranced away, tail in the air and nose twitching in excitement. His ruby orbs followed every step the cat took until he disappeared under the couch, in which case Hiei turned his eyes onto Toriko silently. His mind churned, confused and scattered. He didn't know what to do, what was going on. Or how to react about it, for the matter.

He _could _demand answers, as he would any other demon. The problem with that? He didn't feel the desire to do so, even though there was a quiet anger in the back of his mind that he almost didn't understand at the moment. He was held in place by his curiosity, his confusion, and his intrigue that he had only just identified. Also, his mind lingered on what she had offered, what she could grant him. He wanted to ask, but something held his lips together in silence, even as she spoke to Maneshi and the cat pranced his way back over to the fire demon, taking refuge around his shoulders.

Hiei released a very small breath and stood upright again, glancing at Maneshi and then flickering his eyes back to Toriko, hands placing themselves in the refuge of his pockets. He toyed with the objects he had forgotten he had taken from her, and he remembered the sudden change that had taken over the girl. He thought as hard as was possible, remembering how she had moved to strike, and then pinned him to the door.

Hiei pulled a single pin from his pocket and began inspecting it keenly, looking over every inch of the small object that gave a small sheen in the lighting of the evening. He hadn't realized he'd been there all day.

"What **is **the purpose of these… _things_?" _*****_

Toriko absently drew a hand through her hair and found that none of the bobby pins she usually wore were inside, frowning. He definitely held one of the ones that she wove the seal into, but where on earth did he get it?

"Where did you get that?" She voiced her question and stood up. She took a step towards him, reaching for the bobby pin with the intent to pluck it from his fingers. 3

Hiei eyed the small object for a few moments more, waiting for an answer he figured he wouldn't get. He rotated it between his thumb and index finger, red eyes never leaving the smooth black pin. It was odd, to him anyways, that a demon used something that the Humans had invented to hide their energy with.

At Toriko's question, he glanced up at her, a brow raised. Did she really not know where he had gotten them? _Must be a side effect of her released energy. _

"It was… given to me," he said, sarcasm lightly coating his tone. He didn't truly believe that she didn't know where he got them, so this was his way of… testing her…. _*****_

Toriko opened her mouth, her next demand, that being he return it, getting caught in her throat at his response and she lowered the hand reaching for the pin.

She regarded him strangely for a moment before closing her mouth, suddenly unsure that her demand held any merit. She didn't know of anyone else he would have gotten the pin from, nor did she particularly know why he would have held onto it in the first place. ...but had she really _given _it to him? What had possessed her to do such a thing?

She opened her mouth as if to say something, intending for a dry remark to spill out from her lips, and closed it again, frowning and narrowing her eyes at him as she struggled to think back to the moments before her release.

It was all...fuzzy, faded just as much as her more human-like self had faded. She remembered...rage, and then...she quickly drew back from where her memories began leading, unsure as to how much her self-control could handle at the moment.

Perhaps...

She looked away from him, eyes passing over his shoulder as she tried to remember.

No, surely not.

She looked back at him and a sense of unease settled over her.

The only person she could ever imagine imparting such a delicate, a precious, and honestly required commodity to would be...would be a protector. But she hadn't so much as thought of the word since Youko's time. It couldn't be. She had no memory of forming a pact with this fire demon and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Whoever gave it to you must hold you in high regard," Toriko began, still unsure if she had not simply misplaced her own seals and resisting the immediately negative thought at the internal suggestion, waiting to see Hiei's response, "Do you have any idea what that is?" She nodded slightly at the pin to indicate it. 3

Hiei felt the smallest hint of a smirk forming on his lips at Toriko's hesitations. He witnessed her open her mouth and close it again, repeating this action several times in the few moments. He watched different emotions flicker across her eyes for a few moments, realizing that she must not remember him taking them. The thought amused him more than anything else could have in the moment.

He held the pin up in front of his face as if to survey it again, his ears twitching up just a bit as she spoke again. He met her gaze evenly, noticing her unease. His sneer widened just a bit at her last comment, and then dissipated at her inquiry.

"Of course I do," he said slowly, eyes watching her evenly. "They're human objects that you have somehow turned to seals. It wasn't obvious at first, but after today, it became extremely evident that this is your means of control over the energy you seem to so fear." _*****_

"So it _is _mine." She narrowed her eyes at him, his own words assuring her of the fact. She closed the distance between them and reaching up to snatch the pin from his hand. 3

The amusement that dominated Hiei's features was more than he had thought he could display at this moment, her narrowed eyes and deduction almost making him scoff. Almost.

"Of course. Who else would use Human artifacts?" he retorted, not moving when she snatched for it, letting her take the single pin from his fingertips. His hand slid its way back into his pocket and fingered at the other small pins he held in his possession, his left hand closing around the glasses he held in the opposite pocket. _*****_

"Why...why did you say that I gave this to you?" She asked more quietly. _Did I really? _

He obviously had little attachment to the object, given how easily he relinquished it to her, so that led her to believe it had not been a gift, but she had to make sure, had to know if she someone made an agreement with this...this aggravating fire demon before her.

What exactly _was_ Toriko's relationship with him? Her demon-side was not able to sift through the girl's memories very clearly, remembering for sure only things she had been directly a part of, such as the day after the blonde-demon attacked when Toriko's memories flooded back and her demon side drew her into sleep.

Toriko drew her hand back to her side, closing her fingers around the bobby pin and feeling its cold power almost pulsing in her grasp. 3

* * *

Yoku \- While 'Yoku' is in fact just a shortening of 'Shikiyoku,' it can also mean "greed; craving; desire; avarice; wants"

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	12. Episode 97 - The Unexpected

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of FF!

Onwards with the story!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

By removing the bobby pins-the devices intended to seal Toriko's true self away-from Toriko's hair,  
Hiei inadvertently releases the demon within, a rather passionate being,  
who immediately sets herself to seducing him.

Slightly confounded by his complete and utter innocence in such matters,  
Toriko struggles to hold herself back, only to be assisted by Maneshi  
who recognizes who she truly is: Shikiyoku.

Breaking the moment between the two, Maneshi is hit with Toriko's power,  
which releases Hiei from her attentions.

However, when Hiei reveals that he possesses the bobby pins,  
it appears as if Toriko does not remember the moments before her release,  
and questions how Hiei came to have them...

* * *

Hiei let his expression finally shift to neutral all over again, only a single brow remaining raised in the position it had shimmied to over the past few moments. Now, he was curious, trying to decode the situation logically, but he still felt a bit of fog over his mind. "You do not remember?" Genuinely, Hiei was surprised; he would have thought that a demon such as this wouldn't forget someone ripping pins from their hair.

He eyed her for a few more moments, then pulled another clip from his pocket to look over it again. The shine of it was brighter on this one, obviously one that had gotten more attention, and he felt the power that coursed through it. It pushed against his energy, almost painful were the power of a higher caliber. Must be why she kept so many, plus the glasses.

"Why would it be so shocking?" he suddenly asked, curiosity and amusement dominating his mind more than his need to figure her out. _*****_

Toriko clenched her jaw together when he produced another one from somewhere underneath his cloak, "Remember. What." She said painfully clearly, "Did you steal them?" She followed up before he could answer, "Do you have all of them? Where are they? What possessed you to release me?"

"Because..." At his second question, Toriko paused. It would be shocking because she would only have willingly parted with the seals to someone she trusted with her life, would only give them to her protector. Her Champion. And if this Hiei who stood before her now held that title, she needed to know. And if he did not, she did not want him to know such a position existed. She could only imagine his derision at such a thought, his taunting of her complete lack of defenses. Her weakness that required someone to protect her. Especially since she did not picture him as the type to truly understand why she needed one.

How _had _he gotten a hold of all of her seals? She gathered they were hidden away on his person, but who else besides a protector would have them, would even dare to pull her hair down without her consent? And judging by the anger she felt at any attempt to remember what happened before her release, she could just envision the little sneak taking a great deal of pleasure in taking them out instead of a situation in which the protector needed her and gently removed the seals to call her out.

"Because there's no way I would have given them willing to someone like _you._" 3

Hiei eyed Toriko calmly, searching her expression for any sign that she was toying with him, as he was as well. Yet, she seemed completely and utterly sincere. No trace of amusement in her eyes, tone, or expression. No sign of any emotion at all aside from confusion and rising anger. This alone made his curiosity peak entirely, along with his amusement, and he couldn't quite stop himself from his next words that basically tumbled from his lips.

"Your forgetfulness is almost as strong as your desperation to have this back," he remarked snidely, yet his tone hinted at things he wasn't saying. He waited for a few minutes until he decided to speak up again, tossing the second pin in her direction, eyes ignoring the arc through the air it made. "Forgetting something of this magnitude, among other things, is unlike any demon I've met before." He eyed her again, searching for any hidden emotions all over again. "That's rather odd, and considering I am stuck in a realm filled with ignorant creatures and haven't killed them all yet, that's to a great magnitude." _*****_

Toriko caught the pin with little effort, though his aim was true and she only had to open her palm to receive it.

She found herself wanting to tell him. To tell him that there were almost two of her, born of her desperate escape from Spirit World's lackeys and now maintained because they could not join together as one feared the other too greatly. That her thoughts were disjoined as a result, her memories scattered between the two of them. She wanted to make a snide remark about seeing how _his _sanity held up after spending over a decade alone among these smelly humans, but something held her back. To reveal her heart in such a manner or to casually toss banter between one another was reserved for...well her protector. Someone she could tell these secrets to, someone who already held her life in their hands.

She did not miss the suggestion in his voice, the subliminal message that she did not know how seriously to take, the one that hinted at his role in the removal of the seals from her person. But, then, why her anger at the thought? Had her more human-self misunderstood his actions? That would certainly explain it. And he didn't seem the type to do much explaining should that be the case.

"I...I forget a lot of things." She laced her words with as much undertones as he had, wanting him to catch on, to affirm or deny his relationship with her, and so she continued, "The last thing I really remember is..." She didn't want to reveal too much of her situation, "Fainting." She finally admitted truthfully, nodded her head towards the upstairs portion of the house, "In the bathroom." She grinned wickedly at him, "You want to fill in the blanks for me?" 3

Hiei raised a simple brow and a corner of his lips slowly. She had confirmed that she was not toying with him by her hesitations, by her underlying messages. He was not being fooled here, and that made the fire demon drop his act of amusement; no longer did he find this funny. He wasn't sure how he felt about not only an unstable demon, but an unstable demon who seemed to forget things that could be rather important, such as the blonde demon and his attacks. Hiei's face twitched ever so slightly at the thought.

"Indeed," he suddenly said, agreeing that she was definitely forgetting several things. Then, he proceeded to lift the rest of her hair pins, save one, and extend them to the demoness, as part of a small peace offering. He suddenly felt himself become cautious, though he didn't exactly know why.

When she asked about him telling her what had happened, he raised a brow at her and considered her for a moment, thinking back. Then his sneer returned and he gave a simple shrug. "Nothing important." His sneer faded as his mouth opened to continue. "However, your forgetfulness of your _**fan **_is bothersome." _*****_

_Fan? _Toriko frowned, as she absently reached out to take the bobby pins Hiei extended in her direction. _What is she hiding from me? _

Toriko began attempting to sift through the memories that she did not have, becoming angry when she felt as if her other side was coveting them, refusing her access. A wave of fear that was not her own swept over her emotions, her heart skipping a beat, as she reached farther and farther back in time, flowing through memories that were fuzzy and disjointed. She had not experienced these directly, but rather in a state of semi-consciousness and as she tried to remember her frown deepened, anything she accessed coming back to her as if she were on one side of a pool of water trying to look up at the rest of the world.

Her head started to hurt with the effort, her legs feeling weak, and Toriko pulled away mentally from herself. Her eyes focused back in on Hiei, whose general aura told her he was not amused.

_Well, if I was trying to impress him, I appear to be failing in __**that **__respect. _

She wasn't exactly sure why she even cared about his opinion, another mark on a growing list of questions about this fire demon she had no answers for, as normally she would have simply used him for her own purposes and then ordered him away.

She found herself fighting that urge, her energy fully awake beneath the surface and protesting mightily at her refusings, her self-control surprising even herself.

Looking at him was not helping her trying to remember _anything_, however, so she turned away from him and moved to the front of the couch, sitting. Another flash of pain tore across her mind and she could not help reaching up and massaging at the back of her neck.

She opened up the other hand, which held the bobby pins, and sighed, tightening her fist about them once, the seals cold and cruel in her grasp. She could not know if Spirit World still searched for her, and she did have enough sense about her to be concerned about it, so she set the pins next to her thigh on the couch cushion and reached up to gather her hair together, twisting and folding it in on itself so that when she placed the first pin inside, it held her hair in place on its own. 3

Hiei eyed Toriko in silence as her eyes slid closed. He let her think back, wondering if she'd be able to remember if he merely made her curious about the past endeavors. He also wondered if she would keep her energy free and accept the inevitable, but something inside him spoke, saying it didn't seem likely. He didn't understand her need to contain her energy at all. Yes, he had concealed himself plenty of times, but not because he disliked it.

He raised a brow at the thought that crossed his mind, and curiously, his gaze shifted to the nearby windows. Each set of curtains were drawn, and he could see the shadows of life outside; nothing out of the norm for this time of day. Nothing suspicious. He turned back to Toriko and watched her shuffle around to the couch again, setting herself down on the edge of the cushion. For a moment, he thought she would space out in another attempt to call memories to the forefront of her mind, but it was evident that that was not the case when her hands began coiling the tendrils of her hair together. He watched her begin to put the pins in her hair, eyes following every motion her hands made.

Suddenly, he spoke up, deciding he'd ask a question or two in hopes of gaining answers of his own.

"Recently, a new demon has shown himself in town with the ability to completely conceal himself; energy, scent, and all. It isn't very common of a demon to have such abilities, and the fact that he's been around here several times raises several questions. Ring any bells?" He wasn't sure if she would remember anything, but Hiei had the suspicion that this demon knew Toriko, and just maybe Toriko knew the demon as well. _*** **_

As if in protest of her attempts to seal the power away, instead of quieting the more pins went into her hair, her energy began fighting madly against her and just the act of reaching over to pick up another pin took a great deal of effort. Toriko in no way thought she had become that much stronger since being sealed, but she felt briefly concerned that perhaps she did not have enough pins this time to complete the ritual.

She paused as Hiei spoke, the hand reaching for the next pin trembling at the effort and she pulled back, closing her fist tightly and letting it rest on the couch next to her. Her power was nearly bursting at the seams, screaming at her to pull the pins back out and she closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on Hiei's voice.

It didn't help.

She knew he meant nothing by continuing to speak, but his smell and presence were about to drive her mad, and as if her energy knew it, it did everything in its power to pull her attention to him.

"If it hasn't already been made clear to you," Toriko spoke up between clenched teeth, forcing her eyes to look forward and not over at the fire demon, "I remember nothing. And you're of no help. You release me, and then play tricks with my mind. _Your _kind of game is no fun at all. What do you want from me other than to call me out and torture me?"

Toriko did not expect to get a direct answer from him, but the events since she had been set free were sending her mind whirring down a rabbit hole. The longer she resisted, the more her energy grew within her.

She glanced at the pins next to her, snatching up the one pulsing the strongest seal and driving it into her hair, releasing a breath she'd been holding with relief as the seal managed to drain away a larger portion of her power, simultaneously ridding her of the headache she'd acquired in the meantime. 3

A scowl made itself known of Hiei's lips, his eyes narrowing in irritation and thought; he'd assumed as much, but it didn't mean he felt any better about it. His arms crossed over his chest as he took a deep breath in, puffing up only slightly as she spoke. His ruby orbs flashed dangerously at Toriko's words, which he began to take as a challenge, and his mind began coming up with every possible retort and snide remark imaginable. But, he settled for the most convenient one that would supply him with more answers than any other would.

"And how exactly is anyone supposed to go about protecting someone who has so little defences and memory of their own power such as yourself?" he remarked, his tone sarcastic but meaning every word. She was making things impossible- more so than anyone else had in the past. He felt his irritation turn to mild anger. "You _are _the one who ripped a promise from my throat," he finished, tone as steely as his gaze as he recalled the moment. _*****_

Toriko's eyes popped open, having closed them in partial response to the relief she felt after adding the stronger bobby pin with the two others in her hair now, and she stared down at the floor in front of her feet, rendered completely speechless.

Every question she had, every suspicion, confirmed by Hiei's vehement response, his accusations at her somehow cornering him into a promise he never would have made under normal circumstance almost comical.

But how had this happened? Toriko had no memory of them forming a pact, no recollection of this promise that he spoke of so angrily. And neither would she have _ever _asked it of this pesky fire demon.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out, her mind rushing too quickly. _That's _why she found herself struggling to not seduce him. _That's _why the Jagan had completely ignored her. _That's _why she could feel his presence more strongly than she normally would have.

Without the remembrance of the pact, however, her energy still reacted strongly towards him, having been fettered within her for so long that without knowledge of the pact it did not distinguish between her protector or not.

"R-...Run that last part by me again?" Toriko finally looked over her shoulder at him. 3

Hiei raised a disbelieving brow at Toriko; she had heard him. He knew she had. No demon could have misheard what he'd just said. A sneer formed on his face at the thought of her being stunned into silence. But it dissipated after a second, replaced again by a scowl. His arms uncrossed and his feet carried him to stand before her, his gaze meeting hers squarely as he opened his mouth, speaking slowly so that there was no mistake.

"How can anyone protect someone so **defenseless **and **forgetful **as yourself? It's ridiculously intolerable. And such a pointless promise, really."

Hiei let his hands slide into his pockets, a single one pulling out her glasses and tossing them onto the cushion beside her, his stare hard as rocks when he glanced at her again. "You say I'm playing games, yet you claim to have forgotten some rather important details. This _game _you claim that I am playing is my way of prying information from you, yet as stubborn as an ox-demon you are, you refute nothing but irritation."

He turned to leave, hands finding solace in his warm pockets again. "When you're done with your silly games, perhaps I'll return." _*****_

Toriko stood abruptly as Hiei turned to leave.

"There's two of me."

She hoped her sudden admission would stop him in his tracks before he got any farther away from her. She resisted an urge to reach out to him physically, trusting that her words would be enough to keep him around and also unsure exactly how to treat this, her new guardian. She did feel most assured that he was not lying to her about this 'promise,' whenever it had been made, and that led her to continue.

"If you truly are my...protector," She avoided 'Champion' as she did not know how he would react to his new title, "As you say, then you have a right to know information such as this. Secrets which I would not relinquish to any other being in the three worlds are yours for the keeping. For the asking. And you may request anything, for I will answer you to the best of my knowledge." She stared at him candidly before continuing.

"My mind is," She searched for the right word, "Fragmented. My memories incomplete. I will not disagree with the word 'forgetful' that you keep tossing around as I cannot make a valid case against it, but is it the right term for someone who did not know the information in the first place?"

She drew herself up as tall as possible and dared him to challenge her next words, "I did it to myself, but know before you cast judgement that it blossomed out of survival instincts, out of a desire to continue living that even the most base of creatures will carnally pursue when all else fails, and I do not regret what I have done for it saved my life. After sealing myself and my energy away, Toriko emerged as a personality out of a need to continue to function. She is fully aware of my existence as I am of hers, but she fears everything about me for reasons that were absolutely necessary at the time of her creation, though she does not fully comprehend or understand the reasons. Neither does she remember them, for that matter. Similarly, I am unable to access the memories she has accumulated short of fuzzy recollections for I slumber deeply when she is in control. Only when an encounter disturbs her past functioning do I stir to interfere, able to intercede on our behalf and relieve her anguish before she pulls us into madness."

"You continue to point out that I am defenseless. This is a part of my nature. As you must have witnessed at some point in the past, my demonic energy cannot be used offensively to defend myself against an attacker. The harder I try to use it in such a way, the stronger my assailant's advances will become as a result until...until all my demonic energy is depleted or I die during my struggles. Whichever comes first. This is true for all demons of my kind, and often leads to our untimely demise quite early in our lives, rendering our numbers near those of extinction. There is an extremely high chance that I am the last one in existence. I have never heard of another in all my years. But I do not know. One of our ancestors unlocked the ability to create a pact with another being, someone powerful enough to step in and stop _what_ we cannot, _when_ we cannot. A guardian. A protector. You." 3

Hiei had been almost hell-bent on leaving, but had been calm and slow in taking his leave. He had only just reached for the door handle when Toriko spoke up again, making him pause, hand still stretched for the door. At her initial words, he'd been unreacting, acting as if he didn't care what she said. But as she had continued, her words hesitant, he hand paused, and now he turned to glance at her from over his shoulder. He watched her as she went through her confession, a single brow steadily rising until it was hidden in the line of his bangs. The more she spoke about her two… "personalities", per se, the more he began to understand. It seemed to make more sense, in a way. It was slightly similar to Kurama, except for the fact that Toriko was actually two people, in an odd way, whereas Kurama seemed more as one person, memories all together and everything, the only difference being the shell he wore to hide himself with.

It was just as clever a trick as Kurama's, which did raise a few questions in the fire demon's mind, but he halted those thoughts to listen to Toriko's continuing speech. By the time she was to the point of talking about his accusations, he was facing her and three steps closer to her than he had been moments before. He stayed silent for a few moments afterward, suddenly confused.

Yes, he had promised to protect her, but she spoke as if it were a permanent thing. As if it hadn't been a rather short-notice declaration that he hadn't exactly been aware of making in the first place.

Or at least that's how he remembered it.

He thought back to the circumstances, remembering the gaze that had ensnared him, the coaxing in her voice that had entranced him. And then the nature of his promise.

Had he really even been the one agreeing to it? Or had he been coaxed into it? He had figured out the breed of demon this woman was, but for some reason, he hadn't thought of his interactions with her at all. And now that he was, he felt a blossoming emotion that would, normally, strike fear into anyone who felt it bloom into the atmosphere. His expression twitched a bit and he was soon scowling at Toriko, lips pointed downward and brows furrowed to shadow his darkening gaze. "A _Protector,_" he repeated, clarifying that he understood the word as not just a description of someone watching over another, but as an actual title. Something he recognized as a ranking ordeal, like in armies or anything else that required ranked divisions. "I was not aware that the title seemed so… **permanent**," he said slowly, telling her that he himself understood nothing of what the title meant to him, and what he was now signed up for. He knew nothing of the terms of this promise, and something told him that he wouldn't be very happy at her response.

"_That promise had been a work of your enchantment. I am not responsible for you." __*****_

Toriko fought to hold her ground at the near-murderous intent in Hiei's eyes, swallowing nervously. It wasn't as if she didn't expect this reaction from him, but the intensity of his simmering was overbearing and Toriko did not know him well enough to gauge what her own reaction should be.

"Well, if you _want _me to go ahead and finish what I started earlier," She let her eyes rove over him lewdly, shrugging, "We can break the contract right now." At just the thought, Toriko felt her energy stirring again, pleading with her to release it from its bonds. 3

Hiei waited, thoughts becoming a torrent just as dangerous as the rising emotions as he continued to broil over the sudden realizations, the memories that he slowly and quietly rummaged through. He silently thought over each and every sign he had missed, and wondered why he'd been so reckless. _Then again, it isn't quite me who is at fault._

When Toriko spoke up, his brows furrowed further, casting more shadows across his red eyes, though they were unnoticeable for the spark that flew in his irises. He wasn't sure he quite understood the tone she used either.

There was just so much going through his mind at once. He almost didn't know what exactly to do or say.

"And exactly _how _do you manage that?" he finally inquired, wanting to be informed of at least _something _about the situation. _*****_

"Breaking the contract?" She asked, shrugging again and assuming that's what he meant, "By seducing you and then dying. As part of the unspoken terms at time of our contract being instated, I cannot under any circumstances intentionally use my powers to bring you under my control. I'd be inducing an infraction of one the rules that I swore to uphold when asking you into this agreement, and I will die for doing so, freeing you from any promise made to me. It's the fastest way to undo what you've done, if you're so hell-bent on releasing yourself from it." 3

Hiei's emotions only seemed to become jumbled, confusing. His anger grew, but so did his confusion. Didn't that defeat the purpose of asking for protection? Ridiculous is what this was. Why was he even in this situation? Again, his thoughts circled, and this time he said them aloud instead of simply letting them ferment in his brain. "I am not responsible for you, nor your life." His tone was harsh, his glare stone cold, but inside he was unsure. There was a reason Kurama protected this girl, and he didn't understand that reason or even have a clue about why he cared so much, but he did know that he was growing angrier by the second. "If you had kept better control of your power, you wouldn't be in this mess," he griped, turning to leave. _*****_

"Oh, so this is _my _mess?!" Toriko balled her fists, "Look here, _flame-boy,_" She seethed at him, "This is just as much _your _fault as it is mine."

More than at him, Toriko felt angry at herself. She simply could _not _recall anything about entering into this contract with Hiei in the first place, neither could she understand how on earth her other persona managed to do it.

No, of course she couldn't _trick _anyone into the contract. There were very specific requirements that had to be met before she could even pose the request, and regardless of her powers, the would-be protector could not agree unless he meant it, seeing her defenselessness and at the same time having the desire to become her defender. But how her human persona had even managed to ask, much less get her herself in a situation where Hiei could answer 'yes' truthfully was beyond Toriko's reasoning.

"You _couldn't _have agreed to this unless you wanted to." She snapped. 3

Hiei felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand on end. His eyes widened and he grit his teeth for a mere moment before parting his lips with a scoff of anger. He huffed once more before meeting her gaze squarely all over again, nose flaring. His chest swelled with the intake of breath he issued, and this time, when his lips parted, he spit out the words he had been dancing around for a few moments, trying to comprehend even himself.

"Why would I _want _to keep up with someone so useless and brainless as you? Protecting someone with a death wish is only for the damned, and I will not be dragged into this because of your instability. I will be forced to do nothing, especially serve the likes of **you**."

With a final growl, Hiei swiftly turned towards the door, a single hand moving under the cat on his shoulders and tossing him to the ground while the other pulled at the handle. When it refused, he snarled and forced it to unlock in a flick of his wrist and then proceeded to take his leave. _*****_

Maneshi landed confidently on his feet, even being tossed unexpectedly as he was, and watched Hiei storm out of Toriko's apartment. The cat made a quizzical noise and turned back to Toriko, who shook with rage where she stood.

He quietly slipped over to her ankles and wove around them, his expression inquiring as to her mental state.

"AUGH!" Toriko threw her hands up into the air in frustration after a moment, "Of all the beings in this realm, why did I have to get stuck with the most _impossible_ one of them all!" She swept Maneshi into her arms and buried her face briefly into the dark fur of his side.

Maneshi didn't exactly approve of his position, and he huffed a breath as she held him to express said uncomfortableness.

Toriko released her grip slightly and pulled away, stroking a hand down the cat's spine and feeling herself calm down, if only slightly. As she continued petting him, she looked around the living room with resignation.

"I think I've had enough fun for one day." She told Maneshi, turning to the couch and holding him out towards the back of it where he obliged by uncoiling himself from her arms and landing firmly on the upholstery.

"In fact, I think I've had enough _fun_ to last me the next ten years," She continued dryly. "I didn't realize how good I had it, being completely uninformed as to anything going on around me."

She sat down on the couch next to the bobby pins she left there and reached for another, "It'll be nice to not think for a while."

She continued to replace the pins in her hair-taking the time to reactivate each one and make sure they were operating at full-capacity-feeling her demonic energy, and herself, draining away into oblivion with each cold seal. She fought the drowsiness that overcame her as she plucked the last one from the couch cushion, managing to get it into her hair just before she collapsed and became oblivious to the world. 3

~!**!~

Several days had gone by rather quickly lately, seemingly blurring together for the demon who had forced herself into masquerading among the humans. She'd done as she was supposed to over the course of time, working hard on grasping the school work issued and actually asking for help when she didn't understand something, despite her distaste in doing so. And, surprisingly, she found it better than what she'd been doing before. Now, she was learning about the place she was stuck in, learning how to better blend in, instead of simply wandering the streets and _observing. _Despite the amount of people around her, who she continuously found she had to interact with from time to time, she didn't mind it. Sometimes, she even found herself lightly enjoying the classes, though she wouldn't let it show. Especially since she didn't want to admit that she was beginning to enjoy this different lifestyle.

After all, she _had _been nothing more than a puppet for a decade, and nothing more than a toy for the years before that. She hadn't really had a chance to do anything of her own accord.

And yet there were days that left her frustrated, borderline angry at everything. Those were the days when she called on Toriko, who seemed so calm when giving advice and instructions. Small tutoring sessions that weren't even required by the teachers. She'd simply grown tired of trying to figure it out on her own. It always ended up with nothing anyway.

Today, though, she'd felt an odd feeling of slight cheer when she'd been given back her math test and several other things, such as her Biology lab work. When she'd seen the circled B- in red atop her math test, even earned a nod of approval from her teacher and a "good job", she'd felt elated. Relieved. In Biology, she'd almost cracked a smile when the teacher boasted on her progress as of late, her overall grades going from embarrassing low to decent.

And yet, she still wouldn't admit it that she owed Toriko for every bit of it.

Nor would she ever admit that she was becoming comfortable with confronting the girl with her problems.

Lord knows that if Akari ever showed any emotion other than her normal nonchalance and irritation, she'd be shot down by anyone watching. That's just how it'd always been. _*****_

Toriko missed a day of school.

She couldn't believe it. She woke up in the morning, rather disoriented and confused as she had no idea how she ended up on the couch-her last memory being that of Kurama leaving her apartment- but upon arriving at school in her usual timely fashion, she found that she had somehow slept an _entire _day away, slammed with homework and a feeling of insecurity.

A whole day? Not even a whole day, but an entire evening and the next day besides! How had she managed it? The unease at her predicament slowly dissipated as the week wore on, no answers to her questions arising, her mind unable to recall anything after her unsuccessful session with Kurama. Anything, that is, except for Hiei.

Hiei...

Toriko knew _something _had happened between the two of them, but for the life of her she had no idea what.

Where before she tended to feel his presence nearby on a regular basis, that being something surprising to her in and of itself, now she neither saw nor felt anything of the fire demon whatsoever. It troubled her, having come to see him as a staple in her daily interactions whether they actually acknowledged one another or not, and his absence wore on her frame of mind, sending her thoughts down a path of guilt at the mere insinuation that she had done or said something to drive him away.

A week passed in this way, and it was after school that she found herself in one such dark moment of musings, second guessing herself and silently berating whatever issue she wedged between her and Hiei for ever occurring.

She hitched her slipping messenger bag farther up one shoulder, glancing up into the tree overhead, feeling her discomfort worsen as her eyes confirmed what she already knew: Hiei did not grace the branches.

She clutched agonizingly at the pair of textbooks in her arms and pulled her eyes back down to stare at them, deeply disturbed at Hiei's complete and utter absence.

So much so, in fact, that she barely noticed Akari making her way out of the building and walking down the steps towards her. And Akari was the reason she waited leaning with her back up against the tree in the first place.

The girl's grades had improved so much that the math teacher had allowed Akari to retake the first test, and Toriko had gladly agreed to help Akari study for it, even going so far as to waiting outside now while Akari took the test in support of Akari's efforts, eager to discover the new grade. 3

Akari stood in front of the teacher's desk, brown eyes intently watching the red pen that moved across the paper. She already had her things gathered and ready to leave, knowing that there was a person outside waiting on her. She'd told that girl to go home anyways, but even now she could feel the quiet presence of Toriko outside, waiting patiently as Akari was becoming accustomed to witnessing. Her eyes glanced out the window to see the girl leaning on the wall of the school's gate, eyes looking around. She raised a brow, but her attention snapped to the teacher at his desk when the ruffling of paper caught her attention. She witnessed him circling a letter on the page and then flip it over so she couldn't see it- not that he knew of her higher senses anyways.

"Well, I must say, you're improving very quickly," he said slowly, replacing the cap on the pen with a click. "You did well this time around as well. I assume you're still asking for help from Toriko? I can tell now when you get confused in class."

Akari nodded, her expression calm, as if she didn't care one way or the other how this went. "I figured since she goes through the trouble, might as well keep it up."

"Well, you work hard, and I appreciate that." He flipped the test over and handed it to her, a smile on his face. "Good work. You're officially passing with a high B now."

Akari nodded and gave a brief wave, already turning to leave. "Thanks," she called over her shoulder.

"Geez, it wouldn't hurt her to smile," she heard the man mumble as she exited the room. As Akari sauntered her way through the school, she rolled the paper up in her hand, using her free hand to push open the front door, eyes immediately finding Toriko. She observed the girl as she walked, until finally she decided to make her presence known.

"I thought you'd go home." _*****_

It took a moment for Toriko to pull herself from her reverie, Akari's voice tugging her away from personal concerns.

She pressed her glasses farther up her nose as she looked up, "I-I wanted to know how you did." 3

Akari eyed the girl, only stopping a foot or two away from Toriko as she considered her with a raised brow. A small part of her was rather amused by this situation, even reminding her of how Nabu had stuck around. She pushed the thought away and gave a sigh, as if she were tired. "I am passing with a high B now, according to mister whats-his-face," she said, jerking a thumb up to the school nonchalantly.

She paused, turning her head to the side a bit and glancing at the sidewalk behind her, half thinking someone would be there. Half expecting to see blonde hair, even though she hadn't seen him since the day he gave her the note. She jerkily turned her eyes back to Toriko, forcing her thoughts away from the maddening puzzle. "I was close to an A," she finally said, unrolling the graded test to reveal an 89 marked in red. "It's not as bad as it used to be," she commented, referring to her confusion about this particular subject. _*****_

Had Toriko not been holding books in her arms, she might have clapped her hands together in delight, "Th-that's wonderful!" She summed up in relation to everything Akari relayed.

"Would you l-like to go out for dinner together to celebrate?" 3

Akari faltered. Dinner? She raised a brow in disbelief. Wasn't that something humans did when they enjoyed the other's company? When they knew each other well enough to be past simple small talk? No, wait… Wasn't it like, a mating ritual?

Her expression shifted to utter confusion as she thought of the many couples in restaurants she'd seen in this world, most of them holding hands and smiling at one another. A faint feeling of disgust hit her. "Isn't that a little odd?" she said slowly, still confused. Why would you celebrate grades anyway? "I'm not sure I follow." She paused, eyes rolling to the sky in thought. "But I suppose if that's what you humans do, then…" again, she paused. "...no, sorry, not even then. This is beyond me." _*****_

Toriko tilted her head in an expression of confusion at Akari's response, unsure of the reason as to her hesitations. Suddenly, a revelation hit her and her mouth formed a small 'O' before she quickly covered her mouth and released an uncharacteristic giggle.

"I-I am very s-sorry." Toriko apologized, her giggle leaving a small smile behind on her lips as she attempted to reassure the girl and make her purpose more clear, "I s-simply meant that your improvement was reason to celebrate, and it is quite c-common among the humans of this region to do so with a meal. I know of a ramen shack a few blocks away that would do w-well for our purpose, and I would buy you a bowl i-if you wished to go." 3

Akari's chin lifted upward, like a paused nod, and she eyed the girl with an expression that simply read "oh". Then her chin fell to finish her brief nod of confirmation and she released a small breath. "This world is… confusing," she grumbled, adjusting the bag on her shoulder by hefting it up higher, gesturing with her left hand for Toriko to lead the way. "I haven't had much time to roam here, so I know little to nothing," she admitted carelessly, shrugging nonchalantly at the fact. "Learn something each day, I suppose." _*****_

Akari's acquiescence to the prospect of dinner did a good deal to lift some of the weight from Toriko's mind, giving her something else to think about other than the strange loneliness that had lately overwhelmed her.

She lead the way to the ramen shack, a street vendor whose building was a plastic pavillion, the inside warm with steam from the cooking ramen at the assembled stoves in the middle. Toriko purchased both herself and Akari a bowl and then sat down at the fold-out table and chairs in one corner of the large tent-like restaurant. 3

Akari had taken to sitting quietly beside Toriko, eyes following the movements of the chef at the stovetops. The smells that bombarded her nose made her mouth water; living on simply sandwiches for as long as she had been making her miss living in Sensui's penthouse just a bit, but this smelled even better than anything Sensui had cooked up. She had been tempted to speak aloud of that thought, but instead had resigned herself to sitting in silence beside the small girl.

When the two had eaten and gathered their things, Akari hadn't thought twice about taking the lead, deciding she'd escort Toriko to her home as a way to thank her for the meal. She briefly waved at the chef as he called farewell, but not long after, she was walking down the sidewalk, weaving her way through foot traffic expertly.

"Do you eat there often?" she asked Toriko suddenly, still thinking of how much she had enjoyed the new taste. Her eyes moved with the intent to study Toriko's face, but instead she caught a flash of color that made her pause. Her step faltered for only a second until her eyes found the color again, finding a familiar person among the crowd. She met his lavender gaze, but he turned to walk away, disappearing from sight.

"Follow me," Akari ordered suddenly, grabbing Toriko by her wrist and following the path Otento had taken, hell bent on getting an answer or two. _*****_

Otento knew her, now. Knew the presence of the human-persona under which she hid. Wheels had been turning in his head the instant he spotted the two women together, making sure that the more rash of the two demons saw him as they left the ramen vendor's tent.

He easily made his way along the street, keeping just ahead of the them enough to tantalize his prey into continuing her pursuit. He slipped off into an alley out of sight, knowing she would follow.

Toriko did not know why Akari pulled her along through the crowds, her concentration falling to keeping her feet as the taller girl dragged her at a rapid pace. When Akari turned abruptly into an alleyway, Toriko stumbled forward as Akari stopped suddenly, and she looked up to see a dead-end, huffing and short of breath.

Akari did not seemed pleased by this dead-end, and Toriko had no idea why until a velvety voice spoke up from behind them.

"Ah, Darling, you've done so well." Otento purred pleasantly after dropping silently into the alley, successfully blocking both women from making a quick exit without passing him.

Toriko whipped around and made a high-pitched noise of distress through her nose at the sight of Otento, practically jumping behind Akari and hiding with Akari's body between herself and Otento, clutching at Akari's shirt with one fist and burying her face in the small of Akari's back, trembling with fear.

"I knew it wouldn't be terribly hard to get her alone with you," Otento went on before either of them could say anything, "You've become such dear companions of late, haven't you? You almost managed to even convince me."

Toriko's heart, already pumping wildly in her chest, skipped a beat and she ripped her eyes open, dropping her hold on Akari and taking a fearful step back, the insinuation of Otento's words dawning on her as she managed to move another foot back.

Memories of the night that Otento...slipped into her room, started to creep past Toriko's attempts to block them out and she dropped to the ground, ending up with her rear on the concrete, legs bent with her feet on either side of her hips, her textbooks falling out of her arms and scattering nearby as she started to fall forward but caught herself with both hands, leaning over and staring down at the alley floor wide-eyed through her glasses.

"_This can't be happening. This can't be happening." _The words formed a mantra for her and she continued to repeat them. She squeezed her eyes shut as tight as they would go, fighting the thoughts that threatened to overtake her senses.

She had stopped listening to the world around her, but as she moved, Otento had continued to speak, "I'll stay true to my word and take the seductress and you, both, back to the boss. I'm certain he'll extend a personal invitation right on the spot for a job well-done." 3

Hiei had been walking among the humans- for once- in search of the target. It was difficult when the demon was able to hide himself, but soon enough, he found the person he was looking for. And when Otento had turned to leave, Hiei had at first thought he'd been spotted. But then, when he took to the rooftops, he saw them. He saw Akari and Toriko, the first of the two leading the latter through the crowd. His eyes narrowed; he'd seen that concentrated look once before. His lips parted to bare his teeth in sudden anger and frustration when he realized she was following Otento, and immediately, he felt his Jagan open beneath the band that hid it. His energy sparked just enough to allow him a message, without being known by another.

"_Kurama, we have a problem," _he spoke into his friend's consciousness, having found it in a split moment. "_The demon is here, but so are Akari and Toriko. Akari lead her here." _He paused as he continued running, listening to the beginning of the conversation, and he felt his anger grow more. "_Make it quick. I'll stall."_

Hiei waited for a response before letting the connection taper off. He watched the blonde address Akari, hearing the words that confirmed his belief of Akari being a part of it all. He witnessed Toriko stumble away from the girl, the dog not even glancing back at her. She took a step toward Otento, and Hiei decided to draw the line.

He dropped to the ground, landing himself behind Otento, cutting of any form of escape for anyone here. His expression was dark, angry. "If either of you move to leave, you won't live to see the day." _*****_

"_This is definitely not good." _Kurama thought as he ran, desperately searching the streets for any sign of Kuwabara and Yusuke.

They were lucky that they were already planning on springing a trap on the blonde demon that evening, otherwise whatever he had planned would have eked unnoticed by the gang and who know where Toriko would have ended up.

As it was, things were still being set in motion much faster than any of them had planned and Hiei had left Kurama's mind behind before Kurama could ask that he alert Yusuke and Kuwabara as well.

He felt as if the whole situation were partially his fault. He'd been too caught up in his human life lately to even attempt to take further notes on the demon who stalked Toriko, and the lack of information left him feeling more vulnerable that he would have liked.

And he hoped desperately that vulnerability would not cost them Toriko.3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	13. Episode 98 - Information and Injuries

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow Ningen!

So, I think I might take to making the chapters longer and experimentally did so with this chapter. Let me know what you think! I could probably make them even longer than this, but I will at least try this length for a while.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Toriko, or rather her demonic side, comes to realize that her human side and Hiei initiated a pact that places Hiei as her protector.

Two days later and Toriko and Akari go out to eat at a ramen stand to celebrate Akari's improvements at school.

While they are there, Akari spots Otento and drags Toriko along with her as she follows him.

Our four favorite heroes were out and about to attempting to spring a trap for Otento,  
and thinking Akari means to betray them, Hiei alerts Kurama  
and then attempts to distract Otento while waiting for the others...

* * *

Otento's expression did not change when Hiei dropped down into the alley behind him, sending a glance of nonchalance over his shoulder to indicate that he did know the fire demon was there. He remembered the speed of this demon from his previous encounter and he was in no mood to challenge him on that front.

"Surely you don't expect me to leave my back facing you." Otento did not turn around, but he aimed the question at Hiei, his thoughts whirling new tactics already forming in his mind at these...complications. 3

Akari's eyes had moved to the sky when her ears had picked up on the sound of cloth being whipped by the air. She'd witnessed the falling of Hiei into the alleyway, and instantaneously the rut in her stomach had grown exponentially. She was beginning to feel sick; she remembered nothing of Toriko being so involved with this demon, and she also remembered nothing of this being a part of a plan that she had been in on, apparently. She'd been waiting on this 'leader' to confront her, and nothing had happened. Now here she was, expected to know what to do? She glanced back at the panicked Toriko, expression blank but eyes shining with thoughts. Panic.

The group had already hated her. Now, she had no idea what was going on, and her life could be on the line. A frown tugged her lips downward and she turned back to the two males in front of her, thinking as quickly as her mind allowed.

Nothing.

There was nothing she could do to get out of this mess. And no doubt Hiei had told the others, and she knew she was in trouble. But even worse, Toriko was looking for shelter from this demon, who had obviously been around several times, and Akari had lead her right to him. "Hey," she called, her tone even despite her jumbled thoughts and emotions. "This was not specified."

Hiei glared hard at Otento, watching every twitch of his muscles, waiting for another attack like the last time he'd seen him. A sneer broke on his features at his words of his back being to the demon. "You're not as foolish as you make yourself look." His hand gripped his katana, bringing it forth in a silent warning that meant he would kill without question.

His eyes roved between Akari and Otento, teeth still bared as he stood in their way. And when Akari's voice sounded, he glared at her. Surely she didn't think he would believe something like her being unaware? At the very least, she seemed calm enough about the situation, her eyes periodically roving not only to him, but behind her to Toriko as well.

He shifted his grip on his blade in warning, the light from the nearest streetlamp shining across the smooth metal. "I wouldn't." _*****_

As Hiei finished speaking, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke appeared behind him, Hiei in a second brief contact with Kurama having given the location of the others.

There was a moment of tension as the four guys said nothing and did nothing, letting their presence impose itself upon Otento.

For his part, Otento huffed a small laugh, his eyes seeing the new arrivals in peripheral view. He let his gaze catch Akari's and hold it for a moment, "We seem to have been interrupted, darling. I'm sure I'll catch you another time."

Without warning, three blades nearly as thin as needles whistled through the air, tossed forward by Otento's expert hand seemingly out of nowhere on his person. They flew past Akari, missing her precisely, and lodged into the top of Toriko's right shoulder in a neat line, her arm immediately giving out and she slumped down on top of it. Her muscles tightened in distress, but she made no sound, biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut again.

"Toriko!" Kurama cried, beginning to move towards her, pulling his rose whip out and sending a vicious lash towards Otento. But in the moment that it took for Toriko to fall over, Otento disappeared into the night air and Kurama kept running at Toriko, Kuwabara quick to join him while Yusuke clenched his fists together and stared up at the sky where he thought he'd seen Otento jump. He came back to himself and glared at Akari as Kuwabara and Kurama ran past her.

"What did you do?" His eyes were accusatory, his question demanding an answer and the muscle in one of his arms twitching as he fought an urge to punch her right then and there. 3

Hiei glared hard at the people in front of him, not even glancing at the three that joined him in the alleyway. His wrist twitched just a bit at Otento's laugh; he wanted nothing more than to behead the demon, but again, something stopped him. For a moment, anyways.

But that moment was all the blonde needed. Within that moment, he had spoken, thrown very small objects across the way, and then disappeared. Hiei would have followed, but every fiber in his being held him there, staring at Toriko and trying to figure out what had just been tossed. He would have followed Kurama and Kuwabara, but he decided to stay by Yusuke, dark eyes training on Akari as well.

Akari's eyes had widened at his words, and panic had become completely evident in her eyes as she watched the three needle-like objects flew in her direction. Contrary to her instincts, she stayed where she was, watching each one whizz by her and hearing them hit the flesh of the girl behind her. She turned to look at the girl, then turned to Otento again, only to see he was nowhere in sight.

Her breath became short, her fists clenching at her sides and her head bowing so her bangs hid her eyes. She heard the people run by her, but didn't look up until she was addressed. And when she lifted her head to meet his gaze, she had a sneer on her features. She knew she wouldn't be able to make an escape like Otento had, and she knew they wouldn't listen to her about the matter.

"What exactly do you believe I've done?" _*****_

"Yusuke!"

The boy looked up to see Botan wheeling in from the darkened sky on her oar, an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face.

She landed gracefully on the ground near him, "Koenma needs to see you. Now." She left no room for arguing, but Yusuke tried anyway.

"Botan-"

She cut his protest short by raising a hand, "I'm here to take you all there."

"But-" He pointed a finger at Akari.

"No buts!" Botan asserted, "She's coming to!"

"Botan, we could use you..." Kurama called from where he knelt over Toriko.

Botan's eyes narrowed as she glanced over Akari's shoulder to the red-haired avatar. "Bring her. I'll take care of it when we get to Koenma's, but we need to go _now._"

Kurama and Kuwabara came up behind Akari, Toriko limp, but held delicately in Kurama's arms, Kuwabara holding her textbooks and bag.

"Alright. Let's go."

~!**!~

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, ogre, I _cannot-_" Koenma looked up to see those he called coming into the room and he stopped his sentence, pushing ogre back from where the two of the were bent over some paperwork on the Prince's desk, "Oh good! You're here."

Kurama gently placed Toriko down on the floor, Kuwabara setting her things down next to her, and Botan scurried over to assess the damage caused to the girl while the two boys went to stand with Hiei, Yusuke, and Akari in front of Prince Koenma.

"Koenma! You've _got _to do something about this demon!" Yusuke immediately gestured angrily at Akari.

"Oh?" Koenma raised an eyebrow quizzically. "And what exactly do you mean?"

"She basically offered Toriko up to some sleazy demon and-"

Koenma held a hand up to stop Yusuke in much the same way that Botan had, turning his neutral gaze onto Akari and holding her eyes for a moment before speaking, "So? Did you actually have anything to do whatever it is he's accusing you of?" 3

Hiei's expression twitched at Akari, but he hadn't had any time to say anything as a voice yelled from above. Red eyes turned up to the skies, witnessing Botan fly in. He scowled. Koenma _had _been watching. And yet the girl was still living.

He didn't say anything as they were ushered to follow her, to report to the prince of Spirit World. He simply sheathed his katana and complied, deciding that he'd just see how this went.

When he found himself standing in the small office, his arms were crossed over his chest and he was left watching quietly from the side, waiting, watching.

Akari crossed her arms over her stomach, her expression calm. She'd gathered herself in a matter of moments, her thoughts becoming ordered despite the unease she still felt in her stomach. Yet, when she wasn't addressed by the prince immediately, she felt a bit better. By the time Yusuke had said something, she was calm in every aspect, confident even. Why, she had no idea.

Akari raised a brow at Yusuke, then turned the upraised brow onto the prince when he addressed her. "No," she replied calmly, shifting her weight only a bit to appear more casual. "I have not." _*****_

"Fine." Koenma turned back to the others, "Now, we have a-"

"WHAT?" Yusuke shouted, "No. Way. She's _has _to be with this creepo blondy."

"I would hope-" Koenma stopped, frowning, "Wait, blonde?"

"Yeah," Yusuke said it as if the fact were obvious, "There's been this weird blonde guy stalking short-stuff over there for like a month." Yusuke gestured over his shoulder at Toriko, still laying down with Botan attending her.

Koenma sighed and put a hand to his forehead, shuffling through the papers in front of him until finding the one he wanted and scowling at it, "Tall? Skinny guy? Purple eyes?"

"That's the one." Kurama affirmed.

Koenma glanced over at ogre, "Seems we were a little _slow _on this one, huh?"

Ogre thought it best not to say anything and Koenma sighed before turning back to the others and going on, "There are rumors floating around that Youko Kurama is in Human World-"

"Well, duh." Kuwabara rolled his eyes, jerking a thumb at Kurama.

"There's more to it than that. He amassing a gang of demons consisting of any he can find in the Human Realm."

"You were doing all that this whole time? You sly fox." Yusuke grinned.

"I must admit that I have no recollection of any such 'amassing.'" A small smile played over Kurama's lips.

"Well, of course it isn't the _actual _Youko Kurama." Koenma resisted rolling his eyes, "But someone posing _as _Youko Kurama. The name holds a lot of power. And whoever it is apparently can look the part convincingly enough to gather a loyal following. Obviously, this poses a problem."

Kurama nodded, "If his presence alone is attracting demons into Human Realms, I'm surprised there hasn't already been other results."

"I don't exactly know how he's keeping the demons under control, but it leads me to believe that the demons are smart enough to know how to blend in among the humans, which means nothing less than likely B Class. And remember that there must be a hole of some sort to allow them through. Anyway," Koenma waved his hand dismissively, "The first problem is taking care of this psuedo-Youko. If we kill him it's likely the rest of the mess will clean up easy."

"Sever the head of the snake..." Kurama provided the beginning of the saying.

"Exactly." Koenma frowned, looking down at the paper, "I have no idea what interest this blonde demon has with Toriko, but from what I've gathered he's definitely one of the higher-ups within the chain of command of the false-Youko's gang and you should keep your eyes out for him."

He addressed all of those in front of him once more, "I need just a little more time, but I am fairly certain I can get you the location of this 'Youko's' hide-out and it'll be at that point you'll get sent in to terminate the guy. I did want to make you all aware of the situation so that you'll be on the lookout for any suspicious activity for the next couple of days. Keep your heads up. I don't think this is a situation where we can afford to be caught off-guard. Dismissed." 3

Akari listened to Koenma, half-surprised that nothing more was said about her. But when the topic of the army of demons came up, she stood up straighter, her mind bringing forth the image of the letter she'd been given. She remembered something about an army being mentioned, but it had been such a vague invitation that she hadn't understood.

And, at the mention of Youko, she glanced over at Kurama. She had forgotten that tidbit about the redhead; it'd only been briefly mentioned to her back when Sensui had begun planning the entire ordeal. He'd told her not to tell the rest, and to simply ignore the fact because it wouldn't matter to her. A smile stretched her lips suddenly; at least Sensui's words were useful in some sense, despite everything.

She opened her mouth as soon as Koenma was done speaking, serious all over again. "The way they recruit is by discreet letter invitation. It's vague, no real details given. I've been trying to get answers myself, but I didn't think he was directly involved with the group until today." Her head tilted to the side slightly, her eyes glancing over the people around her. "I hadn't known he was after Toriko. I apologize for my mistake." _*****_

Koenma rustled around the paper pile again, mumbling to himself, "I think the invitation method you're referring to may be specific to your situation. There aren't really any free-roaming demons in the Human Realm for obvious reasons, so most of their recruits are coming from Demon World. We don't have a lock on what portals they're coming through yet."

At this point, Koenma turned his eyes onto each of his four male employees in turn, "And I hadn't been informed of any demon's interest in Toriko either, so it appears you aren't the only one from whom secrets were being withheld. Next time I'd advise one of you coming to me instead of attempting to take matters into your own hands. Who knows what could have happened had you not accidentally stumbled upon the scene that you did tonight."

Kurama didn't bother protesting, having already felt responsible for the mishaps of the evening, and Kuwabara and Yusuke both knew when they were being admonished and said nothing as well.

"Botan, you can take them back now." Koenma ordered.

Botan heaved a weary sigh as she stood up from where Toriko still lay on the ground. Kurama immediately went over to them.

"It's going to take more work." Botan told him. "Those aren't ordinary daggers. I'll take you all back to Human World." She gestured down at Toriko and Kurama obliged by gently lifting the girl again, "I'll have to do more once I get her back to her home, but I think everyone else needs a good night's sleep." She picked up Toriko's things, "Let's go." 3

Akari nodded in acknowledgement of Koenma's view, realizing she should've thought of that. It made her wonder how many demons were actually hiding at this point, but she didn't voice her curiosity for obvious reasons. Instead, she turned to look at Botan, only glancing at Toriko before turning her eyes away in guilt. She hadn't known what Otento had been after, and she'd lead the girl to a place where she'd been hurt. She didn't think she'd be able to tell the girl how mistaken she was for thinking so little of the situation.

So, when Botan began grabbing Toriko's things, Akari offered a hand, picking up a text book and handing it over silently, figuring she wouldn't be wanted around.

Within a few moments, Akari was standing a little away from the group, looking around at the darkened streets that were beginning to empty of people and cars alike. The wind had picked up a bit, carrying the smell of an oncoming storm, but she didn't care. What caught her attention was Nabu prancing his way up the sidewalk, tail wagging and tongue lolling.

"_I've been looking for you! We were supposed to play today!"_

Akari sighed. "Not today. Sorry." she grumbled, not caring if the group heard her, as she turned to walk away, a hand in her pocket to feel the note she'd kept on her since it'd been given to her.

~!**!~

Hiei scowled to himself when his feet touched the sidewalk and Yusuke and Kuwabara began talking about dinner among other things.

"Man, I'm starved," the two complained in unison, Kuwabara rubbing his stomach and Yusuke looking around for nearby restaurants.

The completely ignored the scoff that the fire demon gave, and they both turned to Kurama. "So, what now? I mean, the demon's gone and Binki Breath is telling us to twiddle our thumbs and wait for orders." Yusuke asked, crossing his arms. "I'm sick of waiting."

"What else can we do? We don't exactly have the information we need," Hiei said casually, hands in his pockets as he glanced at Botan and Toriko. He had already decided he'd follow. _*****_

"I would suggest staying put might be the better option. Keep your eyes peeled, though. I am by no means saying we've seen the last of our blonde demon friend. And anyway, I believe Koenma is much closer to discovering the location of our next mission than he wanted us to think."

Kurama flicked some dirt from the shoulder of his coat, "As for food, there is a lovely ramen shack near here and I could go for a bowl of it myself."

"RAMEN!" Yusuke pumped a fist into the air, "WOO-HOO! Last one there pays the bill!" He took off down the street with Kuwabara protesting loudly and taking off after him.

Kurama waited until the other two were out of immediate earshot, "I don't suppose you were planning on checking to make sure Botan and Toriko make it safely, but if the thought hadn't occurred I would encourage you to consider it." He started to walk away from Hiei and waved a hand in goodbye without turning around to see if the fire demon followed or not.

~!**!~

"Here you are, girl." Botan had little trouble lowering the girl's tiny frame onto the bed in the room Botan assumed had to be hers.

Botan set down the books and things and sighed, eyes turning back to the injury Toriko acquired in the alleyway.

"These things are nasty." Botan stuck her tongue out at them.

She bent over Toriko to examine them, lodged halfway into the top of her shoulder with a solid six inches showing, but all of them no wider than a pencil at the end sticking out, tapering thinner until they disappeared into the fabric of her school uniform. Their silver, metallic sheen was cruel even in the near-darkness, and Botan reached over to turn on the lamp at the bedside table to her right. The yellow glow filled the room with warmth and Botan sighed again, kneeling down onto the floor and resting her elbows on the comforter, framing her face with her hands.

"I really don't know what to do. I could heal the wounds up from the inside and force the daggers out." Botan said aloud to no one in particular, reaching one hand over to gently touch one of the three daggers and pulling back quickly in shock of the sharpness.

The blades seemed to be able to cut from all sides, which explained how they'd gone so deep so quickly. Botan couldn't imagine the force with which the attacker threw them, and these were no ordinary daggers.

She heard a small meow from behind her and turned around to see a black cat with two differently colored eyes trot into the room.

"Hey, there." She reached a hand out which the cat obligingly took a sniff of before allowing her to stroke his head.

After one pet, the cat slipped around her and landed softly on the bed, his eyes worried as he made his way up to Toriko's shoulder and sat down on his haunches to regard the three daggers.

"I know." Botan frowned, "There's something odd about them and I'm not for sure what it is."

The cat said nothing, but continued to stare at the daggers.

"I guess I'll try again." Botan raised up onto her knees so she could reach both hands over to Toriko's shoulder, an otherworldly glow pulsing into existence between her hands and the shoulder.

"_Poison?" _Botan thought to herself, concentrating and testing the nature of the daggers. "_No. Not quite. But there __**is **__something..." _The light slowly faded and Botan's frown deepened. "_I guess I need to get them out, but it would be a lot easier to deal with the wounds if I knew what exactly was going on." _

Botan took the larger bottom portion of her kimono's sleeves and wound them around her hands before taken a hold of the first dagger and yanking it out as straight as she possibly could.

The fabric of her kimono did not tear, but Botan could feel the steely edge of the dagger nearly biting through. It took a great deal of effort to slip the dagger out, and as she did so she gasped, the hole left by the dagger suddenly ripping farther down the front of Toriko's shoulder, tearing both the skin and her school uniform.

Moving quickly, Botan dropped the dagger onto the bedside and reached to remove the other two weapons, the cat sniffing disapprovingly at the discarded blade while she did so.

Twice more she took out daggers, twice more Toriko's wounds grew larger until it looked as if some giant animal had swiped three nasty claws from the top of her shoulder down nearly three inches.

But the cuts, though deep, did not bleed, even when Botan tore that portion of Toriko's uniform open and held her hands over the openings. She grunted as the light swelled from her hands again, but the wounds did not cooperate, stubbornly remaining open, and Botan again got the feeling that something else was wrong, she was missing something important.

"_Botan. I need you back here."_

Botan ignored Koenma's call for a moment, a bead of sweat starting to trickle down the side of her face before she let go of her powers and sat back on her feet.

"_Botan." _Koenma's voice sounded more urgent.

"Well. I guess it's fine for now. I mean, she's not going to bleed to death, right?" She didn't sound very sure of herself. "I'll check back as soon as I can. You keep an eye on her, now, you hear?"

She aimed the last part at the cat as she stood up and swept up the three daggers from the bed, waving her other arm to call her oar into existence and sitting upon it, ducking as she swooped out the open window into the night sky. 3

Hiei nodded at Kurama and then turned away, taking off in the direction of Toriko's home, his entire being screaming at him to get there. He couldn't comprehend why he felt the urgent need to make sure she was okay. He merely followed his instincts; they hadn't failed him before.

He moved silently through the night, ignoring the sounds of the night life in the trees, of dogs barking throughout neighborhoods, among other animal sounds he didn't care for. He ignored them altogether, moving automatically and on autopilot until he reached Toriko's front lawn. Then, he thought for a moment, assessing the outside of the building before making up his mind.

Like usual, he turned to the trees and took his perch outside the bedroom window, looking into the room in time to see Botan form her oar in her hand. He moved to the shadows, though he didn't exactly know why, and waited until she was gone to slip into Toriko's room himself.

He stared at the open, not-bleeding wounds on Toriko's shoulder, confused. He hadn't seen something like this before now.

~!**!~

Akari walked along the sidewalk, hands in her pockets still and Nabu on her heels, occasionally pawing at her shoes. "_Please? You __**promised**__!" _he begged, a small bark shattering the quiet that had ensued for only a few minutes. "_A promise is a promise, Akari."_

The demon sighed. "Nabu, it's been a-"

"_It's been a long day, blah blah blah. You always say that. It can't be __**that **__hard to walk on two legs."_

An exasperated sigh was released as she glanced back at the puppy. "I'm sorry. I have a few things on my mind. Can we go in an hour or two?"

"_That's when you sleep!"_

"I don't plan on much sleep tonight, Nabu. Too many things to think about." she admitted, eyes moving forward again as she saw her little worn-down, ramshackle house in view down the street. "Go find your ball. That will be what we do for a while before going to the park, like I promised."

"_Yay!" _the dog yipped, over and over, as she climbed through the hole in the side of the building she took refuge in. She would have gone through the front door, but she had locked it earlier, without much thinking. Plus, the nearby humans wouldn't have liked someone going into an abandoned house by kicking in the front door- or even picking the lock. _*****_

"Your _friends _are rather persistent, Darling." Otento waited until the she-demon got inside before beginning to speak.

He twisted a small, thin blade around in his hands before slipping it away somewhere on his person.

"I _will _have 'Toriko' sooner or later, but I suppose I'll just have to wait." He smiled and looked up at her, casually staying leaned up against a nearby wall, "I've been waiting a long time, but it's made me quite patient. If you'll assist me in her capture, I can _guarantee_ you a place in our little family."

~!**!~

Maneshi's ears dropped back in distress as he regarded the gashes on Toriko's shoulder and he lay down hunched up on the comforter, a fuzzy ball of worry as Hiei entered the room.

He crept forward inquisitively and stuck his nose as close to the wounds as he dared, sticking his small pink tongue out and tasting the air, moving his head as if to lick the openings before thinking twice and drawing back again, feeling something icky about the marks.

His brow furrowed together and he scraped his tongue across one of the gouges before he could change his mind, immediately jumping backwards with a horrible expression on his kitty-face, tongue hanging out of his mouth with a great sense of distaste.

He even went so far as to begin licking the comforter frantically, trying to remove the flavor and essence of what he'd just done from his tongue. When he stopped, he sat back down on his haunches again, but tip of his pink tongue stuck out of his closed mouth and his expression was still displeased.

Toriko had not moved up until that point, even at the lick of Maneshi's rough tongue, her breath shaky, but steady, no other signs of life from her and her eyes closed behind the thick lenses of her glasses. As Maneshi stared down at her with his tongue out, she began to shiver and blood began to rise sluggishly from one of the wounds, moving so slowly that even when it reached the inside edge of the gash from which it came, it stopped, forming a tense dome but not spilling over as blood started to appear within the other two tears as well.

Maneshi's tongue disappeared into his mouth and he moved back to her, placing a curious paw on part of her exposed skin at the shoulder where her uniform had been torn, but far enough away that he did not get blood on himself. He drew back and shuddered, able to still feel the absolute chill of her that she left on the pad of his paw and briefly shaking the limb in an attempt to rid himself of the clamminess. 3

Hiei inspected the small wounds much like the cat did- minus the tongue. He stepped forward, leaning over the girl and assessing the gouges in her skin. He didn't understand it at all. She had been impaled by knives, but no blood was to be seen. Not at first anyways.

As soon as Maneshi pulled away, flipping out over the taste of whatever was there, Hiei could smell the movement of her blood, the scent getting stronger as it rose to the surface of her wounds slowly. He didn't see it for a few minutes, but he knew it was there. Anger boiled. Why would Botan drop this and just leave Toriko in this state? A small growl left his lips. If only Akari had taken the hit instead, there'd be less trouble in the world. He wouldn't have to deal with this little escapade that was going on- whatever it was.

He eyed the cat as Maneshi calmed down, now curiously pawing at the girl. His reaction to her skin made the fire demon curious as well, and he too stretched a hand out, just touching Toriko's face. She felt cold to him, but then again, most things did. While the cold didn't bother him, he could feel the temperature difference between himself and the girl. He scowled and looked to Maneshi, speaking to the cat without much thought about it.

"What do you suppose this is?"

~!**!~

Akari ducked into the hole in the wall, Nabu bouncing on his feet behind her impatiently. The moment her nose smelled the air of the house, she knew there was an intruder, and she paused, looking up briefly. With a smile at the male, she continued, standing at her full height near the makeshift entrance to the building. "Why do you care for the girl?" she questioned, genuinely curious, but now with gears turning in her head. `"She isn't very popular, not even amongst the humans. What's got you wrapped about her?"

Her head tilted a bit to the side, calmly assessing the movements he made, eyes seeing the blade he slowly slid out of her sight. _A silent warning. _"And what family? I haven't been spoken to about anything yet." _*****_

Otento sighed, "I _told _him you'd be of great benefit, but he never listens to me the first time around. As for the girl, she's not only of great interest to me for more personal reasons, but she's titular in our plans. Whether you assist me or not, we _will_ have her. And soon."

He smiled, "It'll be up to you to decide which side you want to be one when the battle lines are drawn, and should you choose the winning side, I'll be in touch." He turned to leave.

~!**!~

Maneshi knew Hiei had to be speaking to him, and he fought to move beyond his cat-self, staring unblinkingly at the fire demon, but visibly tensing, trying to break free in order to talk back. He shook his head violently and squeezed his eyes shut as the smell of Toriko's sluggish blood invaded his delicate nose and the thought of her possibly dying let him tear past the overlying cat he'd been stuck as for much too long.

"_She.." _He struggled for a moment longer, gritting his teeth together, "_The daggers..." _He opened his eyes again and turned his head up to Hiei, "_It's a virus. Saps her heat in the first stages." _

He stuck his tongue back out at the thought, remembering the awful taste, "_I have no means of which to cauterize her wounds, but closing them is the first step. Her life energy is leaking out through them as we speak and it will do so in exponentially larger amounts until she is dead." _

He looked back over at the blood, unable to feel her life energy draining, but her shivering grew stronger and he stepped up onto her stomach, curling up and attempting to share whatever warmth he could with her, laying his head down over his front paws. 3

Hiei eyed the cat patiently, waiting for an answer as he seemed to struggle. He realized that Maneshi must have the same sort of story as Toriko, as two different persons inside one. In this case, a cat. It seemed the feline persona was stronger though, and that made him much more patient than he normally would have been, despite his growing unease.

When Maneshi finally answered, Hiei released a small breath, as if he hadn't thought the cat would answer him at all. He listened, his eyes roving over the girl on the bed as he took in the new information. A virus? He hadn't heard of such a thing being used as a weapon, other than chemical warfare. For a few moments, he felt like it was something that might just wash away, vanish after a while. But at the cat's last few words, his eyes widened and he gritted his teeth, his fingers flexing as a small part of him bowed up in anger and slight desperation. He was her protector, yet he had not a clue of what to do.

So he did the first thing that came to mind: he extended his own heat to her by letting his energy unfoil around him quietly, in small amounts so that the heat wouldn't be overbearing. If she was losing body heat, would this help counter it? He looked back at Maneshi. "How do you stop such a virus?" He briefly thought about calling upon Kurama, but for the moment, he didn't know if it was necessary, or if Maneshi could tell him of a way to get it taken care of without the help of others.

~!**!~

Akari eyed Otento, weary and yet interested, curious. The girl was necessary? Why? What could she do that would help a team of demons? What did they want to do overall? She raised a brow, indicating her unspoken questions and her waiting for him to continue, but he did not. Instead, he turned to leave, and her frown become more prominent.

"That's it?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. "That's all you have to offer? A _family _circle? Listen, I've been sold that very same story, and look where it ended me. I would consider your offer, except that you only extended it with vague words and instructions of meeting, which haven't happened before now. You're in and out. The last man that offered me a _family _the way you are, ended up trying to kill me. Understand, I do not take that lightly. If you want me to join your ranks that bad, you are going to have to provide me with something to go on, other than claiming of a family." _*****_

Otento stopped when the girl began speaking, a ghost of a smile passing over his features. "This man...he was a _human_ making an offer, no?"

It almost wasn't a question, but he posed it before turning back around to regard her thoughtfully, letting the words sink in before going on.

"You're in league with four _very_ infamous males who are strongly tied to the Spirit Realm. And you question our caution? True, you are a catch in and of yourself, I won't deny, but it isn't as if we absolutely need you for our plans to go off without a hitch. I extend the offer only because I know how wretched it can be having to slave underneath another human. Demons deal with things much differently than any human or inhabitant of the Spirit World. So, what about yourself? What can you offer _me _to prove that you _aren't _simply going to run off to your master with whatever information I pass along?"

~!**!~

Maneshi's ears perked as Hiei's energy wove around the room, but his eyes never left Toriko.

"_You are...fire demon, correct? If you have the ability, first cauterize the wound. We can take care of the virus after her life energy has stopped bleeding away. That is the more immediate problem." _

The image he projected into Hiei's mind was of a heated knife burning the skin of an open wound back together. Painful, but necessary. Though, in place of the knife, a fire demon's heat and hand could do much the same kind of searing of the gouged area, if the demon knew how to control it. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Maneshi, but nodded in response to his question. He would have thought that his abnormally high body temperature would have given it away to someone like Maneshi, who seemed very well educated in the manner of demons and all things alike. He considered addressing that, but didn't; now wasn't the time for idle chat, he knew. Instead, he stayed silent, listening to the breathing of Toriko and the voice that spoke in his mind again.

This time, when his eyes turned to Maneshi again, it was in slight disbelief at the image he had been shown. But he recovered quickly, realizing it was the only way to do this. He ground his teeth and huffed a breath of air through them, hearing it whistle just a bit. "You want me to burn her skin, while she can still feel it?" he clarified, eyes closing in preparation. There was a reluctance to this, but there was also the feeling of duty masking it, telling him it had to be done and he had to be the one who did it. "Fine."

Hiei's eyes slid open again and he stepped forward, now standing so that his thighs nearly touched the edge of the bed. he raised flexing hands, thinking, concentrating hard on how much energy he put into them. "This better work," he grumbled before he made contact, feeling and even hearing the heat reacting with her cold skin.

~!**!~

Akari blinked at Otento in surprise at his words, the way he shaped them so that they struck her very core, almost made her angry at the fact that he seemed to rub in her naivety about the situation that had been dealt then. However, as he continued to speak, she was slowly growing a smile, a slightly angry and malicious smile that bared her teeth. After a moment of silence in the room, she let out a laugh.

"If you believe I consider them my bosses, then I don't think you've been observing very well." she retorted, arms crossing tighter across her chest as she met his gaze squarely. "I can assure you, they do not appeal to my interest even in the slightest. It's merely the only way I could keep from being killed at the time of the contract." Her eyes rolled to the ceiling, as if thinking. Truthfully, she wasn't sure what to do, but she wanted to do something about the situation she'd messed up. And this seemed to be the easiest way, so far.

"If I hadn't told them of the invitation, why would I tell them of your plans?" she suddenly countered, a brow raised. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't enjoy associating with the group of misfits. Her smile grew, her demeanor shifting to calm again as she continued talking. "As long as I am not dragged around like a puppet, I don't think we'll have much of a problem. I do, after all, enjoy my free roam." _*****_

Otento's gaze was unrelenting as she spoke, as if his eyes could bore into her very soul.

He waved a hand dismissively and broke his sudden mood, "That's all very fine and good, I suppose. We could consider you a probationary member for the moment if you'd like."

He put one hand in his pocket, acting as if the conversation were drawing to a close, but lifting the other and holding up two fingers, "In two day's time, you'll receive information that will guide you near our base of operations, and I will meet you there if you're for certain about joining us. It'll be up to you to decide."

He pointed at her, "But _don't _show up unless you're prepared to abdicate your current status as a lackey of Spirit World. The boss won't be pleased to have someone try and double-cross him." Otento took his leave.

~!**!~

Toriko's eyes flew open as Hiei touched her, her instinct to rise up the instant she felt the pain, her muscles tensing in agony, and at the exact same moment, Maneshi rose up onto his feet and hissed angrily, arching his back and the fur on his body standing on end.

"_DON'T YOU DARE MOVE." _He seethed, glaring at her and accidentally projecting his thoughts into the air where both Hiei and Toriko could hear them, though he spoke specifically to Toriko and it was obvious. He planted his paws firmly on her torso and his claws extended slightly into her uniform, his tail lashing once.

She trembled in pain and coldness both, but made no sound, her lips slightly parted in a pant and her eyes staring up at nothing as Hiei continued to work, her mind filled with only the excruciating pain of her skin being sealed together.

"_Oh, come now, love. It's not __**that **__bad." _A sultry voice whispered to her from the back of her mind. "_I've been through much, much worse and lived to revel in it."_

Toriko's eyes slowly closed as the voice continued to speak.

"_You simply have to embrace the __**pleasure **__in the pain. The two are in fact the same thing, after all." _The voice coaxed Toriko's attention away from the closing wounds, and as Hiei finished, it faded away into slumber once more. 3

FOr a mere second, Hiei grit his teeth and shot a glare at Maneshi, his silent way of telling him to keep her calm, though he wasn't sure that was possible. He could _smell _what he was doing to her flesh, and it made his stomach roll, even though he'd smelled this many times before. He still held his hands in place, watching Toriko's wounds as they bubbled and burned, sealing together with the amount of heat and pressure Hiei applied. For once in his life, the smell almost sickened him, the tense girl underneath him made his stomach churn.

Though, it was soon over, and after a few minutes, he pulled away, letting his energy quiet and pull away, becoming hidden once more. His eyes turned expectantly to the cat, a frown on his face as if to say he hoped to never do that again. It had almost been physically painful to him as well, as if there was some sort of bond…

He closed his eyes at the thought. How foolish he had been. Of course there was a bond. The bond of the promise. That's why she'd said it would kill her to break it. He released a slow breath through his teeth before opening his eyes again, expectantly watching the cat. "And now?"

~!**!~

Akari felt her smile widen at Otento and her head tilted to the side a little at him. She waited until he was done talking to let her arms fall to her sides, a single hand pulling out the note he'd handed her a little over a week ago. Still neat and folded, she held it up between her index finger and her middle finger, just be her face to show she was about to reference it. "So I assume the meeting of Big Boss Man isn't happening until then?" she said casually, tossing it aside carelessly. "Alright, fine. Whatever floats your boat, blondie."

She then gave a small wave and a nod. "Have a nice trip home. See you whenever." This time, she made no attempt to stop Otento from leaving. And when he was gone, she turned to Nabu, who stared up at her with round, brown eyes filled with confusion.

"_Are you going to be mean to people?"_

AKari gave a huffy laugh and turned away. "Of course not. I haven't intentionally harmed a person yet, Nabu, and I won't begin now. I will not fall to the status of those who have befallen me."

"_But I thought-"_

"It's okay, Nabu. I have this under control."

"_So…. does that mean we can go play now?" __*****_

~!**!~

Maneshi sighed when the deed had finished and walked over to Toriko's shoulder, starting to lick at the bits of blood left behind and the tender, pink skin Hiei newly cauterized together.

"_Now?" _He looked up at Hiei briefly before returning his head to her shoulder to begin licking again, "_Now, we have merely bought ourselves more time. The virus will turn inward and begin eating through her demonic energy first. It's a rare virus that died out in Demon World eons ago." _

He mused quietly to himself for a moment, then went on, "_If she is strong enough, she will be able fight it off, but she currently does not have enough energy at her disposal to live through the battle. Whoever did this had to know her condition." _

He sat down on the bed on his belly as he worked, curling his front paws underneath himself, "_I cannot try to reach Shikiyoku and do this work with any sort of efficiency." _

Maneshi's eyes flickered over to Toriko's face, pale and drawn. She shivered again. "_We will need her complete help if we are to save her, but we need her __**now**_ _before it is too late. Toriko blocks much of her own power because she fears it, and it will be her undoing in this instance." _

Maneshi paused his work to stare at Toriko and feathered his consciousness into Toriko's mind tentatively. There were no coherent thoughts, only an awareness that her breathing was shallow but she needed to keep breathing, and an overwhelming desire to rid herself of the cruel chill that settled over her bones.

Maneshi did not feel Shikiyoku's immediate presence, but he knew the woman had to be stirring somewhere at the prospect of her impending death. He withdrew into himself completely for full concentration and went back to licking at Toriko's wounds, a soft glow settling on her skin as he covered it fervently with a wet sheen from his rough tongue. 3

Hiei listened to the feline, taking in each word and thinking about them each and their meanings, their implications. Briefly, he felt the feline's consciousness leave his own mind, his head turning to Toriko and his eyes glossing over only slightly, telling the fire demon what he needed to know. By the time he understood exactly what Maneshi was saying, he was sitting on the edge of the bed beside the girl, dark eyes watching the wounds carefully as the rough cat tongue raked over them. He could see them glowing, and he figured Maneshi had a power of his own, but brushed the thought away.

Instead, he blocked out the cat entirely, not giving him the ability to say more even if he tried. He instead concentrated on Toriko, searched for the subtle change from the human to the demon, Shikiyoku as Maneshi had referred to her as. And, after a moment of feeling around in the girl's consciousness, he felt the small difference, and the discovery made his eyes light up with determination and a spark of slight anger. "_Wake up," _he commanded of the demon, his mental voice strong and unrelenting. "_You have no time for sleep." _He paused, waiting for a moment before his energy bombarded her; perhaps if she became uncomfortable with the extreme temperature change, it'd stir her as well. "_Shikiyoku, you __**will **__listen to me. You __**will **__wake up, and you __**will not **__die. Not today." _*****

A voice called to her from somewhere far away, stirring her from her slumber. At first, she thought perhaps it was Toriko, but quickly dismissed the idea. The girl never talked with her. She was too afraid to. And besides, this voice sounded less incompetent than what she expected from Toriko.

As she woke up further, still half-asleep, she cringed as she immediately felt the oppression of Toriko's consciousness bare down on her, pushing her farther away. Even in her drowsy state, she knew there was something wrong, something more than the simple jolt of pain that had let her briefly console her mostly-human side, the side she had been forced for over a decade to hide behind.

The remembrance of the warrant the Spirit World had out for her arrest made her cower deeper within the embrace of Toriko's prominent personality. They had promised to tear out her hair, to rip out her eyes. She trembled at the thought and withdrew underneath the blanket of Toriko's mental arms. She had done everything within her power to slip between their fingers, and this was the price she now faced, to hide behind the one thing that had been more powerful an emotion than any passion she'd ever known.

Fear. And that fear had taken the shape of a timid persona whose strength far outweighed whatever drive she had left to fight it. She had doomed herself to this fate in order to survive, but had her continued life been worth the price? It did not matter. Not now. Not when it was already done. Her awareness fluttered in an effort to break past the sleep. But sleep was so nice. Sleep. And dreams. 3

Hiei scowled, almost growled, when he felt her stir, and then retract from him. Really, he hadn't connected with the strong demon persona, but he had felt it, felt her interest at first. And then something had made her go back to how she had been. And that made the insides of Hiei boil in irritation.

"_I made this ridiculous pact with you, and you aren't letting me keep up my end of the deal," _he snarled into her head, his energy continuing to flux in and out around him to continually change the room temperature, still using it as an odd tactic in hopes she'd notice and dislike it. "_I don't know nor care what has you cowering like a child behind its mother, but you __**will **__be waking up, even if I have to force you to. __**Wake up, you foolish coward." **_If anything, he knew how much he angered this woman when he called her silly insults. And for now, he would use it to his advantage. "_**Or maybe you actually wish to die like a coward? **__How foolish. A demon going so far as to hide herself, so she wouldn't be killed, only to kill herself by letting something so simple as a virus run through you. Perhaps you deserve what you've gotten." __*****_

Hidden as far behind Toriko as she was, falling back into sleep as she had, it was not so much the voice's words that made her proverbial blood run cold with irritation-as she could not make out exactly what was said-so much as the emotion woven into the things whispered against her consciousness. _That_ much of it did reach her and she began to shake again, but this time in fury at the very _nerve _of this mind touching hers that felt like such a youngling, ordering her about as she somehow got the feeling he was.

"_N-no," _Toriko tightened her hold, her cage, about her other side, "_No, you can't." _It was Toriko's turn to tremble. Even if she didn't understand why, she knew for a fact that this parent-persona inside her could not be set free.

"_It is saying __**horrible **__things about me, child." _She protested, almost whining before demanding of Toriko, "_Let. Me. Go." _She struggled harder, writhing within Toriko's grasp and rattling against the bars of her prison.

"_N-no. What he's saying doesn't matter! P-please, please don't go!"_

"_He is a NUISANCE is what he is! Why did you let him in here in the first place! Let me drive him out!" _She gathered the chains that held her, "_Let. ME. OUT!" _

With each word she pulled at the links of mental metal that bound her, heaving one final jerk and managing to wrest power from the girl, unleashing the entire pent-up fury that she had been boiling onto the intruder in her own mind and practically shrieking at him, "_How DARE you!" _3

Hiei felt the being stir again, and this time, he silenced, waiting. He could feel the growing energy, so his own retracted, leaving the room at a normal temperature, but his consciousness stayed within hers, feeling the struggle between the two personas. He waited as patiently as he could, his very soul quivering, telling him he was wasting time, losing the person who he had sworn to keep safe. He hadn't realized how dutiful he felt towards this situation, but a very strong part of him was extremely distraught at the thought that the person he'd promised to protect, had bound himself to, was dying all because he hadn't thought of an attack being launched at her.

Suddenly, he felt the stronger persona win out, and his own mind was bombarded with a rather loud exclamation. Despite that, he found a sneer forming on his face briefly before it disappeared. He didn't wait for her to realize something was wrong. "_You are dying, and as your Protector, as you said before, it is my job to keep you alive. This is the only way." _He waited, forcing his mind's voice to sound calm despite his inner emotions. "_I assume you want to live, but Toriko's energy is depleted." __*****_

She checked herself and withdrew her sudden outburst almost as quickly as she'd released it, floating at about a simmer until Hiei, as she now recognized the presence out from under Toriko's veil, continued speaking.

Her former rage as whatever he'd said previously drained away, but instead of some sort of resolve at his proclamation, she fell into a resignation, uncaring as to whether he sensed it or not, but waiting until he finished to give him her wry reply.

"_...and if I die, you're released from my service." _She gave the mental equivalent of a shrug, "_So, what should I care about my fate? For that matter, what should __**you **__care? You'll get your 'freedom' and I won't have to live like __**this**_ _anymore." _She accompanied the words with the impression of a gesture to indicate her prison.

"_Leave me alone." _She hadn't meant to sound quite so dejected, but with him inside her mind, she felt exposed at the realization that she could not as well hide as she was used to.

While she could not literally turn her back to him in a physical sense, she did so mentally, expecting him to pull away. 3

Hiei had felt the shift, but had spoken anyways, at first not caring that she had simply calmed the way she had. However, he was struck by her words with a strong sense of confusion; he hadn't ever actually met a demon who wanted to die. He had normally only seen demons foolishly challenging him, thinking because of his small size, he would perish quickly. He had always said they had a death wish, but really, he'd never met someone who had outright decided they didn't care if they lived or not, much less simply give up and allow death to take them. At first, he was speechless, confused by the surprise and the even stronger emotions that raged on.

In a second though, he felt a single emotion win over, and without meaning to, he gave an audible laugh. It was a dry, humorless laugh, but louder than a laugh he'd ever shown another. His strongest emotion came forth: distaste. Disdain. Disgust.

"_You're even weaker than I had imagined. Not only do you now have a protector, but you're throwing him away because of a selfish desire. You're weak, just like your human persona. Dying merely because you dislike being caged." _he paused, releasing every ounce of his disgust into her mind so that she knew how much he felt towards her words. "_You're worse than the filth you enchant. You're worse than a common slave." _His thoughts became darker, but at the same time, he said something that wasn't exactly dark. In fact, it was probably the nicest thing he'd ever say to a person, even with the disgusted tone he used. "_If you dislike a situation so much, you __**change **__it, not kill yourself and run away. Coward." _And with that, he drew away.. If she wanted to counter him, she'd have to live to do so. _*****_

Hiei left her by herself.

"_Good riddance. Meddling youngling. Sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."_

He may not have been privy to her thoughts, but she made them anyway, feeling Toriko almost toddling up behind her in the meantime.

"_I could overwhelm his sensibilities with a single THOUGHT if I so desired!" _She yelled it after him almost because of the fact that he was already gone. "_How's THAT for weak, you stupid kid?!" _

"_Sh-Shiki?" _

She paused in the middle of angrily shaking her fist at her empty mind, feeling something coming in contact with her leg, and her heart nearly stopping at her name. No, not even her name, but a nickname in fact. A pet-name. She looked down to see Toriko clutching at the leg of her pants.

"_Poor child...you are so young." _She dropped down to one knee and Toriko came around and threw her arms about Shikiyoku's neck. "_You are just a toddler where I come from. Barely one decade under your belt."_

Toriko pulled back far enough to look herself in the eyes and Shikiyoku nearly started back at their shine of tears, unsure how to handle them.

"_Sh-Shiki...I don't want to die..."_

She heaved a sigh, one that held over a thousand years of breath, over a thousand years of memory. She finally sat all the way down and drew the younger one into her lap to coddle her.

"_You can't understand." _She spoke as if to both herself and Hiei. "_You are too young. And I would bet you've never even __**had **__a chance to sit down and talk with a demon as old as me, EH?" _She began the last part dryly, but nearly shouted it up at the ceiling of her mind as she finished.

She sighed again and rested her chin on the top of Toriko's head. "_Some protector. Hmph." _She let a snort of disapproval out through her nose, "_Flat out accuses me of tricking him into it, and then practically eats me alive when I offer a solution." _

She looked down as Toriko trembled once in her arms, reaching over to stroke her hair and feeling very strange. "_Shh, child. Hush." _She wasn't quite sure how she felt about essentially consoling herself.

She silently fought back and forth with her options, wishing that she had the luxury to do so all the time. And if it weren't for some very specific complications... She glared down at Toriko, wishing that the girl could understand and accept herself, but the original reason for her creation slipped across her memories and she shuddered.

Standing abruptly, she let go of Toriko and stood over her, hands defiantly on her hips. Toriko looked up at her, eyes wide and full of questions. She refused to look down for a moment longer, but finally dropped her gaze and let out a small noise of protest as she gave in.

"_Alright, __**fine."**_

Toriko clapped her hands and began skipping about Shikiyoku's legs.

"_But I'm not doing this for HIM, I'm doing it for YOU."_

Toriko stopped in her front as Shikiyoku made her declaration, her hands clasped together and her eyes bright, though her expression turned solemn at the end of her short speech and she spoke up quite seriously as only a child can.

"_He __**is **__rather attractive, isn't he."_

Shikiyoku frowned, scrunching her face together at the girl's announcement. "_Shaddup, you scrawny weakling."_

"_Yes, Shiki." _Toriko replied, turning her face down in obedience.

She rose to engulf their mind with her consciousness and Toriko faded away completely. She searched very carefully within her thoughts for the remnants of the pact that she could not recall forming with the fire demon, finding it and scraping through it for the bond they had. Without her memory of their agreement, she did not have as complete control of the bond, but she could feel through it that he was still nearby.

A wicked grin spread over her mental thoughts and she reached through their bond with as much demonic energy as she could muster with the seals still coveting her power.

She didn't figure he would understand exactly what was happening, and the pact threatened her silently that she was towing a thin line, but she dismissed it and grabbed for Hiei's attention with as much of her abilities as she could muster, seducing him back to her mind so that she could talk with him and get him to take the stupid bobby pins out of her hair.

Her voice took on its usual sultry purr as she coaxed him back, "_Alright. C'mere you __**sexy, **__flame-retardant little __**bastard. **__Let's see who the weak one __**really **__is around here. We've still got words..." _3

* * *

Shiki \- simply another way to shorten 'Shikiyoku.' Personally, I have always equated 'Shiki' as something a younger or more childish demon might call her (sort of similar to the honorific -chan if you're familiar with those), but in any case it's always seemed like a slightly more endearing term, whereas 'Yoku' seems more like -san, that is more formal or respectful.

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	14. Episode 99 - Healing Releases Her

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dearest Readers!

Not much to say here other than hope you enjoy it!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Otento manages to escape the grasp of the gang, but not before injuring Toriko.

Back in Koenma's office, the group learns that there is a demon running around Human World pretending to be Youko Kurama,  
and Otento is assisting him.

Afterwards, Akari and Nabu head to the park and Botan takes Toriko home.

However, Koenma calls Botan back and Hiei appears, called by the bond between he and Toriko.

Maneshi talks Hiei through cauterizing her wounds and then the cat takes to healing her,  
but there was a virus that the blades were laced with that are eating away at her power.

Only Shikiyoku will be capable of fighting the virus off, but it is a matter of convincing her to do so.

In the end, it is Toriko herself who manages to draw Shikiyoku out and Shikiyoku turns her thoughts to Hiei to get his attention...

* * *

Hiei sat back with his arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed in irritation and slight disappointment. He waited, though he held little to no patience within himself at all. Part of him doubted that Shikiyoku would comply and simply emerge, but there was a part of him that figured she'd just need to think about it. Of course, there wasn't much time, so he kept watching Toriko, gauging whether he would have to reconnect with her and force her out, though he didn't know if it was possible. He'd never tried before.

His eyes were glued on Toriko, watching her breathing as Maneshi continued to lick at the wounds. He ignored the cat, watching Toriko, waiting for any sign of change.

And then suddenly, he felt an odd feeling sweep over him. His eyes widened as he recognized the feeling of another mind beckoning to him, calling for his attention. He searched the planes of the girl's face for changes, but nothing changed other than his thoughts about them. For a moment, he didn't recognize the shift in his thoughts, his calm demeanor masking them entirely. But after a moment, he realized that this must be how she grabbed his attention when necessary. He realized it could be her power, and a small part of him boiled at the thought.

Immediately, his mind touched hers. "_That's not necessary." _he said quickly, teeth grinding only a bit. "_What is it? Decide to play along?" __*****_

She pouted at him from with her mind, "_Well, I can't exactly call to you in the conventional sense. I don't remember our pact so it won't let me." _

She shifted gears, her words steely and cold as if she spoke through gritted teeth, "_And let me make one thing __**perfectly **__clear to you, flame-boy: I am NOT doing this for YOU. Not because you asked me, not because you are suddenly acting as if you want me to. Because if I was doing __**anything**_ _for you, it'd be letting myself die so that you would be rid of me, since you seem to find your prospects with me so utterly distasteful." _

If she were standing in front of him, she would have been pointing at him and spitting the words out like so much venom. As it were, she primly let go of her mental barrage and went to business, "_Now, if I'm needed so very badly, I'm not sure what exactly prevented you from removing my seals. You would do __**well **__to remember their presence should any __**actual **__emergency arise. I can do little here within their prison should they still be in place." _3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, but said nothing at her words of him not being the reason she decided to live. Normally, he would have sneered and made more than just a few more snide comments, but there was a part in him that said he didn't have the time to play games anymore. It held his lips glued together, listening quietly, obediently, as she spoke of her seals.

Yes, he had remembered them, but for some reason, he hadn't thought them much of an issue. He supposed his own emotions had masked his rationality enough to keep him from considering the thought again. So, without even a simple response, Hiei withdrew once more, leaving her alone in her consciousness as he returned to the bedroom he had been sitting in. His eyes focused after a moment, and merely because it was easier, he moved and turned Toriko so that she lay on her stomach, face buried in the pillow, but in such a way that it was turned enough to earn oxygen as she breathed. He didn't care at the moment about her comfort. He merely began pulling pins from her head, remembering where each and every one was.

It didn't surprise him that they had been replaced in the exact same places as before; it must have been an extreme sense of routine, having gotten accustomed to placing them in a very precise way. In moments, they were all in his hand, and he had removed her glasses as well, setting everything over on the stand by the bed and pulling her so that she lay on her back again.

He stood back, waiting with arms crossed over his chest. _*****_

Maneshi voiced a small bit of kitty-protest at his work being disrupted, but his eyes widened as he watched Hiei remove the bobby pins almost within the same instant that he turned the girl over, pulling her back.

From within, Shikiyoku could feel her energy becoming more and more free, though this time since she was already awake and aware, she had full control by the time she found she could open her eyes and push herself sitting onto the bed. That was her first mistake

The entire time, it had been Toriko carrying the pain of the virus, and her body's nervous system took a brief reboot before slamming Shikiyoku with the same agony Toriko had been baring.

Shikiyoku found herself staring up at the ceiling not a half second after she rose, her mind going into a brief black-out so that she did not remember falling back down. She immediately cringed at the pain that tore through her bones and muscles, most specifically sucking away her demonic energy. She had more than enough to spare, but the feeling was so foreign and alien that it was all she could do to take a few ragged breaths while her brain caught up with the sensation.

"Wh..." She took another breath before being able to continue, "What's happening?" Her voice sounded odd to her own ears. "Kamis, my shoulder hurts." She followed up just as quickly, wishing she had the strength to reach over and clutch at it.

Maneshi moved back to it and began cleaning it again.

She shuddered as the final piece fell into place and she felt the deathly chill that lingered across her entire body. That was perhaps the most sapping aspect of all, her perception of the cold one akin to the life, and as a result heat, draining out of her one shiver at a time. 3

Hiei wasn't surprised when Shikiyoku emerged with complete control and sat up, nor was he surprised when she fell right back down again, eyes blankly staring up at the ceiling. He waited, watching her gather her thoughts and gauge the situation, the amount of pain he suddenly realized she hadn't been aware of. He hadn't thought of Toriko being the one bearing it all.

He seemed to be underestimating a lot recently.

"It's ill advised that you move," he said slowly, not caring if he sounded like a smartass. As soon as the question left her lips, he had his own open to respond with information, all that he knew had happened. "A demon visited Toriko earlier tonight. Before he left, and before I could even attack, he struck her- your- shoulder with three blades. I myself hadn't seen them, but I assume they were coated with a catalyst. A catalyst for a virus that now is spreading through your body, killing you from the inside out. I sealed the wounds on your shoulder so that you would not bleed out both blood and energy, but that's all it seems I can do." He paused, eyeing her slowly. "You have to fight it yourself." _*****_

Shikiyoku opened one eye half-mast and regarded Hiei thoughtfully as he spoke, though she almost as quickly shut it, silently grumbling within her mind something in relation to Toriko's earlier comment about the fire demon being passably attractive. At just the sight of him and the sound of his voice, her heart skipped a beat as if she were half her actual age and with twenty times less the experience. She immediately dismissed it as cabin fever, having been locked up for so long, but it did stir her demonic energy a bit in the excitement before she could fight it back down, rebelling against her inherent nature for his sake and willing her scent and energy away, though simultaneously causing herself more pain.

She shivered again at the cold as he kept going, but felt odd at Hiei's willingness to pass along what he knew and unsure if a voiced expression of her thanks would be permissible to him. Or if he would even accept it.

The pain of the virus washed over her mind in wave after wave of agony once he stopped and she clenched her teeth together before a thought suddenly occurred. She could not speak for another handful of ragged breaths, but she gathered strength and then did so.

"Say...say something else." She ordered of him. "If you want to help," She added almost apologetically for what she knew to have sounded like a harsh demand, "Say something. Anything. ...please..." 3

Hiei raised a brow in slight confusion at the sudden demand, and he took in her expression that continued to grow riddled with more and more pain. He wondered if the thoughts of the virus made her feel the pain more prominently, and as she continued to practically beg for something else to be said, he mentally scrambled. Contrary to his inner thoughts, his expression turned blank, as if he were thinking of nothing more than "uh…", which was completely opposite of how he was, but exactly how he felt. What would he say that would console her? No, maybe it didn't have to be consolation?

He cleared his throat and released a small breath. He thought some more before deciding to go with something small. "The cat is interesting." _*****_

Shikiyoku's laugh was pained and airy, not lasting longer than a second or two, her lips parting in a small smile.

"I...I have no idea where she got him." She admitted, unable to recall the memory as Toriko held it.

At his being the subject of their conversation, Maneshi paused in mid-lick to regard them both before going back to his work, close to the last portion of what had been the third gash.

"_She found me." _He spoke into the air so they could both hear him. "_She __**rescued**_ _me." _He clarified after a pause.

His eyes flickered over to Shikiyoku's face, his skin prickling with the awareness that she was in much more pain than she should have been at this stage of the virus, also knowing that her plea for conversation was a cry for distraction. And as macabre as he knew his thoughts were on the matter being what she was, it should have been a simple, if masochistic matter to twist the pain she felt into pleasure. Something else was going on, but he did not know what. 3

Hiei was a bit taken aback by the laugh he earned, but showed no signs of it on his features. He simply stared at her, watching her for any signs of her energy winning out- or failing, though he didn't want to consider it for reasons even he didn't understand. He frowned slightly, then nearly jumped when Maneshi's voice entered the conversation. He looked to the cat, raising a brow. He wanted to know more of the story, but didn't want to distract the cat from his healing, or so he assumed it was.

So he turned to Toriko- or rather, Shikiyoku- again, and eyed her carefully. "You said before that you do not remember our pact. Why is that?" _*****_

"The simple answer is that I am not the one who made it with you, in the strictest sense." She paused for another breath, "Toriko offered it and I had little to nothing to do with it."

Maneshi finished his job and sat back to examine it, bending over twice more to cover places he did not think were done well enough before finally heaving a sigh. The pain in Shikiyoku's voice drew his gaze back to her face once more and he frowned, sensing something else that he hadn't considered before.

"_Yoku! What are you doing?" _He aimed at her, a bit of desperation creeping into his voice.

She did little else to acknowledge she heard him but opening her eyes slightly and looking over at him before closing them again.

"I have a question for you." She said aloud to Hiei, "How exactly did the pact come about?" 3

Hiei frowned, stalled a little by glancing at the cat. He eyed Maneshi curiously before turning back to Shikiyoku. He eyed her as well, as if her question was loaded with dangerous ammunition. But, he didn't lie; he felt that he couldn't, as if he were physically restrained from doing so. "She was attacked by a demon who's been around. I happened to be nearby when her energy went berserk." He paused, thinking back, the memory still a bit vague though he remembered most of the circumstances after the demon's leave. There were still small holes, but nothing of importance he deduced. "As defenseless as she is, I interfered. When I was about to leave, however, she convinced me to stay, to make sure he did not return." _*****_

Shikiyoku sighed, "I vaguely remember something of that night. And as we are one in the same, so is our defenselessness. Our energy is only to coerce, not attack. The more we try to use it offensively, the more it coerces whoever is within our grasp. This is a problem, as I'm sure you witnessed, for which there is no solution."

As soon as she finished speaking, Maneshi spoke to her again, his eyes still staring in her direction, "_What do you think you're doing?" _He demanded, "_You cannot continue this, this nonsense!"_

Her eyes opened again, less so than before, a cloud of pain over her forehead, but said nothing as she glanced his way, her eyes flickering reflexively at Hiei before fluttering shut again.

"_You __**have **__to let go. If you keep it up, you're only prolonging your agony."_

"_Then so be it!" _Shikiyoku barked at him. "_Not another word out of you!"_

Maneshi visibly cringed back from her silent outburst. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the female, listening idly as she spoke, his eyes slowly moving around the room instead. He was searching for something, but he didn't know what. Perhaps another distraction topic? Probably. He gave a scoff though, glancing back at her again. "Understatement," he grumbled in reply to her speaking about her little problem. Of course, he said nothing more on the subject and glanced around again, frowning. He felt like something just wasn't right. As if he were missing something, perhaps even forgetting something. He loathed the feeling.

He turned to look at Maneshi, to see if the cat had any clues, and found himself watching the eye contact the feline made with Shikiyoku. He recognized the eye contact and the sparks that basically flew between them in the air, telling him of the mental connection going on there. It was something he could easily pick out, for obvious reasons.

"What aren't you telling?" _*****_

"_She-"_

"Nothing."

"_She's-"_

"Nothing." Both of Shikiyoku's answers came much too quickly, the second one more harsh and accompanied by opening her eyes to stare at him.

The pair glared at one another, Maneshi's fur bristling at the challenge, though he remained thoroughly composed otherwise, seated near her arm on his haunches.

"_I'm __**going **__to tell him. You know this."_

"_No. You're not."_ She narrowed her eyes at him, thinking her words between them so that Hiei could not listen in, "_You do and I'll strangle you."_

"_You can't even lift your arms at this point, much less __**strangle **__me with them." _He growled, sending his own thoughts into the air as he had been the whole time, wanting Hiei to get at least part of the conversation, "_And soon, you're not even going to be able to __**hear **__him, so it won't much matter anyway, now WILL IT?"_

She did not answer him, but the two reverted back to their staring contest, Shikiyoku's arm twitching once, but otherwise remaining next to her body on the bed. She shivered with cold and her eyes drew closed once more, her brow deeply etched with pain. 3

Hiei scowled at the one side of the conversation he could hear. He waited for more, but nothing more was given to him, and that made his irritation levels sky rocket into actual anger. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he found himself assuming that something completely ridiculous was going on. He thought for a moment before rounding on Shikiyoku, arms crossed and eyes hard.

"Allowing oneself to die by means of preventable virus is a coward's way out. I'd rather die by the hands of a demon in a war." His tone was calm, but his voice was rough with his irritation, sounding as if he were almost speaking to a child. Well, that's exactly how he felt about the situation, since he was repeating himself over and over. _*****_

"I have no intention of dying, you fool." Shikiyoku's eyes remained closed, but she grimaced before she got the pain under control again, "If I _was _going to die, I wouldn't have come out, now would I?"

She took another set of ragged breaths. She laughed as her mind played back his comment about the war. "My place in a 'war' is a much different one from yours. I am the part of the war that does not take place on the field of battle. If I wanted to die, to that field I would go."

"_Drop it, Maneshi. He doesn't need to know." _Her last thought got projected towards the cat, whom she'd felt wishing to speak again.

"_But you're prolonging the virus this way! If you would let your energy go-"_

"_If I let my energy go, I'll just do things I regret, I'm sure."_

Maneshi did not speak for a moment, the tip of his tail twitching.

"_You are a different woman than I remember, Yoku."_

"_Yeah, well, blame my other half."_

"_You could blaze through the virus-"_

"_And take half the pain. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Stop bothering me about it." _She began speaking to herself, though Maneshi was still able to hear most of what she said, "_...already confused by him. ...doesn't need any more excuse to..." _3

A small huff left Hiei's lips and his eyes shifted to the side, his scowl still on his face. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he believed her when she said she had no intentions of dying. He looked around the room, thinking to himself for a bit; hadn't the cat said she could deal with it in a moment's notice? The thought made his frown deepen and his brows furrow a little, but he didn't say anything about it. He figured that, if she wanted to live, she'd deal with the virus in any way she saw fit. If she didn't want to simply blow it over, then he would let her do as she pleased. He'd done his job, after all. He didn't feel the need for another lecture, or to push her about anything like he had earlier. He didn't feel that he should be too worried, not that he would admit he ever was.

"How long will this take?" he suddenly asked, turning his eyes to her again to convey his calmness. _*****_

"_It __**should **__have been over in a matter of a quarter of an hour, if not much __**less**__." _Maneshi's tail lashed.

"Shut UP, cat." Shikiyoku said between clenched teeth.

"_As it is, she could take as long as the great part of the night." _

"Shut. UP." Her eyes flew open and she glared at him before they fluttered back closed again, a horrible shiver of cold trembling her entire body and she grew very still and silent. 3

Hiei frowned only slightly more at this revelation, but again, he found himself wary of pushing the matter. He didn't know why, he just did. He thought for a second more, watching her closely. He wouldn't push her on the matter, and he wouldn't lecture her; quite frankly, he was tired. It'd been an off day and he had been roaming town, looking for the demon all day, only for this to happen. He wasn't exactly energized at the moment.

"Whatever floats your boat," he said casually, mimicking a human phrase simply because he couldn't think of anything else he could say about it.

As he continued to watch her, he noted the shivers that continued to wrack her body, and the effect this most recent one had on the woman. He raised a brow and then gave a small sound of resignation. He turned and let himself sit on the floor with his back against the edge of the bed. He waited for a moment, speculating how much he should spare, and then let a small amount of his energy become known in the room with the intent of helping her warm up a bit. He wouldn't know if it worked, but at least he wouldn't be useless. _*****_

Maneshi sighed as he watched Shikiyoku fight her illness for another second, feeling Hiei's energy coming back into the room. With his cat-eyes he watched the tendrils weave their way into the air before settling above the body on the bed. The temperature did not change much around him, but he knew the area near her would be that much warmer for it.

As if to drive home the point that he did not approve of her recent decisions, Maneshi tromped over her legs and leapt off the bed, his first instinct having been to warm her with his own body and an instinct he decided to snub because of her own stubbornness.

He pranced over and wound himself underneath Hiei's legs, letting a small murl into the air while he did so and yawning as he came out the other side of them, turning back to the fire demon to place his paws on the humanoid's thigh and look over at him, already deciding on where he would next choose to settle down should this lap reject his presence. 3

Hiei let out a slow breath through his lips, stifling a yawn he didn't want to show. He sat still for a moment, not sure if he was exactly comfortable, but at the same time, not wanting to get comfortable enough to sleep. So, for a moment, he watched Maneshi wind himself around the fire demon, all the while setting his energy on an almost cruise-control setting, so that if he did fall asleep, it wouldn't get too hot in the room.

Finally, as Maneshi's paw touched his thigh, Hiei decided how he'd get comfortable. Slowly, he extended his left leg, deciding if the cat wanted to lay on his thigh, he could. He let his right elbow rest casually on his right knee, and then his head fell back to touch the mattress of the bed, supporting the weight of his head easily and in an oddly comfortable way. He didn't say anything to the person he glanced at for a moment. He merely let his own eyes slide shut, his ears listening to the ragged breathing of Shikiyoku. _*****_

When Maneshi realized the fire demon wasn't going to push him away, he started purring and hopped over the lowered thigh onto the small bit of floor between Hiei's leg. He turned in a circle until he had his rear and tail almost underneath Hiei's other knee, lifting his front onto Hiei's thigh and settling down with his head raised royally as a cat will in a sphinx-like position with his front paws laying on top of Hiei's thigh.

He closed his eyes, his motor rumbling pleasantly at the warmth of the demon beneath him, opening one eye briefly to check on Shikiyoku before closing it and projecting a question into her mind that only she could hear.

"_...why?" _He knew she heard him, feeling her consciousness slowly considering how to answer the question, but at first she said nothing.

"_You know why." _She finally broke their mutual silence.

"_But, I want to hear it from you." _He replied calmly.

A wave of a sigh brushed over Maneshi's link with her.

"_Truthfully?" _She didn't even need to wait for his affirmative wash of emotion. "_My imprisonment has changed me that much, I'm sorry to say. It's mentally trying to be isolated for nearly fifteen years and..." _

She paused, struggling to get the words out and admitting what Maneshi wanted her to, "_And I suppose that I am terribly afraid of driving him away."_

Maneshi considered her answer, one that he'd already so much as guessed, "_So you would suppress the very nature of your brand of demon, bringing untold amounts of pain onto yourself as a result, doubled by the fact that if you let your energy go the virus would run its course and eat through that energy all the faster until it killed itself, simply because you __**like **__him?"_

Amusement poured over their mental connection. Hers.

"_It sounds so pathetic when you put it that way."_

"_Well, it __**should **__sound pathetic. You're a seductress with the ability to have anyone, and as a by-product anything, but you hold back that ability where he is concerned simply because you want him to like you? It makes no logical sense."_

"_It is nigh impossible for me to have a true friend, cat. They are all spoils of my abilities. Is it unthinkable that perhaps I wish to have someone like me despite, or perhaps in __**spite**_ _of that?"_

"_Yes. It is unthinkable. It's not what you are."_

"_What am I then, cat? Old? Beyond the carnal desires that overtakes all demons in their first thousand years of life? Perhaps I am tired of who I am." _She mumbled the next part almost to herself, "_Perhaps Toriko and I are not all that different."_

"_You are strange. Influence his mind in the most trivial of ways and in an instant be rid of your sickness. The Yoku I heard of would not have hesitated to use others for her own needs."_

"_The Yoku you heard of had not been trapped within a near-human for going on fifteen years."_

Maneshi did not disagree, but he still found her reasons trying and illogical. "_Suit yourself." _And he knew she would. 3

Hiei listened to the different sounds in the room; the purring of the cat on his thigh, the ragged breathing of the woman behind his head, the ticking of the clock on the wall, even the wind that had begun to howl outside. Each of these things began to add up to become a nighttime symphony, a small lullaby almost for the fire demon. Were it not for the occasional itch on his face or the random sounds of creatures he could hear outside, he likely would have gone to sleep in a moment's notice.

Instead, as he listened to this song of the night, he picked out the sounds he rarely heard, such as the purring and the clock. He could hear an odd sound outside that he had heard once or twice, and after a moment, he figured out it sounded much like the night birds of Demon world, and he deduced that it was an owl that called into the wind. He could still make out the occasional dog barking down the street, the occasional sound of other creatures nestling about in the trees as well, each settling in for the remainder of the night like Hiei was. And each sound added to the song, lulling him to sleep almost.

"Wake me should you grow uncomfortable," he said suddenly, shattering the silence as he referred to his energy. Of course, he didn't doubt she'd alarm him if his energy became overbearing. He simply had felt the need to say it aloud, and now that he had, he felt his mind clear all over again, and it was almost too hard to keep from sleeping. _*****_

The night wore on, but sleep did not come for Shikiyoku, nor did she let it come. She could still feel the fire demon nearby and had she let herself sleep she would not have been able to control her energy, suppress it away as she currently did so that he was left entirely out of her influence. Without direct access to her demon energy, the virus had to be fed only a little at a time and the process was slow, and painstakingly so.

~!**!~

"_Hiei!" _Maneshi called desperately, "_Hiei, wake up!" _Maneshi dipped his head down to Shikiyoku's cheek and licked at a bead of sweat, his eyes wide with worry.

He had woken up not minutes ago and quietly slipped from Hiei's lap so as not to disturb the fire demon's rest to check on Shikiyoku, but she had not responded to anything he tried to say to her, and even now as he pressed a paw onto the bare skin of her shoulder, the first time gently then with more and more pressure, but she did not respond.

Her breathing was still ragged, but the expression on her face seemed serene, otherworldly.

"_Yoku, please...please say something. Please talk to me." _Maneshi licked at her cheek twice more, unsettled by the sheen of sweat covering her body that belied her still-freezing skin. When he touched her mind with his own, she did not respond. He could feel her there, her consciousness drifting just above sleep, but she did not react to him, almost as if she could not feel his presence within her. 3

Hiei could feel someone beckoning to him, could just hear a voice. He ignored it, too deep into sleep to care for the outside world at this moment. But it continued to call to him. And as he heard it again, a small part of his brain registered the feeling of panic behind it. He stirred only slightly, his head turning to the side and he let out a sigh in his sleep. A sigh of exasperation. He didn't want to wake up.

Again, it called for him, and this time, he registered who it was. Immediately, he remembered where he was and the circumstances of the night. And, with the remembrance, his eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, head no longer resting on the soft mattress.

"What is it?" he asked, pushing himself to his feet and turning to assess the situation. His energy still blanketed the room, yet he could see the cold sweat on the girl's face. He blinked; how long had he slept? It didn't matter, not right now. _*****_

"_She...she won't respond." _Maneshi patted his paw on her skin to demonstrate that she did not appear to notice, though he continued, "_This I expect. But for her mind to not hear me...?" _He fell away, at a loss for words. 3

Hiei scowled and immediately opened his conscious to the woman, but still kept it open to Maneshi as well, in case he continued talking. He assessed the consciousness he touched, not really sure what to expect or do. "_Shikiyoku," _he called calmly, yet firmly, as if ordering her to answer. _*****_

Maneshi scooted closer to Shikiyoku's head and examined her face. Any former trace of pain was gone. He did not seem particularly surprised by the revelation, and brought his nose close to her cheek, sniffing experimentally at her skin. He could feel the cold coming off of her in waves and his nose twitched at the uncomfortableness of the sensation, his whiskers brushing against her face. He glanced over at Hiei who stood over them, waiting to see if Hiei had any more luck, but it did not appear as if she heard Hiei either, as she remained laying just as unresponsive as before. 3

Hiei scowled not only internally, conveying his disappointment through his thoughts, but also on his face. No response had been given, and he wasn't sure he would be able to get her attention like he had earlier that night. Again, he called to her, repeating her name in a much louder tone.

Simultaneously, his eyes moved to Maneshi, his mind split between the cat and Shikiyoku. He still waited for a response that he didn't expect to receive. "I do not believe she hears me. Any suggestions?" _*****_

"Why wouldn't I be able to hear you?" Shikiyoku opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

At least...she assumed she was staring up at the ceiling, but there wasn't anything there. In fact, her vision appeared to be just as dark as it had been when her eyes were closed.

She blinked once, slowly reopening to the same darkness as before. And for that matter, as a bit of panic began to rise in her mind, she knew there was no way they had moved her, but she had no sensation of lying down on her bed anymore. She could hardly even tell she was lying down at all. She could feel in her muscles a willingness to move, but at the same time could not herself move them besides her most basic of functions, such as breath, and the blink of her eyes, the moving of her lips to speak.

"_..." _Maneshi acted as if he was going to say something, but drew a blank at first, lowering his head to her ear and releasing an experimental 'meow' from his throat.

"What do you want, cat?" Shikiyoku frowned again.

"_I...I did not think of that." _Maneshi informed Hiei, feeling rather sheepish at the development. 3

Hiei severed his connection with her consciousness as soon as her voice shattered the actual silence of the room. He eyed her with scrutiny, curious about the developments before him. When Maneshi meowed in her ear and Shikiyoku reacted with slight irritation, he almost chuckled. Almost. Instead, he simply scoffed and crossed his arms, glaring at the cat with a hard gaze. "You woke me for nothing?" he grumbled, but he let it go and turned to the demoness. "You didn't respond to telepathy. And by the way your eyes are open but glossed, I can assume you see nothing? Why are you taking so long to rid yourself of the ridiculous virus?" _*****_

"_The longer you allow it to run its course, the more of your senses you will lose." _Maneshi said into the air before he realized she couldn't hear him. He grumbled to himself, "_We can only hope you don't take so long as to make the changes permanent."_ He made a noise of irritation at her as he sat back on his haunches and regarded her with an expression of distaste. "_Pathetic." _

Shikiyoku regarded the first of Hiei's comments with a quizzical expression, thinking that she neither heard or felt any telepathy, and she didn't bother affirming her blindness, which he already knew.

"I didn't know there was some kind of timetable for this sort of thing." She responded to his final question with a dry humor. 3

Hiei released the loudest scoff he could muster into the air, his chest puffing up in irritation. Maneshi had said a few things that he had already assumed were possible, but he hadn't thought she'd take so long to fight off the virus. So, in response to her remark, he repeated Maneshi's words with a firm tone.

"The longer you wait, the more of your senses you will lose. Take too long, and it will be a permanent change. I don't know how you feel about it, but a demon without his or her most basic senses is a useless demon. Again, why are you delaying?" _*****_

Had Shikiyoku been able to feel it, she would have gotten a hitch as her heart fumbled at the 'permanent' part of Hiei's words. That had not been a factor she realized she was dealing with. Given her thoughts about who she was truly fighting for, she did not feel as if even Toriko would be pleased to awaken to darkness or something of the like. On the plus side, she felt no pain at holding her demonic powers at bay any longer. So, that was a plus.

From within, she examined the virus and its progress as she slowly fed it her demonic energy, biding her time until it over-gorged and ate itself out of existence, as she somehow felt now that it would. Her problem now was her inability to tell how close it was to dying out, but should she feed it her energy in any larger amount, it would mean releasing her grip on her nature. But if she could gather enough power to take it out in one fatal swoop...

No, she did not wish to risk the youngling at this close of a range, and her caution was well-met by the rattling of their pact within her brain at even considering it. If she ended up overwhelming him, that could just as easily claim her life in the stead of the virus. The pact also protested at her when she thought to ask him to leave, her own life not out of danger. And again when she considered feeding the virus faster.

"_Well, then what am I __**supposed **__to do?!" _She yelled to herself, the result of which was a voiced growl of frustration that rumbling from her chest.

"Because I have to." Shikiyoku said finally, earning herself a derisive sneer from Maneshi that she could hear him release. "My other options are...limited. And difficult to even consider." She added, thinking of the pact she held with the fire demon which gave her conflicting opinions on anything she could do in the matter. 3

Another scoff, another huff, and another level of irritation being achieved. He wasn't sure if she was only making excuses, or what, but he was growing tired of it. Hiei thought for a moment, musing over what could possibly be keeping her from letting her energy destroy the virus. He didn't see why she didn't just let it go and-

It clicked, and he released another scoff and let his eyes land on her face again. "I'm in the way," he said casually, as if he didn't care about himself being the problem. A sneer colored his features. "And the pact guarantees death if I am touched by your energy at a specific amount." His arms uncrossed and his hands slid into the pockets of his cloak, his eyes turning to the window. Then the door. He was conflicted, confused. If he left, she could fight off the virus. However, if he left, he wouldn't know if it actually worked.

Another scoff left his lips. "I'll return when your energy leaves," he decided, turning and walking to the window. "_If anything goes wrong, contact me," _he said to Maneshi through his telepathy, not hesitating in opening the window and moving to the closest tree, leaving it open for easier access. _*****_

Maneshi watched him go, eyes glittering in the near-darkness of the room, curling up on the bed and beginning to clean his paws, keeping vigil over Shikiyoku.

Her awareness of his presence, even through their bond, was skewed via her inability to feel anything, but she heard the window open and when she assumed Hiei had left through it, she released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and stared blankly up at the ceiling again.

She recalled the time he'd set her free on accident, all at once. Her energy had been contained within herself, where it normally would have filled an entire room, transmitted only through her eyes and hair, the two strongest places that she usually emitted her powers. This time, though, it was likely her energy would erupt outward. She took a deep breath.

"_No time like the present." _She grimaced, hoping that her luck would hold and there would not be anyone from the Spirit World nearby that would recognize her energy's signature.

Rather like ripping off a band-aid, Shikiyoku let go of her demonic energy all at once and it exploded from her body into the room. Even without her true demonic form, she could feel its expansiveness as she had not in a long time, a shimmer of power settling over her entire body, reglossing her eyes, tingling from her scalp to her toes.

Empowered now, she sat up, blinking her vision back into existence, and swung her legs over the side of the bed to stand in the midst of it all.

Everything returned to her at the same time, her strength, her senses, her true nature and desires as a demoness, her inhibitions freed, ones that had been locked away behind a vault of false pretense and foolish human-like emotions, ones that she now threw away.

Shikiyoku licked her lips as she stood there for a moment, all her powers very nearly returned to her, all her former passion and glory blasting back into her mind, and then she collapsed to one knee, clutching at her side as the energy she released into the room got sucked back into her body. She could feel the virus ravenously consuming her unfettered power.

And then it stopped.

As in the time before when Hiei released her, her energy brimmed underneath her skin, but did not overflow or leak or spill, her power hidden to all but herself.

Shikiyoku got back to her feet and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. There were humans out there, her eyes came open and flickered towards the open window, the curtains billowing in a chilled breeze. And she felt no denizens of Spirit World nearby. In fact, she wondered if they had given up on her completely, and it was that thought which finalized her decision.

For a reason she could not explain, she felt strongly against leaving through the open window. Her eyes glanced around the room and then she left through the door, her bare feet making no noise.

She opened a second door directly across the hall, entering a bedroom very similar to the one she left, though mirrored, complete with unopened window, a state she silently rectified before slipping out of it and landing steadily on both feet on a well-trimmed lawn.

The smell of the humans she knew had to be nearby only increased her excitement and she took off, the desire to captivate one, to hold one, to know their desires as no one ever could, all of these things at the forefront of her mind with her fear of capture rationalized away. They were so weak, so easily influenced that it hardly seemed worth the bother, but after fifteen years of being imprisoned away, she wanted to. She _needed _to. They were all she felt nearby anyway. And she reveled in it, dashing off at a demonic speed, her strength suiting a demon with her years under their belt, her nose flaring as a few warm droplets of rain started to kiss her skin and the ground flashed beneath her feet as she ran. 3

Hiei had gotten comfortable in a tree easily, head back against the bark. He hadn't stayed near the window, since he had figured her energy would be immense, but he was still within the immediate area, just outside the fenceline of the house. He had stretched himself lazily along the branch, waiting casually, listening to his surroundings. He had no thoughts of sleep at this point; he'd been awakened too abruptly for even a chance to think about the prospect.

And that is where he waited, listening to a small amount of thunder rumble in the distance and rain pitter patter down the leaves. It wasn't raining very hard, so he didn't mind the water that fell around him. As long as it didn't touch him, he was fine.

He waited for a good amount of time, eyes shut casually, calmly. When he felt it was time to check in, he stood up and slowly made his way back to the window he had left through. And when he got there, he frowned at the empty room. His eyes scoured what he could see from outside, eyeing Maneshi skeptically. After his moment's hesitation, he slipped into the house, listening for movement in the rest of the place. None was heard.

"Where is she?" he demanded from the cat, glaring down at him. The cat looked up from his licking, tongue still slightly sticking out of his mouth. He twitched his ears at him then continued about his business. "You let her _leave?"_ he accused, suddenly very angry and worried. "You're the lowest of fools!"

Akari sighed and tossed the ball again, watching it bounce across the wet ground, sloshing mud everywhere, just like the pounding of Nabu's feet in the mud. Despite her tiredness and her thoughts over the evening, a soft smile was on her face, her eyes fondly following the small dog that she had grown attached to. "You're getting slow, Nabu," she called teasingly, chuckling when he barked a meaningless bark back at her. He retrieved the tennis ball and ran his way back, drool dripping and mixing with the rain that coated his fur.

"_Again!" _he yipped around the ball, dropping it at her feet. And, like she had done for the past hour, Akari bent over and picked it up, ignoring the slobber. "You sure?"

"_Definitely! Throw it! Throw it!"_

Akari tossed the ball in the air, toying with it herself. "But I like the ball too. Are you going to throw it for me?"

"_That isn't possible Akari!"_

Another chuckle left her and she relented for the hundredth time, throwing the ball so it bounced off of a tree. When it collided with the pup's head, she let out a joyous laugh and tossed her head back. "Your reflexes are lacking. We need to go home soon so you can sleep and I can change."

"_But I'm not tired."_

"You will be once I stop throwing the ball." _*****_

~!**!~

Maneshi took another pass at his face with his dampened paw before responding.

"_I am no fool, Hiei Jaganshi. She was perfectly fine after the virus ran its course. She's likely run off to despoil a few worthless humans. It's been fifteen years since her captivity, after all. A long time for someone like her." _

He had continued licking at his paw, switching to the other in the middle of his explanation and rubbing the other side of his face with it as well. "_She's old enough to know how to stay out of trouble, and more than capable of seducing her way out of anything if she doesn't." _He gave the cat equivalent of a shrug with a dismissive flick of the end of his tail and kept washing himself.

~!**!~

The paths along the park would have been dangerous for someone to run along with the slippery rain and the occasional splash of mud that littered them. For a demon, they were hardly noticeable.

For the first time in a long while, Shikiyoku appreciated the wind that rushed through her hair, and she did pause for a moment and turn her face up to the sky underneath a break in the trees, a few droplets of water tapping against her skin, slipping onto her bare shoulder where her uniform had been torn and pathing downwards.

When she pulled her attention back to the lightly wooded area around her, she caught the scent of a human not more than twenty yards away. A young one. Her eyes easily saw through the night air to spot a male sitting on a wooden bench with his face to the sky and she could barely contain herself, speeding at him and tackling him with enough force that the bench popped out of its concrete supports, cracking loudly and slamming into the ground, sending the two of them toppling over the back of it as it gave way to roll once along the ground a few feet from it, Shikiyoku ending up on top of him and straddling his chest with her hands on either side of his head. She peered down into his face, a smile wide on her lips as she reached up and tucked one side of her hair behind an ear, catching his eyes in her own and seeing his expression shift from the shock and pain of what he'd just experienced to a smile that mirrored her own.

She leaned down to one side of his face, her lips nearly touching his ears as she whispered, "What do you desire?" 3

Akari watched Nabu's small form bound around, trying to catch the still rolling, half-bouncing ball. She couldn't help the smile that continued to grow on her features- one she had only shown to the small creature that had somehow wedged his way into her life. Normally, she would be impatient, ready to get out of the rain and into a dry outfit and curl into bed, like a normal canine demon, but Nabu seemed to stretch her patience, keep her waiting, but she didn't mind it.

"Nabu," she called to the dog who now lay in the mud, chewing on the ball enthusiastically. "Come on, it's time to go. I need dry clothes." She swung her arm, flinging water to the side as it dripped down her long sleeves, soaked to the bone. Her hair, though in a ponytail, stuck to her face and neck, letting the droplets trail down her face. When he didn't respond, she finally sighed. "If you don't come on, I'm leaving you here." she warned, and immediately his head shot up, ears perked and a look of worry on his doggy face. She turned to leave, emphasizing her point.

"_Akari, don't leave! I was just playing!"_

She ignored the dog as she walked, not too worried about leaving him behind. Her slow saunter would be enough to let him catch up. But as she walked, she took in her surroundings. There were shadows that crawled across the wet ground, courtesy of the streetlamps nearby and Akari's night-like vision. The wind blew the leaves of the nearby trees around and around, but not in a way that worried her of a dangerous storm. She could feel the presence of a human or two, but they weren't within her immediate sight, so she wasn't worried about being questioned either, and walked about her merry way.

By the time Nabu caught up, ball in his mouth, she was halfway to the exit of the park, continuously wiping water from her face. "Took you long enough," she grumbled, her smile gone and irritation suddenly present from the water she was now extremely aware of falling on her. She was ready to be in a nice, warm shelter that-

A sound caught her attention, and her head whipped to the right, searching for the source of the crunch of wood. She hadn't felt a demonic aura, and yet still she figured there was no way a human could create a sound like that. Her ears searched for anymore sound, her eyes looking for anything out of the norm. And then she spotted the couple sprawled out on the ground, a broken bench beside them. Her eyes widened at the sight before narrowing, and she steered her steps in the direction, not liking the sheen she could see radiating from the woman.

"Hey!" she called, her tone demanding and voice booming. "You're causing problems." _*****_

At the sound of another approaching, then speaking across the rain at her, Shikiyoku lifted her head up from where she had just whispered into the mesmerized human's ear, but she stayed where she sat as she replied without looking away from him, her own voice ringing out enough for the intruder to hear.

"Mm. _I _see no problems here." Her head tilted to the side as she asked the man under he, "Do you?"

He violently shook his head 'no,' his arms bent at the elbows and his hands resting on her thighs over the skirt of her school uniform. 3

Akari stopped dead in her tracks when she recognized the uniform, and then soon after, the face of the girl wearing it. She looked down at her own uniform, and then back up at Toriko, eyes narrowed. This wasn't the actual Toriko, that was for sure. That girl wouldn't have been able to break a bench, nor would she have likely even thought of the idea. And she'd never seen the girl _throw herself _at another person. A sneer formed on her features.

"You don't know me, do you?" she asked suddenly, wanting to confirm her own suspicions. _*****_

"I don't care." Her eyes still did not leave the human. "Though if you're planning on becoming the _problem _around here, I might have a thing or two to say about it." 3

"Well, you see, here's the thing," Akari began, a hand immediately planting on her hip. "You're in _my _park, a _demon_, throwing herself at a _human _and, somehow, you look like someone I have spoken to once or twice." With this, her head tilted to the side, a smile settling on her features. "But, if you'd like to try your power on me, go ahead," she said casually, having already deduced the ability this demon had. _*****_

"You know, it's the strangest thing. You claim this is _your _park, and yet I've lived here for over fifteen years, and you know, I've never so much as seen you around." Shikiyoku reached down and ran her fingers thoughtfully through the hair of the human underneath her just above his ear, tracing his jawline as she spoke.

"I _highly _doubt you even know the name of this place." She made it clear by her lack of eye contact that she had no interest in 'trying' any sort of power out on this puffed-up youngling making a territory claim. Given their age difference, Shikiyoku remained unconcerned, her attention almost fully held by the quivering of the human within her capture. 3

Akari felt Nabu press the side of his body against her leg, and she glanced down to see him trembling, wide eyes on the demon Toriko look-alike. Her eyes narrowed; Nabu's instincts were probably sharper than her own at the moment, since he was hyper and more awake. Her eyes turned back to the demoness and the human, thinking quickly even as the demon spoke. And an idea surfaced; if she couldn't get through with words, she had no choice.

Her eyes searched the grounds around her, finding shadows galore, and a small twitch of her lips accompanied her thoughts before her expression became a mask of calm control. She let her energy flow a bit faster, a bit more freely through her body, centering on her hands and her mind. Her eyes stayed locked, concentrated on the demon and not allowing the shadows to touch the human as they moved towards the duo. They wound around the woman's ankle, and as Akari gripped her fist, the shadows gripped at her, marking the skin with what Akari would know to be a chill close to that of one from Death. "Last warning." _*****_

"You're trying my patience, child. Consider this _your _last warning." Shikiyoku's voice never rose above her usual velvety purr, and she kept tracing her finger over the cheek of her human captive, "I would suggest that you take the advice of your trembling little friend there and fear me just a little more than you are right now. Fear is quite healthy for demons who wish to live to see their first century through." 3

Akari released a sigh; honestly, she didn't want to fight. She didn't want to use her energy that could lead someone like Kurama, or hell, Otento, in her direction. But, this demon was using a human for her own desires. Akari had encountered only one demon like this one, and she hadn't enjoyed the energy that had been thrown about the room at that time. It had been painful to her, as all Illusion-like energy was to her.

Without a second thought, though, she willed the shadow to solidify into an actual ribbon, and it pulled the demon away, dragging her so that it hung her by the ankle, strapped to a nearby tree trunk. "I suggest you leave," she said to the human man, glaring at him. "It's in your best interest." She didn't know what would happen next, but she sure as heck didn't want a human's death on her hands.

~!**!~

Hiei was practically flying, his feet feeling as if they weren't touching the ground at all. He was moving just as fast as he could, following the energy he could feel fluxing at a nearby park; he hadn't thought anyone would be there so late at night.

When he rounded the corner and veered into the open expanse of land, his eyes were met with a peculiar scene that left him confused and, at the same time, angry. Toriko, or Shikiyoku he figured, was suspended upside down by a single black tendril, back against a tree. And Akari was standing a few yards away, shadows moving around her feet like silk, waiting to be dispensed into what the fire demon could only see as a fight. Yet no marked were on either demon.

So, without another thought, he stepped into view of both demons, a little to the left of Akari, arms by his sides, a single hand wielding his Katana for good measure. "And just what is going on?" _*****_

Shikiyoku suddenly found herself without her captivated human in sight, the world turned upside down after dragging her away, and she felt the bark of the tree almost tearing into her clothing from behind.

Within seconds of her movement stopping, a flash of dangerous anger at being torn from her prey manifested in a bolt of energy that she shot at the female demon responsible for her predicament, at the same time in which she caught the human's gaze in her own and compelled him to come forward.

The human arrived just as Shikiyoku found herself freed, his arms open to catch her, and as the bindings disappeared, she pushed away from the tree in such a way that she landed in his outstretched hands, one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees, easily able to hold up her small frame.

Ignoring the arrival of the fire demon, Shikiyoku caught the gaze of the female demon she'd just hit, beckoning her forward until she stood within arms reach, then having her take one last step.

Shikiyoku's next words were almost inaudible and she leaned closer to the other demon ever-so-slightly, "What do you desire, worm?" 3

Akari had obliged, a hand to her head as the pounding intensified after being hit by the energy. Her expression was a grimace, but her eyes stayed locked on the demoness's. She stood a foot away from the demon, or less, and waited for the words she knew she'd hear. And as soon as the question was out, Akari spoke truthfully. "I ask that you remove yourself from the premises and leave the human be," she replied tartly, calmly, as if unaffected, when in truth, she could feel the change in her mind, just under the pain. "And I desire the release of this ridiculous game of yours." _*****_

"That's the best you've got?" Shikiyoku said, louder now. "Pity. I plan on doing little to none of those things, unfortunately for you. Care to try again?" 3

A frown tugged at her lips, and she took a step back to regard the demoness again. "I _desire…_" she began, a sudden flash of memory taking over her vision, adding pain that wasn't actually there. This demon was the same as that one had been, perhaps even knew her. And she wanted to get away, quickly, and at the same time, strike a nerve. "You should know that I've met your kind before." she said casually, through gritted teeth. The pain she felt was like fire in her brain, and the ghostly feel of knives slicing her skin on her shoulders and arms were even worse. "She died in front of me. Her name, I do not know, but she whispered about the last of her kind, saying she hoped a woman by the name of Shiki had found a place to be." Suddenly, her expression grew dark and she met the gaze of this woman again, intent on at least striking a nerve in hopes of gaining an opening. But the smirk disappeared as the vivid memory overtook her, coating her vision with the dark room filled with demons. "She was gutted right in front of me. I have a feeling you might be Shiki?" she spoke, though her voice sounded very far away from her. "She said she had left a child, and hoped you found it someday." _*****_

Shikiyoku's face did not change from its amused expression as the youngling in front of her recounted her pitiful recollection, tapping the girl's nose once with the tip of her finger when she finished, "You may have met one of us before, but your example of our kind must have been a weak one indeed to have been spewing such nonsense. We tend to disassociate with one another for obvious conflict-of-interest reasons."

Here she glanced lustfully up at the human who still held her. "He claimed to want to have her first, she claimed to want to have her first, it can get messy. There is little 'love' within our own ranks."

She turned back to the other female, "Whoever it was probably deserved to be gutted in the first place by the sound of it. If what you're saying is even truth." She smiled, "As I said before: I don't care. But you would do wise to think next time before interfering with one of us." She gave the girl a wink, "They will not be as forgiving as I," Her eyes narrowed, "And I will not be as forgiving a second time." She primly looked away and lifted her nose a little higher into the air. "I tire of you."

Without a word, the human put her down on the ground, though it was still undecided as to whether she spoke to the girl or him.

Shikiyoku stepped lightly around the taller girl, releasing her hold on both her and the human as she left them behind. Without a word, she approached Hiei and grabbed his hand as she walked past, pulling him along with her as she left. 3

Hiei had merely looked on in amusement as the scene unfurled, his katana placed away after he realized the situation. He hadn't cared when he realized that the woman was in no immediate danger. Instead, he had been more entertained than he likely should have, and that had left him standing on the side as a simple onlooker, filled with curiosity and amusement. He hadn't wanted to intrude at all. There hadn't been a reason to.

But when the scene was suddenly wrapped up and he was being dragged away, he was actually taken aback a bit. He simply let the woman take hold of him and lead him, narrowed eyes filled with confusion locked on her.

"You're ridiculous."

~!**!~

Akari hadn't been surprised by the reaction she'd been given. Actually, she didn't know why she expected anything other than the careless words of someone who likely didn't even really know the woman who had been killed. But for some reason, she couldn't tear her mind away from the mental image, the mental pain that she knew wasn't actually there, but added to her physical pain that was being inflicted by the clashing energies, hers naturally fighting the demoness' off in a painful war. She hadn't dealt with this type of energy in a decade, and it was very evident as it released her from her pain and she let out a very ragged breath of relief. Her eyes focused and followed the woman as she left, Hiei in tow, and her mind became blank. Quiet. Her body numb.

It shouldn't have affected her as much as it had, but she felt her knees go weak and her shoulders go slack. Before she knew it, she was on the ground, held up by a pair of arms that she didn't recognize. Faintly, Nabu's confused voice entered her mind, but she understood nothing and felt darkness sweep over her. _*****_

* * *

Jaganshi \- (wiki) Master of the Evil Eye

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	15. Episode 100 - Disclosures and Sweet Snow

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Dot Net Users and Anonymous Readers alike!

A shout out to both DreamRealm3 and Charlotte for their kind reviews, I'm glad you both have been enjoying the story!

In regards to how much Toriko/Hiei interaction there has been so far (and how little Akari/Kurama), it's mostly because there is more going on for the first pair right now than Akari, as Akari is mostly just wandering Human World trying not to stick out and it wouldn't make for very interesting plot.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shikiyoku, with Maneshi and Hiei's help, manages to purge her body of the virus Otento gave her,  
but in the process Shikiyoku frees herself more completely from the bonds of Toriko  
and rushes out searching for humans to exercise her powers on.

Akari catches Shikiyoku before the latter actually gets to try anything,  
and upon realizing that there are other demons in the world,  
Shikiyoku relinquishes her prize to turn and leave with Hiei.

The clash between the two of them left Akari weakened and she starts to collapse to the ground...

* * *

After their dinner together, Kuwabara and Yusuke had both parted ways from Kurama, who had wandered home himself, but restlessly moved about the house until his mother suggested he go for a walk to think through whatever bothered him.

He'd ended up at the park, walking the paths and meeting with few people given the late hour and the soft rain that fell around him.

During his constitutional, he naturally felt the flux of demonic energy in the area, immediately recognizing it to be Akari's signature, and made great haste to follow the energy to its source, coming onto a scene of Akari collapsing onto the ground and a human male gathering her up with a dog skipping about his feet as he carried Akari to a nearby bench.

As Kurama walked towards them, he noted the uprooted bench and spied the last of what he was certain to be Hiei disappearing around a tree.

"Is she alright?" Kurama asked when he approached, his soft voice breaking through the patter of rain.

"I think she'll be fine." The human could not have been more than thirty.

"What happened?" Kurama bent over her face, the rest of her stretched out across the bench.

"You know, it's a funny thing. I was here the whole time, but I can't seem to remember anything that happened. I came to myself just about the time she started to fall over. Do you know her?" He asked, on the off-chance the red-head did and he wouldn't feel like he'd have to call the police for help.

Kurama assumed Hiei had been a part of the man's memory being lost, and nodded when the man asked his question. "I do. I'll stay here until she wakes up."

The man seemed satisfied and walked away whistling with his hands in his pockets, looking no worse for the wear save for some grass stains and a bit of mud on his back.

Kurama examined Akari, but did not seem any immediate signs of physical damage. The dog he'd seen before, much muddier than he previously assumed, had his front paws planted firmly on the edge of the bench, trying to looking into Akari's face and making lots of noise at her.

"I think she'll be alright." Kurama gave him a pat on the head and tried to reassure the concerned pup as he gave a long-suffering sigh at his lack of umbrella as he watched droplets of rain fall on Akari's face. He slipped his light jacket off and arranged it over the back of the bench and the metal arm rest so that her face at least would remain untouched.

Satisfied it wouldn't fall completely over her face and cover it, smothering her, he sat down on the only empty space left on the bench, next to her feet. He scooted back and reclined with his legs crossed at the ankles, not minding the warm rainfall in the slightest and enjoying the general serenity of the park.

~!**!~

"_I'm _ridiculous?" Shikiyoku countered, still moving at a brisk pace, but glancing over her shoulder at him briefly. "And who was the one that decided to chase after me in the rain for no good reason?"

What with her previous plans having been interrupted, Shikiyoku could feel her frustration with the whole situation simmering deep in her gut, but the seemingly random appearance of the two demons stirred her thoughts from the disgusting human-prey she had been so formerly bent on having. They were not worthy of her attention unless necessity demanded it, and what with her having found demons in the area, it led her to believe that perhaps there were more, should she look hard enough, and her patience was legendary. 3

Hiei raised a brow, pulled his hand from her grasp, and took to walking alongside the demon instead, a scoff released into the air, barely heard over the sound of falling rain. "Yes, you," he responded, choosing to ignore her last statement. "Running off and finding a worthless human. What's that going to earn you?" he sneered, his amusement still evident on his features. He wasn't sure why it amused him as much as it did, but he simply went with it anyways.

"Humans are hardly worth the trip you made to find one." he paused, then shot a sharp look in her direction. "That does not insinuate that you can use that energy of yours on me." He wasn't actually worried about it, but he felt that if he didn't say it, then he wasn't actually drawing the line.

"And that cat is useless." He finished grumpily, his mood having shifted swiftly as he finally noted the water trailing down his face.

~!**!~

Big, round brown eyes searched the face of a friend who wasn't answering him, Nabu continuously calling her name, even asking if she'd throw the ball again because, sometimes, when she wouldn't answer him, that would get her attention. But not this time. He gave a small whine and looked up at the redhead that pat his furry head, his ears laying back in sadness.

"_Why isn't she talking?" _the dog yipped, taking to sitting at the man's feet, looking up at him in confusion and worry. "_It isn't like her. She always tells me to shut up." _He didn't know if this man could talk to her, like Akari could, but he hoped so. He smelled different than most of the two-legged people walking around, and he hoped that meant he was like Akari. "_Can you hear me?"_

Nabu jumped up so that he sat on his hind legs, his front paws held up and off the ground, reaching to touch the pants leg of the male but not making contact as he sat back down again. He remembered the last person he'd looked to for consolation this way, with mud on his paws. They'd struck him. Another whine, and he jumped up onto the bench, sitting beside the man and looking up at him cautiously, a single paw slowly reaching out, testing to see if he'd be stopped. If not, he'd lay on this quiet person and watch his best friend until she awoke. _*****_

Kurama regarded the dog curiously as it almost appeared to be trying to talk to him, unable to help the smile that touched his lips at this companion Akari somehow acquired since having taken up residence in Human World. He actually chuckled at the expression on the dog's face as it reached out again, this time from the bench, looking for a lap to climb into.

"These things can be washed." Kurama grabbed the dog gently about his middle and plopped him down, sitting up and pulling his feet up under the bench before he released the animal so the platform of his legs would be flat enough that the dog would not slip off.

As the dog settled down, Kurama found his eyes wandering over to Akari, taking her features in a new light with the loyalty of the animal making a nest for itself on his thighs. Maybe...maybe she wasn't quite as terrible as she liked to make it seem.

~!**!~

Before Hiei could say another word, Shikiyoku turned and grabbed for the fabric of his clothing at the shoulders, whipping them both around and slamming his back into the tree next to them, her demonic energy flaring out of her eyes as she smiled languidly into his, holding him in place with both her hands and her gaze and leaning in much closer.

"You realize, of course, that by telling me not to do something, it makes me want to do it in an exponentially greater proportion." She clenched her teeth together as the pact between them startled up in warning, but did not relent her grasp as she continued, "It's been fifteen _long_ years, and I'm nearly _ridiculous_ enough at this point to use you regardless of consequence."

She glanced up into the branches of the tree hanging above them, having become aware that their shelter prevented any further rain from falling on them.

Letting go of Hiei all at once, she lept up onto the lowest branch above them, then made another jump for a second one, disappearing into the green canopy.

She found a pleasant enough branch in the middle of the magnificent plant and stood on it with her back against the trunk for a moment, taking in a deep breath of the crisp, wet air around her. She then stretched out over the limb, crawling far enough that her feet barely rested against the bark of the trunk, laying on her stomach and folding her arms up to use as a pillow, resting her chin and watching the rain fall joyously to the ground in chorus. 3

Hiei didn't react to the sudden change in events, not exactly surprised. His expression stayed the same, irate, a frown stretching his lips downwards and his brows shadowing his eyes as they furrowed. He stood tall as he was backed into a tree, looking at the woman with a warning stare that said he wasn't in the mood for games. He felt the energy flux, and his eyes widened just a bit, but in a moment's notice, the eye contact had been broken and she was gone from his immediate eyesight.

He stayed there for a moment, relishing in the dry area, wiping a hand down his face to rid himself of the rainwater that was still attempting to glide into his eyes and mouth. He blew a breath from his lips, sending a spray of the water away from his face as he glanced up into the leaves. Still, he didn't see Shikiyoku, but he didn't make for her either. He knew she was nearby, he could simply _feel _that she was near. He wasn't worried a bit.

He shook his head, frowning more as water was slung everywhere from his hair, despite the little effort he put into it. "This is ridiculously foolish," he commented, referring to the rain. "No place should get this much moisture." he complained, staring out at the street and watching the droplets hit the puddles. A strike of lightning lit up the sky, and he watched it with familiarity; demon world always had thunder and lightning, but not so much rain.

After a few minutes, he looked again to the trees above, again looking for Shikiyoku. He didn't know how long she planned to stay there, or even if she was getting comfortable. "Do you plan to stay here all night?" he called, suddenly realizing it should be close to the early morning. Likely about four, if he was judging it right.

~!**!~

Nabu had let the male set him on his lap, and hadn't wasted any time in getting comfortable, his nose buried in his paws as his eyes watched Akari, her chest moving up and down with the rhythm of natural sleep. He was surprised that this person let him lay here like this, when only Akari had ever allowed him to do such a thing. Sure, a couple of children had seen him, but they had always been dragged away by mothers with disgusted eyes. Before Akari, he'd been alone in the world.

His head shifted to look at the redhead again, curious this time. He had only seen this one a few times with his friend, and never once had he gotten the impression of fondness. He stretched his legs out in front of himself and turned back to Akari, eyeing her as he heard a small sound come from her. A cough, he thought, but otherwise nothing changed.

And then suddenly, she shifted, her head turning to the side and a small groan rumbling. His ears shot forward and his head shot up, but he didn't move from the redhead's lap. "_Akari?" _he yipped, tail beginning to wag.

"Give me a second, Nabu."

"_Yay! I was worried!" _His tail began wagging with ferocious speed and he shifted his head to the male who had been so nice to him thus far. "_She's awake!" _He yipped enthusiastically, tongue lolling from his mouth. "_Thank you!"_

"Nabu, I said shush for a second, okay?" _*****_

"You're quite welcome." Kurama spoke down to the dog, guessing at the animal's expression, reaching his right arm from where it settled on the armrest and giving the other a scratch behind his ears. His left arm was stretched out over the back of the bench and he glanced down it to see if Akari had opened her eyes before turning back to the attention he gave to the excited pup in his lap.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's head popped out from the bottom row of leaves on the tree as Hiei finished asking his question, upside down with her long, dark hair streaming towards the ground. "It _is _kind of wet, isn't it? It's not so bad up here." She grinned, "We can go home if you want, though. It doesn't usually rain inside there."

Her eyes widened and she stared at him, completely and utterly entranced at the sight of his damp hair, still sticking straight up off the top of his head.

"It...it defies the laws of gravity..." Her voice held no small sense of awe and without thinking, she let one arm off the branch she had it curled about, pressing her stomach harder into the bark as she tried to reach close enough to touch it. She stretched farther and farther until, without warning, her knees slipped off behind the branch she'd propped them against to hang upside-down and she only managed to twist her body far enough to land on her stomach instead of her head, she was so close to the ground. 3

Hiei frowned at Shikiyoku as she popped into view, her eyes immediately widening at the sight of him. He didn't like the feeling of her watching him so closely, or the fact that she seemed so delighted about his hair. It'd always been there, so why was she fascinated just now? He raised a brow in silent question, but watched her reach towards him anyway.

He had half a mind to step away so she couldn't touch his hair, but he stayed. He waited for the contact, wondering what would happen. And then, just like that, she slipped. For a moment, he was shocked. Then a millisecond later, he was a step away, eyes watching her fall until she landed on the ground. Amusement crossed his features before he snubbed it, forcing a mask of calm indifference.

"What did you expect?" he said casually, arms crossed over his chest.

~!**!~

Akari lay on the hard surface of what she assumed to be a bench, but she didn't know how she'd gotten there. She remembered everything except moving away from the tree where she had argued with the demon. After that, she recalled nothing but darkness. _Right, I fainted_, she thought, recognizing the sensation. How could she have forgotten what that felt like?

Her head throbbed, but otherwise, the pain was gone. She could hear the sound of rain falling and Nabu's excitement, but she tried tuning it out. Then she realized, Nabu wasn't speaking to her. Her eyes flew open and she sat up, her face meeting a smooth surface that stuck to her face. Surprised, she ripped the jacket away and flung it to her lap, startled and confused as her wild eyes, ready for a fight, moved up to see Nabu laying in the lap of Kurama. Almost immediately, she hung her head and her vision swam; wasn't so much a good idea to move so quickly.

"Why are you here?" she grumbled, rubbing her face and feeling the rain hit her head again.

"_He helped; he watched over you and me! He's nice."_

Akari released a huff and grabbed the jacket from her lap, thrusting it in Kurama's direction. "I didn't need the assistance." _*****_

"I was simply enjoying the night air." Kurama looked up at the rain falling from the sky. "This bench looked like a pleasant enough place to rest for a moment, and the company wasn't half-bad either."

He turned his face to the dog that hadn't moved, giving him another scratch and calmly taking the jacket out of Akari's hands.

~!**!~

With demonic speed, Shikiyoku was on her feet and had circled around behind Hiei, staring up at his hair and slowing as she walked about him, her bare feet padding silently on the grass.

"For it to _not _stand straight up when drenched with rain?" Shikiyoku provided, making the circle one more time before ending up in front of him, still staring up at it. "You surely can't deny that it _is _rather strange for it to be able to do that." Her voice grew quieter as she spoke the next part under her breath to herself, reaching up with tentative fingers as if to touch it, "It _must _be so stiff." 3

Hiei scowled; he hadn't been referring to his hair. But, she was still going on about it. He hadn't seen it as that much of an interest, but he supposed for someone who'd never seen hair like his, it would be rather amusing. But when she reached up as if to touch it, he took another step away, stepping just out of her reach. He never let a person touch his hair; he simply didn't care for contact of any kind unless he was about to kill the person who got close.

"It's always done that," he replied tartly, brow raised still. "And it isn't stiff," he clarified, his head tilting to the side just a bit to show her that it moved without problem. Even the wind had it moving on occasion, but tonight the wind wasn't really blowing much at all.

~!**!~

Akari let out a breath of disbelief. "There are other benches," she grumbled as she swung her legs over the side of the wooden surface, her shoes touching the mud. She didn't stand yet, waiting to see if it was safe for her to move yet. When no more complications arose, she stood and turned to face Kurama, eyeing the hand that scratched at Nabu's ear. She took in the way his tongue lolled and his head tilted, and irritation skyrocketed.

"Why, out of every park in this town, and every _bench _in _this _park, did you decide to pick the one I was resting on?" she demanded to know, arms crossing her her chest with a small humpf. Nabu looked up at her, as if waiting for her to leave, but made no move to do the same. Her eyes roved up to meet the striking green irises of the redhead. _Why do you care? _she thought grumpily, huffing again as she stared at him. _*****_

Kurama's eyes flickered over at the only other bench nearby, which lay despondently in the wet grass, legs somehow uprooted from its concrete, returning his attention shortly thereafter to the dog.

"This is the largest park, not to mention the best one." He replied calmly. "And for all you know, I could have been sitting here the whole time. Maybe I should be the one asking you why _you_ chose the bench _I _was resting on." He lifted his eyes to meet hers.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes watched Hiei's hair flutter slightly. She pursed her lips together, fighting an urge to try reaching for it again, the thought leading to an image in her mind of Hiei physically fighting her off. She let out a brief laugh at the scenario and looked into his crimson eyes.

"Well, if you ever find yourself in an amiable mood..." She flickered her gaze back up to his hair, "I'd like to see for myself."

She glanced at the torn shoulder of her uniform and brushed a smidge of dirt away.

"Now," Her voice shifted to a more 'down-to-business' tone, "Did you want to go home, or should we stay here?" She tilted her head slightly to indicate the tree they still stood next to. 3

Hiei waited silently, expecting to have to swat her away and make a threat to be left alone. But, surprisingly, she retracted her hand with a laugh. At this, his shoulders relaxed and his hands slipped into his cloak pockets, his entire body relaxing; he hadn't realized he'd gotten so tense. His eyes flickered around their surroundings, looking at the different buildings nearby that were dark on the inside, aside from a few small stores; convenience stores, he remembered them being called. Gas stations, as well. He erased his mind of the trivial thoughts and turned back to Shikiyoku in time to see her brush at her shoulder, causing a small scoff to leave his lips at the demeanor she displayed.

Then, at her question, he thought for a moment. In truth, the water wasn't so bad here. It hardly touched his head from the cover of the treetop, and he was starting to dry off at a rapid rate due to his heat energy. But, he was growing tired again. And staying out in the rain did that to him at times, especially when his energy continuously fought against it.

"I'm growing tired of the rain," he answered honestly, his tone exasperated and expression slightly irate. And, without prompting, he turned to lead the way back to the house, uncaring if she wanted to take the lead or not.

~!**!~

Akari's chest swelled with the breath she took in, her nose flaring as she felt challenged. He hadn't been here earlier. Right? No, he hadn't. She'd been here all evening with Nabu, playing his ridiculous game of fetch. Speaking of, she looked around for the tennis ball, surprised to find it nearby. She walked over to it and picked it up, looking over her shoulder at Kurama. "While you think you're being funny, I have no interest in your stupid jokes. I've been here all evening, courtesy of the brat in your lap." she paused, staring at the dog with an intensity that made his ears lay back on his head. "Speaking of, I had said we were leaving earlier, did I not?"

"_But you're the one who stopped," _he retorted with a whine, immediately standing and glancing at Kurama once. She witnessed him licking his hand in thanks before hopping down and trotting over to her obediently, eyes watching her carefully. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dog to feed and a warm place to be, and I do not want to waste anymore time in your "glorified" presence." With that, she turned and left, Nabu on her heels, occasionally glancing back. _*****_

Kurama watched them go, a smiling playing at his lips. He stood up after they had gone out of sight and wiped off some bits of the drier mud left on his clothing by the pup, watching it fall onto the path.

He stood up and glanced around for a moment longer at the scenery before putting a hand in his pocket and heading for home himself.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku watched Hiei turn to leave, amused as she watched his shoulders visibly hunch over as soon as he went back out into the rain.

A sudden thought crossed her mind, and before she could give it a second consideration, she ran past Hiei, intentionally, but barely, brushing his shoulder with hers and catching his eyes moving to regard her as she went by, in those milliseconds making sure he caught the impish grin on her lips as she released a small giggle in passing him, her eyes flashing challengingly, and then she was beyond him, easily making the leap about halfway up the nearest building, finding no trouble catching purchase on it in her bare feet, alighting only for an instant on the sheer vertical wall with her toes before jumping the rest of the way to the top, moving faster than any human eye could have ever seen and dashing almost instantaneously from rooftop to rooftop out of the business district and towards home. 3

Hiei hadn't been expecting the burst of pounding feet on the ground, so when Shikiyoku dashed past him, he turned to catch a glimpse of her, at first not caring for the smile she gave or the challenge she issued. He ignored it for a millisecond, until he caught her scaling up the side of a wall. He watched with interest, her disappearing from his view sparking a feeling inside him. A sneer formed on his features despite himself, and then he too was off, running at a speed that no mere human would be able to even sense, much less see. He, however, stayed on the sidewalks, deciding he'd see which route would be faster. He took alleyways as shortcuts, knowing them like the back of his hand, or perhaps the hilt of his Katana. He used his knowledge to his advantage, sprinting along the sidewalk and concrete as swiftly and quietly as possible, his mind basically mapping his route for him along the way.

In minutes, he was drawing close to the house, the open window he preferred using in sight. He could see the curtains billowing, even the raindrops touching down on the windowsill. But, what caught his attention as he came up just under it was the person sitting in his preferred tree. He stopped and stared up at her from the ground, a scowl coming to his face and lighting his eyes with disappointment. He'd never been declared slower than another being before now.

"Foolish game." he grumbled before jumping up, grasping the edge of the windowsill and pulling himself inside.

~!**!~

Akari ran her hands over her face as she stalked away from the park at a brisk pace, Nabu on her heels, looking up at her. "_You were really mean to him," _the dog voiced, earning nothing in response aside from her hands dropping to her sides, grabbing the ball from her pocket and bouncing it along the sidewalk absently. "_He was watching over you, when that other man was gonna leave you. And you were mean. Why were you mean?"_

"It doesn't matter, Nabu."

"_You should be nice to those who are nice to you. There are a lot of mean people in this world. You're being one of them."_

"Nabu, shh. It isn't important."

"_Yes it is, because one day, you'll kick him while he's down, and he's gonna bite you. Like a hurt animal."_

Akari gave a resigned sigh. "Yeah, yeah."

"_Don't be mean, because I know you aren't mean. Be the Akari you are with me!" __*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku slid in through the window after Hiei and came up behind him, throwing her arms over his shoulders and leaning into him, her chin resting on top of his shoulder near his neck. He was taller enough than her that she had to make a tiny leap first in order to make it, and she ended up with one of her toes barely touching the ground, her other leg bent behind her at the knee with him supporting her weight almost entirely.

"Because you lost?" She purred in response to Hiei's previous proclamation outside her window, glancing at his profile out of the corners of her eyes. "That was only because I got a head start, flame-boy, so that one doesn't really count. Don't be such a wet blanket, hm?" She gently pressed the side of her face into his, almost a nuzzle but not lasting long enough to qualify as such.

Slipping off, she glided past Hiei and started to tug her blouse out from the skirt it had managed to remain tucked into for the entire night, though the skirt was actually nearly down past her hips. She stopped when she got a couple of feet in front of him to concentrate better on the task.

Out of the rain now, she could practically feel the ickiness of the entire night-sickness to mud-coating her skin. Without pause, she lifted the shirt up over her head and ripped it off, lowering her arms to finish the task by peeling off first one sleeve then the other, thinking to herself how useless the garment would be anyway with the large tear it had in the shoulder. Shivering at the nastiness of the stained blouse as she removed it completely, she threw it down at the floor near the door frame.

She gathered her hair together in her hands and pulled it over one shoulder, examining the strands with growing distaste at the dirt from the rain water. When she released the hair from her scrutiny, it hung down almost to where her skirt had come to rest at the curve of her waist.

Shikiyoku turned back around to Hiei and put a hand on one hip, resting her weight on one leg, "I would imagine you can make yourself pretty dry pretty fast," Here she pointed at him with her other hand, "But if you can't do the same for the outside of that cloak, don't just stand there letting it drip all over the carpet. Take it off and hang it over the desk or something." She gestured to a corner of the room that had a relatively empty desk and chair as she moved towards the open bedroom door, pausing after a couple of steps.

"I'm taking a shower. You're welcome to join me," She said archly, her eyes glittering mischievously to mirror her tone as she glanced over her shoulder at Hiei. "Showers are much nicer than rain. They can get much _hotter_ too." She tossed her hair back and sashayed over the threshold of the room into the hallway, waving a hand behind her and calling pleasantly as she did so, "Make yourself comfortable."

As soon as she stepped out of the bedroom, she spotted the open door of the room across from her and made the extra step closer to shut it, moving down the hallway past another set of doors on either side to the last door on the left, the same side her bedroom had been on. This door was open as well, but she didn't bother shutting it behind her as she entered, and flipped on the light as carpet abruptly changed to tile with a rug in front of the sink-mirror-cabinets combination to her left, shower to her right. She ducked to the side of the simple-patterned curtain covering the shower and turned the water on, letting the steam fill the room as she stripped off the rest of her outfit that was steadily becoming more disgusting to her senses by the second. She grabbed two fluffy towels out of a cabinet and placed them on the countertop next to the sink, turning and shifting past the curtain into the shower and immediately feeling better as soon as the nearly-scalding water kissed her skin. 3

Hiei froze when he felt the pressure of the small girl on his back, arms around his shoulders. He had no idea what she was doing, and quite frankly, it didn't understand the meaning behind the gesture, which seemed to make him distressed only a little about the situation. So, he held still in his spot in the middle of the room. Her words made her breath gently move across her face, but he ignored it as he calmly listened to the words she purred out. A scoff left his throat at her proclamation and he pulled away just as she released her grasp on him. His arms immediately crossed over his chest to show he hadn't appreciated the close contact, his eyes alight with irritation. But still, he didn't reply to her words.

He watched her move, expecting her to leave the room as she moved in front of him, but instead, he witnessed her pulling an article of clothing over her head. He showed no external reaction other than scowling at her and turning so that his side was to her, his eyes to the side of the room where her bed was. And, after a small pause, he moved towards it, intent on making himself comfortable. That is, until she pointed out his dripping cloak. He glanced down at the hem of his favorite material and scowled at the small drops of water that continued to fall to the ground. Irritated that it had yet to dry out, he let his energy flare, causing the room temperature to drastically flux and the heat sear through the liquid water that he felt was defiling his clothing.

In little to no time, the dripping had ceased and his energy was pulled back, hidden from the world again with a satisfied glance-over. "Happy?" he grouched at her, glancing over in her direction in time to see her turn to the door, then look at him over her almost completely bare shoulder. He raised a brow that conveyed anything but curiosity, and watched as she took her leave.

"That woman is ridiculously impetuous."

Without asking or even thinking it'd be a bother, Hiei let himself get comfortable on the bed, legs stretched out languidly and crossed at the ankles while his hands were linked behind his head. His eyes slid closed as he listened to the silence, save for the shower in the bathroom somewhere down the house. His nose took in the scent of the rain, one he actually enjoyed surprisingly, and a calm expression took over his face as he lay there, not really sleeping but not fully aware of his surroundings either. _*****_

Emerging into the heavy fog that still filled the bathroom even once she turned off the shower, Shikiyoku reached for one of the towels she'd laid out and bent over to let her hair fall towards the floor, wrapping it up within the dry towel.

She twisted the towel and stood back up, releasing it so that it hung down her back and grabbing the second towel to secure it around her torso where it hung just above her knees, drying off only enough to prevent either her hair or her body from dripping.

She picked up the clothing she'd discarded onto the rug before climbing into the shower and made her way back to the bedroom, a smile flickering over her face when she spied Hiei already having made himself comfortable on the bed. It took a lot of willpower for her not to just tackle him outright, but she managed to merely unceremoniously dump the clothes she had been wearing on top of the blouse by the door.

Shikiyoku's eyes, attracted to the glint on the bedside table, fell on the bobby pins and she almost sighed. She sat down on the very edge of the bed, in an attempt to leave Hiei undisturbed, and stared at them as she took gently removed the towel from her head, holding it in her lap.

She picked one up and held it in her palm, closing her fingers part-way around it and letting its natural chill settle onto her skin. It tugged viciously at her demonic energy, creating a vacuum of empty power in her hand, though with just the one she hardly noticed.

Did Spirit World even remember her?

Quite likely. Their memory of her work within Youko's gang was no small thing to their minds, as they made obvious within the warrant they put out for her arrest.

But it had been such a very long time!

Fifteen years? Fifteen years was nothing. Now, had they stopped their immediate search for her? That was slightly more plausible. She looked different enough that if she didn't particularly bring attention to herself, namely by exuding too much energy in too short of a time span and create too many victims, it was quite possible that she could...

That she could what? Go back to Demon World? And how exactly did one propose she do that?

She felt an ache rip across her stomach, and the next breath she took was filled with Hiei's scent, his demonic presence behind her becoming oh-so-tantalizing. There was only so much one could stand.

Sweeping the rest of the seals into her hand, she rose abruptly and tossed the towel angrily at the pile of clothing next to the door and stalked out of the room, getting down the stairs and ending up in front of the couch within the blink of an eye. She looked down at the seals she held, a force more to be reckoned with now that they were all together in her grasp.

There was no telling how much longer she could stand it, how far the next demon actually was. She may have once been able to patiently seduce another for hours in order to pump them of the information she needed, but she never took fifteen years about the whole thing.

The thought of taking a human when aware she stood within close proximity of a demon as desirable as Hiei made her insides churn and she trembled with frustration, hand clenching the seals until they nearly bit into her palm. Centuries of perfecting various methods of torture that fell within the realm of her powers-and often did not constitute as so much 'torture'-did not mean she was completely immune from the concept herself. More resilient, yes. That came with the territory anyway. But this...this was nearly beyond her.

Shikiyoku derisively scattered the bobby pins over the coffee table and let out a huff of agony as she plopped down on the couch and glared at the seals.

So much freedom only to not be very free at all. Her lip curled upwards in disgust and she snatched up a seal with two of her fingers, turning it back and forth in front of her eyes. It would not be the last time she longed for Demon World, and neither was it the first.

No plans were readily forming in her mind, and if she was going to be forced to stay around this impertinent fire demon without being able to so much as _think _about doing anything fun with him, fine. She had little other choice.

She grumbled nonsensically to herself as she started to twist her hair together, resigned to slumber in a prison of her own design over her current torture. Combing her fingers through the strands of her hair to make things more smooth, she started replacing the bobby pins one-by-one.

As soon as the first one got buried, a jolt ran up Shikiyoku's arm and she sucked in a breath of surprise, but resolute in her decision she kept going. The jolting did not stop even as she placed the last one from the table in place and her vision swam, not from so much pain-which she felt none-but her eyes glazed over and she stood up, pinpricks of light that danced about the room causing her to squint.

Making little noise on the soft carpet, she stumbled over to the staircase and pulled herself up to the next floor with the help of the banister, getting to the bedroom and managing to collapse onto the bed, near the bedside table but facing the side on which Hiei lay, before her legs gave out. She brought her knees closer to her chest, her head pounding. Her eyes squeezed shut, forming a deep frown across her brow. Her entire body kept tensing and she twitched as if shivering with cold, conscious, but unable to react otherwise. 3

Hiei had heard the shower turn off, but hadn't really registered the sound. He had, instead, listened to the rain fall at the window, hitting the glass and the windowpane. No sounds of creatures were heard now, like earlier, but still he felt soothed, almost lulled to sleep, if it weren't for the fact that he was making himself stay at least half conscious of his surroundings. Instinct, he supposed, but he didn't think much of it.

As before, he had heard the door open, and Shikiyoku walk into the room. But this time, he opened a single eye to glance at her, then nonchalantly let it shut again, indifferent to the state in which she presented herself. His head shifted a bit so that his cheek just touched his right arm, giving a small sigh of content as he continued to relax, getting comfortable enough that he almost couldn't fight off sleep.

So comfortable and so close to sleep that he hadn't registered the sound of the demoness leaving the room. Or the rain he had been previously listening to. Or the sound of clumsy footsteps coming back up the stairs. He was so close to dreamland that when Shikiyoku plopped on the bed, his eyes flew open instinctively and he turned to her, glancing at her and visibly relaxing again, settling again on the bed the way he had been laying before.

"Could you be any more disruptive?" he grumbled before he sighed again in content, deciding he'd stay right where he was regardless if she wanted him there or not. And in no time at all, he was back where he'd been before she had stumbled into the room, and this time, he fell into a deep sleep with ease. _*****_

An indeterminate amount of time passed where Shikiyoku lay there, completely awake and incapable of movement other than the trembling her body did on its own, but as the room started to lighten up just enough to be noticeable, she blinked, one last shiver traveling all the way down her body. And then it all stopped.

She blinked again, listening to Hiei's steady breathing indicative of his slumber, and then silently got out of the bed without disturbing him. She stood still for a moment and the room continued to grow brighter around her, her mind swimming through a gelatinous sea of incomprehension. That is, until a wrack of pain made her stomach feel like it curled in on itself.

Once she got past the delicious smell of the demon behind her, she found her feet moving almost on their own out of the bedroom door that had remained open in the hours she lay unable to move.

She got downstairs with little difficulty, her nose sniffing the air and leading her over the tile and past the countertops to her left. She paused and crouched down, opening a cabinet in the middle of those on her left and rummaging noisily through it, another pang of what she realized was hunger cramping through her stomach. This time the organ made an audible noise and she cringed at the churning it made within her.

Her hands touched something other than metal and she eagerly pulled it out, frowning at the strange texture of the bag and experimentally nibbling on the edge of it.

A murl somewhere close to her knee pulled her away from the odd-smelling package, roughly half her size, and she glanced under an arm to see the bright eyes of the cat trying to climb over her thigh, pressing his head eagerly to the underside of her arm.

"You want _this?" _She asked, almost incredulous. She took another sniff and her lip curled, "I mean, I guess it _almost _smells like food."

The cat murled at her again and dropped from her leg as she released the package carelessly next to her where it came open and scattered some of its contents onto the floor.

The smell made Shikiyoku's nose scrunch up, and regardless of the gusto with which the cat crunched into the small, oddly shaped pieces, she decided she would pass on trying the stuff. She wasn't quite that desperate yet, though her stomach's next contraction told her otherwise.

Moving to the next cabinet down the row, this one under the sink, Shikiyoku found her nose inundated with smells that she would have likely equated more with poison than food were she actually human, though she did dig through the strangely shaped bottles and canisters anyway, on the off-chance that there was something else hiding that might be edible somewhere amongst them.

When she turned away disappointed, she moved to the cabinets on the other side of her, still hunched over to peer into them half-heartedly, but getting no real sense of anything other than the cardboard or plastic containers with contents that she assumed might have passed for food at some stage in their existence. Something in one of the higher cabinets caught her attention and she made a small jump onto the countertop and began pulling out cylindrical cans of metal, a few of which had a bit of edible scent to them, but she did not know how to remove them from their fortress of protection and she tossed them aside, a few falling on the floor to join the other strange metallic devices from the first cabinet-pots and pans, though she did not know that-and the tipped over bottles of poison, thankfully still closed, falling out from the second.

Frustrated, she sighed angrily and hopped down, leaving the cabinets up above open as she had the others. She absently kicked a strange metal bowl and momentarily enjoyed the clatter it made, though the cat looked up from his meal with no small expression of distaste.

Growling, she turned to the large, white thing to her right from where she could smell more food and grabbed for the handle, jerking it open and almost falling over at the ease with which it swung towards her. Curious at the wave of cool air that swept over her bare legs and shoulders, she opened the upper portion of the thing to have her face blasted with a chill she had not expected.

Nothing in the lower part appealed to her, even when she squatted down to give it several sniffs. There was a bit of fish wrapped up in some strange, sticky substance that refused to let go of itself until she tore into it with her teeth, but the flavor did not appeal to her in any way and she tossed it over her shoulder, minutely aware of the cat making a pleased noise and skittering across the tile to get at the meat.

Many strange things were neatly lined up in the cool container, but she let herself pass over every one of them, the contents mostly earning an ever-deepening scowl. There was a weird, rectangular block of something orangey that she almost sampled, but the color made her flinch and the texture was more rubbery than anything.

She stood up, defeated at the lower portion of the cooling thing and deciding to search within the upper part. She pushed past a heavy plastic container with a hand, but knocked it out onto the ground as she rummaged behind it.

Curious, she closed both of the white thing's doors and sat down on her feet, tilting her head first one way, then another. She lifted it up in both hands, finding that the same chill that struck her when she opened the place it had been sitting was inherently held within the plastic, and she rotated it a bit as the cold stuck to her hands.

It smelled good, once you got past the plastic. Which she had no idea how to do. She tried gnawing at a corner, but her teeth were not sharp enough anymore to make much of a dent. Confounded, she plopped the container back down on the floor and crossed her arms over the towel covering her chest, glaring at it as if it could be intimidated into revealing the secret of its contents. 3

Hiei turned over in his sleep, laying on his left side with his head on the crook of his elbow. He was starting to wake up, feeling the warmth of the morning sun on his face and, after a few minutes, seeing the light that washed over his closed eyelids. He huffed a small breath of air out through his lips and turned over to his opposite side, as if doing so would make the bed comfortable for him again and he'd be able to go back into slumber. But, it was already too late; his mind was wide awake, his ears picking up on the strangest noises that he couldn't identify.

Frustrated with himself, he finally rolled onto his back and sat up, running a hand over his face before he allowed his eyes to open, blinking once at the room to let it come into focus. Nothing seemed out of the normality, but he had the strangest sensation that something was amiss. He glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned at it; he hadn't slept much, but he still felt really well rested.

A clamour from downstairs made his ears twitch and his eyes turn to the door that stood open, letting him see into the empty hallway. Curious, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and followed the ruckus, adjusting his cloak as he walked and warily watching his surroundings. He felt no immediate sense of danger, but the ruckus in the kitchen- as he just identified- made him cautious.

And he had not been expecting the sight that met his eyes. A dark brow raised high enough to hide in his bangs, crimson eyes glittering with amusement as he witnessed Shikiyoku bite at a container, then let it fall to the ground in disappointment and irritation. A sneer touched his lips at the way she crossed her arms and glared at it, the object obviously not privy to such an attitude towards it.

"It's upside down," he said casually, noting the lid that was touching the smooth tile of the floor. Simultaneously, he noticed the mess in the kitchen floor, different things scattered everywhere- canned foods and pans alike. There was even a package being torn at by the cat, and it smelled suspiciously like a type of meat he wouldn't enjoy. He turned his nose up at the smell and stepped away from it, bringing him closer to the demoness who was still wrapped in the towel. Without giving her a chance to stop him, he grabbed the container, flipped it over, and pulled the lid off in the exact same manner he had witnessed Toriko do once, earning a small _pop _with the force he used on it. He eyed the substance inside with interest, taking a moment to inhale the scent before turning it towards Shikiyoku. "Sweet snow," he presented, forgetting the words Toriko had called it by. "With bits of…." he paused, trying to think back. "...strawberry." he deduced, tilting the container so she would get a good whiff of the smell. _*****_

The words 'sweet snow' seemed self-explanatory, but the next one he used that she did not recognize and made her frown as he stuck the now-opened container under her nose. Her eyes widened. It did in fact smell like the name it had, though there was another scent she picked up that she associated with the other word he used to describe it.

"Straw...berry..." She tried the word out on her own tongue. "And you eat it?" It seemed like the consistency was very hard, packed tightly against the sides of the container as it was. "How?" 3

Hiei inspected the contents of the container as well, thinking a little on the previous time he'd seen Toriko open it. He thought about each process she had made before giving it to him, and when he remembered her getting into a drawer, he turned and began sifting through each cabinet drawer, making a large amount of sound as he did so. "With spoons," he said finally as he found the objects, grabbing two of them and holding them up to show her what they were. He tossed her one, figuring she'd catch it, and then scooped his own spoon through the sweet snow, showing her that it came out rather easily despite its appearance. Then, he stuck the spoon between his teeth and tilted the small jug towards Shikiyoku, revelling in the melting substance in his mouth as he waited for her reaction as well. _*****_

The 'spoon' she _did _know, and he did not surprise her when he tossed it, though his throw was accurate enough that she hardly needed to put any effort into the catch.

Her eyes were wide with interest at each movement he made and she followed his example when he extended the container, surprised at how the sweet snow gave way to the spoon. She eyed both Hiei and the substance now on her utensil with wariness, but when Hiei did not immediately fall over and die upon consumption, she cautiously brought the spoon closer to her face, watching the edges of the chilly mound melt against the room-temperature metal of the spoon.

There were red bits of what she took to be strawberries littered throughout, and she didn't _think _they were poisonous, despite the vivid color. Her eyes flickered to Hiei again, but he still stood there, seeming no worse off than before.

The smell finally got to her and she went ahead and slowly opened her mouth and closed it around the spoon, pulling the utensil out and drawing her lips over it to keep the sweet snow within, her head tilting in the consideration of the flavor.

It was not, however, the flavor that she even noticed in the slightest as the sweet snow stung the back of her mouth and slithered down her throat, melting on the way down.

She coughed and sputtered at the shock of the temperature, sticking her tongue out and glaring up at him.

"It burns." She declared, accusingly, pursing her lips together as if he knew and purposefully had not told her. 3

Hiei raised a brow in amusement at her declaration, not hesitating in swallowing the substance and getting another spoon full. Without replying right away, he stuffed the bigger spoonful into his mouth, savoring the sweet flavor with amusement in his gaze as he watched the glare being sent to him.

"You'll get over it," he responded finally, his words slightly muffled from speaking around the colder substance. Again, he turned the tub to her, waiting to see if she'd take another bite. "Unless you want to continue searching for something else while I have this?" _*****_

"I've looked everywhere." Shikiyoku grumbled, gesturing with her other hand to indicate the torn-up kitchen as she dug her spoon in again when he offered, though her second portion smaller than the first. Before she could change her mind, she popped it into her mouth, swirling the sweet snow at the front of her tongue, controlling its location in her mouth as she had not before.

This time she caught the flavor as it melted, though it slid to the back of her throat again before she meant for it to and it still left the strange cold, but burning sensation as before when she swallowed.

"I do not understand." She found herself confused, "How does one make snow 'sweet?'" Without any further ceremony, she reached for another spoonful, putting this bite into her mouth with the same caution-to-the-wind mentality as with the last one. 3

Hiei considered her inquisition, suddenly realizing he hadn't asked that question before. Why he hadn't, he didn't understand. Perhaps he'd been too engrossed in this delicious treat to think of its actual contents. So, he didn't answer her, only took another scoop and put it in his mouth, dragging the spoon out and over his bottom lip to ensure he got every bit of it.

"Sugar," he said suddenly, remembering once watching a woman cook with the white substance, and it had been briefly explained by his redheaded friend when inquired of. "It is a powder that sweetens things," he explained briefly, feeling rather proud of himself for thinking of the substance. But, if she asked anything else, he wouldn't be able to answer. So he continued to stuff his mouth with the treat, eyeing the messy kitchen warily; Toriko wasn't going to be happy. _*****_

"Shu-gahr." The word was the weirdest one of them all. She didn't like how it made her tongue bend and tense up at the end, but she approved of whatever magic it worked on the snow. She found herself unable to resist going for more, getting one bite into her mouth and savoring it as she reached for a second. "Straw-berries?" She tilted her head, intending to ask what exactly a strawberry was, but with her mouth full, it was the only word she got out. 3

Hiei nodded silently at Shikiyoku, listening to her test the words. Then he realized she likely didn't know what a strawberry was, so he slid the tub into her grasp after another scoop and moved to the white box of cold, opening the larger door and looking among the contents; he knew they were there, he'd seen her grab them from here before.

His nose flared as he sniffed, searching for the particular smell. This brought him to a crouched position, nose close to a white drawer at the base of the box. He pulled on it, making larger, round objects clatter against the sides. His eyes laid sights on the strawberry container, and he lifted it with ease from the drawer, then stood, letting the large door shut, except he heard it clatter on the drawer and slam onto it. He glanced back at it, but ignored it as he walked over to the counter, trying to figure out how to open the plastic container.

After a few minutes, irritation grew and he merely ripped at the plastic, tearing the top off with an extremely loud and annoying sound, but he produced a strawberry from within and held it up for Shikiyoku. "Strawberry." _*****_

Shikiyoku did not reject the sweet snow when he handed it to her, and she was so engrossed in the next few bites that he popped her in the back with the door of the white thing before she could move out of the way. She scooted forward, one arm holding the sweet snow and the other at the spoon in her mouth, and glanced behind her, only half-interested as she continued to discover the true flavor of the treat she ingested.

She paid him no heed until he spoke, then looked up. Leaving the spoon hanging out of her mouth, she reached up and poked at the item he held out for her to see. She frowned as she lowered her hand and took the spoon back into her fingers.

"They are the same?" She lifted the sweet snow slightly to indicate it. 3

Hiei frowned slightly at her question, and without asking, pulled the tub from her grasp and used his fingers to pull out one of the red chunks inside the sweet snow. He inspected it, then the whole strawberry in his hand, and came to a conclusion. "This," he said, setting the container down on the counter and holding up the small chunk of red and the whole strawberry, "is the same." He paused and again inspected the chunk. "Probably." _*****_

Shikiyoku relinquished the container, but wasn't pleased when he took it, frowning as she put the sweet snow she'd managed to snitch before he grabbed it into her mouth.

"And you can eat that one the way it is?" She said around the spoon, pointing to the larger one. They seemed so different she was not sure. 3

Hiei inspected both products again before looking up to meet Shikiyoku's gaze, and nodding at her once. "They are the same, aside from the temperature." he explained, lifting the strawberry to his mouth and taking a bit out of it as an example. The taste was odd on its own, almost sour, but he enjoyed the taste and popped the rest of the strawberry into his mouth whole. As he munched on it, he snuck a spoonful of the sweet snow from the tub and into his mouth as well, the combination delightful to his senses. Then he offered one to Shikiyoku as well, still chewing at the fruit. _*****_

Delicately plucking the strawberry form Hiei's outstretched hand, Shikiyoku brought it up to her face, though not with nearly as much caution as she had scrutinized the sweet snow.

She squeezed it a little, spoon in her mouth, and her nose scrunched as the outer skin gave way, a few of the dots on it coming off onto her fingers, the texture squishy. The color was much more fresh than the one within the sweet snow. She tugged experimentally at one of the green things at the top and it came out, her eyebrows rising in surprise. She associated the slim, earthy green thing with leaves and glanced up at Hiei.

He had eaten the entire thing though and his eyes-usually devoid of emotion-revealed the slightest hint of pleasure past his normally stony façade at the stuff.

She snuffed a breath out of her nose and pulled the spoon out from her mouth, going ahead and tossing the entire thing past her parting lips.

The burst of juice as her teeth broke through the strawberry left behind a strange mixture of bitterly-sweet flavors, though the leaves marred any enjoyment she might have had, giving the consumption an overpowering sense of dirt that she cringed at, barely managing to swallow the thing.

She stuck her tongue out and made a face, doubtful if this, like the sweet snow, would get better the more she had of it. 3

Hiei sneered despite the chunks of strawberry behind his teeth. He didn't care if she enjoyed them or not, it only meant he could have more. "Suit yourself," he replied tartly as he took another spoonful of the sweet snow and another strawberry, popping them both into his mouth as soon as he swallowed his last combination of the two. Then he proceeded to grab the entire plastic container, glance at the still open door of the white box of cold, and leave the room.

He sauntered his way into the living room, glancing around at the couches and chairs before making himself comfortable on the floor, back against the base of the couch in front of the large box that showed him a reflection of the room in its dark surface. _*****_

"Hey!" Shikiyoku exclaimed as she pulled the spoon from her mouth and dashed after him, coming around to stand in front of him and crossing her arms, "I wasn't done with _that_." She pointed petulantly at the container of sweet snow. 3

Hiei's crimson eyes looked up at Shikiyoku with indifference, as if challenging her to take it from him. But, he sneered and passed it up to her, as if he'd been joking the whole time. Then he proceeded to set the second container, the strawberries, in his lap and pluck one from the top, taking a small bite from it and looking up at the demoness expectantly; he doubted she'd stand there the whole time, and he expected her to share. _*****_

He actually surprised her with how easily he gave up the sweet snow, though she had already felt her ire rising with the first look she got from him.

In a similar fashion, she remained standing and stared down at him as she took another bite for herself just long enough to make it appear like she had no plans on letting him get any more. The bite she took made her close her eyes and smile around her spoon and broke her attempt at a challenge however, and she turned to sink down to the carpet next to him, sitting down on her feet again-the only position she was capable of with the towel still wrapped around her-and completely unaware the she had settled closer than she intended, her shoulder against his.

She held the container steadily in her lap and continued shoveling into it for another morsel. 3

Hiei had, at first, glowered at the look she'd given him, but had stuffed another bite of the strawberry in his mouth and relaxed when he saw the smile stretch her lips as he munched and crunched on the small fruit while she got comfortable. As soon as she was settled beside him, he reached for another scoop of the sweet snow, driving the spoon into his mouth and leaving it hanging there as it melted on his tongue, eyes inspecting the screen of the box in front of him and wondering what it was, at the same time watching his own reflection and Shikiyoku's not noticing how close she'd sat to him. _*****_

A sudden feeling of uncomfortableness washed over Shikiyoku and she looked up, one hand on the spoon hanging out of her mouth, realizing that her feeling came from being watched.

Her eyes widened and she tensed up, sort of able to see Hiei staring at her in the strange reflective screen, but suddenly made aware of the presence of his shoulder against hers.

"I-I'm sorry!" She scooted twice to the right, getting half a foot away from him, neck turning slightly pink as she ducked her head back down to watch the process of digging her spoon into the sweet snow in her lap as if it were of great interest, not looking up even as she slid it into her mouth. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the sudden outburst from the demon beside him, his eyes slowly leaving the screen to look directly at Shikiyoku. He stared for a moment, confused. Had he done something wrong? A sneer came to his face but he said nothing. Instead he turned back to inspecting the large box. Again, he noted the reflective surface, and realized she must have noticed him staring at the reflection.

He turned again to look at her, this time his eyes going to the tub of sweet snow. He scowled at her in disappointment, then reached over and took it from her grasp, digging his spoon into it. "Fool." _*****_

Flinching, Shikiyoku made no protest when he grabbed it except for following its path with a brief, wide-eyed expression of longing, turning back to her lap where she pulled the last spoonful of sweet snow from her mouth and fiddled with the utensil, biting her lip but saying nothing. 3

Hiei stuffed a spoonful into his mouth, eyeing Shikiyoku from the corner of his eyes. He found himself surprised when she didn't resist, only looking at her now empty lap with surprise. He swallowed his mouthful of the sweet snow and then took another chunk of it onto his spoon, waiting for the moment she decided to fight him for it.

But it didn't happen, much to his surprise. So, he glanced down at the almost empty container, staring at the contents for a moment before making a small sound and slowly reaching over to her, outstretching the tub to her. He didn't look at her as he extended it to her peacefully, popping the rest of his strawberry in his mouth as he waited on her to take it.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	16. Episode 101 - Playing in the Park

**A/N: **Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!

The next chapter awaiteth!

In regards to how much Toriko/Hiei interaction there has been so far (and how little Akari/Kurama), it's mostly because there is more going on for the first pair right now than Akari, as Akari is mostly just wandering Human World trying not to stick out and it wouldn't make for very interesting plot.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei and Shikiyoku make their way back to Toriko's home,  
the latter eventually pinning up her hair before returning upstairs to sleep next to Hiei.

However, when she woke up it appears that the bobby pins did not actually seal her away,  
though she takes little notice, finding herself extremely hungry.  
This leads to Hiei introducing her to 'sweet snow'- or rather, ice cream-as well as strawberries.

~!**!~

Kurama stayed with Akari and Nabu until Akari could leave the park on her own...

* * *

"_...ri?"_

A small sigh left the demoness as she turned over, feeling an odd weight stumble about on her stomach. "Shh," she replied out of instinct, almost able to fall back asleep.

"_Akari!" _A wet substance met her cheek, and Akari released a sigh and a grumble.

"What is it, Nabu? Couldn't you let me sleep a little longer?"

"_The sun is up, and I'm bored." _There was a brief moment of silence, and she thought she'd been left alone. "_I wanta play. Please?"_

"Nabu, we played all night almost," she replied sleepily, opening a single eye to regard the still-muddy dog. "You're a mess; get off the couch."

"_Only if you get up and play with me!"_

"Nabu…" she complained, throwing her arm over her face. The next thing she knew, the dog had his teeth on her shirt and was pulling, tossing his head from side to side, her arm falling from her fae so the sunlight hit her eyes again. "Nabu!"

"_THe park!"_

Another sigh, a huff, and Akari was sitting up. "Fine. But we won't be there long," she said with exasperation, rubbing her head of messy hair. "But first, we are stopping by the nearest gym."

"_Why?"_

"The showers work there, not here."

"_Water?"_

"Yes, Nabu. Water." With that, Akari gathered a small bag that she had found days ago, stuffed a random outfit into it, along with Nabu's favorite toys, and hitched it over her shoulder. In no time at all, she was walking through alleyways and sneaking into a member's only gym through the air ducts, despite Nabu's complaints. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes brightened when she looked down at the container of sweet snow nudging her in the arm. She flickered her eyes up at Hiei who wasn't looking at her, then down into the nearly empty tub.

Disappointment flared up in her mind, but she considered what was left curiously, dividing a line invisibly down the middle of the remaining contents and reaching underneath the container to keep it steady, cutting her spoon through the line she envisioned and taking half of what was left, letting go of the tub and pulling her spoon to her face.

She did not give the mound any last rites, instead immediately wrapping her lips around it and turning back to the front, unable to help her smile, her face exuding an almost audible 'mmm' of pleasure. 3

Hiei had expected the tub to be relinquished from his grasp, but surprisingly, he felt it shift only a bit, pressure from Shikiyoku scooping out more of it before the pressure was released. This time, he glanced over at the demon to see the smile that riddled her features, then his eyes shifted to the container, taking in the small amount left. He hesitated for a moment before pulling the container back towards himself and taking the last bit of it onto his spoon, then into his mouth to slowly melt on his tongue, leaving only the chunks of strawberry behind.

When he swallowed the last bite, he let the container fall to the floor, forgotten, and he merely sat there in a daze, as if lost for what to do next. He was still hungry, especially for the sweet snow, but he knew there was no more left. So, he sat there with a look of disappointment on his face.

~!**!~

Akari had snuck into the facility easily, landing herself in the bathroom where the lights were still off, telling her the place had yet to open the doors. She smiled to herself at the thought and simply took over the shower closest to her, then going to the lockers where there were locks, knowing there were products held inside the ones that were locked. Instead of toying with them as she normally would, she simply sniffed out the most pleasant smell until she was satisfied, and broke the lock off with a single pull on the metal. It groaned, but gave way and snapped open. She eyed the only contents inside and took the largest bottle, reading "Shampoo" on it and, triumphant, making her way over to the shower.

She'd been quick about it, not really knowing the time or how long she had before someone entered the building, so before she had had a chance to even think about getting caught, she'd gotten in and out, dressed in a clean outfit that she'd possessed and braiding her hair. As she now walked the streets again, Nabu bouncing around and around her feet, she gave a relaxed sigh, breathing in the clean morning air.

"_Park now?"_

"Mhmm," she hummed to the dog, hitching the small duffel bag higher on her shoulder as she walked through the crowd of people rushing about for errands and whatever else humans did this early in the morning. "But Nabu, I _am _going to sit on a bench, not run around this time."

"_Okay! But will you chase me later?"_

"Probably not. I want to relax and do absolutely nothing today."

"_But that's __**every day**__!" _the pup whined as they crossed the entrance to the park, already catching a whiff of other dogs and people on the premises. "_Why do you get tired so easily?"_

"Nabu, fetch!" she yelled suddenly, throwing the tennis ball that she had prepared for this very moment. As expected, he immediately perked up and chased it, barking the entire way as it bounced and rolled in every which way possible. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku glanced at Hiei as the tub made a muted clatter onto the carpet, and his sudden forlorn expression made her uncomfortable. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips defiantly, glaring at the room around her.

"I want more." She declared in her bossiest voice. It was mostly true. The sweet snow had lessened her hunger, and she wasn't sure how much more of the treat she could take before she went insane and had to have something salty or with more substance, but at that very moment she wanted nothing more than to rid Hiei of his melancholy, to get any resemblance of his former joy back into his eyes, and if that meant getting him more, then she would get him more.

She stomped beyond the couch, back to the tiled area opposite it, and wrested open the top part of the white thing that the now-empty container had first fallen from. She crossed her arms and stared into the square box. Nothing inside remotely resembled the container they had just finished, but she hesitated to make that decision on her own.

"None of these have more?" She called to Hiei, pointing at the various other different items in front of her. 3

Instinctively, Hiei replied to Shikiyoku with a snide, "then get it yourself," though he did want more as well. He simply did not know where or how to get more. A store, perhaps, but he knew not of which one or how one would come to obtain such a thing as the currency to get it. Then again, he cared not for the laws of this world; they did not apply to a demon. At least, in his eyes they did not.

After a moment, his eyes moved up to follow the retreating back of Shikiyoku, and he raised a brow at her quizzically. He didn't think there would be more in there. But he waited anyways, until he heard her voice, in which case he too stood and shuffled his way into the kitchen, peering into the top part of the white box curiously. As suspected, none of the containers matched the previous. "No," he replied easily, his expression blank and tone nonchalant, as if he could care less. He proceeded to shut the door, glance down at the still-ajar bottom door, and scowl. Without prompting, he opened the large door and began working with the drawer inside that prevented it from closing. In seconds, the problem was fixed and the cold air ceased from flowing into the room. "You'll have to do without."

~!**!~

Akari, despite what she'd said to Nabu, had stayed standing in the park, moving around when Nabu couldn't see her and creating a game all her own. If he could find her, she would throw the ball. Then it would begin again.

At one point, the pup had dropped his ball and began calling out to her with a worried bark, as if fearing he'd been left behind. But she'd tossed another toy to get his attention, and he'd come running to her in a moment's notice, complaining yet barking excitedly for another throw.

"Why don't you play with the other dogs?" she asked him suddenly, eyeing the slobbery ball in her hand before looking up at the park full of children and their pets, their parents nearby. "I would have figured you, with as much energy as you have, would have more fun over there."

"_Nope! It's more fun if you play!"_

Akari smiled softly down at the dog and relented, throwing the ball again. He barked spastically as it soared, having not expected the swap from conversation to play. His yipping earned several annoyed stares, but she didn't care. She simply continued on with the game, finding another spot to hide- this time in the shadows behind a tree; simple enough, right? _*****_

Kurama took a deep breath of the park around him, able to analyze the aroma of each plant that came to him without putting much thought into it, aware at a very deep place with him of every growing object around, and enjoying their peaceful existences. They would feed well today on the rays of the sun, and the rain of the night before had left the freshest feeling upon all of them.

The sun was shining brightly, the day clear and the air warm, with a light breeze that occasionally whispered around him, making the tips of his hair dance. His head stayed down in the book he brought with him, leg crossed comfortably over the other with one hand holding it up and the other resting inside the pocket of the very light jacket he wore.

There were few people as deep into the park as he'd travelled, and he did not feel anyone in the immediate vicinity of the bench he'd chosen to rest upon. Not that he minded the bustle of others. Their own lives added another layer to the essence of the growth he could feel occurring all around him, the energy of the humans weaving in with the energy of the plants and creating a chorus of exuberance that beat steadily in an eternal song of life that no other realm could replicate. A song Kurama often found great comfort in quietly bearing witness to.

An alien noise to the song he felt in his soul pulled Kurama's head out of the book his eyes were committed to reading, and he watched as a ball soared at a great speed towards his lap, the arc lowering the closer it came to him.

He calmly bent his book back up against his knee, holding his page in place with one finger and catching the ball with the other three and his thumb as it neatly landed within his grasp. He looked up, expecting something to burst out from the general direction of the strong throw with an eyebrow raised in amusement, but just as quickly turned his head back down to the page, the ball well-hidden by the book's cover.

~!**!~

"But I'm _hungry_." Shikiyoku whined, lifting her face up to the ceiling, "And maybe I don't _want _to do without." She lowered her head to look over at him, arms still crossed over her chest, "You've lived here for-_ever_. How do we get more?" 3

Hiei scowled at Shikiyoku as he stood up straight, crossing his own arms over his chest to mirror her impatience. At her last words, his scowl deepened and he was left thinking for a moment, wondering if there was a specific place he knew to get the sweet snow. But of course, there wasn't.

"A store," he said, not-so-helpfully. And that was all he offered on information. "If you want it so bad, you can't go out like that. You'd draw attention," he remarked, gesturing to her towel with a nod of his head.

~!**!~

Nabu took off after the soaring ball, running in the direction he had seen her arm throw towards. He weaved through dog traffic and people expertly, his small size making it much easier to maneuver than most dogs. But as he ran, he realized he didn't see the ball, or even hear it, touch the ground. He slowed from a run to a decent trot, nose instinctively going to the ground for even a hint of his scent, which was bound to be all over the toy.

He trotted about for a few minutes, at first finding nothing. But then, he caught the scent, and his head was in the air and he was running again, panting. "_Wow, you threw it far!" _he barked into the air as loud as he could, his feet pounding on the grass as he continued to run through the trees and the bushes.

Suddenly, he broke through a rather tough bush, ignoring the tug of the thorns on his fur that acted as a protective layer over his skin, and he stopped, big brown eyes scouring the area. Only one person came into view, and immediately, his tail began wagging and his tongue lolled, his feet again pounding in the direction of the redhead. "_Hey! I know you! Have you seen my ball?" _he yipped, bouncing up so his feet touched the man's pants leg by means of getting his attention. "_Well, have you? I smell it nearby!" _*****

Kurama's lips broke into a small smile as he first heard, and then saw, the small shape he'd been expecting to approach.

"Are you looking for something?" He asked amiably, "Did you lose your ball? I'm not sure if I know where it is myself! Is it near here? Are you sure?"

~!**!~

"A store?" Shikiyoku's eyes brightened and she lowered her arms, then looked down at the towel still firmly in place around her torso, "And why not? I like attention." 3

Hiei let his brows settle into a lower place on his face, shadowing his eyes in a look of irritation at her question. "Discretion is your ally," he said, tone thick and heavy with exasperation. Never before had he met a demon like this who would so readily give them away. "I know the humans have currency, but I have acquired none of it, as I'm sure you have guessed. You can't exactly be discreet if one of you is without clothes," he remarked, as if it were plainly obvious of his intentions by now.

"Or I could go alone and you can stay here."

~!**!~

Akari had waited. And waited. And waited some more in the shadow of the tree. However, she grew tired of waiting and stepped out from behind the tree, figuring Nabu had simply taken to hoarding the ball for himself to chew on. But when her eyes swept the grounds, she saw no sign of him in the immediate area, and confusion hit her like a freight train. She hadn't thrown it _that _far, had she?

"Nabu?" she called, bending down to pick up her bag from the ground as she decided to search for her companion. Surely he hadn't gotten himself _lost_, like that one instance in town? "Nabu!"

No response came, so she heaved a sigh and reverted to a tactic she'd used in the similar situation: she stuck her nose in the air and took a large breath in, smelling the damp soil, the leftover scent of rainwater, and the scent of the people and animals around her. It didn't take her long to pinpoint Nabu's scent; he smelled faintly of the mold and dirt that littered the house they had taken over, making it much easier to pinpoint him than others.

So, she followed the direction for a while, crossing the large spacious plot of land at a casual pace with her bag tossed over her shoulder. "Nabu!" she called again, and this time, she heard a familiar yip, but it was not in response to her.

"_...You do! You're acting funny!" _she heard the dog, and Akari's footsteps carried her through the tangle of brush and tree limbs until she broke through, eyes seeing Nabu jumping up and down in front of Kurama. "_I'm sure it's near here! Do you have it? Throw it! Let's play!"_

Akari released a heavy sigh. "You have a habit of being nearby, you know that?" _*****_

Kurama had leaned forward to speak with the pup, but moved back against the bench and regarded Akari with no small amount of amusement shining in his eyes.

"And you have a decent throwing arm, did you know that?"

~!**!~

"Discretion may be _your _ally, Hiei Jaganshi," Shikiyoku gently jabbed a finger at his chest, "But getting noticed is part of my charm." She flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "And I'd like to know how exactly you intend on being quick about getting more sweet snow without _me_ along. I would bet you don't actually know where to get it. What are you expecting to do? Threaten someone for an answer with that sword of yours? Or getting the Jagan to force them to tell you? I'm sure neither of _those _ways will garner _any _attention whatsoever. And discretion _is _our ally." She crossed her arms back over her chest, eyes bright with triumph, sure that if he did not have any currency in the Human Realm that he also did not know that much of where to purchase things with it. 3

Hiei scowled even more at Shikiyoku, jaw clenching at her words; it was true, he knew not of where to get the sweet snow, not how he'd find out. Sure, he had originally planned to simply use his Jagan, but now that she had pointed it out, it did seem rather ridiculous. _However_, despite that, he wasn't going to allow her to leave like that.

"Going out like this will attract _too much_ from the humans. They may be generally stupid and oblivious, but they _do _tend to notice a woman without clothing. And here, that will get you nowhere. Again, _discretion_, to some degree." he countered again, sticking to his side of the argument. "I suggest clothing; I'm leaving in five minutes." with that, he turned and headed to the living room, not wanting to hear another remark; he simply wanted to get this over with so he could eat more sweet snow in peace.

~!**!~

Akari shut her eyes for a second and rubbed at her forehead, Nabu's barking growing louder and with less sense by the moment. "_Is it here? I wanna- help me find it!" _He paused to sneeze, his head jerking, but immediately picked back up where he left off. "_Akari, I can't find it! It's probably with another dog by now! I don't wanna lose it!"_

"Nabu, we'll find it," she grumbled, giving a sigh and reopening her eyes, meeting Kurama's gaze. "I would take it as a compliment, but that would mean you've been watching- to some degree." she countered, looking down at Nabu as he began jumping on her leg too, running back and forth in a frenzy. "Did you happen to see the ball fly by here?" _*****_

His expression changing in no way, Kurama nodded to his right, indicating a tree nearby and that the ball was caught up in its branches.

"A good arm. As I said." He waited for her to turn away, making for certain that she would not be able to spot the ball in his hand behind his book as she did so.

~!**!~

"So, naked is a no-go, then?" Shikiyoku called after Hiei, starting to unwind the towel from around her body, grinning at his back and not expecting him to not turn around, assuming he would not so much as grace her with a habitual scoff as he walked away. Without waiting for his response, she moved for the stairs as the towel came free, heading up and into the bedroom.

This towel got deposited on top of the other one resting over the dirty, formerly bright pink school uniform right within the doorway and she rummaged through drawers in the room, unsatisfied with her other side's clothing choices and half-wanting to go without at the sight of them. She finally managed to find a pair of what she somehow knew were 'blue jeans,' pulling them on snugly over the undergarments she found. The dresser drawer with shirts in it had them folded and in some sort of order that Shikiyoku promptly threw into disarray by unceremoniously tearing into the piles for a decent blouse. She held up a black one and shrugged, heading out the room and starting to go down the stairs as she pulled it on over her head, the cut of the shirt just as snug against her skin as her jeans and she liked the feeling.

By the time she started to pull edge of the shirt down past her stomach, she was in the living room and she smoothed the dark tee down before clearing her throat to catch Hiei's attention and spinning once in a circle.

"Adequate?" 3

Hiei had sat on the couch casually, ignoring Shikiyoku's rhetorical question as he merely lounged, his head laying back on the back of the couch and his legs stretched out as far as they could be in front of himself. His arms stayed loosely crossed over his chest, eyes staring up at the ceiling as if it held great interest, while in actuality he was counting by minutes. Literally by the second. He hadn't been joking when he said he'd be leaving.

When he reached about three and a little over half minutes, he heard footsteps at the top of the stairs and stopped counting, but he didn't look away from the odd pattern in the paint on the ceiling. Not until a small sound caught his attention and he looked up- or rather, down- to where Toriko was standing, turning in a full circle. He eyed the outfit once before standing, hands automatically sliding into his pockets. "Decent," he commented, turning for the door in a quiet prompting of "let's go". He was no longer patient on the subject; he wanted more sweet snow, and he was gonna have it.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes followed the direction Kurama had nodded in and she released another sigh. She hadn't planned on climbing any trees today, and this outfit was relatively new. _Guess I'll just have to be careful then, _she thought to herself. One glance back at the redhead and she stepped around Nabu, trying not to trip over his bouncing little body. "Nabu, move!" she complained, nearly tripping as he continued to bounce around her feet in excitement.

By the time she reached the tree, she was not happy. At all. She hated climbing trees to an extent; she wasn't very talented at it and had, as a child, often fallen from their heights. The thought left her staring up at the nearest branch with distaste. "You better thank me for this," she grumbled at Nabu before reaching up and grasping the branch with her dominant arm, using her other arm and both feet to put her weight on the trunk of the tree and pull herself up, all the while searching the vivid green leaves for a small yellow object. _*****_

Kurama's eyes followed her and took note of her hesitation when she reached the bottom of the tree, but as soon as her attention fell back to it, his eyes flickered at Nabu, the pup completely disinterested with him and running in circles around the bottom of the trunk.

Judging the distance and calculating the necessary requirements for what he was about to do had already been done the instant he had decided which tree he was going to indicate to her, and he merely timed his toss at just the moment where neither she nor the dog would see.

The bag she had over her shoulder had a small opening where the zipper was not shut all the way, and the placement of the ball inside hardly took more than an expert flick of Kurama's wrist. He did not watch the ball arc neatly through the air and into the bag just as it disappeared with Akari up the tree, but land within it the ball did, not making so much as a jostle or noise that would be noticed.

His eyes were planted firmly in the lines of his book, his mind reading the words as well as paying special attention to the demon up the tree, aware of her uncomfortableness within its branches and not expecting an accident, but prepared to intervene should one occur.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made sure she locked the door behind them as they left, jamming the keys into her front pocket and hopping down the steps after Hiei, joining him just as he turned at the end of the walkway onto the sidewalk of the street.

The concrete felt warm under the soles of her feet as she padded along beside him, hands clasped together behind her back as she practically bounced along, moving quickly beyond Hiei as she spotted a human walking in their direction further down in front of them.

"Excuse me," She tucked a portion of her hair that had fallen from her bun behind one ear in a demure fashion, after she swayed up to the human leaving Hiei several feet behind her, testing something she had not done in a long time. "Where is the nearest store to here?" She glanced coquettishly up through her lashes, blinking twice as she caught the other's gaze, her body language exuding a flirtatious posture, though she did not activate her demonic energy. Not yet.

The older woman smiled down at the petite creature before her, feeling warmth in her old bones just at the sunny expression aimed in her direction. She adjusted the slim purse she carried higher on her shoulder and stopped in front of the girl.

"You're quite near one, dearie. Keep going in this direction and there will be several that you will come to."

"And," Shikiyoku batted her eyelashes again, "Is there sweet snow in one of them?"

The woman tilted her head with questioning, a moment of doubt passing across her features. "Sweet snow?" She asked.

It was at the point that Shikiyoku let her eyes shimmer, something about the older lady's response troubling her enough into doing so, "Yes. Which one of them has it?"

Anything unsettling that the woman felt at the girl's former question vanished as she looked the younger one in the eyes, "That must be something new that an old fashion doddy like me isn't familiar with. Does it have another name? You kids are always coming up with newfangled ways of talking about things." 3

Hiei had lead the way out of the house, hands in his pockets casually and his eyes glancing around the bright outside of the home. He blinked once against the harsh rays of the sun, but otherwise reacted none at all to the change. He turned to walk due West, not caring when Shikiyoku passed by him to ask an older woman of their desired substance.

And the confusion they were met with made Hiei stop short; he still hadn't remembered what it was actually called. His expression shifted to forced neutrality as his eyes glazed over, his mind running through different memories of the extremely cold substance. He thought back to the most recent time he'd eaten it before today, and remembered sitting on the kitchen floor with Toriko. No name surfaced, so he thought further back.

He remembered seeing the tub, being passed a bowl of the substance with fresh strawberries on top and mixed in. He remembered his reaction to it, and glaring at Toriko, who had threatened to eat his for him.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he stepped up beside Shikiyoku, looking right at the elder human with determination. His lips parted, saying the magic words he knew would work. "Ice cream."

~!**!~

Akari sighed and stayed on the lower branch for a few minutes, searching with her eyes as much as possible for the little yellow ball. It was too easy to ignore Nabu when she was concentrating so hard on her footing, her balance. When she still saw no ball, she grumbled to herself and hitched her bag up higher, pulling herself up a few branches higher into the tree. Again, she searched, finding herself feeling extremely incredulous; there was no way she had thrown it so hard. At that thought, her eyes turned to the ground on the opposite side of the tree, where she hadn't looked, hoping to see the spherical object, but of course, it wasn't there either.

"All this for a dumb toy," she grumbled as she prepared to pull herself higher, but the bag on her shoulder became hitched on a branch, almost knocking her off balance. She fiddled with it until it was loose, and tried again, with the same result of being stuck where she was due to the bag. "Stupid," she snarled, pulling it from the branch and her shoulder, then unceremoniously letting it fall to the earth.

She didn't watch it hit the ground. In fact, she didn't even hear it. She simply climbed another branch higher, extremely cautious now; dogs were never meant for tree climbing.

"_Hey! YOU HAD IT THE WHOLE TIME!" _the dog suddenly barked up the tree, a small snarl in his tone, but otherwise he seemed joyous. Akari raised a brow and glanced down. Her mouth opened to ask what he meant, but instead she let it fall and hang open in surprise; there, on the ground by her fallen bag, was the ball. "_Why did you do that?"_

"Nabu! Where was it?!"

"_Your bag! You hid it from me!"_

"I did no such thin-" Akari's words cut off as realization hit her, and as she hugged at the branch nearest her, she sent a glare down to the redhead at the bench. "You think you're real funny, don't ya?" She yelled over at him, glancing down again. She did not enjoy the height she was at. "This isn't funny! You said it was in the tree!" _*****_

Kurama's eyebrows raised, but he did not look up from his book.

"Oh? Well, wasn't it?" He called, silently enjoying the fervor with which Nabu snatched the ball up.

The dog barked something around the ball held firmly in his teeth, presumably at Akari, and then ran excitedly up to Kurama, dropping the ball onto the bench where it rolled to the back and came to rest near Kurama's thigh. Nabu then began spinning in an enthusiastic circle, yipping something that Kurama could only assume had to do with himself and tossing the ball.

Obligingly, Kurama switched his book into his right hand and picked the ball up in his left, giving his wrist almost the exact same flick that had landed the object so neatly into Akari's bag, and releasing the ball so that it flew threw the air, Nabu after it the instant it left Kurama's hand.

The redhead watched Nabu take off, keeping tabs on Akari's position up in the tree. He spoke through the ground at his feet to the branches, asking them to be kind and not toss the intruder out, despite her obvious insecurity within their embrace. He knew that even if she fell he was more than capable of reaching her before she hit the grass, though he thought perhaps saving her with the plants about them might be his better option, one the female might receive as a boon from the earth rather than his own influence. He could only imagine that her rescue would not earn him any great respect, only ire at his having caused the accident in the first place. He did not find the predicament any less amusing, however.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku glanced over at Hiei in surprise. Iced-cream? It sounded disgusting. But his eyes told her that the words he used this time indicated the same treat they shared previously and now desired together, and so she turned back to the old woman, who waited for her to speak.

"What he said." She added blandly, nodding to Hiei.

"Oh my, well there are several shops you might purchase _ice cream _from."

Shikiyoku tried not to growl at the woman's emphasis of the word.

Ticking off her fingers one-by-one the elderly woman continued, giving names of stores and saying a little about what each one had, "...but the nearest one with the actual tubs, and not just one-serving icey-pops, is a little grey convenience store. There's a red sign at the front of the building that says..."

Shikiyoku stopped listening again, holding up a hand to prevent the woman from going further. "That's more than I ever wanted to know. Leave now."

Without a second glance, the elderly woman kept walking past them and Shikiyoku took a couple of steps before pausing and turning back, trotting to catch up with her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but you dropped this." She held out a thin, burgundy wallet about twice the length of her hand, turning away as soon as the wallet was taken from her and rejoining Hiei.

She continued walking and flipped part of her hair behind her shoulder, "I don't know what this realm uses as currency, but I'm almost positive that human had none of it on her, unless the tube of lipstick in her purse or the strange plastic card with her face and address on it in her wallet are some form of it." 3

Hiei turned to continue walking on, in the direction the woman had gestured to, determined to have more Ice Cream, as he had remembered it being named. He hadn't cared for the list she named off, his impatience carrying him to stuff his hands further into his pockets and ball his hands into fists in irritation. He never liked the way the elder humans spoke, as if they had all the time in the world to waste for others.

He glanced over his shoulder when Shikiyoku walked away from him again, following the elder woman with a small object in her hand. He sneered in recognition as he witnessed her return the object, realizing what she'd done without having actually witnessed the act. He hadn't been watching her every move like he would another demon; it was pointless, or so he'd thought. Now though, he wished he had, merely so that this would be more amusing.

When she returned, he took to walking at a leisurely pace again, not looking at her as she spoke to him, confirming his suspicions at how easily she had complied in returning it. "Pity," he replied sarcastically, searching for the sign that the woman had described and the store she had informed them of. "Too bad, I would have _enjoyed _playing by the rules," he mused sarcastically, referring to the laws of this world that he cared not about.

~!**!~

Akari snarled down at the redhead in response to his remark. But, otherwise, she had no answer for him at that instant. Instead, her eyes were on the ground, at least ten feet below her, and she was warily judging the best way down. After a moment, she had decided, and her eyes moved to the branch nearest her face, the one she currently embraced for security, and she reluctantly let go. "Ha-Ha," she finally answered, her tone mocking and irate, her voice only loud enough a demon could hear. "Very funny," she whispered under her breath, ignoring everything but the tree now, and her path downwards.

After slight hesitation, she sit down on the branch and let her feet touch the targeted one below, making sure she had her footing before she set her weight on said limb. And then she repeated the gesture, each step more cautious than the next. "When I get down, so help me," she grumbled as she continued her descent.

Finally, when she was nearest one of the lower branches, she let out a breath and sat down, letting her feet merely dangle off the side in relief, her palms resting on the branch as she glanced to the green grass below, now in a much better range than before. though her irrational fear of falling was still present beneath her relief.

"You're a jerk," she finally called to Kurama again, her voice carrying this time with ease, "and that was a rather stupid game." _*****_

"Game?" Kurama echoed as Nabu came running back. He bent down and the dog placed the slobbery ball in the hand he reached towards it. "I wasn't aware we were playing any game. Did you have one in mind?"

He sat up and actually cocked his arm back for a throw, but sent the ball careening across the ground where it jostled and bounced across the uneven path, just fast enough to send Nabu tearing madly after it.

~!**!~

As they continued walking, Shikiyoku let her eyebrows rise and turned to Hiei in mock-surprise, mimicking the dry tone that he'd just used, "_You?_ _**Not **_play by the rules? I can't believe the words that are coming out of your mouth."

Her 'astonishment' fell away at the grin she couldn't help, though she turned away and coughed into one hand to relax the muscles at the edge of her lips, mumbling to herself "And you seemed like such the upstanding citizen."

She raised her head to consider their path before going on, in a louder voice, "Surely you held some _brilliantly_ straight-and-narrow occupation when you were in Demon World. Let me guess. Propaganda? Party Leader? No, wait, politician!" 3

Hiei, for the most part, ignored Shikiyoku's mock surprise and her banter that went along with his own. He hadn't meant for it to be carried out; he had merely said it for his own amusement's sake. However, when she began suggesting occupations he _could _have held in demon world, his sneer grew to show his pointed canines. "That idea does sound appealing; entire armies at my dispatch." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, but looked to the path ahead of himself again. "Maybe then I wouldn't be stuck on this plane of existence, under the thumb of a toddler."

He went silent again, sneer slowly sliding from his face as he caught sight of a building that matched the vague description they'd been given. "Perhaps the _Ice Cream_ is worth it," he mused suddenly, emphasizing the words the same way the human had with amusement. How could he have forgotten its strange name? He walked up to the doors of the store, looking for the handle to pull on, only for the doors to slide open magically when he got near, making him raise a brow. It was much similar to Demon World's doors, but slower and less grand. But he commented on nothing of it as he stepped inside, red eyes looking around at the bustling busy bodies of humans, no idea where to go from there.

~!**!~

Akari's head hurt. Not from her lack of meal, or from the loud barks that Nabu gave or even the barking and yelling she could hear in the distance, but from irritation. Her eyebrow twitched and she lifted a hand to smooth it out, rubbing her temple with her index finger. _This is ridiculous. _Her brown eyes travelled to the demon at the bench, suddenly wondering why he was so good-natured towards her. Suspicion arose, but she kept it from her tone and expression.

"_Your _game is no fun," she replied casually, suddenly very much under control of her words and tone. "However, I _was _in the middle of a game with Nabu," she continued as she let herself drop from the tree, landing on her feet nicely and grabbing her bag. She listened as the dog's feet tore at the earth, pounding with his small paws but great speed for his size. "Nabu," she called.

He looked up at her, pausing only for a moment where he stood, ball in his maw, before he turned and ran back to Kurama, completely ignoring her call. Disbelief hit her hard, like a punch, and she watched her friend bounce about Kurama's feet, demanding another throw with a wagging tail and lolling tongue of excitement. She didn't even bother calling again; she knew his determination well enough. That didn't mean she enjoyed this scene though, and her eyes conveyed her disdain to the redhead with a stony glare. _Of course, he'd strut in and- _She stopped the thought short with a cross of her arms, suddenly remembering Nabu's words from the night before and everything that had happened prior. _Damnit. __*****_

"Ah, well, I apologize. I did not mean to interrupt a game already in session." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he leaned down to retrieve the ball Nabu dropped at his feet once more. He smiled down at the animal whose body trembled anxiously with excitement, eyes trained on the ball Kurama now held in his fingers at ear-level.

Kurama made an extra effort this time at miming a hard throw, watching with amusement as Nabu took off without even bothering to look up. In the next moment, before the dog could realize the trick, Kurama made an easy lob in Akari's direction, aiming the toss to fall right in front of her nose where if she would simply hold out a hand near her stomach the ball would land neatly in her grasp.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes were bright with interest, everything new and foreign to her, taking in and analyzing the bustle occurring before her and Hiei, quickly moving a few steps to the side of the entrance in order to not get run over. Not a single human looked up or took notice of her, which set one of her eyebrows twitching, but she shook her head at her first instinct, to rally their attention, comforting herself with the fact that she, and Hiei too for that matter, _did _appear rather human. Had she made an entrance like that in demon form, they would have surely dropped everything they were doing and groveled at her feet.

Human were easy like that.

She made a small, derisive snort. Not that she cared about sniveling humans, but it was a small hitch in her pride to become so aware of her insignificance among them all at once.

Shikiyoku glanced over at Hiei, but the fire demon hadn't so much as given any indication as to what they were to do next, so she gave an almost unnoticeable shrug and padded away from him, the tile of the store feeling strange under her bare feet.

Once she got past the general smell of the humans, her nose started to become aware of other delicious things and she couldn't help but lick her lips at the prospect, though the sweet snow, or whatever, was still top priority for Hiei's sake.

After slipping around various humans standing about in one aisle, Shikiyoku spotted a lone one standing behind a counter towards the back of the store. Her eyes hardly took in the sign that read 'Pharmacy' above him, as it meant nothing to her, but his current customer thanked him and turned away just as Shikiyoku approached.

With little effort, she hopped on top of the counter, dangling her bare feet off the edge of it as she crossed her legs and leaned towards him, making sure he was looking her in the eyes. She batted her eyelashes at him and smiled, getting her lips close to his ear and whispering, "Tell me, where do you keep the iced cream?"

The man smiled genuinely back at her and pointed in a direction. Shikiyoku absently wrapped her fingers around his tie and caressed it, "You're going to get me some. Pick your favorite flavors." She allowed.

He said something agreeable and Shikiyoku hopped down as he came around through a different part of the counter, letting him lead her to a portion of the store slightly colder than the rest, an aisle with only one other human at the end of it. The see-through doors on the side the man approached had tubs of differing sizes and colors that made Shikiyoku's eyes widen with their number. He shuffled along and came to one such door, opening it and pulling out a tub with each hand. He turned to her and held them out, Shikiyoku assuming by their color that they were two different flavors, reading the word 'strawberry' on one of them.

She shrugged noncommittally, but then motioned for the man to bend down further and whispered something else into his ear. 3

Hiei had stood in front of the sliding doors for a few moments, taking in the sights and sounds of the so called store. He heard beeps from several machines, the rolling of wheels on the tile, and the voices of the many humans echoing throughout the large store. Babies cried, small children whined, and the noise all added up to a cacophony of sound that Hiei did not enjoy in the slightest. _Annoying_ was the first word that came to mind, but after that he searched for any clue of the whereabouts of Ice Cream. Of course, he earned nothing more than grumbled of people complaining about him being in the way and a large amount of confusion on his part. If it had been possible, question marks would have been dancing above his head.

Suddenly, Shikiyoku crossed his vision, gaining his undivided attention as she sauntered her way past him, her bare feet padding against the floor and briefly bringing his attention to them; how had he not noticed before? His eyebrow quirked, but otherwise he gave no indication of the abnormality for this world, and he instinctively followed her to the counter, where he saw her eyes were pointed with determination. Like she had, his eyes read the word Pharmacy, but it meant nothing to him. The smells nearby, however, told him that he would not enjoy any of the contents of the shelves around or behind the counter.

"_Look at his hair," _he suddenly heard whispered, and the red-eyed demon turned in the direction of the talk, meeting gazes that turned dumbfounded as soon as their eyes met. "_Is he looking at us?"_

"_I don't know."_

Hiei stared at them calmly for a moment before turning away, his back to the pair of women and children. "_That was weird."_

"_Do you think he heard us?"_

"_No, I don't think so."_

"_...how much product do you think that takes?"_

Hiei scoffed to himself and continued following the demoness he had arrived with, at first not seeing where she had gone, completely missing how she had entranced the man to do her bidding. But he didn't mind; he merely wanted to get out of this place as fast as he could, so he tagged along with the demon who seemed to know what she was doing. By the time he approached her, she was standing close to the man who held two tubs of the sweet snow, eyes wide and gleaming. But Hiei turned away from them to stare at the many different varieties of tubs, all in different shapes and sizes, all under the label of "Ice Cream" with numbers marked beneath them. He blinked; there were _this many choices?! _

~!**!~

Akari stared at Kurama, torn between the feelings he provoked from her and the words of Nabu from the night before; Kurama wasn't exactly being disruptive, just an annoyance. No, maybe not even that. He wasn't being crude towards her, like their previous encounters, and he wasn't glaring at her with irritation, or in the very least, suspicion. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself; with who, that was not the point. The point was: Nabu was right for once; Kurama was being civil, and Akari was not. A sigh left her lips and she turned to watch Nabu run off, her eyes turning back to Kurama when she realized that the ball was not in the air.

She looked just in time to snatch it from its arc, as if it had been a weapon aimed for her face and she'd nearly missed it. She made a face at the slobbery, muddy object, but turned to the direction Nabu had disappeared into the brush to, silently amused. And for a few moments, that's all she did was wait for the pup to return, and when he did, barking at her accusingly yet enthusiastically, she threw the ball as well, sending him on another chase.

The calm that had overtaken her had been so sudden that she didn't know what to do. So she lingered, still torn between what her instincts told her to do- which is get away and leave the redhead be before the situation went south- and what her mind spoke- telling her to stay and at least acknowledge the attitude change towards her. By the time Nabu came speeding back, she had made up her mind and threw the ball again, this time harder, so that it would go farther. She released another sigh when he was out of sight and turned, silently making her way to the bench and seating herself on the open space beside Kurama, not looking at him or saying anything. _*****_

After tossing the ball in Akari's direction, Kurama resituated himself to return to his book, feeling the girl move after a while to sit next to him.

With her this close his mind wandered to their previous encounters, beginning all the way with her involvement in Sensui's plans, Koenma's pardon, and their current predicament with the Yoko impersonator and Akari's association with the demon that appeared to be after Toriko. That's where his mind lingered the longest, thoughts of Toriko behind Akari in the alleyway dancing across his mental eye. Assuming that Akari was _not _somehow involved with the blonde-haired demon, the demon was going to a lot of trouble to make it appear so, and he wondered as to the motives behind such a risky maneuver.

He said nothing, simply letting the breeze blow by and sitting underneath the filtered sunshine that shone through the leaves of the tree behind them, waiting for the girl to speak if she wished to do so.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku slunk up to Hiei, the man she had been captivating going the opposite direction on the errand she'd sent him. Her eyes still held the brightness of the whole experience within them, her eagerness hardly containable.

"Do humans have anything _else _worth eating?" She stopped very close to him and whispered the question, her gaze flickering around in an excitement she had trouble suppressing. Her stomach growled and she winced, sheepishly looking up through her eyelashes at Hiei. It took a decent about of willpower for her to resist tearing into everything around them and searching for the source of the smells that tantalized her nose. 3

Hiei had been staring at the many varieties in front of him, considering each and every one of them seriously when Shikiyoku stepped up to him, whispered words reaching his ear and causing him to glance down at her from the corner of his eye in speculation and acknowledgement of her presence and question. He heard the sound her stomach made and gave a sneer. He raised a brow in thought, remembering things Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama had eaten before when they were in different missions together, stuck in each other's presences for extensive amounts of time, such as the Tournament. He remembered bags being crinkled and tossed around, their contents light and airy, but salty to the smell. He hadn't eaten one, but it was something to try.

But as another human passed, he caught the very tantalizing smell of something else, something new. His red eyes automatically shifted to the cart she was wheeling by, finding the source immediately and reading the label of the plastic container: Spicy Chicken Curry. A smirk came to his face and he caught one last word: Deli, before turning to Toriko. "Locate the _deli_, for whatever that is worth," he said, the word foreign but he grasped the general idea. "They have varieties of prepared foods." Of course, this knowledge was not just from a glance, but from things he'd picked up during his years here. Now, the word made sense, as did all associations with it.

Akari sat in silence, her mind blank for a few moments before she suddenly recalled the trip to Spirit World yesterday, and the circumstances she had been placed under. This lead her to think of Otento and his offer, which still stood as of today. His words echoed in her mind, his words of a _family _of demons, under no control other than the leader who devised the plans. His offer had been tempting, stirring her desire to get out of here and on her own terms into more than just a mere thought. She could grasp it, the possibility now.

But every time she thought of it, something made her stomach churn. Each time, she thought about Toriko and the attack that had been launched on the girl, the way Otento had spoken about her as if she were an _object_, not a person. The girl was simply too… small. Too… defenseless… for Akari to feel right about. The fact that she would be assisting in a plan that would inevitably snatch the girl, and likely end with a large battle that could ultimately kill her- she wasn't stronger than Kurama or Hiei or Yusuke, that was for sure- it made her rethink it.

Especially now that she sat there, beside an equally silent fox demon who had previously associated her on the same level as Toguro. Her head bowed, eyes on her linked hands, allowing her bangs to hide her eyes as she continued to think. But, unintentionally, she spoke aloud.

"I hadn't meant for her to come to harm." Her voice was small, reluctant, but her thoughts had been voiced, and she couldn't take them back now. "I was merely looking for answers. I hadn't known she was involved." _*****_

Kurama found himself surprised that Akari's train of thought so closely mirrored the direction his had taken, and it wasn't difficult for him to deduce that 'her' was actually 'Toriko' in this case.

"No." Kurama allowed, his voice equally as soft, "I don't suppose you did." He sat back further into the bench, lifting his head to gaze away from them thoughtfully. He turned his book over his knees and placed the elbow of the arm that had been holding it over the back of the bench. "You can hardly be at fault for that. You should have been kept in the loop." He paused, hesitating, "The demon we saw you with the other night...he broke into Toriko's home a few weeks back. From what I understand, he had every intention of raping the girl." Kurama closed his eyes, lowering his head back down, the admission painful to make, and the word making his lips curl in disgust at having to say it. "And very nearly got away with it." His thoughts fell onto Hiei, and Kurama silently expressed a thankfulness that his fiery friend had been nearby to stop it. "But there was no way you could have known that." He fell silent again.

~!**!~

"Deh-lee." Shikiyoku muttered to herself, eyes trailing after a human who had walked past them. Her gaze flickered from this one human to another that came back around the corner at the far end of the aisle. Her human. The one from the counter.

She moved to join him, meeting him about halfway. He opened the paper shopping bag he held for her to inspect, parting it with one hand on either of the handles. She stuck her nose close enough to spy the two tubs of ice cream within, nestled together at the bottom, nodded her approval, and then leaned back to look the man in the face, thinking hard about the word Hiei had used.

"Take me to the...deli." She ordered, hoping she pronounced the word correctly. It seemed to work, for the man nodded back to her and turned away as she followed him, biting her lip as they passed other groups of humans in the store. If this took much longer, she wasn't going to be able to stop herself. Her stomach felt as if it was folding over on itself, and if not for the warrant out for her arrest she likely would have simply fed on the entire store and been done with it. She wasn't exactly sure how Hiei would have felt about it though...

It took no time at all for the man to stop in front of a different glassed area than the colder one on the opposite side of the store. He looked down at her, his eyes kind.

"And what do you want from here?"

"Um..." Shikiyoku stalled. The smells that accosted her nose practically had her drooling at the mouth. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the human that made his way to them, Shikiyoku's approaching him jogging his memory of the human as the one she'd used to get the ice cream. He eyed the man, stubble on his face and a smile on his face despite his rather glassy eyes that almost said he wasn't actually paying attention. He continued to eye the uniform he wore, a white button-down shirt tucked into jeans and a pair of tennis shoes. He looked odd, like most humans did, in Hiei's opinion.

But when Shikiyoku said the magic words and the human turned away, Hiei followed casually, trying to ignore his own rumbling stomach. Before long, they were in a small area where a sign hung, reading "Deli", just as Hiei had seen on the white label of the plastic container the woman had had earlier. His own eyes looked over the many choices that ranged from American-style cuisine-whatever that meant-to soups and Ramen that he began to recognize. He glanced at Shikiyoku, noting her open mouth and wide eyes with amusement before he turned to the man. "The Spicy Chicken Curry for her," he called, eyeing the substance behind the glass heating area. He loved the feel of the radiating heat from the glass, but he didn't want to linger for too long, so he pointed to another small container that contained small rolls of fish in rice with dark paper-like substance binding it, something he personally saw as appetizing. "That as well," he demanded, turning his eyes to Shikiyoku to see if she would have to give the order herself for it to work. After this, they would be long gone from this store and on their way to eat.

~!**!~

Akari tried to suppress it to the best of her abilities, but the physical flinch at the word Kurama used to describe Toriko's previous dealings with Otento couldn't be held back. Disgust rolled through her very core at the thought, though she didn't dare linger on her feelings on the matter. That was not meant for a time like this, where her inner musings would become evident to another. So, she kept her eyes down and hidden from view, closed eyelids against the light of the sun.

Now her mind was made up. She hadn't been entirely sure a moment ago, but with the new intel she'd been given, she had no problem with the decision at hand for her.

There was no way in _hell_, or anything of the like, she would allow herself near such a demon. If they were _anything _like humans, it was in the aspect that they took what they wanted without remorse. Without hesitation.

Nabu suddenly sped into view, bouncing around at her feet and gaining her attention, despite the emotions that threatened to show on her face. She gave a sigh and reached a hand down, accepting the ball only to throw it again. "Fetch," she whispered as he took off like a rocket, leaving her alone with Kurama again.

"He's offered a position in his ranks to me several times." she hesitated after this admission, but after a moment she sat back, not letting her hair hide her eyes anymore but still not meeting his gaze. "I was trying to gather more information on his whereabouts when he isn't tracking me down, more information on his intentions." She reached and pulled a folded up card from her back pocket, the very card that held scrawled information inside. She passed it to Kurama, mentally going over the memorized words of _We have big plans for you, if only you meet us halfway. _There was more that would be written, but it was faded from the wear of being carried in her back pocket or even by Nabu, who constantly kept it nearby as a reminder.

She briefly considered Otento telling her of his plans for meeting, considered telling this to Kurama, but she hesitated. In the end, she tucked that piece of information away in her mind for safe keeping. "His requests and information have all been vague. Too vague to make much sense. And each time I see him, he disappears before I reach him." _*****_

Kurama glanced down at the paper she handed to him, studying as much of the words as he was able.

"Playing a double-cross is a dangerous game." He commented, giving Akari the benefit of the doubt as to her original intentions in remaining in contact with the demon, "But I'm sure we can use it to our advantage somehow, if you were willing." He considered the paper thoughtfully. "I'm almost certain Toriko is central to this entire mess, but she's being well taken care of at the moment and shouldn't be an immediate concern." Since for whatever reason Hiei had taken to guarding the girl, Kurama added to himself. Which let a load of concerns stay lifted from the fox demon's mind, even if it left other questions in its wake. "Is there anything he's told you about himself or his intentions that might help us formulate some plan of attack? Anything at all that he has said to you that we could use against him?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave Hiei a grateful look when the fire demon took over and made immediate decisions about the food that otherwise left her speechless at the prospect of choosing something from amongst them.

She smiled sweetly at the human, but her attention hadn't exactly been on Hiei as he spoke and she recalled nothing of what the fire demon said, so she let her eyes shimmer over with the slightest hint of energy and nodded when the man looked back to her for guidance.

Her human turned to another standing behind the food, and when the second human leaned over the counter to catch a glimpse of her and Hiei at the first's indication that the food was for them, she stood taller, eyes gleaming into the eyes of the one considering her, alluding without words that the second was to do everything the first said.

A suggestive smile broke out over the second human's face as he came under her power, but Shikiyoku ignored anything said by either human, instead turning to watch the second retrieve the different foods she assumed correlated with the ones Hiei pointed out.

Her human congenially put the resulting packages down in the bag, and though Shikiyoku frowned at the thought of the sweet snow getting melted she said nothing of it, the smells mixing together in the bag and driving her crazy. The pair of humans exchanged some sort of pleasantry or another in the form of excusing themselves from the other's company, and the human behind the counter made a surprisingly vulgar remark to her as she walked away with her originally mesmerized human that she only half-heard, and completely disregarded.

As her human made his way to the front of the store with the paper bag still in his hand, Shikiyoku's ears twitched and she focused in on a whispered conversation happening somewhere behind them, slowing her pace as Hiei and their human leader kept moving past her.

"_...can't get past how __**hot **__he is."_

"_Did you see those eyes!"_

"_He's got to be some kind of celebrity!"_

"_Soooo gorgeous."_

If they had been demons, and this Demon World, Shikiyoku would have had the luxury of ordering the immediate deaths of the arrogant females.

The rarity for such words to be uttered within earshot of a demon of her kind-unless the speaker desired to take part in the services she might grace them with-was only matched by the rarity of it happening when she walked with company. Especially if the words were aimed at her company. It would have been assumed that the two were together discussing business or pleasure, or both, and her species was well-known for being quite territorial, regardless of how true the compliments might have been.

The transgression these human females unknowingly committed against Shikiyoku was nearly tripled in this particular case as the demon they so candidly admired from afar held the esteemed position of her Champion. Within the realm of demons there would have been no mistaking Hiei for anything else. But this was not Demon World. And these were not demons.

Beyond her initial flash of anger at their slight, Shikiyoku forced back her temper as she could not punish the humans for their indiscretion without creating a scene, convincing herself anyway that they were not worth the trouble and knew nothing of what they did. She turned back and broke into a trot to catch up with Hiei, and then matched his pace when she reached him. She considered him briefly out of the corner of her eyes, but dropped her gaze back down at the floor and blushed.

Her instinct at the moment she rejoined him had been to plant a kiss on his cheek. She knew the females still had their eyes trained on him, and the act would have made crystal clear her position, as well as theirs, on the matter. Something held her back though, and it also caused the blush that turned the edges of her cheeks pink. Maybe it was the discomfort he radiated anytime she got close, his standoffishness abundantly and almost painfully clear to her.

She nearly threw her head back and let loose an ironic burst of laughter at her predicament. The first and only demon she knew in this entire realm, one that she found especially attractive and desirable nonetheless, just happened to not be able to stand her being in close physical proximity.

Under normal circumstances she would have simply mesmerized him, seduced him and done as she wished with him, to hell with his haughty attitude or his dislike for her general existence. His innocence, along with his complete disregard and distaste for her touching him, would have made the conquest that much more satisfying, actually. Shikiyoku would have reveled in bringing about his cries, in his voice begging her to continue once he fell to her power. So much so in fact that she could easily picture herself going another fifteen whole years being satiated by just that one encounter.

But to top it all off, along with everything else, he ALSO, _**just happened**_ to be her protector, making him virtually untouchable for her in every way imaginable. Had he shown the slightest interest in her, the sigh that she now released would not have been so forlorn. As it was, she felt that she would _need_ her powers to spark any sort of interest from him in her, and the prospects of anything occurring between them without said powers appeared absolutely nil chance-wise.

Even amongst the rather limited number of protectors she'd formed pacts with in the past, her very nature-albeit her demonic form being of assistance-eventually led to all but one becoming romantically involved with her much to her great delight and pleasure, and the one who had not she chalked up to their pact breaking well before it should have, well before the relationship had been given enough time to fully bloom. This one, though...

A second sigh audibly passed over her lips as they crossed the threshold of the store, the human they followed turning back to her after they moved roughly fifteen feet to the left beyond the door.

Her mood still sour, Shikiyoku informally took the bag the human extended down to her and almost sighed again when he still stared at her, his hands clasped together, his eyes bright and receptive to her next words, whatever they might be.

"Yes, yes." She grumbled, "Your work was sufficient, I suppose." She arranged the handles of the bag in one hand and held the other out towards him, palm down, her gaze cast to the side as if he were not worthy of meeting her full-on.

He murmured some sort of thanks or another and took her hand in both of his, pressing his awkward human lips onto her skin.

Shikiyoku snatched her hand away from him as soon as he brushed her with the kiss, "Go away now."

"When will I-"

"I said go away, worm." She commanded, and he turned to go, "And I hope 'never.'" She added in response to the question she did not let him finish as she released him from her influence. She made an awful face and wiped the back of her hand onto her black shirt. Her stomach churned angrily and she impatiently started to reach down into the bag for something to eat right then and there. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	17. Episode 102 - Nabu Finds Friends

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of this FanFiction Realm!

I am personally of the school that says nothing is put into a story without reason. If something is mentioned or pointed out, it should be important later, otherwise what was the point of mentioning it? That's the idea I've tried to keep in mind while working on this RP. If there are any questions about what's going on or why something happened, please feel free to ask (in a PM would probably be best) because we certainly want things to not be confusing. At the same time, it might be the very thing you want to ask about has a place later on and the response you'll get from me will likely insinuate that, tee hee.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Nabu journey to the park to play,  
and Kurama gets mixed up in their game of fetch by accident  
when Akari sends a long toss through the park that he catches.

The two of them talk about Otento and what Toriko's role is in whatever his gang is planning.

~!**!~

Hiei and Shikiyoku steal "sweet snow" from a grocery store,  
and just as soon as they get a ways from the door,  
Shikiyoku stopped and hunched over their bag,  
too hungry to wait any longer...

* * *

Hiei had waited just about as patiently as he could for the humans to chatter and arrange the food he had demanded in the way they saw fit, while they also seemed to dawdle and drawl about something he didn't care enough to listen in to. With his arms crossed and eyes searching the glass before him, he briefly considered something else that looked… decently appetizing… but he decided against it, figuring that the less they took, the more inconspicuous they would be. By the time the first human had the bag with their nicely-smelling grub was ready to go, Hiei was shifting his weight, eyes scouring the moving people behind him, searching for the source of watching eyes. He found them quickly enough, but easily determined it was not of a threat, and dismissed their entire existence altogether, turning to Shikiyoku with impatient irises. "I'm sick of being in the company of these beings," he commented, nose slightly wrinkled to highlight his distaste. Other than that, he said no more and simply followed after her, creating a train-like line of three. Briefly, he pondered the human reference to such a thing, trying to remember what a _train _actually was, but gave up and simply brushed it away. The thought was banished in a moment's noticed, and with it ll feelings of curiosity. Now, the only thing he could feel was irritation and impatience, accompanied by the constant feel of eyes on his back. In the demon world, that feeling meant danger, and eventually the death of one party or another. Here, he couldn't make a decision like that so quickly.

As the doors labeled with the word "Automatic" slid open to let them outside the small store, Hiei continued past the human and Shikiyoku, continuing just a little ways down the sidewalk, all thoughts on food now. Behind him, he could hear Shikiyoku dismissing the human and, shortly after his departure, the rustling of the bag in her hands. He spared a glance back at her and offered a sneer of amusement.

All of this, just for sweet snow. Or, _Ice Cream, _as the humans deemed it named. Such an odd name for the substance.

"All too easy." His red eyes turned forward again, hands in his pockets as he considered how Kurama would react if he knew of such a tirade here. _Better keep it to myself,_ he thought in amusement.

~!**!~

Akari thought for a moment, her mind roving over every single encounter she'd had with Otento. The only thing that ever stood out to her was his ability to get away so easily, to disappear from view, after his message had been given. With eyes still trained on the very spot Nabu had disappeared from her sight, she gave a sigh and repeated her thoughts, this time aloud so Kurama would know of them.

"None, really. As you have very obviously seen, he does well in keeping things under wraps. I haven't seen enough of the world to be able to deduce much from a character like him, who's always three steps ahead of me." She felt physical pain by admitting such a weakness, but she figured he would have already deduced this much about her.

"He's blatantly said that Toriko is a target," She clicked her tongue in thought, eyes hardening as Kurama's previous words echoed in her mind. Again, she felt disgust and many other emotions, but this time the anger was stronger than them all. "I asked what he meant, but never got an answer. Whatever he wants, he won't say it outright. The only way to find out is either a middle-man or actually waiting until he makes his last move." She paused, sliding her eyes to look at the redhead from the corners, "I'm not of much help in such situations, but I plan to do as I am able…" _*****_

"As are we all." Kurama added to the end of her sentence. He sat for a moment in silence, in thought, then sighed and started to rise from his seat on the bench, "I suppose the only thing to do now is wait. Either Koenma will get us the information we need to take further steps, or the stranger will make another move and we will be forced into action." He took a step forward, making as if to leave, "Either way, watch your back. This man is obviously interested in you as well, and it would not do well for you to be off your guard."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku plopped unceremoniously onto the concrete of the sidewalk, taking no notice-and for that matter not caring-of her surroundings.

She sat criss-cross on the ground, her legs encircling the paper bag with the items they'd pilfered, and huffed a bit of impatient air, feeling that the ravenousness of her stomach drove her mad. Did her other side never eat?

She didn't have the brain capacity to consider the answer, instead reaching down into the bag. Luckily, the container of chicken was on top, otherwise it might have been the sushi Hiei ordered for himself that she now tore into with gusto, ripping the lid off with one fatal tug and discarding it over a shoulder without a second thought. She reached in with one hand to first snatch a single piece from within the opened container, simultaneously putting the whole piece in her mouth while reaching once more into the bag to pull the entire container out and closer to her face. 3

Hiei sauntered at a leisurely pace away from the store, taking his time and, without consciously having made the decision to do so, listened for the footsteps of Shikiyoku to catch up with his own. Occasionally, a human would pass him by and nod hello, as he assumed what they did, or brush into him and continue walking with an air of impatience. At one point, he'd even had to step aside for a man on the run, huffing as he raced by, an officer on his tail.

This pause is what made Hiei realize Shikiyoku wasn't behind him. His red eyes turned back and searched for her, not expecting the sight he was met with. With her legs crossed on the ground and food stuffed between her teeth, he had the vague sense of a child given a treat and eating it before being scolded. He likely would have sneered, were it not for the fact that there were humans with eyes on her, bringing attention to the demoness.

"Shikiyoku," he called, his tone light, as if they were good friends from many years past. He didn't wait for her to look up. In fact, he didn't think she would, so he simply made his way back to her, stopping and standing over her. "You're drawing attention," he said, voice only low enough for someone with demonic senses to hear. It was a warning, because quite frankly he didn't like the fact that a demon was running around, attacking her repeatedly, and being able to go unnoticed the way he could. Hiei used to be the only one able to do such a thing, and now he was having to face someone else who, even without a Jagan, could do the same. Quite frankly, he didn't want to face that demon at the moment, and being unable to tell of his whereabouts made the fire demon a bit antsy, though he wouldn't show it. "Eat and walk simultaneously. The sweet snow is melting, and will continue to melt if you sit here. And, as I'm sure you can guess, melted sweet snow is likely not a very appetizing treat."

~!**!~

On a normal day, Kurama would have made her sneer or perhaps laugh, but she didn't feel like today was the normal day. After all, this demon who had disliked her from the very beginning was suddenly being cordial, even acting as if she were an actual part of the group, and it set her a bit on edge. Most demons who acted this way had other intentions, and she had learned to be weary. "Of course," she finally said to his back, pushing to stand as well.

As if on cue, Nabu came running back, neon yellow ball in his mouth and drool dripping over its coarse surface. He halted in front of Akari and sat on his haunches, a curious gleam in his eyes. "_Are we leaving already?"_

Akari glanced down at him briefly before turning to Kurama again, thinking. "If I see him again, you'll know. He finds amusement in sticking me in funny situations." She gave a lopsided sneer, as if she found Otento's antics amusing. The sneer left in a second though. Curiosity hit her like a ton of bricks, and suddenly she had the odd desire to inquire about his cordiality. She opened her mouth, but closed it again and turned to Nabu, retrieving the ball from his maw. "Maybe your boss will find something before we end up too far behind."

"_Who's boss?" __*****_

"He's your boss too, now!" Kurama remarked as he walked off, waving a hand in the air briefly to bid Akari goodbye. He did not wait to see if she had a quip to fire back at him, thoughts of making his way to Spirit World and seeing for himself whether or not Koenma made a breakthrough running through his mind. He had an option or two to present the toddler-prince with should there be no further progress, and he felt eager to speak about them.

~!**!~

It was in fact the absolutely alien tone in which Hiei first called out her name that pulled Shikiyoku almost immediately from her reverie, her eyes widened with astonishment and uncertainty when she looked up at him after he came to her side.

This tone he used had not given her enough of a fright that she stopped stuffing her face however, and she downed two more pieces of chicken in the time it took him to reach her.

She felt somewhere in the back of her mind an itch as he continued to murmur at her once in close proximity, and the itching conveyed to her a deep-set concern about...something, but she didn't know what. Nor did she know exactly from where the warning originated, but for some reason she found herself standing abruptly, half a piece of chicken still being chewed in her mouth and a frown across her brow.

Her expression flickered once with that itch again as she met Hiei's eyes after getting up.

"Yes. The sweet snow." She said absently, the paper bag with their pilfered goods inside being disregarded, remaining on the ground by her feet as her eyes stared beyond Hiei now, her words obviously conveying that the 'sweet snow' was no more than an excuse, even if she did not understand what she was excusing.

She did not move, hesitating and unsure as to what to do. Her gaze came back to the present, returning to Hiei, her facial expression blank, but looking to him for the next move and wishing the unsettled feeling in her stomach would go away. 3

Hiei hadn't expected such an abrupt response from Shikiyoku, so when she stood up as quickly as she did, he gave a small step back to give her her own space. But as she remained standing there, he realized she wasn't sure what to do. He gave a small sound of impatience and stepped closer, picking up the paper bag from the ground with a single hand, the crinkling sound seeming to break the silence of the afternoon. By the time he was standing upright again, her gaze was on him. He assessed her for a moment. Her expression conveyed nothing of her thoughts, but the air around her made him decide he was to take the lead, again.

So, without any further ado, he turned and wordlessly motioned with his head for her to follow, his Jagan automatically taking in his surrounds, along with the rest of his senses. His free hand swayed by his side with his lazy gait while his other hand that held the bag stayed motionless, almost, as if it would pain him to move that arm. In reality, his body was simply readying for anything that might happen, even though there was no real logical reason for his sudden distress. As far as he could tell, there were no eyes on him nor his company, and thus there was no threat. So, by the time they reached the house, he had his jaw set and eyes watching behind Shikiyoku as he stepped aside to allow her in first, as he'd learned was a human tradition here.

~!**!~

Akari ignored Kurama's words, turning her eyes pointedly the other direction. "_You have a boss?"_ Nabu asked, tail wagging slower than before in curiosity. She rolled her eyes at him, but nodded at the pup before her eyes turned to watch the retreating back of Kurama. "_See, if you're nice, so are they!"_

"Nabu, are you-"

"_No, I'm not hungry. Can we play something else?" _Akari gave a small sigh, but a smile formed on her lips despite her gesture. "_Maybe Flowers can play some more too!"_

Akari raised a brow. "Flowers?"

"_The one with the tail." _When Akari gave no response aside from her brow raising higher, he snorted at her impatiently and sat on his rump after shifting some more. "_The guy who just left!"_

Akari gave a laugh that, on a quiet day, might have echoed through the air. "No, Flowers won't be here. Just us and this park is fine." With that, she tossed the ball in the air again and watched as Nabu instead began kicking it around in the mud.

"_But I like Flowers…" __*****_

~!**!~

The closer they got to the house, the more the sudden feelings of trepidation lessened and Shikiyoku stepped beyond Hiei when the fire demon stopped next to her and let her pass, fishing the keys out of her pocket and unlocking the door, pushing it inwards and going inside, moving out of the way to let Hiei into the room, but keeping her hand on the knob.

Once he passed through the portal, she shut the door behind him, and then turned to face him, eyes training themselves on his person to see what they should do next. 3

Hiei passed Shikiyoku, listening for the closing of the door until even the click was gone from the air. By that time, his Jagan had told him that the domain was safe, no intruder detectable anywhere in the house. Everything was just as they had left it, and that made his frame relax a bit more. He sauntered slowly into the kitchen, listening to the quiet house just in case.

When he set the paper bag on the table, the small form of Maneshi slinked into the room, gaining Hiei's attention only for a moment before the fire demon began rummaging through the bag for his sushi. Unlike humans, he didn't mind using his hands, so when he turned to Shikiyoku to eye her curiously, he already had a sushi roll stuck against the inside of his cheek, the taste a peculiar one.

~!**!~

Nabu had played and played and played until Akari had simply called it quits, waving for him to follow after her and back to the house. He'd done as she asked happily, obliging since she'd given in to his request for a generous amount of playtime. "_How come you like to move around so much?" _he suddenly asked her, curious. After all, the first day he'd met her, she'd done nothing but lay around and sleep, and that week had been a slow one of trying to wriggle his way into her domain for shelter. He'd been accepted rather quickly, and he found his best friend a curious creature.

"Nabu, shush."

Of course, she still acted like this from time to time, as if he were nothing more than a burden, but he didn't mind. He figured it must be tiring to only walk around on two feet all day. By the time they'd gotten back to the house, he was curling up on the dirt-covered couch, watching her move around in one spot, the air around her trembling with emotions she always held around him. "_What's wrong?"_

"Nabu, I'll be back. You stay, okay?"

The pup cocked his head to the side, tongue lolling out as she disappeared again. He liked this game in particular, because it didn't require too much running around after he'd done so much running already. He began counting, and then when his mind reached twenty, he bounded from the cushion and followed after her scent, nose to the ground as he ventured into town. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku did nothing up until the moment Hiei put the paper bag in his hand down on the table, his body visibly relaxing to her eyes-which followed his every move-and the itch in the back of her mind simmering away into nothingness.

When it was gone, she blinked, suddenly realizing she had somehow gotten back into her other side's home, but the process of doing so being fuzzy in her head. She didn't realize her body had been so tense until she blinked and all the tension melted away.

She turned back and locked the front door, putting a hand up to a temple briefly and shaking her head once as if to free her tumbled thoughts. Her stomach gave a large roil in her torso, loud enough to reach her ears, and she briskly pivoted on a heel to get the paper bag Hiei hovered over.

Without removing the chicken container this time, she grabbed a piece from the bag and put the whole thing in her mouth, staring down at the counter and refusing to meet Hiei's curious stare.

For his part, Maneshi murled and jumped up onto the counter, unabashedly sticking his head over the edge of the paper bag, his eyes brightly exploring the contents that his nose told him he would enjoying snagging a bit of. 3

Hiei chewed at the sticky, seaweed-wrapped rice roll for a few moments as he watched Shikiyoku join him in the room, grabbing her own meal from the brown paper sack as well. He pulled another bite from the bag, this time some sort of raw fish, and stuffed it in his mouth too, eyeing the cat that suddenly hopped onto the table and stuck the entirety of his head into the bag. The fire demon sneered in amusement at Maneshi before batting at the air beside his head, telling the cat to remove himself from the food. "Careful, feline," he said, his tone lazy despite his words.

He reached in and pulled out the rest of his sushi, placing the plastic container on the table and retrieving the first piece of fish he saw, tearing it in two, and for once, reaching out and offering the smallest piece to the cat. "Now, leave it be," he commented as he stuffed another bite into his own mouth, turning to put the sweet snow's tub in the top door of the cooling mechanism, as he'd seen Toriko do before.

~!**!~

Nabu followed the trail of Akari's scent rather easily, her scent being so dominantly canine that it was almost impossible to miss. His feet moved at a decent pace, ears flopping a bit at the slow trot he moved at. But when his paws met the asphalt of the street, he stopped and backtracked, staring at the busy road in front of him in disdain, ears laid back. "_This isn't funny!" _He barked into the wind, thinking Akari would be close by, laughing at his reluctance. When no answer came, he circled the spot where he didn't dare leave the sidewalk, gave a whine, and plopped his rear down on the hot concrete.

He sat in that spot for a few moments, tail wagging curiously as he tried to think how he could get across the road. Becoming slightly disheartened at the sight of the zooming machines, he resorted to laying down, chin on the top of his paws and eyes on the path he could smell stretching ahead for miles.

Akari always made moves like this that put him in a stalemate. She was so mean, always winning at this game. _*****_

"Urameshi! Watch where you're going, you idiot!" Kuwabara reached out as if to pull back at Yusuke's shirt sleeve, his classmate stomping angrily down the sidewalk.

Their activities had most recently consisted of the games at the arcade in town, but it had been a particularly bad session for Yusuke and the boy left in a quite literally "stomping mad" attitude.

Yusuke check himself before lowering his foot, having completely missed the small shape of the pup laying forlornly with the tips of his paws and nose at the very edge of the sidewalk.

In the next instant, Yusuke swept the dog up into his arms and began cooing at it.

"Hey there little buddy! Where did _you _come from?"

"Is he hurt?" Kuwabara came up beside him and peered over Yusuke's shoulder at the small pup.

Yusuke jealously held the dog closer to his chest, "I dunno, but _**I **_found him, so don't even think of stealing him away."

Kuwabara scoffed, "Yeah, right. Like Eichiki needs more stress in his life. You aren't seriously considering taking home are you?"

"Well, yeah! Sure! Why not!" Yusuke began marching down the sidewalk towards home.

"Uh, because your mom's gonna throw a fit? And do you even know if your new apartment allows pets?"

"Doesn't matter." Yusuke answered both questions at the same time, continuing his trek without pause. "He's mine now. Just look at this face." He held the dog up to his nose as he walked, cooing at it once more.

~!**!~

Maneshi started back at the woosh of air that passed his head when Hiei swatted near him, but his eyes grew wide with pleased astonishment when, after having removed the best smelling thing in the bag, Hiei turned and offered him some of what he'd wanted to most. He delicately took the small feast and in no time at all chewed it apart until he had the middle of it, the fishy part, in his mouth and swallowed it down.

He jumped off the counter at that point and wove himself around and between Hiei's ankles in a sleek figure eight pattern as the fire demon moved off, meowing happily the whole time, his face the peak of kitty happiness.

After completing the winding pattern three times, on the last circling, he gathered his body together and easily made the jump to Hiei's shoulders, stretching himself across them and settling down, a mighty purr vibrating his chest as he rubbed the top of his head onto Hiei's left ear in thanks.

Shikiyoku watched the parade of the cat absently, following Hiei with the second tub of iced cream after he grabbed for the first from the bag and placing it inside the freezer as he did, the containers stacking nicely on top of one another.

She returned to the paper bag in which the opened pile of chicken still rested, reaching in and grabbing for more without hesitation, but remaining quiet and staring down at the counter next to the sack from the grocery store. 3

Hiei waited until Shikiyoku's hand was out of the freezer before letting it slowly shut on its own, not really even glancing at the cat that had began rubbing at his ear. Quietly, he wondered when _he _had become so soft, as he often accused Kurama of being. After all, in previous years, if a feline had done as Maneshi was doing now, he would've killed it without hesitation. Also, he wouldn't have stuck around someone like Shikiyoku, since his temper would have been much shorter. Again, he wondered when, and why, he'd become so soft. But, at the same time, he didn't mind it, since it kept him out of useless trouble most of the time.

Yet, as he stuck another piece of fish in his mouth, he eyed the female beside him, thinking of the trouble that came with the demon that was after her. Many years ago, he would've wrote the situation off as her problem and gone about his business. So why had he gotten so involved? Perhaps it was because she was a friend of Kurama's, which had initially made him curious of her.

He brushed those thoughts away, and with it all thoughts of _why _he was where he was. "You're taking to the food much better than I did," he suddenly commented, realizing that her first experience with human grub was vastly different than his. He'd spat it out just as quickly as he'd plopped it in his mouth, and only because Kurama had goaded him to try it again did he end up eating a bit of it. Now, he ate it merely out of habit. The thought of that day made him sneer as he chewed on another rice roll, giving the crab from inside to the cat on his shoulders; he didn't care for the smell of the crab at all, much less the rubbery taste.

~!**!~

Nabu gave a small whine at suddenly being swept up from the ground and suspended in the air, surprise making him wiggle in fear. "_I don't like heights!"_ he barked out at the boy holding him up, his equally brown eyes flickering to the ground below before resettling on the boy's face. At first, he was confused by the markings, but then he realized that the air around this… creature… was not a dangerous one. Instead, this person seemed to be rather joyous about Nabu's presence, making funny noises at him and sticking his face into Nabu's.

The pup immediately responded with the lolling of his tongue and a wag of his tail. "_Hi to you too!"_ His eyes turned to the other boy, seeing the odd way his fur curled on his head. The pup turned his head in curiosity at the boy, smelling cat on him. But otherwise, he ignored the brute and turned his eyes back to the boy who held him, listening to the words "..keep him."

"_Have you seen Akari? She went that way!"_ He barked, nose turning to sniff the air in the direction of the road, even as he was taken away from the path. _*****_

"And how exactly are you planning on getting him in your apartment without anyone seeing, Urameshi?"

"Oh, I could just hide him under my jacket or something. It won't be that hard."

"And your mom?"

"What's not to love about this face?" He promptly turned, walking backwards down the sidewalk, and stuck the dog's nose up until its wetness was nearly touching Kuwabara's own nose. He pulled the dog back into the crook of his arm and held it at his stomach, making sure all four of its paws rested on his forearm and then holding him steady with the other hand. "If she doesn't like him, she can just deal with it."

~!**!~

For the second time in such a short while, Hiei's words pulled Shikiyoku from her thoughts and made her stare down at the next piece of chicken she had been prepared to stuff into her mouth. She considered it for a moment, turning it this way and that.

Truth be told, she hadn't thought much about the flavor, so intense was her desire to dull the ravenous hunger that swept over her. She never looked over at Hiei, but her eyes flashed dangerously as she considered the item in her hand, another pang hitting her stomach. She quickly stuffed the chicken in her mouth and the next turn of her stomach was not nearly as hard, though her eyes lost none of their intensity. She finally decided to speak once her mouth was cleared.

"I figured it would be better for me to try to mute the hunger and eat this than consuming the souls of those in the store. Because it seemed you did not think such an action to be wise." She clarified, "And for that reason only, I assure you." She reached for another piece and held it up to her face again, turning it like she had the last one. She shrugged after she ran her tongue over her teeth, truly tasting the flavor for the first time, and popped it into her mouth as well. This time she spoke around the piece instead of waiting, immediately picking up another piece. "I assume that my other side has been eating their food for fifteen years. Ask _her _how the first taste-test went. I do not know if our powers being suppressed would have made it a pleasant experience or not." 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, slightly amused that she'd been so _considerate _of his opinion. He rolled the rice ball around on his tongue for a moment, deciding he wouldn't say the comment he had initially thought up, and gave himself a second longer to find a more suitable answer than the one he first generated. He swallowed his bite before settling for the next-best reply he'd have for her comment.

"I assumed you wouldn't want Koenma on your tail," he casually remarked with a small shrug, not much caring if he disturbed the cat on his shoulders or not. His lips formed a toothy sneer, red eyes glimmering with his burst of amusement that, really, wasn't rationally necessary. "I suppose if you really _wanted to_, I'd allow you to eat human souls, but only if you enjoy all of Spirit World suddenly finding out of your existence. You've done well to stay under their radar for this long." He turned his eyes to the car on his shoulder, as if the thought was even more amusing than it actually was to him. The cat responded with a curious gaze, a single ear twitching against the air the fire demon blew from his nose.

~!**!~

Nabu let his body relax in the boy's arms, his nose running against the smooth fabric of the jacket that ruffled his fur with static. A small sneeze left him at the odd smell that lingered, but otherwise he didn't mind this person… creature… that held him. His curious gaze turned up to the boy, then down to the arm that held him in curiosity. He decided to show his fondness in the normal fashion he used to display with children, running his tongue over the person's hand and then nuzzling his nose against it.

"_Do you have food?"_ He asked, not having yet realized this person couldn't hear him like Akari could. At the thought of any type of grub, his tail began moving, thumping against the jacket loudly as he yipped again. "_I'm Nabu!"_ _*****_

"What do dogs eat?" Yusuke wondered aloud.

"I dunno." Kuwabara shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Dog food?"

"Hm. Well, I doubt we have any of that stuff at the apartment. ...but I do know that mom bought a couple of steaks home the other night! I'll feed him that."

Out from the alley next to them, a gang of seven or eight boys stepped into Yusuke's path.

"Whaddya doin' on our territory, Urameshi?" The boy in the front asked gruffly. "Haven't you learned your place yet?"

"I don't think this is a good idea, boss." One of the other boys in the back said, his voice wavering.

"It's a great idea, stupid! We've got them outnumbered!" The leader barked.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku coughed, not expecting Hiei to give her what she thought might be a sincere compliment. She covered her uncomfortableness by stuffing another piece of chicken in her mouth before she finished with the one she chewed.

Her eyes took on a more mischievous gleam, though she still did not look up from the food, "In truth, running might be more entertaining at this point. This world is boring. Is there nothing of interest to do here? I only see eating and sleeping in my immediate future."

Her rhetorical question was followed by a long-suffering sigh of despondency. She swallowed and hesitated briefly, reaching for another piece and hold it up to her eyes before speaking again, her voice quieter, "How do you manage it? I would manipulate and control the worthless humans for fun, and in truth it is only by your word of caution that I find myself able to hold back, but you...you have such self-restraint. I envy you." Her last sentence faded almost to silence as her voice grew softer as she spoke and she breathed it out with a true air of the envy mentioned. 3

Hiei's sneer became more of a toothy grin at the fact that no immediate reply was given. He settled for chewing on the last piece of fish he had while the silence enveloped the room, though his eyes never left her. Again he found himself wondering why he had bothered with this person, but again he found himself brushing the thought away; why muse over it? It was only a waste of time.

Hiei glanced at the cat that stretched further on his shoulders, paws flexing and claws digging into his skin a bit as the purrs quieted. A small sound escaped Hiei that would normally be a warning, but it was really just a sound pulled out of instinct. It was cut short though at Shikiyoku's sudden comment, which brought his curious fiery gaze to her again. He gave a scoff, her words reminding him of his own thoughts about this plane when he'd arrived. But, as she continued speaking, he found that her comment made him feel a bit taken aback. In truth, he hadn't ever really thought about the exact reason behind his own restraint. At least, not enough to be able to explain his own thoughts to another.

He gave a small scoff. "It comes with the territory," he finally responded, leaning back so that his weight was almost entirely on his heels, alost not catching her last words.

He raised a brow at her, his expression shifting from a sneer to a blank expression altogether. Never before had he actually had someone say something like that to him, much less about him. He wasn't exactly sure how to respond, so he settled for a loud release of air through his teeth. With that, he turned and grabbed the strawberry sweet snow from the freezer, hunted down a spoon, and simply pried the lid off and stuck a spoonful of it in his mouth.

~!**!~

Nabu's ears perked up at the conversation at hand, glad that his question seemed to have been heard and understood by the boy. Of course, at the sound of the words "Dog Food" together, his mind flashed an image of those small, dry bits of flavored grains that he saw other dogs eating from time to time, and he wondered if it did taste good, unlike the smell. However, at the word "steak", he was immediately wagging his tail just as fast as it could go, tongue lolling and his breathing much quicker than before out of sheer excitement. "_Steak is good!"_

However, the air became tense, and his ears immediately laid down on the top of his head, his eyes shooting the the source of the tense atmosphere. Almost immediately he realized that this was likely not a good situation he found himself in, a small pup unable to get away. But what worried him most was the dark air around the group of people in front of him, speaking to the person who held him. Instinct left him curling his lip upwards, showing his teeth, but his growl not audible, staying stuck in his chest.

Yet, simultaneously, he shrunk into the jacket, as if he could go unnoticed. "_Your air is bad,"_ he whined out, eyes looking up to the boy. "_What now?"_ _*****_

"Well, lookie here, Kuwabara." Yusuke shuffled his grip on the dog a bit so that just the one arm underneath it would keep it from falling, "They're still letting all the stupid walk around on the streets." Yusuke shifted his stance enough to brandish one fist.

"You're going soft, Urameshi!" The leader yelled, "And I intend to take over once I wipe the floor with you!"

"They never learn, do they?" Kuwabara grinned, "I think we're the ones assigned to clean-up duty this week."

"That doesn't seem like it'll be too much of a problem. Good thing they don't seem like much. I was afraid I might have to put the dog down."

The leader's anger continued to be more and more obvious, his muscles flexing and he finally pointed at the pair and yelled to his gang members, "Get 'em!"

The two boys only had to throw as many punches total as there were gang members, Yusuke having an easy time blocking and punching with just the one arm, able to safely hold the dog next to his body without so much as a hitch.

"I don't know why they ever think its going to work." Yusuke commented as he and Kuwabara kept walking down the sidewalk.

"Beats me. Maybe they're just getting stupider or something."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku watched out of the corner of her eye when she heard the freezer opening, seeing Hiei pull out a tub of a color she recognized as the "strawberry" one. Polishing off the last of her chicken and felt more adventurous than he, she walked to the freezer herself and grabbed the other tub with the nondisclosed flavor, plopping it down on the counter and stepping around the mess of the kitchen floor that she left from earlier without so much as a second thought to get to the drawers.

She knew she needed a spoon, or whatever, but didn't recall which drawer Hiei retrieved his from. She walked down the length of the counter to the farthest end and began opening drawers, slowly pulling them towards her, scanning the contents carefully, and closing them once she did not see what she sought. 3

Hiei had easily scooped several spoonfuls of the sweet snow into his mouth, enjoyed each bite, and then even gone in for another before he realized Shikiyoku was searching for something. His eyes turned to her, tearing from the ice cream that had dominated his attention so easily, eyeing her for a moment as she searched the drawer she held open. He raised a brow in amusement, suddenly realizing that Toriko was the one who actually knew where everything was, and Shikiyoku didn't. The only reason Hiei had known is because he had watched, observing where she kept her things in reference to the things he used occasionally.

He stuck another spoonful in his mouth, watching Shikiyoku's back for a moment longer, suddenly deciding he wanted to find a way to amuse himself.

"Next one over," he said casually, knowing full well that there was no silverware in the drawer he had instructed her to look in. He wondered how long she would allow him to make her go on a scavenger hunt.

~!**!~

Nabu had adjusted his own weight as the boy adjusted his hold on him, making it significantly easier for Nabu to hide himself after the comment over, what he assumed, to be himself. He hadn't made any audible noise against what the person had said, since the only times he had done so had ended with him running in fear.

Still, the air around him changed. Not his own emotions, but the feelings he could practically smell rolling off of the creature holding him became slightly different. He glanced up at the boy's face, only to see the markings on his face were darker, more filled out, bolder. Nabu's ears immediately laid back, flattening out completely on his head in confusion and wariness. It even looked as if the dark hair atop his head had grown a bit, his eyes changing, widening, but the moment was over, and with it left the changes.

Nabu gave a small whine, trying to gain the attention of this "Urameshi" and try and get a better look at him and his odd markings. "_You're similar to Flowers."_ he said slowly, eyes narrowing a bit. "_But you're different."_ _*****_

The boys made it to Yusuke's apartment without further incident, managing to smuggle the dog inside with no trouble.

"Mom!" Yusuke called, slipping his shoes off at the door as Kuwabara did the same, "I'm home! Kuwabara's here too!"

"Sure! Fine!" She responded from in front of the television, waving a hand dismissively at the pair, "But if he wants to eat dinner here, you're cooking."

"Yeah, yeah. Like I don't cook most of the meals around here anyway." Yusuke grumbled, getting over into the kitchen and opening the refridgerator, leaning over with the dog still in arm to peer into and look for the steaks he mentioned earlier.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku did not make as if she heard Hiei's helpfulness, going ahead and opening the drawer as she already intended doing, but speaking up once she saw not what she looked for, "Wrong." She moved down the row again. 3

Hiei raised a brow, not really amused with the initial outcome of his sudden attempt at his own game. He raised a brow. "Was it?" he responded, his tone low as if he'd actually thought it would be right. "Try the one on the other side of it," he commented, eyes staring at the drawer he had mentioned as if trying to imagine the contents inside, which he knew was also not said drawer she was looking for.

Would she actually go along with him? It wouldn't be any fun if she didn't.

~!**!~

Nabu had sunk back into silence, quietly watching the boy the entire walk to wherever they were going. Once they were inside, his nose crinkled at the smell in the house, a smell he often found in wafts on the street as smoke from a person's mouth. He'd found the origin of the smoke before, a stick with odd things in it, and had chewed it up for fun. He hadn't enjoyed it at all.

Suddenly, cool air hit his face, and he slowly stretched his neck, sniffing the interior of the refrigerator. At first, he wasn't as interested, so he sat back and wiggled a bit, hoping he'd be let down to wander curiously around the house, like Akari had let him do numerous times. _*****_

"Does steak sound okay, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked off-hand, eyes searching for the paper-wrapped package he knew was in there somewhere.

"Sure." His friend shrugged noncommittally.

"Hold still," Yusuke gave the dog the tiniest of squeezes closer to his body, speaking a low tone, "I don't know how mom'll react about you yet."

"How I'll react about what?" She asked from behind him at the entryway to the kitchen, arms crossed over her chest.

"Uh, n-nothing!" Yusuke responded, frozen in place.

"You aren't looking for those steaks, are you?" Her voice held no small amount of warning.

"Uh, y-yeah! I was going to cook them up for dinner."

"As long as you leave me some, then I guess I'll allow it." She responded flippantly, taking another drag from the cigarette between two fingers of one hand and turning to leave, the noises from the television catching her attention.

~!**!~

As with the last time, Shikiyoku assumed he did not mean the drawer on the side she had opened moments before, but she frowned down at the handle she placed her hand on, the next one in the line, opening it and still not seeing a single utensil useful to her situation. She chewed at one lip in slight irritation, moving to another drawer she hadn't opened. 3

Suddenly, Hiei found himself completely and utterly amused with the fact that she gave no reply. He gave a smile that to others would look demeaning, but the sparkle in his eyes told a different story. He settled himself to watch Shikiyoku as she continued to the next drawer, and it took a significant amount of effort not to snort in amusement.

"Oh, right." he spoke, tone thoughtful. "Last one on the end," he said, this time giving her the actual drawer, wondering if she'd believe him this time or ignore him completely. Either way, it would be fine with him.

~!**!~

Nabu immediately stopped moving when he was squeezed just a bit more, a gesture he knew well. He settled his chin to rest on the boy's arm, only twisting an ear to show he heard what he had been told. When he heard another voice, one he hadn't expected, he almost swiveled his head to look at the woman, but decided against in and instead only listened to the uneasy conversation. Again, the word "steak" popped into the air, and his ears perked up, tail moving just a bit, though he tried to wait patiently to be let down.

"_I really wanna go look!"_ he whined softly, looking up from under his eyebrows at the boy in a way that had often earned him some attention. _*****_

"Yusuke..."

The tone his mom gave him made the boy tense up again. She hadn't actually left the room yet, but he remained facing forward.

"...what are you holding in your arms?"

"N-nothing." Yusuke responded, sounding oh-so-suspicious.

He suddenly felt the clamp of a hand on his shoulder and he gave out a noise of protest as his mom spun him around suddenly.

She snatched the dog out of his arms and made sounds of glee as she lifted him around in the air, "I thought I heard a doggy-noise! Just look at this cutie! Aren't you adorable!" She stuck the dog's nose in her face and rubbed her nose against his.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's ears twitched in irritation, reaching stubbornly for the next drawer with no intention of changing her current path down the side of the counter. This one proved no more fruitful than the last and her eyes flickered briefly to the one on the end, at least five drawers away.

Refusing to believe he actually intended to be helpful, she continued in the order she started, finally making a noise of success and reaching down to rummage in the drawer she opened. 3

Hiei raised a brow, silently struggling with himself at the fact that Shikiyoku had completely ignored him and continued on her own path. This time, he shoved a large spoonful of ice cream to stifle any noise he might even consider making, settling for watching her continue through the line of drawers. He considered prodding her a little further, but settled for simply observing as she reached the end, pulling open a drawer and making a small gesture of success.

Hiei merely turned to his tub of ice cream and continued eating in silence, no longer using Shikiyoku as a form of entertainment.

~!**!~

Nabu himself reacted to the voice he heard, his own ears laying back as if he'd been scolded. When he was suddenly suspended in the air, in a much quicker motion than earlier today, he gave an actual cry and kicked his feet, panicking until his nose met the woman's. Only then did his entire body relax and he tentatively licked at her nose, testing her to see if she was as friendly as she made herself out to be. _*****_

"How cyUUUTE!" She gave another squeal as the pup licked her nose.

"Mooooom!" Yusuke whined, walking over to where his mother had danced into the living room, "_I'm _the one that found him!" He reached up to try and get the dog back.

"Too bad!" She spun away from him, holding the dog higher where Yusuke couldn't reach, "He's too cute for you!" She turned back to the pup and started speaking at a higher-pitch, rubbing their noses together again, "Aren't you? Aren't you just the cutest thing ever!"

~!**!~

"Ha! You were wrong!" Shikiyoku spun around on the tile and triumphantly held out a spoon that likely would have been placed into a dish and used to scoop servings onto a dinner plate. As such, it was at least twice, if not three times the size of the spoon Hiei was using.

She practically skipped forward, away the from the row of drawers behind her, the last three she hadn't bothered to close, but the "spoon" she retrieved very obviously coming from the second-to-last drawer. The one right next to the drawer Hiei suggested.

Happy with her prize, Shikiyoku went to pry apart the lid from the tub, but frowned after two unsuccessful attempts. Opening her mouth and then closing it again just as quickly, she reached down to try again.

Her face wrought with conflicting emotions, Shikiyoku ground her teeth together and picked up the tub with her free hand, shoving it towards Hiei's face but refusing to look at him, obviously displeased with what she was about to have to do.

"Can you...open it...please..." She muttered, glaring down at the table. 3

Hiei looked up in time to see Shikiyoku spin around, a large… spoon-like object in her hand. He stared at it in confusion; he hadn't known spoons like that existed. He frowned, realizing that she'd gotten it from the next to last drawer. His brows furrowed and, quite honestly, he wondered if perhaps he might find one similar. His eyes flickered to the drawer before he looked back to her, a brow raised in consideration. "Are you sure you can handle that?" he suddenly harped, finding sudden amusement in the mental image of her being unable to eat from it, picturing her trying to stick the entire spoon into her mouth. The mental image made his eyes flash in amusement.

When he realized she was also struggling with the tub, his amusement level increased tenfold. At first, he merely looked at it, as if her request were absurd. But after a moment, he took it from her grasp and began slowly pulling at the lid, taking his sweet time in hopes that he'd frustrate her enough to try again herself.

~!**!~

Nabu wasn't sure what he'd expected, but the amount of pleased dialogue from this woman was not it. So when she continued, his tail began to whip back and forth wildly, his tongue lolling. "_You're really nice! Wanna play?"_ he asked as he reached out a paw, just touching her face and then letting it fall away again. "_Actually, can I sit with you?" _he suddenly asked, head turning to the side and letting his nose touch hers back. "_I've run a lot today… I'm kinda tired, but I'm hungry…. so I don't wanna sleep yet…"_ He kicked his front paws lightly again, rubbing his face on hers.

"_I like you people."_ _*****_

"Yusuke, the steaks are on the bottom left. Why don't you grab a plate and put one on it and bring it here. Just cook the other one up."

"Sure thing!" Yusuke grinned as she sat down and put the pup on the floor, Kuwabara going to join them. He turned and went back into the kitchen to do as she suggested, going ahead and turning on the oven and coming back out with the other raw piece of meat and plopping down on the floor with the rest, putting the plate in the middle of the triangle shape the three human bodies formed.

~!**!~

The low sound coming from Shikiyoku was almost a growl and she flexed her jaw impatiently, but refused at first to turn and watch Hiei as he began pulling apart the lid from the tub. After a moment, she couldn't stand his slowness and whipped back towards him, reaching for the tub he seemed to be taunting her with.

"You're slow!" Came her protest, intending to snatch the ice cream away. 3

Hiei found himself sneering more and more as the seconds ticked by, until she finally whipped around to face him. Immediately, he leaned back in his chair, keeping the tub from her reach. However, instead of taking his sweet time this time, he actually pulled the lid off and glanced inside at its contents, only to meet disgust at the mere appearance of the substance. He continued to eye the green substance, his nose lightly sniffing at it, but only meeting cold air and the smell of something sweet. he scrunched his nose and held it out to her with a _good luck_ nod in her direction. "All yours," he said casually as he offered it to her, no longer amused, but disgusted with it.

After all, every green substance in the demon realm was poisonous, so this was nowhere near appetizing to him. It actually sent alarms in the back of his head, but he ignored them completely, knowing his lack of knowledge about the human realm could affect him in numerous ways, and overreacting being one of them.

~!**!~

Nabu felt an immense amount of relief at being placed on his own feet, suddenly glad to not be in the air anymore, despite the attention he'd been getting. Akari never acted like this around him, so he was basking in the joy that filled the atmosphere of the house, even adding his own to it. He sniffed the hardwood floor and looked back up in time to see a plate set on the floor. He quickly made his way to the pink substance on the plate, and immediately found that the smell was unlike anything he'd ever witnessed.

Without any hesitation, he tore into it, using a paw to hold it still so he could break off bite-sized pieces one by one, all the while mentally thanking these people for the meal. _*****_

"Aw, look at him." Kuwabara finally spoke up, "He's pretty adorable. I mean, he's no Eichiki," He quickly retracted, "But cute."

"What's his name, Yusuke?" Atsuko asked as they watched the little one tear into the food.

Yusuke shrugged. "I just found him on the sidewalk. No collar or anything, so he must be a stray. Hadn't really thought of a name."

Atsuko put a hand up to her chin as if in thought, "You know, I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to have animals in the apartment."

Yusuke frowned, "Yeah, I thought about that."

"But what they don't know won't hurt 'em, right?" She laughed.

Yusuke grinned, thankful his mom took to the dog as much as he had, "I'm gonna go check on the oven!" He got up and left the room.

Shikiyoku took it from him without so much as a 'thanks,' turning away and coveting the tub close to her body, and without hesitation digging her spoon and rolling a large portion into the awkward utensil for consumption.

She managed to get the bite past her lips with no issue, squinting one eye as she'd forgotten even in the short time it'd been since first having the stuff of how cold it stung.

As the flavor took hold on her tongue, her grip on the tub itself slipped and it clattered to the floor. Her eyes shone brightly as the strange flavor prickled up and out her nose, releasing the most heavenly taste she had ever been introduced to. Her demonic energy hummed underneath her skin, briefly weaving around her body visibly on the air as an aura of power before it disappeared again and she collapsed onto the floor in a dead faint, the spoon still clutched tightly in her other hand. 3

Hiei had looked away for a second, but a second was all it took. In the time it took for him to scoop some more ice cream in his own spoon, something had hit the floor, and then the air had become charged. By the time he had looked up, Shikiyoku was gone from his sight, the sound of her body hitting the floor echoing through not only the air, but his very core. He was shocked still for a moment, staring down at her feet, the only part of her body he could see from around the corner of the table.

Energy hummed through him slowly at first, and then fully exploded through his veins just as he exploded from his seat, taking only a millisecond to reach her side, crouching over her body where she lay on the hardwood floor. His hands moved, two fingers automatically touching the skin at her jugular in an automatic check for a pulse, his mind calming only a bit when the normal hum of energy, that to a human feigned as a heartbeat, thrummed there. He sat back on his heels, rolling her over and using his Jagan to immediately search for any sign of something attacking the girl he'd sworn to protect. _No ridiculous poison will best me. _

~!**!~

Nabu continued to eat at the wonderful meat, its juicy tenderness making him rip at it in a consistent speed. He only glanced up for a moment when Yusuke moved from the room, but in another second he was tearing at the meat again. He hadn't known he was this hungry until now.

Then again, it could have been all the other foods he'd been eating lately, none of which were meat in any shape nor form.

When he finished, he proceeded to lick the plate clean of the flavor of the meat. Even long after the taste was gone, his tongue continued to rove over the glass surface. _That was amazing,_ he thought to himself. _I wonder if Akari has ever had this? _

The thought was gone, and with it all curiosity and energy he'd had before. Now that he was full, he found himself sitting down in front of the plate, watching each person in turn, wondering which person would let him lay on them for a nap. _*****_

Atsuko stood up and tousled the pup's ears, returning to her cushion to watch more of the television as Yusuke came back into the room and scooped the dog up into his arms.

"Feel better now?" He asked, giving the dog a good scratch on the back as he jerked his head at Kuwabara, "We can go into my room. The steak won't be done for a while and I've got my video games set up." Yusuke walked off for the room with Kuwabara trailing behind him.

Yusuke put the dog back down on the ground after getting into his room, he and Kuwabara sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a television with a game system hooked up. The pair busied themselves with grabbing controllers and setting up the game, though Yusuke did pat the floor and turn to the dog once he got settled.

"C'mon over here, doggie! Just don't chew on the cables..."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku floated somewhere very far away on clouds of minty-green and happiness with bits of chocolate in the air beside her. Of course, she did not have names for "mint" and "chocolate," but that didn't stop her from frolicking about in la-la-land with the pair of flavors still sitting on her tongue. 3

Hiei let his Jagan search for any immediate danger, though he knew it wouldn't do him much good since he wasn't an expert at things like this, unlike Kurama. Suddenly, it occurred to him that maybe she hadn't completely swallowed it yet, and his hands immediately went to her face, one moving her head so he could see her face and the other forcing her jaw open to take a look. To his dismay, there was only a few traces of the substance, those traces being little dark chunks stuck in her teeth.

He thought for a moment before sitting back, an odd feeling sweeping through him. He considered going out and searching for Kurama, who would be much better at this, but if his Jagan couldn't reach him, as it was attempting to right now, it wouldn't matter by the time they got back.

Frustration hit Hiei like a ton of bricks in his gut, making his body thrum with energy and his mind whir with many different scenarios. He could… but no, that wouldn't work…

He could…

That would do more harm than good…

He gave a frustrated sound and looked around the room in desperation, his eyes suddenly falling on the spoon in her hand. He growled as if it had offended him personally and ripped it from her grasp, a hand staying around her wrist as he chunked it across the room, not noticing how his emotions made the heat in his body rise enough to make the spoon conform to his grasp. He began shaking Shikiyoku, frantically trying to think of something else.

_Water._

_What if the poison is accelerated by hydration?_

_**Damn it all. **_

~!**!~

Nabu wasn't too bothered when he was lifted from the floor again, this time completely trusting that he wouldn't be dropped by the boy who had fed him. When he was set down again, he looked around the room, easily finding a bed with comfortable looking blankets and a pillow. There were clothes on the floor too, and almost automatically he recalled laying in old shirts when he was even younger, before he'd been taken in.

Almost immediately, he sauntered to the nearest t-shirt, ducking his head and making his way underneath it. He shimmied his way around the cloth until he was completely covered, only pausing when Yusuke called out to him. His head popped out from under the cloth, beady brown eyes looking at Yusuke in curiosity. "_You want me nearby?"_ He asked, as if it were the most absurd thing ever. Sure, he always slept near Akari and sometimes even on her stomach, but other than that, he hadn't been allowed much close proximity to people when napping.

So, when prompted, he giddily made his way to the boy, dragging the shirt with him and simply curling into the boy's lap, using the shirt as a blanket, hoping the mud had dried enough to keep him from dirtying the cloth too much and potentially angering the person. Finally, he rested in a tight ball in Yusuke's lap, his chin resting on the boy's knee and eyes pointed to the screen that flashed pictures. _*****_

Yusuke laughed and pointed for Kuwabara to look as the dog dragged the dirty old t-shirt across the floor and promptly dropped into Yusuke's lap with it. Yusuke gave the dog's back several good strokes with one hand as he went through the menu options on the video game with the other, and he and Kuwabara settled into a rhythm, though the dark-haired boy was never too long in dropping a hand from the controller to give the dog another pat.

~!**!~

Through the entire escapade, Maneshi had maintained his position on Hiei's shoulder, and even as the fire demon bent over the woman on the floor, he showed no concern.

The black cat slipped down onto the tile floor and stuck his nose in the tub on the ground, giving the contents of the bucket a good three or four licks before turning to Shikiyoku's still form, the end of his little pink tongue sticking out of his mouth. He moved another step or two out of the way, opposite the direction that Hiei hovered, and sat down on his haunches, regarding Hiei with the same tongue-out-of-mouth expression, his gaze steady, awaiting what the fire demon would do next. 3

Hiei reacted completely out of the norm at the movement on his shoulders; he actually jumped in surprise, a hand flitting to his Katana out of sheer instinct. His eyes laid sight on the cat and he immediately dismissed the momentary panic, turning back to the actual problem at hand. His eyes roved over Shikiyoku, searching for evidence of anything lethal, but again found nothing. He looked around the room, searching for something of use, but just as before, he came up with nothing.

A scowl etched into his face much further than before, seeming as if etched in stone. He grit his teeth and stood up, a hand rubbing his temple as he forced himself to stop and think.

_Water won't do. If it's powered by hydration, then it would kill her in a moment. Perhaps…_ His eyes turned to the window, looking to the outside world and at the greenery he could see. None of it appeared to be any type of medical herb that he knew of. _Think. _

Again, he bent over Shikiyoku, this time his eyes meeting those of the feline across from him for guidance. No response, and his frustration flared into full-on anger. Explosive anger, at that. His energy broiled and his mind reeled, going into irrational mode. "How about instead of sitting on your lazy ass, you do something," he growled at the cat.

He turned his angry irises to the culprit of the situation, and his anger became lethal. He approached it and took a sniff at it, as he had earlier. Again, he only had the experience of cold and sweet. But, feeling as if he couldn't do anything at all, he simply set it aflame in his hand, finding an intense emotion in watching it burn, in smelling the burning container. _**Die.**_

~!**!~

Nabu got comfortable very quickly, his full stomach making it hard for him to stay awake. He stretched only slightly before resettling back into his most comfortable position and letting his eyes slide closed. A puff of air left him in a puppy sigh, and before too long, his head began to slip down little by little, and he was off in little puppy dreams.

~!**!~

Akari walked through the front door for the first time ever, not caring if any of the nearby humans saw her enter the closed-off territory. "Nabu," she called, holding up a bag that rustled in her grasp, "I'm back, and I have food." She shut the door behind her, locking it easily despite the very obvious hole in the side of the building. She gave a sigh and turned to the couch, expecting the pup to be laying on it, but unable to see him for the back of the couch. "Nabu, nap time is over," she said casually, walking to a desk that was actually cleaned off and setting down the plastic bag. "Come on, Nabu, I-" she turned to look at the couch, and was met with empty furniture.

"Nabu!" She called, looking to the stairs that were blocked off with fallen debris from the upper floor. She knew of the small hole he could fit through, but didn't think he'd have gone through there and ignore her warning of the danger. "If you don't get down here, I'll eat all of it myself!"

Silence.

Worry suddenly hit her. Hard. "Nabu, this isn't funny! Get down here, NOW!"

Nothing.

She felt sick. Physically sick. Without another call to the house she knew was empty, she turned and left the house through the gaping hole in the building, easily finding the faint scent of the pup. She didn't know why, but the thought of the pup being by himself in the crowded city made her feel ill in almost every aspect. _*****_

~!**!~

"_How about instead of flying off the handle, you take a moment and think?" _Maneshi finally replied, his voice dry against the inferno of Hiei's mind. The very tip of his tail twitched once in a while and the mismatched color of his gaze stayed steady on Hiei.

"_You have been afforded several certain...advantages in regards to her now. The most prominent is your bond with her that will confirm or deny if she is truly in any danger here, but you cannot access its presence between you if you are already enraged. Calm yourself." _3

Hiei whirled around to meet the gaze of the cat, not caring that the container was still melting in his very hand at that moment. But he listened to Maneshi all the same. _Advantages? _he thought, confused. The confusion made his anger level deplete almost entirely, his mind clearing despite the hidden emotions underneath. "What do you mean, _use the bond_?" he repeated, his tone completely different than the moment before.

There was another way?

Plus, the cat was calm, meaning… he should be too, right? If the cat wasn't worried, barking orders, then Hiei shouldn't be worried, right? _Right? _He hoped that was indeed the case. "How?"

~!**!~

Akari moved, finding herself retracing her own steps. _Dammit Nabu, I said not to follow me. _The demoness made her way briskly through the thickening crowd, this being the middle of the dinner rush hour. But, as she continued to walk, she suddenly realized that his scent was stronger in certain places, as if…

As if he'd backtracked.

Akari's eyes turned in the direction she assumed the pup had gone, her nose flaring as she sniffed. Then, with the realization came utter anger. _If you touched him, I swear to Enma that you will die by my hands,_ she thought, her stomach rolling with protective worry over the pup. After all, the two boys didn't like her. It was understandable, but at the same time, disdain could drive one to do stupid things.

She followed the scents until, eventually, she was standing at an apartment door, fist hitting it loudly. _If he's hurt… __*****_

Atsuko stood bent over the oven when the pounding came at the front door, attempting to stick a fork through the steak that was now finished cooking.

"Somebody at the door, Yusuke!" She yelled, trying for another stab.

"Get it yourself, mom! I'm busy!" Came her son's voice from the back room.

Atsuko grumbled to herself, but did manage to get the steak on her fork and stood up from the oven, closing it and turning it off before heading for the door.

Upon opening it, her eyebrows raised slightly over the steak that she had moved over to her mouth to take a bite from, "You lookin' for something, sweetie?" She asked, her mouth full.

~!**!~

Maneshi's tailed curled around the tops of his front paws.

"_If you're calm, you should simply be able to __**feel **__within yourself whether or not she is injured at this moment. Overreacting for nothing could someday put the both of you in more trouble than staying calm and assessing the situation first. If she is hurt, or in pain, you will know. If her life is threatened, you will sense it. The bond is of course stronger the closer your proximity, but even at a distance you can reach through it to check on her. Furthermore, if you believe she is in danger, she will look to you for guidance and insight in the situation. You could not protect someone if you were not apt at sensing the approach of those with ill intent, and wouldn't have been able to accept the task if it were the case. But your fury will be your undoing." _3

Hiei raised a brow at the cat, his chest deflating completely now that his anger left him, replaced with this new information. As the cat continued speaking, his voice brushing Hiei's mind and wiping out the flames of fury with cool confidence, Hiei began trying to do as Maneshi said he should be able to- feel the bond. After a few moments, Hiei's entire mind was a dull hum, not even taking in the words of wisdom from the cat as he felt an odd sensation take over.

It was… calm? No, but something very similar, in his opinion. He assessed it further, eyes drooping shut as even his own body relaxed. _Is this what it feels like? _It was so bizarre, this odd feeling. All was well and good, but even so he let his mind linger on that feeling. It was almost like a string in his mind that continuously reverberated with the energy that hummed in the air, giving feedback depending on the atmosphere.

Finally, he withdrew from it and opened his eyes to meet a silent cat, all trace of anger gone, along with the flame he'd been previously holding in his hand. "Then… why..?" He suddenly inquired, glancing at Shikiyoku curiously.*

* * *

Eikichi \- no meaning

Atsuko \- Female given name or forename

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	18. Episode 103 - And So Does Akari

**A/N: **Hello once again, Audience!

Another chapter awaits!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei and Shikiyoku return to Toriko's home after gathering food and sweet snow.  
Upon consuming "mint chocolate" ice cream, Shikiyoku faints and Hiei learns,  
via Maneshi, that he can check on her health by accessing a bond within himself,  
one that allows him to assess her well-being.

~!**!~

Akari leaves Nabu at home, but the curious pup follows her after a while,  
ending up with Kuwabara and Yusuke. Akari tracks him to Yusuke and Atsuko's apartment...

* * *

Akari's fist lowered to her side as she listened to the shouts from behind the door, realizing she hadn't taken into account the possibility of another human nearby. _I'll just have to work around it. _By the time the door was open, Akari's expression was neutral, but on the verge of rushed. She opened her mouth to speak, but the wafting smell of the steak hit her hard, causing her stomach to roll; she'd been avoiding meats like the plague, and this certainly wasn't helping. Her nose crinkled up, her brows furrowing.

Then she realized the woman had spoke to her. "Yes, is Yusuke home? I'm… a friend of his…" she said slowly, her tone carefully even despite the fact that Nabu's scent was very strong inside the home. "I need to speak to him about… school work…" she said carefully, eyes roaming past her head and to the apartment beyond. _*****_

"Oh my! Well, please come on in! He's just back here!" Atsuko turned away and started walking for the back of the apartment, "Yusuke! There's a cute girl here to see you! You'd better not be cheating on Keiko!" The last sentence came out much more harsh than the others and she stomped the last two feet into Yusuke's room.

"Mom, you know I wouldn't-" Yusuke did a double take, his jaw dropping open, "MOM! YOU'RE EATING MY STEAK!" If he didn't have the sleeping dog under the t-shirt in his lap he would have jumped up and tried to snatch it from her.

"You're too slow!" Atsuko waved the steak around on the fork for a bit tauntingly, then left the room after Akari walked in.

"What do _you _want?" Yusuke grumbled at her, both he and Kuwabara turning back to their game.

~!**!~

Maneshi's eyes sparkled, "_Well, it's quite possible that she is having some sort of reaction to either the 'mint' or the 'chocolate' contained within the ice cream. Or perhaps she's only being overly dramatic." _He stood before Hiei could say anything else and calmly walked out of earshot, disappearing up the stairs. 3

Hiei felt his brow disappear in his bangs just as the cat disappeared from his immediate eyesight, making the fire demon turn to the girl in confusion and curiosity. Now that he was calm, he could easily see there was no immediate danger, without even having to refer to the _bond_, as Maneshi so pointedly called it. Physically she was fine, aside from a few marks here and there, which he realized was only by his own doing. If it were in his nature, he would have uttered the single word, _oops_. Instead, he settled for a sigh and resigned himself into lightly tapping Shikiyoku's face repeatedly, wondering if this would wake her from whatever had made her come to such a condition.

_You're a pain._

~!**!~

Akari gave a small smile to the human who stepped aside, and then lead her straight to the back of the apartment, yelling the entire way. _Cute?_ she thought to herself, a brow raised. _I'm not __**cute**__, dammit. _She followed the woman into the back room, arms crossing over her chest as she waited for the two humans to stop chattering and for the older woman to leave.

And at Yusuke's question, her temper flared. "Where is he?" she demanded, fingers tapping on her arm as if it was a great struggle to keep them from around his neck. "Nabu's scent is all over this room." Her tone was mild, but her gaze was smoldering. She suppressed the urge to give a verbal warning, only because the human woman in the next room would be able to hear her, since her own voice carried easily. _*****_

"What are you going on about?" Yusuke asked off-handedly, "Can't you see we're in the middle of something important here?"

"Who's Nabu?" Kuwabara wanted to know, neither boy looking up from their game.

~!**!~

Floating amongst minty-chocolate, Shikiyoku wondered at the ridiculousness of the situation. How in the three worlds could a bite of this strangely flavored sweet snow make her faint? She wondered if Toriko knew anything about this.

The middle of her wonderings were suddenly interrupted by an incessant tapping that originated somewhere outside of the green-cloud fantasy land and she felt her eyelids shudder, then slowly blink open and she sat up abruptly. 3

Hiei watched her fluttering eyelids patiently, his tapping ceasing as soon as there was signs of consciousness in Shikiyoku. By now, he'd completely forgotten the melted green and brown mess on the floor that he'd made.

When she sat up, Hiei rocked to his heels to give space, then slowly stood up, standing over her with an air of calm amusement. "Moron," he commented, turning his eyes to the side for a bit before they flickered down to her again, and he held a hand out to help her up.

~!**!~

Akari immediately felt her eyebrow twitch. Who else would she be asking about? Frustrated that they wouldn't look at her properly, or even consider a proper answer, she reached a hand out to the person closest to her, Yusuke, intending to grab him by the head. However, a small huff caught her attention, causing her hand to still just inches from his gelled back head of hair. Her eyes slid down the Yusuke's lap, finding a t-shirt rolled into a ball that moved periodically, light snores vaguely heard if she listened hard enough. Nabu's snores.

She stared down at the lump of what she now knew to be her sleeping companion, and relief flooded her. It hit her hard enough that she took two steps away, to Yusuke's right, and simply plopped down on his bed unceremoniously, as if she'd done so hundreds of times before.

He wasn't hurt. _He's just sleeping… _She didn't want to wake him. After all, she'd run his little heart out today in hopes he _would _sleep, and now that he was, she couldn't bring herself to wake him up by picking him up and leaving.

"Nabu is the dog." she finally answered Kuwabara, eyes shut. She said nothing more about it, only gave a sigh of relief. _*****_

"Aw, so he's _yours_?" Yusuke moaned, "That just figures. I get the thing home and even mom likes the little guy and somebody else owns him. I guess you want him back now, huh?" Yusuke shifted around a little and started to place his controller on the floor with the intention of extricating the tiny body from his lap.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku took the hand extended to her, saying nothing, and let Hiei pull her to her feet. She ran a hand over her forehead where it hit the floor, but got distracted by tiny pricks of pain up and down her forearms, turning the both of them face up and seeing what looked like burn marks. Her eyes trailed over to the puddle on the floor and it didn't take much to put two and two together.

Her eyes grew large and glassy, but just as quickly narrowed again and in an instant stood next to the front door, reaching up to unlock it. 3

Hiei's eyes widened at the sudden burst from the woman he'd helped up, his eyes following her every move. "And where are you going?" He asked calmly, his crimson orbs flashing with curiosity and amusement as he could already just guess. It didn't take too much for him to realize, after having followed the trail he gaze had made. He raised a brow, as if disappointed, wondering how she'd react to this gesture.

~!**!~

Akari's brows furrowed together. "Answer me this, Urameshi. If you have a child, do you, say, _own_ that child?" she asked suddenly, tone hard as her eyelids slid open so she could assess his reaction. "Or, say, if you lived with Kuwabara, would you _own _him?" A sneer touched her lips, but disappeared. "No use in waking him now, detective. He's comfortable, and won't be going anywhere." _*****_

Yusuke stopped fidgeting around and returned Akari's gaze.

"So, can I keep him?" He piped up eyes slightly more eager than they had been moments ago.

Kuwabara laughed, "I'm pretty sure that's not what she meant, Urameshi."

"Shuddup." Yusuke reached over and punched Kuwabara in the shoulder, grumbling and picking his controller back up.

Kuwabara scooted over as if to make room on the floor in front of the television, then turned to Akari and held out his own controller.

"Urameshi's really easy to beat, so you should practice on him first before you take me on!"

Yusuke bonked Kuwabara again.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku only took the briefest of seconds after unlocking the door to turn and stick her tongue out impetuously at Hiei before throwing the thing wide and stepping out again, turning and bending her knees to jump up onto the roof. 3

Hiei's eyebrows shot up, surprised by Shikiyoku's reply. "Childish," he scoffed out, watching her swing up onto the roof with ease. "You do realize going to the same place twice will raise suspicion, right?" he called casually, slowly making his way out the door and shutting it behind himself, taking to walking down the street instead of using the rooftops as she did. "Find another place to get it. It shouldn't be that difficult."

~!**!~

Akari's entire expression twitched into irritation, her fist clenching as she considered hitting the boy. But, he was saved by Kuwabara, who spoke up on her behalf. Suddenly, she realized that the atmosphere was.. a cordial one. Unlike last time she'd been in the same room as the detective, her presence seemed… accepted. _First the fox, and now the humans? _She ran a hand through her hair; why were they all being so nice all of the sudden?

_Sure;y it's not because Koenma told them to be,_ she thought to herself some more, eyeing the duo warily. But, the sound of sleeping Nabu made her doubt her initial instincts about the sudden shift in the group, and she wondered if perhaps this time, she were being paranoid.

Then again, that's what had happened last time.

"No," she suddenly replied, realizing Kuwabara had been offering the controller to her. "Demons and video games do not mix well." She waved her hand dismissively before crossing her legs underneath herself, resigning herself to wait until Nabu awoke. _*****_

"What? Why not?" Kuwabara retracted his offer out of instinct, worried that she might go feral or something if she got a hold of the controller.

"It's not true." Yusuke piped up, his eyes never leaving the screen. "I've played with Kurama plenty of times and _he's _never had a problem with it."

Kuwabara offered the controller again, "You might as well. No sense in being bored."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku paused on top of one of the roofs, her bare feet landing silently, and looked down at Hiei walking along the sidewalk below. She had a sudden desire to lose him, to run off and leave him behind, to be by herself. Why had he followed her anyway? She was surprised he'd even stayed around her for this long. Her eyes followed the lowering sunbeams of the evening.

She missed Demon World. Her most vivid memories beyond her escape into the Human World were from over fifteen years ago and were all ones within her home realm. She missed the smells, the sounds… even if walking around for someone like her was more of a liability than it was for most demon-types, she craved even that promise of hardship. What was there here to live for?

Perhaps that's the reason why she bolted out the door when she realize Hiei had melted the ice cream after she fainted. If she could leave this blasted world even for just a few moments, then it was worth it to retrieve more of the stuff.

Maybe she was much weaker than Toriko after all…

Shikiyoku took off again, still heading in the direction of the store they left earlier. 3

Hiei eyed the form of Shikiyoku as she stood on the building, as if considering his words. He didn't say anything more, since it was to be assumed that she didn't care at all about what he'd had to say. So he kept his lips sealed, hands in his pockets as he walked, his mind curiously roving to the bond. He assessed the calmness through it, the small hum of energy completely taking over his mind, his feet automatically following the path that the energy made for him. It was a curious thing, the bond.

He wondered if, perhaps, he could manipulate it to give his own feedback, if ever necessary.

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes at Kuwabara's reaction, his expression becoming one of an odd form of fear. She could only imagine what he was thinking. She would have said something smart about it, but she didn't see any reason to do so. As Yusuke spoke up, her eyes flashed to him, who hadn't turned to face her as he spoke.

"Well, your friend Kurama has a temper that is under easy control," she remarked casually, shrugging a single shoulder as she slid from the bed anyways and plopped herself down on the floor between the two boys. As the saying went, _if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. _"What game?" she inquired, taking the controller from Kuwabara's hand gingerly. _Might as well play nice like everyone else. __*****_

"It's a racing game. But we're actually in the same car." Yusuke began explaining.

"The controls are pretty easy." Kuwabara leaned over to point them out. "That one to accelerate, that one to steer. The other guy sits on the back of the car and throws stuff at the other players. If you wanna switch and sit on the back and throw stuff, you hit that button at the same time as your partner."

~!**!~

Going at a non-human speed, it didn't take long at all to arrive back at the store, though Shikiyoku ended up on the roof this time.

She leaned over the edge of the front of the building to look down at the people below, none of whom could be bothered to raise their eyes her direction.

"_I know I shouldn't come back here...but it's the only place I know to go!" _She pouted as she squatted down and leaned her arms on the edge of the roof, resting her chin on her wrists. The more she thought, the bigger and glassier her eyes became, "_Plus, I have no idea what that sweet snow is called since Hiei destroyed the container._" Her gaze flickered to the burn marks on her arms that were slowly healing themselves away, "_So I __**have **__to go inside and ask the man from before...He's the only one who knows which container was grabbed! ...even though I'd just as soon never see him again." _She huffed out a breath, and didn't move, a despondent expression on her face. 3

Hiei continued on his same path, at the same casual pace as he'd taken since leaving the house. He was in no hurry, though after a moment his mind broke away from the bond and his eyes refocused on the people moving around him. He finally found himself focusing on something ahead of him that quietly piqued his curiosity.

"Give it to me, I said," a gruff voice whispered, Hiei only being able to see the broad shoulder of the man around the corner of the alleyway ahead. A sneer formed on his face; he'd done this only once before now, and it always made things easier.

The fire demon rounded the corner and stepped into the alleyway in time to see the smaller human run away at the word "scram" from the larger one. In the man's hand was a small leather object that he recognized as a wallet. Without an inkling of hesitation, Hiei stood in front of the 6'3" man, looking at him without much difficulty. "I do believe that belongs to another," the fire demon said, red eyes glinting.

"Oh, another one? How fun! My luck is great!" The older man boomed out a chuckle, then met Hiei's gaze squarely. "You have money you want to offer too, small fry?"

A pause. Hiei's eyes darkened as his energy thrummed through him, his Jagan opening behind the white cloth that hid it from view. "No, but you will be giving me yours."

"Tch. Like that will happ-" the man's words halted as his eyes widened. The sharpened features drained of color, and that was the moment Hiei realized he was dealing with a human who had a decent amount of the sixth sense. A sneer formed. "W-what?"

"As I said, you will be handing that over to me."

A couple minutes later, Hiei was walking down the street with a pocket full of currency, arriving to the store and immediately looking up at Shikiyoku. "_Follow my lead," _his mind whispered to hers, and he turned to continue down the road to the next store- information he had gotten from the human before leaving.

~!**!~

Akari's eye twitched. Racing? What was racing? She didn't ask though, soon enough getting her answer when Kuwabara continued explaining the game to her and its controls. With each button he announced, she touched in turn, memorizing all she could from his informative speech.

"Okay," she said slowly, going over each button in her mind again. "I'm the one that throws things to destroy other players?" she asked, surmising that this was her basic duty. Easy enough, right? _*****_

"If you're sitting on the back." Yusuke added. "The way it is right now, you'll be driving. If you want to switch, we can, but we'll have to do it after the course has started."

"Urameshi is terrible at driving though-"

"I am not yah blockhead!"

"Then how come I'm always doing it?"

"Because you never let me drive!"

"Because you're terrible at it!"

"How am I supposed to get better without practice, huh?"

"Psh. Yah right." Kuwabara leaned back onto his hands, but whispered over to Akari, "Don't let him drive! You'll totally lose."

"I heard that." Yusuke glared over at him.

"The game's starting." Kuwabara nodded at the TV screen and Yusuke whipped his head back as the countdown timer began.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes watched Hiei's approach, catching his glance up in her direction just before his presence brushed against her mind, startling her.

"Follow your lead, huh?" She muttered under her breath, not moving for another moment as he turned and kept going. She bit her lip and regarded the sidewalk below just in front of the store. What _exactly _was Hiei planning?

A handful of seconds passed before she stood up, deciding her curiosity as to Hiei's request outweighed her own indecisiveness about entering or not entering the store beneath her feet. She could always come back later.

With only one last forlorn glance at the store containing her heart's desire below, she moved to follow in Hiei's direction, her bare feet padding silently on the rooftop, too fast for human eyes to see, until she got close enough to the next building to make the leap between them. 3

Hiei didn't wait for Shikiyoku for even a second. He didn't even glance back to see if she was following. He had full confidence that she'd trust his judgement and simply go with him on this. His hands fingered at the money in his pocket casually, knowing it was more than enough to get what he needed. Or, rather, what Shikiyoku thought she needed. He gave a slight sound to himself that was somewhere between irritation and amusement.

_The lengths I go to for this impetuous woman…_

His thoughts suddenly stopped when he realized that he had just passed the sign he'd been searching for, reading the words "FOOD ON THE GO" that was brandished in giant, all capitalized red letters. The sign above that was even larger, with the words "GRAND OPENING" written in black against a yellow fabric that should have caught his eye earlier.

He lingered outside the store for a moment, glancing at the door as a human walked out, waving goodbye to someone over her shoulder. She met his gaze, gave a nod, then continued on as if he were part of her everyday life. With a casual look up for Shikiyoku, he took a few steps inside the store, his eyes looking around curiously, searching for the nearest uniform-clad worker.

~!**!~

Akari gave a loud, obnoxious sigh at the two boys who continued to bicker around her. "Enough," she grumbled, her hands holding the controller in the most uncomfortable of ways. She adjusted her grasp until it finally felt right, her thumbs hovering over the swivel-sticks and the buttons that were lit up at her. To her, this looked like such a high-tech thing. "Wait, _I'm driving?" _she suddenly asked, realizing she'd completely ignored their bickering until it became relevant to her. "why?"

But the weirdest sound buzzed from the speakers of the screen: horn, and then the word "GO!" flashed across the screen. Almost instinctively, she pushed the first button she thought of, which miraculously led to their vehicle shooting forward, albeit at the oddest angle and, eventually, into the wall. _*****_

"Because you have the first player controller." Kuwabara explained.

"Let's switch, let's switch!" Yusuke chanted excitedly, mashing on the button that would allow the pair to switch places should Akari decide to hit it.

"Don't listen to him." Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "If you want to drive, go for it. Use that one to steer the car around. You press and hold the one that accelerates you and then you steer around with that one." He reached over and pointed at the stick on the controller that she needed to use.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wasn't sure whether to jump down and join the fire demon or not. To be honest, she still wasn't really sure what he was doing. Did he remember another yummy treat they didn't get at the other place? She licked her lips in anticipation, momentarily forgetting her desire for the sweet snow.

"Hey! What are you doing up here?"

Shikiyoku spun around to see a man beginning to walk towards her, a rooftop door open widely behind him. 3

Hiei, completely unaware of what was going on up on the roof, continued to search the inside of the store until a small, dainty human woman bounced up to him, smiling and batting her lashes. "Hello and welcome to our new store! Is there anything I can help you find?"

The fire demon raised a brow and shrugged his shoulders, suddenly deciding to act just as human as he possibly could. "Ice cream," he said casually, eyes searching the area behind her.

"Right this way!" the girl cheered, swinging her arms violently as she turned and began her bouncing, merry way through the crowded store, Hiei following silently the whole way.

~!**!~

.Akari practically jumped when the game suddenly stopped, a big box enveloping the screen with numerous options to choose from. She raised a brow and turned expectantly to Yusuke, waiting. But as Kuwabara grabbed her attention, she was again looking down at the plastic object in her hands and watching Kuwabara's fingers gesture to the buttons he spoke of.

"I think I got it," she said slowly, her tone only slightly hesitant as she turned to Yusuke, determination making her irises gleam. "Make that box-thing disappear. I wanna try." _*****_

"Dang it, Kuwabara…" Yusuke muttered, hitting the start button again so the game would continue.

Kuwabara looked smugly pleased with himself and crossed his arms over his chest to watch the result.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku tried to gather her thoughts together, but her stomach lurched at the presence of the lone human and she struggled against her first instinct, which was to mesmerize the being.

"I'm..." What _was _she doing up here?

"You aren't supposed to be here." The man's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he got closer, seeing the short female with dark clothing and no shoes. "How did you get up here?"

"I, uhm..." Shikiyoku glanced over her shoulder at the street below, cautiously taking a step away from the edge of the building. 3

Hiei sauntered behind the cheery girl for a bit until he was left facing an aisle that radiated cold energy, and for a moment he basked in the difference there was between it and his skin, which always seemed to be smoldering, though he knew how to ignore it. "Here you are! We have a lot of the top-name brands and-"

"That'll do," Hiei cut her off, briskly marching by her and turning to face the glass doors. In his mind, he pictured the very container he had seethed at earlier, focusing until each detail came into clear view before he found the one he needed.

WIthout another second's hesitation, he pulled on the dark handle and grabbed the very tub he needed, then immediately turned away, not even noticing the door stayed wide open behind him.

By the time he was at the front of the store again, the lines to each register were filled with at least ten people each. His face twitched, but he stayed calm, knowing there wasn't anything he could do about it.

~!**!~

Akari Sneered at Yusuke and turned to the screen in time to see the black box disappear and the game begin again. As before, the car continued to crash into the wall repeatedly, until Akari realized her movements were too jerky. Her mind told her to calm herself, breathe, and to remain calm.

_Treat it like a strategy being executed._

_Turn left._

With each thought, her grin grew wider as the control became smoother, the screen becoming much more stable than before. But when something suddenly slammed into their vehicle, she let out a low growl and straightened the game back up. "Who calls _this _fun?" _*****_

"It's more fun to throoow thiiiings!" Yusuke crowed in a sing-songy voice. "You know you want to!"

Kuwabara just scoffed and rolled his eyes, "You just want to get to drive."

"So what?!"

~!**!~

"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me, miss." The man began to walk towards her.

"And I'm afraid you're going to leave me alone now." Safe from the edge, Shikiyoku crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes flashing.

"Unlikely." The man continued his stride forwards, his steps determined and his expression the same. He only got close enough to grab Shikiyoku's arm because of her surprise at his ignoring her order. "Come along."

They got several steps closer to the door through which the man first came before Shikiyoku planted her feet in the ground and the man found himself unable to drag her along.

Irritated at her, he gripped tighter and turned, his eyes growing wide when he found her expression had completely changed.

Shikiyoku batted her eyelashes at him, her expression more devious and flirty than before, reaching up with her free hand to stroke his cheek before grabbing his tie and pulling his head closer.

"You're going to let me go now."

It took another moment of their locked gazes before his hand loosened and finally fell to his side.

Shikiyoku licked her lips, their close proximity to one another making her head pound with desire. She had not activated any energy yet, but she could feel the need beginning to boil just below the surface.

_You have such self-restraint. I envy you._

Her own words echoing back into her thoughts gave Shikiyoku pause. Did she really want Spirit World coming after her again? As much entertainment as she might get from the chase, she was not whole and would definitely be fighting a losing battle. Perhaps...perhaps _that _is what stayed Hiei's hand.

Shikiyoku pushed the man away with the hand that held his tie, releasing it as he was forced to take a step back to regain his balance.

"Go away." Shikiyoku broke eye-contact and the man stumbled towards the door and out of sight, closing it behind him. She sighed into the empty air and suddenly felt very oppressed by the sights of a city built by human hands. Her core ached for Demon World, longed to return to some of its lowest depths with its wild undergrowth and wide open skies.

Without another thought, knowing if he wished to find her Hiei would have no problem doing so, Shikiyoku took off over the rooftops again. It did not take her long to get out of town and into the woodsy area that surrounded the city. She scaled one of the largest trees without pause and sat in its branches, watching the sun go down beneath the horizon. 3

As Hiei stood, he began shifting his weight impatiently. He'd been in line for five minutes, and that was already wearing on his nerves. His general dislike of being in such a crowded area left his eyes narrowing and flashing at the people around him. His uneasiness was growing the longer he stood, the smaller the steps became between people.

Finally, his mind registered that his unease was unorthodox compared to his earlier emotions. His crimson eyes looked around his surroundings, searching for the source. He found it in a single human that wandered by, eyes unfocused and tie ruffled compared to his neat hair and suit. He eyed the man further, wondering what about this human drew his attention.

Then the smell hit him. It was faint from the distance of the human that disappeared into an office, but it told him all he needed to know. His mind began searching for the bond he'd been toying with for the past few minutes, easily establishing the contact as he approached the counter and plopped the tub of Ice cream down on it. He waited for the _beep _of the scanner, then when the cashier informed him of his total, Hiei merely placed the entirety of the currency onto the counter, listening to coins bounce around on the metallic surface. "Keep the remaining amount," he said casually, turning and leaving with the tub.

Complete silence followed after him, until he was almost gone.

"...did that man just give you two-hundred and…"

The rest of the question was unheard by the fire demon. He stepped outside, his mind probing the bond until his feet automatically turned and moved in a direction all of their own, until he was nearing a spot where Shikiyoku's scent was strongest.

"I have the sweet snow," he said casually, not bothering to raise his voice above a calm banter.

~!**!~

Akari made a small sound that even she couldn't identify. Was it a laugh? A scoff? She didn't know. But what she did know was that… she actually enjoyed this game. "Stop it, that- that green thing!" She all but yelled at Yusuke, referring to the fast-moving shell that veered across the screen, missing their vehicle by an inch.

But when an odd sound came whirring through the speakers f the television loudly, she instinctively glanced around the room, distracted by the sound that she hadn't known was a strike in the game until the sound of the thunder met her ears, her eyes seeing the spinning cart of her's and Yusuke's characters in the middle of the screen.

"What the _hell _was that?"*

"That, my good demon, would be what is called a blue shell." Yusuke put a hand behind his head and scratched at his hairline. "Can't do a thing about that stuff. Comes after you when you're in first place."

At least two, if not three or four, cars zoomed past them while their car remained out of their control, and by the time they managed to pass the finish line the song that played out of the speakers was a depressed version of the usual theme and their characters were crying at the loss.

~!**!~

It wasn't that Shikiyoku did not hear Hiei's words from below, but that her mind had wandered into a different place entirely and it took a bit of a pause for her to register that the voice from somewhere outside her body was actually speaking to her specifically.

After the line played back in her head, Shikiyoku brought her legs underneath her and leapt down from the tree, starting to walk towards Hiei with her head down and both hands stuffed in her pockets.

A slight wind picked up and blew her hair in her face and she finally looked up, off to the side, into the distance, her gaze far away as she reached up to weave some of the hair behind an ear.

"Hiei...do you know how to get back to Demon World?" Her voice was quiet, wistful. 3

Hiei waited patiently for a reply, not looking up at Shikiyoku since he knew where she was specifically. He didn't have to see her with his eyes to know she had heard him. He simply… assumed, and waited patiently.

However, when she approached him, he refrained from holding out the tub of ice cream to her at the look on her face. He didn't like it. It automatically set his mind on an edge, as if he knew what was coming next, even though he didn't.

At her question, he eyed her calmly, expression very carefully blank. He'd been searching for this kind of secret for years, and at the time he'd finally thought he might be able to go back, it had fallen through. Completely. A scowl pulled the corners of his lips downward.

"No," he answered simply, hoping that by extending the ice cream to her, the subject would be dropped.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow and glanced over at Yusuke. "_My good demon"? Who says things like that? _She considered him for a moment before blowing out a large puff of air from her nose. _Why so nice? _She pushed the thought away and shifted the way she sat, adjusting so that her right ankle was still under her, but her left leg was outstretched, the odd feeling of it being asleep momentarily distracting her.

"I hate those," she finally commented, scratching at her face as she waited for the game to let her move again. And, after a moment, she was watching the game go about the track on its own, without her help, a large 5 displayed on the screen. "This is ridiculous…"

She let the pause linger in the air, glancing at Kuwabara for a minute before sighing and turning her head to Yusuke, holding out her controller. "You drive. I want to attack now." _*****_

"YES! WINNING!" Yusuke happily tossed the controller in a lovely arc aiming for Akari's lap as he took the controlled her held out for him in exchange.

"You're gonna lose." Kuwabara warned.

"Watch me, punk!" Yusuke stuck his tongue out at the other boy and then prepared himself for the next race.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out the sigh of a thousand lifetimes.

"Good." She said before turning to take the sweet snow from him. "I am not yet strong enough to go back there yet. And if you knew how to return, I would likely be unable to stop myself from going, getting killed much too quickly once I passed over."

Shikiyoku refused to look at Hiei even as she swept past him in the direction of her home. She felt her features were much too solemn at the moment for anyone to see, deep lines of loneliness etched across her expression. Her core still ached for Demon World. Being lonely there would surely be infinitely better than being lonely on this soil. 3

Hiei hadn't expected her retort, but hadn't responded to it either. In a sense, he wasn't very surprised by her words. Perhaps it was because they rang true for most demons, maybe even himself included. After all, it wasn't uncommon knowledge that Hiei would do anything to get back, and that amount of effort could likely lead to his demise in the long run.

Especially with his abrasiveness, as Maneshi had so pointed out earlier. Indirectly, of course.

Perhaps it was a good thing _he himself _didn't know of a way back.

With that thought, he turned and followed after Shikiyoku, his own hands stuffing into the pockets of his cloak. As he walked, his head moved, his chin raising so that his eyes could get a look at the skies of this plane. From here, away from most of the city lights, he could see what humans called _stars_. They reminded him of Yukina, and the ice kingdom she'd left in search for him. What was his sister doing now?

His eyes softened at the thought, his brows relaxing and his lips forming a small, pensive frown. A gentle breeze blew by, rustling his hair, and suddenly he sneered.

"Once you find your own challenges, you won't be bored," he finally remarked to Shikiyoku.

~!**!~

Akari sneered and glanced at Kuwabara, offering a shrug. "Might as well play it his way, so he will stop whining."

With that, she flashed a toothy grin, making sure her pointed canines were shown before she turned back to the screen, patiently waiting on Yusuke to start the game. "Maybe I won't suck like you did." _*****_

"Not you too! I'll show both of you! I'll be amazing!"

Kuwabara pointed at the screen, "If by amazing you mean missing the start of the race, then I'd say you're already on the right track."

"What the sh-" Yusuke whipped his head back to the screen, "AAAH!"

They had already fallen way behind by the time Yusuke pressed the gas.

~!**!~

"Challenges, eh?" And with his words, Shikiyoku felt her mood passing. She threw the plastic bag of sweet snow over her shoulder and stuck her nose in the air as she continued to prance towards home, "For someone who can get whatever they want with the bat of an eyelash? Ha! No. Such. Thing." 3

Hiei was suddenly sneering with such intensity that he wondered if Shikiyoku could feel it, the gaze on the back of her head. His eyes sparkled with mischief, despite his own thoughts and emotions over this topic. This was, however, how he dealt with it.

"Challenges." he repeated, tone filled with the amusement he felt. "Believe it or not, there will be some, even for the brats of the world."

~!**!~

AKari's eyes widened as the screen read "GO!", and their cart didn't , she tried to push the button that had made it move before, but she remembered that she wasn't the driver this time, and she whacked Yusuke on the arm. "Pay attention!" She immediately was ready for gameplay when he realized he had waited too long, putting them in last place with an immense gap. "Moron!" _*****_

"And why don't _you_ pay attention, miss smarty-pants!" Yusuke fired right back, "I just picked up a lightning strike for you and you haven't even bothered to use it yet!"

Kuwabara sat snickering at the two as the banter began.

~!**!~

"Then I suppose you've gotten more than your fair share of them, kid." Shikiyoku retorted smartly. "Gotta keep the young things busy and let us adults do the real work." If it was possible, her nose stuck itself higher up in the air. 3

Hiei snorted, his amusement turning to dignity. "I may be a child to you, but I assume that would make you nothing more than old dirt to the rest of the world," he remarked, his eyes flashing with the challenge. He wasn't sure, but a small part of him might… actually… enjoy this banter.

At that thought, a snort came from his nose, shortly followed by a scoff, for good measure. "And as I'm sure you're aware, us _young_ are able to do more." he added, referring to the amount of athletic energy, as related to the humans.

~!**!~

Akari made an odd sound from the back of her throat at Yusuke that was almost a strangled sound of frustration as she pressed all of the buttons at once, until finally, the blue shell was gone. How had she forgotten the different buttons already? "Don't patronize me, you moron!" _*****_

"Well, it worked, didn't it?!" Yusuke shot back, beginning to laugh as they shot past their incapacitated opponents.

"_He...he might actually win one." _Kuwabara watched in amazement as they climbed up in the rankings.

~!**!~

"_Age _equals _power_, youngling. The longer we're alive, the stronger we get in every way. You're a complete weakling compared to me!" Shikiyoku let a grin slip over her lips, "We're also smarter too. Get you to wear yourselves out doing all the mundane work so you can't even consider revolting. It's the best way to get things done." 3

"Assuming all younger than you are weaker is the best way to find death." he suddenly remarked, thinking very specifically of someone he knew in the area. He'd made that mistake once. And he wouldn't make it twice. But, a smile suddenly stretched his lips, twisting the edges into an ironic sneer at the thought of weakened Shikiyoku and completely energy-filled Yusuke in battle. That was one he wouldn't mind seeing…

If it weren't for the ease in which the detective's mind would be taken over.

His good mood fled entirely now at the thought. _Imbecile._

~!**!~

Akari was grinning now as Yusuke drove himself and her through the track, around car after car. She'd figured out the buttons now, and was throwing attacks left and right, each time Yusuke hit a mystery box that allowed her to use it. Before long, they were fighting for first, Akari's eyes sparkling with mirth at the aspect of winning such a simple game.

"Faster!" _*****_

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Yusuke gritted his teeth together, his thumb practically white at the knuckle from pressing the button so hard.

"Uh, Urameshi..."

"WHAT?" Yusuke growled.

The screen exploded in a ball of blue energy and light, careening their car off the track and allowing a handful of competitors to zoom past.

"BULLSHIT!" Yusuke yelled, smashing his thumb on the gas and causing them to spin out again as their car righted itself.

~!**!~

"They can't kill you if they only want to touch you." Shikiyoku purred, a finger tracing the side of Hiei's jaw. Her appearance in front of him hadn't taken a second, and in another second she had turned away, continuing to walk down the block, the sweet snow banging softly against her shoulder, her other hand down in her pocket once more. 3

Hiei hadn't reacted as he assumed she wanted him to. He'd tried to minimize his reactions to her rambunctious actions, and it took a great amount of restraint not to jerk his chin from her out of surprise. "You're a pain," he commented for what felt like the tenth time just today. His steps widened, allowing him to catch up with and even surpass Shikiyoku.

Akari's eyes were narrowed in concentration at the screen, her fingers making quick work at the controller in her hand. She'd been so preoccupied with timing the next attack- banana peels- that she hadn't noticed anything wrong until the screen erupted with light, making her jump back and growl in surprise. She herself considered yelling a word or two, but Yusuke had covered it nicely himself.

"Don't kill us!" She yelled at him, sticking her foot out and lightly kicking his knee to emphasize her point. _*****_

"It's not like I'm doing it on purpose!" He shouted, getting their car running smoothly down the track again as he tried desperately to catch up. The next few items they snagged quickly took down the competition and they easily sped into first place once more.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes softened once Hiei passed her and she was looking at the back of his head, but that didn't mean her next words sounded any nicer than his. He was good company, truth be told.

"And you're a nuisance." She stopped in her tracks, her free hand on her hip as he kept walking. She shook her head and turned to go up the walkway to her front door. 3

Hiei scoffed, but otherwise ignored Shikiyoku's comment, since it didn't really counter his own statement. It merely equalled his, though reversed onto him, and he saw no reason to refute it with anything clever. So he continued walking in silence, right up to the door and twisting the knob, pushing the wooden door open and continuing into the house. He waited not even for a moment to saunter into the kitchen, ready for some of his own sweet snow….

Except it had been left out, on the table, where he'd left it after Shikiyoku's scene. He stared at the melted, creamy substance within the tub that leaked very little here and there. A scowl formed on his face as he dipped a finger into the lukewarm substance and raised his finger to his nose, sniffing it once. The smell hadn't changed… too much. so he took a chance and flicked his tongue out at it.

Immediately, his expression shifted to disgust and he looked around for a paper towel, finding one easily and cleaning his index finger of the vile liquid, making a point to put it in the trash before turning to face Shikiyoku with a curious gaze. Perhaps the green one wouldn't be so bad…?

~!**!~

Akari huffed at Yusuke, again concentrating on the attacks Yusuke managed to obtain for her. She'd thrown them all as soon as she'd gotten them, and before long she was cheering at being back in first. "_That's _how you do it!" She yelled with a small laugh, tossing her head back for a moment before a sound made her ears twitch.

"NO!" She countered with a growl as the television _again _burst into sound and light from the blue shell. "That's BULL! TWO IN A ROW?!" _*****_

Yusuke said nothing this time, gritting his teeth together harder and waiting until their car righted, pressing the gas at just the right time to give them a boost, shooting them past the car that put them in second and managing to gain first again in a matter of seconds.

The two cars sped nearly neck-and-neck towards the finish line, on the last lap of the race, the players' car managing to squeak out a few feet of a lead.

The tell-tale beeping of a third incoming blue shell made even Kuwabara raise his voice in protest, and as the shell homed in on their position and hit them square on, it knocked the second place car a good distance behind them, but smacked their car forward and sent it spinning across the finish line, ending the race with a bounce.

"YES!" Yusuke shot up off the ground and pumped a fist in the air in victory.

~!**!~

Coming inside after him, Shikiyoku practically hummed to herself as she stepped around the mess of the kitchen and accidentally opened the correct drawer for the normal-sized spoons, grabbing one without much thought and prancing back over to the messy table. She plopped the tub down and wrestled for a moment with the bag, clearing the way to the lid and, for once, pulling it off on the first try. 3

Hiei eyed Shikiyoku as she got situated at the table, his crimson orbs considering the green ice cream for a moment. It looked utterly vile, as if it had been sitting somewhere in the heat for weeks, despite the glint that the light gave off from the cold. But if she was eating it, wouldn't that mean that it was actually worth trying? He scowled in frustration.

He'd just go without, he told himself. After all, making another trip to the store was useless and a waste of time. So he settled for simply sitting across from Shikiyoku, watching her eat in comfortable silence.

At least, to _him _it was comfortable.

~!**!~

Nabu had been so happy within his dream. He'd played with a family, children who had a frisbee, and they'd fed him steak at every meal. In his dream, the sun was out and the ground was dry, and people were always loving on him. He'd just been getting a scratch behind the ear when he was jolted awake, practically thrown to the floor in a heap of puppy body and cloth. Instinctively, not recognizing the smell of his surroundings, his lip curled upwards at the loud noises in the room and he snarled as loudly as his little lungs would let him, his head finally finding its way out from under the mess of the t-shirt.

But the sight before him was an odd one that made even his shock from the rude awakening fade.

His best friend was here, smiling, laughing even. She tossed some odd object in the air at the boy next to her, yelling "See Kuwabara, THAT'S how you do it!" And for a moment, the pup didn't move.

Never had his best friend smiled like that before. _*****_

Almost immediately, Yusuke realized his mistake in rising as the feeling started to return to his legs and he crumpled back down to the floor.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry little guy!" Yusuke whipped the t-shirt off the rest of the little pup still hiding underneath and lifted the dog to coddle him close to his chest, giving him a good scratch around the ears. "I didn't mean to! You were so quiet I forgot you were there!" He buried his face in the dog's fur and nuzzled it in his apology.

"You jerk, Urameshi!"

"Hey! I got excited okay!" Yusuke jerked his head back to glare at Kuwabara for a moment. "And anyway, I think he's alright. The tumble wasn't too far."

Kuwabara leaned closer to give the dog a scratch as well.

~!**!~

It took absolutely no time at all for Shikiyoku to burn through half the container of sweet snow, shoveling and consuming constantly in a rapid pattern.

It was at that point, when half the container was gone, that Shikiyoku slumped forward over the table, her hand shoving the tub across to Hiei until it stopped just short of falling into his lap as her other hand stretched out as well and her face plopped down between them, nose squashed against the table itself. She had left the spoon in the tub.

"You eat...the rest of that for me...okay?" She mumbled into the table's surface, staggering to her feet after a moment and roughly pushing the chair under the table. "And...thank you..." She pointed at him, "You...act like a bastard...sometimes...but you're not all that bad for a brat...so it's okay..." Her words almost sounded slurred and she smacked her lips together, frowning as she realized she couldn't feel her tongue and remaining completely oblivious of anything else going on in the room at that moment.

Her head lolled around unsteadily on her neck a little and she spied the container of strawberry sweet snow that Hiei hadn't touched. With a dexterity that seemed out of place, she swiftly snatched the lid and clicked it into place before picking it up, walking over to the freezer, opening it, and shoving the melted mess inside. She nodded affirmatively at the tub as the freezer door started to close, nearly skinning her nose in the process.

"I'm gonna...go tah bed now..." She gestured vaguely in the direction of her bedroom upstairs and started to walk that way.

Getting to the top, she turned right and went into the room, realized she went the wrong way, and walked over to the window, pulling it shut and locking it before stumbling back across the hall. She scowled at the open window here as well, closing and locking it when a thought hit her and she managed to get back out to the top of the stairs.

She yelled down at Hiei, "Hey!...You take that key," Here she pointed to the key next to the front door, "And you lock that door behind you when you leave, okay? Okay." She didn't wait for an answer, getting back into her bedroom and closing the door behind her. She collapsed onto the bed face-first and took no time at all in getting lost among mint-chocolatey clouds. 3

Hiei had gotten comfortable without much trouble, one foot propped up on the foot rest of the chair. He sat forward, elbows on the table casually, eyes shining with amusement at the scene in front of him. Spoonful after spoonful was shoved into Shikiyoku's mouth one after another, without even a pause between them. The sound of her smacking lips against the ice cream made the scene even more comical to him.

He didn't know how long he sat and watched her shovel the sweet treat into her mouth, but suddenly he had the tub and spoon in front of himself, his crimson eyes glinting curiously at first the leftover sweet snow, and then at Shikiyoku as she stood.

Her clumsy footsteps made his brow raise and his lips twitch upward at the left corner, creating a lopsided sneer as a small chuckle left his throat. She acted as if she were intoxicated to the extreme. Her cheeks were even a bit red, making him have the mental image of a drunken fighter he'd met in the demon world.

In compliance with Shikiyoku's demand, Hiei decided to try the ice cream, slowly sticking a spoonful of the grotesquely colored treat. The fire demon, at first, disliked the taste. But, after a moment, he grew accustomed to it. Before Shikiyoku disappeared up the stairs, Hiei was eating big spoonfuls at a time, as she had, but not at such a quick rate.

His eyes never left her as she stumbled up the stairs and shuffled out of sight, then back to the top of the stairs. He listened with great effort, actually having trouble differentiating between certain words.

"Fool," he grumbled when she disappeared out of sight again, and he continued eating.

~!**!~

Akari had immediately reacted to the sound out of pure instinct, her eyes narrowing and all cheers halting as she turned to glare at Yusuke as he held Nabu in the air. "Maybe you should be careful next time," she said casually, her tone completely contradicting her expression. But her look of irritation was gone when Nabu stuck his nose to Yusuke's face, licking at his cheek several times before retracting and letting his tongue loll out.

"_I like you." _the dog said quietly, paws twitching in cheer. "_You and Flowers both!"_

Akari gave a snort. "He says it's okay."

"_Yeah, that too." _*****

Yusuke eyed Akari as he set the pup gently down on the carpet, raising an eyebrow at her, "He says it's okay, huh?"

The pair of boys let the question hang in the air, Yusuke turning back to give the dog another set of scratches while Kuwabara regarded Akari curiously.

~!**!~

"_I...don't think the mint agrees with her system." _Maneshi appeared seemingly out of nowhere next to Hiei's chair, eyes trained up the stairs in the direction of Shikiyoku's disappearance with his tail slowly swaying back and forth in the air. He calmly turned his head to regard Hiei, "_I might suggest you either finish that or get rid of it. For your sake. And hers." _He added as an afterthought. His gaze flickered towards the tub of ice cream, tiny pink nose and long whiskers twitching thoughtfully.

"_Please do make sure you lock the door behind you when you leave. The key is next to it hanging on the wall." _Maneshi hopped up onto Hiei's lap, rubbing his body against Hiei's middle, taking extra care to let the top of his head smooth against the arm opposite of his gentle leap as he ducked underneath and landed back down on the floor, raising his feet regally as he marched off towards the stairs. "_I can't reach the mechanism."_

He took the stairs two at a time, getting to the top and pressing his nose between the door and the frame, turning his face to the side and running it either direction as he attempted to get it open. He pulled back after fruitless efforts and huffed a small breath as he stared at the corner of the two. She must have locked it, he surmised.

Locks meant nothing to a cat, of course, and without another pause, Maneshi slinked into the room as only a feline could do, not disturbing the position or locked state of the door in the slightest, but appearing in a beam of moonlight shining in from the window seconds later, his own eyes glowing as they reflected the beam.

Shikiyoku's bare feet hung off the edge of the bed, looking very much like she had fell onto the bed without much thought, and her breathing was deep and steady.

Maneshi slipped underneath the bed-skirt and moved to the farthest corner away from the edge, curling up into a tight ball in the utter darkness and closing his eyes, quickly falling asleep himself. 3

Hiei wasn't surprised by the appearance of Maneshi, even though he wasn't able to sense the cat's arrival in the room. The fire demon merely regarded the cat with a single look as he ate slowly, raising a brow curiously, but not replying. This substance was delicious, and he wasn't about to chance giving it time to melt, as his own had.

But, when the cat mentioned the door, Hiei took that as a sign that he had stayed past his welcome- not that he cared. He'd only sit outside anyways. So, as Maneshi had advised, Hiei took the ice cream with him to rid Shikiyoku of any access to it, and went out the door, locking it with the key before sliding it back inside through the mail opening- something only the older houses featured on their front doors.

With that, he turned and took his snack to the trees nearest Toriko's/Shikiyoku's window, finding the tree he preferred and perching high enough that, if the female were to look out, she'd have to look up considerably in able to see him.

~!**!~

Akari eyed Nabu, at first not realizing that the two boys weren't as quick as Kurama, who'd figured it out almost as soon as Nabu's presence had become known. Perhaps even before then, the redhead had figured out her breed of demon, and all that came with it. So, when a question hung in the air, Akari took a moment before it registered that, perhaps she _could _enlighten them.

But what would be the fun in that?

"Just a guess," she said with a shrug, her eyes never leaving Nabu, who looked at her and made a small sound that held absolutely no meaning whatsoever. She rolled her eyes at the pup before finally pushing herself to stand. "While this was fun…" she began, glancing at the television and considering the gaming console for a moment longer. But she didn't finish her sentence.

"_Can we stay just a little longer? They have steak!"_

Akari sighed. "I have things to do, to catch up on for… school… among other things," she finally said, waving her hand dismissively. "Next time, don't pick up a random dog from the street." _*****_

"Suit yourself." Yusuke shrugged, dropping the subject, but continuing to pet the dog. "You're welcome to come over any time you like, though. I had fun."

Kuwabara nodded in agreement, "And the pup is really cute. Bring him over too!"

"Uh, Akari?" A voice came from outside the room, Atsuko, who said the name with the hesitation of one you hadn't seen or spoken the name before, "I'm guessing _you're _Akari?" She appeared at the door and walked over to the girl, handing her a folded slip of paper with her name on it. "You know, it's the weirdest thing. I'm sitting there watching TV and suddenly this thing comes dropping in the window, glowing this weird purple color and stuff and lands next to my feet."

Kuwabara and Yusuke exchange dark glances and slowly stood up.

"You think _this _is their next move?" Yusuke asked of Kuwabara.

"I dunno, man, but I've suddenly got this really bad vibe that's something's gone wrong. You'd better open it, Akari." Kuwabara looked as if he'd been spooked, his eyes wide and staring at the paper in Atsuko's hand.

~!**!~

"Is everything ready?" Otento's eyes flashed dangerously, knowing that tonight all the planning came together.

"Yes. We are only missing the final piece of the puzzle." A second voice answered from somewhere in the gloom.

"Then let us set this into motion, shall we? Terepo? Are you prepared?"

Terepo nodded, clasping his hands together and closing his eyes as he began to chant, his demonic energy flaring out from his body in purple waves as Otento moved closer.

"I will not be able to mask her energy signal while we travel as it would disrupt your work as well." Otento reminded him, "So this needs to be done as quickly as possible. I fear she has acquired a new protector in this short time, and until I can suppress her pattern we are vulnerable to the bond they share as well as any seeking her through other means."

Terepo heard the concerns that Otento held and was prepared to make the quick return needed.

"Have you found her yet?" Otento asked anxiously.

"It will be but a- yes. There she is." Terepo opened an eye and regarded Otento, "Your poison appears to have done its work."

Otento looked pleased with himself, "The _Toriko _has no energy to speak of, but by forcing out her true form, she is easily trackable. It was an old virus, but it did what it was meant to do."

Terepo closed his eyes and began to finish the chant.

"And you...you are ready to play your part?" Otento turned to the other presence in the room.

"I am."

Otento could pick out the black hair and bright green eyes even in the low-light. "Good. Let's be off."

In a brilliant flash, both Terepo and Otento were gone.

They reappeared moments later and immediately Terepo shifted the position of his hands.

Otento's eyes immediately recognized "Toriko's" room, seeing that he and Terepo stood next to her bed.

"We need but a word to return." Terepo murmured.

Otento could not help letting himself gaze at the demoness' sleeping form for a moment, but he roughly grabbed for her arm after, jerking her into a stand next to him.

Shikiyoku's eyes drowsily lifted at the handling, but at the smell of strangers they flew open the rest of the way, regarding both Otento and Terepo with an expression of confusion.

"What's going on?" She demanded, "Unhand me!"

"No can do, my pet." Otento purred.

Shikiyoku's demonic energy flared up in an attempt at defensiveness like it always did without her asking, becoming very aware that these men meant her harm, but the blond man holding onto her arm only closed his eyes as if in ecstasy at her attempt, his head lifting slightly and his nose twitching.

"Go!" Otento demanded of Terepo, his eyes flying open and turning to look at the other man in the room, "Now!"

Terepo spoke a single word and his demonic energy flashed around the three of them, leaving the room empty after another half-second.

The three reappeared in the same dark room they left.

"Step back!" Otento ordered, throwing a hand in front of Terepo, "You have one last thing to do so we cannot have you debilitated!"

Terepo took the step back as he was told.

Before Shikiyoku could make sense of her surroundings, Otento grabbed her shoulders with both hands and stared into her eyes.

Demonic energy erupted from around him, a heavy black color that enveloped them both in a circle of pulsating light.

Immediately, Shikiyoku's own energy was forced back into her body, her legs giving out underneath her as her power disappeared instantly, locked away inside her behind a cage of Otento's devising. Her head fell forward as Otento's energy retracted back inside himself, masking his own power once more.

"Is it finished?" A voice called.

"It is." Otento smiled wickedly.

"Then I shall take her." The dark haired figure from before stepped forward as Otento pulled away and Shikiyoku's eyes struggled to stay open, her knees beginning to buckle under her. Something seemed very familiar about the face that stuck itself in front of hers, but the figure laughed an evil laugh and directed a punch towards her temple that knocked her out in one blow.

Otento pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Terepo. Terepo opened it as Otento gave his instructions.

"Make sure that gets to Akari."

"_We have her now. All you must do is come to..." _The rest of the text was the address of the building they stood in.

Terepo nodded and folded the paper so that the word _Akari _on the backside was plainly written on the top. He held the paper out in his hand and closed her eyes, murmuring another chant. The paper began to glow a purple color and then blinked out of existence.

"It is done."

Otento's grin had not disappeared, "Then let us prepare for our guests." 3

* * *

Terepo \- (as terepoーto:) teleport

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	19. Episode 104 - Kidnapped

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction World!

Another warning is in order for the contents of this chapter as there is some vivid blood/gore imagery.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari finds Nabu with Yusuke and Kuwabara and she joins them in playing some video games.

~!**!~

Meanwhile Hiei and Shikiyoku make another small expedition for ice cream,  
which ends with Shikiyoku stumbling upstairs to go to bed  
and Hiei retiring to a nearby tree outside of her window.

~!**!~

As a letter is sent off to Akari, Otento teleports directly into Shikiyoku's room  
and Shikiyoku is kidnapped out from under Hiei's nose...

* * *

Hiei got comfortable, tub in hand, spoon hanging from his lips as his tongue rolled around the most recent scoop from the delicious substance. He was practically in heaven, as a human would say. "Cloud Nine", as another saying went. But, that reference he didn't understand, at all. _Perhaps it has a secret meaning…_ he pondered, rolling the spoon over with the use of his tongue and lips. The single pop his jaw gave from the flexing of those muscles made him cringe, the sensation causing his eyes to shut for only a moment.

But that moment had been all it took. That single moment where his eyes were off of the woman he'd sworn to protect. For, in the next moment, his nose found the faintest of smell of others seeping through the atmosphere. Shikiyoku's energy flared to a great sea of power inside the house. And, by the time he opened his eyes, he caught sight of the demon he'd been weary of all day, and every inch of his body rang in alarm that also echoed Shikiyoku's. He dropped everything and moved towards the window, trying to force it open and growling when he found it locked.

But they were gone before the spoon hit the ground below, and the fire demon was left staring at the empty room, white knuckles on the edges of the window and flames dancing through his irises. He stood as still as everything else around him. The silence of the night was a deafening one as his mind tried to find the bond he shared with Shikiyoku, but grasped at emptiness. Everything was still, it seemed, even time.

And then, just like the nightlife, Hiei began to move again. His teeth were gritted, every muscle taut with the strain to not strike the window, his mind frantic despite his attempts at staying calm.

And as he turned and dropped to the ground, a single thought fled through his mind.

_I'm going to slay them all._

~!**!~

Akari heaved a great sigh and glanced at Kuwabara. "Nabu. His name is Nabu," she informed, waving to the pup as she did so. "We'll see," she responded in regards to Yusuke's request of returning; she had no intentions of coming back without actual reason.

When she turned to leave, attempting to hide the small smile of satisfaction at the day she'd had, the human woman stepped into view, saying her name reluctantly. _I don't remember informing you of my name, _she thought curiously, head tilted slightly in curiosity.

But the moment her eyes saw the note, she felt urgency. Confusion. What should she do? Open it? Leave with it? Neither seemed like a good idea, so she simply did as she figured was expected of her. She accepted the letter and peeled it open, her thin fingers running over the scrawled letters inside as she read them, but kept the note pointed so that only she could read it.

And what was there made her feel sick in every possible way. _Toriko_…

With that, the address was burned into her brain and she tossed the note at Yusuke and Kuwabara, turning her face to the door in consideration. "Koenma is behind. Locate your friends…" Even as she spoke, Akari couldn't decide: leave now, alone, and head to the address, or wait? Team player, or attempt to clean up the mess she was now directly involved in?

Otento's words echoed in her mind from days before. "_If you'll assist me in her capture, I can guarantee you a place in our little family... I extend the offer only because I know how wretched it can be having to slave underneath another human. Demons deal with things much differently than any human or inhabitant of the Spirit World."_

Akari's gut twisted, her expression twisting with it into a look of uncertainty. She quickly turned on her heels and called to Nabu. "We're leaving."

"_What's going on?"_

"Yusuke…"

She paused, not looking at him, but keeping her back to the boys. "I'll meet you there. You find the others." She gave a small sneer at herself; what a sticky situation. "Don't be late." With that, she continued on her way out, Nabu easily keeping up as she took her leave silently. _*****_

"I think we should stay together…" Kuwabara called out, he and Yusuke following her.

Yusuke made a glance at his friend. While Yusuke didn't want her going by herself for more nefarious reasons, like her possibly helping out the bad guys-though the expression on her face after reading the note was quickly dissuading him on the fact that she was the evil one here-Kuwabara on the other hand looked outright scared. Like he was getting one of his "feelings" again.

They got outside and Yusuke spoke up again, "We should get Kurama first." He and Kuwabara started off in the direction of their red-haired friend, going at a fast trot, "And maybe he'll know how to find Hiei." Yusuke turned and waved at Akari to join them, "Unless you want to try and find Hiei with me… You comin'?" 3

The demoness kept walking, her eyes forward as she stepped outside, completely and fully aware that the duo was following her out the door before either of them had even said anything. She had expected them too; it was something she'd noticed about the group: no one moves alone during dire situations. She didn't say anything at first. Only when Nabu spoke up again did she speak.

"_What's wrong? Is it bad? __**Bad **__bad? Do I need to come with you for extra help?"_

"No, Nabu. You're going home. And don't you dare argue. For once in your tiny life, please listen to what I tell you. Where I'm going right now, you will be in the way. go home, no matter what."

The pup gave a sound of sadness and indecisiveness, but the glare Akari shot at him ceased the sound and he began to slink in the direction of the house. "Thank you." Finally, she turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara, her expression blank as she spoke. "I understand that your ways of doing things are different than mine," she began, her gut twisting with each word she said, "but you're going to have to let me part ways here." For a minescule moment, a smile touched her lips as Otento's speech again echoed in her mind. Again, uncertainty hit her like a ton of bricks, and she shifted her weight uncomfortably. _Toriko, _her mind reminded her, along with the information Kurama had given her earlier that day. Her smile turned vicious. "You'll just have to trust my judgement, despite everything you know- or think you know- about me." _*****_

"What I wouldn't give to have Botan come wheeling in right about now…" Kuwabara murmured, his eyes on the skies above them.

Yusuke for his part kept his gaze trained on Akari. His eyes flickered towards Nabu as the pup ran off. The knowledge that she had such an animal running around with her, and the loyalty that it showed in relation to her made his reluctance to have her go alone sway, but then he shook his head.

"I understand that you want to be all heroic and go in there by yourself, but there is a greater strength in numbers, not to mention the fact that as the more experienced Spirit Detective here I can tell you that going off by yourself never, ever ends well."

~!**!~

Kurama could feel the sweat drip down his back underneath his school uniform, a sheen of moisture covering his entire body. He released a breath of strained air, squeezing his eyelids together tightly.

Ever since the Dark Tournament and the momentary return to Youko Kurama being in control, he'd been having cyclical encounters with that side of him. His disposition would change to better resemble the personality of the other, and the body of Shuichi struggled to return to Youko's form.

Normally the midnight hour would not have had Kurama awake, but he'd spent the entire day in a foul mood, his thoughts seemingly not his own.

Another sweeping pass of almost foreign-feeling demonic energy within his veins sent a shiver down his spine, and then the struggle stopped.

Momentarily of course, Kurama knew, and the struggle would not stop until much later in the morning, but it seemed that perhaps for the moment he could relax.

He flopped back onto his bed, hair in disarray across the bedspread and breathing heavily from the exertion. 3

Hiei had stood in one place for what felt like an eternity, his darkened irises on the ground as his mind whirled around and around for a probable plan of action. But with each idea came the reminder of Maneshi's words, telling him that if he wasn't careful, it could end very badly for not only Toriko, but himself as well. The single thought made his body stiff with urgency. Every muscle told him to act as soon as possible, but his mind continued to whisper _think, don't miss a single detail._

And suddenly, he was whirling around, his feet moving automatically, carrying him to the place where he knew it'd be best to get something done. After all, he'd seen at least two people, and while that wasn't normally a problem for him, his instincts screamed at him to gather the others. His anger told him to have no mercy, while his anxiety told him to get in and out, as quickly as possible.

So his feet made the decision, moving at his top speed towards Kurama's house, his Jagan having zoned in on the fox's energy. As soon as his feet were touching the green grass of his comrade's lawn, his mind reached out, touching Kurama's to confirm the fox was awake, as the lamp light in his window suggested.

~!**!~

Akari let out a dry, hoarse laugh into the night air, throwing her head back with the single burst. A second later, her sharp irises met Yusuke's, darkly amused. "Heroes? I'm sorry to tell you, boy, but there are no such thing. It's just something you humans came up with so you could cope with the corruptness of your short lives. If you want something done, no one is going to swoop in and volunteer help. People do things not because they are right and just, but because they feel towards them, whether it be vengeful or pity. You're no hero, and nor am I. I never will try to be."

Her teeth flashed in the moonlight suddenly, matching the glint that flashed in her eyes. "You may help people, but that makes you no hero. Why? Because everyone's view of justice is different. While you may be a hero to one person, to the other you are the villain. No one is ever a hero because there is no stable definition as such." she paused, her lips curling upwards. "I'll go along, but not because of you." _*****_

"Did I say heroes?" Yusuke grinned at her decision, "I'm only in it for the fighting. Did I mention we're delinquents?"

"Of course we're heroes!" Kuwabara protested, though he couldn't help his smile, "We're all that's standing in the way of humans and total destruction!"

"Yeah, yeah," Yusuke punched his arm, then turned to start running for Kurama's home, "Now hurry up!"

~!**!~

As soon as he felt Hiei's presence brush against his mind, Kurama was at a stand again, smoothing his hair down into place and leaving his room, quietly exiting his house and moving towards where Hiei waited for him.

"What is it?" He asked simply. 3

Hiei waited just as patiently as he could, his arms hanging at his sides with his hands balled into fists. As soon as his former partner-in-crime was in view, he noticed the light sheen of sweat on his face, momentarily distracted enough to comment, "You look like hell."

As soon as those words left him, he was back on track, arms crossing over his chest and eyes turning darker than ever before. "Toriko is gone." Those three words were so simple, but the impact they had on him just by saying it aloud was hard to keep under wraps. He hadn't struggled so hard to appear calm like this in a long time. "She was-"

Footsteps drew his attention and he glanced to the side, catching sight of three people heading their direction. He continued, changing what he was saying. "She's locatable, but only dimly."

Akari slowed her run to a stride, letting Yusuke and Kuwabara run ahead of her the last few steps it took for her to approach the other two. "Convenient," she commented as she stood near Kurama, but a bit back from the others. "We have a problem." _*****_

"Toriko's been taken." Yusuke added.

"So I've heard." Kurama glanced over at Hiei briefly.

"But we know where she is." Yusuke pulled the slip of paper his mother handed Akari earlier out of his pocket and Kurama took it from him.

"When did you get this?" Kurama wanted to know, his eyes scanning the page.

"It flew in the window at his apartment," Kuwabara nodded at Yusuke, "We left right after that."

"So, around midnight." Kurama murmured. He looked up at the others, passing the piece of paper back to Akari, "I was hoping Koenma would have more information for us before it came to this. If our enemy has even the slightest inkling that Akari might show this information to us, then we can be certain we are walking into a trap and Toriko's life likely hangs in the balance."

"That creep using her for bait." Kuwabara ground his teeth together, having obviously gotten over his previous heebie-jeebies and ready for action. "Why doesn't he just come out and face us like a man?"

"We do not know what his true motives are here, Kuwabara. That means we need to exercise caution. I do not think charging into this battle through the front door is going to be our best choice."

~!**!~

"Well...it looks like charging into battle through the front door is our _only _choice." Yusuke commented, looking up at the large grey building that stretched up in front of them.

There were no other entrances save for two large metal doors that they stood in front of. No windows. No rooftop access. Just the doors.

Even Kurama had nothing to say about this, his breath beginning to come heavier than before and his mind distracted with keeping his outward appearance as calm and collected as usual.

"Front door it is!" Kuwabara pronounced, he and Yusuke each grabbing for a handle and pushing the doors inwards.

The group cautiously walked forward, but as soon as they were all inside, the doors boomed shut behind them.

The first thing everyone noticed was the smell, a scent so intoxicating that it stopped them dead in their tracks. The perfume was heavy, permeating every corner of what their eyes soon adjusted to see was a large, empty rectangular room. The entire atmosphere of the place seemed off, but their minds could not linger away from the smell for long and they could not see how far the room extended away from them for the lighting was limited.

"Oh, look at you," a voice purred, "A new recruit and you're already bringing us presents."

Their eyes realized that about twenty feet away from them, sitting in a chair as if awaiting their arrival was...Toriko.

Her hair fell freely around her face and in front of her shoulders, her eyes bright green and gleaming even in the near-darkness as she stood and began walking towards them. Her clothing was dark and she almost blended in with the room around them.

Kurama struggled as he met with those eyes, sensing that both Kuwabara and Yusuke to his right were instantly mesmerized and completely useless. The smell was not the only thing heavy in the room around them and Kurama began seeing in his peripheral vision bits of demonic energy laced throughout the air that he knew no normal human would be able to see. Toriko's energy. There was no mistaking that.

Kurama did not realize until this moment how hard it would be to resist her, but now he finally understood her hesitations in their session, how completely she could hold him in her grasp. He felt Youko tugging at his prison within Shuichi's body, and was certain he would be of little more help than the humans. It was as if now surrounded by her energy that Youko's desire to be free had grown exponentially.

Toriko came directly up to him and peered into his face, a solid smirk lining her lips as he looked down to meet her eyes.

Kurama blinked and she had moved on, over to Yusuke and Kuwabara on his right.

"That...is not Toriko." He managed to mumble to Akari, standing directly to his left. The eyes of the one who had just stared at him did not radiate the same kind of power that floated about in the room, but instead seemed more like an echo of the energy around them. And at the same time, what did it matter? His eyes began roving over Toriko as she walked, taking in the way her long hair followed the curve of her hips.

Toriko moved back past the two human boys and glanced at Akari as she went, stopping in front of Hiei and gazing deeply into his crimson eyes, reaching up with the back of her hand and lightly drawing it down a portion of his cheek.

After that pause, she turned away and began walking back to the chair she occupied when they entered the room.

"Be a good girl and bring me the invitation you received tonight. We'll consider your initiation complete." Toriko sat down and held out a hand, her eyes flashing as she looked at Akari. 3

Akari had been silent the entire trip here, her mind whirring with possibility after possibility. She'd considered going ahead, simply disappearing from the group and beating them there to get a good look at the situation, but with Kurama and Hiei's keen eyes, it was hard to do anything of the sort. So, she'd stuck with the group, even as they approached the building and looked all around for another entrance. It didn't surprise her that there was only one way in and out. _Almost like a prison…_

She hadn't let herself stop the two boys. Instead, she went along with whatever the group was doing, deciding to play along and do what was necessary, when it was necessary.

The moment her feet were in the room, pain engulfed her head. Yet, she didn't flinch. She simply stood, eyes searching the room through the shadows, realizing that the dim lighting was a rather invigorating thing for her; she hadn't used her energy since that day in the park with the demon side of Toriko…

As a voice echoed in the room, calling to her attention, she _felt _rather than heard that something was off. She turned and met the gaze of Toriko-or rather, a very convincing lookalike. Her mind snapped into the game, fighting through the haze of red-hot pain that continued to hit her from every angle. A sneer formed on her face, not looking at Kurama as he told her exactly what she already knew. She couldn't see the true form of the person beneath the façade, but the clash of energy trying to mimic another energy was so plainly obvious to her- thanks to vigorous training from her childhood.

Silently, Akari's eyes followed the motions of the imposter, watching each reaction of each person she approached, meeting the gaze squarely when she stopped in front of her for a moment. She stuffed her hands into her back pockets, her body twitching only slightly in protest to the motion due to the extreme amount of exposure to the energy she was experiencing. Again, she surveyed the rest of the group, taking in their blank stares and their stiff bodies. "You know, your power is interesting," she said casually to the demon, walking forward as demanded, more out of instinct from the demand than anything else. "It takes over even the strongest of demons, leaving them unable to do a thing." She pulled the note from her back pocket and extended it to Toriko, all clashing thoughts gone now that the moment had presented itself. "I was beginning to wonder when I'd meet someone other than that vague bastard," she commented with a sidelong grin. "I mean, the winning side is always the best side, right?"

~!**!~

Hiei hadn't been expecting it, since he couldn't feel the bond anymore. So, when the doors were pushed open and they all made their way inside, the energy that hit him stunned him still. Before he knew what was going on, he was standing rigid in place, mind completely blank and eyes glazed to the extreme. By the time Toriko came into view, he was completely mesmerized, taken completely by her appearance in the room.

She seemed to glow, radiate a kind of light that left his eyes trailing after her, thoughts that he'd never had before fermenting in his brain. What he wouldn't give…

A part of him stirred as she made her rounds, her words going almost completely over his head, as she paid special attention to the others. His body stiffened, his mind momentarily telling him that she shouldn't be anywhere near the others, only him.

But when she passed him by, brushing a hand over his cheek, he caught her gaze. Something within him twitched, then began to scream at him, but he ignored it, too happy to be touched by this woman who gave him silent promise. Even as she turned away, his eyes watched her every move, glinting slightly as she continued walk away from him. _*****_

As Akari extended her hand towards Toriko, a single drop of blood fell silently from somewhere above her and landed on the knuckle of her thumb, resting there, quivering.

Should she look up, she would see the real Toriko, or rather Shikiyoku, suspended above her from the rafters not fifteen feet from her head. Ropes held her in place, tied around her torso and arms, keeping her ankles together. Her hair was matted down against her face, sweat and blood mingled together from a cut down her cheek. Her eyes were closed, but she could feel the others in the room. And make no sense of them.

The clothing she had chosen from Toriko's drawers were hardly recognizable, the shirt hanging in tatters, the jeans ripped to shreds, barely enough of either to maintain her dignity.

There were new bruises darkening the parts of the skin one could see, their purple and red color fierce and angry. Her legs had been cut, and the drop of blood now quivering on Akari's thumb originated from a gash that tore through her calf, the red river slowly wrapping around to her ankle where it pooled together to finally begin to drip below.

While the body of Shikiyoku did indeed hang from the ceiling, her mind was in tatters, her energy flowing freely without her control, leaving a sheen over her entire body that almost sparkled with beauty despite, or perhaps in spite of, the condition she was actually in. 3

Something was off. He could feel it, but that hunch was simply smothered, drowned out by the things he felt in that very moment from the girl in the room. Part of him registered that Akari and Toriko speaking like this was a sign he should take note of, but, again, it was smothered, and all he could do was stare at the woman who spoke very little, but had his complete undivided attention.

Except, something caught his eye. A small drop of.. something… fell from the sky, and naturally, his eyes broke away from the girl to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that had fallen. His crimson gaze landed on the falling drop, and he realized that it was a vivid color he would recognize anywhere.

At that same moment, his nose twitched, picking up the smallest scent of something rustic. Without thinking, he looked to the origin of the blood, and at first, he didn't register the scene. He stared for a moment that seemed to stretch into an eternity as his mind seemed to awaken, his body released from whatever had held him captive to the spot he stood. All of his earlier emotions and thoughts were overtaken, thrown to the side by the tide of anger, disgust, and even other emotions he hadn't felt very often in his life. His pupils visibly dilated, watching each motion of the girl suspended in the air, who really didn't move at all. She was, in a sense, lifeless.

His teeth crashed together, though he hadn't know that they'd parted just a bit in awe minutes before. They ground together with enough force to cause him pain, but that was all he allowed his face to show when he forced his gaze away from Toriko- the _real _Toriko. His glare landed on the imposter, each flaw suddenly crystal clear. His earlier thought suddenly echoed in his mind, over and over, until it flowed into one long, never-ending sentence. _I'll slay them all, I'll slay them all, I'll-_

It took everything in his power to keep himself still in his place, to not simply charge forward with his sword. He forced his jaw slack and his eyes to relax, so as to not be noticed, and he forced himself to think: _What next?_

~!**!~

Akari released the note to Toriko, keeping all eye contact established and a sneer on her face to show she approved of this person's abilities. But she felt something hit her thumb; she'd seen it fall from above her, but she didn't dare look. The smell of it wafted to her nose after just a second, and after that, it dominated her senses entirely. _Blood._ _Ignore it. _She placed her hand on her hip in expectation, waiting for the next order casually, not daring to open her mouth or even break the eye contact. _*****_

"Oh, I'm sorry...is she a little worse for the wear?" A voice came from somewhere back in the darkest section of the room, away from the eyes that sought it, a sleek velvety voice whose owner had seen Hiei look up and break the spell held over him, sounding smug and self-assured.

"Some of the lower members of the gang got a hold of her before we could stop them. They managed to get rather far with her. Farther than we intended, of course." While there was no discounting the suggestiveness of what had been said, the last bit reverberated with an almost flippant tone.

She could feel the others in the room. With her eyes closed, they were there. They were many. Or was it few? They babbled on and on, voices echoing on the air. A hot air. Heavy. With her own energy, wafting, pushed downwards by the strange fan that hung behind her head. It made her power dance about the room. She could feel it dancing. Wrapping around the others, holding them. All but one. Or was it two?

"_Get me down...please...I don't...want to be here anymore. Please..." _3

Hiei's eyes slid to the voice that was obviously directed to himself, but the words made the fire glow in his eyes. He'd been discovered too soon for himself to come up with anything, or even begin to attempt getting the other's attentions. He was stuck, in a way, between a rock and a hard place. But the voice continued talking, continued telling him things he hadn't wanted to imagine, confirming his own suspicions and making his anger skyrocket until, quite literally, it became a visible aura that quivered in the air just around him, mixing with the energy that continued to climb with his rising anger. His arms trembled, his frame shook with the effort it took to stand still, motionless. His teeth were clenched so hard together that all feeling was lost.

But what sent him raging mad was the tone the voice used, as if something such as what he implied was as simple as a daily routine. Comment after comment fled across the forefront of his mind, but really, he was speechless.

He'd let them get away with her. He'd broken the promise to protect her, and now… His eyes flit up for only a moment before he was again glaring at the figure he could just make out in the distance.

"I suggest that you sort out any fears you have of death. When this night is over, you will cease to even exist. Koenma won't have to deal with a soul to place." His voice, low and menacing, shook just before he paused. "If you're wise, you'll run- not that it will matter. By dawn, my blade will be embedded in your skull."

~!**!~

Akari wasn't surprised by the new voice in the room, so her facade didn't break. At first. She glanced over the look alike's shoulder and searched the room for the demon, finding only a silhouette in the darkness, even with her keen gaze. But his words answered all of her questions, all of her suspicions. Without much thought about the action, she too looked to the ceiling, her eyes finding the scene she had already imagined, but it was worse than she'd expected. Similar, yes, but just a fraction worse. She forced her expression to remain the same as she turned away, despite the enormous amount of emotion that swamped her, the memories conjoining with those emotions and temporarily leaving her breathless. But she recovered, crossed her arms, and spoke:

"I missed the fun."

_How could people like this sleep at night?_ She forced her mind blank only for a moment, heaving a sigh. Hiei was free of the energy, but the others were not. That was a problem.

Her ears burned. Her head was on fire. Her body screamed. But all of this was nothing compared to the images that threatened to swallow her. "Too bad." she added to her own comment, suddenly remembering something she'd been taught as a child. Now, all she needed….. was a distraction…. _*****_

"Oh?" The voice addressed Hiei once more. "Is that so? I do hope you realize that you should be more concerned about the woman up there than you think. Or would you prefer that she bleed to death? Or perhaps that we dry her of all demonic energy? Surely even you can tell that she hasn't got much left.

"Now, Akari. I want you to know that this sort of thing may happen from time to time. Mind you, it's rare. And this is a particularly exceptional case. However, I understand completely if you're too weak to handle it." 3

AKari raised a brow, her lips suddenly drawing together into a thin line. She took a second to take a deep breath before giving a shrug. "It's not something I can't handle," she finally answered, even letting her head tilt to the side just slightly in dismissal. "I've gotten over it," she finished, suddenly turning to look at Hiei with a sneer. "But I don't think someone like him will. After all, he is rather… close… with her."

The utter rage on the fire demon's face likely would have terrified her, if Akari hadn't achieved exactly what she'd hoped would happen. The male's mental voice suddenly echoed in her mind, as if out of his control, with angry threats and images of her's and Otento's very vivid deaths. She turned away, looking into the direction of Otento. "What do you think?"

"_Hiei," _her mind reached out, hoping to kami he didn't give her away and that her voice only was heard by him. This risk was larger than any she'd taken for a long time. "_Distract them, please. I know you're angry, but if you fight right now, you'll lose. If there's Otento hiding in the background, then who else? Remember Kurama's words of caution, and please-"_

"_Begging for your life will do you-"_

"_**Shut up and listen.**_" Silence. "_Toriko is keeping everyone occupied. By yourself, you'll die, and so will she. Distract them, and give me time."_

She cut off there, the conversation only lasting a few moments before she cut the connection completely. Her eyes lifted to Toriko again. A sneer formed for a moment as she heard Hiei's voice speak up behind her, and that's when she looked towards Otento, closed her eyes as if amused by the fire demon, and imagined the only scene that had ever relaxed her: A snowy field in the middle of winter. She placed herself in this field, the cold wind nipping at her nose and completely blocking out reality, even for her, as she reached for Toriko mentally, hoping the girl's image would appear before her.

~!**!~

Pure rage, but what else could he do? He was stuck. He didn't like the situation, but what could he do other than go against his judgement and trust the outsider. Hiei's red eyes searched for the shadow of Otento in the background. "You'll be dead before that happens." _*****_

"Will I? If you're so sure of yourself, then why haven't you bothered to move yet?"

The Toriko sitting in front of Akari looked harshly at the girl, eyes narrowing suspiciously as she felt something begin tickling at the back of her head.

"I'll have your hand now." Toriko said, holding out her palm face-upwards, "We have places to go."

Above them, Shikiyoku could feel the air around her grow cooler. Strange. If she could but open her eyes perhaps she could see snowflakes. She hadn't seen snowflakes in a very long time. And maybe there were trees, maybe she could smell them, and-

Her eyes opened, but the pain of doing so ripped across her face, jarring the image that had started to form in her head into one of darkness and blood, a downward spiral from which there was no return. She blinked, seeing nothing for a moment longer, then the room around her began to slowly take shape. She found that she did not have the strength to lift her head and so it hung towards the floor. But in doing so, she could make out a single beacon that set her energy humming once more.

"_Hiei..." _He was not looking at her, and her mind remained scattered and unfocused so that she did not consider attempting to reach to him through their bond, but the hum that started coursing through her found it almost instinctively and began reaching towards him. Her eyes shimmered with power and her entire body ached from hanging in the same place for so long, the ropes digging in everywhere they touched her and leaving wicked marks.

Something else called to her even as she reached towards him and she could almost feel a winter's breeze lifting her hair, but her fragmented mind could not concentrate on anything, her pain too great to consider much else. 3

Hiei snarled, and it was not a small sound either. His lip positively curled and his right canine became prominent. He was having trouble containing himself, as Maneshi had advised. Suddenly, though, he couldn't care less about what the damn cat had told him. The situation was not a normal one, and he had too many things to worry about at once now to even consider playing anything the way it should be. After all, it was now him against everyone else, and the only thing he could do was… well, fight.

So, without a second's hesitation, he drew his katana, still going against all normalities and trusting the one who'd been tossed to them after her help with the end of the world. "Sorry to inform you, but you're going nowhere." Flames burst to life, enveloping his body along with his weapon, and slowly, he stepped forward. "I've been holding back, but now you've made me tired of waiting." Now, he decided to play a card he hadn't ever considered playing. "It's obvious that her energy won't be spent before you all scatter. So, I'll have to do this my way."

With that, he charged at the false Toriko, hoping like hell that Akari was quick at her work.

And it took everything in his power to ignore the pull he suddenly felt.

~!**!~

Akari had seen the outline of Toriko, but only for a moment before she'd disappeared all over again. "No," she grumbled, realizing how difficult this was going to be, especially with the little grip she had on this power at the moment. She was surprised she'd even been able to do _that_. "Come back… C'mon…"

She tried harder, not caring at all that she was standing next to another illusionist in reality, who would soon feel the energy, just as she could. She could take anything, so long as she kept conscious. She pushed the energy harder, searching for Toriko with every ounce of energy she had. "_Come here… It's important… C'mon…" _*****

The Toriko in front of Akari frowned, now sure that something else was going on. She reached out and grabbed for Akari's wrist, intending to wrench the girl's face towards her own, glaring into her eyes. She got sucked for a moment into a world of snow as soon as she touched the other demon and then she blinked, now knowing what Akari was meaning to do.

"You will not distract her." Toriko said between gritted teeth, eyes flashing with as much energy from the powers surrounding her as possible. 3

Akari stood, arms crossed, waiting, concentrating. But the Toriko that popped up was not the one she wanted, and it was immediately noticeable just by the slight change in the atmosphere and the increase of mental pain. Warfare in this kind of environment is difficult, as she'd been told, and sometimes dangerous if done properly. A smile formed on her lips, however. This was _her _domain, and her kind were not very nice when their territory was breached.

"Who said I wanted to distract her?" she said with a sickly sweet voice, as if she'd expected this. "You see, there's a plan to everything, and back up plans for those. Plans a-z, and then backup plans z-a. You're not quick enough to pick up on that, are you?" She paused, smile turning vicious as her energy swirled, illusion mixing with shadow, creating a very cold atmosphere. The white flakes turned to shards of darkened ice, the snow beneath her feet turning solid. "You see, I've made mistakes, and learned to adjust. Have you?" _*****_

Toriko sucked in a harsh breath, realizing too late her mistake in attempting to go up against this demon in her own realm. But Otento had said the one on the ceiling must not be distracted. He did not say what kind of powers the one in front of her held. The way Toriko came by her abilities were through another, and she did not know what to do with them other than what she had been told.

_It's the eyes. Use the eyes._

Caught now, it was all she could to do muster strength via the demonic energy around her, channeling them into her eyes and demanding of the other, "You _will _stop this at once." 3

Akari's smile shifted as she witnessed first the fear of the person standing opposite of her, and then the sudden light bulb that almost quite literally lit up over her head. In a moment's notice, the pain inside her intensified, now affecting more than just her head, but her chest, her fingers, her concentration.

And that made her very, very angry.

Her expression again shifted, this time to dark malice, so dark that she felt the energy around her change with it, the illusion turning even darker with the shadows that moved without her consent, making the ice turn from translucent to completely opaque, shrouded in darkness. Akari hadn't allowed anger this strong to be known in _years_, and finally, she had a reason to use it _all_. "You are in **my **domain, and you try to take over _**my **_illusion?" The next thing that she thought of was pain. While it hit her as well, the feeling of a white-hot rod being slowly shifted through the abdomen became a dominant thought, a dominant desire to have the other feel. "Learn your place, thief. Borrowing another's energy gets you nowhere but _here_."

And then Akari was frowning in disappointment as her eyes witnessed the slight shiver through the frame of the other woman. She knew what this meant. "What a shame."

~!**!~

Hiei had seen the Toriko doppelganger reach for Akari, even grab the girl. The fire demon thought quick, hoping she wouldn't be too interrupted to delay all plans of action any longer; he didn't know how much longer the other in the room would wait. So, he struck the woman in the torso, let his fire engulf her before he noticed the glassy gaze she held. Curiosity gripped him for a moment before satisfaction took over; one down, at least two others to go.

He turned from the burning corpse, letting his flame die away from his body.

But not before he caught sight of the others in the room.

He definitely was outnumbered, and he considered telling Akari to get her ass in gear, but he figured she understood that. So, he only stood there, even as the darkness enveloped the four individuals again. _*****_

Toriko's eyes rolled into the back of her head and then her expression was no longer relevant. The body that flamed and fell to the ground, however, very quickly changed forms, and while that form was male, there was not much else to be said about the blackened remains.

At the initial igniting, the back of the room suddenly became clearer.

Something akin to a throne, made of demonic plants and with a large pink flower opened near the top, stood in the middle of three others. And none other than Youko Kurama himself sat on that throne. Around him stood Otento, and another male demon. A few feet to Youko's left another male demon sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed and hands held together.

The light that suddenly illuminated them, and the woosh of hot air that travelled outwards from Hiei's attack, appeared to make them waver and shimmer, but it lasted only a moment and could almost have been a trick of the fire's light.

Hot. The coldness from before was replaced with heat and that heat made her toes almost curl. Almost. They hurt too much to move. Everything hurt. That's all she could think about. Pain in her legs. Pain from the rope. Pain where she hung from the ceiling. Her mind tried to wander outside of its own walls, but she could not do much more than breathe. 3

Akari stood there, looking at the different things that had changed in the mere moments an intruder had been inside her mind. Spikes of ice were everywhere, colored black, and the sky had gone from a calm winter morning to dark and threatening, clouds rolling by menacingly. The flakes that fell looked more like ashes than shards of ice. And, the scary part was, Akari liked the scene. It fueled her, made her feel motivated to fight, to make up for the things she'd done wrong and seen in her life.

It made her want to atone.

But now wasn't the time. She took a deep breath and shifted the image again, this time waiting until everything was calm, even adding a calm little cabin behind her that billowed smoke from the chimney. But each attempt she made at Toriko, her image appeared, then disappeared. It never stayed, and she realized that she hadn't taken into account the amount of stress her body and mind were under.

She took a deep, calming breath before letting her energy recede away. The snow melted, the cabin disappeared, and then she was enveloped in darkness.

Her eyes slid open to view the darkened room, the only change being the burned remains on the floor next to her. She turned around, observing the room again to see the group of three still immobilized and glassy-eyed, and Hiei was simply… gone. Or at least, that's what she'd thought. But a second later, she heard the smallest sound, and she turned her face upwards to see the fire demon working at the ropes that held Toriko suspended above them. "Caution, Hiei." she called, suddenly not worried about appearances anymore, nor what the others in the room would do.

~!**!~

Hiei had taken that momentary look at the four demons and tried to memorize everything about them. But, he'd been too surprised by the appearance of Youko, and he'd even turned to look at Kurama, as if it were even a slim possibility that he too was in on the deal. Of course, he was proven wrong, and when he turned back to the group, they were darkened out again. He could hardly make out silhouettes, much less facial features.

So, he took this as a momentary reprieve. They weren't attacking, as far as he could tell, so he would take this chance. He turned and, using every ounce of muscle he had, quite literally jumped up and climbed the walls, using the beams of the ceiling's structure to move around to Shikiyoku, his katana in hand. He looked at her face for a minute, being extra cautious to keep his eyes _only _on her face, so the other wounds wouldn't distract him and cause his anger to flare. After all, his temper made his temperature rise as well at times, and he didn't want to do more harm to the female. So, he began slowly cutting away at the ropes. "Don't move," he said, his voice low.

Akari's voice from below caught his attention, but he didn't stop what he was doing. "Why did you stop?"

"Her discomfort, among other things, is making things difficult," she replied, tone solemn and thoughtful. "I can't do anything while her mind is stuck on her discomfort."

He grunted to let her know she'd been heard, his katana slicing through the last rope. He grabbed the woman before she could fall, holding her in both arms as he dropped to the floor. _*****_

"I think we've seen all we need to here. Shikiyoku would not join us willingly, as you might have guessed, but there is another of her ilk who might decide fill her position instead. I'm disappointed in you, Akari. I would very much have liked to call you sister." Otento's voice rang out clearly in the room. The others did not see it, but he nodded as if in signal and the image of those standing in the back of the room fizzled quietly and then disappeared.

From somewhere far off, Shikiyoku could hear a voice speaking to her and she desperately tried to grasp at its sound.

"H-...Hiei?" She croaked quietly, one of her lips splitting, blood trickling from it to her chin and cutting off anything else she had to say.

She winced at every single jostle he made while cutting the ropes, but tried to remain as still as possible. When she felt the last one cut free she hissed in a sharp intake of breath, and actually let out a small cry of pain when he caught her in his arms, her muscles shaking with weakness. She let out another muffled cry when they hit the floor and the shock jarred her body.

At his touch though, she knew Hiei was the one who held her now and she opened her eyes, power seeping out almost unnaturally from them and coaxing him.

Everything would be fine now. Her breathing became more even, if still raggard from her pain. His warmth radiated over her with great comfort and she relaxed into his arms, his presence soothing her thoughts and preventing them from unraveling as they wanted to do at that moment. Nothing could harm her. She parted her lips again to speak, but knew she would not find her voice and so closed them again.

"_Hiei...take me home...please...I want...to go home..." _Images of him speeding off into the night while holding her, of her bedroom that they would arrive in, flickered in her mind's eye, of the soft bed that awaited her with a pillow under her head. And Hiei with her. Close by. Safe. 3

Hiei landed, trying his best to keep the wounded woman in his arms from feeling the shock too much. Despite his best efforts though, her cry sounded, making him wince internally; he'd tortured others before, but seeing this- someone he knew directly- made it seem worse than anything in the world. He didn't know what to do, except to be as gentle as he possibly could.

He looked around the room once, making sure the surroundings were safe, before her voice just touched his mind, which he'd been slowly opening to her without even realizing. His crimson irises slid down to her face, suddenly nonplussed by any of the blood, sweat or blood that was dried there. She suddenly looked more like a warrior princess than a victim, and the request she made was an easy one to follow. His very core wanted to take her back and let her rest, let her recover from the day.

He didn't even realize he was being addressed as he stood and turned to leave.

~!**!~

Akari hadn't looked towards Otento when he spoke, his words meaning next to nothing to her. But, at the same time, the sudden silence made her uneasy. Why had one of them tried keeping her from distracting Toriko, when the others don't seem to care about it at all? It made no sense whatsoever…

She gave a small breath of relief as Hiei landed, her eyes turning to the rest of the group who still stood as motionless as statues. If Otento wasn't going to attack at this very moment, then what would he gain from keeping the team like this? "Hiei, I need you to-" she turned to look at the fire demon again, but he wasn't in his original place. Alarm instinctively hit her, full force, and she turned around, finding that the fire demon was… leaving? "Where are you going?!" She called, appalled by the scene. That was when she realized that her thoughts had scattered even more, meaning the energy in the room had thickened, even if just a fraction. "Hiei," she said slowly as she approached, taking hold of the demon and stopping him- something she normally wouldn't dare to do. "If you leave, everyone could die." The look on his face told her he didn't hear her words, so she set her teeth. "Sorry," she mumbled before reaching forward.

"You'll meet an early death." His warning sounded, striking the smallest amount of amusement.

"I've been killed twice already. It won't make a difference," she said casually as her mind opened up, an image clear in her head, this time of the inside of a small cabin aglow with the fireplace. Before the fire demon could stop her, she placed her hand on Toriko's shoulder lightly, hoping like hell it worked.

But he jerked away, turning to walk with her intended target of the scene. A snarl. "You are killing her!" With that, she grabbed the back of his cloak roughly, pulling him back until he lost his footing, unable to do anything but fall since he held Toriko. "Look around, at your team." As soon as his eyes, narrowed, turned to Yusuke and the others, she reached down, grabbed Toriko, and used her other hand to push Hiei away, sliding Toriko to the floor in front of her, shadows appearing to make a wall to keep Hiei away. That was when she receded into her own illusion again, using her physical hold on the girl as a medium for the same illusion. _*** **_

The closeness to Hiei that she had felt up until that moment, the warmth and safety that he extended her, disappeared all at once and a vague panic settled over Shikiyoku's eyes which flew open and immediately began searching for him.

Instead of seeing his face, another peered down into hers, a slowly falling flurry of snowflakes beginning to slide around in the air behind this newcomer's head.

"It's...cold..." She managed to say, a shiver radiating down her spine and causing her to flinch in pain. She could feel the cuts on her body bleeding onto what felt like a pile of snow underneath her that she had just begun sinking into.

The face that was not Hiei's did not appear clearly to her eyes, even as she blinked again, and that feeling of panic from before had not dissipated.

Mustering what little strength she had left, Shikiyoku drew in a breath, a shake ravaging her ribcage as she did so, and spoke.

"Where...am I? Where have you taken me? Where is-" Her stomach tightened and cut off her last words, but her eyes, still flowing with a power that she knew would soon be all but gone, pleaded with whoever had captured her to place her back into her protector's arms where she might feel safe. 3

Akari felt immense relief when Toriko did indeed appear in the illusion, though she realized the cold may keep her mind aware, but it also caused more discomfort. The snow fell lightly, sticking to her face and hair. Personally, Akari enjoyed the snow, since she'd only seen it a few times in her life, but as she stared at Toriko, she realized two more things. One, her face was as white as the snow, almost. Two, this person wasn't Toriko, in a sense. Same power, but she realized it was the demon she'd met only once, in the park.

The pained expression made Akari's own soften, her eyes glint slightly with repressed memories and sympathy. "Im sorry for the discomfort, but it is the only way I am a hundred percent sure your mind will stay aware…" She paused, sitting back on her heels and, for once, she didn't know what to say to someone. "We haven't officially met. I'm… an ally… of your friend's." She paused, looking around their surroundings thoughtfully. She considered the idea of a log cabin and a fireplace, but again, the worry that the comfort of such warmth would lull this one to sleep kept her where she crouched, the scene remaining the soft snowfall. "I'm well aware of your condition, so I again apologize for the cold, but for now, just listen to me, okay?"

A deep sigh before she continued made the air in front of her face fog up. "Your energy is expelling itself at an enormous rate, even for one of your power stature. While we are in the clear now, you are still in danger, as are everyone in the room. I know it's hard, but I'm asking- no, pleading with you- to try and pull in your energy. It will probably hurt… but if you don't…" she paused, thinking quickly, hoping this worked as she hoped it would, "if you don't at least try, Hiei and the others will die trying to get you out… Hiei will try to escape, but since we know nothing about the enemy, the outcome is not good…" Slowly, she let the scene change so that the snow stopped falling, and even faded a little with just a bit more warmth in the air, but not enough to allow the girl to get comfortable enough to sleep. "I understand how you feel, but please try." _*****_

Shikiyoku blinked once as a stray snowflake caught on her eyelash briefly before melting away.

Even simply listening, understanding, took a great deal of effort, and she remained silent for a long while as her brain sifted through the information this demon fed to her.

She came to realize as the demon spoke that the scene around her was of the newcomer's design. Not...newcomer...a memory stirred and Shikiyoku released a huff of air that in a better moment would have been a dry bark of laughter.

"...worm..." She breathed, the corners of her lips twitching in want of a smile as she remembered this demon interrupting her in the park what seemed like eons ago. She meant to say more, but she winced again and stayed quiet.

Out of everything the demon said, the only word Shikiyoku recognized was 'Hiei.' She knew of no friends, nor of who this demon before her truly was or why she would care. Shikiyoku did know however, that her powers were draining fast, feeling her energy out in the room around her expanding to limits she had not practiced in a long time, at a density that she knew was incredible.

"Help me...stand..." Shikiyoku finally replied. "And then release me from your world." Her chest quivered, a spike of pain that ended with a thousand needles down her foot making her teeth grit together. As best she could, she started to lift an arm, reaching for assistance. 3

Akari momentarily smiled at the name she suddenly breathed, remembering the night in the park. That had been…. a rather interesting encounter… But she waited in silence, watching Toriko's expression carefully despite the strain she felt from outside the illusion; Hiei was likely swinging his sword at her barrier, but the only thing it would do for now was tire both of them out.

When she became aware of the demon again, she heard the commands given to her. A frown settled on her face, and for a second, she contemplated. Would she pull her energy in once the image was gone? That was something she wasn't sure of. But, despite that, she gently, or as gentle as she could be, assisted the demoness into standing. And as she stood, something dawned on her that she should have noticed long before this moment. "Hiei is your…" she searched for the word, knowing there was likely a very specific term… but she only came up with "Consort?" It was close, she could feel it, but not the same. "He's panicking right now, and could accidentally do something he will regret later. Can you feel it?" she asked suddenly, the wear on her suddenly growing at an even faster rate. She paused, wondering if there was any way this demon could access such a feeling at this time. "He's not thinking. Your energy is attacking him, keeping him from being able to be logical. If I release you, and you don't attempt to pull your energy in, he will lose his life, and you will lose your protector." _*****_

Shikiyoku rose slowly, every muscle screaming at her, but managed to stay on her feet, causing droplets of blood to shake off her skin and make tiny crimson holes in the snow.

"...another time..." Was all Shikiyoku managed to grunt out in response to any questions Akari had. Her lungs shivered as she took in a second breath to speak. "...let me go...your power...hinders me...and keeps us apart..." 3

Frustration seeped into her and Akari took a deep breath. She needed to reason with someone who wasn't able to do so at the moment, and it wasn't very easy. How had Sensui done it? The man's face became an image in her mind and she frowned pensively. "You do not understand what I'm saying." she said suddenly, trying one more time before she resorted to another tactic. "If you do not do it now, you won't have a...whatever...to return to. All you will achieve is killing the one closest to you." _*****_

Shikiyoku coughed, tasting blood in her mouth and lacking the strength to reach up and wipe away the bit that pooled in the crease of her lips.

"_Hiei...stop this at once." _The energy around her flared, and she hoped it reached him. Within the illusion, she could feel her power throughout the room, permeating every corner, but without sight of those she affected, she had trouble concentrating it. "_Your rage is misplaced and...unhelpful. I need your strength, not your distraction."_

Shikiyoku felt her legs beginning to buckle underneath her, the image of snow wavering as she began being pulled into a dark spiral of unconsciousness. 3

Akari frowned at the coughing woman, finding herself growing with worry about her worsening condition. She waited only a bit longer, searching her own energy until the wear suddenly lessened. As soon as it did, she dropped the illusion, her eyes seeing the swaying of Toriko just before the illusion was gone. She blinked, and she was looking at a wall of darkness that rolled with shadows protectively in front of her. But she turned to look at Toriko, realizing she was standing along with the demon, whose knees threatened to buckle. She instinctively reached forward, passing her arm underneath Toriko's for support. "I apologize for that," she said slowly, frowning. Her eyes shot to her wall that disappeared, then to the boys on the other side of her, still standing in the place they'd been earlier. "I'm sorry, but one more try… For the others…" she whispered, frowning in sympathy and apology as her eyes pointedly turned to Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara.

There was no way she could express how awful she felt about pushing her like this. _*****_

Shikiyoku felt as though she tore her eyes open at being caught so great did it hurt her to keep them from closing, fighting against the desire to let go of consciousness and drop to the ground. She struggled to stand upright once more, but at the sight of the rest of the room, began drawing her demonic energy back into her body.

The tendrils of it at the very edges of the room began weaving a slow path back to her, and she caught a glimpse of three others whose faces were trained on her movements, knowing they were mesmerized.

Strangely enough, the energy around them did not seem to want to leave and it felt almost foreign to Shikiyoku, as if it had been away from her for a very long time, almost unrecognizable to her tentative probings.

As her demonic energy began to return, Shikiyoku felt strength returning to her being, enough that she took a hesitant step forward towards the three figures standing twenty feet or so away, grimacing in pain as she shifted her weight to her other foot. Another wave of exhaustion swept over her.

"_Hiei..." _She lost the strength to even think words, images floating in her head that showed her reaching out and physically placing a hand in turn on the each of the three who were captivated, accompanied by an emotion of "need," otherwise she would not be able to rid them of their state. 3

The fire demon had halted every attempt to get through the darkened barrier between himself and the demoness he'd sworn to protect to the best of his ability. He hadn't walked away from it though, as most likely would have. Instead, he stepped as close to it as he could, staring at the substance that had let his sword pass through, but not his body.

Then, it began to move even more, and he swore the color was diminishing in it. Before he knew it, he could see through the barrier almost entirely, and his red eyes trained on Shikiyoku immediately, physical pain hitting him at the sight of the wounds that colored her skin. He had to look away, but each time he tried, he ended up watching her again, not because he was mesmerized but because he didn't want her to be taken from his sight again.

Her frame wavered and her knees scooped lower, her shoulders slumping forward even more than before, and the fire demon moved without thinking, suddenly finding that the barrier was generous, letting him pass without problem. In seconds, he was next to her, grabbing her wrist and pulling an arm over his shoulders for support until she was done with her duty. He was too afraid to move her too much.*

* * *

Youko Kurama \- (youko:) mythological fox spirit  
Yōko Kurama  
Kurama the Yoko

_There is a bit of discrepancy as to how our favorite silver haired kitsune's name is spelled, and I've given all three examples of what I know to be true. When CM and I started out the RP, we began using 'Yoko,' but somewhere along the way I changed over to 'Youko,' and have been going back and replacing the former with the latter as I have been posting the chapters to FF. I ended up switching because the word 'youko' actually translates as 'mythological fox spirit' and 'yoko' does not. _

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	20. Episode 105 - The Aftermath

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dearest Yu Yu Hakusho Lovers!

Without further ado: Chapter Twenty!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Our favorite heroes end up at a warehouse, the address Akari had been given in a letter.

Apparently Shikiyoku would not willingly join the fake Youko's gang,  
but the Youko wanted to test Akari out and see where her loyalties would lie,  
so a scenario was set up in order to discover whether or not she would actually join them.

Otento, the fake Youko, Terepo, and one other demon were all spotted at the back of the room,  
but their images were only being projected into the area and they did nothing as Akari and Hiei,  
the only two demons capable of resisting Shikiyoku's energy,  
manage to kill a demon posing as Toriko while Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama stood mesmerized.

Once Shikiyoku could concentrate, she began withdrawing her energy into the room,  
asking Hiei to help her walk over to the other three mesmerized persons so she could free them from the spell...

* * *

Akari let Toriko go as she pleased, her expression solemn as the girl made her way to the three who stood under her influence. She tugged at her own energy, trying to draw it back in, silently dismissing all shadows from her immediate control.

When Hiei passed through it, she felt the difference of her energy shifting, letting him move by her, his own energy allowing him to pass through with ease. Now that he was no threat, her energy simply let him by, the parting of it moving like liquid, the hole remaining as the last of the dome shrank away into nothing, leaving her trying not to let her breathlessness show. _*****_

Shikiyoku gratefully let Hiei manipulate her arm, slumping heavily into his firm weight, nodding in the direction of the other three after she got her feet under her body and started to put one in front of the other.

As more energy in the room returned to her, so did her awareness of the situation and she knew the looks in the eyes of those she made her way towards.

She reached one with black hair slicked away from his face, first. Lifting her arm, she rested it on his chest, but resisted closing her eyes as she wanted, instead meeting him gaze for gaze.

Her eyes shimmered, and after a moment of tugging with it, her energy recognized its true owner and began pulling out of him. The young man's knees bent slightly as she released him, and she left him shaking his head as his mind started to clear itself. She did the same with the taller red-head next to him, her power taking a moment to adjust back to her before she could begin drawing it out.

When she came to the last, her stance was taller. Her body felt no less weak than before, and her mind still had trouble focusing, but her spirit was willing to do the work needed.

As she placed her hand onto the red-head's chest, something in his eyes gave her pause. His expression was not only one mesmerized, but cruel and calculating, staring intensely at her with a glare that made her heart shimmy in her chest once.

The energy that hummed around him took no longer than the others in recognizing its true owner, but as she started attempting to draw it away from him, she could not get it to recede and her hand lifted from his chest as if she had been burnt, her eyes growing wide.

"What…?" 3

Hiei adjusted her weight accordingly, allowing Shikiyoku to lean every ounce of her weight into him. If he weren't so aware of every single mark that blemished her skin in the most angry of ways, he would have simply carried her where she needed to be. But, her wounds were so great that he feared if he jostled her too much, she'd simply pass out. Go comatose…

So he settled for taking each step with her, slowly.

As they stood in front of Kurama, Hiei stared at his friend, waiting for the change that would come. After all, Kurama was a better candidate for watching their backs than Akari was, since he wasn't sure what Otento and the other three were up to. They hadn't attacked, but surely they wouldn't just let this go on without a hitch? There had to be a point to everything, and the fire demon was having trouble seeing the points.

But no change came over his friend, and Shikiyoku's gasped question left him looking between Kurama and her in confusion. "What's happened?" he inquired, his tone even with slight curiosity despite his displeasure at the thought that Kurama wasn't in his right mind; he was a valuable team member…

~!**!~

Akari looked around the room, keeping her breaths quiet as she regained her own thoughts. Now that Toriko's energy was lessening in the air, her body began telling her just how much she'd withstood in such a short amount of time exposed to it. Her legs shook only slightly, her fingers twitching and her eyes drooping only a little as the pressure in her head lifted little by little.

She paid no mind to the others in the room for the moment, her eyes searching the darkness for the other male she knew had been there. But now, no silhouette could be seen. _When did he leave? _Curious, to say the least, the demon began walking towards the shadowed area, staying cautious as her energy billowed out just a little again, grasping at the darkness that she was so acquainted with.

Her power whispered to them, asking silent questions and probing them for information. But they hummed her energy back, like a sonar radar telling her that nothing was nearby. She frowned and let her energy taper off, receding into her body again, completely unaware of the happenings with Hiei and Toriko. _*****_

As that woman approached him, something within Kurama stirred and he briefly woke up from his standstill to blink and catch her eyes with his own.

Even through the pain plain in her expression, or perhaps because of it, Kurama saw promises within desires shimmering before him. His mind struggled to remember something...something...important...about her, about those green eyes that locked with his as she reached out to place her hand on his sternum.

As she touched him, he felt his ribcage shiver underneath those fingertips, and then it was as if a veil had dropped from his eyes, but remained hovering around his body, holding him, compelling him to reach out as she started back in what seemed like so much surprise.

"Who...who _are _you?" Shikiyoku breathed as they continued to stare at one another, a sensation of recognition flittering on the edge of her awareness, but remaining out of her reach.

As Kurama extended a hand to her, his appearance grew more angular, and his body became enveloped all at once with a silver light, his form shifting.

As the silver light withdrew from him, it revealed not Kurama, but Youko, complete with golden eyes and silver hair, his ears tipped forward with great interest, his tail twitching once behind him before growing still. Shikiyoku hissed in a sharp breath and her eyes widened at his appearance.

He completed the gesture he had started while Kurama, placing his long fingers on her cheek.

"...Yoku." His lips did not curve into his usual smirk, and neither did his eyes soften at the sight of her. His brow turned downward briefly at her wounds, and he instinctively sought out the bond that they once had between them in an attempt to gauge how badly she had been injured, but he came up with nothing, grasping at emptiness where once that bond had been.

At that discovery, his eyes widened briefly and Shikiyoku knew exactly by his change in disposition what he in that moment realized, but she had known all along.

"Fitting." He said simply, "I grew much too weak."

Shikiyoku's head nodded slightly, still in so much awe at standing in front of the bandit.

"So, this is what it is like to be under your control..." He struggled mightily to leave his fingers where they rested, still on her cheek. Echoes of the unspoken danced in his mind.

The energy of the room was almost completely withdrawn into Shikiyoku's body now, the little bit left much less than that which wove around Youko now.

"Were you truly under my control, you would not know it." Shikiyoku responded.

"Then it is as I thought." Youko mused, "The longer around you, the worse it gets."

Shikiyoku merely raised an eyebrow, this being the first time she'd heard mention of his theory. 3

Hiei hadn't moved a single step when he saw the energy fill the air, clouding his vision with silver that he recognized. But, what he didn't understand was why. Yet he didn't say anything, since he really didn't have anything to say about the situation at all. He merely stood silently, watching as Youko Kurama made his appearance and spoke with a nickname he'd only heard Maneshi use once before. His own brows drew together, his instincts suddenly kicking in and keeping him wary.

Yes, he trusted this demon, but the familiarity, especially with the fox's touch, made the fire demon cautious. Perhaps it was natural, something that came with the title of Champion, he did not know. But he eyed the fox carefully, searching for any sign of thoughts that would end up with a scene.

And Enma knows Hiei wanted to fight Kurama just about as much as he wanted to go stand in a crowded building of humans. No, that didn't fit properly. The comparison did no justice to the feeling that rocked him at the mere thought of a scene.

His eyes slid to Shikiyoku, waiting for a hint of any kind for the situation. But it didn't seem that it was dire, yet, so he turned back to Youko with a calm expression, finally nodding his greeting and simply saying, "Fox." And that was all the greeting he would use to make his presence known.

~!**!~

Akari frowned at the shadows in confusion, but her attention was pulled with the sudden shift in the air. She turned, anticipating a fight with the foreign energy and the person she hadn't known had entered the room. Her body buzzed with energy, ready for anything.

Instead, she was left baffled.

A demon stood where the red-headed Kurama had, speaking to Toriko and Hiei. His golden eyes held centuries within them, she could tell even from this distance. His ears were a smooth silver, as was his tail, and she found herself in awe of the features. _So this is… Kurama's form? _she thought, remembering Sensui telling her about the separate form the redhead held from his demon blood.

She had fully intended to turn away, but each time she tried, another feature of the demon caught her eye, making her curious. _Now why had a demon of this stature come here, to the human world, again? _It was obvious that he had a high amount of power, so why would a being like this doom himself to the human world?_*****_

"You appear not to notice, but your energy is constantly at work around you on a level too high for weaker demons to sense." Youko explained, wiping away a trail of blood that had not dried and started to swept down to her jaw. "It has been this way ever since...ever since we met."

"Hey! What's going on!"

As the last of Shikiyoku's power withdrew into her, Yusuke and Kuwabara began to see clearly, spying Akari off to the side and both boys dropping into a more defensive stance, wary and eyeing the room around them. 3

Hiei had gone silent again, eyeing the fox demon wearily before his attention was turned to the two humans on the side, who immediately reacted defensively, like a couple of skittish kittens startled awake. He raised a brow at them before replying with, "You fools were of no help. I killed one, but four remain."

He didn't say anything more after that, since that was about all he himself knew, but his eyes did trail to the darkness on the other side of the room, again searching for outlines of demons, but he only saw shadows.

~!**!~

Akari blinked once, then crossed her arms over her chest and turned to Yusuke as he moved, his mouth finally opening as his body shifted to a stance she had fully expected, as did Kuwabara. Her frown remained in place as she watched the boys silently for a moment, wondering if they'd be able to tell that the room was empty.

But after a moment, she saved them the trouble of searching. "They're gone. Left some time ago, apparently." _*****_

"What? Who?" Yusuke relaxed only a little before tensing up again, "And where's Toriko?" He spied the chair she had been occupying at the moment they entered the building, but she was no longer there. In fact, it appeared that a lot of things that weren't the way he remembered them being. Namely...the silver-haired fox-looking demon standing tall next to him.

"Youko?" Kuwabara exclaimed before Yusuke had a chance.

The two of them spied Hiei holding up-

"Toriko?" They both sucked in a harsh breath of air at the sight of the dark-haired girl who had an arm thrown over Hiei's shoulders and was obviously barely standing in place. At the same time, they both moved to stand near her.

"How yah holdin' up, short-stuff?" Yusuke dropped to one knee to peer up at her face.

Shikiyoku once again felt her eyebrow raise, seemingly unsurprised at the sudden friendliness of the two considering how long they had been under the influence of her powers.

"Not Toriko." She clarified. "My true name is Shikiyoku, though the side of me that you apparently know goes by 'Toriko.'"

Yusuke considered her for a moment, then turned to look at Youko, then back to her.

"So how long have _you two _known each other?" He grinned, catching on quickly. "You seem to have had the same idea!"

"How _did_ you do it?" Shikiyoku's expression perked with interest at the kitsune.

"He invaded some poor kid's body." Kuwabara remarked bluntly.

It was Youko's turn to raise an eyebrow. "That is...a rather blasé what of putting it, but succinct. My spirit entered a fetus to recover."

"I took on a more human form and sealed away myself and my powers within that form." Shikiyoku explained for her part.

The others kept talking, but a wave of exhaustion swept over Shikiyoku again and she leaned more heavily than before into Hiei.

"_I need rest." _A line of pain creased her brow, her body awash with the frailty of her recent encounters. She did not know what to do about her energy surrounding Youko, and as such her concern became second to her physical exertions. 3

Hiei resigned himself to simply stand there until this idle chat was over, deciding there was no need to rush if she could chat like this. But the moment his body suddenly buzzed with the feel of the bond being touched with pain and exhaustion, he turned to Shikiyoku and acted without permission, simply crouching so the strain on her would not hurt her more than necessary as he scooped her up in his arms, turning to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "The Toriko you saw earlier was not the true Toriko. The imposter was killed, but Shikiyoku has been through enough. Her blood loss is significant and life-threatening." He turned without another word, now set on leaving while the moment seemed to allow it.

Akari stepped forward, silently joining the group and standing with the team, her mouth pressed together. Would they be allowed to leave? Her brows drew together and her arms crossed even tighter together. "Do you think Otento would let us leave so quickly?" _*****_

While Yusuke and Kuwabara's jaws dropped at both the number of Hiei's words as well as his apparent protectiveness, Youko's face remained grim, knowing exactly what drove Hiei to his otherwise out-of-place actions. As such, Youko turned to follow, his longer legs allowing him to stride past Hiei and heave open the large metal door with a shoulder, letting in some of the cooler night air.

"I will be accompanying you." Youko left no room for argument from the fire demon. He felt amused as he looked at Shikiyoku's face, her eyes all but closed, bruises and blood covering her body, her clothing almost nonexistent... A near replica of their first meeting, though in a more human form. Of course, his desire to be with her stemmed from her power still holding sway, and the intellectual side of him realized this, but found that it could do nothing to resist it. Nor did it seem to want to.

Shikiyoku made no protest to Youko's statement. Humans caught under her mesmer were, oddly enough, better suited to shaking off the effects of her powers after a short while. Demons, however...demons caught by her energy were relentless in their pursuit of her and she felt no need to make a scene with the fox who up to this point had reacted stoically.

Yusuke and Kuwabara turned to one another after watching Hiei and Youko walk off together, eyebrows raised.

"...I guess we're done here?" Kuwabara shrugged, starting to methodically make his way around the room, though his senses told him there was no longer any threat here.

"I get the feeling this case isn't closed. I didn't even get to kick some ass!" Yusuke formed a fist with one hand, spying Akari out of the corner of his eye and turning to her, putting his hands on both hips and giving her a hard stare, "For some reason I feel like we owe you thanks for watching our backs. So...thanks." He extended a hand towards her in a gesture of shaking on it. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Youko, but turned to leave anyway, completely dismissing anything Youko had to say and writing it off completely as something he didn't completely understand at the moment. He didn't care that the demon fox lead the way out of the building, despite all logic that screamed that this wasn't over. But he was too worried about other things at the moment.

So he merely continued on, walking with steps as light as possible, eyes glancing at Shikiyoku for just a moment before returning to the path ahead of him.

~!**!~

Akari wasn't happy. Something was off, but she just couldn't… It couldn't be this easy. She'd dealt with Otento enough to know that he had many layers of plans ready for each circumstance, for anything that would happen. He had always been three steps ahead, so why were they able to leave so suddenly?

Yusuke voiced her concerns, though in a way she herself found tacky. Her eyes found him and she gave a look of disapproval, though she didn't have room to judge. When he too turned to her, thrusting a hand to her, she stared at his offer for a moment before slowly, tentatively, taking the offer of a shake. "Really, you should thank Hiei. He did the hard work. All I did was distract, as I always do." With that, she brushed by him and followed the others to the door. "Next time, don't get caught in the trap and maybe the fire demon and I won't have to save your ass." _*****_

Kuwabara wanted to say something snarky at Yusuke, but bit his tongue, knowing he had fallen in just as easily as his friend.

"Yeah, well," Yusuke began as they started to follow her out the door, "Who knows what would have happened if you'd gotten here by yourself. For what it's worth, I'm glad you stayed with us." 3

Akari glanced back at Yusuke with a raised brow, a corner of her lips raising up. "I'm pretty sure the same thing would have happened. You would've been useless, Hiei would've gotten out of it, and maybe Kurama wouldn't have transformed and we probably would have gotten out of there quicker. Granted, it could have also gone the complete other direction, and I could have died, but hey, what does that matter?" She stretched her arms above her head, feeling the extreme strain in the muscles from the weight Toriko's energy had pressed onto her. Bones cracked and her body suddenly relaxed almost as if she'd had a nice long nap. She turned her eyes forward again, deciding that the night had actually come to an end here, since they were actually being allowed to leave. _*****_

The moon was still in the sky, casting its muted light down on the town below and Yusuke took a deep breath, feeling unresolved and wanting to find something to punch.

Kuwabara, seeing Akari give a stretch, yawned and did the same, "I'm dog-tired." He rubbed at his eyes. "I think I'm going to head home." 3

Akari made a sound similar to a groan before her hands linked behind her head, arms loosely positioned on each side of her head so that her peripherals were cut off by the limbs. A part of her wondered if Nabu had actually listened for once, and hoped he actually had.

But Kuwabara's next words made her give a dry laugh. "Was that intentional?" _*****_

"Huh?" He blinked sleepily at her, closing one eye first and then the other.

Yusuke gave Akari a strange look before making a small laugh to himself. "And _that's _how I knew you were gonna be swell as part of the team tonight." He said cryptically, reaching up to stroke a nonexistent goatee and raising an eyebrow as if he were a villain with a secret. 3

Curiosity touched the edges of Akari's mind and she again glanced back at Yusuke. She assessed his odd pose for a moment before sighing, deciding to take the bait. "And what exactly do you mean by that?" she asked, eyes turning to the sky and look at the moon in the sky and the stars. Here, they shined brightly, calming her nerves almost entirely.

~!**!~

Hiei had stayed silent the entire walk back, thinking about next to nothing other than getting to the house and staunching wounds, something he half-expected Youko wanting to do as well. So, he hadn't considered the possibility of what he encountered when he stepped up to the front door and reached for the knob. His hand, still under Shikiyoku, tried to twist the metal orb, but nothing happened. His grip wasn't sufficient at first, so he tried again.

This time, he was met with resistance. The knob stopped turning a quarter of the way, making a sound that he recognized with irritation. He stepped back, letting the fox demon see the door knob and lock, red eyes finding gold ones. "It's locked," he said bluntly, figuring Youko would understand his silent request. _*****_

Youko said nothing, though the thought crossed his mind, sweeping silently up the step or two leading to the door and crouching, peering into the keyhole. He thought about the size and type of the lock for a moment, reaching up in the meantime to curl a bit of hair that had fallen in front of his face back behind one ear.

As the fingers of that same hand came back down level with the lock, a small, dark plant began growing from underneath his palm and he held it much like one would hold a key when it grew long enough.

It continued growing past the tips of his nails and he slipped it inside, the sinuous plant easily molding to the locking mechanism, then suddenly hardening and becoming wiry.

Youko gave his wrist a flick and the lock came undone. As he stood, the plant withered in his grasp and turned to dust, blown away by a slight breeze. He confidently encircled the knob with his other hand and gave it a twist, the door silently swinging inward as he stepped inside the dark house.

His foot pressed down on top of something that felt very key-like on top of the tile at the entrance. He left it, stepping to the side to allow Hiei to enter.

At the same time in which he entered the house, his nose became accosted with a multitude of different smells that he knew originated from his left when he first came in. He smelled fish, and chicken, as well as sugar, more prominent than what he considered the "normal" smells of a home such as this, like the upholstery, the wood, the metal.

His eyes glanced in the direction of the smells to spy what he knew was considered a kitchen, able to see the mess on the table nearby, the discarded food on the floor. His nose twitched. 3

Hiei was silently thankful for the fox demon at this moment, despite his earlier thought about telling him to go elsewhere. He waited until the fox was in the house before following, naturally ignoring everything else in the house that didn't pertain to his immediate thoughts. He passed by Youko and turned to the stairs, going up them carefully, but not slowing his pace as he headed for the bathroom, where he knew of the easiest way to get this amount of wounds clean. _*****_

Youko closed the door once Hiei entered, his feet padding silently across the carpet as he followed the fire demon. His eyes were ever watchful of their immediate area, taking in all escape routes as well as memorizing the floor plan. In the back of his mind he counted the medicinal plants he had on his immediate person that would be of some use once Hiei found a suitable place to put Shikiyoku down. 3

The fire demon reached the top landing of the stairs and continued down the hall a short ways until he found a door he remembered to be the bathroom. He easily had the door open before he was faced with the trouble of staring at the bathtub, suddenly realizing he didn't understand the mechanics in this one. He'd only used the ones in Demon World, and they were always more complex, more knobs that made it easy to get the temperature just right. After a single moment of hesitation, he slowly let down and laid Shikiyoku in the empty tub.

After another second, he leaned over the sides of the tub and slowly turned the two knobs to an equal degree, or so he hoped. _*****_

When Youko saw Hiei leaning over what he recognized to be a tub, he immediately looked along the wall for a light switch and flicked it on. He busied himself with scavenging around in the cabinets for anything useful for their situation, and managed to come up with a roll of what he knew could be used as bandages, as well as a handful of cloth that he promptly claimed as well. Another cabinet proved to have towels and he made no hesitation in grabbing as many as he could with one hand.

One of his ears twitched as water began filling the tub more than a few inches.

"Not too much." He intoned as he grasped the towels and pulled away from the cabinet to close it. "It will be bloody and useless soon enough. Likely need to be drained and refilled to a low point several times." 3

Hiei listened idly to the sounds in the room, ranging from the water in the tub to the wood of the cabinets hitting together when shut. He could hear the soft sound of cloth rubbing together, the sound of soft breathing. It was so quiet that when Youko spoke up, it was almost out of place.

And he did lean over and turn the water off, having been watching it carefully and gauging how much he should leave for this time that would likely take a while. _*****_

Youko came to Shikiyoku's side next to the tub and bent down on one knee, placing the towels to his right and balancing the smaller cloths on his raised leg. His expression twitched as he held up the bandages and he tossed them behind him where they landed softly in the sink and rolled around, but remained contained.

The first thing he did was pass a hand over the water that had only just reached a few inches in height. A powder began to fall from his out-stretched palm, leaving a light dusting on both Shikiyoku and within the water itself.

He placed what at first seemed like nothing along the edge of the tub, but in reality the small seeds there he coaxed with energy and they slowly began to grow. In the meantime, he placed a cloth in the water that was already beginning to smell of iron and shade into a dirty brown-red, gently bringing it up to Shikiyoku's face and starting to pat and wipe away the blood there. 3

Hiei had sat back for a moment to give Youko room for what he needed to do, watching carefully as if he would be able to learn anything from this scene. Of course, it was evident that he wouldn't be able to do any of this since he had no abilities even remotely similar to Youko's, but still, he was a curious creature by nature.

After a few moments, he again sat forward, grabbing one of the smaller towels and following Youko's lead, though on the arms and across Shikiyoku's collarbone. The cloth quickly turned from white to reddish-brown from the dried, crusted blood he worked at gently. _*****_

As the plants along the edge of the tub continued to slowly grow, Youko pulled back and tossed his head slightly, both to move his hair from his face and to release a pollen in the air that spread outwards towards the ceiling, but did not fall back down. Instead, the pollen grew larger until they resembled so many circular bowls and suspended around the room, releasing a soothing scent that cleared away the messy smell of their work.

Gesturing with his free hand by turning the wrist in a circle, he flowed his energy into another plant that burst upwards from his palm. This one he set on the floor between his knee and foot where it continued to sprout and take on a very leafy shape.

Reaching behind his ear for one last plant seed, this one became like a disc no larger around than a half-dollar coin and Youko tenderly tipped Shikiyoku's chin upwards, her face still mostly bloody, her hair matted down to her cheeks in a mixture of sweat and dried blood.

"For me, Yoku." Youko murmured when her eyes fluttered at his touch, bringing the disc to her lips.

They parted slightly at his request and he slipped it into her mouth.

The effects were almost immediate as the disc started melting on her tongue. Her eyes came open, though she winced at the light and still appeared to be unfocused.

"Hiei?" She croaked, looking over at Youko, attempting to rise out of the water.

At her first word being a query of the fire demon, Youko's core tripped once inside his chest and a great sadness surged up from deep within his body, filled him in place of what would for most in his position likely be jealousy. That she would ask after another first…

Youko shook his head, both to Shikiyoku and himself. He could still feel her power humming through him, and she asked for the one Youko immediately knew at the sight of the two had taken his place as her protector.

"Not Hiei." He placed a light hand on her shoulder as soon as she started trying to get up, preventing her from leaving.

Shikiyoku blinked again, but she said nothing for a moment as Youko rung the wet cloth out and dipped it in the water in a place that looked less contaminated than the others. He went back to trying to clear the cuts of her face from blood so that they could be treated.

"Thank you...Yo-chan." She breathed once she recognized his face, leaning back against the tub but continuing to watch him.

The disc in her mouth was all but gone and she took a deep breath, raising her arm and placing her hand on Youko's bare chest where his tunic gapped apart as he leaned over her.

She closed her eyes, beckoning what remained of the spell outside her body, and Youko frozen in place. It still took her more than a few seconds to get the attention of the energy around him and as she drew it back to herself, it practically fought with her, much more reluctant to return than any of the others she dealt with that night.

A minute passed. Then two. Beads of sweat started to form on her forehead near her hairline as she was forced to meticulously grab each strand around him and practically tug them back into herself.

Finally the last bit of energy struggled one last time against her call, then slipped away, returning to its rightful place.

At that moment, Youko blinked, his mind clear.

Hiei had been working silently here and there, mainly trying to stay out of Youko's way when Shikiyoku's quiet voice piped up, asking for him. But, the fire demon didn't answer. Instead, he sat back even further, withdrawing the hand that had held a cloth and watching the interaction between her and Youko. He was curious about several things, but he assumed that he had gotten the gist of it:

Youko had once been in the place where Hiei now was with Shikiyoku, her Champion. That much he'd understood from their first conversation. After that, things seemed vague. For all he knew, they could have been lovers, but that was only a matter he was curious over, since it didn't matter to him in the least.

Hiei's keen crimson irises picked up on each movement the two made, looking at body language as they spoke. But the talking, the chatter, ended with Shikiyoku's hand on the fox demon's chest. At first, he saw the gesture as one of fondness. But after a few minutes, he noted the sweat that beaded on Shikiyoku's forehead, and he understood. His curiosity lead him to assessing everything that happened and waiting to see the outcome; if his guess was right, and it soon was proven to be, the fox demon would turn rather cold once Shikiyoku's energy was gone from his system._*****_

Youko glanced sharply over at Hiei, then down at the dirty cloth in his hand.

Had Hiei not been there, it was likely the kitsune would have stayed and tended to the battered woman, and while none of his thoughts reached his eyes, he felt keenly a pang of displacement at no longer being her Champion.

He rose to his feet, wishing for some time alone to consider better how Shikiyoku's powers worked now that he had finally experienced them first-hand, even if they were channeled through another.

He dropped the cloth without care onto the tile and said loftily, "The leaves of that plant, when crushed with the fingers, will serve as a paste that will get rid of bruises when it is spread over them." He pointed at the plant that had been placed between his knee and his foot.

"Those buds," He pointed next at the first plant growing on the edge of the tub, whose demonic form included buds all along the vines that were spilling over the outside of the tub to the tile floor, "Contain a liquid cleaning solution for wounds when squeezed. It is a painful process, but it will insure there are no infections and will also cleanse impurities since we do not know whether she was struck with poisoned blades or not."

He gestured openly to the rest, "The others will seal the wounds if you draw them over it." They each appeared to be a root similar to ginger and there were a handful or so, each about the length and width of a finger, though the last one was twice the size. "And can be used more than once." Youko started to turn away, "I suggest you save the largest one on the end for the gash down her calf."

He swept out of the room without further delay, his tail and hair trailing slighting behind him. 3

Hiei listened very carefully to each word Youko even uttered after his abrupt change in demeanor. With each gesture the silver-haired demon made, Hiei's eyes followed, taking in the information with an amount of curiosity that almost rivaled with the duty he felt towards healing Shikiyoku and serving as her champion.

He would have thanked the fox, if it were in his nature to do such a thing. In truth, he wasn't even sure what to say to the demon he hadn't seen since the tournament. So, instead, he merely nodded once to his comrade, unsure why he felt the small amount of relief that he did in the moment that the fox turned to leave.

Without even looking up again, Hiei picked up his own cloth again, dipped it in the water before draining it out and running fresh water, and continuing where Youko had left off, using the information and plants he'd been given to his advantage when necessary.

~!**!~

Akari landed on the concrete slab of the sidewalk and turned to the blue-haired woman who floated in front of her, smiling cordially as if they'd been friends for an eternity. "Thank you for complying and coming to see Koenma. I'm sure he appreciates everything you've done, despite…"

Akari felt the corners of her lips lift into a sarcastic sneer. "Despite my association with his former detective?"

A nervous laugh escaped Botan before she waved her hand as if waving away the subject. "You know, from what I can tell, they really seem to have gotten used to you. You're-"

"Don't go there." Akari interrupted, a hand in the air as she turned to leave. "No sentimentality. Just because they put up with my presence doesn't mean they care."

A small giggle followed after Akari's retreating steps into the night. The next sound she heard was of Botan's oar soaring into the highest parts of the sky and away into the next world, and Akari was left unsure of whether to go home, where she knew Nabu and his million questions were, or to wander until she felt tired enough mentally to sleep. _*****_

~!**!~

As soon as he got outside, Youko took in a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily and choosing to think about nothing.

After his pause he slunk out into the dark night, sticking to the shadows and avoiding contact with anyone that walked the streets at the hour.

His mind buzzed at the recent events involving Shikiyoku. And he found himself reflecting on memories he had not called upon in a long time...

"_Ah, ah, ah, my dear." Youko reprimanded, tapping a finger smartly on Shikiyoku's nose, "You're not to practice your wiles on me." He took her firmly by the shoulders and forced her to step back._

_Shikiyoku pouted, her lower lip protruding out in a lovely manner, "You never let me have any fun at all, Yo-chan."_

"_Yoku," Youko cooed, "Don't be like that." He playfully grabbed her protruding lip between his thumb and forefinger and made a small, gentle tug, "I can get you another play-thing any time you want."_

_Shikiyoku pulled away from him and huffed herself into a chair at the table in the room, flouncing down into the chair and leaning against the table, putting one elbow down and resting her face in that hand as she continued to pout. "But they're all so boring." She continued._

"_Then I'll find you an exciting one." Youko countered, taking note that the blindfold he required her to wear in his presence was not hindering her as much as it did when she first arrived. She must sense things out much more adeptly than before. He was mildly impressed._

"_But they're all __**boring**__." She protested, feeling Youko move to sit in the seat next to her, facing her, and she turned towards him, "You on the other hand…" She reached over and drew the back of her hand down the bare shoulder, "Would be much more thrilling."_

"_Mm." Youko intoned noncommittally. "Then I'll have to find someone like me."_

_Shikiyoku made a noise of discontent, "But there __**isn't**_ _anyone like you. Not in a million, billion years." As her hand slid down the inside of his upper arm, she tilted her head as if able to watch the movement._

_Youko grabbed for it, taking her slightly by surprise, but he simply put her hand back in her lap and stood up, holding onto it a moment longer and he bent over and purred into her ear, "Then I'd better start looking." He planted his usual chaste kiss on her soft cheek __before letting go of her hand and standing up straight, turning to go._

"_Hmph." Shikiyoku sniffed, "You're so mean to me. Tease."_

_Youko laughed outright, pausing near the door, "__**I'm**_ _the tease, my seductress? I find that hard to believe."_

"_You are and you know it. That's what makes it so hard." She whined, disappointed he was leaving so soon._

_He smiled at her distraught expression. "I'll find something special this next time."_

"_You'd better." She crossed her arms and he chuckled again and closed the door, locking it behind him._

_As she heard him going down the hall after a moment, she pulled her blindfold up to her forehead and turned back to pull her feet underneath the table and put her arms down on top, inspecting her hands, frowning as she flexed them._

_Youko let out a whoosh of air as he leaned against her door briefly, his expression losing its amiable cast that he found it acquiring more and more often in their encounters._

_It was getting harder not to give in. Not suddenly, not all at once, but slowly. His eyes narrowed as he wondered if she was doing it on purpose, trying to draw him in without his notice. _

_He walked off down the hall, mind still dwelling on the thought. If her previous track-record was any indication, she did not actually mean to make it harder for him, and it meant her energy acted on its own to an extent._

_No wonder she was in such trouble when he first came across her._

_It also meant that he needed to keep his time around her to a minimum as there would be an eventual moment where he would no longer be able to resist her. Not that he hadn't already thought of a few very specific things he would like to do to or with her, but...once in her clutches...well, he had seen the eyes of her prey after she finished with them and it seemed almost a kindness to put them out of their misery. _

_**His**_ _being caught by her would cause many problems he did not want to have to deal with and he would by no means put himself in that situation willingly. Perhaps she would become of no more used to him long before that moment...though he dismissed the thought almost as soon as if formed. She was invaluable to him, and the instant she realized it, he would be in trouble enough. He knew her next play-thing would have to be something special indeed..._

~!**!~

Shikiyoku shifted uncomfortably as she felt the water draining from around her legs, her eyes slowly fluttering open at the touch of someone she couldn't at first make out.

"Hiei…?" She blinked, her vision blurry with pain and the muscles around her eyes tightening in a grimace until she squeezed her eyes shut, opening them again to see the red-eyed demon bent over her.

The smell of the demonic plants in the air soothed her disjointed thoughts, and she took to watching Hiei go about his self-imposed duty, her gaze soft on his frame as he worked, taking the quiet moment to appreciate the inherent gracefulness in his movements.

She tried to keep any protests she had to herself as he cleaned her wounds, only releasing uncomfortable bits of breath when the pain grew too much for her to stay silent about, which happened much more often than she liked. She ruefully thought of the high tolerance for such things that her other side now coveted, feeling rather embarrassed for appearing so weak in front of the warrior beside her.

She cast her eyes downward at the sudden thought, staring blankly at her torn clothing and wishing, not for the first time, that she didn't have to rely on others for her own safety. That was one thing it appeared Toriko got right at least.

This time, however, her wish grew out of a desire for this fire demon to have a reason to view her as an equal, instead of a mess of trouble that he had been forced into by chance. If only she could match his speed, or his swordplay. If only she could meet him blow for blow on a battlefield. If only her demonic energy could be channeled into death-inducing spells instead of being an irresistible bother for her and any around her.

If only she were back in Demon World...3

Time seemed to pass on one end or the other of the spectrum, one moment feeling as if the time would pass without his notice, the next making him feel as if he'd been in this spot for an eternity. Half of the time, his hand that held the cloth moved almost on its own, his mind blank completely as he methodically went about dabbing at wounds, occasionally dipping into the water that had been, moments before, almost crystal clear. Now, it was a rustic color again, and without hesitation he drained it out and refilled with fresh water again, watching it turn only a slightly different color, unlike before when it would immediately turn brown.

By the time he had wiped away most of the dried, crusted blood, he was recalling every detail of what Youko had said before leaving. As he recalled the fox's instructions, the fire demon reached first for the plant used for cleaning the cuts, slowly picking a bud from the vine-like stem before lightly squeezing it curiously, watching a small drop of a cream-like substance rise to the surface. His gaze turned to the injured woman in the tub, meeting her gaze that he hadn't realized had been on him and giving a brief pause. "Prepare yourself," he muttered before leaning further over the tub and squeezing the bud over one of the smaller cuts on her arm.

~!**!~

Akari walked under the moonlight, eyes pointedly focused forward as she considered her options. If she went back to the place she currently called home, Nabu would be waiting and berate her with questions as soon as she stepped inside, just as he had earlier before Botan had shown up. But, she would also get to lay on the cushioned couch and stretch her tired body. She wouldn't sleep, she knew, but her body would thank her later.

But it would be noisy.

She could go to the park. No humans would be wandering through there this time of night, and it'd be quiet. Sure, the bench wouldn't be as comfortable, but she could make it work. Perhaps the ground would work too, if it weren't for the rain they'd had the day before.

She'd just have to make due.

With that thought, she altered her course and continued through town, ignoring the city lights of the night and the sounds of the nightlife roaming about. And with her mind forcefully blank, it didn't take her too long before she was entering the park. _*****_

~!**!~

Youko reached a slightly more wooded area, one that he recognized was the town's park by the landscaping, and he slowed to a walk, still sticking to the shadows. He felt the presence of no one in the immediate area when he first arrived, but kept moving.

His mind remained too preoccupied with analysis of how the enemy made use of Shikiyoku's powers for him to take much notice of the fact that his core had begun pulsating. He noted somewhere in the back of his mind that his fox-form was slipping away and after a few minutes in the park, silver hair gave way to red, tail and ears disappearing as Kurama gained control once more.

He did not feel whole enough to return to his house and kept wandering around, though not quite as reclusive about it as before, strolling along the pathways in the moonlight.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had not until that moment taken much notice of the plants that were littered about the bathroom, but when she heard Hiei's brief warning and noted the bud in his hand, her eyes widened. Youko had used this very method of cleaning wounds when they'd first met and the pain had been excruciating even _with _her high tolerance for such things.

Had he given her just a moment more, Shikiyoku would have attempted to lift her hand and grip the edge of the tub, but she did not have time to gather strength in her weak body to do so before he leaned over and placed the substance on a cut. A rather small one.

The cleanser rested for a moment above the opening and Shikiyoku felt her entire body tensing in anticipation.

As soon as it dove beneath the surface, Shikyoku's jaw clenched together and her arm twitched violently where it lay as if trying to remove a fly that landed and would not leave.

Her energy burst out into the room defensively, though it mingled with the smell of the demonic plants hanging overhead that had been constantly releasing their heavy perfume into the air and its powers were greatly nullified, and Shikiyoku's jaw relaxed, sinking herself into the shimmer that settled over her body, her skin tingling.

This happened very quickly, and also dissipated very quickly, her energy retreating and her jaw tensing up again as she tried not to cry out in pain.

The cleanser turned a sickly yellow color all at once and the pain was over, Shikiyoku's eyes sliding open again-she did not remember when they closed-and staring up at the ceiling. 3

Hiei paused briefly at the energy that momentarily grabbed his attention, but easily dropped back into the groove of his tedious work, slowly rubbing the substance he considered to be an ointment over the cut, only with his index finger. Once that bud was spent, he picked another, giving Shikiyoku some time to recover her breath before holding it up briefly in silent warning and squeezing the bud over another, larger gash that ran along her collarbone, frowning pensively as he did the same as before and rubbed the substance in slowly.

He continued this, repeating the same step over and over in several places and ignoring all jerks and sounds of pain Shikiyoku made, knowing that listening to them wouldn't do much good.

~!**!~

Akari walked into the park with small, leisurely steps. She stretched just a bit, popping her back in the process, and released a heavy sigh. She _could _lay on a bench, but what fun would that be? That would just stress her muscles more. So, she decided to keep moving, passing the benches completely and finding a path through the more wooded area. Her eyes searched for the owls that hooted above, the mice that scampered around on the earth floor, and sometimes for the insects that buzzed by her face.

Had she been paying any less attention than that, she wouldn't have noticed the shadowed figure walking on a path perpendicular to hers. She assessed the outline of the person, curious as to why a human would be out at such a late hour. Or maybe it was early? She didn't know anymore. So she simply chose to ignore them, continuing along the path until it intersected with his, not looking to see who it was at first. _*****_

Kurama's feet stopped on their own, his body sensing that he was about to run into someone, but his mind not registering that it was happening. He blinked, and realized he stood near Akari, a ghost of a smile passing over his lips.

"Seems we run into each other more and more often of late."

~!**!~

Each time the cleanser was placed on a wound and began setting to its work, Shikiyoku's energy would flare up in reaction, but each time it happened, the amount of demonic energy sent out into the room became less and less until finally the energy only extended just beyond her body and she could not hold back an actual cry of pain at the terrible stinging sensation that wracked her body, ridding the cuts of any infection or impurities in the process.

A sheen of sweat settled onto her skin and with the most recent application of the plant, her right hand-which had moved up to grip the edge of the tub-actually squeezed so tightly on it that it sent several cracks running abruptly out from her fingers.

The cleanser turned black on the outside of that last, larger wound and a tremble ran the entire course of her body before she sat still, breathing heavily. 3

Hiei frowned at the blackened substance, his pupils dilating a fraction as he wondered if that was an indicator of poisons. He wasn't sure if he needed to leave it or rub it away, so for an extra moment, he let it sit before he took a cloth- a clean one this time, just in case- and wiped away the cream. As an extra precaution, he added another bud to the very same wound, then sat back as he decided to let the cream sit and continue cleaning the wounds for a few moments longer, and, also, to give Shikiyoku a small break to catch her breath.

He glanced at her sweat-covered face and took in the paleness of her features, the darkness under her eyes. He released a small breath and sat on his rump, one leg crossed under the knee of the other. He couldn't find anything to say, so he simply watched Shikiyoku in silence.

~!**!~

Akari took an extra step before turning to Kurama, a brow raised at his cordiality. She stared for a moment before making a small sound that even she didn't recognize before she released a sigh. "That's what happens when two people enjoy the same area." she countered, her eyes sliding to the side and away from his features. "Of course, I've always enjoyed the park. Your recent liking of it is what's causing this." she taunted lightly, though her tone was even and expression void of any emotion other than light curiosity. _*****_

"Hm. Is that right?" He countered amiably, "And how long have you been in this area exactly? If it's more than maybe a decade, then I'll have to concede your point." This time the smile actually rested over his features. A small one, but a smile nonetheless.

~!**!~

Her chest still heaving under her clothes, Shikiyoku's eyes came back open, staring up at the ceiling.

"Thank you..." She managed to say, though whether for his rescue of her earlier or the current reprise that he afforded her by not applying more cleanser than was already slathered over her wounds even she did not know.

After her last outburst, Maneshi appeared moments later, trotting into the open door of the room, his heterochromatic eyes wide with concern. The smells had already penetrated his senses even before he made it half-way up the stairs-he had been within the closet in the living room and did not realize Shikiyoku and the others had arrived.

He paused for a moment when he came upon the scene, his tail slowly weaving a back and forth pattern in the air as he calculated the meaning of what his eyes saw.

His whiskers shivered once in distaste at the water, and as he carefully plodded forward, he avoided any point of the stuff along the way, skirting the discarded, bloody cloths.

Maneshi walked right up to Hiei and promptly stepped into the fire demon's lap for warmth, his muscles tight with the same concern that he now used to warily peer over the edge of the tub at what he could make out of Shikiyoku.

He stretched his neck too close to one of the demonic plants sitting along the edge and he sneezed violently, drawing back and leaning heavily into Hiei's body, waiting and watching. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku's thanks, not sure if he should respond or not. So, he didn't. He simply stayed where he sat, adjusting just a bit so that his katana, still sheathed under his cloak, didn't jab into his side as it had been. His eyes slid to the cat that made his way over to the fire demon, watching the reaction of Maneshi blandly, not actually very interested in how he reacted to the plants and such. But when the cat sneezed and leaned against him, he raised a hand and gently patted the top of his head twice before leaning back, palms on the tiled floor so that his shoulders could stretch just a bit.

"You should rest," he said suddenly, knowing that Shikiyoku was completely exhausted. Then again, when he was to get back to work on her wounds, he knew she'd just be awoken by the pain again. So, really, he didn't think she'd listen to him in the slightest.

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes to the sky, but realized she'd been rather stupid in saying something like that. Of course he'd been here longer, enjoyed something like this longer than she, since she'd been kept near Sensui for years.

"Touché," she finally admitted, crossing her arms in defiance and giving a small huff. Then she eyed him slowly, considering him for a minute before saying, "you look more in your right mind than earlier. How's it feel?" _*****_

"Awful." He answered truthfully, thinking about how worn out he actually felt, not to mention how his mind kept returning to Toriko for some reason. His brows turned downward slightly and he hesitated, "What...what happened back there? Exactly? I'm getting bits and pieces, but can't seem to fit them together."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku did not feel as if she had the strength to nod at Hiei's observation, so she closed her eyes instead, twitching every-so-often as another pang of the cleanser did its job. She concentrated on reducing her rate of breath and finally managed to get it under control. The cleansing process did not allow her much rest as it was on-going, but centering her thoughts and reigning in the frantic beat of her core did help and she felt grateful once again to Hiei for mentioning rest.

The plants suspended in the air of the room gave off much less scent that before, their internal lights muted in response. The bathroom lights from overhead made Shikiyoku cringe the more she calmed herself, and she thought briefly of asking Hiei to turn them off, but her mind did not stick with the thought long enough for her to form the words to accompany it.

She did wander back to earlier musings, still finding Hiei's position as her Champion as a source of strangeness.

Each previous demon who held the title gained a mutually beneficial...something from it. In fact, they could not have taken the 'oath,' as it were, unless they desired something from her. Youko used her within his bandit gang as an information gatherer. The others too had similar reasons for accepting, and Shikiyoku became for each of them a tool most willingly at their beck and call in exchange for their protection.

She saw herself as nothing more than a bother with this newest acquisition, wondering what in the three worlds compelled him to answer "yes" when her other side presented him with the question. She could certainly think of no reason. She had no place alongside a warrior of his caliber... So, what made him accept it?

With the question repeatedly echoing around inside her head, she shifted around to try and get more comfortable before gathering her strength to try and ask.

"I am useless to you. You have no need of me. You should have let me die and been rid of your curse." She did not open her eyes, remaining in the more meditative, resting state she had slipped into.

Well. That wasn't exactly what she meant to say, she thought to herself, though it properly conveyed her emotions on the subject. Her jaw snapped back shut as soon as the words tumbled beyond her mouth. 3

Hiei patted Maneshi between the ears again, his eyes trailing from the demoness in the tub to the worried feline. It didn't take much for the fire demon to see the cat's distress, but he didn't say anything about it. He merely pet him a few times here and there, as if comforting him, watching small tufts of fur float in the air from his shedding. A few pieces of fur landed on his face, and he brushed them away casually before returning to his petting of the cat.

When Shikiyoku was moving, his eyes shot up at her, wondering just what the hell she was doing, before she spoke up. He raised a brow, eyeing her for a moment. Her words rang true, he told himself; he gained nothing much of use from such an agreement. However, the last sentence she said made his brows furrow. He scoffed. "A death wish?" he finally asked, his tone mocking. "I knew you were ridiculously impetuous, but this is new." he taunted, his head tilting to the left only slightly.

~!**!~

Akari hadn't expected such an honest reply, truthfully. But as he asked, as she had been expecting him to do, she herself took a second's hesitation. She took a deep breath. "Not too much, I suppose." she stated, her eyes closing as she thought about the moments after they had entered the building. "We learned that they have a demon with the ability to use illusions. Hiei killed one of their members, who utilized that power into looking starkly similar to Toriko." Here, she paused again, her mind giving her the image of the wounded Toriko and repeating Otento's words about her condition.

"Toriko herself, however, was suspended from the ceiling. She's…" Akari paused, searching for a way to say this without going into detail. "In short, they had their… _fun_… and.." An image passed Akari's mind's eye that hadn't been relevant to the evening, causing her to pause and force her eyes open, watching Kurama's reaction instead. "She's in bad shape, last I saw her. Hiei is with her, I presume." Another image passed unbiddingly, this time harder to ignore. "She's lucky to have survived such.." This time, the image that hit her came with an itch that told her she needed to stop talking, concentrate on herself and force the wall in her mind back up. _*****_

Kurama blinked as he watched Akari speak. He remembered everything after the spell held over he and the human boys had been broken, though it was in the distance behind Youko's personality, to ridiculously simplify the relationship held with Shuichi's body and Youko's spirit.

At the moment, none of that seemed to matter as his world focused in on Akari and her twinges. He stepped closer and held an arm out behind her back, not touching her, but silently in place as he scrutinized her features. He said nothing, knowing she was not okay, knowing something was wrong, and instead standing nearby and hoping that simply his presence would be of some support.

~!**!~

"I have no death wish." Shikiyoku replied simply. "But were I you, I would have removed my head from my neck the instant I became more trouble than I am worth. For what _am_ I worth to a warrior like you? I see no reason you could possibly have in keeping me alive, and better to kill me and return you your freedom. I am at my weakest and will not be able to stop you." 3

Hiei felt an emotion pass through him momentarily. This was ridiculous. He sat forward, leaning over Maneshi who had took to laying in his lap, eyes rolling between himself and Shikiyoku. Finally, he opened his mouth, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone, "You think I didn't consider such a thing?" His expression was blank, tone harsh, but his eyes sparked with the emotion of irritation about the subject. "I could have found a way back to Demon World by now if I had so desired, yet you get in my way constantly."

He paused, the air in the room turning uncomfortable, even for him. "However, it isn't your fault you're useless." He stated offhandedly, tone quieter than before. "You're a pain, you're impetuous and mildly annoying. However…" he paused again, stretching the moment as he searched for something else to say. "However, I don't know what made me feel obligated to agree." Sure, impulsiveness wasn't normally the cause for him being in such situations, but for the moment, that was all he could come up with. Especially since he didn't understand why he'd agreed yet himself.

"You'll just have to deal with it." He finished nonchalantly.*

* * *

_I didn't really think about this until just now, but the usage of "Shikiyoku" and "Toriko" can sometimes be confusing, so I'm going to attempt to explain her situation a little more in detail._

_Akari did not know about "Shikiyoku," so she referred to "Shikiyoku" as "Toriko." The same goes for Kuwabara and Yusuke; they only knew her as "Toriko," and it's a habit, so that's the name they're likely to fall back to most often._

_Toriko was a personality that manifested out of Shikiyoku's need to hide from Spirit World's Hunters. Shikiyoku locked her powers and her demonic form away and basically became a human so that the Hunters could no longer track her down. As a defensive mechanism, the personality called "Toriko" manifested to take care of the daily grind, kind of like how Sensui established separate personalities to take care of specific tasks. Toriko's personality is strong enough to almost be considered a separate entity, similar to Youko and Shuichi, but unlike the kitsune that entity/personality is only in FULL control when her hair is pinned back with the enchanted bobby pins (and Youko and Shuichi are two actual spirits in one body, while I associate Toriko/Shikiyoku as two personalities in one body-it's not terribly dissimilar from Disassociate Identity Disorder) and she is wearing the thick-lensed glasses. Without the bobby pins AND the glasses in place, Shikiyoku is allowed more freedom to be herself._

_Hope that helps!_

Yo-chan \- Shikiyoku's 'nickname' for Youko Kurama. The honorific -chan (according to wikipedia) "is a diminutive suffix; it expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. ... [_chan_] may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, close friends, any youthful woman, or between friends."

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	21. Next Saga! :: Ep 106 - Kidnapped? Again?

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!

I give to you Chapter Twenty-One!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Youko and Hiei take Shikiyoku back to Toriko's home and begin cleaning her wounds,  
and once Shikiyoku has gathered enough strength she is able to recall her energy from Youko.  
The kitsune leaves Hiei to take care of her and heads towards the park.

~!**!~

Akari herself also heads to the park and by the time she arrives,  
Youko has given way to Kurama once more.

While they are talking about the events in the warehouse,  
Akari starts to have flashbacks to her past,  
ones which render her unresponsive to the outside world...

* * *

Akari felt several sensations at once, beginning with slight panic that it was becoming increasingly difficult to brush aside the pictures, the faces that flashed in her mind. Next came the feeling of phantom pain- something Sensui had explained to hear within the first year of her acquaintance with him. She took a deep breath, her hands moving to her head instinctively, rubbing at her temples in an attempt to rub away the sensations that were continuing to build up.

Next, the smell. She could clearly smell blood, chemicals that were used to cover such a scent and clean up such a mess. The smell of ropes and chains, the smell of sweat and tears. Humans. Demons. Everywhere.

She grimaced without knowing, her breathing hitching occasionally when another scent hit her.

But when she could feel the ropes around her wrists, the iron chains against her waist, she realized what was happening. In the next second, she was physically in a large warehouse- or so it seemed. Her shoulders were in excruciating pain, her eyes stinging from tears she refused to shed for the people who stood in front of her now, different things in their hands.

"_Ah, you're awake again." _the closest one said, his tone so filled with glee that she felt physically sick.

She looked down and saw cuts and bruises that colored her skin on almost every inch. Even a few needles were placed here and there, protruding only because she'd grown thin enough for them to stick out from her skin where they had once been embedded for electrical treatment. That's when her breathing stopped.

She wasn't supposed to be here. Not again, not ever. _*****_

Kurama had not moved, his eyes constantly roving her face, catching her glance down at her hands and her breath becoming unsteady in places.

At the haunting look that her eyes suddenly retracted into, he finally spoke.

"Akari? Akari, I need you to stay with me. Here. In the park." He could tell that she was seeing something around her that was not actually there, and he could hazard a guess as to what was going on within her head. He waited another moment, unsure if actually making physical contact now would be wise. "Akari, you can't leave this place. Nabu is looking for you." He waited again to see if she could even hear him before he decided on his move.

~!**!~

"I'm certain you _have _considered killing me." Shikiyoku's tone remained as frank as it had been the entire conversation. "I am _not _certain why you have no done it yet. Or what compelled you to agree when you had no ulterior plan in mind."

Their conversing dulled her mind from the pain of the cleansing process and so she continued before it could slip back into her consciousness, "I won't complain about you allowing me my life, but it's definitely the first time I'm stuck with someone who doesn't know what to do with me."

Her voice grew quieter as she spoke almost to herself thoughtfully, "Perhaps its your age. Or inexperience."

Again, she kept going as her arm started to twitch with pain once more, speaking louder and directly to him, "You should come up with an answer for yourself, or I might feel forced to seek an alternative means to breaking our contract."

Her voice grew vehement, full of a simmering anger, "I _hate _being useless." 3

Hiei felt a frown forming on his features as if it were chiseled in his skin like stone. He wasn't sure why, but her last words disturbed him, which contrasted against the amusement he'd felt at first. Of course, he didn't retort right away with the first thing that came to mind. Instead, he thought carefully about his reply, taking a moment before he finally met her gaze squarely, flashing like flames.

"You may be useless, but without a protector, you're dead." His words were said in a casual tone, as if he had only just realized this. But he continued. "Should you break the contract, I may be released from you entirely, but what good would it do? You still have enemies looking for you. Simply because I do not wish to use you like a toy, that should not mean that you rid of me. I simply believed you were sick of being used."

With that, he sat back even further, stretching for a second before he picked up his towel and continued cleaning wounds again. "I suppose if you'd rather be killed for the amusement of another than useless to someone who could care less what you do, then go ahead."

~!**!~

Fear. That's what was now enveloping Akari as she looked around herself, trying to avoid the humans in front of her. But one stepped forward, grabbing her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze. A gaze so clouded with darkness that not even her own shadows could compare. "You will look at me when I am speaking to you." He threatened, flicking the weapon in his hand so that it struck her skin full-force. She gave a small cry, despite her defiance, and tried adjusting so that the binding around her wrists would, hopefully, lessen. They instead ground against her skin, creating new lesions that spilled a sticky substance down her arms.

Her lips clamped closed again, jaw trembling at the amount of restraint it took to keep from saying foul language, which had landed her where she hung now, alone with only one other demon in the room who was currently unconscious. Or perhaps dead, she didn't know.

"Now, we're going to try something new today, because the big man is coming down soon." That single sentence made her retch, but only once because she was struck again, this time with a rustic length of barbed wire. "You see.."

"_Akari…" _a voice suddenly sounded, making her blink once and glance to the side. "_Nabu.."_

"What?" she croaked, dried vocal cords only managing a small sound that might have resembled a grunt.

"What did I just tell you?!" The human before her shouted, while another swung something large at her face, striking her cheek and causing blood to spill over while the third stepped closer, placing a hand on her raw cheek. "Repeat what I said to you!"

And she did as told. _*****_

Kurama held his breath at a steady rate, reaching out to gently rest a hand on her neck, calling her name again, "Akari. Listen to me. I cannot bring you out of this on my own. You're going to have to help me." His mind rushed to what plants he had on his person.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes finally whipped open, her anger smoldering just below the surface of her eyes, but she remained staring up at the ceiling as she spoke.

"I would rather throw myself into the hands of a pack of demons and die at their behest doing what I appear to have been born to do, than walk around alive and well and _useless_." Her voice was fierce and left no room for doubt as to her feelings.

"Without purpose, one is already dead, the body has simply not been given time to catch up yet." 3

Hiei snorted at her, not really able to disagree with her last statement. But, at the same time, he felt she wasn't one hundred percent correct. He just couldn't put a finger on what made him think such a thing, when that had once been his own way of thinking. Wait, was it not that way now?

"Tch." He suddenly spat, taking the second plant and ruthlessly rubbing it against her wounds to close the ones he'd already cleansed of the ointment. "Perhaps you should find your own purpose, rather than sticking to the one you'd been _taught _you had."

~!**!~

Akari repeated the words she had been told, beginning from "_Ah, she's awake" _to the most recent ones, despite the painful resistance her throat and lungs made. When she finished, she took a shaky breath inwards, only to have it thrown out of her desperate lungs with a knife to her gut. "Wrong. You missed a word."

This time, the tears fell unbiddingly and her mouth opened for a scream or cry of pain, but nothing came out. He twisted it, and Akari could practically hear the carving out of her insides. "P-please…" she begged, head hanging as the knife stilled and the room silenced again. "Just kill me."

"Now why would I do that, when you're the most entertaining of all?"

A dry laugh shook her body, causing more tears to fall and less air when the knife sliced again at her, this time by her own movements. She wanted to call him a name, but refrained again, opening and then closing her mouth, instead running her dry tongue over her cracked lips. Finally, she spoke without thinking. "Kiss my ass."

The human closest to her ran his fingers from her cheek downwards, resting his hand over her chest. "Gladly." _*****_

Kurama moved to stand in front of her, putting his hands on her cheeks and lifting her face so that he could look directly into her eyes.

"Akari." He said, more sternly than before.

Suddenly, he felt the presence of two more behind him out of nowhere.

"You're coming with us." A heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder and started to turn him around and in the next moment, Kurama felt himself being teleported away, the ground disappearing underneath him and reappearing mere seconds later.

He could see nothing, could hear nothing, and yet his first reaction was to turn back to Akari, whose cheek he still felt under one of his hands, and make sure her condition had not worsened.

~!**!~

"You think I didn't consider such a thing?" She fired his words from before right back at him, shifting around again with the intention of getting up and leaving the situation that steadily made her angrier, but feeling the slice along her calf and her weak muscles and knowing she would not get very far, settling back down into stillness again.

"And what great purpose do _you _have, oh wise one?" She continued mockingly, "Don't tell me _you _were taught one purpose and then defied it and made another." 3

Hiei sneered, not surprised by the turn of events that lead to his own words fired back at her. But, at her last few sentences, the sneer disappeared. His expression became blank and his mind replayed memories from the very early stages of his life, but he brushed them away with a swipe of the plant in his hand across her cuts and bruises.

He didn't answer for a few minutes. He thought, considering even the thought of answering. At first, he thought against it. But his mouth had other ideas. "I was taught to kill everything in sight and steal what I could." He didn't even pause in what he was doing, not even to look up at her to witness her reaction.

~!**!~

For a split moment, Akari had seen a change in the eyes of one of the men. From dark, nasty, muddy brown that flashed with unspeakable thoughts to a brilliant green that shone with concern and other things. Wisdom? The flash had been too brief for it to matter to her, because in the next second, she felt the soft, warm lips of the man closest to her make contact with her neck, a very stark contrast to everything else about him.

And she kicked her feet up, crying out in pain with the knife that became embedded at the hilt, and kicked the man as far away from her as her shaking limbs would allow. She pulled on the ropes, hearing them break under the weight that had been continuously pulling at them as such, and she hit the floor. It jarred her, and suddenly she wasn't seeing a warehouse. The image was gone, but the pain itself was not. At first, she didn't understand what had happened, and she swiped at the hand on her cheek out of pure reflex, grabbing the wrist and pulling the perpetrator forward with every intention of breaking his nose with her opposite hand, which shot out just as quick in an attack.

"You will die!" she growled, wild eyes not seeing Kurama for who he really was. _*****_

Even in the utter darkness that Kurama now found the two of them in, it did not stop him from easily grasping her fist in his free hand, giving the other a sharp twist to release it from where she held on, moving again before she could react.

He grabbed her shoulder and pushed them both forward, slamming her back into the stone wall behind them and hoping the force would jarr her thoughts back to the present.

"We are not alone." He hissed very quietly at her, unable to see but the edges of her features even from as close as he now stood.

~!**!~

"Ah, the life of a bandit." Shikiyoku enjoyed Hiei revealing this bit of information to her as it gave her insight as to his actions up to this point. "Typical demon behavior."

She dropped the other subject, though her mind still burned with curiosity. He did not have a use for her but left her alive. How un-demon-like.

Her arm jerked out of his grasp once as he worked, in more of an involuntary reaction to what he did than with any real purpose. 3

Hiei ignored her completely, simply continuing about his business with addressing the wounds one by one as he had been doing. He actually wasn't sure how he felt about her having that information, not that it was much of a secret. If the others asked, he would likely tell them right out just as he had here. However, he didn't much appreciate being deemed under the same dub as other demons, despite the truth behind such words.

When she jerked, he grabbed her arm again and lowered her wrist until the underside of her arm was resting on the cool surface of the edge of the tub. "It'd do well to stay still."

~!**!~

Akari hadn't been expecting the extreme reaction she was given, and for a split moment, she made a sound that resembled a growl and a squeal mixed, but it was gone before her back hit the wall. The hands on her shoulders were firm, keeping her in place as she assessed the outline of this person before her, the voice that hissed at her familiar, but not one that alarmed her, aside from the meaning behind them.

She took a shaky breath and clenched her jaw closed, fighting against the panic she still felt. A dark place, where she couldn't see her surroundings, and people in the room she couldn't make out…

A scene similar flashed in her mind's eye, and she shook her head back and forth jerkily, not realizing tears had formed in her eyes until they fell down her face with the force of her shaking head.

Then she stilled again, raising her hands to remove Kurama's from her shoulders, silently letting him know she was aware, even if just enough to know it was him. _*****_

"Indeed you are not, Kurama. Or should I say, Youko Kurama? How unfortunate for you both to end up trapped down here, but I suppose it can't be helped." There was no mistaking Otento's velvety voice speaking from somewhere behind him.

Kurama said nothing, allowing Akari to do as she wished in removing his hands slowly before he turned around to face the direction the voice came from, keeping her body hidden behind his own, satisfied that she would do no more to him for the moment.

He had not wished to be so forceful with her, but he sensed the presence of Otento as well as the wall behind her when they teleported, and took advantage of the opportunity when he did not think they would have much time to gather themselves.

As it was, he felt no maliciousness aimed for them and remained quiet and calculating.

"What do you want of me?" He called.

"Absolutely nothing." Otento responded in kind, "Just to keep you out of the way."

"Then let her go."

"Not a chance."

He sensed a huge flare of demonic energy came from where Kurama assumed Otento stood, and he raised his arms as if to block whatever headed for them.

The energy, instead smashing into him as he expected blew right through him as if incorporeal, a portion of it falling into his body. It clamped down over where Kurama knew his own demonic energy lay, an impenetrable orb of completely black energy and cutting off Kurama's access.

Otento's footfalls began and Kurama knew he was walking away.

"So you will leave us here to die?" Kurama asked, taking a step forward.

There came no answer and Kurama kept walking forward with one hand out until his fingers brushed against something in his way that he could not see.

Satisfied momentarily that they were in a limited prison cell, Kurama went back to Akari, having no trouble finding her and placing a hand briefly on the top of her shoulder to let her know he was there.

~!**!~

"Easy for _you _to say." Shikiyoku's voice resonated from low within her chest and she growled once, her lip rising on one side to reveal her clenched teeth. "But I've been through this before. And it _**hurts**_." 3

Hiei felt a corner of his lips lift up into a sneer at the hiss he received, suddenly finding an odd amount of amusement from her reaction. "How about this," he suddenly spoke up, halting in his tracks to meet her gaze evenly. "Be useful and sit still. If you want to be of use, then stop moving and let me do my job."

~!**!~

There were only a few things Akari were aware of, and the situation in which Kurama was dealing with was not one of them. Sure, she knew that they were no longer in the park, but how they'd gotten here, wherever _here _was, and who was addressing Kurama, she didn't know. She couldn't exactly focus straight, her vision- not that it would help in the darkness- was blurred out and her mind was torn, making it hard for her to be sure what was reality and what was just an illusion created by her own sick memories.

There was pain, as if her skin had been sliced inch by inch. There was a sound she could hear that, maybe, sounded like a cry for help, but she wasn't sure of that either. And occasionally, she found herself back in a room that was starkly similar to what she knew of this one- dark, closed-in, and very, very uncomfortable to her. Dog demons never did well with dark spaces, especially dark, small spaces, though she wasn't sure she was even in a small space or if that too was part of her memory.

Angrily, she wiped at her face, as if it would clear the fogginess from her mind. Instead, it only made the feeling stronger, and her breath hitched when a hand again touched her, making her jump slightly before she remembered who she was with.

"Space," she suddenly said, her body reflexively shrinking against the sharp edges of the rugged wall behind her, her shoulderblades digging in with extra force when she realized _this _pain made her feel more in control. "Please, space," she begged, despite all efforts of putting up a front. After all, the last time she'd dealt with a moment like this, she'd had a punching bag and a man who gave pep talks when needed. _*****_

"We are alone. For now." Kurama said to her, "Take all the time you need." He stepped back and turned away.

Kurama reached into his pocket and pulled a small seed, experimentally attempting to tap into his demonic energy, not feeling surprised in the slightest that he garnered no response and the seed remained the same as before in his hand.

He put it back in his pocket, frustrated that he could do nothing to fight back the darkness, which seemed more oppressive and heavy than any normal sort.

He walked forward again until he found the invisible wall with his hand, running his fingers over its smooth surface. He decided to follow it in one direction, coming to find that there were two right turns which eventually put him right back near Akari, where he walked past her and continued, turning right twice again and picturing their square prison in his mind.

The two walls on either side of where Akari stood were stone of some sort as well, the ground underneath them one of dirt, and the fourth wall smooth, Kurama unable to tell what exactly it was that prevented him from going further.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku opened her mouth, intending to fire something full of as much snark as he blessed her with, but quickly closed it again as her arm twitched. She turned her head away towards the other side of the tub so she wouldn't have to look at him, struggling still to not move and managing to continue to be unsuccessful at it unless he paid specific attention to keeping his grasp firm.

She wished it was _her _having to tend to _his _injuries. Then they'd see just how much _he _squirmed.

She managed to pull her other arm up and rested her elbow on the other edge of the tub, leaning her cheek into her hand and making another face down at the rust-colored water. 3

Hiei sneered again when he had no reply given to him other than another twitch of her muscles. Seems like he finally found a way to best her at her own game, it seemed. Not that it mattered, he told himself. He merely continued with what he was doing, a few moments passing by before he got irritated at her jerking muscles.

"Train your body to sit still," he all but demanded of her, but in a way, he was telling her of his own ability to do such. "It's basic for anything. I assume you've attempted fighting before," he continued, never looking up from his work as he continued around the cuts with the plant that he ran over it, watching wounds beginning to seal, just as Youko had said they would. "Even in fighting, you have to keep every muscle under control. Perhaps you should practice that _now_."

~!**!~

Akari stood in silence with her own thoughts and images, taking deep breaths and digging her shoulders into the wall behind her, little by little, hoping that her mind would clear if she created _real _pain, instead of focusing on the pain that was only a part of her imagination.

But after a few minutes, the desired effect wasn't being achieved, so she tried focusing on the sound of Kurama moving about the room. That did nothing but remind her of her own movements when she'd been in a similar situation, and she took another deep, shaky breath. She held that breath, an idea coming to mind.

And before it would become clouded with her inability to see between reality and illusion, she acted on it, letting her head fall forward for a moment, breath still held, and then jerking it back against the wall. The breath left her through clenched teeth as pebbles rolled to the ground behind her. Her eyes remained open despite the pain she now was focused on, trying to fixate on something tangible in the room to see.

But it didn't seem necessary. As the pain continued to blossom in the back of her head, the images began fading as if they had been nothing more than lightning strikes through a night sky, disappearing just as quick as they'd come.

And in relief, she slid to the dirt floor below her, her knees touching her chest and her forehead resting on her kneecaps, arms hanging loosely at her sides. _*****_

Kurama felt that he would gain nothing more from attempting to examine their prison, and he came back and sat down against the stone wall near Akari, leaning back and bending his legs at the knees, letting his arms rest on top of them and closing his eyes. He spent a moment in silence, letting his breathing slow as if he entered a meditative state, hoping to clear his mind and be able to examine their predicament clearly.

~!**!~

"I-..." Shikiyoku began, releasing her breath and refusing once more to look at him, her cheek still resting on her hand, but beginning to burn with a blush of embarrassment even without the admission he inadvertently almost drew from her.

Of course she'd never attempting fighting. Her energy didn't work that way so why try? Any target she'd ever had was eliminated for her by another's hand once she used them past their point of usefulness. No fighting required. The very idea of throwing a punch or actively seeking to kill someone-much less completing such an act-held a foreign place in her head, along with the amused notion that he hadn't killed her yet.

If she was honest...truly the thought of killing another unsettled her. And she remembered vividly mesmerizing victims only to have Youko kill them once she was through...and trying to hide tears from him when he had done so.

She did at least feel worn out and her eyes slid closed. Control, no. Relaxed, yes. How did she come to feel so uncomfortable with his handling of her? Had her mind cleared enough-though she certainly still felt rather weary-that his touch bothered her on some level? A strange thought...3

Hiei raised a brow curiously, waiting for the rest of that sentence, and soon realizing there wouldn't be one. Instead, he learned new information that actually left him a bit surprised. Here she was, barking about being useful, had never had tried fighting. He scoffed once at the thought; was that considered hypocritical, or simple ridiculous? Either way worked for him, so he didn't linger on the specifics of the vocabulary for very long. He did, however, pause when she moved, glancing at her to see what she was doing before going back to work indifferently as she continued to get comfortable.

He half expected her to begin falling asleep, since she had to be worn out by now. It was a wonder she hadn't passed out again from the amount of fatigue her body and mind was sure to be dealing with.

After a few more minutes, he moved to her calves, the last part of her body he hadn't worked on yet, since he'd been so amused with their small battle earlier.

"Will you be able to bathe?" he suddenly inquired, referring to the time _after _he had dealt with her. One look at her hair and he himself felt as if he needed a brief cleaning; there were so many knots, clumps of foreign substances, and etcetera that matched the film of sweat that had dried on her face from the amount of pain she'd dealt with during this healing process.

~!**!~

Even in the darkness, Akari was aware of each movement Kurama made, even as he simply sat on the ground. Focusing on the sounds of his breathing helped hers come to a steady rhythm as well, though now that her body began relaxing she half regretted her decision about smashing her head into the wall. It pounded ferociously with pain, throbbed in a spot where she was surprised she hadn't began bleeding. In fact, she'd refrained from drawing any blood at all, which was a surprise even to her.

Suddenly, she realized just how calm she actually was, her mind even wondering about how Nabu would be without her around for… however long she were here. She gave a small sigh at the thought; the pup had become so dependant of her as of late. A frown settled on her face at the thought of it.

She moved on to something else, turning her head so that her cheek rested on her knees and her eyes were pointed at the outline she could just make out, if she looked hard enough. "I apologize for… earlier.." she mumbled, not sure of anything else to say besides _yeah, I tried to kill you. Sorry about that. __*****_

."Think nothing of it." Kurama did not hesitate to reply. "I am simply grateful that I did not have to attempt to do more to pull you from your...thoughts." He waited another moment before speaking up again, "What do you make of our situation?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wavered right in between the state of awakeness and sleep, her eyes unable to open and her thoughts muddled. Her constitution was certainly nothing to scoff at, former occupations had required high endurance for many reasons, but even she had her limits and she neared the wall where she would be able to go no farther.

When she heard Hiei speaking to her, it sounded very far away, but pulled her back from slumber enough to decode his words.

"Of course." She mumbled, her lips barely parting. Unless he meant this very minute. She didn't think she could do much of anything in the immediate future. 3

Hiei nodded once to her reply, noting very easily that her words were muffled slightly, slurred just a bit by slumber. As he had thought, she'd begun to fall asleep before he'd spoken and interrupted her near-peacefulness. So he shut his jaw and continued on with his work, swapping plants again to the third and last one, which he figured wouldn't be too hard nor time-consuming, unlike the others. But he waited a moment before continuing as his eyes glanced to the water, realizing that, one, it was dirty and, two, it was likely lukewarm by now. So he drained it out, waiting approximately five minutes before turning the knobs for fresh water, easily balancing the two temperatures, but adjusting just a bit so that a little more warmth would filter through to ease any physical discomforts Shikiyoku might be having now.

It wasn't much, but he figured she'd need it, so he waited until the water, which stayed clean aside from the herbs and a very small amount of discoloration, was a little higher than before, enveloping not just a few inches of her skin, but enough to almost completely cover her legs as if a blanket. In truth, he hadn't meant to wait that long, but had anyway without thinking.

And it didn't even hinder his movements as he continued on with his duty.

~!**!~

The desire to argue arose for only a split moment before Kurama's next words cut her off, making her realize she had actually witnessed a bit of his attempts at getting through to her, such as Nabu's name and the flash of green she'd thought she'd imagined. She made a small sound somewhere between a huff and a sigh, turning her head the opposite direction to look at nothing but darkness that rivaled even the shadows from hell she had seen in her lifetime.

She frowned at Kurama's question, her immediate thought being that she didn't know a single thing of the situation, not even how it had arose. But she took a moment to think back, try to sift through what she hadn't been able to discern between reality and illusionary.

And without hesitation, her mouth uttered the words, "we're underground." There was a short pause as she sifted through the past few minutes quietly, but she continued with, "Not far, because there's no water dripping, but underground nevertheless." The smell was awful to her, sickening and made her feel like she were to be crushed. The mustiness of the dirt almost convinced her she was claustrophobic, but she knew she wasn't such a thing. "Other than that, I don't have a clue." She finally admitted, her eyes sliding to a close. She was now tired in every aspect, but despite that she wouldn't be able to sleep, because if she did, she knew what would follow.

And she didn't want Kurama to witness that pitiful sight a second time.

"Well, we know one thing: I wasn't necessary. So, the question is: how did you get on his radar so specifically?" _*****_

"I am the true Youko." Kurama replied simply, "If my former name is being used, it is better that I am out of the way. I changed forms before them and they learned the truth."

Kurama thought on Akari's observations that they were underground and he found that he could not see fault with them. The question was...how exactly did he plan on getting them out?

~!**!~

Shikiyoku continued drifting along, awake, but relaxed to the point beyond outer movement, listening to Hiei's movements and now fully able to appreciate the dextrous, soft attentions that he continued to give her. She smiled.

As soon as Hiei had moved away from his reclined position, Maneshi had slipped off the fire demon's lap and spent a few minutes sitting on his haunches nearby, still as a statue save for an occasional twitching of an ear.

Once Shikiyoku leaned to the side and he noted no further movement from her, Maneshi trotted over to the edge of the tub and stood on his back legs, leaning his front paws against the side and taking an experimental sniff with his body extended, his tail gently swaying back and forth from behind. 3

Hiei worked methodically, shifting his weight from the balls of his feet to the heels several times as he moved about, the plant doing its job just as efficiently as he had hoped it would. Before too long, Shikiyoku began looking like she'd merely had a skirmish rather than just getting out of a deadly war from hell. And by the time he'd sprinkled the plants that Youko had so graciously left him, the difference was astonishing, even to him. He'd known Youko was a master at his work, but for even Hiei to have no trouble with it made him feel a bit more respective towards the fox demon- if that were even possible.

He sat back on his heels again, this time dropping everything he'd held in his tired hands to the floor before he stood, some bones popping and some muscles tingling with sleep as he moved about the tub a bit. "Now its time for you to do your part," he said casually, bending down and picking up every single towel, bandage, and plant that had been discarded on the floor without remorse. "Or else it'll have been for nothing."

Of course, he knew that wasn't true, but he said it anyway on his way out the bathroom door, shutting it until only a small crack was open enough for the cat to move around, if he so pleased.

~!**!~

She didn't know how long they'd sat there, but the silence in the room was deafening to Akari. Her mind wandered from place to place, never really mingling with important things such as getting out, since for her, she didn't see a way out. She couldn't make any plans without knowing the layout of the area above them, and that was impossible since they'd been teleported, as she had guessed.

But slowly, her eyes had drifted closed all over again, this time her eyelids too heavy to keep open much longer. She had no energy of any kind, be it to fight or to even talk, it was gone almost completely. But she shifted her weight again, this time raising her head and stretching her legs out in front of her, lightly tapping her numb foot on the floor.

"Any ideas, wise guy?" she finally grumbled, making a weak attempt at lightening the atmosphere. _*****_

"Besides the fact that I could really go for some sushi about now, nothing seems to be coming to mind." With the darkness around them, it did not matter if he smiled while attempting to sound dry and humorless, and he did so. "You?"

~!**!~

By the time Hiei walked from the room, Maneshi had climbed up and weaved himself behind Shikiyoku's shoulders, laying down with his limbs hanging on either side of her neck.

He lifted his head slightly, peering at Hiei leaving the door open a little, but rested his chin back down between Shikiyoku's arm that her cheek still lay on and her shoulder when she did not make as if she heard him.

Hiei's words had indeed not landed on deaf ears, for when he spoke again he drew her more towards the waking world. She sat immobile, however, completely confused as to what he meant in any way, shape, or form.

She woke up further when his hands stopped attending her, suddenly left to her own devices and she would have let out a huff of unhappy air had she the strength to protest him leaving her alone.

Maneshi began purring in her ear, but it did not seem to have any effect whatsoever. Not that it stopped him from doing so. 3

Hiei stood in the hallway for a moment in consideration, glancing down at the materials in his hands. First, the plants. He would throw them out, since he had no further use for them. So, he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, finding the trash can easily and simply dumping the green, leafy plants into the bag. It didn't take long for the herbal scent to cover the scent of the kitchen's mess, though he hardly noticed it. Instead, his eyes turned to the freezer curiously; hadn't Shikiyoku put up his strawberry ice cream?

He sauntered his way to the odd contraption and pulled the top door open, glad to see that his memory had served right. He pulled the half-gallon from the cold environment and peeled the lid away, tossing it to the counter before he looked for a spoon. As soon as he found one, he scooped some of the sugary substance into his mouth, finding that while the taste was somewhat diminished from having been melted and then refrozen, he didn't mind it so much. So he carried it, along with his other arm-full of towels, back up the stairs in search for a room dedicated to dirty cloths and clothing, as most human dwellings had.

When he didn't find one, he merely turned back the way he came and tried searching downstairs until the machines were in his sights. He didn't know how to use them, so he merely dumped his load onto the white basket that was already filled with clothing. Without another thought, he turned and again walked up the stairs, this time realizing he didn't hear any running water. So, without thinking, he opened the bathroom door, only to see Shikiyoku as he had left her. He raised a slightly twitching brow.

"I didn't mean to sit around. Bathe," he grumbled around the spoon, waving his hand in a "get up" gesture. "You want to be useful? Get through the struggle."

~!**!~

Akari would have laughed if she weren't so tired. With her eyes still closed, her head rested back against the rock wall, not caring that the tender spot on her head slightly ached in protest to the contact. "Sushi?" she repeated, suddenly realizing she'd never had any. Each time Sensui had had some, she'd thought it had smelled repulsive and had turned it down. Then again, she didn't care for seafood either.

Her stomach grumbled at the idea of it now, though, making her realize that she hadn't eaten since about noon. A frown settled on her face. "What sounds nice right about now," she began, her tone matching his earlier one, "is a nice, long vacation away from humans and morons." She paused, then gave a laugh that was completely humorless. If she went by those standards, her vacation would be now, in this room. "How long do you think it'll take the others to notice?"_*****_

"It's an acquired taste." Kurama admitted when she sounded skeptical about his food choice. He listened to her next words, thinking in the back of his mind that he had no idea the time and that he had not gotten any sleep since the previous night.

"Should you find such a place that exists, I would appreciate knowing where it is located." Kurama sighed and went on, "I do not know. I feel as if it is still night, if very early morning, and I would imagine that everyone is asleep now." He allowed himself to blink his eyes sleepily, "Perhaps they will take action in the morning?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wasn't sure what struggle Hiei was talking about, unless he meant her struggle to stay awake.

In an attempt to appease him, as he appeared to be still at the door, Shikiyoku moved, placing her hands palms down on either edge of the tub she still sat in, pushing herself up without much thought.

Or, so she wished to do.

She only her rear a few inches away from the bottom of the tub before her arms trembled violently and gave way without her consent.

Maneshi made no sound of protest, but he did bite her left ear as if to emphasize her stupidity at trying.

"Ow." Shikiyoku mumbled, her lips again not opening much to let the muted exclamation pass through them.

Instead of trying again, she felt around for the bottom edge of the remains of the shirt she wore, but was unable to make sense of the tatters, instead simply fumbling to grasp at it. As she went to pull it over her head, she did not get very far before her muscles seized again and she was forced to drop them back down.

That time, Maneshi did meow a protest, reminding her that if she had been successful, she likely would have knocked him into the water.

Shikiyoku found herself no longer caring about what Hiei thought she should be doing and leaned heavily up against the wall next to her.

"Sleep first." She mumbled again. "_Bath later." _She didn't even get the second half out of her mouth. 3

Hiei eyed the muscles that twitched and jerked at each motion Shikiyoku made, dully noting the fact that he would have to, in the very least, help her up. But as she completely gave in, her body slumping in exhaustion, he too gave in on the notion and reached over to the sink, setting his strawberry ice cream down beside the handles, spoon safely lodged into the frozen treat. Without much hesitation, other than considering the way the cat wound himself around Shikiyoku's shoulders. After that single moment's hesitation, he reached for the cat first, making a point to keep his claws from digging into Shikiyoku's shoulders as he pulled Maneshi away slowly and carefully.

"Go on," he grumbled as he let the cat drop to the tile floor on his feet, making a motion for him to scram from the room, or in the very least, out of his way. Then he turned and found a clean towel still left on the ground, picked it up, and, while the water drained from the tub, thought about how he was going to do this.

By the time the water was gone, he wrapped the towel around Shikiyoku's shoulders and, with one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, lifted her with ease from the tub, ignoring the droplets of water that followed her as he turned and carried her from the bathroom and to the nearest room that wasn't known as_Toriko's_ room. He figured that he'd made enough of a mess in her house, might as well keep the bed nice and clean.

It wasn't hard to open the guest-room door and cross the room to the bed, not even in the dark. And within what felt like milliseconds, he had Shikiyoku laying on the top blanket of the bed, towel keeping her wet skin from sticking to the comforter. Now, he needed to look around for another blanket, just in case…

~!**!~

Akari smiled into the darkness, amused that he'd simply bypassed her blunder and continued on anyway. Her eyelids were now too heavy to even think about lifting, and her body had gone still, her breathing slowly beginning to become calmer than normal despite her desire to stay awake. For a moment, she didn't understand what Kurama's last words were about, but she gave a sound of acknowledgement despite her own feelings of the situation.

She suddenly thought of the speech she'd given Yusuke earlier, about heroes, and realized that she was now expecting him to fill a similar role, despite the fact that there were no emotional attachments to the human. A huff left her as her head rolled to the side just a bit. _Moron._

And after that, she found her mind going completely and utterly blank, and the darkness that she was met with was different than the darkness of the small room she was enclosed in. It became a comfortable darkness that promised peace, even if just for a little bit.

And unbeknownst to her, the motion her body made during her drift-off to sleep landed her head right on the shoulder of the person next to her, her own shoulder meeting his. _*****_

Kurama was not surprised when she fell asleep first, but he had been forcing himself to stay awake, thinking that perhaps conversation would hold off her nightmares.

So, when he felt her relaxing next to him, he finally allowed his own eyes to close, listening briefly to her soft breathing that slowed to a pace indicating her slumber. He found himself unconsciously matching it and he did not know the exact moment when he slipped into sleep himself, but slip he did, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

~!**!~

When Hiei removed him, Maneshi tried not to protest too loudly as he sensed Shikiyoku falling asleep, but his initial yowl at being removed reverberated off the echoing walls of the bathroom. He landed on his feet and swiftly dodged out of the way when Hiei moved as if to kick him aside.

Shikiyoku was, of course, no help at all, though she relaxed mightily once in Hiei's arms, feeling his core beating steadily underneath her arm as she let her head drop against his shoulder.

When he set her down, her eyes came open, the feeling of safety abruptly removed from around her. She made sleepy noises that held no actual coherence, unsure where he had gone and determined that she could not sleep until his return. She even went so far as to manage to roll onto her side, groaning at the dull ache her entire body broadcasted at any movement. 3

For a moment, the fire demon turned to glance at Shikiyoku's odd protest, watching as she even rolled over, but the next moment he turned to ignore it, eyes searching for something useful to him. At first, he didn't see one, so he silently left the room despite all instincts yelling at him not to do such a thing. He slipped into the bathroom briefly, snatching the ice cream from the sink-top and then swiftly maneuvering his way down the stairs, using his speed to his advantage and having not only put up the ice cream, but had another bite in his mouth and found a blanket before returning to the top of the stairs, making his way into the room the same way he had left, calmly and quietly.

He crossed the room and, without any prompting or announcement, tossed the blanket over Shikiyoku, not caring if she protested or not. He didn't think she could afford to get sick, despite the demon's vastly greater immune system.

He paused a moment, staring down at her thoughtfully. "Will you sleep now?" he asked suddenly, not really sure what made him ask if she was even able to fall into slumber. Why wouldn't she, he asked himself. _*****_

Shikiyoku shook her head back and forth, "_Nuh-uh."_

She scrunched her face together in an attempt to open her mouth to speak.

"You...didn't share." 3

A brow raised slightly, making a shadow fall over one crimson eye. He gave a small sound that, for anyone else, might have been a sigh. But to him, it was nothing of consequence and held no meaning. At her last words, however, he scoffed very quietly. "Too bad." he replied, moving around the bed to the other side, deciding he might as well get some sleep as well. So, he plopped down on the bed unceremoniously and crossed his ankles, his hands lacing underneath his head as they always did. "Now sleep." _*****_

"Meanie." Shikiyoku mumbled.

The thought crossed her mind to roll back over and scoot closer to him, but she became very aware of her general uncleanliness as she considered it and decided on staying farther away intentionally. She knew her hair was matted, and despite her legs having been in the water, she didn't want to consider the state of the rest of her and so shoved it away, wondering if sleep would actually let her regain strength or not and feeling for certain she would never fully slip away.

The act of laying down woke her up more, against all odds, but she found she couldn't move about and released a sigh, her mind buzzing with a lack of sleep. 3

Hiei, despite his own sudden realization that he was tired, found himself turning a single eye over to Shikiyoku, who hadn't moved as he had expected her to. In truth, he had expected a repeat of the night with Toriko, where he'd made his agreement and sealed his own fate of being the protector of this woman, who now lay with her back to him.

Yes, he was tired now that he was comfortable, but a slight discomfort somewhere else in his being was distracting him, keeping a single eye open and trained on Shikiyoku. He'd expected her to almost entirely pass out…

After a moment, he let his eye close, the darkness enveloping his being a calm one, but not one where he could sleep. Not yet.

He huffed at Shikiyoku impatiently, realizing it was the bond that was keeping him awake, and he tossed an arm at her lazily, just brushing her tangled hair. "Stop," he mumbled, retracting his arm just as quickly and turning over so his back now faced hers. "It doesn't matter," he finished, referring to whatever it was she was thinking. "Not now." _*****_

If Shikiyoku had been able to keep her eyes open, they would have widened at both Hiei's touch and his comment, both of which were gone as quickly as they had happened.

It wasn't fair that he had the Jagan and could listen in whenever he wanted, she thought sleepily to herself.

In spite of her reservations from moments before, Shikiyoku went ahead and turned back over after uttering a quiet, "Fine."

A gasp of pain shivering from her lungs as she faced Hiei on the bed, lying very still for a moment and then realizing she probably could not get her body to scoot any closer.

Instead, she reached an arm out and around his waist and pulled him back towards her with relative ease for her state, mumbling through her teeth again, "Stupid telepath."

As a result, she banged the sheathe of his sword hanging down his legs against her knee without even considering it as an option and immediately jerked her arm off of him to clutch at it on where it hit. She bit her lip to prevent herself from uttering a sound, but drew blood that trickled down the side of her face and towards the bed. 3

Hiei had gotten comfortable with a single arm under his head, the other stretched out in front of him. He was so close to sleep, that he could almost just imagine the dream that was to come. Instead, however, he was surprised by suddenly being moved; he'd been so close to sleep, despite Shikiyoku and the bond, that he hadn't realized she'd moved at all.

But the sound of his sheathed sword hitting her knee made his eyes open reflexively, the sound bringing him to full awareness out of pure self-preservation that he'd learned over the many years. He waited a moment, until he smelled blood, before shutting his eyelids in consideration and then rolling over again to his back, keeping only one arm under his head, the other with his hand on his stomach.

"What part of _sit still _don't you understand?" he mumbled, though the amused smirk on his face was undeniable, especially when he registered what she'd called him. He didn't even deny it, despite the fact that his Jagan was, as he himself should be, fast asleep. _*****_

"The part where shut _**up**_ you're too far away." Shikiyoku fired back sleepily, afterwards snaking her tongue out of her mouth and trying to lick away the blood that slipped between her lips and dribbled down the side of her face.

If anyone had been looking, the sight of her trying to catch it and just barely failing would have been amusing, her face tense with the concentration on the attempt that was simply not physically possible. After a small noise of frustration, she gave up, a frowning heavy across her brow.

"If you didn't get so far away, I wouldn't have a reason to _not _sit still." 3

Hiei suddenly felt like he was speaking to a human child who refused to take an afternoon nap so that their caretaker could rest as well. His brows drew together only slightly in frustration, but the wrinkles smoothed out just as quickly as they had formed when it was quiet again. With both eyes shut, he missed the scene he could only imagine as his ears picked up on the sound of Shikiyoku licking at her lips and then getting frustrated- at what, he didn't know nor care.

Again, he ignored her retort, this time tossing his arm from where it lay on his stomach to cover his eyes, as if doing so would shut out the noise in the room as well. _Curse demon senses_. Perhaps, just perhaps, if he didn't say anything, she would fall asleep as well… _*****_

Shikiyoku growled suddenly, reaching out again and pulling Hiei closer once more, this time leaving her arm over his body and snuggling her face against his ribcage.

A smile settled on her lips and her breathing grew more steady, Shikiyoku feeling as if his warmth swept over her, relaxing her. She hovered on the edge of sleep, content for perhaps the first time in a long while. 3

As Hiei was suddenly moved, for the second time, he made a sound of impatience and opened his mouth reflexively. "Remember when I said there were times I had considered killing you? _This _is one of those times." Of course, he didn't actually mean those words… to a degree. He merely wanted her to sit still, and sleep, so that he too could find a night of peaceful rest.

And sit still she finally did, after she got comfortable. But for a few moments, he was uncomfortable, which led him to making another sound. Despite this, however, he didn't move. Instead, he decided it wouldn't matter, and he merely stretched his legs a little further out before his body relaxed again, his mind easily falling back into the state it had been in earlier now that the room was quiet. _*****_

"Then do it..." Shikiyoku grumbled at him, knowing the threat was an empty one.

She slipped off into sleep and lay still, but after a minute or two her head lifted and ended up across his chest as she mumbled something incoherent, her other hand moving closer to her face, those fingers softly taking ahold of the dark cloak underneath them. 3

~!**!~

Akari's eyes moved rapidly below her eyelids, her fingers twitching every so often with the dream that was playing out in her mind. It wasn't an important one, per say, but it wasn't exactly one of the imagination either, it seemed. It made fear make its way into her core, swirling slowly at first until her breaths were inconsistent and ragged.

And then all of a sudden, her eyes were open. At first, she blinked, confused at first by the darkness and unfamiliar surroundings. And then she noticed the weight on her head, and, still half asleep, gave a full-body jerk to the side, away from the person she could now smell and sense being way too close in her personal space. A growl reflexively escaped her mouth, her lips curling up to show her teeth, even though it would be a pointless warning in the dark. "Where am I?" she demanded in a snarl, mind still stuck in whatever nightmare she'd been having just enough to keep her slightly panicked. _*****_

"Next to me." Kurama responded immediately. He paused. "Other than that, your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid." He blinked sleepily, having no sense of how much time passed, but being jolted away by her sudden movements left him no less tired than before.

He was not surprised at this. His recent changes into Youko often brought a greater weariness than he was formerly used to and he attributed it to the strain it put on Shuichi's body. 3

Akari was crouched a few feet from the voice that replied almost too calmly back at her, and suddenly her memory came back, hitting her like a brick wall and causing her to deflate entirely, accompanied with a loud puff of air through her teeth. What had she been dreaming about again? She wasn't sure.

"Sorry," he grumbled as she simply sat where she had ended up, legs crossed underneath her as she gave a small yawn. How long had she slept? There was no way to know down here, but it hadn't felt like a very long, satisfying sleep. "I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep," she said simply, as if talking to Nabu, not even realizing just how she might sound to the redhead._*****_

"Mm." Was all Kurama managed to get out at first, his eyes closing again as if he meant to oblige. He stayed silent for a moment longer before gathering himself to reply.

"Don't apologize." He said kindly, "This darkness is rather disorienting." Another pause. "Did you sleep well considering our situation?" 3

Akari stretched her arms over her head, finding that she was becoming a bit sore in her shoulders and neck from sleeping the way she had. She almost considered sprawling out on the dirt floor, but she decided against it and instead simply crossed her arms over her chest, making herself as small as possible in hopes of popping a few bones.

"I suppose," Akari replied, making her tone sound just as nonchalant as she could to cover the lie. "Just about as well as anyone. You?"

She felt even more exhausted than before, but she wasn't one to whine about it, especially not to someone who'd already seen her have one of her _spells_. The thought of another being considering her _weak _and _unstable _left a bad taste in her mouth. She didn't want him to feel as if he had to keep an eye on her constantly. _*****_

"That makes one of us I suppose." Kurama made no attempt to hide the yawn he now made, "I feel as if I could sleep another week and still be tired."

He slowly stood up, stretching his legs and walking about for a moment.

The limited rest he'd gotten, which left him feeling less refreshed than before if possible, had not provided him upon waking with a way out of their predicament, and he decided to muse on the fact that _someone _had to be paying attention and realize they were gone. His guess rested on Koenma being the first to realize, though he nervously thought of his mother and wished he could contact her in order to assure her he was well, if otherwise occupied. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	22. Episode 107 - The Cave and The Cat

**A/N: **Hello once again, Readers!

I am such a huge fan of Keiko/Yusuke and I gotta admit I loved writing the interactions between the two of them in this chapter.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei continues tending to Shikiyoku's wounds,  
and upon finishing carries her into one of the guest bedrooms,  
the two of them falling asleep quickly thereafter.

~!**!~

Meanwhile, Akari and Kurama spend their time in whatever prison in which Otento placed them...

* * *

Akari gave a small sigh, listening to the movements about the room. Part of her was bored and wanted to use her energy as a form of entertainment, but after a minute she realized it wasn't possible. She could feel her energy, but as if it were behind a dam. Her frown deepened, creating wrinkles between her brows. "Not being able to access energy you know is there is kind of disturbing," she admitted, ears following the sound of his wandering as she realized she wasn't sure how it had turned out that way. "Who's doing was that...?" *****

"It seems that our captor is able to lock away other energy. Which would explain why Koenma has had such trouble gathering information on this gang, and why we have been unable to track him down ourselves." Kurama sighed, stretching his arms toward the ceiling, "I can think of a dozen ways to free ourselves, but none that do not involve the use of energy. I'm sure you feel the same." He found a portion of the wall again and sat down, putting his arms behind his head with his feet out straight, crossed at the ankles. "I can think of nothing to do other than wait." 3

Akari nodded once, her hair falling in front of her face before she realized the motion was meaningless. "Well, if we knew where we were and the layout of the ground above, we would be able to at least think about it. But without that basic knowledge, we could end up just stuck under the underside of a building. That's not fun, even if you have energy."

Akari suddenly went quiet, thinking of the one instance similar to this one she had experienced, that expedition ending just as she had told Kurama. She bowed her head, eyes closing as she concentrated on her core, playing and poking the barrier she could feel. *****

Kurama said nothing as she spoke the truth, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander, but coming up with no way out of their current situation.

"I suppose all we can do is wait. It appears we are at the mercy of our captors." He smiled, "I imagine we'll be missed at _some_ point or another." 3

Kurama's musings hadn't fallen on deaf ears, but she didn't reply to his words. There was no point, really. Why linger on facts that could turn to, in some cases, depressing musings about how stuck they actually were and what could happen in the meantime? She instead continued toying with the energy she couldn't manipulate at all, finding dry humor In the fact that it would have been useless in this situation anyway. Illusions and shadows would do nothing in a cell with a comrade.

"Surely it can break," she grumbled, more to herself than to Kurama. *

Since the barrier had been placed, Kurama had not stopped examining the strange black orb that he felt surrounding his energy, but to his knowledge it would remain forever in place. He had not noticed any reduction of intensity or weak points and unlike his encounter with his energy being locked away at the Dark Tournament he could not feel the makeup-seals slowly draining.

"I for one am hoping that Yusuke doesn't oversleep." Kurama spoke up after a moment. Though, he reflected silently, if they were only able to depend on the Spirit Detective by himself, they might be down here for quite a while. 3

A small huff of air escaped Akari's lips in slight frustration at the amount of uselessness she felt. She pulled away from her inner musings in time to catch Kurama's words of Yusuke. The mental image of the human sleeping the day away was too easy to conjure, suddenly making it difficult to rely on his assistance.

"I told Nabu I wouldn't be back until later today," she added, tone even as if she were talking about the weather. She sighed for the upteenth time and suddenly pushed herself to stand. "Well, might as well," she mumbled before walking around the room, a hand running over each wall curiously as she thought of ways to amuse herself. *

"If I had realized I was going to be held captive, I would have at least stuck a packet of cards in my pocket." Kurama noted. He kept his eyes closed, listening for any indication that they would have company, attempting to sense any energy around them, but coming back with nothing on both counts. He took a breath and tried to relax, wondering if it would be asking too much to fall back asleep. 3

Akari continued walking around the room, making two laps before she decided to stop at the smooth wall, pressing both hands against it curiously as if she would be able to make out what it was made of by simply feeling and staring at the darkness before her. She considered touching her nose to it, but with the smell of dirt everywhere, she wouldn't be able to find a scent anyway. She half wondered if they were watching her and Kurama, which made her turn and look up at the nearest corner of the room. _Cameras? _She wondered, considering the option of one might being present somewhere. Without thinking, she moved to the corner of the room and stretched her arm up, curious of what kind of surveillance they might have. *

"So, how did the dog come to follow you around? Besides the obvious reason, as I imagine he took a liking to you rather quickly." Kurama broke the silence, feeling too awake to slip into nap for the moment. 3

Akari paused only for a millisecond at Kurama's topic choice, glancing in the direction of the voice. Shortly after she continued, standing on her toes in attempt to find the ceiling. No such luck, so far.

"Um," she began, voice strained like her body as she stretched even more, "he just... found me?" She knew it wasn't a sufficient answer, so she thought harder. "I guess after you and I parted ways that day, and I shooed him away, I kinda went back to the park for a nap. When I woke up, he was there, asleep on me. I guess I just couldn't make him leave." She made a small laughing sound and dropped back to her heels and moved to the next corner. "At first it was annoying. But he kinda grew on me."*

"Well, he thinks very highly of you, I can tell." Kurama also thought privately the pup was good for her , especially after having been caught up with Sensui for who knows how long. That sort of ultra-loyal companion was likely just what she needed to get her all sorted out. And not leave her lonely and self-destructive. 3

Akari gave a small smile at the thought of Nabu running around her feet excitedly at the times when she had left him alone for several hours. "I find amusement in him from time to time." She admitted, reaching the next corner of the room and continuing her survey of her surroundings. "He's taken a liking to you, but your competition is Yusuke, all because he got steak." She made a small sound to herself as she recalled the sleeping dog in Yusuke's lap. Just the thought made her feel a touch of worry for the pup, left alone again. _*****_

Kurama knew she found much more than amusement in him.

"Uh oh, I'd better get on the ball, then. Yusuke is much more likeable than I. And steak simply makes matters worse for me." Kurama replied loftily. "I'll have to remedy his lead as quickly as possible." 3

A small laugh escaped Akari's lips unbidden, Kurama's tone making his words even funnier to her. As her hand grasped at nothing but air, she gave a grunt and landed on her heels again, this time turning and simply standing there in thought. If they were to be under watch by camera, those two corners would have been the best option.

"He calls you _flowers_," she suddenly informed Kurama, her tone matter-of-fact as she turned back to the direction of the smooth wall. It seemed so out of place, with no door, in this rocky room. "It's funny, actually." _*****_

"Flowers?" Kurama raised an eyebrow in the darkness, still smiling, "I can't imagine why. Did he explain it to you?" 3

"Your scent," she replied automatically, not even giving a thought to it. Even she had had the same thought as Nabu when she had first stepped in front of Kurama on the overpass that day. Not even the human child had been able to cover the scent of plants and herbs that radiated from the redhead, whether he held a weapon or herb or not.

Then she gave a dry laugh as a thought crossed her mind. If there were no cameras, there had to be another way they were being watched. She didn't voice her thoughts yet though, since she wasn't exactly sure. _*****_

Kurama figured as much, though he didn't tend to take particular notice unless he felt like it.

The near-quiet of the space coupled with his exhaustion from the night before had Kurama lulling himself into sleep again when Akari did not at first speak further. His mind went back through the events of the night before and away from their present situation. 3

The sudden silence in the room left Akari turning around and around, trying to think of a way to prove or disprove her thoughts, but coming up empty. She considered shouting to get the attention of Otento and them with something stupid like "at least provide entertainment", but she knew better than that. Doing things like that never lead down a good road when in captivity.

She paced for a few minutes, then got tired of moving and simply took to standing in the middle of the room, pulling the tangles from her hair one by one.

And again, she found herself bored. So she moved and found the spot she'd been in earlier, this time laying on her back in the dirt, not caring if it messed up the work she'd just done on her tangles. She hadn't meant to, but she just realized that her head was pretty close to Kurama's legs, her eyes making out the outline of his body almost perfectly now that her vision had adjusted accordingly. Was he asleep? She closed her eyes, wondering if she even had such a possibility such as falling back into a comfortable sleep.

Instead, she found herself staring into the darkness over her head, bored and her mind buzzing with thoughts of nothing important. Again she sat up, this time facing Kurama with legs crossed underneath her, trying to determine if he was indeed asleep. _*****_

Working backwards, Kurama could not make a particular connection as to the ulterior motive behind the situation in which they found themselves. Sure, he could reason out an individual "why" for each separate event, but nothing seemed to string together into a tapestry of any particular coherence.

Kurama picked up Akari's movements somewhere outside of his head, but he allowed himself to slip one step farther into sleep, lowering his breathing and heart-rate, but remaining aware of the room should something suddenly change. And if he happened to fall asleep in the next few minutes, so be it. He was exhausted. 3

Akari stared at the outline of Kurama, trying to picture the scene as if it were in full light. Yes, she was that bored. She considered speaking up, but nothing came to mind. So her mouth remained closed and she continued to sit there, coming up with random images in her mind for personal amusement, whether it be the room and how it would look if lit, or even something as ridiculous as a video game.

She didn't know how much time passed before that too became boring and she sighed heavily, placing an elbow on her knee and resting her chin in her hand. She figured Kurama was just as tired as she felt, but luckily for him, he seemed able to sleep- as his breathing was beginning to indicate.

Her own eyes slid closed again, and she thought of the smells in the room and the conversation she and Kurama had had earlier, realizing that even now she could smell the plants that the fox demon likely had with him. Suddenly, she remembered Sensui telling her the prime place where the redhead hid his seeds, and she was leaning forward, eyes open and hands in her lap, eyes on the outline of the head of hair next to her. _There's no way that's possible._ Sure, his hair was thick, but to hold seeds, and _not lose them?_ That wasn't possible, was it?

Curiosity began nagging at her, and her head tilted to the side as she tried picturing something such as that. But nothing came to mind, and she was left even more curious than before. _Did Sensui lie about that, too? _

Despite all attempts at self-restraint, Akari found her hand moving, stretching out towards the fox, stopping just short of his hair that hung in front of his face. She knew she shouldn't but the curious part of her was just so demanding, that she couldn't really keep her hand from lightly taking hold of a bit of his hair, inspecting it in search of seeds. _There's no possible way. __*****_

Somewhere on the edge of his consciousness, Kurama knew what Akari was doing, felt her reaching for him on some unexplained urge. He kept none of his poisonous plants there, not that they could do anything unless he manipulated them, so he merely maintained his trance-like state and let her satisfy her curiosity for now. There certainly wasn't anything better to do and a small part of him felt amused that she was being so bold. 3

When she at first didn't find a seed of any kind, Akari dropped the hold she had on his hair, slightly disappointed. But her curiosity was still just as strong, so her hand moved without thinking and she found another parting in his hair and lightly ran her index finger through it curiously, hoping he wouldn't wake up while she was still messing with his hair.

She continued doing this for what seemed like an eternity, until she realized that maybe the seeds would be closer to the scalp than she'd been searching. Her bottom lip jutted out in silent debate with herself; should she try it, or give up before he woke up and likely ended up irritated at her imposing?

Then again, finding a seed would be rather fun…

Decision made, she tried again, this time slower and much gentler than before, weaving her fingers through the hair that she knew would be red if she could see it, until her fingers found something she knew shouldn't be there. She grabbed it with her thumb and index finger and pulled as slowly as possible, until she held the seed in the palm of her hand, almost giving an audible "_aha!" _into the darkened room. _*****_

Kurama could feel the instant she found one, his awareness of each and every one of the pieces in his arsenal bar none. He tried not to smile to himself at the one she just happened to pick. She came away with the very rose seed he used in battle. For some reason the thought pleased him and he hoped she would keep it. For added measure, he heaved a sigh and moved, laying down on his side with his back to the wall, one arm being used as a pillow for his head. 3

Akari withdrew only a little, inspecting the object between her thumb and index finger as much as she possibly could in the darkness of the room. Of course, she had no idea what type of seed it was, but when she held it up to her nose, she didn't get a vile smell. In fact, it almost reminded her of the weapon he'd used on the overpass when Sniper had left. A vine, of some sort?

Just as she decided to attempt and put it back, Kurama huffed and then moved, making her jump just a bit in surprise, thinking he was waking up again. Instead, she listened as he got comfortable again, his movements stopping not too long after they'd begun.

She reached for his hair again, only to find that his back was to the wall, almost entirely up against it, and an arm was under his head. _Well…_ She thought, frowning and sitting back with one palm on the dirt floor behind her. There wasn't any way she could put it back now, she knew. So, she let the seed fall into her palm, closed her fingers into a fist around it, and then rested her elbow on her knee, her chin on her knuckles. _What now? _

Now that her curiosity had been satisfied, she was left bored in the quiet all over again. But this time, her mind was blank, and she actually considered sleep. But in the end, she decided not to, since Kurama was, and she didn't know if Otento would be returning or not. _*****_

Satisfied that she appeared to be keeping the seed, at least for the moment, Kurama finally let himself truly return to sleep, knowing that even if Akari slept as well, one or the both of them would have enough wits about them to awake in an instant. 3

~!**!~

Sunlight made him slightly uncomfortable as Hiei came to waking, the warmth from the rays hitting his eyelids and making him painfully aware of how he felt a bit sore, as if he hadn't moved at all during his slumber. He lay there despite his discomfort, trying to figure out just how long he'd been asleep before even looking at a clock- not that it mattered, he hadn't seen the time before going to sleep anyway.

After a moment or two, the fire demon stretched his body out languidly on the bed, almost having forgotten Shikiyoku was nearby, laying against him and still asleep.

Finally, his eyes opened to look down at the girl, blinking sleep from his sight. _*****_

"_Sh-Shiki...I don't want to die..."_

_..._

"_But I'm not doing this for HIM, I'm doing it for YOU."_

Toriko stirred, her dreams of speaking with her other side dancing through her mind. Something about...a deadly virus. And she remembered there was pain, a lot of pain, and an aching in her right shoulder.

In fact, it still felt like the pain was there, pulsing downwards from that joint akin to a thousand tiny needles. When she shifted in her sleep, that feeling jolted like lightening down the rest of her arm and she could feel her brow turning downward in a frown. She thought Shiki was supposed to take care of it. Toriko certainly couldn't. She didn't have free access to their power. Or not enough of it at least.

The sheet under her cheek felt warm and soft and she released a contented sigh, nuzzling her face into it as if to keep the sun away that threatened to pierce through her eyelids and welcome her into the day. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku shift just slightly, her face rubbing against his cloak and pulling it even tighter around his body, until the cloth hugged his entire body, making even his sheathed sword noticeable. For a millisecond, he didn't care. But very, very quickly he became uncomfortable with the tautness of his cloak, and without any thought, he used his free hand that had been resting beside his body to tug on the cloth, peeling it out from her grasp and adjusting it so that it wasn't as tight around him. Other than that, he had no plans to move, since he figured disturbing a demoness who'd had a night like last night was not wise. _*****_

Toriko tried to move and get the arm she lay on top of, which was in pain from lack of circulation, out from under her, but found that her muscles did not wish to respond, which brought her further out of sleep and into more awareness of the situation.

Her initial shock at realizing her head was actually on top of _someone_ caused her core to jump violently, pumping a massive dose of adrenaline into her brain which allowed her senses to quickly feed her information before she even opened her eyes: the smell of cloves and fiery cinnamon, the unnatural warmth that seeped through the cloth under her head...

"Hiei?" Her eyes came open more slowly and she immediately recognized the black cloak under her, but did _not _recognize any features of the room she could make out. 3

The fire demon frowned; he'd thought he hadn't moved enough to wake her. However, when she spoke up, as if unsure it was him, his brows furrowed even more. Of course it was him; she'd fallen asleep next to him…

"What?" he grumbled out, eyes sliding closed again as he tossed his arm over them again, as he had last night. From the brief moment he'd looked around the room, he'd noted that it was early afternoon, perhaps just a bit after one o'clock or so. Or at least, that was his best guess. _*****_

Toriko blinked, and wanted to move, to sit up, to look over at him, but found that she simply did not have the strength.

The virus must have taken more out of her than she'd thought.

"Where are we?" She mumbled, closing her eyes again, wondering at how strange the predicament she found herself in seemed. What possessed the fire demon to let her sleep next to him in this manner? She blushed. Not that she found she minded. Quite the opposite...3

Hiei let out a slow breath from his nose, suddenly realizing what was actually wrong with the situation. It wasn't Shikiyoku next to him, but the more human half, as Shikiyoku would have put it, Toriko. He again took in a large breath of air and let it out through his nose, as if in doing so he could clear away the odd situation.

There was no way in hell he was about to bring up what had actually happened.

"Your house," he replied nonchalantly, removing the arm from his face and slowly moving to sit up, but not really getting far. Instead he only scooted enough to adjust his position a touch, releasing the uncomfortable twinge in his muscles and relaxing completely with one leg propped up on the knee of the other, laying almost entirely on his left hip. "A guest room, since you were wet." _*****_

Toriko's eyes flew open again, feeling the towel underneath her for the first time, and in the same moment being assured that she did in fact have some sort of clothing on, though she couldn't imagine what it was. It felt too drafty to be anything she usually would wear.

She almost hated to ask, but…

"Why was I wet, exactly?" 3

A scoff left Hiei as he glanced down at Toriko, taking only a millisecond before considering his answer. It wasn't like it wasn't the truth. "Cleaned the wound of poison." Sure, it wasn't too far from the truth. He _had _cleaned wounds, one that had turned the ointment and odd color made him assume there to be poison. "It's not an easy task with a simple cloth." _*****_

"Oh..." Toriko trailed off, brooding to herself for a moment, "Um. Thank you." Even if she didn't remember it. She let out a puff of air that might have been a laugh, "That virus must have been something awful. I don't feel like I can move any part of my body." 3

Hiei didn't reply. There was nothing he could say in this situation, so he stuck to staying silent and simply laying there for a moment. However, he grew tired of simply laying there before too long, and he shifted to sit up, this time actually sitting up and looking about the room once again.

He felt rather well rested, considering how late they'd been up the night before. His crimson eyes shifted to Toriko again, this time taking in the knots and tangles in her hair, and how matted it was. That was going to be difficult to explain, since there was blood, dirt, among other things in her hair.

"Laying around all day won't benefit you in any way." he finally stated as he swung his own legs over the side of the bed, but didn't yet get on his feet. _*****_

Toriko knew he was right, but even as he left her and she tried to rise, she only got so far as to getting up on one elbow before her arm trembled and gave out underneath her.

She didn't bother cringing as she fell back down on the towel. It wasn't as if it hurt all _that _much. But her eyes did widen at the discovery and it took her twice more before she finally sat up, back hunched over as she stared down at her hands which shook just from the effort. 3

Hiei listened to the efforts of the person behind him, honestly not surprised at the struggle he could hear. He glanced over his shoulder at her, seeing that Toriko had managed to sit up, but didn't seem to making an effort to stand. And he didn't expect anything less.

He stood finally and moved around the bed until he stood in front of her, blank eyes staring down at her as he assessed the multiple possibilities of the situation. He could carry her to the bathroom, where she could bathe herself, except he wasn't sure she could even stand on her own, much less cleanse herself.

Finally, he made a small sound of impatience and moved closer to the bed, silently offering himself as leverage for her to stand, and if she were to need it, he would offer more assistance, though he'd prefer if she figured out how to get through it on her own. _*****_

Toriko heard him coming closer, a sudden sense of anxiety gripping her about having to rise with any sort of speed.

"You...don't have to wait for me." The words practically fell out of her mouth all at once as she mistook his stare and presence. "I can barely sit here, and I think standing is out of the question. I'm sure you have better things to do."

She placed her hands down on her thighs and her eyes widened again at the state of the jeans she wore...if the could even be called jeans at this point. They were barely held together stips, and she realized the shirt she wore was in much the same condition, neither one doing much more than preserving whatever dignity she had left in this situation. Her mouth hung open in shock as she took it in and it left her quite speechless. Surely a _virus _hadn't done all this...3

Hiei raised a brow silently at Toriko, not surprised by her misinterpretation. He waited for a moment before blinking slowly at her in expectation, waiting on her to at least _try _to stand. But she didn't, and he knew that she probably wouldn't be able to. So, without any forewarning, he leaned forward and slid a single arm under her knees, easily sliding his other arm behind her shoulders, and without saying a word, lifted her from where she sat as if she weigh nothing more than a feather, and he swept out of the room with general ease, crossing the hall into the bathroom without any obstacles such as closed doors or a cat at his feet, as he'd half expected.

Then, he stopped before the bathtub, glanced up at the showerhead that appeared to dislodge from the part that connected with the wall, other than a cord of some sort that, he assumed, allowed the water to flow through it, then all but dropped Toriko into the white tub. Satisfied, he reached up and handed her the showerhead, figuring she'd need it, and placed everything else nearby within reach from her sitting position.

"There." he stated nonchalantly, turning his back and taking two steps before pausing and glancing back at her once. "You reek of dirt and sweat." With that, he left the room, shutting the door with a soft _click_. _*****_

Toriko blinked and stared at the showerhead now in her hand, for a moment uncertain how exactly she'd gotten here. When her mind caught up, she could feel the warmth all the way down to her toes.

"How embarrassing." She mumbled to herself, feeling her general sticky and ickyness.

Her hand holding the shower head started to shake and she set it in her lap, heaving a sigh. She could tell there was _no _way this was going to happen. And yet, at the same time there was no way in _hell_ she was going to let Hiei know that.

As she sat for a moment wondering what on earth she was going to do with herself, she heard a small, curious "miau" from the other side of the tub.

She managed to turn her head to spy Maneshi regarding her with wide eyes, each one being a different color making the expression a little haunting.

"What you up to?" She asked rhetorically.

The cat murled and hopped up to the edge of the tub, butting her face with the top of his head and making Toriko smile.

He sat down after that, tall and slender with his tail wrapped about his feet.

"I don't suppose you have any ideas?" She moved the shower head around a little and almost laughed as Maneshi flinched. "It's not on."

He regarded her with a long, unblinking stare, made slightly comical by the fact that the tip of his pink tongue peeking out from his mouth.

"_I do." _He spoke into her mind, hesitantly.

Toriko said nothing, only lifting her eyebrows as he moved and rubbed his side against her shoulder, beginning to purr.

"_But you aren't going to like it. And you could very well end up being worse for a time after." _

He would say nothing else when she questioned him, walking around behind her daintily on the small lip at the back of the tub, continuing to rub up against her. He turned the corner, rubbed her shoulder with his own, then nimbly dropped down into the bath, stepping lightly down one leg and then back up the other before jumping up to the edge back where he started.

"_Steam will help." _He blinked once, slowly. "_Though you should probably undress first." _

Toriko felt no qualms at his suggestion since he was only a cat after all. She set the shower head down across her thighs and pulled the remains of the shirt off over her head, feeling quite stiff still, but stronger somehow.

Maneshi hopped down off of the tub as she dropped the piece of clothing onto the floor, going over to sniff at it as she grabbed for the sides of the tub and lifted herself up enough that she could sit back down on the edge of it before she collapsed.

The jeans were a little harder to remove, but once they were gone and on the floor she reached over and turned the handles as hot as they would go, water bursting out from the faucet and almost instantly starting to steam up the room.

As she dropped her undergarments to the floor as well, Maneshi hopped back up beside her and rubbed her arm again. She continued to feel stronger and thought that this whole bathing thing might actually be plausible, quickly moving to grab for the showerhead and get wet, at which Maneshi promptly hopped back down.

She could hear the water dropping to the tile floor behind her and found that she didn't care, the heat helping her muscles relax.

The steam had filled the room with a heavy haze of air and humidity, but Toriko hardly noticed as she went about soaping off the grime and sweat she felt clinging to her skin, a frown deepening on her face as she noticed wounds she did not remember acquiring on her legs and arms, her expression darkening even more as they slowly began to disappear before her eyes.

"Maneshi, what are you doing?"

The air was even heavier than before, and would have been hard to breathe in for any normal human. The haze was thick and palatable, almost like a fog and beginning to make it hard to see.

"It will likely get worse, and I'm sorry for that."

The hairs on the back of Toriko's neck stood on end, and yet she felt no alarm, the voice on the air resounding with the same bass-timbre as the one she had only minutes ago felt brush against her mind. Though this one sounded strained.

Trying not to think about it too much, Toriko reached forward for shampoo and placed it next to her, her mind focusing heavily on the task before her. However, when she went to lift the shower head and wet her hair, a pang of distress shot down her arms and she could not do it.

"Sorry." The deeper voice breathed, hitching in the middle of the word. "I'm about at my limit. Let's finish quickly."

The shower head was taken from her hands and sprayed onto her hair and Toriko did not protest, leaning her head over the tub and taking intermittent breaths as the water flowed down either cheek and over her mouth and nose.

The shampoo came next and while she could feel the slender fingers working it through, she maintained her stillness in the hopes of not hindering the process.

She closed her eyes this time when the water began pouring back over her face, suds from the shampoo being cleaned from her long dark hair and taking with it all the impurities Shikiyoku had acquired when kidnapped.

Just as the last of it washed over her eyes, the shower head banged noisily against the edge of the tub and Toriko could not help but whip around to investigate.

The fog was too thick at that point for her to even see the floor, though she spied a darker place that she thought could have been hair streaming over the rug.

Toriko turned back and whipped the faucet handles off so the water would stop flowing, twisting her legs back over the edge and carefully setting her feet down on the slippery tile. She took the two steps to the cabinet and wrapped a towel around her before dropping to the floor and spying one brown eye and one blue eye regarding her with a pained expression.

"Maneshi?" She asked, reaching her arms out.

"_Here."_

He struggled to stand on all fours and walk towards her and she reached for him as soon as he stumbled into range, gathering him into her lap and off the damp rug.

A wave of pain struck her and her calf began aching, so she shifted her legs out from under her body and leaned heavily against the outside of the tub, feeling as if she would no longer be able to move.

Her head dropped forward, her chin nearly touching her chest, and she squinted as she could practically feel every muscles draw taunt in her body, the pain almost unbearable. She had little mental capacity to spare and none of it was even remotely attempting to pick apart what had just happened or what Maneshi had just done.

There was a cut on her arm that reopened and slowly began leaking blood towards her hand, and she felt the same sort of sensation at the same calf that ached, another batch of pain stinging across her eyes as she sat holding Maneshi close and trying to catch her breath. 3

Hiei had walked away from the bathroom altogether, deciding to give Toriko her privacy and head downstairs, where there was still a mess to be cleaned up. He didn't think leaving it for her would be wise- not that she'd simply yell and kick him out, but having her clean it up with her injuries just wouldn't do.

As soon as his feet touched the kitchen floor, he set to work, dashing about and picking up pans and cans that Shikiyoku had tossed around days ago, or at least it felt that long. Had it really been less than a week? It had felt like an eternity to him.

Pans clattered as he unceremoniously dumped them in the cabinets where he assumed Shikiyoku had produced them, since there were similar objects inside. He stacked the cans inside the cupboard according to the semi-organization he saw, hoping it would look as if nothing had been messed with. And then when that was done, he turned and looked at the pile of melted, green and brown mixed ice cream that he'd scorched, the burned container just a pile of ashes mixed in.

A frown settled on his face as he turned to look around the room. Where she would keep her cleaning supplies, he didn't know. So, he set out to search for anything useful, eventually coming up with enough things to restore the kitchen to its normal appearance just as he heard the water in the bathroom turning off, after which he wasted no time in flitting his way back up the stairs with a single glance back at the kitchen, satisfied.

Now he stood in front of the door, listening to the sound of her breathing from behind the door and for any signs of movement. He considered barging in, but wasn't sure if she was covered, so he shifted his weight and turned his back to the door impatiently.

"I'm surprised you made it this far," he called through the door tauntingly, referring to the fact that she had yet to pass out. _*****_

Toriko fought back the useless feelings of pain that her muscles screamed at her, subduing them at the sound of Hiei's voice and letting them hum angrily at the back of her head.

"I can't get up." She managed to mumble, still holding Maneshi's limp body in her arms, the haze of the steam in the room making her feel a little heady as she squeezed her eyes shut. 3

Hiei wasn't surprised by the words he made out from behind the door, and took them as a _green light_, as the humans said. He turned around, hand finding the knob easily and twisting it, his body moving in one swift motion with the door, taking only a single step inside as the steam from within berated his senses entirely, momentarily surprising him.

After a mere second, he recovered, his nose picking up on the smell of her blood making his mind easily brush away the irritation that the fog in the room gave him. He stepped forward, eyes seeing Toriko through the haze, holding Maneshi, who looked just as drained, and before too long, he was lifting the towel-covered girl and the exhausted cat from the floor, easily maintaining the balance so that not even Maneshi would have the chance to wobble.

How many times had he carried her like this in the past forty-eight hours?

The thought was brief, brushed away as he turned and left the bathroom, cloak swaying behind him and occasionally sticking to a moist surface. It slid away, no longer catching on anything once he was out of proximity of the steamed room, entering Toriko's room with a simple turn of his wrist and nudge at the door, glancing down at Toriko and Maneshi before setting her on the bed so that she was sitting, cat in her lap. And this time, instead of leaving the room, he rummaged through her drawers for clothes, finding some clothing material he vaguely remembered her wearing to bed at a different date and tossing them onto the bed beside her, turning his back on her but not leaving the room. "When you're dressed, I'll dress the wound." _*****_

As soon as they were set down, Maneshi climbed unsteadily out of Toriko's lap and misstepped, falling off the side of the bed as Toriko gasped loudly, unable to move to pull him back.

Her muscles seized within her again, her eyes slamming shut in agony and her hands forming fists, the action of tightening causing a third wound to reopen on her arm, and forcing blood out of the other two faster for just a moment. 3

Hiei heard the gasp and turned curiously, only to lunge forward without thinking and snatch the falling ball of fur out of the air by the waist. For a moment, he stood the way he caught the cat, arms outstretched and Maneshi dangling in his hands, long legs stretched to full length and tail swaying from the sudden stop of motion. _Hm. _

He then moved, breaking the still-as-a-statue pose and standing upright, cat in his left arm against his chest, feet underneath his sleek body for support. "Pain in the ass." he mumbled before his eyes turned to the cuts on Toriko that were reopened.

Without a word, he swiftly moved from the room at top speed, retrieved the last bandaging wraps from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and returned, all within a second, to standing in front of Toriko again. He set the cat on the floor and gave a stern look that read _now sit still_ before he turned to Toriko, lifting the arm that had begun bleeding first and wrapping the gauze methodically around and around, tight enough to stay in place, but not too tight as to cut off circulation. Once he was done with that, he did the same for her leg and other arm.

Once it was done, he stood upright again with a small sound of approval at his own handiwork before turning his back to her again, fully expecting her to at least begin dressing herself. _*****_

Maneshi collapsed to the floor where Hiei set him down, his eyes closed and his side rising and falling rapidly, no other part of him moving.

Toriko for her part made no sound of pain as Hiei made quick work of her wounds, but the pain itself was etched deeply across her brow every time he moved something.

"I can't move." Her breath hitched up in her lungs as even they tightened in protest. "Everything hurts." 3

Hiei, for some reason, hadn't thought of such a possibility such as the girl being completely immobile. He stood there for a moment, unsure and suddenly very uncomfortable at the situation. What should he do? He sure as hell wasn't going to remove her towel and _dress her_, because that was not his duty, even if he were her _Champion_.

He made a sound of disapproval before thinking harder on the matter, eyes trailing to his crossed arms. His pupils widened at the cloth he was looking at, suddenly finding an easy solution to his problem, despite his reluctance about it initially.

He turned around and, in the same motion, pulled his cloak from around himself and wrapped it around her body, making easy work of pulling her arms through the sleeves and then easily adjusting her so that she lay on the bed, head on the pillow that appeared most used. "Happy?" _*****_

Everywhere he touched her made her want to scream, each time he moved her around sending incessant spikes of pain around that portion of her body.

And then finally he had her laying down, wrapped in the cloak he wore that still held much of the warmth he carried around naturally.

All the pain from before still ravaged through her system, and she grimaced, but pulled her head down farther into the neck of the cloak until it covered her nose, and then stopped moving altogether.

She opened her eyes once to glare angrily at him for asking such a ridiculously stupid question, but said nothing, trying to just concentrate on getting air into her lungs. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the glare he received from underneath his own cloak, the thought of that being a rather amusing one all of a sudden. "I'll leave you to your thoughts then," he said as he turned to leave, deciding that he wanted ice cream. Of course, he planned on coming right back to this room, whether she wanted him there or not, but she didn't have to know that just yet.

He didn't even shut the door behind him as he went, making his way down the stairs and straight through the kitchen that looked so odd now that it was clean; he'd gotten so accustomed to the mess he and Shikiyoku had made of it.

He tossed the thought away and grabbed what he came for, plus an extra spoon, just in case, and made his way back up the stairs, slowly, to give Toriko time to believe he wasn't returning for a while.

And on the way up the stairs, he heard the most annoying sound:

A dog's bark from the streets.

!**!~

Nabu called out once for Akari, wondering where she had been for so long. Sure, she could have gone to that large building where Flowers and other people went during the day, but she had left the bag and clothes for that place behind, and her scent hadn't renewed itself in the room since her leaving last night. He was curious, expecting her to be in the park, where he now realized her scent was headed, albeit a faint scent trail.

But when he got to the park, her scent abruptly disappeared, and no matter how far he walked, he couldn't find where it picked back up. That was when the alarm set in.

Never before had she shown him _that_.

So he took to searching the streets, occasionally crossing his own scent and backtracking, doing this for what felt like days, even though the sun hadn't set even once since he'd began his hunt.

And the longer he searched, the more distress he felt. He began to call more often, barking into the crowd that occasionally picked up in flow, then lessened again during the different hours of the day.

He even went back to check their home again, but nothing had changed.

_Loudmouth! _he suddenly thought, remembering the boy who had fed him, let him sleep in his house, and then dumped him on the floor with a loud bellow before loving on him some more. The dog turned and began a nice, steady run towards the place he knew the boy resided, but instead found, when he arrived, that his scent lead away from the building, so he took to following after the boy's trail diligently. _*****_

~!**!~

As soon as Hiei turned and left the room, Toriko closed her eyes and tried to relax, the warmth of the cloak assisting greatly in her attempts as it soothed the muscles away from their tightness. Even if just a little.

Her eyes flew open again after a moment when she remembered Maneshi and at the silence in the room, she could pick out his labored breathing somewhere on the floor.

Her desperation to know his condition allowed her to scoot once, closer to the edge of the bed, but she finally cried out in pain at the effort, her own breathing matching that of the cat below that she could now make out, her eyes heavy with concern.

"Maneshi?"

She received no response.

~!**!~

"Yusuke Urameshi! You're in big trouble, mister!"

"What is it _now, _Keiko?"

The girl ran to catch up to the green-uniformed boy marching along, getting close enough to smack him in the back of the head with her brown satchel.

"Don't give me that!"

"Ow!" He rubbed at his neck, "What was _that _for?"

"You know exactly what that was for! You already miss so much school what with working for Koenma, and then even on a day when you _do _make it to class, you're half a day late and you bugger off early!"

"It's not _my _fault the teachers have nothing interesting to say."

"That is _not _the point and you know it! You're making me look bad-"

"As class rep," Yusuke interrupted, "Yeah, yeah I know."

"Then get yourself to class next time!"

"I can't promise you that."

"You'd better!" 3

~!**!~

Hiei slowly, or as slowly as he could withstand, made his way up the stairs, pausing at the landing with a spoonful of Ice Cream in his mouth, swallowing the cold substance that made his teeth hurt. He lodged his personal spoon in the tub of ice cream and then turned to the bedroom door that stood wide open, pausing at the sight he saw.

Toriko was leaning over the bed, eyes trained on the mass of black fur on the floor that moved with heavy breathing to match the girl's. He considered the scene for a moment, not taking too long before he had deduced what was going on and continuing into the room, approaching first the cat, picking up the ball of fur, and then laying Maneshi down beside Toriko, on the side of the bed that was unoccupied so that, if she were to fall asleep and roll over, she wouldn't end up laying on the small creature.

"_You… didn't share." _

Those words echoed in his mind from the night before, just before he sat down in a chair and sat the extra spoon in his hand. "Do you want any?" he asked, holding up the tub for her to see since he was on the side she was facing. He figured she might be a bit hungry, and this was all he could offer her at the moment.

And in that same moment, he stuck a spoonful of the sweet substance in his own mouth as he waited on her response.

~!**!~

Nabu ran down the sidewalk, nose to the ground as he followed the scent he barely knew from the one interaction with the person he was hunting down. It was his last chance to figure out where Akari was, and he wasn't going to miss it.

Occasionally however, he crossed his own scent and became distracted, or the scent of the boy clashed with another scent that left him confused, wandering in circles until he found the same scent again and taking off like a rocket.

He even ran through an alleyway, where other, much larger dogs growled at him in warning for trespassing on their territory, making him run even faster, tail between his legs with the rush of fear he had experienced.

If only Akari were here, then…

_Then I wouldn't be looking for Akari! _he suddenly thought, realizing his own thoughts were beginning to mix and mingle, much like the scents in the streets.

At one point, he had to make a run from a large man with a net and some other contraption who ran at him, hollering like a banshee and stomping his overly large feet in his direction. He'd been a bigger man, so outrunning him hadn't been much of a problem.

By this point, he was sitting in front of a large building that was a bit similar to the one Akari visited on some days. His chest rapidly moved with his huffs of air, trying to regain the precious element of oxygen that he'd lost on his trip here.

It had been such a tiring one, but he was worried.

It was the afternoon, almost time for dinner, and Akari hadn't returned to him yet. Normally, she'd be yelling at him for lunch before he even woke up, telling him that later they would visit the park and play before she went and took care of some things on her own.

But she hadn't even come home for breakfast today, like he'd hoped she would. Yes, she had said she would be back this afternoon, but it was almost evening, and Akari _never _missed lunch with him unless she were at the building like this that was filled with people.

The worry made Nabu lay his ears back and his eyes scan the crowd suddenly emerging from the large building in front of him. His nose twitched, and before long he caught sight of the boy with markings on his face, except they were hardly noticeable today. Had he not been so worried for his best friend, he would have thought on that fact, but he was too preoccupied otherwise.

After a few more moments of sitting on his haunches, huffing for air, he stood on all four and bolted through the crowd, calling "Hey! Hey, Loudmouth! Steak-boy!" sure, he didn't know the boy's name, but it wouldn't matter because he didn't think the boy fully understood him anyways.

"_I can't find Akari! She left with you yesterday, right? Where is she?"_ As he barked out the questions, Nabu ran up to the boy, not even halting when he reached him but instead making circles around his feet, frantically trying to convey his worry.

"_You know where she is?!"_ _*****_

"Um, Yusuke, you realize there's a puppy running around your feet?"

"Huh?" Yusuke looked down, "Nabu!" He exclaimed when he recognized the dog. He bent down and grabbed the dog's sides to lift him up, "What's got _you _all excited, boy?"

"Nabu?"

"Yeah, it's Akari's dog."

"Who?" Keiko asked threateningly.

"Keiko, come on now. Wow, he's really squirming around. I wonder what's up." Yusuke put Nabu back down before he dropped him, but he squatted down to talk to the dog more directly. "Slow down there, short-stack. You're wearing me out."

Keiko did the same as Yusuke, though he had his hands in his pockets and she had her legs together under her longer skirt, holding her brown satchel in front of her knees.

~!**!~

At his question, Toriko's stomach growled too loudly to mistake the noise for anything else and she blushed mightily.

She acted as if she was about to hold out an arm to get a spoon from him, but just before she moved her arm decided against it and managed to shake her head, casting her eyes down. 3

Hiei felt a corner of his lips lift at the sound that all but echoed in the room, giving him his answer for her. But when she shook her head, he tilted his head to the side with an expression that read "really?"

Then he moved the chair forward a little, so that he could reach her, but instead of extending an offer to her as he had originally thought of doing, he sat back and placed another spoonful of the ice cream in his mouth, eyes staying locked on hers almost tauntingly.

And he waited only a few moments like that, with the spoon hanging from his mouth, before giving a small huff of amusement and giving in, taking the extra spoon and scooping the substance up just enough to control, and lifted it to her mouth, pressing the chilling spoon to her lips lightly in a silent offer.

~!**!~

Nabu had wriggled his entire body when picked up, knowing that this wasn't the reaction he needed in order to get his urgency across to the boy who now knelt before him. The dog's body visibly shook with the effort it took for him to suddenly sit still, ears laying back and tail tucked as closely to his body as it could get, a small whine escaping from his maw, which opened only enough for the sound to be heard in a plea.

"_I don't know where she is, and she left with you… but __**you're**_ _back, and she's __**not**__."_ he whined, his front paws unable to stay still and moving automatically with the amount of emotion he felt. "_Help me!"_

Suddenly, his eyes turned to the female next to the boy, eyeing her bag that was held in front of him, giving him a sudden idea. He turned back to Yusuke and lightly nipped at his clothing, hoping this would get his message across before he turned and began running back the way he came, pausing to look back and see if the boy understood his actions. _*****_

"Well, I don't think _that _could get any more obvious." Yusuke stood and started after the pup.

"Agreed. Is he always like this?" Keiko fell in step beside him.

"Not that I know of. But I've only seen the little guy one other time. And that was last night!"

~!**!~

Without her realizing it, Toriko's eyes flashed approvingly at Hiei's tease.

"_He's __**learning," **_a smugly self-satisfied voice said that she didn't think was her own, but it sounded like her. And it acted as if a thought coming from her own mind. And Toriko's...other side was gone for the moment, Toriko knew, slumbering most heavily in the darkest recesses of her mind as if exhausted beyond comprehension. She dismissed the random interjection.

Toriko pulled back a little as Hiei reached out with a sample. Her concern did not stem from a lack of ability to hold her own spoon, but rather that even if she could do so, she feared dropping it on his beautiful cloak.

However, as the spoon, icey cold, touched her lips, she found herself unable to do anything else put part them and accept the offering he extended. She certainly did not regret the action, though the flavor of the strawberry sweet snow seemed a little...duller than she expected.

She nodded a curt thanks, mouth full and letting the treat melt a little before she attempted to swallow, her tongue snaking out and licking her lips. 3

Hiei met the flash in Toriko's eyes with a sneer of amusement, his own irises flashing in contrast with hers. He wondered of her thoughts at that moment, but didn't dwell since it was inconsequential and unimportant to him.

When her lips opened and then closed around the spoon he offered, he slowly pulled it back, letting her get a majority of the substance off the spoon before simply taking it all away from her, though that would have been amusing to witness.

He scooped another bite of the ice cream for himself, sticking his spoon in between his lips before replenishing her spoon as well, waiting until she swallowed the bite he had given her a moment ago before offering this one to her, much in the same fashion.

~!**!~

Nabu felt relieved, albeit just a touch, that the boy seemed to understand him. But now, where would he go? Home, to show that Akari's things were still there, but she was not, or the park where her scent ended? He paused outside the wall of the large building's grounds, looking right to left, right to left. _Which way?_

Finally, he made up his mind and darted to the right, towards home, his small body weaving through the people easily, but he did turn back to check on the boy and his friend every so often.

And it didn't take long before he reached his and Akari's home, where he slipped in through the hole on the side of the building and stood in the middle of the room, waiting for the boy to enter as well before he hopped around and around the few things Akari held as her possessions, namely her school supplies, as she'd called them once before. _*****_

"Where do you think he's taking us?" Keiko asked curiously as her eyes kept track of the small furry animal that kept stopping to look back and make sure they followed.

Yusuke shrugged noncommittally.

"Wait, where'd he go?"

Keiko pointed to a hole in the side of a building, "I think there's a door on this side." She broke into a trot and found the door before Yusuke, cautiously trying the doorknob.

"Not even gonna knock?" Yusuke came up behind her and startled her so that she dropped her hand and turned beet red.

"Well, I figured whoever is in there probably knows we're coming."

"I didn't take you as the breaking and entering type, Keiko!"

"Oh, shut up." Keiko went ahead and threw open the door with gusto, having discovered it was unlocked, and walked inside with Yusuke trailing after.

"Geez this place is a mess."

"I wonder who lives here."

"Who in their right mind would live here?"

"Someone who goes to school." Keiko noted, pointed at a uniform.

"Hey, I'd know that terrible pink color anywhere! That's where Kurama goes to school." Yusuke smacked his hand against his forehead, "Well _duh,_ that's where Akari goes too."

Keiko raised an eyebrow at the mention of the girl, but stayed quiet on that subject, "Then, why did Nabu lead us here?"

"I dunno. Nabu? Buddy? Where'd you go?" Yusuke stepped farther into the house.

~!**!~

Toriko did not hesitate this time when he offered her another bite, but she couldn't help the befuddled expression that passed over her face as she moved the sweet snow around in her mouth again.

Something had to be wrong... Hiei wasn't this nice. At least not to her. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? She was wearing his cloak...he was feeding her sweet snow... She felt strangely puzzled by the whole situation. 3

Hiei raised a brow even further at the expression that took over Toriko's features, the black blending in with his hair that hung over his eyes. Then his lips moved into the sneer that had disappeared only seconds ago, finding her confusion amusing to see forming between her brows and making her eyes spark with thoughts.

He suddenly sat back again, taking the spoon from her mouth much faster this time and simply lodging it into the strawberry goodness, leaving it there as he continued eating. If she didn't want it, he wouldn't give her any. He would simply eat it all by his lonesome.

~!**!~

Nabu heard the door open, and glad he had done what he'd been intending to do, he hopped up on the desk across the room and layed down so that only his front paws and his chin rested on an open book and some papers that Akari had worked on three days ago, the last day she'd gone to school. Her pencil was still in the crease where the pages turned, the lead dull and only one set of teeth marks from the moment his best friend had gotten frustrated at the paperwork, and promptly given up.

As soon as Yusuke called for him, he called out "_Over here"_, but to them he knew his words would be nothing but a small, barking whine. So he repeated the sound, his big, brown eyes staring right at the boy as he waited for the spark of understanding that the pup was trying to grasp from this one.

Too bad he couldn't find Flowers. He'd understand much quicker than this one would… _*****_

Yusuke started to head to the part of the room he heard Nabu making noise from.

"Aw, don't look so sad." He stuck his face in Nabu's and pouted, patting him on the head.

Keiko wandered more slowly in the other pair's direction, her eyes keenly taking in the room and the things inside.

"Yusuke..." She began thoughtfully, "When was the last time you _saw _Akari?"

"Um," Yusuke stood up, but patted Nabu's head again, stopping to scratch at his ears. "Last night?"

Keiko's temper flared again, "I won't even _ask _what you were doing together last night." She closed her eyes and huffed out a bit of air, "But I guess that sort of throws a wrench in my theory."

"Your theory?"

"That she's missing." Keiko said offhandedly. "I mean, look at him." She gestured at the dog and closed the distance. "He looks so sad."

~!**!~

"Meanie." Toriko muttered under her breath as she dropped her eyes away from him when he made no move to offer her more, secretly glad that he stopped before she messed up his cloak somehow.

She _knew _he was acting too nice. He really just planned on enjoying torturing her the whole time.

Her stomach growled just as loudly as before and she blushed again, absolutely refusing to look up and see if Hiei was paying attention. 3

Hiei was, of course, paying attention, but he chose to ignore the sound he heard from Toriko, his mind instead on the stark similarity between the one word that he'd been called by her; it was the same thing Shikiyoku had said the night before, when he hadn't shared with her either. The similarity made him ponder their relationship for a moment, so concentrated on his own musings that he didn't even scoop another spoonful of ice cream for a few minutes.

Had they always been so similar? He wasn't sure, since he'd dealt more with Shikiyoku than with Toriko. His initial thought was _no, they haven't_. However, he noted several similarities and decided he'd just been imagining things, only just now catching how similar the two were since he was now able to compare them in a more even way. After all, she was rather similar to Kurama and his Youko half, where they shared many similarities, but were, also, starkly different in some areas.

So with that reassurance, he wrote the moment off as coincidence and finally added another spoonful of Ice Cream to his mouth, this time being generous and offering one to Toriko as well, despite his earlier thoughts about her pouting.

"Get over it. Can't do anything yourself."

~!**!~

Nabu could have growled in frustration at the density of the boy who wasn't even beginning to understand what he was trying to say. But the girl saved the boy from a bite on the hand- not a hard one, of course- by speaking up.

And the pup listened very intentively, watching her with keen eyes that suddenly realized she was beginning to understand what was going on. He sat up again, paws dancing on the papers below him as he let out a bark at the girl when she spoke about Akari being missing. His ears were forward, his entire body now moving with excitement now that at least _one _of the two had realized.

"_She's gone!"_ He barked again, this time standing up and making a very small circle on the book, accidentally ripping papers that he briefly glanced down at before leaping from the desk and approaching the girl, hopping up and down on his hind legs, his front paws only barely making contact with her shins.

"_She's missing! You got it!" __*****_

"Doesn't look so sad now." Yusuke pointed out.

"Hush." Keiko told him, squatting down as she had earlier, her eyes narrowing in thought as the dog bounced up and down. She watched him very carefully as she slowly spoke, "Akari's missing."

~!**!~

Toriko made no protests about taking the sweet snow from the spoon, but after it melted a bit in her mouth, she spoke around it, "But I _hate _being useless." She grumbled and moved the lump around with her tongue, still refusing to meet Hiei's eyes. 3

Hiei's eyes narrowed only for a second before he tilted his head at Toriko, immediately assessing the girl before him with a glint in his eyes. "Then be useful and eat." he replied curtly, expression unchanging from his assessment of her as he spoke, even lodging the spoon between his teeth afterwards. "Fool." he uttered around the utensil.

~!**!~

Nabu spinned and spinned around and around when the girl said the two words he'd been trying to make her friend understand, feeling a lot more weight gone now that someone knew. _Oh!_ he thought suddenly, stopping every motion and looking to the door, thinking about the end of the trail at the park. Should he lead them there?

His eyes turned back to the girl, thinking hard. Would they know where to look? _Not if they didn't know where to start. _

With that thought, his teeth grabbed hold of the bag she held and he tugged as gently as he could, so as to not rip the bag, that would get her to follow as he turned to dart out the open door and to the park. _*****_

"Well, aren't you a regular dog whisperer." Yusuke noted.

"Oh, shut up." Keiko said half-heartedly as she allowed Nabu to tug at her bag, standing up to follow him.

"You know," Yusuke started hesitantly, "If Akari really _is _missing..." He tapered off, shaking his head, "You follow Nabu. I'm gonna go see if Kurama's seen her. Or Toriko. They ought to have been at school and maybe she's been there the whole time."

"Okay!" Keiko agreed as she started to take off after the little dog who had already shot down the sidewalk.

"I'll find you when I know something!" Yusuke called, breaking into a trot himself and giving Keiko a little wave as he headed towards Meiou High. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	23. Episode 108 - Finding the Captives

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Enthusiasts!

It's really difficult to make chapters out of our roleplay. It just sort of keeps rolling along since we were not writing it with "episodes" or "chapters" in mind. This makes the flow strange when we're trying to put it in this sort of form as really it's best read just kind of all in one go.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

As Akari and Kurama remain captives, Akari manages to flitch a seed from Kurama's hair while it appears he is asleep,  
though naturally the avatar was fairly aware of it and did in fact simply _let _her snatch it.

~!**!~

Meanwhile Nabu is desperately attempting to find Akari and ends up running into Yusuke and Keiko,  
the first of which runs off to see if he can find Kurama  
and the second of which runs after Nabu who is leading her to the park.

~!**!~

Toriko woke up next to Hiei and remembers nothing of the night before.  
After Hiei dumping her in the tub and Maneshi assisting her in bathing,  
Hiei carries her back to her bed and shares sweet snow with her.  
She complains of being useless to which Hiei replies,  
"Then be useful and eat, fool."

* * *

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Toriko grumbled again. She paused for a moment, feeling that her muscles had relaxed a bit, though not enough to be moveable. It would take more heat than Hiei's cloak had to offer to release their tension. She could, however, feel the blood being staunched from her wounds where Hiei had dressed them.

"How did this happen...?" She had only meant to say the question within the confines of her own head, but she asked it so quietly that she thought perhaps he hadn't heard. Not that she expected an answer from him, but if she was going to be in pain, she at least wanted to understa-

No. No, she didn't. She didn't want to know. Toriko squeezed her eyes shut and tried to distract herself by shifting a little on the bed, earning herself a solid pound of pain that shot through her nerves and cut off any thought processes she had. 3

Hiei made no indication that he heard Toriko at all, not even her first reply to him when he'd retorted about her being useless. He sat in silence, shoveling another large spoonful of Ice cream into his mouth and simply letting it sit on his tongue, freezing his teeth and numbing his tongue altogether as it melted in his mouth, leaving bits of strawberry pieces in his mouth and a smooth liquid. After a minute, he swallowed that mouthful and hung his empty spoon in his mouth, now deciding he was done with it and wondering if he should put it up, or continue offering some to Toriko.

The silence in the room was almost uncomfortable now, all of the sudden. He resisted the urge to shift his weight, making himself sit still as his own eyes closed briefly, listening to the world outside of this room, outside of the house altogether. Cars, people, animals. They were everywhere, busy, while Hiei simply sat here, doing absolutely nothing aside from watching over Toriko.

He pushed that thought away and slowly peeled a bit more ice cream from the tub, intending to offer it to Toriko, except her eyes were closed.

"You should rest," he said suddenly, yet not moving from his spot at all.

~!**!~

Nabu sped off at his greatest speed, only slowing down once when he looked back and saw the girl following him falling a little behind. But after that, he continued on until he reached the park gate, at which point he stopped and waited for the uniform-clad girl to catch up. Despite his heaving little chest and his shaking little body, he turned and began trotting again, leading her right to the spot where Akari's scent disappeared, where he promptly sat on his rump and looked up at her expectantly, not making a sound other than his heavy breathing that occasionally made him wheeze or huff from the lack of oxygen.

_Please, understand this is where she was last… __*****_

Keiko slowed once she saw Nabu sitting down, starting to look around her for any sign of...whoever it was they were searching for. Keiko laughed nervously to herself and squatted down in front of Nabu.

"You know, I get this strange feeling you can understand me." She reached out tentatively, unsure if the dog would accept a pet. "Because before we left that place back there I had this urge to ask you where you last saw her." Keiko laughed for real this time, though it were nothing more than a small chuckle. "Funny, isn't it? Talking to a dog like that."

~!**!~

Toriko opened her eyes and felt conflicted at the sight of Hiei before her.

On the one hand, she desperately wanted to ask after his thoughts. On the other, she wasn't sure why he was still around. Her eyes glanced at the tub in his hands. Surely it wasn't for _that_. He could probably get some of it anywhere he wanted.

...what did he want from her?

For her own part, Toriko did not feel tired, just...in lots of pain.

She had a sudden desire to reach out to him, but thought against it, instead gathering her strength together and pushing herself up from the bed, her muscles quivering madly.

She even went so far as to stand up, though she knew the ability to do so would be brief indeed, and she took the cloak from her shoulders, feeling strange standing there in front of him in just a towel, but not thinking he would care or notice.

Toriko knew taken even a step would be impossible, so she satisfied herself with tossing the cloak over Hiei's shoulder. Her legs collapsed underneath her, though it appeared that she simply sat back down on the bed, hands on either side of her thighs and her head hanging down.

She knew her face was stricken with the pain of what she'd just done but she didn't want him to see so she took a moment to recover her facade.

"I'm sure you have much better places to be than here." Toriko finally said, breaking the silence once she knew she had her voice under control. 3

Hiei watched Toriko carefully, taking in every tremble her muscles made, every flicker of pain across her face as she moved. The amount of effort he could _see _it took her almost made him interject.

Almost.

Despite the change in her that sparked the movements, Hiei remained where he sat, not really worried about the girl who forced herself up, just to toss his cloak at him before sitting back down. He considered it pointless, but figured to her, it was likely an achievement with how weak she must feel, how much pain she was in.

He moved only to throw the cloak around his own shoulders, where it belonged, before resettling back into place silently. Even after she spoke, he didn't move. Not at first, anyway.

"You're right," he said finally, gathering the spoons and the ice cream tub together in one hand, "I do." And with that, he stood and vacated the room, leaving her alone while he merely put up the ice cream and tossed the spoons in the sink, with no real intentions of leaving the house. None at all.

However, what he'd do now, he wasn't sure. He could go back, but a part of him figured she only wanted to be alone for a bit. The thought did nothing to him, not even piquing his interest, so he simply stood there in front of the sink, considering options.

~!**!~

Nabu huffed, his little heart pounding a million miles an hour, or so he guessed. And when the girl crouched before him, talking and reaching as if to pet him, he leaned his head into her hand, seeking comfort from the person who seemed to have understood him perfectly throughout the time he'd been trying to break through to the other one.

He made a small bark sound that, really, held no actual meaning when she spoke of him understanding her, but otherwise didn't react to anything else aside from scooting closer and laying in front of her, eyes on the spot where Akari's scent ended as if, maybe if he stared hard enough, she'd suddenly appear there. _*****_

~!**!~

Yusuke didn't slow down until he reached Meiou High's school yard, his eyes briefly scanning the crowd of kids that were still mingling about, preparing for the after school activities.

He dashed inside the building, running down the hall, not really sure if he should call out Kurama's name or not. He certainly didn't know where to start looking.

"Excuse me, young man!" A severe-looking teacher stepped in front of him and Yusuke skidded to a halt. "You appear to be in the wrong school."

"I'm, uh," Yusuke resisted the urge to deck the adult on principle, "I'm looking for, uh," For some reason Kurama's human name escaped him. "Akari. I'm looking for Akari." He settled on using the girl's name instead.

"Akari?" The teacher's eyes narrowed, "And what would you want with her?"

"Look, it's really important." Yusuke said through clenched teeth, "I need to talk to Akari."

"I think you need to leave the school grounds, young man. Go back to your own school and stir up some trouble there."

Yusuke's teeth were grinding together and he closed one hand into a fist, fighting back his desire to knock this stupid teacher out so he could continue looking elsewhere.

~!**!~

Toriko didn't understand why her heart sank at his words. Of _course _he had better places to be. She'd seen that look on his face when he was just sitting there. She just didn't know why he hadn't left before she mentioned it.

She heaved a sigh into the empty room, trying to rid herself of the sudden melancholy that settled over her. There was nothing wrong! Stop feeling so depressed!

It wasn't working.

How about stop caring? Think you can do that? She asked herself.

Not likely. She had no idea why he acted so strangely around her all of a sudden. Practically nice, really. Where she mostly remembered his cold and distant attitude, moments ago he'd been practically _**flirting **_with her over sweet snow for crying out loud.

Without the warmth of his cloak, she felt her muscles tightening again and let out a long suffering sigh, staring blankly at her matching bandages on either arm.

She remembered that she might have the strange heating device downstairs, the one that was similar to a long sock, but had rice or something in it. You put it in the microwave and then it retained the heat for a while.

It _was _kind of small though. She really needed one for her entire body.

Toriko sighed again and stood up, not bothering to change into the nightdress that Hiei had picked out at random and put on the bed for her since he'd left anyway, and leaving the room with the towel still wrapped securely around her body.

Each step was like crunching down on top of so many searing coals, or walking across a bed made of nails. Excruciatingly painful.

Toriko let out one silent grunt as she came to the stairs and walked down them with great effort and willpower.

She stumbled when she reached the bottom, grabbing frantically for the wall and instead ending up leaning against it, eyes closed and breathing heavy. For good measure, she just let her shoulder slide down until she sat on her knees on the floor. Taking a moment to quiet down and gather herself again. 3

Hiei had stood there, weighing his options for a few minutes before he made up his mind and pulled a chair out from under the table, sliding his slim frame into the seat and sitting back with his arms crossed over his chest. If he wasn't there to offer assistance, he fully expected Toriko to attempt doing things on her own. Of course, he didn't exactly believe she would make an attempt down the stairs because of her wobbly knees, so he slipped away into his own thoughts for a minute.

As he'd just witnessed a few moments ago, it appeared Toriko did not share memory with Shikiyoku, which was slightly problematic since she might continue to ask about the night before and all of the wounds she had acquired. And the fire demon wasn't happy about that, since the _last _time she'd realized she had been attacked she simply passed out in the bathroom, leaving him to deal with a very robust demoness.

He had no idea what would happen if she knew what he did. Would her human half simply… disappear? Is that even possible? He didn't even have a clue.

In the back of his mind, Hiei registered a sound over by the stairs, but he didn't feign away from his thoughts. If it had been important, he would've felt urgency in the bond, which he now assessed before returning to his thoughts briefly

~!**!~

School hadn't been released for long, and people were everywhere, each person going to a different place than another. While one was headed to the Chemistry lab, another would be headed to the musical department. While one went home, the other went on search for a teacher or a friend.

But not this boy. Today, he had plans to head over to the arcade. Ever since Aminuma had been beaten by Shuichi, he'd been trying to best the time in which his class rival had defeated the child. Even now, he was determined to begin predicting how the game would go, playing with the puzzle in his mind- who needed the actual game, right?

_Not me_, he thought to himself smugly as he walked, book bag in hand.

But there was a disturbance in the air, and the closer he got to the door, the worse it got. The atmosphere was thick, and the hall was quiet. His first instinct was to pause and listen, but there was nothing more than silence still, so he rounded the corner.

His eyes set on the back of his homeroom teacher, whose broad shoulders were bearing down on none other than Yusuke Urameshi. It wasn't hard to deduce the situation.

"Mr. Shinbara," he called as he approached, eyes steady on his teacher who turned to meet his gaze, "There's a disturbance up on the third floor. I assume you're in charge, since the Physiology professor is out today?" He paused, glancing at Yusuke. "Don't worry about him. I'll see to him personally." _*****_

"Kaito!" Yusuke exclaimed cheerily, approaching the dark-haired boy, "What's up, man? Haven't see you in forever!"

~!**!~

It was the first time that Toriko felt thankful for her apparently high tolerance for pain. It was the only thing that let her stand back up again with just a quiet sharp suck of air as her muscles kept protesting. She tried to keep focused on the end goal here which would result in what she hoped would be some relief.

_Get some heat. Get some heat. _She tried repeating to herself over and over to block out more of the pain, her eyes squeezing shut as she leaned away from the wall. She didn't even want to consider getting back down in the bathtub because of what happened earlier, though the idea of laying there either in hot bath water or letting the shower pour over her was appealing, and her thoughts touched on Maneshi briefly with concern.

_Geez, this hurts. _She pushed herself away from the wall, mind already made up that she wasn't going to consider how she got the wounds. They were here, simple as that, and she was going to strive to take care of it. Despite every part of her body screaming that she shouldn't be able to move, much less walk around.

Toriko stubbornly ignored the pain and stood tall, one hand holding the top of her towel in place as she walked with relative normalcy-albeit at a rather slow pace-towards the cabinet at that end of the kitchen and opened it, reaching up and pulling down the heat pack she so desperately desired and closing the cabinet again. She walked a foot or so to the left and opened the microwave over the stove, placing the pack in and closing that door as well, setting it to run for over a minute and pressing 'start.'

Her arms fell after that small strain and she grimaced, planting her hands on the edge of the stove and looking back and forth between the bandages as her arms began shaking and she could not stop them. She sighed and waited for the microwave to finish. 3

Hiei sat in silence, chin on his knuckles and elbow on the table's wooden surface, not paying any attention to his surroundings at all. His thoughts were consuming him, centered around the past twenty-four hours. How had yesterday gone from stealing ice cream and making snide remarks to saving a life? His eyes slid closed, as if he'd been staring ahead at the front door this entire time, his breathing evening out as he fell further into his thoughts.

What in the three worlds was he going to do about this situation?

~!**!~

The dark-haired male stopped in front of Yusuke, looking at him curiously. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?" he finally inquired, having caught none of the conversation with him and the teacher. "You only come over here when there's trouble. Didn't pick another fight, did you?" Of course, he was taunting the boy, but whether his tone gave that away or not…. that was a different story. _*****_

"Trouble. Yeah." Yusuke gave what would have been a nervous laugh if he didn't know how true Kaito's statement was, "Look, I'll just lay it out. I _think_ Akari's missing. Like, kidnapped missing. I was hoping to find Kurama and ask him when the last time he saw her was."

~!**!~

When Toriko reached in to touch the finished heat pack, she felt dissatisfied with the temperature of it and closed the microwave door again, punching in another minute and a half onto the timing and starting it up.

Her stomach growled angry.

"Really?" She looked down at it, slightly perturbed at how hungry she could feel considering the pain that ravaged the rest of her body.

Sighing, Toriko shuffled her way over to the fridge and opened it, the hum of the machine filling the room as she peered inside. The cold made her body tremble as it washed over her uncovered and already shaking limbs.

She reached for a middle shelf almost automatically, looking for a snack that she knew was there, but her hand missed and she frowned, bending down a little more.

The _had _been a crate of strawberries there the last time she looked, but it was gone. She blinked in thought. She didn't remember eating them.

Her sigh was heavier this time. There wasn't really much else she could just grab, and there was no way she could actually cook anything in her condition.

Toriko took an experimental sniff to see if anything stood out, and her eyes widened as she flinched back, not expecting her nose to be enveloped with the strong scent of open fish.

Still sniffing, she pulled her head out from the fridge and followed it-now that she caught the smell she couldn't get rid of it-finding that the smell did not originate from inside. The fridge door started to close automatically as she made it over to the trashcan and opened it, raising an eyebrow as she saw the various bits of trash, as well as the fish she sought, that definitely had not been there the last time she threw something away.

She _really _didn't want to think about this right now, letting out another exasperated sigh. 3

~!**!~

Kaito raised a brow at the immediate response, or lack thereof, from the detective. However, when he suddenly said the name _Akari_, his brows raised further and his lips formed a frown at the words. "You mean the demon who was with Sensui?" he clarified, not really having learned her name aside from the fact he was in the same class as himself and Shuichi. He'd been puzzled by that turn of events, but figured now wasn't the time to inquire.

"What makes you think that?" He glanced behind him, suddenly realizing she hadn't been in school today, along with the redhead. "I mean, I figured Shuichi was her keeper. Why don't you ask him." _*****_

"He's not her keeper he just-" Yusuke shook his head. He could explain later, "Well, I was planning on it, but I ran into you first. Know where he is? Or even better, have you seen her today?"

Kaito's brows went from hiding in his hair to forming wrinkles between his eyes, turning his forehead just a shade of red. He thought about the information he'd just gathered, realizing that Shuichi only missed school during Cases, and on those instances, wouldn't Yusuke be with him?

"Neither of them showed up today." he finally informed, crossing his arms over his chest, feeling a disturbance in the air. "I assumed he was with you, saving the world again." _*****_

Yusuke blinked as he tried to process what he'd just been told.

"Oh." He managed to get out. Akari _and _Kurama missing? Today was NOT his day. "Don't tell me that Toriko's gone too?" He seriously hoped it wasn't the case, but there was a chance she would know where one or the other were at of the _two _people he now found himself looking for.

~!**!~

Toriko felt like she suddenly didn't want to know. Didn't want to question it, didn't want to ask. Didn't know why she didn't want to ask, for that matter. But felt strongly that the subject should be avoided.

She closed the trashcan back up and promptly turned away just as the microwave began beeping again, traveling over to it and retrieving the heat pack.

Its length and size let it rest over her shoulders, around her neck, rather easily without further attention and because of the immediacy of the heat. She knew that after a time her skin would likely turn pink from the exposure, but for the time being it felt amazing and she wished for the second time that she had one giant heat pack, like the size of a body pillow, that she could lay down and cuddle with.

The image in her head suddenly shifted and instead of the body pillow, it was Hiei, all nice and warm, and Toriko's eyes grew big and she shook her head violently in an attempt to rid herself of the picture as she felt her entire body flush with embarrassment at having thought up such a thing.

_Well, if you hadn't given his cloak back, you'd be in the next best thing. _She said to herself as she moved back out towards the living room area, cheeks still pink.

"It wouldn't matter anyway," Toriko argued out loud, "Because the cloak doesn't hold the heat for that long and Hiei-" She cut herself off, nearly choking at which side of the argument she'd just taken with herself, and the image from before snaked back into her mind's eye.

She cleared her throat and said nothing else, finding the entire situation ridiculous, though the blush across her skin gave indication otherwise. 3

Hiei, if he hadn't known any better, would have thought he'd fallen asleep. However, his senses were beginning to open up to his surroundings again, his thoughts trailing away to nothing important. He simply didn't feel like dealing with troublesome things today, so he made a point to push them away.

After a few moments, something grabbed his attention and caused his eyelids to slide open, his crimson irises sliding over to the girl he hadn't realized was in the room. Her ramblings, though he didn't hear the actual words, had pulled him from his reverie of quiet peacefulness.

"Even when alone, you can't keep your mouth shut," he said simply, more taunting than anything. "Too bad. Must be odd without any comforting silence."

~!**!~

Kaito thought for a moment, mentally picturing the classroom he'd been in all day long. In each seat was the person assigned, except exactly three seats had been vacated. His eyes focused again on Yusuke, his frown deepening. What was he getting at? Surely not all three of them were missing. They'd have to be really smart to get around Shuichi, maybe not so much for Akari except for the power he'd learned she had. "She wasn't here either." _*****_

Yusuke groaned, "You've gotta be kidding me." He had no idea where Toriko lived, but he was certain Kurama would. And his house wasn't all that far away. "Well, thanks anyway Kaito. I'll go see if Kurama is at home." He turned to leave.

~!**!~

Toriko froze in place, every hair on her body feeling like it stood on end the instant she heard the voice from behind her.

And not just any voice, no of course not. _His _voice.

She felt as if her blush couldn't get any deeper.

Her mind blanked, save for the picture that she just couldn't get rid of, but the leg with the wrapped calf shook with the effort of holding her in place and she took a step forward after a moment of pause, completely ignoring the jab the fire demon made at her and continuing to walk in the direction she'd started, over to the living room and the basket of dirty clothes she spied laying in front of the wide, open closet with the washer and dryer within them in the corner of that room.

She felt very aware of her lack of glasses now, as well as her hair that was just beginning to dry and laying around her shoulders, and so she said nothing even when her mind caught up with her.

Toriko reached the basket and dropped to her knees beside it, legs giving out underneath her just as she did so. She lifted an arm towards the clothing, again shaking with the effort, her other hand clutching at the towel covering her thigh. 3

Hiei's eyes slide the other direction, away from the girl he'd addressed and to stare at the wall, knowing that the only window in the room was over the sink, and curtained. He almost thought about going outside, but when he considered it, the scene from the night before flashed before his mind's eye and he visibly cringed, making himself focus on the heat he could feel radiating around Toriko.

But then he let his mind wander to other things, suddenly curious of what the others were up to. However, he pushed the sudden impulse away, shifting in his chair again so that he faced the part of the room where Toriko had disappeared from. He listened to her movements, but didn't get up to go check on her. Why would he, when she could simply call for assistance should she need it?

_**As if**_ _she would call for his help. _The logical part of his mind reminded him that she wouldn't ask for help unless absolutely necessary. The thought made him scoff and lean back in the chair, arms crossing over his abdomen and eyes looking to the part of the room he'd last seen her. _Oh well. If she needs help, she'll call. _*****

Toriko shifted through the pile of laundry with one aching arm as she knelt there on her knees-ignoring any bloody things she found there-almost absentmindedly since her mind was actually straying back to Hiei now, her former awkwardness and blushing over with.

Why was he still here? Shouldn't he be out doing...other things? Whatever that encompassed. There was certainly nothing interesting around here to keep him, she thought to herself. So why hadn't he left like she expected? Especially considering his words when she suggested it earlier.

She finally found what she searched for and pulled it from the recesses of the basket. The summer dress was plain and sleeveless and went just past Toriko's knees. She'd only worn it once, so it wasn't terribly dirty.

After Toriko slipped it over her head and pulled it down, her arms seized up and she fell against the wall with her shoulder, grimacing again, the wall feeling cool against her cheek.

She squirmed around a bit as she managed to get the towel to fall off from underneath the dress, pulling it out and leaning back up against the wall, breathing heavily.

Next problem? Getting back upstairs to fetch her glasses and put up her hair. And having something on under the dress would be nice.

She couldn't stand up. Her jaw clenched tighter as her legs twitched, having already done much more than they ever should have been able to. Her arms felt in similar straits.

Toriko thought about Maneshi, laying upstairs on the bed, and forced herself to her feet. At the very least, she needed to see him, check up on him.

She slipped back down the wall, her legs simply refusing any command she gave them, unable to think through much else but the cloud of pain that darkened her vision as she hunched over.

~!**!~

Yusuke put his arms up behind his head as he walked away from Kurama's house and began to wander aimlessly down the street.

His mom had answered the door and let Yusuke know that Kurama had called her and mentioned a school trip.

"School trip" was usually code of "Helping Yusuke Save the Human World." But, as Kaito observed earlier, Kurama was not actually _with _Yusuke, though it wouldn't make much difference to Kurama's mom.

Yusuke grumbled incoherently to himself about the entire situation.

He had no idea where Toriko lived. Neither Kurama nor Akari were at home. And he'd completely forgotten to say something smart to Keiko like "meet me at the park in an hour." Oops. 3

~!**!~

Hiei listened to the silence of the house, waiting just as patiently as he could, knowing there was no way Toriko would be able to do much more than what she'd already done. In fact, he was mildly surprised that she'd even moved around as much as she had.

His eyes slid closed as he stifled his amusement, glancing now towards the stairs that would lead to the second floor of the house. He didn't know what drew his attention to the stairs, but he didn't linger on it, instead turning back to view the other side of the room again. She still had yet to call on him, which wasn't surprising at all.

He heaved a sigh and stood, making the chair squeak against the floor as the legs scraped the wooden floor. He considered his options, wondering if he should check in or wait, to prove his point. Unsure of what to do, he found himself only standing there, debating with himself.

Another sigh, and Hiei was moving through the kitchen and to the living room, deciding he'd sit on the couch instead. Might as well, right?

~!**!~

The warm summer air whipped at blue locks, worry making Botan's oar speed up through the earth's clouds, both hands securely keeping her in place as she zoomed down where she knew Yusuke should be. And as she had known, he was leaving Kurama's house, where the ferry girl knew for sure the redhead was not.

"Yusuke!" she yelled over the wind that roared in her ears. "We have an issue!" With that, she swooped down and landed on her feet, making the rest of the way to the boy at a run from the five or so feet she'd landed in front of him. _*****_

"If you're here to tell me something about someone being kidnapped, you're a little late." Yusuke raised an eyebrow at Koenma's recent habit of slowness. Things in Spirit World must be busy.

~!**!~

It took another minute or two for the pain to lessen again, enough that Toriko could form a coherent thought. Even when clearer, they still rested on getting back upstairs, at least to Maneshi if nothing else. Since nothing else seemed physically possible for the moment.

She used the wall for support again, sliding back up it and leaning her body weight against it, turning around and facing towards the stairs.

Her vision closed in again and she stopped, one foot that had been lifted to take a step coming back down to the floor. She blinked several times and took a deep breath, keeping careful observation on the darkness at the edges of her eyes and debating whether or not she needed to stop again and sit down. Crawling upstairs was also a thing, though she immediately dismissed it. She wouldn't resort to _that _until Hiei decided to leave.

Her jaw tightened again. _When _he decided to leave. She had an eyebrow quirk angrily once as she closed her eyes and fought off the fainting spell again. 3

Hiei heard slight movement somewhere in the house, but it stopped shortly after and he wondered just how long she was going to make herself suffer like that. He realized that he was practically being a worry-wart over this, almost driving himself insane over her. Why? Why did he bother? As Shikiyoku had said at one point, she was more a nuisance than anything, something for him to keep tabs over constantly. He earned nothing from this agreement that he'd made that left him sitting here, badgering himself.

_Pathetic._ he thought to himself, eyes sliding shut as he realized just how off-kilter this woman made him. How on this plane of existence had she managed that?

He suddenly stood, unable to take it any longer, and he walked through the house until he found Toriko, leaning against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest at her, irritated that he'd put himself into a bad mood from his musings. After all, the only way to figure out how she had made him this way was to assess every single moment. But he couldn't do that. There were too many things going on.

"Give up?"

~!**!~

Botan frowned, resisting the urge to smack him for interrupting her. But, she wasn't surprised that he'd already gotten the gist of what was going on. How much had he figured out before now, anyway?

"Listen," she began, out of breath from her haste, "Koenma was doing routine checks on the energy in the area, like always, and then he realized Akari wasn't in town. Her tracking device, at first, wasn't able to be seen on the monitor." She paused to take a breath, then continued hurriedly, worried for the duo, "So Koenma looked for you guys on the screen so he could figure out where you were to let you know, and Kurama's is gone too! His energy is just… missing. Nowhere."

She took a deep breath again. "And that's when Koenma sent me to get you. He's trying for the tracking device again, but he thinks both Akari _and _Kurama are in the same place, with that demon you said you could never find! But that's unheard of! A demon hiding energies!" By this point, she began babbling, unable to help herself. It was simply a nervous habit. _*****_

Things were at least a little...clearer than when he'd started.

"And Toriko? What about her? She wasn't at school either. And do you know where Keiko is? I told her I'd find her as soon as I figured stuff out." Yusuke was ready to get back into action as soon as Botan pointed him in a direction.

~!**!~

Toriko's eyes flew open again and rested on Hiei. She stood up straighter, getting away from the wall and shoving away the pain that threatened to overhaul her system and simply shut her down. She could still see darkness intermixed with stars dancing at the edge of her vision and she could not get it to go away.

It did take her a minute to register that he'd actually said something. A question.

"No." Her eyes narrowed, the stubborn streak that assisted in her ability to ignore her pain flaring out from within her. If she had been able to even take another step, she would have right then, just to prove her point, but her body was very quickly nearing its limits.

_Just __**try **__to do something about it. _She continued glaring at him, daring him to come closer. 3

Hiei's own eyes narrowed, mirroring Toriko's narrowed gaze. She was challenging him, and he didn't even have to read her mind to know that much. And his jaw flexed, muscles protruding in irritation at her. Why wouldn't she just _give up_ and _sit still _somewhere? Stop driving him insane!

But she shouldn't be able to do that. Before now, no one had been able to make him act like this. That thought made his jaw flex again, teeth gnashing together. _Well, too bad. _

He suddenly reached for her, knowing even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to get away. He grabbed around her waist and hefted her over his shoulder, one arm secured around her to keep her from falling. Without another thought, he turned and headed back up the stairs.

~!**!~

Botan stopped talking as soon as Yusuke spoke up again, her head tilting to the side. "Toriko? Oh, she's with Hiei, at home. Koenma thinks he's taking precaution against the enemy." She paused again, trying to remember where Keiko had been. "OH! Keiko is at the park! She hasn't left in about twenty minutes, maybe longer." _*****_

"Toriko's around. That makes one less thing to worry about." Yusuke commented, "Let's get to the park. I don't want Keiko to start to worry about me too."

~!**!~

Toriko's eyes widened when she saw what Hiei meant to do, but it wasn't as if she could fight him off.

"N-no, don't tou-" He cut her off as he lifted her, the heat pack falling off her shoulders and to the floor. This time she did release a cry of pain that led to her breath coming faster as her vision completely blacked around her for a moment and she felt herself go limp. She bit her lip to stop another similar noise of protest that threatened to be jostled out of her mouth.

He probably didn't care that it hurt anyway, so she tried to stay quiet. And for that matter, she probably _should _have stayed in bed. What confused her was that he even bothered. Weren't there other, more important things he had to do? Why did putting her back to bed rank as the thing he should be doing at this very moment? She would have managed by herself. Maybe. It just would have taken a while. 3

Hiei stomped his way up the stairs, not making any indication that he heard the sound Toriko made. He simply continued on up the stairs and into her room, standing before her bed for a minute, actually considering just plopping her down, but decided against it and simply bending so that he set her on her bottom on the bed. He released her and stood up straight, eyeing her for a few minutes, suddenly realizing she had changed from only the towel to a dress. The pattern captured his eye, but only for a mere second before he crossed his arms over his chest again, waiting for anything she might have to say.

~!**!~

Nabu didn't know when or how, but sometime in the past few minutes, he'd landed himself in the lap of the girl who had followed him to the very spot Akari had disappeared from. And, as he had realized only recently, Flowers too. But those thoughts were slightly dimmed with the gentle petting he was being given by the girl, his head on her thigh as she stretched her legs out on the grass. He watched her, curiously wondering what to call her by.

_Smart_ rang loud in his mind first, but that wouldn't do. How could he tell Akari about a smart girl named Smart? That seemed to defeat the purpose.

He thought harder on the subject for a while before Loudmouth and another person suddenly came into his view, making his ears perk up in hopes that maybe, just maybe, he'd found something that Nabu hadn't. But while that was true, it wasn't the type of news he'd been looking for.

The atmosphere was thick with several emotions, making the pup's ears lay down again as he listened to the three people talk, Loudmouth explaining the situation that the newcomer had informed him of.

"_Why would someone take Akari and Flowers?" _He whined out, his chin laying on the arm of the girl who was now standing, holding him in her arms. "_That isn't fair." _*****

"So what now?" Yusuke crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't know." Botan put a thoughtful finger up to her chin.

Yusuke practically fell over, "Whaddya mean 'you don't know'?"

"Just that!" Botan provided.

"Well, when was the last time anyone saw the two?" Keiko piped up.

"I saw them last night. We parted ways after a..." Yusuke's eyes flickered over to Botan and he laughed nervously, scratching a finger at his chin, "Oh yeah, you don't know about that, do you?"

"Know what?"

His face grew briefly more serious, "Toriko got kidnapped last night."

Both Keiko and Botan gave a small gasp, and Yusuke quickly waved his hands in front of his body in an attempt to reassure them.

"We rescued her."

"We?" Botan's eyebrows rose.

"Yeah," Yusuke began to tick off his fingers, "Me and Kuwabara and Kurama and Hiei and Akari." He looked back up at them. "In fact, that's the last time I saw any of them. After we got Toriko back."

"Hm. I don't know how Koenma is going to take this. He hasn't been on the ball lately." Botan noted.

"You don't say?" Yusuke's sarcasm was not lost on the Reaper.

"He's seemed like he's had a lot on his mind." Botan suddenly brightened with an idea and she snapped her fingers, "That's it! Maybe he's found something else out for us! We could start there!"

"Maybe." Yusuke appeared doubtful.

"Well, it can't hurt anything." Keiko gently placed Nabu back on the ground and brushed her skirt off absently, grabbing her brown satchel. "I think I'll just go home though. There isn't really much I can do and I'd probably just slow you down." She turned to go, throwing her bag over her shoulder and looking over at Yusuke, "You'd better find them, though. Or I'll be mad!" She waved her other hand as she walked out of the park.

~!**!~

"You should have just left me there." Toriko mumbled, refusing to look up at the fire demon who still stood over her. If her arms had been working, her hands would have been fiddling with the pleats in her dress. "I would have managed."

It didn't make a noise this time, but Toriko's stomach queased around her middle.

_How on earth can you be hungry right now? _Toriko asked herself. Another wave of pain making her shut her eyes and furrow her brows together. She lost her breath for a moment, gasping once, as she felt like she could black out at any second.

While Toriko did not look back at him, Maneshi still lay on the bed in the exact position Hiei had put him down in, and his breathing had not slowed. His eyes were half-lidded and in pain, and he didn't even flick his tail at them when they came back into the room. 3

Hiei didn't reply right away to the girl, simply standing there and staring at her with frustrated eyes and a tense frame. He wasn't sure if she was being stubborn, or stupid. Perhaps both, but he struggled with that internally for a moment before simply agreeing, _both. _

His mouth opened, his mind working as he wondered how he would be able to get her to simply stay still and recover, because he sure as hell didn't want to keep doing _this _for the next few weeks. "If you're unable to recover, then what the hell makes you think you'd be of use?" He hadn't meant to be so harsh, but his irritation at her was more than he'd expected.

Or maybe he was irritated at himself for not having answers.

"In order to be of use to _anyone, _you have to be in at least moderate condition. _This _is not _moderate_ condition, and the more you act like a nuisance the longer it will take for you to become _useful_, as you so earnestly seem to believe you have to be." _*****_

Toriko was taken aback by how harshly he spoke to her, mostly because it revealed something she'd _never _considered before.

He cared.

On some level or another at least, and she felt rather assured that he likely didn't understand it himself. He didn't seem the type who 'cared' very often and probably wouldn't know the meaning of the word in relation to something other than the katana he wore.

This knowledge left her speechless for a moment, the shock sinking in the more she realized how true it had to be. Why else would he still be around? She fully expected him to leave her alone, and as strange as it seemed that he would worry over her, even if just a little bit, it changed her attitude almost immediately.

Her shoulders relaxed just a little, the tension there accentuated by her stubbornness.

"Y-yes, Hiei." She stammered in agreeing with him, her voice sounding small to herself. "I'm sorry. I don't want to be a bother. You can go if you want. I'll lay down and rest. Promise."

She did in fact want to be useful, and it struck her as odd that she also in those moments realized that she wanted to be useful to _him_. She could find absolutely no source for these feelings except somewhere within her that told her he hadn't asked anything of her yet, hadn't given her some task she could fulfill for him, and it left her feeling useless and unwanted.

So...maybe it wasn't that he _cared_, she tried to reason with herself since the idea seemed so very foreign. Maybe it was that he hadn't found a use for her yet and just viewed her as something in the way. Something that he, for whatever reason, looked after without gaining anything in return simply because he didn't know what to do with her. And it frustrated him.

Toriko's head reeled in the midst of these weird thoughts that she felt were coming out of nowhere. What had happened to only worrying about if she had her hair in place for school? Or if she'd forgotten to read the chapter for the next test? This all felt like a little much. 3

As the fire demon stood there, blood boiling and thoughts churning, he could do nothing more than just wait for her reply. However, when she did give her reply, he somehow felt as if it weren't enough, as if the amount of effort he'd put into making sure she stayed in one place, even simply staying in the house with her, was not so easily repaid with a promise.

Internally, he scoffed at himself. His crossed arms tightened, making the veins in them pop, not that she would notice for the sleeves of his cloak.

Maybe it was _because _he'd been in the house all night and almost all day that he felt this way. What was the term? Stir-crazy? That, coupled with the fact that she hadn't listened to him until now, must have created this effect on him. That was the only logical reason. Right? It had to be.

Hiei didn't realize he'd receded into his own thoughts for longer than a minute, leaving him standing silently in front of Toriko for longer than necessary. His eyes refocused on her and he, for a moment, had nothing to say. He'd gotten the answer he'd wanted.

So why wasn't he leaving?

Hiei moved, deciding that while he wanted fresh air, going outside didn't seem like something he absolutely wanted to do. So, he found the window on the opposite side of the room, unlatched the lock and opened it before settling himself down on the windowsill.

The feel of the breeze and the sun on his face was refreshing, making it suddenly much easier for him to think. He felt like he'd run himself ragged, so without hesitation he leaned his back against the windowsill and let his eyes slide shut, though he wouldn't sleep.

~!**!~

Akari didn't know how long she'd been awake, but since falling asleep and waking up herself and Kurama, she hadn't slept. She'd tried to, even lay in the dirt with the bugs crawling around her, watching the darkness over her hoping it would make her feel even more tired. But no matter how long she lay still, her eyes wouldn't shut for long.

Even now, as she lay on her back, toying with the seed she'd stolen from the fox demon across the room, she felt a yawn coming, but her mind was working. Her muscles were tired still, but her brain continued to turn over and over different things.

At this very moment, she found herself nervous. And the more her unease escalated, the more she rolled the seed around and around in her hand, her arm extended in the air as if she could see the small object in front of her face instead of the crushing darkness.

When Toriko had been kidnapped, this gang had done whatever they pleased to her. Hell, they'd even tied her to the ceiling's metal beams, where her blood would drip right on the heads of anyone who passed underneath. She'd been a wreck of the worst kind, defiled by Enma knows how many.

But her and Kurama were left alone. Neither of them had been touched other than however the hell the two of them had gotten here. Why? Were they waiting for something else, _someone _else? Her hand stilled, the seed having fallen to her chest when she physically reacted with a small jerk. After a moment, she forced herself to retrieve the seed and roll over onto her side.

Maybe she was overthinking it.

Then again, when did captives ever go unharmed?

_Stop it_. She let out a long breath of air, very slowly exhaling. This time, when she put the seed in front of her eyes, she put it close enough to just make out the small object and forced her thoughts to it. Now that she concentrated on it instead of their predicament, she wondered how the hell she was going to give it back. Surely the redhead kept careful inventory of such things, right? She rolled over again, this time so that she faced the side of the room Kurama was on.

Maybe he wouldn't notice. _*****_

~!**!~

Otento sighed as he walked away from the throne room, his feet making silent steps on the red carpet that led towards the main hall and his exits of the palace.

"Problem, sir?" Terepo asked quietly.

"Only a minor setback." Otento waved away Terepo's concern. "Nothing we can't accommodate for."

They only got a few more steps before Otento heard the sound of feet coming from behind and only a moment later a voice called to him.

"Otento, was it?"

Otento turned around and recognized the youthful looking demon, his mind immediately recalling the image of the throne room with its high ceiling and empty length that towards the back of the room where two ornate thrones sat side-by-side just at the top of a series of several steps. This demon had been lounging somewhere along the stairs in the midst of what Otento presumed were his brothers and sisters, their father seated sideways lazily in the King's throne above them.

As the demon got closer, he stopped, his spiky orange hair sitting a few inches straight up off the top of his head. His face seemed rather brooding and full of melancholy and he regarded Otento with solemn eyes and a reclusive expression.

"I apologize for my father's rejection." The demon inclined his head slightly in official greeting. "But I would assist you if you think you might find my services useful."

Otento tossed his white-blonde hair lightly to remove it from his eyes and said nothing as the demon appeared to want to say more.

"I myself can only do a trifle, but my twin sister would surely join us and we stir much trouble together."

"And where is this sister of yours?"

"Unfortunately, she is elsewhere." The demon apologized, "But I can give you a taste of what we offer. I know she will not refuse a bit of fun."

"Hm." Otento intoned noncommittally. "I suppose a demonstration of your power can do no harm." He thought of the two whom he had locked up. "If you will come with me...what was your name again?"

"I am Gashiru. My sister is Gekijou."

"Excellent. If you can do even just a little of what I think you can do, we might be better off than previously."

Terepo had already began muttering the chant that would take them to the depths of the cave he knew Otento would wish to travel.

"Come here, Gashiru. Let's go somewhere that we might bear witness to your abilities." Otento held out a hand as if to shake, placing his other hand on Terepo's shoulder.

Without hesitation, Gashiru grasped for Otento's hand firmly just as Terepo finished the incantation and waved his hands.

It took not a second for the three of them to reappear within the deep darkness of the cavern in which Otento had secured the true Youko.

Otento released Gashiru's hand and lifted the other from Terepo's shoulder.

"Now. Let us see what you have to offer. Not on us, mind you. But on the two contained within." Otento put his hand in a pocket and fished out a small orb and he activated with his demonic energy. It lit up and brightened the room with light, a yellow glow bouncing off of the walls, and then hovered in the air at Otento's shoulder.

He next pointed to the other side of the room, where they could dimly make out two other red-haired demons lounging on the ground.

Gashiru raised an eyebrow but said nothing, stepping towards them before coming to a sudden halt and raising his eyes as if he could see the barrier that held them.

"There is something here."

"Ah, yes, just a minor precaution."

Gashiru shook his head, "I can do nothing. It is in the way."

"That is easily taken care of." Without further consideration, Otento waved a hand and the barrier came down.

~!**!~

Toriko kept her head down after speaking, watching Hiei's feet move away from her and hearing the window open after a moment.

She couldn't help closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of the outside air. She always felt so closed up in the house and that window was usually left open for that reason.

Of course it made it easier for people to come through the window-

That train of thought came to an abrupt halt in Toriko's mind, her thoughts almost immediately switching in self-preservation to Maneshi who had at that moment let out a weak noise from somewhere behind her.

For him, Toriko again found herself able to fight through the pain, and put her hands down on either side of her body and lifted herself backwards onto the bed, her arms trembling and giving out almost immediately.

Maneuvering around as best she could, Toriko got turned so that she faced Maneshi, who was actually standing, his head held low and almost touching the comforter and his tail drooping onto the bed. His legs were shaking as if he had a chill and he tried to take another step forward towards her just as she reached him and laid down on her one shoulder, collapsing onto her side.

Toriko gathered him up into her arms, he gratefully relaxed into her embrace, and put her head on the pillow at the top of the bed.

Both of them were breathing hard again, but the furry little bit of warmth which Toriko's arms now encircled also managed to begin purring almost violently at her, curling up into as small of a ball as he could manage.

As Toriko watched him, wishing she could move to pet him but finding that her body now completely refused to obey her commands upon laying down, she felt her own emotions settling back down into a lull and her breathing became easier. She still could feel each muscle seizing up with tightness and pain, which cause her entire body at times to spasm violently, but having the creature nearby calmed her a great deal. 3

Hiei felt his entire body relax against the wooden frame of the window, the breeze that blew through the window gently swaying the end of his cloak that hung over the windowsill edge. He could even feel it move through his thick hair, making individual strands dislodge from their normal place to move with the wind. His skin felt warmer, and for once, the sound of birds didn't irritate him in the slightest. In fact, it was a soothing sound.

His eyelids slid open and he glanced towards Toriko out of the corners of his eyes, noticing that she was doing as she'd said she would and was laying down, the small ball of fur known as Maneshi curled up with her, their breathing equivalent to one another. Satisfied, his eyes turned to the outside world, watching people move about the sidewalks and creatures move about, doing whatever it was they did during this time of day.

~!**!~

The only sound was that of the trio's slow breaths and footsteps, three pairs of eyes trying their hardest to see through what at first was darkness. "Too bad we didn't think of flashlights."

"Kuwabara, I swear, if you-"

"Boys, enough!"

Silence again ensued, only broken by footfall and breathing as Yusuke lead the way through the small cave. Or perhaps it was more of a tunnel, since it hadn't branched off into a fork yet. They'd been walking for at least ten minutes, and he thought for sure he'd kicked the same rock a hundred times. But what bothered him most was the actual silence. No one was there to stop them from wandering around.

"Are you sure this is where the tracker said they were?"

"For the hundredth time, yes Yusuke! That kind of equipment doesn't have many faults."

"Except that it took an hour to find and-"

"That's what happens when you go underground!"

"Guys, sh." Kuwabara interrupted, his skin crawling and his gut rolling. Did he just hear something?

"Sure, you're the loudest-"

"No, listen."

Silence, and after a few minutes, a voice could be made out somewhere in the distance. Without prompting, all three of them picked up the pace, no longer saying anything and relying on the element of surprise as they roamed closer, trying to listen for how many people they were up against.

"_...it's in the way."_

"_That is easily taken care of."_

There was a stirring in the air, a change in the atmosphere, and Yusuke decided that now was the time to act, while the people inside were distracted. So, he stepped into the lit room, a grin lighting his features in the darkest of ways.

"Well, I didn't think you'd start the party without us! Come on, at least let the guests in on the fun!"

"Urameshi, look." Kuwabara muttered, nodding to his right where the detective laid eyes on the two very people he'd been looking for.

But he didn't look long. "Aw come on, you're getting boring."

~!**!~

Akari hadn't reacted at first to the muffled noise she heard, until it turned to voices. She sat up abruptly, suddenly unsure which way she was facing in the room and which way to turn to view the threat that she couldn't sense.

But she didn't have time to see if Kurama was awake, because in a matter of seconds, light flooded the room, banishing most of the darkness and making her blink rapidly to adjust. And before she knew it, she was on her feet, facing the people in the room and her mind turning over and over.

And she positively jumped at the loud voice of Yusuke, who had somehow escaped her senses in the moment. A small breath of relief left her without her realizing it.

"You're late, detective."

"Yeah, sorry about that." _*****_

* * *

Shinbara \- (as shimbara:) family or surname

Gashiru \- to well up; to be overcome with emotion; to be close to tears

Gekijou \- violent emotion; passion; fury

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	24. Episode 109 - The Rescue, The Clash

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dear Reader!

I won't lie, this chapter contains an interaction with Akari and Toriko that totally makes me cringe every time I think about it and it took me that much longer to get through it editing-wise than any other scene so far in the RP. It's a tough scene and you'll see what I mean when you get to it.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Toriko is still struggling with the pain from her body having to heal so much,  
and ends up with Hiei getting fed up with her and carrying her off to bed  
before he settles himself down on the nearby window-sill.

~!**!~

Meanwhile, Yusuke, Botan, and Kuwabara manage to successfully make their way down the cave where Akari and Kurama are being held  
just as Otento lowers the barrier behind which those two are kept so that Gashiru might demonstrate his powers...

* * *

Otento wasn't stupid.

Though by the way in which he just released his captives and delivered them into the hands of their would-be rescuers, he certainly would have thought himself as much if he were anyone else observing the situation.

Luckily, he knew Terepo wasn't stupid, and that it would only take half a minute for the other demon to get them out of there.

"Now would be an _excellent _time for you to demonstrate your abilities." Otento suggested to Gashiru mildly, his tone light. "I suggest you don't wander too far."

Gashiru nodded, his eyes flicking briefly to Terepo who already had his eyes closed and his head bowed.

It only took a second for Gashiru to realize he would have no power over the two "captives" as he could sense absolutely no energy within them, and as such had nothing to work with. The more energy one had, the stronger Gashiru grew, so he turned to the three intruders.

Strong. Weak. And very strong. Gashiru threw a hand out towards the young man with slicked-back black hair and immediately an aura of blue demonic energy erupted outwards from him, enveloping all three.

"Now. What is the saddest thing that could ever happen to you, hm?" Gashiru's bright blue eyes seemed to grow larger with concern, "Death of a loved one? Losing in battle?" The aura around them seemed to shudder different shades of blue as it wafted about their bodies.

~!**!~

Toriko did not mind the silence of the room, but Hiei's presence continually drew her back to all of these questions she had for him.

Granted, the one floating around in the forefront of her mind wanted to know what he wished her to do for him, but she didn't understand that one and dwelling on it kept puzzling her and left her quiet.

She tried to think of other things, like how he ended up in Human World, and tried to relax so she could rest, but the buzzing of her mind over that previous, single thought was such that she found herself unable to let it go.

Attempting to negate the strange desire to ask him what he might wish of her, she rationalized that he was a very capable person that likely didn't need anyone to do anything for him at all, so why should she want to know in the first place? And for that matter, what would she of all people be able to do for him anyway? She would probably just annoy him with such a question. Best to keep quiet.

Her and Maneshi let out a sigh at the same time, though for two completely different reasons. 3

~!**!~

Yusuke's arms fell from their crossed position to dangle at his sides, his hands clenching to fists as he looked at the three demons, readying for a fight. But in the next moment, the will to fight was gone, and his mind was suddenly a dark place with images of his worst nightmares flashing across his mind's eye, the graves of his friends, the image of himself standing before Koenma and being dubbed the reason behind their deaths, since he hadn't been able to do his job.

The only thing that pulled him from those mental images was the sudden sound of Botan next to him, who let out an ugly sound that followed with tears. "Oh, he's gonna have my head for this one! I should've known it wouldn't be as reliable in situations like this!" The tears that ran down her face were fat and fell to her shirt.

Kuwabara made a small sound next, causing Yusuke, his own vision blurred, to glance at his best friend who had tears just as big, if not bigger, as Botan's, though he tried wiping them away.

Yusuke himself felt a few tears slip, and he wiped at them, sniffling. "I'm surrounded by idiots." he blubbered out, lips quivering just a little.

"That was mean, Urameshi!"

"Yeah, why would you say that to your friends! It's hurtful!"

Another voice joined in, more even than the others. "You're all morons. You run in, playing cops and robbers, and all you can do is cry like babies."

"Akari, why would you _say that?!" _Kuwabara wailed, arm rubbing his eyes, the tears staining his sleeves.

"Yeah, and here I thought you were a nice person!" Botan followed.

"This is so stupid," Yusuke added, turning his blurred vision to Otento. "Why? Why would you take my friends?!" _*****_

Otento's expression did not change as he watched Gashiru manipulate the energy surrounding the three intruders.

"Quite satisfactory. I do think we should be going now."

Gashiru stepped back and placed a hand on Terepo's shoulder just as Otento moved to do the same.

They were gone without so much as a flash.

~!**!~

Kurama felt stirrings in his mind around the time that Otento and the others first approached, but having not sensed any immediate danger, he stayed for the most part, asleep. Right up until the moment where the barrier came down and several things happened all at once.

He heard Yusuke's voice, recognized Otento's, heard Akari moving, and by the time he knew Kuwabara, Botan, and Yusuke were all bawling their eyes out about situations that he felt certain had not happened, he was on his feet, his mind already caught up to the situation and his body standing next to Akari's.

Not that either one of them could do much, he surmised. He still felt the orb of darkness Otento had somehow placed over his energy, and he guessed that it was much the same for Akari.

He also felt no more rested from his slumber than even when he woke up before. He thought perhaps it had something to do with the combination of not being able to access his energy intertwined with Youko's release. One or the other would have not rendered him feeling quite so weak, but with both hanging over him, his body felt worn out from the transition and unable to recover with his own demonic energy.

And so, when Otento and the other two disappeared, he felt his vision collapsing and he wavered in place for a moment as he tried to keep his feet underneath him.

"Sorry." He mumbled to Akari as his shoulder bumped into hers.

As he opened his eyes again, he could see the darkness creeping in from the sides and he knew no more as it appeared the ground rose up to meet him. 3

Akari stared at the scene in utter disbelief, unable to understand at first what was going on. Her mind, still tired but raging with different thoughts, caught up to her only as the trio of demons disappeared. Still, the three who had initially appeared as help and were reduced to tears, stood there wiping at their faces. Their complaining had ended, their sniveling quieting. She sighed. "So much for your idea of Heroes."

"Shut up!"

"Tsk tsk." Akari replied, glancing over at Kurama when his shoulder hit hers. "Too bad you guys-" Her words stopped as Kurama fell, her eyes widening as she reached to catch him, only able to grab at his arm. She made a strained sound and tugged, keeping him from simply smashing to the ground.

Except his body weight pulled her with him, merely out of exhaustion. Pretty soon, she found herself beside him on the ground, all breath lost. She struggled to regain air, eyes flashing up at Yusuke and Kuwabara. "A little.. Assistance would be great."

Despite their condition, the two boys made their way forward, still wiping at their faces, and hauled the redheaded fox demon from the ground, Yusuke getting a decent hold before Kuwabara let go and reached to help her up as well.

"What did they do?" Botan asked, but Akari didn't answer right away as she swooped down and retrieved the seed she had dropped, sticking it in her pocket before the others noticed.

"Nothing except kept us holed up." She paused, giving a yawn and looking at Kuwabara, who stood close by with a hand reached out in an offer of assistance. "What time of day is it?"

"Almost evening," Kuwabara answered as he simply reached for her, pulling her despite her small protest and crouching in front of her. "You look tired. At least-"

"Fine." Akari feigned irritation as she climbed onto his back, letting him carry her. In truth, she didn't think she'd be able to walk too far anyway.

"Now let's get outta here."

"Agreed! Koenma will want an update!" _*****_

~!**!~

The next time Kurama remembered anything, he immediately took note of the fact that he was lying down, seconded only by the fact that he still had no access to his demonic energy.

That explained why he still felt so exhausted.

His senses told him there was nothing to be concerned about in his immediate vicinity, though he could feel someone very close by, and someone else near, but not as close.

He took his time in coming around, since he did recall the last time he got up with a jolt that he had collapsed to the ground less than half a minute later. Plus, he felt rather comfortable, and he didn't really have anything to do that was of a huge concern since he could always catch up with school-

Kurama's eyes flew open and he did not recognize the ceiling over him, knowing within a heartbeat that he was not in his own home.

_Mother... _His thoughts turned to her and how worried she might be with him having been missing for... Kurama examined his internal clock and realized that he had no idea how long it had been since he'd seen her last. He suddenly felt antsy about laying there any longer, but without the use of his demonic energy to recover himself, any move he made would have to be even more calculated than usual.

As he lay there considering his options, the smell of rosemary swept across his nose and he glanced over briefly out of the corner of his eye to confirm what the smell already told him.

Akari lay there, and it appeared she had just begun to wake up herself.

"How are you feeling?" 3

Something stirred in her peaceful mind. Akari tried pushing it away, to sleep longer because in reality she didn't feel as refreshed as she thought she should, but despite her best efforts, she became aware of light on her eyelids.

_Wasn't there something I have to remember?_

Nothing came to mind, so she didn't let herself fully wake up right away. Not until a mental image of a darkened cave came to mind, causing a small disturbance within her. It was enough to make her aware of her surroundings, of the warmth that was around her body and of the clean, dirt-free air she could now smell. No insects crawling in her hair, no dirt on her face.

_Where am I?_

Her eyes slid open, seeing a ceiling fan moving slowly above her. This wasn't the place she called home, but it was much more appealing. Much more comfortable. The air that moved wasn't stuffy and thick with dust particles or mold. It was… pleasant compared to that.

A voice captured her attention, pulling her eyes to the side before she let her head turn just a bit as well, hazel meeting green calmly. "Quite frankly, amazing." Despite her discomfort with her energy still unable to be manipulized, this was the truth, unlike the last time he'd asked her a similar question.

Suddenly, she wasn't sure which question to ask first: their whereabouts, or of his being, as courtesy would have it. So she stuck with that, going along the topic. "You look ten times better than the last I saw you," she said with a teasing smile, still not moving to sit up.

After all, the covers over her were quite warm and comfortable. _*****_

Kurama's eyes had moved back up to look at the ceiling and they softened a great deal when she told him how she felt.

Her next comment, however, did manage to pull a smile to his lips.

"I'm afraid I must apologize if I fell against you earlier. I fainted much faster than I thought I would." His voice held no small ounce of chagrin at the admission. He blinked twice up at the ceiling before saying anything again, "How are the others?" 3

At first, she didn't respond to his apology. She didn't know how, or what to even say. No one had actually apologized to her for something before that was as small as that. It wasn't as if he'd done any harm, right? So she didn't respond to it at all.

But at his question, she sighed and propped herself up on her elbows, this time taking a long look around the room, as if that would deduce where they were. "I wouldn't know. Last I remember was leaving the cave. Do you know where we are..?" She paused, looking for pictures, since humans rather enjoyed things like that, but not finding any. _*****_

"I believe this is Kuwabara's apartment." Kurama responded without hesitation.

At that, the doorbell rang and a feminine voice from the back room called out, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

Shizuru appeared half a second later from somewhere in the back and as she entered the room, she stopped for a second and pulled the lit cigarette out of her mouth and regarded the two on the floor with a smile.

"Well, hey there. It's good to see you finally awake. How're yah feeling, you two?" Shizuru looked back and forth between the two of them. 3

Akari nodded at Kurama's insight, deciding it must be true since he recognized it so quickly. But at the sound of the doorbell and footsteps, then a feminine voice calling in her's and Kurama's direction, she tilted her head back to look at the person addressing them, seeing the woman upside down instead of making an effort to sit up and turn around.

A frown settled on her face. She had seen this woman once before but…

"Fine, thank you," she replied naturally, but as soon as she finished speaking she remembered where she'd seen the female last: When she had been attacking them with Sensui and Sniper.

And at that moment, she could only imagine the look on her face as her stomach churned with horror, confusion, and humiliation. Why would a human who had been attacked by someone she had associated with let her in their home? *****

Shizuru's cigarette ended up back in her mouth and she regarded Akari with kindness, feeling in a sense what the girl was thinking.

"You're alright, kid." She kept moving around them towards the door, "I don't think my little brother would have carried you in like he did if you weren't."

"Oh, hey, Toriko." Shizuru said after swinging open the door, "They just woke up." Shizuru stepped back to let her inside.

Kurama noted that Toriko came in moving a little more stiffly than normal, though she betrayed no uncomfortableness on her face, her eyes hidden behind the thick lenses of her glasses.

She resolutely walked over to them at a fairly marked pace and knelt down next to Kurama, sitting back on her feet and regarding both him and Akari next to him with a fairly serious expression, in no small part due to the fact that her hair was pulled away from her face in its usual, severe-looking bun, not a single piece out of place.

"It is good to see you both finally awake." She said softly, regarding both Kurama and Akari equally.

Kurama tried not to seem surprised at the lack of hesitation in her voice, but the absence of her usual stammer took him aback and he didn't answer her for a moment. 3

Akari hadn't replied to the woman aside from turning her eyes away, remembering very clearly falling asleep on Kuwabara's back. But as the door opened, she looked again, curious, to see Toriko making her way into the apartment, Hiei a step behind her.

Her eyes followed their every movement, up until Toriko was crouched on the opposite side of Kurama, speaking in a way that she assumed enveloped them both. She opened her mouth to respond, but a sound caught her attention, coming from a nearby room, that sounded like small feet sliding on…

"_Help!"_

In the next second, a small dog came running into the room, barking madly for help as he tucked his tail away from the cat that chased after him "_It's a monster!"_

Nabu zoomed by, Akari reaching out and just missing him, the cat following in a hissing haze.

And it took everything in her power not to yell at the dog in frustration as he came running back, running across Kurama's lap first and right into hers before continuing through the apartment again._*****_

Kurama turned back to Toriko after his eyes followed Nabu across his body, hearing a noise that sounded like a bit of laughter from the girl.

Her hand was up covering her mouth, her eyes dancing behind her glasses and an open-smile clearly hidden behind her fingers as she also watched the small dog do another circle around the entire apartment, his little body a mere streak across the floor.

Shizuru let out a long laugh of her own, her hands down in her pockets. She was going to go back to her room before the terror began, but at the moment there didn't seem to be a safe route to do so. 3

Akari, at this point, was sitting up completely, a hand rubbing her temple in embarrassment. She wasn't sure how to handle this, since she hadn't expected the pup to be here. Even in the next rooms, she could hear the claws of the dog scraping against the wood with the loss of traction and a loud yelp that told her he'd been swatted.

"Nabu," she grumbled, looking up to see the dog reentering the room, "what do you think you're _doing_?" As he zoomed by again, she plucked him from the air, having timed it better this time, and plopped him down on her thighs, watching the cat stop in front of her, tail swishing madly behind him it and a hiss escaping its mouth.

"_I just wanted to play! But-"_

"Cats do not- do you understand me?- play with dogs."

"_Some do."_

"Obviously not this one." Akari moved her arm away from the swat aimed at Nabu out of instinct, waving her hand in front of the cat's face. "He's done. It's your territory. Go nap or something." _*****_

Shizuru walked over and grabbed the cat around his waist, "That's quite enough out of you too, mister." She hiked the cat up against her hip, "I'm _sure _you didn't do anything to provoke the dog, huh?" She asked it. "Let's go." She marched out of the room with the cat still in her grasp.

"His name is Nabu?" Toriko asked, her voice still quiet. "He's very handsome." 3

Akari watched the human woman, Kuwabara's sister she assumed, pick up the cat and haul it from the room, sighing to herself as she placed her hand on Nabu's head and rubbed so that his ears flopped back and forth. She almost didn't catch Toriko's question, but she didn't look up when she answered. "Yeah, he's a pain."

"_That's mean."_

She rubbed a little harder before releasing the dog, who stayed in her lap, but turned in circles until he was curled up where he could see the others in the room, tongue lolling in cheer from Toriko's comment. "He thinks he's the best thing to walk on four legs."

"_Do not!"_

"He says thanks though," she finally finished, smiling down at Nabu. "So, how long have we been out?" _*****_

Toriko hesitated.

Apparently she herself had missed a day or two somewhere along the line, and when she woke up trying to get ready for school, thinking that it was Monday, it was actually already the middle of the week. That had been a day ago. And she still didn't make it anyway. Her body was having none of it. Today was the first day she'd even been successful at an attempt to get out of the house, and that was only because she heard from the others about Kurama and Akari being kidnapped and summarily rescued, as well as the fact that they were recuperating at Kuwabara's apartment.

"I think it's been two days since they found you and brought you back." She finally answered. 3

Akari paused. _Two days? _A frown settled on her face. _That means Nabu was alone for at least three…_ Her hazel orbs finally lifted from Nabu and settled on Toriko, letting that sink in as she looked over the girl who seemed almost as if she hadn't been harmed at all. Completely healed if one ignored the bandages. Sure, she looked a bit shaky, but that was about it.

"_We were worried,_" Nabu whined quietly, slowly reaching a paw out to touch Kurama with a small yip to accentuate.

At that moment, when silence filled the room, Akari's stomach gave a painful churn, making a sound that reminded her that she hadn't eaten since lunch the day Toriko had been kidnapped. A nervous laugh escaped her as Nabu's head swung around so he could look at her face. "I hadn't realized it had been that long. Surely didn't feel like two days." _*****_

"Oh!" Toriko exclaimed, "That reminds me."

She reached for the satchel that had been hanging over her shoulder and removed it, setting it down in front of her and opening it.

She pulled out a large green bento box and passed it over Kurama's stomach to Akari, getting another yellow one out and frowning down at Kurama.

Before she could say anything, Kurama propped himself up on his elbows.

"I think I can at least manage eating something." He said as he slowly pushed himself up to a seated position cross-legged on the sleeping mat and Toriko handed him the box she held.

"I wasn't sure how much food Shizuru or Kuwabara would have on hand," Toriko explained, "And if you weren't awake, I planned on leaving them for you. But you seem to be alright now." She smiled at them both before going on, "I did not know what you liked, Akari, so I tried to give you lots of things."

At that point, Toriko pulled out another box, black this time, and set it next to her. The fourth one was red, and she held it out for Hiei to take from her.

Getting to the bottom of the satchel, she also pulled out a plastic baggie with raw meat in it, her cheeks blushing slightly as she started to stand up.

"When I called Shizuru, she said there was a dog hanging around that wouldn't leave Akari alone." She said in explanation, moving over to the kitchen with measured steps and pulling a plate from a cabinet after finding one. The fingers around the plate spasmed violently and she nearly lost hold of it before she could bend over and place it on the ground, emptying the baggie onto it and then going to sit back down to the last bento, opening it and retrieving the eating utensils from inside, starting to eat herself. 3

Akari reflexively reached out to accept the box passed to her, gently sliding it from Toriko's fingers and setting it in her lap right by Nabu, staring at it for a moment. Thoughts of her days with Sensui passed by her mind, trying to recall when the last time was she'd had something like this, and coming up short. She looked up again, watching Toriko continue to pull out bento boxes, even something for Nabu, her chest suddenly feeling heavy. She didn't know what was coming over her.

When Nabu was suddenly gone from her lap, in the kitchen with Toriko, Akari took the moment to open and view the inside of the box, taking in the varieties of food from rice, to sushi, among other things. Her eyelids slid closed, suddenly recalling the only instance similar to this...

"_You're a smart girl, Akari. I'm glad to have you around."_

_A bright smile lit up her face as she met Sensui's gaze, a mouth full of rice and bread, her hand shoving another piece of breath through her full lips despite the protest her muscle gave. The restaurant they were in was quiet aside from the soft music in the background, making it easier for her to hear him over her own pain. "Me too," she mumbled through her food._

"_Your physical therapy is doing wonders. In about a month, you should be able to start training, right?"_

"_Mhm!"_

"_Good, then eat up," he said, a smile on his face as he passed another bento box her way, violating the only rule of the restaurant. "You're going to be my prized team member. The center of it all."_

"_Of what team?"_

"_We can talk about that later. For now, just take care of yourself, and I'll do the rest."_

Her teeth clenched together, her fingers tightening around the small box only slightly. "Thank you," she finally managed to the girl, not sure if her mumble would be heard or not, but not looking up._*****_

Toriko's head tilted slightly as she considered the way Akari regarded the meal, worried that there was nothing in it Akari liked. She quickly swallowed the piece of food in her mouth.

"I-I could see if Shizuru has something else." Toriko stammered, taking the expression to be one of a hesitation in regards to the food in the bento.

Kurama's eyes immediately went to Toriko, taking note of the stumble as well as how Akari looked at the box in her hands.

"It's delicious, Toriko." Kurama reassured her as he continued eating.

Toriko's eyes flickered over to meet his. She knew what he liked and they both knew that, but Toriko stayed silent and went back to looking down at her food and eating quietly. 3

Akari didn't look up at Toriko despite the floundering she suddenly felt in her chest. She hadn't meant to upset the girl, it was just…

"_You're a part of our family now."_

Those had been what Sensui had said that night when he had passed a third bento box, letting her eat to her heart's desire. He'd accepted her with open arms and a smile, took care of her even, and she'd come to think of him as a fatherly figure.

Until she'd started keeping tabs on this very group. That's when her little illusion had fallen apart, leaving her to think she'd never have a home again.

Yet here she was, a bento box starkly similar to the very first one she'd ever had in her lap and a room full of people who didn't seem to mind her presence. They might not have been so open to her in the beginning, but now, as she thought of several moments with this group, she realized that they felt more like a family than Sensui ever had.

Almost robotically, she lifted a piece of Sushi from the box and plopped it in her mouth, and for the first time, she didn't mind the taste. "Thank you," she repeated, head bowed so that her hair would hide her blurred eyes from the people in the room.

And not even Hiei's scoffed "Pathetic" disrupted the warmth she felt. _*****_

"It actually _is _good." Toriko said with a second piece in her mouth, staring down with amazement at the bento as if she herself could hardly believe it or Kurama's words. She started blushing again and swallowed, stuffing another piece in her mouth.

That sort of thing had been happening over the last day or so, where something got lost between her mind and her mouth and she said things she only meant to think, or even thought things that she meant to say. She hadn't done the latter in front of anyone up until now, though.

Her uncomfortableness wasn't lost on Kurama, someone who had known her for several years now, and he wondered briefly just how long he _**had **_been asleep. She didn't appear to be acting like the Toriko he remembered. There were moments, to be sure, but...

He continued watching her carefully as he ate, taking note of how unsteady her movements were, catching her muscles tensing at inopportune times.

"Your mother thinks you're on a school trip." She said quietly after swallowing another bite as she stared down into the bento, feeling Kurama's eyes on her even though he tried to be as discreet as possible.

Her words released the tension in Kurama's mind and he let out a noise of relief, catching her gaze and nodding a silent 'thank you' in her direction as he chewed his food.

"I'm not really for sure how." She admitted. "She said you were the one who called and told her." Toriko shrugged a little, at a loss. 3

Akari went on eating in silence, eyes on the bento box as she tried to get herself under control. Now wasn't the time to have a breakdown, and she surely didn't want the others noticing. So she kept her head down, stuffing another piece of the raw fish in her mouth, releasing a small breath to calm herself and force her vision clear.

Hiei spoke up, adding to what Toriko said, "I assume it was the demon who captured you. Why a demon would make a precaution like that just so a human wouldn't notice, I have no clue." His arms crossed over his chest, his eyes slowly roving back and forth between Kurama and the silent Akari, searching for wounds that were obviously not there. The only thing that bothered him now was still being unable to sense the two. He glanced at his own bento box, taking a small bite from it as he thought about that.

"How did you end up in that situation anyway?" he suddenly asked, voicing the biggest question he'd had since being told of the circumstances. After all, it was almost unheard of that Kurama was taken by surprise, even if by teleportation. His reaction time was just too swift. _*****_

"They have a demon who is quite adept at the art of teleportation. I was quite literally one second in the park, and the next taken away." Kurama sighed, "With my cyclic transformation into Youko having just ended, I found myself with nothing to use to counter a capture that took a single second."

Kurama did not let his gaze turn to Akari, who he remembered very clearly having something going on in her own mind at the exact moment they had been teleported. So, not only was he weakened by Youko, his attention had been tunneled on her and whatever condition had overtaken her. 3

Hiei listened, his eyes watching Kurama keenly as he added another bite from the box into his mouth, since he had the opportunity. He considered the fact that Yusuke would likely have the same question, but it was too late to take back the question now- not that he wanted to.

Of course, he should've remembered the transformation. How could he have forgotten it? Perhaps he had simply assumed he'd transformed _after _being locked away wherever they had been held. But for now, he was satisfied with the answer, giving a nod to convey that he understood. He didn't have to add his own witness with that demon, which had been only slightly different in the fact that there had been about a minute's pause before they'd disappeared.

"So, from what we've seen so far, they have a teleportation demon, a demon able to hide energies, even over distances," he paused for a moment, feeling the lack of energy from the duo again before continuing, "a demon who can appear as another." His eyes suddenly lit up at the memory of a similar demon that he had killed, making his eyes flicker to Akari again when he remembered that she'd had a hand in that as well. "I killed one, and after that demon, four others remained, out of those we only know of three of their abilities." _*****_

The more the others spoke, the darker and more unwoven Toriko's thoughts became.

She began to have flashes of memories shade her mind's eye as she tried to remain calm and concentrate on getting food to her mouth.

At the mention of a "teleportation demon", she twitched, the sudden sensation of the floor dropping out underneath her and then reappearing feeling very real. She felt the presence of that dem-_don't think that word_-err, being nearby, or so it felt in her head, though she knew at that very moment there were only friends in the room with her.

Other images, bits and pieces but never a whole, winked in and out in her head. Rough voices. Even rougher hands. Darkness. Blood. Lots of blood. _Her _blood.

Her heart began beating faster, but she found she could not pull away.

_...a demon who can hide energies_

A picture of Otento flashed in her mind, his violet eyes and platinum-blonde hair his prominent features.

_...a demon who can appear as another_

A silver-haired demon flashed into her mind, his tail and ears present, but inconsequential. A second, one that appeared as _her_, though she knew _she _was strapped down.

Voices began talking again in her head. Many voices. None of them kind.

"_I do not trust the dog will truly pull through for us. She has already found herself another pack."_

More touching. More abrasiveness. The voice faded back in.

"_It is a simple task for me to project our images into the room. That is in large part what I do, after all."_

"_I thought the very same myself. And this way we will be safe from __**her **__influence."_

Toriko's hand spasmed again as more sounds and impressions of hatefulness and lusty behavior overtook her senses. The immediate pain of her body brought her back to the present as she lost control of the bento she held and it fell off of her lap and onto the floor.

She could not see straight still, a darkness clouding her vision and she rose to her feet abruptly, unsteadily.

Swiftly turning away, she moved for the front door as fast as the pain in her muscles would allow, throwing it open and letting it slam shut behind her. 3

Hiei hadn't taken notice of Toriko's change, only going on to say, "The demon that was slaughtered was likely a demon who borrowed energy from another, hence why she looked similar to another of our group." His head tilted just a bit as he thought about the scene, trying to remember the demons he'd only seen a flash of. "That's about all I gathered-"

His words cut off at the sudden sound of food hitting the floor, his eyes flashing to Toriko in time to see her stand and leave without a single word to the group. However, when he turned inwards for the bond, he felt it was stable and undisturbed, completely contradicting the sound of the slamming door.

Akari had glanced up when Hiei began speaking of the demons he had noticed, her mind confirming what she too had noticed about only a few of the demons, though not as many as he. She considered bringing up the demon she and Kurama saw yester- no, two days ago, but the air in the room shifted only slightly, grasping for her attention and making her eyes slide over each person in the room.

Kurama, quietly listening.

Hiei, talking naturally about the information he had gathered, no shift in his tone.

Toriko, sitting, staring at her hands, eyes distant and expression odd…

Suddenly, she knew what was happening to the other demon, and threw a glare up at Hiei. Why hadn't he thought of that? Why hadn't he thought of the emotional scarring, the physical pain that would come with the topic for her? Her eyes turned back to Toriko and she shifted, trying to move so that she could reach across Kurama and grab her attention, attempt to pull the girl from that process that Akari herself knew too well.

But by the time she had moved, the girl had dropped her food, stood and left the apartment, leaving her staring after her. She set her teeth and suddenly reached out, using Kurama's shoulder as light support as she pushed herself to her feet, the blanket around her waist falling to the floor, making her realize she was in pants and a tank that were not hers.

The thought was brief, though, as she passed her bento to Kurama. "I'll be back," she mumbled before turning and making her way to the door and outside just as quick as her stiff body would let her. _*****_

Toriko only made it down two flights of the stairs before her rapid pace to leave had her collapsing onto the concrete of one of the landings. She fell to her knees against the wall, scraping her forehead on it as she leaned forward, both of her bandaged arms bending painfully as she hugged herself, becoming as small as she could as she sat there, her shoes woefully forgotten next to the door of Kuwabara's apartment where she had removed them before going further inside.

Unbidden tears were falling from the corners of her eyes, her legs shaking from the abuse she'd just put them through, and the rest of her trembling as occasionally a sob would shake her.

Some distant part of her mind was not sure why she was reacting so violently, as it examined the memories she had and dryly pronounced that they weren't in fact _hers_, but from the other side.

She trembled again, wishing that the voice inside of her would reassure her, the voice that always managed to appear when things got this bad. The one that would give some commentary or another, sometimes an encouraging word or a distraction, and then draw her away into a darkness that Toriko only now realized was in fact unconsciousness.

But she heard not a single peep as the unraveling continued, bits of her mind floating unstably about, awash with the color of blood and bruises. She felt the injury in her calf, _felt it_, as something slashed across and opened it for the first time.

_Please...please help me... _Her voice echoed against the emptiness of her own thoughts, and she realized she was actually and truly alone. 3

Akari looked around herself as the door shut behind her, taking a deep breath and trying to stretch her muscles as she found the stairway that lead down. Her entire body protested, telling her to go back inside under the warmth and safety of the living room of the apartment she had slept in. But her mind refused and she continued, taking steps only as long as her already tired legs would let her.

Not moving around much for three days had taken a toll on her.

One by one, she took the stairs slowly, an arm always touching the railing, always leaning on it in case her knees wobbled or her feet only dragged against the cement. And it felt like an eternity before she was able to see Toriko, slouched against a wall, tears falling from her eyes that were squeezed so tightly shut. A frown settled on her face as she continued, finally dropping herself onto the same step Toriko was on, reaching forward without hesitation and lightly tapping the girl's cheek as she called to her.

"Toriko." Her voice was small, almost a murmur, so she spoke again. "Toriko, look at me." Her voice was louder this time, but still gentle, to convey she was not a threat. "I need you to look at me, to meet my gaze. You're okay. You're safe now." _*****_

Toriko blinked through the tears and saw the concerned face bending over her through the lenses of her glasses, but made no sense of it. She nodded, indicating that she could hear the person she thought might be Akari, but listening and understanding felt beyond her at the moment.

_I'll be fine, _She couldn't manage to say, _She always talks me through this. She'll be here. Any second now. _She blinked tears again, expecting a voice to speak from within her that she could hardly comprehend might never come. 3

Akari noted the nod, realizing she was heard, but was she understood? A frown settled on her face, but she quickly replaced it with a gentle smile as she reached forward, both hands on either cheek of Toriko's face. "I know you're afraid. It's scary, Toriko, I understand. But you have to meet my gaze. Okay? It isn't real. Not here, not now. Not anymore. Not ever again." She moved a hand and tugged lightly at the glasses covering her eyes, to see them better.

"Look at me. Right now, I need you to look at me, to see me. _I'm _real. I know it's hard, I know it hurts, but it's okay." She eyed the bandages around the girl's arm, her smile faltering. Suddenly, she pulled the girl from the wall and wrapped her arms around her, out of instinct, and pat her back. "Listen to my voice. You don't have to talk, just listen, okay? I'm here, and no one else is. I'm not going to hurt you, and I won't let anything happen. Just breath." She took in a slow breath, then let it out through her nose. "Can you do that?" _*****_

Toriko could manage no coherent words of protest when she felt her glasses being taken from her face, so she merely squeezed her eyes shut tightly and kept them that way.

It must have been about the time she felt the solidity of the wall falling away that a thought she hadn't considered before wavered for only an instant across her mind.

_She isn't coming._

The voice that had, from her earliest memories, been a cornerstone in her existence...was not coming.

This one thought came to Toriko as a sudden blow more harsh than any that she vicariously felt herself being subjected to at that moment.

Without that voice...what was she to do? Her suffering had never gone away on its own before. She had always been blessedly given a reprieve that came outside of herself.

She started to shiver, goose bumps forming on her bare shoulders, and she could feel them prickling underneath the bandages wrapped around her arms.

For some reason...being alone felt very cold. 3

Akari wasn't sure what to do other than sit there, repeating herself over and over again to the girl who was now shaking in her arms. She couldn't help but wonder how Kurama had gotten through to her the most recent time she'd had a spell like this, but since she couldn't remember, she thought back to Sensui.

He'd done numerous things ranging from talking to, at one point, literally shaking her from it violently. Of course, she knew not everyone would respond the way she did to things like that, so she didn't try it with Toriko.

She pulled back from the girl, hands again on her cheeks, but this time tapping on both cheeks lightly. "Come on, _look at me_, Toriko." Her false smile was gone, her calm nothing more than a small string she felt she was tugging on. She wanted to help this girl, but not knowing how was making her feel rather useless.

So, she tapped harder. "Toriko! Listen to me, right this instant!" It was the only way she knew to get the girl's attention, and she sure as heck didn't want to be any more demanding or forceful. "You are **not **alone. I've been there too. All you have to do is **look at me. **Let me know you can hear me. I'm saying this again: _you are not alone." __*****_

Outside somewhere, Toriko felt her face touched, her eyes still closed tightly, but it pulled her away enough that she could hear the words that Akari spoke to her. And they made her laugh.

Somehow, from somewhere inside her, laughter welled up and bubbled passed her lips. But this was not a laughter sprung from joy. It came from a darker place, some corner of her soul that light had not brightened in many, many years, and it was a cruel laugh. A laugh lined with her true age, with memories that she even now feared to consider, and somehow the laughter helped clear her mind. Because the laughter made her very, very angry.

She still did not open her eyes, she had not lost that singular fear, but her mouth twisted from one of despondency into one that held a certain wickedness within its grin.

"_Alone_? You think you've been..._**alone?**_"

It somehow felt as if it was not _her _saying these words, but that Toriko herself had taken a backseat in some strange manner and the words welled up from that same dark corner from which she laughed.

For once, perhaps for the first time, she thought of the past fifteen years of her existence and took stock of them: forced to live among a people that were not her own, and not openly, but in fear that they might take notice of her, that she might be found out. She did not thrive when alone, she was no introvert. She recharged surrounded by others, and such a transition made her very heart ache for interactions that her mind would not allow her to have.

And then it was not the past fifteen years, but instead a distant time long past. A command from another to leave her homeland, to run to safety to save her own life and never come back. To stay away from others...

"You may talk of alone when you've forced into hiding for centuries to save your own life. You may talk of alone when you've been separated from everything you know and hold dear, kept in isolation without another to share in your misery for so many decades that you've since lost count."

Toriko spoke out of the overflow of that dark place, still feeling as if it was not her saying any of it and yet knowing that it was all true. She realized in those moments that physical pain could not hold a candle to a prison of one's own devising: a prison of the mind, a prison in which there is no outside stimulation that can stir you...

Out of that same dark place came an anger Toriko did not understand, one that could not believe this...this _worm _would dare claim to know about such isolation, this _child_, this _youngling _with barely enough years under her belt to no longer be considered an infant.

Her body shook more as tears kept falling from nowhere, something inside of her almost ready to snap. 3

Akari felt the color drain from her face at the laugh that suddenly filled the air, pulling her hands away from the girl who, despite the cruel sound, continued to cry and shake. Out of pure instinct, she scooted a little further from the girl, placing her back on the railing of the stairs that continued downwards.

And as the mouth that no longer seemed to belong to Toriko spoke, Akari's eyes widened first in shock, then in anger that made her body begin to shake. She didn't dare interrupt the female. Why would she? The demoness would simply wait until everything was on the plate…

And yet with each word, each additional dry laugh between sentences, Akari's eyes narrowed further. Her body shook more, and the anger she felt inside tried hard to get to her energy out of pure reflex, but grasping at nothing but an orb of darkness. A barrier within herself.

But what made her angrier was the images that flashed across her mind with each word about being alone, with each remark she made came a new image each time that she'd pushed away so very many times in the past ten years.

And suddenly, when the girl was done talking, Akari was picking up with her own words, not giving Toriko time to continue even if she had wished to do so, a harsh glare on the girl. "Yes, I understand your life sucks and you feel useless because you were alone. I _understand _you've experienced more simply because you've lived longer. However, for you to assume-" Her words were cut short with a hitch in her breath at the images that flashed again, threatening to take over.

But not this time.

It only added to her anger, and tears of rage were suddenly building up.

"I have been alone, trust me, I have. I have been alone for years, where my only company was of those who wished to _play _with me, to use me for their sickest desires. I've been alone and left to die numerous times, only for my only hope to not come through and for me to continue breathing through _every sickening second._ Yes, your power draws disgusting people to you, but at least _they _were brief encounters."

She took in a deep breath, a snarl following it out through her teeth. "You may have closed yourself off from the world, but _**I had no choice. **_I was snatched from my own home, thrown into a building, and _**toyed with **_for years. I had been kept alone for so long that even now, I do not recall how long I had been held, and only by the grace of a madman was I taken from that place. And only by the grace of _**my own will **_did I survive afterwards."

Another breath, this time her voice at a roar as she suddenly stood. "You complain about being alone, but with this type of thinking, this _act _you have put on for self preservation… It will land you in the very same position. And I hope to Enma you don't kill those who care for you in the process." _*****_

From that place where Toriko felt as if she sat as second-fiddle, Akari's words still reached her and she heard herself chuckle again from where she sat with her eyes closed and her head slightly lowered.

"Ah, that I were in your place." Another chuckle, "For you were not made to appreciate it. You were around others. You were allowed interaction. You were not _alone._" A beat again, but this time only her cruel smile in place of the laugh, "I would have enjoyed myself and then died as soon as my energy was depleted. That's what we do. That's what we were born to do. To be used up. And then to die. How's _that _for the life of a demon?"

Toriko's eyes opened slightly and she saw the greyness of the concrete, and then the shine of her glasses for which she started to reach.

"But we are too different for ourselves and our situation to compare." Toriko heard herself allow, felt the realization that in this moment she and the pup were not alike. Her arms dropped from around her body, a spasm shooting up the left one as it remembered its pain from the past week. "My _alone _can never be your _alone_." Toriko finally managed to get the glasses in her hand. 3

Akari felt her fists shaking; when had she formed fists? Her eyes were so blurred from tears now that she almost couldn't see the girl sitting in front of her, and quite frankly, she didn't think she wanted to. But she could hear every single word, no matter if she wanted to or not, and they only made her see red. A dark, dangerous red that she'd only seen once in her entire lifetime, and she had killed during that time.

And without thinking, without even considering it, Akari swooped down, her anger fueling every motion her body took, and grabbed the girl by the straps of her dress, lifting her from the ground and slamming her back into the wall, a snarl escaping for the third time.

"Someone like you who doesn't see the value of the people who obviously _**will not **_let you be alone deserves a suffering death." Her eyes were dark, her grasp on the dress so tight that her knuckles were white, and were her energy free, she likely would have been attacking. "You don't see that there are at least two people in that apartment who give a rat's ass about your pathetic self-pity. And one of them helped rescue you, _not _because of the bond you share, but because he _wanted to._ I for one would have loved that in my days, but you don't seem to give a shit." She took a long breath, hissing between her teeth, "And your _**Champion **_deserves better. I hope he gives you what you're looking for: death."

And with that, she released the girl and turned away, continuing her way down the stairs, not to go home, but to keep herself from making a mistake. "Good luck," she called over her shoulder as she walked, each step heavy as if she'd never even been physically weak in the first place. _*****_

_A temper-tantrum. How cute. Truly befitting of her age._

The thought did not sound like her own, the voice that said it much crueler than kind, weathered with aged and dismissing the _worm _as too young to actually understand.

She said nothing, eyes closed, wicked smile never wavering as she let the little fit wash over her without giving the other any indication of a reaction.

_No! _Toriko finally felt herself able to struggle to take control again the longer Akari spoke. _No, that's not what I- Please don't-_

When she was dropped, her legs collapsed after Akari moved beyond her sight and her head slammed backwards against the concrete, jarring even her closed eyes and sending stars into her vision.

In that instant, Toriko found herself with no more resistance and she metaphorically stepped back into her own skin, coming into the awareness that her glasses were miraculously unharmed in her hand, both hands planted firmly on the landing and she stared down at its grey color on all fours, blinking and finding that her body did not wish to respond to her commands to _move _to go after the girl that had left in a huff.

Instead Toriko tried little things: licked her lips, finding them salty from tears, moved a hand to her eye, finding it wet from the same.

Even in control again, Toriko felt disjointed and out of place, associating the last few minutes akin to an 'out of body experience' that she remembered reading about in one of her textbooks for school.

It...it scared her. Above all else, she felt terrified, rooted to the spot at the thought that somehow she had not been in full control. Like she had been stuck in some sort of nightmare where she watched herself do and say horrible things that she had not and never would mean.

But then, where had they come from?

_The...the other one._

Of course.

The black-outs.

_But I didn't black-out this time._

Would that happen more now? Could her other side somehow wrest control from her at any moment?

_But...but I was meant to shield her from the world. To...imprison her. To keep us safe._

Finally the terror of the previous minutes began to wear off and Toriko shakily brought herself to a stand, her eyes blurry as pain shot across her body.

There would be no way she could go after Akari with any sort of haste, and the thought that she had pushed the other away tugged at her almost as painfully as moving tugged at her body.

She let her hands brace herself heavily against the wall for another moment, and then she turned and forced her legs to take her up the staircase as fast as possible, getting back to the entrance of Kuwabara's apartment and leaning into the door frame.

"K-Kurama," Toriko lifted her glasses to her face as she looked to the redhead, "Please...Akari...she ran off and-"

Kurama had looked up in alarm before she even came in the door and he started to rise.

"-and I'm too slow. And it's my fault, but I-" A spike of fear at recalling what had happened between them had Toriko's words catching in her throat.

Kurama sent her a gentle smile, wondering at how something could be this soft-spoken demon's fault but wanting to be reassuring, "We'll find her." He turned to the young dog nearby, "Won't we, Nabu?" 3

Nabu jumped up from where he had been laying, feeling the sense of alarm in the room and slowly meandering forward when Flowers called him. He stood at his feet and looked up at him, giving a small bark of understanding before jumping forward on his hind legs once and taking the lead.

~!**!~

Akari walked down several flights of stairs, though didn't really see them as they were, but as stairs she'd seen so long ago. She could feel the blood on her hands, the wicked smile in place as she saw the image flickering in and out, not really a stable scene.

But when she reached the bottom, she turned left, moving until she found some benches that stood in a small courtyard, completely vacated. But by the time she was seated, she was inside her own mind, still walking through a building, this time a person dragging behind her who squirmed and shouted for help.

"_No one is going to help. They left you down there, all alone, with me. Surely you knew that one day, I'd get out of that ridiculous knot, right?"_

"_P-please! Just let me go!"_

_A laugh bubbled from her lips, her vision red as she turned to the grown man she dragged by the hair across the tile. "Like you did for me? Sure, I will."_

_Minutes passed by, and his yelling, screaming for help went on and on, begging for mercy here and there. But they had reached her favorite room, where other demons were left, dangling by their hands. Several looked up, but she doubted they saw her. _

Akari blinked, and she was looking at the courtyard again, sitting with her arms stretched out across the back of the bench and one leg crossed over the other, staring at a wall of another apartment complex. There were humans, children playing with their family. The scene made the shaking rage calm into a dull anger that only roiled beneath the surface.

Too bad she was under watch. A part of her could really use a good fight about now, if only to shake away the uneasiness she felt. Of course, not the humans. "_Maybe Yusuke will be willing to… lend a hand."_ she thought to herself, eyes sliding closed.

And from there, the scene continued. _*****_

Kurama followed the eager pup down the staircase, his mind ablaze with events that he hadn't even seen take place and hadn't listened in to out of respect of privacy between the two.

Nabu led him to a small courtyard, but the pup whined as Akari came into view, and it wasn't all that difficult to feel why. There seemed to be a cloud around her, once whose depth made Kurama's thoughts turn back to: what exactly happened back there?

Without saying a word, he approached her, sitting on the other side of the bench and staying silent, knowing that she knew he was there without him having to speak.

~!**!~

Toriko had managed to step back from the door frame to let dog and redhead by, gathering strength as she watched them trot down the staircase before she started to follow, closing the door to the apartment and making her way down to the bottom floor just in time to see the direction Kurama and Nabu had gone.3

* * *

Shizuru \- sizzle

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	25. Episode 110 - Apologies

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow Fanfiction Fanatics!

Maneshi is always tons of fun for me to write and there's one of my favorite scenes of him at the end of this chapter.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Otento, Terepo, and Gashiru manage to escape the Spirit Detectives,  
who summarily rescue Akari and Kurama, the two of which wake up on the floor of Kuwabara's apartment.

Toriko shows up with food, Hiei close behind, and when the conversation shifts to the encounter,  
she finds herself unable to deal with the images and impressions of what happened  
while Shikiyoku was captured by the fake Youko's gang,  
and she runs outside only to be followed by Akari,  
who can just sense what is happening to her as Akari has been through such remembrances herself.

This leads to a clash between the two demons, young and old,  
but in such a way that Toriko feels as if she has no control,  
that the words she is speaking are being spoken by another.

Losing her temper, Akari stalks off and Toriko takes a moment to regain control,  
getting back up to Kuwabara's apartment to ask for help from Kurama in chasing after Akari.

Meanwhile, now Akari is finding herself slipping into memories of days gone past...

* * *

_In the end of that moment, she'd been surrounded. Of course those humans hadn't all left, and she was much too weak to fight them all, but she sure did try. She took three before ending up just as before, in a room alone, hung by her wrists, this time with iron instead of rope. And in front of her stood Sakyo, making a sound of disappointment at her, the human she had been dragging earlier standing just behind him._

_An ear twitched at the sound he made, her eyes narrowing. "You know, I would have killed any other demon who did that. In a heartbeat, might I add."_

"_Too bad you enjoy my presence so much, huh?"_

"_Yes, too bad.." The dark haired man turned to the human behind him, expression blank as he whispered so low that, surprisingly, even her canine hearing couldn't make out. Then he turned to her again. "Your advances cost me much today."_

"_Then why don't you just finish me? That would end your rebellion issues."_

"_Hmm… I think I rather enjoy the challenge. Onizuka, gather the tools from the room next door, and…" the look he sent her way was one of consideration, a smile playing his lips, "...remove her ears and tail. She'll be a great prize to sell later once she's been tamed and can be hidden among the humans."_

_And as soon as he turned to leave, the human named Onizuka stepped closer, a wicked smile on his face as his disgusting breath washed over hers. And that had been the last breath he took as well._

The scene faded in her mind, leaving her to look at the family across the courtyard again, more than aware of the person next to her. Though he didn't say anything, she realized Nabu must have lead him here. She glanced back at the pup who stood several yards away, ears down and tail tucked. Then she sighed and turned to Kurama briefly, her eyes quickly turning to the humans again.

"You got up to check on _little ole' me_?" She asked, tone dripping with sarcasm. "How sweet." _*****_

"Well, I'm a very sweet person." Kurama responded very seriously, his arms crossed over his chest as he also regarded the apartments on the other side of their position.

After he let the pause settle there for a while, "And it wasn't _me _that wanted to check up on you. I was just the excuse."

~!**!~

"_You must __**run, **__child!"_

"_But why?" She did not understand the urgency in her mother's eyes._

"_Because they will kill you." She said sadly, continuing to prepare her daughter._

"_But why?" Her head tilted the other direction._

"_Because of your powers."_

_Her lips pursed together in thought as she considered the statement._

"_But why? They haven't-"_

_Her mother finally let out a sad laugh, interrupting her, and grabbed her for a hug, tears beginning to well up in her eyes._

"_This is not how things work, mother." The child did not respond to the hug, crossing her arms, her face drawn into a serious expression with brows turned downwards and lips pursed together._

"_I know." Her mother gave another laugh again and pulled away, holding the child at arms length and staring her directly in the eyes._

_The child visibly shrunk away, knowing all too well the power this eye contact held._

_The eyes glimmered, a shine cascading over them and she felt herself entranced and unable to move._

"_You will run. And you will hide. You __**must **__stay away from everyone, or you will die."_

_The child's eyes grew much larger at the pronouncement.'Death' was not a thing in her vocabulary. At least...not her __**own **__death._

_But something within her mother's gaze told her that this was in fact directly related to her own death, and the shimmer behind them that she had not yet learned how to fight off made her stiffen._

"_Yes, mother."_

_A voice called from somewhere behind them._

"_Your majesty?"_

_Her mother glanced hurriedly over her shoulders, then back down._

"_You are hereby __**exiled **__from these lands." Her eyes shimmered again. "And you may __**never **__return."_

"_But mo-"_

"_Say nothing!" Her mother whispered fiercely, forcibly turning the child around and giving her a shove through the small opening in the wall behind the bookcase._

"_Mo-" She turned around as soon as her mother released her._

"_Go! Now! Run!" The eyes gleamed forcibly brighter and then her mother's face disappeared as the opening darkened, throwing the child into complete blackness._

~!**!~

Toriko's lungs burned, her body ached, even the simple walk making them protest what with the stiffness that her muscles coveted for days now.

When she saw Nabu had stopped, she slowed only for a moment and knelt down to take his face in her hands and give his head a good rub.

"_You_ know it wasn't me, right?" She looked into his eyes, not expecting an answer of which she could make sense.

The pause only took a moment before she stood again, breathing deeply and fighting back all the pain as she took that first step, and then another, and then broke into a jog as her teeth clenched together, making a beeline for where she could see Akari sitting.

When she got in range, she leapt at her, throwing her arms around the other's shoulders and looking at her with large, shining eyes, breathless and sore and so very glad she had not gone very far. She took a gulp of air, but went ahead and spoke even without a chance to catch her breath.

In that moment the sea of emotions broke through the dam she hadn't even known had been in place and Toriko could feel another wave of tears start threatening to spill over her eyes as she pleaded with the one in her embrace, "Please don't be mad, 'Kari! I didn't mean it! I'm- I-"

How did one explain that it was not oneself?

Toriko bit her lower lip, only finding herself able to shake her head and fight back her tears. 3

Akari huffed at Kurama, mumbling a low "smartass," under her breath. But with his last words she didn't respond, didn't feel the need to. Though, now that she'd channeled her anger into a memory, she felt only mildly irritated now. Or, perhaps as close to that end of the spectrum as she could be.

She didn't think about the things she'd said. She had a feeling that if she did, she'd either feel bad and go back, or she'd just end up angry again at what had lead to those words. And she wasn't sure she wanted either of those.

But her mind went there anyway, lingering on the last thing she'd said before leaving. Internally, she cringed at the harshness, but at the same time, there wasn't anything inside her that felt remorse over those words, since in a way, she felt as if she herself needed to hear the words. She'd gone on so long acting as if it were just her, nothing affecting anyone but herself, but since Nabu…

No, since Toriko had been kidnapped, she'd taken to actually caring a little more about the group and…

No, even before that.

A sneer suddenly crossed her features. _How ridiculous._

Her thoughts would have gone on, if she weren't ripped from them by a sudden weight crushing into her, knocking the wind from her lungs and making her temper flare. "Would you get off of me!" She growled, not really caring who it was. But as Toriko's voice filled her ears, desperate to make her understand, she began pushing some more, her body leaning slightly the other way, though she was very aware of Kurama and where he sat as well.

Her hands slipped under the girl and tried prying her from her body. "You don't get to do that," she growled out, getting nowhere with her effort of getting away. "Get off!" _*****_

Kurama started laughing outright at the scene, not minding it in the least.

Toriko, for her part, did let go of Akari as she asked, slipping down into the bench beside her, still facing her, and lifting a hand to jam her palm into her eye and rid it of the sudden tears that threatened to spill out.

"Sorry." Toriko said again as she did so. 3

Akari suddenly wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, her temper was still rolling, churning her stomach and even her core. But on another…

"You don't get to cry now," she growled out, turning away and looking across the courtyard again to see the family she had been watching earlier, watching her. Another sigh escaped her lips, and she turned to Toriko again, ready to say something rather nasty, but at the sight of the girl's tears, she simply…

Deflated.

All energy left her in another sigh and she leaned back against the back of the bench, rubbing her forehead with her right hand, grinding into her skull. The dull ache that formed there was only by her own doing, but she didn't pull away from doing so.

"Enough." she grumbled, referring to the tears. "Don't…. do that." And for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to tell the girl not to cry in a softer way. _*****_

Toriko...giggled. Actually...giggled. There wasn't any way around the noise that popped out of her mouth at that moment, unintentionally. She kept rubbing at her eyes as a few tears still fell.

_You sound like Hiei when you say that._

"I'm sorry." She apologized again, her voice softer than before as all of the darkness from earlier simply vanished away in that one thought.

She settled back into the bench with a slight "oof" of air blustering past her lips. She was certain she could not move for a while and the breeze felt nice.

"I..." She started hesitantly, "I've never had a friend before."

"Am I to suppose that I am but a piece of chopped liver?" Kurama eloquently jabbed in a good-natured fashion over Akari at her.

"You're a male. It's different." Toriko protested loudly. Had she been next to him, his comment would have been awarded with a solid punch to his shoulder.

"I...didn't want to lose a friend." Toriko went on, quiet again. "A _female _friend." She said, louder.

Kurama's eyes twinkled, but he said nothing.

"...I'm very sorry." 3

Akari kept her eyes forward, but the sudden smile that formed on her face at Kurama's jab and Toriko's response was undeniable. All anger had been washed away, and her arm resettled on the back of the bench, both arms extending behind the people who now sat on either side of her.

She took a deep breath in, her eyes looking to Toriko from the corners, and she replied, "Quite honestly, I haven't either. My temper was out of place, only out of reflex. I…" she paused, her eyelids sliding closed. "I apologize too. I was...harsh." And that was all she could say, for the moment.

Because as she looked around herself, she again found that she felt rather at home, rather comfortable with these people. Is this what it actually felt like to consider a place… Home? She hadn't known that feeling in so long that she wasn't even sure.

Suddenly, she glanced to Kurama, a small smile on her face. "Remember that vacation I told you about, where no morons are?" She paused, her smile growing. "It's not here, but this will do." _*****_

Toriko leaned forward to speak to Kurama at almost half-volume.

"Did she just call me a moron?"

Kurama leaned forward slightly to answer her.

"You know, I'm not sure. But it's quite possible. Why don't you ask her?"

Toriko leaned back and crossed her arms, glaring playfully at Akari.

"Did you just call me a moron?" Toriko tilted her head upwards a little, "Because it _sounded _like you just called me a moron." 3

Akari rolled her eyes to the sky at the duo, listening to them idly before Toriko actually _did _address her.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" she responded, eyes moving to the ground as something touched her shin, laying eyes on Nabu, who had never been so quiet before. "I mean, for all you know, I could be referring to the dog," she continued as she picked up Nabu and planted him in her lap.

"Too bad you'll never know." _*****_

"Did you _hear _that, Nabu?" Kurama exclaimed, "She's calling you mean names again!"

Toriko didn't look convinced, but reached over to give the dog a pat if it looked like neither he nor Akari minded. 3

Nabu looked up at Akari, obviously not have been listening to the topic aside from what Kurama had just said, giving a small whine of "_Is this true?" _

And the way his ears lay back so innocently made Akari toss her head back and give a laugh, not noticing Toriko petting him. "No, Flowers is making things up again."

"_Why would he do that?"_

"Ask him."

And the look he sent over to Kurama was one of pure sadness, and for a moment, she felt genuinely sorry about the lie, and she reached down and pet the dog, following his spine.

"I'm just kidding, Nabu. I'm being mean, and I'm sorry."

"_Better be!"_

Akari gave a small laugh and turned to the redhead. "See what you got me into? Now I'm in trouble…" _*****_

"Me?" Kurama blinked in her direction innocently, "I would do no such thing."

Toriko was quick to pick up on Akari calling Kurama "Flowers" and looked between the two with a strange expression on her face before turning back to Nabu.

"Nabu," She addressed him seriously, "What's _my _name?" She pointed to herself. 3

Akari jutted her lip out at the redhead, as if he'd saddened her by his words. "You're hurtful."

But at Toriko's sudden question, Akari turned to Nabu curiously, wondering what the dog would say.

And Nabu's head turned to the side, at first confused. Was he supposed to have a name for her already? At first, nothing really stood out, except…

"_Sparkles."_

Akari raised a brow at the dog. "Sparkles? That's all you've got?"

"_She sparkles! Just like Loudmouth has markings on his face and Flowers has ears and a tail!"_

Confused, Akari raised a brow. Who was loudmouth? Her first thought was Yusuke, but he didn't have markings on his face.

Then again, Toriko didn't sparkle to her either.

"_Flowers' scent is very calming."_

"I bet," she replied quietly, still perplexed by the meaning behind Nabu's nicknames. _*****_

For once the prospect did not bother her and Toriko laughed with delight at the name, giving Nabu another good rub, "That's a very apt name for me, Nabu. I approve." Toriko pointed with one hand at Akari, "And who is this?" 3

Akari was pulled from her thoughts again by Toriko's question, suddenly curious. The dog, confused, looked at her, and then back to Toriko. "_That's Akari." _He paused, giving her time to repeat his words before he continued, "_And she's my best friend in the whole world!"_

Akari, having repeated merely out of habit, didn't really hear the words at first. But when they registered, she gave a small smile and hugged the dog so tight, he made a small, strangled cry for help. "What, no weird nickname?"

"_Well, you're a dog, but your ears are gone. I could-"_

"Nah, Akari is fine."

"_Okay…" __*****_

"Has he met Kuwabara yet? Or Yusuke?" Kurama felt his own curiosity rising what with his and Toriko's "names" being revealed. "Or what about Hiei?" Kurama couldn't help the humor that danced in his eyes at the thought of what Nabu might call the fire demon. 3

Nabu's head tilted to the side, unfamiliar with the names that Flowers asked about.

Akari nodded once though, "He's met Yusuke and Kuwabara, and…" she paused, remembering that Loudmouth was _indeed _the detective. "He refers to Yusuke as Loudmouth, because he dumped him on the floor after winning a game, yelling. As for Kuwabara…" She glanced down at the dog, curious. "You know Loudmouth's friend, right?"

"_Oh…. Yeah…" _The dog tilted his head the opposite direction in thought, obviously unsure of what he would call Kuwabara.

"While you think about that, what about the other guy that was in the apartment?"

"_The shorter, but still tall, one?"_

"Uh, sure."

No hesitation. "_Grump."_

And Akari repeated the name with a laugh.

"_And Loudmouth's friend's name is… uh... I don't know."_

"He doesn't have one for Kuwabara yet, though." _*****_

"Funny. Kuwabara made a pretty strong first impression when I met him." Kurama mused.

Toriko was still in fits about "Grump."

She wiped tears from her eyes for a different reason this time and heaved a breath.

"I think if I ever accidentally call him that, he might kill me." She stifled another laugh.

"I think if he heard _any _of us calling him that, our heads would roll." Kurama rephrased for her. 3

Akari sat back heavily into the bench, Nabu still sitting upright in her lap as he watched Toriko laugh. He'd never had someone laugh at his nicknames before, and Akari wouldn't be surprised if he was as filled with joy as he was with curiosity.

"Well, when Nabu was with Yusuke and Kuwabara, and I showed up, Kuwabara wasn't very talkative, except when it came to Yusuke _not _driving." And at that, she forgot to elaborate, her eyes turning to Nabu again. "Are you sure you don't have a nickname?"

"_I can't think of any."_

"Too bad." _*****_

Toriko pursed her lips together in thought. "You know, I'd probably dub them Loudmouth A and Loudmouth B."

Kurama chuckled, "That certainly sums them up quite nicely."

Another thought of Hiei brushed against Toriko's mind. Just a moment. Just enough to remind her about him. A plethora of confused feelings that she had been having towards him recently bubbled up and she appeared lost in thought, Kurama also taking to the moment of silence by enjoying the air. 3

Akari fell into silence, listening to the air that blew by, her mind turning again to Nabu's nicknames. She understood Kurama's, and she remembered Toriko's power, which explained Sparkles. Sure, Loudmouth was an adequate name for Yusuke, but… Markings? She wanted to ask Nabu, but decided to wait until later, when they would be alone, so she could focus entirely on it and not be interrupted.

"_Hey! Loudmouth!" _Nabu suddenly barked, making Akari actually jump before she turned to look behind her, seeing Yusuke and Kuwabara traipsing up behind them quietly, except they looked rather like they'd been busted sneaking away.

"Dang it, Nabu! You ruined the fun!"

"You know, sneaking up on demons isn't smart, right?"

"But If we can sneak up on you guys, especially Kurama, then we'd be set for life!" _*****_

"Unfortunately for you, you seem to forget that "sneaking" means being quiet." A smile played across Kurama's lips as he glanced over the back of the bench to regard them. "It seems our vacation is truly over, Akari." He told her confidentially. 3

A heavy sigh escaped Akari's lips, "It was so nice…"

"_We were on a vacation?!"_

"What does that mean?" Yusuke grumbled, arms crossing. "I don't get the joke."

"That's too bad."

"Hey, I'm glad y'all are awake though!" Kuwabara suddenly piped, smiling as he came around the bench and sat on one not too far from the one Akari, Kurama, and Toriko had taken claim over. "How long have you been up? It's been really quiet without you guys. Except, y'know, this moron," Kuwabara jerked his thumb at Yusuke.

And Akari laughed, because he'd just accentuated the joke he hadn't even been in on. "Not too long, I guess."

"Well, smartass, how long is _not too long?" Y_usuke grumbled as he sat on the same bench as Kuwabara. _*****_

"I doubt it's been much more than an hour, Yusuke." Kurama eyes held a mirth that he did not allow to spread to his lips, but he had not missed Kuwabara's inadvertent joke either. "Have you been able to get in touch with Koenma? Do we have any idea what's going on yet?" 3

Kuwabara shrugged. "Yeah, we talked to him for a little while about what happened, but after we left, Botan hasn't been back."

"I guess Spirit World is really behind these days. They haven't been doing very well in keeping up with much of anything."

Akari heaved a sigh. "That's reassuring."

"Yeah, especially since it took them an hour after I'd already figured out you guys were gone before they even noticed. And then it took even longer for the tracker to be-"

"Tracker?"

"Yeah, he said it was part of your parole, or something." Kuwabara answered, shrugging. "No big deal."

"Right." How could she not have thought of that? "Well, it's a good thing it was in place. Another day in there and I would have gone insane. Not that it matters much."

"Last we heard, he was trying to relocate the demon gang, and had Botan trying to figure out what to do about your energies being all missing and stuff." Yusuke finished, expression grim. "I doubt they're getting very far. Botan said she'd never heard of this before now."

"How reassuring, detective."

"Just doin' my job." _*****_

The change of subject set Toriko on edge, seemed to sharpen her senses, as the words 'detective' and 'Spirit World' were passed around between the persons around her.

_Do they know?_

Her gaze flickered over to Kurama, who sensed her momentary anxiety and gave her the smallest smile meant to reassure.

_Do they know of us?_

As if he were able to read her thoughts, Toriko thought she saw Kurama give an almost imperceptible nod as if to tell her everything was alright, and the expression he wore actually set her at ease, getting her to sit back into the bench underneath her once more, though she did not remember when she began to sit forward.

There was something deep-set within her that still remained unsettled, even as the voices around her continued to banter and talk back and forth, and somewhere in her mind she found it amusing to realize all at once that in her original moment of asking Kurama to send for her to help, in the end she was assisting the very people who had a warrant out for her arrest.

_Warrant?_

What had that meant? Where had it come from? Toriko had never done a single wrong thing in her life.

The idea that Youko was now essentially working for those same people who had once hunted him also-

_Youko?_

She blinked rapidly, the image of Kurama coming into her mind's eye, though she did not understand why, as she remembered a conversation a long time ago with the redhead in which had been revealed that he knew she was special because he was the same.

_The same what?_

As the conversation around her continued, Toriko slowly slid her way off of the bench, slipping away at a moment when she would be unnoticed by the others.

Walking back to Kuwabara's apartment, she could feel things stirring in her mind, the beginnings of answers forming to her questions starting with the last one.

_You're a demon, child._

Toriko paused in place, struck by the fact that somehow she knew this response to be true and also by how it didn't immediately send her to her knees in fright.

_Youko had to run too._

A new sense of similarity between the two of them welled up inside her as an image of what she understood to be Kurama's 'true' form became interposed on top of the redhead she had befriended a couple of years ago.

Toriko slowly walked forward again, stepping onto the first flight of stairs and making her way upwards, carefully filing away all of these strange thoughts in the very back of her mind before they got the better of her.

There were bento boxes of hers that needed picking up, and the plate that she'd left on the ground from Nabu was likely licked clean by now-

She forced herself amidst these other thoughts of exactly what she would do when she got there, and so it was that she entered the room with stiff muscles and distracted from the past with the present. She closed the bentos that were not finished and placed them in the refrigerator, kneeling with a grimace at her pain to place her own back inside the satchel she came in with.

She was most definitely still not feeling well and her mind lingered on laying down to rest. 3

Hiei had been lounging on the largest couch, completely comfortable now that, one, he was full and, two, it was quiet in the apartment. He even considered taking a small nap, before the door opened, getting his attention with the small click it made.

His crimson orbs locked on to the girl who, when he'd last seen her, had been in tears. Now, she seemed distracted, busying herself with picking up boxes from around the room. He had seen her do this several times, forcing herself into doing something that would keep her busy. He figured it was what kept her going, kept her from dwelling on thoughts she didn't want to remember.

"Was the problem solved?" he suddenly asked, actually curious.

~!**!~

"You're mighty grumpy today." Yusuke commented after having gotten a sound spoken beating from Akari

Akari huffed, but then gave a sickeningly sweet smile. "I'm sorry hunny, would you like me to kiss that boo boo?"

"Shattup."

"Aw, but I'm only offering my heart to you, sweet heart!"

"_You're scaring me." __*****_

"Just don't talk to him like that when Keiko's around. Or you'll get him into even _more _trouble." Kurama decided to be as helpful as possible, his face remaining perfectly serious as he conveyed this information.

Akari's curious gaze turned to Kurama, and suddenly she was smiling wickedly. "Aww, sweethearts, are you?" she asked Yusuke, earning a small huff of defensiveness.

"We aren't together or anything. She's just a friend of mine since we were kids."

"You know, in demon world, that means _mates_."

The choking sound she earned from the boy was enough to stay her next taunting remark, instead replacing it with laughter.

"Yeah Urameshi, when are you gonna tell 'er anyway?"

"I have nothing _to _tell her! God dammit, leave me alone about it!"

"I dunno, you've been rather friendly lately."

Akari didn't even have to say anything anymore, since Kuwabara had taken over her taunting. She glanced over where, moments ago, Toriko had been, realizing the spot was empty. Thinking nothing of it, she moved so that her back was leaning on the arm rest, her feet stretched out in front of her, only an inch between her foot and Kurama's knee. And this was about as comfortable as she could be at this point in time.

"_Are you okay?"_

Akari hummed a small affirmative to the dog, simply sitting back and watching the bickering boys, letting serenity take over for a while. At least, in her mind, there was serenity. *

"Kuwabara," Kurama chastised, "He'll ask her when he's good and ready." He regarded Yusuke playfully, "Though, from what I've heard, he usually saves that one for when she's really angry at him. If he does it for real, he'll have to think of something else to use to satiate her anger."

~!**!~

Toriko's eyes moved to Hiei to indicate that she heard him, having not realized he was still in the room when she entered until he spoke.

"Yes." She looked back down at the box in her hand, placing it in the bag and reaching for Hiei's as well. She had it over the satchel before her arm spasmed violently and she dropped it in where it clanged against the other box by accident. She stared down blankly at her fingers, which were flexing on their own in the aftermath of her muscle tightening.

She formed them into a fist and threw the fist down by her side as she rose and pulled the satchel over her head with the other hand, turning away and slipping her shoes back on as she opened the door.

"I'm going home." She said simply as she left, unsure if he would care, but feeling strange about leaving without a word. 3

Hiei raised a brow, not asking further about whatever incident had occurred. It wasn't his issue anyway, wasn't his business. But, since the other two weren't back yet, he wondered what else was going on. He brushed the thought away, watching as her arm gave a spasm.

The fire demon had thought those were over.

Hiei couldn't help the small huff, albeit as quiet as a normal breath, that passed through his lips. She was still recovering, and he knew it would be a long process, especially if she kept moving about. So, when she got up to leave, he had already assumed she wanted to do so, slowly rising from his comfortable spot and following her, hands in the pocket of his cloak as he stepped out the door and followed her down the flights of stairs, though he stayed a few feet behind her, in case she wanted space.

And as they passed the courtyard, his eyes glanced in that direction, watching the small group of four before his mind touched Kurama's briefly, with an "_I'm leaving,"_ not specifying that Toriko was as well, since he figured the fox would simply assume that. After all, _someone _had to watch over her, and Hiei saw it as his duty, since he'd taken on the pact.

~!**!~

Akari shifted a bit more, using her arm to toss her hair over the side of the bench so she wouldn't be laying on it, suddenly realising just how _clean _it was, how tangle-free it seemed. She found herself taking stock of herself again, realizing that she'd been completely cleaned up.

She'd have to remember to thank the human- Shizuru, was it?- later before leaving.

"Yeah, but he's so slow at it." Kuwabara suddenly complained, giving Yusuke a hard rub on the head with his knuckle. "He needs to grow a pair and just tell her, not use it as a way to get out of trouble!" _*****_

Kurama chuckled, "And why suddenly so eager to get him married off, Kuwabara? So you can be free to ask Yukina?"

~!**!~

As Toriko rounded the last corner that would put her on the block, she leaned heavily against the fence next to her for a bit.

It was so strange that she still felt this weak. Normally she had no trouble recovering from...anything. Granted, her constitution rarely allowed something to get this far, but she definitely felt that there was more than one thing wrong with her of late.

She moved again, feeling Hiei's eyes on her back and staring down at the sidewalk as she closed the distance to home.

Toriko felt torn about Hiei not walking next to her. She probably would have leaned on him for support, gathering strength from him. In a way she felt glad she could not, even if her independence did mean she moved at a slower pace.

When she got in the door, Maneshi lifted his head from where he lay curled up on the couch only long enough to look over the arm and make sure it was her, then he laid his head back down.

Maneshi had acted in similar straits as herself for the past couple of days and his muted reaction came as no surprise.

Still, after slipping off her shoes and placing the satchel on the table, she went over and ran her fingers across his side, earning the beginnings of a purr though he did not react otherwise.

Keeping silent, her mind still churning, Toriko glanced at the satchel with the bento boxes inside and quickly decided she had not the strength to deal with them at the moment, moving across the room to the stairs and intending to go to her bedroom. 3

Hiei wandered into the house behind her, eyes keeping careful stock of Toriko as her muscles continued to hinder her movements here and there. He considered closing the distance, but decided against it, simply so she could get a little stronger on her own. After all, he didn't want her relying on him _too _much.

Not that it mattered.

As the girl turned to go up the stairs, Hiei glanced to the cat on the couch too, reaching around the arm of it and lightly touching Maneshi's head before pulling away, more out of habit since he'd been doing it a lot as of late.

Then he turned and closed the distance between himself and Toriko in a flash, silently walking beside her in a show of help, if she so desired it.

~!**!~

"HEY! No one asked you!" Kuwabara shouted, immediately ending up in the same position Yusuke had been in moments ago, earning a hard rub on the head, albeit much rougher than when he himself had done it.

"_Are you going to stop them?"_

Akari made no sound, only smiled at Kurama, who had gotten that rise from the boy. "Who's Yukina?" she asked curiously. _*****_

"She's the Ice Maiden Kuwabara is going to marry some day." Kurama's expression of teasing was plain, but he spoke in pure truth that anyone who had seen the pair together could vouch for.

~!**!~

Toriko leaned gratefully into Hiei as she moved for her room, feeling as she had thought she would: his presence gave her more strength. And she desperately needed it.

Once she stepped inside, she sat down on the bed, pulling her glasses from her face to put them on the bedside table and rubbing her eyes almost anxiously.

"I feel no stronger than I was two days ago." She finally confessed aloud, knowing Hiei could likely already see that. "And my pain has not lessened. Every muscle screams each time I move. With every movement they feel more brittle and cold. Like fracturing ice that is about to crack." She put her hands down into her lap and stared at them. "It gives me a headache."

She reached up to take some pins out of her hair, feeling them grating against her skull, but her arms let her remove not more than three or four before she had to give up and lay down, putting her back towards the door and closing her eyes. 3

Hiei, for some reason, didn't mind being the support she needed to get up the stairs. So he let her lean on him until she was sitting on the bed, managing to pull out a few of the pins in her hair and to put her glasses to the side before he saw her give up from exhaustion and pain, as she had admitted only moments before.

And he didn't say anything in regards to her statements, deciding that he could give no words that would comfort her, since he honestly wasn't surprised. Sure, he had hoped she would be able to at least go out for a little longer than that by now, but it couldn't be helped.

So when she rolled over on the bed, eyes shut, he did the only thing he could do in hopes that it would assist her in resting and, in the long run, regaining the strength she needed.

He methodically began pulling pins from her hair just as gently as he could, setting them where the others were, hoping that it would at least help with the headache she'd been speaking of.

And then, as he finished, he stood again and moved to the window he'd only most recently claimed, pushed it open, and then got comfortable in the sun's rays. If there was anything that he needed to get done, he decided that it could wait until later.

~!**!~

"Hey! You can't just go _telling _people that!" Kuwabara protested, his words muffled by Yusuke's arm around his neck and covering his mouth just a little.

"That's rather interesting," Akari commented, amused by the group's banter.

"HEY! Since we're on the subject, Kurama, have _you _ever met someone you wanted to… uh… what's the word in demon world?"

Akari sighed. "It can still be the term _getting married_, but usually it's simply called _mating."_

"That's weird. But, have you?" By Kuwabara's question, Yusuke had released the boy and leaned backwards on the bench, arms crossed.

"I dunno. Youko's pretty severe." _*****_

"You first have to understand that there really is no such institution as "marriage" in Demon World." Kurama began. "And many demons...mate with one another without pause for thought. It's rare for them to stick with one mate and that's usually only in the higher classes." Kurama wasn't exactly sure why the conversation had suddenly turned on him and he raised an eyebrow, "And I'm only sixteen, Kuwabara. Does it make sense to you that I would have found someone? You and Yusuke are not what I would equate to a part of the norm."

~!**!~

The tension around Toriko's neck lessened and she half-realized what Hiei had done.

For some reason, it seemed almost as if the pins and glasses she had been so attached to for all of her life were only adding to her pain recently, whereas before they were in place to prevent...things.

They certainly didn't feel like they were doing their job, Toriko grumbled silently to herself. Granted, it was a job that at one time she couldn't exactly explain, and even now did not want to explain.

"Hiei...do you ever..._try_...to forget things?" Toriko asked quietly, hesitantly. 3

Hiei's eyes had slid to the outside world, and that's where they remained even as Toriko asked him a question. For a moment, he thought about it. There had been times where he had considered doing so, but…

"Why forget when you can remember, and grow on it?" He replied without another beat's hesitation. Sure, his version of 'growing on it' involved revenge, or at the very least, the thought of it in many cases. "If you can't change things, why try?" Maybe he was aiming this at himself now, he didn't know, as he thought about his years in demon world, and how he was simply… stuck in this world.

~!**!~

Kuwabara and Yusuke were silent for a few moments, staring at Kurama curiously. "I thought you were older..?" Kuwabara grumbled, eyes speculating the redhead.

"Not in a human body. He's being very specific here," Akari replied without looking at the duo, but staring at the redhead. Did he not associate himself as Youko much anymore, or was he simply just… not wanting to include his demonic blood in the conversation? "But, I agree. I thought you were a little older," she remarked as well, smiling. "I guess not all information you gather is true and reliable."

"What about you, Akari?"

"Now why would I want to sit around with the same person all my life when I can simply do whatever I want, whenever I want, alone?"

"You're a killjoy, you know that?" _*****_

"She holds a very demonic viewpoint." He shrugged. "I know that there are a few humans who feel the same, but the vast majority of Demon World feels the way she just articulated for you. Especially among the younger ones. Or the ones who never get past what Spirit World refers to as C Class."

~!**!~

Remember and grow...

But she didn't _want _to remember. Remembering scared her. Did that mean she didn't want to grow either?

Something within her didn't like the thought of that, and when she spoke up, she mumbled, almost as if she was talking to herself,"If you're not trying to change things that you want to be changed, then what on earth _are_ you doing?" 3

Hiei found himself turning to look at Toriko after her quiet musing, considering her words for a moment before thinking on them as well.

He had _tried _leaving this world, this plane of existence. However, each attempt had ended fruitless, only managing to make him feel even more trapped than before. So, he'd given up and accepted his fate of being chained here, under Spirit World's watch.

There wasn't anything he _could _change about it, no matter how bad he _wanted _to change it. So, really, he didn't have an answer for her, nothing to appease her mind and soothe her in any way because, in reality, if he tried to do so, he would be lying.

So he settled for turning to the outside world again, his eyes watching a couple of birds flying around in the nearest treetop.

"_Then what on earth __**are**_ _you doing?"_

He didn't even know himself.

~!**!~

"So, what class are you, Akari?" Kuwabara asked.

The demoness smiled, knowing he was simply going off of the age and power Kurama had just supplied. "Lower B. I only passed C ranking because of training with Sensui. Before that, I was practically a spec of dirt."

Kuwabara laughed nervously, as if unsure if she was making a joke or not. "I bet you can do a lot at once, huh?"

Her head tilted to the side a bit. "Not really, actually. I'm more of a distraction than an attack weapon."

"But then, why did Sensui-"

"Like I said, distraction. It was all he needed, really, to make sure nothing hitched his plans. In the end though, I guess Koenma was the one he didn't think would mess it up."

"Whaddya mean?"

She didn't answer that question that Kuwabara asked. Instead, she turned her eyes to the sky, letting her head rest back on the armrest of the bench. _*****_

Kurama looked at her for a moment before lifting his eyes to the others, "He was not supposed to have that much power left in his Ma Fū Kan." Kurama fell silent again, musing how that one thing surely changed so much. If Koenma _hadn't _managed to ensnare Sensui...where would they be now?

~!**!~

Toriko felt that the first question she needed to answer was what exactly she wanted to be changed. That way she could go about doing it instead of feeling like she wandered through life completely useless to everyone around her.

Her eyes tried to flicker towards Hiei on the window, but she could not see him from where she lay.

But she didn't know what she wanted changed. The thought occurred that perhaps she did at one time know what she wanted changed, but had lost it along with all of her other memories. And finding her answer would require remember. And she was scared of that. Scared of being a...demon. Scared that something like whatever happened with Akari would be commonplace. That she would push people away and be...alone again.

~!**!~

It took Maneshi much longer to get up than he'd wanted, but when he'd come downstairs for food earlier that morning, he found he didn't have the strength to go back upstairs and lay on Toriko's bed.

Where he capable of it, he would have just asked her to let him eat in her room, but she hadn't been smart enough to figure that one out on her own yet.

He listlessly came in to murmurings from Toriko that led to a silent point in whatever semblance of conversation had been going on.

There was nothing particularly graceful about his movements as he made his way over to the bed. His tail no longer acted as it should and he found himself quite balanceless without it.

He stopped at the edge, seeing Toriko's back, and didn't have the strength to meow at her and get her to pick him up. And neither did he think he could make the jump, though he did pause briefly to analyze the distance.

He heaved a large breath than normal, had he been human it would have been a sigh, and spied Hiei sitting in the window frame.

For the first time in days, his eyes actually brightened, and he almost pranced in Hiei's direction, had his feet been able to lift high enough off the ground to call it "prancing."

He came to stand in front of the window, looking up at Hiei with his two-colored eyes and staring, huffing a breath out his mouth to try and get his attention.

Maneshi even attempted getting on his back paws in a stand, where he would have pawed with a limb at the edge of the cloak that hung down, but he only managed to lift himself a couple of inches before his muscles would do no more and he ended up on his haunches, eyes wide and silently pleading with the warm one to hold him. 3

The silence in the room was comfortable, even though it was a thoughtful one. His eyes continued to follow the trail of the birds outside, his mind wandering through several thoughts about the most recent conversation.

Still, he had no idea what to do or say. He felt as if he _should _say something, but he just didn't know _what. _And that was leaving him almost perplexed.

So he pushed the thought away for a later time, when maybe his mind wouldn't be so tired. The sun's rays were calming, making every muscle in his body relax, his feet up against one end of the window's frame with his back against the other, though he slid down only about an inch so that his head was also comfortably against the wood. His eyes closed.

And then a small sound, so small he almost hadn't caught it, grabbed his attention. He reopened his eyes and glanced first towards Toriko, who hadn't moved even an inch. He turned his head back, but at the corner of his eye he realized there was a little shadow on the floor beneath the window.

Or, not a shadow, he realized as he met the pleading gaze of the cat. He raised a brow, at first too comfortable to move. But after a few moments of staring unblinkingly, the fire demon gave in and reached his arm down towards the cat, too lazy to actually get up and lift him up, and instead waiting for the cat to come into his reach. "I suppose it won't hurt."

~!**!~

"You mean his little pacifier thing?" Kuwabara asked, tone amused and confused all at once.

"Yeah, I remember him calling it a Ma Fū Kan. Too bad I couldn't have dealt with Sensui myself."

Akari huffed and turned onto Yusuke, her expression completely serious. "I don't think you would have been able to. You hadn't seen even the tip of the iceberg," she commented, frowning. "He's a whole lot smarter than you give him credit for. But, despite that, he's probably dead by now."

_Like the rest of the team…_

That thought caused her eyes to close, and she shook her head lightly back and forth. That wasn't true. She knew Kamiya had lived, and that Sea Man had as well, along with Itsuki.

That thought made her realize she didn't know about the other members. _I need to ask.._

"What do you mean, dead by now?" Yusuke asked, voice loud with the sudden information. "I haven't kicked his ass yet!"

Akari sighed. "First off, even if he were here, you wouldn't find him. Itsuki would be sure of that…" _*****_

"Secondly," Kurama picked up as she trailed off, "Sensui had a disease that I would image Kamiya kept at bay for as long as possible. But even those resources were coming to an end. He had no more time left."

~!**!~

Maneshi was more than happy to come as close as possible, even going so far as to lift himself up what little he could, his eyes hopeful at the sight of Hiei reaching down. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the cat that eagerly stepped forward, his body lifting just a little as his hand swooped under the midsection of the animal. The fur was soft and warm with the last traces of where he'd been laying on the couch. Gingerly, Hiei raised his arm back up, cat in hand, until all four paws of Maneshi's were on the fire demon's stomach, in which case he released the cat and ran that same hand along the bony spine. "You're just as hopeless," he grumbled, more amused than anything that he had found himself watching over not only Toriko, but the cat as well.

~!**!~

Akari nodded when Yusuke's eyes turned to her, large with disbelief. "So what you're saying is that he was going to end the world, and then leave the mess for us to clean up?"

"The plan, actually, was for Sensui to die in Demon World. And, quite frankly, I had been hell bent on getting there myself."

"But you were part of the bad guys, why run away?"

Akari gave a dry laugh at Kuwabara. "Did you forget the part where I was disposable, only meant to distract until my usefulness was up? Come on, you're getting even more dense by the day if you can't remember that much!"

"But he kept you so tightly leashed that we didn't even knew you existed until that day."

Akari shrugged, turning to Kurama as she remembered how the redhead had come across her, ending with her tossing a child over the bridge and into heavy traffic. "That's what happens when you're a dog. You end up on a leash." She smiled and turned her eyes to the sky again, giving a small laugh. "Too bad it ended the way it did. I'd have liked to get my hands on them myself." _*****_

"Once a portal from Demon World to Human World opened up, don't you think that most demons on our side would be wanting to get back to their real home?" Kurama countered Yusuke's questioning of Akari's motives. He knew in a very personal way that sometimes other people were only a means to an end, and once your goal came into sight, you would leave them behind in a heartbeat to get what you came for.

~!**!~

Hiei did get a single noise of protest from Maneshi as to the way he handled him, but then Hiei put him down and everything was fantastic.

Maneshi shifted so that he lay up Hiei's stomach and chest, his front paws not far from the fire demon's neck as he assumed a rather Sphinx-like pose with his rear at Hiei's thighs.

Maneshi wasn't really sure what "hopeless" meant, but if it was something about "warm" and "enjoying the attention," then he was SO hopeless right now.

He sat with his head tall, eyes closed with the most beatific cat-expression possible across his face, and as the warmth seeped upwards from Hiei's body into his, he began purring madly with each breath, able to feel his worn muscles absorbing the heat. It eased all of his pain away into nothingness as he finally found he could relax without a care in the world. 3

Hiei got comfortable all over again, this time the purring of the cat making his abdomen feel odd, almost like he was earning his own personal massage. A small twitch of his lips almost brought a gentle smile to his lips, but it was gone before it even had the chance to appear as he turned his face to the sun again, finding complete and utter comfort in both the day, and even the motorboat of a cat.

His eyelids fell closed again, the sun against his face making it hard for him to resist the calling of a short nap.

Or perhaps… a not so short nap…

~!**!~

Yusuke made a small sound that said he understood, nodding his head once before he said, "Wait, _most_? Does that mean you'd stay if you had the choice?"

Kuwabara huffed and crossed his arms, not saying a word.

But Akari was still smiling as she turned to the dog on her stomach who had begun to lightly snore. She hadn't realized he had lulled off into a sleep. She understood that some demons, as Kurama had hinted, had other things they worried about. Those were the types of demons Akari found herself envious of at times, where they would have such a choice. _*****_

"It is not unheard of for demons to make their way to Human World and ending up staying by choice." Kurama sat back against the bench thoughtfully. "Some of them even become almost human themselves, getting married, raising children. I don't know what I would do." He answered, getting back to the question and at the same time knowing precisely what he would do. 3

Akari listened, finding herself curious as well to the answer Kurama was providing. And when he was done, no one said a word for a minute, the silence only breached by birdsong or the occasional gust of wind that blew by.

And the next thing to interrupt the silence was Akari's stomach, which gurgled loud enough to make Nabu jump in surprise and look first to her stomach, then up at her with half-lidded eyes. "_Can't you be quieter?"_

Akari gave a small laugh and rubbed the dog's head, but otherwise didn't make a move to leave. Instead, she gave a small sigh. "You know, I actually don't mind this place." It was an odd admittance on her part, since she'd never actually decided before now that she did actually enjoy the human's world. "I suppose it isn't too terribly boring."

"Boring? You didn't even know what a video game was, so how can you even judge this world without knowing everything about it!"

A sneer in Yusuke's direction. "Please. I'm sure staying inside all day, twiddling your thumbs over controllers isn't near as fun as you make it out to be. Being inside all day would be boring, after a bit."

"You just don't have the iron will of us humans!" _*****_

"That is certainly at least _one _thing your species has going for it." Kurama mused.

Kurama had not missed the sound of Akari's growling stomach, and his thoughts turned to the bento box he'd left all by itself up at Kuwabara's apartment.

"Could we adjourn this pleasant conversation and relocate? I didn't get to finish my lunch." Kurama stood, determined that he was going to get to eat the rest of that delicious bento box whether anyone else followed him or not. 3

Yusuke huffed at Kurama indignantly, not saying anything more until he was standing, at which point he and Kuwabara followed suit.

Akari took a long breath in, taking in the fresh air before she wrapped her arms around Nabu's small body and she too sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bench, and stood. "I agree." Of course, a small part of her wondered if he'd spoke up about it at least a little on her behalf, since she hadn't felt like interrupting the nice moment.

"You guys didn't finish eating? Why?"

Akari shrugged. "Felt like getting up and around," she replied smoothly as they each followed after Kurama, up the stairs and into the apartment. _*****_

"Some things are much more important than food." Kurama added for his part, and though he did not let his gaze shift to Akari, he knew it would not go over her head. "Shocking revelation, I know." He aimed at the two humans with them, who seemed to scarf it down at any juncture possible.

His eyes saw no one upon coming into the place, though he knew Hiei had retreated earlier, likely in no small part contributing as to the reason why Toriko was no longer with them either. Or perhaps it was the other way around.

Their food was also not in place, but knowing Toriko as long as he had led Kurama to the refrigerator and two bento boxes she put there.

He lost no time in going right back to where he had been asleep earlier, sitting cross-legged on the mat and covers once he passed Akari hers. He wasted nothing on any further words, instead getting right back to where he started with the meal. 3

Akari refused to let her eyes shift to Kurama at his words, instead making them turn to the side and look over the railing of the stairs as they climbed. The two boys protested loudly, saying "Nothing beats a good meal!"

"They're more like dogs than Nabu is." she commented lightly as she entered the empty apartment.

"You're being hurtful again!" Kuwabara called jokingly, looking back at her since she had taken to following at the rear of the train.

"Well, I guess you'll have to get over it." She grumbled as she looked about for the bento boxes, not surprised when Kurama was suddenly handing her the one she'd been holding earlier. And she too returned to the mat she'd slept on, returning to the comfort and warmth almost eagerly, setting Nabu down in her lap as she crossed her legs. _*****_

~!**!~

Night had fallen.

It was not the lack of sunshine, or the transition of daytime noises to those of the evening, but something else entirely that popped Maneshi's eyes open and had them gleaming in the muted light that the window ledge afforded him.

He felt better than he had in days, and somewhere in the back of his night-aroused mind, he attributed that to the constant heat provided unwittingly by the victim upon which he lay. He could not explain how or why, but his muscles had taken in that warmth and they no longer hurt. Not one bit.

He turned his head to examine the peaceful face of the fire demon upon which he enthroned. He could feel underneath his small body the rise and fall of breath. Steady. Deep. All indications of a sleep that Maneshi himself had just withdrawn from.

And now he felt wide awake, nocturnal instincts rising and peeling back his housecat layers until he could feel the beast within taking shape.

His full intention at the moment to leave the warm one undisturbed, Maneshi softly rose up on his paws enough that he could leap out of the arm encircling him without jostling anything.

His padded feet landed silently on the carpet and his eyes flashed as he crouched his body close to the floor. His stomach brushed against the carpet without a sound as he crawled forward to sneak out of the room, rounding the corner of the bedroom door with a leap and a pounce on an invisible prey.

Maneshi shot down the staircase, a streak of black fur in the darkness of the room, his tail streamlined out from his back as he made a pinpoint turn before hitting the front door and dove under the couch.

He snatched at the mouse-toy he hid there with his teeth and dashed back out from under the other side, grabbing it in his paws and tackling the monster to the ground, beginning to viciously cut at its underbelly with his back feet as he gnawed on its face.

Just as quickly as he had it defeated in his grasp, Maneshi let go of it and charged around the room like one of those cheetahs he'd seen on the television-thingy. He zoomed up the stairs and down the hallway, briskly turning and shooting back down to take a flying leap at the mouse.

Finding that it was now utterly defeated, Maneshi picked it up by the tail between his teeth and pranced up the stairs with his tail high, dashing back into Toriko's room and dropping it by the bed in the midst of his leap up over her body and onto the bed next to her.

He swatted at the bedspread several times to catch the invisible creatures he spied there, skittering around the covers in his mad chase before jumping into the air sideways and somersaulting his lithe body around to land firmly on his feet before hauling himself around the room twice more.

When he stopped next to the toy mouse, his breath did not appear to be coming any faster than when he started, and he grabbed the mouse one more time, making the jump back up to the bed and next to Toriko where he rubbed his side up her back before tromping over her hair strew out over her pillow.

He dropped the mouse near her face and gave her nose a butt with his head, murling at her. His nose caught a smell and he experimentally licked at part of her cheek, finding the remains of the scent of sushi there and licking her twice more with his rough tongue.

_Play with meeeee…_ he seemed to say as he leapt onto her side and tramped up to her neck, meowing again down at her ear. He lay down on her shoulder, ending up with the rest of his body across her side since she had her hands up near her face.

He wasn't there long, instead rising and going towards her hair to lay in the middle of it and chew on the bits that were sticking up. 3

* * *

Sakyo \- no meaning

Onizuka \- family or surname

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	26. Episode 111 - Games, Sleep, then Recon

**A/N: **Hello once again, Beloved Yu Yu Hakusho Fans!

For those of you who have been waiting for/wanting more of Akari and Kurama, there is a scene that begins towards the end of this chapter and bleeds into the next concerning them exclusively!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Toriko and Akari make-up for their fight,  
after which Toriko heads home as she still feels weak.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Akari, and Kurama exchange a pleasant moment of banter outside Kuwabara's apartment.

~!**!~

That night at Toriko's house, Maneshi has a slight cat freak-out  
and tears around the house madly, ending up sitting upon and chewing on Toriko's hair.  
It appears his rampage did little in the way of waking the fire demon sleeping on the window sill nearby...

* * *

Hiei had stirred for the briefest of moments sometime when the sun had begun dipping below the horizon. He'd looked outside, checked his surroundings with his Jagan, and then gone right back to sleep again. And he'd stayed that way for a longer time than he'd initially thought he would.

And again, he stirred when the smallest of sound echoed in the room. A single eye opened and glanced around the room, but he saw nothing out of the norm.

So he returned to peaceful slumber.

~!**!~

Akari sat, crosslegged, in front of a television screen, eyes locked and hands gripping the controller tightly. The car on her corner of the screen, only one of four windows, was spinning after being hit with a green shell that she'd yelled at in protest, and she reached beyond the person nearest her and walloped Yusuke on the arm. "You hit me, you moron! What happened to team mates?!"

Kuwabara laughed as his own car passed hers, putting her even further behind in the game. "Too bad you decided to be with the loser!"

"We drew straws, Kuwabara! I was _stuck _with this moron!" _*****_

Everyone's ears perked as the tell-tale sound of a blue shell began overtaking the main music of the track.

Kurama just smiled, watching Kuwabara whom he had just allowed to zoom past him into first place, the blue shell he'd been holding since very early in the race flying away from his own driver and exploding over Kuwabara's kart with a brilliant blue sphere of color.

"Oh no, was that _you, _Kuwabara?" Kurama exclaimed sincerely, "I'm so sorry!"

~!**!~

Toriko stirred disappointedly from her dreamless sleep as the sounds of a "midnight freak-out" pulled her farther from her slumber.

Try as hard as she might to get back under the blanket of fog that had settled heavily over her mind, at every attempt her ears picked up a new sound, until finally the bed was jostled by the tiny body she knew was the perpetrator of all the noise.

She squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as they would go, even when she felt his tongue scraping on her skin.

He tromped, he meowed, then he finally settled down for what seemed like a blessed moment, albeit a moment in which he decided chewing on her hair seemed like the best idea.

Unfortunately, she was wide awake now and she let out a sigh and allowed her eyes to open, not expecting the darkness of the room that seemed sudden seeing as how the last thing she remembered was the afternoon light.

Her muscles felt more stiff than before and she only tried stretching them out a bit, groaning a little.

Somehow sensing her awakeness, a pair of eyes blinked from in front of her, their glow reflecting what little light there was in the room.

"Yes, I see you. And I'm not impressed."

Maneshi appeared to frown, his whiskers twitching as he stared unblinkingly at her for another moment before rubbing his face on her cheek and then backing up to lay down across from her face.

"No, I can't play with you right now."

He moved a paw and rested it over her lips.

Toriko narrowed her eyes at him, "This changes nothing." She said through the pad of his foot.

Maneshi got up and stared at her some more, as if wondering why she didn't just rise.

Oh right. _He'd _been made to feel better. But not her.

In that moment of introspection, Toriko managed to shift so that she lay down on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

Maneshi regarded her curiously, then placed a paw on her arm now laying at her side and started to put his weight on it.

Toriko eyed him suspiciously, "Is it not _supposed _to hurt when you do that?"

He retracted and sat on his haunches and Toriko felt apprehensive at the wheels she could almost see turning behind his large eyes.

Getting up again, he tromped over and lay down on the length of her arm, beginning to purr.

Toriko made a face at him, but said nothing, turning back to look at the ceiling. His weight was not _entirely_ uncomfortable. And actually, for that matter, what little warmth she felt from him kind of...sort of...made the arm feel better? 3

Hiei stirred again, this time after a voice moved through the darkness. He took a deep breath that sounded almost like a contented sigh, but it was cut short as a bone cracked from the way he lay in the window. His eyes slid open and he glanced down at his stomach, expecting to see Maneshi, but wasn't surprised by the lack of cat there. He moved, sitting up straighter and let a leg dangle out the window, stretching the muscles in his thigh very easily in doing so.

He glanced over at Toriko, seeing the cat next to the girl, and felt mild amusement creep its way into a small sneer on his face that disappeared for a moment. But he didn't make any indication to the duo that he had awoken, instead resettling back against the frame of the window.

~!**!~

Akari smiled at the screen as her car again began moving along the track, the satisfying sound of the blue shell hitting someone other than her making a small cackle leave her lips as Kuwabara shouted in anger.

"You _always _Win! How?!"

"I bet he cheats."

Akari laughed at the boys, passing both of them, putting her behind the fox as she dropped banana peels, listening with glee as someone hit them and spun out.

"Screw this!"

Several green shells passed her cart, just missing her each time as she passed the finish line, "2nd place!" in large letters across her small screen. "Losers," she said with a laugh.

"You lost too!" They chimed in unison.

"I demand a rematch!" Yusuke growled for the fifth time today. _*****_

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you wanting to _win_, Kuwabara? I did not realize that was a stipulation of our partnership." Kurama did not seem as if he was going to back down from Yusuke's challenge, though in the back of his mind he took note of the late hour and knew he would likely call this his last game. "My apologizes. Let's try it again in that case."

~!**!~

Toriko sighed up at the ceiling, "I know you're trying to be helpful, but you're making my arm fall asleep." She lifted her head for a second to see the two glowing eyes regarding her steadily before laying her head back down on the pillow.

She could feel him purring, the vibrations slightly uncomfortable, but more so than that were the pins and needles of her circulation being stunted.

"Maneshi." She practically growled at him. "Get. Off."

His perked ears and bright expression seemed to say, _But I'm helping!_ and he did not move, hoping she could feel how the warmth was good for her.

Toriko was torn between how painful it would be to actually lift him off-he felt heavier than she remembered-and if it was worth it to just let him stay there. 3

Hiei watched the scene curiously, silently amused that the cat was bothering Toriko, who, while she grumbled at him sleepily, made no effort of moving away from the cat. He waited, wondering if she actually would move away, but when she didn't right away, he himself sighed, sliding from the window and stretching languidly before regarding the pair. Should he help or..?

Nah.

He glanced again at the duo before moving from the room, deciding that his dry throat demanded more attention than anything else.

~!**!~

Akari scoffed at Kurama, glancing at him and then over at the gaping Kuwabara. "Maybe teams should be officially disbanded, to avoid arguments."

"You're just saying that because you're afraid my team will kick your butt!"

"Contrary to your words, Kuwabara, that's not the case. I'd just rather not have to worry about who I _shouldn't _hit."

"You're going to be in last," Yusuke challenged as the countdown began.

"Good luck with that." _*****_

As the race began, it quickly became clear that Kurama had every intention of Kuwabara getting first place, keeping both Yusuke and Akari off of the red-head's kart and summarily keeping himself in second place as well.

With a ring of red shells encircling his kart, he activated another item block and came up with three green shells, unable to stop the small smile that he made.

~!**!~

The pain of the pins and needles grew more than Toriko could bear and she hefted her arm up, Maneshi protesting with a large meow as he was thrown to the side.

Toriko settled back down again after clenching her fingers together several times in an attempt to restore the feeling in her limb.

Without thinking, she returned to her previous position, still sleepily and relatively comfortable again, but within half a minute something bothered her and she woke up again to see that Maneshi had settled back down on her arm.

"Stop," She mumbled, lifting up her arm with the same intentions as before.

This time, Maneshi bit her and her eyes shot open as she rose up in the bed, angrily raising her arm to fling him away.

As she did so, she found that he had latched onto her bandages, his claws imbedded in them and he glared at her from where she held him up off the bed, earning himself a puzzled expression from her.

It didn't really hurt. To have him there. His weight. Her arm had no trouble keeping him there, his weight as inconsequential as always. Her muscle did not spasm, nor did she feel as if it were about to. Granted, any further in and his claws would be doing structural damage to her skin, but they hadn't made it past the wrappings around her arm.

"What...what did you do?" Her mind still addled from the sleep left her with her head tilted to the side and Maneshi glaring at her and refusing to let go. 3

Hiei marched his way down the stairs, arms over his head as he listened to the silence of the house, aside from the girl upstairs. He could almost feel her irritation from here, at the landing at the bottom of the stairs. He turned and looked up, crimson eyes sparkling with amusement before he turned away and looking into the refrigerator for a selection of drinks, including juice and milk, and a bottle of water or two hidden.

He stared at his options, considering, unable to decide between water and juice. His eyes flickered back and forth between them for a few minutes before he decided and reached for the water, since it didn't require finding a glass to drink from. He twisted the lid away from the bottle and put it to his lips, the cold liquid almost freezing his chest as it slid down his throat and settled. He turned and went back up the stairs, slower than his pace when he'd gone back down.

~!**!~

Akari frowned at the screen; she'd started in last, as Yusuke had said she would. But ending in last was not in her objective, so when she earned a red shell, she let it fly, smiling as it struck the boy's cart, sending him into a roar of frustration as she passed by him, giggling.

"You're gonna pay!"

"Only if you can keep up!" she replied, glancing at each player's screen for just a moment, catching Kurama's defenses with a sense of challenge. "You know, you do well in hoarding things, do you know that?" she aimed the question at Kurama, throwing the three green shells she had picked up across the screen in hopes to at least put a dent into them. _*****_

"My natural attraction to shiny objects is the least of your worries." Kurama replied with a smile as he watched her fire the green shells, calculating that at their speed he only needed to move to the right and release pressure on the gas for a second.

Two of the shells shot by him freely, but the third bounced and headed for Kuwabara. Kurama took a moment to set up his own shot and just as the shell grew close enough to be of a concern, he fired a red shell into its path, the two meeting and destroying one another.

~!**!~

"Ge' off." Toriko waved her arm around back and forth once, frowning sleepily.

Maneshi yowled at her as she did so.

"I know. You did _something_. But whatever it was, get off! _Then _we can discuss it."

He didn't appear to want to comply as he glared at her.

"Com'on. Offfff." Toriko practically whined at him, her other arm useless by her side.

More glaring.

"I will smack you into this wall _so hard_ you'll forget how to find your food-bowl." She threatened menacingly.

He seemed nonplussed at her statement, as if such a thing would be impossible to forget. 3

Hiei sauntered up the stairs, slowly entering Toriko's room in time to hear a small growl from Maneshi. He sighed, then took another swig from the bottle and sauntered forward, eyeing the small toy on the floor before he picked up, shaking it and smelling the catnip that filled the air that moved, listening to the small bell that was tied to the tail of the toy mouse, wondering why such a toy would be of use.

~!**!~

Akari wasn't surprised that Kurama got away from her with only losing one shell, but she did smile competitively at the prospect. "Shiny things are very wonderful, aren't they?" she added, dragging three bananas behind her still as she considered her options, going through another mystery box on the track.

The object she earned was only another banana peel, leaving her slightly frustrated because, well, she wanted to win at least once. So she merely launched the other three ahead of her, then let the singular banana peel fall behind her. _*****_

Kurama glanced at the track, choosing not to respond to Akari, as they all four came around the bend for their last lap, Yusuke falling farther behind.

~!**!~

Toriko experimentally shook her arm again, wincing as the movement did jar the rest of her body.

She stopped and stared at Maneshi clinging to her, his eyes dangerous and his ears flat against his skull.

His tail whipped around in the air madly and Toriko could feel that in the moment of pause he scooted his body a bit to try and tighten his grip.

Without thinking, Toriko jerked her arm around violently to her right, snapping Maneshi off of her and sending him flying through the air while she sat there staring at her arm and amazed at how differently it felt from the other one.

For his part, Maneshi expertly twisted himself in mid-air, his eyes taking in the distance and calculating the arc of his trajectory as his body followed his every command.

He ended up retracting his claws as he turned like so much fluid in the air, his feet planting firmly, but briefly onto Hiei's chest and he crouched there, suspended to the side for only a second before he recoiled and launched back towards Toriko.

For her part, Toriko calmly moved her torso backwards so that the riposte of the cat would miss her face, sending him instead to land on the bedspread on all fours, his fur raised as he hissed at her.

"Don't do that again." She responded primly, indicating her arm to him. 3

Hiei stared at the mouse for a few minutes, water bottle just touching his lips as he considered the small object. The scent that rolled from it was a rather odd one, but he supposed it was like a drug to the feline, who had so obviously been playing with it not too long ago.

And the next thing the fire demon knew, the very cat that had torn at this toy was making contact with his chest, and reflexively, he dropped the mouse and hand flew inside his cloak, while the other…

Well…

By the time Maneshi was over by Toriko, water dripped from the fire demon's face, his hair falling in front of his eyes and dripping onto the carpet with the majority of the cold liquid his reflexes had squeezed from the plastic. He even spit a little of it from between his lips, staring forward at the cause of the mess and giving a small huff.

He looked down at the crushed bottle and the wetness on his cloak, and completely gave up. The empty bottle hung by his side, and the only thing he could do was stand there, watching the scene unfold.

~!**!~

Akari frowned as the television screamed "LAST LAP" at the group, Kurama still in utter control from second and Kuwabara still in first, who didn't seem to notice that it was all a part of the fox's plan.

Another mystery box, and three red shells, she threw them across the screen, listening as they honed in on the nearest driver. _*****_

Kurama calmly planted the last two red shells he had behind his kart just as he heard the ones from Akari coming into range. The third was subjected to one of his three green shells and as he approached the next set of item blocks, he switched his driver and his passenger to collect...

...a banana.

~!**!~

As Maneshi's eyes flickered over to Hiei, his fur stood even farther off of his body, his ears going back down over his skull as an ominous silence filled the room.

Toriko caught Maneshi's look and glanced over to see Hiei still standing there. Her good hand snapped up to cover her mouth as her eyes widened and her mouth parted. She got the feeling that whatever had just happened was partially her fault, but it was so hard not to laugh.

"I can get you a towel." She said markedly, forcing the smile behind her hand to go away as she fought off laughing outright. She didn't move as if to actually get the towel though, but the offer hung in the air. 3

Hiei frowned at Toriko, whose entire aura reverberated with amusement that had yet to produce an audible laugh. He glared at the cat, who had bounded off of him. Luckily for Maneshi, it was only water, and he hadn't been holding juice like he had considered, or the other option, where claws could have been involved.

The room's temperature rose as Hiei let his heat energy billow around him, raising an irate brow at Toriko. "No need," he replied simply, the temperature around him continuing to rise, water beginning to turn to steam. "Waste of effort, frankly."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes flickered over each screen, noting how far ahead Kuwabara was from her, but Kurama wasn't near as far. She saw him swap to earn another mystery box, and the image she saw him get made her laugh outright in irony.

And then her object was just what Kurama was likely looking for, but she didn't want to use the blue shell until she knew for sure Kurama wouldn't be the winner. So she held onto it for a bit. _*****_

Kurama sighed audibly, and fired his last two green shells backwards in the hopes that this next block would give him something more-

A green shell. Wonderful.

~!**!~

Toriko's breath caught in her throat a little as she felt rather than saw Hiei's energy wash over the room. If she had been standing, she would have staggered under the wave of heat, but this time her eyes just closed and her hand dropped away from her mouth as she found her lips turning upwards into the small smile that had moments ago threatened to be at Hiei's predicament.

"So that's what you did." She murmured to the cat, who had come up to her thigh and sat down, a paw encouragingly resting on her as she moved her good arm to stroke down his back. 3

Hiei frowned at the girl. What on this plane of existence was she talking about? He let the heat continue to roll off of him, his ruby eyes looking up now at the strands of hair that had been soaked before, now beginning to stand back up in their normal places. As if nothing had happened.

His cloak, however, still felt soaked around his collarbone, so when his hair had dried, he concentrated more on that area, centralizing the wave of heat over his chest, waiting.

And while his energy worked, he glanced back up at Toriko. "Next time, he won't have the chance to bounce away." he said, tone even as if he weren't even threatening the cat.

Of course, there was a very small part of him that didn't mean it.

~!**!~

Akari smiled to herself as she again glanced at each player's screen, waiting until Kuwabara began nearing the finish line before letting the blue shell go, listening as it zoomed across the screen.

"WHY!" Kuwabara bellowed. "EVERY TIME!"

"Sucks to suck, eh?" _*****_

Kurama maneuvered his car in front of Akari and slowed just enough that when he let go of the banana, there was no way to dodge it.

He waiting until just before her kart recovered before firing his last green shell backwards at her to send her spinning off again, buying Kuwabara the time he needed to get his kart back on the track, even though he had to slow his pace again so that he didn't shoot right past his "teammate."

~!**!~

Toriko reached her left hand out to Hiei, eyes still closed, feeling the warmth radiating from him.

"Hiei...come closer." She frowned when the heat did not reach anything further than her palm. 3

Hiei looked back up at Toriko, staring at her for a moment before he realized the amount of relief the heat must have on such tired, sore muscles. He stayed there for a moment, head tilted to the side a bit. He'd just threatened to kill her companion, and she wanted him closer?

He waited another second, analyzing the frown on her face and the fact that his cloak was now only damp.

But he huffed and complied, moving forward to stand about a foot out of her reach, letting his energy wash over the room entirely, though his eyes flashed to the cat who still stood behind her. "Still just as hopeless."

~!**!~

Akari frowned at the screen, her kart spinning. And again, when the second strike hit her, this time making a small growl of protest. "Oh, _now _we're playing on teams!" She grumbled, reaching to her left and giving a small shove on his shoulder, making him knock into Yusuke. "You're about as indecisive as a human woman," she grumbled as Kuwabara crossed the finish line, Kurama, and then Yusuke next, leaving her last. "Jerk."_*****_

"Did I not imply that my purpose was for Kuwabara to win?" Kurama's eyes twinkled, but his face remained steady. "I thought for sure I implied very heavily that I intended for him to win this match."

~!**!~

"Mrrrowl!" Maneshi responded to Hiei eagerly, his face perking up even more at the mention of the word. Very hopeless. Yes. Need to be more hopeless. Right now.

Toriko could feel as he came closer that his heat enveloped more of her body, and almost on instinct she moved her legs over the side of the bed and started to get up, her hand still reaching out to him, drawn towards him on some level underneath her consciousness that she didn't fully control. 3

Hiei stood there, not moving any closer nor moving any further from where he stood, eyeing the cat that suddenly seemed very, very happy to be called by "hopeless". But he ignored Maneshi and turned back to Toriko, watching her expression curiously. She seemed almost as if she wanted him to continue to get closer, something he didn't want to do. Why, he didn't know.

"Feel better yet?"

~!**!~

Akari huffed and tossed the controler to the side, onto the nearest cushion that had fallen from the bed and onto the floor."Welp, I think," she glanced over at Yusuke, or rather, on the opposite side of the boy, on the floor. Nabu was curled up, snoring lightly.

"I think I better get going." she finally finished, stretching her arms above her head and legs out in front of her. She hadn't realized just how late it was. "Nabu's had a long day," she joked. _*****_

"I was thinking the same thing." Kurama began, "In regards to ending my stay here." He turned to address Kuwabara as he stood up, "My thanks for entertaining us. And putting us up for the night." He added.

~!**!~

Hiei's question jolted Toriko back to the present and she opened her eyes to find herself standing in front of him. She quickly dropped her hand, thankful that she hadn't accidentally kept going as she was aiming for chest level. She figured he'd gotten enough of that for one night.

She only nodded to answer his question, her head dropping a little bit as the heat kept washing over her. Her eyes closed to half-mast as she felt herself relaxing, basking in the warmth he projected outwards. 3

Hiei raised a singular brow at Toriko, who physically relaxed, shoulders slumping and eyes closing, every single muscle seeming to relax for the first time he'd seen them that way in days. He eyed the hand she had outstretched to him and the distance left between it and his chest. And he didn't mind all of the sudden.

And he stood there, letting the heat slowly rise until he figured it was borderline uncomfortable, at which point he let it thrum throughout the room at a steady rate. Much like a heartbeat.

~!**!~

Akari stood and sauntered over to Nabu, gently tapping his head to gain his attention, but he didn't even twitch an ear. She sighed and scooped her hands underneath his body, supporting his weight in her arms easily. "Kuwabara, tell your sister I said thanks for, uh.." she glanced down at the outfit she still wore, "the help." She turned and picked up her outfit that she'd been wearing the night her and Kurama had ended up taken, not checking for the small seed she still wondered if was there. "And for anything else."

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm gonna stay, cuz I wanna kick your butt in tekken!"

"You're on!"

Akari smiled and turned to walk through the apartment and to the door, taking that as her cue to leave. _*****_

Kurama fell in step beside Akari as she left, enjoying the night air, his own clothing from the night before held in one arm.

"A good day, all said and done." He pronounced quietly as a breeze lifted through his hair.

~!**!~

Maneshi murrled and jumped quietly from the bed to the floor, winding himself between Toriko's ankles in a figure eight pattern before going over and doing the same once to Hiei, disappearing underneath the hem of the cloak and coming out the other side. He paused to look up at Toriko, who appeared to be enjoying this as much as he, he compared her to a stone statue that did not seem keen to move any time soon, then rubbed his head on Hiei's ankle again, starting to purr at him. 3

Hiei looked down at the cat that rubbed on him, though only seeing him occasionally as his body wove from under and out of his cloak. He looked up again at Toriko, suddenly closing his hands on her shoulders and walking her backwards, until she was sitting on the bed again. "That's enough for today," he grumbled, letting his energy slowly recede back into his body, the warmth of the room slowly, as slowly as the breeze moving in from outside, seeped away.

After all, he knew that if she took in too much energy at once, recover too rapidly, she could end up lightheaded, even unconscious.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small nod once, the cool breeze calming the excitement from the day's gaming that had settled as a red shade on her cheeks. "Is this something you guys do often?" she asked curiously, eyes remaining forward. _*****_

"As often as possible." Kurama allowed, pausing before going on, "Which isn't as often as I'm sure they would like. At least not for me." He chuckled, "I can only image they're up as often as Kuwabara will allow, accounting for school work and all."

~!**!~

Toriko opened her green eyes and regarded Hiei thoughtfully before shaking her head a little.

"It is not your energy." She tentatively reached up and rested her fingertips against one of the wrists that had forced her back and down. She could feel even through the sleeves of the cloak how much warmth his skin radiated naturally. "It is your heat." 3

Hiei didn't make to walk away from Toriko, since his heat energy was still slowly pulsing through the room, albeit at a quieter rate and slowing even more by the minute. His head tilted to the side at her words, understanding what she meant, but still considering the moment. He could let his energy pulsate dully through the room, if he so wished, but how long would it take before the relief was just enough to get her back to how she needed to be?

He pulled away, letting his heat continue to roll through the room. But, he found himself wishing he still had water on hand, so he turned to leave the room for a moment, not caring if she followed or not, since the heat would be leaving with him while he went in search of another water bottle…

Almost tripping on Maneshi, who continued to move around his ankles, as he went.

~!**!~

"Hm. Too bad," Akari commented, smiling as Nabu shifted just a little in her arms, making her shift her hold on him and her outfit again. "It's a wonder they don't get mad enough at one another to break something," she mused, referring to their tempers and extremely loud behaviours, their rambunctious personalities.

"And… Shizuru?" she suddenly asked, remembering the woman's name only in that moment. "She's pretty… uh.. insightful? Does she do anything?" _*****_

"I believe she has not been told, but I would bet she could easily master Reikibuki. And at a much faster rate than Kuwabara. A high spiritual awareness seems to run in their family, but she has it more than even Kuwabara does." Kurama thought of her wielding an energy sword and the thought actually made him glad to have her on the human side. A few years earlier and _she _might have been the Spirit Detective of Human World.

~!**!~

Toriko watched him go from where she sat on the bed, visibly leaning forward as his warmth left her, but she did not want to move and leaned back again, a little sigh escaping her mouth as she ruefully watched Maneshi make no hesitation in following the ...demonic radiator.

The relaxation his momentary presence had afforded made Toriko's head droop and she started to fall back asleep where she sat.

Maneshi, as soon as Hiei was out of the bedroom door, leapt up onto the fire demon's shoulders and spread out there, any former thoughts of threats completely gone from his mind. 3

Hiei walked briskly down the stairs, only glancing at the cat on his shoulders with a small glare, still only a bit upset about the water incident. It had been a waste of an entire water bottle. It didn't take him long to reach the fridge, grab the last bottle he could immediately see, and with a single twist had the bottle open and to his lips as he turned and walked back up the stairs without a pause.

So when he returned to Toriko's room, her eyes drooped shut, the heat returned in the room with him, and he only stood there, watching her as he continued to drink from the bottle, downing half of it in a matter of a few seconds.

~!**!~

Akari nodded in understanding, not surprised. After all, the one time Akari had been addressed by the girl, she'd easily picked up on the turmoil she'd felt about the situation, and Akari still couldn't shake the feeling that the moment had given her; slightly nervous about being so easily read and rather curious at the same time.

She stayed quiet as they continued to walk underneath the street lights, the sidewalk oddly empty aside from the two of them. Normally even a human or three would pass by at this time. Perhaps it was because of the cloud cover that there wasn't anyone around.

"Well," she finally spoke up, pausing just before the street corner where she'd have to turn to head home, "I suppose I'll see you in class."

The mere thought of class suddenly put a damper on her mood.

"Maybe no one will be kidnapped over the next few days," she grumbled, more to herself than him, before turning to walk around the corner. _*****_

At her words, Kurama seriously considered offering to walk her home just to be sure, but had she been truly nervous she would not have said it like she had, so he let her go and continued in the direction of his own home, thinking that at this late of an hour he was likely going to be able to slip in and upstairs unnoticed.

~!**!~

Maneshi purred in Hiei's ear without restraint, his tail curling upwards and back down over the fire demon's shoulder with a steady rhythm. He butted his head against the side of Hiei's face, his eyes opening only slightly to see that Toriko was not quite asleep yet. She almost raised her head at Hiei's reentry, but by the looks of things she would soon be asleep. And a very good sleep too, Maneshi could tell. 3

Hiei crossed the room, twisting the lid onto the bottle as he approached the window, pulling it closed and latching it. Then he moved and simply sat in a chair in the room, not really tired enough to go back to sleep just yet. Especially with a loudly purring cat in his ear.

He got comfortable in the chair quickly, his eyes looking around the room, inspecting every inch of it almost as if there were secrets he had yet to discover, or anything of the sort. But it was just a room, and he was sitting in just another chair. He glanced at Maneshi, all irritation gone as he reached up and pat him once on the head. Again, he found himself wondering how he'd gotten into the situation of watching over both girl and cat.

~!**!~

Akari wandered the rest of the way home, eyes on her surroundings just in case, actually passing a few humans on her way. A couple watched her, taking note of her out of place-ness in the late night, but passed by her all the same.

And when she did reach home, she walked through the front door, locked it behind her, and then sat on the couch, Nabu still in her embrace. She unfolded the jeans in her hand and sifted through the front pockets, finding the seed she had inadvertently stolen from the fox demon. "And how on _earth _did he not notice?"

"_Who?" _Nabu's sleepy voice asked, but with the twitch his paw gave, she knew he wasn't really awake. _*****_

~!**!~

Maneshi thrummed happily into Hiei's ear for a moment longer before standing and jumping down to the floor, walking curiously over to Toriko.

He lifted himself onto his back legs and balanced himself against the edge of the bed with one paw, reaching for her knee with the other, his expression wanting to know if she felt any better.

Toriko's eyes opened a little as he gently pawed at her and she reached over with a sleepy smile and rubbed her hand over her head between his ears which flattened apart as she did so.

He made the last tiny leap and ended up in her lap where she leaned back a little to give him room, one of her hands going behind her to keep her up while the other stroked his fur.

Despite all of the sleep she had gotten that day, none of it had been restful, given the fits her muscles would wake her with. This time, though, much of that pain was gone, especially from her limbs from where she stood in front of Hiei for a bit. It felt...nice.

"I'm okay." She mumbled as Maneshi reached his head up to her face, his nose and whiskers twitching questioningly at her. 3

Hiei watched Maneshi move to Toriko, not moving anything to say that he had any intention of getting up as well. He simply listened, watched, curiously. At the words Toriko said to Maneshi, he decided to let his heat pulsate just a bit more through the room, keeping it a nice, constant, warm temperature since it seemed to be helping.

Why hadn't he thought of it earlier?

Oh well. It was helping now, and that was all that even remotely mattered. He stretched his legs out, propping his ankles up on the nearest surface, which just so happened to be the end of the bedpost. But it wasn't comfortable, so he let his feet fall to the ground once more, getting cozier into the chair. _*****_

It didn't take much longer for Toriko to realize sitting was not as comfortable as she wished for it to be, and Maneshi hopped out of her lap as she pulled her legs up onto the bed and turned over to her side to lay down. He joined her again, cat-attack over for the night, curling up near the arms that she pulled up by her face. They both fell asleep this way, and fairly quickly too. 3

~!**!~

The last few days had been, in the most basic way of saying so, boring. A bit stressful since Akari had ended up so far behind, she'd had to stay behind several instances for lectures. And, quite honestly, she hadn't minded. It wasn't like anything was going on at the moment anyway, and frankly, she enjoyed a couple of the classes.

Today, though, she'd ended up actually catching up in class, actually keeping up now that, even in math, she'd learned all that she needed to in order to associate symbols she didn't know with ones she did know. And between classes, she'd been set on getting through the crowded halls without instance, but she'd ended up, somehow, talking to Botan on the rooftop.

One thing lead to another, and, well, here she was, standing in Koenma's office, in front of the desk the small prince sat at.

"As I'm sure you realize, since those two are out taking care of _that_, you two are my only option for this. Hiei simply won't do, because he'd act too rashly, since he's taken it upon himself to care for Toriko."

"So...Recon?" _*****_

Catching up had been a matter of spending the time to do so for Kurama. Getting papers finished and turned in. Doing the backlog of homework that had cropped up. As he had not planned on being away for _quite _so long, he was not as far ahead in his assignments that it did not take a couple solid hours for him to finish the busy work.

In any case, he almost huffed to himself for he had not yet had the time to get ahead and as he stood here in Koenma's office he seriously considered the notion that he should have _made _the time.

"Yes. Recon." Koenma repeated, unsure if he particularly cared for Akari to sum it up with such a word, but knowing it fit. "I don't expect you to find anything game-changing, but it needs to be done and I have my people here wrapped up in their own business for the time being." He cleared his throat, "You are also _not_, as I'm sure you may have guessed, to engage the enemy until we know more."

Kurama did not turn his eyes from Koenma, but he did look peripherally at Akari to gauge her reaction. He assumed that she, along with himself, still had no access to her demonic energy. He also assumed that Koenma knew this and had intentionally given them recon work as it was likely to be the least difficult thing the toddler could offer them.

"The building where you found Toriko. The cave in which you were held. And one new location. You're to scout them out and report back your findings to me." Koenma leaned forward to hand Kurama a slip of paper with the addresses on them. "And no fighting, you two! We cannot afford any mishaps with this mission." 3

Akari listened, giving a brief nod at the prince to show she understood the _no fighting _policy on this one. Quite frankly, she hadn't planned on fighting unless something _absolutely _called for it, since she'd been toying with her energy lately and still had nothing. DIdn't know if it was the same with Kurama, but figured that since she couldn't exactly _feel _his demonic energy next to her, it had to be at least similar to when it had first happened.

"Got it," she said as the prince repeated himself, her eyes moving to look at the paper Kurama retrieved, not catching the addresses before it was out of her immediate sight. She glanced at Kurama, then turned to leave, knowing Botan would be the one to get them out of this world and where they needed to be._*****_

"I must admit," Kurama started, "I do not remember much of this place or what happened in it. Still."

The two of them were staring up at the tall building before them, the large metal doors an imposing sight to behold. 3

Akari let out a slow breath through her nose as she stared at the building, her mind a complete contrast to Kurama's. "Well," she began, but couldn't think of anything to say other than, "It _was _Toriko's power. Energy like that can do that, y'know. There's even a moment I don't remember completely."

And it was true. There was a moment where she knew she had been called forward, but between then and when she receded into her own illusion, she remembered only a small bit of talking to Hiei. That was about it. "Let's get this over with," she grumbled, reaching forward and pushing the doors open. Inside, as she had figured it would be, the building was dark.

But it still smelled slightly of charred remains and… blood. It was obvious there were no windows to air out this place, meaning the smell had been simply cooking in the summer air for the past week or so. _*****_

"Abandoned, then." Kurama couldn't help his face squinting a bit as they stepped inside. "Not that I expected any less with no cautionary from Koenma."

He went a bit farther, his eyes letting him see the entire room what with the doors remaining open behind them. Rectangular shaped. Closed off. Concrete floor.

"Is everything still here as you left it?" Kurama called out. 3

Akari meandered inside, nose wrinkled at the leftover smell that told her what Kurama had just observed. She wanted to wander further inside, but there was no need to. She could see every bit of the room, unlike the first time she'd been in here.

But, was it the same? She glanced around, even up at the ceiling.

"Yes." She finally responded, noting the ropes that still hung from the beams overhead, the fan still turning slowly. Even the remains were still in place, left behind like a chew toy that no longer squeaked. "You know, I at least thought he'd clean up after himself," she mused, eyes again training up at the place where Hiei had taken Toriko down. "Ready to leave when you are." _*****_

"If he was not actually here, then I can't see him wanting to leave safety to do so." Kurama let his eyes rove the room from top to bottom and he sighed, wishing not for the first time that day that he had access to his energy so he could make a complete sweep. "I suppose there is nothing left to do here." He turned away and shook his head, thinking that Koenma had better not wanted them to be any more thorough without the use of their energy. 3

Akari nodded, finding the truth behind Kurama's words to be one she should have recognized before speaking on it. She herself considered cleaning it up, but the building was just so far away that it wouldn't matter. The doors took a sufficient amount of strength to open, and it was just standing in the middle of nowhere. No humans were likely to come out here. Not for anything.

At his words of continuing on, Akari turned to leave the building altogether as well, shutting the doors behind them before they turned and made their way across the greater distance into the wooded area outside of town, in search for the tunnels she and Kurama had both been carried from. And surprisingly, the walk didn't take as long as she had thought it would, and in no time at all, they were in the darkness of the cave, flashlights in hand, the beam shining through the room and piercing the darkness that still felt weighed down.

Or perhaps it was her reaction to being underground. She didn't know. _*****_

"I don't remember seeing much after the barrier came down." Kurama admitted here again as well. "In fact, other than the people, it seemed rather barren, though I didn't have long to look."

Their path was straightforward, bending downwards farther into the earth at some point. They made their way carefully as the path was not beaten, but rocky and full of ruts and stones that impeded their progresses.

Eventually the tunnel opened up around them, the ceiling rising higher as they stepped into a cavern.

Kurama let his light shine up and across the room, leading it back down to follow the wall as it met with the ground directly across from them. That's where he assumed they had been held and he made his way around boulders and the like to the area. 3

"Well, that's pretty much how it was, really. You didn't miss much," Akari replied to Kurama, a hand in her pocket as she walked, her feet scuffling just a little to endure she didn't lose footing. And as they walked, she realized just how quick she must have fallen asleep once the others had gotten there, making it easier for her mind to accept that there wasn't any danger. Odd, how it had worked that way.

And as they stepped into the cavern, her light followed the walls, looking in each "corner" of the room, which really was just rounded upwards rocks and dirt, which explained why she had never actually touched the ceiling when searching for cameras, which obviously hadn't ever been there. After a few minutes, her light shone on impressions in the dirt, where her and Kurama had sat, lay, or shifted around during their stay. "You know, we only stayed overnight, but it felt like a week," she grumbled, remembering just how slow time had passed.

"Wait, did you bring cards this time?" She joked, her light continuing to rove over the cavern, eyes following the beam. _*****_

Kurama chuckled, "I thought they might be too distracting this time around. I should come up with some plant that grows a deck of cards just in case of any future capture with a compatriot that might occur."

He picked up nothing around them, no sign that anyone had been here any more recently than they, again wishing he could reach out and scan with more than just his eyes or his nose.

"If you haven't found anything, I think we're done here." He lifted his light to search for her. 3

Akari regarded the footprints in the room carefully, her light staying trained on the floor as she analyzed the scuff marks where she'd spun to her feet when the barrier had come down, the place where Kurama had walked to her side, then fallen. The places where Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan had stood, all crying their eyes out. The place where Otento and two other demons had stood.

Each place was undisturbed, aside from trails that bugs had made across them. By the time Kurama spoke up, she had already decided that nothing was out of the ordinary. "Yeah. Let's skidaddle," she commented, blinking at the light Kurama turned back on her. Sure, it wasn't right in her eyes, but she still felt as if it were. She turned her own light towards him, glancing at him momentarily before turning it around to the tunnel's opening and continuing out they way they had come. "As for your card plant idea, it won't do any good if the enemy can suppress your energy. Kinda pointless." _*****_

As the started to walk out, Kurama continued the conversation.

"Well, I would have to make a few adjustments, certainly. If the plant could be activated by, say, water instead of my manipulating it with energy." He smiled, "If I can't even spit on a seed, my problems are probably big enough that I would not be worrying after my boredom." 3

A small laugh bubbled from Akari's lips at the mental image of Kurama, who was about as proper as a demon could be, spitting on a seed. "I would pay to see that, mister _prim and proper_." Of course, she was teasing. She got quiet again as they continued walking, the odd mental image still burned to the forefront of her mind, nagging at her, not leaving.

And by the time they were out in the sun again, she was almost sure she would be scarred by the image for eternity. _*****_

"There are many things one might do to stave off boredom, don't you think so?" He smiled pleasantly as they stepped out into the sun. He fished the paper out of his pocket and passed it to Akari. "Last stop. We'll have to be more careful there I'm sure." 3

Akari smiled in response, but otherwise didn't say anything about his remark.. She turned off the flashlight and continued carrying it down by her side, her other hand retrieving the paper with the coordinates on it for their next location. She studied it, memorized it, then passed the paper back to Kurama. "Let's just hope it's as barren as the last two places." She turned, glancing around herself before taking her fist and actually knocking on a tree, abiding by the human superstition of "knocking on wood".

And then she continued about their way to the place where Koenma had described a rather large, two-story, run down factory. _*****_

"If they've been using their teleporter as a main means of transportation, I imagine there will be few tracks leading to or from the facility. If any." Kurama noted as the got closer and stopped, still behind cover. 3

Akari nodded, standing behind the cover of trees as she analyzed the windows, looking for moving silhouettes. No matter how long she stood there, she didn't see anything out of place. Vines had grown up the sides of the brick, the broken windows were replaced with cobwebs, spiders still spinning webs here and there. She wanted to get closer, to move to another angle, to do something to get a better view.

"I'm circling," she said quietly, not waiting for a reply before making her way through the trees, staying in the shadows, eyes on the building as she moved around to the back of the building. _*****_

Kurama nodded, his eyes staying on the windows and doors as she moved off. He saw no change in the upper rooms as she began to move, and no indication there was in fact anything within the bottom floor either.

There had to be a reason Koenma thought there might be something here and so Kurama continued searching for the signs.

His eyes moved to the main doors, but he could see no one had disturbed them in a long time, and that alarmed him more than anything. It very well could mean that the ones they were searching for did in fact hold base camp at this location. 3

As Akari continued, her feet moving slowly, she realized that the place was quiet. Not the kind of quiet that meant it was safe but…

There were no birds nearby. Her eyes turned to the trees, seeing a lone squirrel looking down at her before running to hide. _This could be bad._ Her eyes turned back to the building, her body having stopped moving at the realization of the utter silence. She had hunkered down for the moment, eyes searching again and again for any signs of movement. Again, none.

She continued, realizing her energy being sealed away was exactly what was needed in this situation. Her steps were as silent as could be, avoiding all sticks and the like as she found herself staring at the back entrance to the building.

A single door hung, barely attached at the hinges, open and moving with the wind. Wooden, and it creaked with disuse. She frowned, crouching even lower in the brush as she waited on Kurama, knowing he would likely circle around to meet her after his own search of the place.

If this was where Otento was hiding, she didn't want to stick around much longer. _*****_

Kurama waited until Akari disappeared from sight before he began moving around the other side of the building, eyes constantly keeping tabs of the area around him, but hearing and seeing no changes.

"Nothing." He said in a low voice, looking at her questioningly, though he expected a similar answer. 3

Akari glanced to her right as Kurama appeared, then turned her eyes back to the hanging door, the broken windows, still searching for any sign of movement. "No," she replied quietly, then turned to the trees. "But that's the unsettling part. Not even any birdsong."

She took a deep breath, glancing back to the building. "I guess the only way to know is to… go inside…" Her stomach rolled at the thought, especially since her energy was locked away still, meaning if things got bad for whatever reason, she wouldn't be able to help in getting away as easily. "He wanted recon. I guess we can't go back without knowing for sure…" she said as she began moving forward a bit more, slowly as she could, listening. _*****_

Kurama knew by the looks of the door that nothing had gone in or out of it in a long time either.

If the demons they sought truly were inside, they were in trouble already. He did not think they would hesitate to capture them a second time.

But he felt as if they needed to know for sure, otherwise Koenma sending them out there would be for nothing should they return with a simple "don't know" in regards to the location.

He knew Akari would be able to more easily slip into the opening of the door without setting off any alarm. She would be able to faster remove herself as well. If she saw nothing at first, he would go inside as well.

Kurama followed her, eyes and ears open. 3

Akari slowly moved forward, her feet making no noise as her eyes surveyed every inch of the building the closer she got. Part of the building looked weak, as if it could fall if hit just right, and she found herself making mental note, just in case. And as she moved forward, she found no sounds inside the building immediately. No sign of another being having traipsed through.

So she glanced around inside the hallway that had several rooms lining it, realizing just how many rooms this building must have. And, after her brief pause in the doorway, she continued forward, now standing upright, spine straight and ears twitching in the silence as the wind made small sounds, such as a whistle, through the place.

Her eyes turned to the first room, finding nothing out of the norm. Old mechanisms that were rusted, unused for decades it seemed. She turned to the right, seeing a closed door with a broken viewing window. Again, no one, and many rusted machines.

She glanced back at Kurama, silently telling him all seemed clear, before turning and continuing down the hall, seeing more and more empty rooms. The hall branched to the right ahead, but for the moment, she didn't consider going too far, even though the stairs looked rather tempting to explore. _*****_

Kurama came inside after her, no longer apprehensive about an approach from behind them and more concerned about what lay ahead.

He still heard nothing that might give away someone as being there, and while he may have previously lamented not having access to his demonic energy, he knew now that even if he was capable of using it, it would have been at this time that he masked it anyway for fear of a sweep being used to find _him _rather than the other way around.

Kurama crept up behind Akari and placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, motioning that he was going to take the right side of the hallway.

"If either of us are found, might as well shout." He murmured just as softly as he could, moving away from her. 3

Akari paused when Kurama's hand touched her shoulder, pulling her to a stop briefly as he spoke. She nodded once, glancing at the left side of the fork in the hall, not minding that he'd chosen. She could almost bet that the right led straight to the front of the building anyway, close to the front doors, and the left… well, she'd just have to see.

As he moved away, she did as well, turning left and surveying the number of rooms she had to look into before it again branched off. A total of eight rooms to inspect, and she didn't want to waste any time, so she cautiously began walking forward, carefully leaning in to look into the first room.

It was empty, save for a single table in the center. Cards on the surface, along with bottles, none of which had dirt on them, she realized. She glanced back at Kurama, but turned and decided to go on anyway, wanting to make sure they wouldn't leave here without definitive answers.

The next room was larger, and even had a door to another room in the far wall. Curious, she stepped inside, looking around at the lab tables that were set up, covered in dirt and insects of all kinds. _*****_

As soon as Kurama went to the right, the hall made a left turn and he paused. Every single room in the hallway, four on either side, had their door closed.

Alarm bells had been going off in his head since they stepped foot in the building and he heaved an inaudible sigh.

Of _course _every door was going to be closed. Closed doors were more likely to have people behind them.

Kurama crouched, the first two doors on either side preceded by a line of windows and he slipped past them, hearing nothing from either room and moving to the next set, pausing at both to listen for any hint of sound. 3

Akari slowly moved through the room, finding no evidence of anyone having been in this area, aside from perhaps the door that was only ajar across the room. And as she moved closer, she saw that the room inside was darkened, and her hand very lightly rested on the door, palm spread against the wood, and slowly pushed it open to peer carefully inside. Nothing.

She took a deep breath, and turned to move away, but something wasn't right. Something made alarms go off in her head. She glanced around, searching for the source, and was at first glad that there wasn't one.

But her eyes zeroed in on the floor, realizing her footsteps were not tracked in on any dirt or debris. She glanced at the open door behind her, suddenly realizing it had opened without a single sound, as if it had been used when no other door had been.

She stopped breathing, listening to the silence. What had gotten her attention?

_There._

She could just make out footsteps, and she could tell by the amount of sound and the direction they came from that it was not Kurama.

"Come on, at least go for the _good ones." _a voice grumbled, and Akari was slipping inside the door she'd just opened, sliding it shut until it remained ajar, just as she'd found it.

"There _are_ no good ones here. Only hikers."

"The scrawny ones aren't very satisfying, you know."

_Three. _There were at least three demons, but none of their voices were familiar. _*****_

After this next set of doors, Kurama was going to have to turn around. The hall ended in a wall. He wondered if they were going to have to check upstairs after they rejoined.

The door on the right proved no more fruitful than any of the others, but the left one was not entirely closed and Kurama examined the area. He saw no footprints leading to the door, but why was it open, even if just this crack?

The others appeared undisturbed, and the fact that this one was opened caused Kurama to lightly press a finger onto it.

The door swung inward more easily than an old one should have and Kurama slipped inside, standing up to survey the room.

Nothing stood out to him immediately, though he didn't exactly expect demons to leave the bones of their victims strew about if they had any sort of intelligence.

Unfortunately, he also knew there was someone here, his ears perking for any trace of where they might be coming from. They were watching him, waiting to see what he would do, much like he waited to see how they would respond.

He had to know. Had to know if this was the place their demon nested.

"I know you're there. And you know I'm here. Why not show yourself and get it over with?" 3

Akari waited in the darkened supply closet, listening, her back against the wall and a hand still on the door to keep it from shutting entirely.

And the footsteps got closer, then stopped. Silence ensued for a few minutes, though she figured the demons were still in the hallway. Her breathing was small, just about as quiet as she could make it without holding her breath entirely, knowing demon hearing was much better than a human's.

"You smell that?"

"You mean dirt and human, right?"

"Moron!"

A sound as someone was hit, a dull thud on skin that sounded thick. A frown pulled her lips down. She hadn't thought of her own scent.

"I do now."

Silence. Akari, still trying to figure out if these demons were who she needed to avoid entirely or not, moved further from the door, but kept an eye on the light that filtered through the opening. And the silence seemed to stretch for several minutes, though she knew they hadn't left yet. Even the dumbest of demons knew when they weren't alone once they found a smell to follow.

Her eyes moved behind her as she backed into the opposite wall, feeling something metal jab into her back and make a very small sound. She grabbed the handle, hearing the footsteps move towards the closet.

And as soon as that door opened, she opened the one behind her, turning and dashing to the next room to avoid a knife that had been thrown at her.

"HEY!" _*****_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	27. Episode 112 - Finish Recon, Fast-Forward

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of FF!

Over half of this chapter is a continuation of that scene with Akari/Kurama. Then we do a little time skip of a week after they finish their mission!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Yes, Akari, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke were all playing Mario Kart that last chapter.

~!**!~

Through Maneshi's hard work, Hiei discovers that heat assists Toriko's taunt muscles.

~!**!~

A few days later, Akari and Kurama get called in by Koenma to do a bit of recon work.  
They manage to stay out of trouble at first, but the last location they scout out ends up with the two of them in delicate situations...

* * *

"You sssssmell sssso very weak."

Kurama felt like the voice came from the entire room around him, but he also knew it belonged to a much lower class demon than he.

"I am. Terribly weak." He responded.

The voice hissed at him, but nothing more happened and Kurama knew it was a C Class. Anything lower would have taken him at his word, attacking instantly without considering that he could have been lying.

"He isssss ssssmart."

"Much like yourself." Kurama's eyes never stopped roaming the room. He did not neglect the ceiling either, but there was plenty of light coming in through a higher window that allowed him to deduce that this demon was not one that could likely be _seen_.

"Are you alone? I wish to join you if your group is not too large."

More hissing.

"He doessss not look like usssss."

"I got caught eating a human a day ago and had to flee with nothing more than the clothes on my back. There is strength in numbers." Kurama started to move slowly around the perimeter of the room. 3

Akari moved to the next room, turning to face the demons who filed in after her, her hands up in surrender. "Now, hold on," she began, voice even. She took in their appearances, the largest being in the middle, about the size of a boar demon. The other two were of average height and weight, both with slitted eyes and touch skin. "I did not mean to tresspass," she continued, making sure her hands were up as the demon on the furthest right held knives in his hands, ready to throw.

"Then why did you come here?" This voice, she hadn't heard yet. It was gravelly, only more than a mere rumble.

"I was searching for a place to stay for the day, so I could get some rest. I'm sure you know what it's like here for us demons. Especially with the Spirit Detective and all."

Each demon reacted a different way. The largest gave a full-body jerk, and then his skin positively took on the color of boiling rage. The demon on the right growled low, helping her deduce that, with his ears and tail, he was indeed a feline-like breed. Perhaps close to a jaguar or panther. The one on the left laughed, tossing his head of purple hair back.

"That little human fool? You cain't be scared of him!"

"But look, she's so weak. Even in that shirt, you can see scars."

Akari stared at the middle demon, smiling. "He's a pain in the butt, that I can say. He's been on my tail for the past week. Only lost him yesterday."

The largest demon stepped forward, his bare foot scuffling across the tile. "You're lying."

"I wouldn't be here if I were." _*****_

The demon hissed a laugh between his teeth.

"He issss nothing if he getsss caught."

"I got away. Unscathed." Kurama pointed out, still slowly moving around.

"Hiss essscape isss nothing. Humansss are sssstupid."

Kurama said nothing.

"And ssssso are you. You will die!"

Kurama grabbed for the exacto knife on the table in front of him and in the next second flung it at the wall across the room from him, already reaching for another one that had laid next to the first.

A portion of the wall started to shimmer as hissing and moaning and curses filled the room.

The camouflage around the demon slid away to reveal what most humans would have associated with a chameleon standing upright on its back legs, the exacto knife sticking out of its conical eye and still moving around as the demon reached for it with both hands.

In the instant the knife hit the demon, two others sprung out of the walls at him, the closer one grabbing at his shoulders.

Kurama wielded the knife through its thin outer layer of skin up the belly the demon exposed to him, quickly grabbing for its shoulder with his free hand and flinging the dying body at its other brethren that still came at him from the left. 3

"_**You're Lying!"**_ This time, when the creature yelled, the walls shook, and his comrades reacted, one throwing knives and the other throwing some sort of attack that she didn't see right away, too busy dodging to fully comprehend what he had done.

She maneuvered about the desks in the room, much like a dancer would their obstacles, and moved for the door, only for the largest demon to charge, quite literally slamming into the wall next to her as he missed, both cutting off her route and taking the door with him, making various forms of debris fall.

She turned and jumped, instead, through the glass that had acted as a barrier to the next room, knives following on each side as she landed and spun, catching another that had been thrown just before it had passed and returning it with a mighty growl, satisfied when it hit the demon closest to her, the one who she hadn't known of his attacks.

"C class?" she asked conversationally, a smile forming on her face as she took a few steps back, preparing for the second smallest demon, who had apparently thrown his whole arsenal already. His fist flew at her, and her arm came up in a rather instinctive move, Sensui's signature MMA defense, and she tossed his arm to the side, her own elbow colliding with his face with a sickening crunch, his nose breaking.

He let out a cry of pain that made her ears ring, the sound echoing in the room almost as if it got louder with each vibration. She winced, but dodged his attack and glanced at the larger demon, who she was glad to see still on the floor in the other room. "Your scars are very pretty," the demon snickered, a hand closing around her arm in the single instance she'd looked away. "Can I add to the collection?" His other hand swung another dagger, and she avoided as best as possible, only earning a small knick to her side before she headbutted him and then kicked at his stomach as he stumbled, sending him back into the other room. _*****_

The demon had been unsuccessful in removing the object from his eye, but he hissed angrily and charged at Kurama anyway, barreling through the handful of tables in the way, his good eye trained on the red-head while the other still twitched wildly in all directions.

Kurama heard the demon coming rather than saw, as he had just finished tossing the second one at the third, sending them falling to the ground one atop the other.

He leapt gracefully overhead just as the first slammed into the table and crushed it against the wall where Kurama had been standing moments before, turning back to see the chameleon whirl around and snap open its mouth, sending its tongue flying across the room.

Kurama dodged to the right and the tongue stuck to a piece of broken machinery behind him. Before the demon could retract it, Kurama flipped a lever and a crushing mechanism caught the tongue, the demon crying out in pain.

The other live one ducked under the tongue and came at Kurama's legs. Kurama made a quick slice through the tongue, his knife staying stuck to it, and he circled the freed demon twice before it could react, ending up with the tongue as a rope pinning its arms to its sides, using a flick of his wrist to free the knife once he had things wrapped up.

"I usually leave the knife-fights to Hiei." He commented lightly, tossing the knife in his hand almost absently at the chameleon who already had one knife in an eye, aiming for its heart that he had spotted the location of when he'd slit the belly of the one lying dead on the floor.

He kept looking at the live demon wrapped up, not flinching as the other fell over.

This last demon trembled, eyes roving anxiously around the room.

"I don't _want _to kill you, understand?" He said calmly.

The demon nodded, clearly intimidated as Kurama noted a bit of gore on his otherwise clean outfit and flicked it away with an air of nonchalance.

"Does the name 'Otento' mean anything to you?"

The demon nodded again, then hesitated, nervously licking at an eye.

"Think about it once more for me before you answer."

A pause.

"Doesssss not know thissss one."

"I didn't think so." Kurama murmured, turning away to walk towards the demon lying dead with two exacto knives in its body. He'd picked them as weapons in the room because he could tell they were still sharp, likely left there by a group of kids or something.

As he bent down to remove them both, he heard a snap and a tongue whistled by his ear, sticking the wall in front of him.

"Now that wasn't very smart." Kurama commented as he stood, looking over his shoulder at the demon who hadn't meant to miss his shot. Kurama slapped one of the knives against the bottom side of the tongue just as he noticed the demon start to tip his head to recall it.

The knife stuck in place and rolled up into the tongue as it travelled back to the demon's mouth.

As a reflex, the demon swallowed, tearing apart his throat from the inside while he travelled to his stomach. His eyes began to twirl madly around in his head.

Kurama planted the sharp edge of the knife into the top of the chameleon's head as he walked by to get out of the room. There was nothing here for he and Akari and they probably needed to leave before there were any _other _encounters. 3

Akari growled to herself, looking around the room while she had time and retrieving the closest knife, deciding she'd need it for the larger demon. After all, Akari's fists were smaller than a normal female demon's and against a demon of this magnitude, she didn't really have much faith in her strikes alone. The only thing she'd manage was tiring herself out.

So she waited, watching as both demons stood at once, calculating. "I don't suppose you are familiar with the name "Otento?"

"Why the hell would we tell you?"

"Toriko?"

A grumbling snarl. "Your friends mean nothing to us!"

"Thought so."

The larger demon, his skin still a bright red, charged through the wall, his overly large body breaking it in a second, and she turned, vacating the room as quickly as possible, turning left, but meeting the second demon. "You're a pain." She growled, moving forward anyway, meeting his lunge with a swipe of his arm again, her hand making full-force contact with his face, breaking a cheekbone and making him fall backwards. "I really thought we could part allies, but.."

He threw his last knife at her, and she needed only to lean her head to the left, avoiding it completely, though she did lose a bit of hair in the process. And she proceeded to strike at his face with her foot, another breaking bone sounding in the air. "If you just stay down, you won't die."

His screech of pain was followed with a kick at her knee, and when she fell, she grabbed him by the face, picked his skull from the ground, and slammed it as hard as she could on the tile. His scream stopped immediately, and only a moment later, she was ripped from his body and into the air, her arm quickly swiping the blade at the face of the demon who held her, slicing his cheek wide open and earning herself tossed across the hallway. Her grip on the blade, which she only just realized was burning her hand, loosened just a little, her back hitting the wall and sliding to the floor.

From there, she threw the blade, smiling at the sound of it passing through the skull of the demon, who promptly fell, breaking tiles and making debris fall from the roof above them. She flexed her hand, only glanced at it for a second before sneering. It wasn't exactly a poison, since it didn't do anything when mixed with the blood from her cut, but it burned all the same. "Nice trick you have there," she grumbled as she pushed herself to stand. She'd seen demons who had claimed they could mimic the effects of poison without actually using toxins, but this was the first she had ever experienced, and now she realized why it had become a rather forbidden thing where she had lived. _*****_

The sounds of more fighting had sent Kurama's feet running as he followed them, rounding the corner to see the last one fall with a gigantic rumble to the ground, Akari standing up.

"Are you injured?" Kurama slowed to a walk as he came nearer. 3

Akari heaved a sigh as she heard footsteps, at first thinking she was in for another round, but found herself rather relieved when the steps slowed and Kurama's voice rang through the sudden silence of the air. Her eyes, which had momentarily taken in the blistering of her hand, moved to the redhead and she gave a shrug. "Nothing too bad. Knives are a pain, but I managed well enough." She glanced over at the mess that had been made, rubble from broken walls and glass everywhere. "They knew nothing of Otento though. Anything interesting your way?" _*****_

Kurama shook his head, thinking of the knives he himself used and the very likely possibility that the youths who used them were now dead. Avenged. But dead nonetheless.

"This is not the hideout we're looking for." He said, "I think we ought to report back to Koenma that these demons are taken care of, however." He gestured to the bodies littered on the floor. 3

Akari nodded and glanced back at the demons she'd handled. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to fight without the use of her energy. It was probably a good thing she'd remembered at least a little of what Sensui had taught her. "All that wreckage, for nothing." she grumbled, turning to leave, suppressing a small cough from the dirt that had filled her mouth. "I assume you dealt with a posse as well?" she inquired, suddenly interested in any other type of demon that had been lingering about this place. "The three I had were hardly even C class." _*****_

"If I hadn't been, I assure you my entrance would have been much faster." Kurama smiled. "They knew nothing of the demons we looked for and they will not terrorize anyone any longer. I think this about wraps up what we came here for. Shall we go?" 3

Akari raised a brow at Kurama, then gave a singular, small huff of a laugh, which quickly turned to a yawn. "No surprise." and she gave a small nod of affirmation, waving for him to take the lead and then following close behind, glancing back again. "Well, I suppose he can't be too upset about us breaching the _no fighting _rule, since these demons needed to be dealt with anyway." she mused as the bodies left her line of sight the further she walked. "It was fun while it lasted."_*****_

"I believe his concern mainly rested on us engaging with the demon gang who kidnapped Toriko, but-"

The ground beneath them began rumbling and Kurama started to step backwards as he heard mechanisms turning and squeaking from below.

The entire length of the hallway in front of them started to open up, the ground sliding backwards to make a large, square hole that kept getting bigger. After another several moments, a giant head rose from under the floor and kept coming, the body following looking something like a minotaur out of mythology.

"I did not consider an underground route!" Kurama shouted to Akari ruefully.

"WHAT PUNY DEMONS DOING HERE? ME NOT RECOGNIZE YOU!"

Apparently that was reason enough to attack as the elevator the minotaur was standing on came to a crashing halt even with the hole it had made and the demon stepped off of it, a large hoof shaking the ground ever-so-slightly. He reached down, attempting to scoop Akari up in his large hand. 3

Akari shrugged at Kurama as he went on, her eyes moving downwards as the entire foundation seemed to shake and rattle. It rumbled enough to make her teeth hit together lightly, to which she responded to with clenching her jaw together as she turned to find the source of the ruckus.

By the time the perpetrator of the noise was in sight, Akari was staring in disbelief. She had heard of creatures like this, but seeing one… well, this was a first for her. And she couldn't quite find the words to reply to Kurama's shout.

She looked back in the direction she'd come from, thinking of the blades she had left behind, especially the one embedded in the skull of the other demon she hadn't bothered to fight without the tool. That demon didn't even compare to this one, she thought as she turned back again in time to dance away from the monster's grasp.

She did as best as she could to get not only away from the hand moving to her, but out of Kurama's way, so she wouldn't simply run into him and cause a disaster. "Hey!" she called to the demon, turning smoldering eyes to the enemy. "You're too slow! Come on, can't you do better?"

The roar of anger he let out made the entire building shake, so much so that she could even feel the force of it in her bones, shaking her ribs and making her cough in response.

Maybe if she distracted it long enough, Kurama would be able to take it down… Or in the very least, he'd find an opening for an attack.

Another swipe at her, and Akari was hopping up and over the hand, her own small hand just touching the oddly leather-like skin as she propelled herself up and over the attempt at a grab. Her gaze moved down, but from the bulky arm under her, she couldn't see the form of Kurama. _*****_

As Kurama dodged to the opposite direction of Akari, the fist that hand been reaching for them slammed into the ground where they had been standing moments before. He thought of the many items that could be used as weapons against this beast in the room he'd left, but he had no intention of leaving Akari to this demon by herself.

It wasn't that this demon would pose a problem. Normally. Kurama knew just by looking at him that his movements would be slow and easily dodgeable for as long as either party could keep it up. The problem was he had no energy of which to speak, so he felt he would likely have to resort to desperate measures.

Akari had the demon's attention for the moment and Kurama's thoughts ran calmly over their choices.

He doubted they could punch through the skin with any sort of efficiency. Not that this brute would likely feel it.

Kurama absently leapt backwards and ducked as the demon shifted his giant hooves and went for Akari again, his tail whipping around in the air madly just above Kurama's head.

The truth of the matter was, he _had _brought one thing that could get them out of a scrape, but it was a last resort and meant to be used as an escape tactic. If they could find some way to actually take this demon down, they'd likely be saving lives. Or at the very least the beautiful trees that were growing up around the old factory.

Kurama glanced down the hallway Akari had been in and noticed a pile of dirt in the corner with what looked like a flag about the size of his palm stuck in it.

He dodged the tail again, which swept much closer to the floor as the demon reared back to aim another downward strike at Akari. Kurama rolled backwards twice to get out of the way before ending up in a crouch next to the dirt pile, grabbing a handful of it firmly and charging for the demon, leaping nimbly up its other arm and making his way towards its head. 3

Akari hopped and jumped around and around, eyes continuing to search for anything that might help the situation. But each time she thought she could get into another room to look for a weapon, her route was cut off by a clumsy arm that swung at her again. The demon may be slow, but he was able to at least cut off her route before she managed to get too far out of his reach.

She growled in frustration, standing in the corner of the room. Sure, he was slow and dumb, but even a stronger demon would hate being cornered. "How many friends do you have, sir?" She asked, then gave a pause. "Or ma'am? Honestly, I don't care to check."

The word he spat at her wasn't really coherent, and he reared back his fist and threw it at her, making a triumphant smile form on her features as she again propelled herself up, this time landing on his broad arm and actually standing on it, surprised by the amount of muscle such a demon had. "You could be a decent fighter, if you could learn from mistakes."

"PUNY HUMAN ANGER ME!"

"How cute."

His other hand moved, slamming down on the arm she stood on, and she quite easily stepped back and fell to the tile floor underneath, not surprised that the strike sent the demon into a rumble of pain. "Smarts, huh?"

Again, he swung at her, and she ducked and moved under him, now thinking tactically about his flailing limbs. She ran, actually moving underneath him, not surprised when his large head moved down to watch her, an arm following. She crouched as she maneuvered, suddenly seeing Kurama and offering a smile. "Hey, I have an idea!" She continued by him, letting him do whatever he was going to do while she shot around the corner for a mere moment, then turned back to watch what happened next, curious.

The moment Kurama struck, she rejoined, running back into the scene with a laugh to herself. She was actually enjoying this fight, despite the fact they hadn't been able to get by the demon. _*****_

Kurama kept moving up the demon's arm, his feet light enough that it didn't seem to notice, and when he reached its shoulder, just as it started to turn its head to see him, he jammed his fist into its ear and let go of the dirt.

The demon roared as Kurama flipped backwards up and over the hand that it sent flying through the air to slap at its ear.

"WHAT YOU DO?!" He yelled as pain clearly started to overtake the demons features, Kurama alighting on the ground about ten feet away.

"An idea?" Kurama asked, looking in Akari's direction as the demon started to wail, then turn on them and started slamming his fists into the ground all the faster while they kept out of the way. 3

Akari paused only briefly when Kurama addressed her, but she didn't reply with anything other than a mischievous sneer. When another strike was aimed, she hopped out of the way, then turned and repeated her earlier action, running up the demon's forearm all the way up to the shoulder. The demon roared at her, reaching a hand up to try and grab at her, only managing to strike himself in the places she had been.

And each time he struck, his large hand just missed her as she continued up and close to the ear Kurama had tampered with. "Yoo hoo. You've missed again." The demon jerked at the close proximity of his hurt ear, and immediately reacted in the only way she had thought he would: Swinging a fist at her. She stayed longer than she probably should have, watching the fist swing, and only jumping just before it hit her, causing him to quite literally punch himself in the side of the head.

She hopped from the top of his fist and to the top of his head, maintaining her balance as the demon stumbled and fell onto his side, roaring louder than he had since his appearance. She heard glass breaking from the volume somewhere nearby, and she searched for the broken windows, only to huff and continue moving about the demon's head as he struggled to stand, swinging again at her as a foot got stuck in the tangles in his mane.

Akari, for a moment, didn't think she would get free, and instead dropped and rolled, her body moving in the opposite direction than the demon's head moved as it stood again, making her land on the ground with a thud, her shoulder hitting first. Her air left her, but she rolled more anyway, avoiding the large palm that slapped down through the air at her. And again, she was standing, moving underneath the demon, whose feet stamped and stomped, trying to crush her but not even close to succeeding. "Down here, you loon!"

The demon swung downwards, striking his own knees and causing himself to pitch forward, rear in the air and face to the floor again. "That's it! You almost had me!" she yelled some more, now 100% sure he would continue to strike himself if the demon even remotely thought it could hit her or Kurama. _*****_

Kurama smiled as he saw what Akari was doing, the demon becoming more and more confused as Akari landed "hits" on it.

After the demon fell to the ground, it shifted around, attempting to get its hands underneath to push itself up. After rising half-way on its hands and knees, its head suddenly twitched with a very loud crack and for a moment, time seemed to freeze.

The demon's arms gave out and it crashed back down to the floor, eyes rolling into the back of its head as out of its left ear burst suddenly some very green vines that continued out the ruptured orifice for another several seconds, weaving around one another in an unknown pattern.

After those moments of rustling growth, the vines came to a stop, sticking at least a foot out of the demon's ear and growing no more.

"Well, that wasn't exactly what I _meant _to have happen." Kurama commented as he relaxed from his defensive stance, "But I suppose one shouldn't complain."

He moved closer to the downed demon and leaned in to examine the handiwork of the vines in the stillness after battle. 3

Akari hadn't been expecting whatever sound had filled the air, and as such, reacted in alarm and retreated from the demon, eyes watching every movement of the creature as it stilled. Her eyes searched some more, until they saw the vines go still and Kurama's words registered in her mind.

A small laugh bubbled up, more at her own reaction from the sound. "You're scary, you know that?" she grumbled at the redhead, eyes still scrutinizing the plant, slightly disappointed. She'd been enjoying herself. "How many _other _tricks do you have up that sleeve of yours?" _*****_

"I apologize for spoiling your fun." Kurama caught on to the disappointed air. "And I only have one trick up my sleeve, really. A last resort of sorts. I didn't expect this one to actually work at all. I was prepared to use the last resort in its stead." He continued to puzzle at the vines, "Or at least, I did not expect it to work in _this _way. It's a prototype and the chance I got to do testing with it was rather limited."

He continued peering into the demon's ear. Every trace of the dirt he had in his fist earlier was no where to be found, the seed he place inside having eaten through it for growth and then immediately stopping when the dirt ran out. 3

"Prototype…" she repeated in a grumble, eyeing the redhead now as he inspected his own handiwork. _Of course. _Akari released a long breath of heavy air through her lips, rolling her eyes. _What kind of prototype works like __**that**__?_ "Too bad it didn't work the way you planned." she mused, mildly curious of how he'd thought it would turn out. "But, I guess if a last resort wasn't necessary, then all's well and good. The next question is: should _we _clean this up, or have Koenma send another lackey to clean it up instead? I assume leaving a mess like this is something you guys _never_ do?"

Akari moved around the other side of the demon, glancing at his large fists, and around the areas where he'd struck himself. Only mere bruises here and there. Nothing broken, and that told her that had Kurama's _prototype _not worked, her fallback plan wouldn't have worked either, and last resorts would have had to take place.

Of course, she hadn't thought that far ahead.

And the mere thought that Kurama had left her again glancing up at the redhead with a blank expression. _Maybe it comes with the age… Or the experience. _*****

Kurama was unsure whether to consider the plant a success or a failure, for it was both depending on which way he looked at it.

Having his demonic energy restricted had driven the fox demon to messing with the seeds he manipulated in other ways, and while this one did not actually do what it had been expected to do once in contact with the dirt from Human World, it had prevented the need for him to pull out the one thing he knew _would _work.

He supposed the situation could be chalked up as a 'win.'

"We are only to report back to Koenma." He replied after a moment more of looking. "He sends a team to take care of the mess during the debriefing. They do good work." 3

Akari nodded, promptly turning to survey the rest of the hall they'd been fighting in, searching for the place where the demon had come up from. And now that she searched for it, she could see that the lines between some tiles were wider, out of place, but blended in almost perfectly if one wasn't privy to the fact. She ran her fingers over the edge, feeling the slight difference between the tile and the platform. A very small part of her wanted to find a way to make it move so that she could survey the underground route, but a vast majority of her was beginning to relax until she was fighting a yawn.

For the upteenth time today, she found herself thinking about her sealed away energy and how it could be handy here. Instead of leaving the mechanism so it could function, she could have destroyed it, as she had numerous other things, with her shadow prowess. At least, in that case, this place wouldn't be able to be discreetly used by anyone else.

"I guess we should get going then," she finally responded, looking up from where she was crouched, both arms balancing on her knees as her weight shifted to her toes. As curious as she was, she didn't feel it necessary to investigate. They had the information they'd been sent to get, and now all she wanted to do was go lay in the sun and take a nap. _*****_

"We should be sure to mention the possibility of an underground tunnel system in this area to Koenma. I'm sure he'll have his people look into it." Kurama tore his eyes away from examining the handiwork of the seed turned vine to glance at Akari where he heard her voice coming from. "We should get back as quickly as possible."

He turned to follow the hallways back to the door they entered through and out into the sunshine. 3

_What's the rush?_ Akari thought to herself as she stood, hands finding the pockets of her school uniform, reminding her she'd missed half a day of classes. How the teachers must feel about her _and _"Suichi" being gone at the exact same time.. Perhaps they considered coincidences more than a demon would.

Her feet moved at a leisurely pace, putting her a little behind the redhead as she eyed the large office door ahead. The nameplate on the side wasn't necessary, at least in her eyes. Only the prince would have doors this large and a small intercom on the side. It was simply too… professional? No, that wasn't the word…

Botan had gone on ahead, pressing the call button even before Kurama had reached the door, and by the time Akari had caught up, the doors were already sliding closed when her foot passed the threshold.

"Well?"

Akari fought the urge to roll her eyes at the impatient prompting, instead glancing at Kurama before shrugging her shoulders lightly. "The first two places haven't been touched. Literally. There's still charred remains inside the warehouse, along with ropes and a fan. The tunnel was empty. Nothing new." _*****_

Kurama nodded as Akari explained the situation.

"We did find a group of demons hiding out in the warehouse, but to our knowledge, they are unrelated to the gang you are looking for. However, we have reason to believe there is a system of tunnels underneath that were allowing them freedom of movement without having to go along the surface. I would highly suggest you have your team investigate into it. We did not pursue that particular venue."

Koenma agreed with their decision, "I sent you to look for Otento's crew, so I'd rather you came back here and let my people deal with whatever else is down there."

"There were three chameleons and a minotaur demon." Kurama looked to Akari for her portion of the fighting. 3

For the few moments while Kurama continued on, Akari thought back to her own fights, knowing she'd have to report the three she'd taken on on her own. She knew the species of two of them, but the third… well, she hadn't really cared enough to notice. He had looked similar to the lion demon, but not exactly the same.

So when the room went quiet, her eyes slid open and she gave a minor shrug. "A boar demon, a lion, and I assume the third was either panther or jaguar, though I'm sure you understand that I didn't care enough to look for the tail." The smile that came to her face was lopsided and only slightly amused at he thought. "He didn't put up much of a fight. None of them were above mid C class," she glanced at Kurama, figuring it was much the same for his three opponents. "Seven accounted for, though I wouldn't be surprised if there were more." _*****_

"They're all dead, though." Kurama added. "They engaged us."

Koenma's lips pursed together.

"It's quite unusual for even just those seven to be in close proximity like that with one another, possibly working together. And if there are more…" Koenma faded off, but came back to the present after a moment and shook his head. "I'll definitely have to look into this. While we've had reports of nothing else major, our resources have been so focused on the attention this Otento character is kicking up, there has been little chance for us to look elsewhere." Koenma picked up the papers he had been writing on as the two in front of him spoke and tapped the edge of them smartly on the desk to straighten them out before handing them over to George.

"That's all I need from the two of you for now. My thanks for making quick work of it." 3

A small yawn left thin lips as Akari turned to leave, not even nodding farewell to the prince. The doors slid open as if automated, though she knew they weren't, and she was quick to escape through them, as if being inside that office suffocated her. All she could focus on now was getting back to the human world, back to Nabu, back to the sunshine and the warm breeze that she knew was blowing through the park.

So when Botan asked if she and Kurama were ready to go, she didn't even hesitate to nod eagerly, and when her feet touched the concrete sidewalk of the human world, in an alleyway where they wouldn't be spotted, she wasn't surprised to see Nabu race by on the way to the school that she just realized was only now releasing their students. The thought made her laugh; the pup would find out she wasn't there and it wouldn't take him long to hunt her down.

Then again…

She glanced at Kurama and Botan briefly. "It's been fun, but I think I'm going elsewhere." With that, she turned and made for a run after the pup, deciding that he didn't need to run off around town in search for her. It wasn't like she was going out of her way, anyway. The park was just along the path. _*****_

~!**!~

Koenma frowned down at his paperwork, only looking up once the teal-haired Grim Reaper flew in from whereabouts unknown. "Botan, I need to speak with Hiei."

"H-Hiei, Koenma-sir?" It had been a week since Kurama and Akari's mission and Botan had sort of hoped that perhaps the Prince would send her after that pair again instead of the stoic, slightly scary fire demon.

Koenma looked up from his paper-work, "I don't think I stuttered, Botan. Is it so strange that I would call on him?"

"Well, yes sir. I mean, no sir. I mean...I'll go get him for you, sir."

"You do that."

~!**!~

About a week after his mission with Akari, Kurama sat at the table sipping at the tea that had been placed before him. His eyes roamed around both the kitchen and the living room, but at a clatter of dishes, he turned back to watch Toriko for a moment as she prepared dinner for them.

She moved a hand up to her ear to tuck a portion of her long, dark hair behind it, her bright green eyes-free of their usual thick lenses-did not stray from the methodical work she had to do in front of her.

Kurama smiled.

The condition of her hair and lack of glasses had been the buzz of the school that day. Virtually as soon as the girl had walked onto campus. There were stares and whispers and rumors floating around that had not stopped, to Kurama's knowledge, at the end of the day.

The majority of students assumed on her missing glasses' part that she had merely "gotten with the age" and purchased contacts. Other speculation about her hair included ideas as far-fetched as her having been part of a religious sect that did not allow for her hair to be down, but she finally rebelled or quit and this was the result.

There was, of course, no one who had been in preschool with her since she was a transfer to Meiou, but most of her classmates had been there when she first arrived two years ago and none of them could remember her ever having gone without her usual bun and thick-lensed glasses.

For his part, Kurama had not been surprised to see her this way. There were changes happening to his old friend. Changes for the better, he thought.

"And you cannot feel her right now?" He picked up the lull in their conversation right where it left off. The biggest of these changes, besides her stammering being basically nonexistent, appeared to be her ability to better articulate and discuss things relating to Demon World without immediate, mind-wrenching repercussions. The subject namely being her other side.

Kurama still hesitated when talking with her, however, keen on keeping her in the sane world and taking stock of her with each furthering of their conversation. He gave her reprieve here and there to return to her task, settle her mind again, ever watchful for changes in her attitude.

Toriko paused for a moment in her work as if reaching inward, and she shook her head, speaking quietly.

"There's nothing there. I remember that I used to be able to at least feel her, trapped. But she's gone." Her brow dipped together over her face. "And I can feel none of my former energy either." There was no mistaking her relief at the prospect of her demonic energy being gone.

Kurama knew this last part, and also understood that it greatly attributed to why her hair was down and her glasses gone. Those being the two sources of herself that her energy channeled through the easiest...well, now that she could feel nothing, there was no point to hiding either one. Granted, if he guessed correctly and this particular change had started sometime last week, she had certainly remained cautious and likely experimented a bit herself before deciding to arrive on campus with such changes.

Kurama's eyes lingered on Toriko's hair as it shifted down her back while she prepared the food. He briefly shook his head and blinked to pull his attention away from it.

Ever since his encounter with Shikiyoku's powers, he had noticed himself doing such things to her and he did understand now why Toriko was so reluctant formerly to use her powers around him.

Once ensnared, even with her removing the immediate influence of her energy, it did not appear that one ever fully recovered. Of course, he only viewed her as a dear comrade-more so now that he knew she had a past with Youko and he could realize that's where his early feelings of connection with her arose-but that did not mean Kurama didn't catch himself in moments like those gazing at her before his brain realized what was happening and he intentionally pulled his attention away.

Kurama also on some level understood what Hiei was to Toriko now, as he picked up on such a relationship between Youko and she before the fire demon, and likely others before that if what little he had gleaned from the slumbering kitsune could be taken as truth.

"How do you feel about it?" He piped up again.

It took Toriko a moment before she answered.

"Many things." Came her slow replied at first, pensively considering the question. "Relief. Confusion. ...fear."

"Fear?" Kurama's eyebrow quirked. Relief because she had no demonic energy to restrain. Confusion because, well, no one understood why this had happened. But the last one...

"She isn't supposed to be free." Toriko's face darkened. "And if she is not with me, then am I not supposed to assume that she is free?"

This time Kurama didn't answer immediately.

It was obvious Toriko still didn't accept her other side, and while Kurama may have thought it unhealthy for one soul to be divided into two so strongly as this-notwithstanding his own condition, of which there were major differences-there was likely nothing to be done in joining the two sides together while one of them still held the other in so much fear and hatred. That would be the catch: getting the human side to accept the demon side.

Seeing as how Toriko appeared to be rather human, Kurama assumed that it meant her fears were strictly limited to all things demonic in relation to herself-which also explained her previous inability to function in a conversation relating to demons. "Human" and "Demon" described the division of the soul before him rather aptly in his opinion.

"What if it means that you're finally one person again?"

"No." Toriko gnashed the word viciously out of her mouth, the knife she was cutting with cracking against the cutting board with much more force than necessary.

Kurama remained silent at her vehement response.

Toriko took a breath, ruefully eyeing the hairline fracture she made in the bamboo of the cutting board.

While she found of late that she had no problem with the _idea_ of her other side, she still felt apprehensive about everything in _relation _to her other side. She feared the darkened memories that had started ruminating just below her awareness, ones where she imaged her other side doing horrible things. _Demonic_ things.

"I don't want to be one person." Toriko replied, her voice low. "She's done terrible things." She felt as if she knew this for certain.

Kurama held back the introspective sigh he wanted to release.

He conjectured a long time ago that Toriko came out of Shikiyoku's flight from Demon World. Shikiyoku took on a human form. The bobby pins were seals against her demonic energy. And slowly over time, as a result of her being forced into hiding, the more human-like Toriko was born. Like Shuichi's body, it would keep Shikiyoku safe until Spirit World stopped hunting her.

Now, though, Kurama felt sure that Shikiyoku could not come out if she _wanted _to, instead only by some outside influence hitherto undetermined. The protector has since become the jailer, convinced that the reason Shikiyoku is trapped within comes from her being too dangerous. And while that might have been true on some level...Kurama didn't see convincing Toriko that the danger of pursuit being over would solve the problem between demon and human. Now it would be a matter of convincing her Shikiyoku was no threat. Did Toriko fear all demons? Or did she simply fear the demon inside? 3

Hiei lounged about in the trees that lay on the outskirts of town, eyes closed and body relaxed since he knew Kurama would be watching over Toriko today. It gave him a small reprieve to be alone, allowing him time to soak in the day's sun and catch up on some much needed rest- not that he was actually behind on it. He simply… preferred napping without disturbance, and as of late, it had been a rather hard thing to come by.

With eyes shut, the fire demon used his hearing to visualize his surroundings, the birds nearby that twittered loudly, wings flapping as they played their silly little games. A squirrel sniffed at him curiously from the branch above, its tail hitting the bark as it twitched. The green leaves were still with the absence of any breeze, making it easier for Hiei to become lulled back into the edges of sleep he'd just emerged from moments ago.

~!**!~

A full stomach and complete and utter relaxation. Those had become Akari's allies as of late, as she'd taken to simply doing whatever she pleased. She was alone, but in the restaurant she sat in, she didn't feel alone. Humans were in almost every chair, chattering in groups or pairs, the place a steady rhythm of laughter and idle chat.

Her eyes roamed as her hand lifted another roll of rice into her mouth, finding herself feeling odd since Nabu hadn't been allowed inside. But he sat patiently by the nearest window, chewing on a bone she'd given him on the way to the little sushi joint.

"Your bill," the waitress said with a smile as she placed a small leather book on the surface of the booth. Akari only managed to pull out a bank card as the girl retreated to another table, taking their orders. She sighed and sat back, content for the moment even as she stared at the plastic money card. She found herself considering going back to raid Sensui's place again, but this would do for now. _*****_

~!**!~

Botan whirled through the air on her oar down from Spirit World, her eyes scanning the city beneath her for the approximate location Hiei had been in when she left Koenma's office.

Her hair streamed behind her as she dove down, her Reaper senses constantly feeding her information about the state of the humans below.

As she flew above the streets, she avoided those that she felt were close to their time as their eyes would be more attuned to picking out her spirit form. She knew the ones that were supposed to see her would, and so it was without pause that she came to float a few feet from the ground amidst a group of trees.

Hiei was among one of them, but she spoke up anyway, knowing Koenma wished for her to hurry and not taking the time to figure out exactly where he was.

"Hiei! Prince Koenma wishes to speak with you! He didn't tell me about what." Botan continued, her eyes searching for a dark spot among the branches of the foliage around her, "Just that he wants to do it now." 3

Hiei felt the disturbance before he heard it. The air changed slightly, turning from peaceful to… panicked as animals fled from whatever frightened them. He didn't bother opening his eyes though. He merely stay where he lay in the tree, shifting only slightly so that his head was rested against the bark at an angle that lessened the strain on his neck.

And the voice that called to him shattered his own world of peace. He didn't respond, hoping the source would go away, along with whatever it was Koenma and his lackeys wanted. Didn't they know he was on break for the day?

~!**!~

Akari waited, sipping almost lazily at the tea that was still just warm enough to be worth drinking. It settled in her stomach, making her entire body feel warmer, almost akin to the effects of a nap under the shade of a tree.

"Here you go," the waitress said, gaining only a nod of thanks as Akari took the receipt and her plastic card from her hand and stood to leave, but not before finishing the drink she'd specially ordered after eating. "come see us again!"

Akari waved over her shoulder to the man behind the bar across the restaurant before leaving, a silent thanks for the meal, and the bell rang against the door on her way out. "Nabu, let's go."

"_Park?"_

"Sure." _*****_

~!**!~

With her eyes examining the trees intently, Botan finally spotted the hidden fire demon lounging among them and she lazily floated her oar in his direction until she sat level with him in the branches.

"Oh, come on, Hiei. I know you heard me. It's not like Koenma calls on you all that often. And the sooner I get you there, the sooner you can get back to your tree." 3

The sudden desire to knock that oar out of the air was stronger than even Hiei's desire to stay where he lay. He strongly considered it as Botan spoke, now not too far away, meaning he hadn't hidden himself successfully enough. Too bad…

"Perhaps.." he began, but that train of thought too was shoved to the furthest recesses of his mind, to not actually ever say to this woman who was nothing more than a messenger for Koenma. If he had anyone to blame, then he'd simply blame himself for not hiding well enough.

On that thought, the fire demon let his eyelids slide open and he slid his glinting eyes over at the ferry girl. "This better not be a waste of my time."

~!**!~

Nabu proudly followed Akari with his bone in his mouth, feet coming higher off the ground and head swaying back and forth as if he had a rhythm stuck on repeat in his mind. She took note of his jolly attitude and the enthusiasm in which he stopped to gnaw at his bone here and there, reminding herself to grab one the next time she ran off and left him alone again during one of his naps. He hated when she did that, and quite frankly, he'd been able to make her feel a bit guilty about it here and there.

"Don't get lost."

"_I won't," _his muffled reply drifted to her from a few feet back, and Akari paused briefly to look back again, raising an unamused brow as he licked at the slobber that hung from his maw. "_I'm coming!"_

She rolled her eyes and continued, passing the gate entrance to the park she had come to frequent less often as of late- another reason she'd given Nabu the treat he now drooled over. She hitched her duffel bag higher on her shoulder, the sound of his many playthings moving making her ear almost twitch. "What first? You pick, since this was your idea."

"_Ball."_

_Of course. __*****_

Youko took a deep breath of the night air as he wandered the paths of the park, unphased by any humans he happened to come across.

Most, if not all of them, would find themselves unable to see his ears and tail as humans have a tendency to keep a veil over their eyes that prevents them from seeing things they don't understand, and while his outfit was not exactly normal, no one thought to stop the tall, slender, silver-haired man that moved like so much fluid floating along across the grass.

He paused for a moment with his pointed nose upturned slightly in the air. Unlike some, he actually enjoyed the fresh air of Human World. Though, it _did _make him miss home just a little.

In the midst of his reverie, Youko's ears twitched slightly at the sound of padded feet tearing across the dirt and as he brought his eyes down, he caught sight of a small ball bouncing along and coming to rest next to his foot, lighting tapping his shoe before stopping.

Just as he started to kneel down, he spotted a tiny body dashing frantically into view.

~!**!~

Koenma hardly glanced up from the work at his desk when Botan appeared in the room with Hiei.

"Thank you, Botan. That will be all." Koenma made his dismissal of her apparent, flickering his eyes towards the blue ogre that was leaning over his desk assisting him. "You may go as well, ogre."

George pulled away from the desk, blinking at Koenma for a moment before frowning. The Princeling usually didn't dismiss him so casually like this.

"Yes, Koenma-sir." George did not protest, feeling as if perhaps he deserved the break after all, and followed Botan out of the door.

Koenma said nothing as the two left, his pen scratching at the papers over which he hunched.

Only when the two were completely gone did Koenma finally look up, he and Hiei the only ones in the room.

"I have something for you, Hiei." Koenma said after a moment of regarding the fire demon over his desk. The toddler hopped down from his chair and started moving towards a door behind him. "If you would follow me please."

Koenma opened the door and walked through, fully expecting Hiei to come with him.

"Close the door behind you, if you would."

This room was much smaller than the one they just left, with various tomes piled in stacks on top of one another, smelling like ages past. The power the items in room contained almost hummed audibly and Koenma wove his way through until he reached a second desk towards the back, climbing up into this chair and indicating that Hiei was welcome to sit in the chair across from him if he wished. 3

Hiei hadn't reacted to anything as of yet, and quite frankly, moving to another room almost piqued his interest. Except… it was more of a library. But this library, he realized, was almost alive. Energy buzzed through the room, making him feel as if his own energy were struggling against it, fighting to either join the rhythm or overcome it. His eyes found several things of interest, but he didn't approach them, since he didn't think they would actually be of use.

As if he had a use for them at this very moment.

The fire demon followed the toddler until another desk came into view, though when Koenma gestured to the chair, he merely glanced at it before ignoring it completely. Why sit down and invite the prince to take his sweet time?

For the time being, he stayed silent, waiting in expectation of whatever was to come next.

~!**!~

Akari's arm fell to her side and she sat back in the grass, the hand that had just released the ball resting flat on the ground behind her. She leaned further back, crossing her ankles and twitching her numb toes idly as she waited. Still feeling full and lazy, she didn't feel like getting up at the moment, and had actually decided to run Nabu as much as he wanted, so long as she didn't have to get up again.

Her eyes closed, her mind blank for a few moments. She didn't know how long she sat there, but after a while, she realized something wasn't right. Her nose twitched with a small itch and she sat forward, scratching it idly as her eyes reopened and searched the darkened park for the small body of her companion. With him not in the immediate area, she sighed and resigned to wait a bit longer.

More time passed.

She found herself counting to 3600 in her mind, marking another approximate five minute wait before she reached for the bag of toys and stood, now deciding to hunt him down. Her luck, he'd be with Kurama again, like the last time this had happened.

She made her way around at a slow, lazy pace, breathing in the night air as she walked until she came upon the sound of an excited dog.

"_Flowers! C'mon, throw it! Play with me and Akari! It's fun!"_

Another sigh. "You're getting predictable," she called ahead of herself, not yet having reached the person Nabu referred to as Flowers. But when she _did _lay eyes on him a moment later, she paused, unsure what to make of the demonic form. Wasn't that something he reserved for fights? _*****_

Youko regarded the unfettered joy of the pup who had clamored right up to him without hesitation with an amusement that did not appear to reach his eyes, though the dog had only allowed him to indulge in a moment of petting before hopping back and wagging his tail excitedly, bouncing back and forth and pausing only briefly to bow playfully at the fox demon.

His eyes softened just a touch at Akari as she came into view, him still kneeling on the ground where he had been petting Nabu, and holding out the ball as if to ask for her permission to toss it.

"I'm getting predictable?" His soft, low voice repeated with a bit of incredulity laced into his question. "How terrible boring of me."

~!**!~

Koenma took another half a moment to give Hiei a guarded look, waiting until the door was closed before pressing a button that activated the lock which clicked into place.

"We may speak freely here." Koenma noted. "No one else knows of this room's purpose and it is not monitored. My father does not even know of its existence. I would ask you to keep this and any words we exchange here to yourself."

Koenma took a deep breath and released a sigh as he drew his hands together over the desk.

"I called you here because you seem to have had the most contact with the girl known as Toriko. I desperately need to speak with Shikiyoku and I'm hoping you know of how I can do so." 3

Hiei regarded Koenma with caution, his expression mutual as he soaked in the information of Koenma knowing of Shikiyoku's whereabouts. Hadn't she been hiding from this man? Why hadn't he made an effort to capture her, if what she had said about being wanted by Spirit World still rang true?

"And what makes you think she'll simply waltz in here?" He gave a pause. "Or am I assume that you wish for _me _to convince a demon to come _here, _where her head is a prize?" In truth, he didn't really need Koenma's answer, because he had a feeling that he was right. "I hardly see her wasting her time for such a threat." _Like my own time is being wasted at this very moment._ *

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	28. Episode 113 - Koenma's Proposal

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow Ningen!

This chapter is a little shorter than the previous ones, but that's because I have a penchant for ending on a cliffhanger and there was a really good one, plus if I didn't stop there the thing went on for quite a bit longer than I really wanted. The posting for this chapter is also up earlier than usual because I will be gone this evening and unsure when I will return.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Kurama finish up their Recon work for Koenma,  
and find nothing of interest to tell the toddler-prince.

~!**!~

A week later and Koenma asks Botan to bring him Hiei.

For Toriko, many changes are occurring,  
including her ditching the glasses and bobby pins  
because it appears that Shikiyoku has disappeared entirely.

~!**!~

The week passes uneventfully for Akari,  
and she is at the park with Nabu when Youko appears...

* * *

Akari eyed Youko warily, only nodding when he silently asked about tossing the ball. He hadn't asked before now, and while the sarcasm was something she'd become accustomed to in Kurama, she simply couldn't get over the fact that he was in Youko form, and yet there was not a sign of a fight anywhere. A suspicion rose in her mind, but Nabu's constant rambling to "Flowers" was a confusing factor.

"You're telling me." She went quiet again, watching keenly. _*****_

Youko gave the ball a toss with the flick of his wrist, sending both it and the pup flying off away from them.

He maneuvered to sit the rest of the way down on the grass, leaning his back up against the trunk of the tree behind him and extending his long legs in his front.

"I would have given it to you." Youko explained, his deep voice still remaining quiet, "If you did not wish me to interrupt." He reclined his head against the bark, both hands going up into the midst of his straight, silver hair to prop himself up.

~!**!~

_So she __**has **__talked to him. _Koenma remained silent as Hiei posed his questions.

"She's waltzed in here before." Koenma pointed out. "And nothing happened then." He sighed, "She has a certain advantage given that she yet remains in a human form. She _will _be kept safe, Hiei. I can promise you that." Koenma said strongly.

"My father is the one who wanted to..." He paused as his mind wandered to the exact wording of the warrant and he cleared his throat, "My father is the one who put the warrant out for her arrest. I had nothing to do with it. Me simply talking to you about it like this puts us all at risk anyway. If he knew that _I _knew, and had not brought her in...let's just say I'm on your side." Koenma left it at that.

"And don't you think that if I had any intention of harming her that I would have brought Toriko in as soon as I knew of her secret?" Koenma gauged Hiei carefully. "I can promise I will make it well worth her while." 3

Hiei's hands moved to the pockets of his cloak in thought. He recalled the last time the entire group had been in the office, after the Sensui incident. Since then, the only time any of them had been in here was when there was something to report. That meant Koenma had known even before Toriko had become a small addition to the group. Yet, just as the prince had said, nothing had happened. He hadn't made any indication of his knowledge over the matter until now, when it was convenient for him.

Curiosity snaked its way through him. "And what makes you desperate enough to call on her?" For now, he didn't bring up the fact that Shikiyoku only came forth when something required her energy to survive.

~!**!~

Narrowed eyes watched carefully, suddenly not trusting Youko. He didn't act like Kurama, or what she knew of him, but she hadn't ever seen him sit as if to recline. It didn't strike her as something he'd do, either. "Not necessary," she replied curtly in regards to the ball. "Just a toy."

She paused, lips pursing and brows furrowing. Why wasn't he attacking? "You're awfully cordial, for an enemy." _*****_

A single silver eyebrow lifted, but his expression changed not otherwise as he regarded her with an unblinking golden gaze.

"We are enemies, are we?" He paused for a moment, then blinked slowly and looked away. "Strange. I don't _feel _as if we should be enemies. Why would we be enemies?"

~!**!~

Koenma chewed on his pacifier before answering.

"I know nothing. Nothing of this Otento fellow, nothing of this fake-Youko. No motive, no origins." He shrugged, "Nothing. I _do _know, however, the demon that the others encountered when rescuing Akari and Kurama. His name is Gashiru and Otento has recruited him. Gashiru has a twin sister that _hasn't _been recruited. Not yet. I need to send Shikiyoku to speak with her, in Demon World, to try and find out anything she can. This is a brief chance for us to finally get ahead of Otento, but I must act quickly. And Shikiyoku must be the one to go." 3

Hiei eyed Koenma with a neutral expression, not exactly impressed nor surprised with the information he was given. So Spirit World was behind. He knew that. So Spirit World knew nothing. That wasn't new either. But a new demon that could provide information… that grabbed his interest with a vice-like grip and he hung on that fact for a moment. Otento was on Hiei's special hit list, and the fact that the demon could get around without being sensed was even more irritating, making this even more difficult.

"Toriko acts as a wall, hiding Shikiyoku." He finally admitted, hands moving out of his pockets and his arms crossing over his chest. "The only times she's allowed herself to be known is after her energy is necessary for her life."

~!**!~

Akari's head tilted to the side slightly, her eyes flickering behind her as Nabu's little feet could be heard tearing back to her and Youko. He dropped the ball at her feet, but when she didn't reach for it, he kicked it over to the silver haired demon and spun around and around in enthusiastic circles, barking like mad but not really saying anything tangible.

"Not enemies?" She repeated incredulously, frown deepening. "You expect me to believe that? After the attacks launched?" _*****_

Youko's eyebrows quirked downward slightly, giving his face a puzzled air even as he moved forward to lift the ball in his slender fingers and give it another precise toss away from them before leaning back again.

"Attacks?" He repeated. "Why would I attack you? Kurama does not hold any ill-will against you, so neither do I." He still appeared confused, his eyes thinking back to recent memories. "I don't even know if we've officially met." His gaze moved back to her. "I seem to remember being overly preoccupied with Toriko's health the first time we saw one another."

~!**!~

Koenma sighed and mumbled under his breath, "I was afraid of that." He reached up and rubbed a hand against his forehead. "I'm not willing to risk her life just to get to talk with her, but I don't know what to do otherwise."

Koenma let out another sigh that held too much age in it for his stature.

"I suppose all I can ask for is that if she rears her head, bring her to me. While it's imperative that I speak with her, it's also not imperative that her life be in danger." 3

Hiei found himself sneering. But the expression was gone in a flash, replaced with his former expression of neutrality. He considered this thought, eyeing the prince. Quite frankly, he didn't want to oblige, but the fact that this could mean another shot at Otento… well, he couldn't exactly turn down the idea. After all, the problem of the demon was long withstanding, and his continuous trouble making was grating on his nerves.

Aside from that, they could go to the Demon World again…

That thought had him stalling mid-turn in his leave, watching the wall opposite of himself as the thought made his very core move. He recovered shortly thereafter, turning his back on the prince entirely now. "No guarantees."

~!**!~

Agitation conflicted with confusion for a moment, making a single strawberry brow twitch. She thought for a moment, reassessing what she'd already deduced, this time wondering if she were wrong. Her eyes studied the fox demon, her senses searching for energy, finding the lack in such a normal thing since Kurama had indeed been missing energy as well. But, how had he shifted, if this _were _the redhead?

_He can't…. can he? …...Only one way to find out._

"Sure, we haven't met officially, but your friend and I have. Several times, actually. He's caused a lot of trouble. You don't seem able to keep your… group… under control, sir." She paused, head tilting to the side again. "I like your effort, though. But Kurama was otherwise occupied today. Try again?" _*****_

The steady golden gaze regarded Akari as coldly as it had been, only blinking once while she spoke.

"I must confess: I'm afraid I don't follow your meaning, inu." Youko admitted plainly. "Though, if I had to guess, I suppose you know who I am if you know Kurama at all, 'meeting officially' aside. And you did see me emerge from him once already within the warehouse after all." He regarded her thoughtfully. "You seem puzzled by my presence. What's troubling you?"

~!**!~

"Maneshi, you're _not _helping. Please go somewhere else." Toriko requested primly.

Kurama had left after dinner, and the cat seemed to have taken it upon himself to not let Toriko out of his sight. But he currently sat on the countertop, despite Toriko's complaints that he park himself elsewhere, and occasionally decided to 'help' her clean the dishes.

Toriko put the plate down she had in her hands and stared at the cat intensely.

"Get. Down."

Maneshi meowed.

Toriko huffed a bit of air out between her teeth and put the towel down she held, grabbing the cat around his middle and plopping him on the tile floor of the kitchen.

"You're getting hair everywhere and I can't get anything clean." She picked up her things again and pushed Maneshi away with a foot, "Go on. Shoo. Go bother someone else."

Maneshi growled at her.

"I don't care how you feel about it. You're more trouble than you're worth right now."

Maneshi stuck his nose high in the air and sashayed out of the kitchen, disappearing from her sight, much to Toriko's relief. 3

Without another glance behind himself, Hiei had left Koenma, and Botan had carted him back to where he had been before being interrupted. He didn't return to the tops of the trees now, though. Instead, he decided that the trees outside Toriko's home would have to do, since he assumed Kurama would have gone home by now. After all, the fox did have a human mother he looked after.

So even as Botan waved cheerfully goodbye, the fire demon turned and made his trek to Toriko's, slowly at first and then steadily picking up the pace until he was nothing more than a blur to the eyes that couldn't keep up. It only took him about five minutes at this pace to reach his destination, and he stood outside the house, curious. Should he go inside, or stay out?

If he went inside, there was a possibility of sweet treats and small talk.

If he stayed outside, he could return to his nap.

For the moment, he let himself think over the possibilities and, every so often, Koenma's request slid across his mind. The fire demon didn't like it, the fact that Toriko had to be in danger for Shikiyoku to become the more prominent one.

Without another thought, his feet were moving to the door, deciding he'd simply stay inside for a bit and observe the changes he'd noted in the girl.

~!**!~

Akari fought back the urge to make a sound of frustration and confusion. Her mind kept telling her that this Youko was not the Youko that was Kurama, but everything else, even Nabu, told her otherwise. She didn't respond at first, blinking slowly at him with arms crossed loosely over her stomach. She wasn't sure how else to prove or disprove her theory, so she considered him for a moment.

In truth, she knew nothing about Kurama's demon half, other than the fact that he was a fox demon. And a very powerful one at that. So, trying to deduce whether this was actually him or not was a game she wasn't very amused with.

"I'm simply trying to figure out what caused your presence," she finally admitted, calm eyes blinking slowly again. "No prompting?" _*****_

Youko frowned at himself, his gaze appearing to turn inward, "The answer is inexact. Given the lack of access to demonic energy, many things are being tried to break through. I happen to be a product of one such an attempt." His eyes returned to Akari. "And how are you?"

~!**!~

As Toriko turned away from the counter, bowl of sweet snow in hand, spoon in her mouth and tub of the stuff carried in the other hand, she shook her head slightly, unable to shake the feeling from the back of her mind that someone was approaching the house.

She slid the tub back into the freezer and turned towards the front door, getting another bite of sweet snow and again letting the spoon hang from her lips as she reached with her now-free hand for the doorknob, turning it and opening the door inward.

As she moved to step outside, her eyes widened as Hiei stood directly in her path, finding herself staring into his crimson gaze.

After a half-second of Toriko feeling slightly awkward, she silently held out the bowl of sweet snow towards him as an offering with no further hesitation, spoon completely forgotten in her mouth. 3

Hiei had reached for the handle, only for it to turn and the door to be pulled open, revealing Toriko on the other side of the threshold. He stared at her evenly for a moment, acknowledging that she must have, on some level, known he was there. Perhaps it was something she had earned from her demon half, he supposed.

After a beat of simple, awkward staring, he reached out and accepted the bowl, eyeing the spoon between her lips before he simply passed by her, sauntering his way into the living room. The house still smelled of whatever she had made for herself and Kurama, and for a moment he almost thought it smelled appetizing. But he glanced down at the sweet snow and decided he was much more interested in it than anything else, and made his way to the kitchen for another spoon.

"Enjoy yourselves?"

~!**!~

Akari shifted her weight, eyes turning to the stars overhead for a few moments as Youko answered her, her entire being deflating to accept defeat. If this wasn't the real Youko, she wouldn't know the difference today. Her eyes turned down to him again, her expression forming into one of light amusement at her own predicament. "Nothing new, I suppose. Otento is rather efficient in everything…"

She turned away, her head turning in the direction Nabu had disappeared. She couldn't hear him returning, and she could only guess that he was keeping the ball all to himself. "Since you seem to be enjoying yourself, I think I'm going to continue on my way." With that, she gave a small sigh, deciding it was best to get out while she could, before anything happened. _*****_

"Does my presence displease you so?" There was no hint of a smile on Youko's face, but his eyes did appear to dance momentarily with amusement at the thought.

He let his head rest back against the tree, though he didn't remember when he'd leaned forward as he spoke with her.

"Surely you don't have any place to be that demands you leave such a lovely evening." He closed his eyes and took a breath of the fresh air, opening them after a moment and tilting his head slightly towards the grass near him.

"You're welcome to sit. I don't bite." Now a smile did ghost over his lips, "Hard. Most of the time."

~!**!~

Hiei left Toriko at the door bowl-less and still in mid-step as she blinked where he stood moments earlier.

Since her intention had been to go outside, his immediate entrance into her home put her off-balance and she didn't know how to react other than to stand there for a beat before turning back and closing the door behind her. She grabbed the spoon out of her mouth as she followed after him.

"I guess." Toriko shrugged and let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding at the door, going to the freezer since Hiei appeared to have commandeered the bowl of sweet snow she prepared for herself.

The task of dishing herself out more in another bowl was a simple one. 3

Hiei stood in the middle of the line that marked the change in rooms from the living area to the kitchen, where carpet met wood, with eyes on Toriko now, his hand robotically scooping the spoon into his mouth with a large amount of the sweet snow. The cold made his teeth hurt, and for a moment, he fought the urge to cringe, but it passed and was replaced with sugary sweet goodness that melted rapidly on his tongue.

For the moment, he found himself watching her every movement, even the way her hair moved with her shoulders as she scooped herself more sweet snow into a bowl. It looked so smooth and so… soft… He almost found himself wanting to-

Hiei's hand curled tighter around the spoon he had held between his lips, staunching the urge to reach out and touch it, which would also require moving his feet. He glanced down, realizing he'd actually moved a single step forward. His eyes pointedly turned to the window of the outside world, and still, he said nothing.

~!**!~

Akari, half turned away from Youko, gave a shrug without looking at him. Her eyes searched the darkness for Nabu, ears open to any sound that would indicate her little friend coming back for another throw or another game of some sort, but still no hint of him was seen nor heard. She considered her options, her head slowly turning back so she could meet the golden gaze of the fox demon, who, surprisingly, seemed at least a little amused.

She eyed him curiously, then released a small sigh, completely disregarding his comment of biting altogether. "I suppose not." Going against all instincts, she decided to stay, play by this demon's game and see what happened. She was curious, admittedly, about why he simply didn't attack, if this wasn't the real Youko as she for some reason found herself believing. If his goal wasn't to eliminate one by one, then what _was _it?

She moved to Youko's left, sitting against the tree so that she was looking East, making it so that in order for her to look at him, she would have to turn her head. "You're not as…" she paused, searching inward for the right word. After a moment, she gave up and used the first word that came to mind, restating her sentence. "Stories about you make you seem like a killer of anyone you see. But I'm still standing- uh, sitting. You're not as ruthless as they say, are you?" _*****_

A single silver eyebrow lifted as he watched her while she spoke, "Oh? Well, you're not carrying anything shiny that's of value on you at the moment, are you? I might _have_ to kill you if that's the case." He turned his head back to the front. "Plus, I tend to prefer to enjoy beauty as it presents itself rather than have it marred by blood."

~!**!~

Toriko said nothing, leaving the room as silent as Hiei wished it to be. She again dished out her serving of sweet snow, though this time when she scooped the last dollop, she put it directly in her mouth as she closed the lid up, holding the spoon firmly in her lips as she turned and slipped the tub in the freezer.

She turned back around to grab for her bowl and once again found her feet moving towards the front door, eager to get out into the air after spending the day cooped up inside the school. 3

As soon as she was moving again, Hiei's eyes were on Toriko, his expression blank as he slipped the spoon between his lips again, the same sensation as before shocking him into running his tongue over his frozen teeth carefully. When he realized she was going for the door, he himself turned to follow, eyes again taking in each motion her body made, again finding himself locked on the ends of her hair.

He watched the neat ends of her hair wave just lightly back and forth against her waist, catching here and there but always freeing itself with each step she took. Again, the urge to reach out and just lightly touch the ends plagued his mind, but when he realized he'd stopped walking, he immediately tore his eyes away and pointed them to his own bowl of ice cream, swirling around and around in the bowl with ease in an attempt to smooth it out.

~!**!~

Akari huffed and glanced momentarily at Youko, his first comment about shiny objects making her feel as if he liked playing on the irony that her abilities were playing with darkness and shadows. "While that certainly would be tempting, I haven't found anything worth my time."

She paused when he spoke up again, her own eyes sliding away and up to the stars above again, watching as they seemed to pulsate with light slowly, twinkling and winking down at the people who were curious enough to watch.

But the moment Youko stopped -even a beat before he was done talking- she gave a snort of a laugh. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond, since there was a part of her that cringed, but when she felt no ill-will on the comment, she gave another short laugh. "That's too bad, because I look good dirty," she joked, a lopsided sneer touching her lips for a fraction of a moment. _*****_

As if he felt her uncomfortableness at first, Youko glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye, that same light smile approaching his lips but never arriving.

"I'm surprised you don't know how to take a compliment, inu. Your coloring is quite exquisite."

He continued eyeing her for a moment before his gaze moved from her form to look back towards the heavens above them.

"Mm. I seem to have hit a bit of a nerve as well. I apologize. I'm sure you would look just as lovely bathed in blood, but it is certainly something I would never wish upon you." His eyes grew hardened at the thought, his voice grave and serious as he spoke before the cloud passed and he went on, almost light-heartedly, "Excepting, of course, that it were the blood of your enemies." He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

~!**!~

As Toriko stepped out of the house, she felt rather than saw that Hiei was following her. She made an abrupt right towards the side of her home where her bedroom window would be, continuing to eat even as she approached the trunk of the tree whose leaves would often scrape her window.

Her eyes lifted to the lowest branch and she put the spoon in her mouth again, making the small hop so that her free hand could grasp the bark above her head. It took little effort for her to pull herself up by that one arm enough that she could get footing and stand, reaching over again for a second branch and repeating the action with little pause for consideration as if she'd done this many times before.

After the third time, she sat back against the trunk with her legs crossed at the ankles out over the branch on which she parked and gave further attention to her sweet snow, a breeze picking up making the leaves around her dance and laugh in its wake.

She closed her eyes to hear it better, but a feeling of discontent settled across her expression, as if the tree and breeze and leaves were not _quite _what she wanted at that moment. That if only they were a little different...if only this place was somewhere else...she could truly find herself happy. 3

Once he'd realized he'd paused, Hiei had continued on his way outside, casually closing the door behind him before continuing on, moving almost robotically to the tree he'd deemed as his favorite months ago. He did find himself rather curious at the fact that Toriko seemed to approach the very same tree he'd silently staked claim to.

He waited until she was comfortable before deciding he would still go into the same tree as always, but a branch below Toriko. He got comfortable in moments with his back against the branch, head tilted back just a little to look up at Toriko, spoon still stuck between his teeth. He watched her for a moment, eyeing the way she sat, which was remarkably similar to how he too sat, making sure the tree didn't sway with the wind.

And the look on her face was one he knew all too well.

~!**!~

She found herself again rendered without words to reply to Youko, almost stunned. The first thought that came to mind was of Kurama, saying words almost completely identical to the one's she'd just heard, though at that time, she and the redhead had been on rather… bad terms.

The next thought was a more amusing one. To her, at least.

The mental image he had made come forth in her mind was one she'd reveled in for years, and the thought made her lips curl into a rather dark smile at recollection. If she could share the memory, at that moment, she likely would have done so without intentionally meaning to, and the demon next to her would have witnessed the exact scene he'd described.

After a few more moments in silence, her smile disappeared and she was again turning to look at Youko, no longer caring whether this was the real deal or not. "Quite frankly, your coloring is rather… remarkable as well. I can only imagine how many people you've had _swoon _over you simply because you're a rather rare sight." The smile that just touched her lips was a sarcastic one, a sneer that held amusement and interest all at once. _*****_

"There have certainly been many who have shown interest." Youko confessed. "I _am _simply the _best _color of kitsune after all." He shrugged lightly, passing off the statement as something everyone knew. "Any others are noticeably inferior." His tone held no small amount of ego in it, though he appeared as if he stated just the facts as they were.

At that he did reach up and flip a portion of his hair back over his shoulder where it shimmered during the movement before it fell straight down his back with the rest of its long silver brethren.

"I _do _so hope that you skinned alive whoever took your extremities." A corner of his lip raised and he nearly snarled at the thought. "I imagine they were just as lovely as the rest of you." His expression remained dark at the thought of the one or ones responsible for it.

~!**!~

When Toriko opened her eyes, they swiveled down to catch Hiei gazing up at her and without saying a word she found in his gaze an understanding for the feelings she had washing over her psyche at that moment.

Strangely enough, she realized she took comfort in his crimson stare and the moment that passed between them, a moment she could not fully grasp as she did not understand it all herself, but one she felt he knew completely without further question. There was comfort for her in that realization, too. If he knew, then perhaps the questions she feared answering were not all that bad...

The stare grew just a second too long and her core lurched as she realized how intensely she had been searching his face for answers she did not even know the questions to, and she turn back to look at the remainder of the sweet snow in her bowl as if maybe it would give her whatever it was she sought.

She slowly reached her spoon in and retrieved another bite when it did not appear as if the sweet snow was going to be a willing divulguer of her heart's incomprehensible desires. 3

Hiei didn't react when Toriko's gaze met his other than to hold that stare that slowly turned softer than before, fond almost, and held other emotions he couldn't quite name. He saw the softness, but behind it was a shine he didn't understand, so as he continued to stare, he tried to decode those eyes that sparkled down at him.

But no matter how long he searched, the moment was too brief for him to decode anything of use, anything that would help him to understand the parts of her that he couldn't seem to grasp. And with the breaking eye contact came a breeze that made his hair move, catching with the leaves that a branch just dipped down to him. He made a small sound and pulled it from his locks, tearing the leaf from the branch and letting it fall away from himself before the cold of the bowl in his hand reminded him of the sweet snow he'd forgotten.

Because of the heat that radiated from his palm, which supported the underneath of the bowl, most of the substance was a thick, creamy liquid with small bits of red floating about. Despite his dislike of the warmth of the normally cold substance, he decided to eat at it anyway, more to keep his eyes busy than anything else.

~!**!~

"Too bad that with the best color comes more attention, and more attention means more trouble." Akari pointed out this fact, remembering the story of the SDF member who had been sent to hunt down the fox, supposedly killing him, but in reality, only sending him to the human realm. "Must suck to not blend in, eh?" Her tone was one of mocking amusement, indirectly pointing out the only good that had come of her own predicament.

As he continued, she felt the air around not only Youko shift, but the air around herself shift, turning dark. Her teeth glinted briefly against the moonlight in a small motion that, had there been sound accompanying the gesture, would have been a snarl. "Of course."

She didn't elaborate on the thought, since there was no need to tell the dirty details of the fifth and last human she'd ever killed. After all, taking down that very human had made it so she'd been stuck much longer than she'd wanted to be, and only by Sensui's hands had she been freed.

She took a deep breath, her lips now pressing together and her body leaning forward, crossing her legs beneath her before she resettled against the bark of the tree, now calm again. "But, it doesn't matter much anymore. The world moves on, and so do the people in it." _*****_

Youko's silence was a gesture of agreement at her words, his mind straying back to the female next to him.

"There are things in the three worlds that no one should have to see." He began quietly, his words almost a whisper into the breeze that wafted through. "And especially not while still young."

He said no more than that, mentally leaving the park as his thoughts replayed for him memories he'd accumulated over time, some wicked, some satisfying, some almost happy, if not pleased. And others that he would just as soon have forgotten.

He dismissed the last thought as foolish. All things were made by memory, because that's all they were. Without memory, one was...not.

A single silver ear twitched once as Youko picked up a sound many leagues away, but he remained wrapped up in his thoughts and musings.

~!**!~

Toriko let out a single sigh, a small one, almost inaudible, but still a sigh as she removed the spoon from between her lips.

_I want to go home._

Toriko frowned at the thought, unsure what prompted it and immediately taking to examining it.

Home was here. Well, over there. In that building.

Something inside her told her this wasn't home at all, but if this was not home, then where exactly was it?

Just behind her eye she felt a twinge that indicated her current line of thought would lead to places she dreaded.

_If Hiei knew, then perhaps the questions she feared answering weren't all that bad…_

Her previous moment of silent exchange with Hiei returned to her and she glanced at him briefly.

Hiei didn't seem to have any problems with...anything. Her mind provided the word in replacement for the direction her thoughts threatened to go.

But why didn't he? Why didn't Kurama, for that matter? Weren't they all the same? Why weren't _they _tortured about existence?

Toriko snorted, a silent puff of air escaping her nose with more force than usual. Ridiculous. That's what she was being right now. Utterly ridiculous.

Except that she couldn't help but wonder where home should be. 3

Hiei heard the huff from above, but kept his eyes down on his bowl. His spoon held the thick liquid in which he took to slowly moving, making small ripples in the substance before he tilted the utensil, letting it drip back into the bowl lazily.

The substance splashed only slightly, getting on his index finger, which he promptly licked away. He kept his mind carefully blank, though he wasn't sure why he took such a precaution.

Perhaps it was because he was again reminded of Demon World, and his desire to return.

All of which was almost given to him, if only a simple task were taken care of…

The thought made his eyes move upwards again in consideration. _He could go home._

~!**!~

Akari didn't reply to Youko. She didn't want to, because doing so would mean she would be looking back into memories she didn't know she'd be able to push away again. Even the thought of responding made an image flicker for an instant across her mind's eye, but it was quickly replaced with the memory of suddenly coming to with Kurama in front of her, both of them in utter darkness and accompanied by Otento.

That wasn't going to happen a second time. She wasn't going to put herself in such a position again.

Her eyes slid over to the demon next to her again, curious this time about his silence. She didn't interrupt his thoughts though, since the expression on his face was a rather interesting one in her opinion. His eyes were unfocused, that much she could see for the moonlight. She could almost make out similarities between this demon and the redheaded Kurama, in the eyes and small curvature of his face.

The thought made her give a small snort and turn away. They were the same person, right? So why would they be different in any way? _*****_

Youko felt pulled out of his reverie by her gaze and again that same semblance of a smile that he found himself unable to help when reminded of her presence fled past his mouth.

"Something interest you, inu?" He did not look over at her as she had by this time snorted and turned away, but the idea that she would stare amused him for some reason.

~!**!~

Toriko rubbed at her face as she felt Hiei looking at her again, wondering if she had gotten some of the sticky remains of sweet snow on her skin that cause him to stare.

Her hand came away with nothing, but it still felt as if she had something there.

"What?" She asked flatly, finally unable to keep the silence between them any longer. If she had something on her face, she'd rather he just told her instead of laughing at her about it in his head. 3

Hiei hadn't meant to stare so long. His thoughts had gotten carried away for the umpteenth time as of late, leading him to end up staring, this time at Toriko, and causing an air of irritation. Though, the sight of her rubbing at her face almost self-consciously had been worth it.

But her question over what made him think of home again, made another pang hit him and completely shrouded out the amusement. His eyes turned away, towards the house nearby thoughtfully.

"This world is similar to _home_, in a way. It's rather suffocating."

~!**!~

Akari shrugged, then realized he wasn't watching and a corner of her lips lifted upwards. showing her right canine tooth. "My interest was not in you," she began, tone forced flat despite the small waver that slipped by, "but in the mere possibility that my friend would be returning and I could leave your presence. It's too much work to hunt him down." _*****_

"Of course." Youko responded flippantly. "He's taking longer than usual, then? Should we call for him?"

~!**!~

At Hiei's mention of home, Toriko's expression grew wistful and she looked off into the distance longingly.

"I miss home." She finally replied, her voice a near-whisper, almost feeling as if she must sound stupid for saying something she felt was so very obvious. "But I don't even remember what that word means anymore." Her timbre carried an equal amount of wistfulness that her face held in that moment. And she wanted to remember what the word meant. Desperately. 3

Hiei didn't look at her as she replied this time, his eyes staying trained on the building in front of himself, but not really seeing it. Instead, he was seeing trees with leaves as large as his person, plants that were odd shades of purple that should never be touched. He could hear the sounds of fighting creatures that were impossible to describe in words, could smell the toxins that permeated the air from plants and demons who used herbs for fighting and medicinal use.

That was home, and right now, he wanted nothing more than to be there, laying in a tree and using the leaves as a true cover from sight, where no one dared bother him because he didn't have to hide his Jagan when sleeping, and it would always keep watch for him.

But here, in this world that smells of metal and chemicals, humans destroyed everything they created. They played coy only to destroy the things one took pride in most. There were games here, whereas in Demon World, there wasn't much room for such a thing. Everyone knew the other's tells that told of lies and deception.

In reality, he himself couldn't define home. Not in a short sentence that would suffice for the girl in longing above him. Perhaps he didn't have to. He could show her, if only…

"We have a brief opportunity."

~!**!~

"No, he's just hogging his toy," Akari replied naturally, though she quickly reverted to her taunting, "likely because you're here. I assume he gets tired of smelling _flowers_."

She gave a brief pause, in which she stretched her arms over her head, making a brief sound of satisfaction at the popping her back made. "Or maybe it's the claws," she finished, eyes flickering to the demon's fingers briefly with a small smile of amusement. _*****_

Youko briefly lifted his hand in the air to stare at the tips of his fingers and their definite lack of claw-like nails.

A remembrance from somewhere in his mind about large claws making it all the better to tear someone with, coupled with the distinct possibility of such a thing as a fairy tale made him blink at the back of his hand.

"He must not stay around _you _much either, then." Youko lowered the hand back down, his rejoin coming a tad slow. "You smell _terribly _of a particular flower yourself."

~!**!~

Toriko's world snapped back into place around her eyes and she found that her breath came faster once, twice, as if a surge of adrenaline got dumped out from her brain.

She said nothing at first, instead looking down at Hiei, speechless, her lips slightly apart as if the thought of returning completely rocked her world so hard that it fried any further usage of her brain capacity. The only coherent thought she had in that moment managed to spill over her tongue out from the garbled sense of her feelings.

"Home?" 3

Hiei nodded once at the reaction he received, glancing up at Toriko briefly before looking away again, mildly surprised by her reaction. Perhaps she and Shikiyoku were closer than he'd first imagined them to be.

Images swarmed his mind again, images of demons passing by, looking on with fear if they were smart enough to sense the amount of power around them. He could see large cities that, while similar to the ones here, were much more grand and well-kept by the demons who owned their lands. There were also images of small villages in the middle of dense forestry, the type of place he enjoyed most.

The image faded as he realized how long he'd been silent. "Koenma made an offer."

~!**!~

"I do not." Akari's eyebrows drew together at the prospect of smelling anything like a flower, but just as soon as they furrowed did one raise again in curiosity. "Why would I? I have little to no contact with them." She thought about the moldy, run-down house she resided in and all the dirt that must cling to her at times, and the lack of care the lawn had which was sure to be infested with insects of all degrees.

There was no way she smelled floral, was there? _*****_

"Oh, it's not just you." No reason for her to feel any more special than anyone else, right? "Everyone smells like _some _sort of flower." Youko pointed out, this time having to bite his tongue to keep from smiling.

~!**!~

Toriko just sat there staring at Hiei, images flickering across her mind's eye, almost as if she were getting impressions of the images Hiei saw at that moment, but knowing that they originated from within her own memories. For once, she let herself sink into them: palace steps and hanging gardens, a dark abyss from where no light escaped, vague imprints of people...demons, forests that grew taller than the eye could see from their floor.

She blinked again and the impressions faded, too many of them having flickered past for her to account for them all.

In one second, her eagerness faded. Surely Koenma's offer was meant for Hiei alone. But in the next, her thoughts soared again for Hiei had said _we_.

We.

Home.

All the reservations and fears Toriko harbored in thinking of _that _place were swept away with the knowledge that she was not returning alone. She could not even imagine Hiei leaving her by herself once there, the thought did not even occur.

She repeated those two words to herself. If Hiei did not fear. Then neither should she...right?

As jumbled as her mind felt, Toriko tried to remain practical, tried to see what exactly an "offer" meant, but she could not remain on the subject for long.

With her thoughts still harried, she questioned Hiei solemnly.

"What must we do?" 3

Hiei didn't slip into images of Demon World again. Instead, he sat there, listening to Toriko's reaction, her breathing, to judge her thoughts without resorting to telepathy. The amount of pressure in the air was immense, but the pressure was of the most anxious kind: the will to do something one had wished to do for a very long time.

He could feel it. He could identify it. He could even add to it.

As soon as she asked of the offer, a frown settled on the curvature of his lips, turning them downward. "He needs Shikiyoku to perform a task that, it seems, only she can do." He wasn't sure about elaborating, but he did just a little more. "It's to gain more information on the current… dilemma."

Now, he decided, he would only elaborate depending on her reaction, and if she wished to know more.

~!**!~

A brow raised higher than before, practically disappearing into the bangs that almost covered her eyes. Akari swiped them to the side and turned to the fox demon again. "Is that because of your prowess?" she inquired curiously, watching him now with unveiled curiosity that would, on some level, resemble a pup. "Because quite frankly, you're the only one who smells of plants in any way, shape, or form to me."

She gave a pause, head tilting just a bit to the side. "Or maybe it's an obsession, to identify each person with a flower?"

That thought made her snort a small laugh. _What an amusing prospect __**that **__would be. __*****_

Youko held out his hands in front of himself, palms up as if in a gesture of defeat, his face perfectly serious.

"You've guessed it. Obsessed with flowers. Guilty." He shrugged, his hands returning to his lap. "You, however, would smell like a flower regardless, I think. Ask anyone."

~!**!~

Toriko's head tilted a little. Something only her other side could do? She was not in Spirit World's employ.

Regardless, Toriko's expression fell, crestfallen as she finally turned from Hiei to look at the sweet snow she had forgotten about in her bowl. She had not left much, but it sat there now like so much soup and she stared at its liquidey form.

"She...she is not there." Toriko responded sadly, her hesitation born only from the knowledge that any hopes of returning to this "home" Hiei knew she belonged in were draining completely away and leaving behind a strange emptiness that she somehow felt had always been there. 3

A frown graced Hiei's features at Toriko, finding her words troubled him. Shikiyoku was gone? How? Was that even possible? He eyed her from under for a few moments, contemplating the way she deflated. Why would a human want to see demon world?

A human wouldn't call such a place _home_, would they?

"Why would you consider Demon World home if she were gone?" he voiced his thoughts, watching her carefully for a reaction. He wouldn't believe she was gone just yet, not until there was a definitive reason to believe as such.

~!**!~

Akari stared at Youko, smiling only slightly at his dry sarcasm. She considered responding to it with matching sarcasm, but quite frankly, she couldn't think of anything to say back to him. So she decided not to, until he continued about her smelling like a flower to anyone. She raised a brow, now actually curious.

"What flower?" she asked almost coyly, deciding she'd just go along with it for now. _*****_

"For some reason, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." Youko replied loftily. "So, I'd just as soon leave you wondering." Here he stretched out a hand again and examined his nails with his head tilted slightly.

Now that he had mentioned it, of course he continued to be struck with her particular smell with each intake of breath, able to pick it out clearly from amongst the park around them.

~!**!~

Toriko could not stop the slight flinch at Hiei's familiarity and ease of bringing up that place, but her gaze turned inward.

"...well, this is not my home." She shrugged at a loss for words, unable to convey how she knew. "I know that I don't belong here, but I don't know if I belong anywhere, really." Her shoulders drooped a little. "I am just a prison that happens to have a mouth with which to speak."

It was a bleak word, but it fully portrayed how she'd come to think of herself over the past few days. As she searched inside, though-as she had done many times in that same time frame-she found nothing of the other one. No hidden bundle of...something, that she realized now had always been there just as she had always been the shell containing it. 3

Hiei eyed Toriko probably a little longer than he should have, her expression easily hinting at the thoughts she soon voiced to him. Again, he found himself unsure how to respond. He didn't know how to deal with a situation such as two souls, like she and Kurama did. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like, other than he assumed there was never any privacy of thought.

He sat in silence, leaning back against the tree when he realized he'd been leaning forward just a bit. His head rested against the bark and his eyelids slid closed in an almost lazy manner. He didn't feel like continuing the conversation on this particular topic was necessary, since Toriko believed Shikiyoku to be gone. It put him in a stalemate of sorts, and all he could do was simply brush it away for later assessment. If something else came to mind, he would voice it when the time was appropriate, but not now.

He took in a deep breath, again reminded of home, but this time not making any indication of such thoughts.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged as if she hadn't expected him to tell her anyway, turning away and leaning against the tree so she could stretch her legs out in front of herself again. She gave a small yawn, remembering that she hadn't napped today, but still made no indication that she wished to leave.

"How long do you plan on staying out here?" she inquired softly, feeling almost as if his presence was a calm, pleasant one. "I assume you can't just go home, anyway." *

Youko's eyes had closed, enjoying the peacefulness that had not thus far been interrupted by any passerbys. He therefore took a moment before he answered, breaking the stillness between them.

"Since I have no hidden agendas to fulfill, I imagine I'll be out here as long as it takes. Perhaps by morning..." He let his words drift away unfinished before continuing in a different direction. "How long do you usually stay here?"

~!**!~

"I think...I'll go to bed." Toriko managed to not sigh in the middle of her words.

She felt no tiredness, but a sudden wave of weariness enveloped her at the brief excitement "home" had been, and subsequently at the loss therein.

She turned the opposite direction from Hiei, spoon and bowl held firmly in one hand as she traversed downwards with ease, ending up hanging from the lowest branch she could find by her free fingers just for a moment before dropping the slight distance to the rest of the ground.

Her steps almost wandered as she wove her way back to the front of the house, intending to go inside and place the bowl somewhere before heading upstairs. She imagined herself simply collapsing on the comforter, wanting to cry for some strange reason that she didn't understand, but feeling too exhausted even for that. 3

Hiei didn't move from his spot when she spoke up and promptly began shifting around the tree to go inside. For the moment, he had no intention to go inside. He planned on staying here, in the tree, where the breeze could just brush his face, his hair from his eyes, and leave a slightly cooler sensation than his normal body temperature.

But he soon remembered the bowl in his hand, his red eyes turning down to survey the substance that sloshed around. He realized that he shouldn't keep it outside, for if he fell asleep, he would likely drop it and cause it to break. The fire demon released a small sound of acknowledgement over his small predicament, his reluctance to leave the tree conflicting with the knowledge that the bowl should not be outside.

After another beat's hesitation, he decided that waiting would only make him even more reluctant than he already was, so he made a single motion to swing his legs over the side of the branch and dropped to the ground unceremoniously. He followed after Toriko silently, silently debating with himself over whether he could sleep or not.

~!**!~

Akari nodded briefly to herself to show she acknowledged Youko's words of staying until morning. "I normally stay for about as long as I see fit. It depends, really." She went quiet again, looking around for Nabu. He hadn't returned, meaning he either went home, or found another person who would enthusiastically play by his game. "I do occasionally stay until morning, when I have no other plans."

The breeze that blew by was a slightly cooler one than earlier today, lifting the ends of her bangs just slightly as she slowly adjusted the way she sat so that she was almost entirely laying on the ground now, her shoulders leaning the majority of her weight against the bark and her ankles crossed in front of her, her fingers linked over her stomach, eyelids sliding closed as her head bent down just slightly. She certainly wouldn't mind staying here for the night. It wasn't uncomfortable here, where there as someone who could watch over the area if something were to go wrong.

And eventually, Nabu would come back anyway. She saw no need to hunt him down. *

For his part, Youko opened his eyes and looked over at the reclining Akari, feeling the same wind that feathered against her hair lifting his own and ruffling the short fur along his ears ever-so-slightly.

His ears twitched and he moved his gaze across the grass, a feeling of uneasiness settling over his body, a feeling he could not manage to shake.

As slowly as he could, with an equal amount of silence, Youko started to stand up, his eyes never leaving the trees on the other side of the path.

~!**!~

When Toriko got inside, stepping over the shoes and socks she removed and left by the door when arriving home from school, she didn't even feel able to put the effort out in admonishing Maneshi, who awaited her return sitting tall next to the sink, tail wrapped about his feet with the end twitching slightly up and down. She merely put her bowl, spoon still inside, down in the sink for cleaning later, and reached up to brush her fingers over his dark, sinewy shoulder.

Her retreat to her bedroom was as measured as the rest of her steps since climbing out of the tree and when she got upstairs, she did little more than crawl on top of the covers and curl up on the far side with her back to her door, staring listlessly at the wall. 3

Hiei was inside the house in time to see Toriko disappear up the stairs, though he didn't pause to consider following. He'd already made up his mind, and before acting on it, he waltzed into the kitchen and placed his bowl and spoon in the sink, ran water through it to at least rid the objects of the thick liquid, and then shut it off. He lingered for a moment in front of the sink, eyeing Maneshi for a moment before deciding to ignore the cat altogether and continued on.

He followed Toriko's steps up to her room, silently letting the door shut until it was only ajar by about an inch. His eyes locked on the window he'd taken a liking to, and in seconds he was comfortable with his back against the wooden frame, his left shoulder leaning carefully on the glass and one leg dangling over the edge in the laziest of ways.

~!**!~

The silence was relaxing, and Akari couldn't help but let her body sink into the tree, her mind going just as quiet as her surroundings. As comfortable as she was, it was very tempting to let herself fall into the darkness of sleep, but for the moment, she struggled to stay awake, to enjoy the silence of the park, intending to at least stay awake until Nabu came back.

But even as the breeze came to a standstill, she had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer, if the silence stayed as comfortable as it was. *

Youko spoke, his voice lower even than usual, "Inu. I do not suggest falling asleep." He took the two steps over so that he stood just in front of her. "We are not alone."

Youko could still not see anything, but his other senses told him his statement was accurate.

~!**!~

Maneshi stared after the pair that had disappeared disapprovingly, immediately hopping down and chasing after them, galloping up the stairs and launching himself onto the bed to land as disruptively as possible next to where Toriko lay.

"Mrow!" He demanded of her, insisting that she pay more attention to him than she had.

When she did not move, he tromped across the blankets and planted his front paws defiantly on her hip, meowing loudly again towards her face.

"Go away, cat." Toriko mumbled, closing her eyes as if that would help.

Maneshi did no such thing, lowering himself back onto the bed and proceeding to rub the side of his body against her, moving up and down, his tail curling and twisting around in the air. 3

Hiei didn't have to look to know what was going on, the cat being the only sound shattering the quiet for the moment. A slight sneer formed on his lips in amusement at the cat, but it was gone as he sunk lower into the frame than before, his mind telling him it was time to sleep, his body already relaxed enough to make him feel as if he had been asleep for a while.

When the cat meowed again, and Toriko replied with a grumble, he opened a single eye to glance over at the pair, but was uninterested after the single moment and closed it again. Sleep was a blissful thing once achieved.

~!**!~

Akari had felt sleep beginning to take over the edges of her mind when Youko spoke up, his words at first going almost unheard to her. But his last four words jolted her mind awake with a start and her eyes slid open almost lazily, immediately seeing the backside of the demon standing in front of her. Without hesitation, she placed her hand in the dirt behind her and pushed herself up into a small crouch, her other hand rubbing at her eyes to make them focus on their surroundings.

"Just once," she grumbled to herself, "would a day in the park go uninterrupted?" As she spoke, she pushed herself to stand, but didn't exactly move out from behind the fox demon. She merely peered around him in the direction he was so keenly tuned to, eyes searching for what alarmed him but finding nothing. *

* * *

inu \- dog

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	29. Episode 114 - Released

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dearest Readers!

Onwards!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Koenma asks Hiei to bring him Shikiyoku  
as he has a mission to send her on in Demon World  
and will grant her freedom from the warrant out for her arrest should she comply.  
Toriko finds out about this later from Hiei,  
but she informs him that Shikiyoku is gone.

~!**!~

Meanwhile, Youko is conversing with Akari  
and Akari is on the verge of sleep when Youko abruptly stands,  
informing her that the two of them are not alone...

* * *

"I know you're there." Youko took one step forward. "There's no point in hiding any longer."

"That body serves you well, Youko." The velvety voice from beyond the trees could not have belonged to anyone other than Otento, but he did not reveal himself at that moment.

Youko's stance shifted into a more defensive one, resting his weight near his toes in case he needed to make a quick movement.

"What do you want?" Youko's eyes shifted slightly, trying catch a glimpse of the intruder.

"I was just coming to check up on you, and I see you've made a friend."

Youko spun around as at last the voice seemed to clear and come from behind him.

Otento already had Akari in his grasp, one arm at her neck with a wicked dagger pressing against her skin, the other holding one of her arms twisted up into her back.

Youko's eyes narrowed dangerously, the glare aimed directly into Otento's purple eyes that seemed to grin with just as much recklessness back at the fox demon.

"Let. Her. Go."

"Unlikely." Otento seethed.

Youko reached one hand slowly up into his hair at the base of his neck, a deep growl resonating at a low pitch that rumbled gravely out of his chest.

"You wouldn't dare." Otento's gaze darkened, his grip on Akari tightening.

"Watch me."

There was a bending of the area next to Youko and Otento and a third demon appeared, quickly assessing the situation on either side of him.

"Problem?" He let one eyebrow raise as he regarded his companions.

~!**!~

Kurama wandered about the park aimlessly, his mind too much of a mess to consider going home now. He wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been out here, but he'd only just begun sorting through his thoughts in relation to Toriko's condition with any semblance of continuity and knew the time was not yet for sleep.

At first, the voices he heard seemed inconsequential, murmurs that he did not register, until he got pulled from his thoughts by a single word.

Youko.

Kurama broke into a run without hesitation, breaking through the trees with widened eyes taking in the scene before him.

Akari. Otento. The teleporting demon's back. And...Youko.

His core skipped a beat as he watched Youko reach up in a telltale manner that Kurama recognized, assessing that Akari had somehow gotten captured and they were going to do something to her, though he could only guess what.

Kurama's eyes grew larger when, as if in slow motion, he watched Youko remove his hand from his hair and pull it forward towards Akari, a plant starting to grow. A plant that made his core seemingly stop in its place.

They meant to kill her.

Kurama started running forward again, feeling his demonic energy straining desperately against the hold Otento still had around it. Out of habit, Kurama reached up into his own hair and removed a single rose-whip seed, clenching it in his hand while he ran as he jaw tightened when he could do nothing with it.

The plant Youko was manipulating continued to grow, bursting outwards towards Akari in a sudden rush of power.

"NO!" Kurama shouted, wrenching at the plant from somewhere inside himself as his demonic energy erupted out of its holding place and hummed coursing in his veins.

Several things happened almost at once.

Otento and the teleport demon both heard Kurama and their heads began turning to stare at him as if they'd only just now noticed his presence.

Youko remained dangerously fixated to the front for a moment longer until the plant started to backfire, ordered by Kurama's power to turn on its former master.

The vines of the thing bent backwards, turning around and piercing into Youko's skin.

That got his attention, the pain evident only after his complete and utter surprise aimed at the deadly plant he no longer had in his control.

Kurama could feel Youko's attempts to wrest power back from him, but Kurama would have none of it, overwhelming the seed with a constant feeding of his energy.

By this time he was only ten feet away, and his rose whip was in his hand almost as an afterthought while he brought the hand holding it up to his ear, his eyes expressing his intent to kill every last one of them.

Just as he let the whip go, the teleport demon's hands were already on Youko and Otento's shoulders and in that half a second that it took for the whip to shoot off towards Youko's neck, the three of them disappeared, the whip lashing into empty air before returning to Kurama's side as he stopped running where they had been moments before.

Kurama's eyes flashed dangerously into the night and he said nothing to Akari at first, his rage simmering, his full-blown wrath nigh-uncontainable as he could do nothing but stand there, chest rising and falling heavily.

~!**!~

Maneshi meowed again, louder this time.

_Play with meeee._

He butted her back with his head.

"Maneshi, stop."

"Mrow."

Toriko lifted her arm and waved it at him without moving otherwise. He only had to duck his head for her to miss.

"Stop it." She said again, her weariness giving way to irritation.

"Mrow."

In a sudden burst of movement, Toriko sat up and Maneshi immediately pounced into her lap.

"Go away." She dumped him out of it and made a gesture as if to sweep him off the bed entirely, but he nimbly sidestepped her and returned.

"Leave." She glared at him.

"Mrow."

She dumped him back out onto the bed again and this time he stayed there, but glared right back.

"Out!" She pointed at the door.

"Mrow!" He did not move.

Toriko took another swipe at him, hoping to grab him in some way that would let her physically and forcefully remove him from the room, but he dodged again.

"Mrow!" 3

Hiei lightly bit his tongue to keep from making a small scoff at the commotion he could hear, still making no motion to look over at the duo who seemed to be having a battle of sorts. The small fact that it was Toriko being bothered, and not himself, was the most amusing of all.

But his amusement died away as darkness slowly began to overtake his mind, though he actually wanted to know the outcome of this small battle of will between the pair.

"Throw his toy," the fire demon suggested in a low mumble, referring to the mouse toy he'd seen here and there.

~!**!~

Akari's body had given a small, albeit physical jerk at the realization that the voice belonged to Otento, and she'd been laying around with the enemy. Sure, she'd thought of the possibility earlier, but she'd disregarded it. Why? Because he hadn't killed her on the spot.

Her eyes widened and her body stiffened, taking a single step backwards and into another body just as the voice cleared, revealing the demon to be behind her. Before she had any thought to react to, her arm was twisted painfully against her back and a cold, sleek metal was just touching the skin of her neck. Her entire body ceased all movements, her mind becoming a whirl of thoughts that even she didn't understand.

Panic made her core tremble simultaneously with her muscles, the strain of staying ultimately still in fear of the blade and the people around her intensifying her panicked need to get away. She was trapped, and the only thing she could register was that it was her own dang fault.

Puzzlement came next, with Youko's threat to Otento. Why would he fight his own comrade over her capture? It's a show, she told herself, eyes narrowing at the silver haired demon in front of her dangerously. Her energy continued to push at the hold over it, her teeth gnashing together as she tried to find a way out of such a predicament. He's wanting me to trust him, to kill me without problem.

The thought ghosted across the forefront of her mind, accompanied by more confusion. It was such an elaborate and useless trick. Even Otento seemed daunted by the possibility.

Her lips parted to release a small sound of warning at the plant she saw forming before her, uncertainty at the next few moments making it hard to judge what to do. Trust the demon who was threatening Otento, or fight them both, along with the demon who just appeared?

It didn't matter, either way, she'd likely die. That single thought made her body go cold, her eyes widening again at the motion the plant made. It moved almost as smoothly as water, slowly at first, and then several things happened at once.

A shout shattered the tense silence. The plant parted as if to go around her. Otento's body shifted just a touch.

She saw her opportunity in the realization that the voice was of a person intending to help. Her energy struggled as she snarled and took a step back, her entire body leaning into Otento to get away from the blade just as the plant before her recoiled, leaving her personal bubble of space.

With her free elbow jamming into the stomach of the demon holding her, her energy came loose in a desperate attempt to create a security blanket, her head snapping back against the person who held her captive.

And in the next moment, the hold on her was gone, and a millisecond later, so were the demons who had been surrounding her. She stood there, body shaking with the energy that now coursed through her veins and the panic she still felt rushing through her at an alarming rate.

_He'd… he wasn't going to kill me. _

The image of Youko's plant splitting in front of her made every ounce of panic disappear, replaced with complete and utter confusion. Simultaneously, she realized the threat was gone and relief hit her like a brick to the face.

The sudden shift made her knees buckle beneath her, and for an instant, her world spun and the ground rapidly rose to meet her. *

Kurama took no time in catching Akari as she began to sink next to him, rose whip simultaneously being slipped away once more as his arms caught her shoulders and he sunk to the ground with her.

"Akari. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Kurama knew without a doubt that he had not allowed the plant to touch her, but who knows what else had happened before he stepped onto the scene.

~!**!~

Toriko ignored Hiei's helpful suggestion as the mouse Maneshi played with was nowhere in sight, likely hidden beneath the couch.

The pair glared at one another before Toriko huffed out a breath of air at him and flopped back down on the bed.

Maneshi immediately trotted around her body and stuck his face up to her, whiskers tickling her face.

"Go bother him." Toriko suggested at a growl-level.

Maneshi lifted his head to stare over at Hiei, who appeared just as asleep as Toriko wished to be.

A flutter of movement caught the cat's eye and he whipped around into a crouch, his rear wiggling in the air as he gauged the distance between him and the movement.

He snapped into motion, dashing across the bed onto the carpet at a scramble to bat furiously at the edge of Hiei's cloak that hung freely down over the fire demon's leg before making a dime-turn and leaping back onto the bed to crouch facing the window once more.

Maneshi repeated the action again after a pause, ending up back on the bed, his eyes flitting up to Hiei's as he wriggled again. 3

Hiei's mind had become darkened with sleep, quiet. He no longer heard the struggle on the other side of the room, nor the sounds of the night outside the window his shoulder rested against. He made a small, sleepy huff as his body shifted only slightly, the foot that rested on the windowsill pressing against the opposite side of the frame than his back.

And then something caught his attention. His cloak moved, tightening over his leg just a fraction before resettling back into place again. He ignored it, at first believing to be imagining, even dreaming it. But the third time he felt the change, his mind was awake and his eyes were open, staring over at the cat that was crouched on the bed, tail twitching madly and body wriggling in place.

"I dare you."

~!**!~

Disoriented, Akari hadn't noticed she'd been caught until her knees gently touched the earth, her fingers just resting on the grass as her arms hung at her sides, her left shoulder throbbing slightly from the sudden release of pressure she'd earned.

Kurama's questions registered a second too late, and her eyes, still on the spot where Youko had stood, focused a bit more as her mind cleared only a fraction. "I'm okay." she tried to say, but it came out a garbled mumble of incoherency, her spinning thoughts making it hard to concentrate on anything but what she'd only just realized.

She blinked slowly, forcing her mind blank and forcing her eyes to move to the redhead next to her. She cleared her throat and repeated herself, this time her voice clear. "I'm fine. Just a little, uh, shaken." *

Kurama did not stop looking into her eyes, searching to see if there was any truth to what she said.

She did appear to be alright otherwise, besides "shaken" as she so aptly put it.

"They didn't hurt you?" He gently reached over and tipped her chin upwards, frowning as he saw a slight pool of crimson where he imagined a dagger had been pressed. He reached for it with his other hand and wiped his thumb across it, coming away with her blood on it, but seeing nothing more than a slight breaking of her skin where the blade had pressed too hard. He released her and searched her eyes again, his anger at the moment still having not passed enough for him to considering leaving.

~!**!~

Maneshi's wiggling stopped, his body freezing in place as he stared unblinkingly at Hiei. His claws, which had been up to that moment retracted, sunk slightly into the sheets as he prepared to launch himself forward again, his entire body strung taut.

As if a spring, Maneshi uncoiled and flew towards the carpet again, dashing underneath Hiei's foot and gathering his tiny body up again just as he started to turn back in order to make the jump all the way back to the bed where he ran full-tilt at the pillow, turning back again and skidding to a halt at the other edge of the bed, his eyes wild as he feet splayed apart to stop himself short of falling off completely.

After going still again, he dropped back into a crouch and locked his eyes on the edge of Hiei's cloak, which had moved again and caught his attention. He kneaded his front paws twice into the blankets as if preparing for another pass. 3

Hiei watched the cat's motions every step of the way, crimson flashing in the moonlight in challenge of the feline, who suddenly had him very amused. Sure, he'd been pulled from sleep, but he hadn't been that tired anyway. He could deal with lack of sleep.

As the cat shot away from him again, the fire demon's hand moved from his stomach to the edge of the windowsill, his fingers lightly grasping his cloak. He held it still for a minute, staring intently at the cat. Slowly at first, he slid the cloak up, then let it drop again. It moved, the end just touching the wall and swaying lightly. Then he decided to make it move in a jerky motion, and his fingers gripped at the cloth and pulled to the side, making it move like a creature trying to get away from its hunter.

And when the cat would come near, he would relinquish the cloak entirely in an attempt to make him hit the wall.

~!**!~

Akari held Kurama's gaze evenly now, even as he tilted her chin a little and wiped at the place where her skin stung just a little. She hadn't realized the blade had bit through her skin, so when she saw the blood on his thumb, she gave a mild shrug of indifference, as if it didn't matter.

"No," she finally answered, her eyes meeting his again. She could see the raw emotion there, and quite frankly, she found herself a little surprised by how strongly he had reacted to her predicament. "Thank you." *

Kurama could feel the tension strung all across his body and he visibly relaxed, his shoulders moving back into place as he forced his muscles to release the anger he felt.

As his mind cleared, he sat down on the grass, only having to rotate slightly and finish sitting the last few inches to the ground.

First Toriko. Now Akari.

Kurama felt that only now did he understand the recent attachment Hiei made to keeping watch over Toriko. Granted, Hiei had found her in a much more compromising position from what Kurama understood, but he felt that his own rage at their enemies' actions at Akari allowed him a burst of insight into what Hiei must have experienced.

They were cowardly, for certain. And that irked Kurama more than he would have liked to admit.

~!**!~

Maneshi's thoughts clouded over and instinct kicked in.

He was no longer a small, dark, housecat, preparing to pounce off of a bed, but his mind transported him into the rainforest where his sleek, black fur would be hidden in the undergrowth, and his powerful panther legs would gather up underneath him in preparation to strike at the prey who jostled around in the forest floor below.

He curled himself up almost completely compact in his crouch, his body writhing again as he loosened his muscles and kept them keen for his attack, eyes locked on the fluttering animal that remained innocent of the death from above that awaited it.

Maneshi's tail lashed once almost angrily in the air and then he took the jump, stretching his body out with his claws fully extended, intending to grab hold and begin tearing into the flesh of the beast. 3

The sneer that took over Hiei's features was one of triumph as Maneshi coiled up even tighter, body preparing to leap at the end of his fluttering cloak. His eyes flashed, figuring this would end the cat's bothersome behaviour if it went as he planned.

As soon as the cat came near, he reacted with the speed only a demon could have and retracted the cloak from the cat's reach, faster than the cat should be able to respond.

~!**!~

Akari watched Kurama visibly slump, his body lowering the rest of the way until he sat in the grass in front of her. She didn't move, staying on her knees with her hands still at her sides as she eyed him. Again, she thought about Youko, and for a moment, she considered telling Kurama, but decided against it since she herself didn't understand the prospect.

Her gaze clouded over as she recalled the moment with vivid detail, remembering how each leaf had parted in readiness to strike Otento. He'd been willing to fight his own team. Why, she still didn't understand.

A realization hit her and she was wrenched back to the present, eyes widening and hand moving swiftly up to her face, her energy moving through her body and to her hand, making a single shadow coil around her wrist. A small, euphoric laugh bubbled up from her lips as the shadow dissipated. "Well, that's one way to do it." *

Akari's sudden noise of pleasure pulled Kurama back to his surroundings, and the smile he had for her was indeed a smile, if a grim one.

It seemed they both were able to break through the limit placed on their energy, Akari in desperation to save her own life and Kurama...

He stared back down at the grass.

Kurama in order to save hers.

He wasn't quite sure what this meant and he remained silent.

~!**!~

Just as Maneshi could practically smell the bloody gore of the animal he was about to run-through, it disappeared and reality snapped back into place, the dark cloak fluttering out of his immediate view to reveal the wall of the house in his direct path.

His paws contacted first, taking the brunt of the trauma even as he bent his elbows to circumvent the damage elsewhere, and he managed to turn his face to the side so that instead of his nose slamming into the wall, it was his cheek, his ears flattening against his skull to prevent any injuries they might acquire in the process.

Toriko shot up in bed at the loud slam that reverberated in the room.

"What did you do?" She demanded of Hiei, her eyes narrowing at him when she did not initially see anything else but the smug look on his face that indicated something had happened just now and that blame for it likely rested on him.

Her eyes moved down just below his foot hanging from the windowsill in time to see Maneshi slump to the floor and it did not take much for her to form a conjecture about the circumstances.

She glared back at Hiei again. 3

Hiei, for the first time in a very, very long time, released a genuine snicker down at the cat before going quiet again, completely satisfied with himself for finding a way to silent the cat. Toriko, on the other hand, was glaring at him, which didn't actually do much of anything other than make him feel even more amused and triumphant.

"I did nothing more than remove my cloak from harm," he admitted, "everything else is circumstantial."

~!**!~

Akari's lips released another short giggle as the shadow reappeared, moving like a silk ribbon around and around her arm, causing goosebumps to trail along her skin with the chill that followed the contact. Perhaps strong emotion was all it took to break a hold like that, she thought. Again, the shadow dissipated into nothing and she considered toying with her illusion ability, but decided it wasn't absolutely necessary.

She finally shifted her weight so that her legs were no long under her, but crossed in front of her as she eyed the redhead with a look of consideration. She gave a small sigh, suddenly feeling deflated as she realized she'd ended up in the midst of trouble, and for the second time, had been practically rescued by another. "I apologize for the trouble. I seem to find it everywhere…" *

Instead of answering her, Kurama simply lifted his head to look at her and silently held out a hand, palm upwards, in her direction.

He said nothing at first, his face plain and revealing nothing of his intentions as he spoke up.

"I believe you have something of mine? May I see it, please?"

~!**!~

At first Toriko stayed speechless, clenching and unclenching her jaw as she tried not to let her lips move from their frown, though they threatened to twitch in the opposite direction and completely break what she knew to be a perfectly good glare.

"Why would you do something like that?" She sounded more put-out than she actually felt. 3

Hiei gave an offhanded shrug with only a single shoulder, not phased by her glare nor question. "To protect my cloak. Why else?" His reply was short, his tone even despite the flash that lit up his eyes with amusement. "It's a perfectly good material. Preserving it is highest on my list."

~!**!~

Akari blinked at Kurama's hand, unsure of what he was doing. She at first thought he was going to help her stand, but the fact that he himself didn't move to stand left her meeting his gaze curiously. She opened her mouth to inquire, but he spoke before she could.

And the realization of what he was referring to made her internally cringe in embarrassment, her mouth closing and eyes shifting to the side. How could she have forgotten it? She leaned to the side and slid a hand into her front pocket, retrieving the seed and dropping it into his palm without looking at him.

"I was going to give it back…" *

Kurama's face remained solemn, choosing not to reply to the girl who seemed a little flustered that he knew she had the seed that he now held in his palm.

With little effort, he grew it into a rose, letting the scent waft around them in the air as it rested in place. He placed his fingers about the stem and whirled it around once, its petals and leaves arcing gracefully outwards like a dancer in mid-pirouette.

He changed it back to seed form just for an instant before regrowing it once more and then passing it to Akari.

"No need. Keep it. You should be able to change it between forms as you please now."

Kurama stood up, hesitating before turning to go.

"You are no trouble. Please don't fool yourself into believing such a falsehood." At that he did turn away, hands in his pockets as another breeze swept through the park, lifting his hair as he walked off.

~!**!~

Toriko fought against smiling again, throwing her hands up in the air and lifting her eyes to the ceiling as if she gave up and proclaiming, "You're hopeless."

She went back to glaring at him, crossing her arms as her eyes locked with his.

"Come here." She ordered, pointing to the bit of floor next to her. 3

Hiei stared at Toriko, eyes following the gesture she gave as a sneer pulled at his lips again with her words. He chose not to respond to being called hopeless, since he saw no need to do so, and turned his eyes down to the fallen lump of fur below him. He assessed the still body for a moment, triumph again surfacing in his eyes.

But the moment Toriko ordered for his presence, he looked up again, sneer gone and eyes flashing again in challenge. But he didn't move. Not yet.

~!**!~

The smell wafted through the air, catching Akari by surprise enough to make her eyes slide over to Kurama again, watching as the rose continued to bloom into a full blossom. Curious, she watched as it again changed back into seed form, and a second later returned to the form of the flower. So that's the seed I had taken. She had guessed as much, but hadn't been one hundred percent sure.

Suddenly, it was being held out to her. Her eyes widened and she looked up at Kurama, hesitating as he spoke. Keep it?

Something in her reacted to the gesture, making her neck and ears warm up just a little as she reached out to take the rose, again not meeting Kurama's gaze. Her eyes stayed down on the rose carefully as he continued to speak, rendering her completely speechless even as she heard him turn to leave.

Only when his back was to her and he was a few feet away did she finally look up at him, her lips curling inward slightly as she tried and tried to come up with something to say, but only came up with nothing more than jumbled emotions. *

When he knew he was out of earshot, Kurama let loose a sigh and paused in the middle of the path for a moment, letting the air move across his face as he closed his eyes and lifted his chin farther up into the air.

That moment earlier where Akari's life had been in danger and he'd felt something snap replayed over and over in his mind, and as much as he tried to analyze it, something about it escaped him.

And something else about it felt very apparent.

Kurama started walking again, his mind jumbled just as much as it had been when he entered the park, but he somehow knew continuing to walk around there would not be helpful.

Not this time.

~!**!~

Hiei's expression was not lost on Toriko, but something inside of her rose up and blatantly ignored his stubbornness.

She was on her feet without further thought, next to Hiei in a single stride, and grabbing for the crook of his arm within a second. She yanked him off the window and plopped him down, seated, onto the bed where she had been until that moment.

"Now stay there." She growled, "And don't go causing any more trouble."

She turned back to Maneshi and lifted the cat into her arms, stalking out of the room and returning minutes later catless, shutting the door behind her and making sure it clicked, mumbling something to herself about keeping "the two of them separated." 3

Hiei hadn't known what had happened at first. One second, he was completely comfortable in the windowsill, and the next, a grumpy Toriko was pulling him by his arm, and he was seated on the bed, the girl grabbing the cat and leaving the room after a growled order to him.

He gave a huff of defiance, but otherwise made no reaction. He didn't move away, didn't relax, did nothing other than sit and stare at the door, waiting for her return. And when she was back, he scoffed at her mumbles, deciding he might as well get comfortable.

He leaned back until his feet were on the bed, knees bent as the bottom of his feet rested on the comforter and his back rested on the top of the blanket. His hands linked behind his head and he resigned himself to simply laying there.

"Ridiculous."

~!**!~

Akari watched Kurama retreat until he was lost from her sight, by which time she had looked down to the rose in her lap again. Both hands gingerly held the flower, slowly turning it over and over between her fingers.

Too many things played in her mind for her to be able to focus on just one, and it made her feel frustrated, flustered to the point where she released a heavy sigh and resigned herself to lifting the rose to her nostrils, taking a deep breath of the scent it permeated the air with.

After a few minutes, she gave up about trying to figure out her own emotions, her own jumbled thoughts, and she gave another sigh and pushed herself to stand, muscles still shaky but strong enough to support her.

_"'kari… can we go home?"_ Akari glanced down at the dog she hadn't seen approach, ears drooping just as much as his eyes were, ball in front of him. _"Where'd you get that?"_

"Flowers."

_"Oh."_

Silence ensued and she offered a small smile at the rose, toying with it before she reached down to grab Nabu. "Let's go home." *

~!**!~

Toriko had already begun climbing onto the bed herself when he spoke up and she stopped to regard him primly.

"Yes. You are." She sniffed lightly. "I'm glad there is at least one thing we can both agree on."

She went ahead and finished getting on top of the blankets, her head hitting a pillow with a soft poof as her hair fanned about her profile for a moment before she grimaced and lifted her face up to grab at her hair and pull it out from under her, throwing it to the side where she would no longer lay on it.

Letting out a small sigh, she relaxed into the fluffiness of the bed and closed her eyes, one arm roguishly tossed up by her head and the other laying over her stomach. 3

Hiei scoffed at Toriko's response, but otherwise made no response. He merely turned away from her, rolling onto his side so that his back faced her, his arm supporting his head while the other simply lay over his stomach.

His eyes slid closed slowly, finally relaxing again now that the crazy, hyper cat was gone from the room. And quite frankly, the mattress underneath him was a contributing factor to the sudden complete relaxation of each and every muscle in his body. *

Toriko grimaced, a sudden flash of desire making her face scrunch together as she thought of home again.

She abruptly turned and buried her face in Hiei's back, pulling her hands up to her face to cover it as if being hidden would wipe away all her thoughts that rushed through her mind.

What did it look like? What did it smell like? Were there trees? Or butterflies?

Toriko squeezed her eyes together and tried to concentrate on Hiei's warmth, lying very still and trying to relax her body from head to feet.

It did work in a way after a while, at least in removing her thoughts from the realization that she would probably never get to see the one place she might be able to call home. 3

Hiei frowned to himself as pressure was applied to his back, and after only a moment's hesitation, he turned his head to catch a glimpse of Toriko hiding her face in his shoulders, but other than that, he couldn't exactly tell what was happening.

He rested his head back on his arm again and let his eyelids slide closed, thinking back to the conversation that had lead to them being here. She'd seemed so hopeful when he'd said home, and she'd seemed so defeated when the only way he knew of getting there required Shikiyoku. It was obvious the girl believed the demon to be gone from her, but something within him spoke against it, just whispering that she wasn't completely right.

But he wouldn't know. There seemed to be a complete lack in the bond he'd previously felt, always having underlay the other emotions he felt and his own awareness of everything else. It had given him direct access to the demoness who seemed to so easily capture his attention, and even keep it long enough to have him… well, in this position.

His frown deepened. How would she have left anyway? Was it even a possibility or…

His thoughts paused as he released a tired breath, almost a sigh, and shifted his body weight again. Toriko's presence was now completely in his awareness, unable to be ignored from the proximity. Why was she laying so close to him again? *

In desperation, Toriko reached inward again, even going so far as to silently call out within her mind.

_Sh-Shiki?_ Her voice resounded hesitantly along the walls where the other side of her resided.

Toriko could feel herself as the prison around this particular space that she recognized to be the resting place of her other half. But there was nothing there.

Standing in that room, she thought back, sifting through her memories. The first of the last things she remembered was the stiffness, something she'd managed to skirt around asking anyone about, though she knew something had to have happened.

Before that, things were fuzzy and she only had a vague sense of knowing that Shiki had done...stuff? That seemed a little too broad.

After the large hunk of time she had no remembrance of came the virus that her other side had taken over for, but without knowledge of anything that happened inbetween, Toriko felt powerless to deduce the reason why her mind was devoid of its usual, steadfast presence.

But she had to know. Because if she could figure it out...if she could bring back that other side...they might be able to...they could...

"Hiei, what don't I remember?" She asked quietly. 3

Hiei didn't answer at first, taking a moment to figure out which train of thought Toriko was on. It wasn't a difficult thing, but it was something he himself was rather reluctant to speak about, for his own reasons. He hadn't even thought over it.

He knew there was likely a lot the girl didn't remember, aside from the dangerously traumatising events. Even so, he didn't wish to go down that road. Not now. He was just beginning to feel tired again.

"Elaborate," he said in a low voice muddled with sleepiness. "Stole Sweet Snow, if that's what you're referring to." *

Toriko made a grunt of protest, but fell silent, recognizing Hiei's tone to be one that meant she'd likely interrupted his journey into dreamland.

She knew he'd been there for probably everything her other side had been through and was likely, she felt, being difficult for the sake of being difficult as he was wont to do.

Not to mention the fact that "stealing sweet snow" didn't exactly help in explaining-

Wait, WHAT had he just said?!

She opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again. It didn't matter, and she didn't want to wake him. She ruefully considered how the "stealing" had worked out, finding herself a little more than put-out at the thought and wondering how much Hiei had instigated her other side. He seemed like the type to enable that sort of behavior.

Had Toriko's eyes been open, she would have rolled them heavenward.

She fought with considering pressing him further for events she could not recall in an effort to discover the reason why her mind was empty save for her own self. 3

Hiei was a bit surprised when she didn't say something right away, or even make any sort of indication that she'd heard what he'd said. So he released another tired puff of air and deflated, his mind again going blank in refusal over the topic.

But he knew the moment his words registered with her, because for a moment, the air in the room changed. Briefly, he was amused by the tense atmosphere, but it faded as he began to slip into sleep again. All he wanted now was to have a peaceful night's sleep, uninterrupted and dreamless.

Was that so much to ask for? *

~!**!~

A pair of mismatched eyes gleamed in the darkness of the house, the silence only a mask to be used as an advantage to the four padded feet that stalked upstairs towards the closed bedroom door.

Slipping past it was a simple matter, an advantage given to most felines, and this room's silence was intermittently broken by both the beating of two demonic hearts and the breathing, low and deep, of their owners.

Without so much as a noise, the tiny black body stalked forward again, landing softly on top of the bed and skirting the legs of the female laying nearby.

Instead, he stepped lightly onto the darker portion of the bed, his intent at the moment to leave the sleeper undisturbed, though as he placed one paw in front of the other and scaled first the thigh and then waist of the fire demon, his eyes gave away his wicked intent.

With perfect balance, Maneshi moved over Hiei's elbow to the upper part of his arm and hunched down, his head hanging over Hiei's shoulder, his sleek form easily able to maintain his position.

Unfortunately, it is often the best plans that get waylaid and as Maneshi perched on his front toes, he could feel the warmth of the fiery demon beneath him seeping upwards through the black cloak that felt soft underneath the pads of Maneshi's paws.

It made him drowsy and he blinked first one eye and then the other, his thoughts of revenge becoming muddled by the heat that wove over his skin in such a delightful manner.

His eyes slipped closed...

_Maneshi could feel his tiny heart beating wildly in his chest as he ran, the voices behind him getting closer, their maliciousness unmistakable. _

_His four paws flew along the ground, his tail streaming out behind his body and his ears flat against his skull as the voices kept yelling about capture, detainment, and other things the cat found himself unable to comprehend over the flight his body had to maintain._

_No matter how fast he ran though, it seemed almost as if he was not moving forward, unable to put any more distance between himself and those behind until suddenly he skidded to a stop as a pair of hands reached down to grasp him from the front._

_Claws digging into the ground to stop himself faster as he kept moving forward, Maneshi scrambled to turn around and dash off the other direction, a large foot stomping down in his path which made him jump several feet up into the air, managing to force his trajectory backwards as he did so, but quickly becoming closed in on all sides by bodies or feet or hands, finding that he ran in a circle that decreased in size with each turn._

Without thinking, Maneshi's eyes flew open, his claws digging into the cloak beneath him as he could still see in his addled mind hands reaching for him that wished to crush him.

Letting the claws give him enough purchase to speed off as fast as he could manage, Maneshi tore himself away from the cloak, causing damage beneath him that he could not at the moment comprehend.

He streaked down to the bottom of the bed, clawing to a stop again at the edge which he saw as another person from his dream that wished to harm him. He dashed to go the other direction and leapt up into the air as another reached out to snatch him, his eyes wild and his breath coming furiously from his lungs. 3

It had been so peaceful, so quiet. His entire body had been so relaxed into the mattress, even leaning a little back into Toriko, who still had her body just touching his. Somewhere, in the back of his sleeping mind, he was aware of that fact, his body never moving to or away from her. And as he had liked, he wasn't dreaming.

Very suddenly, he felt pain bite at his shoulder, heard his cloak tear, and his eyes were open and he moved in a flash of instinct, a single hand reaching beneath the cloak he wore for his sword and the other grabbing at the blur that had caused his rude awakening.

A snarl left his lips defensively as his fingers enclosed around the tuft of fur at Maneshi's neck, holding him out at arm's length with a very dangerous and a very deadly glare. He didn't have to look to see the damage to his cloak or the three claw marks that made blood slowly rise to the surface of the skin. And he knew he didn't have to speak for his very last warning of danger to be heard, though it wasn't much of a warning anymore. *

At being caught, Maneshi yowled a horrible sound before letting his body go limp as being held by the scruff of his neck will do.

Toriko immediately shot up in bed, her mind crystal clear and taking in everything at once: Hiei's rage, bleeding skin, and torn cloak; Maneshi's half-lidded stare and huffing upper body.

If she had not been so immediately concerned for Maneshi's general well-being she might have found the situation justified, almost amusing, assuming Maneshi was exacting revenge on Hiei for Hiei's earlier misdemeanor involving the cat and his cloak.

However, seeing Hiei holding the cat who had been her truest companion for years in such a way, threatening it with a katana that would have proven to be overdoing the job, made Toriko's blood run cold and she could very nearly see the redness of the explosion of anger at the edges of her vision.

Within seconds of rising up, Toriko's eyes were narrowed at Hiei, and while she didn't think he would be able to hear her past his own obvious wrath, she spoke up anyway, giving him fair warning. But he would only get the one.

"Put him down, Hiei." Her tone came out icey and quiet, her words measured, articulated to the Nth degree, almost dripping with venom and laced with more danger in the sharpness of their soft execution than they would have been had she shouted at him from the top of her lungs.

One chance.

That's all he would get.

Toriko could feel her body trembling as she suddenly became aware that she held something back, a tide that pushed against her, waves that threatened to break and burst past her.

And all of it building up in Hiei's direction.3

Hiei's entire being, still muddled with sleep enough to make him even just a bit irrational, was filled with rage at the small creature. His immediate reaction, that of being attacked, had driven his instincts to overdrive, his katana drawn only from those instincts and held in such a way that the moonlight from outside flashed across the blade.

The slack body of the feline in his hand would be an easy thing to slice at. The small heart would be so simple to pierce with the blade in his hand…

Toriko's voice moved to his ears, but the words were almost lost to him, if the quiet warning hadn't gained his attention. He glanced back for a second before turning back to the cat, glaring deadly daggers of consideration at the sleek black furball.

And for the moment, he didn't know what to do, so he made no motion to move at all. *

At first Toriko felt only an odd trickling sensation coming from somewhere she could not identify, and before she could do anything to stop it, the trickle became a flood, as if that's all that had been needed.

Her entire body erupted into pins and needles, buzzing along her skin and the tide she previously held back burst forth out of her control and the last thing she felt was a vague sense of confusion as her vision closed in and Toriko blacked out.

"I SAID, put him DOWN!" The mass of fury built up within took tangible form as demonic energy able to be wielded and it flew the short distance between the two bodies sitting on the bed, blasting into the air and making her hair suddenly whoosh behind her head in the backdraft.

Her green eyes glared cruelly at Hiei as the energy did not so much as hit his body as be absorbed by it, the slight shimmer that settled over her skin being transmitted to envelop his.

In the aftermath, she sat there breathing heavily, her gaze no less dangerous and holding his, Hiei less than a foot away from where she had sat up on the bed.

The sudden expulsion of energy took everything she had and her eyes fluttered shut as she fell towards Hiei in a faint. 3

Hiei felt his lip curl up as his eyes flashed again at the cat, deciding at the last moment that his cloak was repairable and his skin would heal. He had been about to move, about to drop the cat, when an immense amount of energy hit him.

Crimson eyes widened and his body stilled all motions, going tense as his mind blanked out. Slowly, he turned to look at Toriko, meeting her gaze and recognizing the power that shimmered around her. He was completely captivated, his hand instinctively going slack and releasing the cat, letting Maneshi drop to his feet on the carpet.

He sat there for what felt like an eternity, meeting her gaze and a small part of him realizing he was at this woman's mercy. But the second he registered such a thought, her eyes were closing and her body was slumping, falling forward. He reacted out of pure instinct, catching her and slowly letting himself lower her limp form to the mattress. *

The instant Maneshi's feet hit the ground, he shot towards the corner of the room by the door and put his back to it, hunching down as small as he would go and watching the rest of the room with wide, gleaming eyes.

The visions from his nightmare were gone now, only to be replaced with a scene that he felt responsible for somewhere in his kitty-mind.

He froze in place, trying to bring as little attention to himself as possible in his dark corner, but carrying a vague sense of concern for the others in the room. He smelled blood, that he somehow knew he was accountable for, and his fur still stood on end from the burst of energy that left it feeling singed, though he had not been touched.

Meanwhile, only a couple of seconds passed on the bed where Toriko's body had passed out, but when the eyes slowly came open again with a blink and expression of disorientation, it was not in fact Toriko who woke up.

Shikiyoku blinked again and cringed, her mind fully awake, but her body exhausted from the energy she'd just expelled. Nearly all of it that had been regained since...

She remembered nothing between her attack just now on Hiei and falling asleep after he tended her wounds, and the disorientation she felt she associated with time having passed that she did not experience. In fact, she didn't even recall slumbering within Toriko's cage and she put a hand up to her forehead as she grimaced again, feeling an impending headache looming just behind her eyes. 3

Hiei sat in silence, hands still on Toriko's shoulders, eyes watching the face of the girl who lay with her head now on his upper leg, just above his knee. He was waiting for her to awaken, to tell him what she desired, or for her to ask what he wanted of her, which, at this moment, wasn't much of anything.

When her eyes opened slowly, he found himself searching her irises, though he didn't move a single muscle other than his own eyes. A part of him felt that if he moved, she would become angry, and thus he'd receive nothing more than admonishment from her. So he sat silently, watching, waiting. *

As Shikiyoku rubbed her eye with one hand, the other began readjusting to the almost complete darkness of the room, and for a moment she thought the gleaming eyes peering down at her were those of the cat. But they were much too far away, and for that matter, they were the same color, and actually they looked more like...Hiei's...eyes...

Shikiyoku stopped moving her hand, finding herself staring up from a strange angle into Hiei's face. She meant to open her mouth to say something, but she was pretty sure she just sat there in much the same way as he, her hand slowly lowering down so that she could make for certain she wasn't imagining things.

Yup. That was Hiei alright.

What was she supposed to do now? 3

Hiei stared, watching each and every motion of the person he'd caught a moment ago as she rubbed away at her face. He waited until her gaze met his, witnessing several emotions flit through her irises, before moving any other muscle.

His head tilted just a bit in curiosity. When he spoke, his voice was soft, but at the same time, gruff with the energy that had barrelled into him moments earlier. "You fainted." *

Shikiyoku felt like she needed to explain why she fainted, but for another moment it was all she could do to keep looking at him, the limited pale light from the moon that beamed in through the window giving her enough vision that she could see the details of his face quite well, as like most demons she had excellent low-light sight.

"I didn't even know I had that. Energy." She added, finding that her brain was having trouble stringing words together. She shut up before she made it worse. 3

Hiei raised a brow quizzically, realizing that this was not the same person who had… Wait, what had he been doing before? He couldn't remember at the moment. All he knew was that this was Shikiyoku, not Toriko.

As soon as her lips were touching, cutting off the small talk she'd carried on, he nodded. "Neither had I." Of course, he wasn't sure what else to say, since he couldn't exactly think straight. So he relapsed into silence again, eyes still searching each plane of her features. *

"No, I mean..." Shikiyoku began, then quickly retraced her steps and gave up on that direction, "I was gone." Well, that made a lot of sense, stupid.

Her eyes flicked off to the right as she tried to get her thoughts in order and she took a breath before speaking.

"All of that healing stuff," Oh great, now you really sound like an idiot, "I used everything up. I don't know where I went. It's like I didn't exist or something."

Come to think of it, she didn't really feel Toriko at the moment either. She had a vague sense that the "cage" was still in place oddly enough, but there was no...jailor, for lack of better term. 3

Hiei wasn't sure, at first, that he followed what Shikiyoku was saying. She'd been gone? Nonexistent? It didn't make much sense. But after a moment of silent contemplation, he realized that she had been describing the only thing that could explain the bond, or seemingly lack thereof.

He turned inward, finding the bond just as it should be, almost pulsating with the attention he gave it specifically. It hummed, saying that even though there was a slight disturbance, likely from the odd situation, all was well.

His eyes refocused and he was watching Shikiyoku again. "She said the same, or something similar, of you." *

"Maybe...maybe it was a sort of hibernation or something." Shikiyoku returned her gaze upwards, lost in thought. "I know I had no energy left. My sleep was so deep I must not have remembered anything."

She looked over at Hiei, frowning, "She said I was gone?" 3

Immediately, Hiei's lips parted in the answer he felt she needed of him. "She said you were no longer with her. I was unsure, but the bond has been missing, until now." His expression became neutral again, his eyebrow resettling back into place and his eyes finally moving away from her, to the opposite side of the room where he spied Maneshi.

_Oh, that's what I forgot._

"I did no harm to the cat." *

As Hiei spoke, Shikiyoku reached inward again, coming away with no second presence, her brows drawing together in a deep frown.

She wasn't really sure how she felt about the other one not being there.

Shikiyoku didn't even heard Hiei's words as the realization that she was alone dawned on her.

"She's...gone."

For his part, Maneshi remained frozen in place, especially when he knew one of the others talked about him. He sincerely wished they would just forget he was there, as he had no desire to leave without making sure things were okay. 3

Hiei eyed the cat, every other sense of his trained on the demoness. He considered the furball for a moment before turned away from it, finding no immediate interest in the creature at the moment. It was a small animal not worth his attention.

"I don't think so." he replied suddenly, though not looking at her. "I don't believe you've experienced separation, especially since you've just swapped from her." He didn't know what made him think this, since he knew absolutely nothing about such a thing, but the words had formed before he'd stopped them, and now it didn't matter. *

Her eyes refocused in on Hiei. He sounded so sure of himself. But...

"But...she's not there." It wasn't as if she was trying to argue with him, but the emptiness that echoed where there had once been another personality settled over her stressfully.

What if Spirit World started looking for her? What if she couldn't get the seals to work again? If Toriko really wasn't there, they would have no problem in...

She was too old to let herself panic, but the desire was there, in the back of her mind. 3

Hiei gave a noncommittal shrug of a single shoulder, "She said the same when we talked about Koenma's offer." He paused there, thinking back to Toriko's own words of the disappearance of Shikiyoku, who was now obviously present.

But his mind wandered again, to the thought of home, and the desire to go bubbled up stronger than ever before. *

"Koenma's...offer?" Shikiyoku peered curiously into Hiei's face. 3

Hiei was automatically refocused on Shikiyoku with her query, suddenly realising that this demon had once asked of his desires. He'd been unsure then, with too many things going on for himself to be sure. He couldn't even remember if he'd given a proper answer.

"I desire to go home," he stated bluntly, eyes smoldering beneath the calm facade he wore. "And Koenma has offered an opportunity. But you're needed, otherwise I can't go." *

Shikiyoku considered Hiei with a very solemn expression, weighing heavily on his words and the feeling she could practically taste behind them.

If her Champion desired something, he was going to get it come hell or high water. It was her job to see to that. And she had every intention of doing said job.

All Shikiyoku did was nod once, her mind still fixated on how much Hiei believed he wanted this.

Home.

Wait.

Her eyes grew big, "You mean Demon World?" 3

The immense amount of emotion that swamped over Hiei at the nod of approval he received was almost too much, making his entire body relax- when had he become so tense?- and his gaze soften in relief. He'd thought she would say no, though he wasn't sure why.

Her voice sounded again, pulling him from his inwardly emotions and back to the present, images he hadn't meant to conjure up dissipating from his mind's eye for the moment. "Where else would I call home?" he inquired, genuinely confused by her query. *

Shikiyoku's head shifted slightly in the beginning of a negative shake, "No, I mean, Koenma...Demon World...what?"

The dots weren't connecting in her head.

"And what do I have to do with anything?" 3

If it were a possible thing, a lightbulb would have popped up over Hiei's head at the realization that Shikiyoku had no idea of the conversation he'd had with Toriko. He sat up a little straighter, preparing himself for the presentation of the information that he was about to dish out.

"Koenma has a lead on a demon that Otento has made contact with, but the type of energy they manipulate is something that only you, I presume, can counteract. Kurama and Akari have no access to their energy, and he knew of your presence within Toriko, and has requested assistance in order to gain a lead on Otento and, likely, gain some very useful information and get ahead." *

Shikiyoku felt her stomach drop as she realized Spirit World knew exactly where she was hiding.

Somewhere else in the not-so-freaked-out part of her brain she wondered how long they'd known and why they hadn't come for her yet.

She trembled once, she couldn't help it. The memory of the words on the warrant that she'd been told about made her shiver and long for Toriko's presence.

For all the good that her hiding had done for her. 3

Hiei noted the tremble that ran through Toriko's body and the discord that riddled her features, immediately realizing he hadn't told her the part she would need to hear in order for her to go along with it. "He included in his request that, should you decide to help, the warrant for your arrest would be thrown out, forgotten. You'd be free, in a sense." *

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	30. Ep 115 - Their Mission: To Demon World!

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Dot Net Users and Anonymous Readers alike!

This is another one of those chapters that is Hiei/Shikiyoku-centric.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

The Youko with Akari was in fact the Youko impersonator,  
but as Otento attempted to capture her again,  
it appeared as if this Youko was willing to defend her.

Otento and Youko escape once more with Terepo as Kurama bursts into the scene,  
but both Kurama and Akari have now broken through the limitations set upon their energy.

~!**!~

Maneshi stirs the wrath of Hiei and just as it appears the fire demon is about to strike,  
Toriko manages to gather what little energy she's recovered and fling it at him,  
but she faints and Toriko gives way to Shikiyoku,  
who informs Hiei that she can no longer feel Toriko's presence in her mind,  
just as Toriko once told him she could no longer feel Shikiyoku there.

Hiei proceeds to tell Shikiyoku that Koenma wishes to speak with her about a mission,  
and even promises to lift the warrant out for her arrest should she complete it...

* * *

Shikiyoku found herself biting at her lips and she slowly shook her head again.

"Koenma...Koenma didn't put the warrant out for my arrest." Her eyes were still wide, fearful. "He really...he has no say on whether or not I go free."

Shikiyoku closed her eyes and took a shaky breath.

She had something to go on now. A desire to fulfill. And the best kind of desire: one from her Champion.

_He shall have what he desires._

All her former anxiety slipped away as she reopened her eyes to look up at Hiei and gave him a small smile.

"It doesn't matter." She started to sit up. "Should we go now?" 3

Hiei considered this information for a moment, thinking back to the entire conversation Koenma had administered, after having his ferry girl interrupt his evening nap. The frown that colored his features at the muddled mess his mind had become was only a small one, but it was gone when he realized Shikiyoku was smiling at him.

His head tilted to the side.

"Don't you need rest?"

It was only a natural inquiry, since they'd both been awakened abruptly. Speaking of..

He glanced at his shoulder, the tears in the cloak and the blood that was now dried. How long had they been sitting here? "Matters not to me," he finished, looking away as if his cloak hadn't retained any damage whatsoever. *

The thoughts of what might happen to her should she so much as step foot in Spirit World were still skirting around the edge of her mind, but as she stood up and saw Hiei look at his shoulder, her worries melted and the small smile from before did not waver.

"Let's fix it first." She was already standing at this point and she extended her hand in Hiei's direction, "And then let's go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we go home." 3

Hiei frowned at the hand outstretched to him for a moment, unsure what meanings were held behind such a gesture, but his muscles moved on their own, his eyes meeting hers and his hand found hers in the dark.

"It isn't much," he said with a shrug, though at the edges of his mind, he felt irritation well up that this was the second repair he'd have to have done on his cloak from the very same source. *

Pulling him after her, Shikiyoku left the room, "It won't take long. You don't even have to take it off this time." Her smile almost twitched into a smirk as she looked over her shoulder at him again, leading the way downstairs and into the closet they hadn't entered in a long time.

Her steps were sure-footed through the junk even with the limited light, as if she had every piece memorized in each place she originally placed it.

Her hand had slipped from Hiei's at some point as she opened one particular trunk, making quick work of tearing a strip from the fabric she left on top alongside the small bag with the sewing implements.

She put the strip in her mouth, opening the bag and first taking out a small crystal vial and an equally small woolen washcloth, palming them as she prepared thread and needle, making quick work of the whole ordeal.

Turning back to Hiei she opened the vial and covered it with the washcloth, dampening the latter with a flick of her wrist and clearing the blood from Hiei's shoulder with a gentle pass of the cloth.

Having kept the needle and thread with her, she removed the fabric from her mouth and put her hand underneath the opening where the cloak had been torn, deftly weaving thread and new fabric with the old in no time at all, smoothing her hand over the finished product and tilting her head to check it.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, almost smacking her hand to her forehead as she whipped back around, putting the needle, thread, vial, and washcloth away and pulling out the lighter.

Without thinking or asking, she slipped her thin fingers around the cuff of the cloak's arm and pulled it upwards, her hands small enough to fit one in next to Hiei's shoulder after this was done, flicking on the lighter with little trouble and running it around the seams until they disappeared, melding in with the old fabric.

She pulled the sleeve down as she brought her hands out and tossed the lighter behind her, landing it in the bag she left open as she looked again into Hiei's eyes, her own bright as that same small smile graced her lips.

"Ready?" 3

Hiei hadn't protested in any way, shape, or form about anything Shikiyoku did, deciding she was the expert and he'd just simply have to deal with whatever she did. He'd entered the small closet and glanced around at the objects inside, looking over the very same things he'd seen the first time with just as much interest as then. Each item hummed with its own energy, it seemed, though at such a low frequency that even he had trouble hearing it.

He continued to look around as Shikiyoku made quick work of his cloak, not even glancing at her as she did whatever it was she needed to do, since interrupting would only delay their return to Demon World. But the sound of the lighter and the feel of heat nearby caught his attention, and his eyes snapped over at her as she slipped a hand underneath the cloak and ran the flame over the fabric.

He witnessed with his own eyes as the fabric seemed to meld into one another, making all signs of rips, tears, and repairs disappear altogether. Amazed, as he hadn't really paid much attention the first time around, he inspected her handiwork before responding, his hand pulling the fabric this way and that to investigate his theory that absolutely no sign would be seen.

And when he was proven right, and completely amazed, he turned back to Shikiyoku and gave a brief nod of affirmation, waiting on her to take the lead when he realized that getting to Koenma would need a little extra assistance. *

~!**!~

"No, no, no! NOT five hundred, five thousand, ogre!" Koenma jabbed his finger at the middle line on the paper work.

"I'm so sorry, Koenma-sir. I thought for sure we had that right this time."

"Well, it's not. We'll have to do it again." Koenma sighed, looking up as he heard footsteps entering the office.

"Hiei!" He seemed surprised to see the spiky-haired demon strolling into the room. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" 3

Botan had parted ways after her assistance, leaving him to lead the way through the large castle-like building Koenma and his workers resided in, careful to keep Shikiyoku not only nearby, but out of sight of the people in front of him. Not that it mattered much, he assumed she didn't look the same as the demon form Spirit World knew of.

As he approached Koenma's office and entered the room in time to hear the last bit of Koenma's griping at ogre and then a greeting.

Red eyes searched the rest of the room, momentarily eyeing the blue creature dressed only in a loincloth before turning onto the toddler prince. "Your offer."

And that was all he said, unsure what could be said here, if anything at all. *

Without a beat, Koenma passed the paperwork back over to George.

"Go get this taken care of, ogre."

"Yes, Koenma-sir." George took the stack with a rather defeated expression.

"And don't come back until the whole thing is revised!" Koenma yelled after him as the blue ogre wandered out the door.

Koenma huffed a breath, collecting his thoughts before turning back to Hiei, leaning forward over his desk to look at him.

"You have news for me, then?" 3

Hiei, his mind much clearer than before, gave a raised brow and glanced behind himself, but otherwise not indicating that Shikiyoku was with him. If Koenma hadn't seen her yet, then he'd let her show herself, if she didn't have second thoughts.

"There was a minor setback," he began, eyes meeting Koenma's again with an intense glare of warning, "but as I said, it was minor, and fixed itself." If his warning glare didn't get across that Shikiyoku was not happy with being here and Hiei was paying very close attention to their surroundings, then he didn't know what to do to get the message across:

No tricks or gimmicks. He was not in the mood. *

Koenma's eyes widened briefly, but only briefly, before returning to normal, realizing he could see that Hiei's body hid someone behind him.

"Toriko! It's good to see you again." Koenma gave her a genuine smile.

The entire place had Shikiyoku's blood running cold and she had followed as closely behind Hiei as possible without tripping them both up once they reached the temple.

Botan had blabbed on the entire time they travelled, and while Shikiyoku did not know the blue-haired woman, it seemed apparent that Toriko did, so she tried to stay as quiet as possible, unsure exactly how her other side would react. It didn't appear to phase the Reaper.

Now that she stood within the barren, quiet office of the Prince of the Spirit World, she still cowered behind the defiant fire demon before her, any semblance of the courage she'd felt before when her executioners were far away but a memory.

She squeezed her eyes shut when Koenma addressed her, her hands over her face and both buried as deep as possible into the place between Hiei's shoulder blades as soon as he stopped moving.

Hiei desired to go home.

She trembled once, visions of her eyes and hair being ripped out by her would-be captors dancing across her mind's eye. She was in their den now, and all it would take is a single word for her future to be sealed, no matter how strong her Champion before her might be.

Home.

Drawing strength from the warmth she tried to hid in, Shikiyoku swallowed what felt like a giant lump in her throat and took one temerous step to the side after lowering her hands, head down and her long black hair veiling the sides of her face.

"H-hello." The openness of the office scared her. There were no places to hide. No where to run should they descend upon her.

It took every ounce of willpower she had not to turn and speed from the room.

She recalled Hiei's face in the darkness above her, his warm thigh underneath her head as she gazed into his crimson eyes when he told her what he desired most.

_Home._

Shikiyoku swallowed again and looked up, only seconds having passed since Koenma first addressed her.

"Y-you...you wished to speak with me?"

Koenma's eyes softened at her temerity, and while he had no doubts that Hiei had indeed brought him Shikiyoku, and not Toriko, she was certainly putting on a good show of it, should anyone have chosen that moment to watch them.

"Yes, Toriko. I have a mission for you." He said kindly. "Now, I realize you are not in my employ, so I can only ask that you do this for me. I can order or require nothing of you, but I need your help, if you wish to assist me."

Shikiyoku pulled her lips into her mouth and licked them with her tongue, still frightened beyond much thought. Should this Prince so desire, at any moment, he could reveal her and end her life. Was he to be trusted?

For the first time since they left Toriko's home, Shikiyoku looked over at Hiei, searching his face for some indication that this would be okay, that this princeling would not betray her. 3

Hiei hadn't had much to say after his brief explanation, his hands sliding into the pockets of his cloak as his eyes searched Koenma's face, fully aware of the situation, should it go wrong. Sadly, if it were to go south, he wouldn't have a way out other than causing more trouble. The thought made his eyes slide to the side briefly, but quickly return to Koenma in a watchful, careful warning.

And he saw nothing there that would jeopardize the demon he'd sworn to protect. He addressed her as Toriko, acting as if she were the human counterpart to the demon he so desperately needed for this task. He felt no sense of danger, and his Jagan made quick work of inspecting every nook and cranny of the room, even so much as just reaching out to sense the air around the prince, not daring enough to actually touch his mind.

Again, all seemed as the prince had promised. Quiet, secretive.

He felt Shikiyoku's eyes on him, and for the first time since he'd stepped foot in the room, he felt his muscles begin to relax, though he stayed on guard. He forced his shoulders to slump into a more comfortable stance, his weight shifting from the front of his feet to his heels, as if almost bored.

He finally turned to her, meeting her gaze evenly, squarely, and silently reassuring her that all was fine. *

"I..." Shikiyoku paused as she turned back to look up at Koenma, preventing another stammer, "I would be happy to help."

Happy. Right.

Koenma nodded approval and hopped down from his chair, "Follow me, please."

He led the way into the room that he and Hiei had used previously, toddling along and reaching up to turn the handle, letting the door swing inward silently and stepping over the threshold.

This time, however, he moved to the side to let the other two through, closing it behind him before leaning heavily against it and wiping a hand across his forehead.

"Well, I think that alright, don't you?"

As soon as she got into the room, Shikiyoku could feel her body's tension slipping away, the protective charms she could sense permeating the air causing her caution to turn into curiosity as she looked about at the piles of tomes littered about, some of which were stacked taller than any of the current occupants that stood inside.

Koenma hurried over to the other desk and hopped up into the chair behind it, opening the drawer just over his lap and pulling out a sheet of paper.

"I don't have much more than a name and location for you." He apologized, holding the paper out to Shikiyoku who had wandered after him, her eyes taking in the room with a sense of wonderment before being pulled back down to the present.

She stood on the tips of her toes and reached up over the desk to take the paper and looked at it.

"And honestly," He hesitated, "I can't even tell you where that location is for sure. I've privately arranged to get you down to that level of Demon World, which was a hassle as I'm sure you can see by how deep you're having to go, but-"

"I know exactly where this is." Shikiyoku interrupted quietly, her voice grave. "And I understand better now why you needed me to get there. Those of us born within the Ninth Level covet most closely the secrets behind entering the lowest level of Demon World." She glanced up at him, one eyebrow rising in question. "Granted, I was not even remotely aware there was a portal from Human World leading that low. And I won't ask how you discovered it, considering Demon World is closed to your people past the half of the first level you claim to control."

"Eheh." Koenma laughed nervously, "Let's just say I've run out of resources for the next few quarters and leave it at that."

Shikiyoku made no response, eyes coming back down to the paper she held.

"You'll be seeking out Gekijou, as I'm sure you see. I need any information you can get from her on Otento and what he wants with her and her brother."

Shikiyoku did not so much as flinch at Otento's name, but she did raise her head to catch Koenma's eye.

"I will get you information on Otento," She assured him, "But there's something you must do for me in return."

Koenma nodded as if he'd expected this. "Of course. I want you to know that-"

"No." Shikiyoku shook her head before he could go further. "Not that."

It was her turn to reach into her pocket for a piece of paper as she continued, "I doubt you could grant me my freedom even if you wanted to, which I personally find difficult to believe." This time, she passed a piece of paper to Koenma, who took it and unfolded it, his eyes scanning the page before they started to widen.

"That is what I want, should my information prove to fulfill my side of the bargain."

"Your price is high." Koenma glanced up over the paper at her before returning to it.

She inclined her head a little, but did not disagree.

"Am I not allowed to be selfish?"

Koenma did not answer, instead leaning back in his chair, his eyes still trained on the paper.

"You sure you don't want the warrant out for you lifted?"

Shikiyoku shook her head, "You cannot promise me that."

"I don't know if I can promise you this." He shifted the paper a bit as Shikiyoku trained her eyes on him.

"I am going on this mission for you regardless of your answer to my demands." Shikiyoku stated, knowing that she had many other reasons for wanting to return to Demon World.

Well. Mostly just the one person. Err, reason. She glanced over at Hiei before Koenma cleared his throat and drew her attention back to him.

"I cannot promise you this request will be granted. But if it is within my power, I will see that it gets done."

"That is all I can ask, I think." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other before taking a step forward and passing the piece of paper back to him. "I have no need for this."

Koenma took it from her, his curiosity compelling him to question her.

"May I ask how you know of this place?"

"You may ask." Her lips teased upwards in a coy smile, "But you will not receive an answer."

Koenma couldn't fault her for that.

"When can we leave?" She wanted to know.

"As soon as you are ready."

Shikiyoku turned to Hiei, silently wanting to know if they were ready to go. She was. 3

Hiei followed the pair into the room he'd previously been debriefed in, the objects in the room gaining his attention for a mere moment before he was standing a little behind Shikiyoku, who seemed to have relaxed visibly once inside this room and taken over. He himself found that he relaxed entirely as well, his hands in his pockets unclenching from the fists they had formed and simply resting inside the smooth fabric, idly listening to the conversation at hand.

He didn't need to see the files. If Shikiyoku knew where to go, then he would simply follow her lead, act as a guard for her trek through Demon World. Wasn't that his purpose here anyway?

His mind wandered, conjuring up images of Demon World again for him to admire silently, the possibility of returning now actually within his reach, within his sights. Nothing stood in his way now, and pretty soon, he'd be smelling the air he had missed so much.

By the time his mind resurfaced, refocusing on the others in the room, he realized Shikiyoku was looking to him in question. He raised a brow at her, as if asking why she was waiting, then gave a small nod of confirmation that he was indeed ready to go. *

~!**!~

"You're the ones needing the...escort?"

The demon in front of them was wrapped up completely in dark robes, the cowl over his head revealing nothing of his features. His power level was nothing to cause concern for the moment, so Shikiyoku merely nodded up at his tall, imposing form, his shoulders at least twice as big across as she was wide.

It seemed as if even Botan didn't know exactly what their mission was, having only dropped them off in Human World at the edge of a desert.

Nighttime noises were still in full cycle around them, the cold air lifting over the dry sand and sending its deadly chill down Shikiyoku's spine.

She'd had Botan drop her by Toriko's house first in order to change and gather a few things from the closet for the trip. There would be no sense in walking around Demon World in the pink school uniform of Meiou High. As if Shikiyoku wasn't already upset at having to make a return home without the ability to change into her demonic form. She took comfort in the fact that Hiei didn't appear to be looking anything more than human either.

She pulled the front of her dark crimson cloak tighter together in an effort to block out the invading winds, their escort having turned to do something to the side of the mountain they stood next to.

The three characters were merely silhouettes on the ground what with the moonless sky betraying nothing more than their vague shapes as shadows against what would have been grey rock.

Their escort stepped back and the mountain seemed to slide open. He moved inside without looking back to see if he was followed and took a flickering torch from the wall, holding it up to light the cave-path that led deeper into the mountainside.

Their trek took an unspecified amount of time, as if time had no meaning in their steps, and Shikiyoku had no sense of how far they had gone in all of their twists and turns before their escort stopped and placed the torch in another hook in the wall.

He stepped forward again to the rock-face that seemed to indicate they were at a dead-end, blocking whatever he did from their view.

Shikiyoku sensed no changes even when he stepped back and reached within his hood with both hands to pull something over his head that had presumably rested about his neck and made to give it to her.

"This bring you back here and open portal if you decide to return by the same path." He explained, "Way is open for now. Will close behind." He gestured to the wall, which seemed no less insubstantial than before.

With the briefest of glances back over her shoulder at Hiei as she slipped the necklace on and tucked it underneath the shirt she wore under the cloak, Shikiyoku stepped forward, finding that the rock was no longer rock per se as it let her pass right through it.

The other side of the rock face left Shikiyoku in a pitch-black darkness that even her adjusted eyes could not penetrate and she came to a standstill after the first step, blinking and attempting to make out shapes of any kind.

Given that the ground underneath her feet suddenly felt smooth, unlike the cave floor she left behind, Shikiyoku took a cautious step forward, ears perked and other senses at attention in lieu of her blind vision.

The second step felt the same as the first, and with growing confidence, Shikiyoku continued forward.

A distant, yellow glow rapidly approached and Shikiyoku only slowed upon reaching it, finding that it was some sort of giant net that extended infinitely upwards as well as to either side.

Startled to find it here, she stopped, unsure if it would deter her progress or not. 3

Hiei had taken in his surroundings every step of the way, silently observing their escort and the placed he and Shikiyoku were lead. His eyes had stayed well adjusted to the dark, but what he saw gave no indication of where he was. For all he knew, he could be a thousand miles away from the town that he normally resided in, where Yusuke and the others of the team stayed. The darkness gave no hints of their location, and quite frankly, he didn't care at the moment. When they were to get back, however, he would make sure to take note of their surroundings again, just in case.

Even now, as he stood in front of a seemingly solid rock wall, he took in each nook and cranny of the dark, each shadow as if it had a story to tell him of their location.

He waited a moment before turning and nodding his silent appreciation to their escort, and then turned on his heels and followed after Shikiyoku.

His lip curled when he noted they were walking towards the Kekkai Barrier, but he wondered at Shikiyoku's pause. Had she not encountered it on her way out of Demon World the first time? Perhaps she was too keen on escaping to notice it. Hiei did not realize it covered the entirety of psuedospace between Human and Demon World.

Stepping up next to her, he sent Shikiyoku a brief glance.

"Spirit World doing. Demons below what they consider A-Class have no trouble traversing it." As if to prove his point, Hiei stretched out his hand and waved it casually through one of the bands of the net, appearing to meet with no resistance as the back of his fingers passed through.

For half a second he pondered what class the she-demon might be, and if it would be possible for their journey to end before it even started simply because her power level was higher than his.*

_A-Class? _Shikiyoku wondered, only casting her eyes at Hiei for a moment before turning back to the barrier. _What is A-Class?_

She almost voiced her question, but kept it to herself. No need to appear more ignorant.

Whatever it meant, Hiei had no trouble with this yellow net-like thing, so why should she?

In a similar manner to the fire demon, Shikiyoku reached up with a single hand, albeit slower, moving it forward until she almost met with the energy before pausing as if to gather herself, her brow turned downwards in a frown over her eyes.

All at once, Shikiyoku shoved her hand through the middle of one of the bands of energy.

The sensation flooded back to her as she vaguely recalled fleeing through this same barrier over fifteen years ago, but at the time had barely taken notice of it.

Brightening a little when she passed her hand through it, the Kekkai did not crackle or keep her at bay, but Shikiyoku felt that same slight resistance tug at her body as it had all the time ago, but just like before she continued through it, going ahead and moving forward to pass the net entirely and noting that Hiei had waited until she cleared it before following silently after her.

A few steps beyond it and the Kekkai Barrier winked out, leaving them in darkness again.

This time, however, the darkness felt familiar to Shikiyoku and she pressed forward with more confidence.

Without even bothering to pause, she silently addressed the seemingly empty air around her.

_He is with me. Let him pass by too._

A few more steps and a brightness of demonic daylight caused her to cringe and pause, the second thing that hit her being the smell. The third: the sounds.

As her eyes adjusted to the inexplicable daylight that filtered down through the foliage around her, she couldn't help the contented sigh as her eyes took in the deep red of the huge leaves and bushes and trees themselves, all around her their shades seemed to make one question if any other color existed.

Blood. The color of her home.

"It's been a long time." She murmured aloud to no one in particular. "It is good to be back."

Her cloak held hues of the living forest around her, and now that they were no longer in darkness, one could see the black was in fact a dark crimson, one that would let her disappear among the flora should she stay still for too long.3

The first sensation he was hit with was the smell. Blood and toxins, giant creatures and even larger plants. Even the smell of rotting flesh- from creature or demon, he didn't know- made him feel like he'd finally reached a goal he'd been attempting at for a lifetime.

Next came the sight, the color that bombarded his vision, the red hues challenging even the hue of his own eyes. The plants were each red, the more dangerous ones tinted much darker than the rest, but he knew better than to assume the light red, almost pink, plants were not of a hazard. Everything in Demon World could be considered a hazard, if used correctly.

The glint that flashed across Hiei's eyes was a glint of satisfaction, and he took a deep breath inwards, inhaling the scent he'd missed so much. They were finally back. He was home.

The air slowly left him through his nostrils, his expression almost a peaceful one.

"Indeed."

And for the moment, he only stood there, appreciating the sights, sounds, and smells of the place he'd been trying to return to for what felt like an eternity. *

Something settled strangely in Shikiyoku's stomach-_now what would he have me do?_-but she dismissed it for now, turning instead to the magnificence of satisfaction that returning home had swelled up inside her.

Shikiyoku turned back to see where they had just left, noting the arrangement of the foliage around them and giving a short bark of a laugh.

"I must have passed by this very space on many occasions without ever guessing that it led to Human World." She reached inside her cloak and pulled out the necklace to examine it.

She frowned down at the small, circular gem that looked incandescent like a pearl, but one that she knew came only from an Ice Maiden's tears. This one glowed strongly, an attribute Shikiyoku associated with it being near the gate they came through and she couldn't help staring at it longer than she meant to, a small smile forming on her lips as she recognized another attribute of the tear that she hadn't known before that moment: it resonated with its own peacefulness. A strange thing for something that came from a demon to be sure, but perhaps that only served to reflect the fact that its origins lay in sadness.

Before she became too enraptured, Shikiyoku put the tear away, knowing all too well the effects such a thing could have on a person.

She took a moment to stretch her arms up above her head, her cloak parting to reveal the snug, dark clothing she wore underneath. And as she stretched her arms, she also stretched out her energy, which she had kept pent up for so long.

It filtered into the air around her invisibly like a perfume, unable to be seen or sensed, but it seemed to shimmer on her skin and into her eyes, her scalp tingling as she felt it rummaging through her hair.

As she lowered her arms and relaxed again, a small rustling sound came from her left and she felt a sharpness touch her shoulder briefly for her attention.

A wicked-looking plant had lowered itself from somewhere above them, much larger than her hand which she took and scratched along the bottom jaw of the eyeless maw. It made a cooing noise at her in appreciation, shivering its leaves at her touch, then made another more inquisitive sound.

"Yes, I'm back." She took her nose and nuzzled it onto the large upper lip of the jaw that opened in a many toothed smile at her. "But don't go telling everyone, right?"

The plant tilted its head as if trying to understand and she laughed as she let go of it, her eyes scanning the trees above her as she searched for the path she somehow remembered from what seemed like ages ago.

"The ground is riddled with some nasty creatures around here." Shikiyoku easily made the leap into the safety of a ruby-colored tree over ten feet above their heads, almost blending in with the branches and leaves around her. "So, I suggest we stick to the high ground."

At that, she took off, demonic speed leading her with assurity along the branches from tree to tree along a path that was almost etched in her mind. 3

Hiei calmly turned to look around himself some more, this time assessing the different hazards he could see right off the bat. He identified the more prominent ones first, then just as quickly identified the smaller problems that, if combined, could lead to a very disastrous journey.

But Shikiyoku gained his attention, and he turned to see her communicating with a not-so-small plant, and he assumed she had made acquaintances with it long before retreating to Human World. He watched for a moment, amused, but the moment ended quickly and she was in the tree before he even had time to blink.

Not that it mattered, he followed her every motion with ease.

"Pests," he commented lightly as he joined her up in the leaves, easily keeping up with Shikiyoku as she took the lead. After all, he didn't know this area, and she would have to lead the way for this particular adventure.

Hey, at least he saw a new place he'd never seen before, right? *

"Pests is a rather mild way of looking at it." She continued the conversation with ease even at their rapid pace. "They'd just as soon eat me than look at me."

She fell silent, her sense of "completeness" having been fifteen years in waiting.

What Shikiyoku only knew on some level to be her scent in the air around her-since she could not smell it herself-was actually her energy permeating the immediate space about her body at much too high a level for even her to sense. It remained a constant, invisible, perfume-like aura that she only recognized as so much tension at the back of her neck that she had the freedom to finally release now that she stood back in the relative safety of Demon World.

As such, any hostility from the minor creatures around them dissipated when they maliciously approached her and Hiei, left frozen in place staring after her in wonderment until the "scent" around them faded. Any hazardous plant-life in their path simply parted to let her through, vines and leaves and everything else leaving her a passage free of snags and tears, neither them nor the creatures being fully sentient demons and as such being affected by her energy much differently.

Shikiyoku's thoughts bent towards their mission once they had set off at a fair pace, and towards the promise that Koenma might fulfill what she had written on that little slip of paper. Should she get for him what he wanted, perhaps he would in return get her what _she _wanted.

Or...at least...what she felt Hiei wanted.

"We have three cities between us and our destination." She spoke up finally, "We should go straight through, since going around will take much longer. It's surprisingly less of a hassle to deal with the demons within the walls than it is with the inhabitants outside of them.

"Naturally, we came out at the farthest point from where we need to be. Even at this pace, we won't reach the first city within twenty-four hours." She glanced upwards to gauge the time as the sky occasionally flashed into view between leaps and bounds of their path through the branches. "I'm not sure what week it is, so there's no telling how much of this daylight we have left. We probably have enough to reach the Keppan Mountains, and there's a valley in the middle of where they circle in which we can take refuge for rest. It's the safest place for miles." 3

Hiei's feet moved almost without his own thoughts about doing so, as if they'd been waiting to be able to run at such a speed and no longer cared what the mind had to say about it. It wasn't difficult to keep up, merely difficult not to pass Shikiyoku as she lead the way, plants even parting for their passing with what he assumed to mean her energy was freely doing whatever it took to keep the path ahead clear of danger.

At the thought of going through cities, a part of him shrunk, thinking of the many possibilities some cities held for distractions that could keep them off their course for several days. But, for the moment, he decided to trust her judgement. "Simple enough," he replied easily, as if he had no doubts at all in his mind.

Of course, his doubts were not in the leader. He held full confidence that she knew the area best. However, something nagged at the back of his mind, pulling for his attention, but he completely ignored it and concentrated on their path ahead.

"Assuming there are no such thing as delays, what's the estimation of time before we reach the place we were sent?" *

Shikiyoku smiled, sensing that the fire demon near her had much more to offer in speed than she was setting for their pace. Even so, she maintained her miles per hour, knowing there would be opportunity ahead for her, at least, to run full-tilt.

She made some quick calculations in her head.

"Three or four human days." There was no telling how much actual time would pass in Human World, of course, but she guessed it would take a little over seventy-two hours of the realm. She didn't look back, but she couldn't help the grin that spread over her features, "Of course, if you carried me, we could probably do it in less than two if we only stopped this once."

She had no intention of letting him carry her. 3

Hiei said nothing more about the time it would take; he wasn't surprised by how long this trip would take, since there hadn't been a deadline set to get back. In truth, he wished the expedition would take longer, give them time to fully take in their world before being sent back to the place he hated so much.

He pushed the thought away, along with the underlying thought that they could simply disappear if they wished. That would be something he would wait on, something he would consider once it was closer to time to leave.

Hiei's attention was pulled back as he almost missed the branch he hopped across, only just hearing Shikiyoku's words as he smoothly adjusted his stride through the branches of the trees.

A scoff escaped him. "If you can't run on your own two feet, then what would you be without me?" Of course, he was only half taunting. Plus, the longer they were here, the better off he felt. *

"Maybe I can fly." She fired back. "You don't know."

The air was getting to Shikiyoku's head and she nearly laughed at him.

As she ran a seemingly stray leaf fluttered into her path and stuck to her forehead, kept there by her forward motion. While her eyebrows moved downwards into a frown, the grin from before stayed at the amusement of the leaf that could now not leave.

Without pause she reached up and plucked it from her face, holding it in front of her eyes.

The edges of it were whipped around as she kept moving and she glanced at the ground underneath her as she ran, the leaf now wriggling between her fingers.

Whimsically, Shikiyoku leapt down to the forest floor, continuing her forward motion for a few steps along the ground, and held the leaf out to her right, dropping it and grinning as she easily made the return to the branches above just as a giant maw snapped shut around the leaf which squealed in pain and fell silent as the mouth came back open and spread back out onto the ground.

Shikiyoku had started jumping backwards from branch to branch in order to watch the trap do its work, a wild look in her eyes that did not pass as she spun back around in midair, laughing into the leaves around her as she did so. 3

Hiei turned his eyes down to the ground as he passed the trap that Shikiyoku had enticed, a shrill sound filling the air only for a moment before the only sounds were of himself and Shikiyoku again, and the leaves that moved with the wind that picked up. The dry air was hot, throwing dirt and various debris around and around, including the branches that occasionally swat down at him, but otherwise moved from his path.

Hiei's eyes moved skyward, looking through the breaks in the branches and leaves, searching for the creature that had begun making loud squawks from above. Their energy levels were low, as weak as most demonic creatures were, and while they posed no actual threat, he knew that even the lowest level of demon would not hesitate to make a swoop at him or Shikiyoku.

For the moment, the creatures were only moving ahead, seemingly uninterested, but he was careful to keep his senses aware of the creatures all around, occasionally moving away from whatever would have stood in his way. Might as well ignore the pests.

After all, he didn't work for pest control. *

The trees around them began thinning, though this did not slow their progress any, simply forcing their leaps to be longer ones between the trees, most of whom almost seemed to stretch to catch Shikiyoku in their embrace, her feet never allowed to falter or slip.

"Lake ahead." Was all she said in explanation of the trees that continued to lessen in density around them.

When in front of her eyes she could see the end of the treeline, Shikiyoku took one final leap as she broke out from the branches, the leaves whispering around her body as she escaped from them, hair streaming behind her along with her cloak as she shot upwards past the forest into the clearing.

The treeline extended in a giant circle to the left and right, indicating that the forest was not gone, simply staying out of the reach of the lake in the middle of them. The far shore was distant indeed as the enormous trees seemed only ten inches tall from this side.

Shikiyoku's feet hit the ground steadily and she took off running without pause, heading straight for the lake itself.

The water, if it was indeed water, looked like it could have been jello for how smooth the surface of it stayed, but here and there bubbles rose up from the deep to disturb the glass-like consistency, indicating that the lake was not a dead one, but had activities going on in its depths that were unseen from above.

Its waters were purple in color, a stark contrast to even the red shades of the grass over which Shikiyoku sped. As they approached, it became obvious that one would not be able to see much more than twenty feet down before the water became too dark for even demonic eyes to penetrate further..

At about fifty feet away, Shikiyoku burst almost instantaneously into full-speed, giving no hesitation about how she meant to traverse this lake.

Her dark hair still swept angrily about in the air behind her, her cloak covering her shoulders and upper body but flapping madly outwards from beyond her waist as she became just a crimson blur in the air.

Shikiyoku's eyes flashed with excitement as she neared the waters' edge, letting out any stops as her speed increased even just a little more, her first step so quick upon the water that she did not break through the surface's tension, but instead ran confidently along the surface leaving barely a ripple behind any time her foot contacted with the water.

Her path stayed straight over the top of the lake as she made a beeline for the other shoreline and the trees beyond.

The inhabitants of the water, made specifically for attacking anything that disturbed from above, stirred as she started across, here and there tentacle-like appendages, ranging from what could have been octopus-sized to a much more imposing kraken grasp, rising up and wriggling about, a few striking out at the places she had been moments before, but always missing her mere streak of a figure.

Shikiyoku could see a much larger disturbance of water in front of her, the lake starting to roil and shift into a bump growing steadily in size as something from below started rapidly approaching the surface.

A gigantic, carnivorous fish-creature burst out of the water and launched into the air with Shikiyoku in the path of his return, his jaws open and at least thirty feet across, lined with several rows of sharp, meat-tearing teeth.

Smirking, Shikiyoku lowered her body even closer to the water to streamline her wind resistance and allow her to speed up just fast enough that she practically flew under the belly of the beast as it passed over her, its trajectory missing the top of her head by mere feet.

His tail came down in an attempt to swipe her down into the water when he knew he missed his initial attack and Shikiyoku crouched further, her grin dangerous.

She silently dared the tail to hit her, but the timing was such that she simply dashed below it and out of the creature's shadow back into the daylight, not once pausing to look back. 3

Hiei had kept his senses almost entirely trained on the path ahead, the little bit he didn't use on his running and jumping used for searching for threats, none of which worried him in the slightest. Branches had fallen in his path, but instead of simply cutting through them as he normally would have the last time he'd been here, he merely ducked under them and around when he could. No need to harm the forestry within the first few moments of his return, right? They weren't attacking, merely moving back into the position they'd been in when disturbed by Shikiyoku's energy.

The second he heard her call about a lake ahead, His eyes turned back down to his path from the skies above, his steps becoming more measured as he began assessing Shikiyoku's reaction to such an anomaly.

But she didn't even pause, much to his amusement. While she ran over the water, Hiei decided to simply pick up his speed and go around, skirting the edge of the trees and lake easily, eyes all the while trained on Shikiyoku, just in case.

He had, of course, considered following, but she seemed to have it all under control, so he simply met her on the other side, batting away a few insects that emerged when he disturbed the grass area, the insects left as nothing more than limp bodies in his wake, their size almost as large as he was tall.

"Seems like you're rather amused," he commented lightly. *

Shikiyoku grinned impishly at him, her eyes sparkling, but she said nothing, leaping up into the treeline again once they approach and taking off into the overgrowth once more.

~!**!~

Mountains loomed before them after several more hours of running just as a dusk began settling across the sky. From far away, they did not appear to stretch very far in width, but the illusion was broken as the demonic pair came closer.

The giant peaks, though seen from the air to be merely a circle, extended as far as the eye could see in either direction from the ground.

They appeared a dusty orange and burnt yellow as the light began to fade, though in truth they were simply grey stone. Rising majestically out of the earth, they towered above even the highest of the trees in the surrounding forest, commanding the attention of all the area. They appeared still, no movement to be seen on their sides, frozen in time, sentinels gazing out ever-watchful of the activities happening beneath their monstrous peaks.

As with the lake, it was almost like even the trees stayed a respectful distance from the foot of the mountains, the closest ones at least fifty feet out.

Shikiyoku did not stop as she broke out of the trees again, arcing through the air to land confidently upon the reddened dirt outside the range of the treeline where even the grass did not try to grow.

She finished the distance to the mountains without pause and began scaling the side in leaps and bounds, zig-zagging back and forth higher and higher up, the ground falling away behind her.

The outside of the mountains was covered in a red dust that got kicked up each time Shikiyoku landed before taking off again.

Twilight had settled across the Ninth Level just as they reached a place inbetween the mountains, a shoulder where they could start to make passage into the interior that the mountains encircled.

With just a score more in feet, they reached a place where the mountains dropped back down and the valley opened out before them and Shikiyoku at the sight did stop for a moment, resting a hand against the mountain and standing still as her eyes took it all in.

This side of the mountains was blackened as if burnt, as was all of the foliage of the valley below. The trees here seemed different, of varying sizes some of which did rival the red ones they left behind, but much stiller compared to those before. The air felt less menacing, and there were no creatures in sight, and in fact there were no creatures at all, nothing of danger to worry about.

In the distance, between trees, there was a slight twinkling that indicated water, but they were still so far away that nothing more could be seen of it immediately.

Shikiyoku smiled and said nothing to Hiei at first, but this...this was home. Or it had been. A very long time ago.

"There's a story demons tell about this place." She began as her eyes scanned the valley beneath them. "The first demon, the one who fell from above, broke through all eight layers of what would become known as Demon World and landed here, on the final level. He fell so fast that he became sheathed in fire on the way down, and he hit so hard that the ground rose up around him. There was much blood spilled from his impact and it flew up so high into the air that it showered down on the Ninth Level for six days, which is why everything here is red. It took him all six of those days to recover, and he spent every minute of it with his entire body encased in the flames from his descent. That's why this side of the mountains is black. And everything that's grown here since then has been black as well."

For the first time in her life, Shikiyoku felt a sudden shyness as she gave a sidelong glance at Hiei, her lips turned upwards in a small smile that reflected that same shy feeling.

"You're the only other being that's ever been in this place." She cast her gaze back out over the valley. "If we don't count the first demon." She added quietly as an afterthought as she began hopping down the side of the mountain to the ground below. 3

Hiei pulled to a stop beside Shikiyoku, crimson eyes taking in the scenery below. For the first time in what felt like ages, he'd had a little trouble keeping up, the terrain having been something other than he'd initially expected, but he had adjusted enough to only put him a few seconds behind Shikiyoku.

So by the time he stopped beside her, she was telling a rather interesting story, one that he hadn't heard before. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and then back down to the darkened mountainside, taking everything in like a sponge with water.

Curiosity hit him, and he glanced at her just in time to catch her soft smile. For a moment, that smile threw him off guard, and he stared before turning back to the land outstretched before them. "And why might that be?"

He wondered why she would take him here, if no other being besides herself had passed through. Was it a closed-off territory, meant for no trespassers, or was it simply because of the terrain difficulties? "Rather interesting," he admitted in a quiet voice, more to himself than to her as he followed after once more, feet swiftly adjusting to each step he made. *

As they descended, Shikiyoku thought back to the circumstances that drove her here.

She had not been very old for a demon, hardly more than a toddler. Her mother banished her from the place she had been born, compelling her to avoid all contact with other demons.

For good reason.

As it was, she'd been forced to wander the outskirts of the ninth level, nearly getting caught at one point and retreating up one side of these mountains, leaving the demons who chased her behind as they appeared hesitant to so much as approach, much less climb, the side of the mountain.

"I think because...demons are scared of this place because of the story, as if a demon big enough to make a crater like this was something to stay away from, both it and the valley it made alike."

Fortune had smiled on her that day, and she'd practically grown up in this peaceful valley.

On this side of the mountain, once they went down far enough, there were trees scattered sparsely along the slope, as if defiantly attempting to climb out themselves.

A cool, comforting breeze starting blowing through the leaves below them as Shikiyoku jumped down off the side of the mountain, this time to the ground beneath the trees.

Nothing here reacted to her presence, and her running slowed as they reached the far left side of the valley, a small clearing opening up that had one extra large tree growing up out of the middle of it.

Shikiyoku stopped here and stood, hands on her hips, looking up at the tree that could have rivaled a Yggdrasil in its size, the trunk so big around that it would have taken ten of her to encircle it with her arms. The roots made a sort of small cove that she fondly remembered laying in, her head resting up against the trunk as she slept with no fear, a truly deep sleep.

She absently took a bite of the fruit she'd pulled down on their way, tossing a second in Hiei's direction as she slipped off her cloak, the black of her outfit making her blend in more appropriately with their surroundings as opposed to sticking out like so much crimson blood against the dark ground.

She pointed lazily to a particular tree across the way as she took another bite, not bothering to swallow before she spoke up.

"Any of the fruit here is edible. And safe. These ones grow in those trees." She regarded the fruit curiously. Its meat-flavor was one she hadn't forgotten, but its juiciness had always struck her as an odd combination.

"And that one," She pointed to a different tree on the other side, "Has especially sweet fruit." She kept pointing. "That one is sour. That one is spicy." She swallowed, pausing before she took another bite, "Don't mix up which is which." She advised wryly as she bit her teeth down into the juicy meat-fruit again, sounding like one who had experience with such a notion. 3

Hiei had followed to the very bottom of the clearing, his eyes scanning the area or any danger, though he could already tell there was no such thing here. Even the plants were peaceful, and he figured no demon would dare disrupt such a haven. It made even him feel as if this place could be called home, if he so desired to call it such a thing.

With lazy ease, Hiei caught the fruit that was tossed at him, grasping it from the air and inspecting it curiously, taking in its texture, its appearance, and its smell before deciding to even try it. He was quick to look up and follow the direction Shikiyoku's finger pointed, memorizing each tree and the type of fruit it bared as he lifted the one in his hand to his mouth, taking a small bite and finding himself unsure what he thought of such a thing.

His expression shifted, nose crinkling and eyes narrowing at the strange flavor, the strange texture of the fruit that he now stared at. He rolled it over and over in his hand as he chewed and swallowed the small bite he'd had.

"Interesting," he commented for the second time in the past half hour, lifting the fruit to his mouth again and taking another bite, this time finding it satisfactory. Curious, he turned and made his way to the tree that held the "spicy" fruit, plucking a small pear-like fruit from the branches and inspecting it as well before taking a bite, eyes widening with surprise at the amount of heat that immediately burned at his lips and tongue, the texture gruffer than that of the smooth meat-like fruit. Together, it was a rather delicious taste.

"I assume we're staying here for a bit?" he asked, not caring that his mouth was full. *

By the time Hiei turned back around, Shikiyoku had finished the one fruit and now held three more, standing in the same spot looking as if she'd never left to snatch them from the trees nearby.

She only nodded, contemplating the fruit from which she'd just taken a bite thoughtfully.

She did answer after swallowing this time, still staring down at the fruit, her voice only a murmur, "I wanted to stop here. At least for a little bit. It's been so long." She lifted her head and gazed dreamily off into the distance, enjoying the peacefulness that she always had associated with her former home.

Seeing that Hiei had nearly finished what he held, she absently tossed him one of the two in her hands, "Here's a sweet one."

She didn't realized she'd actually tossed him the sour of the two that she had in her grasp, promptly walking forward to lay her cloak over one of the roots that bent upwards out of the ground from the tree before them. 3

Hiei had taken turns biting once from both fruits until he had nearly finished them off, the spicy one being devoured much faster due to its smaller size compared to the meat-like fruit. He swallowed another bite and glanced at the tree that he had harvested the spicy one from, considering grabbing another despite his burning lips and tongue, when Shikiyoku called to him.

He turned to face her, mouth full of the meaty fruit again when he realized she was tossing him another, finding that the idea of a sweet taste after such a combination he'd just had sounded very appealing. He could only imagine what it tasted like, though it could be completely different than what he had thought. He was expecting an immense amount of sweetness, so he finished off the meaty fruit before tearing a small part of the fruit away from the skin of it, inspecting it between his index and thumb before tossing it into his mouth.

And the shock he received made his entire body jerk and then promptly go still, his eyes wide as saucers as the intense sour sensation filled his mouth, making his lips pull inward and his eyes squeeze shut with the sensation he experienced with his tastebuds.

A cough shook his chest, but he did not spit out the fruit. He bravely swallowed it, the sour sensation lingering, even seeming to strengthen once the bite was gone from his teeth.

His eyes narrowed once they were reopened, a glare being sent over to Shikiyoku. He opened his mouth to speak, but the air that he sucked in reacted almost violently with the sourness that still coated his tongue, making him turn and spit out as much of the vile liquid as he could in utter disgust. It took everything in his power not to retch at the awful combination he'd just experienced.*

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	31. Episode 116 - At Home and In The Gym

**A/N: **Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!

This chapter contains my favorite moment of all time between Akari and Kurama. At least...up to this particular point in the roleplay it's definitely my favorite scene between them. I'm sure you'll see why when you get to the end of it.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

A demon named Gekijou on the Ninth Level of Demon World has had contact with Otento,  
and Koenma wants any and all information about Otento and his plans that she knows.

Shikiyoku agrees to go on the mission for the Prince, but on her terms,  
which includes a slip of paper of her demands which she gives to Koenma.

She knows Koenma cannot promise her that the warrant will be lifted, since it was his father who issued it,  
and Koenma tells her that he will try his best to do as she asks of him.

And so, Shikiyoku and Hiei's trek into Demon World goes off without a hitch  
They arrive in the Ninth Level, Shikiyoku's birthplace,  
and make the easy journey to a valley within the Keppan Mountains,  
a place Shikiyoku considers home.

Meanwhile...back in Spirit World...

* * *

The room was silent, other than the occasional sound that echoed off the walls, accompanied by heavy breathing and an occasional sound of frustration. The lights were brighter here than in the rest of the castle Akari had seen, and it made the room seem as if it were hotter than any other.

Her hair, which was up in a long ponytail, slapped against the bare skin of her back, sticking to the stream of sweat that had formed all over her body. Her hand wiped at her face, forcing the salt from her eyes as she gave a huff and took a step back from her opponent, who, for the moment, was an actual person Koenma had allowed her to borrow.

Or rather, he'd sent this demon to ensure she was satisfied, and, well, this was how it had ended up.

Her fists flew again, meeting the pads of the fighting equipment that the demon wore, who easily ensured that his hand blocked hers from his body. He hadn't given many pointers in the last hour, and quite frankly, she was fine with that. It gave her an opportunity to think as if this person were an actual enemy.

Except that he wouldn't allow her to use her energy. He wearily evaded her shadows, sending warning glares each time her energy began to spread throughout the room again. She hadn't been able to test her newest idea on him, since he didn't allow such close contact to be made.

A growl escaped her and she hit him on the chest this time, hard, with her flat palm as a signal of surrender. She wasn't gaining what she'd originally intended anyway.

"I appreciate the tips, but I'd rather be alone," she huffed out at the demon, who merely nodded, dropped the pads he'd been holding, and promptly left the room without even a glance back. She watched him go, using the towel she'd placed around her neck to dab away at her face again, her other hand pulling her hair from her back.

She glanced down at herself and sighed. She hadn't considered Koenma sending people to check on her, otherwise she would have worn something other than the human training outfit that did very little in concealing her scars. With shorts that were almost too short to be comfortable and only half of her upper body covered, she considered placing her jacket and sweats back on.

But she should be left alone now. For a while, at least.

She turned and glanced at the many different pieces of fighting equipment in the room, eyes fixating on the largest punching bag that hung from the ceiling, roughly the size of the demon she and Kurama had taken down. Determined to continue on for a few more hours, in the least, she wasted no time in crossing the room and taking her stance again, this time imagining her training days with Sensui and starting from the beginning, fists flying with as much speed as she could muster. *

~!**!~

Kurama shifted his weight around on the short wooden stool upon which he sat, crouching back over the trough that barely rose in height above his ankles.

He held his hands over the white dirt within, eyes closed, though the room was pitch black around him save for the seed that pulsated with a silver color in the dirt that he concentrated manipulating with his energy.

A drip of sweat ran a trail down his cheek to his chin before dropping between his thighs to the concrete floor and he could feel his back sticking to the white sleeveless shirt he wore, the jacket he'd worn into the room already cast off to the side.

Feeling the seed with his energy, feeding it, coaxing it, he managed to split it into two identical slivers of life that each pulsed together as if of one heart.

At that, Kurama released them and sat back, stretching his neck and feeling it pop on the one side before he rotated his shoulders around once in their sockets in an attempt to release some of the tension that had built up all along them and his chest.

Putting his hands on his knees, he pushed himself up from the stool and rubbed a hand absently on the back of his neck as he picked up his jacket and walked over to the door he could barely make out in the gloom.

He blinked when he opened it, the bright lights of the gym blinding him briefly as he bent over the gym bag he'd carried inside with him and placed his jacket on top of it.

Leaving the door open behind him, he turned back to the room full of his various gardening-type manipulation tools and plucked the two seeds from the dirt, holding one in each hand before heading back out into the gym, his eyes searching the room.

He moved towards a pair of dummies, picking them up by the throats easily and placing them a few feet from the door he'd come through. He went and gathered two more, spying the last one near the biggest punching bag the room had.

As he got closer, the sound of fighting rang in his ears and he realized the sound had been there the whole time, but that he'd only just now taken notice of it.

He made no motions to hide his path directed at the dummy he sought to snag, but when he got around the edge of the bag and saw Akari, his paused for just an instant to watch her before turning with a small smile and moving to pick up the final dummy.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku knew nothing of the encounter Hiei was having with the sour fruit behind her, and so when she took a bite of the sweet fruit in her hand, her eyes widened and she immediately spit the piece out, her brain all sorts of confused as she held the fruit away from her body as if it were poisoned, eyeing it balefully.

She smacked her lips together twice, running her tongue inbetween her teeth in disgust as she found herself unable to comprehend the flavor that she had fully expected to be completely sour.

But if this was the sweet one...that meant the sour one...

Oops.

She turned to see the last of Hiei's experience, him spitting out the juice from his mouth, and she quickly sped as quietly as possible to a nearby tree, several feet beyond the clearing, hiding up inside it lest she be a target of Hiei's obvious ire.

When she got in the branches, she maneuvered around so that she was on the opposite side from the clearing, and consequently Hiei, crouching on the tips of her toes and sitting very still, her hair and outfit blending almost perfectly with the leaves and the trunk she sat back against.

She wasn't quite so frightened that she forgot about the fruit in hand, however, and this time around when she took a large bite the sweetness burst wonderfully onto her tongue and she munched happily for the moment, forgetting about all about Hiei as her eyes closed in an expression of enjoyment. 3

Hiei had seen the very last motion in the tree of a passerby skirting up into the branches, and his eyes narrowed. He hadn't appreciated her "joke" in any way at all, and he found his irritation rising at her retreat. He stood there for a moment, judging where Shikiyoku had gone before he slowly and quietly moved to the base of the tree she had shimmied up. His red irises looked up into the branches, searching expertly for a shadow that did not move with the leaves as a slight breeze passed.

After a moment, he heard the smallest of sound and he moved with instinct, quickly slipping up into the darkened branches and following his instinct, quickly closing the distance between himself and Shikiyoku, who, when he got closer, he could see chewing happily on the fruit in her hand.

The scent that wafted to his nose was one he better associated with sweetness than anything else in the area, and without even a beat's hesitation, he descended upon her, the slight breeze making his cloak whip behind him at the sudden fall from above. A single hand grabbing the wrist that held the fruit and taking it from her grasp, replacing it with the half-squeezed sour fruit and promptly taking a bite from the sweet one he now held in his possession.

Now that's more like it.

As he chewed, he stared at her with flashing irises, daring her to challenge him.

~!**!~

Akari had gotten back into a rhythm in mere moments, eyes focused on the large red bag that hung from the ceiling, her mind creating images of an attacker. It was all she could do, since the demon she'd attempted to fight with had been rather uncooperative and hadn't given her the chance to try anything worth her time.

Her fists hit, making a pop sound against the leather before her foot followed after, the thunk echoing throughout the spacious room as she imagined the attacker coming at her. Completely immersed in her own world of fighting, her body moved, bouncing slightly back and forth as she constantly continued moving about, as any demon smart enough would do.

At the edges of her mind, she registered the slightest sound in the room, but ignored it since the equipment tended to slide around sometimes, and the most recently moved equipment had been stacked in a precarious pile nearby.

When her fist struck this time, it was with every ounce of her strength, making a small sound bubble from her lips before she stepped away in thought, trying to remember anything else that might help while she had the time to herself, still completely unaware of anyone else in the room as she again peeled her hair from her soaked back. *

Kurama quietly made his way back to the other dummies, which he shifted further backwards before taking a stand about fifteen feet away from them.

He stood absolutely still for another moment, closing his eyes and reaching with his demonic energy into the seeds in his hands.

More beads of sweat formed at his hairline and his eyebrows twitched slightly in concentration as he divided the seeds in his palms one more time until he held four.

Taking another minute to strengthen them, he allowed one in each hand to start pulsating with power again before bringing his hands up and crouching, picturing the dummies before him in his mind's eye.

_Rose Whip!_

Two white vines erupted from each hand, covered in thorns, elongating until they rested onto the ground, then growing two more feet.

Kurama's breath came heavier now, and a sheen settled over his bare arms and shoulders from the sweat.

He began lashing out at the dummies, eyes still closed, whipping out an intricate pattern between the two vines he held as he rolled his wrists to vary the attacks. He took steps to the right, continuing the variations and slowly started circling in that direction around the five dummies, hearing the whips lash successfully against their bodies each time.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes widened considerably at the sudden appearance of Hiei, her mouth having been opened in preparation of taking another huge bite of the fruit which he had just snatched from her grasp only to replace it almost instantaneously with the one she meant to feast upon in the first place.

She sat paused in that position for a few seconds as he munched, silently challenging her to take the fruit back, and then she finally sank her own teeth into the sour fruit she held, eyes turning downwards to consider it as the flavor exploded into her mouth.

She did, however, half-heartedly reach out with her other hand in a brisk motion in an attempt to steal the fruit from Hiei back. 3

Hiei took a second bite of the fruit in his hand, much more satisfied with this taste than his previous one. The flavor was remarkable, even better than sweet snow. Okay, so maybe not so much that…

But he did enjoy it immensely, even as he moved it just out of Shikiyoku's reach with a warning glare. He swallowed the mouthful of the fruit he had at that moment before actually deciding to speak up, moving to the branch above to ensure she couldn't make another swipe at the fruit in his hand so easily.

"Get another. I have claimed this one for the trouble you caused."

He took another bite, happy with the sweet juice that flooded his mouth.

~!**!~

Akari stared at the object in front of her in thought, trying to ignore the feeling of sweat running down her shoulders, her arms, her neck and legs. How long had she been here? It was hard to tell since she'd been so focused today.

A sigh left her lips as another small sound was heard in the room. Footsteps? But just as soon as she thought she had heard the noise, it was gone, and she ignored it, turning back to the punching bag with a new idea in mind. Her energy moved about her, staying within close proximity as she attempted to concentrate the majority of it in her hand.

But this time, there was no mistaking the sound she heard within the room. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the loud crack that resounded, her eyes widening. When had someone entered? How had they done so without her notice?

Carefully, she stepped away from the punching bag, looking about until her eyes landed on a form that moved about in a manner that reminded her of a hunter stalking its prey. Kurama lashed at some dummies she hadn't seen be moved, and for the mere second, her breath stopped.

She hadn't brought her bag close enough for her to get into without notice.

Maybe, if she just…. quietly moved across the room… she wouldn't be seen in such a ridiculous outfit, and the fox wouldn't have to see the marble scarring of her skin. *

Kurama knew the instant the punching from the other side of the room stopped and he stood up, dropping his hands to his sides and opening his eyes to see Akari watching him.

"Sorry." He apologized, lifting one of the whips to indicate he meant for the noise they caused, his breath currently taking a moment to catch up. He began moving towards his bag near the open door, flicking both wrists to gather the vines of the whips into his hands, his shirt sticking to his chest uncomfortably now.

"I had hoped you wouldn't be interrupted." He nodded to her as he got closer, sensing her uneasiness, but still stopping at his gym bag like he meant to.

Before he had a chance to recall the whips into their seed form, they pulsed angrily in his hands, their entire forms quivering once before shattering in his grasp like so much glass.

He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his face away as the pieces flew into the air, one managing to slit his cheek just enough to make it bleed, and he could feel blood beginning to trickle in his hands as the slivers dissipated into the air like nothing happened, leaving behind no trace of existence save for the tiny stripes of cuts they left behind.

Kurama ruefully opened his hands to look at the two seeds left in his palms, seeing the various breaks on his skin where the previous silver whips had been moments before. He sighed longsufferingly and continued the last few steps to his bag, starting to unbutton the top two buttons of his shirt as he did so.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku started to stand up and turned to face Hiei, reaching upwards and mumbling, "I meant to give you that one in the first place."

Her free hand brushed his shoulder as she bypassed him completely and grasped the fruit hanging near his head, plucking it from its place and promptly biting into it, releasing the sweet smell of its fragrance into the air and glaring right back into Hiei's eyes as she defiantly took another bite before she finished chewing the first. 3

Hiei ignored Shikiyoku's words altogether, finding that they took away from the amusement he had briefly felt at having simply taken from her, only to end up even more disappointed when he realized they were sitting in the very tree that harbored the same fruit he just popped the last bit of into his mouth.

So much for that.

He looked down at her with a raised brow, as if asking "and your point is?" Almost as soon as he swallowed the last bite of the fruit he had confiscated from her, he found another, inspected it for soft spots where it could have begun going bad, and once satisfied he bit into that one as well. This one had more juice than the other did, some even dripping onto his fingers once the skin of it had been torn away.

"The sour ones are disgusting," he finally replied, deciding he might as well continue the conversation.

~!**!~

Akari had jolted to a stop mid-step backwards when Kurama looked up, his eyes smiling as he apologized with the small huff of air he gave that almost identically matched her own. Immediately, her arms crossed over her stomach, hiding as much of herself as she could manage.

_Why today, of all days?_

"Next time, you should, uh" she paused, her mind scrambling to form a coherent thought that _wouldn't _have anything to do with getting away, "I dunno, let someone know you're here? Not that I would've done much harm, but an attack of any kind isn't pleasant, don't you think?"

She was rather proud of herself for the slightly sarcastic recovery.

When he passed by her, making it so that his back was to her as he reached a bag she hadn't noticed, she quickly turned to retreat, making a swift attempt for her own bag that was, sadly, almost clearly across the room from her.

_Of all people… __*****_

"I could say the same to you." He replied congenially. "I'm fairly certain I have been here much longer today than you."

The shirt only had a couple of buttons at the top and after getting them undone, Kurama slipped it off over his head, promptly using it to wipe away the blood from his hands.

As he looked down, he noticed a particularly long strike down the side of his stomach and he released another brief sigh of a breath, wiping away at the blood there too as he absently considered what he could do next time to either strengthen the demonic seeds or perhaps lengthen their allowed existence in whip form. He made a mental note to check his work on the dummies to make for sure there were no inconsistencies in the pattern he marked upon them.

"You have nothing to be self-conscious about, you know." He called out to the only other person in the room, his eyes alighting on the scars that decorated his now-bare chest and abdominal muscles here and there, some only slivers of regrown skin barely visible while one or two others-like the slice across his stomach-were nearly as harsh and dark as the ones Sensui claimed as self-inflicted.

He knew his back was coated in the same fashion, 'trophies' of the high constitution that he used to his advantage in order to analyze his enemies in battle, and he spied the rather nasty one on the inside of his right arm where he'd planted the death seed in the Dark Tournament, the former injury having left permanent scars looking almost like he'd purposefully tattooed a viney plant that ran up from his wrist to his elbow where it not for the obvious scar tissue in place.

"They're just a living testament to the fact that you survived whatever was thrown at you."

Kurama did not feel ashamed of the scars. At least it did not appear so to anyone that knew him. But somewhere in the back of his mind he must have viewed them as...imposing perhaps, considering he was supposed to be the model student and loving son. He had not gone around without long-sleeves in several years, much less allowed himself to be seen without a shirt. In fact, he doubted even Hiei knew of the markings.

He tossed a quick glanced over his shoulder at Akari.

For that matter, he did not think anyone had seen them before, though he sensed that Toriko knew about them well enough.

He realized he'd stopped his cleaning after a moment of staring down at the blood-stained shirt and shook his head to clear his thoughts, spying another fresh cut or two on the upper parts of his arms and reaching over to at least get the running blood away quickly, before Akari could get much further away.

His skin still glistened with sweat, though having the shirt off helped cool him immensely.

He'd completely forgotten about the slice on his cheek, the blood moving slowly for his chin only feeling like another drop of sweat, as he turned to face Akari again, lowering his hands to gaze after her only long enough to pull one hand out of the shirt, crumpling it up in the other as he trotted silently to catch up to her, lightly touching her shoulder with a hand to let her know he was there, hoping she might turn around and face him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku hadn't sat back down, still standing on the branch she'd gotten onto to reach for the sweet fruit and she munched quietly for a moment.

"I like sour things." She murmured more to herself than to him, "And I bet you're enjoying the sweetness of that fruit all the more now because of it, too."

She lifted her head as another cool breeze swept over them, her eyes closing in enjoyment. She did not feel _tired_, per se, but she did think she might enjoy a bit of rest, and if there was one thing this valley did right, it was the kind of rejuvenation one felt after resting within it. 3

Hiei lowered himself to sit on the branch, deciding he would very much enjoy sitting among the branches of the tree he would very much enjoy eating from the most often. Yes, the other fruits had been delectable, especially when combined. However, Hiei found himself much more satisfied with the sweetness than anything else. Perhaps his sweet tooth was never satiated.

His red eyes followed Shikiyoku's movements as she spoke up, though he wasn't really sure she was talking to him specifically or just thinking aloud. But he responded anyway with a slight shrug, "I could do without." He paused, his lips lifting into a slight sneer, "Actually, I'd prefer to stay as far away from it as possible."

He took another large bite of the fruit, pushing the chunk to the left side of his mouth, pressing against his cheek as he chewed little by little, savoring the taste.

"Sweet, however, is my favorite."

~!**!~

Akari's feet almost scuttled across the ground as she scurried away, eyes locked on her bag with determination to at least receive her jacket, despite the sweat that still rolled down her arms and neck. She didn't reply to the words that seemed to only drift across the room at her, though several emotions did arise at his words. She didn't have to guess that he had scars of his own, but his were different.

She hadn't realized he had caught up to her until his hand made contact with her bare shoulder. She quickly pulled away from him and spun to face him, jaw set as she bit back words only for a moment.

"_This_ is different," she replied quickly, voice quiet as if she had trouble deciding what tone to use. "Yours were from battles, from fights that you could have gotten away from if you so desired." Her breath hitched slightly and she turned her eyes to the side, only glancing at his own scars for a moment before turning away from them.

She slowly let out a long huff of air through her teeth, taking another step away from the redhead. "Yours are different." _*****_

Kurama stood silently as she spoke, refraining from mentioning that several of them originated from the Dark Tournament, something he could _not _actually get away from without sacrificing the lives of his comrades, and possibly his own.

"Different, how?" He pressed. "Different in that they make my words any less true?" He had to resist reaching out and drawing a hand over over one of hers. "You may consider them marrings, and I would tell you they are not. Each one has a story. A beautiful one, because it is in the past and it did not kill you. Your past, your memories, they may make up who you are, but I can see as well as anyone that you do fairly well in not letting it define _who_ you are."

He tilted his head to consider her for a moment, before suddenly jumping back and activating the two seeds still in his hands, the white vines snaking out from his grasp as he cracked one in the air beside him.

"Show me." His gaze stayed steady on her as he crouched, his words low, almost a dare.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku found that she couldn't help the softening that reached her eyes as Hiei sat down and she stood there only a moment longer herself, briefly lost in her musing.

She wasn't exactly sure what possessed her to show Hiei this place.

Her eyes gazed past him into the surrounding area.

It was really a very private thing.

There had not been a single other Champion that she even whispered about 'home' to, and yet here she was, practically giving Hiei tips to surviving within the valley. As if she expected for him to return to it one day, as if she prepared him for that inevitability.

The air rustled the leaves around them in the pair's silence, and Shikiyoku hopped down from the tree with ease, slowly starting to meander off as she looked around her, taking in each bush and tree and plant as she slowly made her way off. 3

Hiei had just gotten comfortable watching her curiously, noting the expression on her face was almost a far away one, as if she were lost in another world briefly. For the first time, he wondered what had her looking by him like she was, curious about her thoughts. But he let his curiosity simmer before it died away as she moved away as well.

He didn't make any motion to follow, instead taking another fruit from the tree as he took a bite from the one he still had yet to finish, taking his sweet time in finishing it off.

If she wanted him to follow, then she would turn around and wait on him, or in the very least she would say something.

He leaned further back against the bark, eying the fruit that hung around him. He hoped they didn't have to leave so quickly.

~!**!~

Hazel eyes turned back to Kurama as he spoke, her expression forcing into a neutral mask in an attempt to veil the thoughts that ran across her mind. Several different choice words came to mind, but none of them would have accomplished much of anything other than upsetting herself, since she knew Kurama would simply talk through it, as he was doing at the moment.

"Some stories are preferred to be left untold," she responded dryly, only just noticing the stream of crimson that had slid down his face. She considered it for a moment before deciding to ignore it, since he moved away from her.

The crack of the whip he conjured made her give a small start, and just as quickly as he had moved, she was in defensive mode, weight on the front of her toes and eyes wearily regarded the weapon. _What are you up to?_

The tone he used made her eyes narrow at the redhead. "Don't," she said quietly, voice low to match his tone. She wasn't sure what he wanted to accomplish, but fighting him in any way was not something she wanted to do. _*****_

Kurama stood back up, a white, thorny vine still in either hand. He lazily raised one arm and pointed it at her before flicking his wrist, making the whip crack next to her body before lowering that arm.

"Why not?" He had no intentions of stopping, keeping his eyes trained on hers.

He did the same with the left arm now, raising it slowly before flicking his wrist again and snapping it near her face.

"You'll have to stop me yourself." He made a dash towards her.

~!**!~

Just before she wandered out of range of the tree she knew Hiei would likely fall asleep in, Shikiyoku paused and dashed back up it, reappearing by his side in little less than an instant, her hands bracing herself on a branch next to him.

Without allowing herself time to think, she leaned over it and kissed Hiei softly on the cheek, pulling back and murmuring, "Thank you." Before blushing deeply and running off again, disappearing as a mere black blur back into the forest that blended in exceedingly well with her surroundings, refusing to look back at him. 3

Hiei wiped at his chin idly, realizing he'd had some of the juices from the fruit escape him. He glanced at the fruit where he had bitten away from, the yellowed inside almost completely drenched. He quickly took another bite before the sticky liquid could fall away from him, not wanting to waste any part of the fruit in any way.

And as he pulled the fruit away, Shikiyoku was suddenly beside him, her lips making contact with his cheek that had the fruit pressed against the inside. His body went still aside from his eyes, which slid over to catch a glimpse of the girl who retreated just as quickly as she had approached.

After a few moments, he turned away and resettled against the bark, calling, "I've done nothing more than eat your fruit."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes narrowed further at Kurama as the whip cracked nearby, all thoughts of anything else gone and replaced with caution and concentration. He wouldn't…. would he?

The second lash of the whip that came close to her face this time made her flinch slightly at the extreme proximity, but otherwise she stood her ground. She opened her mouth to speak, to try and talk her way out of the predicament, but he was already moving towards her, telling her that the only way she would get away is if she made him stop.

She quickly moved away, out of range of the weapons he wielded, all thoughts and attempts of talking through the moment staunched and replaced with thoughts of movements that would not land her with a strike.

Obviously, close contact was not an option.

She tugged at her energy, letting it slowly move through her veins and fuel her movements, making her steps more fluid and sure as she danced away from Kurama as much as possible. "I hope those fall apart," she commented with a tone of irritation as her energy began tugging at shadows around the room. Almost immediately, a dark figure formed in the shape of a person roughly Kurama's size that moved fluidly in front of the redhead as a deterrent. _*****_

Immediately Kurama lashed out at the shadow, his whip making contact with it several times before returning to his side, but appearing to do nothing as his weapon passed through its form.

He made no move to slow down or consider it otherwise, instead continuing on through the shadow to get to Akari.

The sickness that hit his stomach was immediately analyzed and promptly ignored, though he heightened his awareness of his own body to make for sure there would be no lingering effects other than the chill whose shiver he did not allow to do much more than pass across his mind.

Gripping the whip in his left hand tighter for a moment, he passed his energy through it as he raised it and flicked his wrist.

The thorns on the vine disappeared into the white surface, making it smooth as it contacted with Akari's wrist and wrapped itself around her forearm.

He followed quickly after his whip, closing the distance between them and tugging Akari back towards him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku skidded to a stop, lifting her ear to hear Hiei's words carry to her on the wind, and she turned around for a moment, smiling broadly with her hands on her hips.

"You've done much more than just that, flame-boy!" She called back, staying like that for another moment as she focused her eyes in on him, easily picking out the white star of his hair and the white fabric around his neck against the darkness.

As for what else he'd done, Shikiyoku left him to muse on it, whipping back around and strolling off again, shoving her hands down into the pockets of her black pants.

When she remembered the direction she was going though, and why she'd chosen that way, she picked up the pace again, pulling her hands out as she began to run for the sake of it and feeling the stickiness between her fingers. As she licked her lips, she realized she must have picked up some of the juice from Hiei's cheek and the smile that had faded away returned at the thought as she swiped the back of her hand against them. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku as she turned to look up at him, spotting him easily it seemed, though he figured it was made easier because of the scarf he had brought with him that contrasted so much with his surroundings. Her response was one that made him raise a brow curiously, suddenly wondered what she thought he'd done that meant he deserved thanks.

Sure, there were instances, but the only thing he could think of that called for appreciation was the Otento-

His mind immediately shut out the image that tried to weasel its way into his mind's eye and looked to the fruit in his hand. After a small moment of silent contemplation, he took another bite and turned to Shikiyoku again, watching as she broke into a run across the landscape.

"Hn."

Akari felt it in her energy when Kurama passed through her shadow, because the form dissipated almost as soon as he had broken away from it, practically returning to her in the form of broken up shadows that swirled about lazily around her feet, waiting for orders that she didn't have. She huffed to herself as she saw him lift the whip again, and in a single moment, she found it wrapping about her wrist and arm, thornless, and her instincts kicked in.

She pulled on it, slightly desperate, while her shadows made quick work of enveloping the weapon in hopes of making it easier to break free. If her energy clashed with his, maybe it would allow her the ability to get away.

But to her own dismay, she found herself being tugged towards the redhead who was still moving to close the distance. "Let. Go." she growled out as she continued to pull and resist, not really earning much leeway.

The only thing she earned was a slight stumble as her feet attempted to create traction on the wooden floor, which was near impossible. _*****_

Kurama could feel the energy within the whip begin to quiver as soon as it ensnared Akari's wrist, his asking of it to become thornless accelerating its deterioration.

He felt surprised then, as just when he was about to pull it back so that it would not shattered against Akari, she covered it in shadows, dulling the slight glow the weapon held, but also encasing it somehow, holding it together.

With a precision he could only reserve for his right hand, Kurama snapped his whip out again as he kept coming, making it draw a line from the bottom of the left side of her ribcage-just shy of her top-all the way across her torso down in a slant to her right side, stopping at the edge of her waist where her shorts sat on her hips.

The slice seemed to freeze in time for a moment before blood started dripping down from it, and then Kurama was upon her, his second strike with his free whip to snare her right arm in another thornless vine before he came to a stand-still at her front.

"Now. That's deep enough to leave its own scar." He stood nearly up against her, looking down into her eyes. "If you want to be rid of it, I can take it away, but if I do so, all of your other scars will be removed in the process. Is that what you wish?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made it all the way over to the other side of the valley before slowing, the tree she left Hiei behind in no longer visible to her eyes when she glanced back.

The forest grew thicker here, the undergrowth more dense as she picked her way forward. A mist permeated just above the ground, whispering its way about her feet and the air grew thicker with moisture and heat.

Without warning, the forest gave-way to flat, blackened stones that provided a disjointed shoreline to a small hot springs, perhaps twice the size of the ground floor in Toriko's home. There was a waterfall on the opposite side, making noise as it plunged down into the rest of the springs, feeding the water with a river that disappeared off over the side of the mountains in the distance.

The mist rose higher from the ground here, more like steam, but it came no higher than her knees as Shikiyoku began shucking her clothing off into an invisible, black pile on one of the stones.

Her steps were not hesitant as she crouched down at the water's edge, putting her hands down and slipping forward into the springs as the edge dropped off immediately after the flat shoreline the stones created.

The water was practically scalding, but Shikiyoku adjusted quickly, the water up to her stomach here, and began walking forward where the black sands beneath her feet began sloping down. She pulled her long, dark hair together over a shoulder as it began sticking to her skin from the humidity.

As soon as the black-hued water got high enough to touch her mid-back, Shikiyoku hissed in pain as it stung and threw her head back over her shoulder in an attempt to see what she had all but forgotten was there.

Of course, her attempt was to no avail and she stopped short of going farther into the water as she tried to recover her suddenly scattered thoughts.

In her mind's eye, the pain giving her the vision, she could see the three swipes she had once used a mirror to view. They went from her right shoulder blade down and across her back slant-wise, ending at the bottom of her ribcage on the left side.

They had been deep, claw wounds that had left her in a bed on her stomach for days, and when healed they remained as wicked scars, slivers of silver skin in the midst of them.

Shikiyoku bit her lip, wondering at the properties of the water that made it react in such a way as she peered into it. The last time she'd been here, she hadn't had the injuries.

She thought she could even feel the scars reopening, blood starting to drip down her back. That was impossible though, wasn't it? They were very old. Surely she was only imagining it, her mind reminded of how she received them in the first place and reliving the experience.

Hearing cries of terror, smelling blood and gore and being able to do nothing to stop it...

And then receiving the wounds and her world starting to fade to black.

She viewed the scars as a sort of penance for the events of that night, but...

Such things were easy to forget when one could not see them oneself. 3

Hiei didn't move from his spot in the trees, simply eating one fruit after another as he watched Shikiyoku disappear from his view. He lounged lazily on his branch, ankles crossed and cloak moving with the wind that passed by occasionally. He periodically accessed the bond he could now feel within himself, checking on Shikiyoku in this way rather than getting up and moving to find her.

If she had wanted company, she would have at least hinted at it.

So he sat there in the calm silence, perfectly content to eat as many of these fruits as he could manage.

~!**!~

Frustration welled up, mingling with panic and desperation that continued to mix and create chaos within her. She pulled and pulled at the vine that held her captive, the room silent aside from her sounds of struggle and Kurama's breathing.

The sound of the whip moving through the air made her snarl just as loud as she could, both in pain and anger at the strike. She didn't have to look down to see the damage done, because her mind was simply too overwhelmed with the fact that he _had _struck, when she hadn't even made a move to do any sort of harm.

By the time she was at a standstill, looking up at the redhead, she had several ideas in mind of what she could do, but her anger held her still even as he spoke. At first, her muscles began to shake with the growing anger at the redhead, a continuous rumble in her chest. "What have I done to _you_?" she growled out, at first not hearing his words, more by choice than anything else. She couldn't move much thanks to the hold his vines had, but quite frankly, that was likely the only thing keeping her out of trouble at the moment, because she could only imagine what would happen if she did try to strike back.

Her eyes moved from his and to the cut on his cheek, staring intently at it as ideas surfaced, but those ideas died away when his quiet words registered. Her growl left her in a small huff of air at his… offer… and again she met his gaze squarely, eyes flashing with defiance. "If this is an act of kindness, you have a crooked way of showing it."

Her words and expression of anger were all she could do at the moment, because internally, she was a sudden mess of scrambled thoughts and emotions. Anger, because not only had he struck, but he'd struck hard enough to cause another scar later on. But, she was surprised by his offer to make each and every one disappear. She didn't even know what she'd look like without them now. Defiance, because his offer was something she saw as an act of pity- not that she hadn't brought it on herself. It was her own fault she was in this situation.

With this demon, she tended to place herself in many situations.

Embarrassment welled up next, joining her other swirling emotions and almost making her feel lightheaded, dizzy.

"You're crazy." she finally growled out, not willing to simply stand here in silence. She tugged at his hold, her muscles even more taut than before now that she was scrambling, both inwardly and externally. "Let me go!" _*****_

Kurama made no move to change their circumstances, despite her demands that he do so, instead continuing to stare down at her face, his expression unreadable, stoic.

He couldn't really explain to her what exactly she'd done to him yet. Or at least, perhaps, he had not fully admitted to himself exactly what that was yet. Purely by conscious choice. Which he dismissed now that he had her exactly where he wanted.

Searching her hazel eyes for another moment, seeing the confliction about his offer, ignoring her protests and struggles, he waited until she seemed like she would say no more before he spoke one last time.

"I will wait for your answer until after the mark I gave you sets in." He paused briefly before going on, intending by his continuing to prevent her from interrupting, "Until then, I sincerely hope every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you will first see my scar. And that instead of thinking back to past moments belonging to those underneath it, you'll instead be reminded of _this _moment," He started to lean his head down closer, his eyes beginning to close and his voice lowering as he finished, "Right here."

He let his soft breath move over her face as he finished speaking, drawing closer until finally touching his lips against hers just long enough that there could be no mistaking the gesture.

Kurama pulled back an inch, opening his eyes again to see that Akari stared. He smirked at her.

And then suddenly, he was gone, the whips around her arms disappearing all at once as he stepped back and regarded her for a millisecond seeing how her own mental faculties had shut down. He nearly chuckled, but only shifted his face back to the unreadable neutral it had been for the moment prior.

He turned and walked off, leaving no time for her to recover, slinging his bloodied and torn white shirt over his shoulder and reaching down as he passed to grab his gym bag with the same hand, repositioning both it and the shirt over his shoulder as he left without saying another word. 3

Akari had struggled, her entire body writhing as she pulled and pulled against his hold, not surprised at all when she got nowhere. In the back of her mind, she knew it was hopeless. If Kurama wanted her to stay, she would stay there just as long as he wanted her to. And that made her struggle even more, small grunts from her protesting surfacing from her lips here and there.

Otherwise, she said no more. Why would she, when it was so clear he had no intention of letting her leave? And for a few minutes, the only sound in the room was of her struggle, her feet sliding across the floor as each muscle in her body tried their best to free her, defiant and conflicted eyes flashing at the green ones she glared into in a silent demand.

By the time she gave in and went still, arms held up in front of her torso to reinstate the blood flow in her arms, Kurama was speaking again, voice low and quiet. At his pause, she opened her mouth to retort with a rather nasty comment, but shut it again and deciding not to say anything at all, allowing him to continue uninterrupted anyway.

A small growl left her throat as he leaned closer, a small warning about personal space. She attempted to growl out a rather rhetorical, angry question about his intentions, but with their proximity closing, she felt a movement in her stomach that silenced her again as his breath washed over her face. _What are you-_

Her thought, which had been intended to be voiced, was cut short when his eyes closed and, before she could even register the second, his lips gently touched hers.

Soft was the first impression.

But that was blown away within the next second by confusion that scattered her thoughts, shock making her mind go blank but emotions roll and roil within her core, making her entire body tense up just as he pulled away, eyes reopening to reveal the shocking green that had hidden from her own gaze for the moment.

Something flashed across his eyes as a smirk colored his expression, and all she could do was blink at him as he removed himself and his vines from her bubble of space, leaving her standing there, staring at the spot he had been standing moments before as he left. Her mouth hung open only slightly, her lips parted to release a small breath of surprise as she stared blankly in front of herself.

_What just happened?_

Only when the sound of the door opening sounded through the room did she turn and watch his retreat, her eyes taking in the muscles that moved, the light in the room flashing against scars across his back. She took in each motion his muscles made, each bounce of his hair, each step he took She took in the marbled skin here and there, realizing that she hadn't noticed he had been actually planning on this the entire time.

And yet she was powerless to do anything other than watch him leave. _*****_

* * *

_The chapter is a little shorter than the other ones have been, but it's just such a great place to stop and I didn't want anything else rambling on to take away from the moment._

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	32. Episode 117 - Hot Spring, False Youko

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow Denizens of this FanFiction Realm!

On with the story!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Kurama rocks Akari's world by first giving her a scar across her stomach,  
but then telling her that he can remove it,  
though the process would also take away all her others.

As she is standing there with him, he tells her that the next time she looks at her scars,  
instead of thinking of her past and the painful memories it contains,  
he hopes she will see his scar first and think of 'this moment right here,'  
whereupon he kisses her, leaving her rooted to the spot as he exits the gym.

~!**!~

Meanwhile, Shikiyoku has taken Hiei to the place she called home when she was younger,  
and leaving him to eat the fruit of the trees around them that she introduced him to,  
she journeys to the far side of the valley and takes a dip in the hot springs there...

* * *

Shikiyoku rested the back of her head on the flat rocks along the shore, sunk down up to her chin in the hot springs and nearly asleep, the part of her hair in the water taking to floating about her shoulders, her thoughts muted and wandering slowly as the haze from the humidity wove around her and the area.

She kept mentally reaching for the pact between her and Hiei, but every time she hesitated and left it alone without actually calling to him. She did want to share this place with him, but...

Truthfully, she felt nervous about it, the emotion floating along somewhere in the back of her head. She wanted him to approve of the valley, to know that he was welcome here, welcome to return in the future even if...even if it was without her.

But what would he care for the place? It wasn't as if she thought he would somehow enjoy the same things as she: the sound of the waterfall, the movement of the mist as it warmed her face, the smooth onyx-like stone underneath her head. And she certainly couldn't picture him getting _in _the water.

That brought up a fuzzy image of her pulling him in, which, while good for an immediate sense of satisfaction, would not lead to anything Shikiyoku would have wanted to actually witness, she felt sure.

He might appreciate the climate, she finally admitted to herself. But he didn't seem like the type that would find pleasure in laying about for no good reason. Which is exactly what Shikiyoku was doing at that moment.

She hoped he wasn't in a hurry to leave, she thought drowsily. She wasn't exactly sure if she could pull herself away at that moment... 3

Hiei had eaten until he was full enough to be completely content, by which point he had dropped to the ground and taken to wandering around the area. He was curious over what the area had to offer, quite honestly, and for the past few minutes, he'd done nothing more than walk around. His red eyes looked around at all the blackened plants, not even a single insect nor creature moving about.

It was almost eerie, were it not for the peaceful air around the place.

His hands slid into his pockets as he continued walking through the forestry, his eyes taking in the slight change in the air that hinted at water somewhere nearby. He continued in the same direction, his ears hearing the sound of a waterfall in the distance as the humidity continued to thicken in the air, almost sticking to his face.

And just before he broke away from the underbrush and trees, the slight smell of rustic, metallic blood met his nose in the weakest of forms, meaning it had been mixed with another liquid or substance of some kind. Not worried, his pace stayed leisurely until he was looking at the hot spring through heavy mist, crimson peering over at the female in the water and the slight reddish-pink color that moved behind her bare back in the water.

"Heated water keeps wounds open."

~!**!~

She wasn't sure how long she had stood there, stunned still in the middle of the gym, but when Akari recovered, it was only due to the feeling of the sticky blood still moving down her torso against the sweat that had dried on her body.

She felt icky. And sore.

Her mind was still blank, but she robotically moved towards the door, leaning down painfully and grabbing her duffel bag from the floor, deciding it was time to go. She retrieved her sweats from inside and slid them on over the shorts she wore, next sliding the windbreaker jacket over her arms and shoulders, not bothering to zip it up and suffocate the bleeding cut Kurama had given her.

As she exited the door, ogre passed by, and she grabbed his attention.

"Tell Koenma I appreciate letting me use his facilities, and I'm leaving for the day… Likely the week."

Without waiting on a response, she turned and continued on her way, knowing exactly how she could get home without disturbing Botan.

After all, Koenma had been kind enough to create a portal-like doorway for the day that would land her in an alleyway just around the corner from her home. And right about now, home sounded amazing.

Security to think without distraction. Promise of a place to clean up and change.

The ability to sort through her own thoughts and regain her control, preferably before doing anything that might end up with another encounter with the redhead that had baffled her so easily. _*****_

~!**!~

It had taken little effort for Youko to seek out the domain of the inu, her rosemary smell leading him in a bit of a trail around the city, taking him in particular to the park in which they first met, as well as a human school, but he knew neither place was where she slept, for it didn't feel right.

When he arrived at the abandoned building, however, he immediately knew _this _was the place he searched for, as her smell was concentrated higher here. It gave off the right vibe, too.

He made no hesitation about entering, golden eyes skimming the various newer additions that he could tell were her personal effects, including the actual dog who had definitely not let his entrance go unnoticed.

"An inu with an inu." He smiled down at the animal, but could not recall if he knew the dog's name or not, squatting down with his elbows over his knees to let the pup sniff at him. "It does seem so very fitting, does it not?" He gave the dog attentions, holding his face in both hands and scratching at his fur, but stood up and surveyed the room again after a moment.

"She is not here, I take it?" He inquired of the animal absently, having known it before he set foot on the premises. He stretched, feeling tired and giving a yawn, spying the mat he assumed she used for sleeping.

He sunk down onto it shamelessly, but just as his stomach would have made contact, a bed of golden roses rose up beneath him and took his weight as he collapsed on top of them, one leg and arm hanging down and each brushing the floor, the other arm bent, his cheek resting against that hand like a pillow as his eyes closed and his breathing slowed, his ears twitching occasionally.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku knew without a doubt that it could only be Hiei behind her that spoke up, but her mind fumbled with his words, jostling them around in a semi-asleep fashion.

She started to rise up, her long hair hanging over each shoulder and down to her stomach as she did so, making sense of the word 'wounds.'

"Wha-?" She blinked sleepily. She had no open wounds?

She lifted her arms closer to her face to examine them.

Nope. No wounds there.

What was he talking about?

Her eyes drifted back down to the water that sat lapping against her skin at waist-level and she became more aware of the reddish-tinge in the area immediately surrounding her.

Where did _that _come from? 3

Hiei eyed the discoloring of the water for a moment before turning away, uninterested. It was clear she hadn't even noticed, which meant it wasn't a painful thing. So, he wasn't worried in the slightest, and his eyes immediately took to surveying the area with interest. The small opening in the trees that he'd just come from was almost entirely hidden by the haze of mist that lazily floated across the grounds, and quite frankly, he enjoyed the area, but wished to see more of the place.

"Your back, I assume," he suddenly spoke up, curious about what caused the bleeding in the first place. He had a guess or two, but made no assumptions for the most part, only looking around and around the springs, searching for the falls he could hear until his eyes laid sight on them, taking in the calming view briefly before turning to approach the rocks curiously.

He still felt the stickiness of the fruit on his face, and figured he might as well rinse it off while here.

~!**!~

Akari had stopped briefly inside the building to wash herself free of the dried sweat on her skin, mainly her face and abdomen to keep the wound from getting infected. Of course, this caused the bleeding to continue at a slightly faster rate.

So when her feet touched the concrete of human world, her mind was running a thousand miles an hour, over and over the moment in the gym. She'd kept her jacket unzipped so that, occasionally, she could look down and assess the stupid wound, which would always lead her right back to those thoughts.

_Ridiculous…_ she thought to herself. _Making another scar to prove a stupid point that doesn't even make sense. Over the top. I can't believe this. _

Her mind replayed thoughts very similar to those over and over again, since it was all she could actually make sense of at the moment, as she walked to the front door of the house. A hand outstretched and grasped the doorknob, turning it and opening the door before she realized there was a scent that didn't belong to her nor Nabu.

And for the first moment, her mind scrambled, her neck reddened because _of course _he would show up here after that scene to prove his point or whatever.

But her eyes looked over at where she had put her sleeping mat, and she blinked in confusion.

_What is wrong with today?_

Nabu waltzed up to her with wide puppy eyes and sat at her feet, tail thumping against the floor as he greeted her. "_Flowers is here too!"_

"I can see that…" but what she didn't understand was the roses. Or maybe his presence altogether… _*****_

Youko's ears perked as he heard the door open, but he only blinked sleepily once before letting his eyes shut again.

"Inu! You're back!" He could feel the slightly foolish smile on his face at the pronouncement, eyes still closed, his mind still half in dream world somewhere. "I missed you!" He blurted out, not bothering to shift around, but squeezing his eyes tighter behind a lock of hair that had fallen over his face, trying to hang on briefly to the last vestiges of his nap before letting go and opening his eyes up, his smile fading as he more fully awoke.

His nose twitched and he frowned over at her, suddenly on his feet and closing the distance between them, his mind fuzzy as he pointed to the gash across her stomach.

"Did Otento do that?" He asked very seriously, unable to remember if the other demon had marked her or not, but parting his lips viciously at the thought.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made one turn. Then another.

Her head tried looking over her shoulder, but it resulted in a motion more akin to a dog chasing its tail.

"B-but-" But the only things back there were her scars. And she'd gotten those _ages _ago, the scar tissue having been smoothed away by time and only leaving the silvery-discolored portions of where her skin had fused back together, marking her with the triple-swipe of the demon who had struck her.

Still drowsy in the haze of humidity, Shikiyoku felt tired with the effort and gave up, moved over, and leaned her arms up on the flat rocks, laying her head down over them and relaxing again.

Did she feel a trickle of blood ribboning down her waist and filtering into the water? Or was that just a trick of the mind? 3

Hiei busied himself with placing his hands in the water and rubbing at his face with his wet fingers, slowly, methodically wiping away any evidence of the fruits he had feasted on earlier. While he was at it, he simply ran his fingers through his hair as well, making the ends droop just a bit as he stood up to his full height again to look over at Shikiyoku, the mist making it hard to see her from here as he was at the source of the spring.

And when he heard her move about, the smell of blood became stronger.

"It would be wise to get out before you bleed out," he advised casually, as if it weren't actually important if she did so.

~!**!~

Akari stood in the open doorway, hand still on the knob, as she stared down at the false Youko and his bed of roses. Her brows drew together at his chipper greeting, sounding almost like Nabu did on most days, and released a sigh.

Maybe she could get away.

But that wouldn't do much good, since he'd been here for a while, it seemed.

She shut the door behind herself and leaned against the wood, ignoring the small creak of protest the worn-out wood made. She was about to question him when his eyes opened, and he crossed the room in mere moments, demanding to know of the origin of her most recent gash.

She stared at him in disbelief. He was just so…

There wasn't a word for it at the moment.

"No," she finally replied flatly, moving to step around him and find her own bandages and things that would help the stinging she felt. Now, so many questions ran through her mind that she wasn't even sure where to begin.

_Right, False Youko, at the park-_

"I have a question for you," she spoke up quickly, glancing over her shoulder at him. "What happened?" _*****_

Youko blinked, confused, having not moved since she swept past him. He was the one asking _her _what happened with that cut...how was _he _supposed to know?

He turned around and plucked the bandages she found from her with ease, pointing to the roses and declaring, "Sit." He left no room for arguments, standing and glaring at her coldly. "Please." He added after a moment.

~!**!~

_Bleeding...what? _It wasn't as if she felt any different, maybe a little light-headed.

She reached up and planted her palms on the rocks, starting to try and push herself up and out of the water.

Her mind reeled at the movement and she sloshed back down.

Hm, maybe more than 'a little.'

Which mean Hiei was right, for what it was worth. Who knew how long she had been in there, and assuming he wasn't lying about the bleeding, she did not know how long she had been bleeding either.

The second attempt was more successful and she made it into a hunched stand as she reached for the black pants discarded nearby and pulled them on, collapsing to her knees after finishing, reaching half-heartedly for her shirt before realizing putting it on needn't be her first priority at the moment.

First priority felt like...laying down. On the warm rocks. On her stomach of course. Yeah.

The flat rocks gleamed like onyx and retained much of the heat of the humid air and springs around which they lay, and she could feel it permeating even her hair, which was still pulled over her shoulders, onto the bare skin underneath.

Now, without the water confusing her, Shikiyoku could definitely feel something else dripping around off either side of her waist, but she had a hand under her cheek as she lay there, and she didn't feel any pain about any of it, so why not just...fall back asleep... 3

Hiei turned away for the moment as Shikiyoku pulled herself from the water and dressed herself….

Halfway…

He turned back to see her laying on her stomach, her bare back exposed so he could see the open wounds that marred her skin. He analyzed them briefly even from this distance and decided that, at the rate he could see the blood pooling, she didn't need to lay still and chance falling asleep. So, curious about what would happen, Hiei turned inwards, to the bond, and messed with it a bit, pulling and pushing on it to see what would happen.

He considered the idea that perhaps he could send energy through it, but he didn't attempt it as he moved around the edge of the hot spring and to Shikiyoku's side, standing over her and looking down at her open gashes.

"Get up."

~!**!~

Akari huffed at the fake Youko, realizing she hadn't elaborated because of how many thoughts were running across her mind. It wasn't too difficult for him to steal the bandages from her very hand when he decided to do as such, which made her make a sound of frustration.

Otherwise, though, she didn't protest. Why, when it was more energy wasted than was worth? All she wanted to do was lay down and let her sore muscles relax…

"I meant at the park," she elaborated as she moved to his flowery bed that covered hers, not hesitating in simply plopping down so she faced him, eyes never meeting his. She'd already decided he wasn't a threat by this point in time. "You would have attacked Otento, if not for Kurama. I find it odd that the false Youko would go to so much trouble for someone who is often getting in their way." She paused, head tilting to the side as several other thoughts distracted her, making her mind wander suddenly. _*****_

Youko said nothing as he knelt before her and tended to her wound with practiced hands, remaining silent as she rambled a little.

"This will leave a scar." He pronounced quietly once she finished, having seen enough about the damage to know for sure.

He let the room fall silent around him as he sat down next to her, the roses rustling a little and releasing more of their fragrance into the air. He gently tugged at the bandages with his slender fingers to pull them apart and started to wrap them around her torso delicately.

"Otento and I...do not see eye-to-eye about certain things. His threatening of you was in direct defiance of my position, and his own. He has since been reminded of that position." While Youko's voice started out conversationally light, he ended up with more narrowed eyes, part of his upper lip twitching as if to rise in a snarl.

~!**!~

"Mmm...stahp it." Shikiyoku mumbled drowsily into her hand, feeling as if Hiei was prodding her somehow.

"S'warm." She mumbled again in complaint of his demand when he actually came up next to her and spoke. Why get up when she felt so comfortable? She would have asked it, but only managed to get all of, "Why…?" to come out of her mouth. 3

Hiei raised a brow down at Shikiyoku's response, mildly amused that the bond had actually earned him a response. So, he began toying with the bond some more, a bit more aggressively now, in hopes to jar her mind awake.

"Now is no time to be sleeping." Even as he said that, his hands slid into his cloak pockets, his mind silently refusing to allow him to pick her up and move her, telling himself he didn't want to make the wounds worse. "Unless you _wish _to die out here before your freedom is granted."

He knew she didn't believe her warrant for her arrest could be relinquished, but he had yet to reveal to her his thoughts, his feelings on the matter. "Just know that if you die, I'm staying here and taking over your land."

~!**!~

Akari's mind had wandered inexplicably to the gym room again, analyzing the moments that had lead up to… whatever had happened. She had yet to deem it anything specific, unsure of how she felt about the moments.

He could have simply left, but instead Kurama, who had for some reason taken it upon himself to do so, had given a lecture all his own. It was an odd one to be sure, but as her eyes traveled down again to the gash, she supposed it served the very purpose he had said he wanted it to, because her mind automatically conjured up the image of him leaning closer, his eyes closing and-

She shook her head free of the image just as quickly as she could, only then realizing that False Youko had begun answering her question, and she'd missed part of it. Her mind was forced to focus on his words, though she could feel the emotions from the mere thought of earlier beginning to roll again, making her neck feel a little warmer.

"Demons having problems with control…" she began, tone slightly amused. "How surprising." Of course, she was being sarcastic. "But, again, aren't we supposed to be.. enemies?" she inquired now, her mind suddenly entirely focused on the topic without much effort. "I mean," _False Youko is getting annoying to say, _"while Youko is a rather empowering name and form to take on," _this is ridiculous, _"you went a lot of trouble to create the Foko image."

She paused, suddenly aware of the odd combination her thoughts and words had created, blinking at him once very slowly. "Whatever."

With that, she gave up trying to sort through her thoughts. It was just too strenuous. _*****_

Youko continued wrapping the bandages around her middle as she spoke up again.

"Otento has gone insane with lust." Youko warned her, "I caution you in approaching him ever again, though hopefully the lesson I taught him in who our true enemy is will stick for a while and you will not see him for a long time." He completely glossed over her nickname for him, perhaps inwardly thankful that he was considered a "False" Youko, hence 'Foko,' and not a "Pseudo" Youko.

_Psoko. Hm. No. Much prefer Foko._

"You need rest, inu." He got to his feet and made to leave, "Try not to let whatever thoughts are mingling disjointedly behind those eyes prevent you from sleeping."

~!**!~

"Hiei," Shikiyoku frowned, her brow drawing downwards towards her nose, "That tickles..." And not in a good-funny-ha-ha way right now, she meant to go on. She wasn't looking, so she couldn't even tell where he was touching her, but she didn't like it in either case.

Her back started to feel itchy and one of her hands twitched, but did not move otherwise to scratch at it. The wounds were starting to pull back together, hence her itching, and the scars they eventually formed as she kept talking looked almost new: three pink stripes across her back, only slightly marred in their appearance by the blood that was drying there and at her waist.

"I didn't _ask _for my freedom." She grumbled in an irritant manner at him, thinking back to the slip of paper she'd handing Koenma. "And that's what I meant to have happen anyway." _For you to have this land._ She released a puff of air that made a portion of her hair quiver.

She _would _release him from his pact one way or another, though, uh, she hadn't exactly meant to let that last sentence slip past her lips.

That's what he desired most: _his _freedom, right? Freedom from her, freedom from... Well, that's what she had requested from Koenma in any case. That instead of her warrant being lifted, he be free of the toddler-prince's service, allowed to return to Demon World.

And maybe...just maybe, he'd like it around here enough that he might consider calling it a home of sorts.

Sans his own desires being at the forefront of her mind, that's what _she _desired most for him. And for the valley.

A sleepy half-smile plastered itself across her face at the thought of Hiei returning here after some mercenary mission he'd successfully completed, slipping into the hot springs to release the tension from his tired muscles. ...maybe munching on a sweet fruit... 3

Hiei eyed the gashes across her back wearily as they began to close, a single brow raised. He inspected her back for a few more moments before he tugged on the bond again, a touch more forceful, now simply doing it out of curiosity and… well… because he had been amused.

But her words made him pause half-tug, making the bond stay taut with tension almost like an unfurled spring. The implications of her words made an odd emotion pass through his core, making him feel light as a feather.

She had asked about _both _of their returns to Demon World? He wouldn't be stuck in the human realm anymore, if this went over well, and he'd be able to do whatever he so desired without being badgered all the damn time.

No more interrupted naps.

No more petty missions.

No more servitude for a toddler.

They'd both be let off, allowed to do whatever in the three worlds they desired, so long as it didn't land them back where they had started. They'd be free.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at Foko, firstly deciding that that was what she would call him from now on and secondly confused by his words of a "true enemy". "What do you mean by that?" she inquired calmly as he stood, finished with the handiwork she had actually forgotten about for the moment.

But as he turned to leave, frustration hit her just as hard as earlier. "C'mon, I just got here! At least answer _some _questions!" she complained, disliking that this would be the second person in a row to "leave her hanging", as the humans had said.

Plus, for the first time in a long time, she didn't want silence. The silence, this time, would be too engaging for her mind and give her way too many opportunities to think, which would give her a headache eventually. "Surely you don't have any place to be that demands you leave such a lovely evening," she said with a tilt of her head and a sly smile, quoting him word for word from the night before in the park. "I mean, I don't bite hard." _*****_

Youko stopped at her first question and shifted back around to face her, fully intending to at least say _something_ as he slipped one hand into the pocket of his loose, white pants.

But when she practically left the invitation open for him to stay, and in such a manner of which he approved highly, he absolutely could not prevent the roguish smile that graced his lips and stayed there as he regarded her with no small sense of amusement.

"You actually _want_ me to stay?" He lifted an eyebrow at her as if the prospect were foreign, "But I thought you considered me an enemy. Surely nothing _good _could happen of letting one such as myself stay under your roof for any longer than is necessary." If he were not so obviously a fox, one might say his grin turned nearly wolfish, his tail twitching slightly in his amusement. "Won't you get into trouble?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku didn't know _exactly _what change had come over Hiei, but she _did _know that he had his hand tangled up in her hair and was yanking at it much harder than necessary. Or something. She wasn't even sure, really. And it seemed out of character even for him to do something that cruel while she lay drowsily on the ground. First the tickling and poking. Now this.

She shifted over enough to get her fingers onto the toe of his shoe to tap at it, trying to get his attention. Or get him to stop.

When that didn't seem to change anything, she managed to turn her head to face him and opened one eye long enough to catch the edge of his cloak and give another pull.

Why wouldn't he talk to her? Or at least let go.

"Hiei...did I say something wrong?" She put her hands underneath her body and started to rise, getting up into a kneel and sitting on her feet, her eyes blurry as she blinked sleepily again and searched the ground for her almost invisible dark shirt. 3

Hiei blinked as something pulled at his mind, gaining his attention and telling him that something _else _was pulling at him, this time physically. His cloak moved slightly about his shoulders and he glanced down, meeting Shikiyoku's gaze evenly as he pushed thoughts away.

For a moment, he was puzzled by her inquiry. Had he acted like he'd disliked what she had said? He thought for a moment and turned inward to think back, only then realizing what was _actually _going on. Almost as soon as the realization hit him, he released the tight hold on the bond and looked to the side silently, eyes pointedly focusing on a tree nearby.

"My mistake."

~!**!~

The smile that was turned to her made Akari's own smile become much more sly, wider and showing her teeth. She rather enjoyed doing that, quoting people's words against them. It was something she didn't get to do often, and she took almost every chance she could. But at his words, she rolled her eyes and promptly fell onto her side, rolling so her back was to the door, and thus, to Foko. She lay on her side and released a small huff of air at the pain the abrupt motion had caused, no longer considering getting up and actually doing much of _anything_ for the rest of the evening.

"It doesn't matter," she grumbled in reply to him with a sigh. "None of them know where I live, and even if they did, I rarely get visitors. Might as well entertain the both of us, hm?" After a moment, her smile returned, even toothier than before.

"Unless you're afraid the _real _Youko will come around." Of course, that wasn't a possibility either, especially after the incident in the gym.

_Stop thinking about that. __*****_

"I suppose..." He took a step towards her, "If you promise to lay down, I'll stay until you fall asleep." He went ahead and closed the distance between them, sitting down on the rose bed at her feet with another small rustle of the plants as he did so, leaning back with his hands propping him up from behind, crossing one leg over the other.

"We may be on opposing sides of the coming war inu, but in the end my quarrel is not with you." He sighed as he spoke, thinking that in truth, his quarrel was not with this "Shikiyoku" either, but that she would likely be a casualty, if not a prisoner of war, soon enough.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku assumed he meant his strange hold on her, that she had not yet been able to identify, but as she pulled her shirt on over her head, she sighed, completely forgetting about the bleeding. She left the shirt around her neck and scooted back towards the water.

Had she said something wrong? She still felt confused. And wanting to sleep.

Well, yes. She'd once again admitted out loud to...being willing to die for him. Not typical demon behavior, but without him making her purpose clear, she found herself forced to infer what he wished her to do. And he was much harder to read than anyone she'd ever encountered.

She didn't expect him to respond in the way he had, though. His poking or whatever seemed juvenile in nature for how he had reacted last time.

She sighed once she felt her feet hanging off the rocks over the water, her hands planted firmly on the ground. She shifted around again to sit on her hip, considering just sliding back in the spring to clean whatever was left of the wounds and glancing over at Hiei's feet which had not moved.

She made a noise of protest at having to ask, but went ahead.

"Would you...clean off the blood?" She grumbled at herself for having to ask, unsure if he was still upset with her and therefore unwilling to oblige. 3

Hiei watched her move back to the hot spring, her feet slipping into the warm water as she sat on the edge, shirt only hanging around her neck. He stood there silently for a few moments, eyes wandering about for a while until she spoke up again, her tone hesitant much to his surprise.

Never before had she actually shown hesitancy towards him, no matter the subject.

He hadn't meant to cause that amount of discomfort…

Instead of replying with words, he simply moved closer to the edge of the spring and dipped his hands in, not sure if his own heat would add to the water's temperature right away. But he continued anyway, completely dumping the water he had cupped in his hands over the skin between her gashes, watching the water turn a very light shade of red as it washed away and ran down her back.

He promptly retracted a hand into his cloak and tugged at his shirt, tearing a small portion of it away to help with the cleansing. He didn't dare dip it in the hot water as he began wiping at the edges of her cuts methodically.

~!**!~

Akari gave a single shoulder shrug at Foko's words of laying down, already having beat him to it. She turned her eyes to her feet by curling in closer around herself, making the bandages around her torso tighten and restrict her breathing just a fraction as she listened to him speak and watched him carefully.

"Then who _is _it you're fighting against? What's this whole thing going to amount to? I mean, a girl was completely destroyed emotionally and mentally. If your quarrel is not with us, then who _is _it who has pulled your chain so hard to make you bite anyone nearby?"

Of course, she was referring to Otento, since she knew nothing of this particular demon actually doing harm. For all she knew, his ulterior motives would have nothing to do with harming another.

"Also," she began, contemplating her own words for a moment, "the fact that you'd fight your own team over something as small as me, who has absolutely no ability to stop any sort of plans you might have, is a bit of a dumbfounding thing." _*****_

Youko gave Akari a sidelong glance, "Shikiyoku? Destroyed? Unlikely. She is much more resilient than you give her credit for." He shook his head, "Unfortunately, she will be a casualty no matter the outcome, I fear. But one for many is but a small price..."

"And as I said, Otento had overstepped his boundaries when he approached you. When he disturbed any of you. Even his first interaction with Shikiyoku came much too early." Youko's eyes darkened. He had not found out about Otento's little...solo escapade to her house until much later. "_His _leash has been tightened, I assure you. And he is not one who should be allowed without a leash, as I'm sure you've witnessed, so don't bother with any objections."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku took a deep breath as she felt Hiei cleaning off her skin.

"I'm sorry. For upsetting you." She added, falling silent again as he kept working. 3

Hiei slowly moved his cloth round and round her back, all around her cuts while his free hand occasionally dipped into the water and trickled it down her back. He was almost satisfied, aside from the one that still occasionally allowed a few droplets of blood to for and fall with the water he let fall down her back.

When she spoke up, he had both hands dipped in the water, cupping them together to hold as much as possible to pour down her back and finish the job. He paused above the surface, droplets falling between his fingers and disturbing the otherwise calm surface of the hot spring.

He had no idea what she was talking about.

"Should be," he said, deciding to simply go along with it, more for his own amusement than anything else. "You're hopeless."

~!**!~

Akari chose not to elaborate that she had meant Toriko, deciding that he had just given her the name of the demon half of the girl. She didn't feel like elaborating anyway, so she let it be, only giving a small hum that said she heard him when he continued on. Until his last sentence about casualties.

"'One for many?'" she repeated, her words slightly slurred with the lull her mind had become. She wouldn't sleep yet, because she wasn't actually tired, but her mind sure did like telling her she was. "Care to elaborate..?" she asked, eyeing him slowly.

Then again, if she found out what was actually going on, the information would be useless, since telling the others would deem her a traitor, and she'd lose her head. The thought made her eyes close and a small smile form on her face. It was a good thing no one knew where she'd taken up residence, or she would likely have kicked out this demon as soon as she saw him.

Like instinct should have told her to do in the first place.

"Don't worry about protests there. Keeping him under tight watch seems better than putting many others in danger. If I were strong enough I'd go after him myself. But I think the others have it covered."

She paused, eyes sliding open again to peer at him through a half-lidded gaze. "You're not so bad, y'know. I pictured you to be rather…" she couldn't find the right word, so her sentence trailed off. _*****_

Youko glanced at her, seeing the girl nearing a more restful state, "Can't tell you too much, now can I? I don't want to say that I'd think you would blab about it, but if you don't know, there's no worry in any case."

He regarded her with a small, amused smile as she trailed off, tempted to start putting words in her mouth, but letting her be, instead taking a deep breath of the fragrance that had now practically permeated the room and otherwise staying still where he sat.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku thought of her hope that Hiei would one day be truly free.

"Not...hopeless." She shook her head slightly, "Perhaps...foolish."

She let out a sigh as she looked up over the mist, the pathways black with both the nighttime air and the colors of the trees and bushes, blinking her eyes as she fought to stay awake and not simply slump over.

Unsuccessfully of course were her attempts as she suddenly felt her body starting to lean over the hip she sat on, giving a jerk as she jolted herself away from sleep. Her body immediately relaxed again though, the humidity and clean smell of the hot springs lulling her back towards dreamland. 3

Hiei withdrew his hands from her back just as she jerked herself upright again, Hiei having not noticed at first that she had begun leaning. He'd simply adjusted without pause or notice. But as he sat back on his heels, crouched behind her, eyeing her slowly as he spoke again, this time ignoring the original conversation.

"Dress yourself before you fall in." He wouldn't mind carrying her, but he was not her caretaker, and would not dress her for her. It simply wasn't his job, and he simply refused to do so.

~!**!~

A faint smile formed on Akari's face and she stretched her feet out a little, angling her legs so that they were behind the silver-haired demon while her face nestled into the roses below. Never before had she been so comfortable, and quite frankly, she found that it reminded her of the single rose Kurama had given her.

Only…. better.

"It must be nice, controlling plants," she mused more to herself than to anyone else. "Beds of flowers are surprisingly comfortable. Without the thorns, of course." She gave a small sigh and her eyes slid closed, her mind slowly flashing small images of peaceful moments across her mind's eye in a telltale fashion that normally meant she was close to sleep.

"Thank you, by the way." At first, she wasn't sure what she was thanking him for, so she figured he'd take it as a blanket thank you, including everything he'd done for her thus far.

And again, the image of Kurama popped into her mind, making her release another sigh and shift around a bit, uncomfortable with the direction her thoughts had taken. She wouldn't be able to relax if she ended up confused all over again. _*****_

"Mm." Youko intoned, "It certainly has its perks." He reached down and cradled one of the golden roses in his hand.

"And you're quite welcome, by the way. There is simply no other way to sleep." He waited for the moment he sensed she was having trouble fighting off, but he had promised not to leave until that moment came. So he would not.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made no protests, starting to stand up unsteadily as she pulled her arms through her shirt and yanked it down, removing her hair from where it had gotten caught underneath and tossing it behind her shoulder to sway, nearly dry, down her back.

There was only one place in the three worlds where she wanted to fall asleep at that moment, even if it was all the way on the other side of the valley, a thought that made her frown.

Another wave of dizziness struck her just as she meant to dash off and she put a hand up to her head.

Just how much blood _had _she lost?

"Uhm..." She looked around at the water and rocks, the trees and the grass, deciding she needed to have a secondary option at which to rest, but her muddled brain didn't make sense of it all and she nearly decided that sinking back down to the ground might be the easiest course of action.

The rocks were warm at least...3

Hiei stood up as well, wiping his wet hands on his cloak absent-mindedly and again glancing around himself curiously. He half considered wandering away to continue the small expedition he'd been on before stumbling across Shikiyoku in the water. However, he rethought it as he glanced over at the woman again, hearing her hum of contemplation.

He followed her gaze, making his own small sound of contemplation as he thought. He knew that going to take a nap was not a good idea, and keeping her moving was probably the best bet. So, without further ado, he turned to her with a smoldering gaze of demanding gleam.

"Show me more. The area is interesting."

~!**!~

Akari released a sigh, trying to push away the image, but it just wouldn't go away. It made her shift herself around a little more and squirm until her body relaxed entirely, sinking into the roses again as she ceased all movements.

Maybe if she just…. let her mind do whatever it wanted, she would sleep. So, she didn't let herself move around, didn't let the emotions that welled up get to her too much, and after a while, her breathing began to slow. And despite the unrelenting image that her brain almost demanded her to analyze, she felt sleep encase her mind.

Though the image never left her. _*****_

Youko waited until the fifth or sixth deep breath that passed over Akari's lips assured him of her slumber before he slowly got up again, uncrossing his legs and moving into a stand above her, giving only a single glance over his shoulder to assure himself he had not disturbed her or the bed.

As he started to leave, he spied the pup and bent over to give him a lazy pat.

"They'll hold you, gi-inu." He reassured the dog, "But be mindful of her middle section for a few days. She got bit."

Youko left silently through the front door.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wasn't sure what surprised her more: that Hiei gave her a direct order or that he actually found the area, her favorite of the whole valley, interesting.

Either way, she stood dumbfounded with his request, meeting his fiery eyes with her own slightly confused ones before recovering and giving him a nod.

Though she wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the rocks beneath her, she fought the urge and walked passed him a ways, taking the lead but pausing as she considered what he hadn't seen yet on this side of the valley, the mist curling around her feet when she stopped.

Giving only one look over her shoulder to see if he meant it and would follow, she started walking, her feet steady enough but her mind telling her that anything faster would likely cause her to faint.

The mist continued to swirl lazily about them like so many ghostly forms parting as they walked.

Shikiyoku angled her direction back towards the waterfall, intending to take the incline over which it fell at its easiest portion instead of right up next to it where they might have to climb some.

She followed upstream the brook that flowed past them towards the hot springs, the water here still steaming and the humidity still high.

Upon reflection, she found it appropriately fitting with the place. If there had been water here when the first demon fell, surely it would have been imbued with his flames forever. Or something. 3

Hiei waited while she seemed to take in his demand, his arms crossing over his chest to show that he simply wouldn't take no for an answer. And as patient as he was, he made good to appear as impatient as could be, waiting until she was a little away from him and looking back at him before following after, easily catching up and walking at her side.

He wasn't surprised she chose the waterfall route, since he hadn't been there yet and going the other way would mean a longer trek in the end of it all. He himself found the waterfall to be a rather amazing structure, the water occasionally splashing up and getting droplets on his cloak and face, which he didn't mind in the least. It was a relaxing thing, really.

He didn't say a word as he followed, simply taking to genuinely enjoying the trek, though he did make sure to keep careful watch over Shikiyoku. _*****_

Shikiyoku's ears perked as far overhead she could hear the call of some random creature, or demon, as it flew over the mountains at a high altitude, but its path seemed short as it disappeared quickly on the other side of the mountain and out of view.

At the point where she knew the brook was its narrowest and shallowest, Shikiyoku lightly jumped over it, hardly more than a hop, and started moving perpendicular to the water behind her, weaving her way through the various bits of undergrowth as the foliage around them grew thicker and darker, so much so that neither the plants nor the two demons moving in the midst of them cast so much as a shadow on the ground.

The mist grew thicker and rose higher, actually reaching a point where Shikiyoku knew it was above her head, but upon looking up, could not see through it.

After a few hundred more feet of ducking and dodging through the forest, a single pin-prick of orange light could be seen and it was towards this that Shikiyoku made her path, as straight as she was able.

The forest suddenly cleared out from around them, the mist thinning out just enough to be able to tell what Shikiyoku had been aiming for, what was plainly in front of them now.

Orange light danced from the flame that floated in place before them and cast lively shadows all around it, using the trees at the edge of the clearing and the brushes and grass as its tapestry and medium alike.

The brook must have bent in their direction at some point, because it curved briefly into view, steaming next to the tear-drop shaped fire that did not appear to burn via any conventional means.

It did not float terribly high off of the ground, instead at roughly shoulder level for the two demons that now regarded it.

As its flames seemed to spin and twirl, occasionally a tongue of white or blue would appear briefly at the highest point and then change back to the deeper oranges and reds as the fire pulled back down from its extended reach. 3

Hiei followed silently, looking about in an attempt to memorize each rock formation, each fern they passed, even though it all looked the same to him. He'd been in Human World for so long that he'd forgotten how alike the foliage here grew, how starkly similar one fern grew in relation to another. Each plant was almost identical to its neighbor, a characteristic Hiei hadn't missed of this world.

The fire demon made sure to keep close to Shikiyoku, occasionally again checking the bond. He had, again, considered the idea of seeing how the bond would react to energy being passed through or over it, but like before, he hesitated and decided against it, unsure if it would cause more harm than good. After all, fire demons were known for their destructive energy, whether it was actually being utilized or not.

He was pulled from his thoughts as a light glow began to shine just ahead, and Hiei's entire attention was focused on the only form of light within the area. When he found himself standing in front of the source, eyes trained on it, tempted to touch the small orb of fire. His fingers twitched at his side with the need, but the fact that it burned without anything visibly keeping it going made him weary enough to refrain, his crimson eyes simply staring at it in wonder.

"I assume there is a story behind this as well?" he finally piped up, not even glancing at Shikiyoku as another spout of white flame broke away, seemingly dissipating in the air as the flame returned to its reddish-orange glow. _*****_

Shikiyoku shook her head, too much in awe of the fire to speak at first.

"Demons made up a story about the mountains and the blackness of this place because they can see them. Because they know of their existence. There was only one demon who had seen this secret place with her own eyes." She felt that shyness coming onto her again, but she somehow felt less so about it, seeing as how it would hold a particular interest with him and there was no need to be concerned about whether he would approve of this secret as well.

She tore her eyes away from the fire to glance at him, happy to see that she had been right about how captivating he would find the flame, and she went on, "But now instead of one who knows of this...it's two."

She turned solemnly back to the fire, her eyes unable to stray from it for long.

When she spoke next it was quieter than before.

"I can tell you my story for it...if you like." 3

Hiei stared at the flame, fingers twitching again as the desire to touch the flame resurfaced. But it seemed to pulsate with its own life, and with something that had an energy all its own, there was no telling what could happen. And quite frankly, there was a part of him that said touching it wasn't smart, despite the fact that fire would normally be his companion.

Still, the heat he could feel radiating towards him was a rather magnificent thing, since it didn't seem to even flicker when the wind blew by.

Shikiyoku spoke up, drawing his gaze to her for a moment before it shifted back to the orb of fire, giving a silent nod that displayed he was curious enough to listen. After all, learning new things had become something he'd taken an interest into much more recently, and this was definitely something new. _*****_

"Before the first demon fell from the sky, there existed in the three worlds no such thing as fire. And when he rose from the ashes of this valley that he had burned for six days around him, he rose having conquered the pain of flame, and he drew the fire that encased his body within himself, claiming dominion over it. And the power of fire flowed freely through his veins from that moment onwards."

As Shikiyoku spoke, she started walking slowly closer to the dancing flame who made the shadows around them laugh and twirl.

"But as he stood up, a single tongue of his mighty inferno fell away from his giant form as he towered over the Ninth Level, and he did not notice it leaving him."

Here she was close enough to reach out her hand and she held it cupped underneath where the orb floated as she continued.

"This is that tongue. The first true fire. The purest of all fire. The First Flame that all those with the power over fire know deep within them exists, even though they have never seen it, because they are all his children. Because they can feel within their core a connection to it, to this forever dancing, twisting, curling, pulsing, magnificent flame that the first demon, the original fire demon, left behind. And it will go on burning for eternity, because from this fire, his fire, were they born, and to this fire they will one day return."

Shikiyoku had by this time cupped both hands underneath the fire, its light making shadows flicker over her face in an ancient dance that it had been making steps to since the dawn of time.

When she had finished, she stepped back slightly as the fire whirled faster as if in excitement, changing completely white for a few seconds and releasing a small tongue of itself up into the air that broke away and landed in the palms of Shikiyoku's hands before the orb receded down to blue, then back to the orange and red it seemed to maintain normally.

Shikiyoku almost reverently held her hands cupped underneath the tongue of white fire that now gaily whirled in place just above her skin, and after staring into it for a moment, looking conflicted at the gift, she appeared to reach a decision and walked back towards Hiei.

She carefully tipped the tiny tongue of fire into one hand, using her free one to gently take Hiei's and hold it palm up. She held the hand that had the fire over his, reaching out again for the other hand that hung at his side and placing it next to the first so that he had a bowl-shape similar to the one she had cupped her hands into beneath the orb.

She delicately began twisting her wrist and the flame tumbled head-over-heels into Hiei's awaiting palms, hovering above his skin.

Shikiyoku slowly dropped her hand out from under his, lowering the other to her side as well, and took one step back, her eyes bright and shining as she looked into his, seeing the reflection of the fire that floated just above his grasp almost mirrored by his own inner flame.

"Swallow it." Was all she said, licking her lips and appearing eager for him to do so, to taste of the first flame as she had long ago. 3

Hiei had been listening intently as his eyes stared ahead, his mind creating the images that would implant the story into his brain as much as possible. He nodded once when she was done talking, frowning slightly when she stood in front of the fire, blocking his view of the miraculous sight. But his feet didn't move to get any closer. He merely stayed where he was, watching Shikiyoku's back curiously.

He waited patiently, watching each muscle in her shoulders and back move as she moved about in front of the flame, the glow of the fire outlining her in an orange glow of light that made Hiei positively entranced, watching the glow move in an almost liquid way.

And a moment later, she was turning to him with a bit of the flame in her hands, dancing around and around above the skin of her palm. His eyes followed its motion as if it had him completely entranced, and as Shikiyoku came closer, he could feel the pulsating heat of the orb, feel the energy that was held within it that kept it alive.

So he didn't even consider protesting when she grabbed his wrist and let the flame tumble into his own hand, the flame flickering with the motion before resettling calmly in his palms. He took in the sight before Shikiyoku spoke, making his gaze slide up to her face in contemplation. He assessed her expression, watching her tongue roll over her lips before disappearing into her mouth again. And that was when he decided it must not be too bad.

So, without further ado, he raised his hand to his mouth, and popped the small flame between his lips.

The reaction of his tongue meeting the flame was instantaneous. A warm sensation filled his mouth, accompanied by a flavor he couldn't name in any way. His entire body relaxed, and as he swallowed the flame, he felt his own energy react with it by buzzing at a rapid rate through his veins, almost humming audibly in his ears.

By the time the flame reached his stomach, which only took a few seconds, his entire body was humming with happy energy, as if he'd always been meant to do such a thing. As if this was where he was supposed to be.

It settled in the pit of his stomach, but as far as he could tell, it wasn't going to dissipate. The warmth stayed there, filling his stomach and even warming him up to his core. He could even feel his skin's temperature rising just a fraction, and the amount of satisfaction that overwhelmed him was euphoric.

He had actually forgotten that he was not alone here. _*****_

Shikiyoku had guessed all along that his consumption of the true fire would likely come as a different experience, seeing as how he held flames within already, so she was not surprised to see him practically light up with a glow unlike anything she'd ever seen before and her mouth hung open a little in a smile, a little in awe as she could feel the treat pulsating within him, down his throat and to his stomach.

She tried not to let it show, standing firm by her decision to give it to him instead of eating it herself, but she did feel a pang of jealousy as that story only worked to get her a tongue when the fire had not heard it in a while.

Considering the white color, she must have done a particularly good job at telling the tale as well, though she attributed it partly to the fact that she had not told the fire the story in a long time.

She waited for a bit until it seemed like Hiei came back down into Demon World from where his mind had been soaring.

The twitching of his hand and the desire earlier to actually touch the orb had not been lost on her and she spoke up.

"He will not harm you if you wish to greet him." Shikiyoku stepped a little bit to the side in case Hiei wished to walk past her and do so. "_I _cannot stick my hand directly within his core, but you will come to no harm. He might reward you with a tongue of your own since he's never been in contact with anyone else, much less an actual fire demon." Her eyes turned bright at the prospect. If the fire really did approve of this spiky-haired warrior, it would be quite obvious. 3

* * *

gi-inu \- pseudo-dog

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	33. Episode 118 - The All-Fire

**A/N: **Hello once again, Audience!

I absolutely adore the scene happening right now between Shikiyoku and Hiei and the flame. I definitely count it among my favorite of scenes between the two of them. It's funny to me that it occurs so closely in timing with the scene between Akari and Kurama that I love so much too. I gotta say though, while I love all of the OCs I created for this story, the fire is so totally one of my favorites to get to play.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

In this chapter, the character of the fire speaks a different language entirely, the language of fire itself, which is conveyed by what I describe as 'dancing.' This is simply referring to the manner in which fire moves as it burns, which normally would not mean anything, but given that this particular fire is a sentient being, one can translate its dance-like movements into speech, which Shikiyoku does for Hiei. You will see after a certain point in this chapter dialogue that is in italics and followed by a tilde, which will look like this:

_Sleep now, she-of-desire.~_

This is indicative of the fire's speech and how it is not spoken, but instead danced.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

The Youko impersonator, whom Akari has taken to calling 'Foko' since he is a 'Fake Youko,'  
visits her at her home, dressing her wound and staying with her until she falls asleep.

She learns that Foko and Otento do not see eye-to-eye about many things,  
and his actions against her in the park went against Foko's direct orders.

~!**!~

Meanwhile, Shikiyoku takes Hiei to a dark clearing encased almost completely by a thick grove of trees  
with thick fog swirling about in which a medium-sized teardrop shaped tongue of flame resides.  
Shikiyoku tells the story of how the flame came to be here,  
and the fire rewards her with a tiny white-hot flame from itself.

Shikiyoku urges Hiei to eat the dancing extension of the fire,  
which makes him feel as if his insides have been set ablaze in the best of ways,  
and then she tells him he could place his hand inside it if he wishes...

* * *

Hiei felt as if he were as light as a feather, as if he could be carried away by even the slightest breeze that blew by. But, he also felt as weighted as a block of lead that was held to a flame, his skin warming up slowly.

After a few moments, his eyes focused again in front of himself, his brain and senses reminding him that he was not alone here, and there was still a whole flame that he could admire.

That he could…

Tear a bit away from, if he desired.

His eyes shifted over to Shikiyoku as she spoke up, and the most lopsided, crooked expression formed on his face, a single corner of his lips lifting and parting to show his teeth at the prospect of touching the flame. His hand twitched and his body seemed to sing at the possibility of touching the source of the fireball he had tasted.

And if it awarded him another part of its core, that would be an extra bonus.

A very delectable bonus.

He stepped around Shikiyoku, approaching the flame slowly as his eyes again took to assessing the glowing orb. It danced in the air in front of him, making his eyes flash and warming his skin as he got as close as possible without actually touching the orb.

He stared at it, his hand twitching at his side as he contemplated. He didn't understand his own hesitation, but before he even thought about assessing his own emotions, his arm lifted from his side, the arm of his cloak falling away just enough to reveal the nose and whiskers of the dragon tattoo underneath.

His fingers paused momentarily about half an inch from the flames before he slowly let his hand move through the flame, parting the fire so that the flames licked around his open hand. Even with his hand entirely engulfed in the fire, up to his wrist, his fingers were not sticking out of the other side of the fire, and for a moment, nothing at all seemed to happen, and time seemed to stand still. _*****_

The flames lapped curiously around this intrusion, feeling flesh and bone that did not give way to its silently roaring inferno.

It licked with further inspection across this 'skin,' weaving between four fingers and a thumb, none of which it understood or knew the names of, and in actuality was for the first time encountering. Flesh it knew. It had come from flesh! Or...flesh is the first thing it remembered.

When it encountered a darker portion of the flesh, the fire flared up as if startled, but released a sound like a chirp as if truly pleased, not drawing away from the marking, but rather sweeping over it with more density and then further out until it reached the sleeve over Hiei's arm.

It appeared to tentatively lift a single tongue of flame and experimentally, slowly, placed itself upon the fabric with a firm touch, chirring again when the fabric did not give-way, but perhaps with a bit more consternation at having not only found this _one _thing that did not burn, but now this _other _thing that did not burn.

Not going farther in that direction, the fire turned its attention back and swirled around the darker mark faster in greeting, and briefly its entire self flared black-which made it all but disappear in the black-colored clearing with the heavy forest canopy overhead that was too thick for any of the light to escape from anyway-except for the outer edges which contained the blaze in a purple hue.

The tattoo itself did not move, but the fire whorled suddenly white as an afterimage of the dragon's head appeared to rise briefly up from the marking below, its jaws parting with its own brief hello as the flames about it danced eagerly while it lowered back down on Hiei's hand.

After this, it did nothing more than flicker about as it had been when they entered the grove, as if thinking, watching, considering the fire demon before it. If it had a head, it likely would have been tilted as it stared in Hiei's direction before it turned and looked at the other demon that stood in the clearing, still at the edge and taking in the scene in silence.

Shikiyoku perked up as she felt the fiery gaze of the orb fall on her, and she recognized its twirling as a gesture that she should approach, which she did so cautiously.

Her eyes remained trained on the flame as she came and stood almost up against the fire, its glow washing over her body, ending up not a foot to the right from where Hiei still had his hand inside, her expression solemn.

It danced a question at her.

"Yes."

It thrilled higher up into the air briefly, its fluttering and spurting a song of joy that caressed Hiei's hand before truly turning up the heat with a roar of power as it blazed into whiteness.

The sudden, palatable wave of pushed heat would have knocked the pair of demons off their feet had it not been so controlled that they could feel it where it only pressed against them with as much pressure as they could handle and no more, even as it rushed past them at full force.

The trees of the grove were almost uplifted from their roots, suddenly set aflame in a circle around them, which appeared to explain the strange formation.

Their hair swept upwards in its heated wind, making any loose bits of their clothing lash out madly around in the air.

The small orb appeared to grow larger with each new pulsation as if angry, quickly becoming classified as more of a bonfire, then it engulfed them both in an inferno that filled the clearing up completely, a dome of true fire.

Shikiyoku was forced to throw her arm up over her eyes to shield them from the light, and for a moment she thought sure she was about to be consumed by either the raw power or the heat of the flame or both.

As the fire gathered back together in one fatal swoop, receding itself completely from the clearing, it remained large enough that both Hiei and Shikiyoku were still aflame, completely surrounded by orange and red fire.

As Shikiyoku opened her eyes from where she had not realized she'd been squeezing them shut, she looked over at Hiei in astonishment, finding that, for her, the flames did not so much as singe a single hair even as it pressed up against her skin and she marvelled at the precision, the control, feeling that the heat was just at the threshold of what her body could withstand.

It looked as if the parts of Hiei that would not burn were actually on fire, though anything flammable the fire would not touch, as with her.

The heart of the flame was still whitish-blue, but it was a little higher now, just above their heads, Hiei's right hand still in the midst of it.

The fire around them gave what was unmistakably a shove on both Hiei and Shikiyoku's outer shoulders, forcing them together.

Shikiyoku stumbled enough at the abrupt shift in her balance that she found she caught herself with her left hand on Hiei's right shoulder-still uplifted slightly into the orb-her stance turned slightly now so that her body pressed up against his back and side when the fire stopped pushing.

She turned to stare at him eye-level, her expression surprised and quite simply speechless at the series of events that had led to her being here. Next to him.

The fire kept them engulfed together, and as Shikiyoku let her gaze lift back to the white core again she found that it spoke in its own way once more, twirling and sweeping about in its dance.

Shikiyoku's eyes softened as she understood his meaning, and she also nodded sharply once, not turning to Hiei, but beginning to speak.

"He says to tell you..." She paused as she tried to put into exact words what it was trying to communicate, "To remember that the raw power of fire not only pains the flesh and sears the weak...not only can it roar in anger...and commit utter destruction...and reduce everything in its path to ash...but that it also warms the soul...and lights a path...and can by embracing others protect them..." Here the fire that still surrounded them swirled a deep red with emphasis. "And keep them safe from all harm."

She frowned. "It's hard to translate it all literally as some of it is only impressions. Like about the 'others' you choose to 'embrace'...he specifically said something like 'a select few that must be worthy of fire's protection and honor.' Not just anyone."

Shikiyoku's gaze lifted up again from where it had contemplatively lowered to speak that last part, the fire dancing its spins and dips again and she opened her mouth to speak once more.

"He-..." Her words cut off abruptly as she snapped her jaws closed, her eyes widening.

A blush suddenly flared up Shikiyoku's neck and onto her cheeks and her eyes flickered briefly over at Hiei before she felt a distinct pressing of pressure against her forehead, several in fact, all in quick succession. Like an affectionate pat of approval.

The fire had done the same thing to Hiei at the same exact time and it hummed around them with an air of happiness. 3

Hiei had the distinct impression of curiosity, as if the flame had a mind of its own and could think, could contemplate. As the fire touched his dragon mark, he could feel the interaction deep within his core, as if the fire itself were able to communicate with his best companion, and there was a conversation taking place. But it ended shortly, and he found himself staring in awe at the flame, extremely impressed with the sensation of the probing flame.

The flame stayed calm over his hand, not burning higher than before as he had at first expected it to do, but simply licking at his hand as if testing what would catch afire and what would not. He didn't even notice when Shikiyoku approached, brought forth by the flame. Only when she gave a whispered answer did he become aware of her proximity, and as he turned to glance at her, the fire seemed to burn brighter, the energy positively exploding, not only around him, but seemingly inside him as well, as if the bit he had taken for himself still reacted to the core of this one.

It wasn't uncomfortable, despite the immense amount of power that made his hair and cloak move with ferocity, as if a gale-force wind had suddenly hit him and Shikiyoku. And in the next moment, he was reopening his eyes to take in his surroundings in the new light that had settled around him, encasing himself and the woman to his right in dancing flames. Even though his hand was still within its fiery core, the sensation was a different one, as if now he were being refreshed, washed over by the flames of happiness.

He wasn't prepared for the shove that pushed at his shoulder, making his entire body shift towards Shikiyoku. He recovered easily by simply maneuvering at the fire's will, his foot catching his balance easily even as Shikiyoku grabbed onto him for support. In surprise that was nowhere near mild anymore, he turned to meet Shikiyoku's gaze, wondering if she had been expecting this either.

He saw the astonishment and the surprise on her face, wondering if that was what his own expression looked like, and was immediately aware of the physical contact of her body against his, as if they were compressed together and couldn't move away.

His eyes quickly shifted up to the flame, waiting for an explanation.

But just as soon as he was about to inquire, Shikiyoku spoke up, and Hiei was all ears. Halfway through her speech, his crimson orbs turned to her, watching the expressions that flit across her face as she spoke, never looking at him.

He didn't understand the reason behind this speech, or the reason behind the close proximity. At least, not at the forefront of his mind. There was, however, a part of him down deep that understood, soaked in the information as if his life depended on it, and stored it away for later, as if it were the most vital thing in all the three worlds.

He turned back to the flame, watching it intently, trying to figure out its way of communication so that, maybe someday, he too could speak to it. But he was too distracted, the back of his mind almost forcing him to focus on Shikiyoku's translations, to watch the burning of the flame as it became brighter in color, more energetic, almost.

Shikiyoku abruptly stopped, and before he could turn to prompt her onward, he felt the oddest sensation of being tapped on the head, as if being awarded for a job well done. Despite himself, a small part of him swelled up with pride and he found himself standing taller, spine straighter than before.

"I'll remember it." he finally said, tone even as if he were making a casual deal with another person. And his eyes slid over to the woman next to him while a deep part of him swirled with an emotion he didn't understand, making his gaze linger upon her for a bit longer. _*****_

The fire around them continued to whirl and flit about for a moment longer, its complete and utter joy practically palatable on the air, especially at Hiei's response.

It appeared to pause though, almost as if in mid-step and Shikiyoku felt it staring at her. Had it actually been a dancer, she had a distinct feeling that the pose would have had one leg lifted, which now slowly lowered to the ground as it continued presenting its face to her, arms clasped together behind its back, head tilted slightly as if expectant, waiting.

In fact, the whole clearing took on an aura that was best described as "holding ones breath," though of course, the flame had no literal breath to hold.

Shikiyoku blushed again and her head tilted down a little bit, away from the core, as the fire inquired whether it needed to repeat itself and she shook her head. She remembered _exactly _what it had said a minute ago, thank you very much. It wasn't as if she was going to easily forget something like _that_. She was definitely _not _sure how Hiei was going to take it though, and she scrambled for a moment to come up with an alternative translation. 3

Hiei felt his own spirits lift as the air around him positively quivered with happiness, with glee that was tangible in the air. It made him almost give a small smile- something he hadn't done in a very long time- but his expression stayed… whatever it had been. His eyes wandered around, as if able to see the happiness floating on the air.

And then everything was still, quiet. The halt in all things made Hiei very curious, his own breath even seeming to stop in anticipation for whatever the flame was waiting on. Instinctively, he turned to Shikiyoku, as if the flame had prompted him to do the same, and he waited in silence.

He didn't know how, but he just _knew_ there was something the flame wanted her to say, wanted her to reply to. He could feel it in the stillness of his own core. _*****_

When Hiei turned and looked at her, Shikiyoku felt her stomach drop, her mouth still clamped shut as now the _both _of them stared unblinkingly at her.

The hand she still rested on Hiei's shoulder shifted slightly.

"He-" She decided to start from the end, "He actually is quite pleased with you. Stating that you're near-perfection as far as what he wishes all like you could be, though-" For some reason, this next part seemed oh-so-much easier to say than what was coming later, despite the fact that the flame was making a correcting-like observation here, like teacher to student, "He says you're too..." Her eyes shifted to the right as she searched for the word, "Closed-off?" That wasn't quite right, "Reserved?" She shrugged, "He actually says its impressive considering the natural amount of what he calls 'true flame' you have within yourself. He suggests that you 'loosen-up' at least to-" She faltered, "Someone. Before it all comes tumbling out at once."

The fire had, of course, said _her, _in so many words, which brought her back to the rest of the translation, which the orb still waited for her to convey.

It didn't seem to protest to her slightly modified word there and she felt that it understood that she got the general idea across, the details something that got muffled on the way-side.

"He, uh, he also says we make a good team." Shikiyoku paused. That wasn't quite precise enough and she searched for better wording. "...or that we're good company for one another. It's like...both. He added that we try not to stir up _too _much chaos together though." Her lips parted in a toothy grin as she finally looked back up at the core of the flame, "But then he laughed, so I'm not really for certain whether he meant it or not."

The flame waited another beat after Shikiyoku finished, then took up burning again, weaving and waving in the air around them.

Shikiyoku let out a tiny breath she'd been holding when she got done, suddenly very grateful that the flame couldn't comprehend each word she spoke.

She had very intentionally left out a specific portion of the first part of the conversation that had take place around the word 'team.'

The more accurate word would have been 'mates,' which the fire had excitedly followed up with how pretty the children from their mating would be, continuing into a long, complicated series of impressions about said children, and also wondering when her appearance changed.

It was certain these children would be very powerful indeed, because a child born from an Ice Maiden and any other demon was always one of the most powerful of demons, if also cruel and destructive without the presence of their mother's tear-the Ice Maidens never associated with anyone outside of their floating island because they did not understand the calming effect those tears had on said children-instead fearing the inevitable result of such contact itself.

It also noted here the Jagan Eye and how spectacularly Hiei had recovered his former power, if not quite at the level he had once been.

And in relation to their spawn and how powerful it kept repeating they would be, she, of course, was no weakling in the capacity of demonic energy she had herself. The combination of them was something the fire felt eager in witnessing, and asked her to bring them here upon their birth so that it might give them its blessing.

It recognized Hiei's state of being her Champion on some level or another, and it seemed certain that their 'partnership,' by which it meant physically, would only produce male children-he would still give her twins!-but that these children might even surpass the potential of power their father had.

Something about Hiei's state as a _son_ of the Koorime that would not produce female children...the flame started getting technical here, however Shikiyoku felt her mind having already been blown and it all flew past her.

Needless to say, it remained excitedly bouncing around them, quivering in anticipation for the day when they would return and bring with them their first set of twins.

_Twins?_

_**First **__set?_

Shikiyoku fought an almost hysteric laugh, nearly reaching a breaking point mentally.

_Children? _... _Me? ...with __**him?**_

Again, the prospect seemed laughable, though this time because of Hiei and not because of how utterly convinced the flame seemed to be.

She imagined if she made up some story about all little demon children jumping out from the element that they controlled fully formed, Hiei would believe her without hesitation.

In all her years she had never encountered a male demon with so much _innocence_, even accounting for the fact that he was not all that old among their kind, but even then he was one that did not so much as express even an inkling of interest or awareness of what the word 'lover' might mean. Which was singularly the most startling thing about him for her.

Every male, strike that, every _demon_, knew _exactly _how to pass on their genetics to a new generation, and she briefly wondered just how the fire thought these _children _the two of them were supposed to have were going to come about. Because it certainly wasn't going to happen by conventional means.

Shikiyoku finally giggled at that last thought, a bubble of nervous energy at the fire practically...what was the human word? ..._marrying _the two of them.

Preposterous. 3

Hiei waited as she began stumbling through the translation, his head tipping slightly to the side curiously as his own body reacted to the feedback the flame was giving. His own core seemed to quiver in excitement as well, his stomach churning with the emotion that the flame within swirled with.

For a few minutes, the churning in his stomach seemed to escalate, making his body twitch here and there with the odd sensation from within. When she finished, his mind stayed on the "good team" part, and though he had the distinct feeling it hadn't been as accurate of a translation as it could have been, as if it were lacking something vital, he released a small sound of approval that was almost equivalent to a small burst of laughter that ended very shortly after.

Even as the flame around his hand danced happily, he gave a flashing smirk that mirrored the swirling within, his irises alight with amusement and approval.

"Of course!" He didn't elaborate any further, because quite frankly, he couldn't find the words. _*****_

As the two of them stood there together, the swirling orange flames around them started to recede, slowly licking back into to the core like the reverse of a piece of newspaper catching fire.

Pulling back all the extra bits of itself, the core lowered back down to just below their shoulder level.

While the inferno no longer swept around them, the air still felt heated, and the dancing of the now more contained fire was no less of a sight than before.

At some point during the encounter, the mist left, and it only now started to curl back into the grove, slipping back around their ankles.

The fire pulsed a wave of energy outwards, gently removing Hiei's hand from within itself before it flared white, releasing a single tongue of flame over the top of its main body that wavered downwards in front of Hiei, fully expecting him to let it fall into his hands.

Shikiyoku found herself smiling as the treat fell, even going so far as to forget that Hiei had gotten hers, feeling a surge of pleased emotions that the fire was going to gift him with such a rare color. 3

Hiei pulled his hand away from the flaming orb slowly, his arm falling to his side, feeling a little odd now that the warm flames weren't touching his skin. His stomach and core had calmed down now, and he felt a sense of quiet content. His eyes still flashed with amusement, but other than that, his expression had returned to an almost blank expression.

He was about to step away when the fire flashed, turning white with enough heat that could have singed a demon within moments if it came in contact with lethal intent. A moment later, a small part of the core broke apart and moved, almost lazily floating in his direction until he held out the same hand that had touched the fire, watching the tongue of flame dance in his palm happily.

He eyed the small flame for a moment before looking back up to the core, a smirk forming on his lips again. "Much appreciated."

He glanced at Shikiyoku for a millisecond before inwardly shrugging and popping this piece into his mouth again. The flavor, which he could not describe, was stronger this time, the flame hotter and much more enjoyable than even the first, which he had considered the best taste in any and all planes of existence. _*****_

The fire chuckled at Hiei as he thanked it, whirring slightly with another bout of happiness.

"You haven't told me how things are, yet." Shikiyoku told the orb of fire, removing her hand from Hiei's shoulder now that she was not oppressed by the control of the fire and stepping towards the swirling orb.

She reached up and passed her hand over the top of it, but through the flickering tongues of flame that danced upwards. As she did so they lapped about her fingers excitably, shivering as if tickled by her touch.

_Fine.~_

Shikiyoku frowned playfully at it, pausing her hand in mid-pass and shifting her fingers about, to which the dancing flames quivered again and cooed in laughter, but did not tell her to stop.

"You're not much help."

What did she wish it to say? Not alone in grove with so many memories inside! Spends time thinking and reliving lives of those from before. Maybe gets little lonely. But only smallness! Has much interaction with the other selves within. Does not wish to leave safety of tree-home. Black is favorite color! Besides flame. Flame is best color.

Shikiyoku remembered why she didn't actually stay in the clearing in past visits, as talking with the fire was exhausting and it tended to chatter off-subject.

She thought of the tree whose roots she loved sleeping in, her strength returned from the fainting spell of earlier, but the constant translating made her mind tired.

_Feels better!~ Is good.~ Wanted to help.~_

"Yes, thank you for that." She smiled at it as she pulled back and lowered her hand, the flames following her removal until she started to move the hand down.

The fire heaved once as if in a sigh as her hand got away, but did not protest.

_Sleep now, she-of-desire.~ Will be good.~ Has self-protection.~_

A thrill ran up its body and the thought of her and Hiei together.

_Much traveled.~_

The fire knew she had come from far away, and still had a long way to go.

_But...see again?~_

_Brings littles next time!~_

It added the second part before Shikiyoku could answer the first, but the blush did not creep past her neck this time.

"She doesn't think so." Shikiyoku crossed her arms over her chest.

The fire resounded with consternation at her, wrestling with her answer for a moment before striking up in dance again.

_Then...still bring child-of-self with, yes?~_

Shikiyoku finally laughed, knowing it meant Hiei, her arms dropping back to her sides as she gave the orb a crooked smile.

"We'll see."

_Likes child-of-self.~_

The fire flared up briefly with giggles of flames vibrating up its sides as it looked towards Hiei again.

"I know." She responded kindly.

It fell silent for a moment, growing briefly serious.

_Would bless she-of-desire, but has self-safety by side now, so does not need!~ Is having of happy feelings all!~_

The corner of Shikiyoku's lips rose a little in a half-smile.

_Sleep now.~ Has much to discuss with memories now!~ Child-of-self best news.~ Will much talk.~_

"We'll leave you, then." Shikiyoku turned her head to look at Hiei, "Back to the tree?" 3

Hiei thought of the flame that had joined its kin inside his stomach, the flames not exactly joining, but residing side by side like partners dancing around one another. The joy that filled him was unfathomable, his mind a whir of thoughts over this fire. What would happen if it stayed over time? Would it simply sit there?

Something pulled at his attention.

Snippets of words.

Or, rather, impressions of words, of a small conversation that he somewhat understood. But they were only snippets, broken fragments of sentences here and there that made little to no sense to him.

_Bring littles…~_

_Child-of-self…~_

_Blessing…~_

It wasn't much, but for some reason, the first impression he received made him blink and turn to stare at the fire again in confusion. It was similar to how he'd felt about what Shikiyoku had translated, without the feeling of it being slightly misinterpreted.

But he didn't inquire. He wasn't curious enough just yet.

When Shikiyoku turned to him, he gave a small nod of approval and turned to leave, glancing back once at the fire and testing one small thing out.

His Jagan opened beneath the cloth that hid it so well, and his mind concentrated on the flame.

"_What an interesting creature you are." __*****_

When Hiei touched the fire's consciousness with the Jagan, a legion's legion of voices spoke back to him at once, the voices of all the fire demons who had ever existed, the deepest one of all belonging to the voice of the very first demon, the original fire demon, which was almost resonating at a register too low to hear, reminiscent of its former massive size. The fire's raw power threatened to overhaul, to overwhelm even Hiei's monstrous telepathic power just from the sheer number of them.

"_**IS NOT CREATURE. IS FIRE. IS ALL-FIRE. CHILD-OF-SELF WILL BECOME ALL-FIRE ONE DAY AND BURN WITH ALL-FIRE TOGETHER. FOR ALWAYS. FOR NOW, PROTECT AND CHERISH. LIVE FULLY. IS MOST POWERFUL CHILD-OF-SELF. IS PLEASED." **_

The fire broke the connection, pulling away into itself from Hiei's mind much like it had pulled away from he and Shikiyoku before, drawing back the flames of its speech in that reverse-flaming-newspaper fashion before leaving Hiei all alone with his Jagan.

For her part, Shikiyoku followed after Hiei, taking the lead when he appeared to pause in place and continuing to walk in the direction of the ring of trees, feeling much more contented than she had in a long time. 3

Hiei became completely overwhelmed with the product of the mental contact, his mind now filled with so many voices that he couldn't even separate one from another. It made his vision swim for only a moment before he refocused, able to just barely keep his mind from being overtaken by the immense amount of consciousness that touched his own.

But more than anything, he was stunned. He hadn't even considered the fact that such a thing could be derived from past demon souls, all of the same kinsmanship. And he had felt each and every soul within the flame, and each one of those souls had responded in an uproar against his brush against their beings.

He was, again, surprised when the beings within conveyed a very clear message. His eyes widened as they left his consciousness, his mind scrambling to recover from the barrage.

And after a moment of simply staring at the flame, a small sneer formed on his face. "Interesting," he mused aloud to himself as he turned to leave. _*****_

"Told yah." Shikiyoku replied primly, having felt the surge of Hiei's Jagan Eye as she kept walking. "I wouldn't suggest doing that again though. He's easily excitable."

Without saying another word, Shikiyoku picked up the pace, having reached the treeline.

She dodged through the thick undergrowth with exact precision, spinning to the side to avoid groups of branches, ducking underneath overhanging vines, standing up more fully in her run once they got far enough away from the grove that the trees thinned out, glancing back to see that the fire had completely disappeared in the thickness of the mist that swirled just in front of her eyes.

"You won't find your way back unless he wants you to." Shikiyoku commented calmly in the middle of their return. "The grove twists and bends in on itself to protect him and the chances of it and him both letting anyone actually in are slim. He may be easily excitable, but he is also easily angered. And his fury is more dangerous than any living beings' could ever be."

She fell silent again, alternating between trees and ground, whichever one had the easier path to navigate back to the other side of the valley. 3

Hiei turned to follow after Shikiyoku, staying silent even as she spoke to him an an amused tone. He quickly picked up his pace in a run to keep up easily with the woman, his eyes staying focused on the path she wove for him so that he wouldn't branch off and simply end up in a place he didn't actually want to be. Because, now, he did actually feel like sleeping, and a tree sounded just about amazing at the moment.

As she continued speaking, though, he gave just a small scoff at her, amused. "I don't intend on bothering it again."

Even the deepest part of him told him that it was a lie. He was intrigued with the flame. And, it was highly likely he would attempt to visit again, if only briefly.

But he did take her warnings and memorized them, to ensure to be wary later on.

And it didn't take long for his mind to already consider going back, his very core still warm with the flames he had swallowed.

Such a delicious treat… _*****_

It did not take long for them to traverse the valley back to the side where Shikiyoku 'lived' when she was here. With the forest less dense than the one around the fire, it was easy to spot the gigantic tree that rose towering over the rest of the treeline.

Shikiyoku slowed as the reached the clearing and walked over to the root where she had placed her cloak, reaching up and moving it further back so that it would not fly off in the wind as it had already been shifted about just enough to be worrisome.

She placed a hand on the soft bark of the root that arced upwards out of the ground, feeling beneath her fingers the steady life of the tree it belonged to and looking up into its branches, the lowest of which were at least twice the size of the giant root next to her.

Her eyes shifted to the place where she often slept long ago, a place where one could curl up in near the base of the tree in a crook between where two roots dove into the ground underneath them. But, her gaze rose upwards to the lowest branches of the tree, which were easily at least two miles above the forest floor.

When she had been younger, there was only one time she had successfully made it up the path, though she had attempted to run the vertical trunk each time she tried.

She couldn't decide if she wanted to put out the effort to get up there or not, as lovely as the view and peacefulness of the breeze might be.

Shikiyoku turned to Hiei, hands on her hips as she inquired, "What do you think?" 3

Hiei pulled to a stop underneath the large tree, the branches moving only the slightest bit with the wind. He eyed each branch, particularly the closest ones, which were pretty high in relation to any other tree he'd ever scaled. He wasn't even sure if he'd be able to get up on the lowest one without using his sword for leverage.

And he didn't even want to consider damaging such an amazing sight.

Not because of how much he enjoyed it, but because there was a very real possibility it could strike back.

At Shikiyoku's question, he glanced at her before turning his eyes back up to the branches, impressed. "Too much effort." he said casually, as if his mind had already been set on staying on the ground. Might as well, right? "The ground will do for now." As he finished this sentence, he turned and simply lowered himself to the ground, reclining against the tree just as comfortable as he could be. _*****_

Shikiyoku stretched her arms above her head, finding herself relieved with his answer before lowering next to him, leaning her back against the trunk and blinking sleepily as she realized just how tired she was.

Well...they _had _run nearly the whole day. And the fire was exhausting enough to talk to all on its own.

She shifted herself a little lower, eyes closing as she let herself relax, one of the arms that had taken to resting on her stomach slipping off slowly and she let it lay on the ground.

"I'm glad you like it here." She murmured, her body and mind edging towards dreamland. 3

Hiei's back was pressed against the bark, which was surprisingly smooth compared to its rough appearance. His head leaned back against it as he lowered himself further down, only his shoulders and up now touching the bark as his eyes slid closed, making him realize just how much he'd missed sleep. After all, he'd had a rude awakening back in the Human World, and then he'd simply gone on running for several hours.

The realization brought on a small yawn as Shikiyoku mumbled at him, and he merely nodded, not knowing if she saw the gesture.

As his body stilled from mild adjustment, he began to relax from head to toe, his mind quieting and he slowly drifted towards sleep. _*****_

A cold breeze of the valley that often accompanied the dead of night blew over Shikiyoku while she still had the wits about her to be aware of it, even if only barely.

Her brow frowned and she turned over onto her side, towards the warmth she felt to her left, and then fell asleep in the peaceful silence.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes grew brighter as she and Hiei sped forwards, drawing closer to the city gates, the walls rising like red marble at a ridiculous height on the horizon.

For some reason she felt more excited than she had in a while. she had never actually seen the inside of this city.

As they got closer, there was actually a beaten path on the ground from the feet of those coming from their direction over the years and since traffic was fairly heavy along it, she kept to the trees along the side, jumping from branch to branch along with others who had the same idea as he, passing a few demons who were simply standing in the trees, a few groups conversing about subjects Shikiyoku didn't care to listen in on.

She could feel more than a few eyes on her as she lept past them, but most of them turned back away when she got out of view, her cloak fluttering along behind her as she traversed through the trees.

She didn't have the hood up, the thought didn't even cross her mind, so when they reached the gates, forced to walk along with the traffic as the trees had stopped a half a mile back, she heard a gruff voice that cut through the rumble of the crowd.

"You, there!" A demonic gate-guard with a large pike in hand shouldered his way through the other demons, stopping in front of her so that she would have to as well.

The demons around them did not stop, instead fluidly slipping around the scene that started occurring before them. 3

Hiei ran and leapt through the branches of the trees until the branches ended, making him fall to the ground in an almost lazy manner. Once his feet touched the ground, his run turned into a lazy jog, slowing so that he could take in his surroundings and worm out any threats, if there were any, before the threat became known.

Quite frankly, the idea of going through the city was not one he enjoyed. While Hiei himself looked very obviously demon, his red eyes being the sole reason behind the assumption at this point, he was more than aware at Shikiyoku's appearance. While her scent was not of a human one, at least not to him, she certainly stood out, despite the outfit that only ebbed the situation just a little.

So, when he heard a gruff, masculine voice calling out into the crowd somewhere ahead, the fire demon was not surprised to see Shikiyoku stopped in the middle of the moving path of demons, who merely continued on. Since he was a ways back, his eyes registered everything from the weapon he wielded to the severe expression on his face.

And for the moment, he wasn't in any rush. She could handle it if she simply wished to do so.

And yet, he didn't enjoy the idea of her _handling _this particular situation. So his hands slid into his cloak pockets and he continued forward at a slightly faster pace, until he drew up just a few feet behind Shikiyoku, watching the guard.

"You're wasting our time."

~!**!~

Akari's hands methodically twisted the hair tie around and around in her hair, creating the very same ponytail that she'd had earlier this morning, though it was a little less icky now, due to the shower she'd had. It was still slightly damp, but the sun that beat overhead would fix that problem in no time at all, she could tell by the warmth that radiated over her skin.

She pulled the hairdo tighter before her arms fell to her sides, her muscles protesting even the smallest movement with soreness that could only come from the training she'd been forcing herself into each and every morning. Yes, especially this morning, even though it was tough to really do much of anything in that particular gym without becoming overwhelmed.

The grumbled word she said was not a nice one.

_Of course. First, a rose. Then, a lecture and a scar. Last…_

She huffed to herself.

_That's exactly why I skipped. I can't deal with it. _

Just the thought of seeing the redhead sent her mind into a flurry of rapid, incoherent, fragmented thoughts and emotions. And again, this morning, when she'd gone to change into the outfit she had picked specifically for her personal training, she'd seen the bandages, even lifted them to check the wound Kurama had given her, and instead of seeing the scars, she'd not only _seen _the moment in the gym, but she'd _felt_ it. On her cheeks, as heat. In her core, as a frazzled emotion she still couldn't place. And, of course, on her lips, where he'd lingered just long enough to render her speechless, smirk, and then make his escape.

_Stupid fox demon. It isn't as funny as you make it to be._

Her eyes suddenly refocused on the sidewalk she wandered along, only jarred from her dazed thoughts by a grumbling human who rammed into her shoulder, causing a small grunt of pain from the shock her torso took.

"Watch it!" the man spat at her before turning to continue on in a hurry.

_Stupid people. Stupid fox. Stupid, stupid, stupid… __*****_

~!**!~

Yusuke slurped the stick of licorice further into his mouth, one hand stuffed into the pocket of his green school uniform while the other whipped a joystick expertly around, his eyes firmly fixed on the game screen in front of him.

The noise of passersby outside the arcade did not so much as break his concentration as he glared unblinkingly at the boss fight.

When the lizard boss made one last attack and reduced his character to death, Yusuke threw his hand up into the air.

"AUGH! That's like the _fifth _time you stupid game!" He munched angrily on the licorice, pulling his hand out of his pocket with both another coin and another stick of licorice, finishing the one in his mouth as he slipped the coin into the machine and then chomped down on the candy angrily, shifting in his seat a little as the introduction ran across the screen.

~!**!~

The guard's eyes narrowed as Hiei approached and spoke, Shikiyoku doing nothing more than looking up at him with large, unblinking green eyes.

He took a sniff of the scent that wafted up from the much shorter female below, one side of his upper lip raising as it curled into his nostril.

"_Her _kind isn't welcome here." The guard retorted, talking directly to the fire demon. His words this time held less force than before.

"I have my escort." Shikiyoku purred, "Out of the way."

The guard shifted his eyes downwards to regard her again. It was true that her kind were free to go about should they be accompanied, but...he looked back to Hiei.

"She's with you?" 3

Hiei blinked slowly once at the guard, as if he'd been asked the most ridiculous question in all of the universe. He didn't enjoy wasting time in any single way. And he had already known that her appearance would create problems- not that it made it any better. It still irked him to be stopped.

"If she were not, I would not have specifically enunciated the word '_our.'"_ he finally responded, his tone even and expression mildly irate. He stared unblinkingly, waiting for the guards _wittiest _response.

~!**!~

Akari turned away from the human and continued onward, her eyes staring unblinkingly ahead while her thoughts continued where they had left off.

_Why him, of all people? I have to attend the same school, and I refuse to go as long as he acts like __**this**__._

_What exactly is __**this**_ _anyway?_

A frown colored her features as a headache began to form just behind her eyes. No matter how much she thought about it, she simply couldn't get past it. Nothing helped her sort through the mess, the chaos her mind became each time she attempted to do so. And still, the question remained, the one she had yet to answer or even consider:

_Would I keep the scar?_

Another huff of frustration and she actually threw her hands in the air now, her eyes turning to the heavens. "I give up!"

A small part of her, still as stubborn as ever, whispered _no you don't.._

It was just a stupid scar, for pete's sake! A scar! She could ignore it if…

…_.Stupid fox…. __*****_

~!**!~

Yusuke stretched and stood up from the video game, stuffing his hands in his pockets shortly thereafter and heading out of the arcade, licorice still hanging out of his mouth.

He swiped a can of soda from someone walking by and kept going, ignoring any noise of protests they gave him.

As he lifted the drink to his lips, throwing back his head as he walked, he ran right into someone and nearly jostled the carbonated liquid all over himself.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, lowered the can, "Watch where you're goin'-" He cut off the word he meant to say when he recognized Akari, inserting another in its place, "Red. I mean, come on. People are walking here." He peered into her eyes. "Woah. What's wrong with you?"

~!**!~

"I have to make sure." The demon rumbled. "It's my _job_." He looked back down, taking another sniff. "You certainly don't _look _like one of them from The Palace." He didn't ask why, but it appeared the prospect loosened his stance. "But anyway, you should consider at least wearing that hood of yours. Contain that scent. Maybe it'll keep you out of trouble."

He stepped back.

"I'll do as I please." Shikiyoku practically growled at him as she swept past.

"I'm sure you will." The guard turned before any more words could be exchanged, shouldering his way back to his post.

As Shikiyoku kept moving with the crowd through the enormous gates and into the city proper, she grumbled angrily to herself about many things, namely the division of her spirit which contributed to her inability to change her appearance, and in a very colorful string of language that made a least two of the demons next to her twitch their ears, looking at her wide-eyed as they stepped away as inconspicuously as possible from her person. 3

Hiei gave no response to the words the guard tossed his way, his nostrils flaring again as the demon's eyes traveled back to Shikiyoku in contemplation again. Hiei closed the distance between himself and Shikiyoku in about four strides, his red eyes following the guard the entire way until he was completely sure the demon would not return to him nor Shikiyoku for further debate.

And it satisfied the fire demon to have gotten away so quickly, without too much trouble.

Then again, maybe it was being able to talk to one like that again- a demon who was supposed to be of authority- without getting mixed up into tedious trouble. After all, Koenma wouldn't take the talk back, so he'd refrained for quite some time.

And the release was simply amazing.

Red eyes moved down to Shikiyoku as his ears finally tuned into her grumblings, a sneer forming on his lips at the profanities.

"Hn," he breathed out instinctively, rather amused by her language of choice and the reaction she earned from the other demons nearby. "Perhaps you should just stick to that."

~!**!~

Akari hadn't been paying attention. At all. Her most recent thought had been a halting one, a thought that made her mind go numb with realization and her face and ears warm up at the prospect behind that single thought.

She'd simply fallen right into the fox's hands, practically walking into his plan.

But that didn't change anything…. did it? She still hated the scars beneath, still wanted to be rid of them. Even the mere thought of them and the memories they held made her want to cover her head and scream into something that would staunch her voice.

And even still, the throbbing pain of Kurama's attack kept nagging at her.

It was at this thought that she ran into another human, immediately snapping back to reality and releasing a small rumble of a growl at the male that automatically began saying a sentence that would not end well for either of them.

But when her eyes met brown ones and her mind recognized the voice of the detective, her glare became harsh as he paused only briefly before calling her _red_. That hadn't been his original word choice, she knew, but she didn't linger on it.

And his question had her blinking at him, her lips pulling down into a frown deeper than any other she'd had all day. "Aside from you being in my way, ramming into people like an idiot? Nothing," she replied loftily, her nose going higher in the air as if to prove her point. She hadn't realized it was so evident, her musings. _*****_

"Me?" He grinned at her, stuffing his free hand down in his pocket and pointing at her with one of the fingers wrapped around the soda, "I'll have you know I was actually _on _my side of the walkway.

"And I _know _that look. What's up? Do I need to punch him for you?" He laughed nervously, "Unless it's Hiei. Then I'd really rather not. That guy's got abs like a rock."

~!**!~

"Stick to _what_?" Shikiyoku growled at him, not knowing what in the bloody ninth level he was talking about.

If she'd had her _true _form, the demons would have been clearing a path for her, and instead she was forced to slouch along like so much human cattle.

Not to mention the fact they wouldn't have been _stopped_, because everyone would have known Hiei was with _her_.

A smell caught her nose and her mood lifted slightly as her head perked up, catching sight of a tavern alongside the pathway. She remembered she had not actually been in this city before and she stood taller as they kept going, starting to take in the sights surrounding them and drinking them in almost hungrily as if to make up for lost time.

They started walking through the trade district where demons were lined against the buildings attempting to sell their wares to those going by. 3

Hiei chose not to reply, deciding to leave Shikiyoku to imagine what he meant on her own. The thought of her curses made his sneer widen just a fraction before it disappeared, amusement replaced with curiosity as he walked through the town, his eyes roving over each and every single thing he could see.

Demons wandered, going in and out of shops in groups or simple pairs. Different types of music drifted from open doors to what he assumed to be pubs, and different scents permeated the air, marking it a rather peculiar scent even to him.

But that wasn't what interested him most.

The trader's stands were everywhere, lining both sides of the path through the city, each table holding something different, some even with large objects set on the ground for viewing in full without breaking the table. Almost unconsciously, he drifted through the crowd to browse, small things here and there snagging his attention before he was up close on the objects only to see they were fake and continuing on, ignoring any and all chatter about him _buying the newest product. _

~!**!~

Akari huffed at Yusuke and turned her eyes to the side, not surprised he had turned to teasing her so quickly about her own lack of observation. It wasn't like she'd been even remotely close to reality anyway- her mind had been so consumed with-

She cut the thought short to prevent the same thing happening again, her eyes turning back on Yusuke as he spoke up again, making a scoff leave her lips.

The mental image of the detective trying to attack Kurama, while amusing, wasn't tempting enough to have her mouth open and speak about it. So, she chose the next best thing.

"Admiring another man's torso, are we?" she taunted, moving around him to continue on. "Huh, and here I thought you might actually have a chance with a female. Too bad, I suppose. She must be _very _disappointed." _*****_

"First of all," Yusuke did not seem phased by her jabs, instead pulling his hand back out of his pocket and lifting a single finger, "He's not a man, he's a demon. Which really makes it unfair in the first place." Another finger, "Secondly, that was what we humans call _jealousy. _I know it's hard to tell the difference sometimes, but you'll catch on. Probably." He tilted his head and left his lopsided grin plastered across his face.

"Hey, listen, I just left the arcade, but I wouldn't mind going back." He jabbed a thumb behind him, "You wanna hit up a few of the machines?"3

* * *

_Okay, so I gotta say that I love getting to play Yusuke against Akari. CM and I decided that he and Akari have a kind of love-hate sibling relationship that even now we wish we had opportunity to explore!_

Koorime \- the name of the race of ice maidens that live on the floating island Hyouga (Hiei's birthplace).

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	34. Episode 119 - City and Arcade

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction World!

We have broken a thousand views for the story! I am so glad there are so many people that have at least taken the time to check it out. CM and I originally never intended to post the story, so it's cool to have people peeking in to see what we've done! It's especially neat that FF tracks the 'display location' feature on the traffic stats so I get so see the different places people are from that are viewing the story! It's pretty sweet!

As to some actual A/N, my current plan is to continue posting chapters once a day throughout the rest of this month as well as the next, but to switch to a schedule, like Monday/Wednesday/Friday postings at a specific time, starting in February.

Anyway, I appreciate all of the views the story has gotten and if you are enjoying reading our roleplay, feel free to leave us a review and let us know what you think!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari is having trouble _not _thinking about the kiss Kurama gave her,  
and she skips school to avoid him,  
running into Yusuke near the arcade.

~!**!~

The All-Fire speaks with Hiei through Shikiyoku,  
eventually rewarding him with another white-hot flame.

The next day the two of them arrive at the first city  
and start to make their way through to the other side...

* * *

Shikiyoku kept moving, unaware of the fact that she had left Hiei wandering behind her somewhere among the vendors, her crimson colored cloak lightly rustling near her feet.

Even as her eyes appreciated the city around her, in the back of her mind she thought through the other articles of clothing that she had, thinking about how the next time she was going to have to choose her outfit more carefully so incidents like what happened back at the gate would not hinder her visit.

Deep in these thoughts simultaneous with the bit of wonderment in her eyes, she did not notice the pair of sharp eyes that caught sight of her form as she entered into what was unmistakably the mercenary district, as those who strolled about her changed from the more 'normal' demons to ones with a fiercer cast about their faces, some of them openingly carrying large weapons, others nearly completely shadowed by the cloaks they wore, their appearances unable to be made out.

There were both male and females demons lining the walls-in groups or pairs or singularly-of the buildings that had various signs denoting the merc guild within, and these demons were of a particular vocation, though of different status within said vocation, usually denoted by how revealing their clothing was or the style. Or both.

More than a few called out to her as she passed by them, but she only took to gracing one or two of the ones she actually felt deserved it with a look a only a demon of her kind could conjure, taking the demons who received the look completely by surprise as they realized just by the sultry smile and flashing eyes exactly who they cat-called to, in spite of her simple appearance. And those couple of demons took it as a compliment that she would even give them such a look, though they also knew what she meant by it and stayed back.

She raised an eyebrow amusedly as she turned back to continue watching her way along after glancing at the last one, most of the demons around her this deep in the district tall and imposing figures of muscle, with only one among their number being near her height, though the ferocity of his face Shikiyoku considered to rival even Hiei's.

"What do you want?" She said suddenly.

"Whatever you're willing to give me." Came the snarky reply of the demon who caught up and matched her stride as soon as she spoke.

"You've certainly been following me long enough."

"You knew, then?"

Shikiyoku stopped and turned to look up at the demon, realizing at that very moment that Hiei was no longer with her and that out of the corners of her eyes she could not see him anywhere nearby.

The demon was tall-though most were in relation to Shikiyoku-and wiry with a filled out form accented by the tightness of the brown leather clothing he wore. He was surprisingly attractive in a devious, roguish sort of way, his sharp nose and tilted blue eyes with a well-cut jaw complimenting the mop of unnaturally white hair pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck with pointed ears sticking out from the sides of it, his crooked smile with full lips revealing bright teeth. He looked as if he had not shaved in several days, but the smattering of facial hair only added to his handsomeness, not thick enough to cover a single stripe of a silver scar across his left cheek. He had two sheathed swords on a pair of belts tightened around his waist at his right, another single one, slightly longer, at his left. There were tattoos on his defined arms, left bare by the sleeveless tunic, and one of his hands had come to rest on a hip, the other hanging loosely by his side.

"There are more where _those _came from." Her caught her eyes sliding to take in the markings "But you haven't even told me-" His expression started back as her scent drifted up to his nose, "Oh. OH." He looked down at her with realization in his eyes.

Shikiyoku let her lips settle into that particular smile.

He let out a brief laugh, the hand on his hip sliding down to rest about the hilts of the pair of swords at his side. "I'm not sure now whether to stay or run."

"You should probably run." Shikiyoku purred.

He bent closer to her, whispering in confidence, "Then I'll most definitely stay."

One of her eyebrows quirked at his riposte and she found herself more intrigued.

He stood up straighter. "I was going to ask you something completely different at first, but I think I've changed my mind."

Shikiyoku tilted her head slightly in a nod to his decision.

The demon held up a finger, "Don't go making such rash judgements of me so quickly."

"You didn't even hear my answer to your original question."

His stomach retracted slightly as he meant to release his next words, but she took him off-guard with her expression and the statement that he did not expect her to make and he didn't say anything at first, opening his mouth and taking another breath in the pause.

"You know..." His other hand had not moved from the hilts of his swords. "You're very tempting." He clucked his tongue, "And if I didn't know your type, I would take you up on that in an instant."

"What if I said _you _were my type?"

"Well, I would hardly be able to blame you for that." He immediately replied with no sense humility whatsoever, obviously aware that he had good looks. He went on from there.

"I was originally going to ask for your company-"

"And you still could."

He raised an eyebrow and quirked his lips with a smirk, "But now I think I would ask for your services."

"They can be one in the same."

He laughed again, more exasperated this time as he raised the hand not on his swords up to cover his face.

"Are you _always_ this difficult to hold a conversation with?"

"Depends on what we're talking about." She made no effort to hide her suggestiveness, though she had not been doing so the whole time.

He chuckled again, lowering his hand, "I asked for that one."

"Yes."

His fingers gripped a little tighter on the pommels of his swords, ready for the chance that she might release her powers on him.

"My guild would hire you for a job-"

"That would depend on how many of you there are."

The demon's mouth hung open, stuck in half a grin and half speechlessness at her audacity.

She waved his moment away, appearing slightly more business-like, "I require that you kill the informant for me once the work is done."

Returning back to the present, the demon caught up, straightening, and nodded once, "That would not be a problem."

"I would suggest that you let me speak to your guild leader before we go any further."

He grinned, his eyes twinkling.

"_You're _the guild leader." She said flatly.

"At your service." He made a slight bow from the waist.

She gave him another look that made him release another nervous laugh and put his free hand up behind his head.

"Pretty human is alone?"

The white-haired demon looked up over Shikiyoku's head and she noticed the immediate shift in his feet. She turned around and took one step backwards towards the guild leader.

"Friends of yours?" He asked lightly.

"No." Shikiyoku murmured, her eyes taking in three burly, huge, obviously animalistic-demons, each with a large, spiky club. The one in the middle had his resting across his shoulders behind his neck.

"Not alone!" The guild leader replied pleasantly. "We were just discussing business."

The demon in the middle, the one who spoke first, narrowed his beady eyes.

"Then is alone if only with you for business." He made no attempt to hide the saliva that started leaking from the corner of his lips.

"Also, not human!" The white-haired demon pointed out.

The new arrival took a loud sniff of the air through his large nostrils and his eyes brightened in understanding.

"Is almost as good." He reached down with a large paw-like hand.

"Ah-ah-ah," The guild leader reprimanded, drawing the single, longer sword out of its sheathe with his left hand so quickly that in one split second it was not in the air, and in the next he was crouched slightly over Shikiyoku with his knees bent and his head almost at the same level as her with the sword between her and the grabby demon who stopped his hand just short of the blade that gleamed red in the light. His right hand came to rest on Shikiyoku's shoulder companionably.

"I found her first. I suggest you leave her alone before things get ugly." 3

Hiei meandered about, eyes soaking in the sight of the merchandise before him, completely unaware of anything else at the moment. He pulled to a stop at a very particular stand that held things that were very interesting to him, featuring daggers and swords and weapons galore. A single blade had his attention, and curiously, he eyed the hilt and the sheath the blade was hidden within.

The sheath itself was plain black, with small lesions here and there where it had obviously come in contact with another as a last resort for defense. The hilt, however, was flawless. The gold that encircled the small gems that plated it was glittering in the light of day, not a single scratch on the weaker metal.

"Good taste, you have," the demon behind the stand spoke up, reminding Hiei dully of a character that humans often quoted and mocked. "Price lowered with this one, it is. Been on the market long time."

Hiei sneered, eyes never leaving the very beautiful blade. "That's too bad," he replied as he ran a single finger down the handle until his index finger touched the sheath, which felt as if it were covered with felt.

Such an odd combination.

"Touch the blade, you will not. Not unless buying."

Hiei's eyes flashed as he slowly turned up to look at the scrawny creature with beady eyes. A sneer formed on his lips as he took the challenge by the handle, quite literally, and he lifted the blade from the table's surface and unsheathed it.

The sound of the metal being removed from the sheath was music to his ears, and without even looking at the blade he knew it was in pristine condition.

"Place down or die."

Hiei ignored the threat, pulling the weapon entirely from the sheath and wielding it in his dominant hand, weighing it thoughtfully and poising it as if ready to strike. _Nice balance. _It rivaled even his beloved katana, despite its larger size. It was only a few ounces heavier than his current blade, but that didn't matter much for the fire demon. He still had speed on his side.

The demon across from him made a sound that was obviously of a last warning, and Hiei moved with a flash of speed, pointing the end of the blade at the demon's neck, watching the taut skin of the demon go still and draw closer around his bones in fear as he quite literally shrunk into himself. "I wish to test the blade's quality in the art of slicing through skin. Care to be the experiment?"

"N-not so, sir."

"Good."

And with that, Hiei turned and left the stand, blade still in hand, now sheathed and held in his left hand. He was very happy with his prize, even so much as considering using it, since it was very easy to see the sharpness of the blade was unlike the one he already owned.

In a single motion, he had the sheath tied to his belt, hiding it underneath his cloak on his right hip, making both sides of his body now occasionally bumped by sword sheaths.

Only then did Hiei realize Shikiyoku was not within sight. He paused and turned to look in the direction he had come from, searching for her, but not seeing her. He searched a bit longer before he met the eyes of the demon whom had had his most prized blade taken, but that demon didn't seem to think it wise to send someone after him.

_Good._

Hiei turned and followed the path until he was in another district of the city, and faintly, he could smell Shikiyoku's scent moving along a path that she had taken minutes ago. He calmly followed it, his feet moving a little faster so that he jogged by demons, easily weaving his way through the crowd that moved against him.

At least the bond hadn't acted up yet. That meant she was fine…

But still…

His feet continued to move, faster now, at a run through the crowd as he searched for a visual of Shikiyoku.

~!**!~

AKari raised a thin brow at the detective and a small smirk formed on her features, a sarcastic "ha ha" leaving her at his response. "Jealous of the grump with three eyes? I hadn't pegged you the jealous type. It must suck," she mused, turning to face him again and pausing in her leave. "Maybe one day your muscles will shrink from the soft pillows they are and become… rocks, as you said," she taunted, eyes glittering with amusement and relief now that she had something to keep her mind busy. "I mean, your fists aren't soft, but it seems the rest of you is. From muscle to heart, you're the epitome of kindness." Her voice hadn't ever wavered away from her sarcasm, her eyes rolling to the sky above. "It's an odd thing to combine with your love for scuffles."

She went quiet in contemplation now at his offer of video games. It was… tempting. And she _had_ withdrawn of Sensui's account earlier for food. _That needs to end soon. _

Her head tipped to the side as she eyed the detective curiously. Her first thought had been that hitting the machines was likely not very advised. But of course, she knew that hadn't been what he meant.

"I suppose I have time to kill," she responded with a shrug. "Might as well. Lead the way, since you know the gaming systems and I do not." She paused and gave a small sigh. "But only for a bit. I have things to do." _*****_

"Then allow me to welcome you to my domain!" Yusuke threw an arm over Akari's shoulder and led her in the direction he had just left, reentering the wide open arcade and moving to sit down at a different game than before.

"This is a fighting one." He pointed to the joystick and buttons as he explained the basic mechanics. "High attack. Low attack. Move. Jump." He slipped a coin into his machine as he went on, "You make combos based on the order you push the buttons and how you move your character." He demonstrated a couple. "Pretty simple, right?" He glanced over at her.

~!**!~

The demon with the club took another sniff of the air that wafted to him from Shikiyoku's body, the invisible, undetectable tendrils of her energy being pulled up into his nose and taking over more quickly his lesser developed mind.

So it was with a couple of wide-eyed looks from the companions on either side of him that he hefted his club off of his shoulders and smacked it against the palm of his hand. _They _could both easily see that the guild leader, a notorious merc at that, should have been left alone as soon as his sword was drawn, and they each took the slightest of steps back, leaving their leader more to himself and silently indicating to the white-haired guild leader before them that they would not be participating in the unsound judgement call their own leader was making.

The demon who still bent over Shikiyoku was smiling deviously upwards at the leader.

"Think I should give him one more chance to back off?" He said aloud, letting his eyes glance over to the side of Shikiyoku's face.

Shikiyoku knew the look on the demon's face, that he had already been captivated by her unintentional power.

"It's not going to matter." She responded in the same light tone that he used, though at the moment she felt nervous, unwilling to exercise her abilities on a brute that _might_ do as she said if she asked him to back off, but would likely come back for more.

"You think so?"

"He's too stupid to know any better."

The demon with the club growled at her, lifting his weapon over his head to bring it down on top of both Shikiyoku and the guild leader still protecting her.

Shikiyoku didn't even blink and she missed what happened as the demon lurched in place, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as the upper portion of his body suddenly shifted heavily to the left and then completely disconnected from his waist, falling over onto the ground.

She _did _notice, however, that while he had not appeared to move-his left arm still protectively dividing them both from the would-be attacker-the guild leader's right hand was no longer resting on her shoulder and he now had her in an embrace, her shoulder covered by the pit of his arm as it hung slantwise across her torso.

She heard the slight click as the pair of swords at his left finished sliding back into their sheaths, and she made the conjecture that he had drawn them and attacked so quickly with his right hand that her eyes did not follow, his body tall enough and his limbs long enough that he had been able to do so by reaching over, around, and in front of her instead of having to step back far enough away that he would have the room.

He did not remove his right arm from around her, Shikiyoku finding her back pressed up against his chest, instead letting his fingers linger lazily over the hilts of the two swords he had drawn, sliced, wiped the blood off of, and resheathed too quickly to follow.

Letting his eyes pass back and forth to the other demons in front of him, the guild leader let his lips part on the one side in a half-grin.

"Are we finished here?"

They hesitated, Shikiyoku's smell beginning to tantalize them as well. 3

Hiei moved through the crowd with almost full speed now, his feet hardly touching the ground as he felt the bond quiver a bit with emotions from Shiki that weren't strong enough for him to define just yet. His own core moved just slightly as he pushed and ran his way through the crowd, his feet now carrying him by sheer instinct as Shikiyoku's scent lingered with others.

A hand moved beneath his cloak as he moved, his keen eyes zeroing in on a scene not too far ahead now, the smell of blood drifting up to his nose, carried by the wind. His expression shifted and his eyes flashed, his lips forming an angry frown as his brows drew down at the scene.

Shikiyoku was standing very, _very _close to another demon, who had an arm about her body. A single demon fell, but two more still stood in front of her. His vision turned a tint of red and his hand withdrew a sword, the hilt unfamiliar under his palm. He'd get to test its sharpness after all.

The fire demon moved, circling at a speed that made him nothing more than a streak through the crowd as he moved around, behind the demon who held Shikiyoku captive with a sword so obviously drawn. It wasn't hard to keep his own presence hidden, something he'd instinctively done when the unease set in his stomach.

In the next second, he was standing behind Shikiyoku and another demon, a blade just touching the cloth of the demon's outer wear while his eyes sent a very deadly, very silent warning to the other two.

"If you value your life, you'll step away immediately."

~!**!~

Akari blinked at the arm Yusuke tossed over her shoulders, but didn't protest when he moved to guide her into the building filled with various machines that played various types of music, various themes. Her eyes roved around the building, taking in the different colors of flashing light in the darkened room. She had to admit, the atmosphere certainly was a pleasant one, despite the smell of sweat and trash.

She looked down at the game Yusuke stopped in front of, her eyes moving with the gestures the boy made to each button and lever. A grin formed on her features. "Fighting hand to hand isn't enough, so you resort to games?"

She reached into her own pocket and fetched a coin, eyeing it before eyeing the machine's asking amount. She slid the coin inside once confirming it was of equal value needed to play and the plopped herself down on a stool that was poised for long-term gamers. "Do we play together, or separate?" she inquired curiously, wondering if maybe she'd be able to beat him in _this _fight. _*****_

"Well, I was _gonna _be nice and let you figure this one out on your own." Yusuke grinned, his eyes never leaving the screen where his game had already started. "But if you really wanna, I'll move over there when I get done." He jerked his head to the machines opposite of where they were sitting, which appeared to be all part of the same unit, and would allow a versus setting for the players on either side. "Just consider that your practice round." He tilted his head to indicate the game that was starting up in front of her.

~!**!~

At Hiei's sudden appearance, the other two living demons across from Shikiyoku found their heads much clearer under the threat of his eyes and they took a couple more steps back before slowly starting to disengage themselves from the encounter and moving beyond them to get away.

Shikiyoku reached up and rested a hand on the arm the guild leader held around her even as he let his sword arm drop just a little, silently indicating to him that he stay where he was.

She sighed long-sufferingly, "It is not good for business to threaten a prospective employer, Hiei." She could not see Hiei from where she stood with the guild leader practically surrounding her vision with his shoulders, but she could just imagine the position he had them in. 3

Darkened eyes narrowed at the two demons that stepped backwards, away from the scene just a little. He hadn't meant that they back away, but it was just as well. The less he killed, the easier it would be to get through the city without problem. Not that demons really cared about skirmishes…

Shikiyoku's voice floated to Hiei's ears almost lazily, as if she had been waiting on him to screw something up and lecture him in the most patient of tones. Bored, perhaps, but still patient.

"Employer?" he repeated, eyes sliding to the demon who blocked his view of the demoness. Why would they need an employer? It was more trouble than it was worth, in his opinion.

He lowered his blade and stepped around, figuring that as long as Shikiyoku seemed calm, observing no threat other than the two brutes in front of her, then he might as well move so he could see her face. But his energy remained hidden for a very specific reason, his eyes taking in the male that held Shikiyoku almost protectively against himself. He didn't see much danger from this one, since his body was so relaxed and he merely stood there, not a single muscle moving to even protest Hiei's appearance.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged at Yusuke, her hands moving into position over the joystick and the buttons, the music from the machine blaring loudly in response to her willingness to play. "Only if you want to." She scrolled through the different characters she could play as while the opposing computer player chose one almost immediately, making her frown as she read the stats of each player. In relation to any demon, these characters were considered weak.

It wasn't very accurate.

She finally settled for a certain character she'd heard the name of many times in her life, and his battle cry as soon as the game continued on was one that made her raise a brow incredulously.

"This is ridiculous. They're not even portrayed correctly."

But she began pressing buttons, easily figuring out a few combinations and sticking to the ones she knew worked, attacks that she had witnessed before. A small smile of amusement played on her lips as her character dashed across the screen, throwing the other to the ground and continuing to stomp at him.

At least the signature move was accurate. _*****_

"Alright, then Miss Contrary, _you _pick the next game." Yusuke waved a hand randomly behind him at all the other machines to choose from, quickly bringing it back down to mash on the buttons some more. "It's not like this is the only thing here. Racing. Sports. Gambling. Whatever."

"Ha, ha!" he exclaimed as his character pounded the face of its opponent into the ground for another win.

~!**!~

The white-haired demon had felt Shikiyoku beneath him relax at the sound of him being threatened, which would have left him wondering at her had he not known a few things. She didn't look like one of the ones from The Palace though...

As he felt the presence behind him recede from its attacking position, Shikiyoku lowered her hand from his arm and he began to stand up.

"Ah, so you _do _have an escort." He commented, intentionally letting disappointment drip a little from his words wistfully.

"Were you going to apply for the position?" Shikiyoku rejoined as she turned around to watch the guild leader finish sheathing his weapon and pivot so that he stood to the side of her and Hiei, able to see them both plainly.

"It would certainly make life more interesting, of that I have no doubt." He swept one foot back slightly and made a flourishing bow to Hiei, "I apologize for encroaching upon your territory," here he stood back up, "But I've always found that a dead mercenary is a useless mercenary." His eyes alighted on Shikiyoku, "Even if said mercenary hasn't actually agreed to anything, negotiations seem to fall flat when one of the two involved falls over prematurely."

Shikiyoku had to remind herself that Hiei was not actually accustomed to her line of work, at least what it had been under Youko as well as what it had been here when she still lived on the Ninth Level, so the situation he had barged into was nothing like anything he'd ever seen in regards to her before. Upon reflection, he really had no experience in what he was actually meant to do, though there was not any opportunity for that much in Human World. 3

A single brow twitched, but otherwise, Hiei gave no reaction to the disappointment that lingered in the words from the male. HIei let his blade hand at his side, still gripped in his dominant hand with a hold that was ready for anything.

When Shikiyoku's 'employer' moved, he instinctively shifted, moving a foot backwards to ready for attack, blade moving only a fraction of an inch towards the demon before he realized the motion was one Hiei had never received before.

The demon bowed, voicing an apology, and Hiei wasn't sure what to do. He certainly wouldn't bow back, but was there a type of guideline to something of this nature? He moved to stand up straight again, blade lowering and wrist relaxing at his side. He didn't even know how to reply to the moment other than relinquishing his threat silently, sliding his blade away and out of view in a silent show of peace.

His crimson eyes shifted to Shikiyoku almost expectantly, waiting for her to say or do something that might indicate something he was missing, or perhaps time to leave.

He didn't like being in the city.

~!**!~

Akari's character continued to kick at the opposing character on the screen until the speakers yelled at her and the words "You win" flashed across the screen. She snickered and sat back, leaning the stool backwards as she looked over the character on the screen with familiarity. Perhaps it wasn't too different than him.

"One game," she said to Yusuke, turning to face him with a determined gleam in her eyes. She knew this character inside and out, if he wasn't too butchered, and she was confident that as soon as she figured out the right combination, Yusuke's character wouldn't stand a chance. "Then we'll see about another one." _*****_

Yusuke shrugged, "Sure."

He got up and went to sit down at the machine across from her, putting his coin in, activating the game, and picking his character, waiting for Akari to load in.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku held Hiei's gaze for a moment, gauging her reservations as well as the look in his blood red eyes.

Going into a contract with a Champion as inexperienced as her current acquisition was going to be dangerous, even if she wouldn't actually have trusted the job of her protection to anyone else. In a pinch, only her Champion would have the sense of mind to be able to stop an interrogation session should it dive out of control. Anyone else would be just as susceptible to her wiles as her prey, while the Champion would at least be focused enough should her life stand on the line to kill the informant.

She calmly moved her gaze over to the white-haired demon beside her.

"I'm afraid I am not actively seeking work as a mercenary at this time, so I will have to decline your offer."

The guild leader raised his eyebrows, but his expression did not change otherwise.

"Not even going to allow me to try to persuade you otherwise, princess?" He could already tell that for whatever reasons she kept to herself, she wasn't going to be saying yes today.

Shikiyoku felt her eyes twitch slightly when the guild leader called her a princess, but she gave no actual indication of her feelings on the word otherwise. It sounded to her as if he really thought she were royalty from The Palace she knew lay two cities away, and was not using the word as a pet name.

"Even if I were looking for work, my price is much too high for you." After speaking, her closed lips curled upwards in a wicked grin.

He didn't seem terribly phased, "Doubtful. But I'll take my leave of you anyway. Feel free to give The Palace my regards upon your return."

He leaned forward and slipped a hand behind Shikiyoku's elbow, gently pulling her arm up as he ran his fingers underneath her forearm until he reached her palm, where he maintained hold of her hand in his own and bowed as he brushed his lips against her fingers, gazing directly into her eyes with his piercing blue gaze as he did so.

Shikiyoku blinked once and he let go, releasing her and turning to walk away, one hand resting on the pair of hilts at his hip while the other arm swung freely in the air down by the third sword on his other side.

She found her hand still hanging in mid-air when he let go, her eyes following his retreat, and after he began to disappear into the crowd, she pulled the hand closer to her face, staring at the place where his lips had been, feeling a tingling sensation where they had pressed up against her skin.

Rationally, she knew the tingling was all in her head and not the product of poison or the like. But something else entirely stirred within her and made her eyes trail after the direction the guild leader had taken. And she realized they had never even told one another their names...3

Hiei didn't move from the place where his feet had become planted to the ground, his arms hanging at his sides and fingers slightly twitching. He was curious about the offer he had been ready to make, and why Shikiyoku had not even considered it. Perhaps it was because Hiei himself had no idea of anything to do with her line of work. At least, that's what he assumed, and the thought left him scowling to himself.

For once, Hiei was the one who felt useless.

And that irked him just a little.

So when the white haired demon was gone, Hiei crossed his arms over his chest and watched Shikiyoku carefully, contemplating on inquiring of her… profession. But he refrained for now, since they were within the walls of the city.

He would have lingered longer, if it were not for the next thing that happened.

Several voices shouted out at once, yelling different things such as "Over there!" and "That's him!" Hiei didn't have to turn to know what was going on. A small sneer formed on his features as he glanced over his shoulder, four rather large demons running his direction, each with eyes on him. Glee at the thought of the challenge arose, but he turned to Shikiyoku again.

"Time to go," he stated almost casually, as if leading a friend away from a particular ride in an amusement park.

~!**!~

Akari's grin turned wolfish, her eyes gleaming with mirth as Yusuke agreed, and almost as quickly as her hand would move, she had another coin in the slot of the machine, the music picking up where it had begun the previous round she had played. Her hand pulled at the joystick until the character name Lin Xou popped up, the character with a long, sleek black ponytail bouncing around on the balls of his feet on the screen as she hit ready.

"Y'know, these characters are based on actual people right?" she called across to the boy, suddenly deciding to share her own thoughts. "At least some of them. Lin is actually a demon who lived in my own village a few decades ago. Swell guy, until you made him mad."

She wasn't sure why she babbled like a moron.

Maybe it was because one of the characters slightly resembled Kurama, with the red hair, and her mind wished to be busy. _*****_

"Huh. Really?" Yusuke briefly looked across the profile pictures of the characters he hadn't really considered very far into before.

_Well...I guess that one __**does **__kinda look like Kurama...but it can't be..._

Yusuke glanced up over the machine at Akari, refraining from mentioning that particular notion. She hadn't reacted to Hiei's name, and he knew _someone _was bothering her. He'd worn that same look often enough in relation to Keiko to recognize it on others. And since she wouldn't so much as consider a human, like say Kuwabara...or anyone else for that matter...Yusuke felt pretty sure it had to be the fox getting under her skin. He wasn't surprised. Bloody intelligent bastard.

Best to get her mind off of these things.

"What about the sumo-wrestler in the corner? You know him too? Best buds?"

~!**!~

All of Shikiyoku's previous occupation with the unknown guild leader, as well as the encounter she'd nearly just had, melted away at the scene she could just imagine Hiei having been responsible for and she found herself grinning foolishly at him, putting her hands on her hips.

"What did you do _this _time?" 3

Hiei shrugged lightly at her, his eyes flashing with mischief as he glanced back at the group of demons charging through the parting crowd.

"I was given a rather interesting trinket. Why argue over it?"

With that, he turned and decided to take a small run, to find better fighting ground that wouldn't end up destroying parts of the city he had actually began to enjoy. His smirk never left his features as he rushed by Shikiyoku, a hand sliding into his cloak and just touching the blade he wished to test. He didn't withdraw it yet though, since he seriously didn't want to destroy any buildings and cause more trouble, but a little mischief here and there was enough to keep him entertained.

~!**!~

Akari smiled at the screen as she scrolled over to the character the detective had indicated, giving a small sound of thought before shrugging. "As far as I know, if he's a real person, he's either dead or enjoys laying low." She paused as a human passed by, looking at her as if she were completely out of place in the building.

As soon as he was out of earshot, she continued, "Granted, these characters are based pretty loosely on the actual characters. I'm sure the humans had fun using what they considered to be myths for the basis of these people."

She gave a small sigh. "Hit start already! I wanna see if I can kick your butt here!" _*****_

"Oh, uh, right," Yusuke had gotten distracted by attempting to see if he recognized any of the other characters now that Akari had mentioned it.

He started up the game and waited eagerly as it loaded, hands easily curling around either the joystick or the buttons as needed.

As he got into the game and the fight started, he jumped backwards to put some distance between himself and the girl, trying a combo or two quickly before she did anything just to make sure he remembered exactly what this fighter did.

~!**!~

"The only thing I might argue," Shikiyoku turned to follow after him, with the same smile on her face, "Is over your definition of 'given.'"

Her own eyes were bright as she dashed alongside him, wondering what _exactly _it was that he'd...been 'given.' 3

Hiei didn't reply right away to Shikiyoku, deciding to let her simmer for a moment over the fact that he knew not of the city's make up and was blindly looking for an open area. Of course, he wasn't worried since their pursuers were slow as boar demons.

As he ran, he found himself taking sharp turns, following the widest path through town until eventually, it did open up to a rather large courtyard-like scene, where only a few demons lingered, but otherwise it was barren of people and structures.

Sure, if he wanted to, he could simply get away.

But what was the fun in _that?_

~!**!~

Slender fingers poised over colored buttons and curled around the single joystick as the countdown began, and as soon as the fame shouted "GO" at her and Yusuke simultaneously, her character moved forward, towards Yusuke's retreating character as a few attacks flew at Lin. With the touch of a single button, her character slid on his knees underneath the attacks and was striking at Yusuke's character, which was, ironically, another character she recognized. Of course, not very well. Only the name, since her family had done a lot of research over specific types of fighters.

The character known as Lin threw punches one after another, followed by kicks. _*****_

Yusuke mashed furiously on his combo buttons, swooping the joystick down, over, and up in order to release one of his character's signature moves, but managed to get kicked in the middle of it as the character closed the distance too rapidly and found Akari's character's foot in his face.

Yusuke snorted at himself for the mistake, holding backwards on the joystick so that the next several punches were blocked as he looked for an opening, thinking he might jump overhead and get behind the other fighter.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku found herself gazing around at the blur of buildings and demons, still interested in seeing more of the town even as they were fleeing from the...

Hiei stopped, or rather slowed, and Shikiyoku raised her eyebrows as she felt he was preparing to turn on the demons who pursued him.

"I'm...pretty sure I don't need to be in the way." She made a path for the nearest building wall and ran up the side of it, getting to the roof and twisting around so that she sat with her legs dangling down over the air, hands next to her thighs, still wondering what a demon like Hiei would steal.

It wasn't like Demon World had sweet snow...3

Hiei glanced over at Shikiyoku as she spoke up, watching her form continue onwards and scale a wall of a nearby building, making a small sneer form on his face as he realized she had no idea what he'd taken. To her, it likely would be a silly thing, but to him, it was an interesting trinket that seemed to resonate with the energy of its wielder, as if becoming an actual part of the fighter who held it.

Even as his hand enclosed around the gems of the hilt at the very moment he turned to face his oncoming challengers, he could feel it almost humming with the resonance of his own energy. He didn't have to wait long before the four larger demons were standing around him, actually huffing from the run they'd had to make.

"You're rather out of shape." he commented, his eyes looking them over again as he reconsidered his observation. "Well, I suppose roundl is a shape.."

A growl resonated from each demon simultaneously, creating one low rumble that echoed on the wind. Without another response, each demon charged at once, two coming from his left, one in front of him, the other on his right.

Hiei only needed to make a lazy hop into the air to evade their clumsy fists, his arm withdrawing from his cloak to reveal the weapon he'd taken, though it was only a mere blur as it was struck down at the shoulders of the two closest demons, disabling the use of those arms entirely.

"Too slow."

~!**!~

Akari's hands pushed against the joystick, urging her character forward and down into a low kick that was aimed low at Yusuke's character's ankles, the sound that resonated from the screen of the grunt from Lin's character actually making her laugh. It was such a ridiculous sound that wasn't anywhere near the voice she vaguely remembered that she was momentarily distracted by her own amusement.

"Ridiculous," she commented again as her eyes turned back to the screen to see her character being tossed around. She didn't really care, since it was just a game. The fact only made her laugh a bit harder. _*****_

Yusuke shrugged as he advanced on her character again.

"It's entertaining enough." He grinned, "And I guess it keeps me out of trouble or something, so that's good right?"

He aimed a few punch/kick combos at her and then danced back briefly to try out another special attack that had his character twirling forward at a near-impossible rate while glowing as it tried to roundhouse kick hers.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku actually scoffed at her foolishness.

What _else _did she think Hiei would have...been given? Certainly not a shiny bauble like she would have wished for. She wouldn't know what to do with a sword. Except perhaps "don't hold the pointy end."

"He issss fassst."

"Mm." Shikiyoku intoned absently in agreement, feeling pleased. "The fastest."

Shikiyoku had a shiver run through her body as a tongue tickled at her ear, tasting the air near her hair which she had just gotten finished tucking behind one ear.

"Do you _mind_?" Shikiyoku grumbled, tilting her head away.

A hand roughly met with the back of her head and she could feel it grabbing a hold of her hair and jerking her backwards from the edge of the building.

"Not at all."

The slithering voice had another spine-tingling sensation skip down to Shikiyoku's toes, but her eyes narrowed as she got her footing underneath her, a burst of anger making her spin around, the grip on her hair not tight enough to prevent her from jerking around in spite of the pain it caused.

"_Not _the hair." Her eyes flashed with power and the demon released her, stumbling back as her energy hit him. "_You_ don't get to _touch_ the hair."

He hissed at her, torso humanoid, lower body snake, his tail lashing harshly behind him, annoyed as he visibly cringed away from her.

His recovery was quick and as Shikiyoku glanced over her shoulder to check Hiei's progress, he whipped his tail out in an effort to bind her, but she noticed just soon enough to leap back out of the way, landing firmly on the edge of the roof, her body bent defensively.

"Wantssss it." He slithered again, forked tongue tasting the air and her smell again, his eyes regarding her hungrily.

"Yeah, you and everyone else in the vicinity." Shikiyoku growled.

Being that his sense of taste was coupled with his sense of smell at how he pinpointed her location, Shikiyoku knew her energy was affecting him three times faster. And she had no idea how long he'd been at her shoulder. Or if he'd been following her since they'd entered the city for that matter.

If only she'd had her demonic form, she wished not for the last time. Everyone would be less likely to mess with her because of Hiei-his connection with her being more obvious with that form-but it seemed her luck was going to be the opposite for as long as this particular stay in Demon World lasted.

The demon was coming at her again and she dodged out of the way, though he seemed to predict her left movement and turned himself fast enough that he did not tumble off the roof of the building, only scattering bits of the materials down the side of the outer wall.

He shifted his weight to come at her with his tail again, but this time when she moved the opposite way he was ready for her, pushing his body forward so that he could capture her in a single hand, his massive fingers easily wrapping around her small form and lifting her off the ground.

Shikiyoku turned her head away and squeezed her eyes shut, but she could feel her scalp already tingling as her power started to shimmer defensively to her so-called 'aid.'

_Not now... _She pleaded silently.

If she could not keep it under control, every demon within the next mile would be after her, and they would not give up their chase so easily.

"Any time now, Hiei." Shikiyoku growled as the snake-demon pulled her closer to his face and tasted at her scent several more times with his tongue. 3

Hiei was enjoying himself, creating a small game of his own as he moved about, only just dodging the fists that were thrown at him and slowly hacking away at muscles, wondering if any of them would actually shout for mercy. He hardly thought so, since his strikes seemed to only anger them as if he were only prodding them with a cattle stick.

One demon came too close, and his head was rolling to the side in a second's notice, the large body falling with a rumble underneath him as he made another leap into the air, landing on the back of a demon who was hunched over, an arm trying to staunch the bleeding in his torso with an arm that no longer did his bidding.

Something pulled at his attention. Something tangible it seemed, as if a rope were being thrown over him and tugged lightly. He gave pause where he stood and assessed the sensation, but it left in another moment and he was moving away from the demons now, all patience and amusement having left him now.

He felt…

Rushed.

His lip curled upwards as his instincts told him he was wasting valuable time now, his skin crawling and hairs on his arms beginning to rise with an odd sense of panic that bubbled just below the surface. He killed another demon and turned to search for Shikiyoku, his eyes not immediately landing on her form at first.

He didn't have time to search anymore. The two remaining demons were charging, roaring at him, horns pointed in his direction as their heads bent forward in a tell-tale sign of a bull. A sound of irritation left him as he swung his sword again and quickly turned to leave the scene, not even watching as his playthings fell to the ground, as if forgotten.

His feet moved with his instincts, carrying him up the opposite side of the building than Shikiyoku had taken. As soon as his feet touched the roof, a flame formed around the blade he held, his sudden rage at the scene fueling, moving from himself and quite literally to the hilt of the blade and causing the gems to glow a crimson that rivaled even his own irises.

He hadn't appeared to have moved from his spot, but in truth, Hiei had lunged forward and swiped his newest weapon through the torso of the demon holding Shikiyoku, even returning to his previous spot before anyone had time to react.

He was tempted to speak, but his mouth couldn't quite find the words to say, so he settled for flicking his wrist, sending droplets of different colors of blood flying to the right and off of the smooth blade that no longer was aflame.

~!**!~

The game was a pretty close match, with both characters' heath bars just below half gone. Akari's character recovered from Yusuke's strikes and was standing up, fists moving in front of his face while he stood there, Akari thinking for the briefest of moments before making her character move again.

Her fingers mashed buttons just hard enough to create loud sounds, but not hard enough to break the machine, her other hand jerking the joystick around as she attempted her own special move.

_Up, left, right, left, blue button, green, yellow. _No matter what button she pushed, none of them lead to a combination that she was looking for, only sending more jabs and kicks or even making her character spin across the screen in an odd windmill like fashion, arms glowing yellowish with power whether or not the strike landed.

And it was beginning to frustrate her that she couldn't figure out how to use the best move of them all. Without it, she figured she would lose this game, but regardless of that thought, her character continued to fly around the screen just as fast as he could go, spinning, kicking, punching, whatever it was he could do, but each attack missing, sadly. _*****_

As Yusuke dipped, ducked, and dodged Akari's furious series of attacks, he watched the glowing meter in the corner of his screen every so often, seeing that he was close to filling it up.

He spun forward again, following the roundhouse kick with a combo of air attacks and a throw, eyes lighting up satisfactorily when that closed the gap he needed and the meter started to flash, glowing a bright blue.

Yusuke quickly jumped back and started executed the combination needed to release his character's final attack.

~!**!~

The snake-demon did not move for a moment, frozen in time, then his grip on Shikiyoku loosened and she fell to the ground, catching herself on one knee as the snake-demon crashed over onto the ground.

She coughed furiously as he had been squeezing and her vision swam before her until another wave of anger washed through her body and she growled as she stood, holding a hand up to her ribcage as she glared down at the empty shell of the snake-demon.

By this time her energy was weaving in the air around her, agitated, her hair waving just slightly as if a breeze were brushing through it.

The longer she glared, the more her eyes started to glow a dangerously green color, completely preventing any sight of her pupils or irises as the energy around her stopped in place for a moment before a giant pulsating wave nearly shook the building underneath her feet.

_Damn this __**stupid BODY.**_

Her demonic energy blasted out into a radius around her at least five feet wide, and thick enough that her features were indistinct.

Within it, Shikiyoku threw her head back as her eyes gleamed outwards with power, snarling up into the air as her entire body shimmered, suddenly covered in something akin to darkness as her shape beneath appeared to start changing, morphing into something altogether different.

The pulsating wave that had instigated this event imploded back towards her and everything froze for a brief second before it all collapsed, something obviously going very wrong as everything that had just happened reversed with a snap and Shikiyoku was left standing hunched over, several drops of sweat trickling down from her hairline as even her hair settled back down her back. She breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling with obvious strain, and then her eyes cleared, the final piece of the unsuccessful attempt quivering away from her.

The air around them had stilled, everything in the area holding its breath for another moment.

Shikiyoku glanced out over the city, most of which they had traversed at this point, and let loose a curse.

That's when all activity started again, but its buzzing seemed strangely humming towards her direction.

Without looking back, she dashed off the roof of the building towards the exit-gate of the city, feeling with a certainty she did not need to explain that she needed to get out of there.

Now. 3

Hiei stayed where he had landed, sword in hand and eyes trained on Shikiyoku as she landed on her own feet, her expression becoming more severe in the few moments he lingered where he stood. One moment, he was watching her breathing pick up in rhythm, become heavier with each breath she took.

And in the next, he couldn't even see her. But that wasn't what made his muscles tense up, his body rigid with complete and utter awareness of everything to do with the woman.

Her energy positively exploded around her, hitting him full force and making his core shake with the intensity behind it, the anger that motivated such a release. The fire he had almost forgotten about in his stomach moved rapidly, swirling about and keeping him focused enough to know that moving away from where he stood was not a wise decision.

But still, he _wanted _to move.

At first, it was not away from Shikiyoku, but towards her that he desired to travel. His body fought against his wish to move closer, to find the face that was hidden by the energy around himself. But as that fog seemed to clear, his desire to move forward shifted to another desire that was much more important at the moment. He could feel the shift in the air of the city, and his crimson orbs instinctively moved to the ground below.

Demons, hundreds of them, perhaps thousands, had turned their eyes up to him and Shikiyoku. Simultaneously.

He blinked as the fire in his stomach roiled again, as if telling him to get a move on, and without any hesitation, he turned and took off as well, his feet carrying him up to Shikiyoku and keeping pace with her easily, his eyes sliding over to her silently as small inklings of odd emotions slipped across the forefront of his mind here and there.

But he was too fueled by the fire to linger on those thoughts. He was too preoccupied with the idea of such sheer numbers coming after himself and Shikiyoku to even consider another thought for just a second. "Do not fight me," he suddenly voiced as he reached out and grabbed her around the waist, hoisting her up so that she sat on his left shoulder as his feet picked up the speed, making him now able to move at full speed without any delaying their escape.

He wouldn't dare give any other demon a chance to catch up, because if one even so much as delayed them, he wouldn't be able to fend all the rest of them off.

~!**!~

Akari's character spun and kicked across the screen, Yusuke's own character making contact with hers before dancing away to the furthest side of the screen, as far as could be from her own character. She huffed to herself, though her smile had never faltered since the game began, and she continuously tapped on buttons as if it would make her character get up any faster.

"C'mon, you lazy bum, Lin!" she tried coaxing at the pixelated character, her eyes suddenly moving to Yusuke's character and realizing he was creating a combo she hadn't seen before. "Uh-uh. I don't think so," she said to the detective as her character finally stood, but she doubted it was in time to block a special move, as this game had explained earlier. _*****_

In a similar fashion to Yusuke's spirit gun, albeit fired with the heels of both hands together and a blast at least a hundred times in width of his usual bullet, a blue wall of energy shot across the screen from his character into hers, throwing her character up into the air as the words K.O. popped up across the screen.

Yusuke stuck his tongue out at her and winked, "It's just not fair, is it?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku was glad for the sudden rush of air that now stung at her eyes, for tears of anger and hatred had formed there as she started running. Anger at herself for being unable to control her emotions, for erupting like that, even if her attempt to change had been a valid effort for her to take. Hatred boiled up underneath that though, a hatred for the impenetrable wall she had almost literally run headlong into just as she could taste her true form returning.

And the source behind that wall?

Toriko.

If Shikiyoku hadn't been rushing by whatever it was Hiei sped them past she would have spat in disgust at the ground below them.

Instead she gnashed her teeth together in fury.

A sort of sense of self returned to her just enough that she could tell Hiei wasn't running quite as fast as he was able, having to adjust for her height above him, which also prevented him from slipping through smaller passageways, having to skirt in various directions to regain their path.

She squeezed at his shoulder slightly with her right hand in warning to let him know she was going to shift and with a dexterity only a demon could have achieved, she dropped her weight behind his shoulder, pulling her legs over and behind it as she simultaneously shifted enough to have her right hand over to the other side of his head, positioning her legs on either side of his waist and draping her arms lightly underneath his neck in a piggy-back ride.

She proceeded to bury her face between her left arm and his neck as she clenched her jaw together with a barely contained wrath, knowing if at that moment she had contained the ability, she would have obliterated the stupid "human" side of her without hesitation. 3

Hiei continued moving along a path that was wide and open, surprisingly void of other demons considering the situation. He cut through alleyways anyway, his Jagan forcing itself open to look ahead, burning away his bandage that veiled it since he hadn't had the ability to remove it with a hand. The third eye looked ahead, acting like a mapping system and easily creating a route for their escape that, while was not the shortest, was the best route in relation to very little interaction with other demons.

He was about to glance over his shoulder when Shikiyoku's hand squeezed the very shoulder he had been about to look over, and her jostling around momentarily slowed him before she was set again, his arms instinctively curling beneath her legs to act as support for her body against his, his feet now moving with every single ounce of speed he was capable of.

He glanced over his shoulder to see very few demons able to keep him within their sights, and his Jagan adjusted the route accordingly, making more rapid turns and random shifts through alleys in the city to better relieve himself of any pursuers until, finally, he was seeing the gate that would let him escape the walls of this place and disappear into the dense forestry outside.

And, not to his surprise, the gates had begun to close at the sight of the sheer number of demons making way to it, Hiei managing to get through just before they slammed shut with a rumble that shook the ground under his feet. Only then did he slow, and it wasn't even enough of a slow down to allow his form to be seen other than a blur.

He didn't want to take any chances, so he merely continued on, and if he were to go in the wrong direction, Shikiyoku could simply point him the right way.

~!**!~

As the game ended, her screen playing sad music as Yusuke's machine blared music of triumph, she looked up to catch the expression on his face, her eyes staring at the tongue he stuck out at her. If she had been close enough, she would have grabbed that tongue between her thumb and index finger.

Instead, she settled for mocking the gesture in a child-like manner. "I'm Yusuke, and I think I'm the biggest, baddest wolf in town," she grumbled, her eyes still shining with mirth and a smile still plainly plastered on her face while her hands waved by her face, her body making a small dancing move to accompany her teasing, causing the stool to rock slightly back and forth.

"I guess I'm done gaming for the day," she said as she recovered from her own taunting. "They're not as enjoyable to me as they are to you." _*****_

"I'm _so _glad you've finally seen the light." Yusuke took the opportunity to let out a little howl, his eyes dancing until she said she was done.

"Aw, really?" His expression obviously grew disheartened, "I mean, there's other stuff you could try too..."3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	35. Episode 120 - Anger and The Aswang

**A/N: **Hello once again fellow, Dearest Yu Yu Hakusho Lovers!

Another chapter, just for you. Yes, you.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Yusuke takes Akari to the arcade in town,  
and the two of them play a fighting game together,  
Yusuke eventually pulling out a win.

~!**!~

Hiei and Shikiyoku make their way through the first city on their trek across the Ninth Level of Demon World.  
Shikiyoku makes friends with a Guild Leader of one of the mercenary guilds,  
and Hiei takes a fire-attuned sword for himself, stirring up some trouble.

Shikiyoku retreats to the top of a nearby building as Hiei takes care of the chasing authorities,  
but ends up needing Hiei's assistance as a snake demon becomes enthralled by her energy.  
In a fit of anger, Shikiyoku attempts to revert to her demonic form,  
(most demons would see her connection with her Champion that way and leave her alone)  
but fails and instead only catches the attention of any demons on the street.

Hiei picks her up and retreats out of the city...

* * *

When Shikiyoku felt Hiei's arms moving underneath her, she relaxed into his hold, knowing her weight would be of little consequence to a demon even as she leaned forward into his back and shoulders to help counteract the balance issues she might cause at his rapid pace.

Her thoughts remained dark and murderous, wrestling for the first time in her life with visions of actually killing another being, something she had never done with her own hands.

At that very moment though, she desired nothing more than to annihilate her other side, to wipe her from existence, to obliterate her, to-

Shikiyoku squeezed her eyes tighter together where she had her face hidden against Hiei's neck, loosely burying her fingers into the white scarf around his neck, violent thoughts filled with blood and gore running through her head until she was awash in a sea of red, her entire body strung taut. She wished to tear the very face off that she knew Toriko shared with her, as if somehow underneath it would be her true form that had only been waiting to be freed in such a way.

It wasn't as if _all _her problems would vanish were she in demon form, but the pact between her and her Champion would be obvious to any other demon no matter the distance that separated them, and the vast majority of Demon World would avoid her as to be accidentally enraptured would mean death by the hand of he who watched over her, the higher level ones only approaching her for work. Or pleasure. Or both; they often coincided for her anyway.

She sighed and felt herself relaxing again, the rhythm of the fire demon, both his core and his feet, steady and strong underneath her, his warmth cutting through her disjointed and angered thoughts and lulling her into a calm. 3

Hiei's feet continued in the steady rhythm he had created, making a beating song all its own against the ground that transitioned from dry dirt that kicked up with each step to grass that quieted his steps only a little. When Shikiyoku shifted around a little on his back, he glanced over his shoulder at her, only just realizing she had her face buried in his back and fingers hidden in his scarf.

His eyes turned forward again, his Jagan periodically making a sweep for threats in the area, but for the moment, all seemed well. He was simply moving too fast for most demons to even sense his presence, much less get a look at him and land a strike.

As time wore on, Hiei began letting his feet slow to a jog, no longer worried about any threats from the city that was now miles and miles behind them. His grip on Shikiyoku loosened enough to keep her seated comfortably on his back, but it also conveyed that there was now no need to continue any form of escape because there was no longer much threat aside from the creatures in the underbrush that they would have to trek through.

And still, he didn't say anything. He could feel the anger that she was sifting through as if it were his own, and he didn't want to interrupt.

~!**!~

Akari gave a shrug as she tipped the stool backwards, toying with the balance for a few moments, a single hand on the machine to keep herself from falling backwards. "Surely you don't _need_ company to stay amused?" she asked as she set the legs on the ground again and placed her own feet on the floor, standing up and retreating from the machine.

"While I'm sure you had valid reason to skip class other than video games, I _do _have my own reasons for doing the same." She tossed a smirk over her shoulder at the boy before turning to continue on, sashaying her way around the machines with complete intent on leaving.

But she wasn't really sure what she'd do next, honestly. While she _did _enjoy the distraction Yusuke provided, she didn't enjoy the games as much, likely because of her mood. She paused and turned to face the direction of the detective again. "Unless you're hungry, perchance?" _*****_

Yusuke raised his eyebrows as she spoke, having already guessed at the reason why she had skipped classes for that day. A certain _other _red-head attended the same school as she, after all.

"I could definitely go for something to eat." Yusuke admitted. "You gotta place in mind?" He stood up and trotted after her to catch up, sticking his hands in his pockets and remembering the licorice from earlier, slipping a stick of it in his mouth before putting his hands behind his head as they walked, looking up into the sky.

~!**!~

The feeling that had fueled her escape earlier from the city had faded completely, and when she experimentally felt about them, she could sense no demons in the area and knew that with her presence removed, those behind her who had given chase would die to the dangers outside the city walls.

As if echoing her realizations, she felt Hiei beneath her grow less concerned with their speed as well, loosening his grip and slowing to move along at a more comfortable pace.

She could honestly admit to herself that she didn't really want to get down, despite her observations during the beginning part of their trek that she was adamant he would _not _be carrying her. It felt...nice.

All of the things that made her wary to let him do so at first seemed far away, somewhere beyond the sturdiness of his body as it never faltered along their pathway as well as the warmth afforded him by his kind.

Finally though, after letting several more miles pass, she pulled her head up, sighing as she leaned it against Hiei's with her eyes closed still because of their speed and murmured into his ear, "You can let me down now." 3

Hiei glanced back at Shikiyoku as she again shifted, her head just lightly pressing against his and very quickly gaining his attention. He raised a brow at her request, but he did slow down until, after a few more moments, he was standing still and uncurling his arms from underneath her knees, crouching just enough that when she moved, her feet would just touch the ground and she would be standing.

"No more cities," he said in a low voice, his tone even as he considered her for a moment. "I dislike them."

~!**!~

Akari gave a lopsided smile at Yusuke as he caught up, fueled by the idea of food to walk by her side and follow her to wherever she decided to eat. The first place that popped into mind was the shop that Toriko had shown her once before, when they'd gone to eat in "celebration" of her test grade.

"Ramen stands are rather popular around here," she commented casually, glancing at him again as he stuck candy between his lips and laced his fingers behind his head lazily. A small huff of a laugh left her and she turned forward again, eyes on the sidewalk she followed. "There's one I particularly enjoy more than the others." _*****_

"Always an excellent choice." Yusuke agreed as he walked alongside her, catching her spying the stick he spoke around as he pulled one out and held it out to her, interpreting her glance as one that wished to have a piece. "Wan' it?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku didn't feel as if she had the strength to argue with him at that moment, though neither did she particularly blame him for his dislike either. Not after what they had just been through.

She did know, however, that the areas surrounding the cities were some of the most hazardous within the ninth level and that the trek through a city, even if chased by countless demons, would be much less dangerous as there would be little to actually catch them should it come to that. Outside the walls? There were things that were much, _much _faster than even Hiei.

After standing on her own legs, she immediately reached within her cloak to the inside layer, and tearing a long strip of the black fabric that lined it from the part that faced her body where the missing piece would be unnoticeable, held it out to Hiei, refusing to look him in the eyes, saying nothing. 3

Hiei let his arms hang at his sides when Shikiyoku was standing on her own, immediately turning to face her as he considered several things. If it weren't for his own need to amuse himself, he'd still be able to see the inside of the city he'd just distanced himself and Shikiyoku from. He actually did enjoy looking through trading stands, and the one that had interested him most had, inevitably, lead to a city-wide chaos, in a sense.

All aimed at them.

The thought made a very tight-lipped frown pull at his lips and his eyes turn back to look in the direction they'd just come from. He hadn't minded cities before, since he hadn't had to account for another person with him when he acted as he desired, but now that he wasn't sure what would happen with another person with him, particularly Shikiyoku and her type of energy, it made him wary of cities altogether.

He heard a ripping sound and his eyes slid back over to Shikiyoku, eyeing the the strip of fabric being offered to him. He didn't have to ask to know what it was for. And he didn't hesitate to accept it either, swiftly tying the thin material around his forehead as the Jagan slid closed for its own type of hibernation.

"Which direction?"

~!**!~

"Hm?" Akari hummed out in slight confusion as her eyes slid back to Yusuke, her eyes considering the candy he held out to her. After a moment, she gingerly took it from him and lifted the stick to her nose, sniffing at the licorice curiously, cautiously. It wasn't too bad of a smell, but it wasn't one that automatically told her she'd enjoy the taste either.

So she stuck the end of the candy into her mouth and tore off a bite, chewing thoughtfully as the odd flavor coated her tongue. It wasn't so bad, she supposed, despite her definitive lack for a sweet tooth.

"Thanks," she grumbled before tearing another piece away from the candy and chewing. She fell almost completely silent again as she munched. "It's good." _*****_

"It's fairly easy to snag." He explained, "And it fits in my pockets so I can take it in anywhere." Here he shrugged as if uncaring whether the answer sounded lazy or not. His thoughts wandered to the ramen they would soon be eating and his stomach let out a hungry growl that made his face break into a smile. "I hope it's not that far."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku didn't say anything at first when he asked, her gaze trained steadily on him with an unreadable look before glancing about them.

The spot he had placed her down in was clear enough, surprisingly safe, at least at that moment.

She turned back to him and slipped her cloak off of her shoulders, letting it fall to the ground a foot away from her, not answering his question.

"You might want to step back." She warned, closing her eyes as her hair began to whisper around her shoulders just enough to make one think it were alive, her entire body starting to tingle from her scalp to her toes.

She deliberately turned her head away from him as her energy manifested in her eyes as the same green glow that had hidden her pupils previously, opening them once he was not in eyesight and letting them stare unblinkingly forward as her hair started to almost float in a wind that wasn't there. 3

Hiei blinked once at Shikiyoku's warning before turning to do as she had instructed, retreating into the tallest branches of a tree a few yards away from her, so that were something to happen, he could still swoop in and interfere in a moment's notice. His crimson eyes took to looking about his surroundings, the wind moving around him at a stronger push up in the tops of this tree than on the ground, making his hair move atop his head and cloak whip around his shins.

Nothing seemed out of the norm. Nothing seemed to stand out from here, his eyes searching each and every shadow he could see in the trees, on the ground, and anywhere else he could see them. But inevitably, his eyes turned downwards to Shikiyoku again, observing, wondering what she was doing this time.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small smile at the path ahead of her, picturing Yusuke smuggling more than just a handful or two of this candy into buildings that wouldn't allow such a thing to happen if they were aware of it. Movie theaters, for instance, would have him throw it out in a heartbeat.

She stuck the last bit of the candy into her mouth and chewed, at first not noticing the slight change of the scent in the air. It wasn't a very prominent change, something only a demon would have picked up. But when she _did_ finally notice the smell, her feet stopped moving and her eyes began searching the area, her nose flaring with each test of the air she inhaled, trying to find the direction the smell came from.

"Yusuke," she mumbled out, that being the only thing she did in order to grab his attention as her eyes followed an invisible trail that only her nose paved for her. She turned to follow the smell, crossing the street at a jog to avoid traffic.

With the smell of the blood so weak from here, there was no telling how far the danger was from the town. So her feet continued to pick up in pace, despite the protest her torso gave to her swinging arms.

The scent lead her weaving through alleyways, behind houses, around shops until she was standing just outside of town, the scent strong enough to make her nose crinkle. No human would survive that much blood loss.

Yet, there was no body in sight. Only a small, wrinkled old woman passing by. At first, she thought nothing of it, but her eyes did follow the elderly woman that turned to look at her, eyes much older than the skin she wore. _*****_

At first Yusuke only glanced over at Akari when she murmured his name, but when she took off across the middle of the street he scrambled after her, calling out, "Red?! Hey, Red!"

She didn't appear to hear him, or was ignoring him, but the abrupt shift in her demeanor made the hairs at the back of his neck stand up and he stopped trying to get her attention, taking to keeping apace with her and noting the strange look in her eyes.

He didn't even see the old woman, but he _did _accidentally shoulder into her and he muttered an apology when he took note of her age as she looked over at Akari.

~!**!~

The last time she'd tried this her mind had been fueled by the fury she felt with her current form, and this time she approached the attempt at change with a much clearer head.

It had only been because of her anger that such a forceful and uncontrolled wave of her energy had captured the attention of the entire city, though here in the blood-red forest around them there was no chance of capturing the attention of thousands of demons all at once anyway.

As she slowly accessed the demonic energy within her, the motion deliberate and measured, a yellow aura of the stuff began shimmering around her and while there was still a pulsing of a wave out from her body, it was much more within her grasp, extending not much farther than a foot or so, but it steadily continued pulsing as if reflecting the beat of the core within her.

The yellow energy started becoming more concentrated around her body even as the rest of it wove into the air like so much fire, hiding the details of her form from view as it made a heavy veil that continued to darken until her body looked almost completely black.

Her image shuddered at that point, as if trying to shift, and the pulsing waves faltered.

Within her, that same wall, that same sense of Toriko blocking her, rose up and Shikiyoku felt the same flash of anger ring through her body that had spurred her onwards before and she rushed headlong into that wall inside her head, the next pulse of energy out of her body stronger, the next two following the same before Shikiyoku smacked into the wall.

Her energy fell away all at once and she stood still looking normal, black hair, green eyes.

Her fists clenched together and in a blast of energy she was at the point she had just left, her breath coming faster than before and the pulsing waves more intense and closer together in time from one another, her eyes clouding over as she looked within.

The same thing happened as had the previous two times and Shikiyoku could feel her ire rising as she was forced to cut power once more, a line of sweat around her hairline before she tried again, this time with much more force than previously.

Things were stirring in the forest about them by this time, and a small scaly creature hopped out from the undergrowth and sat not inches away from her feet, staring up at her with wide and _almost _innocent eyes if not for the too sharp teeth that were visible as its mouth hung open while trying to look into her face. 3

Hiei watched with his head tilted slightly in curiosity, his eyes taking in the energy that amassed around her, blocking his very view from her in a sense he didn't quite enjoy. Her energy continued to move about the area, even making the grass and plants around her move around and around in its own swirling typhoon of power.

He had to admit the sight was rather impressive.

But the thought that she had so much energy, and no ability to fight, made him scoff at the irony. If she could harness that power to fight, she'd be among the strongest demons he'd ever seen, if not _the _strongest. Her energy level was remarkable, but its purpose made the effect of seeing such an amount of energy dim.

He hadn't noticed the small demon right away that had approached Shikiyoku's feet, looking up at her. But when he did, his own eyes trained on the creature, his irises hardening in a silent warning that he knew the creature wouldn't see from there.

As soon as he had become aware of the creature, his mind became much more aware of the stirrings around the area, especially those closest to himself. Wings began to beat as demons were awoken, creatures began scurrying around in dazed confusion.

But still, the only one to have approached Shikiyoku was the one at her feet, and he watched as he slowly began moving down the branches of the tree. Admittedly, he was somewhat wary of approaching her, but if something happened, he'd be there in a millisecond.

~!**!~

Akari stared into the blue eyes of the elderly woman, noting a small film that covered the gaze that stared back at her with unease.

"E-excuse me, doll," the woman croaked as she brushed by Yusuke.

Akari reacted, pulling Yusuke away from her immediate reach as the woman had lifted a hand to grasp at Yusuke's arm. She placed herself between the two, avoiding the hand carefully as every hair on her body began to stand on end, her skin crawling as she realized this human had no spiritual energy at all. It was almost as if she had no source of energy, no life energy to speak of.

"You do not belong here," she whispered to the woman, glare harsh at the smile she received. It seemed so innocent.

"I was just out on a walk, sweety."

Akari's nostrils flared as the smell of her breath hit her nose, disgust quickly evident on her features and her energy instinctively moving about in her body, rapidly filling the area as she stepped away from the woman. Close quarter combat with this creature was not advised, so as she stepped backwards, she pushed Yusuke back as well, a low growl forming in her chest and rumbling in her throat. "Where is it?"

"I don't know what you're referring to.." _*_

Yusuke hadn't had time to react to Akari grabbing him, but he wondered at her addressing the old hag that way, not having taken her to be so harsh with her elders.

_I mean...__**I'm **__a delinquent. But she's got no excuse._

When her energy burst from her body, stepping back and shoving Yusuke along with her, _that _he did notice and his eyebrows raised at her.

Granted, he could have just blasted the woman with a Spirit Gun, but what on _earth _was Akari thinking? They weren't supposed to harm _humans. _That was in the job description.

Somewhere.

Not that he had been given a manual.

Not that he would have read it.

Psh.

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku's energy cut off this time, her breath was coming much harsher out of her lungs.

She didn't even notice the creature who still sat staring wide-eyed up at her, nor did she take notice of the others that were crawling out of the woodwork to form a sort of peaceful circle around her with the same expression that the smaller one wore.

As she blasted out again with her energy, this pulse the largest so far, none of the creatures that were surrounding her seemed to be harmed by the high concentration that they were being exposed to, whereas if it had been any other type of demon hitting them with such waves of power, they all likely would have been disintegrated just by the exposure.

Some of the smaller ones wove their way out to come closer, and the littlest one, the one who had been standing in front of her the longest, closed his eyes as he hopped right up to her foot and began rubbing his scaly head against her ankle affectionately, the noise he made akin to a cat's purr as it gurgled in his throat.

A strange vine-looking one that slithered along like a snake slipped up her body until it wrapped around one arm, both of which were held out from her body at this point, fists clenched tightly and bent at the elbows.

One of the flyers, something like a miniature dragon, landed about her shoulders and first ran around the front of her neck before diving into her hair, his tiny black body invisible except for his fiery eyes that were half-lidded as he came to rest tangled up against her skull with his tail hanging out over one shoulder and draping in front of her neck like an onyx necklace.

She let go again, her breath coming no slower, a bead of sweat dripping down her back as the creatures around her being cooing and snarling and growling encouragingly at her efforts, all of them wearing expressions of contentment that they had likely never experienced in their lives.

Her concentration completely on the wall within, she did not hear or be aware of her audience as she tried again, beginning to rage at the wall Toriko held up with a strength Shikiyoku could simply not seem to match. 3

Hiei's eyes moved around as he paused halfway down the tree, witnessing many different types of creatures slithering, wobbling, crawling, flying from the tree all around him. He blinked and watched each and every single creature make its way to Shikiyoku, some curling at her feet and some actually curling around her body as if she were charming them into doing so for her own amusement. In truth, the sight was an interesting one.

None of the creatures seemed ready to do harm, only curl up as close to her as could be and to soak in the energy that radiated from her in stronger doses than before. They each looked to her with happiness, appreciation, innocence. It was starkly different from the look the demons in the city had had when her power had touched them.

And for the moment, he was almost completely sure his own expression turned to one of wonderment at the scene. He sat back, watching her and the creatures interact, seemingly without Shikiyoku noticing. But he felt no immediate threat. So he stayed on the branch he had occupied, completely taken with the moment.

~!**!~

Akari watched the old woman that smiled at her with closed lips, as if the woman noticed how keenly Akari searched for the last telltale sign of what she needed to know. "Why don't we part on good terms, deary?" the woman spoke, holding a hand out as if to shake. The distance that stood between her and Akari was only enough that if Akari so desired, she could actually reach out and take the hand with a fully extended arm.

And despite her caution earlier, she did just that, reaching her left hand out to take the hand just as a sound reached her ears, a hissing almost, and the woman swiped at her with speed she had trouble keeping up with. Claws had formed and the image of the elderly woman gave way to the image of a very leathery-like creature with wings, the same hand that had tried to strike at Akari swiping in another attempt as she stumbled backwards.

"Move, you moron!" she growled at Yusuke, breaking away from his proximity and moving to the demon's left,

"_You've been very rude to others," _the creature said in an almost dreamy tone, the s enunciated only slightly as a his with a long, round, thin tongue that showed itself through very sharp, very dangerous teeth as the creature ran at her with blinding speed, backwards feet not even slowing the creature that not only swiped at her, but threw a gurgled attack of acid from her throat over at Yusuke. _*****_

It did take Akari's words to pull Yusuke from his stare as the old woman began to change, but he did manage to dodge away from her.

"What the _hell_?!" He exclaimed as he spotted the flying spew of grossness coming his direction and deciding that he probably shouldn't let that hit him either and back-pedaled a few steps so that it fell to the ground in front of him, hissing as it ate into the concrete.

"What _is _that thing?!"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku repeated the process several more times: hair waves, eyes glow, energy pulsates outwards, aura forms, body darkens...wall rises.

She yelled angrily into the air, her fury giving her another hard shove of more powerful energy at the wall as her body kept shimmering and trying to morph.

This time when she cut power, her knees almost wouldn't hold her up and she took a step backwards before they could collapse underneath her to give herself a more sturdy stance, breathing heavily with the effort she'd been exerting.

It wasn't fair. How in the three worlds could this...this _human_, or near enough to disgust Shikiyoku into using the term, have more defensive power than the 'attacks' Shikiyoku mustered against it.

The very thought drove her into blasting out energy again as she could feel her body beginning shaking, enraged.

Again, she met the same wall, ever-passive, ever-resistant to anything she threw against it, again feeling her body trying desperately to bend to her will and change as she wished it, but to no avail as she could not get past that blasted wall.

Her anger made her so mad that as her body trembled with the emotion, she could feel tears of wrath stinging at the corners of her eyes that did not fall, but were still there nonetheless.

This time when her power fell away, her body actually wavered. She took no notice as she very quickly recharged.

This last attempt was short-lived as she collapsed to her hands and knees on the ground, shoulders tense as she started to rise, pushing herself up into a stand, body visibly shaking not just with her anger any longer.

Lost in her mind, taking not into account the very obvious protests her body tried to warn her over, she shoved away whatever itch it made at the back of her head as distraction and once again erupted with power. 3

Hiei's eyes widened just slightly as he was able to see the strain Shikiyoku was putting her body through now. His mind quickly shifted from his thoughts about the rather impressive and enlightening scene with the demonic creatures to thoughts over sudden worry that she would push herself too far, that she would collapse and become comatose.

He didn't want that, and he figured she didn't either. So Hiei dropped the rest of the way to the ground in only mere moments, his feet touching the grass and moving across the clearing until he was stepping around the animals at Shikiyoku's feet. His eyes zeroed in on hers, still with a harsh glow that made his thoughts falter for a moment, leaving him standing still as her energy beat against him to his very core.

He stood there, dazed, for a few moments before something shook him free of the charm and he reached forward, grabbing Shikiyoku's arm to keep her body still.

"_That's enough," _he spoke telepathically to her, knowing his actual voice would do no good. "_Your body cannot take much more."_

~!**!~

Akari was stumbling around, her footing unstable as she continued to back away from each strike the demon made at her, claws elongating ever so slightly with each miss. A continuous hiss escaped the demon's mouth through the sharp teeth in a sound that almost resembled a snicker.

"You're too slow!" The demon cackled as the claws just tore at her shirt and the bandages underneath, missing skin by a hair and making Akari growl and create shadows that enveloped her hands, something she had yet to test.

It was true, she wasn't as swift, but Akari swung out anyway, blocking the strike that had been aimed at her stomach with a shadow-encased arm. Surprisingly, the creature screamed and recoiled.

"What, shadows do harm? I thought you were friends with them."

She glanced over at Yusuke when he yelled at her, the creature turning and spitting again in his direction since he seemed to be a larger threat than Akari was. "A-"

Akari ducked and swung her arms at the creature again, striking the stomach of the Aswang that sucked in its belly to avoid her strike, allowing the girl to continue past and towards Yusuke. "Don't let it bite you, scratch you, spit on you, nothing!" She instructed as she passed him, her energy forming a shadow creature that resembled a large dog, eyes red and snarl louder than one she'd ever been able to produce. "No close combat!"

The shadowed figure had the Aswang by its ankle, snarling and pulling at the let, its head whipping from side to side as loud screeches filled the air, each swipe that hit her shadowed companion actually causing slight pain within Akari's core.

"Just kill it, would ya?" _*****_

"Geez," Yusuke exclaimed again as the next shot of acid nearly brushed the toes of his shoes when he moved back again, arms out from his sides to maintain his balance.

"You realize," He yelled out at her, "That close combat is kinda what I do, right?" He found his back against a wall of the alleyway and grumbled to himself, his spirit energy flowing to his fists as he weighed whether or not to listen to Akari and stay back.

His eyes quickly glanced about them.

There was no one 'around,' at least not in the alley itself, and it wasn't like normal humans would be able to _see _his spirit gun, but they would see if it smacked into a building and blew the top of the thing off.

But when Yusuke noticed Akari had the thing pinned in place, he rolled his eyes and stepped away from the wall, pulling up his hands and pointing the first finger of the right one at the demon.

_Spirit Gun!_

The blue blast shot through the air, heading straight for the thing Akari had caught.

~!**!~

Within her head, the wall Shikiyoku fought with suddenly took on Hiei's face and aura and she started back just as she would have hit at it again, hearing his calm voice echoing through her mind and becoming aware that he had taken a hold of her arm.

Another pulse of energy escaped in the time it took for her to comprehend that he had approached her, and she turned her head away from him to close her eyes, a frown making her eyebrows clench together as she gave up her power all at once and it blipped out of existence save for the usual, high-leveled scent that wafted invisibly about her out of her awareness.

Without the energy coursing actively through her veins, she could feel her knees collapsing, the exhaustion of her constant tirade sweeping across her limbs as she wavered just between standing and sitting. 3

Hiei waited patiently until her energy disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared, creating almost a pause in the clearing as time seemed to stand still for just a moment. In the next moment, creatures were moving and Shikiyoku's body was trembling, her muscles giving way to the strain she had placed herself under.

His hand tightened around her upper arm just a little as he held her upright, unable to get much closer without practically kicking away the creatures at their feet aside. He eyed her slowly, keenly. "Don't make sudden movements," he warned quietly, eyes slowly moving to the creatures that perched on her body in various places. He hadn't a clue what they'd do.

~!**!~

Akari spun to stand behind Yusuke, watching her own handiwork with a sense of pride. Normally, that attack didn't do more than run through a person, demons under middle D class being paralyzed by the attack on their nerves. But this… This was odd, since the creature was actually a creature of the night.

_Makes no sense. Why's it out anyway?_

The Aswang swung at her creature, and the shadows separated as acid was spat simultaneously. Just as Yusuke fired his shot, the creature was up and moving again, just missing the shot and charging underneath it, screeching as it ran with a limp, one foot that had been originally backwards now facing inward. Akari moved almost immediately to the side of Yusuke, going for the Aswang's dominant side and aiming another strike with her shadow-encased hands at the ankle that wasn't harmed. With a single swipe down at her, Akari lost a few strands of hair and the last of the binding of the bandages underneath her shirt, though her shirt was only torn in four places.

A snarl and strike later, Akari had the demon on the ground again. "Shoot again!" she growled out while more shadows slid across the ground, acting as bindings as Akari crouched to the side not caring much if she were close enough to be struck by the edges of the attack. But she did move away, more so to avoid the acid spit at her than to avoid Yusuke. _*****_

Yusuke refrained from grumbling, taking the opportunity again to shoot a second blast.

"If I miss this time," He shouted at her as the energy blasted from his finger, "I'm just gonna start wailing on it with my bare fists!"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes came back open from where they'd closed as she felt her body wanting to collapse as Hiei gripped her arm tighter.

She had not taken note of a single one of the creatures that surrounded her when they first approached, but as her vision cleared and focused back onto the outside world, neither did her expression particularly change at the sight of them.

The countless pairs of eyes trained on her did nothing for her dark mood and her lip lifted in a snarl.

"Go. Away."

The larger ones in the back almost immediately turned away, as did the others who were the most recent among their number and the group thinned, the creatures apparently not willing to attack one another for as long as Shikiyoku's energy lingered within them.

For the littlest one, he stayed where he had sat on top of her foot, his scaly tail wrapped around her ankle and his expression pleased as he stared up at her in his version of a smile.

Shikiyoku shook her other arm with an irritated look as the vine-snake did not remove itself at once.

"Get off." She growled again as she felt it loosening and then finally dropping to the ground, the last vestiges of her anger still simmering just along the surface of her emotions.

The slightest bit of movement just at the outskirts of her vision over her eyebrows caught her gaze and she found herself straining her eyes upwards to spy a tiny black-scaled dragon-head bent upside down from over the top of her head with two glimmering eyes set like rubies on its face staring at her.

Realizing the dragon was woven tightly into her black hair, Shikiyoku pursed her lips together and glared back at it.

Sensing her unhappiness, Shikiyoku could feel the dragon's belly expanding as it took in a breath, then trilled a sounded from its throat that sounded so much like Maneshi's pleased murl that a sudden smile broke out over her face and she reached up to stroke a finger along its scaly neck, which made it gurgle in pleasure.

"It's hard to stay mad at something so eager to please." She admitted to it as it closed its eyes, enjoying her attentions. 3

Hiei let his grip loosen just a little on her arm as Shikiyoku shook her opposite arm free of the creature that had latched onto her. His eyes turned downward to see most of the creatures had left, aside from a few that lingered, even closer to her than before now that the area had thinned of creatures considerably.

He eyed the creature around Shikiyoku's ankle. It was a rather odd looking thing, a type of creature he didn't know how to classify. He hadn't ever seen anything like it, and quite frankly, he was half tempted to reach down and touch it to test the scaly look of its body.

But he didn't do it though. Touching a creature he wasn't familiar with wasn't something he would do, since he wasn't sure of what type of attacks it could have. If it bit him, he could die on the spot for all he knew.

"Perhaps we should continue on."

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes at Yusuke as she danced around the continuous clumps of acid shot at her like cannonballs. Yusuke's blast lit up the alleyway again, blinding Akari for a moment and she pulled an arm up to cover her eyes, her back pressing against the building she had accidentally pinned herself to.

The screeching in the alleyway stopped abruptly, replaced with the sound of sizzling skin as the blast died away. Akari's arm fell to her side again and she looked down at the remains of the demon.

"That, my dear detective, is called an Aswang." she said slowly, turning to look around herself again as her nose refocused on the smell of human blood. "They're notorious for their poisonous bite and their claws that are coated with the same acid as their spit, which could burn through skin before you even realize you've been hit. Oddly enough, clothing goes unharmed by the acid, hence the reason my shirt is still intact. They're not very popular with even demonworld. They hide a lot and normally hunt at night."

She paused, drawing in a deep breath. She didn't want to tell him what they preyed on. "The old lady disguise is something they adapted when the three worlds separated, so they could hide here without being noticed and hunt all they wish."

She didn't look at him as she turned to walk away, her nose twitching as her eyes moved around and around the alleyway. There was no sign of blood in sight, so it was very clear the creature had done well in learning the tactic of hiding the remains. "I'm surprised you can't smell this." she commented as she continued down the alleyway and out into the open area between the town's buildings and the trees, not slowing at all as she continued following the stench. _*****_

Yusuke laughed nervously as he followed after Akari, putting a hand up behind his head and scratching at his hair in a motion reflecting the type laughter he loosened.

"Sniffing things out isn't really my speciality. I'm usually following Kuwabara's nose."

~!**!~

"I..." Shikiyoku started to speak, realizing as she tried to move forward that her legs weren't going to respond, unsure of how she'd been able to stay up this long on them in the first place. "I think I need to sit down." She was going to have to rest before they kept moving, as delicious as resuming her position on Hiei's back and letting him do the running work sounded at the moment.

A pang from their pact jolted her as the tempting thought of forcing him to do so flitted across her mind.

_I know. I know. Can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do. I get it._

Hiei waited for the rest of that sentence, hand still lingering below her elbow just in case. He could see the muscle strain seem to become worse, her legs shaking more as she finally continued talking. He wasn't surprised by her observation. In fact, he actually agreed, aside from the creatures that were still attached to her. He wasn't sure what would happen when the effect of her energy wore off.

He weighed his options carefully for a few minutes. If they stayed, there was a possibility that she would recover, regain her strength in time that they could leave without any incidents. But, if they stayed and her energy wore off from the creatures before she recovered, he would still have to make an escape for the both of them.

Might as well stay ahead of the game.

"Shake them off," he said slowly, eyeing the two creatures left on her body. He himself wouldn't mess with the one at her hair, because he didn't want to mess with her hair, but he did crouch to pull at the one around her ankle just as carefully as he could. "We're leaving. Staying in one place too long isn't what I do."

~!**!~

"I don't actually think _his _nose would have picked this up either." Akari continued walking, surprised by just how far away the blood was. Silence followed after her now, and for a few minutes she continued to walk, following her nose. But she paused as the air seemed to even taste like blood, heavy and thick. She paused and looked around, realizing this must be pretty close to where the body was.

"Prepare yourself, detective," she said grimly, her ears picking up the smallest sound of dripping liquid above them. She looked up into the nearest tree, unable to see the cause, but she began pulling herself up into the branches, climbing with care and completely ignoring the stinging strain of her torso that began to not only sting now, but almost feel as if it were on fire. _I shouldn't be doing this._

When she paused, she heard the sound again, this time much closer, and she turned to see the child's body, lifeless, on the branches a few meters to her right and up. It was very easy to see the hole in the carcass where the heart and liver had been stolen, devoured by the demon Yusuke had just killed.

"Yusuke," she called as she popped her head between branches to look down at him. "Call Botan, if you can." _*****_

Yusuke pulled the compact out of his pocket and flipped it up, Koenma's face buzzing onto the small screen.

"Problem, Yusuke?" His face fizzled a little with interference, but did not appear to be breaking up.

"Uh, sheah." He turned the camera towards the tree dripping with blood.

He couldn't see it but Koenma leaned forward in his chair as if that would help him get a closer look.

"My goodness, Yusuke! What on _earth _is going on?"

"It's uh, what was it called again, Red?" He called to the demon up in the tree.

~!**!~

The tiny demon with its tail wrapped around Shikiyoku's ankle did not protest when Hiei started to reach for it, but instead its eyes got big and sad and it wrapped its tail about his wrist when he had it in hand, letting its clawed paws rest lightly on his fingers, chittering quietly at him.

Shikiyoku started to reach her arms up to gauge how badly the dragon was woven into her hair and as she dove her hands in just past her ears, she felt it thrash about a little and her arms gave out.

She had to sit down before she collapsed.

She shifted her weight around to sit as the tiny creature that had been on her foot attached itself to Hiei, pulling her legs into a cross underneath herself and taking a breath before reaching up for the dragon again.

This time one of its claws caught in her scalp and she smelled blood as it scratched her when it began wiggling about trying to get away from her fingers. Its tail had retracted to join the rest of its body within the mess it was making of her hair and she sighed.

"Get out." She tried ordering.

The tiny head peeked out over her eyebrows again and trilled a note that reminded Shikiyoku of Maneshi's negatory 'mrow' he often gave her when he had no intention of doing something she asked of him.

"Please?" She tried, moving her hands up again.

Same note, though this time the head had retracted out of view and its leathery wings sprouted out of her hair briefly and flapped once before getting pulled back in, miraculously without further entangling themselves.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Shikiyoku commented, noting that the wings did nothing to further its 'trapped' position.

This tone was higher, an affirmative that purred when trilled.

Shikiyoku actual let out a growl at this point, but it wasn't exactly threatening as she had a hard time being mad at something that seemed so pleased with her.

A few of the smaller critters had closed the distance when she sat down and she swept an arm outwards, pointing away from herself.

"Nu uh." She warned, "One hitchhiker is bad enough. The rest of you can go away. Now."

The collective group considered her a moment and then did as she told them. 3

Hiei frowned at the creature that wound its way around his wrist, eyeing it with slight disdain. It wasn't such a bad creature, he thought as it looked up at him with wide, unblinking eyes filled with disappointment. He almost found himself moved by the expression.

Almost.

His opposite hand moved and began working at the creature again, trying to peel the long tail from his wrist and the clawed feet from his fingers. "Ridiculous." He didn't enjoy that it wound itself tighter around him in determination to stay with the one who had entranced it, the creature obviously smart enough to know that wherever Hiei went, Shikiyoku would go as well.

"What kind of creature is this?" he inquired with a tone of irritation, more of a rhetorical question really. His eyes turned to Shikiyoku as she spoke up, motioning for all other creatures to leave, which they promptly did so. He eyed the dragon that he could just make out in Shikiyoku's black hair, suddenly curious about how it would react in relation to the dragon the fire demon had sealed inside his body, wound around his arm in a dark tattoo.

~!**!~

Akari moved to sit on the branch closest to the child's body, from this spot just barely able to see the detective. She was mildly relieved that the detective couldn't see the child, only the blood that fell from branch to branch in a small trickle.

She glanced down at her black shirt, a hand just touching the place where the bandages had previously been, her hand feeling wetness below the fabric. _Well, this sucks. _

"Aswang!" she yelled back to Yusuke, eyes turning back to the detective to eye the compact in his hand, almost amused by the sight. "He'll know what it is. Tell him there's one casualty." _*****_

Yusuke turned the face of the compact back towards himself, seeing that Koenma's expression hadn't changed so the toddler likely hadn't heard Akari's words.

"An Ass-wang?" Yusuke repeated experimentally.

The unsureness of Koenma's expression nearly took actual form as a sweatdrop on his hat.

"You mean an Aswang?"

"I guess."

Koenma coughed.

"She says there's only one casualty."

"Anything else she can tell us?' He was tempted to ask Yusuke to just put her on the device, making a mental note to get Akari her own. "Location of the demon?"

"Took care of that last question already." Yusuke described the location of the alleyway in which the fight had taken place.

"Well, that's certainly a relief. Any other signs of ones its killed?"

~!**!~

The creature began chattering with Hiei as if holding conversation with the fire demon and Shikiyoku glanced up, unsure if her feet could bring her even to a stand yet.

"It's called a lur'mog." Shikiyoku observed it clinging to Hiei and she reached out her hands in a silent offer to take it from him. "Like this one," her eyes shifted up briefly, "Fairly harmless to anything larger than it is. Would simply attempt to escape from a would-be oppressor."

The dragon made a peep noise at Shikiyoku's 'attempt' word specifically.

"Well," She started, "Obviously all of your attempts have been successful since you're still alive."

She could feel its warm breath sigh over her scalp in a little huff of protest, apparently still not satisfied. 3

Hiei eyed Shikiyoku as she spoke, the creature she called a lur'mog resting its body down against his skin as close as it could be now that he had stopped prying at it for relief of its presence. It sat still, eyeing him and Shikiyoku as they exchanged brief conversation.

"They're rather annoying," he said, though he wouldn't admit that he actually didn't mind their presence, aside from their reluctance to peel away from one or the other. He reached the hand down to her that held the small, red, scaly animal while his other hand, his right hand, slowly reached towards the dragon in her hair, his curiosity winning over.

He wanted to know if this dragon would react to his own dragon.

~!**!~

Akari listened to the detective below, fighting the urge to whack herself for his awful attempt at saying the word. Instead, she released a heavy sigh that said she was giving up on the boy. He just wasn't living up to her expectations very well, she realized.

Slight exasperation hit her when Koenma continued to ask questions. She was tired of yelling, and just wanted to get out of here. So, her energy swirled just slightly around her, creating another string of shadows that slithered down the tree and towards the detective, wrapping first around his wrist and then covering the device he held and pulling it from him. "Thank you," she grumbled, more to her shadows that did her bidding than to the detective as the compact came up to her face.

"There was no sign of any other Aswang in the area, but then again, we haven't had the chance to look around much. The smell of this one casualty was strong enough to go across town, meaning the attack happened just before we found her." She paused, giving a small sigh and glancing down at her torso in contemplation. "I can search the area, but I haven't told Yusuke that it takes children yet. I'd prefer him not know, since he's rather emotional."

She turned to look at the child's carcass. The poor girl couldn't have been older than four. "As far as I can tell, it's just the one casualty, but it wouldn't hurt to look around." _*****_

Yusuke's mouth dropped open slightly in consternation as he couldn't help but relinquish the compact to the shadows that reached for it.

Exasperated, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, putting more licorice in his mouth as he wandered over and looked up in the tree.

The gore of the scene made his nose scrunch up.

Somewhere inside of him he did hold a bit of pity for the family of the dead girl who would likely search for her to no avail and that led him through a couple of trains of thought that ended in a certain question he decided to voice.

"That what they feed on?" He jerked his head at the remains. "Or was this just for fun?"

~!**!~

At the movement, the lur'mog started jerking his head around rapidly, chittering with concern until he caught sight of the second pair of hands reaching out for him.

At their appearance he immediately released his grasp on Hiei and crawled very slowly from him to the other set of fingers.

As soon as he got his whole body away from Hiei, he blinked out of sight, appearing a millisecond later at her neck where he clutched at her skin and rubbed his cheek against it, rapidly blinking in and out of sight multiple times as he did the same thing to a shoulder, and her arm, and her knee...

"Are all signs of affection 'annoying' to you, Hiei?" Shikiyoku asked quietly, eyes softly tracking the creature as he kept moving about, unable to spot his movements as they were so quick most demons assumed the thing could teleport, but Shikiyoku knew from experience they were merely the fastest runners in the entirety of Demon World. They had to be to survive.

They did no sneaking up on their prey, just running so fast that they were invisible. They did no fighting with their predators, blinking out of sight before one could do much more than spot it. The slowest of them would only leave after-images of themselves when they moved, though with their color one would hardly make out the blur, and the fastest simply disappeared from one place and reappeared at another. Much like the one that continued flitting about her seated body.

The dragon Hiei now reached for did sense his movements and turned its sanguine eyes upon him, the jewels trained upon his person the only part of its visible in Shikiyoku's hair. It made no signs of protesting his reach, simply waiting to see what would happen, whether or not he would actually touch it, though it did not appear to mind the thought. 3

Hiei gave a small shrug at Shikiyoku. Her question was one he normally would ignore, but quite frankly, he didn't ever really seem to ignore any question Shikiyoku asked. Perhaps it was due to her prowess, or perhaps their bond. He wasn't sure.

"Clinging to one person or another is not affectionate. It's suffocating." he paused, eyeing the creature in her hair curiously before he let his fingers just touch the dragon's small head. "And I don't do affection." He pulled his fingers away from the creature again, not lingering long enough to chance a reaction causing thrashing by the creature that could do more harm to Shikiyoku.

"I know about as much of affection as I do children and puppies." He gave pause as he stood up straight, eyes turning to the side. "And I have no desire to even consider beginning to care for it now."

The fire in his stomach swirled angrily, burning inside him as if he'd done something to anger it. He flinched without thinking much about the motion, turning inward for assessment. But the sensation vanished and he refocused on the area he had been watching.

~!**!~

Akari hadn't noticed Yusuke moving away from where he'd been standing. She eyed the child's body for a few more moments before sighing and turning to the compact, opening her mouth to speak before Yusuke called for her attention. She frowned and looked straight down, slight panic immediately welling up from the height she hadn't realized she sat in.

"Mainly the heart and liver…" she replied to him ruefully, her expression shifting to a grim one. The mere idea of a child, innocent as they were, being prey to a demon made her feel upset.

Despite her own trick she'd pulled against Kurama that one instance…

"Koenma, I assume you'll send Botan for this?" she asked into the communication device quietly. "I can survey the area, but I don't see any evidence pointing to another casualty. Or smell anything else, for that matter." _*****_

Yusuke shrugged at Akari's assessment of the heart and liver consumption, glad to know that the killing occurred out of a survival need and not for cruelty's sake. A body's gotta eat.

"I'll definitely have my people look into it." Koenma asserted, "We've already sent a cleanup crew. We'll check to see if this is an isolated incident or if there are other souls who have come through recently from that area ahead of schedule." He chewed on his pacifier. "Let me know if you find anything. Good work, by the way. Spirit World out."

The screen fizzled out and went blank.

~!**!~

"Clinging is clinging." Shikiyoku replied as she held up at eye-level the fingers the Lur'mog had intertwined himself around. "But in the same way that not all clinging is affectionate-if it can even be called that-neither is all affection expressed through 'clinging.'"

Shikiyoku didn't even _bother _to comment on his last few statements as she leaned forward and nuzzled her nose against the nose-slits of the tiny creature, who closed his eyes at the touch and returned the gesture as he chittered in a more relaxed manner, opening his eyes after a moment and parting his lips to nibble gently with his wicked teeth on her nose as he kept murmuring noises at her.

His statements were ones she felt were painfully obvious, at least for her, about the fire demon and warranted no further observations on _her _part.

When Hiei's hand touched the dragon, its head slowly rose away from her scalp as he pulled away, its onyx-colored neck elongating away from the woman to stare at the hand most intelligently, its forked tongue slithering experimentally out of its closed mouth, never blinking as its wings expanded a little from where it clung to her before pulling back together and resting against its body. 3

Hiei didn't reply to Shikiyoku. He didn't feel the need to. Instead his eyes turned back to the dragon creature again, watching the tongue move from the mouth of the dragon. The wings that expanded were interesting to him, reminding him of his dragon attack vaguely. He considered extending his hand to the dragon again, but refrained from doing so and merely sat there, looking into the creature's eyes evenly as he considered the gaze it had on his hand that now hung at his side.

He wondered if it would be curious enough of him to approach him instead. Likely not, since Shikiyoku had explained that these animals normally fled rather than approached.

"How're your muscles?"

~!**!~

Akari blinked at the screen as it went blank before turning her eyes down to Yusuke. She was surprised by his definite lack in reaction. She had expected the Spirit Detective to go postal, angry that a small child had been not only killed, but quite literally ripped apart from the inside out.

Something nagged at her mind, something Nabu had said once.

"_The one with the markings on his face."_

Akari stared down at him keenly, expression blank as she thought over it. "Yusuke," she called slowly, but changing direction with her words entirely and deciding on another topic, "are you still hungry?"

Even as she asked the question, she shifted and began to lower herself from branch to branch, completely aware of her reopened gash across her torso, and not allowing her thoughts to turn to the source of the wound other than one, single thought that she had repeated a million times today.

_Stupid fox. __*****_

"Well...I can't say the thought of eating a child hasn't completely ruined my appetite." Yusuke stepped back from the tree, looking away from the gore it had in the branches, "But neither have I eaten anything today and I probably need to. Once we get away from here maybe I'll be able to consider a bowl of ramen as something besides an intestinal meal."

The smell wasn't exactly the best thing he'd ever been exposed to and he kept moving away from the tree. Now that he'd noticed it, he tried not to gag. Blood in a fight and blood in...whatever this had been...smelled completely different from one another.3

* * *

_I won't lie..."Ass-wang" STILL makes me crack up every time I read it. I love writing for Yusuke!_

lur'mog \- the word actually started out as an anagram of 'murloc,' but I replaced the C with a G to try and hide that fact.

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	36. Episode 121 - The Dragon, The Chef

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!

If you want a bit of a visual representation for what a lur'mog looks like, you could google a baby murloc for reference. A lur'mog's tail is longer, like a rat, and it has loads more teeth, but they're otherwise fairly similar. The lur'mog's front legs are more like a mouse's, however.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

In this chapter, the small, black dragon that buried itself in Shikiyoku's hair in the last chapter has dialogue. The dragon "speaks" by telepathically projecting images or pictures and emotions directly into the mind. His so-called dialogue will be in quotes and italics, but because this is a _fire_-breathing dragon, the dialogue will be followed by a tilde, in a similar fashion as the All-Fire, and will look like the following:

_"We fire!"~_

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Yusuke make quick work of an Aswang,  
Koenma promising to send in a crew to clean up the mess.  
The two of them decide afterwards to go ahead and get something to eat.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku attempts to access her demonic form once she and Hiei are safely away from the city.  
She can feel Toriko within her preventing her from doing so.  
Her efforts attract nearby demonic creatures, all of who she manages to turn away once she finishes  
except for two of them: a lur'mog who is now wrapped around her fingers,  
and a little black dragon who tangled itself up in her hair...

* * *

Shikiyoku shifted around, feeling spiritually and mentally exhausted from her earlier tirade, which was strange since she had done no actual physical exertion and her weakness came from somewhere else entirely.

Instead of answering, she got up, the unsteadiness of her feet stemming from that same weakness that was not originating from the any weariness of her muscles, but somehow felt more centered in her very core.

She considered the creature still wrapped about her fingers and he blinked his eyes at her as they stared at one another.

"I _don't _really know what to do with you."

As she stood, the dragon's eyes never left Hiei's right arm, but after she got up, its ruby gaze slowly lifting up to regard Hiei, again with an intelligence that held sparks of something behind its eyes.

Its calm demeanor did not appear to change, but it did puff out of its nose-slits two tiny black tendrils of energy that curled like smoke out and disappeared quickly into the air.

It opened up its mouth in a deliberate fashion as it stared at him and huffed once, a strawberry-sized cloud of that same energy, now easily seen as so dark of a purple that it was nearly black, silently swooshing out of his jaws.

It turned away from him only briefly to start disengaging itself from Shikiyoku's hair, quietly rustling the dark tresses and starting to crawl backwards out of it before stopping and whipping its head back over to stare at Hiei accusingly.

It had seen how he treated the little one, and it wasn't sure whether it really wanted to leave its hidden perch to go all the way over to him if he wasn't going to be receptive to the honor it would be to have a dragon such as itself upon his person. 3

Red eyes followed Shikiyoku's movements as she moved to stand, Hiei searching for any sign that she may collapse again. But as she spoke to the creature on her hand, something else caught his attention. His red gaze turned to the small puff of black-ish smoke that moved through the air from Shikiyoku's locks. Curious, he waited until another puff of that same cloud was seen, larger this time, but making him realize it wasn't exactly black like simple smoke.

Again, he was reminded of his Dragon of the Darkness Flame.

He nearly scoffed in amusement at the movement of the creature that had begun sliding around, only to pause and turn a glare onto him as if he had been ready to pull it from its hiding spot. How could such a small body hold such an amount of emotion in such small, beady eyes?

He met the gaze of the creature and raised a brow patiently at it. He didn't make a move towards it, nor away from it. He simply stood stock still, watching as if a single movement would scare the creature away.

~!**!~

Akari paused in her descent to the earth, looking down at Yusuke and assessing his reply for a moment before continuing the rest of the way down, having to drop about ten feet to the ground from the next-to-lowest branch in the tree.

She landed with knees bent, the shock making her breath shorten just a little. She was being careless, she knew, but what else could she do? She pushed herself to stand and looked down at herself, frowning at the different slashes in her shirt that could have ended very badly.

"We need to stop somewhere first, then," she said to the boy as she walked behind him, not bothering to catch up just yet. "I don't know about you, but torn shirts aren't very comfortable. And humans don't like them." Her tone was slightly amused, her lips twisted into a slight grin. "Hope you don't mind." _*****_

Yusuke wasn't exactly sure how Akari's shirt had been ripped, that is _where_, so as he kept walking, he slipped off the outer green shirt of his school uniform and held tossed it behind him in the direction he heard her voice coming from, putting his hands back in his pockets once he finished, the breeze picking up the loose edges of his white sleeveless undershirt tucked into the green pants of the uniform.

"I mean, we can still stop. But people might wonder at what happened if you walk around with it torn. We'll avoid punks thinking I did something to you this way."

~!**!~

After gauging the soul behind Hiei's eyes, a color that so appropriately matched to its current eye-color, the dragon made up its mind and continuing extracting itself, delicately removing sharp claws from the long hair it had woven into and backing out the same way it came in.

It clung to Shikiyoku's shirt with its pointed talons as it picked its way backwards until it was entirely free, and the material was thick enough and tight enough on her person that it did not much give with the bit of extra weight the black dragon added.

When free, its wings spread out and it released Shikiyoku entirely, hovering behind her once as its wings beat twice, fluffing her hair with their wind as it twittered a noise at her, and then soared the short distance to Hiei's right shoulder where it sat in a position reminiscent of Maneshi's sphinx stance, tail hanging down Hiei's back, wings folding up once more.

It lowered its head until it was even with Hiei's eyes, and from this distance, it was easy to see that the scarlet orbs set on its face were whirling from red into a lighter orange as it felt the warmth Hiei naturally exuded.

An impression, brief and nothing more, extended into Hiei's mind: an image of a single flame along with an emotion of identification in regards to both itself and the demon it spoke to. The meaning could not have been more clear.

"_We fire!"~_ 3

Hiei watched the onyx-colored creature unwind from Shikiyoku's hair and move to the air, making a rather curious sound before flapping its wings over to Hiei and perching on the very shoulder that Maneshi normally hopped up to sit on. He stared into the eyes that watched him, searching for… something. He wasn't sure what it was he was looking for within the gaze that stared back into his own.

Crimson eyes widened as a brief image flashed across his mind's eye and he momentarily sneered in satisfaction, the creature seemingly approving of Hiei's presence in a way that was unique, in the fire demon's opinion.

"Interesting." He eyed the creature for a moment before continuing on. "Indeed, fire."

He turned back to Shikiyoku. "This one isn't so bad."

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes as the jacket was tossed her direction, easily catching it from the air and pulling it over her arms and shoulders, buttoning it up enough to cover the damaged part of her shirt. She adjusted it, surprised at the difference in size between herself and him. Sure, she had known he had muscle, but this jacket just about ate her. She didn't even have to worry about it brushing against her shirt's torso where her wound had reopened.

That was one less problem.

"Thanks," she said to him almost lazily, her hands playing with the end of the jacket as she considered it.

_Kurama's would be considerably larger due to his height difference._

The physical jerk she made at that thought was a violent one, her mouth releasing a sound she hadn't made very often in her life, and could only be described as an "erk" sound. She ground her teeth together, and her gaze hardened.

If she would have been looking in a mirror, she likely would have hit it to symbolise punching herself in the face for the ridiculous thought.

What had even prompted it anyway?!

She realized she had stopped moving and quickly made her feet continue on again. _*****_

Yusuke stopped when they made it all the way back to the edge of the alleyway, certain by this time that Akari had covered up, but hesitant to actually turn around until she joined him.

"So, where's this ramen place? I think I could eat about now."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku looked over at the dragon and its new perch, reaching up with her free hand to smooth down the hair that had gotten rustled around by the creature.

For a reason she understood, but at that moment chose to claim otherwise about, Shikiyoku could feel the pang of jealousy that wrenched her stomach at the obvious approval Hiei held for the dragon.

She turned back to the lur'mog that was still woven in her fingers, its tail wrapped about two or three of them.

"I suppose you're not _all _that much trouble." She sighed at it.

It chittered at her as if it could hear the resignation in her voice, as if it could hear that it won the right to stick around.

Shikiyoku didn't really expect it to stay all that long, but for the moment...what else was she to do?

When the dragon turned its head back to regard Shikiyoku, its eyes whorled back to red and the thrumming sound it made at its chest sounded strikingly akin to a cat's purr.

It lowered its head down to Hiei's eyes again, this time the red swirling into emerald.

An impression of a giant dragon, many _many _times larger in size than the tiny one at his shoulder, so full of energy that it did not appear to have a body and was only made of insubstantial dark-purple energy, brushed Hiei's mind from the dragon on his shoulder. Along with it came a sense of questionness.

"_...Where?"~ _3

Hiei, without knowing he did as such, mirrored the dragon's movements by turning to look at Shikiyoku at the exact same time the creature on his shoulder did, watching her interact with the small animal that had wound its way around her fingers. For a moment, he thought it actually fit her, perhaps even Toriko too, if it were not for its origins being the Demon World. It was a calm, docile creature it seemed, and Shikiyoku seemed to not mind it so much as it seemed able to keep out of trouble.

He turned back to the dragon on his shoulder in time to see the small head swivel back to him as well, red turning green as their gazes interlocked and odd sensations, pictures, swooped before his mind's eye. He raised a brow, confused. Why would it know of his dragon?

He could assume they were from a certain line of ancestry, or it could be that this dragon could feel the energy of the dragon Hiei had consumed for his own personal desire. For his own use when necessary.

He lifted his right arm to allow the sleeve to fall down halfway between his elbow and his wrist, the cloth bunching up there where it could go no further without him forcing it up his arm. He held up the darkened tattoo as if asking _this?_

~!**!~

Akari shook her head at herself as she walked, not even realizing Yusuke had paused at the mouth of the alleyway before she had almost run into him.

A second time.

She gave a small sigh and stepped around him. "It's not too far from here. Just a couple of blocks," she explained, taking the lead as she rubbed a hand to her forehead. "Toriko showed it to me a few months ago. It's my personal favorite, and I suppose that's because it was the first one I'd tried." This small explanation wasn't for Yusuke's knowledge, but for her own distraction as her mind made a very strong attempt to shift back to earlier thoughts.

"The chef is nice as well. Good man, sometimes makes specials if you catch him on a really good day. If you make him laugh, your meal is free." _*****_

"Well, if the food is worth it," Yusuke raised an eyebrow as they started off again, "I'll have to come up with a good joke or something, right?"

He looked up, contemplating as his eyes scanned the sky.

"Any suggestions for subjects?"

~!**!~

At the sight of the dragon on his arm, the emerald eyes widened into red, but very quickly swirled with so many different colors that the hues were difficult to make out. There was certainly purple and blue, green among them, and definitely pink, but the pink was brief as the dragon turned back to Hiei and appeared to regard him in a new light, eyes finally settling into a jasper-orange and almost gleaming.

An image of a dark-purple dragon being struck by something fatal and then swirling into nothingness, accompanied by an overwhelming emotion of sorrow, passed over into Hiei's head. The image went on further to reshow the dragon bleeding and its spirit leaving its body as its eyes closed-as if in deeper explanation of the first image-the spirit taking on an energized form, then the picture shifted to that spirit flying over what could be nothing other than the Ninth Level of Demon World as the ground beneath it was covered with red foliage.

Shikiyoku, having been occupied with thoughts of the lur'mog, only started to look over at Hiei when she saw him move his arm up from his side, and when his sleeve fell away she sucked in a giant breath, a gasp, her eyes widening as she saw the black tattoo that wove about his arm. 3

Hiei watched the many different colors move through the dragon's eyes, the many different impressions moving across Hiei's own mind's eye. He wasn't sure exactly what the dragon was thinking, or saying, or whatever it was it was doing now. He simply waited, half prepared for the rage of such a small creature.

When the color of the dragon's gaze became orange, he didn't react. Not outwardly. Inwardly though, he was slightly curious. Nothing more. Not even when Shikiyoku's sharp intake of breath broke the silence of the clearing that had settled for a few moments.

His eyes refocused on the dragon on his shoulder, staring unblinkingly, void of any and all emotions. He didn't say anything. What could he say? He wasn't sure what exactly the tizzy was about. Yes, it was the tattoo of the dragon, but it wasn't the _actual _dragon, only the impression of the actual beast in his arm.

If he could, he likely would have allowed the dragon free for the moment to allow the two to interact, but quite frankly, he didn't think it possible since it now did his bidding and was under his complete control.

So he just stood there, staring blankly.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged. "That's the thing. I can't tell you." A wicked smile formed on her lips. "If I do, I'd have to kill you."

She continued on until the stand was in sight, the smell of ramen wafting to her nose on the breath of air that whispered through town. She took a deep breath of it, and just as quickly as any unbidden thoughts had turned her mood sour, the smell of ramen made her mood return to a rather pleasant one.

"Truthfully, I haven't made him laugh yet. Except once."

She moved the flags that hung over the small opening of the stand, ducking just slightly as her eyes looked up to find the chef turning to look at her over his shoulder.

"Akari! You haven't been in a while! You've been avoiding me?" He turned his back on her over the stove before he could see Yusuke.

Akari gave a small, lopsided smile. "Nope, Shyn, just been busy. School, y'know?"

"Right right! Have a seat. Your usual?"

"Of course."

He turned to her with a small smile of familiarity before his eyes zeroed in on the jacket she wore, then shifted to Yusuke. "You're a new face." He paused, glancing back to Akari and leaning forward. "New _guy_ friend, eh?"

"Not entirely. Not the way you think, anyway. He's claimed."

"Too bad." He turned to Yusuke. "What can I get for you, young man?" _*****_

Yusuke gave a good-natured laugh and threw his arm over Akari's neck, resisting the strong urge to grab her cheek in a pinch.

"It's too bad for you, Red. I know you're _so _into me and all."

He let her go and turned back to the chef, "Whatever she usually gets." He jabbed a thumb at Akari.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku turned away and covered her face with a hand, her shoulders starting to shake, but she couldn't contain the laughter for very long and she threw her head back and barked it out, hands on her hips and a disgruntled looking lur'mog hanging onto several strands of her hair and glaring at her for moving so quickly.

The dragon turned to regard her, its eyes swirling red when it first looked at her, but quickly shifting to purple right before it closed its eyes with an expression that reflected the laughter Shikiyoku let loose in the clearing. 3

Hiei's brow raised curiously as the clearing suddenly burst into the sound of laughter, his eyes turning to Shikiyoku. Her laughter was, in his mind, unnecessary. Then again, he didn't know what she was laughing about, so he stared for a few moments before turning to look at the dragon as well, seeing a very similar expression on its face.

His own expression shifted to mild irritation.

"What's so funny?"

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at Yusuke as his arm landed on her shoulders, silently wondering if this was his attempt to make the chef laugh at him for a free meal. "Sure, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night," she said as she broke away, taking a seat at the small bar-like counter and leaning forward.

"You bet," the considerably larger man said with a nod, turning to begin making the two ramen bowls. "So, why are you here, now, of all times? If school is so busy, why skip?"

Akari gave a small laugh that barely concealed her nervousy. "I needed a break."

"The weekend just ended?"

"An extended break."

A beat of silence. "And you, uh.."

"_Yusuke_," Akari informed.

"Yusuke. Why are you out of class?" _*****_

Yusuke sat down on the stool next to Akari, his expression serious as he leaned forward and put his elbows down on the counter, folding his hands together up by his face and resting his nose on his fingers, listening to the shift in Akari's voice.

_Dammit, she __**isn't **__supposed to be thinking about all that. That was the point._

Yusuke turned to the man, whose name Yusuke had promptly forgotten, his face never faltering.

"I had to save the world."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku held up a hand as she caught her breath, wanting to reassure Hiei that she did not mean to raise his ire at her, but choking a little before she could recover herself.

"I...you...eheh." She chuckled again, "No wonder...heh." She took a second and cleared her throat. "Do you know what that is?" She finally managed to ask, waving her hand in the direction of his tattoo. "Or rather, do you know what that _was_?" 3

Hiei raised a brow. Of _course _he knew what it was. He'd defeated it, hadn't he? He didn't reply right away, only taking to holding his hand up so the sleeve fell again, revealing the tattoo once more for him to survey.

How was such a powerful being… _funny_ to her?

He decided not to give his full-blown explanation of an answer, and decided to wave his hand at her to continue on, to make it easier for the both of them. Either he learned something new, or he could simply tell her he had already been aware and go about his business.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes cut to Yusuke curiously, realizing the angle he was going to play. And for once, she thought she might hear the man actually laugh full-blown.

But he merely looked over his shoulder at Yusuke with a smirk and a raised brow. "Is that so? Tell me, what from? Another flood? The wrath of hell?"

Akari snorted. He was close.

"I'd love to hear your heroic adventure, son." _*****_

"There's an evil emperor of another realm who has sent his avatar to try and win a tournament our realm holds every fifty years because he's lost his own body and for some stupid reason winning the tournament is gonna help him get it back." Yusuke looked thoughtful, "I never really understood how that part worked." He shrugged. "But I have to win the tournament for whatever reason. So he doesn't get his body back I guess. I never understood the plotline really. There's just a lot of fighting and I really like that part."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku raised an eyebrow. Surely Hiei was only playing stupid with her.

The dragon seemed to have the same impression, though it opened its eyes and turned to look at Hiei, purple color swirling into the questioning of green.

"The being that tattoo represents dates back to the beginning of the ninth level. The first demon, the original fire demon, became too strong for this realm to hold him. In order to prevent it falling apart around him, he separated the darkest flames from himself and created the element demons refer to as 'darkness flame.' At least...that's the story demons tell. Maybe even one you've heard yourself." She didn't wait to see if he would grace her with an affirmation or a negative, going on, "Truth is, when the fire demon separated that part of himself, it was so strong, and so sentient, that it manifested in a physical form: a female demon able to freely wield the flames from which she had been created. He took her as his mate.

"When she died, her spirit remained so strong that she did not, could not, pass to the other realm, and her ghost took to the skies of the ninth level in the form of this massive black dragon made up of the darkness flames and she wrecked havoc for _eons. _She was still flying around when I was born. Tons of demons tried to harness her power, thinking she was only an element to be controlled and not an actual spirit."

Her newest Champion had to be power indeed in order to have control of that element, not only the element, but if her suspicions were correct, the original darkness flames itself. Her eyebrows raised at the realization.

"In fact, I didn't even consider that she might actually be gone now. I just assumed we'd been lucky so far and she was elsewhere in the level. It's large enough that even with her massive size we would not have sensed her for a while were she on the other side."

The dragon turned back to Hiei and the same first image shimmered into his mind from its, that of the spirit-energy-dragon, who had suddenly one day shot up into the air with a giant roar, disappearing. This was accompanied by a wonderment at where the spirit had gone. Then the image of the tattoo on Hiei's arm as the little dragon at his shoulder had just seen it, plus a certainty that the spirit of that first female demon was finally at rest, her spirit able to move on now that she was free of her power. Hiei's capturing of the element freed her to move on and meet her mate in the afterlife.

It conveyed all this with a series of images and its eyes swirled a mixture of red, orange, purple, and brown, the last color accompanied within Hiei's mind as a sense of contentment. Fulfillment. Release.

"_Thank you."~ _3

Hiei had indeed known of the story. Or, at least, most of it. There were bits and pieces of it that he'd either forgotten over time, or he'd just never known. As for its origin being linked with the first fire demon, that he was sure he hadn't known. It gave him a slightly more interested view on the power he'd come to acquire. His eyes turned down to his tattoo, though his vision of it was blocked with the images and impressions that the smaller dragon flashed across his mind's eye.

He looked up when all was over in his mind, meeting the gaze of the small dragon evenly and giving a small nod.

He hadn't known that he'd released such a being's soul. He'd only wanted the power.

Perhaps it was a bonus?

"_No problem.."_

He turned back to Shikiyoku and met her gaze squarely, a small smirk on his lips. "Most of that was old information I'd already known. However, the new information is rather interesting." He again looked at the tattoo that had been on his arm since he had consumed the dragon.

He seemed to be taken by surprise a lot more lately, and it was all because he'd come here, to Demon World…

With Shikiyoku.

~!**!~

A small huff sounded from the man, while Akari stared at Yusuke, slightly confused by his explanation. She wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to.

"Is that how it works nowadays?" The man asked, turning around and sliding two bowls to the only people in the place, one for Yusuke and one for Akari. "You're a fighter, then. Bet'cha get into tons of trouble at home, eh?" The man was smirking knowingly at the boy, as if he understood exactly what was going on. "Doesn't impress me, boy. You have to work harder for your free meal." _*****_

"Ahaha," Yusuke finally laughed as the man finished speaking, lowering his arms to rest one along the counter and scratching the side of his face with a finger of the other, "No, I'd actually forgotten about that last part." He sincerely hadn't been trying to make the guy laugh. "I just get so wrapped up in that game though, you know? It's probably my favorite at the arcade." His expression grew more serious with his final statement.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku actually scoffed, "Tch, if you didn't want to hear the old stuff, you should have told me what you knew so it didn't get repeated." She started to walk off in the direction of the next city, trying to force the exhaustion still settled over her bones away.

The dragon's eyes whirled blue with worry, sensing her agitation, and lifted from Hiei's shoulder to fly after her when she got more than a couple of feet away. 3

Hiei didn't react, only turning to follow after Shikiyoku, slightly disappointed when his company left him for her. But he didn't think much on it, only brushing it away as he stuffed his hands in his cloak pockets. He wondered how long the two creatures would stay with them.

"Recounting the story was very generous of you," he commented almost snidely, though he was much more amused than he played it off to be. He truly had been glad for the recounting of the story that he had almost forgotten entirely, learning new things simultaneously.

~!**!~

"I myself enjoy games, though the arcades aren't my favorite. Home consoles work best, especially if you have kids. Saves a lot of money, it does."

Akari smiled at the chef as she took a bite of the noodles, lifting them with chopsticks very carefully to her lips before slurping them up almost too noisily, completely satisfied by the taste. "You do better every time, Shyn. How is it that you make it different every time?"

"Chef's secret, Akari. Can't share the secret recipe."

"Too bad. I'd love to attempt this, though I'd probably screw it up and end up right back here anyway, giving you all of my money."

The man looked at her with a wide grin, as if fighting off a sound that would cost him a meal. "You're my most regular customer."

"and my bartender," she joked, referring to how much she seemed to open up to him. About the mundane things, of course.

"I don't get paid enough."

"I'd be broke if you asked for more."

Finally, he cracked, giving a small laugh and ruffling her hair. "I'll take this one, just for you."

Akari grinned, turning her eyes onto Yusuke. "The secret is getting to know the chef who makes your meals. Otherwise, you're asking a stranger to buy your meal."

"Hey, no selling the secret!"

"I'm not, I'm just giving it away for free."

"Touché." _*****_

Yusuke was _going _to make a comment about likely forgetting the place as soon as he left so her advice would be wasted, but he was already halfway into his ramen bowl and quiet about it for once as he consumed his way through the tasty meal, his stomach growling as he tried to eat fast enough to satisfy it while he listened to the conversation going on around him.

Hopefully he could remember exactly where this place was...

~!**!~

The dragon flew in front of Shikiyoku and she halted abruptly, taken aback by its sapphire eyes as its wings beat puffs of air softly into her eyes while it hovered at face-level. Shikiyoku murmured something to it after gazing curiously at the two gleaming gem-like orbs that regarded her back with concern. Its eyes swirled a red-orange as it took off, flying over her in the direction they had come from.

She stuck her nose in the air as she kept moving, feeling as if Hiei were mocking her with his tone of voice, "Well, it certainly helps explain why the fire was so interested in you back at ho-...back in the valley." She lowered her face, contemplating her stumble before appearing to shake it, "I guess the story was a thank you for ridding Demon World from its oldest danger, _hero_." 3

Hiei eyed the dragon that flapped in front of Shikiyoku before flying off back in the direction they had previously come from. He turned back to Shikiyoku, smirking as he watched her head toss back, her hair falling further down her back as her nose moved higher in the air than before.

He didn't reply to her right away. The fire demon was too amused by her slight falter in her words, realizing that she was referring to the valley as her past home. He thought nothing more of it, deciding to bypass that and simply continue on.

"Perhaps it was worth it. I gain much more than I've lost."

~!**!~

Akari lifted more of her ramen to her mouth, her eyes looking down to the rather large bowl filled with noodles and other things. The steam that rolled off made her nose twitch at the amazing smell, actually able to almost pick out the different ingredients for his recipe. But she wouldn't dare attempt cooking. She enjoyed Shyn's style too much to do that to him.

"So, what else besides school is there? Any work yet?"

Akari looked back up at the pot-bellied man who was watching her with keen, curious eyes. She shrugged then gave a small nod. "Here and there," she mumbled around the noodles in her mouth. "It's a _hire as needed_ job, really. No real schedule."

"Sounds… awful."

Akari's eyes flashed to Yusuke momentarily before she shrugged again, leaning back with the bowl in her left hand, chopsticks in her right. "It's not as bad as it sounds. I have more freedom with it than, say, working in a store."

"The pay worth the inconsistency though?"

Akari didn't answer, actually taking a moment of slurping noodles to consider how she should answer. Technically, she wasn't being paid. She was paying back Spirit World… There wasn't a way she could say that. "I suppose. I mean, I'm just a school kid, after all."

"That's the spirit! Hey, Yusuke," the man rounded on the boy, arms crossing over his belly. "While I take the silence as a compliment, I like to get to know my customers. Where do you school? Same as Akari? What do you do outside of school aside from game?" _*****_

Yusuke grinned at the man, swallowing his mouthful of ramen before speaking, "Sarayashiki Junior High School." He blinked for a second, shoveling another bite into his mouth and wondering what on earth job Akari had. _He _certainly didn't want to work if he could help it. "And I try to stay in as much trouble as possible." He added when he remembered the final question, mouth full this time.

~!**!~

As Shikiyoku walked, she couldn't help the smile she wore, feeling that Hiei's words had put the situation aptly. No demon in their right mind would surely care about the 'heroics,' right? Power. That was the incentive.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized the fact that she had likely pacted with one of the strongest demons the nine levels had ever seen. Well, the potential was certainly there. He wasn't there yet.

The impressions the All-Fire had give her about his Jagan, the little she received about his past-since he was _from _fire, the fire could read _his_ fire-told her that he was a "cursed child" of the Koorime, which meant extreme power at a young age, knocked among the lowest with the addition of the Jagan, and nearly having regained all of his former power at that very moment...

The Koorime blood prevented it from doing a full, thorough reading of his past, and anyway the fire appeared more excited about their..._his _future.

Even so, it was impressive. It was more than impressive where demons were concerned actually, and Shikiyoku could feel a newfound respect for the demon her other side chose to ask for protection.

That last thought made Shikiyoku grumble to herself about her inability to return to full demonic form, but she let her former feelings of wrath slip away-or at least tried to-given that somehow the bumbling fool had managed to snag a pact with such a high class candidate. 3

Hiei's hand reached up and readjusted his scarf that he only just realized had been moved out of place by the small dragon. It took a moment of moving the cloth before it was comfortable around his neck again, not restricting but not too loose either. That hand promptly fell to his side again, red eyes now looking down at the ground, watching the grass move all its own. Again, his eyes moved up, this time back to Shikiyoku, not surprised by her lack in reply.

He watched the back of her head for a few minutes, watching the way her hair moved around her shoulders. Again, he felt the ridiculous desire to reach out and touch it, but it was stronger this time. It moved so smoothly that it almost seemed to resemble silk. His pace, unknowingly, picked up just enough that in only a mere moment, he was trailing only a step behind her, hand twitching at his side.

He recovered quickly, blinking as he moved to walk on Shikiyoku's right, still staying a step behind her, but no longer within arm's reach. Perhaps she hadn't noticed…

~!**!~

"A little bit of trouble is good for the soul." Shyn replied loftily, a large smirk on his face. "But too much trouble lands you jail time. Keep it in moderation." There was a pause, then he continued on. "Especially since you have _this _one with you."

Akari looked up from her bowl only momentarily, a second later turning back down to the bowl in her hand and stuffing more noodles in her mouth. "Me? Why, whatever makes you say _that_?" She could actually see the bottom of her bowl now, through the broth.

The man leaned over to Yusuke, a hand placed at the corner of his mouth as if telling a very dirty secret that should not be heard by others. "Don't let her looks fool ya. She looks mean, but she's just about as cruel as a kitten."

Akari resisted the urge to snort. _Wrong creature. __*****_

Yusuke shot a mischievous look at Akari, that for anyone else might have hinted at a telepathic understanding at the thought that just passed over her mind. In his case, it was just that he happened to follow the same train of thought as the demon beside him.

"Nah, kittens are way too soft and cuddly." Yusuke's grin remained just as toothy. "_I _would argue instead that her bark is worse that her bite."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku still mused on the potential power her Champion held. And if she was being perfectly honest, she wasn't really sure if she thought the trade off was worth it. Power and innocence? Strange combination.

Thinking of what she learned from the All-Fire, she felt herself better acquainted with the fire demon walking near her.

His discipline to achieve great power was such a cornerstone in his existence that there had simply not been room for 'frivolous' things, that being "everything else" she ventured to guess. He pursued power so relentlessly and for so long that she suddenly found it no longer left her speechless that he appeared to have neither the interest or drive for anything else. He knew nothing else so he had not the _capacity _for anything else. In place of a sense of more..._luxurious _pastimes, he instead only had room for the fighting he did that would increase his own self further along.

Fascinating.

Shikiyoku stayed quiet as she walked, lost in her thoughts of the fire demon she knew was near. 3

Hiei kept his eyes forward, away from the silk-like hair that had, for some reason he didn't understand, become quite a tempting thing to touch. It made no sense to him. So, he thought on it for a bit.

He knew her power was of the… pleasing kind… and that it centered around desire. He was also aware that when her energy was released, her hair moved and her eyes seemed to gleam like gems under a bright light. Anything after meeting such a gaze made his mind hazy, and he had trouble recalling some moments after a situation like that.

Perhaps her hair was of the strongest mediums for her energy. It would certainly explain a lot. Especially where Toriko stood with keeping it up most of the time.

Now that he thought on it, how had he not realized? He'd known that her bobby pins had kept her hair up, helped seal away power, but he hadn't much considered that her locks were the main focus of energy.

He really needed to observe her more, he realized.

~!**!~

Akari completely ignored the look that she could practically _feel _Yusuke sliding her way. The sneer that threatened to form on her face was hard to keep concealed, causing a twitch at the corner of her mouth before she stuffed the last of the noodles between them, making sure her cheeks puffed with the amount of food so that she _wouldn't _be caught grinning.

"I would agree, but she's kept all her promises on my end."

"Tha's no' many." Akari said around noodles that made her words slur, looking up with a serious expression on her face. "Onl' vishiting."

He rolled his eyes at her, then looked up at a man who entered the stand, calling a brief welcome and taking a few steps over to the customer to take his order. Meanwhile, Akari sent a smirk to Yusuke, and after she swallowed her food she gave a short laugh. "Sometimes I think he might have a little bit of awareness." _*****_

"Shizuru shehz," Yusuke swallowed his bite, continuing to speak in the same low voice in which he started, keeping his eyes on the chef. "Shizuru says all humans have awareness, its just that most of them ignore it or chalk it up to superstitious-nonsense or a disease or something like that. I mean, even I get chills every so often." He stuffed more food in his face and pointed at her with his chopsticks, "Naht vurr of'fn, mind."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku continued heading in the direction of the city that would be the next stop in the journey. Or, she at least planned on making the stop there. They had enough daylight to make it that far, and she had a mind to stay through the night. Of course, she had a couple ulterior reasons for wanting to stop within its walls too...

A trilling sound caught her ear, Shikiyoku had not been moving at a very fast pace simply meandering towards their destination, and it made her stop and turn, seeing the little onyx dragon from before gleaming in the daylight as it soared back to her.

She held up her right arm and it came wheeling towards her, slowing its descent abruptly when it came just above her arm, flapping a couple of times in a hover as it gauged the distance between itself and her extended limb before dropping suddenly in a perch.

Its eyes wheeled green and red as it tilted its head at her and Shikiyoku raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yes."

The green melted into blue, though the red remained, and Shikiyoku sighed.

"No wonder..." She trailed off as the dragon's eyes swirled into orange and green with the red and this time both eyebrows lifted and she found herself shrugging. "I'll live. But if you like."

The red and orange mixed faster this time, though its head tilted and it appeared to move its shoulders up and down in the same motion Shikiyoku had just done, its wings fluttering in the same fashion as it did so and Shikiyoku couldn't resist the laugh as it imitated her.

"Go on, then." She hefted her arm a little and the dragon spread its wings, at that point Shikiyoku actually lowering her arm a bit and then sharply lifting it to give the dragon some velocity as it took off into the sky once more.

As Shikiyoku and Hiei started to be able to see the walls of the city rising up in front of them, the massiveness of it rivaled the appearance of the one they had left earlier in the day, though these walls were much sleeker in their red color, having none of the impurities or shoddy workmanship that the last set of walls did.

When they were roughly a mile out, a more excited trill echoed above them and Shikiyoku stopped again to turn and look.

While one would have been expecting to see a black shape, the strangeness of some sort of red creature swooping down to them made Shikiyoku frown until it got almost right up to her face and she let out a huff of amusement.

The dragon peered at her with ruby eyes whose colors matched the hood that it had up over it face, flapping its wings to hover before her.

Her scarlet cloak was around his neck, hanging far enough down its back-between its wings-to make it obvious the thing was not for the creature as it extended passed even its tail. She reached forward with a smile to lift the cloak back over its head, swirling it off of the dragon once she freed it and continuing the motion to set it once more over her own shoulders.

"My deepest thanks, little one." She reached a hand out from under the cloak to the still-hovering creature, "For your silly show of affection." She did not appear to be actually reprimanding the dragon for having retrieved her cloak, her fingers smoothing against its scales as it purred in contentment with its eyes falling half-lidded, in spite of her usage of the word 'silly.'

As Shikiyoku turned without a word back in the direction of the city, she took off at a run, pulling the hood of her cloak up over her head to better hide her features, tucking her hair within it.

The last mile between them and the gate closed quickly, though this time, while the gates were open, there was hardly a soul milling about except for a couple of guardsmen who didn't give the two newcomers a second glance.

Just a few blocks within the gates and the city started to bustle around them with daily activity and Shikiyoku's eyes were bright in taking in the sights she had so often in the past seen. Everything was almost new and different it had been so long.

A group standing just within the walls of the city did take notice of the pair where the guardsmen appeared not to and that group moved around to cut them off, stepping in front of their path. They were five in number, looking like a gang by the strange wind-like symbol they each had somewhere on their person or their clothing.

"I guess you weren't told, but there is a toll for anyone who wants to view the city."

Shikiyoku held out an arm in front of Hiei as she stopped short of them and she stared up at the demon in front, their leader most likely. The little black dragon that had been flying above them alighted on Hiei's shoulder and settled there, regarding the situation with onyx-colored eyes.

"I don't pay tribute to snot-nosed kids."

A demon or two of the group almost laughed at Shikiyoku's audacity as she stuck her chin out a little farther, her green eyes flashing a little from underneath her hood.

"Lucky for you, shorty," The leader spat, "The price just went double." He stomped closer, getting in her face and leering at her, "Of course, I'm sure we could think of some other way you could pay your dues."

Shikiyoku had a hard time not laughing at the demon, but he noticed the twinkle in her eyes and narrowed his own, reaching up to flip her hood off her head, but she caught his wrist before he managed to touch her.

"I wouldn't." She warned him.

He sneered and flicked it off her head with his other hand, the group behind him sucking in a breath as even his own eyes widened, his nose quickly sniffing the air.

"You don't _smell _human."

"You're not as dumb as you look."

The demon clamped his mouth shut, but had not moved, staring into her green eyes as his hand tightened over the hilt of a knife he had at his belt.

"I wonder if you bleed like one." The corner of his lips lifted to show his sharp teeth as his hand started to pull the knife from its sheath. "Or are you from The Palace? That would be a mighty fine prize-"

"Garou!" A voice sharply called out from the midst of the crowds around them, approaching the gang from behind and shoving his way through to clamp a hand onto the shoulder of the demon who threatened Shikiyoku.

This demon had brown hair and eyes, a red bandana about his forehead. His green jacket was open at the top, as was the cream shirt underneath it, and both were under the wide belt he had around his waist. His pants were white with brown boots over them that came up to his knees.

The new demon spun Garou around to glare piercingly into Garou's eyes.

"I suggest you leave now before _that _one kills you." The new demon said in a growl and jerked his head slightly towards Hiei.

Garou did not turn around, the new demons had still clamped firmly in place, but his eyes did attempt to flicker over his shoulder.

He shrugged the new demon's hand off and adjusted his shirt.

"Stay out of it next time." Garou glared back into the new demon's face.

"And let you get killed? Gladly."

Garou shoved his way past the new demon whose eyes followed him as the youngling slouched off with his gang.

Without saying anything, the brown-haired demon turned back to Shikiyoku, his chin slightly raised as he peered down at her almost over his nose with his head turned just a little.

His expression remaining neutral as he put one hand on his hip, he reached out and took Shikiyoku's chin in his hand, turning her face this way and that to scrutinize her profile.

"I'd recognize that jawline _anywhere_."

"Taka." Was all Shikiyoku said, her eyes almost sparkling up at the full-chested demon.

Taka let out a belly-laugh as he let go of her face, "I _knew _it was you, sweetheart!" He winked and held out a finger to waggle it at her, "You can't just go and change your colors and think you're going to escape from me."

"Aweh," Shikiyoku's voice took on an air of mock-pity, "Still pining for me after all these years, bird-brain?"

"Oh, I don't know." Taka replied with good-nature, "I think most would tell you I'm a reformed demon since all that time ago. I'm feeling a relapse coming on though." He let his eyes narrow playfully, "You wanna help me out with that?"

Shikiyoku finally laughed, "Ah ha, we'll see."

"Not an immediate no?" He exclaimed, "Be still my core!"

"Taka, this is Hiei." Shikiyoku said in way of introduction, tilting her head slightly to indicate the fire demon with dragon on his shoulder. "Hiei, this is bird-brain."

"Ouch." Taka grimaced as he nodded once to the fire demon, "Harsh."

His eyes alighted on the dragon that had not moved since joining Hiei.

"Ryou! I can't believe you, sir. Ditching your master already?"

The dragon's eyes swirled purple.

"He's going to be heartbroken."

Ryou turned his head to the side and closed his eyelids, loftily refusing to make eye-contact with Taka.

"He nearly destroyed the tavern after you left. I don't know _what _he'll think of you attaching yourself to someone else."

Ryou opened his eyes and turned to look at Shikiyoku, his eyes shifting into red.

"You and me both, brother." Taka grinned over at Shikiyoku, "Since I'm going to go into a regression, I think some drinks are in order."

"The Niiro Kaga?" Shikiyoku's eyes brightened immensely at the thought.

"Sure thing, sweetheart." Taka's lopsided grin hadn't moved, "It's still alive and kicking. And as worn-in as ever."

"It outta be." Shikiyoku replied, "Been in place since the beginning of time."

"Practically." Taka turned to lead them. "We keep trying to get Kafu to fix up the place, but he won't have any of it."

"_That _old man is still alive?" Shikiyoku fell in step beside the brown-haired demon.

"Still runs the place." Taka nodded once.

"He was ancient when _I _first arrived." Shikiyoku seemed impressed.

"Speaking of which..." Taka trailed off, his eyes glancing over at Hiei before he returned to paying attention to leading them through the crowds.

"Hm?" Shikiyoku thought she had missed the rest of his sentence.

"Nah, not important right now." Taka replied, "We can talk about it when we sit down." 3

Hiei was quiet, and had been for hours. Even his mind had been silent, with no real thoughts touching the forefront of his mind. All he did was follow Shikiyoku, because he simply had no other choice. He knew little to nothing about this level, and the only things he did know were only because he'd just experienced them.

Crimson eyes looked up at the wall that had just come into sight from the break in the trees, its color pretty close to his irises. Its height was incredible compared to the previous city wall that he had seen. With the mental image of the previous city wall came the mental image of the many demon inhabitants simultaneously turning and looking up and himself and Shikiyoku, each moving in step together.

A scowl settled on his face. She was taking him through another city, despite his disdain.

He didn't repeat his earlier complaint over cities, since she had pulled to a stop to retrieve a cloth from the dragon he had actually forgotten about over the past few hours. He eyed the cloak, not surprised she'd ended up with it in the end. But, he turned away to regard the city walls again, only moving when the dragon settled on his shoulder and Shikiyoku sprinted past him.

Again, he slowed his pace once he entered the city, looking around at the bustling inhabitants wearily. He wasn't happy about being here. He contemplated turning and simply carrying Shikiyoku out, while his gut churned and his senses seemed to pick up on every single blip of energy in the area.

He talked himself out of it though, just in time for a group of demons to step in their way. He didn't say a single word throughout the exchange, his eyes flashing dangerously and a hand moving to his hip, to the holster of his sword, when one of the demons had made a move for their knife.

He wasn't in the mood to give any verbal warnings. If they decided to act without thinking, he'd simply sever their limbs. Easy as that.

His hand closed around the hilt of his oldest weapon and he pulled at it, only an inch of the blade being pulled from the sheath before _another_, much larger demon in comparison to himself stepped forward, pulling away the demon whose life had been on the very edge. Even as the group of demons retreated, Hiei contemplated an attack.

But his hand retreated from his katana, allowing it to click back into place on the sheath.

Introductions were made. Hiei made no sound, only nodding once in acknowledgement of _bird-brain_'s existence. But he was very aware at the familiarity between the two, and the familiarity that Taka held with the dragon on his shoulder as well.

Hiei was the odd man out.

As usual.

His eyes turned to the dragon, raising a brow at the creature. _Ryou is a fitting name._

He looked back to Taka and Shikiyoku, silently soaking in each movement between the two, each word exchanged as if it were dire for him to remember everything about this moment. And when they turned to leave, Hiei followed after just as silently, eyes taking to looking about himself, completely ignoring the hesitation that Taka held with his last few words.

Words he didn't say.

Whether it was because of Hiei's presence, or anything else, he still felt a bit if irritation rise and settle as a hardened stare straight ahead.

He wanted out of the city. Now.

~!**!~

Akari finished off her bowl by downing the broth and set the white glass on the counter, watching the back of Shyn work over the stove as he chattered to the other customer, tone as if he hadn't been joking about with Akari and Yusuke minutes before.

"Well, I suppose." she finally replied to Yusuke, resting her elbow on the counter and propping her chin on her fisted fingers, turning so she could watch the boy eat. A crooked smile touched her features for the shortest moment before disappearing. "I suppose everyone has their flaws. Not every spirit detective can be completely… spiritual.." She gave a small huff of contentment that turned into a long sigh. "Pretty good for just a stand, hm?" _*****_

Yusuke gave her a roguish smile, "After Sensui, can you blame Spirit World for hiring a punk like me?" He didn't answer her other question at first, but he thought he got his point across anyway by the slurping noise he made as he lifted the bowl to his lips to catch some of the broth.

"How did you find this place again?" Yusuke had lived here, well, forever, and he couldn't seem to recall ever having eaten at this place previously.

~!**!~

There was little more than pleasantries and banter exchanged between Taka and Shikiyoku on the walk to the tavern.

Shikiyoku could feel Hiei following behind them, and despite the large number of demons that surrounded her, his presence kept her calm.

Over the entrance to the tavern was a sign with a painted picture of a red flower.

As soon as they entered, their ears were accosted by the noise and revelry of the demons within, much like a pub would have been in Human World, for all the flack the demons would have given someone for pointing that out.

Tables with benches and stools made from the red wood of the trees in the Ninth Level were filled to overflowing with so many demon patrons and servers alike.

Taka sent a wave to the old bartender who nodded once efficiently at the other demon before going back to serving those who sat in front of him.

Taking the lead and shouldering a path for the two who followed behind him, Taka went for the corner and a table there that was thankfully a little set apart from the general mayhem of the establishment, and he sat down on one side, Shikiyoku moving to slide into a seat across from him.

Without saying a word, Taka caught the eye of one of the servers and held up three fingers. She nodded to indicate she noted his request, turning to finish serving drinks to the table waiting beside her.

Ryou had slid farther over on Hiei's shoulder, closer to the fire demon's head, pulling his wings in tightly against his body in an effort to not get jostled about, occasionally reaching over to place a tiny clawed paw against Hiei's head for extra steadiness when someone would bump into them. He slipped his long scaly tail over Hiei's shoulders and curled it in front of the fire demon's neck loosely to keep it out of the way. He seemed unconcerned with the ruckus, and had in truth been in this tavern many times.

Taka leaned his elbows on the table so that he would be closer to Shikiyoku. Their corner afforded them a little less noise, so he did not have to shout when he began speaking.

"So, what happened, sweetheart?" His brown eyes glanced briefly over at Hiei. "One day you were around, the next no one had heard from you or Iro. Stayed that way for months until I happened to catch wind from upstairs of your pact with Youko, in so many words."

Shikiyoku appeared reluctant to talk at first, but she went ahead.

"Iro's dead." She shrugged when she finally responded. "Youko got hit by Hunters. The entire compound got attacked, actually. The price on our heads is a high one. I just barely got into Human World and they lost me. Been there for the last fifteen years."

Taka's eyes lit up for a moment, "Good warrant then, huh?"

"Better than yours." She resisted sticking her tongue out at him.

He laughed and leaned back, knowing she had not told him everything. He wondered what all this fire demon next to her knew and if he was the reason she did not wish to go into further detail.

"So, you're a free demon now?" He asked her archly as three steins of the beverage he'd ordered slammed the table, he reached for one, but didn't break eye-contact.

"Not in the way you're thinking." She replied impetuously.

"Aw, come on sweetheart, you said I'd be the next one."

"I said no such thing." Came her prim reply as she snagged for another one of the three mugs and took a long draw from it. "But I _do _remember _you _claiming that." 3

Hiei frowned as they approached a building that he could clearly tell was a tavern, now entirely set on not going through any other city for the rest of their trip. He disliked the loud noises that berated his ears as soon as the door was open. He disliked the crowd of demons that stared as he passed, moving about in a large group almost and he had to actually shoulder his way through.

Though, his glare _did _help a bit.

By the time he reached the table, the dragon was almost completely wound about his neck, and as he sat down in a chair opposite Taka, on Shikiyoku's right, he turned to look about the room again until his eyes simply settled on the dragon, inspecting the creature until the conversation picked up.

At first, he didn't care enough to listen in. It wasn't his business anyway.

Until a very familiar name was slid into the topic, at which point Hiei's ears twitched just slightly and his eyes slid over to Taka. He had suspected it had been something of the sort when Youko had healed Shikiyoku, but having it confirmed made odd things swirl inside his core. He didn't understand his own need to listen in to the conversation.

_Around every corner, something else pops up._

Drinks were set down, and Hiei glanced briefly at the one left for himself. He gauged it, looking at the liquid within the glasses with slight interest before turning away from it entirely. For the moment, he could care less about beverages. He wasn't hungry or thirsty, so he saw no need in drinking it.

Not even for courtesy's sake for the demon who had obviously ordered it for him.

He leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the knee of the other, turning to eye the dragon again while his ears listened intently to the conversation, a hand lifting to the creature on his shoulders as if to make himself busy.

~!**!~

Akari didn't reply to Yusuke's first question, deeming it as rhetorical, despite the few ideas she'd had in mind for retorts. 'Course, she couldn't really say much either, since Sensui had done very well in using her as a puppet. Even if she had wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to vouch for the guy.

"Toriko," she answered casually with a shrug of her shoulders. "After school one day, she paid for dinner. I've come back at least once a week since, no matter what." She paused and glanced in the direction of Shyn again before turning her eyes back to Yusuke, then let her eyelids slide shut as she realized just how full she was.

_Nabu needs something too._

"If I remember correctly, this place hasn't been around longer than a year. Not very well known yet. He said he'd always wanted to open a ramen shop, and, well, this is just the beginning I suppose." She thought on that for a moment, realizing that the human had started rather late in his life to open up his dream place. The man had to be at least fifty, what with the grey hairs that colored his otherwise dark hair here and there.

_Suppose even Humans make the most of their time. __*****_

"That girl's got good taste." Yusuke noted, finally sitting back in his chair and stretching a little before reclining at the table before him. How long had she been around? Maybe he was just inobservant. Too busy getting into trouble and saving the world.

Maybe he'd take Keiko here sometime soon…

He got a dreamy look in his eyes that he didn't realize had settled there as he pulled his arms up behind his head and rested in the chair with his full stomach.

* * *

_Several of my OCs I tend to base on the look of another character already in existence mostly because I can't draw and it makes it easier for, say, a role-play partner to picture the character in their head. For example, Taka the bird demon has the same look as the character Tibarn in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance._

Shyn \- no meaning

Garou \- hungry wolf

Taka  \- falcon (Falconidae family); hawk

Ryou \- dragon (esp. a Chinese dragon);

Niiro Kaga \- Red Flower Bud

Iro \- can mean different things depending on the kanji used. For this particular case it would be "lover," "irregular kana usage, Noun, Male term or language "

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	37. Episode 122 - Drinking and Talking

**A/N: **Hello once again, Readers!

Onwards to the chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

In this chapter, the small, black dragon named Ryou has dialogue. The dragon "speaks" by telepathically projecting images or pictures and emotions directly into the mind. His so-called dialogue will be in quotes and italics, but because this is a _fire_-breathing dragon, the dialogue will be followed by a tilde, in a similar fashion as the All-Fire, and will look like the following:

_"We fire!"~_

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Yusuke head to the ramen stand that Toriko took Akari to a while back.  
The two of them spend their time talking with Shyn, the cook, and eating their food.  
Yusuke gets a dreamy look in his eye as he thinks about bringing Keiko there sometime in the future.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku and Hiei arrive at the second city in their journey across Demon World,  
with the lur'mog and the little black dragon named Ryou in tow.  
They have a run in at the front gate, one which is tempered by a bird demon named Taka.  
He and Shikiyoku are apparently well acquainted and they travel to a nearby tavern named The Niiro Kaga.  
Hiei is sitting at the table with the other two, petting Ryou who is still on his shoulders...

* * *

Ryou took to Hiei's attentions with pleasure, his throat vibrating like a purr, if muted what with the tavern noise around them.

When the fire demon didn't reach for his drink, Ryou slunk off of Hiei's shoulders onto the table, tiny claws clicking almost imperceptibly against the wood as he got over to the stein, which was nearly as large as he, and stood up on his hind legs with his claw clutching at the rim. He easily dipped his long neck down and started to drink at the liquid therein.

An uproar that superseded the ruckus around them started in the other corner and had Taka rolling his eyes.

"The he goes again."

"Who?"

He glanced back at Shikiyoku.

"I forget it's been a while." He mused for a second, "After you left the level, but not too long after. Demon came into town and hasn't left. He's a drunk. Stirs up trouble every so often, but no one can seem to off the guy. Name's Uryo. Or at least that's what he's told us. Who knows. He's never sober enough to get a straight answer from."

The table and bench combo next to them-a good thirty feet away-suddenly flew up in the air, doing a somersault before landing back upright. In the meantime, however, the demons who had been sitting at it got uprooted and tossed about the tavern, into other patrons, and so on. Their drinks went everywhere too, though the table at which the trio of demons and dragon sat luckily stayed out of the line of fire.

"That would be where he usually sits." Taka noted.

A slender demon slid onto the bench at the end of the now no longer uprooted table, drink in his hand and several more appearing on the table in front of him from somewhere they could not see. He appeared to have one hand resting inside the left part of his overcoat on top of his belt and it likely had some sort of beverage, but seeing as it was his right arm, the side facing the trio, it was hard to tell.

His hair was the darkest black, and he actually had a line of age underneath each bloodshot eye, but there was a horizontal grey mark near his forehead that stretched almost from ear to ear just behind the bangs that shaded his face. The rest of his hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck and hung down straight and long almost touching the floor.

"Not a very pleasant fellow is he?"

"Depends on the night." Taka admitted.

The tavern had grown extra silent at this point as a figure stepped up to the demon Taka had called Uryo with two swords drawn. He proceeded to point them at Uryo.

"You're very rude." Came the steely voice of the demon.

Uryo didn't bother looking up at the kid, "And you're very shtupid."

The demon didn't take that very well and immediately lunged forward.

Without rising or pausing in the middle of the drink he had just begun to tip his head back to take from his right arm, Uryo flashed out his own sword and calmly blocked every double-bladed attempt the punk at his side tried to put through.

"Look, kid." Uryo mumbled as he placed the drink back on the table. "Jusht give it up."

"The price for your head is a high one."

Uryo swung over to actually look at the demon for the first time.

"Tell yah what," Uryo's face was flushed with drunkeness, "If you can sh'o much ash hit me, I'll turn my own damn sh'elf in." He looked back at his drink, throwing his head back as he reached the bottom.

The demon's pointed ears perked, but his expression remained otherwise irritated, his breath coming rather quickly, which was no surprise given the amount of forced he'd put behind the attacks just now.

Coming at him again, the demon tried to get past Uryo's defense, but to no avail as the swordsman deflected each blow single-handedly without so much as pausing between drinks, staring almost vacantly at the wooden table while he did so.

Finally fed up with the drunk, the demon slashed out at the drink Uryo held in his hand, slicing it completely into pieces and leaving Uryo holding only a handle.

"You sh'ouldn't have done that."

"Then get up and fight me." The demon growled.

"You're...hic...already dead."

The demon's eyes narrowed and as he moved his arm to make another slash, blood crept out of his mouth as the arm fell off into four pieces, the body falling to the floor.

Uryo stood up suddenly and yelled over at the barkeeper, "How many wa'sh that?"

"Only twenty, Uryo." The white-haired barkeep appeared to be frowning in disappointment.

Uryo swayed on his feet and started counting his fingers, looking over at the body on the floor as he mumbled to himself.

"But that'sh only twenty!" He shouted back after a moment.

The barkeep nodded.

"Damn." Uryo sat back down and started drinking again as a nonchalant server started to clean up the demon on the floor and the rest of the tavern started murmuring again.

Taka chuckled as he turned back to Shikiyoku.

"He thinks twenty-one is the number of perfection, so he's always trying to get there. Only ever manages four slices on the arms, legs, and torso. Twenty." Taka explained with a bit of a shrug as he smiled. 3

Hiei frowned slightly to himself as the dragon moved away from him and to the drink he had left on the table. He didn't find himself very surprised. He merely watched the long necked creature stick its head into the glass, momentarily amused by the amount of stretching that it required for the dragon.

But in the next second, Hiei was entirely distracted with a new scene. In moments, there was a fight going on and things were being thrown about wildly. Calmly, Hiei turned to witness the scene, a neutral expression taking in the flying drinks and such. He almost found himself interested.

He turned away and watched the dragon again.

Until the table across the room moved slightly. Red eyes again moved to the fight scene, watching the events unfold without much interest.

It was a scene he'd imagined a million times when younger. A particular reason why he'd avoided pubs- they were a waste of time and energy for him.

But this one… This particular tavern was beginning to prove him wrong about the normal inhabitants, he realized. He watched as a single demon blocked a dual-wielding swordsman, eyes following each movement even as the one named Uryo continued to drink.

He watched unblinkingly until, finally, a carcass was in pieces on the floor. The fire demon eyed the fighter with no small ounce of interest now, slight respect bubbling to the surface. It was clear this demon was very skilled in his art of sword fighting, since even Hiei had had a bit of trouble keeping up.

He'd only counted fifteen.

"Hn."

~!**!~

Akari listened idly to Yusuke's quiet musings before he too went quiet, the sound of his bowl touching the counter again after he'd slurped up all the broth ringing in her head. But she wasn't much listening to her surroundings after that. If he had spoken up, she hadn't noticed.

She was too busy thinking about the human who had done just as he had said he'd dreamed to do since High School. A small twitch of her lips threatened a smile.

She'd been wrong about humans.

Most of them.

They were actually… decent, on some level.

"_I have found that their merits lie deeper than just their smell and their intelligence."_

She finally understood what he had meant back then. Kurama had seen the best of the humans, and with Sensui, much of the worst as well. Hell, Yusuke would be classified as one of the best, despite his rambunctious and fiery nature.

_Even as an enemy he taught me something new._

Another image flashed and she found herself ashamed of that day.

Yet it was almost as if that hadn't ever happened, since days like _yesterday _had happened.

She gave a small sigh, no longer fighting the thoughts. Might as well, eh? _*****_

"So, what happened?" Yusuke said abruptly, though his voice held none of the usual brusqueness that the Spirit Detective tended to naturally carry.

"I mean," He quickly retracted, pulling his arms down and leaning up against the table without looking over at her, "You don't _have _to tell me-"

He cut himself off again, "Dammit, here I was trying to get you to forget about all of that and now I'm just bringing it up. Stupid." He gave a nervous chuckle, but wouldn't raise his eyes in Akari's direction.

~!**!~

Somewhere in the middle of their distraction with the scene that Uryo unfolded next to them, the small lur'mog had extracted himself from where he had taken up residence next to Shikiyoku's core down the front of her shirt. That spot against her skin on which he had curled was quite warm and he blinked his eyes sleepily as the light from the tavern hit them when he crawled out from the folds of her cloak.

The webbed spines along the first few vertebrae of his back perked up as his nose separated all the different smells in the room away to let it concentrate on the one in the strange shiny tower before him.

He watched with interest as She reached out and picked it up, its size appearing to mean nothing to Her. The creature knew then that the liquid inside must be good, as if he had not already guessed at that.

As soon as the tower was put down, he skittered over to it and hopped up the side, grasping at the lip and pulling himself high enough to peer within it.

Nothing.

Making a small huff of displeasure, the creature zipped to the other tower across the table, finding the same absence of the liquid.

When he got up to the third and started to peer in, he felt a puff of energy waft over his face and he let out a tiny cough, looking up to see that the dragon, whose eyes were a half-lidded, and whirling in a contented brown, was starting to swirl a light pink with irritation while the two creatures stared at one another.

Before the pink got darker with anger, the lur'mog decided to hop back down.

His nose-slits still sniffed at the air, large eyes zeroing in on several more towers of different colors on the table just across from them. His scaly tail flicked once in excitement.

And without further hesitation, he was speeding from this table to the next at such a pace that he had no need for the floor, in essence running over the air between the two, his invisible path going unnoticed by those around him.

Not so much as a millisecond had passed since he disappeared from sight, already nearly at the closest tower, when he suddenly slammed into a wall that had not been there half-a-millisecond before.

To anyone watching, the lur'mog was standing curiously at the edge of one table and the instant the creature disappeared, Uryo's left hand came down and hit the table, thumb facing upwards, and the lur'mog was reeling back from the impact with his palm.

Uryo took that moment to gently curl his fingers around the small creature while it could make no protest and he brought it up closer to his face, blinking drunkenly at it from behind the black bangs that were a bit longer than he liked them.

The lur'mog curled his claws around the apparition's thumb in a soft reaction-type gesture, his tail wrapping around the rest of the man's hand, and he had recovered his senses by the time he had been lifted up to be scrutinized and he started chittering as he found himself inspected by a pair of strawberry irises whose color was almost indistinguishable by the amount of blood-shot veins surrounding them.

"I ush'ually don't sh'are...hic." Uryo point out, his head bobbing a tad bit as if his neck could not hold it up. "But you're cute."

He reached out with his other hand and stroked a finger down the spines of the creature who gurgled with pleasure as his spikes lowered underneath the touch.

Uryo reached for one of the tankards in front of him. "If you can take thi'sh sh'tuff...hic...then maybe we can be drinking buddies." He loosened his grip on the creature and lowered his hand towards the edge of the mug, before giving a small chuckle.

~!**!~

"The servers always were fast on the cleanup." Shikiyoku noted as the server who had knelt down to remove the gore rose only a minute or so later.

"They've gotten much faster at it ever since Uryo arrived. It seems like he always has some punk demon or another trying to collect the bounty on his head. It's at least once a day. And it always happens in here if its just the one."

One of Shikiyoku's eyebrows raised, "I would assume one of the merc guilds here in the city would just send their entire force after him and split the bounty if it really were so high."

"You noticed how slack the security is around our gate?"

Shikiyoku nodded, unsure how that mattered.

Taka held up his hands, elbows resting on the table, and began ticking off the fingers of the one with the other.

"First came the bandit clans stationed outside and around the city to claim Uryo's life. Bunch of the smaller ones. They failed and the rest all tried. Got up to the largest two. All dead. There's not a single one of them left. And finally House Youhei decided to take him on."

_That _got Shikiyoku's attention.

"You're kidding."

"Nope." Taka lowered his hands, "The entire household, the largest mercenary guild in the city and the third most powerful, sent every single apparition in their ranks after him. All at once. Couldn't touch him. And he was in a drunken rage at the time too. I doubt he was able to see straight."

Shikiyoku nodded with a grim expression. She knew of House Youhei. _Heh._ She more than 'knew.' She had taken jobs on several occasions at their behest. And now that guild was no more?

She turned back over to look at the drunk with more respect than she had previously.

"The other households wizened up and left him alone."

"And no one knows where he comes from?"

Taka shook his head.

"'Course, no one's bothered to ask."

During the time it took for Shikiyoku and the bird-demon to get halfway through their conversation, Ryou had downed the entire tankard that had been intended for Hiei, climbing further and further inside the mug as the liquid lowered until only the end of his tail had been visible, wavering slightly back and forth in the air as it helped the black dragon stay balanced as he braced himself against the smooth sides of the inner walls.

That tail disappeared now as Ryou curled himself around at the bottom of the empty beverage in order to be able to lift himself up and climb back out.

The sturdy mug did not wobble in the least as the dragon heaved himself out of it, using even the barely manipulatable talons at the top of his wings as leverage against the edge of the tankard in order to pull himself up and plop back onto the table in so many limbs and wings, his stomach protruding ever-so-slightly from the drink inside.

He easily righted himself, his thin tail swishing back and forth elegantly, but the tips of his wings against the table as if he were a wyvern that did not possess the full four legs he had, crouched over in much the same position that one of his dragonkin would have been, the talons on his wings that he had used earlier now delicately hitched into the wood of the table.

A puff of the dark purple energy-smoke whooshed out of his mouth as his body lurched with an otherwise silent belch, but he raised his neck up to stare at Hiei, eyes swirling in a satisfied brown.

Impressions came from the dragon and slipped into Hiei's mind as it looked up at him.

"_Fire!"~_

This time the excitement was much more mellow and contented, and centered specifically around the 'fire' that had settled in his belly, and not 'fire' in the literal sense.

"I am going to go give my regards to Kafu." Shikiyoku stood up after lifted her tankard to her lips and finding it was empty, letting her seat shift backwards behind her knees.

"Ha, you do that, sweetheart." Taka appeared to find the notion amusing, "Just don't rob him of too many drinks. More than three and he's liable to recognize you from the way you're batting your eyes at him."

"I have _no _idea what you're talking about, bird-brain." Shikiyoku flipped her dark hair over her shoulder, unwittingly releasing some of the scent of her energy that it contained into the air.

As she started to walk away, Taka had his eyes narrowed, that tantalizing smell reaching his nose, and a portion of his lips lifted in a snarl as he growled at her almost playfully. She turned back and batted her eyes at him. 3

Hiei stared across the room at the demon that Taka had continued explaining about. The names of the people who was being described as previous challengers of this particular drunk. meant nothing to him. He never had been good at keeping up with names and dynasties around the different levels of demon world. He hadn't needed to, since all he ever needed had been within reach.

Sure, it took all ten fingers and a quick run to get something of importance here and there, but never had he decided to challenge any guild or family known for fighting. As amusing as it would be, he wasn't sure how much he'd lose to something like that.

At least, that's how he had viewed it then.

Now, he simply didn't care. But, from the sound of surprise from Shikiyoku, this demon had to be rather high up on the rankings. A challenge, from what Hiei could decode. A challenge of the best kind.

But he didn't care for a fight. Not here, not now. He wasn't in the mood to fight for fun. Especially not since Shikiyoku was with him.

And if there was any shadow of a doubt about winning, he wouldn't dare put her life on the line as well. That would simply be too… troublesome.

His eyes slid over to Taka and Shikiyoku again, watching as she turned to leave and his nostrils flaring at the scent that wafted his way. Otherwise, he gave no notice of her banter. He simply turned away again, eyes going down to the dragon that was now grabbing his attention.

His expression didn't change as he regarded the scaled creature. He merely let out a small hummed word that indicated slight irritation. Though, it wasn't aimed at the dragon specifically, just the atmosphere in the tavern.

His eyes turned up again, staring unblinkingly at Taka, almost curiously, but completely blank as he assessed the demon.

~!**!~

Akari had to fight herself to simply let the thought pass by uninterrupted by her own emotions, hoping that just letting them slide across her mind, they'd leave her alone for a while. But it didn't seem that would work. At least, not right away, because her mind became quickly stuck on the moment in the gym, replaying it like a video she'd seen a million times.

And the question he had posed.

She still had time, but still. The thought of all scars leaving her body was something she'd dreamed about for a long while now. She would be able to be completely confident in herself again.

So what made her hesitate?

_A small growl left her throat as he leaned closer, a small warning about personal space. She attempted to growl out a rather rhetorical, angry question about his intentions, but with their proximity closing, she felt a movement in her stomach that silenced her again as his breath washed over her face. What are you-_

_Her thought, which had been intended to be voiced, was cut short when his eyes closed and, before she could even register the second, his lips gently touched hers. _

_Soft was the first impression._

Akari's eyes slid open, but the image remained. Her second impression, one she hadn't been aware of, was genuinity. Warmth. What _that_ what was holding her back? A stupid little gesture from a fox demon who-

She suddenly blinked, realizing Yusuke had spoken up. She looked up at him, only just realizing that she had stopped breathing for a beat of a moment and her ears had become very, very warm.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, having only heard a part of his question. But the last part she heard made her freeze, her mind scrambling away from the image and searching for something- anything- to say.

"Uh, It's just, uh…" She was fumbling, embarrassment, confusion, and several other emotions rendering her from thinking properly. "Just uh-" She took a deep breath. "It's nothing." she settled, forcing herself to turn and face the counter, so she couldn't look at the detective. "Nothing of consequence." _*****_

"Liar." The word was simple, a rebuttal to ensure that she knew _he _knew it wasn't 'nothing' in spite of her statements to the contrary.

Yusuke released a sigh that could have been taken as either relief that she did not want to discuss it, or a noise of hesitation on whether pursuing the matter would be prudent.

It _had _to be the fox. Who else could get under her skin? The kitsune had a knack for getting into people's heads after all. This particular case didn't come as a surprise.

He released another one of those sighs again, though this one was more hesitant in nature.

"Look, if you don't want to talk about it, I'm not gonna bother you about it. Just-" He pursed his lips together, "I'm pretty good at listening." He grinned just to offset the seriousness he found himself slipping into, "When I wanna be."

~!**!~

Taka's eyes followed Shikiyoku as she made her way through the crowd, watching the way her hips swayed and her hair shifted in the opposite motion of her steps. He almost made a disgruntled noise as she reached up and pulled her hood over her head before disappearing behind several bodies, but he also knew the intelligence behind such a gesture as her appearance _was _startlingly different than previous.

Well...almost all of her appearance.

_Geez, Taka. You slipped into that 'regression' you mentioned pretty quickly. _Taka forced his gaze over to the brooding male he'd taken for a swordsman when he'd noted the stance the shorter demon had shifted into when Shikiyoku was threatened.

"So, what brought the pair of you to the Ninth Level?" He lifted his own tankard, which was not yet empty, up to his lips.

Ryou's movements appeared so sleek that he practically glided over the table back to Hiei and the shoulder he had taken to resting on, actually laying down this time with his tail hanging behind the fire demon's neck and lazily swishing around over Hiei's shoulder and his four limbs and head laying down on the other shoulder. 3

Hiei considered Taka for a moment in silence, at first not sure what he _should _tell of what he was doing here. But, he decided he could still disclose _some _information, without being too descriptive, and his eyes slide to the dragon that was getting comfortable on his shoulders.

"Tracking down a demon," he said casually, eyeing the creature that rested across his shoulders with a small ounce of fondness bubbling up. He actually enjoyed this one's company on a level he didn't quite understand.

Maybe it was due to the dragon he'd consumed.

"A challenge that's amusing enough to pursue."

~!**!~

Akari didn't reply to Yusuke, her mind now entirely stuck on repeat on the single moment that left her frazzled. Each time it replayed, she could still feel the contact.

"You're not a sibling, Yusuke," she said without thinking, her eyes staring blankly forward as her expression smoothed out to a facade of calm neutrality. But after a small bit of hesitation, she gave a resigned sigh. Again, her lips moved without her brain telling them to do so.

"He's made a very tempting offer in a very twisted way." She didn't even name the person involved. She didn't deem it necessary. "And I am not sure what I wish to do, which I'd rather live with." _*****_

"Hey, don't ruin me trying to be nice to you and all." Yusuke gently punched at her shoulder when he accused her of acting like a brother.

At her next words, Yusuke was taken aback, his thoughts-of course-immediately turning inappropriate, which he forced away in the next second to better scrutinize her statements.

Offer? Kurama? What on earth-

He forced away those thoughts, instead taking her at face-value and turning thoughtful.

"Hm." He stalled for time, resting his arm on the counter and putting his face in his other hand, his expression turning faraway. "So, refusing him could be good, but accepting him could be good?"

~!**!~

Taka felt his eyebrow quirk at 'challenge,' but he remained silent.

"My first instinct was going to be to next ask you which merc group hired you, but your traveling companion hasn't been a mercenary for centuries."

_Not since she shacked up with that bandit of a kitsune. He had her at his beck and call and coveted her in who exactly got to use her and when. Which meant her attentions were exclusive to his gang's interests. Intelligent bastard._

His thoughts were a bit jaded, even if he couldn't fault the famous Youko, and he could still feel the scent that Shikiyoku had left at the table stirring in his mind and though he didn't show it outwardly, Taka had been deeply moved by her sudden reappearance.

He'd been the third wheel from the moment she and her Champion rolled into town, and though the trio ended up hardly apart, there was always that other layer of interaction occurring between her and the other apparition that he had never been able to crack.

And now...

Taka's eyes flitted over to the bar where he could just make out the top of her scarlet-colored cloak as she engaged the bartender in deep conversation.

"So, who _did_ hire you? Or should I just go ahead and hazard a guess?" 3

A sneer formed on Hiei's face. "Hiring wasn't necessary for this one." His teeth flashed momentarily as his lips parted in a lopsided gesture of malice before his expression swiftly shifted back to neutral and he sat back again, a hand moving to pet the dragon at his shoulder now that he was certain the creature was fond of such a thing.

"This one is for personal amusement, and even if it weren't, I suppose it wouldn't matter to you anyway." The tone he used and the glare he aimed at Taka held no small amount of ire, his telepathy having picked up on the demon's musings when he'd been listening into the minds of the others in the room for reassurance of Shikiyoku's safety. "It only concerns Shikiyoku and her Champion."

~!**!~

Akari barely noticed the pause Yusuke gave, her mind again playing over her options. If she _kept _the scars, would the newest one matter? Would it help, or cause more distractions than it was worth? If she got rid of them…

If she were rid of them, what would she do then? A solemn expression took over her features at a new realization. Even if her scars were gone, her ears and tail would still be gone as well. There was no fixing that. Nothing could bring back her most desired thing in the world..

But, would getting rid of the scars matter?

_I wouldn't be reminded of…. those days… without them._

"I'm not sure," she finally replied to Yusuke with another sigh. "I suppose so, but both have… repercussions like anything else." Her eyelids slid closed again and she found herself mirroring Yusuke's sitting position almost perfectly. "That's the problem. I don't know about the bad and the good collectively. Only the good, and making a rash decision about it isn't something I want to chance on." _*****_

Yusuke nodded at her wisdom.

"Sounds tough. Damned if you do and damned if you don't." He sighed again, "I wish I could be of more help." He confessed. "I guess...just do whatever's going to make you happy in the long-run. You already kind of said that though. About not knowing which one you could live with." He paused. "Maybe try and think about which one you couldn't live _without_."

~!**!~

Taka chuckled as he lowered his drink again.

"Personal amusement, huh?" Of course it would matter. Or course he was interested. It was Shikiyoku after al-

_What did he just say?_

Taka's eyes moved back across the room, a frown obvious on his face.

_She isn't __**marked**__. Claimed. Whatever._

He couldn't recall the exact word, but there had been this definite scent mixed in with her own: the scent of her pact-mate. He knew it helped mute her energy, ward off others from her power. At least the smart ones. Iro had been strong enough to take care of anyone stupid enough to get close and stay close. And maybe the scent-mixing had to do with the fact that she had been romantically involved with the demon. Taka had no idea in that regard.

What he _did _know is that Shikiyoku also held no physical manifestation of the supposed 'pact' her companion across from her claimed to be in place. Taka would have seen it. Not to mention sensed it. There had been actually markings on her face the last time, ones that would glow when someone would get close unless she intentionally resisted it.

But then how would this-

His eyes dropped back to Hiei.

_Really?_

His silent question was to all the unfairness that the sudden prospect of his thoughts conjured. 3

Hiei stared at Taka with a glare that used to be completely etched into his face, before he'd come across the detective. He hadn't shown such an intense glare very often since being stuck in Human World, and here, it held more meaning anyway, though demons normally seemed to ignore it.

The thoughts of Taka floated to the front of his mind as he continued reading them, and if it were possible, his glare intensified. He felt as if he were about to be challenged, and Hiei was definitely in a bad enough mood to strike without much caring of the aftermath now.

He decided he didn't care for this character. It irked him, made his desire to slit someone's throat stronger than anything had in the past few days. He would say longer, but Otento was pretty high on his hit list with more ire held towards him than perhaps any other being Hiei had ever encountered.

He didn't say anything to the demon. He merely sat, silent and watchful, waiting for any sign that the demon would do something rather foolish.

~!**!~

Akari blinked and turned her face to Yusuke, chin still in her hand. _That _was an angle she hadn't considered taking over the matter. She eyed him for a few moments before turning her face away again, catching Shyn turning away from her and Yusuke silently, busying himself with dishes.

_Which I.. couldn't live without?_

She sat there for a moment, completely lost. She could live without either.

Right?

A small huff of air left her lips in a puff. She felt calmer now, in a sense, but now she felt that she could look at the situation differently. Would either affect the way she saw herself, as well as the people around her in a way that would make her resent what she'd decided?

Her eyes slid over to the detective again, her gaze softening slightly. "Thanks," she mumbled before turning away again, digging into her pocket for cash for Shyn, despite his words of taking her meal and letting her have it for free. She even grabbed enough to pay for the detectives, tossing it on the counter before shifted and letting her feet touch the floor, sliding off the stool almost lazily. "What other games do you have? Anything more interesting than fighting or racing?" _*****_

Yusuke raised an eyebrow as he noticed Akari paying for his meal and he fought inwardly for a second about making a fuss.

_Would you protest if she actually __**were **__your sister?_

His gut still told him 'yes,' and he clenched his teeth together before released a sigh that turned into a laugh at his thoughts.

"Maybe." He said teasingly, getting up as well, "And the only reason I'm letting you do that," he pointed at the money she'd put down, "Is because if _I _paid for _yours _then this is a date and Keiko would kill me.

"Does this mean you want to go back to the arcade?"

~!**!~

Taka stared at Hiei, matching the crimson gaze with his own darkened, brown one.

As the tension began rising, Taka finally released the breath he had taken with the intention of saying _something_. He shook his head and instead spoke with more resignation.

"So, _you're _the lucky one, huh?" It was not difficult to hear the longing in his voice as he went to take another drink.

_The three worlds go to all the trouble of dropping her back into my life... _

He never would have admitted it, but there was little he wouldn't have done at that moment to have been in this apparition's shoes.

_I think the Kamis enjoy laughing at me._ 3

The silence stretched on, but only in Hiei's ears. In his mind, there was a flurry of voices, of thoughts that were loud with the number of drinks each demon had had, and it set him on edge even further.

But the breath released by Taka seemed to collectively effect the fire demon as well, causing his shoulders to relax just a fraction, no longer readying for a fight that he hadn't realized he'd been preparing for. In fact, with the words Taka spoke, he felt an odd sense of satisfaction well up, as if this simple fact of another knowing that he was the Champion of the seductress was something he'd been waiting for. As if it were something he'd always been very proud of.

Not that he hadn't.

He simply didn't know all of the guidelines.

A slight sneer ghosted over his features before disappearing again and he sat back in his chair, not sure when he had leaned forward, placing his ankle over his opposite knee again in a show of calm. "Certainly seems so," he retorted, both to the thoughts that he heard and to the words that reached his ears.

And again, the satisfaction was simply amazing.

~!**!~

"How sweet," Akari gave a small smirk at Yusuke, "she must be able to keep up with you well enough to keep you in line, if you're _that _wary of her anger." She turned to leave, calling a small _see ya_ to Shyn on her way out, who only shook his head at her back and waved her onwards.

"As for your question, I suppose the arcade will do. It's a good way to kill time, is it not?" WIthout another word, she turned to lead the way back to the very same arcade Yusuke had been in earlier that day, deciding she actually wouldn't mind games now that she felt a little better, her mind a little clearer, about the situation she hadn't been able to think through previously.

"But, we _are _stopping at my place first. As comfortable as your jacket is, I think I'd prefer _not _to be seen wearing it, in case some kids decide to step in and waste our valuable gaming time." _*****_

"Eheh," Yusuke nervously rubbed at the back of his neck as they left, "I'm fine with that. Can you just imagine what she would do to me if she saw you wearing it?"

~!**!~

The look of smug satisfaction that settled over Hiei's face was not lost on Taka.

"You have _every _right to that look on your face." Taka pointed at Hiei with a finger that held the mug up. "There are some _extremely _specific requirements to being her Champion, not the least of which is a considerable amount of battle prowess."

He took a drink and swallowed before speaking up again. "Walking around as her protector is one of the highest stations in Demon World that an apparition can achieve. At least everyone around here always seemed to think so. I don't know why you haven't _claimed _her yet though. It'd make things a lot easier for the both of you, especially since she's wandering around like a human nowadays for whatever reason." He scoffed into his mug as he took another drink. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Taka as the bird-demon pointed at him, spoke, took a swig of whatever he was drinking, then continued on. At first, he hadn't found much worth in his words other than the simple fact that he _did _rather enjoy the sound of being called a Champion. But as the demon went on, Hiei's right eyebrow went up a little further until it hid in his bangs entirely.

Though he didn't speak, he made sure his expression conveyed the message:

_What the hell are you talking about?_

Wasn't just _making the pact_ enough?

~!**!~

Akari's grin widened at Yusuke's unease, simply picturing the scene that could only have Yusuke cowering the way he would in front of a girl whom she could only guess had a good _slap_, in the least. It was all she could picture, quite frankly.

Perhaps she nagged a lot.

The thought made her huff in amusement. _This _human needed someone like that to keep him in line.

"I suppose it wouldn't be much of a problem if I showed her the rips in my shirt from the creature we killed. Unless, that is, she doesn't know of your…. extracurricular activities," Akari said with a light tone. "Then Spirit World, I'm sure, would have to kill me for disclosing that type of information to a human."

She took a deep breath as she continued walking, hands toying with the jacket sleeves as she contemplated rolling them up to her elbows. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable in such a loose article of clothing.

"_...Urameshi."_

Akari's ears twitched with the whispered name and a sigh left her lips, the sound of a group of people falling into step behind her and Yusuke making her feel slightly exasperated. _Well, so much for that. _

"Oi, Urameshi!" a voice boomed from behind, much closer than she'd first anticipated. She didn't exactly fight against the hands that grabbed her shoulders and pulled her backwards, an arm replacing the grip as her side was pulled against a human's rather brawny chest. "Nice girl. Maybe I'll keep 'er."

Another sigh.

"See, Yusuke, this is what I wanted to avoid." _*****_

Yusuke made no move to defend her, putting his hands out to the sides in a shrug.

"Hey, if they don't know any better than to mess with me, that's their own problem.

"Oi, idiot! You're about to get an unpleasant surprise!" He called to the gang members.

~!**!~

Both of Taka's eyebrows raised at the reaction he received from the demon across the table and he lowered his mug and gave him a guarded look.

"I've assumed thus far that the physical mark of her Champion isn't visible because of her human form. And that alone would be more than enough to stave off all but the lowest levels of demons from pursuing her with a relentlessness that I can only imagine you've had to deal with already, especially if you've been in the Ninth Level for very long. But-"

Here he had to take a drink as his next thoughts scattered into place, his mind only slightly addled by the beverage, but enough that he didn't think _too _hard about putting anything delicately for this apparently uninformed Champion.

"Claiming?" He went on, "You know, _mating_? You're walking around Demon World with _the _most potent aphrodisiac and have managed to resist its wiles." He seemed almost impressed, "Which I can tell because your scents aren't mingled together. That alone would _also _stave off any would-be...admirers from her person." He practically scoffed another bark of laughter, "Don't tell me you're really a Koorime in disguise or something. They're the only apparitions I know of whom could possibly have _that _much willpower when it comes down to sex drive. Since they seem to have none." 3

_Ah._

Hiei continued to stare at Taka in silence, as if he hadn't understood a word that had been even uttered. Sure, he knew what mating was, but he held absolutely no desire for it, and likely never would. His eyes shifted to look at the cloaked figure of the woman across the room, sitting at the bar with a drink in hand and seemingly chattering, though he couldn't tell since her face was not where he could see it. Slowly, his eyes returned to Taka, his brow slowly moving back into its original position at the last few words that came from the demon's mouth.

Again, he didn't answer verbally. He merely crossed his arms over his chest and blinked once at him, waiting to see if the _bird-brain_ would understand. 'Course, it didn't matter one way or another to him. He was what he was, and that was all there was to it.

~!**!~

Akari sighed at Yusuke and glanced up at the human whose arm was tightly around her shoulders, squeezing her side up against his. His brown hair was a mess, something she figured was natural for him since he didn't seem the type to groom himself often. His black jacket was completely out of season, the hood lined with fur and the inside, she could smell, was lined with fleece. His jeans were ripped at the knees and ragged at the ends that scuffed the ground over his sneakers. _Typical human. _

There were four others, one on her left that wore a plain red tshirt and black headphones around his neck, his obviously-dyed blackish-brown hair neatly tucked under a cap, only his bangs falling from the white accessory. The other two stood behind the first two, silent, but watching. They didn't seem as important. They merely seemed to act as insurance, for purposes that even Demon World seemed to use from time to time: influence, to cause unease and make the scale seem tipped in a certain direction.

"What, that you're baby fists actually sting now?" The one who held her retorted snidely, a corner of his lips lifted up and parted slightly in mocking at the boy. "We've got your girl, you can't do much now." As he spoke, he bowed his head, brown eyes still trained on the detective as he ruffled Akari's hair with his nose, his breath making the hair atop her head move and her skin crawl.

Anger.

"Step away," she warned to the boy, eyes now trained forward, looking past Yusuke's head in an attempt to keep calm enough not to snap some bones.

"Awh, feisty," the second commented, smirking at her while several chuckles resounded from the two behind her. "Cute. Especially since you're so small and.. fragile." _*****_

"You know..." Yusuke folded one arm over his stomach so that he could rest his elbow in his hand and then tap the side of his face with the other, "I _was _going to warn you, but now," he lowered his arms in a shrug, "Eeeeh. You deserve what's coming to you.

"I'll beat a couple of them if you want me to. But then I'd be having all the fun." Yusuke rested all of his weight on one foot, "Let me know if you get tired of it, though."

~!**!~

"Second guess," A mischievous grin spread over Taka's face when he noted that Hiei did not so much as _flinch _at the mention of mating with Shikiyoku, "You haven't hit your hundred years yet." He lazily took another drink.

_Holy __**hell**__, what's it been like for __**her? **_He suddenly wondered.

Even if this Champion hadn't gone through the second hundred of his years yet, that oh-so-interesting coming of age time that plagued them all, Shikiyoku certainly had. And come to think of it, if she'd been lying low in Human World, it's very likely...for how long?...fifteen _**years? **_

Taka managed to not release the sigh that he wanted to grunt from his throat. Hopefully she'd managed to catch some sort of comfort when she'd landed back in Demon World. He probably would have gone crazy now if he'd been her.

It was almost insulting that the Champion was not only that young, and naïve about his seemingly new station in life, but that he likely held power enough not only to be her protector _now_, but would only increase in power with his age. Barring extremely extenuating circumstances, it meant there would be no chance of Shikiyoku needed to pact with anyone else. Ever.

Taka couldn't hold back the groan he released into his cup as he had lifted it to his face once more. 3

Hiei's brow raised briefly once more at the demon's second guess, obviously not taking the hint that he'd been right the first go round. A sneer formed on his face in an almost condescending way as he released a small sound that he'd begun using more and more lately, as if he'd forgotten it and only just remembered how to use it to his advantage. "Hn. Why would it matter otherwise?" His irises gleamed slightly with the amusement from Taka's accusation.

He knew why the question had been posed. But, in short, those _laws_ of Demon World development didn't really apply to him, in a sense, as Taka had said about the Koorime.

"Lingering on it does no good. Perhaps you should take to a more interesting topic other than my age."

~!**!~

Akari hadn't blinked once since a small part of her had snapped into anger that almost was considered rage. Her body had stilled, and for the moment, she found herself concentrating on the beating hearts of the humans. If she so desired, she could make the sound simply…

Stop.

"What, not going to fight for your girl?"

Akari shifted her weight, strategically placing a foot over the jeans of the boy who held her, glad that this one was dumb enough to wear jeans that were scraping against the ground. Finally, her eyes turned up to the boy, her head retreating from under his nose. "Because, you moron, he doesn't have to fight _for _me."

Before the boy had time to react, Akari grabbed the hand that was dangling over her shoulder, to keep the boy in place, and her other elbow slammed into his stomach. She could hear the breath leave him in a very audible sound that made her lips curl into a dangerous grin. She twisted the boy's wrist, then released him to allow him to stumble, only for the boy to fall backwards, his pants falling just enough to reveal his pinstriped red and blue undergarments.

The second blinked, all of that having happened in seconds, and he reached for her with a yell that she considered to be a battle cry. Just as quickly, she had him laying on his back on the sidewalk, head hitting the concrete hard enough to knock him unconscious.

She had half a mind to continue, but kicking a dog while it was down wasn't something she enjoyed, so she rounded on the last two. She regarded them for a moment before turning to walk away, satisfied for the moment and returning to Yusuke's side. "Those two are yours, if you so wish." _*****_

Yusuke was grinning at her response to the male, which would have been the exact reply he would have made.

"Alright." He moved forward lazily, bent his neck to the side and rolled his right shoulder in his socket before he made a quick dash forward that made it appear to the humans as if he'd disappeared before coming back into view bent slightly beneath the first one, his first pulled back.

Yusuke had to hold back his strike so as not to completely explode the head off of the punk, but even so, the kid was lifted off the ground when Yusuke thrusted his body upwards and landed a solid uppercut underneath the other delinquent's jaw.

Spinning horizontally in the air at least twice, and clearing the head of his friend, the punk did actually shudder to get up from the ground, though he meant to scramble away.

"You want some?" Yusuke grinned wickedly at the remaining member.

~!**!~

"Or what if it's _both_!" Taka continued, rakish smile on his features.

He shook his head, dismissing that portion of their conversation, "Even if you _aren't _living up to the fullest of your, or _her_, potential as pact-mates, I envy you the position even without the perks." His eyes glimmered, "As far-fetched as that sounds. For that matter, I would wager every high-leveled demon here would envy you if they knew you were the one with it. They'd definitely fear you more than they are right now, that's for certain." His eyes roamed over the raucous uproar of the room. "You have power you haven't even dreamed about in your wildest considerations."

Taka leaned back in his chair, "And much more. All of which you have so far simply refused to take advantage of. Pity." He arched brow and half-smile countered the word gloriously. 3

Hiei regarded Taka with his sneer still on his lips, the expression of snide amusement never wavering as the demon before him spoke. He wasn't, quite honestly, sure what Taka wanted him to say. Maybe that he was wrong? Even if he was, the fire demon wouldn't have enlightened him on the fact. He didn't know this demon, and while Shikiyoku seemed to trust him, Hiei did not. There wasn't much real reason other than his own wariness and ire at people who were of the jealous nature, as it seemed this one was.

"I suppose, as I said earlier, it is none of your concern." he said casually, again letting his expression turn to one of neutrality, his eyes assessing not only Taka again, but the way he sat, the way he moved. When he was bored with that, his eyes shifted to survey the building again, watching each and every demon in the room.

He didn't need them to fear him yet. Only if they attacked would he decide to make them realize he was here, and only then would he make his presence dominantly known. If any of them dared to even consider an attack of any kind, he wouldn't hesitate to step in.

"Discretion tends to be my ally."

~!**!~

Akari turned around to face the remaining two humans when Yusuke moved forward, her expression slightly shifting from mild anger to wicked amusement at the speed Yusuke used. For a human, it was likely a very chilling thing to have someone move with that much speed.

And she didn't even have to duck for the boy to miss her when he'd been thrown into the air.

The last human took several steps back, hands up in surrender and expression holding no small amount of fear and desperation, like a smaller animal cornered by a much, much larger creature. "N-Nah man, I'm not involved. Just- I haven't been a member long!" With that, the boy turned to leave, making Akari chuckle to herself.

"At least one of them is smart?" _*****_

Yusuke shrugged, "They were stupid enough to jump 'me' like they did in the first place. What did they seriously think that was going to do? It's not like I couldn't have thrown him off. Ridiculous."

It wasn't hard to see the grin that plastered across Yusuke's face just from that short brawl.

"Now, where were we?"

~!**!~

"Strange little demon, aren't you?" Taka's eyes glittered amused out from over the tankard at Hiei.

"Doe'sh zh'ish...hic...belong to you?"

As Taka lowered his mug, he found a small creature stuck in his face.

Uryo had appeared without warning next to their table and held the lur'mog loosely in his hand where it was not hard to see that even the cold-blooded, scaly creature had the same flush around his nose-slits, as he clutched lightly at the hand holding him, that Uryo wore just underneath his eyes.

Taka gave Uryo an inquisitive look.

"What _is _that?"

Uryo shrugged, though it almost made him stumble.

"He came to sh'teal my drink." Uryo stated. "But I sh'natched him first." His lips parted for a drunken smile, "Little bugger can hold the Demon Fire, but he'sh no mat'sh for me."

Uryo blinked for a second, then rolled his neck over to spy Ryou who was thrumming pleasantly against Hiei's shoulder, half-lidded eyes almost black for how dark brown they were.

"Ryou!" Uryo's eyes grew big as his emotions flipped again, "I can't believe you! First you leave me! And now you come back! With someone else!" Uryo appeared to be near the brink of tears, "And you've even been drinking with them. How could you? How could you do this to me?"

Ryou lazily lifted his head, his eyes becoming a mixed red when he saw Uryo speaking to him. Strangely enough, it appeared as if Uryo had somehow sobered almost immediately, though his eyes betrayed the still-hazy glaze of drink.

"Oh, don't give me _**those **__eyes. _You can't make up for this! You've betrayed me, Ryou!" Uryo pointed his other hand accusingly at the dragon. "...hic."

"Ah, cut 'im some slack, Uryo." Taka said lazily, "You were smothering the little guy."

"Sh'mothering him with drink!" Uryo protested, finger still pointing. "And you _know _he loved it! Everyone knew!"

Ryou's eyes still had the brown in them, but the red was more prominent now, and a tinge of purple started around the outside edges as he began to get up, and started to crawl away from Hiei, delicately wrapping the talons of his paw around the pointed finger and climbing up Uryo's arm.

"Don't laugh at me!"

Ryou's eyes did not change at the demand, but he continued making his way until he reached Uryo's slender shoulder, passing deftly behind his neck and spreading himself out between the two and Uryo's hand lowered, though he continued staring at Ryou with glassy eyes.

"Ye'sh, ye'sh. '_We fire_.' I know." Uryo made it sound as if he heard the sentiment often.

A pair of hands slammed down on the table and Taka started back, at first thinking Uryo had shifted into a rage, but it was only Shikiyoku who had appeared, her petite form standing right inbetween Uryo and the table, bending over a little so that her face was at Taka's eye level.

Her neck only held the slightest pink twinge of drink behind the hood that had miraculously stayed up at her speed across the room, but part of her hair had come out and was laying over her shoulder and halfway down her chest. Her green eyes were practically sparkling, gleaming, though she did not appear to notice.

"I'll have you know," She leaned in closer to Taka, confidingly, the smile playing over her lips a wicked one, "That he didn't recognize me until the twentieth one." It seemed to be a point of pride for her. "_And _I managed to finagle a room out of him _before _that." She primly stuck her nose in the air and shifted her face a little so that he was looking at her cheek.

"Then he's losing his touch." Taka lazily reached up as he leaned towards her and spoke, bringing his left hand to her face and gently holding her lower jaw, turning her countenance back to him where they were maybe a foot apart by this time.

Their expressions mirrored one another, half-lidded eyes with a wicked smile, and Taka kept moving forward after that brief pause, lightly pulling her to meet him as he put his lips near her ear on the side away from Hiei across the table and murmured something.

Shikiyoku's smirk grew until her teeth were showing. She moved her right hand over to take Taka's face in much the same position his was in, but successfully knocking his down all in one smooth motion. She turned his face to the side so that she could lean farther over the table, putting her own lips almost against his pointed ear, her cheek pressed up against his.

"Get your own room." She murmured back at him. As she breathed her words over it, the ear twitched, and there was no mistaking that the air coming from her mouth was thicker, shimmering in the air like heat from a hot stove.

"That can be arranged." He replied archly as she stood back up, folding her arms over her chest. His cheek felt like she had set it aflame with just that small moment of contact and he felt a pang across his stomach that told him he wanted more. _Much _more.

Shikiyoku felt a slight tug and her hood fell back from her head, and as her hair scattered freely over her chest and back, the smell of it rose strongly into the air. It was so potent that its heaviness was almost palatable, muted by being in the cloak previously.

The perfume wafted up to Uryo's nose, he had been the one to pull the hood back, and his nostrils flared as he took in the smell, his eyes having slid down to regard her the instant she appeared, but there was no other visible change.

He squatted down and spun Shikiyoku around to face him, keeping the hand he used to do so-the one without the lur'mog-at her shoulder,

and peering into her eyes which widened at the sudden motion.

Anyone watching would have felt like the air grew a sudden tenseness-Taka had certainly grown wary and that partially accounted for it-but nothing happened between the two as Uryo and Shikiyoku only stared at one another.

Uryo's face broke into a many-toothed, genuine smile.

"You're a cute kid." He ruffled the top of her hair, which released more of the smell, "Sh'ee one'ah your'sh?" He asked the two gentlemen at the table as he stood back up, spinning her back around as he did so and leaving his hand to rest familiarly on her shoulder.

"Sh'ould be proud. Ha'sh energy _rolling_ off her." His smile hadn't left his face. "Thick. Like a cloud...hic."

Taka's left eyebrow twitched as he closed his eyes during the exchange between Uryo and Shikiyoku, his jaw clenching together.

It had been a _long _time since he'd been exposed to Shikiyoku, but it appeared the affects her powers had would not lessen without her presence when reintroduced. And the drink within his belly did nothing to help at the moment.

Even _he _found himself having greatly underestimated Uryo's strength if he had _that _much drink within him and did not appear outwardly phased by the strength in Shikiyoku's smell.

Taka had also forgotten that she exuded it in such a manner, and for Uryo to be able to _see _it, his own power had to be very, _very _high indeed.

No one Taka knew had _ever _been able to see the energy that swirled around the female apparition. Oh, he knew it was there. Anyone with half a mind could _smell_ her, but to his knowledge that's as far as anyone had ever gotten. Anything but an extremely above-average apparition's senses couldn't handle the energy level, so instead of seeing it, it manifested for the rest of them as that god-forsaken _delicious _scent that was accosting his nose at the moment.

Shikiyoku didn't even appear to know she was doing it, but through talks with her Champion, Taka was able to make his own conjectures. Not that he had shared the information with anyone.

Taka's eyes flew open when he felt the light press of lips against the tip of his nose, seeing Shikiyoku's cruel gaze that was most obviously enjoying his tortured state.

A low growl resonated deep within his chest, almost in his stomach, and he remained unmoving in his seat, but it took all of his willpower to do so. From that growl he managed one word as his chocolate-colored eyes glared at her from under the red bandana over his forehead.

"Tease."

Shikiyoku's brows flicked upward slightly as she pulled away, but she made no attempt to argue in one direction or the other.

She turned away and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she began moving for the stairs. 3

* * *

_Several of my OCs I tend to base on the look of another character already in existence mostly because I can't draw and it makes it easier for, say, a role-play partner to picture the character in their head. For example, Uryo resembles the character Stefan from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance except that Uryo is left-handed and his hair is mostly black with a long ponytail._

Uryo \- (as uryou:) Rainfall. This is actually just what I came up with when I did an anagram of 'Ryou.'

Kafu \- I can honestly say I don't remember what meaning I meant for this name. Depending on the kanji used, it can mean several different things, among them "widower" and (amusingly, considering the name of the bar) "flower album." Other kanji translations are "steward" and "one's father." Also "fireman." Again: I pick names with a specific purpose, so I know the name was intentional, but I apparently need to keep track of those things...

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	38. Episode 123 - More Conversations

**A/N**: Hello once again, Fanfiction Enthusiasts!

The next chapter awaits!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Yusuke asks Akari about what's actually been bothering her this whole time,  
and while she doesn't tell him about Kurama's offer to remove all of her scars,  
Yusuke gets the gist of what's going on and he ends up suggesting  
that she decide which option she "couldn't live without."

They leave the ramen stand and head to Akari's place,  
but not before getting jumped by a group of thugs,  
whom they promptly run into the ground and continue on their way.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku and Hiei learn that Uryo is apparently a newcomer to the Ninth Level,  
a master swordsman and a roaring drunk,  
capable of seeing the energy that Shikiyou constantly emits as a persistent scent.

Through Taka's conversation with Hiei, the bird demon learns that Hiei  
is Shikiyoku's current Champion, much to Taka's chagrin.

Uryo brings over the lur'mog and they also learn that  
Ryou is actually Uryo's companion.

Taka attempts to invite himself to Shikiyoku's room,  
and the she-demon tells him to get his own room.

* * *

Hiei had kept his expression blank with the interaction he was witnessing, not feeling any source of malice from the brute who towered over Shikiyoku. He did, however, set both feet on the floor and sit up straighter, leaning forward only slightly in anticipation, just in case.

If he could help it, he didn't really want to fight this one.

But he hadn't exactly been expecting the odd sense of cordiality that rolled off of Uryo when he ruffled her hair. Again, he didn't outwardly react, but inwardly he found himself slightly amused. He glanced to Uryo, looking up at him in a way that might seem comical to others, what with the height difference. He raised a brow, regarding the demon and the dragon companion that was around his shoulders.

"Quite an interesting creature you have there," he said casually, as if attempting to make friends with him. In reality, he simply wanted to ensure that there wouldn't be much of a problem. This was among one of the easiest ways to do such a thing.

He turned away, glancing at the cups on the table, all empty, and for a moment contemplated trying it despite his earlier thoughts of the beverages. He turned his eyes a different direction, in time to see the last moment between Shikiyoku and Taka, eyes narrowing momentarily before his blank expression returned and his eyes followed the retreating Shikiyoku.

He couldn't decide whether or not he should follow.

~!**!~

Akari wiped her hands on her jeans, glad she had decided not to wear the school uniform for the day. It made it easier to blend in, but at the same time, she felt much more comfortable. She turned and began walking away from the scene, expression holding slight remnants from the anger she'd felt from the moment.

"I was going to change before we head to the arcade," she reminded him, glancing at him to see the smile on his face was one filled with glee. Her own smile spread across her face; she couldn't help it, his cheery attitude was almost infectious.

"And we were musing about how your girlfriend would murder you if she saw us. Sounds rather like a drama, eh?" _*****_

Yusuke followed after her.

"Or a soap opera, am I right?" He grinned, he raised his hands dramatically, "'But why was she found wearing your jacket?' 'I told you there's nothing going on between us!' 'Well, that's good because she's _dead_!'" Yusuke gasped, putting a hand to his chest in mock-astonishment.

~!**!~

Taka couldn't help it. As Shikiyoku turned to leave, he stood up abruptly in his chair, making it jerk behind him with a noise as he took one step away from the table.

_Oh, those __**eyes.**_

Uryo stood in his way, and that gave Taka pause for thought, plus there were servers and other demons walking behind him and blocking his path, but he placed a hand on Uryo's shoulder as if to excuse himself and slip behind him, eyes trailing along Shikiyoku's dark tresses as they waved around her waist. 3

Hiei kept his eyes on Shikiyoku's back until he couldn't see her through the crowd that seemed to only just now boom around them, moving about and blocking his sight of that side of the room. He stared unblinkingly in that direction, as if he could see her still, though really his nose paved the path for him. His nostrils flared just briefly with the small intake of breath, suddenly realizing just how strong her scent had become in the tavern full of alcohol and sweat.

It was a very appealing scent, and his mind seemed to focus on it completely.

So, when Taka stood abruptly, Hiei silently moved to his own feet, as if calmly mirroring the sudden desire the other had to follow.

"_Get your own room."_

Crimson eyes narrowed only slightly, and as Uryo stood in Taka's way, Hiei merely moved to bypass the both of them, sending a very brief glance towards the birdlike demon as he slipped by.

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes, threw her hands up by her face, palm outwards and fingers spread out in a mock motion of fear. "Please, spare me! I swear, nothing happened! I was just… I was only in need of a little assistance!"Akari gave a small huff of a laugh as she took a turn around a block, her ramshackle house coming into view. Even from here, she found herself raising a brow at the small form that she could just make out jumping around in the tall, unkempt grass in the front yard.

"My death would be rather comical, to be quite honest. What a soap opera _that _would be." _*****_

"I dunno if Keiko would actually _murder_ you. _I'd _be the one getting the death glares anyway, so if looks could kill, it'd be _my _body lying out on the floor." He laughed, "She probably wouldn't even be mad at you. She'd just think I was up to something." He absently rubbed his cheek where he'd gotten slapped one to many times for his taste.

"She'd have a mean left hook though, if she ever decided to close her fingers."

~!**!~

After a moment of the crowd that jumbled by her jostling her about, that side of the tavern became very quiet as Shikiyoku's scent started to catch their noses as she passed.

The roar from the other side of the building had not stopped, but in this particular area, apparitions began to notice her and step aside as if she parted them as she flowed in between their ranks. Their eyes followed her path towards the stairs.

Taka still stood staring after her as the boisterous demons nearby began to quietly settle and track after Shikiyoku, some of them standing with their mouths slightly open much like he did, and he made a move to follow after her, finding an arm blocking his way. Only then did he blink and look down, then over to Uryo's face.

The swordsman's eyes also watched in that direction, but he did not seem to be fixated upon Shikiyoku's form, instead having caught the glance the shorter demon aimed at Taka-and thus stopping the bird-and examining the faces of the only vaguely murmuring crowd Shikiyoku walked through.

As Shikiyoku disappeared up the stairs, the spell on the other demons of the room lifted and the murmur slowly built back up; she had not looked at any of them and thus none were invited.

The demons of this city were stronger than those of the last to say the least.

Ryou had stood up on the shoulder nearest to Taka, his eyes swirling red as he glanced into Uryo's face.

"Mm." Uryo said in response to something that passed between him and Ryou, giving a slight nod to the dragon.

"I would watch your step around that one." Uryo said to Taka, indicating with another little nod towards Hiei. "That fire demon is much too reserved for one of our type. He's liable to explode keeping everything pent up inside like he does."

Taka's eyes widened as he slid them back to watch Hiei go.

Taka hadn't even realized the shorter apparition was a fire elementalist. He certainly didn't act like one.

"And let me just say that you certainly won't want to be around when his fire side _does _explode."

Ryou had told Uryo of Hiei's Koorime heritage. The little dragon could sense it. It did explain a lot, but one day or another that fire type was going to come blazing out, and woe be to anyone standing in his way when it did. Fires were always passionate and easily angered… And being a 'cursed child' certain didn't help those qualities. Luckily for the rest of Demon World, it seemed for now the fire side was dormant.

It didn't take much for Taka to put two-and-two together.

_He's a fire demon...AND a Koorime? _

Duh.

A chill ran down Taka's spine as he thought of the implications.

He _had _to speak to Shikiyoku before she skipped town. 3

Hiei's eyes slid away from Taka after the brief moment of staring at the demon who had been stopped a second time. He let his arms move with the motion of his body as he followed after Shikiyoku, not even taking the moment to look at the demons staring in front of him as he passed.

He slightly wondered if his deadly silence would grab some attention, but he highly doubted it and shoved the thought away, his feet beginning to climb up the stairs. He hadn't heard anything that Uryo muttered, only the voice that was speaking but not caring enough to listen in to the words and figure out the actual meaning behind them.

It was of no consequence to him.

As he continued up the stairs calmly, eyes pointed forward, now finally able to see the female since there were no bodies between his and hers. The way her hair moved seemed to make her scent drift backwards, making him blink very slowly as he continued behind her, footsteps only heard when the wood creaked beneath his weight.

~!**!~

Akari glanced at the detective for a moment before shrugging at him, as if shrugging away the conversation. "I wouldn't be worried. You're quick enough to make a run for it. Make a fake passport and disappear until her wrath subsides. Not too difficult, really," she mused, smirking in amusement as she walked up the sidewalk, her home now close enough that she could hear Nabu's yipping at an insect he was playing with and his small body rustling the green grass.

She lead the way up to her door and pushed it open with ease, the door creaking open and gaining the attention of the pup in the grass, whose head suddenly appeared above the weeds.

"_Akari!"_

"I'm not here long, Nabu. Just to clean up and change."

"_Aw, okay.."_

"Are you hungry?" she asked the dog as she crossed the threshold, more than aware of the pup's bouncing body following after, stepping into the house before the door swung shut on its own behind him.

"_No, I found a dead bird."_

"Scrumptious." she commented as she grabbed a new shirt, pulling Yusuke's jacket from her shoulders and tossing it to the boy before moving to the next room, waiting until she was out of sight before pulling her shirt over her head and looking down at the bandages that hung very, very loosely around her stomach, the fabric red and ruined from the fight earlier.

On the bright side, it hadn't reopened enough to cause concern. Just in one area, right above her navel. She gave a small sigh and turned on the kitchen sink, running her fingers under the water and carefully rinsing away the dried, crusted blood on her skin as she searched for the bandages that…

That she just realized were in the same room as Yusuke…

And the bed of roses that had yet to disappear…

_Hell. __*****_

After getting the green overshirt of his school uniform back and slipping it back on where he just let it hang open, Yusuke respectfully turned away and knelt down to engage Nabu in some good head fluffing.

He heard a sink start running and about that time, a small patch of red on the edge of the inside material of his now-returned overshirt caught his eye and he stood up and whipped around, unable to see her.

"Akari?! You're hurt?" His mind raced back to the Aswang. Didn't she say something bad would happen if its claws scratched her? This is definitely not goo-

Yusuke blinked as his scrutiny of the room made him double take back to where he assumed a sleeping mat would normally be rolled out and his mouth hung open when he saw the golden roses in place instead that could be called little else than...well...a bed.

Flashes of images ran rampant through Yusuke's human, teenage, male mind, blinking rapidly as he tried to bounce his thoughts to something else before he finally snickered, then outright laughed, falling to the floor and holding his stomach as he nearly rolled around.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had made her way through the crowd almost solemnly, suddenly accosted with memories of her past that blinked like still-imagery in her mind's eye.

_This _was how things had been at times. A reverence following her, a silence. At least when those around her had been of a high enough strength and resilience to not immediately reach for her.

She represented something that even she _herself _did not truly understand. Not fully. Not yet.

Regardless, each demon whose eyes followed her found themselves in a pause for thought, emotions stirring in their minds to which they could not put a name. That is why the murmuring of the tavern took a moment to return even after she disappeared, reaching the top of the stairs with the intent to turn down the hallway on the second floor.

She heard a creaking sound behind her, and after taking the final step up onto the landing, she stopped and turned around with her hands on her hips and a gleam in her eyes.

"Taka, I-" She blinked and the gleam faded, replaced with a widening that after a brief surprise seemed carry an extensive amount of...relief, and a bit of tension she hadn't realized she'd been carrying at her shoulders dropped.

That...that wasn't Taka. 3

Hiei didn't stop as Shikiyoku turned to face him, only slowing his steps just a fraction and not even reacting to the name that slipped from her mouth. He simply approached her until he stood on the step below hers, his eyes meeting hers.

"He didn't follow." he finally said, watching her gaze carefully with his own unblinking one. "Your influence on him is rather… potent."

~!**!~

Akari sighed, her eyes beginning to look for another set of bandages, if there was even a possibility of such a thing being in here.

Yusuke's question almost quite literally boomed through the rooms, reaching her ears with no small amount of volume. She sighed; she must not have done a very good job at keeping his jacket from her shirt. "It's nothing," she called back, running her hand under the sink again and reaching for a cloth that she'd had the other night for cleaning up a mess Nabu had made. It was still clean at one corner, so she carefully used to to wipe at the very small amount of crimson liquid that tried to seep through the healing gash.

And the next thing she knew, Yusuke was laughing. Loudly. So loudly, in fact, that it almost hurt her ears.

"What are you laughing about?" She huffed out, not really sure if she'd spoken loud enough for her to hear her. When she was sure no bandages were in sight, she heaved another sigh and pulled the torn shirt back over her body, to cover her scars, and walked into the next room with cautious steps, hoping his back would be to her and she would be able to get away unnoticed.

Of course, even if he did look at her, it wasn't like there'd be much consequence. The rips in her shirt showed little more than her right side and a little of the cut she'd just cleaned.

When she entered the room, she found herself looking down, towards the floor, at the laughing detective that Nabu was sniffing at. "What?" _*****_

_That sly fox..._

Yusuke didn't get much farther in his head than that, still struck with the giggles at how he hadn't thought about it before when she'd mentioned her problem earlier.

_Pros and cons indeed._

He'd gained control of himself enough to give her a beguiling, but somehow innocent expression.

"Nothing!" He chimed, taking to sitting cross-legged on the ground and holding at his ankles with his hands, his grin much too wide to brush aside as 'nothing.' He suddenly dropped the expression, "There's a spot of blood on my shirt." He appeared anxious. "That Ass-wang thing didn't hit you did it?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku pulled the edge of her lower lip into her mouth and chewed on it at Hiei's words, her eyes shifting briefly to the side to get away from his stare.

"He-" She blinked, unsure why she was about to tell him when he probably couldn't care one way or the other. "We were quite close at one time. You might have even called us 'friends.' Allies at the least. But he had spent a lot of time around me and without the pact his exposure to my powers was unadulterated...unfiltered."

Shikiyoku turned to step into the hallway, doors lining either side that led to rooms that made the tavern more like an inn, selling out the space for...various reasons.

She didn't feel like she needed to say anymore. She and her Champion left the city in the end so that they did not end up having to betray their ally, so that they were not forced to kill him for something that was entirely beyond his control.3

Hiei watched her with a very keen gleam in his eyes, noting the hesitation and making mental note that she either didn't enjoy talking about it, or was hesitant about his own reaction to whatever she was about to say. He almost decided to say he didn't want to know, but deep down he really did. So when she continued, eyes shifting away from him, he listened to each syllable carefully, each waver her voice made as she spoke.

He had figured something along those lines, though the reason for their separation he figured was something she hadn't made out of cheer. And, from the way Taka acted about Shikiyoku, he had a feeling that it had been just as unexpected to him as well, and much more unpleasant.

He took the last step up to the landing and followed after her silently, not pressing on the issue. He'd learned all he needed for the time being. Now he knew that while the demon was not of a threat to her life…

Taka could actually be a potential threat to _his _if he decided to act on primal desires. Not that he was very worried about it.

"How long has this building stood here?" he suddenly inquired, tactically shifting the conversation to a more…. calm one.

~!**!~

Akari frowned down at the detective, arms crossed over her stomach and a gleam of impatience in her eyes. But her orbs shifted momentarily to the bed of golden flowers and she sighed, realizing he must be laughing at _that _commodity, though she wasn't exactly sure why it was so funny. It was just roses, after all.

"They won't go away," she grumbled before turning around and spying the roll of bandages that Foko had used previously, placed neatly where she had plucked them from before he'd taken them from her. She snatched them up and moved to the next room again, not looking back at the detective as he asked about being harmed.

"First of all, it's pronounced _Ahz-Wong. _Secondly, no, it didn't strike me. This is a wound I had gained yesterday during-" she paused, frowning briefly, "training session I had in the Spirit World. I would already be dead if the Aswang had hit me." She returned to the faucet and shut it off, not realizing she'd left it on, and pulled the shirt from her body again, taking with it the last remnants of bandages that barely hung around her body.

Her hands began working quickly with obvious practice, one hand holding the end down while the other moved as far around herself as it could go before she swapped hands, repeating the action as needed.

Nabu sat behind her, at the place where the kitchen broke away from wood and turned to carpet, signifying the change in rooms. His eyes watched her for a moment before he turned back to Yusuke, an ear twitching as he thought.

"_Flowers did that. I think he didn't mean to actually hurt her, though."_

Of course, he only said it because Akari had told him what had happened- at least, about the gash- but before that the demon had actually bandaged her up.

"_Why would he be so confusing?" __*****_

"Hee hee hee." Yusuke let the trio of chuckles slip out of his mouth when she complained about the bed not going away. Like it was going to go away if Kurama didn't want it to.

He listened as Akari spoke, "I...I thought you didn't fight with knives?" Or swords. Or whatever sharp pointy object that would have slit her flesh during a training session.

Yusuke caught Nabu looking about at him and he flicked his eyes back up to look at the spot Akari disappeared behind.

"...he said something to me, didn't he?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had continued musing quietly in her mind.

Even in just their short reunion she was reminded of how legendary Taka's self-control was. He'd hardly slipped even an inch here, his flirtatious mannerisms being something he always possessed. And she wasn't exactly making it easy for him either, though that was part of _her _mannerisms.

Yet it had been Hiei who followed her upstairs and not bird-brain.

At least she could rationalize away the fire demon's presence as 'professional courtesy,' but as to why Taka _hadn't _followed her as she fully expected him to...that escaped her at the moment.

She sighed a little.

Always forced to keep moving. Always forced to leave everyone behind. The faces of her past Champions flitted across her eyes. In the end, she'd always been left...alone.

Pulled from her thoughts when Hiei spoke up behind her, she replayed the question in her head that she had just missed taking account of.

"It's been like this since I first arrived, so...several centuries at least?" She made a vague gesture at the run-down appearance. "I mean, it doesn't look like it's aged a day since then, but it certainly feels and looks old enough."

Shikiyoku kept moving as she talked and they turned right, going a bit farther before turning right again, the hall extending a good distance in front of them before it looked to turn right again.

As she got into this longer hallway, Shikiyoku stopped about four doors down in front of one to the right and turned the knob, the door making no sound as it swung inward. She moved across the threshold inside where the wooden floor beneath her had the thinnest covering of dust.

It was small. Quite small. Maybe twelve feet from the door to the opposite wall, and it extended about eighteen feet to the right.

There was a window directly opposite them, but it was not terribly clean and had no sill to sit on, about four and a half feet off the ground and set directly into the wall. One or the other of the pair could have very easily slipped through it while crouching, but there did not appear at first glance to be a way to open it.

To the right of the door was a wooden desk and chair, also dusty and void of any decoration, and the rest of the room was bare except for a small bed in the corner up against both walls which Shikiyoku tilted her head at, having forgotten how small the beds were.

Not that it would be a problem for her and Hiei since they were both about the same size and...compact at that. But the quarters would be...their shoulders would definitely be up against one another even if they both lay on their backs.

On the plus side, the bed-two pillows in pillowcases, sheets, a blanket folded up at the foot of it-was remarkably clean and void of dust or dirt.

Shikiyoku let out a long-suffering sigh, turning to see Hiei had followed her inside and stood right behind her just within the door.

She made as if to take a step forward, "I know he's got one more room open down the hall a ways." 3

Hiei assessed the wear in the building, finding himself actually interested in the place despite his first thought of the lackluster subject change. But, it seems to have done its trick, so he stuck with the subject, pausing in the doorway to take in the musty room. It was about what he'd thought it would be: small and not very clean.

The bed, however, seemed rather comfortable from here. He wouldn't mind it so much, despite the size. He glanced at the window, momentarily eyeing it as if maybe looking a little longer would make a windowsill appear.

When Shikiyoku moved, speaking, he considered her for a moment, not sure if that meant she didn't want him here or if she thought he himself wouldn't want to be here.

But the thought of himself being in another room and someone like Taka walking by catching even the smallest whiff of her scent… He frowned slightly. His luck would be that his own room would be on the complete opposite end of the hall, which would mean it would take longer for himself to get here if something happened- even if it was just a second or two longer.

"Leave it," he finally said, moving out of the doorway and sauntering his way inside the room and turning to face her, stopping in the center of the room and staring at her. "I dislike taverns," he spoke, though he mainly referred to the inhabitants within taverns who caused trouble. Trouble not worth the fight.

~!**!~

Akari paused halfway through her bandaging and glanced over in the direction of the living area, unable to see Yusuke for the wall that separated the rooms, but able to see the very edge of the roses through the doorway that lacked an actual door. It was easy to reply to Yusuke's question without lying, since she'd been attempting something of the sort anyway.

"It doesn't hurt to learn new things, Yusuke. And when you don't have energy, it makes it harder to fight long distance when your opponent doesn't allow you to get close enough with fists. It's nothing more than a precaution." She paused, a slight smile ghosting across her features as she thought about her failed attempts to create a dagger with her energy. Perhaps she had lied just a _little_. "I at least would prefer to know how to block an attack with knives. It's useful, don't you think?"

She went quiet again, her hands resuming in their work to wrap the bandages around her torso some more, until not only she was out, but the last of the cut was covered. At this point, she tied the ends together tightly and grabbed her replacement shirt, the light blue color bright and almost painful to her sensitive eyesight. By the time it was slipped over her head, Nabu had spoken up and Yusuke was asking about his words.

At least he didn't actually understand canines.

"He's just complaining about how confusing people are," she replied casually, ignoring the large huff Nabu aimed at her.

"_I wasn't complaining. Just pondering." _He turned to face Yusuke again and pranced his way over to the boy with the stripes very lightly coloring his face, stopping in front of his crossed legs and resting his chin on the boy's left knee. "_Flowers is confusing," _he repeated, his eyes moving to glance at the roses nearby for just a moment before turning back to look up at Yusuke. "_But I like him. He's nice." __*****_

Yusuke listened to Akari as she spoke, snorting through his nose.

"If my fists can't do it, I've already lost anyway."

_Wouldn't want to use anything besides my hands anyway. Nothin' like the feeling of punching someone. Very tactile. Satisfying. I'll leave the weapons to the other detectives._

He started petting Nabu's soft fur, noticing that the dog glanced back at the bed of roses, and knowing that the small animal could talk made him imagine the various things the pup was saying to him right now.

Yusuke stifled a giggle behind one hand, quickly biting his lips to get his his grin to go away before returning to act as if the various thoughts running through his head had not been there moments before.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku blinked at Hiei as he dismissed her concern. She had somehow felt certain he wouldn't want to be stuck in such close-quarters with...well, anyone.

She closed the door as he swept past, and did not oppose his declaration. Something in the back of her mind, her active portion of the pact if she had chosen to investigate, sang out something that eased away her considerations for Hiei's comfort and she actually felt more calm knowing that he would be in here with her.

As she turned to face him, the room was dark-no light switch anywhere of course-and the daylight outside had vanished, the sky barely visible from the crusted window.

"I'm...sorry." Shikiyoku said to him carefully. She had honestly not thought about him being so adverse to public places, though her head disagreed with her on that note.

_He __**hadn't **__wanted to risk the city in the first place._

"I was not my intent to make your job more difficult for you." She gestured vaguely to the room, "There are protective wards around each room, so there is no chance of being heard."

No need to say _why _the wards were there. 3

Hiei stood in the center of the room, hands in his cloak pockets as he regarded Shikiyoku carefully. His eyes searched her face, finding the smallest inkling of surprise and relief in her eyes that she didn't seem to allow further than that gleam. He promptly turned away after assessing the shine in her eyes and continued into the room, wasting no time in stretching out on the bed that was surprisingly clean, considering the rest of the room. He lay on his back on the side closest to the door, ankles crossing and his left arm sliding underneath his head for slight support against the pillow that did very little for the way he lay. His eyes strayed back over to Shikiyoku, watching her again as she apologized.

He didn't respond, since his ire at taverns wasn't really for the building themselves or at her for leading him here to one, but the ruckus inside that he couldn't hear anymore. At least, not very well. He gave a small huff of a scoff. "It's noisy and crowded." He wasn't sure why he felt the need to elaborate, but he did.

His eyes slid closed as he got comfortable, though he had no intention to sleep yet. He wasn't exactly tired anyway.

~!**!~

Akari gave a huff of a laugh as she moved into the living area, momentarily taking a look at the roses and regarding them while her nose inhaled the scent. Briefly, she was reminded of the fact that she'd fallen asleep with Foko nearby, and realized that if Yusuke had any sense of smell stronger than a human's, it was likely he would be able to pick up the very, very slight difference between Foko and Kurama's scent. The difference? Kurama's was more potent. Foko's, while similar, did smell more of other plants as well as roses.

She came back to reality with a sigh as she turned to Yusuke, not catching his chuckles as Nabu's tail thumped on the floor. "If you wanna go, you better get up and get going. I'm about to leave your butt behind." With that, she turned and made for the front door, not waiting on him for even a moment. _*****_

Yusuke scrambled to his feet, casting one last glance at the 'house' around him before scurrying out after Akari's disappearing form.

"So...you got any family back in Demon World?" He asked as he caught up to her and stuffed his hands in his pockets, his green overshirt flapping a little bit as they walked since he hadn't dained to button it back up.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku nodded as he spoke, realizing exactly what he didn't like about the tavern.

After only a blip of a pause in the air, she went over to the bed and crawled up from the bottom into the space he left open. The bed did not so much as jostle him as she made her way up by her hands and knees. She could feel the flush that had settled around her neck starting to fade.

_Gonna have to remedy that, _she thought and as she lay on her side facing Hiei, her back just barely away from the cool-and dirty-wall of the room to try and leave him as much space as possible. She moved her left hand under the pillow and her right hand she pulled up just under her chin. She looked over at him for a moment thoughtfully before she let her eyes slowly close.

As she grew still, she could feel her hair had spread over the pillow under her between her and Hiei, and while she made a small huff about it being under her head-causing a few strands beneath her mouth to wave around a little-she didn't bother with it.

She lay without moving, her cloak covering the rest of her entirely, enjoying the comfort, then spoke up again.

"I plan on returning after a few hours. There are little to no patrons at that time if you wish to join me. I doubt things have changed around here as far as the ebb and flow of customers."

_I bet I can get at least four or five more drinks from the barkeep. Even if he __**did **__figure out who I am. _That thought put a smile on her face as the psuedo-warmth from the alcohol she had consumed began to disappear entirely. _Especially if there's hardly anyone else around._ 3

Hiei didn't open his eyes again, not even when he could feel the bed move just slightly with Shikiyoku's movements as she joined him, laying on his right. The silence in the room was a comfortable one. At least, it was comfortable to him.

His mind wandered, his thoughts turning back to the conversation with Taka. What did it matter anyway what Hiei took advantage of and what he left be? Or, rather, what did it matter to the other? It wasn't like the bird demon knew Hiei. There certainly wasn't any influence in Taka's words, aside from slightly confusing him.

Shikiyoku's words paused his thoughts and he nodded once at her in acknowledgement of her words. "Perhaps." It wasn't much of one, but that single word was his form of agreement. He was simply too engrossed in his own mind to say more than that.

Would Taka's influence affect Shikiyoku's view on _himself_? The question was an odd one, but for some reason, he didn't want the bird demon skewing the woman's view of him.

_It's her decision_, his mind reminded him, and he swiftly brushed all thoughts away. He simply didn't care.

At least, that's what he told himself.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged at Yusuke as he caught up, Nabu following only until he was out in the grass where he immediately resumed his game with the insects. She glanced back briefly to make sure the dog wasn't following before turning to look at Yusuke once.

She hadn't been asked that question in a long, long time.

"Somewhere, yeah." It was a short reply, somewhat hesitant, but her expression was neutral as she continued. "Not sure where anymore. I haven't been in Demon World for about half my life." A short laugh escaped her. "You'd think I knew more about this world than I do, but schooling shows me how much I _do not _know about humans." _*****_

"Ugh, _school_," The word itself expressed exactly how Yusuke felt about that subject. "I don't know why I even bother. There's never anything good and everyone's always hounding me. Do show up, don't show up. Doesn't matter. Someone's always riding my rear about it.

"I'm surprised you think we're interesting enough to study, or whatever you're doing in school."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's mind drifted pleasantly on the verge of sleep, allowing her ears to remain alert to the silence, but granting her restfulness for the time she wanted to spend downstairs later.

She hardly took notice of the tiny shape that crawled out from behind her head.

The lur'mog weaved around a little, feeling strange as if his whole world had been slowed down, but he managed to successfully scale over Her shoulder, tumbling down onto the bed inbetween She and Hiei.

He sat on his rump for a moment, an obvious flush about his face as everything seemed to move much too fast around him for his tastes.

A bit of air got caught in his throat and he bounced a little as his version of a hiccup jostled his body.

He blinked his eyes and tried to make sense of his surroundings, but they kept moving or were blurry...which meant he was moving. But he wasn't. Right? 3

Hiei forced his mind silent, no longer thinking on anything important or otherwise. He considered adjusting the way he lay, but the idea of moving around wasn't quite as appealing. So he stay there, resting his eyes but not sleeping, not even going near the verge of sleep. He was simply… resting. It was just as fulfilling as sleep to him, and it also allowed him to keep tabs of their surroundings.

He'd done this many times, sometimes without even noticing. And this was one of those times.

A small sound, almost too quiet for him to catch, just barely reached his ears. His eyes slid open and glanced about the room briefly before turning to look at Shikiyoku who, despite how uncomfortable it must be up against the wall as she was, looked quite content where she was.

His eyes moved to a spot that he thought he'd seen move beside him, and quickly he recognized the lur'mog that Shikiyoku had been toying with earlier. He hadn't even known the creature was still with her, much less in the room.

His hand that rested upon his stomach moved slowly towards the creature, his index finger extended to the small animal so he could just touch its head, as if to pet it. _Harmless, hm?_

~!**!~

Akari again shrugged at Yusuke, disregarding his obvious dislike of school. "Quite honestly, I hated it at first. This world, the people in it. Sensui simply enabled that hatred to grow, as if taking fertilizer to a newly planted shrub." She hesitated, eyes trained forward. "I won't lie, his idea about a tunnel was a very appealing one, at first. I not only had the chance to get back home, but the people who'd brought be here would have been killed in the process. Of course, by that time, your dear friend Toguro had finished off the only remaining humans I'd been hunting for. I was beat to the punch."

She took a deep breath. _And then I died._

"Now, though, I guess all I can do is just go through the motions until Koenma allows me freedom to return to demon world, so I can at least go back home for a while. In the meantime, I will learn what I can so I can blend in properly. It just so happens that it has begun to peak my interest in the process." _*****_

"Welp." Yusuke sighed and put his hands behind his head as they walked. "If you really do like school, then I guess we can't be as good of friends as I thought."

~!**!~

At first the creature did have the slightest notion that there was anyone around, except for Her. And with his world bucking and weaving about him, he only sat, bobbing in place a little and slowly turning his head this way and that to try and gauge his surroundings. His large eyes would wink slowly, first one and then the other.

One of the hands at his sides had found its fingers wrapped around the hair he sat upon and he tangled his claws in it, feeling the silky smooth texture as it almost caressed his scaly skin.

As Hiei's reach got within the lur'mog's sight, his eyes grew as wide as possible, entranced by the movement. The tip of his tongue found its way out from between where his lips would be if he had them and he gazed mesmerized as Hiei grew closer, the rest of his body still in quiet anticipation. 3

Hiei's index finger lightly touched the lur'mog's head, running over the scales that were smooth under his touch. Quiet amusement flashed in his red eyes as he witnessed the eyes of the creature grow wide, as if the movement were much too fascinating to be real.

"_Foolish creature," _he said telepathically to it, his mind sending the thought out of habit. He wasn't sure why, but the small creature was rather fascinating to him.

Maybe it was because the only creatures he'd ever seen in his life were dangerous or annoying.

And this one was neither of those things.

~!**!~

"That's too bad," Akari grumbled, expression neutral, "I was considering throwing a party and you were to be the first invited." Of course, she was only kidding, but whether he would pick up on that or not, she wasn't sure. As she found the arcade coming into view, she stuck a hand in her pocket to gauge the money she had left that was not on a plastic card, fingering the cash momentarily before finding a few coins.

_This will do for now. _

"As for everyone riding your case, I guess you'll get over it, eh? Want them to stop, then I guess you can do whatever you can to please them." She gave a pause that was used to turn a wide smile onto him that made the corners of her eyes crinkle. "But, what's the fun in that?" _*****_

"Well, then that's too bad," Yusuke fired right back at her, "Because I'll have you know that I'm considered the life of a party!" He jabbed a thumb at himself with a grin.

Yusuke grew silent at her next words, a strange look coming over his face as he kept walking.

"What fun is there indeed..." He mumbled half to himself.

While it had not exactly been said to him in so many words, he had picked up somewhere along the way recently that if there really _was_ something that he wanted or wanted to do, he had the power to be able to do so, and there was hardly anything in the known world that would be able to stop him. Definitely not in Human World anyway. Assuming that the other detectives weren't around.

Ruling the world seemed like a lot of work though. And the fight would hardly be worth taking the time to make.

~!**!~

There were no words to be found in the mind of the lur'mog. None that any creature that did not understand their language would be able to pick up on, if the creature even had such a thing as 'words' in the first place. There was no way to tell.

For the briefest of moments however, his eyes grew wider if possible, for he had heard Hiei's intrusion, but not with his ear-holes and the implications confused him for he did not have the capacity to know what happened.

The alcohol was partially to blame for that. It made his mind muddled for Hiei. The most prominent thought was heightened awareness of the fact that everything around him seemed to be moving so very fast. He lived his life with everything else in slow motion for the vast majority of it.

His emotions were not so foreign or garbled with the alcohol as to be misunderstood, however, and if the gurgling sound that his throat made was not indicative enough of the enjoyment he received under Hiei's attentions, the webbed spines down his back almost completely relaxed against his skin and his eyes slowly closed, the only thought in his head the emotion of pleasure as Hiei touched him.

The lur'mog reached up with a tiny clawed paw to brace himself against Hiei's hand as it moved and rocked him since his balance was off-kilter. And anytime the fire demon started a stroke from the top of his head, he leaned into it and nudged the finger encouragingly.3

Hiei found himself smirking slightly at the lur'mog in amusement, finding the creature rather enjoyable and entertaining for the moment as his finger slid down the head of the creature until he touched its neck and started over, again rubbing at its head with the encouragement he was receiving. He didn't mind the clawed paw that braced against his hand, since the claws didn't touch his skin and even if they did, it wouldn't do much harm to him.

He sat there, continuously petting the creature at the odd angle he was laying until his shoulder began to hurt from the angle at which his arm was bent. At this point, he gently wrapped his hand around the small body and adjusted so that he could set the small lur'mog on his stomach, shifting his weight ever so slightly so that his muscles wouldn't cramp up and he again resumed lightly touching the small body.

This time, Hiei lightly ran his finger along the entire body of the creature, feeling the spines and scales with slight interest.

~!**!~

Akari stayed quiet now as she stepped into the arcade, music now thrumming loudly over the speakers of the building and mixing almost beautifully with the music from the machines in the room. She looked around briefly and considered the different options, some obvious as to their gaming types, but some were vague- at least, to her they were.

She remembered the game Aminuma had played here, or rather, in another arcade, and she found herself searching for anything that had the name "Goblin City" on it, curious about the game that had been reserved for the boy who hadn't gotten to see much of the world.

"Yusuke," she piped up, still standing in the door of the arcade, "What's Goblin City, and where is it?" _*****_

_Well, __**that's **__a can of worms for sure._ Yusuke wryly thought back to the still relatively recent encounter with Game Master.

"This way." Yusuke started weaving a path. He began explaining the premise of the game as they went, careful to leave any mention of Sensui or Aminuma or the group's trial, but making sure Akari knew the game was like a whole bunch of different games in one.

"Here it is!" He sat down at one of the free consoles, but didn't put anything in it yet, "The games it picks are kinda random though." He wrapped up, "So even if you have a favorite, the chances of getting it can sometimes not be in your favor." He sounded as if he'd had experience with such bad luck before.

~!**!~

The scaly creature made no protest when Hiei first picked it up, his eyes open with wonder as the room moved so fast, only curling his paws about the hand which held it, though his tail seemed almost in an instinctive response to wrap around Hiei's wrist.

When Hiei made to resume petting him, the lur'mog slipped his muscled tail off the wrist and instead curled it around his feet and clutched it in his paws, still making quiet gurgling noises of joy as he hunched up.

Shikiyoku's eyes slid open silently.

The lur'mog had pulled at her hair when Hiei removed him, unable to remove the claws he'd woven into the strand he held fast enough and thus getting her attention at the slight tug that had just as quickly disappeared before the creature got too far.

She took in the sight of Hiei with lur'mog without saying a word, closing her eyes when she realized the source of the small pull. There may have been a smile on her lips as she drifted back between the waking and sleeping realms. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the small creature, feeling the odd sensation close to a purr reverberating against his index finger as he continued to slowly rub down the lur'mog's spine, playing with the spikes again each time his finger came in contact with them.

Again, he found himself referring to the creature as foolish, though within the quiet recesses of his mind.

He wasn't sure why, but he rather enjoyed silently petting the creature. So, he decided to lightly tap at its head, curious of what it would do if he began poking at it in a playful manner. Perhaps it was a playful creature?

~!**!~

Akari trailed after Yusuke, listening to his every word carefully as she took literally every step he took until he was sitting down in front of a console. She eyed the screen that danced with letters and numbers, telling her to put in enough credits into the coin slot before she could even consider playing.

"Sounds interesting.." she mused, eyeing it as she considered her options. "Is there a practice thing, where I can learn before playing the entire game, or is it a learn-as-you-play kind of thing?" _*****_

Yusuke rested his face in a hand, turned to watch her, with his elbow on the console he sat in front of.

"It's learn-as-you-play." He..wasn't really sure if he could play this game again just yet. The memories of Aminuma and Kurama were too vivid still. He was determined that Akari should play it though, and if she needed guidance, he could at least tell her what he knew, or what he learned from his time in the Game Master's territory even.

~!**!~

The gurgling of before had become a steady thrum, the area just below the lur'mog's chin expanded and retracting slightly if one looked at it.

His tiny paws intermittently wrung at his scaly tail, but when Hiei tapped at his head, his eyes came open and he looked solemnly up at the fire demon, a darker red blush across his nose-slits from the alcohol, as if he thought Hiei were trying to get his attention. The spines on his back slowly started to come back up as his mouth came open a little, forming a small 'o' shape as if waiting for Hiei to make some sort of earth-shattering statement that would change everything he knew about anything. 3

Hiei sneered at the small creature that looked up at him, waiting it seemed. He merely tapped at the small head again, his lip twitching in amusement at the lur'mog's expression that was so… confused? He tapped the small cranium twice more before moving his finger to the mouth of the lur'mog, lightly tapping there as well as he began toying with the creature in his own way that wouldn't include harm.

~!**!~

Akari nodded and sat in the chair in front of the game, swivelling so she faced the screen and slid a coin into the coin slot, nearly jumping when the music began blaring louder than any others nearby. She eyed the screen, listening to the monologue of "_Welcome to Goblin City, where you and your team of seven…" _It went on, the music almost louder than the words, and she watched the animated doors open.

Immediately, there was a slot machine spinning different combinations on the screen, and she sighed as it came to a stop, the mechanical voice screaming at her, telling her that the game was a puzzle game, level three tetris.

She knew this game well.

"Cool, one I know." _*****_

"Definitely not one of my favorites." Yusuke shifted around a little to get more comfortable as he watched, "But I'm not much on puzzles, really."

~!**!~

The lur'mog let go of his tail as Hiei tapped his head again, his arms hanging from his front like a mouse, and the tail swung out behind him lazily, the portion nearest to his rump laying flat against Hiei's body, while the last third of it curled up into the air with the end of it bending in the other direction, making the general shape a reverse question mark.

When Hiei touched at his mouth-his face upturned to stare dutifully with wide-eyes at the apparition-his jaws slowly parted and hung open as if in direct reaction to that specific place, revealing four rows of tiny, pointy, red teeth along the top and bottom of his mouth, two rows of one behind the other on the top and two on the bottom in the same fashion with a surprisingly normal looking tongue pressed up against the back of the bottom row. 3

Hiei wasn't surprised by the reaction he received, the lur'mog's mouth opening to reveal teeth that Hiei scrutinized carefully. Shikiyoku had said this creature was more of a runner, but he was certain that this creature could rip apart anything it so desired.

And that thought, he lightly tapped the rows of bottom teeth, noting the sharpness before retracting his finger and again tapping the snout once with a slender finger, now just doing things to the lur'mog out of slight boredom instead of actual curiosity.

For a moment, he released a huff of air that would normally resemble a scoff, but there wasn't enough force behind it to create the necessary sound to convey his amusement at the expression the lur'mog wore as he once more tapped the end of the snout, sure to just miss the nostrils for the second or third time.

~!**!~

Akari positioned her right hand over the joystick and her left over the buttons of the gaming console as the game started up, the numbered tiles moving slowly at first in the descent on the screen. After a few moments of complete and utter concentration, she smiled at the screen, remembering that her family had always had games around for her to play.

The game ended after a timer went out, pinging at her and saying she'd won the round and another was going to be chosen. "Number games are fun for me, sometimes. Strategy is okay, but not a favorite." she said nonchalantly to Yusuke as the slot machine whirred again, showing her a few images that the screen translated into a game she didn't recognize right away.

"Sports Goblin, Rugby, Level one!"

"...Rugby?" _*****_

"Uh," Yusuke had _heard _the name before, "Oh, I think it's like American Football. Or something." He sat up a little. "I...don't think I've seen it on here before, though."

~!**!~

When Hiei tapped the lur'mog's teeth, the mouth started to slowly close around the digit, but Hiei had removed it before the mouth came all the way closed and it stayed in that half-open state as Hiei tapped its nose.

The throat area underneath the chin throbbed as Hiei tapped his nose, but there was no sound and the nose slits closed before he touched near them.

As he tapped the second time, the lur'mog reached up and ran the side of his arm against his head as if in a semi-cleaning motion, but after the third, the lur'mog gave a sound that strongly resembled a sneeze, one that jerked his body a little and made him wobble around before he plopped back onto his rump, little hands in his lap while he shook his head once as if to clear it. 3

Hiei found himself, despite his normal neutrality to such things, amused and quite taken with the lur'mog, finding himself enjoying the company much more than he thought he normally would have. Usually, he would have found such a creature annoying, but for some reason, he found himself almost fond of this one.

He didn't know why, but he didn't think about it either. It wasn't like he was going to be taking it with him back to Human World, especially since its sharp teeth hinted at a carnivore.

The small sneeze made the corners of his lip twitch again, and this time he took to prodding the stomach lightly with the tip of his finger, eyeing the tail that continued to move about with each prod Hiei made at it.

~!**!~

Akari nodded, though she had no idea what that meant. So, she simply braced herself for anything, knowing that since it was a sports goblin, she would at least have to deal with a ball and a team fighting against another.

But when the screen loaded, she wasn't expecting to see such a large group of players on the field that was unfamiliar to her. But the game began before she could figure out which team was hers- which wasn't so hard after it started and a ball was kicked across the screen, a single player moving around the screen in correspondence with the joystick.

Minutes ticked by and not much had changed, pixellated players running around the screen and the ball being run back and forth until her character scored a point and put her team ahead just before the timer ran out again.

She sighed and sat back in her chair, turning to Yusuke as the spinner went on again. "This is actually fun. The mix keeps it interesting."

"_Pop Quiz, Level ten!"_

Akari's eyes shifted to the screen again as the voice continued, telling her who her opponent was, though she didn't catch it. She wasn't very happy with this one, since she assumed all facts would be about this world.

All of which she was almost completely clueless about. So, when the game began, her mind began going over everything she had been studying in school, though the first question already had her staring at the screen with slight irritation.

"_In the United States of America, there is a series of football games where the two teams who have won the most play against one another for a title over the rest. What is this tournament called?"_

_How the hell am I supposed to know? __*****_

Sensing Akari's hesitation, Yusuke waved away her concern.

"You'll have a one in four chance. Just wait for the choices to come up."

~!**!~

The belly of the lur'mog was of course coated with a much softer version of the scales that the rest of it and at Hiei's prodding the lur'mog started to twitch, his eyes closing and his little body beginning to shake as his mouth pulled back from his teeth in what most would consider a smile underneath the flush across its nose-slits.

His tiny hands batted playfully at Hiei's finger, but he didn't seem to be trying very hard to get the fire apparition to stop as his throat giggled up and down and produced a high, fast chuckling noise.

Perhaps he simply _couldn't _try very hard as the prodding tickled his stomach and pushed him over onto his back-his tail sliding out from under him and then curling up over his body where it gently wrapped about Hiei's wrist-where his four limbs and torso squirmed even as he still tried to push Hiei's finger away. 3

Hiei's brows raised as the lur'mog fell backwards, his lips parting to show his teeth in a very wide grin at the position he now had the scaled creature in. Even as the tail wrapped about his wrist, he found himself not wanting to stop. Dully, he was reminded of a child being tickled in the human realm, and the thought of this creature being similar to a child- human or otherwise- made an odd and very rare sound escape his lips.

Hiei's chest moved with three chuckles that sounded in the quiet room, at a volume that wasn't very loud, but was actually able to be heard. His eyes shined even more as the lur'mog's own version of laughter sounded, making him chuckle once more with a stream of four chuckles this time as his finger scratched a little more at the smooth belly.

He couldn't help it. He didn't understand why this amused him so, but he just couldn't bring himself to stop, not even when his finger was being lightly pushed at. Instead of retreating like the lur'mog seemed to want him to do, he merely scratched a little faster.

~!**!~

Four answer choices came onto the screen, as Yusuke had promised, and she frowned at each and every one of them. None of them were familiar, so she sighed and chose B.

"Incorrect!"

A huff escaped her as the game continued. "_The Philippines lie in which ocean?"_

Four more answer choices popped up, and this time, Akari decided as the smallest memory from a few weeks ago popped to the forefront of her mind.

That had been the only question she got right. The next thing she knew, there was a cackling coming from the speakers on the screen and it appeared as if she'd been kicked out of "Goblin City", the words "YOU LOSE" across the screen.

She blinked, realizing that in order to know the ending, she would have to win. And that, she was certain, would never happen. "Well, now I know what I need to work on.." she grumbled, turning to Yusuke and looking at him in consideration.

She wanted to know how the game ended so badly…

But she didn't ask right away. "What do _you _want to play?" _*****_

At her asking, Yusuke's eyes lit up and he stood, smiling but not saying anything, and started to walk off for one corner of the arcade.3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	39. Episode 124 - Tickles and Distractions

**A/N**: Hello once again, Dear Reader!

To the next chapter we go!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Yusuke make it back to Akari's place so she can change,  
and Yusuke sees the bed of roses that the false Youko left behind,  
but naturally he thinks it's Kurama's doing,  
and bursts out laughing as he assumes Akari's "problem" is directly related to the bed.

Once Akari is properly changed, the two of them head back to the arcade.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku headed upstairs to the room she had gotten for herself and Hiei from the bartender,  
Hiei following after, and when Shikiyoku lays down to rest Hiei settles next to her.

The lur'mog tumbles out of Shikiyoku's hair and Hiei begins entertaining himself with the creature.  
After a few moments of simply petting it, Hiei begins tickling at it...

* * *

The tail around Hiei's wrist was long enough to be wrapped twice with some slack and it shifted between tightening right up to the skin and releasing as the lur'mog was tickled. He batted again at Hiei's finger with no progress being made except for more of its chattering laughter filling the air as it kept squirming under his touch.

Finally, the lur'mog got his hands and feet both clutching at the finger lightly, but with his senses being overwhelmed and slightly drunk in the first place, did nothing more than that, mouth opening wider as his throat kept gurgling with noise.

Shikiyoku had been pulled from her rest the first time the creature giggled, and she lay quietly watching with half-lidded eyes, the alcohol in her veins making her completely relaxed even if no longer flushed, but the scene unfolding before her leaving the whisper of a smile on her face, especially to see Hiei mirroring her amusement, until Hiei actually laughed outright.

If possible, Shikiyoku grew even more still than before as if that would help her hear the sound better, going so far as to shut her eyes again as he did it a second time, carefully recording every nuance of the chuckle and storing it away in her mind.

She must think of a way to thank the tiny creature who appeared to be bringing Hiei this private moment of joy, and she felt grateful to him for tagging along, even if he only graced them with this one precious moment out of all the time he stayed. 3

Hiei continued for a few more seconds until all of the lur'mog's feet were on his hand, an obvious but very weak attempt to get him to stop. He chuckled once more before he stopped, curling his finger inward to get it away from the belly and allow him to breathe. For the moment, he considered repeating the action, but his body shifted just a little and his arm that had been propping his head up slid away from the pillow, resting on his stomach just behind the lur'mog.

He went to move his hand to scratch at a very small itch on his nose, but the lur'mog's grip on his wrist and hand was enough to bring it with his hand, dragging its back along his cloak and only slightly ruffling the fabric.

He eyed the red creature with a smirk of amusement still in place, watching the berated breathing of the creature make its chest move rapidly. As if in apology, Hiei rubbing a finger on the smallest paw and pulled his hand up higher until it rested, lur'mog and all, on his chest lightly.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at the glint in Yusuke's eye before he was up and moving, the dog demon scrambling to get up and follow after, walking along the row of games quietly, eyes roving curiously. But as she passed an older boy who looked as if he might be a university student, she paused at the music she heard blaring from his machine.

"_Rejoice, for the goblin king is dead!" _the machine yelled, music of triumph sounding underneath the monologue. She took two steps backwards until she was standing behind the boy who was stretching his arms in the air, her eyes not on him but the screen.

The scene of the fallen king's grave stirred emotions within her that made it difficult to keep her expression blank. _So that's how it'd happened? _She had known that the boy's game would become real with his energy, but she hadn't known the game, and thus, hadn't known how the boy would get by. For the longest of time, she'd even thought Aminuma would have been able to live.

But with this scene, she knew better. After all, the detective and his friends had come to the tunnel, unharmed…

She blinked slowly at the screen before turning away, hands retreating to her pockets as an odd stinging beginning in her eyes that she quickly rubbed away with her hand. The stinging stopped and she glanced at the screen again, eyeing the human who was now moving to leave the gaming station.

She'd liked the boy. Game Master had been her favorite of them all- aside from Sensui, at the time.

_And his favorite game was his end…_

Akari took a deep breath and turned away from the game, not moving away just yet as she sorted her thoughts. _*****_

Yusuke sensed Akari stopped behind him, and his ears did pick up on the proclamation from the console she stood in front of them and he slowed, stopping and turning around to gaze sadly at the victory screen he could just make out.

He hadn't gotten much time to consider the implications of Game Master's death when it happened. He doubted any of them had since right after that they'd been forced into another fight to save the world and all. He lifted a hand to rub self-consciously at the back of his neck.

Even if it was Kurama who had struck the final blow, they all had a hand in the untimely death of the human boy.

_...too young._

Caught up in the aftermath, Yusuke had almost forgotten about the boy until things settled down and his brain slowed enough to remember the cost of their win. And remember that there was probably a mother somewhere wondering where her little boy had gone.

His own mother's cries rang silently through his head and he grimaced. At least _he'd _gotten to come back.

What was the old saying? Needs of the many or something?

Yusuke scoffed. As if one life was more precious than another. Each life deserved a chance, but...Aminuma just didn't get that chance.

_...much too young._

~!**!~

The lur'mog's chest heaved up and down, the tiny creature out of breath for the first time in his entire life. The flush across his face had grown more prominent now, casting a strange darker red blush there that contrasted with the rest of the red of his body.

He didn't take much notice of Hiei brushing up against his paw, his eyes still closed, but the moment did seem to coincide with another chuckle as if a remnant from before remembering the tickling that had only recently stopped.

Ribcage still huffing to try and catch up on oxygen, the lur'mog opened his mouth wider and bent his head to take the tip of Hiei's finger delicately inbetween his teeth, chewing on it twice without puncturing the skin as his hot breath moved over the finger before pulling away to close his jaw and rubbing his cheek against the finger affectionately, nose-slits rapidly expanding and contracting as he continued to inhale and exhale at a fast rate. 3

Hiei eyed the lur'mog as it nibbled twice at his finger then proceeded to rub against it in a way that made the demon smirk a little wider than before, finding that he actually did like this creature. A lot. He supposed this was what _fondness_ was like to the extreme, without crossing over from fondness to admiration.

He rubbed his finger against the side of the lur'mog's head as the creature rubbed some more, showing his own form of acceptance of the show of affection. He gave a small sigh of relaxation, making his chest rise and fall more than his normal breathing would have before he resettled back into his normal breathing rate.

"Curious thing," he murmured to himself as he continued to rub against the creature's face.

~!**!~

Akari stood there for a single moment longer before forcing her feet to move forward, spying Yusuke not too far away, also paused. She forced her expression to stay neutral as she approached, hands still in her pockets and she glanced at Yusuke.

"You just gonna stand there, detective, or are you gonna show me the game you are so excited about?" _*****_

Yusuke blinked, pulled from his thoughts by Akari's brusqueness.

"Uh, yeah!" He came back to the present and turned, leading once again the way to the corner he'd been going for.

There were four or five arcade machines set up back in this corner that were all playing the same game. A racing one. The chairs were high-backed and gave the feel of actually sitting down in the driver's seat of the car, complete with steering wheel, gear shifted and gas/brake pedals on the floor.

Yusuke slid into one of the seats, one hand curling over the gear stick as he leaned forward and put money into the machine. He grinned at Akari.

"Wanna?"

~!**!~

The lur'mog began gurgling appreciatively, quickly settling into the low thrum that had vibrated its throat when he pet it before.

Shikiyoku sat up slowly, stifling a yawn, and began scooting off to the edge of the bed where she shifted her hips to get both feet hanging off the end and gave a small hop to stand, meandering over to the door as she waved a hand absently in Hiei's direction.

"Goin' downstairs." She stretched as she put a hand on the doorknob and turned, stepping out of the room.

He'd join if he wanted to or stay if he didn't, but Shikiyoku could feel the relaxation of her muscles filtering away and she meant to remedy that since they would likely be off in the morning and she probably would have to wait another fifteen plus years to get a drink half this good. 3

Hiei's eyes slid over to Shikiyoku when she suddenly stirred, interrupting his small moment of appreciation with a small amount of surprise. He hadn't known she was even close to being awake. He watched her, finger still idly rubbing back at the cheek of the creature wrapped around his hand and wrist.

When she said she was leaving, he stayed for a few moments, eyes turning back to the lur'mog that was again making a sound akin to a purr that made him watch it, taking in the odd expression on its face.

Most creatures weren't as expressive as this one. At least, not with him.

After a few more moments, he moved, sitting up and setting his feet on the floor, contemplating following after her like he had planned to do earlier that night. His eyes again shifted to the creature on his hand, weighing his options.

Without another thought, he stood and followed, his hand that held the lur'mog close enough to his cloak that if the animal were to fall or even decide to unwind itself from his wrist, it could easily latch itself on his cloak and find another comfortable spot while he walked to and out the door. Silently, expression now entirely blank, he followed the trail that Shikiyoku's scent made down the stairs.

~!**!~

Akari followed Yusuke until he slid into a chair that reminded her remarkably of a car, which she realized the next second was exactly what it was meant to look like. When he turned to her with a smile, she mustered a raised brow and a ghost of a smile, pushing away all thoughts of Aminuma- after making a mental not for a _to do later_.

She eyed the game and gave a sigh. "Racing is your favorite, isn't it?" she questioned as she slid into the seat next to his, hands gripping the steering wheel and feet playing with the petals idly. After a moment of playing with the controls, she was set, and placed a few coins into the system before rounding on Yusuke. "Against each other, I assume?" _*****_

"You know, if I didn't already have ideas about what I want to do when I'm old enough, I might have wanted to get into professional racing." Yusuke admitted. "And sort of." He tilted his head a little at the screen. "We'll be racing against each other and computers all at the same time."

As he talked he was flicking through the different sorts of cars and drivers, not paying particular attention to the stats and instead going for whichever one he thought looked the best.

~!**!~

The lur'mog had little trouble righting himself around Hiei's hand, deftly using his strong prehensile tail to his advantage and scrambling up along the inside of the fire demon's sleeve, his movement only detectable because of the drunkenness that slowed his world down as he wound around and around Hiei's arm up the loose clothing.

Getting up to Hiei's shoulder, the creature kept moving until he reached Hiei's neck, popping out of the top of the cloak, still behind the white fabric and therefore unable to be spotted, and curling up in the folds of the scarf against Hiei's skin, lightly extending his tail across the front of Hiei's neck for leverage and then relaxing with a tiny sigh, his nose-slits puffing soft bits of warm air against Hiei's neck where his head nestled comfortably.

~!**!~

The tavern portion of the building downstairs was almost completely silent this time around, with only a handful of patrons sitting together or alone talking in hushed voices.

Easy to spot without the crowds was the bar area, which only had one demon at it on the far end closest to the door, sitting by himself and staring into the glass in front of him.

Behind the bar stood a very old demon, though he was handsome enough as far as looks go. If one didn't know they were in Demon World, he looked almost like any other well-bred elderly Japanese man, though he was maybe six feet tall and still had a broad chest and shoulders under his simplistic clothing which was covered with a reddish-brown apron whose color matched the worn, red wooden floor of the establishment.

The most prominent features of the bartending demon, Kafu, were the two extra arms that appeared to sprout from his back somewhere and extended just above his head where they hung down at the wrists. These hands appeared insubstantial and were just barely visible and even then only from a certain angle, hovering like ghosts. They disappeared about halfway down their length, giving no indication of where exactly they sprouted, though it was obvious they were from Kafu.

He stood cleaning a glass with a rag, but did glance up at the sound of feet coming down the stairs.

"Back for more already, girl?" He asked once she was closer.

His voice was a light baritone, and it was easy to sense in the way it reverberated in the air about him, even at the low register, that if need be he could have gotten the attention of the full, loud bar earlier that night at any moment.

"Making up for lost time, old man." Shikiyoku slid into one of the barstools and leaned onto the counter, putting her face to rest in her hands as she set her elbows down in front of her and looking into the old demon's bright amber-orange colored eyes.

"Should I keep a running tab?"

"It's not about the money for you."

Kafu didn't disagree. He was...different as far as demons go.

"But go ahead." Shikiyoku finished. "If it'll make you feel better."

He laughed, "Is it going to matter?"

"Mm, maybe." She smiled.

He just shook his head, "What'll it be?"

"What do you think?"

He raised a single, grey brow, "More?"

"Gotta stock up. Can't get Demon's Fire just anywhere, you know."

After a laugh, Kafu's smile stayed and while he looked back down at the glass he still cleaned, it was easy to spot movement from one of the high shelves behind him.

Up near the top of the ceiling, a plain brown jug came down as if by magic, moving swiftly towards Shikiyoku where a worn, red tankard from behind the counter floated and got set down.

Kafu glanced at the demon at the other end of the bar and the bottle that had been left with the glass lifted in the air as Kafu turned away. The bottle tipped and poured deftly without spilling a drop, refilling the glass the patron had just put down as empty. At the same time, the contents of the jug hovering in front of Shikiyoku were being poured into the tankard, the cork that had been in said jug floating nearby.

"You won't be here long, then." Kafu made the statement as the red tankard filled to the brim and moved towards Shikiyoku, the cork being placed back in the jug and set nearby.

Shikiyoku reached out to let the tankard come into her grasp, lifting it to her lips for a drink before nodding as she lowered it again and swallowed.

"And for you?" Kafu made eye-contact with Hiei. 3

Hiei had watched the little creature run up the inside of his sleeve before it was out of sight and he continued on down the stairs until he was in the main room of the tavern. It was much, much quieter than before, and he found it much, much more tolerable. He glanced around the room before moving towards the bar and taking a seat on Shikiyoku's right.

He watched the bartender for a moment, curious as he saw things move around the room without much prompting. Impressed, he leaned forward on the counter with a blank expression, eyeing the different drinks behind the bar with contemplation. He knew little to nothing about the drinks, but still, he did find himself a bit… parched.

He hadn't been listening to the conversation, only glancing about calmly until he was addressed, his crimson orbs moving up to meet the barkeep's. He wasn't sure what to answer with, so he let his eyes wander for a bit longer before glancing over at Shikiyoku's drink, eyeing it speculatively before deducing that it was either similar or the same thing as she'd drank earlier, the very drink he had ignored.

He finally looked up again, tilted his head towards Shikiyoku. "Same," he said simply, arms crossing on the bar's surface as he leaned forward.

~!**!~

Akari glanced at Yusuke, taking in his expression as he spoke about an idea he had for what he wanted to do after schooling. She turned back to the game after a moment though and proceeded to scroll through the vehicles, much the same way Yusuke was, and looking at all the statistics of the cars. There wasn't much of a variety, she found, but after a moment, she chose a red car with black stripes, pressing down on the gas pedal to confirm her choice.

"What is it you want to do, Yusuke?" She scrolled through the maps that were available, turning to glance at Yusuke's screen to see which one he chose to race on. _*****_

Choosing a sleek green car, Yusuke steered through the course selection and found one with a couple of good round curves and picked it, waiting as the game loaded and searched for players from among the other consoles.

"Open up a business." He answered simply, shrugging a little.

~!**!~

Another tankard came up from underneath the counter where Kafu stood and the jug moved over to fill it before it scooted closer to Hiei.

In the meantime, Kafu placed the glass in his hands down where it belonged on the prep table one level below the counter, picking up another of the wet ones he had in a group in front of him and beginning the same process.

"So, can you tell me what kind of job or would you have to kill me?"

"The second one." Shikiyoku grinned.

Kafu didn't seem phased.

"One of _those, _huh?"

Shikiyoku shrugged noncommittally, taking another drink.

"Anything like what you used to do or have you moved on?"

"I...you know actually it's a _lot _like what I used to do, now that I think about it."

Kafu gave a nod, "You've always been most excellent at information gathering."

Shikiyoku snorted into her tankard, "_That's _putting it mildly."

Kafu raised and lowered one shoulder, flitting his gaze over to Hiei.

"And what business brings you to the area?" He had guessed the two were together, but perhaps they had only just met for other reasons. Kafu had learned long ago to make no assumptions when it came to his customers. 3

Hiei surveyed the liquid that had been poured for him, the liquid a rather odd scent. It smelled like a mixture of things he couldn't name at first. His hand closed around the handle of the mug-like cup and lifting it to his mouth, pausing for a moment to take another experimental sniff of the drink. After the slight hesitation, he took a small sip of the drink, the taste unique and, at first, almost undefinable. But after the liquid slid down his throat, burning slightly, a bit of a sweet taste left on his tongue to counteract the burning in his throat.

It was a pleasant taste, despite the burn that continued down even to his stomach. It settled there and was automatically expanded when he took another drink, eyes looking over the brim to meet the barkeep's again when he was addressed.

He set the tankard down onto the countertop after his second swallow, hand never leaving the handle as he assessed his body's reaction to the liquor.

The question made him raise a brow, but it quickly resettled into place again. "Guard duty," he replied simply, not really in the mood for an extensive conversation despite the good mood he was in. He looked at the liquid again, taking another drink before setting the tankard down again and glancing over his shoulder, as if he would be able to see the lur'mog underneath his scarf.

~!**!~

Akari matched the map Yusuke chose easily, watching a countdown begin as other players were being searched for, as the screen said. "Sounds interesting." she replied naturally as the game began another countdown, this one for the start of the race.

She went quiet again, eyes now focused on the screen as the word "go" flashed in large yellow letters on the screen, her foot pressing down on the gas pedal so that her car shot forward with the others, though a little slower since she hadn't revved up. _*****_

At the back of the pack, Yusuke shot forward too fast and ran into the rear end of the car in front of him, grumbling as he adjusted his gear speed and slowly accelerated again until he hit top speed, taking the corners easily with drifts and an easy handle of the steering wheel.

It wasn't the course that was terribly challenging, but for some reason the other cars seemed to be out to get him this game and he spent the first lap continuously having to slam on the breaks to swerve around them.

~!**!~

"Heh." Kafu let the air huff out past his teeth with amusement, "So you two _are _together."

The sound of him swishing the cloth around the glass was a muted one, but the rest of the tavern was so quiet they could hear the motion.

Kafu let his eyes glance back at Shikiyoku this time.

"What happened to the last one?"

"You mean-"

"No, I mean the last _one_, not the one you had last _time_."

Shikiyoku downed the rest of her drink and shoved it towards him, grumbling as he obliged her request and the jug moved again seemingly on its own.

"You always _were _too perceptive for your own good." She commented as she watched the jug fill the tankard again.

"What was his name again?" He acted as if he had to think about it, but Shikiyoku didn't even bother to pretend like he didn't know, waiting for him to come around with it. "Let's see, was it Kurama something? No, wait, he went by...Youko Kurama, right?"

Shikiyoku scoffed, a light smile touching her lips as the tankard moved back her direction and she lifted it again.

"As if you didn't remember."

On silent wings, Ryou wheeled into the open door of the tavern, soaring around the room once before clattering lightly onto the bar top on Hiei's other side within arm's reach.

His eyes swirled a vibrant ruby-red at the sight of Shikiyoku, turning to Hiei and melting into orange as his mind brushed against Hiei's.

The impression he sent was distinctly one of "_Fire-brother!"~_ flames and kinship moving through their brief connection, which appeared to be his greeting to the fire apparition as he stepped closer with a dragonish smile. 3

Hiei didn't reply to the man behind the counter, his eyes returning to his drink that he found himself enjoying, likely faster than he should have. But it didn't feel as if it had much of an affect on him, aside from the burning that still seemed to be warming his stomach more and more. The taste was just sweet enough to keep him wanting more, not so sweet that he didn't enjoy it. As for the flavor, it was almost like a variant of a type of fruit, though he wasn't sure.

Hiei hadn't noticed the dragon landing next to him until the impression was brushed across his mind, at which point he turned his eyes to Ryou and he returned the mental communication with "_Indeed."_

Another drink, the burning sensation seeming to grow not only in his stomach, but in his throat as well.

~!**!~

Akari's vehicle, for the most part, went untouched in terms of other players. As for the course… well, she hadn't ever actually driven before, so there was no explaining how bad she was at the game. Occasionally, she let out a small growl of frustration when her car hit a wall or another car, making it hard for her vehicle to get going again.

By the time the first two out of the three laps were over, she was in last, though she was adjusting as the game continued, not hitting the wall as much. When she felt her handling was a little better, her eyes took in the screen, seeing an odd metal-looking tank at the right hand corner of the screen that had the word _nause _bouncing over it animatedly. She raised a brow, curious about what it would do and pressed the button it indicated.

Her car shot forward, miraculously missing four or five cars as the speed drove her car forward, setting her in fourth and just barely able to keep the car off of the walls of the course. _*****_

It was easy to see why Yusuke had considered professional driving, even though this was only a game. Once he got clear of interference, he took the curves of the course masterfully, shifting gears and adjusting speed with an inherent smoothness.

He didn't win by much, only a second or two, but it was a win, and when he ruefully considered the poor start and the aggressiveness of the computers, he shrugged and turned slightly to watch Akari finish the last of the course.

~!**!~

Kafu and Shikiyoku continued to exchange small-talk back and forth, Shikiyoku steering the conversation away from Youko Kurama and Kafu having enough sense to leave well enough alone and following her lead.

During that period of time, there was no telling how many tankards Shikiyoku had downed, Kafu filling it back up for her every time without fail.

At one point, Shikiyoku had one hand pressed firmly against the bar top even as the other gripped tightly at the tankard's handle as she carried a heated discussion with the bartender about some trivial subject or another and even when they conceded each other's views her hand stayed and it was at that point that their conversation lulled briefly.

While their conversation had been going on, Ryou attempted to slyly steal drinks from Hiei's tankard at different intervals, sitting innocently nearby when he wasn't.

In the meantime, the lur'mog at Hiei's neck awoke.

The lur'mog nuzzled at Hiei's neck once or twice, chittering quietly to himself and happy with how accommodating the fire demon had been in the arrangement, until he remembered the 'prodding' the fire demon had done earlier and a mischievous thought-likely the first of its kind to ever occur to the creature-led to the lur'mog scurrying all about the skin of Hiei's torso, his back, chest, sides, and abdomen, out of sight underneath his cloak and shirt in the hopes of discovering sensitive areas that might make the fire demon's muscles twitch underneath his dainty claws.

His attempts were such that he left no mark on the fire demon, and after a while he shot out of Hiei's sleeve onto the bar top, bumping into the dragon that sat just beyond Hiei's hand.

This encounter led to the pair wrestling with one another on the bar, neither intending to do true damage to the other, but their grappling and consequent rolling around near Hiei-intermixed with trills from Ryou and chattering from the lur'mog-certainly was loud enough to have Kafu and Shikiyoku each giving a good-natured laugh at the show somewhere in the midst of their conversation.

While the wrestling occurred, Shikiyoku found her hand that rested on the bar snatched up in another and she released her other hand from the tankard's handle before it spilled as she was pulled from her seat, stumbling once to maintain her footing when she almost fell from the stool with the jerking motion that set her to following, a firm hand keeping her from actually falling down. All of this happened rather fast and she didn't even bother making any noise about it.

"Taka, what are you doing?" She asked patiently as he kept dragging her away, only a few feet from the door by this time.

"I haven't gotten to spend any time alone with you." He replied stubbornly as he kept moving, brushing past the one or two patrons coming inside.

"Taka, I hadn't finished my drink." Shikiyoku growled irritably, the flush of her cheeks warmed by the touched of Taka's hand just as much as the alcohol she consumed, and her eyes glanced back at her half-full glass that was being left behind, already almost out the door with him.

"Too bad." He pulled her along outside where there appeared at first glance to be not a soul out in the streets.

Kafu was watching the wrestling pair rolling about while he continued to clean glasses, and each time that they appeared about to spill off either side of the bar top, the pair somehow changed directions under Kafu keen eye.

Even with his attention on the interlocked dragon and lur'mog, he did not miss Taka entering, striding with confidence up to Shikiyoku and half-sneaking her away, but he was used to Taka whisking her off and did not think much of it.

Once outside, Taka made two more strides and gathered Shikiyoku into his arms, looking upwards as a pair of gorgeous brown wings emerged from his back, flecked here and there with white feathers.

He ruffled them once before stretching out and lifting the two of them from the ground with only a couple of beats, moving quickly up into the air and over the top of the roof.

When he grabbed her, arms wrapped around her shoulders, Shikiyoku had enough sense of mind to step on the tops of his feet, knowing exactly what was coming next and knowing it wouldn't be a long flight given how he held her.

She felt her stomach stay on the ground below and she actually moved her hands up to clutch at Taka's shirt.

Feeling her do so, Taka let out a laugh as she squeezed her eyes together, keeping his feet flat like a platform to help hold her up though he didn't normally fly that way.

"S'not funny, Taka." She grumbled into his clothes.

It only took maybe half a second to get up the two-story building before Taka landed easily on the slanted roof, getting his balance and then slowly relinquishing his grasp around Shikiyoku so that she could take her time getting her own.

When she stepped off his feet, she glanced at the ground and the sign with the red flower below them.

"Really?" She turned back to him. "That was a big production for nothing."

Taka had his hands on his hips now, wings fully extended as he let the breeze blow through them. He pulled them back towards his shoulders and they grew smaller until they disappeared. He made a show of shrugging at her as he did so.

Shikiyoku stuck her nose in the air and marched about halfway across the roof, past the small collection of chimneys that were bigger than her in both width and height, plopping down on the roof and scattering bits of it around as she reclined, legs bent at the knees in front of her, hands propped up behind her where she leaned into them.

Taka laid down beside her with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles.

"So, how'd you get back in Demon World?"

"Is that really any of your business?"

"Maybe it's exactly my business."

"I'm simply doing a job, Taka."

"What job is that?"

"It doesn't involve _you_."

"How am I to know that?"

"Because I just told you."

"Your Champion said the same, in so many words."

"He isn't stupid."

"Well, how am I supposed to know that either?"

This banter continued on for a while as the breeze swept by them, two long-ago allies enjoying-perhaps one more begrudgingly than the other-the other's company.

Shikiyoku eventually gave up on besting him and fell silent after an exasperated sigh, Taka grinning as he counted it as a win.

The lack of spoken dialogue between them was not an awkward once, instead companionable as each of them became lost in their own thoughts of the past and previous times such as the one they were sharing now.

Somewhere in their witty repartee, Taka had risen to make some point or another, sliding up until he sat in much the same position as Shikiyoku, though he had his right knee up with an arm resting across it, the other hand supporting him on the ground, which made his position more open and towards Shikiyoku next to him.

Off in the way distance on the other side of the city there started the spiking of powerful demonic energy and a couple of buildings were set aflame, a giant blast of black energy shooting off into the sky as a third crumbled to the ground.

A grip of fear took Shikiyoku's core in hand at the color, especially as several more shots of black intermittently disappeared upwards with a couple of pink ones when another demonic aura spiked up from a closer distance than before.

"Looks like _her majesty _is in a bad mood." Taka noted mockingly.

"Looks like it…" Shikiyoku could not mask her uncomfortableness, another set of blasts firing off even closer. Even though they were blessedly more than a couple of miles away, she shifted around, her core starting to beat faster, wondering how visible she was up against the dark crimson of the rooftop.

After coming closer one more time, the sky grew silent and Shikiyoku released a shaky breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, core still pounding in her chest.

"Sweetheart…"

The hesitation in Taka's voice, different than any she'd ever been privy to in his presence, made Shikiyoku look up at him suddenly to see that he was in fact looking over at her. Her previous fears vanished into curiosity.

His faraway gaze kept her silent as he slowly came back to the present, eyes darkened with his thoughts, and yet revealing nothing hidden behind them.

"You _do _know your pact-mate is the Cursed Child?"

Well...even if the All-Fire had not revealed that to her less than a day ago, she certainly would know now, wouldn't she?

"I know he is born of the mating between a Koorime and a fire demon." She replied cautiously.

His brown stare did not appear surprised by this revelation-his concern would have increased if she _hadn't _known-though something stirred behind them when she refused call him 'cursed.'

"And that the fire portion of his heritage is muted by the Ice Maiden blood? For now?"

She nodded.

"And what will you do when it awakens?"

Shikiyoku shrugged, "Should we still be pacted, I'll simply...be there. Whether he wishes it or not."

"You would willingly put yourself in harm's way for this...demon?" It sounded more like a statement than a question, as if he already knew the answer.

"He will need someone there, and it will be me even if he does not ask for help." _Which he won't. _Her answer came with no hint of hesitation, as if she had already considered the options. "Should that specific situation occur, then to answer your question: of course."

Taka gave a short, dry bark of laughter.

"I guess I never understood your kind."

Shikiyoku's nod seemed a little sadder this time, but it was a nod nonetheless. "No, you never did. Most apparitions don't." _Hell, I don't understand me half the time._

Taka's expression grew thoughtful somewhere behind his concern as he studied her face and then spoke up again.

"...what _is_ it?"

She heard more than just those three words. What makes her kind different? Why don't most stronger demons understand why they pause when she walks by? She gave a small sigh. _What is it indeed, hm?_

"Tell me." He encouraged gently, "Even if I don't understand what you're saying."

A laugh nearly bubbled up from inside her and past her lips, but she only smiled.

"I...I think..." She didn't actually know, really. She had not been raised among others of her kind. "It is not just desire, Taka." She shook her head, smiling a little, "Behind all the lust, all the...the craving..." Something deep within her stirred a little, as if she spoke ancient words inherent in her very being, "I see the beauty in all things. We are the only demons born with the natural instincts required to love. Unconditionally and without cause."

"That word is foreign to me." Taka did not seem sad about it, merely making the statement of fact.

Shikiyoku knew exactly which word he meant, and while she had not ever put any of this into so many words, it all just seemed in that moment the right thing to say.

"Creatures that can express so much directed, passionate hatred like apparitions do have just as much of a capacity for love. They are, in essence, the same emotion. Any demon can _learn_ to love, if given the proper environment. But where I lack in fighting...where other demons come naturally to battle, I come just as naturally to...to love, I suppose." Her expression grew thoughtful. "Any other demon will react almost strictly to the instinct of survival. Kill or be killed. Our strongest instinct is love, in every form of the word. And other demons fear that without allowing themselves to understand why, because they fear realizing that love is stronger than hate, preferring to believe it is a weakness when it would actually make them all the more powerful."

Taka let the silence grow between them, though he found himself very lost in thought with her strange points.

"And what if you are not loved back?" He wanted to know.

She shrugged, "It makes no difference. That cannot, nor does it, stop us."

"...even when you receive nothing in return?"

"Strange concept for a demon, no?" Her eyes twinkled a little.

"Very." His voice faded off again into silence as they sat there and Shikiyoku let him think.

"Did you love him, sweetheart?" He asked quietly, thinking of the Champion she left the city with all that time ago.

"There are many different types of love, Taka." Her voice was no louder than his.

"Did you _love _him?" He pressed.

"I told you, we love all things."

"Sweetheart." He knew she was skirting the subject.

A slight pause.

"Of course I loved him." Shikiyoku replied gently.

He pursed his lips and Shikiyoku tried not to smile as he sorted through exactly what he meant, what he was _really _trying to ask.

"Did you...did you love him...more than what you inherently do?" Taka became very aware, as he tried to ask his question, of the fact that there had to be more than one type of love, and that the one, blanket word used to cover them all was simply not...specific enough.

Shikiyoku hesitated, and it turned so long that Taka came to think she had not heard him.

"...Shikiyoku?"

"No." She finally replied after only a second more. "I do not think so."

She had not had a chance to put all of this together at once before, but the more they spoke of the subject, the more she realized she had a great many thoughts about it.

The tension around Taka broke, and he sat back, unsure of when exactly he had started to lean towards her.

"And he loved you?"

"Perhaps love is too strong a word for that."

"Do you love me?" His roguish smile returned.

"Yes, Taka." Shikiyoku resisted rolling her eyes at him.

The smile faded a little and he opened his mouth to ask her again, in the more different way, like before.

She sensed his intentions and cut in before he could ask.

"...No."

He nodded, smile gone now, but there was no clouding on his face at the knowledge.

"That's good, then." He finally responded.

She arched a brow at him.

He flashed a small smile in her direction, "I don't love you."

Her other brow joined the first, a hint of a smirk on her face.

"Oh?"

"Nope. Not at all. I think I'd just feel bad if you did and I didn't." He stretched a little as he sat there looking up at the sky.

Shikiyoku just shook her head, "I think you just don't know what love is, bird-brain."

"So, you're saying I _do _love you?" Another grin, "Or is that just wishful thinking on your part?"

Shikiyoku let out a scoff, but she was smiling nearly as widely as he. She did have to resist smacking him though, knowing the gesture would either get her into the kind of trouble she did not wish to bring on herself from him at that moment or further egg his teasings on. Neither of which she particularly wanted to do.

"Or is that what this spell is? The one that drives me crazy any time I'm near you? The one that makes me want to bed you? Surely _that's _not love." If it was, then yes, all demons _did _love. He thought the concept rather hilarious.

"It's one _aspect _of love." Shikiyoku explained, patiently, but with that silly grin still on her face at his questions. "But just like _touching _isn't the only way to expression affection, wanting to mate isn't the only type of love. And the love you keep asking me of is not one I can manipulate with my power. You may _desire _me, sure. And yes, that is a sort of love in and of itself, but I can no more manipulate you into _loving_ me than anyone else."

Taka grumbled nonsensically to himself. This was all getting too confusing.

"How do you know the difference?" He seemed very interested, as if he himself was suddenly not sure if he 'loved' her.

"Love is...as unique as the one who feels it. To put a strict ultimatum on it as being one thing or another would take away from that uniqueness, but...one viewpoint is there is all-love, friend-love, and fire-love. Loving all things no matter what. Loving in that you mutually have one another's back. Love that is passionate, physical, sometimes consumed by the other in thoughts and desire." Shikiyoku shook her head, "I think it is much too simple, to have only these three labels. You will have to discover the difference between all the types there can be for yourself."

"That sounds like a challenge."

"Maybe it is." She teased. "It might take your entire life though. It's probably the most difficult challenge there is."

"Mm." He intoned noncommittally. He didn't often get challenges directly from the mouth of the female next to him.

A breeze picked up and her scent carried over to his nose in a more powerful dose and he shook himself from his thoughts, feeling suddenly that his self-control was slipping and that if he stayed much longer with her he was liable to take her right there on the rooftop whether she liked it or not.

_**That **__thought didn't help. _He mused grimly. _Bird-brain._

"You're leaving in the morning, aren't you?"

She nodded, "As soon as the night sleeps."

Shikiyoku could hear the roof crackle as Taka started to stand up.

When he got to his feet, he looked out over the relative quietness of the city.

Taka started to stroll away from Shikiyoku over the rooftop from where they'd come before he paused and turned back, a bit of a suggestive smile falling across his countenance.

"I'm _sure _you're aware, seductress, that demons of fire rarely mate with any outside their kind because of their brutality between the sheets."

"I'm perfectly aware of most all apparitions' habits in regards to that particular subject, bird-brain." Shikiyoku stuck her nose in the air and turned her head away. "Including _your _species' own ridiculous ones, not the worst of which involves _nests_ in the least accommodating way possible and the bizarre notion that everything is better in _trees_."

"That's because everything _is _better in a tree." Taka began walking away again, waving a hand at her as he left, "Just thought you needed to be reminded, sweetheart. Before that Champion of yours goes berserk with his fire heritage."

"Taka, shut up." Shikiyoku's words did drip with a venom, but it sprouted more from her irritation with him at the turn the conversation had taken than anything else.

He just let out a laugh as he leapt into the air and winged out of sight, leaving Shikiyoku to make a noise of disgust at his 'warning.'

Not that it mattered what Taka had to say, but Hiei wasn't a full-blooded fire apparition _anyway_.

She actually couldn't help groaning again as she sat there a moment longer by herself-_That idiot-_and gave another snort at the subject Taka had just brought up, shaking her head. It hardly seemed like a point of contention in the first place because...well...

"He doesn't even _like _me, bird-brain." She grumbled to herself, wishing she'd smacked him when she had the chance. 3

~!**!~

Hiei's body had tensed as the odd sensation of a small creature running around his body began, his teeth clenching together hard enough to make his muscles flex in his jaw. However, he refrained from looking down, concentrating instead on the odd sensation that made the most alien feeling take over his core. It made air bubble up in his throat, as if to make a chuckle, but with much more force. The sound, however, never escaped his lips.

He only relaxed when the lur'mog ran along his shoulder and down the length of his arm, appearing from under his sleeve and running smack into the dragon he hadn't really paid much attention to- unless it came to sharing the drink he was rather enjoying. He'd occasionally allow the creature a sip or two, but more often than not he pulled his tankard away from the reach of the dragon that was now wrestling, in its own way, with the lur'mog.

His eyes remained trained on the pair even as he finished his drink and set the mug down, which promptly slid away from him, was refilled, and then slid back into his hand in a matter of moments. He quickly lifted his drink from the countertop as the fighting creatures threatened to ram into it, their sounds loud enough to keep him from, at first, noticing Shikiyoku's disappearance.

His eyes shifted to the side, curious about the silence, and found her seat empty. He refrained from reacting outwardly, turning to the bond he could feel inside his core and, for the moment, finding it peaceful. His momentary worry drained away and he turned back to his front, lifting the alcohol to his lips again and enjoying the burn.

It reminded him only slightly of the fire in his stomach. The fire that had been given to him in the valley, the difference being that the drink had an actual definable taste.

He was halfway through another refill when he felt the bond quiver inside his core, making him pause with the tankard half-way to his lips, eyes going unfocused as he assessed the bond that immediately had grabbed his attention.

_Fear._

Hiei slowly set his drink down and stood to move, without saying a word to the barkeep about returning or otherwise. His feet moved with dangerous precision, mind centered on the bond to help find Shikiyoku- who wasn't really that far, surprisingly. He stepped outside into the night and, as soon as the door shut quietly behind him, his eyes pointed up, searching for any sign of struggle.

The fear was still there, but the only thing he heard at first was silence.

"Looks like _her majesty_ is in a bad mood."

He recognized the voice, that it belonged to Taka not escaping him since he'd done very well at memorizing the voice with the face of the demon who had irked him earlier that night.

But, the fear he felt in the bond dissipated as light conversation ensued, and he realized that something else must have caused the reaction that had him standing out here now. His eyes turned to look around himself, though from the ground, he didn't find much to worry over.

Aside from the faintest of glows in the distance. It wasn't hard for him to identify the glow of fire, and he was very quickly uninterested.

Yet, he lingered, listening to the conversation the floated down to him on the light breeze with an unimaginable amount of curiosity. Perhaps it was the drink that had him standing here, reacting on a mild emotion that normally didn't take this much control of his actions.

At the turn of conversation onto a _cursed child, _Hiei found his eyes shifting and turning to his right, his lip twitching in the struggle to keep the scowl from his face. But for a reason he didn't understand, when Shikiyoku refrained from calling him the same name everyone else had dubbed him, even himself, the scowl that had won over his features disappeared and he found himself leaning against the outside wall of the tavern.

As the conversation continued, he found himself receding into his own thoughts, though he didn't miss anything being exchanged above him either.

He knew that fire demon blood was dangerous. It had been the very reason he'd been tossed from his birthplace, over a cliff and left for death. His aggression had always stemmed from that, he assumed, and his need for fighting had, over the years, increased with ferocity. This had been mainly fueled by his anger that had always been present in his mind, in his body, and perhaps even in his soul. Not even bandits had wanted him around after they found out of his aggression.

He was feared by most who knew of his blood. And fear had always driven him into anger at the other, accompanied by, on some level, satisfaction at having been given the reaction. It always lead to him killing the other, no matter their pleading or their excuses for life.

After all, if he hadn't had an excuse for his life, why would another be allowed the privilege? At least, that's how he'd thought for a vast majority of his life.

When had that aggression changed? Sure, it was still there, but… quieter?

_Right. Yukina._

He'd found his sister, even released her from the grasp of a human who had deserved to die, but hadn't been killed by his own hands.

Only after that did he begin to realize how much he _loathed _being referred to as the cursed child, whereas before he had used it as fuel to his rage and a reason to prove entities right about his kind. He had been wanted to be feared. But over the time he spent in Human World, it seemed that aggression muted, and his loathing of his _nickname _had grown exponentially.

Enough that he actually felt sick when he heard the name.

"And that the fire portion of his heritage is muted by the Ice Maiden blood? For now?" A small pause. "And what will you do when it awakens?"

"Should we still be pacted, I'll simply...be there. Whether he wishes it or not."

"You would willingly put yourself in harm's way for this...demon?"

So, Shikiyoku not calling him by "cursed child" made an odd form of… some emotion or another move through him. Relief? He wasn't sure. And her words seemed to offer an odd sense of comfort, though he wasn't sure of the meaning behind his reaction to those words. He'd never been spoken about like that before.

"He will need someone there, and it will be me even if he does not ask for help."

Hiei's head bowed as he immersed further into thought, his eyes sliding closed. He'd never really thought about asking another for help. Why would he, when he was very capable on his own? He had heard rumors of how fire demon energy was dangerous, how once it took over, the demon would either go insane with rage or simply… go mad with the amount of energy that tried taking over.

Demons who couldn't handle the amount of power and rage that came with it often went insane to a level that would lead to, eventually, the demon destroying themselves. Not with their own energy, since its obvious lackluster in affecting the wielder of power, but by… other means.. Normally, by sending themselves into battle that would require every ounce of energy, or by simply…

Ending it…

A deep scowl formed on Hiei's face. He hadn't forgotten the stories. He hadn't forgotten the different possibilities that came with being born of fire and ice. He had simply… stopped thinking about it.

The anticipation of that kind of moment alone could lead a demon to his death, if he were weak minded enough.

When he came back into the present, another conversation had begun, about… another. He had his eyes slid open to stare the ground as the conversation turned to _love_, something he didn't know the concept of.

"Did you love him?"

Hiei could only guess who was being referred to. But he listened, curious for her answer, and when her answer did reach his ears, he wasn't sure what to think.

"Do you love me?"

"Yes, Taka."

Hiei stuffed his hands in his pockets and pushed away from the wall, ears listening to the lull in conversation before the word "no" was barely heard.

As the door was pulled open for his return to the bar, he briefly caught the "Well that's good, then. I don't love you."

The door shut behind him just as quietly as before as his feet whispered against the wood to the bar, sliding back onto his barstool and peering into his cup, which had been refilled to the brim. "Thanks," he grumbled to the demon behind the bar, his hand closing around the handle and bringing the drink to his lips for a long swig of the sweet drink that now seemed a bit more bitter than before.

Or maybe it was because he'd stopped drinking it for a while and had momentarily forgotten the taste, the burn.

~!**!~

Akari's car was almost impossible to control as the pause shot her car at an impossible speed forward, only slowing to the normal speed again when she passed the car in fourth place, putting her in that position on the track until her car crossed the finish line. She smiled at the screen despite her earlier struggle with learning how to play, turning to Yusuke with teeth flashing.

"That's pretty cool. How often do you play this one, anyway? Any other you like as much as this one?" _*****_

Yusuke leaned back in his seat once Akari crossed the finish line, smiling when it seemed like she actually enjoyed herself.

"Often enough." He responded glibly, "And…" He hesitated, though he seemed to find his hesitation humorous. "There's one." His smile grew a little more sheepish, "But I gave up on playing it a while back for...reasons."

He got up and started to lead her to another portion of the arcade, calling out, "Come on!" And gesturing for her to follow as he did so.3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	40. Episode 125 - Games, Taken

**A/N**: Hello once again, Fellow FanFiction Fanatics!

The next installment is here!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Yusuke continue entertaining themselves at the arcade,  
Akari getting to play Goblin City as well as a racing game.  
Yusuke tells her there's one last game he always liked,  
but he stopped playing it for 'reasons.'

~!**!~

Shikiyoku and Hiei go back downstairs after a while,  
the bar having cleared out so that only a few patrons were left.

When Hiei is distracted by the wrestling of the lur'mog and Ryou,  
Taka swoops in and snatched Shikiyoku away to speak with her.

He warns her about Hiei being the Cursed Child,  
and even though she already knew, she refuses to call him that.  
That particular portion of the conversation is overheard by Hiei,  
but as Taka leaves, Hiei goes back inside  
and Shikiyoku is left by herself on the rooftop...

* * *

The door of the bar slammed inward against the opposite wall and Shikiyoku stalked inside, Kafu calmly raising his gaze to check on who it was.

Her face was obviously flushed with drink, and she was scowling deeply, a dark cloud across her vision. She grumbled angrily to herself as she nearly stomped over to where her drink still sat on the counter.

At her entrance, the lur'mog and Ryou both stopped their wrestling in mid-fight, turning to stare with wide-eyes.

While Ryou definitely regarded her with his usual affectionate ruby-color, upon sensing her mood a starburst of sapphire-worry started from his irises and shot out to consume the entirety of his pupils and he and the lur'mog quickly untangled themselves from one another in order to stand, both coming to attention and staring at her while she moved.

"I could almost kill someone right now." Shikiyoku was muttering dismally there at the last as she threw back her head and downed the rest of her half-full tankard in a flash.

She slammed the tankard down on the counter, still standing next to it, and began glaring at Kafu when he didn't immediately take it from her to refill.

"Kafu…" She said warningly.

"You know as well as I do that this stuff is potent." His calm expression had not changed, though he did not look up from where he stood wiping glasses down.

"Kafu…" She growled it from her chest this time.

"I see that it's had time to take effect." He replied lightly, give the blush across her face a pointed look, "You ought to restrain yourself. You seem to have forgotten that this stuff takes at least twenty minutes to kick in. And you've had a lot already."

In one smooth motion, Shikiyoku jumped up and planted one hand firmly on the bar, holding her body up-her feet finding the middle support across one of the stools and bracing there-as she snatched Kafu's apron and pulled him across the counter to meet her face half-way.

Again, he did not seem phased, even as he found himself staring directly into her obviously displeased countenance, glass in one hand and rag in the other.

Her voice did not shout, but seethed out from between her teeth like so much ice-cold murder, "You will give me more or I swear I will come over there and strangle you with your own twelve hands." Her eyes glimmered with power and Kafu shrugged in response.

She released him, continuing to stand on the support of the stool with one hand planted on the counter as she glared daggers at Kafu while more Demon's Fire from the jug was poured into her tankard.

As soon as it was filled, Shikiyoku snatched it and threw it back over her head again.

"How was your talk with Taka?" Kafu asked politely.

The tankard was lowered just enough for the flow of drink to halt so that Shikiyoku could speak around the edge of the mug still in her mouth.

"I _hate _that accursed demon." She went back to downing the beverage.

"So, about like usual, then?" Kafu appeared to be talking about nothing less than the weather outside.

Shikiyoku slammed the mug down on the counter a second time, viciously wiping the back of her hand across her lips, and pronounced probably a little more loudly than she would have normally, "He's a fat, smelly, putrid excuse for a bird-"

When Shikiyoku stopped suddenly and glowered at Kafu, the tankard got filled again, though he surreptitiously only gave it half this time, which Shikiyoku did not appear to notice as she went for it again.

"-and I hope his feathers drop out of his wings and never grow back!" She finished as she slapped the tankard down again.

"And how do you want to see him die this time?" Kafu asked, appearing to have heard all of this at an earlier date.

"He can- He can go...die in a fire!" Shikiyoku snarled.

"You've used that one before."

"Fire!" She repeated forcefully.

"You never mean that."

Shikiyoku growled, but didn't actually disagree with Kafu's point.

The lur'mog had cautiously made his way across the counter from where he was on the other side of Hiei and at the lull in the discussion, he placed a tiny paw on the hand Shikiyoku still had planted firmly on the countertop.

The gesture did not go unnoticed and Shikiyoku's wrathful gaze sunk down to see the large eyes widely looking up at her. Her shoulders visibly relaxed as she reached over with her other hand and scratched at the lur'mog's cheek gently with a single finger. Her eyes lost a little of their ire.

"Maybe not a fire." Shikiyoku grumbled as she removed both hands from the lur'mog's reach, climbing down to stand back on the floor. "But he can sure go screw himself for all I care."

"Mmhm." Kafu replied as Shikiyoku strode with baleful steps back up the staircase and out of earshot. His eyes only flickered after her retreating figure once and he gave a little sigh. "Well, that was certainly more low-key than usual." He appeared to be speaking to himself, placing the glass in his hands down and picking up another. 3

Hiei had his eyes down on the bar while his hand toyed with the mug casually, his tongue rolling in his mouth as he assessed the slight change in taste compared to before with another large gulp. He _felt _calm, but his mind was anything but. It was stuck on the conversation he'd heard earlier, making his lips pull downwards slightly in the smallest hint of a scowl. He just…

For some reason, he couldn't let it go, Taka calling him cursed.

Another drink, and Shikiyoku was standing nearby, grumbling angrily under her breath. For a moment, he ignored her mumblings, but when she continued ranting about Taka, his eyes slid over to her calmly, as if he too had seen this more than once.

Though, his calm demeanor was only achieved because of the slight delay between his mind and the muscles in his face, which, a moment later, made his lips twitch only slightly upward before the expression returned to neutral. _Accursed_.

For the moment, he didn't exactly understand the amusement and odd amount of respect that grew within, causing him to take another drink.

_It's a little sweeter._

He eyed the barkeep suddenly, wondering if the drink was supposed to do that. The taste seemed to change subtly here and there, but enough that he himself could notice. Was it Kafu's doing?

He turned back to witness the last of Shikiyoku's moment before she turned and walked away, disappearing from sight up the stairs. He scoffed once and turned back to Kafu quietly, his now empty mug coming to rest on the counter.

"I don't need more," he informed quietly, deciding he should stop while he still could think clearly. His words about her rant being muted wasn't lost on him, but he didn't reply to them either. He wouldn't know, after all. "You do well in putting up with her… mood swings.." Hiei mused, his expression shifting only slightly to mildly amused. "Comes with the experience, I suppose?"

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at the pause Yusuke gave, a smirk on his features as if he paused only for her anticipation. And when he was moving, sliding out of his chair and quickly moving around her and through the arcade. She followed, at a slower and more leisurely pace, eyes staying trained on him this time.

"Y'know, when school lets out, this place is going to be cramped and loud." she said to him, more musing to herself however and trying to decide how long she would want to be in the building.

She wasn't in the mood for large crowds. _*****_

"Whyddya think I come around while school's _in _session?" Yusuke pointed out, making his way to another corner.

He stopped short of the machines he sought, putting one hand on his hip and gesturing to them.

They seemed simple enough, a box about waist height with what appeared to be a sort of round punching bag stuck on the end of a pole right about where the shoulder is.

"I'll let you guess why I had to stop using them." He waggled his eyebrows at her, grinning.

~!**!~

The tankard got swept away from Hiei, as did the one Shikiyoku left. Hiei's got placed out of sight, but Kafu held his hand palm up as Shikiyoku's came to hover over his awaiting hand.

A rather large amount of coinage tumbled out of the mug and Kafu assessed it with half-lidded eyes as the tankard went the same route as Hiei's.

_Hmph. She actually paid for all of it. Even the stuff earlier. The hybrid's too. _

His expression never changed as he lowered his hand to place the coins somewhere behind the counter.

"You might be surprised to know that most demons don't change all that much when they've consumed more alcohol than is wise for them." Kafu replied as the coins were put away and he wiped the portion of the counter that Shikiyoku had been drinking at. "The loud ones are still loud. The angry ones are still angry. Shikiyoku is…" How did he sum up such an apparition in one word? He shook his head, "Certainly a handful. You've got your work cut out for you, Champion." 3

Hiei made a sound akin to a scoff, shrugging his shoulders lightly as if he wasn't worried about the handful Shikiyoku posed to be. He eyed the money that had tumbled into Kafu's hand before it was placed out of his sight, easily noticing that all drinks had been paid for- even his own. He didn't move out of Kafu's way as he wiped down the counter, since it didn't seem that he was going to continue his way with the rag anyway.

"I'm sure I can deal." He paused, glancing to the two animals still sitting on the bartop. "I've seen a lot."

~!**!~

Akari followed until she was standing in front of a machine that, at first, seemed kind of pointless. But, as Yusuke swept a hand before it in a showy fashion and said he had stopped playing the game, she knew it had to do with punching, especially since there was a pad on the pole that resembled that of a training pad.

She smiled at him mischievously as she eyed him. "A punching game?" she turned back to the game before fishing into her pocket for change. "I guess it won't hurt, though I'm not sure it's going to matter. Your punches are worse than any other I've experienced."

As the game fired up with music that boomed with bass, as if preparing the player for the single punch they would get. She took a deep breath and moved into an offensive stance, readying her muscles and adjusting so that when she did swing her fist at it, she hit it squarely in the center and sent the pad flying backwards, hitting the screen with enough force to make the machine rock back and forth slightly.

It flashed the high score, showing it to be over a thousand, then flashed her score to be at 812.

"See what I mean?" she said, assuming the high score belonged to the detective. _*****_

Yusuke gave a laugh, "Well, you asked what else there was around here that I liked as much as the racing one!" He pointed to the high score, "That one isn't actually my high score though. I, uh," His hand went up to scratch at his face self-consciously, even as he showed his teeth with a sheepish smile, "I might have accidentally broken the one I had the high score on. I wanted to see if it'd go higher than just filling up with all nines."

~!**!~

Kafu finished cleaning Shikiyoku's spot and flipped the towel back around in his hand and went back to drying more glasses as he stood there in front of Hiei.

"Of course." Kafu readily agreed, "I can tell that you have and I'm sure she can tell as well. Did she seek you out specifically for the position? If you don't mind my asking." 3

Hiei raised a brow at the barkeep's curiousness, but otherwise didn't really react. At this point in time, he didn't much care. "Not quite the way you'd think," he replied with a shrug all his own. In truth, she hadn't actually _looked_ for a Champion.

She'd simply… _earned _one. At least, in her point of view, she did. "Circumstances called for it, I happened to be nearby," he found himself wondering why he was talking so cordially with the bartender. Normally, he wouldn't tell anyone much of anything they wished to know. He supposed it was because of the inviting air, though it hadn't ever made a difference in the past.

~!**!~

Akari smirked at Yusuke as he nervously admitted to wrecking a machine. She herself hadn't thought she'd be able to break it, but the fact that Yusuke, a human, had smashed one… well, she found it both amusing and annoying that she, a demon, wouldn't be able to hit him hard enough to make a difference.

Not that it mattered. They were, after all, on the same team. Plus, she didn't enjoy fighting him the first time, why would she do so again?

"Maybe next time you should think before doing things like that." she taunted, turning to move to another machine she'd eyed earlier. "My turn to choose." _*****_

"Hey," Yusuke protested her first comment, "My philosophy is to punch first and ask questions while punching." He grinned and followed after her, curious as to what she would pick.

~!**!~

"Ah." Kafu understood what Hiei meant more than Hiei probably thought he did. "I thought perhaps she sought a hybrid from the Koorime line specially. There aren't many demons with more raw power than the non-Koorime twin who comes from such a mating, as I'm sure you're well aware."

Both Ryou and the lur'mog had settled down together within arms reach of Hiei with the dragon curled up and the other creature nestled near Ryou's middle. Even though the lur'mog appeared to be asleep, Ryou's eyes were staring up the staircase from where his head lay the counter, swirling with the same worried blue as before. 3

Hiei wasn't much surprised by this demon's insight and easy following of the conversation. Quite frankly, he'd realized the demon must be much older than any he'd met in his lifetime and had seen just about anything the three worlds had to throw at him. So the fire demon didn't much react when he went on talking about the powers of Koorime and the children born from actual matings.

A scoff left his lips, more out of amusement than scorn. He was beginning to feel rather tired now… "'s not much of a big deal," he said slowly as he moved to rise from his chair, glancing at the two creatures on the countertop and touching both of them with his index finger only once before letting his feet touch the floor. "I used to loathe it, being her Champion." he admitted suddenly, a sneer on his face now as he glanced once more at Kafu. He didn't have to continue on to say that now he rather enjoyed the challenge, because the sneer on his face should have said it all for him before he turned and retreated up the stairs, deciding now was a great time for some sleep.

~!**!~

Akari lead the way through the arcade until they were standing almost in the center of the building, in front of a machine with two joysticks, six red buttons, and two yellow. The yellow buttons appeared to be for choosing single or multiplayer, while a red button said "start" and the others seemed to be for playing the game that she could now read as being labeled "Galaga". She had eyed it earlier and decided that it looked interesting enough.

"Galaga was so popular that even Demon World had heard of it, since a few demons had been able to slip by the Kekkai for a short while when I was younger. But since then, demons haven't been able to slip through worlds very much and I'm sure there are likely some places that are trying to come up with this game, even as we speak." She smiled as she put in a few coins. "Wanna play?" _*****_

Yusuke couldn't help but stare after Akari as she told her story, and even once she asked her question he didn't answer for just a second longer then, not exactly staring _at _her, but more at the fact that she was a demon, stirrings of things going on behind his strange gaze.

"You know...we're not all that different. Demons and humans. I don't know if I ever thought we were all that different, but the longer I've been doing this job, the more I've come to realize it." He stepped up beside her, intending to play the game as well.

~!**!~

Kafu's eyes left the mug he held as Hiei started to get up, watching the apparition interacting with the two creatures who appeared to have finally calmed down, but staying quiet even as Hiei began to walk off, considering the retreating form in a thoughtful manner.

"She still thinks you loathe it." He murmured down to the glass in his hands, "And if you don't figure out some way to show her she's wrong, there's no telling what she'll do." He raised the glass up to the light to check for water marks, not particularly caring if the fire demon picked up on his words, but voicing them to himself all the same.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku clomped up the staircase and tromped down the hallway, muttering angrily to herself the entire time.

"Nasty, stinky, smelly bird...always ruins everything...can't keep his mouth shut...could just kill him..."

Stopping in place, Shikiyoku blinked a few times before turning around to go back, having gotten three-fourths of the way down the hall without considering which room she was trying to get to.

"And that's _your _fault too!" She shook a fist angrily at the ceiling as she stalked back to the correct door. "You numbskull!"

She threw it open with as much gusto as she had the entrance to the tavern, and it slammed against the wall, swinging forward just a little but staying wide as she thudded her way through it.

The light shining in from the hallway made the room appear almost as clear as day in spite of its lackluster glory, though there would have probably been enough from the dirty window to do the same without being so invasive.

She practically ripped her crimson cloak off of her head and threw it against the dusy chair in the room, where it splattered like so much paint and then mostly fell off, only the edge managing to drape over the piece of furniture.

In her "rage," Shikiyoku's entire body shimmered with power, her scalp tingling as it released energy through scent into the air, but instead of it being a welcome feeling this time, it just made her feel much too hot for now and as she made her way to the bedside, her long-sleeved black shirt got pulled off and tossed in the general direction of her cloak.

The spaghetti-strapped tank top underneath nearly came off with it and she didn't bother adjusting it, blaming Taka for that too as she threw herself down on the bed and snatched both pillows to put under her head. She ended up, of course, with her head up on the right side of the bed and her feet slanted away and touching the wall near the end of the bed, in essence taking up the entire thing and grumbling wildly about Taka's heritage, parents, fighting-style and how everything in relation to him was terrible and needed to go die in a fire.

Somehow, in the middle of all of that, she actually drifted off to sleep, likely from all the alcohol more than anything, lying on her side and facing the door which she'd completely forgotten about and left open, snarling at Taka and blaming him for that without so much as trying to get up to close it even as her eyes refused to stay open. 3

Hiei paused only momentarily at the words he caught from Kafu, but recovered and continued on towards and up the stairs, making no indication otherwise that he had heard the barkeep. His mind simply didn't want to mull over the fact for now, as it was beginning to go numb with what felt like sleep deprivation.

As he moved up the stairs, he suddenly realized that he may not remember which door had been the one to their room. He supposed he could follow Shikiyoku's scent, but even now he couldn't find the trail, as if it had disappeared entirely with her.

So he meandered, taking his time to glance at each door on the second floor until he spied one wide open. He made his way to it very cautiously and peered inside, probably looking rather comical if anyone had been watching.

He spied Shikiyoku inside, on the bed, and immediately straightened his spine to enter the room, pulling the door closed behind him as he caught only the last vestiges of Shikiyoku's grumblings that seemed to die away and turn into breathing that indicated sleep.

He approached the bed with half-lidded eyes of sleepiness, taking in the way Shikiyoku took up the entirety of the bed. He stood over her with a slight frown, trying to decide how to go about this. After a moment, he decided he didn't care, and he merely slid his hands under her body and adjusted her so that she lay closer to the wall, adjusting her position until there was just enough room for him before he joined her, laying on his side and facing the door, his back against hers out of mere laziness.

And within minutes, he too was sleeping, snoring lightly because of the drink.

~!**!~

Akari blinked and turned to Yusuke, staring at him with a coin between her index finger and thumb, hovering in front of the coin slot. She listened, taken by surprise from his sudden admission.

After he was done, she continued to stare at him, her mind going over several things before she finally turned back to the machine and placed her coin into it and standing upright again, not looking at him.

"No, we aren't. The only difference is that you are prey to a stronger species, who is, for the most part, unorganized." She blinked slowly at the screen and gave a small sigh. "Maybe one day you'll visit Demon World and see first hand how alike the worlds really are." _*****_

"You know, you hear tales about times long ago when humans and demons interacted regularly." Yusuke kept talking as they played, his mind only half paying attention to the task at hand, "It makes me wonder if, at one point, instead of three worlds, there was only one, and something happened that made that one realm divide into three different ones."

~!**!~

Being moved stirred Shikiyoku enough to realize when someone else came into bed with her, but nothing else. It took her a minute to be able to shift around, but out of habit, her eyes refusing to open at first, she threw an arm over the body of...whoever, and drew herself up against their back, her mind lost in some dream or another of ages past as she slowly started to nuzzle her nose against the back of her bed-mate's neck in greeting.

Without honestly being aware of it, her lips replaced her nose three...four times against the skin she found there as she began to pull her eyelids apart slowly, the tavern room around her doing nothing for the time period her brain sleepily provided for her in the midst of the relaxation in her alcohol-drugged state.

The arm she had around the torso of them slid up over the front of their chest and to the shoulder, moving the white scarf in her way to the side so that she could plant kisses further up-

Shikiyoku's eyes widened and she froze in place as the realization dawned of just exactly _who _the owner of said scarf was. Even as she blinked several times laboredly, she bit her lip and stopped moving, wondering if it would be better just to stay still at that point or not. 3

Hiei's mind had been blissfully blank, his body sinking into the mattress and his arm supporting his head while the other simply had his hand resting on the elbow of his arm underneath his head. His hands felt warm, even to himself. Even in his sleep, he realized that his body felt warmer than usual.

But he didn't think about it long. His mind told him that there was something going on outside his dream state, and curiously, his eyes slid open for a moment. His skin felt weird here and there, at the back of his neck, and he could feel that his cloak had been shifted or, in the very least, his scarf.

He moved his head to glance backwards, though his eyes didn't appear to be open more than just a slit. He was still asleep in his mind, so he didn't really register… whatever had happened…

He slowly resettled and went back to sleep.

~!**!~

Akari nodded once, her eyes on the screen of the moving gaming avatars as her ship was captured. "I… honestly don't know." she finally replied, though the thought of one big world was a rather curious one. She went quiet again before releasing a small sigh.

"But, there were also times when demons hunted humans for sport. And sometimes, though it's rare, you hear about humans doing the same to demons. I think that's the main reason the worlds were split. Now, however, things are different. While there are still things like that going on, more and more demons, while intolerable of humans, wouldn't actually step out of line because they know of King Enma's rule being almost… indefinite. If Enma knew of what _I_ had done, simply with aiding Sensui, my head would be gone. Koenma wouldn't have had a say, I'm sure." _*****_

"You know," Yusuke said thoughtfully, "I haven't ever really gotten to meet the big guy. Koenma certainly makes it seem like he's a terror, but I guess he's just got to keep the welfare of three realms in mind. I would go crazy." He finally smiled again, "But I'm not cut out for that kind of work."

~!**!~

Holding her breath, Shikiyoku remained frozen for at least an entire minute before deciding she had done no harm and relaxing again.

She did, however, scoot closer, and lay her cheek on Hiei's head, his hair making for a soft pillow, her mouth almost touching his ear.

As she felt her body slipping away again, she smiled and mumbled, "You should find reasons to laugh more often, fire-prince_._" Her eyes slid closed again, her words barely whispering out her lips, "I think...it is my favorite sound."

~!**!~

_Shikiyoku was running, but her legs were giving out on her, her core beating wildly in her chest and her lungs burning as she kept heaving air into them. She wasn't even sure what she was running from, but it was behind her and quickly catching up. There was no one nearby, no one to save her, and she couldn't even save herself._

Shikiyoku shivered, having at some point during her sleep let go of Hiei and turned over to face the wall behind her.

_Glancing back, her veins froze at the sight of the giant wave of black demonic energy that threatened to overtake her._

"_Looks like her majesty is in a bad mood." A voiced echoed around in her head._

_Shikiyoku turned to see Taka standing in front of her, gorgeous brown wings coming out from behind his back and his eyes distant as he appeared to be staring off at the wave. She kept running, reaching out to him, but never getting there and she panicked, thinking that perhaps she wasn't moving anymore._

"_Taka! Taka, please!" She cried out._

"...please..." Shikiyoku mumbled into the wall, her body beginning to twitch as if about to take off at a run.

_He didn't appear to hear her, make any indication that she was even there._

_If she could just grab onto him, he could fly them away, they could find her Champion together. They'd gotten separated, and she couldn't feel him anymore. She'd woken up and he wasn't there, and she'd looked but she'd never found him._

_The image of Taka shimmered away like a mirage and Shikiyoku yelled out again._

"_No! Don't leave me! I don't want to be alone again!"_

_Images of lonely wanderings, forced to avoid all things, flashed briefly in her mind's eye._

"Don't...alone..." Shikiyoku shivered again, her body pulling into a small ball.

_The black wave of energy was getting closer no matter how fast Shikiyoku pushed her body and she tried to shake herself awake, hoping it was only a dream as dark tendrils of power started to circle around her limbs, pulling her backwards in order to engulf her._

~!**!~

In the back of her head, something began to pound incessantly and at first Shikiyoku found she was able to ignore it, but there were words happening too and she found she could understand them.

"...this...right now...whore!"

"Not...nice."

"...get her...lazy...up-"

"-and OPEN this door right NOW!"

Shikiyoku's eyes slid apart and she yawned sleepily, pulling away from Hiei and climbing out of the bed.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," She mumbled, still half-asleep, "Rude."

The pounding and name-calling continued until Shikiyoku stumbled over and opened the door.

Two pairs of eyes stared down at her as Shikiyoku reached up to rub one hand on her own.

"What." She asked bluntly.

The eyes stared for another second before the more timid pair turned to the other.

"S-see? I told you she was here!"

The first pair of eyes glowered down at Shikiyoku.

Shikiyoku returned the stare equally even as her core sank into her stomach in a rush of fear.

The two women at the door were twice her height and easily twice as muscular, giving off an Amazoness air, and even with the modest uniform they wore, weapons hanging at their sides and likely more out of sight, it was easy to see exactly how fit their bodies were.

The one that was fuming at her had long pink hair to her waist in a ponytail, and the one standing more sheepishly next to her had a shock of short yellow hair that seemed to stick an inch or two straight up off the top of her head, but was also slightly taller, if not more slender, than her companion.

"Why you GOOD-for-nothing little piece of sh-"

The blonde put a restraining hand lightly on the other's arm, silently reminding her that they were here for a specific reason.

The other visibly grimaced, but back down from where she had started to tower over Shikiyoku's smaller frame.

"It's good to see you too, Taikou." Shikiyoku stated cooly.

"Her majesty..." She obviously struggled to keep her temper, "Her majesty _requests _that you attend her at the ball today."

"She would be delighted if you would agree!" The blonde turned down to Shikiyoku with a smile.

"Rae? Rae's still alive?" Shikiyoku appeared stunned.

"That's _Lady_ Rae to you, shrimp." The pink-haired one bristled. "If not, _Queen_."

"She's not _my _queen." One of Shikiyoku's eyebrows quirked. "Last I looked, she's not queen of anywhere."

"I outta just-" Her arm came up as if to deck Shikiyoku, but the blonde stopped her.

"Taikou." She said with a little more force than previously.

Taikou grumbled, but lowered her fist.

"Yama." Shikiyoku nodded to the blonde, "I only just arrived. I'm not quite sure how Rae learned of my presence so quickly." She tried to keep the dry regret from her tone.

"I can't BELIEVE you would come into town and REFUSE to pay tribute to the Queen!" Taikou growled.

"She only just arrived, Taikou." Yama reassured her, knowing privately that it was doubtful Shikiyoku planned to do any such thing no matter how long she would be in the city. 3

Hiei didn't dream. He was fairly certain that he hadn't slept this well in _years_, even when he'd worn himself out from an intense fight with another. His entire body, albeit a little warmer than normal, was extremely relaxed and he hadn't moved even once since he'd fallen asleep.

And he hadn't planned to, not even when he was pulled from peaceful slumber to hear the loudest sound that seemed to echo in his mind twice as loud as it should be. A small shift in the bed later, and Hiei was rolling over, turning his back to the door even as he became aware of voices and the door being opened.

Only when he felt a slight change in his chest did his mind awaken enough to register the words being said. Only when he became aware of the quivering of the bond did he sit up and place his feet on the floor, sitting so that he could watch the doorway cautiously, easily forcing the sleep from his eyes, but not quite as easily from his mind.

But when one of the women moved to strike, Hiei was standing and moving across the small room, hands carefully at his sides so that he didn't appear too much of a threat. Not yet.

He stood a couple of feet behind Shikiyoku, expression blank as ruby eyes stared at the pair, one seemingly cordial while the other was only a little more than irate.

"Problem?" his calm voice rang out over the sudden silence.

~!**!~

Akari frowned, but didn't look at Yusuke. "It's a good thing if you haven't met Enma. Anyone who ever sees him either dies because of his rage, or becomes a part of Spirit World's staff. In case you haven't noticed, they both seem to equal one another." She was only mildly joking here.

"As for Koenma, it's expected for the son of the king to be treated with extremely high expectations and harsh reprimands should something go wrong. It's to ensure things don't go bad. Like… with Sensui." _*****_

"Yeah..." Yusuke tailed off, his eyes staring downwards, but his mind turning gloomy.

Suddenly he jumped back from the machine in front of them with a grin and a laugh.

"Hey! What am I doing? I was trying to lift your spirits and here I am bringing myself down and ruining the party! Now where were we?! What game should we play next?!" He marched off through the arcade after his hasty announcement, humming loudly to himself and looking for another arcade game they might be able to crash.

~!**!~

_He's awake._ A wash of thankfulness swam over Shikiyoku, but she refused to look back at him as she didn't know how much longer she could maintain her confidence. And she thought of her shirt and cloak. They needed to get out of there, sooner rather than later. Before these two gave up on their conversation and snatched her up right then and there.

Yama's eyes narrowed slightly at Hiei's words as she glanced over Shikiyoku's head and into the room.

"What is this? Another one of your _toys_, whore?" Taikou jeered.

"Lieutenant Taikou Kusara." Yama's back had straightened and even Taikou jumped a little at the title, "Need I remind you that our delegation here is to extend the invitation to the seductress and _not _incite her ire?"

The two women did not look at one another, Taikou scowling and Yama's expression equally as fierce.

It took Shikiyoku a moment to realize that they each had a dagger at the other's back, pressed against one another's clothing.

The air remained tense for another split second until both women relaxed their weapons away at the same time.

"Yes, _Captain._"

Yama's eyes flickered back to the present, at Hiei first, then down to Shikiyoku.

"I-I know she will be most upset to find that you have yet another...Champion."

"I don't know why." Shikiyoku was quick to respond, "I've never shown Rae favor of any kind."

"Perhaps that is why she continues to remain interested."

"She really needs to get over it. Isn't she happy with her mate? Gotten lots of children from it?"

"Her halls would be all the more grander should you deem her worthy of gracing them."

"So she can use me in furthering her House?"

Taikou's jaw clenched together.

"She's _obviously _not going to come willingly, Captain. I don't see the point in continuing this conversation."

"Besides, Rae knows that I'm looking different nowadays. Otherwise you wouldn't have recognized me in the first place. Not right off the bat." Shikiyoku leaned up against the doorframe lazily, crossing her arms together. "Has she taken that into account? She may not want me around anymore."

"I-I must confess that I am not sure how she will take your...vast change in appearance once she lays eyes on you, but, yes, she does know you've a more human form and no, it must not get in the way of her opinion terribly much otherwise we would not be here." Yama pointed out abashedly. "I mean, you _are _still doing the same sort of thing no matter what your looks, right?"

She appeared to be not sure, but Shikiyoku had her powers as muted as possible as soon as she recognized the pair at the door, so it was hard for Yama to tell.

"I certainly am still the same Shikiyoku." She allowed, tilting her head a little.

Yama looked a little shocked, "You _are _still doing courtesan work, aren't you?"

"I'm not really in the market for it, no."

"Once a whore, always a whore, _seductress_."

"Taikou!" Yama said sharply, "Be civil!"

Shikiyoku only appeared amused. "And what happens if I refuse to come with you?"

"There is half a legion of the High Guard who will _take _you there." A wicked grin finally crossed Taikou's face. "So you can either come peacefully or they can drag you off."

"_We don't have time for this." _Shikiyoku thought about halfway through the conversation, continuing as Yama and Taikou talked with her and hoping Hiei would catch it. "_I don't want to __**make **__time for this." _

There was no disguising the fear she had in accompanying these to back to their House. _Damn. _

"_The High Guard are some of the most powerful apparitions of the level. My powers do little to nothing to them unless under specific circumstances, and without my demonic form…_

"_We could be stuck in this city for decades if they manage to get us back to Rae. Not that I would __**mind **__being stuck in Demon World, but only on my own terms and not as a lackey under Rae's household." _3

Hiei's mind was fully awake now and he had no problems with listening intently to the women at the door, his core moving in time with the pulsing bond that had his muscles slowly tensing up out of reflex. His teeth momentarily clenched together before unclenching again at the name one of the demons continued to call Shikiyoku, an odd part of him growing a bit angry at the name calling, though at this exact moment, he didn't know why.

But he remained silent, his arms hanging at his sides tensely, hands balled into fists that slowly clenched and unclenched in synchronization with his jaw. And his own tension seemed to grow with the tension of the moment that seemed to create even more tension in the bond, and after a few more moments, Hiei's eyes were narrowed.

She was borderline panicking, it seemed. And the threat that was issued did nothing to help the situation, only creating Hiei's own personal sense of needing to get the hell out while they could.

_I hate cities._

Suddenly, his mind was being tugged at, almost as if someone were calling him. He turned inward, then let his mind follow whatever trail it was that had grabbed his attention.

"_I don't want to __**make **__time for this."_

Hiei returned to the present, having understood as soon as he'd zoned in on her thoughts what she felt of the situation. She was afraid, perhaps a little angry, but mostly the fear had him reacting, stepping forward to join Shikiyoku in the threshold of the doorway, meeting the gaze of the calmer of the two demons.

"As interesting as a gesture such as that sounds, we are, in fact, here on business and only passing through. We have no time to stop other than when necessities get in the way. You are interfering with business. It simply is not a possibility at the moment." He paused, turning to the more aggressive one. "Tell your _majesty_ that we, or rather Shikiyoku, would like to visit, but we have no time to stop and… what's the phrase? _Smell the roses. _Do understand that business comes before pleasure. _Always_."

He wasn't sure this would work, but he wouldn't dare send Shikiyoku into a place where it was obvious she would not be comfortable.

~!**!~

Akari turned to face Yusuke with a raised brow as she stepped backwards and away from the machine that now asked for more money in order to continue. "You were trying to cheer me up?" she asked, disbelief on her features. She'd been out of it enough to not _notice _this was an obvious attempt at such a thing?

_Smooth, Akari._

"Well, I can assure you, I don't need it now. I'm simply here because I quite like your company, despite your smart mouth." Her lips turned into a teasing smirk. "IT's likely the most amusing thing about you, detective." she called after him as she followed at a leisurely pace.

_Is he humming? _She thought to herself, raising her brows even more at the boy's back as she followed him. _That nervous, or simply that scatterbrained? _Either way, she found herself amused at him some more.

"You have a lovely voice," she commented teasingly. "Maybe you should play a karaoke game." _*****_

"Ah ha ha," Yusuke laughed, "If that's what you think we should do, I mean, I'd be happy to join you. But I'm not singing by myself! You'll have to do a round or two as well!"

~!**!~

Taikou drew herself up to her full height, "Perhaps you didn't understand, _Champion_. This proposition is also '_business.' _And the Queen _requires _Shikiyoku's presence at this ball. The whore does, in fact, _owe _this to us, unless she's forgotten about how she broke the terms of our last agreement." Here Taikou glared at the shorter demoness.

"Queen Rae was _quite _upset when you skipped town on her without so much as a by-your-leave." Yama added.

Shikiyoku nearly laughed in her amusement at Taikou and Yama's assumptions about the agreement between her and the Queen to which they were referring.

"_Hiei, how likely do you think our chances are of out-running the High Guard if we agree to travel with them to the manshion?"_

Shikiyoku was thinking perhaps if they simply let these two lead them out of doors, that she and Hiei could take off as soon as they saw daylight and leave this city behind.

"And surely she understands that there were...extenuating circumstances." Shikiyoku responded to the two in front of her in the meantime.

"No, I'm afraid she doesn't." Yama's eyes grew hard, "Because you didn't bother telling anyone what you were doing. Or why you left in such a hurry."

"My business is my own." Shikiyoku's voice took on an edge. "Despite what you seem to _assume,_ I was not under contractual obligation to your so-called _queen_." 3

Hiei had had more than enough. His patience was much less than lackluster, and that was in no small part due to his awakening. His stature shifted from tense to suddenly very, very loose, his weight shifting from his toes to his heels before resting in a natural stance of nonchalance.

It was a deadly moment for the other two if they didn't understand the reason for the transition in appearance. He was about ready to strike.

After another moment, his mind was again tugged at and his eyes, along with his mind, turned to Shikiyoku almost curiously. Truthfully, there was no way of knowing at this point if it were possible. He only knew the looks of the two before him, and simply gauging them, he didn't see much problem outrunning the women. The rest, however many there were, might pose as a problem. "_Unsure."_

He turned back to the duo and sneered, eyes flashing with impatience. He was almost tempted to utter the name that would have had the pair turning tail and running, but the idea of saying he was under Enma's thumb was not an appealing one.

"She will have to be disappointed once more. Your form of _business_ does not even come close to caliber with our current _business, _and her _requirement _will simply not be met. There is no changing that, no amount of threats or otherwise."

He gave way to a short pause before moving again, this time between Shikiyoku and the duo at the door. Might as well not give any chances. "If circumstances were different, perhaps it would be considered. However, you are being a nuisance and are hindering our current line of work."

In a sense…

This was their very last warning.

~!**!~

AKari gave her own dry laugh, then immediately sobered with a strong and definitive, "no." There was no way she would be singing. Even if she enjoyed such a thing, she knew no music from this world.

"You're the guru at the machines in this place, and all you can point to is a singing game? While your voice is, as I said, rather lovely," another laugh, "that won't do. Anything else you have in mind for me to try? Or are you out of ideas?" _*****_

Yusuke pivoted to face her and crossed his arms over his chest with a grin.

"Well, it isn't as if you're giving me much to work with here, woman!" He stuck his tongue out at her, "I don't know what you like, so how am I supposed to know what to steer you towards?" He gestured openly to the rest of the arcade, "It isn't like you couldn't just pick a game and sit down your own self, yah know!"

~!**!~

Both Taikou and Yama stared down at the much shorter demon who suddenly decided to impede their access to the she-demon of whom they had been sent to fetch.

Taikou's eyes narrowed into a glare as soon as he did so, Yama's expression revealing none of her inner thoughts at his intrusion.

Taikou scowled lips opened to speak, but Yama threw an arm in front of the Lieutenant, causing her mouth to snap shut.

For her part, Yama let the air remain silent with a pause as she met Hiei's eyes, assessing him, recognizing his stance, sensing his unspoken intentions, and immediately filing away every inch of information that she could glean about him in her single, miniscule glance. Her ability to form such quick opinions of an opponent is what had kept her alive and allowed her to rise to her position of Captain. She wasn't stupid. And she knew this fire demon was not stupid either. He was not a match for them in strength or energy, he was nowhere near their caliber of fighter; his power level was much too low for that. What did that leave him?

_Speed._

Now it was Yama's turn to narrow her eyes at him, a dangerous smile creeping up the corner of her lips only slightly as she ran her thoughts over those stationed outside, recalling each strength of each single member of the battalion.

Neither woman before him had moved, and even Shikiyoku stayed silent, watching.

"Run. If you like." Yama's voice barely rose above a whisper, but the room had fallen deathly quiet anyway. "Do you think we will not give chase?"

As if to make her point, she took a single step back, never looking away from him. 3

_Half a legion?_ Hiei wasn't sure why that had not slid past his consciousness before. During the moment of silence, the words echoed across his mind and he took quick inventory of the world outside this room, and found himself very displeased, very distraught, though he made no physical show of such emotions. The demons hadn't been lying.

And each and every one of them were of nigh-equal status almost to these two, the two who he now eyed much more carefully.

His mind seemed to have jolted into a much more awake, much more aware state. Perhaps he hadn't been as awake as he'd thought he had been. Now that he had taken the demoness's words and found them to be true, he was much more wary.

And his wariness only grew when she stepped aside.

_Too many unknowns._

He couldn't tell if he'd be able to outrun them. His eyes slid to Shikiyoku again, eyeing her with a neutral, very calculating expression. While she had been able to keep up, it certainly wouldn't be enough if the situation called for his absolute best speed. He wasn't sure how long she could endure a run, since most demons, especially those of S class, could go on for days without a stop.

He turned back to the pair in silence, taking very quick stock of what they did and did not know.

It was obvious they knew nothing of his telepathy. _Good. _It was also obvious that they didn't recognize him as the fire demon in which destroyed an entire stadium and devoured the dragon that now colored his arm with a dark tattoo. _Even better. _But, that also meant they didn't know he was a lackey of Spirit World. He'd keep it that way for as long as necessary. It could create much more trouble here, he knew.

_Or it could solve it._

No, he wouldn't try it.

Now, what did _he _know of _them_?

_S class. Definitely not worth trying. Speed? These two, not much. The others? Unknown. _He paused in thought and glanced at the various places weapons could be concealed. His own would mean nothing in a fight.

"_We have no other choice," _He said telepathically to Shikiyoku, but cut the communication short there, deciding to not give the others a chance to see such communication happening.

"Details of the _queen's business?" _He requested after a moment, never moving from his stance.

Overall, he'd only remained quiet for a few moments, as if having considered _only _running. He didn't want to give any information out if he could help it. "We'll need to inform our previous business partner, to explain the delay. That much is necessary, as I'm sure you understand."

~!**!~

Akari shrugged, pausing before she could bump into the boy. "I figured you'd show me games _you _liked." Of course, she said this simply so he'd continue on, thinking if she said _that_, he'd have a hayday towing her around.

Her mind had wandered again, and it was, again, a bit harder to stay concentrated on one thing or the other. _*****_

Yusuke pursed his lips out at her.

His plan at a distraction wasn't working very well.

...Now he was seriously curious. What had that fox done to drive her so very crazy?

"AH!" Yusuke exclaimed suddenly. "I know some place even better than this!" Yusuke grabbed Akari's wrist and started to pull her out of the arcade towards the street.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku could feel herself tense, even as Hiei's thought brushed over her mind, a tightening of her muscles settling around her ribcage.

Images of the palace faltered over her mind and she swallowed nervously, but did nothing more.

_If they take us there, we'll never be let free, no matter what she tells him._

Taikou's smile became more genuine, "Shikiyoku is to attend her majesty at the ball that is being thrown at the palace this evening. Naturally, you being her Champion would automatically afford you an invitation should you wish to join her." 3

Hiei raised a brow. _That's it?_ He didn't like it. Too simple. There was obviously more to it that he wasn't being told. However, again, he was reminded that they had little to no say in the matter until he could assess the situation much more.

He wasn't going to take unnecessary chances here. It simply was not worth the cost.

"We need time," he stated automatically. "To contact our most recent employer, which is not an easy feat here, as I'm sure you understand." A light sneer, and in the next second, his hand was around the door handle and the _whoosh _of the air from it slamming shut made the tips of his bangs move.

He had done this for a very, very specific reason: the wards.

He rounded on Shikiyoku.

"I will not make unnecessary moves against these two, for now. There are too many unknowns," he stated simply, tone low and voice filled with venom at the prospect of abiding by another's rule. "Do you trust my judgement?"

~!**!~

Akari's eyes wandered to the side for a moment before she knew what was going on, the machines she'd been eyeing moving out of her view as she rounded on the detective, looking down at the hand around her wrist and forcing herself not to react as she normally would have.

Her mind caught up and she realized he'd spoken.

"And where might that be?" she intoned as her feet met the asphalt of the sidewalk. He had done very well in grabbing her attention this time. _*****_

"You ever heard of a thing called 'laser tag?'" He asked simply, continuing to move down the block.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku blinked as Hiei turned to her, her natural reaction to lean back ever-so-slightly from his intensity.

She had intended to respond to his first statements, to shed some light on what he considered 'unknowns'-since she knew these two demons in particular quite well, and this level and its 'queen' to boot-but he did not ask for her advice, and instead presented her, and their pact, with a very poignant question that shattered any previous thoughts she might have mustered up.

Even though it was only at half capacity, the pact within her thrummed warmly and she met his gaze with an openness and evenness that only it could only afford between those bound by it.

"With my very life." The words spilled past her lips as if rehearsed, tumbling out of the hum within her in a plain, simplistic response. As if it were the most obvious answer in the world; as if there _was_ no other answer to his question. 3

Hiei stayed quiet for a moment, staring at Shikiyoku and assessing her expression after her answer, as if searching for any moment of hesitation after. But none came, and he nodded once. "Obviously, we cannot contact Spirit World, and doing so would be more trouble than it's worth. However, they do not recognize me, as most demons would have by now." He paused, suddenly amused by something Kurama had said once, about fortune.

_It seems to be on our side._

"I do not want any information on these demons," he stated bluntly, eyes glittering only slightly. If he knew anything more than he did at the moment, he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep a calm composure, if he were to be enlightened of things that would otherwise cloud his judgement.

Good 'ol recon, is how he would consider this.

"I have ideas, but they aren't in full bloom." He stated once before turning his back to her, assessing the door and hearing nothing from the other side of it. Though, he didn't have to check to know the pair were still there, waiting. "You will simply have to keep in mind that trust."

He gave another moment of pause, deciding another few moments with the door shut would not do harm. After all, he was feigning contact with another demon by other means.

So he'd wait just a bit longer.

"If you have anything to say, now is the time to do so. Telepathy will be minimal."

~!**!~

A slender brow raised high enough to disappear into strawberry bangs. _Laser. Tag._

Never had she heard of the two words being put together.

"Is that supposed to impress me, detective?" _*****_

"Me?" Yusuke replied innocently, "Impress you?" He let out a whoosh of disapproving air, "Perish the thought."

He led them to the establishment he sought and strode inside without much of another thought.

There must have been some school field trip or another happening since there was a bit of a line of kids they were forced to step into, but Yusuke still had that same impish smile on his face as he let go of Akari's wrist to wait until they could get up to the counter.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's green eyes shimmered with power for an instant as she replied.

"Rae will most assuredly _regret_ bringing me under her roof again." Her expression was one full of mischief and chaos, but her teeth clenched together at even the thought of being captured and caged once more and the slightest hint of fear shadowed the place behind her eyes. 3

Hiei nodded once before reaching for the handle, not touching it until he finished with his next words:

"Prepare yourself."

With that, he moved so as to have appeared to have moved about the room, and when he opened the door, he was standing much further away from the threshold than before, red eyes calmly moving up to the pair he could now see again.

It was almost impossible to ignore the thrumming bond that continuously tried getting his attention with her emotions.

"We're limited on time." he said simply, nodding once to the calmer of the two to lead the way. He felt she was more dangerous than the other, less predictable. And he only imagined how he and Shikiyoku would be lead away from the building.

~!**!~

Akari huffed once through her nostrils at the boy and simply let him lead her along, eyeing the busy building ahead as they walked and hoping like mad that _that place _was not his destination. She wasn't in the mood to deal with so many-

Of course it was.

_Laser Tag, whatever it is, better be worth this. _

She took to standing beside the boy and sighing, crossing her arms when he released her wrist and glancing up at him with as much patience as she could muster. "Care to explain?" she asked, deciding she might as well at least _try _to understand what all the fuss was about. _*****_

"What, and spoil m-_your _fun?" He made it obvious the slip was meant to be caught as he winked at her, the line moving rapidly up to the desk so that it did not give him a chance to actually answer her question before he had to turn to speak to the man standing behind the counter who waited expectantly for the black-haired boy to speak.

"How about S, P, R, T...D-T-C?" Yusuke told the guy.

Turning to his monitor, the man nodded smartly and ran his hands over the keyboard.

"You'll be thirty-five."

"Seven letters." Yusuke said to Akari as he stepped to the side to let her speak, "It'll be your player name."

~!**!~

"They _will not _make this easy on us, Captain." Taikou growled.

Yama said nothing, eyeing the closed door in front of them.

One way or another, the seductress in the room beyond them _would _be coming back to Queen Rae's palace. Yama preferred it to be of their own accord. The Queen would not approve of damaged goods.

She was surprised then, when the door reopened the the pair appeared willing to be led away.

Yama spared no further words, turning to leave.

"Pull your hood up, whore." Taikou spat as she fell in step just behind the blonde captain, who led the group back down the stairs.

The tavern was devoid of anyone save Kafu, who appeared to be cleaning glasses behind the bar.

The bartender did not so much as look up as they trooped past him, but he missed nothing of their exit, and wheels began turning in his head as they walked outside.

Greeted by the brightness of day, there were more than a hundred demons milling about in front of the entrance to the Niiro Kaga, and as soon as the door opened, they took up a tight formation around it, allowing only enough room that the captain and her lieutenant were able to continue to walk forward.

Other demons appears by various means, and their numbers grew much larger until they filled the entire street, remaining close enough around the four in their midst that none of those with prying eyes could see the two they were escorting to the palace.

Their path was unhindered, even as more city-demons scrambled from the woodwork to watch the legion pass, wondering what on earth would have called such an army from the halls of the palace.

The march was not a slow one, but they did have to travel almost to the other side of the city, so the time it took was long, if unidentifiable.

There was no way to see through the multitude of bodies that surrounded them, but soon the ground beneath their feet changed from the red dirt of the ninth level to a smooth, sparkling-red surface, and overhead the red-tinged sky changed to that of a blue ceiling.

Shikiyoku contented herself during their trip by devising various schemes that she could implement while they were forced under Rae's roof.

She was surprised when she felt their direction change away from where she knew the main hall where the Queen and her prince would greet people, and towards the more intimate greeting quarters where she and Hiei would likely be imprisoned for the duration of their stay.

They were practically driven into a room, led by Taikou and Yama, the door remaining open, but the other demons behind them not entering, staying past the threshold of the open door.

The chamber they found themselves in was extravagantly decorated with tapestries on the walls and luscious rugs scattered over the tile-like floor. Most things were red, though there was a smattering of blue and gold and purple, things obviously important from other levels of Demon World. The room wasn't all that large, but there was a backless couch with pillows in the middle of it surrounding a low table.

Yama and Taikou turned.

"You will wait here until her majesty can be pulled away from her duties." Yama told them, slipped past the pair with Taikou to get to the door they had entered from. 3

Hiei had not been surprised to see the formation that had taken place for the trek to the palace, as he assumed they were being led. He did keep tabs on the bond, however, since so many demons would at least lessen the attention on himself specifically and he could afford to do as such.

Each time he was met with distress, and each time it added to his own a fraction, though he did his best not to show it as his eyes assessed each and every demon around himself and Shikiyoku.

As he had thought, it hadn't been worth the attempt.

There were even a couple he thought he might not be able to outrun, and that was a first for him.

By the time he was inside a new room, he had gathered as much information as necessary and had collected himself, resigned to appearing calm as he stood in the middle of the room he and Shikiyoku had been ushered into.

He watched the pair disappear before his eyes wandered the room, finding the couch that was obviously either to make them feel as if they could be comfortable here, or for the queen. He was not sure yet.

"Not as spacious as initially thought," he mumbled to himself, referring to the fact that most palaces he'd heard of were much larger than this one. His hands momentarily touched the cloth of his cloak, almost considering hiding them away in his pockets, but thinking better of it as he turned to look at the threshold of the room again.

It could be seen as a threat.

_Cities. I despise them. _he thought to himself for the umpteenth time since he'd awoken. If only they'd avoided them, then this wouldn't have happened.

No use in dwelling over it, he supposed.

"_Ideas?"_ he asked Shikiyoku telepathically, deciding he needed something to distract himself. Plus, his own were still missing bits and pieces. Input would help greatly, should she have any ideas that would add onto his own.

~!**!~

Akari paused at the counter, listening to the letters Yusuke sputtered out before stringing them together and turning a stare of disbelief onto him. _Really?_ her expression read. _That's what you go for?_ With his basic name, she'd understood what she was meant to do.

But, did she _have _to?

_Ridiculous._

She couldn't think of anything, especially since he'd given her _no _warning whatsoever. Another huff that turned into a long-suffering sigh blew through her nostrils.

"R, i, d, c, l, u, s," she said slowly, deciding to go with what she thought of this moment. _Might as well. __*****_

"Thirty-six." The guy at the desk told her.

Yusuke graced her with a shower of laughter at her expression and subsequent letter choices, waving her to join him on the other side of the room near a set of doors that opened as soon as the students behind them finished submitting their names.

The room filled quickly with the students and Yusuke and Akari, the door behind them shutting and leaving them all in the darkness of the black lights that made every inch of white glow unnaturally.

The moderator of their game launched into a schpeal at the front of their group that Yusuke had heard many times before and tuned out. He knew how to play the game. He knew what not to do. He felt anxious to get out into the game arena and start shooting at people. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	41. Episode 126 - Laser Tag, Getting Ready

**A/N: **Hello once again, Beloved Yu Yu Hakusho Fans!

The scene between Shikiyoku and Hiei that starts at the end of this chapter (though it is unfortunately split up between this chapter and the next for sake of length) is one of my favorites up to this point in the story. I hope you enjoy it as well!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Yusuke are still hanging out at the arcade,  
but when they run out of things to do there,  
Yusuke takes Akari to a laser tag facility.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku and Hiei end up "kidnapped" from the Niiro Kaga  
by a pair of demons who work for someone they call Queen Rae,  
who is someone Shikiyoku knows from back when she lived in this city.

The two of them are escorted to the palace of the Queen,  
and told to wait until she is free to come and greet them...

* * *

"_If we do not take any opportunity to escape that presents itself at the instant one appears, we may never get out of here." _

Yama and Taikou had left the room, the door closing behind them and leaving Hiei and Shikiyoku alone.

"This room is only one connected to many other chambers that make up this particular section of greeting quarters." Shikiyoku replied, feeling herself tempted by the smell of the brewing tea that was exquisitely placed on the table in front of the couch. Of course, there were four cups and saucers already in place. 3

Hiei continued to stand there, eyes roaming between Shikiyoku and various parts of the room, ignoring the tea altogether. A small headache touched his mind, though he ignored it too since he felt no reason to dwell on the effects of not only his stress, but his rude awakening as well. He merely took in the colors around him, not that they varied much in his eyes.

When Shikiyoku spoke up verbally, he nodded, both in response to her verbal words and in acknowledgement of her telepathic words. He'd already considered it. "_Easier said than done, as I'm sure you know."_

"Typical."

He wasn't sure what to think at this moment in time, so he decided to simply sit back and see what happened next. There wasn't much he could do anyway. "_We'll figure it out."_

He wasn't sure if that last line was directed to her, or himself.

~!**!~

She completely ignored Yusuke's reaction, only following the boy to a room that, much to her surprise, was darkened, though the strange lights made odd things glow, such as the white in her shoes and the nail polish of the girl across the room, or the white of the boy's shirt next to her.

It was so…

Hm. She couldn't think of a word to describe it.

After a few moments of observing, she realized the human was talking, explaining the game, and she quickly tuned in to what he was saying, catching the basics despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to figure out how these lights created the effects they did.

"Remember, no running, and no cursing."

Akari rolled her eyes. She could only imagine that was the most ignored rule out of all the ones she'd heard so far. Humans tended to use profane language more often in situations that were meant for amusement that didn't go their way.

Such as a losing team.

"You have ten seconds before the doors unlock," the man said as he programmed her vest to shine a very vivid shade of green that momentarily distracted her, her mouth opening at first with awe at the change before the mental image of green eyes closing made her mouth snap shut.

_Focus on the game, _she thought as a loud buzzer sounded and doors unlocked, and kids were running everywhere, despite the last rule that had been said.

And it didn't take long for her to become completely engrossed in aiming at other people's hearts and pulling the trigger, the sound of the lasers shooting across the room and shouting people drowning out all previous thoughts and leaving only room for her own shouts and laughs. _*****_

Completely lacking any of the stealth or finesse of either Kurama or Hiei, Yusuke charged into the fray with a shout and proceeded to shoot down as many opponents as possible, firing wildly with his gun, double tapping as often as his fingers would allow him to do so on the trigger.

He ducked and dodged, and managed to avoid getting hit for the most part, but only because he was constantly moving back and forth through the sea of bodies that were all also shouted and having a good time.

It wasn't until half-way through that particular game that he began to intentionally seek out and fire at Akari, attempting to slip out of sight as soon as he could hear the satisfying sound of her armor buzzing to indicate her momentary immortality from being fired upon in quick succession.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out an audible sigh as she ignored the tea and sat down cross-legged in the middle of the room, a smile coming to rest on her mouth as she closed her eyes.

"_I wish you'd just burn the whole place down." _Images of the entire palace going up into flames twisted past her mind's eye, accompanied by no small amount of satisfaction at the thought.

Beginning to relax and release her tension, her panic, her fears, Shikiyoku tapped into her energy reserves and felt the usual shimmer settle over her skin, reaching up calmly to pull her hood back from her face and let her dark hair stream down about her shoulders.

Her energy began to slowly weave its way around the room, and she let it extend until each corner had been covered with the tendrils of power that slowly snaked about as if alive.

The next breath she took was a deeper one than the others, and all of her pent-up emotions slipped away as she settled into herself.

If she was going to have to talk to the so-called Queen, she was going to do so on her own terms. And in her own territory. 3

Hiei glanced only briefly over at Shikiyoku after her words that had been sent to him, fighting the sneer that made his lips twitch just a bit. He'd already thought of it, though he'd also deemed it too risky. Burning down a house without killing the stronger inhabitants was the easiest way to get oneself killed.

Or someone close to you killed first.

He turned his red eyes away again, looking up to the ceiling as if it held answers for him. He took in a deep breath before letting it release through his teeth, forcing his muscles to genuinely relax instead of forcing himself to appear calm.

It didn't help much.

Plenty of images passed by his mind's eye, some more gruesome than others, and some simply too good to even consider being true. For example, simply walking out of here did not seem like an option.

Nor did killing each and every person in this palace.

Both were simply out of the question.

Impossible.

His hands did finally slide into the pockets of his cloak, the familiar cloth helping him calm even more and to think a little more clearly. But for the most part, he would simply be waiting for whatever happened next. That would likely decide what his next step would be.

~!**!~

Akari, despite her initial reaction earlier to Yusuke tossing her into something new, found that she enjoyed this one. She moved around corners, between obstacles, fired her gun and was fired at, even laughed a little at a yelling match a pair of kids were having nearby.

She'd been doing well, in her opinion.

That is, until her armor began buzzing continuously, and she wasn't really able to get many shots out. It took a few minutes before she realized it was Yusuke firing at her, then ducking behind obstacles before repeating it, his aim true and his laser always hitting on the mark since she couldn't seem to get away from him.

Now she understood why there were so many kids yelling foul language at one another. This was frustrating!

Finally, she found a spot she could hide her upper body _just _right, where her armor was hidden behind a wall and she could fire from above the obstacle at the detective, her grin wide and white teeth shining oddly in the light as she finally was able to get her own hits on the boy.

This game was oddly very satisfying. _*****_

A red flashing light started blinking from somewhere above and the moderator called the players back into the room they started in, the rowdy crew hanging up their uniforms and heading about out into the lobby where they waited for the scores from the game to show up on the TV screen above them.

Yusuke didn't say anything to Akari as he walked over to stand next to her, the other kids being too loud for anything they said to be heard, but there was a fine sheen of sweat all across his skin and his usually, perfectly smoothed-down black hair was sticking up in places around his head.

~!**!~

From an unseen door behind a tapestry on the wall burst a tall, slender woman into the greeting quarters, her long, platinum blonde hair streaming behind her underneath an exquisite crown as she rustling across the room, holding a portion of her flowing blue and white multilayered dress up as she did so.

Her vibrant purple eyes were fixed on Shikiyoku and she fell to her knees next to the woman still sitting cross-legged on the floor to envelop her in an embrace.

"You came!" Her light voice exclaimed.

Shikiyoku did not bother to open her eyes, even when Queen Rae planted a kiss on her cheek, but her teeth clenched together momentarily in obvious irritation before she could let the emotion slide away, another pulse of her energy gently releasing into the room and beginning to weave, not only around the queen, but around the other newcomer who had entered behind her, and Hiei as well.

The second demon who entered the room remained much more stately than his female counterpart, his golden-brown hair falling in curls around his face, the majority of it gathered at the bottom of his neck with a simple blue bow, his slender figure in a regal suit whose colors mirrored those of the queen.

He regarded Hiei briefly, one eye pink, the other white, before his gaze shifted back to Shikiyoku. His nose flared, her scent having hit him as soon as he passed through the door, but he satisfied himself with sitting at the couch, leaning over with delicate, white-gloved hands to begin pouring the tea. 3

Hiei had, some time ago, receded into his inner thoughts and musings without having intentionally meaning to do so. So, when there was suddenly two more energies in the room, his entire body reacted. His shoulders stiffened and his hands left his pockets, his arms hanging at his sides while his hands formed fists. Momentarily, his gaze narrowed at the pair that entered the room and became comfortable with Shikiyoku.

He quickly recovered and his expression shifted to neutral once more, his muscles relaxed, and he merely stepped closer to the three, choosing to remain standing unless directed to do otherwise, which he fully expected.

In truth, he wasn't sure what to do or how to act. He'd never been in a situation like this one before.

But the idea of being obedient to someone else was not an appealing one.

He eyed the woman he assumed to be the queen, taking in her appearance quickly before turning to regard the second demon, eyeing this one a bit longer before turning back to the demoness that Shikiyoku had been most distressed over.

And he waited, watching with a calm gaze.

~!**!~

Akari had stopped when the loud sound had pierced the room and her weapon had ceased fire on its own, her smirk of amusement disappearing faster than it had arrived. In no time at all, she too was standing outside the laser tag room, arms crossed over her stomach and eyes staring up at a screen that popped up screen names and scores.

She glanced at Yusuke briefly when he appeared, raising a brow at his sweat and slight huffs of air. Had he really run around _that _much? Had she? She turned to take in the other kids around them, noting how each and every person had sweat gleaming on their foreheads and were huffing even just a little.

To them, she must have appeared as if she hadn't played at all.

The crowd began thinning out as the scores were posted, Akari's being one of the lowest, but not _the _lowest, surprisingly. She'd thought she'd done awful at the game, since it had been her first attempt.

"That was…" she paused as she turned to Yusuke, her lips forming into a grin despite her efforts to hide the gesture, "rather entertaining." _*****_

"I know." He replied, appearing smug. "It looks like this group is going to go in again. Shall we continue to crash their party?"

~!**!~

As Rae stood up, she grasped Shikiyoku's hand in her own and pulled her up to her feet as well.

The demon was at least twice as tall as Shikiyoku once they were both at a standing position, but the first still led the second to the couch and sat her down so that she would be inbetween the royalty. Rae reached for tea and handed Shikiyoku a set, which she took graciously, but proceeded not to drink.

"Seductress." The male demon intoned once she had a seat.

"Derrin."

"_Prince _Derrin, to you, my darling." Queen Rae insisted.

Shikiyoku turned her green gaze to Derrin to see his eyes looking down at her with amusement from where she sat inbetween them.

"Derrin." Shikiyoku repeated, an answering sparkle in his eyes though he did not speak.

Rae's thin eyebrow quirked, but she said nothing, only reaching for another cup and saucer for herself.

"What do you _want_, Rae?"

The queen obviously appeared irked that Shikiyoku referred to both her and her prince-mate by their first names only.

"You are to be my escort for the ball tonight." She lifted her cup to her lips.

"One is not enough?" Shikiyoku still did not drink, her eyes shimmering slightly as she glanced over at Derrin.

Derrin said nothing, remaining a silent observer.

"You do not truly wish me as 'escort.' I know you better. Am I simply to be your prize to show off?" Shikiyoku continued when she did not get an answer, turning back to Rae. "Or will I be a reinforcement of your power? I did not think your Household was ever in enough danger that you would _need _to use me in such a manner."

"That's enough." Queen Rae's eyes were narrowed, piercing violet glaring down at the small frame that Shikiyoku present. "You have a duty to perform and you will do it."

"And then I will leave."

Rae's features took on a fiercer beauty, her full lips lifting in a dangerous smile of sharp teeth that did not part farther to give an answer.

"There is still much preparation to be done and not many hours in which to do it." Derrin's calm voice cut through the sudden tension of the moment between the two demons, "Might I suggest you oversee the final touches, my queen?"

Rae said nothing, but her dress rustled again as she stood up, Derrin reaching to take her dishes from her.

For the first time since entering the room, Rae looked over at Hiei, her brilliant purple eyes revealing nothing of her intentions other than a sense of jealousy at his position.

"I _expect_ you'll want to be in attendance of your charge." Rae spoke as diplomatically as possible. She glanced back and forth between him and Shikiyoku. "I'm sure you can find something in your old rooms, darling." She reached over and tapped Shikiyoku on the nose. "But don't even think about leaving me again." She swept her dress up in her hands and left through the door Hiei and Shikiyoku entered from. 3

Hiei watched the scene, not reacting in any way to anything that was being said since, for the moment, it seemed his presence was unknown. Of course, he knew that wasn't actually true, but for a moment he was allowed to observe without being observed in return, and he took advantage of it for as long as he was allowed.

Until the woman rounded on him, her eyes flashing with an emotion he momentarily was surprised by before he raised a dark brow at her, that being his only reply to her. Why reply? She hadn't posed a question. His brow resettled into place, though it did twitch just slightly at her demand of Shikiyoku not leaving again, the implication making even Hiei cringe internally. Staying here would likely be hell, and he would probably be ignored.

Who knows how Shikiyoku felt about it.

He didn't even want to feel her emotions about it through the bond. Instead, he made a mental note to do just as she had said: make an escape as soon as he saw a fit opening to do as such.

And burn it down on his way out.

The thought made it very difficult to not suddenly scoff into the silence as the queen took her leave. He kept his lips firmly shut and the air built up for the scoff stuck in his chest, his breathing stopping momentarily in a show of restraint before he released it into a small sigh.

Better to feign boredom than blatant amusement at inner musings.

He almost considered saying something to Shikiyoku via his Jagan, but decided against it with a glance over at the remaining male.

And all he did was give a nod of acknowledgement.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow and her grin widened into a flashing smirk of deadly intent. "I have picked up the way of the game. Might as well continue," she replied honestly, letting her arms drop to her sides. "And don't think I'll be playing fair, detective. This game is a whole new level of play." _*****_

"Hmph!" Yusuke stuck his nose in the air, "Well, I suppose if you don't _cheat_, then this'll prove to be a most interesting round!"

They were once again led into the black-lit entrance chamber after the lecture to suit up, and set free into the arena, twenty seconds given to disperse throughout the hall.

~!**!~

Derrin tilted his head at Hiei, a faint smile across his lips.

"You are a source of consternation for her." Prince Derrin supplied, his two-colored gaze flickering towards the door Rae had left through. "She wished to be the next Champion for our seductress here."

"It doesn't work that way." Shikiyoku grumbled, finally lifting the cup to her lips to take a drink. "There's no _choosing _to have her as my Champion. It wouldn't work out like that."

Derrin said nothing, but even though his expression maintained its neutrality, there was no mistaking the amusement he had at the fact that Rae found Hiei's presence frustrating.

The prince gestured to the now-open spot on the couch next to Shikiyoku, crossing one leg over the other after reaching forward for a cup and saucer for himself.

"You are welcome to sit, Champion. Or stand. Make yourself comfortable as you see fit." 3

Hiei stared unblinkingly at the male, showing no reaction to his words of the queen or even making any indication that he had heard them. He almost thought that Shikiyoku felt more comfortable around this demon than the female, though from the small amount of interaction he'd seen, he could certainly see why. This one kept his distance, to a degree that is.

The fire demon made no motion to move from his spot either. While he was not happy just standing the way he was, stock still and all, he didn't feel obliged to sit either. When he considered it, wariness washed down his spine and made him stand even just a fraction taller.

So he remained where he was, turning red eyes onto Shikiyoku and finally speaking, pointing his words more towards her than in response to the other. "I have no plans of leaving. I have a duty and I will serve as long as I am necessary." _Whether she wants me to or not. _

~!**!~

Akari quickly dispersed away from any other person in the room, smirking to herself at the challenge that was presented to her: _watch for Yusuke, and all others. _She looked down at her shoes with a slight feeling of awe, contradicted with disdain that the white, despite the dirt that befuddled them, stood out. Her shirt, luckily, was just as dark as her jeans, making it just a bit easier to conceal herself- aside from the blue armor that flashed in the darkness as the beginning buzzer sounded.

It didn't take long for her to find the detective and open fire, striking his armor and rendering him momentarily 'dead'. She quickly moved to hide again, though restrained from using her full speed to do such. _*****_

Yusuke joyfully blasted at any and all he found, dodging nimbly out of the way from shots fired until a few minutes in he felt his armor buzzing at him and he quickly trotted off in the opposite direction, looking around eagerly for the enemy who had caught him in the few seconds he had of "freedom."

He soon became distracted by all the others around and thought nothing more of the single shot for the moment.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had turned back to Hiei when it appeared he would begin to speak, but when his crimson gaze trained upon her and he spoke back, she felt a strange constriction around her core and the half-pact within her mind settled into a steady thrum, echoing an assurance in her mind at this Champion's statement that she had not felt in ages.

Or perhaps...ever? That was...impossible. She had more than one Champion before. This...thrumming of protection was not tainted by ulterior motives and it felt...strange...pure.

Derrin did not miss the exchange, even sipping on his drink quietly and not quite privy to the entire conversation he knew was happening on a different level between the pair in the room.

His tea only had one last swallow in it and when he finished, he placed it back down on the table and started to rise.

"There are still many more preparations to be made, as I'm sure you understand, seductress." He said as he stood.

Shikiyoku nodded absently before pulling herself away from the sight of the fire demon before her to look up at Derrin's pink and white eyes.

As if it were a natural thing between them, Derrin bent over Shikiyoku and tipped her face towards his with a single, slender finger, planting a kiss on her lips that lasted perhaps a second or two longer than was necessary before he pulled away and rose to his full height.

"She's chosen a gown for you."

"My joy knows no bounds." Shikiyoku's eyebrow quirked at the thought of what exactly Rae wanted her to wear.

Derrin did not laugh, but the edges of his mouth twitched in his amusement as he turned away to follow the path his blonde queen had taken out the visible door. 3

Hiei stared for a few more moments before the sound of glass meeting the coffee table met his ears, and after blinking slowly, he turned to glance at the male demon, whose name he hadn't really cared enough to listen for. He met the odd gaze before the demon turned away, Hiei's own eyes shifting to the side and his jaw clenching momentarily before the demon moved to follow after the queen.

The moment he was gone, Hiei found himself glancing down at his cloak and sneering. He looked back up at Shikiyoku, sneer still touching his lips. "I suppose my attire will not change," he mused, though he wouldn't be surprised if he _was _forced to change.

Perhaps it was something the queen hadn't counted on at first, and had waited before making a decision.

His sneer was gone in the next second.

"_We'll be leaving as soon as an opportunity opens up. When the conditions are right." _

~!**!~

Akari strolled down the sidewalk beside the detective, arms stretched in the air as a breeze blew by, cooling her warm face exponentially as she gave another small laugh. Laser Tag, turns out, was a very tiring game, even for her. She had even actually broken out into a sweat after the third round, when things had gotten more intense.

"Laser tag will now be dubbed as my favorite. Thank you, Yusuke," she said to the boy, turning her shining hazel orbs onto him with a wide smile. "Not many things here make me feel obligated to spend my energy in such a way." Another pause. "I enjoyed it, likely more than I should have." _*****_

Yusuke had the jacket of his school uniform tossed carelessly over one shoulder, his hands jammed into the pockets of his pants as they walked along.

His smile still hadn't faded, and did in fact widen at Akari's admission to enjoying herself.

"I don't believe that it is possible to enjoy things more than one 'should.'" Yusuke pointed out. "If you're enjoying it guilt-free, then why complain?"

He let out a happy sigh, pleased to see that perhaps even if only for a little while, Akari's mind had been pleasantly distracted.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku also placed her cup and saucer on the table, her eyes straying after the slender form the prince cut as he left the room, taking a moment longer to stand and pull herself back to hear Hiei's words.

"I would not put it past Rae to have something in your exact size set out and waiting for us before we get over there. She has an uncanny knack in that respect, regardless of her feelings towards you." Shikiyoku started to walk towards the door herself, withdrawing her energy from the room as she went. 3

Hiei shrugged once noncommittally at Shikiyoku, as if he couldn't care less one way or the other. It would certainly be an inconvenience to have a suit, since he wasn't sure he'd be able to conceal his sword.

Not that the weapon would do anything.

He brushed away the thought and turned to stare after Shikiyoku as she passed. "And where are we going, exactly?"

Of course, he wouldn't let her roam by herself in a place so crowded with… threats…

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow, taking his words as a challenge and feeling her smile turn from joyful to sly. "I once met a demon who enjoyed alcohol so much he made his own." She gave a pause, to make it sound more innocent than it actually was. "The main ingredient was his daughter's blood and hair."

Okay, so maybe she was pulling his leg, though it wasn't something that would be unheard of in demon world, creatures doing harm to their kin for personal gain of any kind. It was more common.

"Also, to counter your words, Kamiya is a rather pointed example. He enjoyed medicine so much he used it against people, remember?" A smirk. "'Course," she gave a pause, suddenly realizing she knew nothing of how that had turned out. _I'll ask Koenma._

By now, she'd completely forgotten her train of thought. She simply continued onto another conversation, her eyes turning to the sun that was slowly making its way across the sky, knowing it had to be close to time for school to be out. "Anything you want to do before the after-school rush of students? If not, I think I'll go home and take Nabu for a run. He's been at the house all day." _*****_

"Nah." Yusuke intoned, deciding not to comment on her other subjects as he was sure she knew what his answer would be anyway, "I've got a few things to do myself anyway. But thanks for hanging out. It was pretty cool." He tossed her another grin and started to trot across the street in another direction.

~!**!~

Letting the path she cut speak for the question Hiei asked her, as Shikiyoku led the way out of the room, she fell silent.

Along either side of the hallway were stationed demons whom she assumed to be members of the High Guard, standing at attention.

She quietly moved to the left and began weaving her way through the halls, only having to pause once to think about a turn. The entire way, there were guardsmen stationed on either side, usually within thirty or forty feet of one another, and anything Shikiyoku wished to say to Hiei fell away each time she opened her mouth and then caught sight of another guard.

Their escape was not going to be an easy one.

Shikiyoku eventually led the way to a door that she opened and stepped inside, noting the two sentinels stationed on either side of the frame.

A sigh escaped her lips as she stepped inbetween them and into the room beyond.

This one was much larger, taller, and more lavishly decorated than the previous sitting room, though it appeared to serve the same purpose as the other.

Shikiyoku did not stop, instead moving across the smooth tile to another door at the back, stepping through it into a second room much like the one they just left, but with a more intimate feel, and then into a third door that opened up into what was obviously a bedroom with vanity and chair in one corner, doors that likely led to a large closet along the side of it, and an exquisitely huge bed with a dark, wine-colored canopy and black, likely Demon World's equivalent of satin, sheets.

As Shikiyoku had surmised, there lay on the bed two different sets of clothing. The bright pink pile of ruffles and ribbons she summarily ignored, but the outfit next to it did make her eyebrows raise.

The dark, loose attire was a very old, very traditional Demon World garb reserved for special occasions and most similarly resembled those outfits worn by warriors in times long past when demons and samurai often walked the same paths. Shikiyoku had no doubt the clothing would fit Hiei as if it were made for him. 3

Hiei had followed silently, eyes staying trained on Shikiyoku's back the entire trek around the palace, not allowing his eyes to leave her form as she lead the way to… wherever she decided she was going. His senses checked each and every demon lining the halls, and wasn't surprised to find each one close to, or maybe even surpassing the lower S ranking in power. And it set him on edge with each demon he passed.

Security was _very_ strict around these parts, it seemed. But after a few minutes, they were in a room and no other demon was within sights. He looked around the room before realizing Shikiyoku was still walking, and he too moved to the next room, moving until Shikiyoku gave a pause.

He followed her gaze to the outfits on the bed, and after a second, he realized the one to the right was meant for him.

His expression shifted almost instantly to one of disdain. _No._ That was his lone thought on the matter. He slid his gaze to Shikiyoku, giving her an obvious look of defiance.

"It's a suit meant for apes."

~!**!~

Akari smirked at Yusuke obviously ignoring her retorts, noting he didn't call her out on her first bluff. When he moved to jog away, she tossed a wave at him. "Maybe we'll do it again sometime," she called after him before turning and continuing on her own way, making it back to her own home before too long. For once, she wasn't greeted with a bouncing pup. Instead, she was greeted with silence and dust motes floating in the air of the living room.

After a few minutes, she sighed and began shifting her things around the room, moving her belongings about and reordering the mess she'd created with her school things. Once that was done, she simply turned and moved to plop down on the bed of roses.

Except, her body hit the mat instead, making a small cloud of dust puff into the air around the edges while her face sunk into the pillow. She released a sigh of content and, for the moment, reveled in the silence of the room.

Maybe a nap was in order. _*****_

~!**!~

The tension that had been building up across the back of Shikiyoku's shoulders suddenly fell away at Hiei's disdain and subsequent derisive comment about the attire Rae had placed out, and that tension bubbled up as a string of laughter out past her lips and off of her muscles.

"You," Shikiyoku heaved a breath, clutching at her stomach and squeezing her eyes together in her humor, "You are a delight, my dear fire demon."

Still chuckling, she closed the distance between her and the bed and wrinkled her nose at both outfits as she looked down at them. 3

Hiei narrowed his eyes at the sudden burst of laughter that filled the air, his crimson irises flashing in annoyance. He hadn't meant it to be _funny_. He opened his mouth to say something about her outburst, but Shikiyoku beat him to it, and his mouth closed only briefly until she was done speaking and had taken to staring down at the outfits, as he himself had.

"Glad to be of service," he grumbled sarcastically, turning his eyes the opposite direction.

After another moment, he released a sound similar to a scoff and turned back to her. "I am not wearing that."

~!**!~

Akari hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep until she'd begun dreaming. At first, it was nothing, simply images of things that made no sense and meant nothing in particular. But after a while, she didn't know when, the dream shifted and she was again witnessing the moment in the gym. Though, after his weapon had hit her, she seemed stuck at that very moment, her mind concentrating on the pain that he'd caused and the confusion that had flooded her at the gesture. Shifting in her sleep made the wound actually sting, making the dream, or rather memory, more vivid than before.

He'd been trying to make a point. Her unconscious mind tried making sense of it, but instead she was stuck on the simple fact that he'd added another line across her torso, another memory that would be triggered each time she changed outfits.

Just like the rest.

Just like the other lines across her skin, just like the previous attacks that had hindered her movement for more than just a few weeks. Just like-

Akari shifted again, a hand batting at something outside the dream realm as a moment of pause ensued during a transition.

This time the darkness didn't clear. But, she was indeed dreaming again.

She was in a darkened room, the floor beneath her no longer cool, but sticky and uncomfortable. Her body stiff.

"_-this long. She's more resilient than the others."_

"_It's the possibility of getting away."_

"_There is none."_

"_She hasn't admitted that yet, moron. That's why she's our best captive yet. The only one from the first trial period."_

_She'd shut them out. She shifted, curling tighter around herself despite the stiff protests of her bones and the dried liquid in her hair and clothing, clothing that they'd supplied for her. The floor, once smooth, not pulled at her skin, creating an angry burning along her side even as she settled in for another attempt at sleep._

"_Ready for the last one?"_

"_Might as well. She's awake anyway. If Sakiyo returns and she still has an ear, he's gonna kill us."_

The dream had continued, though her mind desperately tried shutting it out. But after a while, she'd gone through what felt like an eternity of memories, ranging from that moment to the days after, to another moment where she'd wished for nothing more than to be left alone.

She suddenly jolted awake and was sitting up, sweat coating her skin and her breath nothing more than short, panicked huffs as her eyes looked around the room, searching for the faces that had been leaning down towards her for another round of testing, poking and prodding.

"N-Nabu?" she called, searching for the pup that normally pulled her from these dreams. The dog was nowhere in sight, and for the first time since the dog had appeared, she felt completely and utterly alone. The darkness of the room closed in around her, and she drew her knees to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees while her arms wrapped around her shins.

The silence was deafening, so when paws did make sound outside the house, it wasn't known to Akari at first.

Not until a wet nose ran across her arm.

"_Akari!"_

She jolted at the dog's bark, eyes turning to Nabu and staring with wide pupils, suddenly realizing there was a wetness on her cheeks.

"_You're gonna be okay." _She gave him no reply, only turning away and resting her chin on her knees again. "_You have to look at me, 'kari. It doesn't help, you know that." _She tried taking a deep breath, but it didn't work. It stopped in her throat, and more images passed by her mind. Her eyes squeezed shut and she tried putting up the mental walls again, but this only enabled more memories to pass, her breathing now short enough to almost be classified as nonexistent, and her body shook enough that she irrationally told herself she was only cold.

Paws were now on her shins, and Akari's eyes slid open to meet the wide brown eyes of Nabu, whose nose rubbed against hers. "_I'm back. I didn't mean to leave for so long. I'm sorry, but I'm here now." _Another pause as he sighed. "_You're not alone." _

For the first time, she realized how much older the dog was. His body was huskier, his eyes wiser and his pawls larger. He weighed more, and his coat was thicker. And in this moment, he didn't seem like a pup.

"_Try this. Make it bloom." _He dropped a small seed onto her shoe and sat on his haunches. "_I wanna see it bloom." _

With robotic movements, Akari's arm reached out and her fingers grasped the seen that Kurama had given her. She stared at it, but it didn't change. "_You're not trying hard enough." _She huffed and then took a deep breath, staring harder at the rose. It moved, forming a small sprout, but nothing more. "_Come on, you can do better than that."_

She hadn't realized it, but her breathing had slowed, her shaking had almost ceased, and slowly, images were fading away. After a few more minutes of staring, and much more prompting from the dog, the red flower was in full bloom, opening in her hand and releasing a fragrance throughout the room. "_See? Isn't it pretty?" _*****

~!**!~

Somewhere in the abyss of sleep, Kurama felt a stirring of energy that slowly pulled him from his dreamless rest, and his eyes slowly opened to look up at the ceiling of his bedroom.

It only took another second for him to identify what had rustled his core, and the answer actually surprised him.

The rose.

He had not even considered at the time that the gesture of the gift would be so much more than he had intended. For perhaps the first time in his life, there had been no ulterior motives in the giving, nor had all the outcomes been analysed. He felt positive he wasn't the first to find themselves slightly foolish in such a situation.

The silent hum of his demonic energy bubbled somewhere inside him, and he was vaguely aware-still half-asleep-that the rose had changed forms, from seed to bloom. And if he concentrated just a little bit more, he could even tell which direction the seed had been activated in, and a small smile passed over his lips as he drifted back into slumber.

~!**!~

"I'm not laughing _at _you." Shikiyoku huffed, "But rather your opinion of the outfit. I half-wished Rae had been here for your...apt description."

She reached forward and plucked at a portion of the ruffles on the dress.

"Though, you'd be able to more easily remain armed at the ball with an outfit such as that." Shikiyoku remarked absently, grasping at the pink fabric in both hands and giving a rough tug to pull it apart at the seams, letting out the most satisfying tearing noise as the pieces created a large hole in the gown up the side of it.

"Oh no." She said emotionlessly, tossing it back down on the bed in feigned disdain, "It's ripped. I can't possibly wear it now."

Shikiyoku flippantly turned away from the dress and stepped towards the closet doors. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku before turning away, deciding he didn't care much about her outburst or anything following. Though, he did find himself rather amused when Shikiyoku tore the dress. He hadn't considered sabotage. It certainly would do the trick now, wouldn't it?

He eyed the two outfits again before an even more amusing thought crossed his mind. His hand reached out and took both fabrics in his grasp, and a second later, a flame burst over the outfits, and his neutral expression was highlighted, the disdain in his irises reflected with the glow of the flames that licked at his hand.

After only a moment, the outfits were no longer in existence, and no sign of them was to be seen. That was the perk of his energy; he could burn anything, and if he so desired, leave no evidence.

"What outfits?"

~!**!~

Akari stared at the bloom, the red petals continuing to open up just a little more as she moved it around between her forefinger and her thumb. The color of the flower did trigger something in her mind, but Nabu's wet tongue on her cheek completely washed it away, and she was allowing the flower to return to seed form before she wrapped her arms around Nabu for a hug that made a small whine leave the not-so-small dog in her arms.

"_You're hurting me."_

She released him wordlessly and wiped his slobber from her face. He landed neatly on his feet and began pawing at her knees, silently asking to sit in her lap.

"_Show me again."_

She let her legs slide so that they were stretched out in front of her, the blanket falling the rest of the way from her waist as Nabu crawled to sit on her thighs. Her breath hitched again, this time from the remaining emotions from her memories and her restless sleep, and again Nabu's wet nose roamed her face, followed by his tongue.

"_Show me again, Akari. Now."_

"Demanding little creature."

"_Do it."_

She took a deep breath and willed the rose to change again, this time not needing his prompting o continue shifting the flower back and forth from one form to another.

And all the while, Nabu chattered her ear off, not giving her mind time to wander for longer than a second.

"_Oh! I know! Let's go to the park!"_

"Nabu, do you know what time it is?"

"_Do __**you**__? I've been alone all day! Now play with me!" __*****_

~!**!~

The hum of his energy never quite pulled Kurama from his sleep again, but instead, the feeling settled just below his core in a pleasant thrum that caused a smile to twitch at his lips even without being awake.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku felt the flare up of energy before she actually got the closet door open, and by the time she turned around with a frown at his question, Hiei stood as innocently as likely possible for the fiery soul, the dress and garb nowhere in sight.

The frown on her face deepened, her expression dark.

Had this been any other of her Champions, she would have promptly thrown her arms about their neck and kissed them soundly for being so ridiculously brilliant.

"You-" Shikiyoku began, eyes narrowing at him as she held back almost painfully her initial desire at Hiei's destruction of the clothing, "-have just earned my undying devotion. And if you _don't _burn as many things as possible like that while we're here, I'll consider it a slight upon my very person." 3

Hiei stood there, letting his hand fall to his side before he turned to look at Shikiyoku, meeting her dark expression with a neutral one, trying to read her thoughts without using his Jagan. For a moment, he thought he'd angered her, but her words glossed over any suspicion of such a thing, leaving him staring at her unblinkingly for a moment before his lip twitched briefly.

_I'll keep that in mind._

He made a gesture that said 'go back to what you were doing', choosing not to react to her words outwardly more than the simple twitch his lips had given before his expression again turned blank. "Find something worth my time." He paused. "And yours. Might as well." With that, he approached and stood behind her, peering into the open doors of the closet curiously.

_Might as well take whatever interests us._

~!**!~

Akari frowned and looked to the nearest boarded up window, already knowing it was dark out. By the silence of the outside world, it could very likely be after midnight. She looked to the dog, noticing again how much larger he was than when he'd first started following her around town. He didn't look much like a pup anymore.

The memory of falling asleep on the park bench with him that first day fled across her mind's eye, completely replacing any other image that had been trying to push to the forefront of her mind. She gave a sigh.

"_Please? I wanna play. We haven't played in a while."_

Another sigh, this time one that was resigned as she watched the rose shift back to seed form for the final time. "Alright, grab the toys you want and put them in the bag."

"_Yay!"_ he barked as he turned and bounced to the duffel bag across the room, peering inside before turning and bounding by her again to fetch.. whatever it was he wanted. All the while, she stretched and pushed herself to stand, her body reacting as if she'd been laying in a very odd position all day, cracking and popping painfully.

She wouldn't be sleeping again tonight. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stepped into the walk-in closet, various articles of clothing hanging about in the small, square room. With an unnatural fondness as Shikiyoku walked forward, she found her hand brushing against the fabrics at her shoulder, lost in memories briefly.

She pointed to a corner almost opposite them, "Anything you'd be interested in will be in that area." She turned to appraise Hiei's size briefly, "We're roughly the same size. I'm sure anything in here will fit you." 3

Hiei didn't follow Shikiyoku at first. He merely stood there, staring at the different cloths, the different outfits, the different fabrics and colors that stared back at him. After his slight hesitation that allowed him to take it all in, he did step inside, but even when Shikiyoku pointed him towards a corner of the closet, he didn't move right away.

He turned to eye her momentarily, noting her faraway gaze as her hands touched materials, her fingers brushing fabrics that appeared smooth to the touch. He took in the serene moment silently, watching her every move and memorizing each motion she made.

He shook himself out of it and swiftly moved to the corner that she'd indicated to. It didn't take long for him to see the transition, and for a moment, he stared at the varieties with an expression akin to disbelief. There were some outfits that were extremely expensive, he could tell, and some even appeared to be rather…. tight-fitting, even for her general size.

He turned red eyes to the area Shikiyoku was in for a brief moment before turning back to his selections. And after a few moments, his mind was made up. It was the only thing that he even considered, since it had a coat long enough to hide his weapon, should he decide to carry it.

As if he wouldn't.

He pulled on the black and white outfit, glancing at the layers of clothing and realizing it consisted not of two parts, but several. There was a black shirt that almost appeared to be attached to the black pants beneath, and a long sleeve black jacket over that had white stripes along the seams. There was also what appeared to be a harness-like fabric that hung over the shoulder, likely to keep the jacket in place.

Or was it a type of trench-coat?

He wasn't entirely sure, but it did serve as he felt fit. There were even gloves, though he saw no reason to wear them.

He pulled on the hanger that the outfit resided on, releasing it from the position it hung in and turning to leave the closet, not even pausing to show Shikiyoku, as he assumed she would either see it when he passed, or she'd just figure it out when she emerged as well with her own outfit. _*****_

Shikiyoku moved farther inward, still awash in memories of other times, other balls thrown by Rae, where the dancing and revelry had lasted for days without end as demonic stamina would allow, and she remembered spinning about the room in the arms of her second Champion in dresses tailor -made for her station in life.

Was _that _what Rae was trying to accomplish? Kidnapping her into an era long past and making it so that she did not _wish_ to leave? Shikiyoku would not have put it past the other demon. And she was certain Derrin was in on this little scheme as well.

When Shikiyoku reached the back wall, she stopped, eyes alighting on a dress she remembered commissioning personally of a tailor in the city, but never actually wearing.

Without further consideration, Shikiyoku slipped off her deep crimson cloak and began undressing, grabbing for the dress hanging in front of her and stepping into it, finding herself smirking and wondering if Hiei even knew how to work a zipper. 3

Hiei moved from the closet and swiftly changed outfits, surprised when it fit almost perfectly. He hadn't realized he and Shikiyoku were-

Wait, this was _her _outfit. Why hadn't he realized that before? _Why?_ Why would she need such an outfit? He shook the thought away and continued adjusting the harness-like object, and once he was done fiddling with it, he began moving about the room, testing its restrictions and limits of movement. For the most part, it posed no issues. So, he grabbed his sheathed sword and continued to strap it to his waist, letting the coat fall over it to test how well it veiled his weapon.

_Perfect_.

This was all he'd need. He looked up, satisfied for the most part as he glanced around the room.

"It isn't all ridiculous," he finally commented, wondering how long she'd be taking. _*****_

"My things usually aren't." Shikiyoku replied as she stepped out of the closet, holding the front of the dress up in one hand that clutched at the jacket which went with it while the other clutched a portion of the dress so that she would not trip on it while moving.

Before she could think to ask Hiei for help, her head tilted slightly to the side as she regarded his choice of clothing with a blank expression. She nodded once as if in approval, then spoke, turning so that her back faced him.

"This is your job." She said simply, the two sides of the back of her dress needing to be zipped together. She let go of the bottom part of the dress she held to gather her hair with those fingers and pull the long tresses over her shoulder and out of the way. 3

Hiei raised a brow as Shikiyoku emerged from the closet, the color choice one he appreciated and the dress being one he found he rather… admired. It seemed to suit her. After another moment, he recovered and watched her turn her back onto him, his eyes finding the bottom of the zipper and understanding rather quickly.

He closed the distance and, in a single motion, had the dress zipped up, and he took the step away to cross his arms over his chest, watching her for a moment before he released a breath through his nostrils, suddenly feeling apprehensive.

"This is going to be the longest stretch of time ever experienced."

And again, his mind whispered three simple words:

_I. Hate. Cities. __*****_

Shikiyoku said nothing, her feelings on the matter very much in tune with Hiei's, and instead simply slipped the jacket over her shoulders and let her hair fall back down behind her.

She paused for a second and looked down at herself, seeing the gem still around her neck. The one that would open the door back to Human World once this was all over.

It didn't match.

Shifting her arms around a bit, she let the smooth, dark cloth settle in just past her elbows as she moved back into the closet, silent save for the pleasant rustle of the fabric.

Slipping the necklace from around her neck, Shikiyoku tucked it away safely on her person, too cautious to leave it here, and deftly plucked the jewelry she had purchased for this very dress from a drawer, the crimson gems of the necklace nestling in the empty space of her skin around her collar bones.

In another moment, she had retrieved a strange looking device as she once more pulled her hair over her shoulder, weaving the strands into the thing and waiting a few seconds before untwisting it all, leaving the ends of her hair in a curl and within the next second, having it all pulled up to leave the back of her neck bare and placing two pins precisely within to keep it from falling.

_As if I'd forget how to look presentable. _She thought ruefully, stepping into a pair of flat slippers the same color as the dress as she also adorned herself with gems meant to dangle from her ears.

One such ear perked as she caught voices coming from the room beyond, and she felt glad of the timing, or she might become a bit stir-crazy with any wait.

She swept back into the bedroom, holding the dress up with both hands out of habit, and reaching for the closed door, pausing as she realized the voices were not of Rae or Derrin, or of anyone she recognized.

"-came calling again not too long ago."

"He's been asking for her help for _ages_. He's been more persistent of late, though."

"She's not going to help him."

"The fact that they're siblings doesn't even seem to phase her in the slightest. She turned him away just as she has all those other times. Says she might get concerned if the threat extends to the Ninth Level. Thinks that it's a poor choice having what's-his-face put on the masquerade and pretending to be-"

Shikiyoku went ahead and opened the door, stepping out to see two plain demons who were likely part of the lower caste in the Household abruptly fall silent at her entrance, eyes guarded.

"The queen has requested that we escort you to the ball." One of them said.

"Of course she has." Shikiyoku stepped all the way into the room and looked back to see if Hiei was ready. 3

Hiei had immediately become aware of the demons outside, and had turned to eye the door as soon as their energies grabbed his attention. He eyed the closed door for a few minutes until Shikiyoku passed and pulled it open, revealing two more demons he had yet to see.

Or maybe he had. He didn't know. There were simply too many people to keep up with. He'd try his best, however.

When she looked back at him, he raised a brow at her as if to say _I was waiting on you_, and his hands tested for pockets where his cloak normally held them, disappointed to know that they were not there. So he contented himself in letting his hands fall to his sides again and he moved to join her, staring unblinkingly at the pair of demons beyond the open doorway.

_Let's get this over with. _*****

The pair of demons led the other two through various paths of the extensive Household, silent the entire way.

As they went, Shikiyoku began to recognize the path they took, knowing that they were being led to, not the main entrance where other demons of the city would be allowed in, but instead to the grand doors that Rae and Derrin had likely already been presented in.

There was a low murmur of sound that had begun to waft in the air, though it surprisingly never seemed to grow any louder.

The two demons stopped in front of a regally dressed older demon who did not appear to notice them, instead looking beyond at Shikiyoku and Hiei.

"You're expected." He said simply, turning towards the magnificent doors.

The two demons scrambled to either handle and began pulling them back.

Shikiyoku stepped up so that when the doors came fully open, it would be a simple matter to step beyond into the Grand Hall.

As the doors slowly pulled towards them, the older demon just in front of her, Shikiyoku reached out and pulled Hiei next to her gently, arranging his arm bent at the elbow so that she could slide her hand underneath, between his side and arm and rest her fingers in the crook of his elbow.

Her posture shifted taller as the older demon opened his mouth to announce the arrival of the pair.

"Presenting the Venerated Seductress and her Esteemed Champion!"

The low murmur grew softer as Shikiyoku stepped forward, her hand at Hiei's elbow allowing her to bring him along with her, into the gigantic ballroom with its high ceiling and tiled floor.

The two of them were up a small set of stairs that placed them higher than the others for the moment, the room stretching out before them.

With a guarded gaze, Shikiyoku paused just shy of the staircase and let her eyes rove over the many demons spread out below, recognizing certain faces and trying not to heave an exasperated sigh at the entire situation.

Rae and Derrin were awaiting them at the bottom of the stairs and Shikiyoku moved down to them.

"The first dance is yours as always, seductress." Derrin murmured when they were close enough, gesturing to the middle of a completely cleared area meant for dancing, the other demons of the evening scattered around the edges of it.

Shikiyoku stiffened. She'd forgotten this part. Which meant Hiei knew nothing of leading her out there, and if she had to guess, knew nothing of _dancing_.

"I'm sure _your majesties _would prefer the first one all to themselves?" Shikiyoku smiled demurely. 3

Hiei followed, his mind roaming over the different energies he could feel throughout the area and feeling himself stiffen up even more at the sheer amount of people, not to mention the amount of _energy_ he could feel pulsating throughout the palace. It was almost as if the air itself held its own thrumming energy that moved with the patrons inside, and it took a great deal of concentration to force his body lax.

By the time the small group paused before a large pair of doors, he'd regained his calm demeanor enough to adjust accordingly when Shikiyoku tugged at him, his body moving almost instinctively to make it appear as if she'd only gestured for him to step up to her. It didn't take long for him to realize that he would need his Jagan, to read minds and figure out what was expected of him.

In the very least, he'd grace Shikiyoku with his mind's presence touching hers. He wouldn't dare try it on another. Perhaps he could pull it off in such a large gathering.

By the time the doors were open and he'd taken in the sheer numbers, he'd prepared himself for making telepathic contact. Even as his feet moved in synchronization with Shikiyoku, he mind was slowly reaching out.

He paused midway at the demon's words, turning an unblinking stare onto Derrin. He felt the pulse of panic in the bond, and that was when he turned to her, his mind swiftly reaching out to hers to grab her attention.

"_Concentrate." _That was all he said, already having figured they wouldn't be able to get out of it. _*****_

"We would never dare encroach upon your territory." Queen Rae's eyes glittered, as if she knew everyone within earshot understood the statement was false.

"_I __**hate **__politics." _Shikiyoku grumbled to herself, suddenly aware that her forethoughts did not only echo within her own mind, but within another's as well. She tried not to blink in surprise at the discovery, instead nodding her head in a manner that was not only benefitted by appearing to be for Rae, but was truly meant for Hiei.

It took no time at all for Shikiyoku to adjust to Hiei's presence, the feeling only slightly different than Champions previous as in this case it was Hiei's abilities that allowed them this boon and not the pact between them. She readily welcomed the warmth of his thoughts through the Jagan's power and relaxed into it, feeling a great deal of her previous anxiety lifting at the thought that they were here. Together.

The eyes of every single demon in the room were trained upon them, and a gentle rhythm of music started from somewhere unseen.

Shikiyoku began to step forward towards the center of the room with Hiei at her side. Words took too long to form in the short amount of time they had, and instead Shikiyoku sent the fire demon images of what he was meant in this case as Champion to do.

He was to lead her to the middle, take her into his arms as one did for dancing, and then they would begin in time with the music being played. Others would join them after a couple of minutes, first the 'queen' and 'prince,' but then whoever else wished, and their steps would weave patterns in and out and around each other, each couple's dance only a part of a larger dance that incorporated all those on the floor. 3

Hiei turned his eyes away as soon as he was sure Shikiyoku had noticed his mind's presence, his crimson orbs turning to the queen and carefully avoiding her gaze, so as to not make accidental contact. He busied his eyes with looking towards the open area of the room, as if eager to get it over with. When Shikiyoku began to move, his Jagan seemed to warn him of the movement her brain had decided on, and he moved with the same foot she did, mirroring her movements with a precision that he'd only been able to accomplish through his rather special ability.

Along the way, he received images, impressions, and took them in quickly despite the sudden distress he felt. One misstep could cost… who knows what.

Swiftly, that thought was pushed away and replaced with images that Shikiyoku had sent him, pausing in the middle of the cleared dance floor to turn to her and poise himself just as she'd shown him, eyes following his own motions to ensure they were as smooth as she'd asked of him, and once he had one of her hands in his and his other resting on her waist gently, his eyes moved to meet hers.

Waiting. He knew she would be able to take the first step, since he would know nothing of the first cue. So he concentrated, his Jagan picking through her mind for memories deftly, though not in such an obvious way as to distract her from her own thoughts.

And he would adjust accordingly. _*****_

* * *

_In case anyone cares: Hiei is wearing something like the outfit of Kirito from the first season of Sword Art Online._

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	42. Episode 127 - Escaping a Royal Ball

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of FF!

This chapter is another one of those that has only Shikiyoku and Hiei in it.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Yusuke joyously played several rounds of Laser Tag  
before going their separate ways.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku and Hiei are forced to attend the ball put on by Queen Rae and Prince-Consort Derrin,  
and the two must, according to tradition, be the first to dance.

Initially, Shikiyoku is worried as she is certain Hiei has no court-life experience,  
but after connecting their minds via the Jagan, he reassures her as they take to the floor,  
letting her lead as he is capable of reacting almost instantaneously thanks to the Evil Eye...

* * *

Shikiyoku found herself transported back to eons past when her "job" consisted of more than just the fulfillment of desires. She had been a teacher for those that wished to be in attendance of these revelries, and she suddenly found herself in the arms of one such student-if for different reasons than a true desire to be there-gazing intently into his blood-red eyes and feeling that the more she relaxed, the more easily he would be able to follow.

She let the rhythm of the music flow by one more time as she set herself into the frame he provided, her left hand, the one he did not take, resting lightly over his right shoulder, and then she began to move, growing quickly accustomed to the strange feeling of the "follower" leading the "leader."

In this particular case though, not only could she provide him with physical cues such as shifting her weight where his hand was at her back, or lightly moving her left hand at his shoulder to indicate their next direction, but this crash-course in routine also took place on another, more direct level where the movements almost flowed from her to him through the link he had established.

The murmur that started up again around them was one Shikiyoku did not notice on a conscious level, concentrated as she was, but the murmur picked up nonetheless, an indication that so far their charade remained a success. 3

Hiei, despite how deep he'd delved into her memories for this particular bit, was easily able to move when cued to do so, his ruby irises staying trained on her emerald ones unblinkingly as he searched and searched until-

It took everything in his power not to mentally say something about his find, instead channeling his relief into moving the information from her brain to his, to transferring the motions she had learned of the lead position to his own body. He stalled a few moments longer, keeping up the charade until he was sure he'd found exactly what he needed, his mind retracting from her memories to assess her movements.

As soon as he was completely and utterly sure, a shine flashed into his eyes, a gleam of accomplishment as he suddenly shifted, though he kept it subtle to the eyes, and began moving, taking over her job of leading as if he'd just recalled old information he'd stored away for this precise moment.

He couldn't quite help the sneer that ghosted across his lips for a very split moment before his expression shifted neutral again, his mind quickly going back to the motions he was required to make as _he _began leading _her _around and around in time with the music. _*****_

Shikiyoku felt her stomach lurch when she was suddenly subjected to Hiei's lead, unable to do anything but follow him as they continued to dance around the room.

Gazing into his eyes as she was, the lurch stopped almost as soon as it started, seeing there a glitter of triumph and moments later almost a _smile _grace his lips. Her own mouth twitched with amusement when she realized what he'd done, and even though their position allowed for a certain amount of intimacy of conversation that dancing naturally gave, she instead spoke silently to him, still feeling his warmth within her head.

"_Clever demon." _She murmured into his mind appreciatively, relaxing into his arms and taking note out of the corner of her eyes that Rae and Derrin had joined them at some point, others having started to weave their way into the intricate steps. 3

Hiei didn't react at first to the words she sent him, only continuing to stare at her unblinkingly as if nothing had changed in the slightest. Though, for a mere second, he did glance about. Pretty soon after his gaze had wandered to the people beyond her head, his eyes returned to hers, the mirth shining in them brighter now that he'd confirmed that it seemed no one had noticed the transition, or if they had they didn't seem bothered by it.

This time, when his mind sifted through the information he'd taken from her, he found himself completely amused with something that seemed rather optional, something another dance partner had done with her in the past, though not in a gathering like this one, but as if in a lesson of sorts.

It was the same music, the same dance, so he hesitated none to pull her closer, making it so that his cheek almost touched hers, turning so that when he spoke, he was sure no other demon in the room could hear his words.

"One must be as clever as the person leading them, no?" As he spoke, he could feel his own breath moving across her skin, his eyes watching Rae and Derrin behind Shikiyoku before turning to her face, though he couldn't meet her gaze.

He wasn't sure why, but his triumph left him feeling rather… lighthearted for once. And for the moment, with his hand on the small of her back and the hand that held hers against his own chest with the closeness, he was feeling rather daring. "I've learned from the best." _*****_

~!**!~

"Your majesty, you're _supposed _to be following, not _leading._" Prince Derrin murmured goodnaturedly into his queen's ear, catching her eyes as they continued to hold Shikiyoku's form in sight.

Queen Rae sniffed derisively at him before flickering her gaze back to the seductress and her champion.

Derrin felt Rae once more turn their bodies so that she could continue watching the other two and he heaved a long-suffering sigh as he let her do so.

"I'm really not sure why I'm here at all." He joked with her quietly.

Rae turned her brilliant purple eyes back to Derrin and he felt her stance soften in his frame.

"I don't want to lose her again." She admitted to his white and pink heterochromatic eyes.

"I know, my queen." He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I wish the same thing."

All of a sudden, Rae stiffened again and Derrin could only imagine the reason why.

He lifted the hand that held hers above their heads and gave her a spin that set her gorgeous gown twirling about her as she turned in his grasp obligingly, affording him a moment to spot what had made the queen's stomach tighten.

Derrin smiled, and when Rae came back into his grasp, he did not let her take the lead again, forcing her back to the ones she wanted to watch.

She made a slight noise of protest, but Derrin simply gazed into her eyes until she gave in and let him actually do his job.

~!**!~

Since Shikiyoku had for the first time that night truly relaxed into Hiei's lead, it was nothing for him to pull her close, though she could not help her eyes widening at the movement as she became pressed up against him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered where exactly he'd picked up _that _move, but initially she simply felt her body flush at his closeness and his words, silently scolding herself for the act that was so unlike her.

"I think," Shikiyoku breathed just as quietly as Hiei had taken to speaking with her, "At least in this case, your cleverness far surpasses my own, flame-boy." 3

Hiei, now simply letting his feet move as he had memorized, turned so that his lips were no longer near her ear, his eyes turning to survey the room again, noting the last vestiges of a glance in his and Shikiyoku's direction before the 'royal' pair were out of sight. He couldn't help the twitch of his lips that formed a sneer, which only grew at Shikiyoku's breathed admittance.

He turned his head again so that his lips let his breath wash across her ear again, eyes still wandering the room. "Adaptation is a requirement in this world. You simply present more of a challenge to adapt to."

This time, when he was done speaking, he pulled away just enough to return to their first poise, his eyes meeting hers again and completely ignoring the coloring of her cheeks, unsure really what to think of it anyway. He allowed a small moment of silence so that she understood how much he meant his words of her being a challenge.

After a few moments, he realized that she was _the _largest challenge he'd ever had to face, as she kept him constantly on his toes, always doing something that threw him off guard.

Such as getting them captured for a _dance_, of all things.

"Bored yet?" _*****_

Shikiyoku blinked up at Hiei for a moment, the silence growing between them as she felt unsure of how to take his words.

Coming from anyone else, being referred to as a 'challenge' would have been almost insulting, as if she were lots of trouble. Too much trouble.

It didn't help that she could still feel his breath as it moved over her ear when he'd spoken with her just now. As if she hadn't already found his words entirely too cryptic.

Was it...approval? behind his gaze as they continued looking into one another's eyes. Shikiyoku supposed perhaps 'approval' wasn't something Hiei often felt, and the thought that perhaps he 'approved' of her in his own way sent her mind reeling again.

He hated her, right? For 'capturing' him with the pact? For 'tricking' him into it? Wouldn't he run as fast as possible as soon as she figured out how to break it short of getting herself killed?

"I don't think there's ever a dull moment with you, Hiei Jaganshi." Shikiyoku admitted once he spoke up again. "So, bored? No. Wishing the entire palace would burn down around our ears? Yes. Most definitely, yes." 3

Hiei watched the female in his embrace as the silence between them stretched on, noting the flickers behind the brilliant color in her irises. He waited however, wondering what she would settle for as her thoughts visibly turned in her mind's eye.

And after a few moments of silence, his eyes wandered again, deciding to give her time to think, though he wasn't sure what all there was for her to consider. He simply turned to memorizing faces in the crowd, taking stock of the demons inside and how many were-

There was a familiar form in the distance, on the very edges of the dancing group that disappeared behind a taller demon, and for a moment, Hiei almost paused. Somehow, though, his feet continued moving, and his hands suddenly moved without his conscious prompting, calmly gesturing Shikiyoku into a gentle twirl that helped him move further through the crowd now, not at first realizing she'd spoken up again as a metaphorical light bulb popped into his mind.

_There_.

He'd seen the same demon again, and this time he was able to confirm that it was indeed the demon from the pub. Though, he did look much more sober, and less of a mess. He even looked highly jovial, as if he hadn't had more than a few drinks in his entire life.

Or maybe that was just in stark contrast of how Hiei had previously seen Uryo.

By the time Shikiyoku was back in Hiei's arms, he was pulling her close again his joking demeanor gone and his expression carefully blank to give no thoughts away to prying eyes. Only now did he realize Shikiyoku had spoken.

"That can be arranged," he said in an even tone that betrayed nothing more than boredom, though his mind was methodically thinking over several different things.

He'd have to plan this out carefully, should it go wrong.

He swiftly shifted back into a facade that mirrored his earlier mood, easily slipping into an act since he noted a few eyes on himself. His expression turned to one of mischief, a smirk on his face as his lips turned to Shikiyoku's ear again. "The guests are interesting." he hinted, eyes shifting from the form he'd seen and back to Shikiyoku's cheek as he quickly shifted the conversation. Or so it would seem. "How many dances are there that you know of?" _*****_

Even if she had not been looking so directly into Hiei's face, Shikiyoku would have felt the change in his demeanor in the very way he held her, noting appreciatively that he also slipped just as easily back into his previous mood.

_He might actually make a good member of court with a little coaching._

Shikiyoku's mind raced, knowing he meant to tell her more than what he said.

"Rae is not particular about who shows for these events, should they be of high standing and clean up well." Shikiyoku replied congenially, starting to smile, "And I know _all _the dances. Though if you mean for tonight, they are neverending. We can stop and start as much as we please, but the music will keep going until the ball is finished." 3

Hiei nodded once, eyes glancing around again and, just as before, noting eyes on himself, some meeting his gaze before he turned back to Shikiyoku, taking a step away from her and making her spin again, this time a little slower. "_Uryo." _he sent to her carefully, hoping she would see him in the elongated turn he allowed her before he pulled her back again, his act never faltering even as his mind continued churning over and over the possibilities.

He knew what he'd do first, but it meant keeping an eye out for the demon to walk away from his partner. So, for the moment and while he was very aware of keen eyes, he turned his gaze onto his own dance partner, keeping her close as they moved through tighter spaces due only to his own direction through the bodies that moved around him.

It was almost as if others were afraid to get close enough to touch them, as if they were special, in their own way.

As his gaze stayed on Shikiyoku, he realized that to everyone else, _she _was the special one. _She _was like royalty, simply because the queen had keen interest in her. He was a simple obstacle, a prop in the way. A dangerous prop to anyone other than these patrons.

This time, when his lips twitched, he had to keep the sneer from forming, instead making sure that it remained a simple smirk of amusement. Again, he found an odd emotion moving through him, thrumming through the bond almost, that was alien to him. It was almost what he'd consider…

Awe.

"You intrigue me," he gave a small pause at the sudden admission his lips had given without his permission,. He opened his mouth to continue, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement of a form he'd began keeping tabs on. Movement unlike the previous, and without looking towards Uryo, Hiei began directing Shikiyoku through the crowd using borrowed memories until they were at the very edge of the dancers, able to break away without fighting the flow of the song. _*****_

Before Shikiyoku could even have a moment to let her brain finish processing Hiei's words, a pair of demons who had stepped back to let them slip off the dance floor came up to them again.

"Seductress." The male bowed his head slightly after making eye contact with her, turning to greet Hiei as well with a similar bow, "Champion. It has been ages since we have seen you two grace these halls with your presence. Might I say that you have made her re-entrance a spectacular one." He said the last bit to Hiei, the female demon at his side nodding her agreement at the both of them.

"My thanks for your kind words." Shikiyoku responded, slipping her hand back into the crook of Hiei's arm and inclining her head slightly as the other pair moved away.

Shikiyoku dropped her voice as low as it would go, "Whatever you're wanting to do, it needs to be done quickly. That sort of conversation is going to keep happening to us more often the longer we are not out on the floor." 3

Hiei had paused at the pair that stood in his way, his arm moving just in time for Shikiyoku to slide her hand beneath his elbow as if she'd done so a hundred times. Perhaps it was another part of the memory he'd taken for reference, but hadn't focused on. Or perhaps it was simply because his Jagan was still in contact with her.

He nodded once at the pair in appreciation before the dancers left again, leaving the path clear for a moment. Even as Shikiyoku spoke, he was leading the way to Uryo, eyes trained on the male as he approached.

When within the appropriate distance, Hiei lent out a hand to shake, testing the waters carefully. "Uryo, am I correct?" Of course, he had memorized the name, but this was merely by way of getting the male's attention in a way he felt suitable for the occasion. Might as well look the part as well. _*****_

The approach of the Champion and Shikiyoku did not go unnoticed by those Uryo stood with, but neither did they appear to find it unnatural for Hiei to wish to associate with the black-haired demon among them.

Uryo took Hiei's hand, "Correct indeed, Champion."

There was a chirp from around Uryo's shoulders and the black dragon Ryou lifted his head from where he had it laying down, whirling a 'fire-brother' greeting into Hiei's mind, but appearing to make no movement otherwise, eyes swirling red as he stared at Shikiyoku. 3

Hiei shook Uryo's hand briefly before releasing, his hand falling back to his side almost naturally and completely out of habit. For a millisecond, he wasn't sure what to do, unsure of how to go about this, but knowing it needed to be done. "We haven't officially met, though I understand you are familiar with my Dependent." He gestured to Shikiyoku, his expression calm as he assessed the situation. _*****_

While Uryo's expression did not change, more than a couple of the demons in the circle they had entered found their eyebrows raising at the Champion's term for Shikiyoku. And even Shikiyoku herself had a hard time not coughing awkwardly. Hiei was...certainly going to leave an impression.

Uryo looked to Shikiyoku, the both of them knowing they had only first met at the Niiro Kaga the previous night, but Uryo held his hand out, palm up, to her, and she placed her hand in his.

"A pleasure, Shikiyoku. As always." He bent down and lightly brushed his lips across the top of her hand. "If your Champion would allow it, I would be honored to dance with you." He did not let go of her hand, gazing meaningfully into her eyes, but waiting to see what the fire demon would say. 3

Hiei reacted none to the looks he received, not surprised at all. He knew his word choice was different than most, but… he had his reasons for everything. Normally. He turned and glanced behind himself for a mere second, and when he turned around again, he wasn't surprised to see Uryo's form of greeting; he'd learned to expect anything and everything when it came down to it.

At the request, Hiei eyed the demon for a moment before deciding it was exactly what he needed. And, he added, what Shikiyoku needed. Another opportunity wouldn't come so easily.

After the millisecond's pause, Hiei turned to Shikiyoku and nodded once as if to say he would be watching carefully before turning to Uryo. "If she does not mind, then I certainly wouldn't mind a break from the crowds."

"_Test the waters," _he said briefly to Shikiyoku in a calm manner, as if he had already expected her to understand. "_He might be the one chance we get tonight."_ *****

"I would be delighted, Uryo." Shikiyoku immediately piped up, releasing Hiei's arm as Uryo stepped forward and wove her hand around his arm, leading her off to the dance floor.

The demon cut a striking figure in his traditional garb, forest green in color with his sword hanging openly by his side. He did not appear to be hindered by it, however, as he easily swept Shikiyoku out onto the floor with a single spin before falling in step with the other dancers.

His height meant Shikiyoku had to crane her neck up to look into his face, but the difference did not seem to bother him, and his frame stayed firm as he lead her around the floor.

When they finally were set into a groove with the other dancers, Uryo looked down into Shikiyoku's eyes, his red irises gleaming.

"Your Champion is no fool."

Shikiyoku could smell the alcohol from his breath, but it seemed much less pungent than it had been the first time she'd encountered him.

"I would pick no fool for a Champion." Came her riposte.

"Fair enough." Uryo allowed, his eyes drawn above her head as if he searched for someone.

Even though she had only seen him briefly, his apparent soberness seemed out of place, his eyes moving rapidly about the room, and their steps almost in double time from the music that moved about them.

"What is your game, Uryo?"

"You know, I'm partial to what the humans call 'chess.'"

Shikiyoku felt that his answer couldn't have been more appropriate to their situation.

"Some don't understand when exactly to move the pieces." Shikiyoku commented carefully.

Uryo glanced back down at her.

"Others don't understand how intricately a knight must move in order to protect a queen." His searching gaze lifted again and his eyes brightened as he found what he was looking for. "Tell your Champion to wait for my signal. He won't miss it." His expression turned mischievous.

"_Hiei...come cut in." _Shikiyoku sent to him.

"I only came here tonight for a bit of _fun_. It's the first time I've ever shown up to one of Rae's ballroom parties."

Something about the look in his eyes made Shikiyoku realize that her and Hiei's escape had been the only reason Uryo came at all. She had made a powerful ally without realizing it or truly understanding why.

Uryo bent down and planted a gentle kiss on Shikiyoku's cheek.

"You smell quite lovely." He pulled back to smile at her, his crimson eyes glittering, "What with that aura of energy and all. It's no wonder why many demons are looking jealously at us right now."

Uryo lifted a hand and pulled away from her to set her to a spin, releasing her completely.

Shikiyoku found it strange as she realized that none of Uryo's words held any sense of suggestiveness or desire in them.

This was a powerful ally indeed. 3

Hiei had watched the pair go, though his eyes were not able to stay trained on them as a demon or two approached, complementing their entrance and Shikiyoku's reappearance, commenting on how it was nice to have her return. He nodded graciously, as he figured was expected of him, then watched as the last demon turned to leave him.

He turned to the dance floor in time for Shikiyoku to call for him telepathically, though he didn't get far before another demon, a female, was standing before him.

"My, what a lovely dance, don't you think so? Your entrance was quite beautiful. How many years did it take for you to master this one?" She batted her long lashes at him and waved the fan in front of her face, as if thinking it were a coy thing to do.

Hiei answered her despite his feeling of being rushed, his expression that of patience. "Not as long as I'm sure you're thinking." he replied honestly, eyes flickering to the dance floor again in time to catch the beginnings of a twirl. It was now or never, he realized. If he didn't cut in, it was likely someone else would.

"Oh, he's modest as well! Perhaps you could accompany me soon, Champion?"

Hiei saw the demon near Shikiyoku, and before he could even make way for her, the male had her hand and was bowing, obviously asking for a dance. The fire demon felt his eye twitch, but his sight was lost on her as the crowd between himself and Shikiyoku thickened.

"Champion?"

He hadn't realized that he hadn't answered the woman. He turned to her, at first intending to turn her down, but another look at the crowd had him realizing he wouldn't get through alone. "I am available," he said, keeping the wariness from his tone with ease as he held out a hand.

Delighted, the woman eagerly set her clawed hand into his offered one, and with a few simple steps, they were maneuvering through the crowd, Hiei using his Jagan to track down Shikiyoku and easily guiding the demoness whichever way he so desired. "I'm Heidi," the demoness introduced with a bash of her lashes, and Hiei turned to meet her dark blue irises calmly. He did not offer his own name in response. It wasn't necessary. "You know, you're quite the rarity around these parts. A fire demon willingly staying in one place? Why?"

Hiei turned his eyes to the side, locking on Shikiyoku quickly. "Business is business, and if it calls for it, then staying in one place means very little to me." he replied casually, until he was almost running into Shikiyoku.

At this point, he spun his own dance partner and slid his free hand towards Shikiyoku, in an offer to take her hand while simultaneously offering his former partner to the male Shikiyoku had been stuck with.

"Apologies for the lateness. I was caught for a moment." _*****_

"Hmph. Remind me to dock it from your pay." Shikiyoku replied loftily, her eyes reflecting none of the irritation her voice suggested as she settled back into his arms. 3

Hiei settled into the familiar rhythm of the song, making a point to move away from the disappointed pair of demons he'd swapped. His eyes met Shikiyoku's. "Hn. Perhaps you should pay me a bit better. I might feel obligated to do more." _*****_

"And perhaps _you _should decide _how _exactly I'm supposed to be paying you." Shikiyoku shot back with the smallest hint of a grin twitching at her lips. 3

"Start with no more cities." He replied swiftly, his expression neutral, aside from the twitch at one corner of his lips. "We'll go from there." He gave way to a pause before his eyes wandered to find Uryo, who wasn't in immediate sight. "_Well?" __*****_

"But the next one is my _favorite_." Shikiyoku teased with a bit of a pout. "_He came here for __**us**__. He's got something planned."_ 3

"Favorite or not, no." he replied just as quickly, his tone stern and gaze hard as he met her emerald one. But her next reply lightened the air around him just as quickly, and a sense of relief washed over him. It was much easier to have another for distractions, rather than himself creating the distraction and hoping Shikiyoku got away first. "_Good." _was all he said in response before falling silent again, figuring there would be a signal of some kind.

Hiei felt the subtle change in tempo of the music, and quickly settled back so Shikiyoku could lead for the beginnings of the new dance while he sifted for information again. _*****_

Shikiyoku felt Hiei drop back into following her, and she absently led him for a moment, using the control to turn them around so that she could search for Uryo, but as soon as she spotted him, the dance required another turn and her back was to the demon. She frowned, but wondered what the demon could be up to.

~!**!~

"Your majesty, if I may be so bold." Uryo bowed to Rae and held out a hand.

Derrin let go of his queen's hands, taking her face in his and kissing her soundly before relinquishing her to Uryo.

Uryo took the turn with the rest of the company of dancers and slid the two of them back into the groove with practiced ease.

~!**!~

With the next turn, Shikiyoku could see Uryo now dancing with Rae, and watched as Derrin spotted her and began to approach.

"It has been too long, Shikiyoku." Derrin bowed to her once he reached she and Hiei. Shikiyoku stopped moving as he continued with, "Would you grace me once more with a dance?"

Shikiyoku knew that regardless of Hiei's feelings, which she had no clue of in one direction or the other, slighting the host of the evening would be a poor move. 3

Hiei sifted. And sifted. And sifted.

But his shuffling for the necessary information was cut short when he felt Shikiyoku pull to a stop, and immediately his eyes turned to Derrin, though Hiei acted as if he had known the male to have been there all along. He eyed the bowing male and, without so much as a pause despite his reluctance towards doing so, he released his remaining hold on Shikiyoku, aside from her hand, to which he offered to Derrin calmly by way of showing approval.

Not like he had much of a choice.

"I will be," Hiei paused as the female from before reappeared at his side, batting the same long lashes at him, "nearby," he finished before offering his hand to the same demoness. Hos Jagan shifted once more through Shikiyoku's mind, this time much quicker, and as soon as he found what he needed and stored it away, letting his body absorb it for him, he was being pulled to another section of the floor.

He resisted the urge to look back at Shikiyoku. _*****_

Shikiyoku found a great deal of comfort in Derrin's frame as he easily carried them amongst the other dancers. This was a demon with whom she had many times before danced, and she knew him better than any other demon in the room.

"I have this distinct memory of you being much taller, seductress." Derrin quipped as they flowed along their path.

"And I have the same sort of feeling in regards to you being shorter, Derrin." Shikiyoku replied with ease, matching the glitter of amusement in the Prince's eyes.

In spite of that fact, or perhaps because of it, Shikiyoku meticulously began releasing more of her energy, bit by bit, so slowly as to not come under notice. She wanted some answers. And Derrin had provided her with the perfect opportunity to get some.

She did not speak up at first, letting the shimmer of power steadily settle over her eyes, and feeling her scalp tingle with energy.

"I have missed your scent." Derrin finally said once they had been around the floor once.

Shikiyoku took his words to be her sign.

"I have missed your dancing."

Derrin smiled softly at her.

"Is that all you have missed?"

"Of you? Of course." Her expression was coquettish.

Derrin let out a long-suffering sigh as if they'd had this conversation many times together in the past.

"What does Rae want with me, Derrin?"

A single eyebrow rose as he regarded her.

"The same thing she always wants from you?"

"Does she really feel her Household is in so much danger of being overthrown that my presence is necessary?"

"Things have changed a great deal since you left." Derrin said simply.

"I hate politics." Shikiyoku commented.

"Which is why you're so good at them."

As more of her energy silently invaded the area around them, Shikiyoku made sure to keep as much eye contact with Derrin as the demon would allow.

"What does she want with me?" She asked again, taking no notice of the fact that Derrin actually held her closer than before.

"Many things." Derrin replied crytically again, leaning his head down to her.

"Is she going to let me leave after the ball?"

"No." He shook his head slightly. "She has made arrangements that you should never leave again."

"Typical." Shikiyoku grumbled. "Why, though. That's what I want to know. What makes this time so different that she would send half a legion of her High Guard to fetch me?"

"It's her brother, he-" Derrin trailed off, appearing to take another deep breath of the air.

Shikiyoku felt this time his arms twitch as he held her, but she remained unconcerned, pushing him further.

"Rae has a brother?"

"You know him, he-" Another pause and Shikiyoku was pulled closer for another few steps. "You know him quite well."

"You're of no help, Derrin."

"Am I supposed to be?"

She did not answer for a moment.

"You know who he is." Derrin chided. "You've known since forever."

Shikiyoku frowned. 3

Hiei had been pulled much further away than he'd liked, but it didn't matter, because this dance quite literally had him around the entire floor, moving round and round like a machine. And all the while Heidi batted her lashes at him, made small talk of nothing of interest, and did a very fine job of forcing herself to be the lead.

He didn't know how to handle her.

Normally, he would have simply killed her by now.

"Don't you think so?"

Hiei turned his eyes down to meet her gaze again, raising a brow as if interested.

And she continued on just as if he had answered her. "I mean, _my _family, you can't tell we're all related because of how many fathers my mother has been with." She paused. "Your family must be a dangerous one, considering your level of power. Yours is higher than my own. She's lucky to have you, you know."

Hiei nodded once with as much patience as he could muster, no longer able to see Shikiyoku again. A moment of silence passed. He was thankful for it as he spun her again, crimson eyes searching for a reprieve and finding none.

"Oh, but him passing through caused so much chaos. Otento really does have a knack for causing trouble." She gave a sigh. "Do you enjoy making trouble? You have to, considering your line of work, I assume."

Hiei finally turned his eyes down to Heidi's and met her gaze and kept it, sneering. "Trouble? Do I enjoy it?" He paused, resisting the urge to scoff. "It finds me. Whether I enjoy it or not means no-"

His words stopped altogether. His pupils grew large and he stopped mid spin, hand releasing Heidi's, who turned to him with a look of alarm, as if she thought he had run away from her. "Champion?"

"Repeat what you said." he said in a low tone, which she didn't seem to catch as she only smiled nervously at him. It was obvious his sudden tension was not lost on her. "What you just said. Repeat it. Now."

A nervous laugh. "I asked if trouble was in your-"

"No. Before that. The name. Repeat it."

Her smile was gone now, and she blinked at the intensity behind his demanding glare. "Otento?"

He immediately turned to look for Shikiyoku, not finding her immediately thanks to the continuously moving crowd. They needed to leave. _Now. __*****_

When Derrin felt a tap on his shoulder, he paused mid-step, but did not turn from Shikiyoku.

"I must get my dances in while I can, prince."

Shikiyoku realized it was Uryo attempting to cut in, and she also realized it wasn't likely that Derrin would give her up so easily, but she slowly lowered her arms anyway, aware of the fact that Derrin's two different colored eyes did not leave her face.

"You had your dance, Uryo." Derrin murmured.

"And I shall have it again, boy." Uryo's voice took on just enough of an edge that Derrin looked up and appeared to resign himself to the inevitable.

Without warning, Derrin swept Shikiyoku into his arms and kissed her, leaving Uryo standing in front of them having to resist rolling his eyes.

When the kiss lasted longer than was prudent, Uryo put a hand on either shoulder of the pair in front of him.

"That's quite enough of that, thank you." He gently peeled Derrin away and turned Shikiyoku to face him, taking her off before Derrin could do anything else in the moment.

"Spoilsport." Shikiyoku stuck her tongue impetuously out at Uryo as they danced away.

The dance changed to yet another, though this was closer in tempo to the slower waltz of the very first one, and Uryo made the adjustment masterfully.

"You didn't _really _wish to bed the queen's prince-consort, did you?" He raised an eyebrow at her and the mass of energy he could see wafting around her.

Shikiyoku just narrowed her eyes at him in turn.

Uryo moved on, "Tell your Champion to cut in again. Everything is in place. When things start heating up, head down that hallway." Uryo let his eyes lift to indicate an area that he then spun Shikiyoku around to see. "I'll clear your path."

Shikiyoku hadn't spotted Hiei and she reached out to where she still felt him connected to her.

"_Hiei?" _3

Hiei, after a moment of fruitless searching, turned back to the nervous demoness. "When did he pass through last?"

"Um, a week ago?" she replied with a flighty wave of her hand. "But it's just one demon, what does it-"

"Is he to return?"

"He passes through every so often. I think he's supposed to come back through sometime this week or the next?"

The information was ended more like a question, but Hiei didn't want to chance any more than that. Suddenly, he was leaning forward, calm demeanor shattered and replaced with an intense glare. "Your information, how credible is it?"

"Well, the barkeep across town-"

With that, the fire demon was moving away from her, making sure to reach out with his Jagan and erase the conversation from the demoness' mind altogether, momentarily breaking contact with Shikiyoku before reinstating it again, in time to not only see her, but to approach in a flash, just as her call echoed through his mind. His calm demeanor had returned, though it was more dutiful than before, and he nodded once at Uryo before offering his hand again to Shikiyoku.

It was a good thing Uryo was assisting. Had Hiei learned of Otento's passing through and not been able to get out, it likely would have been ugly.

Then again, they were not out yet.

"I'm cutting in." he said tartly, though in a way that did not disrespect the larger demon. _*****_

Uryo noticed the change, but said nothing of it.

"Of course you are, Champion." He slid Shikiyoku easily back into Hiei's awaiting stance before moving off and disappearing.

Shikiyoku looked after the other demon for a moment longer before turning back to this second set of crimson eyes and frowning at him and his tenseness, hardly noticing that her energy had picked up on that fact and had started to weave around him in a subconscious attempt to relax whatever had stirred Hiei's ire.

"Hiei?" She inquired quietly, seeing the far off look in his eyes. 3

Hiei, despite having cut in and taken Shikiyoku into his own hands, had retreated inward, to concentrate on his Jagan and search not only the room, but the entire palace for the threat that could very well be nearby, if the demon had decided to show early. He saw no sign of the blonde-haired, purple-eyed demon male, but again, he knew that meant next to nothing.

Shikiyoku's voice pierced his concentration and he returned to the present, returned to the room of dancing demons, and returned to the gaze that had met his as soon as he'd taken over.

And after a moment's silence, he felt his body relax, almost as if it were an instinct around her. Causing distress for her as well would do no good.

"For now, it's unimportant," he replied, tone low out of precaution as his eyes left her gaze briefly, only to trail right back. He suddenly decided he wouldn't tell her. Not here, anyway. Not in front of so many watching eyes. His expression shifted to that of a genuine calm, and his spine straightened as if he suddenly had a job to do: to appear as he had before.

But still, the overwhelming need to leave as quickly as possible lingered, just behind the calm, and while it wasn't shown, it didn't diminish either, no matter whatever outside force was working at calming his nerves.

_Pick it up, Uryo. __*****_

Shikiyoku made a mental note to ask Hiei about it later, because before she could open her mouth to question him again, a loud shriek pierced the air and the music came to a sudden halt, all the dancers dropping their partners and starting to back away from an area of the floor.

Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Shikiyoku paused for a second to look the direction from which the cry came.

It was the queen and the prince who were the center of attention, and Derrin was backing up, wide-eyed, away from Rae, whose beautiful blue gown had caught fire and was rapidly burning from the bottom up as the flames hungrily consumed her dress and left no ashes behind.

Shikiyoku now let her hands fall from where she and Hiei had still been poised to dance, maintaining a hold on the one he held as she did so. She slowly began backing away much like the others, fighting the urge to turn and run full-tilt as it would likely draw attention. Her motives were more precise than the other patrons in the room as she meant to get closer to the hall Uryo had indicated.

As the entire company watched, Rae's purple eyes were flecked with tears of pain, her long, white-blonde hair getting caught up in the demonic fire, but she maintain her composure after her first initial outburst, and seemed to gather herself as the dress shortened near her knees.

With little warning, a black pulse of energy radiated outwards from her body, concealing herself from view, and as it expanded briefly the entire Grand Hall fell within the shadow of it.

That was the moment Shikiyoku turned and burst out of the room, taking the moment of darkness as cover to make their escape into the hallway she hoped Uryo had cleared, keeping a hold of Hiei's hand so that they would not lose each other in the opportunity.

They burst out from the line of power that was just now starting to recede, and Shikiyoku kept moving down the hallway.

She didn't dare pause to look back, though her eyes took in the fallen members of the High Guard that lined the pair's path with bodies.

Raising her gaze, Shikiyoku could not see what exactly had the guard further down falling seemingly without reason off his feet, and it was only when Uryo suddenly came to a stop several paces beyond said guard, at a fork in the hall, that she realized she literally was unable to track his movements as he took out the guards before they likely knew he was there.

Uryo moved to step down the right hallway and before his foot had touched the ground, he blinked out of sight again, leaving Shikiyoku with eyebrows raised.

"_He drinks to slow himself down." _She suddenly realized as she and Hiei kept running down the long hallway. _That _was why he hadn't smelled quite so potent tonight, and it explained what she considered the 'ticks' of his body, like his eyes moving too fast and his steps almost double-time to the music when they danced.

And even as this realization dawned, she also suddenly understood that this was not his highest speed, for his breath _had _still smelled of drink.

"_A powerful ally indeed." _3

Hiei had paused and turned just as Shikiyoku had, his eyes taking in the sight of the queen among the crowd and the flames that licked at her dress. The energy from them was not unlike his own, and he could feel the energy moving, pulsating, as if it _were _his own. Though, he knew for certain that it was not his power.

He took this as the first, more subtle cue, and as he realized the crowds were moving, Hiei too began to move, not needing the prompting from Shikiyoku. He stayed a little away from her, however, to shield view of her from Derrin, should the prince or queen decide to look over.

But in the next second, darkness overwhelmed him. He reacted a second after Shikiyoku, turning and following after her while his Jagan quickly confirmed that there was no obstacle in their way.

In fact, when his Jagan assessed the hall, he had to blink, and when he was actually in the hallway, he was blinking again. There was a blur, though a very discreet one that even he had trouble catching, were it not for his Jagan, but before he could utilize his third eye to witness what was actually happening, Uryo paused at the end of the hallway, answering his question before turning and again disappearing.

The amount of respect that welled up for the demon was more than he'd ever felt towards another- aside his partner in previous crimes. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized the same thing Shikiyoku had, came to the same conclusion that Uryo was much faster than this, and his drinking slowed him down.

It explained much about the demon.

"_Indeed," _Hiei replied before he took the lead, switching so that _he_ held _her _wrist as he picked up his speed, testing how fast she herself could go.

If she could keep up, he'd run a full speed. If she couldn't, he'd simply carry her. _*****_

Shikiyoku's ears were trained on the commotion behind them, unsure if their escape was truly going to be this 'easy.' As soon as Rae or Derrin realized she was no longer with them, they would give chase. Whether within the next second or the next minute remained as of yet to be seen, for Shikiyoku heard no sound of pursuit from behind them.

She felt Hiei's grip on her change and he started to speed up.

An out of place smile fluttered across her lips and for a second, Hiei's image became interposed with a blurry image of her second Champion, and all she could remember was him turning to give a roguish smile back to her, but then Hiei's speed picked up again, passed what any other she knew-save Uryo-could accomplish, and the image shattered, leaving her smiling at the back of Hiei's head.

Sensing that Hiei would keep pushing as fast as she could go, Shikiyoku knew her dexterity of movement in the gown would only go so far.

Without hesitation, Shikiyoku reached for a portion of the fabric at her waist and ripped it, continuing to tug until the skirt of the dress was completely torn from the upper part, revealing the fact that she had wisely kept on the black pants of her previous outfit.

She did not release the skirt from her clutching hand, knowing that dropping it would give away her escape, but wishing it would burn away or something.

The jewels around her throat and dangling from her ears glowed and Shikiyoku's fingers reflexively dropped the skirt as it started to grow warmer in her grasp, disappearing in a burst of fire behind them. 3

Hiei didn't look back at Shikiyoku when he heard a ripping sound. He merely understood that she was making it easier for herself to keep up, and with that, his speed increased even further, his eyes on the falling guards ahead as Uryo continued making a path.

He'd have to remember to repay the demon sometime, if he ever had the chance to do so.

Perhaps Koenma would lend a helping hand once they returned.

Again, Uryo paused at another fork in the hall, just long enough for Hiei to see which direction he was going before he took off again. By this time, Hiei could feel his feet moving as if they weren't even touching the ground, his speed almost being entirely utilized, and still the guards continued to fall more than just a few meters ahead of himself and Shikiyoku.

He could feel Shikiyoku's body resisting, his top speed much greater than her own, and he slowed for a mere millisecond, tugged at her arm, and pulled Shikiyoku's small frame into his arms, one arm under her knees and the other under her back as he glanced at her briefly, flashing a smirk, before his eyes turned forward and his feet moved with his ultimate speed again.

So far, so good, it seemed. *****

Shikiyoku did not resist when Hiei picked her up, but the slightest hint of a growl rumbled silently in her chest as she quickly pulled off the jacket she wore and then reached up to wrap her arms about his neck, narrowing her eyes playfully at his smirk before huffing a breath of disdain and sticking her nose in the air.

Uryo paused again, feeling out the area and having to resist just blasting a hole through the palace to make the exit that much simpler. He gritted his teeth a little, feeling his body begin to complain at being still, but waiting half a second longer so that he was sure the pair behind him could still follow.

He should have had more to drink, he thought ruefully. He was having to painstakingly hold his speed back or else risk moving so fast that he _did _manage to walk through the walls by accident. And leave the two behind him without a path to boot.

Luckily, it did not take much longer to get outside, the morning of the ninth level dawning around them.

Allowing himself this one moment, Uryo nearly teleported himself to the gate in the blink of an eye, two miles from the exit of the palace. The path was a straight one, and he came to a stop about a mile out of the city limits, starting to bounce slightly from one foot back to the other as he waited as patiently as he could for Hiei and Shikiyoku to join him. 3

Hiei followed, his feet moving until he was outside. The morning sun made him blink once as he glanced around, Uryo nowhere in sight, but after that brief hesitation, he was moving again, his Jagan feeding him the information he'd needed in the split second he'd paused.

As he ran, he became more aware of happenings around him. While there weren't many demons out, most of them turned to look in his direction, eyes wide as if unsure of what had just moved by them. And, even as he passed a few more buildings, he began feeling as if he needed to move faster. As if he were now being pursued.

He didn't check. He merely pushed his legs to move faster, leaning forwards and ducking his head so that he minimized wind resistance and was able to speed up even more. A frown set over his lips as he pulled to a halt in front of Uryo, not yet letting Shikiyoku down onto her own feet, in case whoever was now pursuing him were able to catch up.

"What next?" _*****_

Uryo's eyes never stopped moving about, even when Hiei came to a stop, and instead of answer the question as he opened his mouth, his eyes alighted on the gems Shikiyoku wore.

"Fire rubies?" He exclaimed a tad too excitedly, "Where did you get them? She probably has them tracked, you know."

When Uryo held out his hand, Shikiyoku removed the necklace and earrings and placed them in his palm.

The jewelry started to glow in his hand and Shikiyoku raised an eyebrow.

"You know, of course," She started, "That they're completely resistant to-"

The flames that had started to lick about the red gems burst in intensity, then a second time, and then disappeared.

Uryo wiggled his fingers.

"Everything melts eventually." He stared down at his fingers. "Just have to get it hot enough!"

In the next blink, Uryo stood where Hiei and Shikiyoku had been, and had pulled Hiei into the place where Uryo had stood before that blink.

A ringing sound tore through the relative silence of the area around them and when Shikiyoku came to realize that they had been moved, she saw Uryo had his sword out and had come to clash with a very put-out Rae, her dress shriveled to her thighs, her hair singed and a wild look in her purple eyes.

Her fists were tight, and over one hand were three blade-like claws which were now stuck around Uryo's sword, her other fist as if in the start of an uppercut held in his other hand.

"You probably want to leave now." Uryo told Hiei calmly.

"He's not taking her!"

"You're not stopping him."

A growl broke past Rae's lips and she pulled back, twisting her the clawed hand in an attempt to disarm Uryo. He deftly snapped his hand to the left and pulled the sword out from below the claws, changing his hold on the weapon so that he could bring it around and back between two of the claws, jerking Rae closer as he saw her shift her weight to get at the other two.

He calmly turned his head from Rae to regard the pair next to him.

"You'll probably have to wait another few centuries before she forgets this. I wouldn't suggest coming back in the meantime." 3

Hiei had been moved, he knew. He had seen nothing more than a very brief change in the space where Uryo had been standing, and then before he knew it, he himself was standing in the very place the larger demon had been, watching the clashing of blades that was enough to create a flying spark. He adjusted his hold on Shikiyoku so that it was a much firmer grasp, shifting her so that she was closer to his body, already planning on making a break for it.

Except…

He caught the glint in Rae's purple eyes, the maniacal, crazy gleam of a panicked demon losing its prey that had continuously slipped her grasp.

And the glare made his entire body freeze. He knew Uryo had prompted him to leave. He knew that He should have been long gone by now. But the glare, the stance of the female was too familiar, and in his mind, her face was replaced with another.

His jaw set and the reaction within him was proving to be the most difficult urge to control, likely in his entire lifetime. His hands flexed in his hold of Shikiyoku, his stance shifted as he resisted grabbing his blade and simply beheading the woman. The kin of Otento, who quite obviously shared more than just her looks with the despised male.

_End the problem. Now, before it becomes worse, _one part of his brain whispered.

_Go. _the other shouted.

His jaw clenched even tighter, the muscles in his cheeks standing out and adding to the narrowing of his eyes to create a very deadly expression, though the gleam of contemplation in his eyes was even brighter.

Was it worth it?

_Fight._

_Run. Let Uryo handle it._

His mind was at war.

"I wouldn't suggest coming back in the meantime," Uryo finished, bringing Hiei forth from his inner debate, his inner emotions that left him completely and utterly still. Instincts battled wits. Emotions fought strategy. But he couldn't bring his eyes away from the feral queen, who he now could only really see as Otento. How had he not noticed before?

A snarl rumbled in his chest, and surprisingly even to him, his body turned to go the opposite way than his instincts were driving him.

Whatever had caused him to move, he wouldn't ever know. _*****_

Shikiyoku seemed utterly unsurprised by Rae's outburst, though she felt Hiei tensing underneath her and refused to let his concern interpose on her calm.

Instead, as the fire demon silently fought a battle Shikiyoku felt aware of on some level or another, she took a breath and let the energy that had been floating around her since she danced with Derrin release into the space around her and Hiei, weaving silently in the air with each deep breath she took, curling around her Champion.

She is not a threat. She can do us no harm.

Shikiyoku knew also that killing off the leader of the highest and largest household in the ninth level would create aftereffects that Hiei had absolutely no awareness of.

When Hiei turned to go with a growl, Shikiyoku said nothing, did nothing, but sit there in his arms.

Rae attempted to pursue them, but was stopped each time before she started by Uryo, who calmly drove her back towards the city step by step.

Realizing she'd been beaten, Rae gnashed her teeth and leapt back from Uryo, pulling her hands back and then jamming them forward, releasing a giant, black orb of energy that shot off towards the backs of Hiei and Shikiyoku.

Uryo felt his core skip a beat, and he slowly turned his head to follow the blast as it whipped past his shoulder, completely unable to sense the energy, even though his eyes told him it was there.

Rae stood looking smug, staring after the retreating pair.

"Shit." Uryo breathed through clenched teeth as he turned.

Uryo sheathed his sword, feeling the entire world slowing around him as he dashed off after the orb, having no way to warn the others and knowing they would not be able to sense or hear it coming.

Maybe he shouldn't have drank as much as he had.

Uryo ducked his head farther and felt his skin begin to buzz with his speed, molecules protesting. He gritted his teeth as he caught up to the orb, but could not at his current rate pass it.

The sudden sobriety of the life or death moment flushed more alcohol from his system and he slowly started to overtake the blast, but wondered if it was too late, seeing the escaping pair approaching much too fast for his liking.

Feeling as if his skin might start peeling back from his muscles at any moment, Uryo lengthened his stride and finally inched past the gigantic orb.

With two quick steps, he had caught up to Hiei and turned so that his shoulder shoved against the fire demon, pushing Hiei forward, twisting around and bringing up his hands to take the full force of the blast.

The energy slammed him against Hiei's back, sending the fire demon dashing forward much faster than before even as Uryo started to dig his feet into the ground to slow the orb's progression.

Clenching his jaw, Uryo felt Hiei against his back and shifted his hands so that only his right was between them and the orb consuming them, and within the next second, he had brought his left hand up with his sword and as he unsheathed the weapon, slashed the blast away from them, coming to a sudden halt as its pressure left, and then dashing forward again as he saw that Rae had not been content with just the one ball of power.

Two more had followed in quick succession once she realized what Uryo meant to do, and the demon dashed back towards her, slashing through the energy and sending it hurtling through the air as he ran in the opposite direction of Hiei and Shikiyoku to intercept the other blasts. 3

Hiei hadn't gotten too far before the hairs on the back of his neck arose, telling him of a pursuer, just before another body rammed into his, sending his feet almost scrambling to adjust to this new speed that he'd never accomplished before now. Instinctively, he ducked his head and made his body almost smaller, his back against the other's telling him that he hadn't been pursued, but helped.

He didn't look back to see whatever it was that had caused Uryo's presence so near. He simply continue to adjust to this new, odd feeling that washed over him with the new speed that was almost hindered by his outfit, the coat catching the air around his hips and billowing out, almost catching on Uryo before the demon broke away from his back. Surprisingly, the fire demon continued on at this speed, his feet having adjusted accordingly and his instincts now taking over, instincts telling him to get a move on before the situation became too sticky.

He glanced back now, silently thanking Uryo for the help before turning forward again, narrowed eyes and keen gaze watching everything pass by him as nothing more than a constant blur of movement as he passed by. _*****_

Shikiyoku felt the change in speed, felt Hiei falter to adjust before picking up his stride again, and she did glance up to spy Uryo's back against Hiei's, the older demon between them and certain death, his long black hair whipping wildly against the pressure of the orb whose color she knew belonged to Rae.

And in the next instant, Uryo was gone again, the orb sent hurtling upwards into the sky.

The black color reminded Shikiyoku of something as she let her eyes follow the path of the orb for a second before turning back to duck her head against Hiei's neck and her body heaved slightly in a withheld bark of laughter as she remembered something Rae had said about Otento long ago.

_Little brother always __**was **__a pain in the ass. _3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	43. Episode 128 - Around the City and Dreams

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow Ningen!

We pick back up with Akari here in this chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei and Shikiyoku managed to escape Queen Rae's Royal Ball with the help of Uryo.  
When she came chasing after them with a vengeance,  
Uryo once again stepped in, sending Hiei speeding off faster than ever before.  
Before being sent away, Hiei realized what Shikiyoku knew all along but had forgotten:  
Queen Rae is Otento's older sister...

* * *

Hiei continued moving as his feet seemed to memorize the speed, keeping in consistent even as the sounds of fighting died away in the distance and he was met with forestry. At first, the tree line was thin and creatures were few and far between. A moment later, he was weaving through the trees almost expertly, as if he did indeed know the area, his Jagan helping in reaction times despite the unfamiliar, almost uncontrollable speed the fire demon was experiencing.

And he continued on silently, his inner emotions calming with the distance between himself and Shikiyoku, and the fight. He remained guarded, but no longer did he feel the need to turn around and join Uryo in fight. He realized now just how brash such a decision would have been, and the consequences of such an action.

All because he'd made the connection of family.

He'd need to sit down sometime and discipline himself for his lack of control over his emotions. If the same thing were to happen when Otento was actually around…

He couldn't afford that.

His mind receded from Shikiyoku's as he delved into his own thoughts, his expression revealing nothing of the internal mental strike he was having on himself. He wouldn't allow a slip up like that again.

He wouldn't allow himself to place her in danger like that. _*****_

"You know," Shikiyoku murmured, having felt the warmth of Hiei's mind leaving hers and having a fairly accurate guess as to why, "The best way to exact revenge on Otento is to keep him from getting what he wants." 3

Hiei momentarily paused in his thoughts and turned his eyes down, briefly considering Shikiyoku before his eyes turned forward again, expression blank. Several thoughts popped up at her words, so for the moment, he didn't respond.

_Revenge isn't exactly what I had in mind. _

At least, it wouldn't be a very _normal _type of revenge. Most demons would deliver what had been dealt, with maximized pain and excruciatingly drawn-out time. And while it was an appealing thought…

"I'd rather see his blood color the grass." _*****_

"Isn't that much too easy though?" Shikiyoku countered, "You let him die and then Spirit World gets to have all the fun. Why not make his existence as miserable as possible?" 3

Hiei didn't respond. He didn't voice that he wasn't sure how he'd get his hands on Otento without her getting into trouble, without placing her into trouble himself. He didn't admit that the idea of Otento even having the brief chance to get near her, when Hiei would be out searching for ways to get to the male, made his core churn. Sure, once Hiei had Otento in his grasp and he was certain Shikiyoku was out of the way, he'd have nine kinds of fun.

The only problem was getting to that point, when Otento is surrounded by other demons just as capable as he was. It was also likely that there would be more demons, thanks to the fact that there was a pseudo Youko against them.

He didn't admit that he didn't like the odds. Even with Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara's help, there were still too many variables, too many unknowns that left Hiei stressed and-

"The threat will be eliminated. How it is executed shouldn't matter." _*****_

"It matters to me." Shikiyoku grumbled quietly into his neck. A sudden thought hit her and her eyes flashed, "If I don't get to watch him die, I'll be very put-out with you." 3

A sneer formed on Hiei's lips, and again ruby eyes turned down to emerald ones, this time holding the gaze. "Why would I keep you from your own personal revenge as well?" Of course he had planned that Shikiyoku watch the death of Otento. She couldn't attack him herself, so he'd already decided she would get her revenge by watching, smirking down at the dying demon who had tried so hard to make her his.

It would be her own revenge to disallow him her services.

His eyes turned up to the path ahead again, his expression now back to its calm demeanor. He'd figure _something _out, that was for sure. _*****_

"I dunno." Shikiyoku mumbled again, feeling uncomfortable under his fiery look and wondering if she would ever feel like she knew the fire demon well at all.

It felt wrong to kill something premeditatively, but Shikiyoku brushed aside the feeling by assuring herself that Otento was meant to have been dead long ago. Before even Youko's time.

His days were numbered. 3

Hiei had fallen silent and stayed that way for what had to be several hours as he ran, making turns as directed so that they would head in the direction of Shikiyoku said the city was in. Of course, he had no intention of going _through _the town. He simply wanted to keep on course as much as possible.

So, when the city walls came into view, Hiei made a very distinct point to move North of them, re-entering forestry and deep brush to the left of the city, though keeping the wall within a respectable distance so that he knew he would be going the right direction without having to use his Jagan.

And it was at this point he realized he was beginning to feel a little worn out. Maybe not enough to call for a pause, or even to slow, but a part of him felt tired of the running, as if he needed to slow down and go at a more comfortable pace than the one Uryo had set him into.

~!**!~

"_You know, for a kid, you're alright."_

_Akari looked to her right, heavy lids pulling open again to look at the demon that sat beside her. The room was dimly lit, allowing her to see his bright eyes and almost-white tinted hair that… was flecked with darker hues of the grey her vision naturally was. It wasn't hard to guess what was in those locks. She could smell it easily enough. _

"_You've lasted longer than even the toughest demons."_

_A dry, choking bark of laughter escaped Akari, making another tear fall from the pain of a broken rib or two. "It's only been a week. I haven't tried everything yet."_

"_You young ones are too filled with hope. You need to learn when it's time to quit."_

"_Say that to a family searching for their now dead child," she retorted seriously, her whispered words weaker than the rest of her it seemed. She didnt dare mention the male's mate. "They're just humans. They can't keep an army of demons locked away forever."_

_The room fell into silence again, save for the shuffling of the stocky male as he scooted closer, his darker-hued trousers hugging him as he moved. She watched him, not moving despite the fact that she didn't enjoy being close to anyone, much less another, much stronger demon._

"_I have an idea. Think you're up for it?"_

_She smirked. "Always. My last escape buddy flaked out."_

_His smirk disappeared. "They were wise, likely. From what I've seen just these past two weeks, there's a lot we don't yet know about."_

"_Still, just humans." She shifted, a hand immediately moving to rest over her diaphragm. "Does it involve minimal movement?"_

"_Not quite."_

"_Good." She glanced over at the male she'd been stuck with for days, the shine of mischief in her eyes countered with a look of caution from the other. "Lay it on me."_

~!**!~

_It was painful. She was already sweating, and all she'd done was pull herself to stand, and helped lift a chair. She stood opposite Kyu, eyes glancing up at the shattered camera that had been placed to monitor them. "On three," he whispered, and before he even began counting, he shoved the large, metal chair, with her assistance of course, through the large one-way looking mirror, shattering it. _

_He moved quickly, with the dexterity of a warrior and the silence of a thief, hopping over the broken windowpane and into the room where tons of electronic equipment were seen, grabbing a human and just as quickly as he could, silencing any sound with a crack, snapping the man's neck._

_The only security fell to the ground and he motioned for her to follow, even grabbing her by the upper part of her arms and hefting her over, despite his own physical hindrances._

"_Now the prison, right?"_

"_Not for you, sweetheart." he grumbled as he pushed the only door open, peering out into a brightly-lit hallway. "You're going home. You know where the open gateway is, right?"_

"_You're not going alone." she grumbled at him, reaching forward and grabbing his shirt collar. "I have someone there too, y'know."_

"_You're terrible at lying."_

_Okay, so she just didn't want to go it alone. So what? "You have to let me help. I'm not leaving without you, because you deserve freedom as much as I do, and you won't get it if you go down there alone."_

"_Neither of us-"_

_An alarm began sounding and lights began flashing along the walls in the hall and inside the room they were standing in._

_They hadn't even left the security room yet! How had they figured it out? Kyu quickly shut the metal door, locking it from the inside. "It's alright. This happens once a week. We aren't the ones they're after."_

"_What?"_

"_The prisoners downstairs. Once a week, they go crazy enough to riot. All at once. It's normal. And, now it's an inconvenience."_

_A few minutes passed as they stood there, listening to troops of feet run by. Groups of people, yelling of orders and even sounds of…_

_Something loud. Something dangerous, she knew. What was that? It was almost like canons, but.._

"_They're called guns. Demon world doesn't have them, because our energy is stronger, when utilized. These things fire little round chunks of metal that pierce the skin quicker than anything else, if you aren't careful."_

"_Guns?" The word was unfamiliar, but it sent a chill down her spine anyway. She wasn't a quick demon to begin with, and her injuries and sluggishness was no help. "Then you're definitely not going down there, Kyu. Come on, I know you're a warrior, and you look out for the people, but-"_

"_I'm not leaving them to die, Akari. Not on my list of things to do before __**I **__die." _

"_You can always come back with help."_

_The handle on the door suddenly moved, shaking madly before a fist was pounding on the metal. "Shorin, we have a situation! We need the two in there, now!"_

"_How much energy do you have, sweetheart?"_

"_Enough," she lied, taking a deep breath as the pounding fist continued, accompanied with more shouting. "Just a few outside, right?"_

"_Not.. exactly."_

_She glanced at the door and heaved a determined breath of air, her chest puffing out despite her broken ribs, her reopening wound across her collarbone. A smile came to her face despite the drugs she felt in her system, the sluggish pounding of her core telling her that she definitely wouldn't be running much. If she went out there, it'd be kill or be killed._

_She'd never killed before._

"_Be ready," before another word could be uttered, the door was pushed open and Kyu was crouched in front of Akari, pushing her back against the large equipment in the room._

"_What are you doing? I'm fighting!"_

"_Warn the others!" A human yelled, and whistles began blowing._

"_No, you're surviving."_

_He looked back at her, and Akari was quick to move him out of reach of the guard who swung a weapon that sizzled, officially placing herself in the midst of the humans. Shocking equipment was pressed to her skin, almost everywhere it felt like, and it jarred her, making her snarl and pull at the pair of hands holding her shoulders. _

_something wet and sticky hit her face here and there as Kyu swooped into the crowd of five or so, an arm wrapping around her waist as he hefted her from the ground, taking on a full sprint through the hallways. "You're. Going. Home."_

_She couldn't even respond. _

_But, before she knew it, several things had happened at once, and she was on the ground, blocking attacks and searching for Kyu, who was shouting at her from… somewhere. _

"_Get up! GO! Fight!"_

_Her body moved out of instinct, kicking feet out from under nearby humans before she was up and moving away, turning to look over her shoulder as she ran the direction he'd directed her. She caught a bright gaze, saw the last vestiges of a smile and even a few words, before Kyu was out of her sight._

In her sleep, Akari shifted uncomfortably, rolling over and giving a loud huff of discomfort. Nabu awoke and looked towards his best friend, watching her with a tilt of his head. Was it happening again? He wasn't sure.

_Akari rounded another corner, trying not to look back to a scene that she'd already known of. He'd told her to go._

_And she hadn't been able to help him._

_She rounded another corner, running smack into another body. She fell, her mouth releasing a cry as broken ribs were jostled some more, and her rear hit the tile floor harder than she had thought possible._

_In the next second, she was up and pinned to a wall, cheek pressing against the brick painfully and an arm twisted, wrist on the verge of snapping, as her arm was held at a very dangerous position up her spine. Words were shouted in her ear, but yellow dots were dancing across her vision._

A small sound of protest whispered past Akari's lips, barely audible.

_Another second later, her head was slammed into the dark brick, much harder this time, and she felt a sticky wetness immediately form and fall down her cheek. "Just who I needed."_

_Her vision was completely clouded, one eye swollen and the other taken over with light at each painful movement or gesture the man who held her made. He peeled her from the wall and hastily, roughly, shoved her in the direction she was intended to go. She didn't protest much, but earned a stab to her hip, a needle injecting… something._

_And her skin was on fire. _

Another whimper. Nabu moved, getting closer to Akari's face and sniffing at her cheek, running his nose along her skin. "Akari, wake up."

_Her will to fight was, at this moment, nonexistent. He directed her past many rooms, down several flights of stairs, until she was positively worn out from tears and pain, at which point she was tossed into a room very similar to the previous, aside from the fact that there was no lighting whatsoever._

"_Good news, 253," an intercom came on, crackling overhead. "You've been promoted."_

"..not 253," she grumbled in her sleep, expression twitching. Nabu licked at her face, earning a bat of the hand and her rolling over, turning her back onto him. It's 'kari."

Nabu frowned, his dark eyebrows pulling down over his eyes. This was new. She'd never spoken in her sleep before.

"_You're now under special surveillance, a special guest here. You get a room all to yourself." The intercom crackled out, and for a moment, Akari thought she'd be granted a moment of peace._

_But another sound… a… sizzling? No.. _

_Her eyes reopened, or rather, one eye opened, and immediately the stinging began. The smell finally hit her, and she began coughing. _Outside of her dream world, her coughs echoed those of her past self, small at first, before growing louder and more forceful. _The gas was awful, whatever it was. She retched even, moving herself so that she was on her hands and knees, short hair tickling her nose. _

_Then she was being talked to, this time by a familiar demon._

_Or at least, that's what the thick fumes made her think._

Akari curled into a tighter form, her knees to her stomach, not quite forming a ball. as the dream continued on, she continuously shifted about, mumbling, "leave me alone."

Of course, in that room, when the gasses had subsided, she had begun wishing that they hadn't. _*****_

~!**!~

Youko took a deep breath of the night air, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand and gazing ruefully up at the full moon with golden eyes.

He wasn't sure when exactly the cycle of his change had synced up with the lunar cycle of Human World, but the thought did nothing to lessen his current mood.

Each time the change occurred, it lasted longer and longer, and this time the shift had started so early, Kurama had locked himself in his room just after dinner with his family.

And Youko felt nothing of the change reversing any time soon.

He kept walking down the block, knowing that any humans nearby would be unable to see his true form unless they had high enough senses for it, so he let himself remain unconcerned at the thought of being seen.

~!**!~

"Hiei," Shikiyoku piped up, "The city is over _there_."

By the time the pair passed the city gates, the daylight had given way to dusk and night was fast approaching. 3

Hiei continued moving, not looking down at Shikiyoku as she spoke up, pointing out what he'd already deduced. "No," was his lone reply, his feet never slowing as he continued on. After a little while more of running, Hiei became much more aware of the feeling in his core of being simply…

Tired.

But his mind and body were fine, so what was going on?

His feet slowed without him realizing it, settling back into a pace he'd used often in his life, just under his top speed. He almost considered pausing, but decided stopping wasn't an option, so he continued on.

~!**!~

"_Akari?" _Nabu whimpered quietly, nose brushing her cheek again and his tongue rolling over her nose. "_You have to get up now. You're dreaming again." _

She didn't so much as even move this time, and her breathing hitched for a second.

_She sat in the corner of the room, back against the corner and knees up to her chest, arms encircling her shins and chin resting on her knees. Her darkened irises were trained forward, staring at what she knew to be an illusion of some kind, but she couldn't block it out. It wasn't an illusion made from energy._

"_You're looking pathetic, sweetheart."_

"_You're dead, Kyu. Go away."_

"_You know you don't want to be alone. I mean, you do deserve to talk to me, after you left me to die like that."_

_She swallowed hard and turned her face away from him, her short curls bouncing around her face despite the general disgustingness of it all. "You told me to run."_

"_No, that's just what you told yourself." She didn't reply, to which earned her a loud laugh from the nonexistent demon. "See, even you know it. You're just too chicken shit to admit it to my face. Sweetheart, you're doomed, you're going to die, and-"_

"_LEAVE ME ALONE!"_

Akari abruptly turned in her sleep, her voice suddenly booming throughout the silence of the house, making Nabu cringe with ears pressed atop his head. "_I know you need sleep, but I'm not going to leave you alone. Wake up, now, Akari!"_

She shifted, growling as she curled into a ball tight enough that he couldn't see her face when he hopped over her to sit in front of her. Nabu hadn't ever had this much trouble before.

_Kyu's laughter rang even louder. "That's not possible, sweetheart. You see, there's much you have to learn, about the world and the place you're stuck in. And I'm here to give each and every lesson. The first lesson: You're already alone. Your parents have stopped searching. Your supposed mate-"_

"_That was arranged, and you know it!"_

"_-doesn't give two shits about you. He just wanted the money. These people here? You're their toy." He paused, her tears grabbing his attention. A snort blew through his nostrils. "Those'll get you nowhere."_

"Just leave," she grumbled, loud enough that even though her mouth was against her arm, Nabu could make out Akari's words clearly. He realized he wouldn't be able to shake her from this one. It was a whole new caliber, and his small body just wasn't enough, as proven when he jumped on her.

She didn't react to his pouncing along her shoulder.

Nor his loud bark.

Nor his snarl.

Nothing.

And he didn't know what to do, so Nabu sat there with ears flat and eyes watching, even as she again yelled for him to leave. _*****_

~!**!~

Attempting to clear one's mind with the evening breeze did not prove possible when one's ears picked up most sounds within half a mile.

Youko's ears twitched, his nose doing the same, and he felt strange about the one voice he had inadvertently caught onto, his steps following the noise.

Female. Young. Possibly in some sort of trouble.

But why did he care?

In any case, his steps did not slow. Perhaps he simply desired to silence whatever interrupted his midnight reverie.

As he came closer, his nose picked up on a scent he knew well, and it was at that point he broke into a trot.

His ears did not often mislead him, and they did not do so here, allowing him to weave his way through the next several blocks without having to change direction.

When he arrived, not at a scene, but instead a rundown house, his interest piqued further and without hesitation he went inside, his ears twisting a little as more noises accosted him after crossing the threshold.

It only took seconds for him to locate the red-haired girl, and to assess that her dreams were haunting her, and for a moment, he only stood there, taking in her restless sleep.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku felt her teeth clench together at the stubbornness of the tone Hiei used on her.

"The reason there are cities is because the forests outside them are wrought with danger, flame-boy." Shikiyoku tried to sound as patient as possible, "You go through them so that you don't get caught by one of the traps of the living woods." 3

Hiei resisted the urge to scoff at Shikiyoku. He wielded _flames_. In a _forest_.

And creatures could be taken down with even the dumbest of strategies.

So, he ignored Shikiyoku and continued on anyway, expression blank as if her words hadn't been heard. He ran, the trees around him looking more like trees now that he was moving at a speed that allowed him to make sense of the shapes with anything other than his Jagan.

His Jagan, then, slid closed underneath the ribbon that had, somehow, withstood its power and stayed in place, hiding it from the world as his two eyes roved the quiet area.

Too quiet.

He wasn't surprised when he burst into a clearing and another creature burst from the opposite side, rearing its lion-like head, the snakes that served as a mane hissing loudly in response to the roar the creature let out.

It charged, and Hiei sighed, taking in the taloned toes and the scaled body. This wasn't a normal creature, but it didn't phase him much either. He simply shifted Shikiyoku into the embrace of only his left arm, pulling to a stop so when he fired his singular fireball-like attack, it wouldn't veer off course.

The creature paused, maw open as its black eyes glinted at the attack thrown at it.

The attack that it promptly caught from the air and consumed.

Then fired right back at him.

Hiei moved, quickly releasing Shikiyoku and bursting forward, sword drawn, slashing through the larger fireball and sending the flames scattering about in the air.

He would have continued, if the smell of smoke hadn't caught his attention. And it was as he looked down at the burning hem of his coat and pants that he realized his cloak had been left behind.

~!**!~

Nabu crouched at Akari's midsection, paws digging at the blanket beneath her and nose buried between her elbows and her stomach. "_Akari, listen to me. I'm right here. Wake up, wake up!" _He paused when he heard something move, a creaking of wood, and his head shot up to look over Akari's waist and up at-

"_Flowers!" _Nabu immediately sat up and trotted to the male standing at the door, promptly sitting on his rump at Youko's feet with ears laying down. "_She won't wake up. Can you help?"_

He didn't even look back at Akari as she continued mumbling, carrying on a conversation with… whoever it was she was talking to.

~!**!~

"_I mean, I could go on for hours, but you seem to still be giving me the silent treatment, sweetheart. It's rather dull. At least look at me, so I know it's getting into that small brain of yours."_

"_253, your meal." the intercom suddenly crackled, but Akari didn't move. She merely kept her eyes buried in her arms, laying stretched out on the tile floor on her stomach. "253," the intercom repeated._

"_Shut up," she grumbled._

"_Aw, she actually spoke!" Kyu sang out, reaching a hand out and patting her back. "It's a start!"_

"_253, you are to report-"_

"_If you don't eat, they'll make you eat."_

"_I said, shut up."_

"_You think you're cute, sweetheart, but-"_

"_You have ten seconds, 253."_

"_-you're just-"_

"_ten,"_

_A very loud snarl sounded throughout the room, silencing both the intercom and the ghostly figure that was crouching over her. "Enough! I've had it!" She moved to sit up, darkened irises from lack of sleep and irrational emotions looking to the door. "Shut up, all of you! I'm not eating your drug-ridden food, I'm not answering to a number, and I'm not-"_

_The door opened and two men entered the room, wielding what looked to be sticks with handles, something she recognized even from demon world. She stood to meet their advances, fists ready to fight and a constant snarl leaving her lips. This was the second time this week that they'd felt the need to detain her. "You're going to sit down, and you're going to eat." the larger of the two demanded, batan at the ready for strike. "And you're going to quiet down, settle in-"_

_A sneer broke across her lips. "Too. Damn. Bad." she snarled out, moving across the room and simply throwing the pair to the ground. She would have continued on, if one hadn't grabbed her ankle and made her fall, earning a yelp of surprise. So she hadn't thought through her rebellion very well… _*****

~!**!~

Youko's eyes shifted from the female tossing and talking in her sleep to Nabu as the dog plopped down at his feet.

The fox squatted down and regarded the creature thoughtfully as it spoke to him.

"If you were unable to wake her," Youko commented, "It is unlikely I will be able to." His eyes turned to regard Akari's face more thoroughly. "And I think sleep is in fact what she needs now."

Without rising, Youko leaned forward and crawled the last few feet towards Akari's body, bending over her as his long silver hair began dropping over one shoulder.

He analyzed her face, seeing the dark circles there and realizing by both that and the dog's concern that these dreams, or perhaps nightmares, had been visiting her often of late. His tail twitched thoughtfully.

Youko sat back on his heels. It wasn't as if he carried remedies around for this sort of thing directly, but perhaps there was a mixture he could come up with to help Akari escape her terrors.

Withdrawing two or three roots and seeds from their hiding places, Youko let out a brief, cold scoff at his desire to help this female.

_You're to blame for this irrational behavior, Red. _He growled softly at his counterpart as he took the ingredients in his hand and mashed them together to form a sort of paste that he continued to knead in his palm.

It did not take much longer for the paste to take on a strange, almost crystallized form.

_Demonic smelling salts. Hmph. _Youko let out an irritated sigh as he leaned over Akari again and waved the crystal-like object briefly under her nose, gently rubbing his thumb alongside it so that it would release its scent into the air.

Knowing the effects would take a moment, Youko made himself comfortable, laying on his side and holding his head up with his free hand, the elbow planted below on the bed with his silver hair streaming out over that arm as he waited patiently while moving the 'salt' back and forth with his other hand just underneath her nose.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stepped back a little once Hiei set her down, her expression flickering between satisfaction and irritation. The first at having her words vindicated, the second at suddenly finding herself cast aside like so much dead weight.

She wasn't exactly sure what had made Hiei stop instead of running past, perhaps he needed to burn off some steam, but seeing as how he apparently wished to handle the situation himself without asking for her assistance, she stood there, jacket of her dress in one hand with the other hand resting on her waist, the top of the dress now like a corset that revealed a part of her stomach before her pants took up at her hips.

Shikiyoku missed her cloak.

And by the smell of burning fabric, she would have bet anything Hiei missed his. She had to resist turning around right then and there to go get their things.

_And that was one of my favorite outfits too. _She regarded the burnt hems singed around Hiei's ankles with a tinge of sadness. 3

Hiei quickly grabbed hold of the coat he wore and shook it violently enough that the flames extinguished themselves, and his red eyes turned up to the creature with irritation. How was he supposed to _replace_ such a thing he'd left behind? Also, this wasn't even his outfit to burn!

His ire became even more potent when the creature opened up its jaw to roar again, even releasing another attack.

_So it can mimic._

He moved out of the way, deciding the less of this outfit that burned, the better he'd be. He charged, sword in tow, and simply struck the creature at its side, listening to the gleeful sound of the scaled skin ripping apart.

It roared and whirled, spinning a spiked tail at him that he easily dodged, deciding he wasn't as interested in this fight than he had initially been. So, he simply beheaded it before turning to Shikiyoku again, katana sheathed in a second's notice and, even though he was facing Shikiyoku, he wasn't looking at her.

Instead, he was looking at the burnt fabric with disdain.

"Let's move on."

~!**!~

Nabu trotted around Akari as well, moving until he was standing near her head, watching Flowers assess the situation despite his words. He felt slightly disappointed that the male wouldn't help wake her, but felt certain that he had something better.

Like he said, she needed sleep. Maybe he knew how to get rid of the dreams.

"_They used to happen rarely. But, they're common now. Worse each time," _he informed Youko, wondering if the demon's response to him earlier had been to his words or a simple inference.

_Akari landed with practiced ease, catching herself with her hands as if she were readying to do push-ups, having conditioned herself for this moment in hopes of actually getting away. She rolled, but was pulled right back to where she'd been, her nails raking across the tile floor painfully as her stomach was dragged across as well. When she stopped moving, she rolled over and kicked at.._

_The air._

_Another snarl as her arm moved to block the blow only the shadow had warned her about, covering her forehead and directing the baton to her elbow, where the wooden weapon hit and made her arm tingle, going numb from the force. _

_She would have made a grab for it were it not for the second baton that struck down, hitting her stomach and making her wheeze out a breath in response. _

_She took a deep breath, and a new smell just touched her nose. The scene seemed to pause for a moment as she looked around for the source, but in the next second, she was covering her face again, kicking out and fighting her way to her feet with one hand holding a baton, another throwing the human aside as if he were nothing but a toy. _

_Alarms and whistles began blowing somewhere outside the locked room, but the sounds were almost…_

_faded away._

_She took another deep breath, and she found herself staring at the human who had been charging, frozen in time. The lights had paused mid-flash, and everything seemed to stop._

"_What is that?"_

_She looked around the room, the smell stronger it seemed the longer she dwelled on it. And when she wandered the room, she found she could open the door and leave._

_And the moment she did, the scene was gone, leaving her in a dark room filled with nothing whatsoever. Another deep breath that turned into a sigh of relief. She didn't have to deal with it anymore. She could simply sleep…_

_Except this darkness was not one of sleep, but as if she'd just entered a room with no windows, no light, nothing. Just a dark, empty room. And a small noise, unidentifiable, could be heard. Along with another person's breathing._

Akari felt herself actually rising from sleep, though she was completely unaware of her surroundings._*****_

Youko felt the stirring of the demon next to him, but this time it held a more restfulness than her movements from before.

To assure himself that these dreams would plague her no longer that night, Youko made no move to stop, though he did lower his arm just enough to let it rest gently on her own arm while he still let the smell of the salts invade her senses.

~!**!~

"You mean into the city?" Shikiyoku wanted to know, already sensing his answer to the negatory before he made it. "I completely agree." She took a step as if to head back in the direction of the gates anyway. 3

Hiei frowned at Shikiyoku, his brows drawing over his eyes and giving a look of complete irritation that was now actually meant for her. _Persistent woman. _He scoffed once. "Hn. Going back makes the trip longer. We're halfway around."

When she moved as if to go anyway, he simply stood there, contemplating his options. He _could _just swoop her up and continue on, but quite frankly, he didn't feel as if the struggle would be worth causing. "No cities. Period."

~!**!~

Akari shifted just a little, pausing at the feel of another's hand on her arm. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment, and she had to blink once before her vision cleared to reveal the silver-haired demon look-alike. _Twice he's helped out. No, three times. _

Her eyes slid closed again and she offered a small smile as her body completely relaxed now, all tension leaving her as she fell back into the darkness of blissful sleep. _*****_

Youko felt the release of Akari back into slumber, being unresponsive to the small smile with which she graced him as her eyes closed again.

He turned the salt over and over in his fingers, letting the night wear on around him and listening to the steady breathing of the demon sleeping next to him.

Feeling a tug at his core just as the sun was about to rise past the horizon, Youko took a moment longer to glance down at Akari's face, reaching over to move a bit of hair that had settled over her lips back behind her ear.

Slipping gracefully to his feet, Youko considered the salt in his hand thoughtfully.

As he left the house, he placed the object on a shelf close to the ground where Nabu would be able to retrieve it if necessary.

~!**!~

"Going back and then through the city is _much _safer than trekking forward. We know this way is generally safe," She gestured abstractly in the direction they came from, "And I can assure you _that _way," She motioned the direction he wished to go, "No matter what your speed, is not." 3

Hiei's brows drew closer together and he shifted his weight impatiently, refraining from making a begrudging sound. "Yes, because the last two cities worked out perfectly well," he countered, gesturing in the direction of the town they'd left Uryo behind in. "I rather enjoyed the _legion of demons_. and the _townsfolk_."

~!**!~

Akari's sleep after her brief awakening to greet the demon she assumed was Foko had been very relaxing, and much needed. Dreamless, peaceful. It was such a deep sleep that she hadn't moved an inch since her eyes had closed.

But still, when the sun rose enough to create streams of light through the boarded up windows, her mind was rising to consciousness and her eyes were sliding open, her internal alarm clock going off and forcing her awake.

She contemplated going back to sleep, but her eyes caught sight of the school uniform that was laid out on a desk, and she realized she'd been gone for quite some time. The work _had _to be piling up by now.

The sound of exasperation turned to a yawn as she stretched and rolled over. _It'll still be there tomorrow…_

Internally, she hit herself. That was the reason she hadn't gone already. She heaved another sigh of exasperation and simply… got up. She'd simply have to deal with it, and sleep when she got back. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku glared across the way at Hiei, her jaw tightening as she remained silent to consider him.

"You know what? Fine." Shikiyoku tromped across the clearing in the direction Hiei wished to go, "We'll do it your way." She brushed past him without pausing, diving into the treeline, "Just don't expect me to _not _say 'I told you so.'" 3

Hiei felt no small amount of satisfaction that she finally relented, going the way he desired so as to avoid the ire-inducing cities. He completely ignored her last words, turning to follow after her, though keeping a short distance away from her simply out of precaution. Of what, he didn't know.

He was just glad they didn't have to deal with moronic demons this go-round.

~!**!~

Akari had gotten changed quickly, her hands rubbing at her face as she stood by the desk with her bag and belongings atop it necessary for school. _SChool work…. _Again, she was tempted to simply stay here and go back to sleep.

Instead, she willed herself to stuff the last book in the bag and heft it over her shoulder, turning and stepping over Nabu, who was stirring as she made her way out the door. "_You're going to school?"_

"Yeah. Don't worry about it Nabu. I'll be back before too long."

"_But you didn't sleep enough."_

"I'll be fine. Go back to sleep," she said to him before closing the door behind herself with a click of finality, turning and making the begrudging trek to school, rubbing at her face almost constantly. When she arrived at the campus, she was met with loud chatter within the hallways and inside the classrooms. Loud chatter that almost hurt her head as she walked into the open classroom, not looking around at the students just yet. _*****_

Kurama sat quietly in his seat, staring blankly down at the pages of the book in front of him, absently turning the page every so often to maintain the charade that he was actually reading the thing, though the truth was his eyes saw nothing of it.

In truth, he had withdrawn deep into his own thoughts, getting impressions of the night before and Youko's excursions under the full moon.

~!**!~

This was _not _going to be an easy trek. Shikiyoku sighed disgruntledly. It had been a long time since she'd journeyed into this neck of the woods, and for good reason. Cuz it sucked.

She heard a sputtering, popping noise coming from an indiscernible direction until it passed underneath her feet, and she kept moving forward calmly as a spout of fire shot up out of the ground behind her, flaming for a few seconds before disappearing, then shooting up again closer to her.

The back and forth of Shikiyoku continuing to walk without pause and the spout firing up just at the place she left happened for several more steps before the noise died away, as did the flame.

Other spouts started to pop from different directions, lighting the area as they shot up into the air intermittently, seeming to have no rhyme or reason to them, but moving in a direction for a time by disappearing into the ground and then reappearing a little farther along. 3

Hiei followed along, his eyes on Shikiyoku's back calmly as his steps followed hers almost perfectly. And as he walked, there was an odd stirring within him, followed by a sound he didn't quite understand, and completed with a burst of fire that had him sidestepping rather quickly, frowning when the hem of the coat caught fire for the second time. He beat it out swiftly before continuing along, this time warily, each step careful as he watched flames spout from the ground in a steady stream before disappearing and seemingly appearing elsewhere.

He admired the formation, his eyes seeing the flames as if they were doing a dance all their own around him. Each sprout was part of another, and there were a couple that even seemed to shoot simultaneously, as if one and the same.

He paused in front of one that spat flames up at him, rolling up the sleeve of his right hand and waving his hand through the flames. It turned from the normal shade of orange to an angry red, as if reacting to something else, but it did not retreat from him. He toyed with the flame, using his energy to entrap some of the fire and holding it in his hand. He rolled it around and around his fingers, like a child would with a ball as he continued walking.

He hadn't been paying attention to anything but the fire, so when the creature underneath his feet stirred, he paid it no mind and continued walking. That is, until a loud shriek made even the leaves of the trees shake, and Hiei was being lifted into the air.

When he looked down at the creature, he realized he was standing on the snout of a creature that looked rather like a dragon, but was not actually such a thing. Before he had much more thought, he braced his knees as the creature tossed its head, and in a movement faster than he'd been expecting, he was enclosed in darkness and covered in a wet substance that caused him to slip.

_Being eaten by a creature: check._

~!**!~

Akari strolled into the room after a brief hesitation, her eyes finding her homeroom teacher at his desk, red pen in hand and eyes occasionally looking up, obviously beginning roll call early, without actually calling for the students.

"Akari…" the man uttered her name and looked up, pen paused as his eyes scanned the room. She was quick to approach while she had the chance, taking to standing in front of his desk and blocking his view. "Ah! There you are! You've missed quite a few lessons, Hanase."

She nodded once, expression genuinely apologetic despite her begrudging emotions of being present. "Yes sir, I apologize."

"Don't apologize. You'll just catch up, like everyone else. Though, you may be subjected to after school tutoring too, for the hours you need to make up." He paused and looked up to meet her gaze finally, his brows furrowing slightly. "We're going over something new today, so you've come in at the best possible time." He paused, eyeing her for a moment. "How are you feeling?"

She raised a brow. He simply assumed she'd been sick? "I've had better days, sir," she replied honestly, but gave a shrug. "Part of life, hm?" she finished as she turned to leave him to his roll call, finding that her normal seat had been taken and the only open one was-

_Of course._

She heaved a sigh and moved through the room, taking the seat in front of Kurama without so much as looking at the redhead. She couldn't bring herself to do so, when the memory of their last encounter was flooding her mind suddenly. _*****_

Kurama's ears perked at the mention of her name, and upon hearing her speak, he did glance up a little, just enough to see that she had in fact come to class today. He took note of her consternation as she slid into the seat in front of him, and did not, as a result, say anything.

~!**!~

At the rumbling of the ground, Shikiyoku dodged forward and whipped around in time to see the giant fire worm snap its jaws shut around Hiei, then turn down to her.

Immediately, Shikiyoku's energy flared up in the darkness of the night, her green eyes shimmering as she frowned at the beast.

"That's my Champion you've decided to snack on. And if you know what's good for you, you'll cough him up." Shikiyoku told it.

The fire worm lowered its large, strange snout towards her, pressing it against the front of her in a hard nudge that nearly knocked her off her feet before she could raise a hand up to rest against it and push it away as flames shot up out of its nostrils.

"Open up." She ordered, batting it firmly with her palm between the spurts of flame.

The maw began to open, but before Shikiyoku could peer down to see what had happened to Hiei, another worm shot out of the ground next to her, jaws apart and snatching her within them, closing her in darkness as it dove back deep under the forest floor once more. 3

Hiei slid along the tongue of the creature and down to the back of its mouth, then promptly down the throat. He growled to himself, his feet and a single hand trying to get a hold on the sides of the slippery walls of the throat, but having no luck.

And he did not want to find out how potent the stomach acid was.

A hand quickly unsheathed his katana, and a brief moment later, he speared his sword into the creature's throat. Almost immediately, he stopped moving, the sword as an anchor working out just as planned, despite how the walls contracted with the screeching the creature was now releasing.

He looked up, and found that he could just make out a little light from the outside world. He hadn't fallen as far as he thought he had.

Hiei reached up with his second hand to hold onto the hilt of his katana as his body moved with the thrashing of the creature, knowing this was going to be a difficult feat if he decided to-

_Fool. _he called himself, scoffing at his own ridiculous stupidity. Why try to slice away from the inside, when he could just _burn _it from the inside out?

With that thought, he produced just about as much flame as he could muster, and allowed it to move as it pleased through the creature's body.

It would only be a matter of time now.

~!**!~

Akari leaned an elbow onto the desk and rested her chin in her hand, causing her long curls to fall over her right shoulder as she leaned into her lazy poise. She let her eyes slide close and tried to push away the emotions that had stirred, the confusion and the embarrassment, among a few others she had yet to explore. It was even harder to push away the warmth she felt creeping up her neck, finding herself glad that her hair would hide this from the male behind her, whose green eyes could be watching her at this very moment.

Smirking.

_Asshole._

She shifted in her chair so that her ankles were crossed beneath the seat, eyes sliding open again as the brown-haired girl in front of her turned around, regarding her with a welcoming smile. "Good to see you back. Gym class has been boring without your…. moments."

Akari raised a brow. _Right. Dodgeball and stuff. _She shrugged once at the girl, who smiled knowingly. After all, not many kids got away with throwing a ball into another's face. It just so happened that the gym teacher hadn't been paying attention, and half the class hadn't liked the girl anyway.

"You playing today? Volleyball."

"Not sure," she replied honestly with another shrug, her eyes turning to the side as she considered at least _greeting _Kurama.

And again, she was met with the tingling of her lips, the strain of her abdomen as she shifted, and the mental image of him leaning _much _too close into her space, and promptly shot the idea down.

_Asshole. _*****

Something...something about...Akari?

Kurama tried not to wince down at his book, frustrated with his counterpart and whatever memories they were not sharing at the moment. There were moments like this when he could not readily recall things the fox had been through, and the changes during the full moon only appeared to make things worse.

~!**!~

"You're **not **swallowing me." Shikiyoku announced, seated on the tongue of the worm as she was.

Cross-legged, arms folded over her chest, she could practically feel the veins in her forehead pulsing with irritation as her eyebrow quirked in time with it.

She could feel the rapid movement of the beast as it burrowed around.

A spout of flame, then two, shot up from its belly to exit through its nostrils, singing part of the hair that had fallen from Shikiyoku's formerly formal do. Not so much anymore.

"And you can stop _that _nonsense right now." She growled, reaching up to pinch out a flame that danced at the end of a twist of her hair.

There was no point in ordering it to open its mouth at the moment, since she would simply be pushed down by the soil it would be forced to consume, and so instead she started radiating her energy outward in defiant pulses, fully intending to take control of the thing once enough power permeated its senses. 3

Hiei watched the flames move about through the throat, then down and away from himself, a lick of fire even going up the back of the throat. He felt the night air being sucked in desperately by the creature, and sneered as he sent more fire up.

After a while, he decided it simply wasn't enough, and completely engulfed himself in flames. They swirled angrily in the small space, moving at his will and simply hugging the sides of the throat. The walls contracted, momentarily leaving Hiei in a space much smaller than comfortable, and in the next moment, a stench met his nose and he was looking down.

He wrinkled his nose, and after taking a deep breath in, relinquished his katana from the creature's throat, allowing the creature to quite literally spit him up, along with other chunky objects and a stench to rival almost anything, even Human World.

He sat on the ground, covered in bile and utterly disgusted. _One way to get it done. _He wiped his eyes clear and turned to glare at the creature that burrowed into the ground. When it was out of his sight, the fire demon moved to stand, looking down at himself with an expression filled with disgust.

At least Shikiyoku wasn't here to-

_Shikiyoku wasn't here. _

Hiei's mind jolted, just like the rest of his body, and the fire demon spun around on the spot, searching for any sign of her. None. He turned inwards for the bond, only to find it was pulsating angrily within his mind, almost like a headache. He quickly accessed his third eye and followed the connection, making mental contact after a few moments. "_Where are you?"_

~!**!~

"Well, if you do play, I'm a team captain, and would enjoy showing you how to play, since I know where you come from, there weren't many sports." Akari nodded at the girl in front of her, thankful for the distraction from her inner musings and briefly recalling her own made-up story of where she'd transferred from.

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Okay class, listen up. Listen!" The teacher clapped his hands twice, making the room go silent quickly thereafter. "Today, we're starting a new unit on herbs and their effects in medicine. I have a project for you-" the class erupted into talk as students turned to one another, "-BUT, your partners are pre-decided by yours truly. No groaning, mister Castillo!" A kid in the back immediately hushed, and several kids laughed, even Akari giving a small smile.

Maybe this was what she needed.

"They will be groups of two, since Toriko is still out sick." He gave a pause to consult the paper in his hands. "Now, the groups are as follows…"

Akari didn't really listen as the biology teacher went on naming pairs of students. Her eyes wandered to the window and around the room in thought, hoping she'd be stuck with someone who wasn't a problem and wouldn't-

"Akari and Shuichi. That's it."

Akari's ears twitched at her name, but her expression and mood immediately soured. It took everything in her power not to slink down in her chair, and it took even more control to recompose herself before the teacher met her gaze. "This project is simple. You're going to come up with a home remedy. For anything. No drug usage, okay? Don't get me fired. That's the only rule." He looked down at his watch. "You have today to decide on what you're going to go for, and tomorrow you will be working on creating your remedy. You'll make three different forms of whatever it is you decide to go for, just in case. We'll present them to the class on Friday, understand?" There was a pause. "Okay, get started." _*****_

At the mention of Toriko, Kurama's thoughts strayed again as his eyes moved to the seat she normally took before taking a sort of faraway expression.

Koenma had been quiet on the subject, so Kurama knew something had to be up, as not only was the girl gone, but so too had Hiei disappeared along with her. Any comfort Kurama took from both of them missing remained solely in the fact that they were together, and hopefully able to keep one another out of trouble…

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's jaw clenched together again as a thick drop of saliva fell from the roof the worm's mouth and enveloped her bare shoulder in its strange stickiness.

Not that it would have done her much good, but the jostle from being snatched had caused the jacket from the gown to go tumbling down the throat of the beast.

The she-demon wanted nothing more than the hot springs of the valley to bathe in at that moment, not to mention a nice change of clo-

"_Where are you?"_

The question echoed in her mind as she continued radiating power outwards.

"_Take a guess." _Shikiyoku replied archly. 3

Hiei stood in the middle of the small clearing, eyes roving until he received an answer, and it made it much easier to locate her, as if a radar suddenly popped up and he was able to move to the exact spot she was supposed to be. Except…

His eyes went downwards and he frowned at the soil. He didn't know just how far down she was, but he was sure that simply attempting to-

The ground moved. Not where he was standing, but nearby, and Hiei was turning to see several of the same creature rearing up from the ground, each one spouting flames from its nostrils at different times. The sound that filled the air made his brows furrow over his eyes.

_Oh. That's where it comes from._

He glanced down at the soil in which he stood, realizing that if Shikiyoku had time to be mad, she wasn't in danger at the moment. He unsheathed his katana as four of the worms looked down at him simultaneously, the flames from their nostrils dark and angry.

"_It might be a minute," _he sent before the creatures lunged at him, moving just fast enough that at his top speed, Hiei was keeping up with equal speed, running along their bodies and thinking of different ways to end this quickly.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes watched the teacher settle into his desk before they turned to the girl in front of her, who again turned around to her briefly with a smile. "Lucky, you get the smart one. I get the slacker."

Akari sighed, "Good luck."

Of course, she figured the groups were picked that way, where the smartest in the room were paired with kids who needed a nudge of help. In Akari's case, she assumed it was because she was behind.

After a moment, she turned around in her seat, leaning her right elbow on Kurama's desk and resting her chin in her hand again, crossing her left leg over her right knee calmly. "Alright, mister herbals, you decide." she said, not looking at the redhead, instead her eyes remaining facing the way her body was, staring at the opposite wall in an almost bored fashion. _Let's get this over with. __*****_

Kurama stared blankly at Akari's profile for a moment, his brain going back and replaying every word spoken since he became lost in his thoughts of Toriko and Hiei.

He thought of several 'home remedies' that he would like to create, namely one that would let he and his counterpart merge together, but instead of answering her, he lifted a hand up to cover his mouth and stifle a yawn.

There had been no sleep for him last night.

"You have no ideas of your own?" He asked lightly.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a low growl that resonated in the mouth chamber where she sat.

A pass of hot air fluttered over Shikiyoku's skin, as if the worm resisted allowing more flames to shoot out of its nostrils as she had asked it do to.

She could feel her energy brushing up against the sides of the beast and extending outwards.

Eye contact was going to be a no-go here.

Standing up carefully, to avoid getting pitched down the black hole of a throat, Shikiyoku reluctantly put her hand against the edges of the teeth to her right and started walking along the tongue to the front of the fire worm's mouth.

"Up." She ordered simply, the word echoing around her.

The worm began to shift, its tongue arching to prevent her from falling backwards.

On the outside world, the fire worm burst from the soil into a stand much like a cobra, and when it opened its mouth at another command from Shikiyoku, she easily hopped out and landed on the forest floor.

The worm immediately lowered most of its body back into the earth, but nudged at her again with its snout at which she growled angrily, another pulse of her energy radiating into the air.

At her reappearance, three of the nearest fire worms also pulled their heads from the ground and started making strange gurgling noises as they surrounded her, butting at her with the tips of their noses.

"Stop it!" Shikiyoku snarled, a wave of irritated energy bursting out from her again and only further encouraging the worms, who knocked her off of her feet. As she sat cross-legged on the ground with her arms woven together over her chest, they began sniffing at her, blowing her hair this way and that with the warm breath from their noses.

"Are you quite finished?" She growled again, glaring at one of them.

It snorted an arc of flame at her, promptly setting the remains of a red slipper aflame.

Shikiyoku let out a huff of an exasperated sigh and dug the foot into the dirt to put it out.

"Go away." She mumbled with less force than before.

The fire worm whom she had made contact with opened its mouth and started to hang its tongue out towards her.

Shikiyoku scrambled backwards, hurriedly stammering as she did so, but finding that she ran into the body of another worm, "Don't even think abou-"

It licked her, then pulled back with an excited expression.

Shikiyoku couldn't help the shiver that erupted down her entire body as she tried not to gag.

"You're. Absolutely. Disgusting." Shikiyoku felt another pulse of energy leaving her as she desperately wished these creatures would go away.

The fire worm simply snorted another burst of flame in her direction, and Shikiyoku didn't even bother putting out the fire as it caught her pants at the ankle. 3

* * *

_The noises of the fire worms as they move under the ground, that is the spurts of flame they breathe, are a direct reference to the flamey spurts that are in the Fire Swamp within the movie The Princess Bride._

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	44. Episode 129 - Rescued, Sleeping Aide

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dearest Readers!

To the next episode!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari continues being plagued by dreams-or rather nightmares-of her past.  
Nabu and the true Youko assist her, though Akari believes it was the false Youko helping.

Akari and Kurama are assigned to work on a project together in class,  
but the both of them are having trouble staying awake.

~!**!~

Hiei and Shikiyoku skirt around the edge of the next city at Hiei's demand,  
finding themselves in the territory of fire worms, dragon-like creatures with no limbs.  
After escaping being nearly swallowed by said creatures, Hiei discovers Shikiyoku had been swallowed as well,  
and he attempts to track her via Jagan before being surrounded by more of the beasts...

* * *

Hiei moved, his feet easily staying along the worm's body as the other three spat flames at him and even tried whacking him from the air with their tails. Odd, he thought, but other than that he merely wanted _away_. He wanted to go bathe and rid himself of the stench that clung to him now, of the sticky disgustingness that, if he thought about too long, would likely make him physically ill.

"Enough!" He growled, turning and facing the nearest one with a flame all his own in his hand. The fire worm stared at his flame for a moment before pulling away, standing like a snake to regard him curiously. Then it released a sound of what he assumed to be curiosity, a puff of smoke leaving its nostrils in a slender stream.

Hiei took this chance to glance about, and found that Shikiyoku had appeared above ground now. Surrounded.

He'd had enough.

He turned and swiftly ran, hopping to the ground and dashing through the large bodies, making a quick grab at Shikiyoku as he passed by her, not even caring that she'd have to deal with his stench and the stickiness of his bile-covered skin.

He opened his mouth to speak as his feet left the ground, taking him across the body of another fire worm.

But this time, the tail came from nowhere, up from the ground it seemed, and out of precaution, Hiei released Shikiyoku, allowing her to fall out of harm's way while he himself was quite literally thrown across the clearing and into a large tree's branches.

Where, for a moment, he remained tangled, eyes shut from complete anger and slight pain from the brute contact.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged. "We could always come up with something fake. Say, play doctor and create something that would _make wounds heal faster_." She actually smirked at the thought of standing in front of a class and presenting something that literally did nothing, pouring a solution over a new cut and letting the class see how a demon's skin easily healed from something as small and insignificant as a cut.

They'd likely think _Shuichi _was a doctor.

Or a magician.

Another huff of a laugh.

_That would certainly be worth doing. _

Or course, she was only kidding. _*****_

"Neither of us particularly _need _a home remedy like that." Kurama pointed out, holding back another yawn, "And I don't think Human World is quite ready for the secret to be revealed in the first place."

Of course he wasn't going to fake something like that.

"Now, a fast bruise reducer would be less...life changing."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku twisted easily in the air, and the head of a fire worm dashed just underneath her, catching her fall so that she landed feet first on the top of its snout as it passed below and kept moving.

Another fire worm was pulling itself up out of the ground in front of the tree she had watched Hiei ricochet into, and with a burst of anger at the entire situation, Shikiyoku felt her energy gather into her hand and she tossed it violently in the direction of that particular creature as her own fire worm approached and reared up next to it in a sudden halt.

The fire worm she had hit nuzzled at her and she batted it away with a hard smack as she almost lost her footing because of its 'affections', turning to where Hiei landed and extending a hand as her energy continued to weave into the air around her, the fire worm on which she stood lowering to Hiei's level. 3

Hiei stayed how he had landed, his arms- bare and now scraped and bleeding here and there- hanging on several different limbs, his backside sitting almost in a chair-like position, his legs sprawled and tangled in the red leaves. Disgruntled, he didn't move, deciding he'd gather himself before untangling himself from the branches and leaves and-

A creature crawled along his shoulder, moving across his back by his neck until it rested on his left hand, staring at him with wide brown eyes as its fur ruffled in the wind. _Fur. _He was reminded dully of a squirrel, though this creature had much more fur and no tail, and its coloring was that of a lemon. Perhaps a little darker.

By the time Shikiyoku had shown up, he had heaved a sigh and resigned to allowing the creature to sit there, not taking her hand at first and instead staring at her unblinkingly.

The creature chattered at him with a high-pitched tone, making him turn to look at it as it puffed its cheeks out and resumed scurrying about his body, little feet trailing across his bare skin in a way that reminded him of the lur'mog.

He scoffed, his body tensed from the odd sensation, only relaxing when the creature was gone, out of sight. Chattering loudly, but not in sight.

Finally, he disentangled himself and reached to accept the hand offered to him, saying not a thing about the situation.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged. He hadn't really gone along with her fun, and it almost seemed irritating. Maybe it was just because she was tired, and couldn't quite get over the-

"It was a joke. A musing meant for my own entertainment." she grumbled, turning her eyes even further away from him so that her hair acted as a curtain to hide her face from him while her left hand wiped at her mouth absentmindedly.

She went quiet again, resisting the urge to heave a loud, dramatic sigh. Maybe she _should _have stayed home. Listened to Nabu and got some more rest. She'd been sleeping so well and-

_Foko._

She sat up straighter without thinking about it, suddenly remembering the appearance of the demon the night before. _Don't forget to hunt him down later, Akari. Thank him for… whatever he'd done. That's twice he's helped with events that were caused by- _

_No pointing fingers. _

She huffed at her own scolding. "Sleep remedy," she finally said, deciding she might as well go with something that would be useful for _her_ as well. "Everyone needs it from time to time." _*****_

"I...I apologize." Kurama said after her grumble, "The last few days have been...trying to say the least and I did not mean to come across as unpleasant."

He placed his elbows on his desk and interlaced his fingers to create a platform that he then rested his chin into, watching Akari but still not really seeing her. Or anything.

When she mentioned a sleep remedy, his ears perked up.

That idea was quite doable. And useful, Kurama thought ruefully.

"I think that is a most excellent idea."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku pulled Hiei up onto the fire worm with her, stepping back as she did so to give him enough room to join her.

She held his hand for a moment longer, lips pursed as she stared at him.

"Let's..._**never **_speak of this encounter to _anyone_." Shikiyoku declared, taking in how much worse for the wear the fire demon was and knowing that she likely looked just as bad herself. 3

Hiei moved and joined Shikiyoku on the snout of the fire worm, looking down briefly at the creature to ensure it wouldn't throw him as well. He looked up, meeting Shikiyoku's gaze squarely and nodding once at her words. He didn't need to be told twice on this one.

He took in the way her hair stood up in places, the way she still had saliva on her outfit or even in her hair. She looked as disgruntled as he felt, and after a moment, he looked down at himself, realizing he'd lost the shirt _and _the jacket, both of which he'd actually enjoyed. It had been an outfit he hadn't minded.

Now all that was left was his sheath, and a pair of pants that were both singed at the hem _and _weighed down by the bile he could still feel weighing his hair down as well. His eyes slid shut in a show of regaining any form of patience and calming himself.

It didn't do much good.

This time, he didn't speak up about continuing on. He simply moved on, cautious now of any other attacks likely being thrown as he simply continued moving in the direction they'd been heading before these.. these _creatures_ had appeared.

Maybe they'd find a river or something.

~!**!~

Akari held back a snort. The last few days had been _trying_? _Understatement, fox. You have no idea. _The urge to simply leave was now almost completely unable to be ignored, and again she shifted her weight to further ensure she didn't simply get up and do whatever her instincts pleased. Her eyelids slid closed as she remembered the night before, waking up to see Foko after her dreaming. It hadn't started out with those dreams.

For the past three days, none of her dreams had started out with those. Instead, they each started the same way: in the gym in Spirit World, hitting a punching bag. Each dream had transitioned from the scar he'd given her to a memory of another scar.

And each time, Nabu had awoken her. Or, almost every time.

Suddenly, she swivelled around in the chair and simply laid her head down on Kurama's desk, finding that she didn't have the energy to play the game of _don't look_. She took a deep breath that transitioned into a yawn, pushing away each and every thought that crept to the forefront of her mind that had nothing to do with catching up on school work.

"Sleep remedy it is, fox." she grumbled into the desk, her forehead moving just a little until it was much more comfortable on the crook of her arm. "You're the one with the herbs, though." _*****_

"I'm fairly certain my 'herbs' aren't exactly a 'home remedy.'" With Akari not looking, Kurama actually let himself yawn behind his hand this time. "But it shouldn't be too much work to see what's laying around that might do the trick. I'll come up with a list or something tomorrow."

~!**!~

After the fire worm dropped them down and Shikiyoku returned them to their habitat, she fell in step behind Hiei, staying a good two or three feet away as she felt more than a little self-conscious about how terrible she smelled at the moment.

_Maybe it was a good thing we left our cloaks behind_, Shikiyoku mused as she stared at Hiei's bare back. If they had brought them, there would be little salvaging them, what with how completely covered in stickiness Shikiyoku felt at the moment. On the other hand, how in the nine levels had Hiei managed to utterly _destroy _his clothing? It wasn't as if the fabric didn't have any resil-

Shikiyoku felt the ground underneath her shifting and she managed to take two more steps, her mouth opening to warn Hiei, before her words died away as the forest floor buckled underneath them right when she got a hand on his shoulder and managed one hard shove to try and get him beyond the edge of the trap.

She had no time to check and see if he avoided the trap entirely, head snapping downwards and her core racing once as she saw what awaited her at the bottom.

There was nothing she could do. Nothing to grab onto. Nothing but to fall right into the spike pit, a drop of at least thirty feet that only gave her enough time to angle her body so that nothing would impale her torso or go up through her foot.

Just as she felt the sharpened tips pierce through a knee, her mind erupted in a pain so indescribable that it only registered as a soft buzz, her brain unable to comprehend the pain in any other way. At the feel of a second spike bursting out of one arm from her own weight at the exact same time, her body dragging her down the wooden beams which impaled her, to the floor of the pit, Shikiyoku blacked out, not a single sound having left her lips. 3

Hiei hadn't been prepared. When Shikiyoku's hand was on his shoulder, he turned to look at her briefly, only to end up shoved away, stumbling to keep his balance and to stay on his feet. He recovered, registering the sound of dirt falling and something… sickening… crunching. Breaking? He wasn't sure, but by the time he realized Shikiyoku had fallen down a _hole_, of all things, he moved to peer inside.

Or tried to.

His foot pressed down on something that didn't belong to the soil, and not only did something trigger a metal trap that snapped around his ankle, but a pulley was also triggered, and in the next second, he was hanging upside down painfully, blood falling along his shin as his arms scrambled, a hand grabbing onto his katana as sounds of feet rapidly approaching caught his attention.

With his eyes on the mechanism holding him up and pulling at the skin of his ankle, he didn't quite see the hole Shikiyoku had fallen into. He pulled himself up using his stomach and with careful hands inspected the metal mechanism that had all but broken his ankle.

He hissed in pain when he tried pulling it open, receiving nothing. Not surprised, Hiei used his Katana to cut the line that held him suspended in the air, turning as he fell so that he would land on his good foot and-

His eyes caught sight of the hole, and what awaited down inside the pit. His core lurched at the sight he'd just glimpsed before Shikiyoku had fallen out of his sight.

_Bandits. Hunters. _It was a dangerous combination, and when Hiei landed, he was quickly working at the thing latched onto his ankle, knowing he wouldn't be able to move around much with it cutting into his bones.

"We've caught something!"

Hiei snarled, fully angry and, quite honestly, panicked now. He hadn't _ever _considered something like this. Creatures he could handle, but a gang of demons? Whose energy he couldn't locate?

The odds weren't looking good.

~!**!~

Akari grunted in approval of his words, but otherwise chose to ignore the redhead despite the fact that she was leaning on his desk, resting her head upon it as if it were her own. She gave another yawn, not even trying to suppress it. It wasn't like anyone was watching her or anythin-

"Why is it the pretty ones?" she heard whispered somewhere across the room.

"It's always the dumb ones too, who skip school and end up being tutored by the best ones. It's sickening."

Akari sighed, not caring for the petty conversation, but not able to block it out either.

"I mean, Shuichi deserves to at least have a partner who _cares_. Just _look_, she's taking a nap."

Akari slowly sat up, expression blank as she looked across the room at the two who had been speaking in hushed tones. She met their gazes squarely, earning wide-eyed stares of shock before they turned around again. She wasn't in the mood. _*****_

"What they fail to notice is that I'm actually taking a nap myself." Kurama murmured, his eyes closed at this point and his hair just shadowing his face on either side of where he still sat with his chin rested onto his interlaced fingers.

~!**!~

Stalking out from the treeline, a small demon with a mop of brown hair pulled back into a short ponytail crept to the edge of the spiked pit and stared down into it, a softly glowing spear in one hand.

Were this demon in Human World, it would likely be mistaken for a four or five year old child, though the two red marks across either cheek would have certainly given anyone pause for thought.

Others of the bandits started emerging from the undergrowth, warily eyeing Hiei, but making no move against him. There were maybe ten of them. Enough that when they were all in sight, they had formed a loose circle around the fire demon.

They muttered quietly to themselves about how 'this wasn't exactly what they had in mind.' 3

Hiei had paused when the first demon had appeared, his red eyes cautiously turning up to see more demons flooding into the area, and before he could even consider moving, he was surrounded and a single demon was peering into the pit Shikiyoku had fallen into. His expression shifted from guarded to dangerous as he heard the whispers and noted that the demon still stayed near the pit.

The fire demon's hands continued fiddling with the trap that was enclosed around his ankle, though slowly, hoping none of the demons would notice until he was striking. Still, he could sense none of their energies, so his Jagan peeled open once more, this time actually burning away the ribbon of fabric that concealed it so that it was not hindered in any way, shape, or form.

And the energy that pulsated around him from the eye seemed to make him feel even more on edge. Finally, the trap fell from around his ankle, and Hiei was standing again, his weight on his good foot carefully as he assessed the situation.

For the moment, the area was almost silent. And he wasn't sure how to go about this.

He'd kill them all if he had to, but he would have to be quick.

_Shikiyoku…_

~!**!~

Akari gave a huff and rested her head down again. "You're the _pretty _and _smart _one. Makes no difference, you do no wrong in their eyes," she replied tartly, eyes sliding closed again as she got comfortable. "Common even in Demon World, no?" she finished with a dry laugh.

Of course a trait such as jealousy was everywhere. Humans simply expressed it a little differently. _Not that they have much to be jealous over. _It wasn't her fault they were paired together. _*****_

"I cannot deny that I sometimes wish humans would be more inclined to simply brawl over their differences. Rather, I wish the _female _ones would do so instead of this petty wordplay they find so amusing. Yusuke and Kuwabara punched themselves into friendship after all."

~!**!~

"You." The child-like demon demanded of Hiei, pointing at the fire demon with the spear and turning to regard him. "Who is she? What is her name?" There was no denying the avid interest this demon had in knowing the answer. 3

Hiei glared at the demon that addressed him, his eyes narrowing even further at what was demanded of him. The information was not something he was going to give up, since trouble was easy to find around here. "She is in my company, and thus none of your concern," he responded tartly, shifting his hold on his katana, just in case. "Her name means nothing to you, and who she is is none of your concern."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes slid open, staring at the desk underneath her arm. "What?" she asked, moving her head so that she rested her cheek on her arm and was looking up at the redhead. "Yusuke and Kuwabara were not _originally _friends?" The idea of it was so… odd. But, it also kind of made sense, in its own way. They bickered like enemies at some points. _*****_

Kurama smiled, his eyes still closed.

"Kuwabara claimed to be the baddest kid at school, though everyone knew Yusuke in truth held the title. The former would challenge the other at any passing moment, and Yusuke would proceed to kick the metaphorical stuffing out of Kuwabara in almost every situation."

~!**!~

The entire attitude of the demons surrounding Hiei tensed, most of them sliding their eyes over to see what exactly the reaction of the brown-haired demon would be to the impudent fire demon they gathered around.

The demon stared at Hiei unblinkingly, face unreadable. A couple of seconds ticked by, and the gaze shifted to the impaled body in the pit.

"Either she is who I think she is, which you can confirm, and I save her, or she bleeds to death in this pit. Unless _you_ have some plan of extracting her from a thirty foot hole without further damaging the pierced limbs." The demon's voice did not change timbre, dryly stating facts and taking in the damaged she-demon before shrugging and looking back up at Hiei, "It makes no difference to me." 3

Hiei didn't like it. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, either not telling the demons and ending up fighting, wasting time, or giving the necessary information and risking just about the same thing. He didn't trust words easily, but he didn't quite have a choice. The demon was right, getting her out himself would be difficult, to say the least.

He ground his teeth together for a moment.

"Shikiyoku." he said finally, eyes flashing. "If you already knew, why bother asking?" He shifted his weight, slowly adding more of it onto his injured ankle to test its ability to hold him. It wasn't very steady, even with a small amount of pressure.

He'd have to plan carefully if something were to go awry.

~!**!~

"Hm," Akari hummed out, interested. She remembered first actually seeing the pair together in the tunnel, and how desperate Yusuke had been-

No, before that. He'd pursued the truck. On a bicycle, no less. And he'd done well in keeping up. She suddenly laughed and turned away, turning to her own seat and again resting her head down. _Some friendship they've got there. _

After a moment, she was thinking about Yusuke, and the gaming trip he'd lead her on. _Interesting moron, that boy is. Not as dumb as he makes people believe. _

Her eyes slid closed, and Akari could feel the edges of sleep threatening her mind, but she didn't resist. Not at first, at least. When she'd gotten close enough to sleep to dream, her head shot up and she was sitting upright, back leaning heavily against her chair and eyes pointed forward.

_Not going there. Not here. __*****_

Kurama's eyes lazily slid open at the abrupt movement of the demon across from him, but he remained quiet, taking to simply analyzing her face.

_Sleep remedy, hm? What is plaguing you so that you need- _Kurama's thoughts faded off and his stomach sank.

Surely not.

He couldn't have-

Kurama's eyes closed and his ribcage heaved in a giant sigh that he did not release audibly.

Shit.

~!**!~

"Because I did not know for certain, Champion." The brown-haired demon replied patiently. "The last time I saw her, we were both barely children and she looked much, much different than this."

The demon grasped the spear in both hands, orange eyes sliding closed and head tilting downward just slightly. One hand came off the spear shaft and waved over the pit, the slightest shimmer of blueish power sparkling in the air.

Shikiyoku's broken body came into view a few painstakingly slow second later, rising straight up out of the pit and coming to hover just in front of the smaller demon, who now looked at her with open eyes, reaching and removing the cloak around its shoulders with a silent flutter to lay it over her still-bleeding body.

"As you saved me, so I save you." The demon intoned near a reverent whisper. "A life for a life."

The demon turned to look over at Hiei, already having noted the injury he sustained, but not wishing to sacrifice his dignity by having one of the others in the clearing assist him, the demon simply nodded to him that he could follow, then caught the eyes of the others, and turned to walk back into the treeline with Shikiyoku's unconscious form floating safely above the ground alongside its path.

Without word, the other demons fell in step behind the smaller one, forming a V shape that was intended to have Hiei walking in the middle of as they forged their path back through the forest. 3

Hiei let his katana hang at his side as Shikiyoku came into view, the tip of his sword just touching the ground as he eyed the bleeding female who had, again, somehow ended up in trouble. And this time, her words of going into the city echoed into his mind, making his orbs turn from the brilliant ruby color they normally were to a darkened, deep red as he turned inward.

He'd caused it.

There was simply no other way he would, or rather _could _look at it.

When the demon turned to go then, Hiei placed every ounce of his weight on his injured foot, and without even a beat's hesitation at the pain that shot up even to his knee, he followed after. He didn't allow a limp, he didn't allow himself to even _appear _harmed, his sword being sheathed so it could not be used for assisting his own movements.

He simply followed, eyes on Shikiyoku the whole time.

~!**!~

Akari sat stock still for a moment before releasing the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, her body relaxing just a little as she slid down in her chair, her eyes never even blinking. _As soon as the bell rings, I'm leaving_, she told herself, deciding that Nabu had been right about her catching up on sleep.

And sitting here did nothing to help her. Watching the clock would do no good, and closing her eyes was now considered dangerous to her. So she shifted and moved to the front of the room, deciding she would gather her work while there was time to do so.

"So, what are your ideas, miss Hanase? Did you two agree on something? I'd hope so, since you're both back there chatting and napping."

"We've already decided. It's just getting there that's going to be worked on."

"Good, good. I suppose you're here for your work?" She gave a silent nod, to which he replied to with a gentle smile. "I have no doubt that you'll catch up. Once you've set your mind to it, you can do anything. I've witnessed it first hand in you."

She didn't reply, only watched as his busy hands gathered papers from various folders. After a few moments, the papers were handed to her and she was glancing down at the variety of work. He'd even seen to gathering work from the rest of her classes too, it seemed. "If I run into any issues, I'll find you," she said briefly, earning a nod and another gentle smile. "Thank you," she said before turning and walking back to the seat that had been deemed as hers for the day, now left with nothing to do other than look over the papers. _Still better than sleeping. __*****_

No wonder her attitude towards him had been...cold. He had done nothing to alleviate the problem at all, only made it worse.

He certainly hadn't factored in _that _particular nuance. He'd been slipping as of late. And mostly where _she _was concerned.

Kurama felt a bit of purpose settle into this 'home remedy' assignment. It must not only induce sleep, but a dreamless sleep.

His lips quirked a little in a smile. He already had a concoction in mind.

~!**!~

The little band wove their way through the undergrowth with a practiced ease, eventually coming upon a clearing that bustled with the quiet activity of their small tribe.

Their tents appeared to be made of the skin of the fire worms, as well as many of their clothes to boot.

With no pause to greet the other tribesmen, the brown-haired demon swiftly moved across camp to a tent set slightly apart from the others.

The demons who had been part of the hunting party dispersed as soon as they reached the clearing, and Hiei was paid little to no attention by anyone.

A slender demon got up and started to walk to intercept the demon with the glowing spear, but the latter held up a hand to stop the intrusion.

"I shall see to this personally."

"But Shubou-"

"Personally." Came the more stern reply from the shorter demon, who had not stopped walking briskly for the tent, Shikiyoku's form still floating along. "Let none interrupt."

The glowing spear got jammed into the ground just outside the tent entrance, and Shubou held back the flap to allow the body to get inside before following directly after.

There were rugs of various creatures' pelts from the ninth level spread everywhere along the floor, though at the back of the tent, several were piled together to create a bed, and it was to this point that Shikiyoku's body floated, the cloak slipping off and fluttering down beneath where the injured portions would come to rest, before gently lowering to the ground.

All the while she came to rest, Shubou remained busy gathering small pots and bandages, a basin of water and rags. This was obviously a medicinal-related tent, as there were various herbs hanging from the ceiling and casting a comforting smell over the entire room.

Shubou wasted no time in ripping off the already useless pant-leg of the injured knee on her right leg up to nearly the end of Shikiyoku's thigh, using a swift, but gentle touch to remove the fabric without so much as disturbing her.

The wound beneath was horrifying, a gaping hole that could have likely been looked through to the other side, with muscle and sinew obvious, and even a white portion out in the open that could be nothing other than bone.

Shubou did not appear bothered by the blood and gore, quickly stopping the blood-flow first.

As Shubou worked first here at her knee, the hands that opened the various pots and reached for the various rags to dip them in water and clean the wound sent the same purple sparkles through the air that had been present before when Shikiyoku first came up from the pit.

Movements fast, Shubou dressed the wound, wrapping extra bandages around it as the hole was likely to bleed through on both sides and not just one.

Knee done, the brown-haired demon moved the things littered about across Shikiyoku's body with measured precision and then transplanted over to that side, some of the items that had not been picked up initially floating to join the rest when Shubou could not be bothered to gather them all at once.

These items remained suspended in the air about Shubou almost as if forgotten, though each one was used as the orange eyes never left their work.

The condition over here was much the same, a stake having impaled entirely through Shikiyoku's left forearm, revealing all the bits that were meant to remain under skin.

This wound was more delicate to work with, as it appeared the arm had almost been completely severed off by the bottom width of the stake nearly exceeding the arm's own width.

It posed no greater of a problem for Shubou, who worked just as deftly here as with the knee, though the purple sparks flew about in greater earnest as fingertips passed over jars and rags and the water basin.

In the middle of dressing the wound, having just finished applying a salve to the entire outside edge of the arm on both sides of the wound, Shubou reached overhead and plucked a small, dry leaf from an herb just within arm's length.

Quickly powdering between two fingers, Shubou let the majority of the leaf balance on top of the thumb handling it, stretching up to smear the powder across Shikiyoku's upper lip before turning back and finishing wrapping bandages around her arm.

The powder was obviously meant as a waking agent, made apparent by the grimace of lines that formed as Shikiyoku's eyebrows pulled together in a frown.

Once the bandages were in place, Shubou began quietly gathering the filthy rags and water basin, the jars and such lifting to return to their places.

Still kneeling on her other side, Shubou looked up at her as Shikiyoku's lips parted with a single, quiet word.

"...Hiei?"

Shubou glanced at the fire demon and started to stand up with the dirty rags and basin.

"I'll see to it you are not disturbed." Shubou murmured quietly, stepping around Shikiyoku's body and leaving out the tent flap without another word.

"Hiei?" Shikiyoku asked again, voice just as weak as the first call, her eyes starting to open and her uninjured right arm coming up off the bed beneath her as if searching for him, her brow furrowed together with worry. 3

Hiei had followed the smaller demon into the tent that he'd disappeared into, and with a simple look around, decided that he'd simply help himself to a bandage or two. While the smaller demon, whose name he'd forgotten for the moment, began work on Shikiyoku, Hiei grabbed a few of the bandages that flew by and took to addressing his ankle, just enough to stop the bleeding.

Nothing more was necessary, or deserved, he felt.

The only reason he was cleaning up? So Shikiyoku wouldn't stress over it when she awoke.

As he tied the cloth, perhaps a little tighter than necessary, he listened to the rustling of the objects being plucked from the air and then used on Shikiyoku, who, for the moment, he couldn't bring himself to look up at.

After a few more minutes of silence, Hiei had regained control over himself and his expression was blank, eyes now watching everything that was going on. Even as his name was called into the air and the shorter demon passed by, Hiei didn't move, aside from turning his head to watch the other leave.

His name was called again.

This time, he responded by moving across the tent and over to where she lay, standing over her and looking down at her with a blank expression, waiting for whatever she had to say, if anything.

He himself, however, had nothing to say.

~!**!~

Akari placed her paperwork down and spread out each paper before her, letting her eyes rove over each subject curiously. There were a few that she saw that she'd be able to work on at that very moment, if she so decided, but quite frankly, work simply did not appeal to her. Nothing appealed to her but a silent room with no other patrons inside.

That would be nice right about now.

Akari shifted in her seat so that her elbow was on her desk and she rested her cheek in her hand, eyes still pointed down at the work spread out in front of her. Mentally, she was working on one of the math sheets, but physically, she was literally staring down with half-lidded eyes, as if she didn't see it at all.

She stared down at the paperwork for what felt like an eternity, the buzz of talking students drowned out and replaced with the sound of the wall clock ticking loudly, her impatience and desire to leave making it thrum in her ears. Deciding she was simply too bored sitting there, staring, she grabbed a pen.

As she reached down to her bag, she paused for a yawn, her eyes closing for a moment with the force of it. When her eyes reopened, she wasn't in the classroom anymore. The sun was shining down on the dark green blades of grass that moved with the pleasant breeze, and her bag was sitting on the ground, the contents scattered as if she'd dropped it. She gave a sigh and crouched down, retrieving each paper, each book that had scattered and placed them inside again, as if the transition hadn't really been noticed, though she was entirely aware of the shift.

_I tried not to sleep, dammit. At least it's a peaceful one, this time around._

Once everything was gathered, she heaved a deep, exasperated, worn-out sounding sigh and stood upright, bag in her right hand and eyes turning to look about. She was in the park, surrounded by yelling, laughing children playing games such as tag or hide-and-seek.

_Even in dreams, there's no silence. __*****_

Kurama didn't usually doze off in class, but when he realized somewhere in his consciousness that he was very nearly asleep, he slowly pulled himself back away from dreamland and reopened his eyes.

He stared at the back of Akari's head, a bit of a smile lifting part of his lips when he saw the deep breaths expanding her ribcage.

Lifting a hand to his forehead, Kurama wasn't surprised by the slight fever he found there, and he sighed, putting away the textbook he had been staring at and grabbing his school briefcase to talk to the front of the room.

The teacher looked up as he approached.

"I'm afraid I'm not feeling very well. I seem to have a slight fever. If it isn't too much trouble, I think I'll be checking myself out of school for the rest of the day."

"No trouble at all, Minamino! Please, go home and get some rest." The teacher smiled up at him.

"Probably from having to work with that lazy girl." One of the other female students whispered just a little too loudly.

Kurama made as if he didn't hear, simply nodding his thanks and moving to go out the door, making his way down the hall to leave the building.

Once outside, he took a breath of the fresher air and slung his bag over one shoulder, easing his free hand into his pocket and continuing down the sidewalk to home.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku knew Hiei was there on some level or another, but could not see him at first, and that induced a moment of panic and recalling of the drop into the spiked pit.

Did he fall too? Did he get hurt?

She had no answer for the first, as her memories faded from the time her body started hitting the sharpened stakes, and all of this combined led her sitting up very quickly.

Several things happened at once.

Her eyes opened first, and she saw but did not comprehend the tent around her, the last image her mind produced being one of the forest overhead. Secondly, sitting up meant that she moved her hands to help raise her. Of course, only one arm responded to her desire, and she found she could not feel the other. This was not entirely true. As soon as she sat up, a disembodied wave of pain scattered across the arm she could not move; her left arm hung limply from her shoulder.

None of these things particularly mattered to her, the pain getting beaten down by the thought that Hiei could likely be nearby and worse off than she. Namely because he had not answered.

Turning to the right, a flush of relief filled her mind when she recognized that Hiei stood next to her, though her gaze did not go higher than his ankles. Her eyes zeroed in on the bandage he wore about one ankle, and dismissing her concern about him not answering, she spoke up again.

"You're hurt!" The exclamation wasn't a particularly brilliant one, more of a statement-of-obvious that welled up from beyond her pain and concern.

As if there would be something around to help, Shikiyoku's head turned back to the rest of the room, still dazed and not seeing it yet, but looking nonetheless. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku sit up and quickly discover that one of her arms was just a little better off than useless. He could tell that she at least felt pain, but to him, it wasn't something he saw on _the bright side_, as it were. He watched her eyes move until they locked on his ankles, and her exclamation meant little to nothing to him at this point.

"Stop moving around." He wasn't sure what his tone sounded like to her, but in his own ears, Hiei sounded as if he were scolding a child. Impatiently scolding someone who'd listened to nothing he'd told them. "It's a ridiculous cut that means nothing."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes watched the scene unblinkingly, eyes following the many children that were running, screaming, chasing one another around a jungle gym and a set of swings, weaving through children in the seats that swung back and forth.

She turned to peer behind herself, looking for the dog that was normally with her when she ventured to these parts, but knew that he wasn't there. He would have been barking like mad by now if he had come with her.

So she turned around and decided to follow the dirt path into the shade of the tree line, knowing there was a specific spot that would be clear of any other people, as it always was. It had been deemed as her favorite spot, merely because once she was settled in, she was guaranteed a few hours of peace, unless a dog wandered her way or Kurama happened to be passing by.

He did that more often than she thought coincidental.

As she wandered, bag in hand and the wind rustling her school uniform, she listened to the fading sounds of yelling children, and her ears zoned in on the sound of birds singing. Their songs were so calming that she was able to ignore any unpleasant sounds of the daytime.

She reached her small clearing and looked up to the tallest branches of the largest tree in the immediate area, smiling with familiarity before she continued, pausing at the base of the tree and looking around again to ensure no one else would wander by. When she was satisfied, she made herself comfortable in the cool grass, laying so that the leaves shaded her from the threat of the sun's rays, the wind blowing by moving her hair gently and helping her relax fully.

Before long, she was actually laying in the grass, reclined against the tree and the warmth of the sun's rays was on her legs. She'd kicked her shoes off and turned to lay on her side, her head propped up on her arm.

_This is it. This is what I needed._

She gave a deep, contented sigh that ended in an equally contented smile on her lips, her eyes sliding closed. Sleep wasn't anywhere near welcoming her, but her body was simply so relaxed that it didn't matter. She would feel completely rested in a few hours anyway.

She lay there for a while, listening to the rustling leaves and the whistling breeze, the birdsong having stopped some time ago. She might have actually fallen asleep, were it not for the sound of a breaking twig nearby. She shifted, ignoring the sound as she knew of the creatures that roamed in the bushes, harmless as they were.

But a few minutes later, unease set in as the sound persisted, loud enough that it certainly couldn't have been a rabbit, or anything else of the sort. She rolled to her back and sat up, blinking her eyes against the rays of the setting sun drearily. She rubbed at them to clear her vision before moving to stand, slipping her shoes on and patting herself down as her ears locked onto what she now recognized as footsteps leaving the area.

_I'd been watched. _

She moved to follow the sound, her ears keeping her on track for a few yards until her nose caught several scents that didn't belong. At least, not here, where no other human had been in a while.

Sweat was the first scent, making her wrinkle her nose.

Blood was the next scent, and she didn't really dwell on anything else after that, instead turning and moving at a trot towards the source of the bloodloss. From the potency of the scent, she could tell it was not a small amount of blood, and the person who had come to harm would be lucky to be alive at this point.

That thought sent her into a run at a speed that would have made her a little less than a blur to anyone passing by. And she ran, and ran, and ran, all the while the scent seeming to fill the air, making it harder and harder to breathe.

She pulled to a stop just short of a clearing, pausing to ensure no attack were to come should she advance. When she was sure she would not be ambushed, she parted the leaves of the bush she'd been ducking behind and moved forward, eyes searching for-

Her irises locked on a body that hung from a rope that was tied around the wrists of a male, who dangled with head bowed and red hair moving with the wind that was no longer a peaceful breeze. Her breath hitched in her throat, and when she tried to move forward, she found that her feet wouldn't move.

After a few seconds, she finally moved, feet carrying her forward until she was not only standing in front of Kurama, but her hands had hold of his face by the cheeks, and she was moving his head back and forth, inspecting each and every cut on his cheeks and simultaneously searching for any sign of life.

"Kurama, you need to look at me now. Come on, you can't be the one in trouble." she grumbled, her hands moving to let his head fall again to the rope above, using her energy to create a knife that would cut the restraints. "You are _not _allowed to die, fox."

She caught him by the torso, following the falling of his body until she was sitting on the ground, head leaning over his chest, listening to the sound of any sign of breathing.

None.

Her stomach dropped and her core twisted. Her eyes were suddenly stinging and her vision blurry as she placed her hands over his heart, taking to doing CPR as she'd learned as a child. "_You're _supposed to be the one who can't be killed, you asshole." she growled out, though it wasn't much more than a mumble that almost didn't leave her mouth. "_You're _the strongest, and _you _are never taken by surprise. _You _think of _everything_. _You _protect-"

Her words cut off with a hitch as she squeezed her eyes closed and sat back, hands simply taking to resting over his chest, her head bowing to let the tears fall to the ground.

He wasn't supposed to leave. He was supposed to be here, smirking at her and challenging her and making sure _she _stayed out of trouble.

She took a deep breath, hearing the sounds of people chattering. When she opened her eyes again, she was in the classroom, students moving about, gathering her things. The girl in front of her was staring at her with a look of sympathy, a sad smile on her lips. "Maybe you should go home." the girl commented in a low voice. "You look like you need the rest…"

Akari blinked and wiped at her wet eyes, confused for a moment. Hadn't she just been…?

She turned in her seat to Kurama, mouth opening, but when she saw his empty chair, her eyes widened and her breathing stopped. Her stomach dropped to her feet and she felt as if she would throw up at any given moment, her body going cold. _He can't be dead._

She was abruptly standing, and the sound of the bell ringing in the room was lost to her as her hands quickly gathered everything at her desk and stuffed her papers in her bag, turning and moving for the door at a run before another thought even crossed her mind. _*****_

~!**!~

Kurama found that instead of towards home, his feet had taken him to the block that Toriko's house stood on.

Since the demon had disappeared, Kurama would drop by to make sure Maneshi stayed fed, which seemed to be a pleasing arrangement for the black cat.

Getting up to the door, Kurama fished first in one pocket, then the other, to get out the house key he'd pilfered from the first time he'd picked the lock and let himself in since Toriko left.

He was not immediately greeted by the animal, though Kurama thought perhaps that might be related to the early hour of his visit.

He guessed perhaps the cat was napping, and as he slipped off his shoes and placed his bag down, leaving the door open to allow some circulation of air into the home. He quietly padded over the carpet to the couch nearby, leaning over it to see the pet far away in dreams, laying on his back with his paws twitching ever so slightly.

Unable to help himself, Kurama reached over the back of the couch where he had taken to leaning and rustled at the soft fur of Maneshi's exposed stomach.

Immediately the cat curled in on his hand, blue and brown heterochromatic eyes flashing open as he snapped his body around the intrusion, digging his back claws into Kurama's wrist. Maneshi chomped down on the nearest of Kurama's fingers, glaring up at the fox with wild eyes as he grasped onto the digit with his front paws.

"Interrupt something pleasant, did I?" Kurama raised an eyebrow as he tried to remove his hand only to have the fangs further pierce his skin.

He sighed, feeling that tiny trickles of blood had started slowly weaving down the inside of his wrist.

"Could I have my hand back now, please?"

Maneshi glared at him for a moment longer, then very meticulously released his jaw from around Kurama's finger and allowed the redhead to pull away.

"Well, now I have to take care of this first, so your meal will have to wait."

Maneshi huffed at Kurama, but did not move as the other slowly wandered over to the kitchen sink, pulling back his sleeve and running his hand under the water to start washing away the blood.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku sat staring blankly at Hiei's ankle for reasons she could not rightly understand. The pact within her was agitated, holding her attention, warning her in her bleary state of their possible danger. Of _his _capacity being lessened by the injury. Of the danger for her in him being less able to protect her.

A continuous pulsing reverberated through the portion of the pact she could feel in her mind, one that kept her attention-what there was of it-focused on the ankle in question, compelling her to...do..._something_, though she couldn't rightly at the moment accurate translate _what_.

"Why didn't you answer me?" She mumbled, head hanging a little as if she had not the strength to hold it up. "I need you..."

_-to be whole. To be in fit condition. You are both vulnerable._

...

Shikiyoku's left arm did not respond when she tried to lift it up to her face, and so came the right hand to cover her forehead as she frowned. 3

Hiei didn't respond to Shikiyoku. Didn't even blink at her. He simply stared, as if her question were not worth answering. After a silent moment, his eyes shifted to look at the tent wall, where a small hole allowed light to filter through from the dying rays of the evening sun.

His face twitched around his nose and lips, almost creating an expression of ire, though it would have been aimed at himself and the situation he'd placed them in. He'd gotten her into trouble that would have been avoided had he just, simply, listened to her request, no matter how much he despised it.

He couldn't bring himself to respond. Why? Because he couldn't bring himself to even look at her, much less speak without faltering in his facade.

~!**!~

Akari ran through the hallways, avoiding contact with the few humans who had filed in her way with ease as her eyes searched for any sign of anything that would prove her wrong. Her chest felt heavy and her core was thrumming with energy while she resisted the urge to be sick.

She burst through the doors that lead to the courtyard, ignoring the teachers behind her who shouted at her to stop. Her feet carried her to the sidewalk of the town, turning to move in the direction of the park, her mind showing her the image that she was afraid to confirm.

As she ran down the sidewalk, hair whipping behind her as she moved, her nose caught the smell of blood.

And the scent of roses to accompany it.

Her eyes began to sting again as she picked up her pace, moving until she was standing outside a house, the scent stronger now.

Her irrational mind didn't comprehend the fact that the scent was too weak to mean anything more than a small cut.

She simply moved into the house, not even slipping out of her shoes as she burst into the living area, huffing, wiping at her tears before looking around.

It was then she realized that there was no way it was true. Why? One, the setting was different.

Two, she was tired, meaning she must have fallen asleep.

Meaning she'd been dreaming.

Before another full minute passed, Akari was turning and leaving the house at a trot, now angry at herself. _*****_

Even if Kurama hadn't heard the tromping feet over the sound of the water from the faucet, the tell-tale scent of rosemary would have caught his attention on its own.

Calmly switching off the water and grabbing for the towel he'd placed next to the sink, Kurama walked out of the kitchen as he wiped his hand off just in time to see the back of Akari hurrying out of the front door he'd left open.

His lips parted and he took a breath, at first intending to call out to her retreating form, but thought better of it and said nothing, letting out the air in a quiet sigh.

He'd start on the sleeping-aide that night.

~!**!~

"Will you at least-"

_Take his injury away._

"-sit down." Shikiyoku reached over and gave two light tugs at the burnt hem of the pants Hiei wore.

Her mind went blank, and Shikiyoku's hand slid down Hiei's leg to the bandages without her complete consent.

As her fingers rested above the place where Hiei's skin had been torn, her fingertips began to grow colder, and her own ankle started to heat up. 3

Hiei continued to stare at the tent wall on his right, not moving despite Shikiyoku's request. Maybe it was a demand, he didn't know nor care. He simply was not-

Her hand on his ankle made his eyes snap over to her, sending a glare down at the female, though he didn't step away for fear of toppling her and creating more problems. "What do you think you're doing?" He growled out, her cold fingers causing goosebumps on his skin despite his tolerance for the cold.

~!**!~

_Stupid. Of course he's not dead. _she growled at herself mentally, arm dropping to her side as she proceeded to trot down the sidewalk, not daring look back. What had she been _thinking_, letting herself fall asleep in class? What in the three worlds had her dreaming about _him _anyway? Other than the normal dreams as of late, that is.

And what on _Earth…_

Had caused the thoughts that had crossed during the dream? She didn't _need _protecting. She didn't _need _him to be there. He was simply _there _when it convenienced them both, and he was simply _there_ at random moments. It meant _nothing_.

She sighed as her footsteps slowed to a walk, continuing to the park, as she had been originally heading. She'd lay in the sun for a while. She needed to relax and do _nothing_, as she had intended yesterday.

She was going to _do _and _think _nothing at all, if she could help it.

And in her current state, she found it wasn't a difficult thing to accomplish. _*****_

~!**!~

"You understand then."

"Of course, Youko. We completely agree."

"Our settlement will come later-" Foko paused, turning as he picked up a smell he knew quite well to see a familiar face dashing out from the campus gates nearby with a hunted look in her eyes.

"I'm sure it will not be a problem." The other demon finished, taking little notice of Foko's pause.

Foko nodded briskly once, "We'll be in touch."

The two parted ways, Foko following after the quickly disappearing form of Akari.

He feared no human here, as they would simply see him as a slender, silver haired young man, his ears and tail only visible to demons or those with a high enough awareness to make sense of them, and so it was that he walked with confidence in Akari's path, following her scent until he caught the last of her diving into a house, at which point he stopped and leaned against the opposite side of a tree casually, wondering at the expression she wore, but seeing nothing chasing after her.

_Tilting at windmills? _He thought to himself, using the human expression he'd heard.

When she exited the house no worse for the wear, Foko waited until she was out of sight before slipping off the tree trunk and taking to slowly wandering after the rosemary trail she left in the air.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes glazed over, but when she heard Hiei's question, her mouth dropped open.

No sound came out, as if she'd forgotten how to speak, and she stared blankly down at his ankle.

A strange heat-wave started to rise from the same ankle of Shikiyoku's that Hiei's injury was on, not quite energy, but something similar, and her fingers continued to drop in temperature.

Her body kept shifting as if to raise her other arm to join the first, and Shikiyoku would have begun removing the bandages had that arm obeyed her commands. 3

Hiei felt the restraint on his emotions become lost to him, his anger boiling enough that his energy began leaking into the air around him, swirling in angry tendrils that resembled smoke, almost creating a shadow over his person. He could feel what she was trying to do, and oddly, he found that he couldn't move, despite the fact that he wanted to move away.

His leg simply wouldn't move. It was like dead weight, almost.

He shifted his weight to his other foot and pulled away, though not going very far due to whatever bound him to that spot.

He snarled, now completely enraged that she'd heal him when she was the one who had been harmed because of _his _decision.

"Remove your hand before I remove it for you."

~!**!~

Before long, Akari was in the park and in the very spot she'd deemed her own, looking to the sky overhead and watching clouds roll by for a few moments before she moved towards the familiar tree, whose branches swaying with the cool wind that blew by. She sauntered forward until close to the tree, at which point she unceremoniously dropped her school bag and dropped to her knees, then proceeded to lower herself to lay in the grass on her back.

With the sun angled the way it was in the sky, there was no problem making sure the rays hit her face. She crossed her ankles, linked her hands beneath her head, and proceeded to stare at the waving limbs of the tree above her, refusing to let her eyes slide closed.

And she was going to continue to refuse herself sleep from this point on. _*****_

Foko approached the dog-demon from an open position, making his presence well-known before he even got close.

"Might I join you, inu?"

~!**!~

The rapid shift of Hiei's power shocked Shikiyoku's attention away from the pact, finding that she had somehow become so very focused on its pulsations that she lost herself in the midst of it.

Shaking her head slightly as if that would more fully clear her mind, Shikiyoku meant to pull her hand away from him.

_What am I doing?_

She blinked, realizing that her hand would not leave his ankle and a panic set in for the lack of response of her own limb.

Fingers growing more icy and stiff, Shikiyoku's lips parted a little as her core felt like it caught in her throat.

Shikiyoku snapped her head up to look at Hiei, a wild and unsettled look in her eyes.

"H-Hiei, I _can't_." 3

The fire demon growled again, this time more loudly. "What do you mean, _you can't_?" He glared down at her, his weight shifting again. He knew what she was trying to do. Why play like she didn't _understand _her own prowess?

He shifted his weight again, this time so he could crouch down to her level and begin prying at her fingers. trying to pull them away from his skin.

And he found that her fingers would not budge in any way, shape, or form. Another growl, this one under his breath as he tried harder to peel her hand away. "You're not healing me."

~!**!~

Akari heard footsteps and was aware of a presence before too long, and for a second, she considered moving into defensive mode. But, she saw no point to it. Her senses were delayed anyway, it wouldn't do much good.

Even if it were someone who was attacking.

It wasn't hard to guess the person who had approached, even before he spoke. "Out during the day now, hm?" she asked him, tone light as if she'd been expecting him to appear. "Do whatever you like, I suppose. I have no reason to turn you down, Foko." _*****_

"That is a most wonderful bit of information to hear, inu." Foko declared, starting to walk towards Akari again, and dropping to the ground next to her, laying down on the grass with his hands behind his head, tail and hair spread out beneath him.

"So, what's troubling you this time, if I may inquire. Anything I can kill for you?"

~!**!~

The very instant Hiei mentioned healing, Shikiyoku's eyes widened as she watched him try to remove her hand.

There had been a time...some time in the distant past of which she only had a vague recollection of a former Champion injured, a vague remembrance of a compulsion from the pact, one that led to...well...

"...it...it's not healing." She admitted, "It's...it's a mirror effect."

She could feel the heat radiating off of her ankle more clearly now, knowing now that the pact was attempting to remove the hindrance upon her Champion's ability to fight and place it upon her own body. 3

Hiei halted in all attempts to peel her fingers away, his glare harsh as she spoke up, informing him of what she was _actually _doing. Defeated, he realized he couldn't escape it. If it was possible, this fact made his anger rise as he simply sat on the ground, eyes smoldering as he stared at her expectantly.

He didn't deserve to have his pain taken away. She did.

And he couldn't do that.

But she could do that for him.

"Fool."

~!**!~

Akari didn't answer Foko, only staring overhead with blank eyes. She took a deep breath and slid her gaze over to him, analyzing his face for a moment before releasing a sigh. "I don't feel like talking about it," she admitted, turning her eyes again to the sky. "Thank you, though."

She took a deep breath to sigh again, but instead yawned. Loudly. "What's got you wandering around?" _*****_

"Nothing for me to kill for you then? What a sad existence I must lead today." Foko's eyes stayed closed as he enjoyed the sunshine warming his body.

"Only business." He replied lightly. "And what of you? What has you leaving, what is it, school? In such a rush? Did you miss the bark of the tree behind you mayhaps?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had no answer for Hiei, subjected to keeping in contact with him for as long as the pact required.

The strange pulsations drew her attention back to the pact within her, though she did not become mesmerized again. She did not remember this pulsing from the time before, and so it was that when her hand started to thaw-at which she immediately pulled away from him-she felt herself unsurprised to find that the injury had not transferred.

A shudder passed over her as the heat on her skin started to dissipate, leaving behind a clear ankle where it normally would not have.

Shikiyoku felt her jaw clench together as she clutched her hand up to her chest, and in her anger felt the beginnings of tears start to well up at the corners of her eyes.

The invisible voice within her struck up its chorus again, resounding words inside the plane of her mind to remind her of something she had nearly forgotten...

_Useless. Utterly useless. _

_You really __**are **__a fool. _3

Hiei remained seated, even after Shikiyoku had pulled away. He looked down at his ankle and found that his wound had not disappeared as he had expected, but that her attempt had failed. His expression turned blank suddenly as he forced himself to at least _appear _under control.

Finally, he moved to his feet, ignoring the chill that had remained over his ankle as he turned to head towards the tent flaps.

~!**!~

Akari almost smiled at his words. "Nothing to kill today." she said casually, suddenly rolling over to her side so that she was facing the fox, but her eyes were watching the area beyond his head. She'd caught the sounds of smaller creatures, and as per natural instinct, had felt the need to watch it as it moved, the rabbit now under her keen watch.

"School was irritating and I had something I needed to… check on." she replied, her eyes never leaving the bunny that was chewing on whatever was in its grasp. "I'd smelled blood, and it's part of my…. job to ensure it isn't something worrisome." _*****_

Foko opened a single eye to half-lid until he realized she had only turned towards him, closing the eye again and listening to her words.

He found it amusing that they referred to their work as "business" and "job" when they both knew what it meant for the other, and the implications that they were likely not on the same side in this soon-to-be war Foko was attempting to stir up.

"Does your job only require you to sniff out blood, then? That seems like a dreadfully boring way to go about things."

~!**!~

"Hiei, my injuries are _not _your fault." Shikiyoku's tone pierced through the silence between them, her timbre grim as she admitted the next part with no small amount of anger aimed at herself, her bile-covered hair shadowing either side of her face where a single furious tear rolled down her cheek, "I saw the damn trap and thought you had already activated it. When I went to push you out of the way, I'm the one who sprung it instead. If I had just let you keep walking and avoided it in the first place, I wouldn't have-" She swallowed, teeth clenching together as she held back a tide of anger that manifested as another tear rolling down her cheek. "But I did spring it. Because I'm stupid."

It wasn't as if she had not come across things like this before. This was her territory. Her home! And in a moment where she might have assisted, might have rectified at least a portion of her mistake by removing his blemish...even that comfort was denied her.

_Useless._

Her teeth gritted together for a moment.

"Just thought you ought to know."

She dropped back down onto the pile of fur, wishing desperately that he would just come back and watch over her while she healed, but guessing that it wasn't likely.

"If you're going to go kill things, kill lots of them. For me too." She finished, staring balefully up at the tent ceiling. 3

Hiei paused only briefly as Shikiyoku spoke, but her words did nothing to calm the anger he felt at himself. _You're wrong, you fool. _he thought before his footsteps resumed, the flap of the tent rustling back into place behind him as Shikiyoku's last words ended.

He planned on killing many, many beings.

"_If I return and she's been disturbed," _Hiei began telepathically to the entire populace around him, "_There will be no mercy for you. Understand that." _With that, the fire demon moved around the tent and walked around to the back, continuing past it and moving into the tree line, sword in hand in a flash and anger forming actual flames around his weapon now.

~!**!~

Akari's mind was entirely blank as her eyes followed the hopping rabbit as it moved, little cheeks moving with whatever it was chewing up. She adjusted so that her elbow was propped in the grass, her hand holding up her head calmly, her hair falling over that shoulder, moving with the wind that continued to blow by without pause.

"Mmm… not as boring as you'd imagine. I've killed several entities in the past few days. An Aswang was the latest. I hadn't thought they existed anymore, but it had appeared. Wasn't much of a challenge, except my close combat isn't as fast as an Aswang's is. There was also an entire group of demons who had taken over a warehouse. Those morons were fun to toy with. Especially the larger ones." She paused, flashing her eyes to him momentarily before returning to watching the rabbit keenly, smirk of amusement on her face at her next words that were entirely sarcastic. "I enjoyed being tossed about." _*****_

Foko opened his eyes just enough that he could watch her movements out of them, and when she stopped speaking, he took the moment to comment.

"I think the real question is, what's a girl like you doing using her nose to sniff out blood for somebody else?"3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	45. Episode 130 - Conversations

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Dot Net Users and Anonymous Readers alike!

So, you may or may not have noticed the fact that Shubou is referred to as an 'it' rather than a 'he' or 'she.' This is intentional as Shubou is in fact a genderless demon. As far as looks and mindset goes, Shubou looks/identifies more as a male, but is not actually male or female. No reproductive organs! Nothing there! In case I was being too vague. Tee hee.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Kurama decide their project is going to involve a sleeping aide,  
and once Kurama discovers that he has a bit of a fever,  
he excuses himself from the classroom.

Kurama blames himself for Akari's refusal to sleep,  
believing that the scar and subsequent kiss he gave her  
has brought her nightmares to bear.

Later, Akari meets up with Foko in the park and the two strike up a conversation,  
Akari still attempting not to fall asleep for fear of her dreams.

~!**!~

After escaping the fire worms, Shikiyoku and Hiei continue on their way.  
Thinking Hiei triggered a pit-trap, Shikiyoku pushes him forward  
and into a bear-like trap, falling into the pit herself instead and impaling an arm and a leg.

As Hiei is hanging from a tree with a trap around his ankle,  
they are rescued by Shubou, a demon whose life Shikiyoku apparently saved some time in the past,  
and who is the leader of the nearest tribe who set the traps.

After Shubou dresses Shikiyoku's wounds, Shikiyoku's internal pact with Hiei activates  
and forces her to attempt to 'mirror' the injury from his ankle onto hers,  
but given that she only has half of the pact (Toriko has the other half)  
it doesn't actually work.

Thinking he deserves the injury for failing to protect her,  
Hiei storms off in a brooding hissy-fit to go burn stuff,  
threatening the entire encampment something happen to Shikiyoku in the meantime...

* * *

Once Hiei was out of sight, Shubou scuttled back in the tent, stumbling to a halt.

"Woman. What are you doing."

Shikiyoku had in that time, gotten up to stand on one leg, holding her useless arm with her good hand and wincing in pain.

She looked up to see Shubou with hands on waist, glaring at her.

"I knew you would try moving around. And your Champion just threatened my entire tribe with death should you be disturbed. You lay back down right this instant or I might as well kill you myself and give that fire demon _actual _reason to destroy us all."

Shikiyoku and Shubou glared at one another, but the she-demon felt her strength fading and she started to lower herself back down.

As soon as Shubou had seen her start to do so, it moved to help, gently handling her back to the fur bed.

"He would probably _thank _you for offing me." Shikiyoku noted as she shifted around just a little to get more comfortable.

Shubou paused in the middle of adjusting a portion of the furs under her, staring at her face for a moment as she took to staring at the ceiling.

"What makes you say that?" Shubou wanted to know, going back to adjusting again.

"Does he _look _like the type who enjoys being stuck with me?" _Useless idiot that I am._

Shubou didn't answer.

"He believes he was tricked into the pact. Killing me would free him from it." Shikiyoku shrugged her good shoulder, "Hence the 'thanks.'" 3

Hiei moved as far from the tribal area as he so dared, mind forced blank as he paused in a new clearing, looking around for the creatures that his senses told him were nearby. He immediately shot a stream of fire around the circle of the clearing, stirring up the creatures with ease and causing many, many various forms of threats to emerge, some from overhead, some from the trees, some from the ground, some from seemingly nowhere in particular.

And with that, he was hacking away, beheading creatures here and there, beheading them everywhere.

~!**!~

Akari sighed. "It was either that, or my life. Not much of a fair trade, hm?" she answered, the rabbit now bouncing out of view, leaving her eyes to wander and meet the cool amber of the other. She eyed him for a moment before rolling onto her back again, hands linked together on her stomach, eyes shutting for a few moments.

"For some reason, I was granted a life that should have ended long ago. It's a wonder why I'm still even an entity." _*****_

"Well, there's obviously _some _reason why you're still walking. Some might call it luck. Perhaps others, 'fate.' If you had been meant to die, you would have already done it. Spirit World is not yet ready for you. I would say, not yet _worthy_ of you."

~!**!~

A moment of silence grew between the two demons before Shikiyoku could shake herself of her darkened thoughts.

"...thank you."

"A life for a life." Shubou replied simply.

"I had no idea where I was when I first woke up."

"Well, you've never been here before."

"True enough."

A sleepy chirp brought both demons' attentions to Shikiyoku's torso, and much to her surprise, the tiny lur'mog came crawling out from the top of the remains of her dress to stand far enough away that Shikiyoku could see it if she bent her head down all the way.

Her expression turned amused, "So _that's _where you've been nestled this whole time. I won't even ask."

The lur'mog started to clean his face with his paws, tail curling around his feet as he remained oblivious to Shikiyoku's speech.

"Hey," Shikiyoku reached over and poked the lur'mog in the side.

He looked up when she did not remove her finger, gently bracing himself against her touch with one sharply clawed hand, his eyes big and round.

"Go see how he's doing, huh? He's...upset."

The lur'mog chattered once at her, then turned and disappeared.

~!**!~

The speed of the tiny creature brought him to Hiei just as the fire demon set the clearing aflame, and the lur'mog shot through the fires with glee after watching them settle in, dashing up a tree and then across the empty air until he landed safely in Hiei's hair, popping back into sight as he stopped moving and clapping his paws together excitedly as he watched all the things die and all the other things burn. 3

Hiei had felt the change in pressure on his head, but for some reason, he paid it no mind, as if it were not a threat. He merely continued on destroying creature after creature with his sword and fire that he conjured over and over, to keep the animals stirring.

After a while, it was as if there were no other creatures in the clearing. Or if there were, they were smart enough to stay hidden or leave without being detected.

He stood there, darkened eyes searching for any sign of life within his immediate sights.

Instead, his hand reached up to grab whatever it was that hand landed in his hair, hand moving just as fast as it could manage.

~!**!~

Akari slid her eyes open and over at Foko again, blinking slowly at him once with a small frown. "My death wasn't exactly a surprise, not even to me." She paused, blinking at him once more with his last words finally registering. A sarcastic smile formed on her lips and she again turned to the skies above. "How… _kind _of you to enunciate," she mumbled, though she, for once, meant it. It was almost as if he was trying to make her feel better, without actually directing the conversation away. "Your words are rather flattering, might I say." _*****_

"You might. But let me assure you that when I start to flatter you and not just speak truth, you will know it. But my flattery will never meant to be taken as untruth either." He opened his eyes again to look at her meaningfully, a smile dancing across his features but never quite settling on his lips.

~!**!~

The lur'mog had taken to bobbing his head back and forth as if in a dance as Hiei tore through the helpless creatures, and when the fire demon reached to grab a hold of him he simply let it happen and relaxed into his grasp, wondering if perhaps he should have run and seen if Hiei could catch him.

As it were, when Hiei lowered the creature, the lur'mog's eyes were big and round at the thought that he could have made it into a game, disappointed briefly that he hadn't.

His scaly tail wrapped gently around the wrist nearby, just in case the demon decided to try and chunk him away, and after a second of that disappointing thought of a game that wouldn't be played, the lur'mog perked up again and lifted one tiny paw from where both clutched at Hiei's hand. 3

Hiei lowered the creature he'd grasped until it was held in front of his face, his eyes assessing the lur'mog that he hadn't remembered to be nearby. He raised a brow at it, momentarily considering tossing it to the side and continuing on his tirade.

But the memory of tickling the creature had him pausing, staring. He finally released a large breath, closing his eyes and reopening them in time to catch what almost looked like a wave from the creature.

"Curious little thing," he grumbled, sheathing his sword and lowering his hand level with his chest, opening his hand and leveling it to create a platform, though making sure it was on its back so he could reach forward with his opposite hand and rub at the lur'mog's stomach with his nail. This would now be his greeting to the creature, he decided.

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes and smiled a small, tired smile at Foko's words, taking them as a joke despite the smile that flashing in his eyes. Deciding to play along, she responded with, "I'll be looking forward to it."

She hadn't dreamed that he would be serious.

After another pause, she let her eyes slide closed, her mind no longer blank enough to allow sleep. "You're an interesting character, y'know that?" _*****_

"Interesting? I find myself a rather simple demon. Unlike you." He paused, "Now that _was _meant as flattery." The grin that had been dancing about before finally did land on his lips.

~!**!~

The lur'mog remained wide-eyed as Hiei started to move him, tilting his head to the side with questioning right up until the moment that Hiei touched it with his other hand, immediately earning chortles from his throat as he began to wriggle around on his back, all four limbs pointed to the sky.

His tail unraveled from the one wrist and snaked about the other that was prodding at him, his eyes now squeezed together in his laughter. 3

There was an odd sort of release inside Hiei at the sound of the lur'mog's laughter. Though he didn't chortle, or even smile at the creature, he did feel an odd sense of fondness for the small thing, fondness that made it difficult to be angry at the moment, even at himself.

He was simply disappointed in himself at this point.

He'd already fought the anger away.

He continued scratching at the lighter scales of the creature's soft underbelly, red eyes slowly lightening to their normal ruby color. "How long do you plan on sticking around?"

~!**!~

Akari smiled again. Perhaps he was rather… simple. Straightforward was perhaps a better word for it, but in a sense, his simplicity made it almost too easy to ease into his presence, to relax and simply enjoy the moment.

When he was done speaking, she was taking a deep breath and smiling at him a little wider. "If it means anything to you whatsoever, your _simple _presence is definitely an enjoyable one. As for your flattery," she paused, thinking for a moment before she simply smiled at him, unable to come up with anything to retort with. She was simply that brain dead, it seemed. _*****_

Foko chuckled, "I will take your silence to assume that if you did not wish to be flattered, you would make it rather clear to those that would flatter you."

Foko heaved a sigh, "I do not wish to fight you, inu." He remarked wistfully, thinking of the coming war.

~!**!~

What was there to say?

Nothing comprehensible for the lur'mog, at least. His tiny body started rocking back and forth, limbs kicking in the air occasionally when Hiei would hit a certain nerve.

His tiny chirrings filled the area surprisingly well, the noises he made ranging from deeper chuckles of breath to rapid-fire near-clicking noises, his body heaving desperately for air as he helplessly wiggled in Hiei's grasp. 3

Hiei watched the writhing of the small animal for a few moments more before his finger paused, withdrawing about a millimeter away from the scales to allow the lur'mog to breathe. He watched the small animal with an almost soft gaze, wondering if it would be wise to return to the campsite or not.

He didn't enjoy trusting others with the safety of Shikiyoku, but at the same time, he didn't think returning would help his own attack on himself.

It didn't help that she'd put him before herself, when it was clearly his job to do that for her.

"Foolish."

And for the first time, he wasn't sure who was the real fool.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged at his first words, again taking them as joking. Until his next words were uttered. She eyed him, expression turning somber now, as she continued on the same thought he'd obviously been on for a while. "Honestly, I don't see a reason to." She heaved a sigh. "There doesn't have to be a fight, y'know. If I've learned anything in my life, it's that you have a choice in almost everything you do." _*****_

"When the time comes, there will be reason enough." Foko sounded wise, "We are on opposing sides, are our ideals not dictated by those who are the head of each of our causes?"

~!**!~

The lur'mog's laughter died down quickly when Hiei pulled away, and he lost no time in righting himself, reaching over and gently patting at Hiei's finger, a solemn expression in his eyes.

Without other ceremony, the lur'mog hopped down to the forest floor, stared up at Hiei and thumped his tail twice against the ground before disappearing, reappearing a few feet away-in the direction of the tribe's camp-and hopping up and down, doing the same disappearing act, going a bit farther, and staring back at Hiei again. 3

Hiei had been fully intending to continue his little game, but he was disappointed to see the lur'mog disappear, feet literally making no trace across his skin as it moved, though he did just make out sound as it scurried across the grass that was, he just noticed, burned and dead. Blackened.

_Fitting_, he thought, thinking the black went very well with the red.

He turned his eyes onto the lur'mog again, staring at it blankly. "I do not wish to return yet," he responded blandly.

~!**!~

Akari sighed. Of course he was right. When it came down to it, a person was controlled by a higher power. That too was something she'd learned in her life. "For some reason, I don't see your cause being too awful, considering the way you, the leader, are. It just doesn't seem… fitting. But, you aren't going to share, are you?" _*****_

"Of course not, inu. I wouldn't jeopardize my motives any more than you would yours. It's quite frankly terrible enough that I'm..._fraternizing _with you." The word was said languidly with no malicious intent behind it at all, instead almost teasing.

~!**!~

The lur'mog paused when Hiei spoke, head tilting again and a puff of air escaping his lungs as he considered the other.

She may not have told him as much, but the lur'mog knew what She needed, and it wasn't only physical heal-

The lur'mog perked up, the spines across his back standing at attention as he glanced this way and that, assessing the area he stood in, and then taking off, disappearing completely out of sight without further ado. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the creature that huffed at him, then proceeded to look around, head moving fast enough that were it not for his Jaga, Hiei likely wouldn't have even noticed the change. And then it was gone, leaving Hiei standing there, confused and almost curious as his eyes began looking around slowly, searching for the dark body that had disappeared.

"I'm in no mood for games, small one."

~!**!~

Akari shrugged. "I have no motives, though your statement would be valid if I did. I'm simply doing whatever will grant me another day of life." she paused, not sure if she wanted to ignore his teasing or not. She moved, suddenly sitting up and stretching, an arm over her head and the other behind her head to grasp at her elbow.

"Well, I guess there won't be much of a problem if this.. _flirting with the enemy_ thing doesn't get too far, now hm?" her tone was light, a smirk forming on her lips as she glanced at him briefly.

She wasn't sure if she quite believed her own words. _*****_

Foko lifted an eyebrow and glanced over at Akari as if to say 'Oh?' before he spoke up.

"What makes you say that? Did you have something more in mind already?"

~!**!~

The lur'mog reappeared on Hiei's shoulder with a blackened leaf from the burned forest floor beneath them, clutching at it and chattering excitedly before disappearing again.

He reappeared a few seconds later, this time hopping back and forth from foot to foot, holding a leaf that looked remarkably like the one he just had, except that it was...green again. Alive. 3

Hiei wasn't surprised when the small animal appeared on his shoulder, his red eyes turning to see what the lur'mog held for him.

"Lur'mog," he grumbled, his tone reflecting his earlier statement when the small being disappeared again without explanation.

When the creature appeared again, this time with a leaf not charred by Hiei's fire, he simply stared, retrieving the lea after a moment and turning it over, but seeing nothing particularly significant.

From his inspection of the whole leaf with a keen gaze before turning back to the creature on his shoulder, Hiei felt as though he got the gist of what the lur'mog was trying to tell him.

"She'll heal fine." he replied, turning his eyes towards the direction of the camp again.

After a moment, he huffed indignantly and decided he would go back.

The lur'mog was a very convincing creature, he told himself.

~!**!~

Akari smiled almost coyly at Foko. "Your simplicity is an addicting trait." she paused, then let her arms fall, though holding up a finger as if to keep him from speaking, "Or, rather, it's your straightforwardness and calm demeanor. That, coupled with your slight taunting makes your presence an enjoyable one. I've been there before; it's something I've been sucked into." _*****_

"Flattery will get you _everywhere_, inu." Foko turned on his side to face her, golden eyes bright and reflecting the smile he had for her.

~!**!~

The lur'mog looked first at one paw, then the other, then dropped them to the front of his body, then appeared thoughtful.

After hearing Hiei talking about 'healing,' the creature shuffled over carefully across his shoulder to his bare neck and cooed as he closed his eyes and rubbed his scaly head right against the lobe of Hiei's ear. 3

The fire demon slowly walked in the opposite direction of the charred clearing. His eyes turned to the lur'mog for a moment, a hand moving so that he tapped the creature's head with his index finger as he walked. He was rather fascinated by this one, the only creature that seemed able to attach to an entity and was completely harmless.

"Curious creature," he repeated for the second time today.

His hand fell to his side again as he walked, reentering the camp grounds silently, eyes wandering around and searching for signs of any demon who'd been waiting his return anxiously, looking for any sign of anyone deciding to test Hiei's earlier threat.

~!**!~

Akari laughed and leaned back, her weight on her hands that were flat on the grass behind her. "I've learned a few things here and there." _*****_

"I have no doubts about that." Foko remarked, gazing across the grass at her. He paused a moment before talking again.

"How _did _you come to have that delightful feral inu come around? I've never seen a more amiable creature." He made the question seem as if it had been something he'd pondered for a while.

~!**!~

Shubou stepped out of the tent, thankful to spy Hiei just returning and walking directly up to him.

"She is asking for you again, Champion." Shubou made a brief glance around at the tribe, most of whom were readying for the night. "We have guards posted throughout the time of darkness to keep anything at bay that might wish to intrude upon the encampment. And you are welcome to stay in there with her." Shubou gave a slight head-tilt to indicate the medical tent. 3

Hiei roamed up to the tent, pausing only when the shorter demon halted in front of him, having come forth from inside the tent, something he found he didn't mind for the moment. After all, this _was _this demon's land. He might as well respect the authority.

He nodded once at Shubou, showing he had heard and understood. He had almost continued moving before the demon spoke about staying overnight. He stared unblinkingly at the shorter for a moment before actually opening his mouth for a verbal response. "Thanks," was all he said, though he did nod his head respectively at the other before stepping around him and continuing on, pausing outside the tent. "If you hunt for game, going Southeast will be useless." As soon as he was done informing the demon, he moved the flap of the tent and stepping into the darkened fortress, eyes adjusting easily.

~!**!~

AKari's brows raised and she turned an unblinking gaze at Foko. "You mean Nabu?" she asked, her tired mind wanting to ensure she understood his question fully. "Well, you know pups. They get attached, and then they're loyal for life." She smiled fondly before shrugging again. "I was sitting here one day, taking a nap, and when I woke up, he was sitting in front of me, tail wagging." Okay, so no one knew of this. So what? "When I got up to wander about, he simply followed. No matter how many times I shooed him or growled at him, he didn't leave. Of course, I lost my patience at one point, but you can see what good that did," she finished with a smile. _*****_

"Well, it sounds as if he was looking for someone special. And that he found them." Foko mused. "You know, foxes seem to avoid me whenever possible."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku took the quick reentry to indicate that Shubou had not immediately seen the demon, the camp was small after all, and didn't bother looking up.

"He...isn't back?" She felt like she needed to confirm it, unable to keep the disappointment from her tone. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the voice that floated through the air, filled with heavy disappointment. He stared ahead into the darkness for a moment, blinking slowly, completely forgetting the creature at his shoulders as he considered the atmosphere in the air.

"Who?" he finally asked, though he knew she'd been waiting on him.

~!**!~

Akari's lip twitched even more. "Well, aren't foxes normally lone creatures?" she asked, watching him carefully. "If you ever wanna see a creature turn tail and run as soon as it smells you, I'll let you see a cat of this world when I pass by one day," she mused. "_That's _likely the funniest thing I've seen in a while." _*****_

"Yes, but you'd think I'd at least get a _vixen _to come around, right?" He sounded as if the lack of such a thing was a source of consternation. He chuckled when she mentioned cats retreating from her presence.

~!**!~

"Champion?" Shikiyoku shifted her head from where she still lay on the furs, seeing Hiei's form silhouetted against the small bit of light that intruded through the tent flaps. There was no mistaking the relief she felt at hearing his voice, at knowing that he was nearby once more. 3

Hiei's brow resettled at her confirmation, the relief tangible in the air leaving him standing there, despite the step he'd been about to make. He didn't move forward for the moment, only standing by the tent flaps and eyeing the dark shadow where Shikiyoku was laying.

"Go to sleep."

~!**!~

Akari's laugh was probably louder than necessary, her head tossing back for a moment before she recovered with a deep breath. "Why stuck on vixens?" she asked suddenly, amused probably more than rational. "I mean, there are felines, bats, elementals…" She gave another laugh. "Or are you transfixed?" _*****_

Foko seemed mildly surprised at her question.

"Well, I _am _a kitsune, am I not? Why _aren't _the foxes flocking to me? I think _that's _the real issue here." He made a small sniff of derision.

~!**!~

"Not without you." Shikiyoku declared stubbornly, starting to rise up again with her good arm, deciding that if he were close enough, she would simply pull him down to her. 3

Hiei huffed at her impatiently. "I'm here, what more do you want?" he grumbled, moving just a little closer, not much aware of her intentions, though he did hear her shuffling. "Settle yourself and rest. I won't go anywhere."

~!**!~

Akari shrugged. "I'm not a fox demon. I don't know how you guys think. You're all definitely more sly and cunning than dog demons, that's for sure." she replied simply, in a roundabout way saying that she wouldn't have a single clue about the subject. "I'm sure one'll come around sometime." _*****_

Foko sighed, "I suppose I'll just have to content myself with being dreadfully lonely until then. A resident fox would surely lift the mood of the hideout. Everyone's been in such dire straights lately."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stopped, mid-way between sitting up, and let herself slowly lower back down again.

When she spoke up next, her voice was quiet.

"...promise?" 3

"If you insist, yes." Hiei answered calmly, moving to sit near her despite his reluctance to do so a moment ago. He wasn't yet ready for sleep, so when he sat on the floor, back to the female, he reached up for the lur'mog, intending to entertain himself once more.

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes. "You'll deal, I'm sure. As will the others. Everyone deals with it." _*****_

"Yes, but we shouldn't _have _to." Foko frowned. "No one should _have _to if they do not _wish _to."

~!**!~

"I do." Shikiyoku replied a bit stubbornly, feeling him draw near and letting the last bit of tension withdraw from her body, closing her eyes. 3

Hiei grasped the lur'mog, turning it over in his hand again so that he could resume what he had been doing earlier, his index finger lightly brushing its scales on its now exposed belly.

"Then sleep," he grumbled at Shikiyoku finally, not even glancing at her shadowy form this time.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged again. "Not my problem," she taunted, her smile turning sly and mischievous. _*****_

"You are absolutely no help whatsoever, inu. I hope you realize that." Foko replied loftily.

~!**!~

Hiei had toyed with the lur'mog for about ten minutes before he had decided to get some rest as well, since he knew that he couldn't have anything keeping him from thinking straight now that they were too deep into the forestry to turn around and go back. It hadn't been exactly a dreamless sleep, but it had been rest enough that when he awoke, he felt as if he'd slept longer than necessary.

And with that thought, he'd decided to get up and wander about the camp, scoping out the area and simply satisfying his curiosity over the size of the tribe. As he wandered, he realized it was a much larger group than he'd first assumed.

He passed by a few demons who were sitting around a fire, meat held over the flames that were dying out with the fierce wind that was blowing by, whipping at tents, trees, anything it could while throwing dirt around.

He considered giving aid, but when he noted that the stares were anything but welcoming to the newcomer, he decided against it. _No use in helping_.

He had continued on, wandering, observing as the sky finally lightened with the new day.

~!**!~

Another shrug. A coy smile. "I'm not supposed to be helpful, Foko. Plus, it isn't fun. Why solve the problem when I enjoy the effects of it?" _*****_

Foko gave another sigh, "How endearing. Never thinking much past the next moment, your kind. It makes your lives seem more thrill-by-thrill. I suppose I envy you that."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku woke in a cold sweat to an empty tent and the brightening of the day.

Perhaps...not completely empty, she found as she shifted her head and spied the tiny red-scaled body of the lur'mog curled where she remembered Hiei being the night before.

She watched him for a second, curled up holding his tail as he was, eyes closed and breathing deeply, before shifting her arm around until she could nudge a finger inbetween his paws.

The creature murmured something sleepily, opened his eyes half-mast, and latched onto her finger as a replacement for the tail he let go of, rubbing the side of his head against her skin.

For some reason, the being felt cool to her touch, and Shikiyoku realized she had a fever, suddenly recalling the strange dreams from the night before.

Her limbs felt no better as she lifted the creature to rest him on her chest.

He let go of her when he felt his bottom contact with the dress, sitting on his rump and yawning mightily.

Shikiyoku gently began stroking his scales and the lur'mog started what could only be called 'purring,' his eyes almost closed as he sat and let her do as she wished, bringing her finger around in small circles all over his skin.

The tent flap got pushed back and Shikiyoku tried not to let her disappointment show when it was only Shubou, carrying a plate of what smelled like cooked meat in one hand.

Her stomach grumbled loudly in response to the scent, sending the lur'mog's eyes wide from the vibration he could feel even that far away.

Shubou did not seem surprised to see the lur'mog companion with Shikiyoku, moving across the rugs to set the plate down briefly, gently help Shikiyoku sit up, and then get seated behind her back sideways, holding her up with a shoulder that she promptly leaned against gratefully as Shubou moved the plate within arms reach for both of them. They started removing the long slices of meat from the plate without further ceremony.

When Shubou spied the lur'mog eyeing the tray, there was no hesitation in the demon reaching into a pocket with a free hand, and casting something within it out into the tent.

The lur'mog's eyes widened briefly as tiny flashes of things started blinking in and out of existence about the tent floor, and he promptly started to chase the prey around the room, when catching one sitting down onto the floor to tear noisily into it. 3

Hiei continued to wander the campgrounds, eyeing each demon he passed, the looks given to him ranging from smiling, greeting faces of children and a few females to stares of ire from a few others. He wasn't surprised.

Though when he was suddenly standing in what seemed to be the center of the camp, where a group of demons were communing, he paused to look curiously after them, wondering of the gathering.

Before he even had a chance to listen in, one of the demons looked up and shot over to meet Hiei's watchful gaze. He considered Hiei for a moment before holding up his weapon- a bow- and waved him over.

Hiei hesitated, but the demon called to him anyway. "We're leaving for a hunt. You're welcome to join. Kubou is staying behind."

The fire demon considered the offer as several other demons in the group turned to him, expressions blank. It was obvious that this group welcomed whoever their leader welcomed. _Loyalty_. That was his lone impression of the group.

And after a moment's thought, he realized he wouldn't mind killing a few creatures. He'd learn a few things about this level as well. So, without further ado, he closed the distance between himself and the group, who each smirked as if accomplishing an impossible task.

"Good! We'll split up into our normal groups, except the Champion will be with my group," the bow wielder informed. "We'll reconvene in two hours. If you catch game, just head back and prepare it. We have lots to do today."

With that, the group dispersed, and Hiei was moving with two other demons, not even looking back the way he'd come.

~!**!~

Akari turned to Foko, shifting the way she sat so that her legs were crossed beneath her, now leaning towards him as she turned to face him with her body as well. "Is that so? Envying the fact that my kind is almost _entirely _incapable of thinking ahead? It's a trait most hate about us, since it gets us killed quicker than most. What has you so interested with it?" _*****_

Foko let out a good-natured scoff.

"Most demons hate it because they realize that they themselves are the same way, if not on quite the same level. It's what I find wonderful about you, though. Even as we're sitting here, I can just imagine that you're taking in every detail as if it might be your last. Living for this very moment you've been given at the time you've been given it." As he spoke, Foko reached up to move a portion of her strawberry-blonde hair behind one ear where it had come loose, following the strand down the side of her neck easily as he tangled his fingers in it, resting his elbow gently on her knee and continuing to play with it.

"I, on the other hand," He sighed again as if the admission were almost embarrassing, watching his fingers weaving slowly in her hair, "Have too many things moving through my mind, and can't just content myself to think solely about being here. With you."

~!**!~

"How are things in the city?" Shikiyoku asked wistfully, leaning even more heavily into Shubou's smaller frame as if the question weighed her down.

Shuou glanced over at her, never quite taking full attention away from the cooked meat at hand.

"Some things have changed completely since you left." Full cheeks made the words sound a little muffled, "Others have remained exactly the same. It is our way."

Shikiyoku nodded, tearing into more meat.

"Why are you going back to The Palace?" Shubou asked suddenly, staring at the piece of meat just taken from the tray.

She did not answer at first.

"I thought you were banished. Compelled to never return to those lands. Can't you _not _get back there?"

"We'll see." Shikiyoku replied dryly.

"It's for your own safety, you know." Shubou started again, mouth full of meat this time. "The royalty that took over have grown quite strong over the years."

"We are our own weakness." Shikiyoku said as if reciting the line, staring down at the bit of meat she held, "We are our own strength."

"Fair enough. I wouldn't know." Shubou swallowed. 3

Hiei followed the demon who had gestured for him to come along, eyes on the bow he carried. "The name's Hideki." The fire demon eyed the taller, lankier male who had spoken, who had turned his grey eyes back to him with an expression that said he expected Hiei to introduce himself as well. "How'd you come across the seductress, Champion?"

Hiei blinked once as they walked through the camp, towards the area Hiei had come from the day before, when Shikiyoku had been carried back after-

"Accidents happen," he replied casually.

"Indeed they do."

The demon on Hiei's right chuckled, "It doesn't seem like you consider it much of an accident anymore. She's got you wrapped up nicely around her finger, I'd say."

Hiei didn't retort.

"Okahito," the first warned, turning his cool gaze onto the other. Nothing else was said, and Hiei scoffed once, as if he'd known what had been traversed between the two. _Don't stir the fire demon's ire._

"It's my job to appear as such," Hiei finally responded, overtaking the others' steps and passing them casually.

A moment of silence passed as they left the last vestiges of the camp, all casual conversation now unnecessary as the two other demons slipped into hunting and tracking mode, Hiei merely looking about, hands in his pockets as his Jagan locked on different types of creatures nearby.

~!**!~

Akari didn't move when Foko reached towards her, though her eyes did follow the motion his hand made as it neared her face. Her shoulders stiffened, her spine straightening as if preparing for something she'd need to halt, but as Foko continued talking, her eyes moved from his extended arm and to his face again, finding that though he was toying with her hair, it was gentle and held no sense of danger.

Her expression became a curious one, a small smile forming on her face as she tilted her head to show her curiosity. Of course, she didn't ask of his thoughts, figuring it was a conversation that was forbidden for the both of them. Her eyes moved to his ears, watching one twitch as a sound somewhere in the distance caught its attention, and then dismissed it, his expression never changing, as if he hadn't even noticed his own movements.

She found herself reaching up and rubbing at her head, where she wished, not for the first and definitely not the last time, that her own ears were present.

"I can't deny your words," she began, hand falling to her lap again as she closed her eyes in a small sigh meant to stifle a yawn. "I'm taking in about as much as my mind will allow, some of it without even meaning to do so." She gave way to another pause. Her eyes slid open slowly again, taking in the shine that the sun threw through his hair and across his face. "However, I won't say that I enjoy it all the time. For instance, if an attacker were to approach, you'd learn of their presence much before I would, because of my one track mind. You've witnessed it first-hand, if you recall our last rendezvous." She took another deep breath in.

"I guess we'll simply be stuck, envying the other." _*****_

Foko shrugged slightly, lowering his hand back across his stomach.

"Alpha blood is rare indeed among the inu. And trust me when I say you would not _want _to be as aware of your surroundings as they. They spend much of their life haunted by thoughts of things that are likely to never happen, unless they are lucky enough to be born into a pack or form one of their own."

~!**!~

"Is there anything you can tell me about the inhabitants there? I was sent after a demon in particular-"

"They keep to themselves." Shubou interrupted, "But are very much in absolute control of the Ninth Level, which they exert upon the rest of us when they feel as if their powers have been ignored or forgotten for too long."

"Then this is the very same group who-"

"Killed your entire...clan? Yes. No one has been able to overthrow them in all this time."

Shikiyoku fell to eating again, remembering how desperate her mother had been that she escape. But why? A demon with powers over pleasure and desires had absolutely nothing to fear-save for the usual 'get near another demon and use up your power' shtick-except for another of their own kind, or their counterpart, pain. And there weren't any of the latter left as far as anyone knew, and none of the former were discontented with the ruling class at the time.

Not that any of them were left alive to complain now. 3

Hiei came to a standstill after a few more steps, his Jagan catching the movement of a creature towards himself and the others underneath him. A creature he had already encountered, and decided he loathed. His eyes pointed down as a small stream of fire suddenly sprouted from the ground.

The other pair of demons turned to face Hiei, eyes seeing the fire, their expressions unchanging.

"It's useless, aside from its skin." one of the demons mumbled just loud enough for Hiei to hear. "No use in stirring the creatures just yet."

Hiei stared ahead at Hideki, considering him for a moment before deciding he might as well play along. He continue walking, ignoring the moving creature beneath him as he walked, and eventually, it _did_ leave him be. He walked on for a while, considering each creature in the area curiously, until he decided he was bored with it and letting his Jagan close, return to slumber as it were.

They walked around, Hideki's nose testing the air here and there while the other simply branched away, breaking away from the group of three and creating a group of two. Soon after, a loud screech echoed on the howling wind and Hideki released a scoff.

"Always the first."

Hiei raised a brow and chose to ignore the musing from the demon, his nose picking up on the unique smell of the creature that had been killed several yards away. And with that, he knew what to search for.

Sword in hand now, Hiei's nose lead him too away from Hideki, who turned to watch the fire demon's disappearing frame with a smirk. He'd been wondering when the demon would branch away.

~!**!~

Akari blinked at Foko's words, then proceeded to rifle through memories of her childhood, searching for anything that he'd spoken of. She remembered her mother, bustling about when Akari had gotten herself dirty with her friends, scurrying for clean clothes and scolding her for leaving their hut. She hadn't had a father nearby, he'd simply left when she was born, something she never cared about.

But she didn't remember an _alpha_, per se. If there had been one over her small family, she hadn't seen one.

"I suppose it makes sense," Akari said finally, eyes returning to the present. "It's not an unbelieveable trait, as us dog demons don't forget easily." She turned her eyes away, looking up and over the demon who was laying in the grass. Again, she found a rabbit, likely the same rabbit from before, munching on grass and weeds. It turned its head to look at her, aware of her watchful eyes. "I know I'm not cut out to be a leader of any kind. I can hardly lead myself," she finished, a half smile creating a light air about her words. _*****_

"If everyone in the three worlds was a leader, nothing would ever get done." Foko replied wisely, his tone just as lofty as Akari's, just his eyes serious as he watched the clouds overhead pass by.

~!**!~

The lur'mog had since managed to capture each and every bit of prey released by Shubou, and now sat on his rump, belly slightly distended, and giving a small burp that made his entire body jolt in place.

While the other two talked, he wandered over to watch as Shubou finished eating and helped Shikiyoku lay back down again.

The two reminisced about their first encounter, a brief one just after Shikiyoku had been banished in which she rescued the other from some such danger or another, and Shubou went on to talk about how it had eventually formed its own tribe that they were among now.

During this conversation, Shubou moved down to tend to Shikiyoku's wounds, delicately unwrapping the bandages that had become soaked with blood and reapplying salve to the gaping wound.

Shubou did not allow the thoughts that ran over its mind to pass over and become expressed outwardly, but the edges of the wound were rotting slightly, and the jar that floated from somewhere else in the room to be used was of a different kind for a different problem that appeared to be arising here.

The wound got rewrapped carefully, this time in bandages that had been soaked in a poultice at an earlier point, and then Shubou moved to do the same with Shikiyoku's other arm. 3

Hiei had wandered, following his sense of smell for a while until the trail seemed to simply _end_. In the middle of a clearing. It didn't point to the ground, nor the air. It didn't branch left or right. It simply _ended_. A dead trail. A frown touched his lips as he looked about, wondering how the trail could have only _ended_, abruptly leaving him just standing there, slightly confused and more than a little wary.

He turned to look to the branches overhead, considering the fact that perhaps something could have swooped down and simply taken the creature in its mouth, which could actually give this same effect, but… not quite as absolute.

Plus, there wasn't another scent fresh enough to have possibly done such a thing.

Hiei moved away from the area, turning and hopping into the nearest tree to look on from above, should the creature come back.

It was also possibly that it had turned around and followed its own trail before breaking away, and he simply hadn't noticed or cared.

"Hiei," a voice whispered, and the fire demon's spine straightened.

_That voice…_

"Hiei?"

The fire demon immediately moved, slipping from his current branch and down to the next, looking up at the place where Shikiyoku _should_ have been, but was not. He had known it wasn't actually her, because there was simply no possibility of her reaching him in her current state.

Still, no source was spotted.

"Hiei, it's your fault, you know."

The fire demon's teeth gnashed together briefly, flexing the muscles in his jaw before releasing them, his teeth apart again and expression blank. Neutral.

"If you had just _listened_ to me! I nearly _died!" _

_Mind reader?_

"You nearly had me _killed!"_

_No. Memory mimic. Emotion taster possibly. _

"_You _should have fallen, not me!"

Hiei's grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, shifting to ready for a strike. He didn't even have to call out to the creature to keep it speaking.

"I mean, you _are_ the cursed child! It should have been _you_, because you weren't supposed to live anyway! The cursed children are-"

Hiei moved, sword glittering in the early morning sun's rays as it flew through the air, slicing at the creature that screamed.

In her voice.

He held his sword through the large, meaty, odd looking creature that stared at him, maw open as it continued to screech in Shikiyoku's voice, until it was cut off by gurgling, and then silenced entirely.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged, leaning forward so that her hands rested on her ankles of her crossed legs. "If everyone were a leader, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't exist," she mused nonchalantly. "Simple as that. Now, _you_, on the other hand, would likely just be another demon. One of the same faces in the same crowd." She paused, considering the thought. "How odd that would be." _*****_

"How absolutely boring life would be were everyone like me." Foko breathed. "Though much more aesthetically pleasing, I should say."

~!**!~

The lur'mog smacked his lips together as he continued watching Shubou work on the other injury, cleaning his face with his paws.

Their conversation eventually died down into companionable silence, Shikiyoku unable to respond to any pain in either limb while Shubou worked as she could not feel anything happening with the appendages.

Waddling over to the new bandage on her knee, the red-scaled creature gave a sniff and recoiled a bit with the new, rotten smell that his extremely sensitive nose could pick up.

He chattered at the knee, then looked up at Shubou, who paused in wrapping the arm to lock gazes with the lur'mog briefly, not saying anything and returning to work.

The lur'mog clicked and chirred again, brightening as if remembering something and disappearing from his place.

"Can you understand him?" Shikiyoku wanted to know, not missing the moment that passed inbetween Shubou and the beast.

"No." Shubou replied simply, having merely inferred what the being tried to speak about.

The lur'mog reappeared, next to Shubou's thigh, and the demon paused, holding Shikiyoku's arm in one hand, to take a blackened leaf from the creature with the other.

"Seems your Champion had a bit of a temper-tantrum." Shubou commented, turning the leaf over and back.

The lur'mog chittered and hopped up and down from one foot to the other, holding out his paws.

Shubou lifted his eyebrows, but passed the leaf back.

Holding it close to his tiny body, the creature turned and disappeared again, leaving Shubou to go back to his work.

Shubou got interrupted only a few seconds later when the lur'mog reappeared, doing the same jig as before and holding a green leaf of the same species as the first over his head, chattering again.

Obliging the small being, Shubou plucked the leaf again, turned it over and over.

"Is it always this strange?" Shubou asked as he handed the leaf back.

"Yes?" Shikiyoku replied, giving a little bit of a laugh.

The lur'mog sat into himself for a second, staring at the leaf and then up at Shubou, then back to the leaf and huffing a bit. 3

Hiei stared passively at the creature that now fell away from his katana and down to the soil below, breaking many twigs as it fell. How a creature as large as a boar had gotten up the tree, he'd never understand.

However, he did understand that it had been able to veil itself, hence the disappearance of its scent. He stared down at the fallen creature, the shouts it had voiced still ringing in his head. His ears rang and his head hurt, but he ignored it easily as he dropped to the ground, approaching the creature and moving to grab it before it was grabbed by another hand at its hoofed foot. Hiei's red eyes turned up to spy Hideki, who was staring at him with a withdrawn expression.

"Good work, Champion. Not many are prepared for its type of warfare."

"Mimicking a voice is not warfare. It's cowardice." The fire demon continued moving, this time back towards the camp.

Hideki stared after the fire demon, frowning for another moment before sighing and hefting the hundred-pound furball from the ground and tossing it over his shoulder with practiced ease. _That's not a normal mimic, fool. _

~!**!~

Akari stayed quiet, choosing not to reply to Foko's words now as her attention became stuck on the small creature that was staring at her, huffing, beginning to panic. It was something she enjoyed creating in the small animals of this earth, where they knew danger and ran instead of fought.

Of course, she never gave chase. That was Nabu's game.

It disappeared and Akari watched the area it had moved from for another moment before shifting her weight and moving to lay down once more, moving her hair so that it fanned out above her head rather than stayed pinned under her skull. She took a deep breath of the fresh air and let her eyes watch the leaves overhead that were filtering sunlight, making them appear much greener than they had been a few days ago.

It was so peaceful.. She could almost…

_No. No sleep. Not anymore. __*****_

Foko felt the shift in the demon next to him, both physically and mentally.

"I do not think you would ask for it, and it is not my place to know, but I would help in whatever way I could." He said calmly, eyes never leaving the sky, "Regardless of the problem."

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku reached across her body to take a hold on the leaf that was wrapped against the lur'mog's belly, the lur'mog made rapid noises of protest, refusing to let go and getting lifted through the air to Shikiyoku's chest, where she put him down via the leaf he still clutched.

"What's with you, hm?" She ran a finger along the spines of his back, which relaxed down from where they had stood up at her attempt to steal the leaf, his body hunching over slightly and his eyes glazing over at her attentions.

Shubou let Shikiyoku's arm drop and took a sniff of the air.

"There is only an hour more of light today." Shubou commented, "And the night will be at its longest. If the hunt goes well, we will celebrate." Glancing down at her injuries, Shubou let out a small puff of air that resembled a sigh, "If you wished to join, we could arrange for it."

"I appreciate the invitation, but I would just as soon stay right where I am."

Shubou nodded, unsurprised by her answer.

"The tent will muffle the noise, and it is in the farthest corner from where the bonfire will be, so you should remain relatively undisturbed." Shubou stood up, gathering the remains of the bloody bandages and turning to go. 3

Hiei meandered from the forestry, sword hidden away in its sheath and hands now in his pockets casually, aware that Hideki was following after with his kill over the other's shoulder. The fire demon didn't mind nor care. It saved him the trouble of carrying such useless weight around.

"You know, Champion," Hideki spoke up again, tone even, "if you cared half as much as you pretended you didn't, you'd return to the tent and stay there." The fire demon didn't respond, didn't even make that he heard the words from the demon. "The seductress is nothing without her Champion."

Still, he didn't respond as he walked, and silence ensued again as they neared the campgrounds, met by two other demons carrying two different creatures each on their backs or by a rope that dragged the creatures along. "Hideki! They're moving more than normal!"

"That's because of a disturbance, I'm sure."

Hiei almost considered telling them that he'd scorched a part of their forest. However, he decided it would be more amusing for them to find out themselves.

"It makes for a good feast! Great timing, too!"

"Shubou will be glad."

Hiei broke away from the group as they continued chattering, not seeming to take notice of his change in direction, towards the tent again.

All of which Hideki took note of with a small, knowing smirk.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes remained closed, feeling the sun on her face even as Foko spoke up. It seemed his presence was enough to keep her mind awake and aware enough to ward off the unwanted sleep, and some part of her appreciated that, while another was wary of the fact. It was either a good sign, or a bad sign that his presence was enough to keep her aware.

"It's just sleep and the lack thereof." she answered after a moment, telling the partial truth. "Nothing I can't handle on my own." _*****_

"I figured as much." Foko admitted, "I've been haunted by nightmares too many times not to recognize the signs. My condolences for your predicament. I hope you can find your own cure soon enough."

~!**!~

Shubou climbed back out of the tent to see some of the returning demons from the hunt, Hiei at the lead.

Eyes alighting on the creature Hideki had thrown over his shoulders, Shubou's eyebrows lifted slightly, even more so once the demon gestured with a grin at the fire demon whose path was about to cross with the leader.

Shubou lifted his gaze to Hiei as they walked past one another, headed in opposite directions.

"Good work." Shubou praised simply, no sense of sarcasm or hyperbole there, just a sincere compliment a leader would give to a job well done, and kept going to join the others who returned. 3

Hiei paused only briefly when passing Shubou, red eyes turning to the smaller demon to eye him for a moment in search of anything contradicting his praise. And he found none, so he nodded his head once and turned to continue on, moving the rest of the way through the camp and to the tent he knew Shikiyoku to be in.

He paused outside the tent flaps, hand poised to grasp the fabric but paused in the air, Hideki's words echoing in his mind completely counteracted with the creature's mimicking of Shikiyoku's voice, the words it had yelled at him.

"_It's your fault!"_

He stared at the tent flap for a moment, hesitating.

"_If you care half as much as you pretend not you don't, you go back."_

The demon moved the flap and entered the tent silently, moving across the small room without pause and simply sitting himself on the floor near Shikiyoku's bed of pelt, not saying a word but simply staring.

~!**!~

It was the middle of the day, and she was unable to sit still. Akari was afraid that if she did, she'd go to sleep, all of which she'd managed to avoid since the night before last. She'd laid around in silence with Foko for a few hours yesterday, and quite frankly, she almost wished she could do the same again today. Except, sitting still was no option.

Hence the reason she was _not _in school at the moment. She would have gone to her normal spot, but today it seemed was the perfect day for picnic goers, and her spot had been taken over with families of humans. Loud, laughing humans.

So she'd been scoping out the other parks today, seeing if any other ones struck her fancy.

The first one she'd visited had been specifically for children, with jungle gyms and swings and such. It was quiet, as kids were in school, or most of them were, though there wasn't any place she had seen as appealing.

The second had reeked. Of what, she wasn't sure, but she'd left as soon as she'd entered the park gates.

This one seemed… peaceful. Calm. It smelled of canines and humans, but none were in sight. _Obviously a dog park_. She almost smiled at the irony of the fact that she found this park worth looking into. _A dog park, of all things._

She wandered inside the gates, realizing it was much larger than she had initially assumed. It was pleasantly quiet, even of birdsong and other creatures and-

Wait.

Her eyes moved around the area as her slow, tired mind processed… something. But what, she wasn't sure yet. She heaved a sigh and a yawn before continuing on from the pause she hadn't realized she'd made in her trek, and it didn't take her long to find a secluded area _much _like the area in the other park she enjoyed.

_Maybe it wouldn't hurt to lay down for a while…_

_No sleep, though. None._

She slowly moved forward until she was at the base of a tree that was of a decent size, turning so that her back was placed against it, readying to slide down the bark.

Something didn't feel right.

Akari again paused, eyes surveying the area, until a form came out of the shadows on her right and moved across the clearing, heading to her left as if he didn't even see her. Had it not been for the horns atop his head, she wouldn't have thought twice about his presence.

"Hey!" She called, pushing away from the bark of the tree. He paused, turning to look at her with catlike eyes and sharp, pointed teeth shown in a smile. "Where are you going now, hm?"

"Nowhere in particular."

His voice was low, gravely.

"Then come here, have a chat," she demanded, moving across the clearing.

"Ah, but I do have to jet, and you're in no shape to stop me."

She stared at him evenly as she closed the space between them, and when he turned to continue on, she moved to block his way. "You don't belong here."

"Neither do you."

She sighed impatiently.

"Ah, low on patience already? You've gone at least 24 without it, hm?" _*****_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	46. Episode 131 - Healing and Hallucination

**A/N: **Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!

Onwards!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Foko continued distracting Akari from sleep via conversation.

The next day, Akari goes back to the park, still trying to avoid slumber,  
and runs into another demon while there.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku spends her time resting in the medicinal tent,  
and the next day Hiei goes on a hunting expedition with members of Shubou's tribe.

They bring back a good haul, which means the eating will be good at the celebration that night,  
and Hiei returns to the medical tent to Shikiyoku and the lur'mog,  
the latter of whom has on several occasions attempted to communicate something or other  
via a big show of leaves, doing so once again upon Hiei's return...

* * *

When the lur'mog noticed that Hiei sat down, he started chattering excitedly again, lifting up the leaf for Hiei to look at and leaving Shikiyoku blinking questioningly at his actions.

"Do you have any idea what he's going on about?" Shikiyoku asked curiously, started to pet gently at the creature again. He started intermittently relaxing, eyes going half-lidded and making purring noises, before appearing to remember the 'urgency' of the leaf and raising his body tall again to make a couple of chortles at Hiei and lift the leaf. 3

Hiei got comfortable easily, legs stretched out in front of himself, leaning his back against a shelf that was placed here for medical means he supposed. One leg moved so that it was bent at the knee, where his right elbow rested lazily to let his wrist dangle over his knee.

At Shikiyoku's question, Hiei finally turned to notice the lur'mog's chattering and its gestures, eyeing the creature for a moment in thought. He had assumed something earlier before, but without being one hundred percent sure, he didn't act on it.

"Not really." He responded honestly, watching the creature with a blank expression. "I don't speak creature."

~!**!~

Akari stared at the demon's face, memorizing the color of his neon yellow eyes, the shape of his twisting, pointed horns at the side of his head, his pointed ears, his white hair. She didn't answer his question. She didn't feel it was an actual question, rather a rhetorical statement.

He picked up on her observations and sneered, proceeding to turn and leave. "If you ever decide to hold a real conversation, love, come find me."

She reacted a second after he'd taken his steps, reaching out and taking hold of his arm and spinning him around to face her, expression daring him to challenge her.

And he did. His eyes narrowed, his pupils going smaller and much more pointed, like an angry snake's would, and he bared his pointed teeth. All three rows of them. "Release me."

Akari's energy began to move about as she smelled his breath, reeking of human flesh and blood. It was her job, after all, to clean up the messes.

But her energy didn't get far before it snapped back to her core, a reaction to the strike that was aimed at her, dagger in hand, just grazing her cheek due to the slight delay in reaction from his movements. He was no longer joking or jovial, but feral, angry. She'd imposed, and he wasn't one to beat around the bush.

She realized this as she backed away, the blade just gliding across the skin of her stomach and causing it to sting, then burn as it raked across her almost completely healed wound from Kurama. She blinked and hopped further away, only to have the ground beneath her shift, move with a thunderous, earthquake-like sound.

And in the next moment, she was in the air, avoiding to larger rocks by hopping up and landing on the two, avoiding being crushed between them almost as if she were wide awake. Her senses were on high alert, or so it seemed, and she was dropping to the ground.

Or, maybe the ground was rising to her.

Her eyes widened as a large section of the soil moved, and then shot up at a pace she couldn't avoid, slamming into her body and sending her soaring through the air, and into another section of rock that had appeared from, quite literally it seemed, nowhere.

She hit the soil this time on her stomach, and was moving away from the demon who charged at her, sneering as she scrambled to stand. _Trees. Higher ground._

She blocked the arm that held the knife before jumping away, and again, she found herself rocketing into the air on a platform, this time another section shooting from behind her. She turned in time for it to strike her stomach, sending her, again, soaring through the air and into a tree.

She hit the bark at one of the highest branches, then proceeded to tumble from branch to branch, until a branch large enough to hold her caught her body, leaving her arms and legs dangling over the sides and her chin on the bark.

She hadn't had any time to discern anything that had happened. All she knew was that, one, the ground moved now and two, she was in a tree. _Too high_ into the tree. Three, she tasted blood and felt it dripping down her chin and over the branch. Four, she _hurt_.

She took a deep breath and moved herself so that she straddled the branch, both hands keeping herself balanced while she attempted to move her feet up so she could stand on the branch.

She hadn't even seen the rock that soared, throwing her from the tree and a few feet from its base, making her skid and roll across the ground.

"You know, before you challenge someone, you should make sure you can win first, love." the demon growled, his foot coming into view in front of her face. Next, his knee was in her eyesight as he crouched down, a hand touching her head, and after a moment's hesitation, petting her hair. "You picked the wrong day to fight me," he whispered, hand grabbing her hair and pulling, earning a grunt as he stood and forced her to do so as well.

She growled, her energy now pulsating around her with the close quarters, reaching out and slithering around him in the form of dark ribbons. "Too bad," she began in a tired whisper, "you didn't give me a chance to play along."

Her shadows moved, going through the demon now in shadowy forms that almost resembled sharp icicles, causing his skin to drain of color and a look of pain to strike his face, wincing. He coughed, the continuous strike on his core making blood fall from his lips as well.

And he reacted as she'd figured he would: Using whatever power he had to make a platform below her, and throw her away from him again and into another formation of rock he'd created. And again, he was throwing her into the tallest tree, and knocking her from it, then throwing her again with a snarl as she landed on the ground again.

When she didn't move again immediately, a voice echoed in her mind. _You're not giving up already, are you sweetheat? _Akari didn't respond, knowing the voice was nothing more than her imagination. _Come now, you're better than that. I didn't die for nothing, you know. _

She took a deep breath and let her eyes slide closed, spitting out the blood she tasted even more now as his feet approached again, his hand once more grabbing hold of her hair and lifting her. "I've had enough of you, love." _*****_

"Kaido, our meeting was scheduled for twenty minutes ago." Foko's voice cut across the air to where the demon held Akari up. "Is _this _what you have wasted my time with doing?"

The silver-haired kitsune stood still well within a hundred feet of the scene now, arms crossed, the air blowing his tail and hair with the wind.

His pose seemed relaxed enough, but his eyes were cold, golden pinpricks of light, narrowed at the demon across the way.

~!**!~

The lur'mog stopped in mid-purr abruptly and turned to glare at Hiei, clawed paws grasping tightly at the leaf as he snapped his mouth shut impetuously and let out a high-pitched growl, a sound that had Shikiyoku withdrawing her hand back from the beast just a touch as a precautionary and raising her eyebrows at it.

She hadn't heard him make such a noise before.

The growl faded just as quickly as it had started and the lur'mog tromped off of Shikiyoku's chest, throwing the leaf defiantly upon Hiei's leg with an angrily flourish, and plopping down onto the rugs.

He looked first at one arm, then the other, reaching over and beginning to scratch vigorously at his left forearm with the claws of his right paw. 3

Hiei paused, raising a brow at the lur'mog's tantrum with an almost amused glint in his eye before he recovered and decided to elaborate. "I only speak to my dragon." he said slowly, glancing at Shikiyoku for a moment. "It's the only creature I can communicate with."

He went quiet again, shifting his weight so that his spine didn't dig into the wooden shelves he was leaning against. His eyes slid closed, more to help himself relax than to intend sleep.

~!**!~

Akari felt the pause of the demon lifting her up, and, now on her knees, Akari slid open a single eye in a wince from the pain of being held by the hair, something that was beginning to make her energy swirl angrily, her core move with self preservation. She had yet to see the cause of his pause.

"Yoko," the demon greeted, tone one of surprise. "I was on my way, you see, but as I'm sure you can see, I ran into a problem. A persistent little pest-"

"_Sweetheart, now's your chance."_

Akari's eye glanced to the left, noting the demon that stood there with a brief moment of surprise. If it weren't for the pain throbbing in her chest and her lungs, she would have gasped in surprise.

"_What are you waiting for?!"_ He looked extremely out of place, lacking in color as he was.

Akari turned her glare up to the demon was was holding her, and her hand moved, grabbing at his wrist.

"-I was working on getting rid of. A lackey of higher powers, to be sure." He adjusted his hold, pulling her up further and onto her feet. "Just another moment wouldn't hurt, hm?"

Akari growled, mind still not registering the newcomer as she made a grab for the demon's wrist, whose eyes shot to her. He released her hair, sending her flying via platform again, for the fourth time landing amongst the tree branches, this time falling from the top and all the way back to the ground, nothing breaking her fall. _*****_

"So, it has taken you _twenty _minutes to get this far with her?" Foko began walking in Kaido's direction, "_Twenty _minutes that you've kept me waiting? For this _nonsense_?" Foko scoffed derisively, smelling now the scent of the humans Kaido had likely feasted on and what had _actually _forced Foko to wait.

"You will waste no one's time ever again." Foko waved a hand in Kaido's direction, the ground underneath him erupting with plantlife that not only came up around him, but also burst through his feet and all the way up his entire body, enveloping the demon in a gorgeously vibrant coffin, and then pulling back down into the earth, leaving no trace of the body behind save for a smattering of blood on the grass.

Moving quickly now, Foko broke into a trot to close the distance between himself and Akari, dropping to his knees and pulling her into his lap, turning her up so that she faced him and moving her hair from her face solemnly.

~!**!~

Night had fallen outside, and still the lur'mog sat, fastidiously clawing at his other arm, occasionally lifting it up to examine it, and then going back to work.

He had by this time, gotten beyond the first layer of scales to the second, working on delving past that to his actual skin, but both Shikiyoku and Hiei had fallen asleep by this time and he glanced up at the both of them impatiently.

Throwing aside his clawing attempts, the lur'mog took to gnawing on the arm, chewing through the last layer much faster than the claw-work he had been doing, and finally piercing his own dark pink skin with a fang.

Huffing slightly, the lur'mog took a single claw and dragged it down the length of his forearm, one eye blinking and then the other in the moment of pain, until dark purple blood began to lift from the wound.

He only gave a small peep of discomfort at the sensation before dashing to Hiei's shoulder, putting his uninjured paw on the fire demon's ear and nudging gently at his face, making soft thrumming noises in his throat, cautiously opening his mouth and delicately taking the skin of Hiei's ear in his teeth and moving it back and forth without piercing it. 3

Hiei stretched languidly in his sleep, moving only his arms and legs, stretching his back until it popped, at which point he shifted back down into his comfortable resting position and took a deep breath in his dreamless sleep. He was comfortable again when something bothered him, something pulling at his attention.

He shifted his head, a hand batting the air near his face as if swatting a fly. Again, something disturbed his sleep, and finally, he awoke just enough to slide an eye open.

And the sensation of something biting at his ear had him moving rapidly, a hand shooting to whatever was disturbing his sleep. Though he sensed no danger, the sensation that had been induced was not a welcome one, so when he looked to the lur'mog, he made a sound of impatience.

"You're thinning your lifespan."

~!**!~

Akari heaved a deep breath when she was able to breath again, her head ringing with the pain that berated her entire being. She hadn't been thrown around like that ever, not even when Yusuke had taken an attempt at her life.

Okay, maybe that wasn't true. But as tired as she was, it sure did feel that way.

"_You missed your only chance, sweetheart. Someone else has ended it for you."_

She glanced over at the feet of Kyu, who unceremoniously dropped to the ground, laying on his stomach beside her with a smirk of amusement. "_It's been a while, hm? You've grown, though I can't say you're any smarter."_

She heaved a great sigh and made to push herself up, only for a pair of hands to suddenly be handling her. Panic made her react and reach out, taking hold of one of the wrists with a grip that would have broken a human's bones.

She looked up at a familiar face now, and the relief flooded her enough that her body stayed entirely still with the transition. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so she closed it again and let her eyes slide to stare up at the heavens. _I hate this._

"_Hm. New lover?"_ With Kyu standing over Foko now, it reminded her that she'd once been colorblind, before Doctor had fixed that. The difference between the illusion of the black, white, and gray-hued demon and the Kitsune leaning over her was… strange, to say the least. _*****_

"Try not to move, inu." Foko breathed, starting to gently check her bones for breakage and meanwhile watching her expression for any discomfort he might find.

~!**!~

Seeing that he had Hiei's attention for the moment, the lur'mog hopped down to the fire demon's thigh and held his injured limb up, making for certain Hiei saw it bleeding.

He disappeared into the night at a dash, and did not reappear for several minutes.

When he returned, to the same thigh he had been on, the lur'mog hopped up and down, bouncing from one foot to the other and showing that the arm was no longer bleeding, the scales grown back over the wound and the skin appearing like new. 3

Hiei stared at the limb that the lur'mog presented to him, an unamused stare piercing the air where the creature had been a moment before, now gone. He waited, knowing there was a point to this, knowing there was something it wished to get across.

When it reappeared, hopping about and presenting a healing wound, he stared as patiently as he could muster, not happy with being wakened.

"Get to the point," he grumbled, still not amused and not even close to understanding due to his fogginess.

~!**!~

"_Definitely a lover."_

Akari sighed as her hand dropped from Foko's wrist, landing on the grass with a thud as she'd had no energy to slow the motion. _I'm tired, and this hurts. _Another sigh and she realized Foko was poking and prodding, his hands methodically searching for places that-

She winced.

Places like _that_. "That hurts," she grumbled, eyes moving down to her throbbing ribcage. She hadn't thought anything had broken.. Maybe her tolerance for pain was higher than she'd thought.

Or maybe it was dulled.

"_How about this?" _Akari winced again as Kyu prodded a forming bruise on her shoulder, then sighed at her. "_You're just like you used to be, Akari. The only difference is now you've got someone watching over you for me. Maybe you'll be smarter this time when the time comes to decide how to help them when they need it. Maybe you won't run off."_

Another sigh, this time exasperated. "You come in at the most convenient of times, you know that?" she grumbled, the comment aimed at both demons, Kyu for keeping her mind wandering and Foko for… well, everything. _*****_

"Consider that convenience my gift to you." Foko replied half-seriously.

He produced a leaf from somewhere that he held out at Akari's lips in a gesture that indicated she was to eat it.

"To help with the pain, inu." He explained, going back to searching the rest of her for injury, movements methodical and his eyes deep in concentration.

~!**!~

The lur'mog made a sound that had he been human or demon would have equated to a huff of exasperation.

He turned and stomped over to the leaf he had discarded earlier, waving it at Hiei again once he picked it up, and then hopped to Shikiyoku's bandaged knee, placing the paw that did not hold the leaf on it, staring at the wrap, then at the leaf and his formerly injured paw, which glistened as if wet, then up to Hiei.

He disappeared again and was at the door of the tent, hopping up and down, chittering excitedly, then reappeared at Hiei's singed pant-leg and started to pull at it towards the tent flaps, losing grip and plopping down on his rear, but just as quickly chortling again and standing back up to continue tugging as hard as he could manage, the leaf in his grasp and waving about as he did so. 3

Hiei watched the creature pull at his pant leg, gesturing to follow before again waving the leaf. He gave an expression that matched the sound the lur'mog had made a moment ago before he climbed to his feet silently, looking back at Shikiyoku once as he turned, waving the lur'mog forward in a gesture of "go, I'm coming."

He thought over the gestures, blinking at the creature. He assumed that the leaf was to act as a medicine, but what threw him off was the fact that the lur'mog continuously turned and left, as if something else was important to the matter.

"I'm coming," he grumbled finally, steps following the lur'mog as he'd said he would.

~!**!~

"_Oh, that one's bruising bad too, 'kari. A knot on the knee sucks, you'll find out. Does it hurt?" _Akari glared up at Kyu as he moved to stand over her, leaning over so that his face was seen just beyond Foko's. Now he was being an annoyance, prodding at her the way he was. "_What, you were the one who said no sleep." _The black and white image of Kyu was almost cartoon-like.

Akari took the leaf between her teeth that Foko offered, her eyes turning to watch his focused gaze as he continued poking and prodding gently, methodically. But, really, she just hurt. Everywhere. There was no discerning one pain from the other, so occasionally she'd wince from her own breathing, and occasionally she'd wince from his prodding of a bruising area or something similar.

"Thank you," she mumbled around the leaf just before swallowing it.

"_No problem, sweetheart."_

It took everything in her power not to groan at Kyu. _Not you, jerk._

"_Don't be cold. I'm helping too, and I have to say, this demon is transfixed. You sure you want to get mixed up in it?"_

_None of your business. __*****_

"Nothing broken." Foko decided in the end, "Though he did a number on your ribs. Would you like to sit up?" His eyes glanced at a tree nearby as he considered just picking her up and moving her over there, but he turned his golden eyes back down to her face, patiently awaiting her response, though his gaze gave away nothing of his current thoughts.

~!**!~

The lur'mog led the way much like he had tried to lead Hiei back to camp the first time. Once out of the tent flaps, he immediately went for the forest, heading in a direction that neither led back to the city they had passed, nor forward where they were meant to go, and it did not take them towards the burnt clearing Hiei had left earlier.

He would stop and go, keeping just within sight of the fire demon, but bouncing on his feet each time he had to stop moving, as if his body almost couldn't stand to be still for any amount of time.

Their path remained unhindered by denizens of the forest, though the night sounds around them made enough ruckus that even the loud revelry of the feast back at the tribe's camp was quickly drowned out.

All at once, he reached a break in the trees some forty or fifty miles later that opened up to a small clearing where a pond of water sat silently, surrounded by the dark red trees that overhung it with their roof of branches, creating a private, serene area. Any of the noises of the night came nowhere near this point, as obvious by the fact that they were so far away that they almost couldn't be heard.

It gave the pond a mystic feel, and the lur'mog chattered excitedly at the water's edge, the distance from one side to the other perhaps half, if not less that, of the hot springs in the blackened mountains of Shikiyoku's 'home,' and looking to be only as deep as three or four feet. A small spring at the back fed the pond, its flow just trickling enough to be heard on the other side.

The waters reflected the trees that hung quietly overhead, the leaves whispering in a small breeze that picked up, and the lur'mog turned, rushing up to the ankle Hiei had wrapped earlier and giving it a strange little hug, wrapping both his front paws and his tail around it, staring back at the water, and getting all excited again. 3

Hiei had followed as he'd promised, through the trees and through the forestry until he was standing in an open little area where a pond stood, its calm surface undisturbed by anything. The area was quiet, peaceful, as if sacred ground.

It clicked then, and as the lur'mog tugged and pulled at Hiei's ankle, the fire demon reached down to peel him from the injured ankle, then continue walking forward, standing at the water's edge and staring down at the calm, dark surface.

"_This_ heals?" he inquired incredulously, having never heard of such a thing. His eyes turned to the lur'mog, setting the creature down on the ground again, taking to simply crouching by the water's edge now to inspect it further, curious.

~!**!~

Akari breathed out in relief, ignoring the bark of a laugh from the demon looking on overhead. At Foko's question, she merely shifted her weight and began slowly pushing herself up to sit, right arm on the ground to push up with, the other stretched ahead as if to grab something to pull with.

Which turned into Kyu pulling her arm calmly until she was sitting up, head bowed as she gritted her teeth, her ribs causing more pain now that she was aware of the tenderness. "_You'll be fine, sweetheart. Just some rest will do and-"_

Akari huffed harshly at the male, shutting him up quickly before she leaned forward some more, intending to stand. "You know, you've helped a lot as of late," Akari began, speaking to Foko without looking at him, "and I have no idea how to repay you." _*****_

Foko stayed where he was knelt next to her as Akari rose, golden gaze becoming thoughtful as he shifted until he sat down fully, legs bent at the knees towards him with one raised that he rested a single arm over, watching her closely to make sure she did not fall.

"Well, I could be brazen and admit to wishing for a kiss," Foko's face broke out into a smile, "But I would be remiss in not simply stating that your presence is payment enough, inu."

~!**!~

Once Hiei spoke, the lur'mog hopped back and forth again where the fire demon had put him down, paws clasping together.

Intending to further prove the statement, the lur'mog disappeared, dashing off faster than it had before in its life, and reappeared twenty or thirty seconds later with a blackened leaf from the burnt grove.

Delicately prancing forward, the lur'mog dipped the leaf into the water until the plant was completely submerged, and chattered as the blackened portions appeared to molt away into ashes in the water, leaving behind a pristine green leaf which the lur'mog took out and waved around, also miming placing the formerly injured limb he had in and out of the water as well.

The "ashes" of the leaf polluted the clear water for a while, but eventually seemed to disappear, perhaps cleansed by the pond. 3

Hiei inspected the waters now with a calm demeanor, previous irritation at being lead around and awoken in the middle of the night dissipated by the prospect of healing waters. He reached out, curious about touching the water, but decided against it as the lur'mog appeared with a burned leaf in its claws, dipping it in the water.

Before his very eyes, he saw a dead plant given life, and his eyes widened. He was more than just a little surprised. He was completely astonished, turning wide eyes to the lur'mog, before they narrowed slightly. "And you waited _this long_ to tell me?"

With that, he was up and moving towards the campgrounds again, not sparing another glance back.

~!**!~

Akari paused in her efforts to stand when her knee shook just a little, and for the time being, she gave up and simply let herself plop down into the grass again, facing Foko as she crossed her legs loosely underneath herself, eyeing him as she heard his response.

"_Heh, you should simply appease his desire now, get it over with. Fox demons are-"_

"Surely my measly presence isn't _that _amusing to you?" she grumbled, eyes turned down to her hands, not even considering the first. "I mean, come on, you just _killed_, and all I'm doing is sitting here."

"_Just give him what he wants, moron." __*****_

Foko leaned back on his hands, staring up at the sky, his silver hair falling around his shoulders.

One of his ears twitched at a passing sound some mile or two away, but the other was trained on Akari, listening to her.

"What is it that makes you say such things?" Foko wanted to know, "Who told you your presence was measly? Because they were lying. And likely had a measly presence themselves."

~!**!~

The lur'mog huffed after Hiei, waving the leaf around at his retreating form and doing a little show of appearing to hand the leaf to someone, then running over and dipping it in the water, and then handing it over again, turning and chattering a bit angrily at the now-gone fire demon.

It wasn't as if he hadn't tried at _all_.

The lur'mog huffed again and turned to disappear, knowing that things would be well here, his eyes wide and ready for a night-time hunt. 3

Hiei moved from the area, neither walking nor running, but moving at a brisk pace that was almost a jog, but not quick enough to do more than make his hair wave with his movements. After a few minutes, he was entering the campgrounds again, red eyes dead set on the tent he knew Shikiyoku to be on.

And when he moved inside the tent, he wasn't very quiet about it, intentionally wishing to wake her, so she wouldn't assume she was being attacked when he picked her up.

And pick her up he did. Without even a pause, he scooped her up into his arms, being extremely mindful of her wounds as he did so, and turned to leave the tent again.

~!**!~

Akari didn't respond to Foko in any way, shape, or form. She simply watched him for a moment before she sighed, figuring she wouldn't get any answer other than the one he'd already given her. She wasn't happy with it, but it would have to do for now.

He wouldn't be giving her any other ideas, after all.

"_You didn't answer him, sweetheart."_

Akari took a deep breath, still not answering the fox demon. Instead, she grumbled another _thank you_ in his direction. _*****_

Foko raised an eyebrow in her direction, but said nothing for a moment.

"Introduce me to your pack-mate some day." He supplied, laying down on the grass with a slight poof, his hair fanning out behind his head as he put his hands up to support his neck. "We've never officially met to my knowledge."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku did in fact stir when Hiei entered the tent, but even once she knew she was moving, she still was half-asleep in his arms.

She had enough sense of mind to raise her moveable arm and place it about his neck, though the effort came almost automatically as soon as she was lifted up.

The jostling did not bother her either, though she still had no feeling in either injured limb.

When her eyes managed to open just enough to see Hiei's face, her head dropped forward against his cheek and her eyes came shut again.

"Hiei...?..." She didn't manage to get the question of 'where are you taking me' out of her mouth in any sensible fashion, though her mind was thinking it, and as she relaxed into his grip, she knew it didn't much matter anyway. 3

Hiei was moving slower this time, forcing his steps calm and bounceless, unlike his earlier pace towards the tent had been. He used Shikiyoku's feet to brush the tent flap to the side before he continued on, moving through the camp again and towards the area the lur'mog had lead him minutes before.

He glanced down at Shikiyoku as she mumbled his name sleepily. He didn't blink at her, simply staring for a moment before turning forward again, saying nothing as he moved through the trees of the forest, back towards the pond at a brisk, but calm pace until he was in the clearing again, staring at the calm waters of the pond.

He slowed now, his pace nothing more than a saunter as he approached the water's edge, crouching again and trying to decide how to go about this.

After another beat's hesitation, he was sitting down, sitting Shikiyoku down as well and moving her until her leg was dangling in the water, supporting her weight with an arm around her waist.

~!**!~

Akari blinked at Foko before giving a small smile. She considered standing, to telling him he could meet Nabu at that very moment if he so desired, but as she sucked in a deep breath to say those words, her entire body rang with pain and stopped all thought.

"Nabu would appreciate that," she said instead, releasing her breath slowly.

"_How are you still conscious?" _Kyu suddenly asked, moving so he sat beside her, much like he had when they'd first met, his knees to his chest and cheek resting atop them, amused eyes watching her. "_You've ignored sleep __**and **__been tossed around more than just a little. Don't you think you've had enough?"_

"Mm-m." Akari hummed in a negatory, smiling a soft smile as she tried pushing herself to stand again, now actually determined to move, to stand, to walk around. _*****_

Foko did not miss the noise she made, ear flickering in her direction, but before he could comment, he watched her begin to rise and turned over on his side towards her to watch with a guarded expression.

"Still running from your dreams, inu?" He wanted to know, offering her no help as she tried to get up.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku hissed, a sound of surprise, her eyes flying open when the water hit her leg.

In a sleepy daze, all she could feel was the icy-cold water that enveloped her leg, and she clutched at Hiei's arm with her good hand.

"What's...what are you...Hiei?" Her jaw clenched together, teeth slamming shut as her eyes blinked, trying to make sense of the darkness around her, but unable to move her leg out of the water, trying instead to scoot back out of it. 3

Hiei wasn't surprised when Shikiyoku suddenly was making an attempt at a retreat, and he made certain to cross his right leg behind her, his knee preventing her from scooting far enough out that her leg left the water. But he had yet to get her knee within the pond, so he proceeded to scoot forward, directing her forward as well.

"Don't struggle," he said calmly, eyes on her knee as he directed it into the water, watching as it became submerged finally and he firmly planted his hand on her thigh to keep her from withdrawing the leg. "It'll heal it. Just sit still, or else I'll completely submerge you myself."

~!**!~

Akari struggled for a moment to even lean forward, knee to her sore chest and a hand on the ground between that knee and the knee that was on the ground, readying to push herself up when Foko spoke up, making her pause and look towards him.

"Well, I'm not exactly _running._ I can't run in this state, now can I?" She turned away to concentrate on standing up again, taking a deep breath and pushing against the ground until she was actually standing, albeit not quite steady.

"_You're pushing it, sweetheart."_

Akari responded with the same negatory hum, quieter this time as she planted her hands on her hips and turned to Foko. "You wanted to meet Nabu, so we're going to meet Nabu." _*****_

"Inu, you're obviously injured." Foko pointed out, not moving yet, "I think you can fulfill my desires during a time when you aren't about to fall over. Kaido wasn't exactly a wussy fighter when he set his mind to something."

~!**!~

The lower her leg got into the water, the more Shikiyoku fought against him, a panic settling over her core despite whatever reassurances Hiei gave her, of which all she heard were the words 'completely submerged.'

Sleepy mind starting now to clear, she realized that if she fell into this water, she would not be able to swim to save herself with two completely useless limbs.

When he clamped his hand down on her thigh, she grasped his arm even tighter.

"Hiei, wait-" Her core stumbled a beat as she thought he was going to shove her in, clutching at the arm she had in her hand.

The usual tingling sensation that accompanied what her body considered a life-or-death situation erupted all at once along her skin, her energy beginning to buzz around her.

Despite the fact that the knee was completely submerged, the water had not penetrated the layers of bandages as of yet, and thus no healing had actually started, Shikiyoku simply left thinking that she was about to be shoved into water whose depths she did not know, with two appendages that would handicap her ability to swim greatly. 3

Hiei kept her leg still, his own body now going still as he waited, watching for any changes in the water and only just realizing he'd forgotten about the bandages. Oh well, they'd be soaked through soon anyway. However, as panic obviously began to set in for Shikiyoku, he released a sound of impatience at her and moved his other arm to pry at her fingers.

"You're not going to fall," he said slowly, at first not feeling the effects of the energy. But after another beat, her energy seemed to envelop him, and he was sitting much calmer, much more relaxed than before, his voice turning more silky, as if trying to convince her to let him get what he desired of her. "Just sit here. It's healing water, Shikiyoku." He took in another deep breath, nostrils filling with her scent due to the very close proximity between the two. "Just sit here. You'll see."

~!**!~

Akari stood, hands balled into fists and planted on her hips as she stared at Foko, smile making her lips lopsided as she waited, only for him to counter her words by reminding her of what she was already aware of.

"Yes, I'm injured, but it's just bruises. You said so yourself, nothing's broken." she countered, ignoring the resigned sigh from Kyu, who had moved to stand in front of her, blocking her view.

To which she responded with by leaning around him to look Foko in the eyes again. Which lead to her simply toppling over and into the dirt with a sigh.

"_What did I tell you? You pushed too far, moron." _There was a pause from the male, who blew air from his nostrils, sending his almost-white bangs fluttering above his eyebrows before his gaze was on her again. "_For your own good, don't get up again." _

And of course, Akari ignored him and made to stand again anyways.

"_Why don't you stop her, you damn fox?" __*****_

"Inuuu," Foko practically whined at her, ending the word with a sigh, "You're making me hurt just watching you." He had by this point turned completely over on his stomach, legs up in the air behind him and his chin resting on a hand. "Besides, if _you _get up and leave, that means _I _have to get up and leave and the grass is so comfortable." He mumbled the last word as he turned his face to the side and laid it across his hand, resting on the warm grass. "Why won't you just lay down with me?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku froze in place, still clutching at Hiei's arm, and blinked rapidly into the darkness around her, giving one last squeeze of her eyes and forcing herself awake, the air alive with her panicking energy.

A shiver ran up her body from the chill of the water, and she still felt off balance with how close to the edge of the pond she was, her dead leg giving her a strange sense of her weight, when the only portion she could feel was the bit that was about to slip in completely.

Something strange _was _happening with her knee, though she stiffened as she felt the water reach it, wondering if she'd ever be able to bend it again.

"How do you know?" She asked quickly, trying one last time to scoot back, leaning as far away as she could manage from the surface. 3

Hiei momentarily sat still, his eyes watching her bandaged knee before he remembered the other bandage, to which he slowly reached over, this time with both hands and methodically unwrapping the bandages, his left, uninjured leg wrapping about her waist to keep her from falling, as she still seemed to fear.

His hands moved quickly, removing the bandages before he paused at Shikiyoku's question. He looked towards her face with a calm expression. "The lur'mog showed me," he answered truthfully, turning back to unwrapping the bandages. "It healed his own bleeding arm first, before he showed me whatever it was that caused his injury to heal."

~!**!~

Akari paused, crouching again like she had the first time, her eyes moving to Foko with a small sound at his words that was an odd cross between disappointment and relief. She wasn't sure what to do, since she'd been so eager to get up and go see Nabu. Then again, Foko didn't want to get up and leave.

She thought for a moment before she simply resigned to his request and lowered herself to lay in front of him, miming the way he lay for a moment before her ribs protested, causing her to roll onto her back. "You're no fun."

"_It's about time you listened. Still as moronic as ever."_

Akari continued to ignore Kyu's commentary, looking to the sky and extending her arms above her head, effectively stretching out her body that protested in almost every single way possible. "You're right, the grass _is _comfortable." _*****_

"Of course I'm right." Foko ignored the 'fun' comment, "I wouldn't _lie _to you about that." Foko raised his head for a second to glance over at her, thankful to see that she seemed resigned to not leaving.

"I only wish to meet Nabu once you are well. Though...is there a particular reason why he is not with you now?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku couldn't help but look down at her arm as Hiei unwrapped it, and she felt her stomach lurch when the _hole _appeared, able to see straight through her forearm as the rotting skin on the opposite side fell open.

She shivered again, though because of the image or the water, she could not tell.

And the smell was terrible, the flesh and muscle not healing properly for whatever reason, and a portion of the bone shifting out of place without the bandages to hold it straight. 3

Hiei didn't even flinch at the wound he'd unwrapped, at least not outwardly. Inwardly, his core dropped and his stomach churned. His eyes turned to the water, watching it begin to change colors as the bandages were beginning to become soaked through.

He considered the depth of the water for a moment before assessing that it wouldn't be much of a threat, and he turned his eyes to Shikiyoku again. "To speed up this process…" he paused, thinking over what he was going to request for a moment. "Do you still trust me?" he suddenly asked, half afraid to know her response after yesterday.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged, her hands playing with her own hair as she lay there, staying stretched out on the grass. "I left this morning before dawn, when he was still sleeping." She thought back to how bored she'd been inside that house, how she'd wanted to get out and wander around. She'd considered journeying into Mushiori City again, to visit the place where Sensui had lived for a while, but had decided against it. Why, she wasn't sure even now.

"He might come along in a while, if he notices my school stuff is still at home."

"_Your small talk is getting boring." _*****

"Even more reason to stay then!" Foko exclaimed pleasantly, genuine smile on his face. "Surely your injuries will not take too long to heal. Perhaps we could get up and run about then...? If you wished?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku tore her shimmering eyes away from the wound to look at Hiei when he spoke, curiously regarding him when he faded off, and then suddenly surprised by his question, her face becoming kind and gentle at what she felt to be his apprehensiveness at what her answer might be.

"Dearest Champion…" She shifted her weight and pulled her good arm across her body in a gesture that she would not normally have made, placing her hand up to Hiei's cheek to cup it in her palm, eyes shining.

"There will be a time when you go along with a decision _I_ make, and you will be hurt, and I will almost kill myself with guilt because of it, much as I think you have _this_ time." She searched his eyes to see if she was correct.

"But you did what you thought was _right_, what you thought was _best_. How could I _not _place my trust in you for even just that reason alone?"

She finally smiled softly at him, "You have my trust, now and for always. There is no need to ask after it. Unless it makes you feel better to hear me say so."

She chuckled once gently, "And in that case, ask it as many times as you desire my answer. It will never change, though. That I swear to you. For as long as you are protecting me." 3

Hiei stared at Shikiyoku as she answered him, his eyes never leaving her face as she moved her hand to just touch his cheek, a gesture he wasn't sure how to respond to, so he did not. He simply sat there, eyeing her as she continued on in her reply that had his core feeling calmer, the bond in his mind ringing, thrumming with the sincerity behind her words.

By the time she'd finished speaking, he'd almost forgotten why he'd asked. However, when he looked away, his eyes caught the waters and his memory quickly restoring to the reason he'd asked her. Feeling more confident now, he took a deep breath.

At least he could take away her pain now, much like she'd attempted to do for him earlier that day.

Except… more successful.

He hoped.

Without further ceremony, the fire demon was moving, scooting around her before deciding he'd show her that the water wasn't deep enough to worry about before pulling her in. Almost as soon as his ankle hit the water, a chill ran up his spine, but he ignored it for a moment as he lowered himself fully into the water, then turned to face Shikiyoku, arms extended to her in a show of "you're coming in too."

~!**!~

Akari moved her head so that she was craning her neck back to look at Foko, hands still playing with her hair that was fanned out above her head. She smiled at him, feeling even the slightest changes in her body already beginning. "Have anything in mind?" she asked him, since her only idea was of Nabu.

She almost considered showing him video games, but…

Yusuke could be there.

The thought suddenly had her frowning, realizing the detective could have skipped, just as she had, and if he were to see her with Foko…

She'd be dead before she could explain.

"_Just now occurring to you, sweetheart?"_

Akari gave a small huff that ended in an almost inaudible growl at Kyu.

"_You're slower than before." __*****_

"Well, I may have meant 'run' in the literal sense of the word." Foko's ear flicked to the side once and he lifted himself up on his stomach to look at her. "What was the human term for it again?" He appeared thoughtful, reaching out with a single hand and extending his first finger to place it gently on her forehead. "You're 'it.'"

~!**!~

While Shikiyoku did not hesitate to shift around and place her good hand on Hiei's shoulder, it was obvious that her entire body stiffened as she attempted to steel herself for what she already knew to be water so cold she would never voluntarily plunge into it.

Getting clean for once would be nice though. She could still feel the layer of muck and bile on her skin, and didn't particularly _want_ to know what condition her hair was in. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku shuffle about for a bit before he glanced behind her, noting absently that the lur'mog was nowhere to be seen. The fire demon turned to Shikiyoku again, moving forward and grabbing her around the waist and hefting her into the water, lowering her, but keeping a hold on her good arm to keep her standing in the water that came up to his chest.

He shifted his weight, feeling the water soaking through his own bandages that he'd tied around his ankle. He hadn't really intended to heal his own wounds, but he simply felt that doing it this way was less trouble.

"Make sure your elbow is in the water too." he instructed, the skin where the water touched feeling much better as the grime on his body was slowly being washed away.

~!**!~

Akari's brow raised at Foko's word. Was he, in a roundabout way, asking to _play? _The thought made her lips curl into a wide smile, a small sound escaping her lips that she tried to stifle with a hand. The fox demon, bringing up _tag_, of all games. She wasn't sure which emotion was stronger: surprise or delight.

"You mean _Tag_?" she asked aloud, tone completely filled with amusement. "You, of all people, want to _play_?" She released another laugh, but she quickly clamped her lips together to end the sound, not wanting to seem like she was laughing _at _him.

"How can one be so…" she searched for the words in her mind. "How can you go from fierce to…" She thought some more before craning her neck to see him again, "_adorable?" __*****_

Foko pouted royally at her, "Where does it say that _leaders_ aren't allowed to have any _fun_?"

He tossed his head, clearing hair from his face that stubbornly fell back to shade his eyes anyway as he set his yellow eyes upon her.

"And I believe that would be what is all considered part of my...charm." He finished, grinning wickedly.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku shivered violently at the chill that almost matched the buzzing of sensation that her skin still held, her gleaming eyes closing tightly as she fought an urge to jump out of the water.

Her arm had floated uselessly along the surface next to her without her direct attention, but at Hiei's reminding her of it, she struggled a moment before wrenching her shoulder down, biting her lip at the pain.

She could at least feel _that_.

And for that matter, her knee besides, which she carefully attempted to bend.

"_Too soon." _Her closed eyes squeezed tighter and the hand at Hiei's bare shoulder clenched down on it just a little.

Trying to pull her attention to something else, Shikiyoku opened her eyes, and turned the shimmering gaze over to her submerged arm.

In the darkness, she couldn't quite tell if anything was happening yet, but slowly became aware of being able to _feel _the water passing through the hole. Which was disconcerting to say the least.

Anywhere that Hiei had been injured or cut started to clear up, but left a sort of pollution behind in the water, a darker color than the rest of the liquid. And it was easy to see the same process begin at Shikiyoku's arm, though much slower, as it appeared the water itself turned thicker and started to move away from the injury after it had been used up for healing. 3

Hiei stood in the water, making sure he was close enough that Shikiyoku could lean on him if need be, not once moving as if to pull from her reach. In fact, he did shift his weight so that he seemed closer than before.

His eyes turned down to the water now, watching as it turned dark, moving away whatever it was cleaning from their wounds as if caught in a current. Curious, he watched the trail, seeing where it would lead to, and found that, eventually it died off. Dissipated. Disappeared.

He was utterly fascinated, to say the least. Never before had he heard of waters such as this, that purified wounds and even healed them to the most pristine condition as possible. He wondered if it would leave a scar where Shikiyoku's arm had been pierced, or if it would simply smooth over as if nothing had happened.

He supposed he'd find out, as his own wound could likely scar over as well.

He suddenly scoffed.

A wound from a trap similar to a bear trap in Human world. He surely wouldn't be explaining that one to anyone else any time soon.

~!**!~

Akari was smiling over at Foko, eyes sparkling with mirth as if she were a child. "I agree. Your charm is rather…" she paused again, searching for the word intended here, but coming up short and settling for, "charming."

"_Smooth."_

"You're making it hard to pretend I don't like you," she commented, knowing that if the conversation turned to this particular demon sometime in the near future, it would be highly unlikely she would be able to participate without giving herself away. "You're going to get me killed." Of course, she was only _half _joking. _*****_

Foko just kept grinning at her fumbles.

"And why in the three worlds do you think if I had stopped Kaido that I would let anyone _else_ kill you, hm?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let her good foot rest on the bottom of the pond. Or at least her toe, since she did not wish to get any further in the water than necessary.

Which would be a problem if she actually wanted to get her hair clean.

By this time, her whole body had set to shivering, and when she drew closer to Hiei, the eternal furnace, for warmth, she was envious of both sides of his heritage which likely contributed to how calmly he stood there with her.

"L-lucky hybrid." She stammered at him with a grin, her teeth beginning to chatter, trying to warm her.

On the bright side, the water around her knee was almost completely darkened with her injury, and she was actually starting to feel itchy there, an old, reliable, tell-tale sign of healing. 3

Hiei hadn't been paying much attention to the person in front of him at that very moment, his eyes continuously following the trail of the ickiness in the water. So, when Shikiyoku spoke up, her teeth chattering a little, he turned his eyes up to her with a look of confusion for a moment, before his eyes lit up with amusement that didn't go any further than his gaze.

He thought for a moment, considering the different ways he could keep her warm, but likely not disturb the water, in case it altered its process of healing.

Or maybe heat would speed it up?

He didn't want to chance it, so he raised a hand from the water, facing the palm to the sky and causing water to drip from his fingers and back down to the pond's surface.

After a moment, a small ball of fire formed in his palm, tossing a warm glow around the area and lighting the small clearing. Rolling over and over itself, it slowly grew until it was large enough that, should Shikiyoku decide to place her hands in front of it, its warmth would radiate down her arms too.

For a moment, he stared down at his own creation before his hand extended towards Shikiyoku, his fingers sliding from underneath it to allow it to simply hang in the air between them. He watched as it tossed a warm glow around her features, lighting her green eyes and making them shine brighter than even the fire in the darkness of the night.

~!**!~

Akari stared at Foko for a moment before sighing once, smile fading from a wide grin to a small smile of appreciation. "Killing a business partner must set you back a bit, hm?" she asked in a soft tone, part of her that she wasn't exactly in tune with at the moment thankful for the setback that would delay whatever fight that was brewing, even if just a little longer.

She went quiet suddenly, ignoring the soft humming of Kyu as he took to sitting next to her, legs crossed and a clawed finger gently tapping at her forehead, as if to gain her attention.

She released a long-suffering sigh and let her eyes close for a few moments. "Killing a business partner for someone who's supposed to be an enemy is dangerous, isn't it?" _*****_

"First of all," Foko held up a finger between them, speaking in a very factual manner "A demon who is stupid enough to waste my time like that deserves to pay for that time with interest. Secondly," Another finger joined the first, "I don't see anyone around here complaining about the death. Except you." He winked. "And neither do I think anyone here will go around telling people it happened."

Foko considered Akari for a moment longer, head tilting slightly.

"Have you considered telling him to go away? Or her." He shrugged, as if the gender of the hallucination he knew from experience she was having-he'd guessed it very early on-did not matter. "It occasionally worked for me, when I was feeling particularly bothered by them."

~!**!~

When she saw what he was doing, Shikiyoku closed her eyes again and briefly turned away, letting them adjust to the change in light before blinking, squinting, and leaning back normally as she had been floating.

Her body relaxed a little, though the shivers did not completely vanish, and she sat basking in the warmth the fire shared, flexing her toes in the water and finally able to move her knee without pain.

She hesitated reaching down to itch at it though, unsure if the lack of pain meant the wound had completely closed yet or not.

Blinking sleepily, Shikiyoku, in spite of the cold, felt her head dip slightly once and she jolted herself awake because of it, glancing over at her arm as a distraction, but finding that she blinked at it without making sense of the thing and sighed, trying to not let her eyes close again. 3

Hiei stared at Shikiyoku for a few more moments before turning his eyes to his own flame again, watching as it continued to roll, the flames moving as if stuck within a container that wouldn't allow the fire free. Of course, sparks flew here and there, rising into the air and floating away almost lazily on the now calm wind, but other than that, it gave the illusion of being suspended and trapped in some sort of encasing for simple viewing matters.

And he found himself enjoying the sight more since he hadn't stopped to appreciate the element in a long while.

Years, he realized suddenly. He'd simply been using his flame for attack, for destruction when he saw fit, unlike when he was younger, when he would toy with the power during times of boredom or sleepless nights.

Had it been that long?

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes at Foko's first words, each point a valid one she realized. How could she have forgotten that _he _was the leader of whatever side he was on, and not another ruling over _him_? _Hmm… maybe I should get some sleep tonight._

"_But the dreams, remember sweetheart?"_

Akari's eyes widened as she registered Foko's question, and then simple explanation of his own dealings with sleep-deprivation induced hallucinations. She rolled over onto her stomach so she could look him in the eye now, searching his face as if that would give her the answer as to how he'd figured it out. In her mind, she'd done well in ignoring Kyu enough to keep his presence discreet.

She sighed after a moment, eyes sliding closed again. "He'll leave eventually." she grumbled, not looking at him now. She felt there was something else she wanted to say, but it wouldn't traverse from the back of her mind to the forefront and then to her tongue, so she was left laying there, cheek on the grass and eyes closed.

"_Like I'd leave so early. We haven't caught up yet." __*****_

Foko remained silent at her word, opening his mouth to speak again, but quietly letting it come closed as he watched her.

He wanted to reach out to her again, to run his fingers through her hair, but something held his hand in place. And so he simply sat there.

_How long… _He mused to himself, _How long will you continue to see me as just a fox demon? You realize that I'm not, right? That I'm only putting on this masquerade? This __façade__? ...what would you think of me, I wonder, if you could see me as I truly am...?_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	47. Episode 132 - Demons at Play

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of this FanFiction Realm!

The scenes between Foko/Akari and Shikiyoku/Hiei are ones CM and I really enjoyed writing, so I hope you enjoy reading them! The chapter is a little bit shorter than usual, but I start rambling about the tribe's celebration next in our RP, so if I hadn't stopped here this chapter would have been super long, tee hee.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Foko interrupts Akari's encounter with the demon Kaido,  
a demon with whom Foko was supposed to be meeting,  
and subsequently kills Kaido for making Foko wait.

Akari is still hallucinating due to her lack of sleep,  
but wanting to stave off the nightmares,  
she uses Foko's presence as a distraction from her tiredness.

Foko seems nonplussed at his role as distraction,  
and embraces this role by offering to play tag with her.

~!**!~

As night fell on the Ninth Level, the lur'mog finally gets his point across to Hiei:  
there is a healing pond of water nearby.

Hiei immediately returns to camp and retrieves Shikiyoku, and as she is not fully awake,  
she panics as it feels like he is attempting to shove her into the water.

A moment passes between them where Hiei asks if she trusts him-  
"Of course."-after which he climbs into the water himself and turns to lift her down after him.  
The water is freezing, so Hiei provides a bit of light and warmth in the form of a ball of fire,  
and Shikiyoku takes to watching her arm in an attempt not to slip back asleep while floating with him...

* * *

Finding the limb was no better distraction from her tiredness, Shikiyoku realized she'd started staring at Hiei, his own gaze trained on the fireball he created.

As she had many times before, she took in the curve of his cheek, the bone structure of his face, gazing over and appreciating the aesthetics of his features that she could see, his wine-colored eyes, his dark hair, his muscular shoulders. Even the Jagan, which was at the moment mostly closed, seemed to be as much a part of his complete form as the shape of his lips were to his face.

And she had to admit, just as the times before, that she'd fallen in with a rather attractive demon. And this and her previous thoughts were stirring her core more than was likely wise, her scalp tingling and her eyes glinting with power.

"Beautiful," She breathed out in a whisper, quickly flickering her glance over to the fireball when she realized she had accidentally expressed her internal feelings out loud, "Isn't it?" 3

Hiei tried to think back to the last time he'd simply sat around and done nothing but… _admire_. Off the top of his head, nothing came to mind, so he delved deeper into his own thoughts for a few moments, thinking back to before he'd met Kurama, before he'd trekked between the worlds and ended up in the Human World.

_There_, he thought as a memory surfaced. He'd been planning everything, before even considering finding Youko Kurama, of all demons, and he'd taken a break from… whatever he'd been doing before then. He'd let a stream of his energy move about, creating a light show in front of him as it danced and twirled, putting on a show in the night that only he could see.

Hiei released his hold on the memory and came back to the present in time to hear Shikiyoku's words, not even noticing the very slight pause between them. He nodded once before turning and moving away, deeper into the pond until he was almost neck-deep in, at which point he simply decided to move below the surface and rid himself of the rest of the disgusting grime and bile that had built up over the past two days.

~!**!~

Akari lay there, eyes closed and cheek on the cool grass, momentarily forgetting the reason she hadn't been up and around in the first place as she sighed in content. The park, even though it was not her favorite, was extremely peaceful and it was hard to convince herself to peel her eyes open again.

She looked over at Foko again, watching him quietly, noting the expression he wore. _What's on your mind now? _She continued to eye him quietly, as if she'd be able to read his mind if she simply stared long enough and tried hard enough.

Suddenly, she was up and moving, and the fact that her body didn't protest made it easier for her mind to forget that she'd actually been hurt. She reached down, patted his head between his ears with the palm of her head, smiled mischievously and then turned to run.

"Now _you're _it." she called over her shoulder before simply taking off.

Might as well, right? _*****_

Foko's ears flattened outwards a bit, away from where she touched him, and the curiosity in his eyes shone brightly as she ran, up until she spoke.

"Ha!" Foko was on his feet in the next instant, and in the one following dashed off after her, his expression bright, his ears standing straight up at attention as he began to chase her, for the moment keeping a single step behind as he followed.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku winced a little when Hiei moved away, both at having to remove her hand and put her other toe down in the water-her knee seemed stiff to her sensibilities-and also, as a result, having to be lower down in the water.

Regardless of the fact that her face felt warmer, a shiver spanned the rest of her body, and she let her toes flex up and down on the pond floor, which bounced her in place a little, glancing over as she did so to _feel _her arm begin to itch, which truly delighted her and gave her a smile.

...which turned mischievous in the next second as she whipped her head back over to where Hiei had disappeared under the water-_Lucky hybrid_-and she lifted her useable arm up and pulled it close to her side with every intention of splashing water at him as soon as he'd be able to feel it.

She dropped her grin, taking on a face of nonchalance that she would hold if he actually turned around to look at her when she did so. 3

Hiei lingered beneath the surface of the water for a moment, his feet flat at the bottom of the pond, but knees bent to allow every inch of his body, making sure every inch of his hair _specifically_, was underneath as well. His movement made the water seem to sway, moving through his hair as it soaked his head entirely, flowing through each lock of hair despite how thick his hair was.

He waited another brief moment, eyes closed as he wiped at his face with both hands and then ran his fingers through his gently-swaying hair. His fingers broke the water's surface with the motion, causing ripples around his hair as he decided to follow the motion of his hands and resurface again, feeling as if the grime had simply dissipated in the water.

When his face was above the surface, he blew air out of his mouth, sending droplets of the water spewing in front of himself as his eyes opened and he turned to face Shikiyoku. "You should do the-"

Water hit his face, easily entering his opened mouth and making him flinch in slight surprise, eyes closing instinctively and head craning back just a little from the experience of being splashed, something he'd only experienced when he fell from the cliff he'd been tossed over as a child.

He stood there, eyes still closed and lips now closed around the water he'd caught in his mouth, to which he slowly spit out. And for the moment, his only reaction was the look of irritation on his face.

~!**!~

The sound of Foko's steps gaining on her was not lost on Akari, and quite frankly, she wondered why he hadn't closed the distance, as she was completely and utterly sure he could do so in a flash if he so desired. With a wide grin, she glanced back over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out before whipping her head around again and avoiding the bench she'd been careening towards by, as the humans said it, _the hair of her chinny chin chin._

Maybe that wasn't right.

Oh well.

Her strides lengthened at the concept of a purser, and the fact that he could catch up at any second. It made her mind more aware, made it easier to look ahead and plan a route, should she require it.

"_You're too slow, sweetheart!" _Kyu yelled after her, all to which she ignored and changed directions, abruptly deciding that maybe, if she continued to move in zig-zags, he wouldn't be able to keep up. _*****_

While he may not have _been _an actual fox demon, Foko understood well having been in this body for long that the chase was just as, if not more exciting, than the capture.

And so for the next few strides, he simply stayed right behind her, his silver hair streaming in the air behind him as his feet lightly touched the ground with hardly a sound of his pursuit.

When she took to zig-zagging, he anticipated her next turn and took two steps and was in front of her as she changed directions, feet planted and hands on his hips, waiting to see if she would be able to course-correct in time or if she would simply run into him, and he grinned down at her.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had meant to keep a straight face, but at the look of consternation-irritation, really-that Hiei wore when the water hit him, a giggle bubbled up from her lungs and made it part way past her lips before she had time to put a couple of fingers to her mouth and continue the quiet laughter behind them.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she doubted anyone had the _audacity _to ever splash water at the great and powerful fire demon that was Hiei. And considering his childhood, she also doubted he even knew what she meant by it. A fact which, when remembered, made her pull her lips into her mouth and bite down on them so she didn't snicker again.

And it was _that _thought which made her splash him again as he sat there, that is: assuming he didn't have a playful bone in his body and would probably just tell her to stop it without understanding the gesture.

Granted..._she _had an advantage that other demons of his childhood had _not_.

He wouldn't _actually _kill her for it.

...maybe. 3

Hiei kept his eyes shut as water dripped down over the eyelids and proceeded to run down his cheeks. He moved as if to wipe it away, but paused when he heard the beginnings of a laugh from Shikiyoku, who seemed to clamp down on the sound just as soon as it was made. His eyes opened now to glare at her, only to snap closed again when she repeated the action.

And again, he blew air from between his lips and scattered the water droplets that hung from his lips. Never before had another demon acted like this with him, and his calculating mind simply couldn't figure out the meaning behind it or the reason it had been necessary.

His eyes opened again, his glare darker this time despite the flames between them that lightened his face.

"What exactly… drives you to do such… moronic things?" he finally voiced, tone just as heavy as his glare. Any other demon would have been killed on the spot.

~!**!~

Akari glanced back, seeing Foko behind her and giving another smirk of amusement. However, when she turned forward again, he was _in front _of her, feet planted and hands on his hips, expression smug. Her mouth opened to form a small 'o' shape in surprise, and with a single step, she was spinning away, changing direction before she ran head-first into the demon and instead moving as if her life depended on not being caught.

As she pivoted on a single foot to allow her spinning escape, she actually brushed his shoulder with her arm that had flung out to aid in keeping her balanced before it dropped to her side again to help propel her forward and away from the male, hoping she'd adjusted quick enough to avoid being captured. _*****_

Foko just grinned and let her go.

"You're _much _too fast for me, inu." He called, chasing after her again, "What_ever _am I to do?"

In counter to his words, Foko appeared in front of her again after several more strides, and did not give her a chance to turn, putting out his hand and gently prodding his finger against her forehead.

"Tag."

He stood there looking triumphant.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku bit her lips again before answering, knowing that he really _didn't _have the capacity for the gesture now and debating whether or not to actually explain it.

"You, flame-boy." She answered curtly, going on before he could answer by putting her good hand up to her collarbone and assuming an expression of loftiness, her eyes closed and nose turned upwards primly in the light of the fireball next to her, "In my never-ending quest to educate you on the many ways in which demon and human alike might have a bit of 'fun.'" She went on after a second as if a thought occurring to her, "And fun that doesn't involve hacking one's way through a mass of enemies because we _all _know how much fun that is for you." The sentence came out quickly as it was information they both knew to be true. "Fun we can _both _participate in." She added, still in a very professor-like mode. 3

Hiei frowned at Shikiyoku as she spoke, nose in the air as if teaching him something she thought he should already know. His expression of irritation didn't falter, not even when she brought up his idea of fun. Instead, he shifted his weight and began moving closer, wading through the pond slowly, silently despite the motion of the water.

"_Your _idea of fun is equivalent to an attack," he stated, though, in truth, he was having a few internal issues. "_Your _idea of fun, as just displayed, is _not _amusing to me, woman."

He moved even closer, until he was standing in front of her threateningly, orb of fire suddenly going out as he relinquished her source of heat. And he stood there for a moment, cold eyes watching her carefully. "_Your _idea of fun is vastly different than mine."

And in the next moment, water was flying upwards, the dragon that was normally nothing more than a tattoo on his arm roaring up from the waters, willed to life in a split second for only one purpose:

...to rain water down on her.

~!**!~

Akari heard his words, but she found them as nothing more than his personal joke, to which she actually felt amusement stem from. He was playing this game the way she would expect any demon to. He was enjoying the chase, toying with her as most demons likely would have.

So when he appeared in front of her again, she wasn't surprised this time. But, she didn't have time to skid to a stop either, no matter how hard she dug her feet into the ground.

Though, her momentum slowed just enough that when she _did _run into the demon, they didn't simply topple over. _*****_

Foko had already planted his feet firmly into the ground, and Akari smacking into him was a little like a fly hitting a mountainside.

His eyes sparkled with amusement, grin much less wide than previously, if only because he fought desperately against laughing aloud.

He took her by the shoulders, lifted her just enough that he could move her, and set her back on her feet in front of him before putting a hand back on his hip, finally grinning at her again.

"You're 'it.'"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku kept her half-pious pose until Hiei continued moving and was going to be standing in front of her, and at his voice drawing nearer, her hand fell, her lips struggling against the smile that wanted to form on her mouth as she stared him down with equal passion to his own, if on the complete opposite spectrum than the one he appeared to be accessing.

She parted her lips with a single brow raising to make some high and mighty observation about having to discover and establish for oneself the difference between an 'attack' and 'play,' when the darkness flame shot up out of the water, casting its brilliant dark-purple energy in a gorgeous reflection on the pond.

To which, of course, Shikiyoku appeared to remain unimpressed-if not a trifle confused at what exactly drove Hiei to releasing it-but _did _follow its path upwards with both eyebrows rising and mouth still open with the intent to speak, but instead getting her entire face showered with the water that the dragon had displaced, making her eyelids blink rapidly as she squinted to clear the liquid from her eyes, a mischievous smile starting to form on her face. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku as the dragon reared from the water, creating steam as some of the water evaporated with the contact, but also creating a shower that fell down around them noisily. As soon as she looked away, Hiei silently moved, ducking beneath the water until every inch of his spiky hair was underneath the surface.

He paused for another moment before his eyes opened beneath the water, taking a short moment to assess her knee before continuing on with what he wanted to do anyway.

He reached out and grabbed the ankle of her left foot, his other hand grabbing behind the thigh of her right leg and pulling her feet from the ground beneath, ensuring she dipped beneath the water in front of him.

~!**!~

Akari moved to step away, not sure how he'd react to being run into, but wasn't surprised when Foko actually guided her a step away from him. She planted her feet firmly on the ground and looked up at him with raised brows, her own hands planting on her hips and a small pout making her bottom lip jut out slightly.

"It's no fun if you just stand here, silly." she complained before her expression shifted to a smile. "But, I won't be able to keep up, so this game is one-sided."

"_Hey, you're using your noggin." __*****_

Foko's expression shifted as if he hadn't even considered the fact that he was supposed to move again after tagging her.

"And _you _should have tagged me just now." Foko pointed out, grinning and hopping back out of arm's reach. "And if you don't believe yourself to be faster than me, doesn't that just mean you have to win some _other _way?" He pivoted on one foot and looked over his shoulder at her, shaking both his rear and his tail at her tauntingly, letting his tongue stick slightly out from between his lips at her.

~!**!~

Luckily for Shikiyoku, she had just taken a breath to speak when she suddenly found herself jerked downwards, the water enveloping her entire head as she went under. Unfortunately, most of that breath was blasted out of her mouth in the initial bubbles of her descent in her surprise.

The first thing she found when she got her bearings as quickly as possible was seeing Hiei's eyes gleaming crimson in the water, the next was that her entire body gave one final shudder as the liquid closed overhead and her eyes slammed shut at the prickling feeling that briefly stabbed at her scalp. Her teeth may have gritted together at the sensation, but there was no mistaking the amusement at Hiei dunking her.

She shook her head slightly as she felt her hair begin to fan out behind her, begrudgingly thankful that Hiei got the whole process of torture over and done with all at once.

That didn't mean she didn't go ahead and stick her tongue out at him impishly after reopening her eyes. 3

Hiei felt the beginnings of a sneer form on his lips as Shikiyoku came crashing down into the water before him, expression one he knew well. He floated in front of her, eyes sparking with amusement as she stuck her tongue out at him, her own eyes showing amusement at his antics.

So, maybe he hadn't ever associated falling below the surface of water to be fun.

However, the process of _pulling _one under the water, for no reason other than to get back at her for the splashing… _that _he enjoyed. And her reaction made it just that much more amusing.

His hands moved in the water to keep him floating below the surface, but after a moment, he sneered again and moved to resurface, knowing that Shikiyoku would be able to do the same once she planted her foot and pushed upwards.

~!**!~

Akari could have whacked her own head for her blunder. She had simply thought he was _letting _her tag him back. No, he simply _hadn't known_. The idea made her laugh suddenly. "You suggested a game you didn't know how to play entirely?!" She yelled at him with another laugh.

And when he was taking off, her laugh was gone and she realized that he was right. She'd have to find _other _means of tagging the demon back. So, for the moment, she let him move away, watching him thoughtfully as the gears in her mind began turning.

Or rather, they were trying to.

As she stood there, she raised her hand to stifle a yawn, the lack of movement making her aware of her tiredness again despite the distraction Foko posed.

"_You're losing."_

"Shut up," she finally responded to the demon before moving away from him and running after the demon who'd continued the game. _*****_

Foko took off after the moment of butt-waggling, heading for a portion of the park which had strange shapes coming out of the ground. Eyeing one in particular, he dove straight into the tube and shuffled on his hands and knees until he was half-way through it.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stayed under the water for a moment longer, shifting her fingers through her hair as the grim got out of it, unsure of when or where the two bobby pins from the previous hair-do had gone and not particularly wasting any time other than observing it thinking about them.

Flexing the hand of her almost completely restored arm, she glanced up at Hiei and half-wanted to take the same move and turn it on him, but being ever the entrepreneur, lazily rose up of the water in front of him instead.

"Hiei…" Shikiyoku dropped her voice low when she spoke his name, letting her tongue caress the two syllables out of her mouth, a slight smile on her lips, and her attitude much different than before as her energy started to move sensuously through the empty space between them and her eyes gleamed a bright emerald-green in the darkness. 3

As Hiei resurfaced, his eyes reopened and he looked up to see his dragon still swirling around and around in the air, moving in circles above the pond and above his head. The glow that emitted from it was one he revelled in for a moment longer before he recalled it, his eyes following its every move as it made one last circle before making a rapid descent, moving first so that it rested its chin on his outstretched hand, palm holding the dragon up before it continued on, swirling around and around his arm before turning around and swirling back up to his wrist, returning as a simple tattoo and going back to where it had been resting its eyes.

He looked up now to see Shikiyoku standing in the water, her lips moving to form his name almost lazily, or that's how he saw it anyway. His smirk reappeared on his lips, but died away after a moment and taking to simply lingering in his gaze.

And he didn't respond other than a look of expectation, waiting on her to continue with whatever she'd been about to say.

~!**!~

Akari ran after Foko through the park, though he had a decent lead on her. Her strides were long and her arms swung to help propel her forward, head ducked just enough that she wouldn't lose sight of the fox demon who changed directions, as she had expected him to.

But where he headed, and where he ended up…

Akari came to a stop about ten feet away from the tunnel, staring at the opening where he'd almost disappeared, the end of his tail and his feet visible from where she stood. And then she dropped to her knees in the grass, hand holding her stomach and head bowed. Her shoulders shook with silent laughter that she was trying with all her might to hide, but as it became harder to breathe, her laughter began to ring throughout the air around her, first quietly before slowly rising in volume, dying away again when she couldn't breathe anymore.

_A demon, diving into a dog's play tube!_

The thought and the image in her mind made her topple over in the grass, landing on her right shoulder and simply laying, curled into a small ball as she gasped frantically for air, crying tears of laughter that streamed down her cheeks. _*****_

Foko stopped in place and blinked.

_You'd think I would remember by now that I'm just a __**little **__bit bigger than my actual form._

Hearing the frantic laughter on the grass pulled Foko from his brief inward moment as he grinned and he continued crawling on all fours out the other side of the plastic tube, turning, and staying in that position all the way over to Akari, his silver-hair falling down either side of his face as he crawled up to her, eyes bright, ears at attention and fixated upon her sound.

When it appeared she might stop, Foko simply started prodding at the side of her ribs that had not been injured, curious to see if this inu might be ticklish.

~!**!~

As soon as Shikiyoku had Hiei in her eyes' grasp, she let another gentle pulse of power wash over him and moved closer, her lips slightly apart as if any moment she could speak.

Underneath the water, she flexed the hand of her mostly healed arm, testing its strength, and then brought both hands up to rest them on Hiei's shoulders near his neck, fingers almost absently moving back and forth over his bare skin.

"Hi-ei..." She said again, making the separation more pronounced, drawing herself up close to him without breaking eye contact, "...tell me something..." She paused for a moment before finishing, eyebrows raising slightly. 3

Hiei retained eye contact with Shikiyoku calmly, not even an inkling of her energy pulsing around him known by him. So, after a few moments, he was completely locked on her, his gaze no longer holding his amusement, but calm, patiently waiting as she moved closer, her hands now on his bare shoulders. His eyes remained on hers, transfixed.

At her pronunciation of his name, he felt as if she were making him wait on purpose, and the thought almost had him becoming impatient. He raised a brow curiously at her, completely and utterly aware of her touch.

When she continued, but did not continue enough to be of benefit for either of them, his brow raised further. His lips parted only slightly, as if preparing to ask her what she wished to know, but words never really forming on his tongue.

After a moment, his lips did actually part enough to release his prompting question, "What do you wish to know?"

~!**!~

Akari's laughter died down for a moment, her chest expanding and contracting with her rapid attempt at regaining her breath. Her eyes were still closed, her breaths more than just a little audible as she forced her laughter to stay in her throat, not allowing herself to continue laughing.

She was so concentrated that she hadn't been aware of the approaching demon until he was prodding her, poking her ribs to which she quickly jerked away from, eyes shooting open to stare at Foko, lips twitching but clamped firmly closed as she wriggled away from him. _*****_

Foko's teeth were showing. Because he was smiling so hard at Akari's mild attempts at escape.

Without any other warning, he grabbed her by the shoulders again and pulled her towards himself while at the same time shifting over so that he was sitting down, getting her into his lap and beginning to prod at her again, a portion of his hair falling against her face.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku brought her nose so close to Hiei's that the two almost touched before she went on.

"Are you having _fun_ yet?" Her grin turned wicked and in a flash, one hand slid up his neck to the top of his head and shoved down forcefully, the other still at his shoulder and taking the moment of distraction she'd provided for herself to dunk him completely under the water, beginning to laugh merrily as she pushed him slightly further down before starting to let go. 3

Hiei opened his mouth to speak, to respond to her question, but he hadn't had time to even suck in a breath before his head was underwater, held down by a hand atop his head, completely breaking the spell she'd had over him. His lips quickly closed, as did his eyes once he realized he was underwater, easily keeping from swallowing the liquid despite the abrupt surprise.

His eyes opened and his head moved so he could look up at Shikiyoku from beneath the water's surface, taking a moment to think as her hand lifted from his hair.

And he decided to be as cruel as was possible in the situation.

He let out the breath he'd been holding, creating bubbles in the water as he let his entire body relax, going slack. And, with the aide of his Jagan, he began pulling his energy inside himself, concealing his presence very slowly until, after a minute or two, it was as if he had no energy at all.

And at that precise moment, he stopped all movement and let his eyes close, creating a calm mask as he simply floated just beneath the water's surface.

~!**!~

"N-no! Nononononono!" Akari began protesting as she was pulled closer to Foko, a laugh leaving her as soon as his fingers began prodding again at her ribs. "S-stop it!" she stuttered out between bubbles of laughter, the more he prodded the more sensitive she seemed to be to this sensation of tickling.

A flashback to when she was younger had her batting at his arms, tears rolling down her face again as she attempted shifting to keep him from the area around her hips where she used to be most ticklish. "I-I can't breathe!" she stuttered out again, her words ending with more laughter as she struggled to get away, batting at him now with both hands. _*****_

Foko finally released her after continuing for a moment more, pleasant laughter falling out of his mouth as he watched her wiggle slightly in his lap.

He leaned back on his hands and tilted his head slightly to regard her with a grin, crossing his legs at the ankles and looking down at her.

~!**!~

Laughing the entire way to the bank of the pond, Shikiyoku had herself pulled halfway out of the water before she even bothered to look back, mirth falling away into just a grin as she easily lifted up the rest of the way with her newly healed arm.

When she finally turned back to fire another comment about the lesson being over, hands on her hips, Shikiyoku realized that the water had grown very still and her hands slowly dropped to her sides, no signs of any bubbles that would indicate life beneath the surface.

For a second, her core hitched and she frantically turned inward to the bond she held in her mind.

The pact hummed at her attention, and she knew without a doubt that Hiei was not dead. Or dying, for that matter. She had been through three-Shikiyoku closed her eyes at the reminder-three times of feeling the pact sever, and while each one had been as unique as the death or powerlessness that caused it, it would be untrue to say that they had not rocked her to her very soul.

But...he didn't resurface.

That water wasn't _that _deep.

Did she choke the air out of him?

She couldn't remember. She didn't think so.

Shikiyoku's breath caught in her throat.

She _was _only handling half of a pact.

That thought send her core racing again.

Perhaps if he died she wouldn't _feel _it like the others.

Her arm absently flex again, as if testing its strength without her direct awareness.

Then she dove back in.

The entire time she swam back in Hiei's direction, she paid close attention to the half-pact between them.

Surely if he were dying it would alert her. It would have to for her survival. And she didn't think something like that would be split somehow.

That's what led her to getting down to where Hiei had sunk slightly to the bottom from the lack of breath in his lungs and pausing for a moment, slyly letting a portion of her former panic continue ringing against the bond between them.

_Is it a __**game**_ _you're playing with me, flame-boy? _The thought both amused and surprised her.

_Then we shall see exactly how long you're willing to __**play **__it._

Keeping herself swimming just in front of him, Shikiyoku brought up a single hand and teased the back of her fingers across Hiei's collarbone, drawing back and then reaching forward with both hands-and a sadistic grin-and lightly brushing the tips of her fingers intermittently all the way down his chest to his stomach. 3

Hiei had to fight to keep from moving any of his muscles, which occasionally twitched in protest of being so still in the water, where he could receive no oxygen whatsoever. But he managed it as if he'd done this hundreds of times, arms floating out by his sides to both make the illusion look more realistic and to keep himself submerged. It was something he'd learned when he was younger and having to get away from a demon who'd been a little tougher than he'd anticipated.

He was about ready to resurface when he felt the change in the water indicating that Shikiyoku was moving nearby, getting closer. His eyes remained closed, so he didn't see what she was about to do until she was actually touching him.

For a moment, he didn't react, though the sensation was enough to make his fingers twitch as he fought the urge to move. After another beat, his eyelids shot open and he was reaching out, grabbing Shikiyoku's wrist and pulling her towards himself, energy billowing around himself as his mind reached out to touch hers.

"_To answer your question, I am indeed having fun. Are you still having fun?"_

~!**!~

Akari's arms fell to her sides when Foko released her from his sadistic form of torture. She gasped for air, eyes opening to shoot a half-hearted glare in his direction, completely contradicted by the small smile on her lips.

"You're-" she took another deep breath, "A jerk." she finished, though she didn't mean it in the slightest as she lay there, watching him.

And then she reached up with the hand closest to him, miming his earlier motion and lightly touching his forehead with her index finger, her smile growing. "You're it," she whispered before laughing again and letting her eyes close. _*****_

Foko narrowed his eyes playfully at her as she declared him 'it,' but made no move at that moment to tag her back, until she closed her eyes and a frown passed over his features. He poked her side a couple more times.

"None of that now. Or you'll be tickled again."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku didn't appear surprised to find that Hiei _had _been playing a game with her, though a tiny portion of her mind expressed relief at discovering it to be true and certain.

She let him pull her closer, and then came farther than he'd likely intended before answer his question until her body rested up against his under the water, laying her face into the crook of his neck and closing her eyes as she felt the warmth radiating off his bare skin.

Responding through the contact she still felt via the Jagan, she answered him after that moment.

"_Of course. And I don't think I've ever had quite this much fun all at once, Champion. ...thank you." _She let her appreciation flood the place where their minds were connected. 3

Hiei had released her wrist, but it didn't seem to stop Shikiyoku from simply floating closer, almost forming a hug. He didn't move away, simply floating there as he felt the bond begin to thrum almost happily in his mind, as if this contact were something that should have happened long ago. His eyes looked to her from the corners, watching the way her hair moved about in the water as she gave her reply.

Despite the burning of his lungs that were screaming for air, he stayed a little longer, sneer disappearing from his expression as he watched Shikiyoku, a little surprised by the gentle appreciation in her words when he'd just _played dead_.

After another moment, his lungs protested enough that his head throbbed, and then began to ache. He grabbed at Shikiyoku's arms and pulled her up with him, his head breaking the surface and his mouth immediately opening to gasp for the oxygen his lungs craved.

"Avoiding the city was worth it, now wasn't it?" he suddenly voiced, expression blank but gaze shining with the smugness that didn't show anywhere else.

~!**!~

Akari's entire body twitched at the contact, another small huff of a laugh leaver her at Foko's prodding, her eyes sliding open in preparation for another attack. But he calmly sat back again, and his words made her stick out her tongue at him. "I wasn't sleeping, just relaxing for a bit!"

She gave a beat of pause before huffing again. "And that's a form of torture I hope to never experience again." _*****_

"What, relaxing? I can remedy that for you." Foko replied with ease, moving his hand as if to start tickling her again.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku tried not to smile, but her lips kept twitching as she narrowed her eyes playfully at her Champion, hands resting softly on his shoulders where they had moved when he started to pull her up with him.

She finally made a big show of sighing and tossing her gaze up towards the overhanging trees, "I _suppose _here is where _you _get to say 'I told you so.'" 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, following her gaze for a moment before turning back to her with a brief sneer before he was pulling away and moving towards the edge of the waters, not glancing back at her as he moved away.

"As if I'd say such a petty thing."

He pulled himself up from the waters and then pushed himself up to stand, wiping the water from his face and then running his hand over his chest to do the same, the feeling of the water dripping down his skin an unpleasant one.

~!**!~

"Nononono!" Akari quickly replied, a hand reaching up and grabbing his wrist to still its descent and forcing him to lower it again. "No more, please." she practically begged, shifting her weight to angle her torso further from him as if to highlight her point. _*****_

"But I thought relaxation was _torturous _for you?" Foko grinned briefly increased pressure on the wrist she held as if to fight her resistance against his advances.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku watched Hiei move away from her, and now that her body had adjusted to the temperature of the water, she felt anxious about leaving.

While she hadn't directly paid attention to it at the time, the air had made her body shiver desperately when she'd gotten out earlier.

Ironic.

Stalling for a moment, Shikiyoku lifted her forearm out of the water, flexing her fingers for the third time and watching with interest the tendons pull and move as she did so.

She leaned closer to her skin, unsurprised to see that the healing had left a scar down the length of her arm, as long as the hole itself had been, where the skin had pulled together to close. And on both sides of it too.

Curious, she briefly glanced down to her knee, but it was still beneath the surface of the pond, and the darkness did not allow her sight to penetrate far enough to make it out.

She wondered if there was a scar there.

Resigning herself to the chill she was likely to get, Shikiyoku made her way back to the edge of the pond and slowly, reluctantly, started to pull herself out of the water, shiver beginning as soon as her shoulders left it. 3

Hiei stood with his back to the pond still, his hands wiping away droplets when he felt them until he was bored with it and simply decided to use his energy. Might as well use his resources, right? His eyes slid closed, trying to ignore the droplets that fell from his hair and down his face some more as his energy began to swell within himself, his core pulsating with heat energy as his skin began to continuously warm up.

After a moment, steam seemed to be rising from his body as the water evaporated, and his hair began to stand on end as it normally did, the water from his locks also evaporating little by little.

He turned around to face Shikiyoku as his energy died away, eyeing her as he realized he didn't feel the cool of the air, or rather, he wasn't bothered by it. He noticed goose bumps forming on her skin as soon as she was pulling herself from the water, and he considered her for a moment.

He wasn't one for contact, really. He'd been just a bit uncomfortable a moment ago when she'd leaned her head on him, and a little more so when her hands had planted on his shoulders. He saw it as unnecessary and useless, most of the time.

But he couldn't exactly extend his warmth to her like a simple heater. It would require a flame.

So he turned his back onto her again as if about to walk away, but paused mid thought and turned back to her again, and he began flexing his energy around himself again, testing its ability to move around himself as simple warmth.

He found that, while he couldn't simply direct it to her, he could expand it, make almost a bubble-like area of warmth around himself that radiated through the air. She'd only need to walk nearby to feel its effects. So he approached her, his bubble of warmth moving with him as he took to standing near her.

"They're having a bonfire."

~!**!~

She gave a small laugh, "No, no, tickling is torture! You're going to _actually _kill me if you keep it up!" she exaggerated, meeting his resistance with equal force. "Can we just have a moment of staying here?" she suddenly requested, small smile coloring her features with fondness. "Please? Your lap is very comfortable." _*****_

"Of course, inu." Foko replied with equal good-humor and a gentle smile, pulling his arm away to prop himself up again.

He gazed at her for a moment longer before lifting his eyes back up to the clouds, letting the peace settle across the park as between them.

~!**!~

By the time Shikiyoku got all the way out of the pond, she had her arms wrapped around herself while the air hit the droplets of water and her soaked hair.

She knew immediately when Hiei stepped closer what he was doing and she gave him a grateful look, standing in place and shivering.

Shikiyoku raised an eyebrow when he mentioned it and spoke through chattering teeth.

"Bonfire means lots of demons around." 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku's words, having already discerned that particular problem. Of course it meant a lot of demons, but it also meant food, all to which his stomach was craving at the moment. He was surprised it hadn't made a sound yet.

He turned and began to walk, assuming she'd follow since he was radiating the warmth she needed to keep her teeth from chattering and muscles from tightening. He considered their options for a moment as he sauntered along. He could kill something, if he so desired, but that would also mean that he'd have to skin it, clean it, gut it, the whole shebang.

And he wasn't quite hungry enough for that process just yet.

Maybe there was-

No, rivers were scarce in most parts of Demon World.

He'd simply have to gather them food from the bonfire on his own, he decided. "Are you hungry?"

~!**!~

Akari released his wrist and let her hand rest on her stomach, her eyes watching Foko even as he turned away. She hadn't been lying when she'd said she was comfortable. His presence was easy to give in to, and quite frankly, she found herself increasingly wanting to stay within his presence.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was so accepting of anything and everything that happened around her, even going so far as to kill his own business partners simply because he enjoyed her presence too.

It was something she found funny, but at the same time, disconcerting. Why? Because, well, he was so different than the people he was overseeing. While Otento was lethal, attacking at every chance he saw, Foko was making peace.

At least, to her he was.

She hummed thoughtfully and turned her eyes to the side now, noting that Kyu was nowhere to be seen and feeling grateful for that fact. _*****_

Without directly meaning to, Foko reached over to the hair fanned out about his thighs from where Akari had struggled and began playing with the strands absently, his eyes turned down to watch, but very obviously far away and not particularly seeing the action.

He spread portions of her hair farther out over the outer side of his leg and gently brushed his fingers against it, observing the stark contrast in color from her locks to his pants.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku trotted to catch up to Hiei once she realized he did mean to head back towards the encampment, partly for his warmth, mostly for his company.

"I could certainly eat." She responded mildly, "But I think you'll find we'll be dragged into the celebration. And I wouldn't advise you _stealing _the food." She teased. 3

Hiei made a small sound of amusement at Shikiyoku's teasing, though it didn't really move past his sealed lips. His expression remained neutral, even as he thought back to the creature he'd killed and every single word it had yelled at him. "Yes, but part of that is, by right, my own." he said suddenly, thinking back to his days as a child, when he'd been taken in by bandits that were a little rough around the edges, to say the least. They'd taught him the guidelines of how the hunt went.

Perhaps they were different here, but he half cared nothing at all about the differences.

The other half of him was mildly curious and wanted to learn.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes took in the scenery around her, noticing for the first time that the trees here were different than those at the other park that she normally visited. They were smaller and offered less shade, their leaves weaker and tearing as limbs struck one another. Some of the limbs were dead from the trees' ages.

_The human world trees die much faster than Demon World's._

She let her eyes wander again, this time to the playthings in the area. They were simple, obviously meant for creatures whose attention spans were no longer than her smallest finger. Nabu would have enjoyed it, when they first met. Now, she wasn't quite sure.

The feeling of her hair being tugged brought her eyes back to Foko, and she watched the glassy-eyed stare he had, wondering for the second time that day what was plaguing his mind, and again not asking. She let her eyes move to see the sky past his head, deciding to leave him to his thoughts for the moment. _*****_

Foko started to weave a portion of the hair together with one hand, his long lithe fingers delicately patterning the strands he had between them, starting from closer to Akari's head and moving out swiftly to the end of her hair.

He did this twice more, then took all three braids and started the same process over again until the ornament was finished.

His eyes came back to the present then, and admired his handiwork.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave Hiei a surprised look.

She had not known he had joined them in their hunt, though that is what she supposed he meant.

"I do not think Shubou would begrudge you what is rightfully yours." Shikiyoku admitted, "However, it would be considered a slight upon their honor for you to steal away with it and not at least sit with them to consume it." 3

Hiei didn't respond. That had been something he'd learned in his childhood too, but hadn't really cared for at points. Even now, he wasn't one for communal feasting. It was something he saw a group of very close individuals doing and, well, he wasn't even hardly acquainted with these demons.

Perhaps he'd skip it after all, to avoid the _politics_ of it all.

Or maybe it wouldn't hurt to join for a while.

He couldn't decide just how hungry he was, and now that he'd voiced his thoughts to Shikiyoku, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to back down now anyway.

"What's there to celebrate anyway?" he asked, genuinely curious of the occasion that had called for a bonfire and a feast.

~!**!~

Akari revelled in the feeling of Foko's fingers moving through her hair as gently as they were, her eyes sliding closed for a moment or two. It was the sole reason she'd let it grow out, so she herself could fashion it into any style she so chose, once she'd began living with Sensui. So when his fingers released her hair from his hold, she opened her right eye and looked up at him, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Do you always play with something in your hands when lost in thought?" _*****_

Foko blinked down at Akari, unaware that she had paid any attention, though his absent-mindedness was mostly to blame for that.

Before he answered, he smoothed his fingers down the finished product.

"I'm not sure." He admitted, "I think it was a result of having something so beautiful to play with."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made a thoughtful noise, "Mm. I think Shubou still celebrates the Feast of Darkness." 3

Hiei raised a brow, though didn't look at Shikiyoku or express his slight confusion. He'd never celebrated anything of the sort, to his knowledge. Was it something native to this level of Demon World, or simply something that became a rarity before he was born?

Either way, it mattered not to him. He wasn't a fan of large gatherings.

He actually almost sighed at this point.

He himself wasn't hungry enough, but if Shikiyoku was, he wouldn't mind killing and skinning a creature for them to cook and eat.

~!**!~

Akari blinked slowly at Foko with a small smile. "Would you believe me if I told you it used to be short, not even touching my shoulders? It was kept that way for most of my life, actually. Only recently did I decide to grow it out." she paused, smiling. "Who knew it curled so much?" _*****_

"Mm." Foko intoned, continuing to run his fingers through the other, non-braided parts of her hair, "Short or long is a matter of personal taste. I can see you looking just as lovely with either."

~!**!~

Warmer now, Shikiyoku stopped for a second to bend down and remove the bandages from around her knee, interested to find that here there had been left no scar.

Now that he had reminded her of it, Shikiyoku kind of wanted to attend. She turned the thought over in her head as she unwrapped her former wound.

She knew there would be storytelling and some time of music and dancing. Not to mention a few duels between tribesman. The celebration would likely last the entire night, as it was intended to. She felt torn, much preferring the simple company of her Champion to a large crowd.

Well, as large of a crowd as Shubou's tribe might produce. Which, if memory served of the brief moment she'd gotten to look around at the tents and gauge the noise when Hiei whisked her away earlier, would barely consist of twenty demons altogether.

Her energy did buzz slightly around her with excitement at joining them though.

She also suddenly realized the meaning behind Shubou's offer for her to join in with them. Having a demon of her kind in attendance, with her background and age, would make the feast one the tribe wasn't likely to forget, even if she had been forced to sit in the background with her injuries.

Events such as these were not usually kept in Demon World any longer except among the tribesfolk because their original purpose had been to lift the spirits of a hardworking group, ceremony and significance behind the gathering aside.

"I..." Shikiyoku started, hesitant, as she stood up to keep walking, "I should go." She admitted with a bit of reluctance. "Shubou asked me to while changing my bandages, and I...I think I owe it to the tribe for their kindness. To at least appear for a moment." Shikiyoku gave Hiei a side-long glance out of the corner of her eye, "I understand if you do not wish to join." 3

Hiei let the silence stretch on for a few more moments as they walked, stuck in his own inner debate for the moment. He could go, and likely end up being stuck there with Shikiyoku waiting, if she decided not to join him. He could skip out, kill an animal for themselves, but then he'd have to find a water source for-

Shikiyoku's voice practically yanked him from his thoughts and brought his eyes to her as she spoke, solving all of his inner debates in a single sentence. The rest of her words weren't really necessary, because no matter his reluctant he was to join the celebration - even to simply eat - he wouldn't allow her to go alone.

So when the campgrounds came into his sights, Hiei didn't turn to go back to the tent. Instead, he followed his ears, not responding to Shikiyoku with words, but with the direction his feet carried him.

He'd simply have to stick it out, he supposed.

Maybe he would actually find something worth staying for.

~!**!~

Akari made a sound of amusement at Foko, then turned it into a small sound of appreciation. He'd answered a loaded conversation wisely by not stating any preference or commenting on the flaws nor perks of either hairstyle, something she hadn't realized she'd been listening for.

"Quite frankly, I like it better long. I can play with it myself when I end up bored."

The smile she offered was a lopsided one as she eyed him again. "You know, I've been curious about a few things, but I'm sure you wouldn't appease my curiosity about any of them." she suddenly admitted. "Say, your actual name." _*****_

"Well, I won't turn down the question, you just may not get an answer." Foko smiled down at her and tilted his head. "Would it be unreasonable of me to admit to enjoying the name you've given me in place of my own?"3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	48. Episode 133 - Revelry

**A/N: **Hello once again, Audience!

There is a ton of me doing what CM and I came to call "rambling" in this chapter. It's where one of us goes off on describing the scene and it takes forever and we feel bad about it but the other person always goes YAY ME LIKE. Tee hee.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Foko continues distracting Akari from sleep,  
at first with a game of tag,  
then by tickling her until she concedes.  
Her head in his lap, Akari asks for Foko's real name,  
to which he admits to enjoying her christening him 'Foko.'

~!**!~

The water of the healing pond fully cleansed and repaired both Shikiyoku and Hiei,  
and after a moment of playfulness between the two of them,  
they head back to Shubou's camp...

* * *

The encampment opened up before them with a fierce savagery, sounds of a fight on the air.

As they drew closer, the giant bonfire was tossing sparks up into the sky, and the entire tribe was spread out around and slightly off to the right of it, forming an elongated circle in which two demons were crouched, facing one another, one hand behind their backs and blindfolds over their eyes.

The tribe was watching the exchange almost reverently at this point, only starting to shout or cheer when one demon or the other made a move at their opponent.

Shikiyoku stayed on the outskirts the loose circle had formed, silent, but watching with avid interest.

Upon closer inspection, each demon had three slim blades held between the four fingers of the bare hand not held behind their backs, and it was easy to see that by this point the blades had sunk somewhat into their skin as there would occasionally be drops of blood dripping down their wrists and to the ground.

Dipping and dodging around each other, the point of the skirmish seemed vague as hits on the skin did not appear to make a difference, until one demon broke through the other's defenses and made a quick upward slash that wrended the blindfold of his opponent into two portions, which fell apart and gently floated off the face of the losing demon and to the ground.

Cheers erupted from the onlookers and the demon who could see started to grin as the winner lifted his blindfold and mirrored the expression, leaving his bit of cloth half on and half off his face and closing the distance between them.

They both reached forward and clasped one another's arm, the winner leaning forward to say something into the loser's ear what with the noise about them, and the loser nodded, grin growing wider.

"Iro!" Shubou's glad cry cut through the crowd as the leader had spotted her standing with her Champion off to the side. One could almost not see the short, brown-haired demon as the bonfire nearly blocked the small form almost directly across it from where Hiei and Shikiyoku stood.

The demons seated in front of Shikiyoku and HIei immediately stood up, eyes bright with the celebration, saying words of welcome and expressing gratitude at both parties for deciding to come.

Greetings dying down as Shubou started to speak again, and most of the tribe looked over at their leader.

"Iro, I have a favor to ask!" Shubou's orange eyes were sparkling in the firelight, as if knowing the favor would not be denied.

"If it involves feeding us, I already agree!" Shikiyoku grinned, stepping forward through the demons towards the bonfire.

That earned her a laugh from the group, and almost immediately two or three demons with trays of what the tribe feasted on appeared next to her.

She chose something frugally and waved them back to Hiei, turning to Shubou as she stuffed the slice of meat into her mouth.

The three demons moved next to Hiei, offering him food as well.

"Then, perhaps _two _favors." Shubou allowed with a toothy smile, the red markings on its face curving with the grin. "You do us great favor by gracing us with your presence on this of all nights. Would you deem us worthy of your entertainment?"

"And by what do you mean?"

"A story!" A demon from somewhere piped up, earning several agreements from those around him.

"A dance!" That one got a few more cheers of approval that died down as the tribe looked back and forth from Shikiyoku to Shubou.

"Both!" Someone finally said, earning a good bit of laughter and general murmurs of accord.

"What story might you tell us, Iro?" Shubou wanted to know.

"What story would you wish to hear?"

"It is the Feast of Darkness. What do you weave about that?"

Shikiyoku grew a thoughtful expression as she stepped over in front of the bonfire, the light making her features glow, and started to speak, the group quickly growing still around her.

The tale she spun talked of the original demon, the one that fell from the heavens, and how he had been too powerful for the Ninth Level to contain, and had to separate a portion of himself away so that he did not destroy the home he had created. He separated from within himself the darkness flame, and from it formed his mate, a beautiful and powerful she-demon with long, flowing purple hair and skin as black as the element from which she came. And it was from her forming that the first Darkness, the first Night, descended upon the Ninth Level, for her power was so great that it blackened the sky. And so came to be the cycles of day and night; when the original demon's power was at its peak, there was day, and when his mate's power was at its peak, there was night. And as their power cycled together, the days and nights grew shorter or longer according to who was in what portion of their cycle.

The feast they celebrated welcomed the longest night within the cycle, the night when the first mate's power would have been at its peak.

As Shikiyoku's voice faded off, the faces of the demons around her took a moment to shake off the mystic tale, and even when they started to murmur appreciatively to one another, their noises stayed low and reverent.

"The tales of your word-weaving do not do you justice, woman." Shubou finally said, having had to take a moment to withdraw from the visions Shikiyoku had caused to form within his mind's eye.

Shikiyoku inclined her head slightly with a mischievous air, but took the compliment in stride and said nothing.

The shake of an instrument pulled everyone completely from the previous moment, and those who had them started to pull such things out from nearby, music starting to slowly carry into the air as first a drum began a beat and other drums from all around them joined in.

Shubou said nothing, but gestured with a hand that Shikiyoku could take to dancing should she wish.

The look she gave him wanted to know if she had any choice in the matter, but Shubou would only send her a grin in response.

By this time, having stood with her back to the fire, most of Shikiyoku's hair had dried, and it was after a quick run of her hand through the strands that she began.

This dance and its music was much different from that of the courts of Rae's household. It did not appear that Shikiyoku needed a partner as she began to move about in the rhythm the drums provided.

The celebration picked up around her with talking and laughing and drinking, but each demon had one eye on the dancer and her steps as she made them in the free space of their circle that had not long before been the battleground between two fighters.

As Shikiyoku danced, she slowly let her energy free as if it were the most natural thing in the worlds for her to do. She started to interweave the strands around herself, dancing with the tendrils in a fashion that most other demons would not have dared.

On another level, the energy began sweeping out into the crowd, her scent floating under the noses of those in celebration, and any that had not been watching her while conversing or eating found their eyes drawn to her even as they all kept their feasting going. But their gazes were not hostile, or even any with truly any motive at all except to enjoy the aesthetic form she cut as her arms and legs moved elegantly.

One of the females in the circle broke free and joined her, moving up with a bit of cloth that Shikiyoku paused just long enough to let her tie about her waist. It was a skirt of sorts that matched what most of the females wore in the tribe, strips of fabric extending to her ankles that would flow about her as she kept moving.

It didn't take long for others of the group to get up and join the two once the brief spell had been broken, weaving patterns in and out of one another, though unintentionally leaving the middle of their dancing to Shikiyoku alone, whose tendrils of energy swerved and looped sensuously about her as she continued, only occasionally having another two or three dancing demons briefly intertwine about her as the circle moved as if alive. 3

Hiei had accepted a type of kabob when it was offered to him, turned and watched Shikiyoku as she told her tale. As the first time he'd heard the story, he listened keenly, core moving slightly here and there when a particular part stood out to him. He wasn't sure what it was about her, but Shikiyoku seemed able to grab his attention and keep it, even though he'd already heard this story. His eyes had been locked on her the entire time she spoke.

And when she had wrapped up her story, he was still watching her, standing a little behind the others still as he'd been too entranced to move away before she'd begun. Now, he took another bite of the tangy, chewy meat as another being approached, taking to standing beside him and leaning down just a little.

"When you stand alone, you appear as if you'd rather kill us all than be present. At least join us in sitting while you enjoy your meal, Champion."

Hiei looked up at Hideki, only just noticing the demon who stood behind him as if he'd come along to add to the conversation, but now was too focused on Shikiyoku. He considered the pair for a moment, eyes moving to the strip of meat Hideki suddenly produced and offered to him.

"From your beast."

Hiei accepted it out of reflex before looking back up at Hideki, who stood at least three feet taller than he, and nodded once.

"That's the spirit! Come on, you're in for a show now!"

Hiei followed wordlessly, moving through the motionless crowd easily until he was pausing by a log that had been placed specifically for sitting. He didn't sit, but he did stay within the crowd that was randomized about. By the time he was standing comfortably and was chewing on the much stringier meat of the creature he himself had killed - likely much more satisfied by the taste than normal - Shikiyoku was moving about, her energy snaking through the air and carrying her scent even to his own nostrils.

He paused mid-chew to watch the dance ensue, only continuing when she paused for another tribeswoman.

By the time other dancers were weaving around one another in a dance he didn't recognize, he was completely and utterly interested, particularly to the center of the dancers.

"I see you've never witnessed something like this." Hideki suddenly whispered from nearby, "It's amazing, isn't it?"

Hiei didn't answer. He only took in the movement of Shikiyoku, and after a moment, realized that she was dancing alone, and that those who joined in were not moving to join _her_, per se. She was simply doing whatever she desired, and it just so happened to be something that came natural to her. At least, that's how it looked to him.

"Is this your first Feast, Champion?"

"Indeed." Hiei responded finally before taking another bite from the meat he'd completely forgotten about.

"Well, if you stick around, you'll be in for a treat."

"I'll consider it."

A laugh from Hideki, and then he was joining the dancing crowd.

~!**!~

Akari couldn't help the small laugh that left her lips at Foko's response, which was nothing less than what she'd expected. She wasn't surprised in any way that he'd confirmed her suspicions. Though, she was surprised at his admission. "You like being referred to as a _fake Youko?"_ she asked, suppressing a small laugh again. "Of all things, the goofy slip-up is what you enjoy?"

She turned over onto her side, facing her back to him so he wouldn't see her biting her lip to stifle the giggles. _The slip-up, of all things! _

A small sound of a twig breaking caught her attention, and she opened her eyes to see a dog calmly walking into the park, ears at attention and nose in the air. She rolled onto her back again and sat up, looking at Foko with a smile.

"Your lucky day, Nabu's decided to hunt be down after all." _*****_

"It reminds me that I am not truly Youko. It is hard sometimes to remember." Foko replied, voice a bit more reserved.

His mood lifted at the feeling of her laughter, at seeing her smile in his direction, and as she sat up to speak, he glanced around quickly until his eyes landed on the tiny dog still a good distance away.

"Will he come to us?" Foko wanted to know, eyes bright with excitement.

~!**!~

None of those out in the circle so much as _dared _to dance _with_ her, and even those that wove steps nearby obviously kept their distance from the tendrils of energy that snaked and wound about her lusciously.

And so it was that when the ribbons of power began to move outward to intertwine around the bodies moving to the rhythm that the energy would encircle the demons, and that the demon getting circled would stop, turning slowly to watch her with admiring eyes, sinking to sit on the ground where they had stopped.

Once a strip of energy brought a demon down, it would loop about them lazily a single time before moving on.

Each demon who only got that one loop appeared slightly crestfallen, having eagerly watched the energy come towards them up to that moment, and as Shikiyoku danced on, soon she was the only one left standing, innumerous threads of power both curving around her body as she moved, and also extending outward to those now seated, not one of them with more than a single loop about them.

The threads kept going past those on the ground, getting to the musicians scattered about the circle. The players did not stop, but neither did any of them get more than one coil of her energy.

From there, the strands branched out, Shikiyoku still the lone dancer in the midst of demon faces, in the middle of those formerly moving around her, and while the other revelers did not appear to notice the power flowing among them as they talked and laughed and drank, the tiny slips of energy also only left each demon with a single wreathe, some about their waists, others at their necks or one wrist, and with each passing fiber of power, a celebrating demon would look almost sadly, with one brief flicker of their eyes, out to the isolated she-demon who did not stop moving, her eyes glowing lustrously when they were open, both with an inner gleam of power and lit by the bonfire that roared alongside her, and with a mysterious smile on her face.

Shubou carefully watched the dance occurring, eyeing each strand that moved among the tribe, knowing the significance of what was happening even though no other demon there truly understood. And so it was only this pair of eyes that saw the tiny strip of power get to the fire demon in their midst and circle around his ankle once...before doing it again, and then instead of moving on like all the other threads had done, slowly wafting back to its mistress.

A gentle smile touched Shubou's face, but the discovery remained unseen by any others, no one paying attention to much except if not food or drink, to the demon herself.

The energy she produced eventually got around to every demon in the celebration and as soon as it happened, a pulse of power, like a soft breeze, radiated out from Shikiyoku to envelop the encampment before fading away. For just that second, with everything in its balloon of power, everything froze. The music paused, all other noise stopped, as if the entire clearing was holding its breath.

The moment passed, the pulse faded, and everything continued on, but Shikiyoku's expression had shifted in that brief pause, as if the realization that she was dancing alone finally hit her, the image she made companionless and forlorn, her eyes suddenly very far away.

The rhythm of the song finally faded off into an ending that shimmered across the air in a final burst of magic and the demons all cheered appreciatively as Shikiyoku also slowed to a halt with a final flourish.

While the eyes trained on her clapped or hooted or howled with thanks, her own gaze scanned around those that her energy had, like so many gossamer threads, connected to her in a tapestry of power, and the smile Shikiyoku gave them all did not reach her eyes when it appeared that she did not find what she searched for among them.

Another soft pulse of power radiated out from her as the performer still gave them a bow in spite of herself while the other dancers started to rise about her, and with that silky pulse, the threads of energy looping about all those present dissipated into the air, breaking the second spell she had woven that evening.

As the noise picked back up, Shikiyoku untied the skirt from around her waist and handed it back to the female who approached her with a word of thanks, the two exchanging brief words while the musicians started with a new rhythm for a new dance.

Moving through the dancers who started up again, Shikiyoku went in the opposite direction from where she had come in, cutting a lone path through the feast towards the forest beyond.

Before she got past the final bits of the crowd, a male demon approached her breathlessly and starting talking, taking her hand and leaning down close to her ear so that his words might be heard over the noise, cupping his free hand to her ear.

When he leaned back again to hear her answer, Shikiyoku's lips moved and she shook her head, causing the other demon's face to fall even as she said something more, patted his cheek, and turned to keep going, leaving him behind to watch her back.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku kept walking beyond the treeline, wandering listlessly through the trees for at least a mile or two before she stumbled upon a small puddle of water, about six feet across but only a foot deep, at which she paused to look at her reflection.

_What's __**wrong **__with me?_ She asked the very human-looking demon who stared back at her, feeling as if perhaps _that _was the reason.

Getting no answer, Shikiyoku stood back up straight and lifted her hands, letting her energy waft outwards once more in little fibers of power and starting to dance again, this time circling gracefully around the outside edge of the tiny pond as if stepping alongside the doppelganger in the water. 3

Hiei's Jagan had slid open sometime during the dance, as if curious, and had honed in on the female in the center, allowing his mind to fully comprehend the tendrils of energy that moved gracefully about in the air around the dancer. But, his eyes didn't stay on the ribbons for long. Instead they moved again to the she-demon, and they stayed there.

And then, she and the music were stopping. A slight frown touched his features before his expression became neutral again, the Jagan no longer interested and sliding closed again. He hadn't realized to the extent at which he'd been enjoying the scene, so when she moved away from him, back to him as she left the scene entirely, he stared after her.

"See what I mean, Champion!" Hideki yelled over the loud crowd now, coming forth from said moving crowd and towards Hiei, who paid him little mind aside from his commentary. "You're lucky, she's made the evening much more meaningful!"

Hiei continued to stare after the place where he'd seen Shikiyoku disappear, and after a moment he passed the leftover strip of meat he'd originally been intending to eat, to which Hideki accepted almost joyously. He didn't even seem to notice that the fire demon was moving away, following the path that his counterpart had taken.

After a bit of walking, the glow of the fire was nothing more than a light in the sky behind him and the sounds of the celebration were distant, almost unable to be heard. By the time the sound died away, Hiei was standing behind Shikiyoku, on the edges of the small clearing, watching her but ensuring his presence was known, though a little more on the discreet side. He wouldn't allow his energy to disturb her if she did not wish to be disturbed.

~!**!~

Akari had almost missed Foko's response due to Nabu's appearance nearest the street, his nose turning from the sky to the ground as he seemed to contemplate whatever trail he was following.

"Of course," Akari answered almost gleefully, a small laugh at the fact that her company seemed almost afraid of scaring the pup away. "He's like a child to his mother, always nearby once in sight."

As if to make her point, Nabu's ears twitched and his head swiveled in her direction, eyes honing in on her before he turned and moved at a trot in her direction, pace only slowing when he was within a few feet of her. "_I was worried, you weren't at the normal place! And I can smell blood!" _Akari smiled and reached over to ruffle the dog's ears, who turned his eyes to Foko. "_Flowers!"_

"Nabu, this is Foko. Foko, Nabu," she introduced, a hand moving to gesture between the two.

"_Not Flowers?"_

Akari shook her head, "Mm-m"

"_You're acting weird. Have you slept yet?" _Akari responded with another negatory hum and an impish smile as the dog huffed at her and moved on, stepping to Foko and sniffing at his arm curiously. "_You __**do **__smell different than Flowers…" __*** **_

Foko took the exchange between inu and pup in stride, but his eyes never left the small dog who had trotted up to meet them.

When the dog began sniffing at his arm, Foko slowly lifted his hand for the animal's inspection, staying quiet while moving as if he did not wish to scare the dog away.

His eyes flickered briefly towards Akari, and his words were quiet, "What does he say?"

~!**!~

It isn't as if this hasn't happened before, Shikiyoku was thinking to herself as she, with closed eyes, made her way around the pond for the third or fourth time, her energy extending outwards with each movement, reflected in the waters below her.

_Yes, but it's been a very long time._

Ages, in fact. Since she went around with her first Champion and made their living together as a pair of demonic bards of a sort. He had been the singer, the instrument player. She had been the storyteller, the dancer. Dancing had been part of her earning her keep, something that bound together all members of a clan or tribe as one and made them closer because of it.

_That just makes it sting more I suppose. _She answered herself ruefully.

The dance had another purpose as well, one few, if any, actually knew.

Her first Champion had not been _cruel_, exactly, but after a certain point in her life had consistently remained distant and cold and rather uncaring. As long as she did what was expected of her, and did not get into trouble, he otherwise left her alone. Which, for her kind, was cruelty enough, as they truly needed more than just simple protection.

The dance was her way of seeking out companionship, as most Feasts in those days lasted longer than just the one performance. While her energy would in fact bind together those present, it served another purpose: to find her someone that she could be with who held no hostility or ulterior motives towards her; would not use her.

Her power would draw them into approaching her once the dance was over, and she would then know the individual was safe and the two would spend the feasting days in one another's company, her seeking comfort in the other's presence. It made for the cold days with her Champion turn into warm nights with a companion.

It did happen, however, where there would be camps in which no such demon existed, and Shikiyoku was forced to spend her time there alone.

Like tonight.

Her dance beginning to bring her back around the edge of the pond, Shikiyoku let a sigh escape her nose.

It always stung just a little. As if it was _her _fault. That she wasn't good enough or hadn't danced well enough. Her Champion always had a good laugh at her expense for it, he had very quickly picked up on what he called her little 'game,' and certainly made it seem so.

The demon who had approached her earlier had done so for reasons other than her dance, though she had known as soon as the ritual was over that there were no such companions to be found amongst those Shubou had gathered into a tribe.

Shikiyoku froze in place and opened her slightly glowing eyes, blinking, to see Hiei in front of her.

She had ended up back where she started, but as she approached the fire demon whose presence she had only been vaguely aware of, her energy had started to reach out towards him, and _that _she _had_ taken notice of.

Lowering her hands, the threads were pulled back towards her body with the motion and her energy licked about her skin here and there, a fine sheen of sweat still making her glisten with more than just her power. The fibers that were in the air still waving about began moving back towards Hiei without her direct notice.

"Champion." She smiled, thankful to see him, but with an expression that did not otherwise reach her shimmering irises. 3

Hiei had bared witness to Shikiyoku's movements and the troubled expression on her face, and still did not interrupt her. He left her to her thoughts, allowing her to sort through whatever had just fell together inside her mind to create the mood that filled the area. He had considered stepping up, yes, but what good would that do for her troubles?

He had a feeling it was something he would not be capable of helping her solve. At least, not to the full extent in which it likely should be. After all, he knew nothing of her world, of what was the norm for someone in his position. How could someone as clueless as he in the matter help solve a problem for someone whose entire world was different than his own?

When she came to a halt before him, he merely looked down at her, searching her face for a moment before pulling his curiosity away and simply _staring_. Not his normal cruel stare that left demons either challenging him or backing away, but a calm, even stare that held no meaning behind it other than to simply _see. _

And he easily saw that her smile didn't reach the otherworldly glimmer in her eyes.

Still, he wasn't here to solve problems. He was merely a bodyguard.

Wasn't he?

Or was that something he knew nothing of as well?

~!**!~

Nabu stretched his body out in caution as he sniffed at the person who'd extended his hand for him to assess, making his body appear longer than it should have been for his small stature. After a moment, he made a connection in his mind and pulled his nose away, promptly sitting on his rump to look up at _Foko_, as Akari had introduced, head tilted to the side.

"_You're the one who made the bed and helped Akari when she was hurt. Not Flowers."_

Akari raised a brow and looked over at Foko, his question reminding her that not everyone could speak to Nabu as she could. She repeated Nabu's words with a small smile, and the dog turned to look at her with a curious stare.

"_I'm confused. He looks like Flowers, smells like him almost completely, but after a minute I can tell a slight difference. Is he playing a game where he's supposed to do that?"_

Akari shrugged, earning an impatient sound from the small pup's nostrils. "_You're no help."_

"Am I supposed to be?"

He again turned to Foko and took to laying in the grass beside him, nose pointed to and almost touching the fabric of the demon's pants near his thigh as he looked up at him in consideration. "_You're confusing." __*****_

Akari's informing Foko of Nabu's words had the psuedo-fox demon smiling gently first at Akari, then down at the dog, nodding slightly.

He could tell that the two were still exchanging words, obvious by how the pup continued to turn and look back at her, and while he caught the small nuances from the animal that were likely the source of his speech, Foko had no idea how to decode such flicks and sniffs, one of his own ears ticking back once at the realization.

Leaving his head still hanging in the air, Foko appeared to hesitate.

"Does he...can I touch him?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku met Hiei's gaze evenly a bit longer, her smile dropping away as she lifted her hand and solemnly watched the threads of energy that danced out seemingly from her skin, slowly weaving around her arm, between her fingers, interlooping with one another as she rotated the limb to look at the other side of her hand.

"We should...go. I guess." Shikiyoku let her eyes glance briefly over Hiei's shoulder in the direction that the celebration still continued before coming back to the fire demon before her, hand coming back to her side.

At a lack of specific direction from her, the bits of energy that had been dancing with her were slowly beginning to snake their way through the air towards Hiei. 3

Hiei's eyes briefly strayed to the limb that Shikiyoku moved to peer at, watching her hand momentarily before his eyes moved up to her face again, as if uninterested in whatever she was assessing. Again, he realized he knew little of this woman and her power, and all that came with it, but for the moment he pushed the thought away.

He could ask, he supposed, but what question would he form? There wasn't a _specific _thing he wished to know. He was simply _curious_.

When she spoke, his expression remained unchanged and he considered her for a moment longer. Hadn't she been having fun a few moments ago? Wasn't that what a feast was for, to enjoy oneself with the company of others?

Granted, Hiei didn't mind leaving.

"Traveling at night is more dangerous, no matter the location." he rebutted almost instinctually, looking up and over her head towards the trees behind her and considering the creatures, as deadly as they could be, that were hiding within its depths. As he'd learned earlier, there were even creatures who could simply _disappear_ and mimic one's tone of voice, read one's emotions to disarm the prey.

While Shikiyoku was smart and not very likely to fall for such a trick, he didn't want to chance anything worse than such a creature. "And no, your energy won't solve that problem. No use in expending it for such a useless task."

~!**!~

Nabu stared up at Foko, both curious and cautious. His calm composure kept the fur from rising on his back in alarm, though from what, he wasn't exactly sure. Maybe it was just the fact that this person looked, sounded and almost smelled _exactly _like another. It was a jarring discovery that had him wary of approaching.

"No, he doesn't bite. Not that I've seen. He's just a ball of joy!"

Nabu didn't look at Akari this time when she spoke, choosing not to add to her words as he eyed the hand of the other, fingers twitching discreetly with the obvious desire to touch the pup.

All of which Nabu wasn't sure of just yet.

But…

_He's a friend of Akari's._

Nabu moved closer just a bit, scooting along the grass on his belly, front paws making a soft thump on the ground as his body weight shifted, back legs dragging and laying out with his tail. _One chance. _If he saw anything out of place, he wouldn't allow the person near.

He moved and rested his chin on Foko's knee, ears flat against his head to create what most humans called "the puppy dog face", which had, at times, earned him a treat from a stranger and a loving scratch behind the ear. _*****_

At the dog's touch and subsequent expression, Foko finally gave in and started to gently run his hand from head to back down Nabu's body, intermittently scratching behind the dog's ears.

"I am sorry if I seem confusing, little one." Foko said to Nabu, smiling, "Maybe one day we can truly meet face to face and you can make your assessment of me then."

_Assuming I haven't forgotten who I am at that point..._

~!**!~

"If I can't use it for _that _useless task, what good is it anyway?" Shikiyoku hadn't actually meant to say the words out loud, realizing she sounded almost angry about it.

She sighed, but didn't apologize for how she felt, "There is the tent back at the camp. Will that be best do you think?" 3

Hiei felt his lips twitch downward at her words, feeling as if her words were either an aimed attempt at irritating himself, or for making herself sound useless, as she'd stated about herself more than once. His brows drew together to create a slightly irritated expression at the thought, but he felt it slide away from his mind altogether when she continued on, actually _asking _what he thought of her idea rather than _stating _what they should do, as they had both done the day before.

His expression turned thoughtful.

If they stayed overnight and didn't rise before the tribe, it was likely they'd be caught by someone within the clan and stopped from leaving for one thing or another. However, if they left, they were chancing another encounter within the forestry that would lead to the same results as before: Shikiyoku bleeding out and Hiei left to decide how to deal with it.

He realized that he may not be as apt at doing such a thing where she was concerned, as each step he took with her was a risky one, whether she was directly involved or not. Anything he said or did could put her into danger.

"If we manage to leave before the waking of the others," he began, and then remembered that it could be considered an insult to run out like that. His eyebrow twitched.

"We'll leave in the morning, as I'm sure simply leaving now or before showing respect for the tribe and their… consideration would lead to problems." he finally said, his thoughts clicking together to form a decent plan that would lead to the least amount of harm.

~!**!~

Akari watched the moment between Nabu and Foko, keeping her observations of Nabu's hesitations to herself and concealed with a gentle smile as Foko spoke softly to her closest companion. After Foko's hand passed over Nabu's ears, passing over his head and running down the length of his body, the dog's ears perked to attention, seemingly deciding that maybe Foko wasn't so bad.

His tail moved slightly at Foko's words, indicating a bit of relief. "_Or you could show me now." _Akari huffed out a breath of air through her nostrils, much like a larger dog would do to a smaller dog who had crossed a line. He immediately retracted his statement, instead saying, "_I guess you're not too bad."_

Akari smiled. "He doesn't see a problem with you, other than the fact that now he'll be confused about you and Kurama."

"_I thought he was pretending to be Flowers?"_

"That's his _real name_, Nabu." _*****_

Foko could take a guess about what Akari was talking to Nabu about, but as he continued to pet the dog, he glanced down to his waist.

"I suppose I could wear a red sash next time." He turned back to the dog with a toothy grin, scratching Nabu behind his ear. "Would _that _help?"

~!**!~

"Shubou is not the type to take our absence as a slight." Shikiyoku told him, "And I doubt we'll be up before _everyone_." She added.

"But if that is what you think is best, we could slip into, and out of, the camp from the West, next to the tent, and avoid running into anyone entirely." 3

Hiei considered Shikiyoku again for another few silent moments. He considered her words, mind turning back to the last time they'd gone along with his idea. His frown reappeared on his face and he blinked once at her slowly, as if only just realizing she was giving him the choice.

Was it because of their conversation earlier?

"You know the area best. Which would you prefer?"

He settled with going her way, since it seemed his own judgements were skewed in this place.

~!**!~

Nabu sat up, though didn't move away as he was actually enjoying the gentle stroke down his spine. For the moment, weariness was gone from his mind. Yet, he didn't move closer either, instincts keeping him right where he sat as Foko spoke.

"_I can't see colors, but it could work!"_

Akari gave a small laugh at Nabu's words, not having thought of that herself. She'd always assumed the dog _could _see the world as she did. Then again, she too had once been colorblind. Perhaps it was a canine thing. "He said even though the color would mean nothing to him, the idea of a sash is an agreeable one." She almost continued to point out how it would differentiate the demon from the real Youko to everyone else as well, but she figured he'd already thought of that and simply decided it was something for when he _specifically_ wanted to see Nabu.

Meaning he'd be _specifically _seeking her out.

The thought had her blinking, and then smiling knowingly at Foko, as if she'd just been let in on a joke she hadn't understood at first. _*****_

Foko had lifted his gaze to Akari, and noticed as she caught on to his not-so-subtle queue.

He took on a more pious expression and turned back down to the dog.

"That is, of course, as long as your pack-mate doesn't mind my visit. It's entirely up to her, I think."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku considered the question.

"I think your instincts are right." She replied assuredly of his desire to not move further that night, nodding once at him. "And our plan is sound." She gave a grin, "No need to bother Shubou or the tribe any more than necessary." 3

Hiei nodded once in affirmative of Shikiyoku's agreement, her smile making any doubt he'd had become scarce even before he was turning about-face and slowly beginning to moving the direction of the camp, though altering the course just a little so that they would be heading to the tent and not simply back to the bonfire.

His steps were slow, leisurely, as if he were in no rush to be out of sight and out of mind of the tribe. He only glanced back once to ensure Shikiyoku was following before turning again to watch the path ahead.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged once at Foko, though Nabu hadn't turned to ask her opinion over the matter. "So long as you knock before you enter, I don't mind. The door might be locked."

This time, Nabu did turn to look at her, an ear swiveled with an unamused expression. "_The door doesn't lock. You're forgetting the small things."_

A laugh left her lips again at Nabu's obvious miss of her joke before the sound clipped short with a sigh, followed quickly by a yawn. "Of course, I see no reason to tell you that discretion is advised."

"_Why is that?" _Of course, Akari didn't answer Nabu's question. _*****_

"I can't possibly see why _anyone _could object to us meeting together." Foko said in good-humor. "Nabu," he turned back to the animal, "Do you know how to play tag?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku trotted to catch up to Hiei, sliding an arm between his and his side at the elbow, much like she had done before they entered the Grand Hall, but less formal, so that she ended up resting her head against his shoulder as they walked together, at first thinking nothing of the contact until she abruptly raised her head and loosened her hold, suddenly thinking Hiei would not appreciate her absent-minded touch. 3

Hiei had heard her approach, but he hadn't been exactly expecting her to reach out and _lean on him_, much less _touch _him. His body instinctively tense, his feet faltering in their steps for a moment as his eyes shot down to her, pupils slightly larger than normal and brows raised. He…

What was he supposed to do?

How did he react in this situation? She wasn't a threat, but at the same time, he held no knowledge of the meaning behind this contact. He assumed it was a type of… affection? Maybe?

After a moment he turned his face away from her and continued walking, deciding she could do as she pleased for the time being. After all, while her injuries were now no longer a threat, he still felt as if she deserved to do as she wanted for a bit, rather than doing as he wanted her to do.

~!**!~

Nabu's ears perked at Foko's question. "_Tag?" _He gave a pause, head tilted to the side. "_The kids in the parks play it! It's fun if you join in every once in a while! Just don't let the smaller ones catch you." _Here, his ears suddenly lay flat on his head. "_They pull on your ears."_

Akari reached over and rubbed Nabu's head, holding back her laughter at his sudden enlightenment. She hadn't seen him play with the children before. Each time he'd done so, she'd been readying for a nap or resting her eyes.

"He knows tag." she simplified for Foko with a laugh at the mental image, earning a huff from the dog who wasn't happy at her amusement. "He's rather fond of it, if you couldn't tell."

"_Just no small kids."_

"There won't be any kids, Nabu."

"_Are __**we**_ _going to play together? Now? Like, __**now **__now?" __*****_

Foko watched the exchange between demon and dog passively until the dog appeared to get a little excited.

Reaching over with a single digit, Foko gently booped the small animal on the nose.

"You're it."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku may have released her grip, but she didn't completely disengage herself from Hiei, taking to walking next to him with her arm encircling his and looking thoughtfully around at the forest as they meandered through it, the noise of the encampment growing louder as they came closer.

"This smells _so _much nicer than Human World." Shikiyoku crinkled her nose at the memory. 3

Hiei tried to ignore it. Really, he did. But the close contact was something his body simply did not allow him to enjoy, his mind not able to move away from the odd feeling of having someone attached to his limb and leaning into him, even as slightly as she was.

He hadn't realized his expression had shifted from calm with slight confusing lighting his gaze to one of impatience, accompanied by even more confusion and the feeling of uncomfortableness making his brow twitch.

How was one supposed to _deal _with this sort of contact?

Better yet, how did anyone deal with a _hug?_

Hiei hadn't even heard Shikiyoku's comment.

"What is the meaning behind this?"

Perhaps his tone was a little harsher than meant to be, but…

He needed to know.

~!**!~

Nabu blinked in surprise at the contact, body still and eyes watching Foko carefully, as if anticipating something else entirely. So, when the male spoke, the dog's ears relaxed, along with the rest of his body, and his tongue was lolling at the prospect of playing a game with someone who _wouldn't _pull at his fur or ears.

He quickly dropped into a playful crouch, tail in the air wagging side to side and chin on his front paws, his throat releasing a small bark of excitement as he waited for Foko to get up and move.

And then he thought, why wait?

He pounced, jumping first into the other's lap with a brief pause as if to say _you're it_ before leaping off of his lap and making a mad dash in the other direction.

All the while Akari simply sat and watched, a fond smile following her small furry friend. She wasn't sure exactly how this game would work, what with the size differences between Nabu and the other two, but…

She clamoured to her feet and was scattering away from Foko too, moving in the opposite direction than Nabu had taken.

Might as well play too. _*****_

Foko laughed aloud at the tiny animal's reaction, sure now that the dog could understand all speech and not just Akari's, and waited half a second, seeing Akari dash off out of the corner of his eyes, before pulling his legs up and bouncing onto his feet, squatting down with his hands between his knees and touching the grass.

He took off after Nabu in this manner, running along on all fours in a way that seemed as if he had done so before in some manner or another, his stride similar enough to a fox for the connection to be made, his tail and hair streaming behind him, ears at attention as he pursued the dog.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku looked over at Hiei, seeing the expression on his face and having already been puzzled by his question, furrowed her brow further.

She'd only meant that she was glad to be in Demon World for once, since Human World smelled so terribly of...humans. His question...confused her, and he almost sounded upset. He felt upset next to her as well, his body tense.

"What is the meaning behind what?" 3

Hiei looked down at Shikiyoku with an expression that said he was waiting on her answer. Waiting for her explanation. So, when she asked what he meant, confusion written all over her features, he felt more impatience swell up. Now he felt as if she were toying with him.

He lifted his arm and shook his elbow a little, not even noticing they were actually within the campgrounds now as they hadn't stopped walking. "_This_," he enunciated with another shake of his elbow, "what does it _mean, _woman?"

~!**!~

Nabu had been running at an almost lazy pace, strides long but not to their full extent. His fur moved in the wind that moved behind him even at this speed, his ears swiveling behind him when he could hear the sound of the other chasing him.

He turned to look, tongue lolling and breaths coming out as happy pants, which quickly turned into a very loud sound of surprise at the sight of the creature that ran at him, hands on the ground and feet propelling him forward, butt sticking into the air and tail streaming out behind him as if to control his balance.

It would have almost seemed normal if it weren't for the humanoid face, the elongated limbs and the smile on the face that looked just so determined to _catch _him.

He tucked his tail in further and began actually _running_, little heart pounding as his ears lay flat on his head and eyes turned ahead. He'd never seen such a scary, such a fast advance in his life.

Akari came to a brief stop when she felt that there was no Foko running after her, nor no sign of him appearing in front of her. Though, at the sound of Nabu's frantic bark into the wind, one that screamed "_Help!"_ she turned with wide eyes to see what had happened.

And for the second time that day, her hand was covering her mouth at the sight of Foko, who looked rather ridiculous chasing the small pup as he was.

The small pup who was completely terrified, his rear tucking his tail down and almost hitting the ground with the start he'd given.

Her laughs were louder, uncontrollable almost. She pressed a hand firmly to her ribs, which, with the force of this sudden burst of laughter, protested and stung. She hunched over, eyes closed as she tried not to look at the scene that would ultimately render her unable to even stand.

_He is the most childish demon I've ever met! __*****_

Foko elongated his strides and reached for the dog with his hands once he had caught up, snatching Nabu out of the air and tucking him close to his body as they rolled together on the ground for two turns, then three, ending up on his side where he rough-housed with the dog briefly, running his hands vigorously along either side of Nabu's body, and in a flash Foko ended up rolling over onto his back, holding the dog above his face and then lowering the animal so that their noses touched, which he promptly began moving his own back and forth over the dog's affectionately.

"I did not intend to frighten you, little one. I am sorry for that."

~!**!~

"Oh!" Shikiyoku exclaimed in sudden understanding, actually letting go of Hiei as she seemed startled into realization that he appeared uncomfortable with the contact, her arms falling awkwardly to her own sides, lifting one hand to hold the other at the elbow as she walked along.

It had never honestly occurred to her to consider his background as an aspect of how he interacted with her, since she had never actually taken to considering him as the 'Cursed Child,' merely another hybrid. But if the myths were true, and male children of Koorime literally cast off the island, it dawned on Shikiyoku once more the kind of childhood Hiei likely had: one without a mother's touch.

Which greatly changed one's outlook on life.

"I-I'm sorry." She said just as quickly as she had exclaimed, lowering her head, and her gaze. "I...it's..." She struggled for a second with her explanation before giving a little sigh.

"It is many things for me. My touch is...an expression of my fondness for you. A physical manifestation...representation of my affection. And is also..."

Here her eyes shifted to the side as she searched for the right wording, "Your closeness is of great consolation. Especially when I am troubled. Physical contact..." She shrugged and her words died away, having trouble providing an answer so suddenly to a question she herself never had to consider. "It will not..._cannot_ be anything other than these things for me. Perhaps it is because I am incapable of killing another which makes this so.

"But I do not wish to be a source of discomfort for you." She added in a rush, glancing up once, "So, for that, I am sorry. I-It is hard for me not to do so as I think it often happens without my direct notice." 3

As soon as Shikiyoku's hands had left his body, his muscles had relaxed, though merely because he still did not understand the gesture, and the motives such a gesture might hold behind it. He'd pulled to a stop, even going so far as to step in front of her to keep her from going any further until his question was directly answered.

All to which he wasn't sure he understood.

Okay, so it was, overall, a form of affection. He'd considered that thought earlier, but hadn't been sure. But her stammering continued to make his brows raise higher and higher with impatience, wondering if there was a shortcut to the point.

However, his brows drew down over his eyes when she'd said that physical contact was also a form of consolation. How? It was just _skin_. But the mental image of a crying child held by its mother crossed his mind, and he realized that it must have been something he'd missed out on, something his lifestyle had not allowed him the chance to experience. He supposed consolation by close contact was a thing, as proven by the times he'd seen a child cradled to its mother's neck calming after a fit of tears.

It made a bit more sense now.

He'd known she'd been upset over _something_, but had let her work it out on her own. It was obvious that whatever was troubling her still troubled her now, if he went by what he knew of crying children and their mothers.

Then again, why would _his _skin hold any consolation to _her? It could be part of my job._

The thought made his eyes slide closed. _That _had not been explained to him. Then again, neither had anything else aside from protecting her life. He wasn't sure that he could handle physical contact each time something upset her. Not that it was something that happened often, but simply because he wasn't one for such a thing.

And she was apologizing again, making his thoughts drift away and his eyelids slide open so he could look at her. _Well, at least it was something just as simple as consolation. _It could have been something completely different, for all he knew.

"You still haven't figured it out?" he voiced into the silence that had fallen, referring to whatever it was that required consolation.

Quite frankly, he wasn't sure what to say about her apology, because he wasn't sure if it _was _okay. He wasn't sure if physical contact by simple means of affection was something his being could withstand.

Of all things, of all the beasts in the three worlds and of all the challenges he'd ever face, he wasn't sure if _physical contact _would be something he could bare.

_How piteous.*_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	49. Episode 134 - Tag and Revelations

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction World!

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shikiyoku and Hiei end up at the Feast of Darkness Shubou's tribe is celebrating.  
The demon leader manages to coerce Shikiyoku into telling stories and dancing for them.  
Shikiyoku seems disappointed about something once she finishes dancing,  
and leaves the encampment to think on a few things.  
Hiei follows after her and questions the physical contact she makes with him.  
After she attempts to explain it, he asks if she has solved whatever is bothering her.

~!**!~

Nabu joins Akari and Foko, and after a brief bit of confusion about Foko _not _being Kurama,  
the three start playing tag, beginning with Foko tagging Nabu, who immediately tags him back.  
This leads to Foko chasing after Nabu on all fours, scaring the dog as the demon scoops him up in his arms.  
Foko apologizes for scaring the animal...

* * *

Nabu's feet curled up and into his body as soon as they left the ground, paws tucked against his belly as if he were laying down as he prepared for… whatever was going on. As soon as their rolling stopped, Nabu was wriggling about in Foko's hands in an attempt to get free of his hold, his rough housing that at the moment didn't strike him as such.

And then he was in the air, held up only by the man's hands who slowly lowered him. Nabu had considered a growl of a warning, had considered snapping, but his instincts had his body relaxing, his legs hanging in the air and head dipped as his nose just touched Foko's.

After a moment, Nabu's ears twitched and slowly returned to their natural position atop his head, nose sniffing at Foko's slowly as the odd feeling made him recall one other who had made such gesture. He knew it was a gesture of peace, of affection, so his body went entirely slack, his ears twitching when Foko spoke up.

Instead of giving a verbal response, his little heart beating too hard and his poor lungs moving too quickly to warrant such a reaction, he moved a paw and placed it gently on Foko's forehead, tapping twice as if saying "it's okay". His tongue tested the air, licking at his chops to catch any slobber that had threatened to fall as a result of his panting before he craned his neck to lick at the demon's face wherever he could reach.

"_You're scary. Don't do that again." _he whined out.

As silence filled the park suddenly, Akari was heaving large breaths of air and chancing a look up. She eyed the scene with another small giggle before she stood up straight again, right hand gently patting her stomach as if to thank it for not exploding from her day's laughing sprees.

She would have approached, but from here, the scene was simply too adorable, too cute for words, and she didn't want to interrupt the bonding going on.

She glanced around the area again, eyes moving to the trees overhead, and then the clouds that floated by in the sky as she began thinking over a few things. Namely, how the heck she was going to tag Foko once he came after her, as she had a feeling he would.

It was obvious she'd never keep up with him. It didn't take a genius to know that his speed was greater than hers. Simply by _looking _between the two, their difference in body stature, in build, in muscle mass and where those muscles were located, one could easily define the older, stronger, faster demon.

She'd have to get crafty then. _*****_

Foko lowered the tiny body to his chest until Nabu's paws rested there, and put one arm behind his head to prop it up, stroking Nabu with the other loosely enough to indicate the the dog was free to leave if he wished.

"Do you and Akari usually play tag together?" Foko asked absently, "I was wondering how you planned on tagging her."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had intended to keep moving while she spoke, but even when Hiei basically stopped her in her tracks, she acted as if to keep moving when she finished, weight shifting forward until he asked her his question.

She shook her head slightly, but did not look up at him.

"There's...nothing to figure out-" Shikiyoku cut her words off, the first part of the statement true enough. And given his reaction to being a source of 'comfort,' she felt almost scared to explain what had her spirits low, to tell him the truth about what the dance and result had meant. He'd likely turn tail and run. Or just laugh at her like her first Champion. She wasn't sure which one would be worse.

Besides, it seemed almost ridiculous to measure her self-worth by whether or not she could find a companion, right? Wasn't that on the character of those among whom she searched? Then how come she still felt so scummy?

"-I'm just...useless. That's all." Had she been a demon with ears atop her head or a tail, either would have quite obviously drooped at the admission, her gaze still lowered. 3

Hiei had raised a brow at Shikiyoku's first words, as if saying _I know better than that_. And he'd waited as patiently as his confused mind would allow, since he still wasn't sure how to respond to much of anything that had been said within the previous moments. In the silence that had followed after her own cut-off words, the fire demon merely stared down at her, waiting for her to continue.

And when she did he continued to do that very same thing.

Again, he found himself realizing that he couldn't quite get into the mind of someone of her stature, someone like her who _needed _someone a little less…

_Hiei._

His expression shifted to one that would have likely been deemed as _soft_ from the fire demon, who looked at Shikiyoku calmly, but with no real thoughts readable on his expression. His stare wasn't harsh, nor was it a demanding one. It was simply, as he had been earlier, a stare that could _see_, not draw conclusions or make harsh judgements.

"The only useless are those who don't have anything to live for."

Where _that _had come from, he'd likely never know.

~!**!~

When set down, Nabu simply stood on the male's chest, nose still extended to the other's face though he'd ceased licking at him. After a moment, he decided to sit, his tail moving slightly in response to Foko's question. However, instead of speaking, he shook his head back and forth in a manner that he'd seen humans do when saying "no" to a question.

Normally Akari merely played games where one would hide until found, or games that involved toys. Nothing like tag, because she'd never really wanted to run around like this one. She'd always said she was 'too big' to chase him, and had once even said she feared she would step on him. Thus, they never played this particular game.

But he still had a pretty good idea of how he was going to go about this, and after a second he turned his head to look at Akari, who still stood a good ways away, eyes not even on him or Foko.

He turned back to Foko, lips moving with the tiniest sound he could muster before he was moving away from Foko, hopping to the grass and turning to Foko again with a happy wag of his tail, tongue lolling and body angled as if to say _watch and learn. __*****_

Foko rolled over onto his side, the one that would allow him to face Nabu, and propped his head up with a hand, elbow planted firmly in the grass.

Eyes bright, he said nothing, merely watching the dog and waiting to see what would happen.

~!**!~

For the first time in a long while, Shikiyoku's eyes finally lifted to peer into Hiei's face, but her countenance held no particular emotion, despite the war that had started inside her mind.

But she didn't _have _anything to live for, did she? After all, the only desire Hiei had ever expressed to her _about _her was to be free of this disgusting pact, right? And the only way that could happen, to her current knowledge, was for her to...well, die.

When she spoke up, in the midst of her inner turmoil about living and dying, her voice was small, her lips barely moving to form the words.

"What do I have to live for, do you think?" Her words strangely echoed the moment between them earlier, when she had sought his advice as to whether they should stay the night or travel onwards. 3

Hiei's lips tilted further downward, creating a frown that seemed set in stone. Her question was something he could not answer for her. Rather, it was something he _would not_ answer for her, because who was he to tell her how to live? It wasn't his decision, now was it?

He _could _give suggestions. He could also tell her of all the things he himself would have found of value, but honestly, what good would such words do?

So he settled with his first thoughts on the matter.

"You expect me to know the answer? You have to figure that out on your own."

With that, he made to walk away, but paused, glancing down at his arm.

Maybe it was in his job description. Maybe it wasn't. But for the moment, he supposed he could deal with it.

He slowly moved his arm so that his elbow was sticking out into the open just a little, enough to create a small space between his elbow and his side in a silent offer to her.

He may not _enjoy _contact, per se, but he supposed he would come to not _mind _it, if it were completely necessary.

~!**!~

Nabu moved away from Foko with silent steps, ears at attention as he watched Akari's eyes move around carefully, as if in thought about something or another. He crept forward a few steps, appearing as if he were approaching something he saw as prey, not as a friend, and when she didn't seem to notice, he continued forward.

Until she finally blinked back to the present and was looking down at him, to which he lowered his ears and head to the ground, tail drooping as if he were afraid she'd be mad.

"Nabu, why are you looking at me like that?"

"_Because…" _He paused, head drooping lower as he tried coming up with another idea. He'd figured she would look, but he hadn't exactly known what to say. It simply played it by ear.

"You look as if I've swatted you."

"_No, it's just…" _He gave another pause as his rear sat on the ground, quickly followed by the rest of his body until his chin was laying on his front paws, eyes looking up at her and ears as flat against his head as they could go. "_You're acting funny and I don't know why you won't sleep. It's scaring me,... And this new person you call friend isn't right. He's playing a trick, pretending to be someone else and I don't want you to replace Flowers, because I like Flowers."_

Akari's brows furrowed in concern and she crouched down, a hand reaching out as if to pet the dog who moved away from her, tail tucking closer against his body. "Nabu, I'm not-"

"_But he's _fake _Akari…"_

"Nabu, come on, he isn't _that _bad. I mean, sure, he's got a few pointed teeth and all, but he's not going to bite you."

"_Are you sure he isn't playing another trick?"_

"I'm sure. You trust me, don't you?"

Nabu sat up again, ears still drooped and tail still dragging against the ground as he slinked his way to Akari's outstretched hand. He sniffed at her fingers, as if testing her emotions about the conversation, and then he leaned forward, gently tapping her palm with his nose.

His tongue lolled from his mouth and his jaw dropped to show a toothy, doggy grin as his ears and tail perked again, the small dog quickly dancing out of her reach with a wriggle of his body and a cheerful bark of "_You're it!" _

All of which Akari didn't react to other than staring after the dog. She'd been so convinced that she wasn't even sure how to react anymore. _*****_

Foko began laughing, his voice carrying across the park.

"Look at that! I would have thought the dog were a fox what with that performance!" Foko kept laughing, his mouth opened wide with amusement, "What say you to _that, _inu?" His eyes gleamed at her from where he still lay on the ground.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku flinched at Hiei's words, as if he'd struck her, and looked away again.

While she blinked in confusion at the ground, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced up to see Hiei had paused, waiting.

Cautiously, as if he might retract the offer, Shikiyoku took the single step forward she needed to get to his side and lightly slipped just her hand to the crook of his elbow in silent thanks as she got to him, only letting her fingers brush against his skin enough that the hand wouldn't fall or come loose too easily, taking to walking by his side once he started moving again. 3

Hiei had caught her reaction, but hadn't commented on it. Actually, he acted as if he hadn't seen it at all, because he wanted her to figure it out on her own. As he himself had. For the longest time, he'd lived for nothing but the fight, the kill. For a while thereafter, he'd lived to find his tribe and his twin sister, which, oddly enough, had ended almost as well as he'd hoped.

Aside from the fact that Yukina was still searching for him, the long lost brother she so dearly wished to meet.

Now, though….

What was it that kept _him _driving onward? What was it that _he _had began living for?

At this particular moment, he didn't really have an answer aside from the task he'd been given: protect the girl now beside him and kill the ones who dared touch her.

It wasn't so bad, right?

In the beginning, he'd thought the opposite but…

When had that changed?

"Your life is yours. If I were to _tell _you how to live it, you'd come to resent me once you found what you truly wished to do with yourself."

He hadn't meant to speak aloud, but he supposed there was no going back now.

"Hence, it's something you'll have to figure out yourself."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes lifted from the bouncing, yipping ball of furry joy in front of her to glare at the fox demon look-alike across the way, irises darkened with irritation. _So you're the mastermind behind this? _She slowly pushed herself to stand, eyes never leaving the demon that she now approached, frown twitching to show her pointed canine for a moment, threatening a snarl.

"_You _taught him trickery? What possessed you to do such a thing, _hm?" _Her advance was slow, threatening.

"_Akari! It was my idea! I was playing a trick, a joke!"_

"_Very _funny." _*****_

"It was none of _my _doing." Foko replied loftily, seemingly unimpressed by her advance. "And you _ought _to be praising him for such a convincing performance. It might save your life some day."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku knew how untrue Hiei's words were. All of her other Champions had set a task before her that she had been more than happy to accept in exchange for their protection. It was how this sort of arrangement usually worked. Or, that is, how it had worked up until this particular Champion.

But now...she only had one thing to work with, and it was only an inkling of direction besides. An impression of how she thought he felt about their arrangement.

Find a way to break the pact.

Shikiyoku stood a little taller.

All they had to do was finish this job for Koenma, and hopefully by that time the young prince would have an answer for her in relation to that sheet of paper she had given to him.

Freedom for Hiei. His return to Demon World, and a return without _her_. Free of _her _as well as his so-called job for Spirit World.

For now...that was her purpose. 3

Hiei continued walking through the shadows of the encampment, ignoring the sounds of the bonfire a little ways away and the sounds of the happy cheers of the tribesmen and women were lost onto him as Shikiyoku stood taller, the grip on his arm changing ever so slightly at the motion that he cut his eyes at her to see.

Her expression gave way nothing, but he wondered what she'd come to the conclusion of. Maybe he'd helped her in some way about her _purpose_. The thought would have made him feel a little more confident himself if it weren't for… something.

It didn't feel right. He felt as if he was completely missing something, as if he was forgetting something important. Missing a major point here.

His thoughts turned inward, searching himself for whatever bothered him. While she had stood taller, with more purpose, there was something that simply didn't seem right about it. As if…

As if he'd made it worse.

When he returned to the world around him, his expression was devoid of any and all emotions and he was waving away the flap of the tent, stepping inside without so much as even a pause for her to either follow or go first.

And for the first time in a long time, he couldn't bring himself to look at someone in the face.

~!**!~

Akari stalked forward still, even as Foko's nose rose a little higher into the breeze that swept by lazily. Her mouth made no move to respond, her lips staying pursed together as the vein in her temple pulsed, her jaw flexing slightly as she moved slowly across the park until she was standing over the demon, looking down at him with accusing eyes.

"Just because you killed a business partner for me does not make me weak enough to need help." Her lip lifted, revealing her canine again in a silent snarl. "I am not a helpless creature." _*****_

Foko's grin did not fade, but his eyes did grow a little colder when she stopped, looking up at her from the ground as if she were not worthy enough an advocate to leave his place to stand.

"You misunderstand, _inu_. I would have killed Kaido regardless." His eyebrows lifted, "Happening to save you from your imminent death by his hands was simply a...perk."

He lazily broke eye contact with her and rolled over onto his back, putting both hands behind his head with a sigh, gaze softening as he looked up at the sky overhead.

"It is much too pleasant a day," He murmured as if to himself, "To bother with becoming upset over nothing."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku followed Hiei inside, her vision adjusting to the near darkness just enough that she was able to see and quickly traverse the room to where the furs she laid on earlier were.

She had no idea if Hiei would join her on the only comfortable spot in the entire tent, but she did not ask, simply spreading out the hides so that there would be room for both of them to lay down if he wished, and then claiming one side of the makeshift bedding for her own.

After getting acceptably settled, she spoke up quietly, "We should make it to our destination tomorrow. We do not have much further to travel." 3

Hiei _had _paused after his eyes had adjusted, looking about the area momentarily as Shikiyoku made herself comfortable in the same place she'd slept on the night before, though he noticed she left a bit of room to the side.

Likely an offer, but for the moment, he couldn't see any reason to take on the offer. He didn't feel right, and he wanted to think it over a bit. In peace, and without disturbing Shikiyoku. So as she got comfortable, he himself decided to sit nearby, but not lay as if to sleep. He'd heard her words and glanced at her to show he had heard her before he stretched out beside the furs, as he'd done earlier that night.

~!**!~

Akari continued to stand over Foko, tempted to cross her arms at the male who seemed to have no inkling, nor did he seem to care, that she really was just playing the game that seemed to have formed. Her jaw flexed again as he rolled over, his eyes turning to the sky as he spoke.

And after a moment, she was falling to the ground, adjusting so that when she fell, she was within inches of him and her fingers were poking at him, prodding, her scowl turning to a smirk as she wondered if he too was ticklish. _*****_

Foko's eyes drew closed the longer Akari simply stood next to him, as if he didn't have a single care in the world.

He felt the air next to him shift as she moved towards him, the scent of rosemary coming heavier into his nose, and while he didn't initially consider the movement as anything specific, his body twitched, muscles at his ribs tightening, and he found himself attempting to stifle laughter, biting at his lower lip and trying to ignore the tickling actions of the inu next to him.

As Foko clenched his jaw together, he knew it was a losing battle.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let her eyes close, a bit of a cloud darkening her brow as she thought of the day tomorrow.

They would indeed not be long in reaching The Palace, the resting place of those who ruled over the Ninth Level of Demon World. The ones who had overthrown, and killed, her entire family.

It wasn't as if her thoughts were murderous or vengeful. Frankly, she didn't really find herself caring all that much. Being so young when it happened...she couldn't say she particularly remembered much of being 'raised' on those lands.

Her only source of ire, her only hesitation on the subject was the mesmer of her mother.

_Do not set foot upon these lands again._

One of Shikiyoku's ears twitched in annoyance. Even countless eons later and the demand rang within her.

She would find out soon enough if she had grown strong enough to break whatever spell it was she felt resting within her still.3

~!**!~

Daybreak had already come, as told by the colors that were attempting to filter through the tent now. Hiei had awoken some time in the early morning hours, but hadn't moved in the past few hours. When he'd first awoken, he'd stretched his legs, lengthened his torso, and _then _realized that he shouldn't be, as the woman beside him had stirred.

Or, maybe not exactly _beside _him.

His eyelids slid open to let his ruby irises turn down and peer at the sleeping face of Shikiyoku, whose head rested on his shoulder and arm draped over his torso. He oddly found himself rather… comfortable, unlike the night before when she'd first grabbed onto him and held his arm. That he hadn't understood.

Of course, he didn't much understand this one either, as he liked to tell himself he did. But, quite frankly, he was sure she hadn't gotten closer to simply _stay warm. _

Or maybe she had, he didn't know.

Nor did he care as he took in a long breath of air through his nostrils and settled in, preparing to stay for as long as was necessary.

~!**!~

Akari's grin turned triumphant at the feeling of his muscles twitching, at the feeling in the air of restraint that radiated from the demon laying in the grass. She scooted closer on her knees, taking to prodding each spot that reacted with her fingers, a small laugh of her own filling the air.

"What have you say to _that_, hm?" she giggled out, moving a knee so that it pinned down the fabric of his pants to the ground where it was loose near his thigh, preventing an escape. _*****_

"I-..." Foko opened his mouth as if to respond, but then found that he couldn't contain himself any longer, bursting into tortured laughter, attempting vainly to scoot away and at the same time starting to grab for Akari's wrists as his upper body jolted more harshly at her poking.

His golden eyes kept opening, his chest heaving as if to say something, but his eyes would squeeze back shut after a pause, his voice falling only to laughter as he kept reaching for her arms.

~!**!~

The tent flap whipped back as a small arm brushed it out of the way and the red markings that distinguished Shubou's round face followed the arm, unannounced, into the tent.

Briefly brushing a portion of brown hair out of orange eyes, glowing spear in one hand, Shubou at first said nothing, moving to a bag on the other side of the tent.

Truth be told, Shubou felt relief at the sight of the two demons together, next to one another.

After watching Shikiyoku wander away, there hadn't been much time to discover whether she and her Champion had met up, Shubou becoming quickly distracted by other portions of the Feast.

While somewhere on the inside, Shubou felt a little disappointed that Shikiyoku had not found a sound companion within the tribe here, in the same space, knowing that the fire demon was to fill that void for her-that she in truth had no need for the secret portion of the ritual any longer-helped a great deal in satisfying the cloud that settled over Shubou's heart at the first thought.

"I am glad you followed her after the ritual." Shubou said, voice low so as not to disturb the sleeper, back turned to continue rustling through bags in a search. "I am not so disappointed with the results of last night, knowing what I do now from them." 3

Hiei had considered closing his eyes again, considering going back to sleep. But, the small sound of the tent flap being moved caused him to slowly turn his gaze to the side, not sure what to expect from the demon who had entered unannounced. Of course, he had every right to do so, since Hiei and Shikiyoku _were _in his territory. He turned his eyes back down to Shikiyoku, ensuring she was not disturbed before his eyes turned up to Shubou's back again as he spoke.

His expression didn't change from the peacefulness that had actually taken hold of him despite the confusion that bubbled. There was an actual _meaning _behind the ritual he'd seen the night before? He raised a brow at the demon's back, mouth opening as he spoke very, very quietly.

"What are you going on about?"

~!**!~

Akari's laughter was much quieter than Foko's was, her laugh more of a small giggle at the struggle the demon was having. She continued to poke and prod, avoiding his hands that made attempts to grab at her wrists with jerky movements.

Finally, she gave a final prod and sat back, her hands going to her knees and her head bowing with her laughter that was only known now by her shaking shoulders. And she continued to lean forward as she continued to struggle with her own laughter, practically leaning over Foko as she bit her lip.

All the while Nabu stood on the side, watching with a curious turn of his head at the interaction. _Flowers never does that with her. __*****_

When Akari stopped, Foko's laughter started to fade, becoming more and more like chuckles in remembrance of the touch until he finally opened his eyes and narrowed them playfully at her.

He lifted a portion of his lips, revealing demonic canines, and growled in that same playful vein, his eyes reflecting his amusement.

"I deserved that." He said through the growl.

~!**!~

Shubou sent Hiei a brief glance, moving over to another bag upon not finding what was needed at the first, beginning to search again.

"Her dance?" Shubou clarified, "The Odori Iro? Has she not told you of it?" 3

Hiei raised a brow now at Shubou's back. The what? The name of the dance wasn't something he was familiar with, so he hesitated, thinking. Was he _supposed _to know? If so, wouldn't she have told him? Had he been supposed to participate?

Surely she would have said something, right?

A frown pulled the corners of his lips down briefly before his expression became even again, eyes focusing on the male in the tent now, choosing not to answer. Either the demon would tell him, or he'd simply…

Not know.

If he were supposed to know, Shikiyoku would have said something.

Right?

~!**!~

Akari sucked in a deep breath once she'd gained control over herself this time, her head moving, her nose lifting to the sky as if the fresher air moved above her head. Once her lungs were entirely full with that air, she released it through her lips in a steady stream, her eyes turning to Foko again when a sound left his lips, followed by his admittance.

"Yes, you did." she agreed, nose lifting higher in the air. "You deserve more, but I've learned of mercy to those who are…" she paused, head tilting to the side to mirror her sudden puzzlement. She blinked at him slowly, her eyes having found his golden ones.

What had she been saying again?

Oh, right.

"I could have done worse, too." _*****_

Foko's gaze did not leave Akari, catching her slight pause with not-so-veiled interest.

He lazily turned onto his side, facing her, one leg bent at the knee behind the other as he propped his head up with a hand and continuing staring at her.

"How exactly...worse?" He murmured.

~!**!~

"Now that I think of it, it is unlikely she has done the Dance of The Lover for a very long time. There are few true tribes of demons left in the Ninth Level any longer." Shubou mused, going on absently as if the thought just occurred, "She was called Iro, The Lover, a long time ago by the tribes of the Ninth Level."

A corner of Shubou's lips lifted in a silent snarl, "I have heard rumors that she is called 'seductress' now."

As if the teeth shown did not adequately express the distaste for the word, Shubou spat next to the bag. "I assume that was the work of her second Champion." The statement was lower than the others, darker in timbre. 3

Hiei stayed silent as Shubou talked, his hands moving through bags in search of something that must have been rather relevant to something at least a minor priority. At the name of the dance, he felt his brows move up even further, disappearing into his bangs almost entirely. It was an odd name, but he wondered if its name held the only meaning of it he needed to know:

Shikiyoku wished to have a lover.

He glanced down at her again, this time finding her contact much, much more uncomfortable. Hiei held no capacity for such things, no interest in them. And he felt he never would. Why would this _one _demon change something such as that?

_She wouldn't._

He refrained from moving away as his instincts wished him to do, instead forcing his muscles lax as he turned his eyes to Shubou again, just in time to catch the last of his speech about her nickname.

_She hadn't always been referred to as that?_

His own expression shifted to one of disdain at the thought of the 'nickname'. He felt it wasn't worthy in any way, shape, or form of being deemed her nickname. It was too…

Harsh, almost.

Or perhaps it was the way people _spoke _the term that made it seem harsh.

"Enchantress." Hiei suddenly uttered, more to himself than to Shubou. It seemed a little better, but… not quite.

He moved on, back to the original topic. "This dance…" he began, tone cautious, "is of the norm for tribes now?"

~!**!~

Akari thought for a moment, considering whether or not she should answer Foko's question. If she did, that could completely render it useless should she desire to use them as tactics later. _If there is a point where this would happen again, _her mind spoke. She frowned at the thought, but quickly turned the frown into a wicked, rather crooked and toothy grin as she met Foko's gaze.

"Are you sure you wish to know?" _*****_

"If I didn't wish to know, inu," Foko leaned closer to her, "Then I simply would not have asked." His eyes gleamed. "Of course, you could just as easily not tell me. But I make no promise that I won't attempt to _laugh _it out of you." He did not specify on the kind of 'laugh' he meant, but he did begin to reach over towards Akari's ribs.

~!**!~

Shubou glanced over at Hiei again and nodded, "Aye. Enchantress is much closer to what she really is, as I understand it, than either 'seductress,'" the word sounded venomous, "Or 'lover.' I think her first Champion circulated that as her stage name as his own private joke. He-" The demon sighed, head shaking the momentary ire that had built up, tossing it away as useless. "He was the cruel, jealous sort, hardly worthy of the occupation, and she was allowed no such thing as a lover, not even him. Nor even so much as to be loved by any, outside of that which would let him bask in her glory and reap the benefits. She was on a tight leash."

As if hearing Hiei's second question for the first time, Shubou continued, "Sadly, no. While it was once a norm, it is no longer such. I believe it is why there are so few tribes left, but that is only my personal speculation." Shubou took a breath to go on, thinking about how to approach the original question which had been skirted by ramblings, "The dance was only done by _her_, as no other demon could duplicate it. But she is also the one who created it, or so the stories say, so it's not surprising. And she would travel between tribes in the old days to perform it. The ritual...you yourself saw how it wrapped each and every member, binding them together in loops of energy. This binding by her power, it brings closer together the members of the tribe, sometimes resolving minor inner conflicts entirely.

"The name is inadequate, inaccurate. It is simply a 'dance' done by her, when she was known as 'the lover,' and became known as 'The Dance of The Lover,' or Odori Iro, as I said." Shubou's teeth clenched together briefly, "Likely another private 'joke' of the Champion." 3

As Shubou talked on, the first thing that popped into his mind was what the other said about being a Champion as being an _occupational _matter. While he himself did view it as such, something within him stirred, calling forth the sudden urge to speak, saying one word: "_Lifestyle." _Hiei himself was not aware of the word that rolled from his tongue in a serpentine-like fashion, so for the moment, he was lost in his own thoughts, thinking over what had just been told to him.

For some reason, the fire demon hadn't realized Shikiyoku would have had more than, say, two Champions. Why he hadn't thought of it, he didn't know. That thought, along with a bit of information that had been passed to him via Shubou, made Hiei realize just how different he was from the others.

To some degree, anyway. Maybe he could be cold and distant, when things didn't go as he'd planned. That was something he noticed wasn't much different but…

Did he give her the freedom she needed? As he thought it over, he realized that he'd done a lot of ordering about, a lot of expecting her to do as he pleased when he made up his mind. It had been the sole reason they were here now, in this little encampment.

Finally, he found himself seeing Shikiyoku in a new light, filled with more respect than before, if possible. He had no way of knowing that the individual he now was laying under was someone who had _created _a ritual that brought together entire _tribes and clans_. He hadn't realized she would have been capable of so much, especially since she continued to refer to herself as _useless_.

He suddenly felt irritation welling up at the single thought. Not any other individual could do what she had done, and still did from time to time it seemed, and she deemed herself _useless_? His expression shifted from the calm mask he'd been wearing to an expression that actually allowed one to see his sudden ire, if they actually turned to look at him.

He almost considered waking her at that precise moment to tell her of his thoughts, but…

He didn't.

He simply looked back to Shubou. "A binding ritual, per se." he intoned, his thoughts straying away again, though only briefly, from Shikiyoku's self image. "I'd never seen one. Would have been useful years ago."

_At least, for me. _

~!**!~

AKari's expression swiftly changed from amusement to begrudging caution as she scooted out of Foko's reach, eyes on his moving hands now. She thought for a moment, contemplating even further her next words, her next actions.

She _could_, but..

She also could wait.

Her lips twitched.

"You should know that torture does no good on me anymore. I won't speak if I don't wish to tell you." she proceeded to stick her tongue out at Foko before her tongue retreated into her mouth again and she was grinning at him almost mischievously. "I suppose if you truly wanted to know, I wouldn't mind a _demonstration." __*****_

"Is that _so_." Foko's teeth glittered in the grin he suddenly found himself sporting.

Foko tackled Akari to the ground and started poking at her again, batting her hands out of the way lazily with one of his own and attacking her ribs.

~!**!~

Shubou blinked when hearing the fire demon's comment correcting 'occupation' to 'lifestyle,' and while the other knew this was likely true, there was no helping how the whole of Demon World viewed the one who held the position of 'Champion.' It was nothing more than a job to those outside the relationship, albeit something many viewed as the highest ranking job one could have _in _Demon World.

The brown-haired demon appeared to size up the one laying with Shikiyoku at the statement Hiei made before scooting along to another bag, rubbing a hand into the mop of messy hair that was mostly loose from the ponytail that would usually have been tightly pulled to the base of the neck.

"It would have been useful long before that." Shubou sighed, "When her second Champion took her to the cities, which at the time were little more than small towns, the tribes suffered a good deal. Not only was there more in-fighting, but more land wars cropped up until we nearly wiped one another out, and those that were left started forming pockets of bandits. And then she left the level entirely and...well...I don't think the cities have ever been the same either. There have been at least three wars since her leaving, between-" Shubou stopped, "It doesn't matter. I do not wish to bore you with such history. The level would have shifted with time anyway since we mirror Human World and that's what they did, regardless of her influence. But once she earned her keep from the guilds and households of the towns and no longer visited the tribes...I believe our decline came much faster because of it.

"Demon World is such the living thing, ever evolving and changing. But when things were right within the Ninth Level, things were right on all the others, since influence always travels up in our world, but not down. The farther she moved up, with her third Champion, the worse things got for all the levels lower than her. Then she left Demon World, and there has been much unrest, even a civil war or two between levels within the last fifteen years. And now I am hearing rumors of beings on the Eighth Level who seem primed to invade and claim the Ninth for themselves. And that Demon World will soon go to war with Human World-" Shubou stopped again, giving an impatient sigh aimed solely at the rambling, "I do not wish to bore you with my personal thoughts either. I'm much too old to go blabbering on like this." Shubou grumbled.

"Suffice it to say that last night was probably the first time she has danced since being parted with her first Champion." Shubou speculated. 3

Hiei's mind had taken to imagining the things Shuhou enlightened him of, mental images of Shikiyoku moving from place to place and dancing for faceless demons, until another faceless demon or two simply dragged her away to other places, until she was in Human World, alone. He frowned at the thought, and then realized if it were true and she _had _been alone her entire time in Human World, then that would make him her fourth Champion. And the fact that he'd ended up dragging her back to the places she'd been dragged from made him wonder how she thought of everything she saw, how she felt about being back after so long.

She'd been gone much longer than Hiei himself had been. How had she not gone crazy, sitting around doing nothing but petty human th-

Right, Toriko. She'd somehow formed her counterpart, who had taken to simply doing all of the boring tasks Human Worth threw at her without much complaint. At least, about as much complaint as he'd witness from her- which all seemed centered around herself.

_Fifteen years._ Isn't that how long she's said she had been in Human World? And he'd only been there for… maybe a year? He wasn't sure, as he hadn't really been keeping up with the time. Why would he bore himself even more with the place?

Hiei's mind returned to the present, his eyes focusing on Shubou again. For the moment, he said nothing, as he felt there was nothing to say to the demon who'd just opened up Shikiyoku's world for him.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes widened at the grin that formed on Foko's face, but hadn't had time to get away before he moved. Not that she'd expected _this_.

Akari wriggled underneath the male now sitting on her, lips firmly pressed together in a very weak attempt at stifling the laughter that was going on anyway. And when she couldn't get away, her body simply took to reacting to the sensation, her feet kicking on the grass and her head moving from side to side as she bat at his hands and made more attempts at scooting out from under the male, sucking in her stomach as if it would help make her smaller.

And as Foko had done before, she opened her mouth to speak, only to let laughter ring in the air instead, eyes closing and head moving to the left again with her giggles. _*****_

After continuing to attack her for a moment, Foko finally sat back and folded his arms over his chest, golden eyes glittering down at Akari.

"Do you concede? Going to tell me all your plans now? Or do I need to continue?" He didn't move from his pose, but the threat hung in the air between them.

~!**!~

"In fact," Shubou grumbled, remembering the tale of how she parted ways with her first Champion, "I highly doubt she's done that dance _since _leaving her first Champion. I'm honored she graced us with such a boone."

Shubou made an impatient noise, rubbing at the mop of brown hair again with a slight grimace before giving Hiei another sidelong glance, remembering suddenly the beginning of the entire conversation.

"I believe I have you to thank for that, Champion." 3

Hiei watched Shubou as he reached a hand to scratch at his head, eyeing the motion that made the hair become even more disheveled, even if just a little. He wasn't sure what to say at first, as there was nothing he thought appropriate to say, but after a moment, he turned his eyes to the side and shifted his body just a little, turning so that Shikiyoku's weight ended up almost entirely on his shoulder, moving her with him in hopes of not waking her in his slight shifting.

"I did nothing more than alter our course." He paused, eyes sliding closed. "And lead to a pitfall."

~!**!~

AKari's laughter died down just a bit once Foko retreated, her arms simply falling from where they'd been extended in her pathetic attempts at batting him away to rest in the grass beside her, extended as if she'd simply fallen back.

She took a deep breath to respond, but something inside her moved at his words. She blinked up at the sky, at first confused by the knot that formed in her stomach.

And then she was painfully aware of being unable to get away. Her eyelids slid closed and she took another deep breath, this time to steady herself and push away the emotions that welled up. _It's just Foko. _

"P-please," she began, taking another deep breath but not opening her eyes to look at him, but not finishing what she'd been about to say. _*****_

Foko stared down at Akari with a humored expression for a moment longer, blowing a huff of air out of the corner of his mouth in an attempt to clear away a stray strand of hair that had fallen over his face.

He gave another huff, a quick in-and-out breath, and then got off of her, lifting one leg to pull away and ending up laying on the ground next to her, within arms reach, his hair fanned out behind his head and one ear flicking madly as it tried to get free of a loop of hair that currently strangled it.

~!**!~

Shubou let out a low chuckle, knowing the two of them were talking about two separate things entirely.

At Hiei moving he and Shikiyoku together, this time the she-demon actually shuffled herself around a little, her brows turning down for a moment and mumbling the Champion's name in a whispered breath, but waking up no further, instead relaxing once more and returning to heavier sleep.

"I believe I'll have to mention something to Okahito about those traps as well." Shubou mumbled as if meaning for no one else to hear the mental note, "They were not supposed to be triggerable by demons. It happening to be the Champion and his Ward could not have worked out better for us, but still…" 3

Hiei scowled at the sound Shubou released, wondering why he thought the fire demon's words were funny, or otherwise. But his attention was pulled to the female beside him, eyelids sliding open to look at her still-sleeping features before he made his own sound of amusement. Even in sleep she seemed to disagree with him.

He watched her even as Shubou spoke, finding himself actually drawn to the expression of peace she wore. It was something he had realized he wouldn't see unless she were in this exact state. Hair a mess and mind away in another world.

Perhaps the trap hadn't created as much trouble as he'd believed.

"Perhaps…" his voice trailed off, his sentence dying on his lips before he changed his own statement. "This world works in mysterious ways."

~!**!~

The pressure lifting from Akari's stomach brought great relief to her scrambled mind, making it easier for her to breathe for the moment as she pushed away what she hadn't at first realized to be the vestiges of a memory she'd almost actually forgotten. Until now.

Had the male beside her not mirrored the words she'd heard once before, she-

"_...or should I continue?"_

Akari's eyelids slid open to view the male who leaned over her now, face extremely close to hers and his breath washing over her forehead. Light grey irises sparkled with amusement, Kyu shifting on his knees in the grass above her head until he was sitting crosslegged instead, his cartoony, colorless figure hard to miss.

She frowned and rolled over until she lay on her side, eyes closing again as she stilled again, one arm under her head and the other tucked to her stomach. "_The silent treatment? Really?" __*****_

With his hands behind his head, Foko did not at first take notice of the demon who had curled up next to him, enjoying the breeze that swayed through the grass and ruffled his clothing.

When he realized Akari had come closer, he absently moved his arm behind her head and took to running his fingers through her hair again, fiddling a little with the braid he'd earlier created.

"If you could be anywhere in the three worlds right now, inu, where would you wish to be?"

~!**!~

"Aye." Shubou agreed, "And sometimes not so mysterious, Champion."

The demon with the spear thought to the night before, watching again the tendrils of Shikiyoku's energy wrap twice around the fire demon's leg without his direct notice.

So _this _Champion had no ulterior motives? No direct _plan_ that he began to enact as soon as he'd captured this rare prize? How strange to see a demon that would not use Shikiyoku to further himself, but how comforting to know that she had at last found a true companion.

Even if neither of them really knew it yet.

"What will you do next, I wonder, when you finish whatever brought the two of you to the deepest level of Demon World?" 3

Hiei didn't respond to Shubou's first words, as he didn't really know if the demon was referring to something specific or not. He assumed the other had reason for his words, but he didn't ask. He didn't find any reason to. If Shubou wished to elaborate, he would.

But it seemed it was simply a matter of personal amusement for the shorter.

He did, however, find himself silently thinking on Shubou's last words. He himself had been considering simply… not going back. However… in doing so, it would be much more dangerous for Shikiyoku. Koenma, while merciful, wasn't one to forgive after being slighted twice.

So he didn't answer, taking to simply wondering on the subject himself. He supposed he would simply continue what he was doing.

Preparing for the fight to come.

~!**!~123

The closeness of Foko's voice had Akari's eyes peeling open, only to find herself staring into the fabric of Foko's outfit. She raised her eyes to peer into his face, only just realizing he'd begun playing with her hair. She took a deep breath in before releasing it through her nostrils, her eyelids sliding closed again.

_Anywhere? _

"In Demon World, there's a place on the Fourth Level that I visited once as a child," she began, lips turning up in a small smile. "It's nothing more than a large garden, meant normally for elemental demons to visit, but… It's so beautiful." She imagined the different plants that had colored the grounds for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see. And the creatures- the small animals had been so peaceful despite the rest of the level.

"But," she said suddenly, eyes peeling open again as she stared at the fabric of Fokos shirt, "This isn't so bad either."

Nabu had crept forward cautiously, nose twitching as he searched for any sign that the two laying in the grass would move again. When he was sure they were simply laying there with no immediate plans to do anything but that, he approached their heads and paused, watching the delicate fingers that ran through Akari's hair. Again, he found himself thinking that Flowers had never done anything of the sort, and he wondered if perhaps this demon was actually trying to replace the other.

Despite that thought, he took the last few steps and took to laying between the two in a tight ball, chin resting on the grass as he watched their interaction curiously, silently. _*****_

"Fourth level," Foko intoned thoughtfully, "I think I've heard of the place you mean.

The psuedo-fox reached over and gave Nabu's head a scratch.

"Peaceful. Lots of flowers." He nodded once with approval, "A fine choice."

~!**!~

Shubou _finally_ found the small glass vial that had caused all the digging, removing the lid and downing the contents after sitting back, pocketing the empty container and starting to rub a hand at an eyebrow.

Sighing at the immediate relief, Shubou turned to Hiei, "You both are welcome for as long as you wish to remain, Champion. And our encampment is open to you should you find a reason to return. I can at least extend our hospitality to you for the happy 'accident' that brought us together." 3

Hiei nodded once at Shubou's offer in a silent 'thanks', but for the moment, said nothing. Instead, his eyes again traveled down to Shikiyoku's face, and instead of moving again as he had initially intended, he simply stayed where he was, watching her. He considered making an attempt for sleep again, but as he had before, decided against it.

If he went to sleep now, and she awoke, he'd merely accomplish nothing other than waking again to continue on their path towards their destination. And a fire demon being awoken from a nap was not something many dared to do, as it often made their tempers much shorter.

So he'd simply avoid the issue and wait for Shikiyoku to wake.

~!**!~

Nabu's eyes closed with the contact of Foko's hand, ear twitching slightly and head turning into the gesture to aid in guiding Foko's hand to the _perfect _scratching spot. And once he achieved successfully guiding the scratching fingers to the right spot, his foot gave a shake, making as if to scratch at the spot as well but doing nothing more than thumping on the ground.

Akari caught the sound, eyes opening and turning to Nabu to watch the pup's expression shift to what she could only describe as sheer joy. "I visited that level only once, and had been planning on returning, then I ended up stuck _here_, in Human World." Her smile widened just a touch. "Of course, at the moment, it isn't too bad. I've found this place rather enjoyable, after a while." She gave a short pause for a yawn. "Though, I think that's because of the people I've found myself surrounded by. The company is quite welcomed…. Most of the time."

"_What is this, a date?" _Kyu huffed, almost startling Akari. She'd almost forgotten he was present. "_You're too sappy. It's boring." __*****_

Foko frowned, not at anything Akari had been saying, but at her mentioning the Fourth Level.

It had been a long time since he'd thought of anything directly in relation to locations within Demon World. And while he had a recollection of the garden Akari talked about, he suddenly discovered that he couldn't remember where _he _was from.

Instead, he had visions of a hideout and a gang somewhere within the first few levels, memories that he knew for a fact weren't his, but ones for which he could find no replacements.

The frown faded, almost mirroring Foko's mood as he gave up.

He'd known this was going to happen, but taking direct notice of it as he did in that exact moment was...disconcerting.

~!**!~

Nothing further to say, Shubou got up with the help of the glowing spear and left the tent as silently as the entrance had been.

It was about this time that Shikiyoku became conscious of the fact that she had slowly been wandering towards the waking world, vague awareness of her surroundings starting to filter into her senses.

A deep breath gave her both the earthy scent of the furs of the bed and the tent around her as well as the fiery cinnamon-and-cloves smell that she had come to associate with Hiei.

As if to resist coming out of sleep, Shikiyoku's body tightened once and her brow furrowed together before she relaxed again and her eyes blinked once, twice, squinting as they came open in the muted morning light.

Her first real impression of the world was that she felt very...comfortable. 3

Hiei had taken idle note of Shubou's leaving without even looking up, but when he felt Shikiyoku's stirring, his eyelids slid closed and his head shifted, turning his face away from hers as if he'd never been watching her. As if he'd never even stirred from sleep.

He took a slow, deep breath in and his body seemed to relax even further, if such a thing were possible.

~!**!~

Akari let out a long breath of a sigh, a sound that Nabu mimicked as he rested his chin in the grass again and settled in for a small nap. "Foko," Akari piped, her voice small and tone curious, "Where would _you _be right now, if you weren't here?"

It was only fair, since she'd answered him. _*****_

"This is no other place I would be." Foko replied with a measured air.

He couldn't remember any place else. At least, he had no memories of anywhere else to be. None that were his _own _memories, at least.

Otherwise he might find himself wishing for home…

Such thoughts would be entertained _after _the war.

Assuming he survived.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes came open and she found herself staring at Hiei's side, a pose she did not remember actively taking and supposed it had happened accidentally during the night.

She hadn't meant to, but her body tensed at the realization, eyes flickering up to what she could make out of Hiei's face and seeing that he hadn't appeared to have stirred.

To top it all off, not only was she laying on a portion of his shoulder, but she had her arm flung over him-an action she most definitely did _not _remember doing.

She very quickly lifted the arm up and pulled it back towards her, hoping that she would not wake him in doing so.

As soon as the arm was clear, she did the same with her head, lifting it from his shoulder and then shifting around until she sat up, taking to stretching her arms above her head and stifling a yawn. 3

Hiei didn't move when Shikiyoku did, aside from a small twitch of his lips that threatened a slight smirk at her quick retreat. His expression stayed neutral following the twitch of his lips, and after a few more moments, he allowed his muscles to stretch, his body lengthening out across the ground.

His eyelids slid open again and he took to glancing at Shikiyoku again, keeping his expression clear of all thoughts about the conversation he'd had with Shubou. He moved to sit up as well, rubbing a hand against his cheek for a moment, feeling a bit of dirt there from when he'd rolled over sometime in the night.

And for the first time, he realized he could smell something in the air being cooked nearby, over an open flame by the smell of smoke that accompanied it.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at Foko, but otherwise did not respond to him. She couldn't decide if he meant the words as simple truth or if this was one of his attempts to appear slightly charming and yet uninterested. Then again, if it were him being charming, she wouldn't have to question it, as he'd pointed out as well the day before.

She sighed. "At least you're enjoying yourself and not simply.. _wrapped up_ in everything else. A break is necessary from time t-"

"_Geez, sweetheart. Do you hear yourself?"_

"-to time." Her eyes moved up, sending a glare to the male who was again leaning over her, expression mildly annoyed. She rolled onto her back again and sat up, rubbing at her eyes as she realized staying still any longer could very easily result in sleep. "Everyone deserves a break."

"_Pft. Fool." __*****_

Foko didn't disagree with her, still gently massaging Nabu's head, but-

"Unfortunately I cannot take a break from my own mind." He stretched a little, but made no move to rise. "Even laying here I cannot fully enjoy the rest, as I keep thinking about the next steps that have to be taken."

~!**!~

While the rest had been most excellent, Shikiyoku felt her stomach begin tying into knots like it had last night while she fell asleep as she lowered her hands, brushing one briefly against her abdomen.

Just the _thought_ of actively stepping foot on Palace land had her mind racing back to Spirit World and telling Koenma to go shove it and find someone else.

She had a vague recollection now of how others must feel once ensnared by her power, that unbending desire to do whatever is told of them. When she had first been given the order, there had been no such thoughts in her mind of returning, nor had there ever _really _been such thoughts at all. Let the strong lead, she had no interest in it. Being royalty was too much trouble and she had shucked the title with little to no second thoughts.

Shikiyoku felt that it would not be the last time she desperately hoped she would be able to break the compulsion that had been placed upon her. If not for her sake, then for Hiei's and for their return to Koenma. It would truly be a test as to whether or not she had become stronger than her own mother in all these years, a feat Shikiyoku still retained doubts of, regardless of those who had likely run the other woman through and thus were stronger than even her mother.3

Hiei glanced about the tent, surveying the bags that Shubou had meddled with in his search for whatever it was he'd needed. Had he not known the demon had been within the tent's walls, he wouldn't have noticed the slight changes in the bags. After a moment, he turned to Shikiyoku.

"We should eat," he suggested as he moved to lean forward, pushing himself up to stand and patting himself free of dirt.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes turned down to Foko as she waved her hand in the air, batting away both the fly that had taken to buzzing around in front of her nose and the hand that Kyu reached towards her. She didn't think she could sit still much longer, but she didn't make a move to leave either. She didn't want to. Being in Foko's presence was something she enjoyed and something she didn't want to relinquish so soon.

"I guess that comes with being a leader." she finally said, hands moving to her lap as she crossed her legs beneath herself. "Sadly, I don't know how to help in that respect."

"_As if your narrow thinking could do any good."_

Akari let out a low sound to herself, somewhere between a grumble of annoyance and a growl of irritation. When had his manifestation turned to a harsh one? _Leave._

Oddly, unlike before, her thought of irritation made a small chuckle echo into the air before he was gone. _*****_

"Indeed." Foko replied, "Though your distraction has done a great deal. I..." He hesitated on what he had meant to reveal, but did so anyway, "I am not allowed a chance to be myself around any others."3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	50. Episode 135 - Resistance

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dearest Yu Yu Hakusho Lovers!

I realize I have a bias since it's my character, but the scene that picks up towards the end of the chapter is another favorite of mine between Shikiyoku and Hiei. Heheh.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Nabu, Foko, and Akari for a while longer until the three of them collapse to the ground for a rest.  
Foko asks Akari if there is anywhere in the three worlds she might wish to be,  
and she admits to a wish to seeing the Fourth Level and the flowers there.  
Foko expresses a gratefulness to her for being a distraction from his 'duties.'

~!**!~

Shikiyoku is still struggling with the feeling of uselessness,  
trying to rid herself of such feeling by implanting a purpose  
in the stead of Hiei actually giving her one.  
The next morning, Shubou enters the tent searching for a remedy for a headache,  
and the demon leader and Hiei exchange words on the subject of Shikiyoku  
that leave Hiei with a bit more insight into his Ward.  
After Shubou leaving, Shikiyoku wakes up and Hiei suggests that they get something to eat...

* * *

The smell struck Shikiyoku's nose when Hiei mentioned food, and her stomach simultaneously roiled within her in distaste, but also sent her signals that told her she should eat, since the last time she had consumed food had only been a bite last night and she had danced since then, which always made her hungrier than normal, an aftereffect she had forgotten.

She wasn't sure if she _could _eat and keep anything down at the moment though.

Still…

Shikiyoku nodded and got up, adjusting her clothing and smoothing down her long, dark hair as she made her way towards the exit of the tent. 3

Hiei noted her hesitation, but paid it no mind and turned towards the front of the tent, taking a few steps until he was standing before the flap, turning to wait on Shikiyoku as she considered. Either way, they were leaving the tent at that precise moment. Whether she decided to eat or not, well, that was only a matter of which direction they were heading.

As soon as she nodded, he turned and waved away the tent flap, the brightness of day shining harshly into his eyes and causing him to blink two, three times before he proceeded out into the open campgrounds. His hand held the tent flap until Shikiyoku was close enough to catch it when he released it, and a beat later he was turning and moving through the tribal community in search of the fire that was still roasting some sort of meat.

And it smelled rather scrumptious.

~!**!~

Akari found herself turning to Foko with a gentle smile, finding his admission to be somewhat of a compliment. After a moment, she reached forward and tugged on a strand of his hair, and when she found it to be soft, smooth, silky, she did so again, this time winding her fingers through it as he had done to hers. "Glad to be of service. I am, after all, a great distraction. At least, that's what I've been told." _*****_

"Is that so?" Foko gave her a roguish smile, turning his eyes to her and quirking an eyebrow, "Well, it seems that I can't disagree with whoever made the statement."

Foko had stopped petting Nabu by this time, both hands behind his head, and he just watched Akari's face as she wove her fingers into his long, silver hair.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes scanned the encampment, following Hiei more than her nose.

"Are they cooking some of what you killed?" 3

Hiei continued moving, eyes roving over the tents he passed and the demons who moved by, doing whatever it was they did daily. He glanced back at Shikiyoku, then sniffed at the air again and realized that the scent was the same as the meat Hideki had offered the night before.

"Seems so," he finally answered as a small group of demons game into view, made up of three who all watched the fire they sat around, snickering at something or another that Hiei hadn't listened to. Hideki was, not surprisingly, among the three, a wide smirk on his face as he waved around his hand in a tell-tale show of finishing up a story.

All to which he paused when he caught sight of Hiei and Shikiyoku, his eyes gleaming in amusement as he waved them over. "You're welcome to join us! We have scraps leftover, if you wish to have them!"

And Hiei did not hesitate this time to join the demon who had called out.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small laugh at his words, eyes on the strands of hair that she toyed with, not really doing anything more with them than running her fingers through. "I try," she joked with a simple shrug of her shoulders, scooting a little closer to the male as she began running her other hand through his locks as well, now completely relaxed again.

"Of course, I had practice too." Her smile was one of sarcasm, of jokes untold. _*****_

"Mm?" Foko intoned, his eyes having closed at her attentions to his hair, "Good at being a distraction for many reasons, then?"

~!**!~

Still following after the fire demon, interest piqued at knowing that at least a part of what was releasing that smell had been due to Hiei's contribution to the hunting, Shikiyoku took to sitting next to Hiei once he did so, her stomach having gotten over her previous thoughts and now growling angrily at her lack of attention to it.

One of the demons around the fire laughed at the noise as he passed meat to her, then more over to Hiei, and she stuck her tongue out at his chuckles, but accepted the offer.

After the initial bite and interest in the flavor, Shikiyoku tried her best not to wolf the whole plate down, restraining the urge to dip the entire plate into her mouth all at once.

The ritual had left her more ravenous than she remembered being in a long time.

And food hunted and cooked in this way _always _tasted better. 3

Hiei was comfortable in a moment's notice, sitting alongside Hideki and Shikiyoku with a plate of grub in his hands, a piece of meat already hanging from his lips as he idly chewed at it. The male beside him continued in his storytelling, turning back to the other two who had been listening intently before.

"Of course, this is the moment when the guy's all puffed up like a boar and his nose is so high in the air, that I-"

"Hideki," another demon called, approaching the group with weapon in hand, "Shubou gave us a new task for the day." Okahito's eyes glanced briefly at Hiei and Shikiyoku, offering a nod of acknowledgement before turning to the other again. "I believe it's best to get it out of the way first thing."

Hideki released a small sigh. "Always during my stories."

"Of course," the other snickered once before waving him onward. "I believe the two of us can handle it nicely. Champion," Okahito nodded at Hiei before turning to Shikiyoku as well, "the Missus."

Hiei nodded his own greeting in return, mouth full enough to keep from giving him the opportunity to respond verbally before Hideki was standing and the other was gone.

"Well, I'm off. If you're gone before my return, I wish you two the best of luck in your travels."

~!**!~

Akari's smile widened and became a bit more slanted, her teeth showing on one side. "I can be," she responded naturally, eyes flickering to his ears as she considered messing with them as well. "Of course, it just depends on the situation. For instance…" her words trailed away and her hands ceased with their toying of his locks.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she was crouching down, movements slow in an attempt to keep the fox from noticing her intentions, breath held as if it would help.

Her hands were flat on the grass, lowering herself until she was even with the top of his head, at which point she smirked mischievously and nipped at the top of his ear, quickly moving and sitting up again.

"And that puts me as the leader now, not you. And since I have no canine ears, you can't revoke it!" _*****_

Foko opened his eyes, ear that had been bitten flicking once, and blinked at Akari, no sense of understand behind his gaze at the gesture whatsoever.

Not to mention the fact that _he _had no canine ears either...

"And tell me, oh fearless leader, what will your first act be now that you've abdicated my throne?"

~!**!~

Without missing a beat, or even looking up from her plate, Shikiyoku hurled the bone she had just cleaned in the direction Okahito had disappeared, earning herself a satisfying exclamation of pain from the other demon now out of sight. 3

Hiei turned his eyes to Shikiyoku after the sound he'd caught, raising a brow at her as if asking 'really?' But the expression turned to one of mild amusement as he turned away, taking more meat into his mouth with vigor.

"At least wait until we're _gone _to start fights," he began, "It's too early."

The two left nearby released long breaths, as if they'd heard this conversation before. One smirked and made a sound of mock disappointment at Hiei. "It's _never _too early for a fight."

~!**!~

Akari stifled a sigh at the expression Foko wore, point going totally missed it seemed. But at his question, she was smiling again and sitting up straighter, eyes closing in a dignified manner. "First…" she began, pausing as she thought for a moment before continuing, "you're going to sit up so _I _can play with your hair, without breaking the beautiful grass beneath it." _*****_

Foko wriggled around for a moment, obviously torn.

"But...the grass is so soft and comfortable." He pouted a little, turning over onto his stomach and mumbling something into his hands, enjoying the warmth of the earth as it radiated up towards his skin.

~!**!~

"He deserved it for being cheeky. Besides," Shikiyoku countered, looking up from her meal with a telltale glow of energy in her eyes, releasing one soft pulse of energy into the air, "There isn't a demon here who can fight _me_." 3

Hiei's eyes slid to Shikiyoku again, chewing on the meat in his mouth for a moment longer before swallowing. He assessed her for a moment before scoffing once and turning away. He went quiet again, as did the pair across from them.

And he couldn't hold back what he wanted to say.

"It wouldn't be a matter of _fighting_ as it would be of _ignoring_." Of course, he was referring to the energy that now made her eyes shimmer and glow just lightly. A smirk formed on his expression. "Hn, any fool with discipline can do so."

~!**!~

Akari huffed at Foko's response, her cheeks puffing up at him in disappointment. She thought for a moment, watching him as he rolled over in the grass, before she suddenly realized she now had even better access to his full head of hair. Her expression swiftly shifted to cheer and she stretched out, leaning forward until she was crouched on her knees, hands grabbing his hair and toying with it thoughtfully, as if she might be able to fashion it in the most elaborate way possible.

"This will do, sir. This'll do." _*****_

"Mm. Good. Because I wasn't really planning on getting up anyway." Foko told her, burying his face in his arms.

His ears would move occasionally in her direction as if to hear her as she moved about, and every so often his tail would twitch as if aware of how revealed it was at that moment.

~!**!~

"Luckily 'fools' are often the easiest to ensnare." Shikiyoku released her energy and turned back to her own food. "You'd be surprised how many _fools_ thought they could fight me." 3

Hiei released another sound of amusement, but otherwise said nothing in reply to Shikiyoku, as he'd seen only a few examples of her power. While humans were very easy to compel under one's desire, even by simple wording of one's sentence, he figured it was much the same for the weaker demons. Of course, some of the higher ranking demons could be the same, but normally that was another story.

Which is where Shikiyoku's energy would have come in handy, were it necessary.

And, of course, Hiei felt no need for such use of her power. Why spend her energy when Hiei could persuade them in any which way he desired?

Of course, there may be times where he had no other choice. After all, he wasn't the best at swaying others to his will. He knew that. It's simply where he'd resorted to persuasion via sword.

"I suppose it's a good thing I am no fool then, hm?"

~!**!~

Akari ran her fingers through the other's hair, ridding it of any tangles and stray blades of grass that she encountered. And after a moment, she found herself wondering a few things, though one thing stuck out much further than everything else in her mind. At first, she'd decided not to ask on it, but…

It simply wouldn't leave her be.

"Foko, if I _had _decided to join when asked, what would have happened? Would you still be playing a charade, or would it be… like _this?" __*****_

"What do you mean, inu?" Foko opened his eyes and turned his head to look over at her, puzzled by her questions.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku coughed, choking a bit on the meat she had just attempted to swallow as she fought back a smile.

"I _suppose_." She echoed. "As only a true fool would try to fight me." 3

"Hn." Hiei would have responded more, if he hadn't decided to take another bite to finish off his meat, and on top of that…

He really didn't have much to say about the topic any more. She was right, after all. Hiei knew that if she desired to do so, he'd be under her every command, under her thumb and doing whatever she demanded of him. It was much the same for others, though not many seemed to understand such a wild concept of being, simply put, _mind controlled. _

And quite frankly, he didn't wish to know how it felt. So he'd just stick to his job of protecting, and hope he doid a well enough job to not create a veil of ire thick enough to provoke her.

Unless he did it for fun.

That's a different story.

~!**!~

Akari didn't respond right away, her eyes staying trained on the three strands of hair she'd retracted from the left side of his head. She weaved the strands in and out of one another, directing them towards the center of his head, at which point she took a deep breath and paused her motions, thinking for a moment before dropping that single braid and doing the same thing, starting from the right side of his head.

"I mean," she began calmly, "that when Otento gave the off-"

She paused, frowning to herself suddenly.

A thought had crossed her mind, but for the moment, she decided to ignore it, until it was confirmed or denied.

"When Otento offered for me to… _join the ranks_, would you have played as Youko, or would we still end up… playing games and keeping one another company?"

Part of her hoped she wasn't right, but… Well…

It wasn't likely she was wrong. _*****_

Foko watched her as she kept moving his hair about, his expression remaining neutral throughout her questionings.

"I do not have an answer for you, inu." He finally said after a long pause. "There are many variables to account for within your question. Had you at that point realized the human boy Shuichi Minamino was in fact the vessel for Youko Kurama? If so, you would have likely saw through the deception quickly. Would I have approached you about the masquerade before then, preemptively attempting to warn you of my true nature not being the real Youko? This is also possible.

"I think..." Foko grew thoughtful, "My closest comrades know I am not Youko. Know that I must keep the form to further the cause faster. Would you have been one such comrade?" He raised and lowered a shoulder, indicating as he said before that he simply did not have an answer that he felt would satisfy her curiosity.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku passed her empty plate back to one of the demons still around the fire.

"My thanks for sharing this meal."

"It ought to be us thanking you." One said. "A meal is the least we can do for the unity you have blessed us with. I hope this feeling lasts for a long time." He grinned at the other tribesmen at the fire. "Or that I don't forget it very quickly."

Shikiyoku said nothing else, but gave a nod of her head in understanding. 3

Hiei watched the exchange with keen eyes, ears listening just as keenly to the conversation at hand, choosing not to add to it. He could see and _feel _the sincerity from the demon who had replied, thanking Shikiyoku for her ritual and all it meant for the tribe. Hiei himself felt as if it were a magnificent feat, something of such a magnitude. When Shikiyoku said nothing in reply, he turned a neutral gaze onto her, as if he'd thought she would reply sooner or later.

When she made no such indication, he moved to stand, nodding once at the eyes that turned to him curiously.

"Your generosity is greatly appreciated," the fire demon began, deciding he might as well and end their stay here as cordial as possible, "But we _do _need to continue on."

~!**!~

Akari listened, eyes trained on the motions her fingers made as she deftly braided the small portion of hair she'd plucked from the right side of his head, her fingers moving until they met the other braid in the center of his head.

By this time, he had finished speaking, and she'd allowed the silence to hang in the air between them. So, Otento's offer hadn't been some measly trap that she hadn't noticed until now. It wouldn't have surprised her, though, after all that had happened already. After all, he _had _grabbed herself _and _Kurama from the park and tossed them into a dark room.

He _had _snatched Toriko from her home, with Hiei even nearby, and-

She stopped her thoughts right there, her fingers even pausing mid-twist as she stared at the formation she'd begun. Her eyelids slid closed and she took a very slow breath in through her nostrils. "I'm not sure it would have happened." she admitted, her hands resuming their work on his hair. "A lot has happened between then and now. I'm not exactly who I was then."

She gave another pause, realizing who was behind such changes. Her hands stilled again, this time finishing the job she'd been working on and tying the last braid in a loose knot, so that if he wished, he could undo it all.

_He's caused a lot of changes lately. _

The mental image that she'd been able to fight away the past day and a half floated to the forefront of her mind, and this time, she released a small sigh. _Was the lip contact really necessary, you moron? __*****_

After speaking, Foko had felt himself relaxing more and more under Akari's touch, to the point that his breathing had deepened and he was on the verge of sleep.

Her words danced vaguely across the front of his mind when she spoke up again, but he had not the effort within him to give any answer, instead letting the quiet afforded them by their private park hush over their company.

~!**!~

Even before the demon had thanked her, Shikiyoku's eyes began to darken, turning inward to the slight turmoil that had started up in the pit of her stomach at the realization that they would soon be headed towards-

Shikiyoku stood mechanically, murmured a last farewell, and moved off into the treeline.

As soon as those in the encampment could no longer see her, her eyes glazed over now, her body turned and began heading in the direction they had come from, back towards where the entrance to Human World lie. 3

Hiei had lead the way away from the camp, nodding farewells here and there as he passed demons who wished him and Shikiyoku safety on their journey, or in the very least, a cheery farewell and thanks towards the female who had accompanied him.

He moved into the treeline, Shikiyoku at his side, and he continued walking, eyes focused ahead as he considered several things at once.

If they so wished, the pair could very easily stay in Demon World, especially this far down where the Spirit World had little to no control. It likely wouldn't be the first time something of the sort had happened.

However, if/when they returned, what would happen next? Would Toriko take over again, leaving the fire demon with a human who he didn't actually know anything about. He frowned at the thought of dealing with relearning about the person he was supposed to protect.

Or would it be the same?

They cou-

Suddenly, Hiei was aware that he was alone, and his steps made a sudden halt in their tracks, his body turning so that when his head moved as well, he could see back in the direction they'd come from, searching for-

"You're going the wrong way." If _he _knew that, wouldn't it be painfully obvious for _her?_

~!**!~

Akari noted the lack of response from Foko as she sat back again, though really, she wasn't much more aware of anything else. Her attention was turned inward, her eyes glazed over as she continued to consider the fact that there was a specific reason she'd changed the way she had.

Sure, Nabu helped a lot with coming to terms with herself and keeping herself in check, but…

_How can one person be such an influence on another? _

She thought back, to the first moment when she'd done something… out of character. And she realized it was the same day she'd followed him to the school, to enroll. He'd been snide, as had she, but when it came down to it, she didn't really strike back as she would have normally done. It was a small thing, but she wondered if that small thing had really actually turned her into the person who now did a job she'd been given without second thoughts, without considering each and every option and how to get away from the command she was now under.

In fact, she didn't really even feel like she was being ordered around, as she had with Sensui, who'd watched her each and every step. Here, she was practically doing whatever she wished.

And it just so happened that it turned into her learning a few things along the way.

A frown settled over her expression again, and this time, she emerged from her inner thoughts and looked down again at Foko.

_Is this… right? _

Her frown deepened, creating wrinkles in her forehead. The slow, steady rhythm of the demon's breathing had her yawning, but otherwise, she felt no need for sleep now.

Maybe…

Maybe she'd go to school tomorrow. Maybe… it isn't as bad as she'd been telling herself.

~!**!~

Pen scratched along paper, making markings along lines and lines of bold, black print that she'd stopped _actually _processing hours ago. Yet, her reading continued, and thus, Akari's hand continued to scribble answers on the very last sheet of homework she'd been given.

Despite her anger at the subject of Algebra.

Who in their _right minds _put letters in math?

"_Akari…"_

The demoness paused, her pen lifting from the paper as her eyes shifted down to the dog who was now sitting beside the chair she'd taken to sitting in, an expression on his face that told her he'd been awoken by her occasional growls of irritation. "Did I wake you?"

The dog huffed once at her, but otherwise continued on. "_You still haven't slept. It's not good to do that. I don't see how you're even able to read all of that stuff. Or concentrate."_

"Practice, Nabu. Practice."

"_There are some cases where practice doesn't make perfect."_ Wide, brown eyes turned to look at the nearest window, ears falling slightly. "_You're not leaving for school soon, are you?"_

"Well, wandering town is boring. And Foko's busy."

"_Busy playing tricks…."_

"Enough, Nabu."

"_You know it's true. No one who pretends to be another is nice."_

Akari took in a deep breath to calm herself before turning back to the paper she'd been working on, eyes quickly finding the last blank on the paper before her pen continued its work, a few minutes passing until she finally sat back and stretched. Her bones cracked and popped from having sit here for so long, and her stomach made a small sound that said she'd neglected eating long enough. Still, she reached for the lone remaining bottle of water on the desk and twisted the cap, earning a small sound as it was opened for the first time before she took a long drink from it.

"_That isn't good either."_

Akari ignored Nabu altogether this time, twisting the lid back onto the bottle and standing from her chair, quickly shuffling each paper into her hands in an orderly fashion before sliding them into the open bag on the floor, her left hand reaching for her uniform shirt, along with the white undershirt that was appropriate for such a jacket, as soon as she had achieved placing her papers away calmly.

The female moved across the room, peeling off the sweater she'd been wearing all night and pulling the white tank over her head, her messy hair protesting the motion and getting stuck underneath her shirt, to which she quickly fixed by tugging it out from beneath the tank before turning to the mirror that she'd scrounged from a junk pile outside another house.

She frowned at her reflection, red, puffy, glassy eyes staring back at her as she pouted. She looked just about as she felt, she assumed. She peeled her eyes from her own face and up to her hair, the curls anything but neat being, at first, ran through with her fingers, followed by a comb that didn't seem able to pull each and every tangle from her locks.

So she settled for pulling her hair up atop her head into a bun that she wound around and around, only her bangs and a few side strands falling to frame her face. It wasn't too bad. It seemed to hide the disheveledness of her state just a bit better than keeping it down.

"'_kari… Stay home. You need sleep and-"_

"Nabu, I said that's enough."

While her tone hadn't been harsh, her words made the dog lower his head, and after another moment of watching her dress herself for school, he turned and slinked away, hiding in the blankets of her makeshift bed.

Akari released a sigh as she finished tucking her tank into her skirt hem, pulling the jacket over her arms, pausing for a moment to glance at the scar that just peeked over the collar of the undershirt.

_253_. It was hardly noticeable to anyone who looked, but the numbers were tattooed on her skin, following her collarbone as if they had been fashioned to sit on it like a shelf. She took another deep breath in, eyes sliding closed as she pulled the jacket over her shoulders and proceeded to button it up, hiding the rest of her markings easily.

By the time she had her shoes on and tied, the sun was completely up and the human world was bustling with activity, people moving to work and school with varied speeds. Not worried about being late in the slightest, the redhead grabbed for her bag and slowly maneuvered about the room until she was standing in the threshold of the door, glancing back at the lump beneath the covers that was Nabu.

She almost said her normal farewell, but instead she merely turned and shut the door behind herself with a soft click, slowly moving to blend in with the crowds and saunter her way up to the school. _*****_

~!**!~

At the sound of Hiei's call, Shikiyoku stopped dead in her tracks, eyes clearing, and subsequently widening as she came back into herself.

Without a word, she pivoted around and came back to where Hiei had paused, moving past him to keep heading towards The P-

-other side of the Ninth Level, _obviously._ 3

Hiei watched silently, waiting for Shikiyoku, who seemed to act as if she'd done this on purpose. Almost as if she'd been waiting to see if he would notice.

And yet, her movements were jerky, making it seem as if she'd had no idea whatsoever of her own movements. Both options had him frowning slightly as she caught up, at which point he turned and began walking alongside her, this time _much _more aware of her presence than before.

And he said nothing about her change in direction, choosing to act as if it hadn't happened in the first place.

~!**!~

Akari moved with the crowd, easily blending in with the bustle despite her leisurely pace, her mind blank of any and all thoughts and.. well, most emotions. Here and there, a shoulder would bump into hers and her eyes would snap over at the perpetrator, who would simply continue on, oblivious to the ire that they'd provoked.

And it was never to any specific person.

She took a deep breath and rubbed at her face, rubbing her eyes free of the sleepless night she'd had and shaking herself awake mentally. At least, that's what she told herself she was doing.

In reality, she was in a sort of daze that was only interrupted by physical contact of another running into her, or by the fact that she had to pause at a crosswalk or simply be run over.

By the time she was on school grounds, her eyes were as alert as possible in her state and her frown was aimed at any and all who cut her off in her walk, in her desire to get to class and simply _sit _in a desk and do _nothing _but listen to someone ramble for a while.

It was odd how she wouldn't mind sitting still today, when yesterday she'd been hell bent on moving around, not being in one place for more than an hour or so.

At least the hallucinations had ceased for the time being. Doing work with a commenting Kyu over her shoulder had been hard work.

But nothing was as bad as doing work with Sensui standing over her, watching her each and every movement, correcting each and every mistake she made. That one she still had yet to get over. It had scared her enough to keep her from sleeping the rest of the night.

By the time she was standing outside the appropriate classroom, she was pulling herself from her thoughts again and simply staring at the open door. There was still time to go back, if she desired.

But, she'd already gotten here. Might as well stay.

Still, she made no move to enter the room at that very moment. _*****_

Kurama stared out the window, lost in thought.

How long had Toriko been gone? How long had it been since Hiei left with her?

Long enough that _someone_, Kurama had his suspicions as to who, had arranged it to be that Toriko was studying abroad for a time.

It didn't seem like too much of an issue. Like himself, Toriko could have easily tested out of Meiou High.

The issue was, where had the two of them gone?

And why?

Demon World. Considering Koenma's refusal to answer.

Could their mission be one connected back to the fake Youko?

Kurama hoped so, since there had been no further breakthroughs on that front either.

~!**!~

The next few miles Shikiyoku covered with Hiei were pleasantly void of any major encounters, though she remained quiet the entire time, fighting viciously with the urge to turn back, every step heavier than the last as they dashed through the treeline much like they had at the beginning of their trek across the Ninth Level.

Four miles later and Shikiyoku halted in place, eyes glazing over once more, jaw clenching this time as her stomach roiled into knots at the resistance before the tension released, and the female hopped down from the tree branch and began walking back the way she came for a second time. 3

Hiei had kept very close watch of his companion this time, still trying to decode if her earlier change in direction had been intentional or otherwise. He didn't see why she would do so without meaning to, but-

There it was again. The fire demon pulled to an abrupt stop and turned to face Shikiyoku, who was walking in the opposite direction entirely for the second time. A frown pulled his lips downwards and made his brows furrow in confusion.

Definitely not by choice.

"Wrong direction," he called once more, eyes watching her keenly, waiting for a response even as he stood in the shadows of the tree branches.

~!**!~

Akari took a deep breath in and rubbed at her eyes for the third time since she'd arrived on campus, her hand moving from there to brush her hair from her face soon after. She took a single step towards the door, but paused when unnatural movement caught the corner of her eye, and she turned to the dead end wall of this hallway to see a single, slithering shadow moving along the floor. A frown colored her features as she tugged lightly on her energy, recalling the ribbon so that it dissipated in the air entirely.

_That's not good. _

She hadn't noticed her energy doing that before now, when it would matter most. If a human saw it, who knew what would happen.

She took another deep breath to gather herself, composing her expression into a calm one before she took the final steps that lead her into the classroom and right up to the teacher's desk, hefting her bag up and onto the wooden surface as the teacher pulled his gaze up to her with a smile.

That smile twitched momentarily before dropping entirely, forming into a slight frown. "Good to see you again." Akari dug in the bag she'd opened up with deft fingers, rifling through the papers until each and every sheet of work was in her grasp, to which she held out silently to the older human. He blinked at her hand and reached to take the papers almost robotically, slowly sliding them from her grasp. "Already? Is this why you missed classes yesterday?"

"No," Akari replied simply, tone flat. "Circumstances left me unable to attend, sir."

"Well, as I said, it's good to see you again," he repeated, eyes carefully going over the work in his hand. "Toriko's seat is open again today. She's studying abroad, so you can either have her seat until then, or the one you had occupied previously. Your pick, as a reward for your hard work." He paused, looking up again with a half-smile. "Though, I'd suggest the latter, as your partner is nearer."

Akari nodded once before turning away and taking the same path she had the last time she'd been in class, taking the same seat in front of Kurama. And again, she didn't pause to even glance at him, nor did she even make as if to notice the ramblings of the humans who had seen her stalk by.

It wasn't as if she weren't aware of her physical state. _*****_

Kurama remained lost in his thoughts, only vaguely aware of the classroom around him, until a small blip of demonic energy just at the edges of his vision brought his attention back to the present.

His eyes fell first to the floor, and a deep frown creased his forehead.

Akari's shadow was...moving. There was no other word for it. And as Kurama checked, Akari herself was _not_.

Kurama leaned forward in his chair a little, not enough to be inconspicuous, but in an attempt to get the demon's attention as he whispered her name.

"Akari?"

~!**!~

"_-go back to Human World. Leave. And go back to Human World." _

The mantra rang loudly in Shikiyoku's head, and on some level, she wasn't sure when it had morphed to include a return to Human World, the knot in her stomach simply directing her away from the land of The Palace she was fast approaching.

On the main level of her consciousness, she continued traveling in the opposite direction. 3

Hiei scowled at Shikiyoku, who gave no pause at his calling out to her. The bond in his mind was ringing, as if it were dire that his attention be on Shikiyoku, who continued to make her leave.

After another moment of simply watching her, Hiei dropped to the ground and, utilizing his full speed, moved so that he cut off her trail, giving her no room to alter her course. His arms were crossed, expression now slightly irritated, accompanied by the gleam of confusion in his eyes.

"You're going. The wrong way."

~!**!~

AKari had gotten comfortable slumped slightly in her chair, legs stretched out until her feet were beneath the chair of the girl in front of her, arms crossed her her stomach as she took a deep breath. The atmosphere in the room was already too much, as a few students were still watching her, staring.

_Yes, I know. I look like hell. Shut up._

Her ears caught sound of the movement of the person behind her, bringing her out of her thoughts in time to hear her name become a whispered question that asked for her attention. She turned her head enough to show she was listening, but not enough so that he would see her face.

_Make one comment, fox. Just one. _

A sneer formed on her features, though it left just as quickly. "Hm?" she finally hummed out, tone curious despite the thoughts she'd just had and her complete and utter desire to be left alone. _*****_

"You appear to be...dancing." Kurama couldn't help but stare briefly at Akari's seated shadow, which had started to throw its hands around and wiggle in the shadow-seat of the shadow-desk. "Is that intentional?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku actually bumped into Hiei before startling back and looking up at him, confused for a moment until she shook her head a little, mind clearer than before again.

"Sorry," She mumbled under her breath, turning and leaping up into the trees to dash off in the right direction. 3

Hiei stayed where he'd stopped Shikiyoku from advancing, arms still crossed over his chest even as she apologized and turned away, taking off in the same direction they'd been going before she'd ceased all advances. His frown now turned into a discontented scowl, accompanied by keen eyes following her motions until she was out of sight.

There was no way she did that on purpose. The look she'd had in her eye before running into him was not a gleam of someone who was consciously doing what they were doing.

Finally, he took off after her, this time staying behind her to make sure that if she turned around again, he could stop her before she got too far and interrogate her.

If there was no third time, he would let the subject go.

~!**!~

Akari listened to Kurama's words, at first completely and utterly confused. She hadn't moved in her desk? She hadn't done more than turn her head since she'd sat down. What on earth would make him think that-

Her body tensed visibly in her seat and her eyelids slid closed in realization. _It's happening again, isn't it? _Her eyelids slid open again and she glanced down at her own shadow, frowning to herself as she watched it move about, and then its head turned as if it were turning its eyes onto her.

Admittedly, it was the weirdest thing to see, her own shadow staring at her.

_Enough. Sit still, or leave. _

The shadow moved again, turning its head away from her and making another odd motion that could only be described as a twitch of defiance.

_What did I just say?_

It twitched again.

_Your __**master**_ _is ordering you to sit still, right this instant. Or so help me, you will cease to exist._

In a motion too jerky to be possible, the shadow snapped back into its normal position, mirroring her own frame perfectly now just in time for a human nearby to glance at it, as if interested in whatever it was that had warranted a harsh glare from Akari.

_Good. Now stay that way._

The pulse of energy that she earned from the shadow told her it had bowed to her will, and she turned forward again, this time speaking aloud to the male behind her without really looking at him. "Let it do as it pleases. It needs its day too." _*****_

Kurama had leaned back in his chair once the dancing shadow had been brought to Akari's attention, but he continued to watch what he assumed was a silent exchange between the two before it settled down once more.

_She still hasn't slept yet. _The thought stabbed across Kurama's mind in a fleeting moment. _Too much more of this and it won't be just her __**shadows **__that are out of control._

~!**!~

Shikiyoku tried to keep her thoughts steady on simply reaching the other side of the Ninth Level, but even with that distraction, her speed through the trees had slowly decreased, appearing to simply become more measured as if through a more dangerous stretch of branches.

Grinding her teeth together, Shikiyoku fought with her speed, increasing it once she noticed it had become lax.

That is, until she reached the edge of lands surrounding The Palace.

Shikiyoku looked as if she slammed headlong into a wall, her nose instantly bleeding, dropping out of the tree branch on which she'd planted a foot. Her body twisted easily in the air so that she landed with steady assurance on the forest floor, and then she shot off in the wrong direction at nearly twice the speed she had been going up until that point. 3

The fire demon had continued on without incident for a bit, and he'd almost begun to relax when he noticed her stride adjusting here and there, at which he simply adjusted his own speed to match so he would not catch up with the female.

And then she was completely stopping and turning tail again, moving _much _faster than before. His muscles struggled with the sudden stop and he quickly changed direction as well, this time moving throughout the treetops until he was again in front of her, where he dropped to the ground, plucked the female from her running position, and returned to the trees, moving as high up as the weaker branches would allow and setting her on her feet in front of him again, eyes narrowed at the sight of the blood running down her face.

"What's wrong with you, giving up? You're being pathetic."

~!**!~

AKari relaxed in her chair again after checking her shadow a second time, ensuring it had indeed ceased all motion for the time being. Satisfied, she slid down into a lounging position in her seat, arms crossed over her stomach still and head falling forward just slightly. Her eyes remained open, staring at her desk blankly as she checked her energy.

It didn't _feel _out of control…

"_That's because you're lacking in discipline, Akari."_

"_What he said, sweetheart."_

At the voices that intoned suddenly, she gave an audible groan, likely a little louder than she'd intended. _Can't you two find someone else to pick on? _

"_Of course not! You're simply too fun to mess with!"_

Sensui gave no reply other than leaning over her desk to peer at.. something or another.

"_Yo, Shinobu, care to-"_

"_None of your business."_

"_Not Shinobu. Another one. Which one are you?"_

"_Doesn't matter. You're losing it again. Where has your self discipline gone?"_

Akari's eyes opened and turned to look down again, but found nothing out of the norm. _What are you on about?_

"_It's getting away, sweetheart."_

Another sound of impatience as the demoness found the small, shapeless blob of darkness sliding along the sides of her desk, almost appearing to be a bug as it made its way to the floor and under several other desks before she called out to it. _That's quite enough out of you. _

"_Perhaps you're in need of another one of our _lessons_, Akari."_

_No thanks._

"_What she needs is-"_

"_No one asked you."_

_ENOUGH! __*****_

While Kurama could feel the fluctuation in demonic energy from where he sat, he could not actually see what was happening in front of him.

He recognized the signature to be Akari's, but at this vantage point he could not make out what exactly was going on.

Luckily it appeared her dancing shadow was still under control. But he felt his entire body tensing as if he were going to have to scoop her up and barge out of the room should things go too far south.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's head reeled, struggling to simply stand in place, but with enough sense in her mind at Hiei's abrupt interruption of her fleeing to come back to the present.

She knew she was looking at Hiei, but she wasn't seeing him.

Blood trickled farther down her nose and Shikiyoku reached up absently with a hand to wipe it away, staring at the red mess for a second before lowering her hand back down.

_Do __**not **__return!_

Shikiyoku's body shuddered violently at not moving away from her former homeland, and her eyes squeezed shut, coughing as blood caught in her throat and causing more to spill from her nose in the meantime.

"We should...keep moving." _Keep running! _Shikiyoku's eyes flickered in the direction they were meant to go, "It's...not much farther." 3

Hiei frowned at Shikiyoku, the sight and smell of her blood keeping him where he stood with his hands on her shoulders to keep her in place among the branches. One step this way or that and she would be falling much further than before.

Admittedly, the sight of her nose dripping blood at such a rate was an unsettling one, and of course he noticed the way she seemed to swallow around what he could only assume to be more of the crimson life essence.

"What's wrong with you?" His question was a bit more demanded than before as he raised a hand to wipe at the blood still spilling from her nose just as she had. This was definitely not of the norm.

~!**!~

Kyu sighed at Akari's impatient air, making the female turn her eyes up with a glare aimed specifically at him. He caught her glare and countered it with a smile of innocence that was defined even more so by the batting of his lashes.

"_After your school activities today, you will meet me in the gym. Understand?" _Akari's eyes shifted to Sensui, glare harsher than before, to when he reached forward and flicked her forehead. "_None of that. You know better." _His normal, fully colored appearance was even weirder when he stood next to the grayscale Kyu.

A defeated sigh left the demoness and she let her eyelids slide closed, the feeling of the shadow she'd been addressing before moving along her skin not even so much as bothering her. _Remain unseen, would ya? _The shadow gave a brief pause, the chill in the crook of her elbow making bumps rise on her arm before it continued moving up her arm and over her shoulder, coming to rest at the base of her neck as if created by the bun she'd put her hair into.

After a moment, she realized it had paused to contemplate Kurama, and she tugged at her energy again, telling it to stay still. And it did, despite the way it contemplated the male behind her. Her shoulders moved with another sigh. At least they listened when she addressed them. _*****_

Kurama had the distinct feeling of something staring at him, but with the aura of energy that had started to become more pronounced around Akari, he found himself distracted, glancing calmly around the rest of the room to see if any of the other students, or perhaps the teacher, had caught on to the aura yet.

Much more of this and even the dullest of human senses were going to be able to catch what was going on, and know that Akari was at the heart of it.

But what was he supposed to say to her?

The entire thing was still hanging over him as likely his fault anyway.

Short of knocking her out and removing her from the room himself, Kurama didn't think his options were all that open.

Unless…

~!**!~

Shikiyoku took a moment to process the question, eyes starting to glaze over again before she fought off the urge to knock Hiei's hands off of her and start running again.

In fact, it seemed him physically holding her in place was actually helping a little, as she had a pause where she could begin to overcome the compulsion without having to move forward.

She didn't notice it on a direct level, but 'overcoming the compulsion' was actually causing her to release more and more of her energy, her skin starting to prickle with power and her scalp tingling as her hair released more scent.

"I'm-" Her eyes had just started to take on that otherworldly glow when another pang of demand hit her stomach and she coughed again, the glow disappearing as this time she pulled up her hand and released the blood that had started to coat her throat into her palm.

While coughing, she moved her other hand up to Hiei's shoulder, as if physically holding onto him would both steady her as she coughed and somehow prevent her from dashing away. 3

Hiei continued to stare at Shikiyoku, eyes narrowing in thought slightly as she made an attempt to speak, but was unable to continue as her words were cut off by a cough. The smell of blood became stronger, making his features darken with a scowl etched in stone and wrinkles in his forehead that looked as if they'd always be there. When she had a hand on his shoulder, that's when he decided to try something else.

Because obviously _talking _was not a simple option anymore.

His hands moved to grab her face, guiding her eyes until he was staring directly into the emerald color, his Jagan completely awake and open by that point. His mind reached out and touched hers, brushing it gently at first before simply seeming to invade.

"_Look at me. Now." _The harsh words were nothing more than a whispered demand, said both aloud and telepathically. With the invasion of her mind, he was able to get a feel of what was going on, though it was only a vague impression on his part. "_Resist. We can leave as soon as this is over, and never return if that is what you wish."_

~!**!~

Silence seemed to fall around Akari for the moment, both Kyu and Sensui standing silently on either side of her desk with arms crossed and watchful gazes. The shadow at the base of her neck moved only slightly, as if intrigued, and again she tugged at her energy, pulling it inward just a little as if tightening a leash on a puppy. It stilled immediately once more, feeding her information of the person behind her.

Unwanted information, quite frankly.

_Enough, little one. Your interest does not suit my needs at this time. Keep it to yourself. _ Her energy pulsed again with the shadow's reply, and again she tugged at it. _No._

"_Better, but not much. Keep it up. Make su-"_

_No one asked for your instructions, Sensui. _

"_I think she's had enough."_

"_What you think means nothing to me."_

The sound Akari released was somewhere between a sigh and a growl, both sounds of irritation that meshed together to only end up stuck in her throat, almost like a cough that wouldn't leave. Her eyes suddenly focused on the room around her, and she realized there had been a lecture going on, the teacher standing in front of the room and gesturing to the chalkboard, though his words were entirely lost on her.

She wanted nothing more than to leave.

But at the moment, she realized it was not actually a possibility. At least, not a discrete one. _*****_

Kurama sat back in his seat, appearing to pay avid attention to the lecture going on in front of him, but glancing his eyes over to a potted plant in the corner of the classroom to get the vision of its location in his head.

Using a discrete amount of energy, he woke the plant up, talking to it with his demonic power and coaxing strength into its fragile limbs, and moving one such limb meticulously towards the fire alarm in place nearby, following the action with two or three more limbs until they were deftly curled about the mechanism.

As soon as he felt the plant able, testing the might of the alarm versus that of the plant, Kurama had the plant give a sharp downward tug, standing up almost in the same instant and grabbing for Akari's arm.

Immediately alarms blasted into the air, and Kurama was already moving for the door with Akari in tow.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes flickered timidly into Hiei's gaze, finding that she could not look away from his blood-red stare.

She felt something brush against her mind, and then suddenly he was there all at once, his warmth flooding into her head through the Jagan's power.

Her mind was in turmoil, two sides desperately fighting at one another-one to run, the other to keep going-but for the moment, neither winning.

It took everything in her power not to take off in either direction.

"_Don't move." _She managed to tell him, her breathing labored.

Shikiyoku finally became aware of her energy slowly building to fight off the compulsion and she let it go even further, actively releasing it in an attempt to climb higher than the compulsion that had been placed on her eons ago.

Without directly forming the words, Shikiyoku let images pass through her forethoughts in an attempt to explain to Hiei what was going on.

The attack on The Palace-the place they were traveling to now. Herself as nothing more than a toddler with just the strength to walk and talk on her own. Her mother holding her face just like Hiei was holding hers now in a room where the enemy had not invaded. They did not have much time before they would be discovered. Her mother's overwhelming power, the mesmer, the order. _Do __**not **__return. Stay away from __**everyone**__. _A hug, her mother shoving her into a secret passage, compulsion to flee set into place as Shikiyoku began stumbling through the darkness, urgency to _get __**out **_building up until she ran as fast as her tiny frame would allow, and upon breaking through the secret passage and out into Demon World, continuing to run as far as she could until she collapsed to the ground in some of the Northern-most reaches of the level in exhaustion. 3

Hiei hadn't planned on moving away from her, neither mentally nor physically. His hands remained on her cheeks, keeping her from moving away even if she wanted to, and his gaze stayed locked with hers. He didn't respond to anything she said, simply watching her eyes with a steady gaze.

And then images were flooding his mind, like a movie he'd seen sometime before now and was only recalling the most intense scenes. The small child running from who he could only guess to be her mother, who had _ordered _her to leave. The prospect had his brows raising in realization that their pasts were very, very similar in such a way.

The images faded and he was left staring at Shikiyoku again, his expression now neutral as he allowed his mental presence to seemingly consume her mind.

He would wait until all was well before even considering leaving her mind.

"_I hadn't known."_

~!**!~

Another sigh passed over the lips of Akari, taking the brief moment of silence from the pair in stride an-

Suddenly, an extremely loud and annoying sound was piercing the air, and she cringed at the volume of the sound. Within the next moment, she was pulled from her seat by the arm, stumbling once before gaining her balance and turning her eyes up to the male who pulled her along, out the door before any other students had gotten as far as they had.

She would have growled at him, but quite frankly, she herself felt relief at being pulled from the classroom. The circumstances, however, were confusing, and the hand Kurama had no control over reached up to cover an ear to ward off the worst sound in the world.

"What is that?"

"_Your saviour," _Kyu answered over the loud sound with a snicker. "_You're lucky Red pays attention and no one else does!" __*** **_

Releasing his energy on the plant after reverting it back to normal, Kurama continuing moving Akari out the classroom door and heading for the main doors of the building, managing to pass all of the other classrooms with his pace before they even had their doors open with faces starting to coming out into the hallway after him.

He felt Akari's willingness to go, and he himself had no small amount of relief at her not fighting against him, though his grip had not been meant as forceful.

His ears picking up her question, Kurama didn't bother glancing down at her as they kept going.

"Fire alarm." He said simply, knowing any further explanation might be heard and questioned by unwanted attention.

As soon as they made it out into the sunshine and safely down the steps of the school to the ground, Kurama gently let Akari go to stand on her own two feet, a moment of confliction passing over his face.

"I'm sorry." He meant it for more than just the abrupt exit, as he now took notice of her sleep-deprived features and mentally berated himself for them, chalking each detail up as his own damn fault.

~!**!~

As Hiei overtook her thoughts, making the last emotions of the images passing through her mind's eye-ones of urgency to flee, core-pulsing and pounding energy through her veins as she ran desperately for her very life-fade with his enveloping warmth, Shikiyoku felt her eyes closing in relief and she simultaneously leaned forward until her forehead rested against his, just below the Jagan, and reached up to wrap the fingers of both hands around his wrists.

She sat there, doing nothing but breathing heavily and living inside his presence in her head, feeling his warm hands against her cheeks, and let her energy spiral more in the air around them, building up a visible resistance to the internal fight to flee from the lands to which she had come so dangerously close. 3

Hiei's own eyes slid closed as several thoughts occurred to him at once, at first not seeming to notice the new form of contact being induced. In his mind, behind a wall that Shikiyoku could not pierce, he realized that the amount of power one had to have to create an order strong enough to last _this _long, and remain strong enough to create such a struggle within one's mind…

He couldn't even begin to comprehend the amount of power Shikiyoku's mother coveted. It was obvious that she was at least an upper A class at the time, due to the fact that the fight Shikiyoku was putting up at that exact moment was causing such turmoil, both in her mental state and her physical state.

Next, he realized how much power Shikiyoku herself had the capability of having. If her mother could do that, then what could _Shikiyoku_ do? It was likely that she could do just as much, if not _more_.

And again, he found such a thought difficult to wrap his mind around.

Why would _anyone_ with such power at such a great amount refer to themselves as _useless_? The displeasure he felt at the prospect had his eyes opening again, looking into the face of the female whose head touched his own gently. He realized they had been standing like this for a bit, but he felt no desire to pull away.

And suddenly, Hiei found himself unable to veil his own thoughts, his own emotions over the matter. His awe at such an amount of power, his conflicted emotions over the way she called herself _useless_ of all things.

~!**!~

Akari made no further sound to Kurama as he lead her out the doors, pulling her arm away just as he released his hold on her. The sun that bared down on her felt harsh, making her eyes sting and her head ring with the sound she could still hear from the building she now stood outside.

"_Pathetic."_

"_You need to be nicer to her, Shinobu."_

"_What she needs is not kindness."_

Akari tried to ignore the pair that seemed to enjoy bickering with one another, taking turns berating her while the other seemed to defend her. It was unsettling, really, but she held no capacity to deal with it at the moment. _Could you guys shut up for _two _whole minutes?_

Silence ensued, making the female realize Kurama had spoken. _Wait, what did he say?_

"_He apologized, sweetheart." _Kyu answered as he slid into her view, hands on his hips as he leaned forward, smirking at her. "_You're losing it."_

She scowled at the male and waved a hand in front of her face impatiently, trying to ignore him to the best of her abilities. "Quite frankly, I was searching for an exit myself. I had actually contemplated jumping out the window, but it was simply too obvious."

"_Not what he's referring to."_

The impatient sound she made this time left her lips as a groan, her glare intensifying at Kyu once the sound passed. _*** **_

Kurama watched Akari carefully as they stood there, hearing behind them that the other students would soon be outside.

"Akari...how long have you been without sleep?" He would reserved judgements on her behavior, such as the way she glared at him and made him feel worse, until he had an answer.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's energy steadily filled the air, coming off of her in gentle waves of power that caressed both her and Hiei as they stood unmoving.

For a long time, it was all she could do to actively let her power go, feeling as it strengthened the impulse to turn and run lessening in return.

Becoming aware of Hiei's emotions, Shikiyoku felt herself flush with embarrassment at his suddenly revealing how much admiration he held for her power.

"_I'm just __**old**__." _She countered, sounding flustered and equating 'old' and age with power accumulated over time. "_And I have no purpose. No reason to live." _She replied, unsure how to approach the 'useless' subject and flushing slightly more at remembering the night before and the feeling of inadequacy she had gotten for dancing such a foolish dance and receiving no answer. 3

Hiei didn't react to her words the way she must had assumed he would. Instead of scowling at her like he normally would, he merely made a small sound of disagreement, resisting the urge to shake his head and instead sending the impression of such a motion through his Jagan for her to feel.

"_No demon who can bring full tribes together is useless by any means."_

He went silent again, making another attempt to veil his own thoughts, but being unsuccessful in doing so. He felt as if it were almost entirely impossible to do such a thing at this point in time, which was a little unsettling, but otherwise nothing more than a slight inconvenience.

It wasn't like he had anything to hide after all. *

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	51. Episode 136 - Revelations Once More

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!

As I mentioned in the last chapter, the scene that continues first here with Shikiyoku/Hiei is one of my favorite among the earlier part of the series.

I'm trying to decide if the number of chapter might be overwhelming to a newcomer and if I should at some point in the near future start a new story (like a Part Two sort of thing) and make this like a series... Feel free to chime in with thoughts if you have any in that regard!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

As Shikiyoku and Hiei head for The Palace,  
Shikiyoku feels more strongly the compulsion placed up on her by her mother,  
when she was barely a toddler, to flee the lands and never return.  
Apparently the mesmer has lasted up to this day,  
and it continues to interfere with the pair's progress  
right up to the point where she appears to slam headlong into an invisible wall,  
which sets her nose bleeding, and then begins running in the opposite direction.

At that point, Hiei catches her and hops high up into a nearby tree,  
keeping a solid grip on her and demanding to know the problem.  
They begin converse via telepathy and the Jagan  
as Shikiyoku's speech is being hindered by her bleeding.

It is then that Hiei learns about the story behind Shikiyoku leaving her homeland,  
finding that their pasts were more similar than he might have imagined.  
It is at that point Hiei finally reveals his dissatisfaction for her continually referring to herself as useless,  
arguing that a demon with the ability to bind entire tribes together can be nothing but the opposite.

~!**!~

Akari questioned Foko about what might have happened between the two of them  
had Akari taken Otento up on his offer and joined the rebellion. He admits he doesn't know.

Akari goes to school the next day and receives her homework,  
which she works on that night until the next day.  
She is beginning to lose control of her shadow powers,  
and it's only by the interference of Kurama-  
who has a plant pull on the fire alarm so he can drag Akari out of the school-  
that no one else notices.  
After they get outside, Kurama questions her on how long she's been without sleep.

* * *

Akari's attention was pulled away from Kyu for the moment, and though she couldn't actually _see _Kurama behind the first, she focused on his question. Her brow raised slightly and her eyes turned to the sky as she began calculating just how long she'd gone without sleep.

_Well, there was the day with Foko, and the day after… That's 36… Plus yesterday… uh… fifty? Is that right? _A frown pulled her lips down slightly. _Plus now…. _

She finally gave up and shrugged, earning a peel of laughter from Kyu who promptly skirted away from her glare, shuffling to the side to stand near Sensui, whose expression was not very impressed with the situation. "_Forty eight hours plus the twelve of the day before. Sixty. Plus the three hours since the sun's risen. Sixty-three hours without sleep, as of this moment."_

Akari turned her eyes to Kurama finally with another shrug. "Sixty-three hours." She answered in a tone of mild annoyance. "Not something I haven't done before, though it's a bit different this time…"

"_Yeah, you have both of us here to keep you company Sweetheart!"_

"_Though his company is unwanted."_

_Both of your companies are unwanted._

"_Harsh." _*****

That explained...a lot.

Kurama heard the doors of the school start to open behind him and started to move towards the gates of the schoolyard, murmuring to Akari as he passed.

"If you don't want others to notice the-" He had been planning on saying something about her appearance, but quickly inserted another option, "Aura of power that you have going on around you, you might want to step away."

He did not feel like he was in a place to order her to go home and take rest, though if he had _his _way, that was exactly what he would do, and likely carry her there himself just to make sure the order was followed.

Hearing the girls of the school begin to talk excitedly about him, and knowing they would probably take the opportunity to mob him in the meantime, Kurama picked up his pace in an attempt to make it perfectly clear that he wished to be away from them, and went ahead and ducked out of the gates to the school, leaning up against the wall on the outside where he would be out of sight.

~!**!~

In her mind, the dance-the ritual, really-was not a tool used to bring tribes together. It had been born out of a sort of necessity, a product of her first Champion's genius-a term used begrudgingly at the thought of the cruel male, but no less truthful-in energy manipulation and fashioned by her, so that she might _live_. Be given food and drink and a place to lay her head at night, which was all her first Champion desired. A creation formed with a purpose, at the demand and tutelage of another, but not directly with the end result of binding in mind.

All of this Shikiyoku could feel Hiei picking up from her forethoughts, and she found herself spiraling in another direction with a sudden tension accompanied by more embarrassment with the admission.

In the end, the dance had held another purpose entirely, besides what had been ordered into place, out of the awareness of her first Champion-Shikiyoku desperately tried to turn her thoughts elsewhere-and became a source of solace in which she could secretly commune with those who held no hostility or malice or ulterior motives towards her, since she was all but neglected by the first Champion and his jealousness that kept her away from any other. And when the dance did not work, did not bring her together with one such as what she sought, it left her feeling _useless_, for the dance would then be useless to her, left her feeling as if it was _her _fault for not having danced well enough to bring to her someone to even simply _talk _to. 3

Hiei paid very close attention to the impressions he found being passed to himself, his mind grasping at each and every emotion that seemed to pass by her mind's eye. The images of her dancing, and then talking with another afterwards, made him realized he'd missed the actual point of what Shubou had been talking about. Shikiyoku had not been searching for a _lover_, as he'd assumed from the name of the dance, but for a _companion_. A source of… company, a source of comfort and consolation.

And suddenly, he was very, _very _aware of her hands on his wrists, of the place where her forehead touched his, just missing the open Jagan that stared at her and continued to send him images. Images he didn't pay any mind to at the moment.

At the realization of the meaning behind the ritualistic dance Shikiyoku had created, the realization of his own presence following the dance came with it. Had that been why he'd been so drawn to her? Why he had considered joining in the dance?

After a moment, Hiei's mind simply took to doing whatever it pleased, the Jagan taking over and copying the feeling of her hands on his wrist sending warmth over his skin and taking that impression, sending it to the one who had earned its attention.

The Jagan made sure that she could feel what he felt, as if she were in his stead and looking down at her. The calm serenity from her fingers around his wrist, the warmth of her forehead just touching his.

And then the image that Hiei had ignored.

The image of her energy reaching out to him, followed by the image of Hiei following her through the crowd, ignoring each and every demon who had called to him without his notice.

And with those images, the bond seemed to hum within their contact, singing almost with joy at the revelation.

~!**!~

This time when Akari's eyes turned cold and her lips turned down into a scowl, it was intentionally aimed at Kurama as he passed by. His words reminded her of Nabu nagging at her, constantly reminding her that she hadn't slept and that he felt she needed to do so.

But she didn't move towards him until he had disappeared behind the wall, at which point her irritation had turned to mild anger. _You have no right. Not you too. _Akari turned, ignoring the chatter of the students behind her, and followed the trail Kurama had made, passing through the gates and turning, passing by him on her way to….

Anywhere but here.

She paused in front of him, cutting her eyes at him from the corners and scowling at him. "I don't need your insight, fox."

With that, she turned resumed her steps and continued on, hands brushing at her skirt as she remembered she had no pockets.

And she held no bag.

She didn't even pause to consider going back for the object. At the moment, it meant nothing to her. It would be there tomorrow, should she decide to give this another attempt.

In the meantime, she'd go find a spot where she could simply _sit _and do _absolutely nothing. __*****_

Kurama flinched visibly after she kept walking, eyes casting down towards the ground.

Rationally, of course, she _did_. Since she appeared to have no sense about how much she radiated her power from her body. He wondered at the hallucinations she _must _have been having by this time, and how her illusory powers would mix in and make them seem that much more real.

He immediately pushed himself off the wall and took to following her, not particularly caring if she noticed, though she was far enough away at this point that he couldn't be sure.

He was not about to let her go wandering the streets of the city with _that _much power at her disposal while in a sleepless daze.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gasped, a small sound that would have gone unnoticed had their minds not been so closely intertwined with one another, for the emotion that accompanied the sharp intake of breath and her eyes flying open rang clearly in her head.

Her mind's vision doubled for a moment, becoming both herself standing in Hiei's strength as well as the demon himself who radiated that strength, feeling her hands at his wrists, but also the wrists themselves, and the absolute calm that the gesture held.

The dance hadn't been _useless_. What she _needed_, what she _desired_ with every fiber of her existence was standing before her in the form of a fiery demon. In the form of her Champion.

A blip of thought, which went unnoticed, maintained her viewpoint of still feeling useless as a general rule, but the overwhelming astonishment at having found something she had long searched for being in front of her the whole time completely undermined the momentary uselessness.

And at the understanding, in a welling up of relief and surprise and other emotions she had no name for in that moment, a small breath of laughter escaped her lips as she closed her eyes again. 3

Hiei's own mind had finally clasped onto the understanding of what the Jagan had been sending to Shikiyoku, and after a moment, his eyes slid closed again to take in the images it had lifted from his own mind, watching them as well from its odd viewpoint. It was as if he were watching from another's perspective at that moment, and it was the oddest thing he'd experienced as of yet.

And then the images faded, leaving Hiei with Shikiyoku's overwhelming emotions that left him simply…. existing within her mind, not saying anything and making no reaction whatsoever, observing silently even as she chuckled.

And after a moment, he remembered the reason he'd established this contact, and he searched her mind for a moment, looking for the power she had been fighting off curiously.

Was it still there..?

~!**!~

As she slinked her way along the sidewalk, Akari considered going home, meeting with Nabu and-

_No._ She wouldn't do that. Not after this morning, when he'd hid under the blankets from her. Plus, he'd simply continue on as he had for the past two days, reminding her with almost every waking moment that she hadn't slept a wink and that he wanted her to stay _inside _the dusty home and have _nightmares. _

The thought had a chill running up her spine.

Again her hands searched for pockets, and again she found none and gave a very loud sound of impatience.

"_The park is quiet around this time." _Kyu suddenly piped, voicing a thought that had passed fleetingly at the forefront of her mind.

"_As is the gym." _Sensui quipped.

Akari ignored the both of them, moving silently until she was inside the park gates of her favorite place, pausing only briefly to rub at her temples. Which way was it again?

Her feet finally continued moving, without her direction this time, and she found that her pace was much, much slower than normal, even as she released a yawn.

"_...much less aware of your surroundings now, aren't ya?"_

This voice was unfamiliar at first, but the words were not. She didn't turn to look behind her, figuring whoever it was would simply leave her be if she ignored them enough, as Kyu and Sensui seemed to do.

"_It's only been, what, three days? You can't be getting weaker now. There's still much I have planned for you."_

This time, the chill that raced up her spine was one of recognition, but her mind and body continued moving forward, ignoring the newcomer anyway. It wasn't as if she were _there. _He was simply a part of her overactive imagination, a product of her sleepless nights and exhausted mind. She knew that.

But when she blinked and then rubbed her eyes, she _felt _the change this time. As if she were dropping into one of her own illusions, except…

Less controlled.

And the scene she dropped into was just as colorless as Kyu, telling her instantly she was engulfed in another memory.

"_There you go. Now you're responding as you should be. Keep that up and you may get a gold star of achievement." The snicker that filled the room was one of dark amusement that had her stomach rolling, coiling up and threatening getting sick. But it wouldn't have mattered. Her stomach was empty anyway._

~!**!~

His nose touched the ground as he walked, tail drooping as well as his ears to create a reluctant air of worry. Akari had left this morning despite his protest, had even been harsh in shooting down his concern, leaving without even saying her normal goodbye. He'd pouted for a bit before Nabu had decided to follow after her.

He'd followed her trail up to the school, noted that students were filing back into the large building before he turned away and backtracked, this time taking the only route he had a feeling she'd take around this time.

Except, he managed a shortcut.

Nabu ran along the concrete, between buildings and around pedestrians along the sidewalks as he made his way towards Akari's favorite spot, the place he knew she would go for peace and quiet. But she wasn't there.

His nose lifted higher into the air, sniffing momentarily until he _did _find traces of her scent on the wind, to which he followed until he was walking up to the female, who stood stock still in the middle of the play area, no other person in sight. "_Akari!" _he barked once, confused by her glazed-over eyes and withdrawn expression. When she gave no response, he barked her name out again, louder this time.

And then he was scurrying out of the way, tail tucked and ears down as she simply _fell_. There was no other way for him to describe it, really. He stared at her still frame for a minute, nose twitching as he sniffed at the air, not paying any mind to the moving shadows around her and the feeling of being watched.

"_...'kari?"_

And then she was throwing an arm at him, barely missing his head as he ducked out of the way of the strike. A growl escaped her, a sound of desperation, he knew. He whined once at her, earning a forceful command of him to leave, her tone demanding and tone low.

And then the dog was moving, turning tail and deciding he'd go find the one person he felt could fix this.

_Flowers. __*****_

Kurama let Akari get more of a lead on him, finally deciding that he really didn't wish for her to know he was there should she happen to turn back.

So he stalled for a moment or two along one of the sidewalk vendors, feeling his stomach give a lively churn at the smell of the food that wafted from their wares.

He exchanged currency for a meal and then took to following after Akari's trail while he ate, lazily keeping track of the energy signature he could read somewhere up in front of him, making sure that it did not grow any stronger as he tailed her.

~!**!~

At the release of her chuckle, so to did Shikiyoku's energy release in a silent eruption around her, rolling off of her skin whose prickling she felt singing excitedly inside her mind, and wafting through her hair which shimmered and gleamed in the waves of power as it also tingled at her scalp.

Like when she had stood in the clearing trying to break through Toriko's wall to free her true form, the energy swirled up into the air, but unlike that time, it appeared to come from both her and Hiei, including him in the eye of the storm of intensity.

The compulsion set in place by her own mother had become only a whisper by that time, and this sudden burst of demonic energy shattered through the spell that had unknowingly cursed Shikiyoku throughout her entire existence, beckoning in that moment she had only wondered about before: that moment where she had finally surpassed her mother's strength.

Humming about her from head to toe, still pulsing into the air around them, the energy thrilled through her and Shikiyoku tilted her head up just enough, still keeping her forehead in contact with Hiei, to let the tip of her nose nudge gently, affectionately, against the Champion's.

"_Thank you." _For many things. But mostly for simply _being _there. Standing with her and lending her his strength. For his touch, which sent more sparks of power from her body. Her gratitude, her joy, was almost palatable in her mind, aiming appreciation not only so that Hiei might feel the depth of it which sprang from her very soul, but also at the Jagan and the role it had played in that moment.

The two words she spoke into his head did not seem to do the feeling justice. 3

As if in response to her influx of power, the sudden rush of his own energy sent Hiei's mind reeling, his skin crawling and his body seeming to hum with the amount of power that not only surged from himself, but from the one whose face he still held between his hands. His energy was released in a way that could only be described as an explosion, except, for once, his energy was not destroying things. In fact, he felt as if the warmth that radiated around them had nothing to do with flame or anger, as his energy was normally associated, but with…

Happiness?

Relief, in the very least, as he felt the snap of Shikiyoku's energy against the hold that had been placed on her consciousness. And the emotions he felt, the extreme amount of gratitude that was being directed at himself seemed to fuel his own energy into flying higher in the air, creating a dance around hers in swirls and streams.

The absolute feeling of his energy being _free_, and not _destroying _things…

It was a feeling unlike any other, and he felt his awe slipping underneath the tide of emotions Shikiyoku was sending, and for once, the unknown contact that she issued was not exactly something he found himself uncomfortable with. In fact, he rather… enjoyed it in the moment.

And he just _couldn't_ find any words to respond to her with.

~!**!~

Nabu ran, nose up in the air and taking in large puffs of the wind that blew by. For a single moment, he paused, turning in circles around and around on the street corner, eyes searching the moving crowd of people on errands or whatever it was they were up to.

He made a small sound in his throat before turning and tearing off again, this time in the direction of the school again.

It wasn't long before he found the scent he needed. His claws made pitter-pattering sounds on the concrete aa he lowered his head, no longer needed to follow a trail as he'd figured the male was heading this way. It was such a convenient thing that he almost thought he'd end up running into the _wrong _Flowers.

But when the male came into sight, Nabu let loose a bark that called out his name, not even slowing until he had to skid to a stop at the other's feet, at which point he began jumping, planting his front paws on the shins of Flowers before dropping to the ground and doing frantic circles, knowing that if he just got the male's attention… _*****_

Kurama lifted his head from the food he'd been enjoying, continuing his slow meander in the direction Akari, when he heard a bark whose timbre rang familiarly in his ear, and suddenly Nabu had jumped on his legs, turning around and around as if chasing his own tail.

"Nabu-" Kurama started, opening with the intention of greeting the dog warmly, but his eyes shot in the direction that Akari had disappeared in, and without another word, he took off running, sensing the concern in the dog's presence.

He had not felt an immediate change in Akari's energy, but that didn't mean something else hadn't happened, and he dashed through the park, letting his demonic senses lead him to her.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's breath had steadied, her nose no longer dripping blood, and she finally opened her eyes, looking into Hiei's face and finding that she wore a small smile on her lips.

With their minds so closely linked, there was nothing at the forefront of her thoughts that she could keep to herself, though she did try to reign in her happiness, which she realized was likely overwhelming to _anyone _but her.

It didn't change the fact that it was still there, and the portion of the pact that she had access to thrummed in time with the one she could feel within Hiei, making her release another quiet chuckle as she watched his face. 3

Hiei felt the Jagan pulse with energy of its own once, twice, three times before it seemed to have had enough of this for one day, and after a few moments, the third eyes was closed, lost in slumber and leaving Hiei with his mind now linked to hers by his own power, seeming to quiet the amount of energy he felt from Shikiyoku and the amount of cheer that he could sense within his own mind. Her near-silent laughter had him pulling away after a moment, realizing that he hadn't moved a single inch since having grabbed at her cheeks.

His arms dropped to his sides and his eyes suddenly cast downward, to the ground that was at least thirty feet down. He made a small sound of amusement. How had he forgotten how high up they were?

"One step this way or that, and we would have been falling to our deaths."

Of course, this was not true, as the fire demon knew both of them had instincts quick enough to stop their fall.

Now that his mind had receded from hers just enough to veil their thoughts from one another, he almost felt as if his mind were _too _empty.

~!**!~

As soon as Flowers was moving in the direction Nabu had come from, the dog stopped his frantic circle-making and he stood, staring after the male as he panted, fighting to catch his breath for a moment. At least this one was smart enough to understand. Had it been someone like Loudmouth or Stripes, he wasn't sure he would have been able to make them understand without _biting _at their ankles and then dashing away.

After that brief thought and a moment to catch his breath, Nabu shot off again, following after Kurama. He didn't feel as if leading him right to her were necessary, so by the time he reached the park, he was merely trotting, deciding that he'd stay out of the male's way and watch from-

Screw it. He'd be as close as the other would allow.

~!**!~

_The floor underneath her cheek was cold, despite the fact that she'd been laying in the same position for a very, very long time. Her eyes were squeezed shut, making tears fall as she struggled to keep her breathing steady, only succeeding in keeping her breaths short, labored, and pretty much useless. Her lungs burned, her head hurt, but in the end, it was nothing compared to the painful fact that she couldn't get away._

_A single calloused hand continued to toy with her hair, a normal ritual for this time of day that left her, normally, so angry that she'd growl or even struggle. But now…._

_There was no use in it._

"_That's right. You're no longer the alpha, now are you?"_

_Her breath hitched, and for a moment that stretched longer than normal, she didn't breathe again. The chuckle she'd come to loathe sounded again, and instead of invoking anger in her, this time it invoked fear that intensified as the male shifted his weight, leaning forward and running his hand over her bare shoulder, tracing wounds that were scarring over. _

"_Without the ears and tail, you're actually attractive." _*****

Kurama immediately dropped to his knees next to Akari's fallen body and watched her energy rolling off of her body, knowing she could not be dead for he could still hear her core beating.

"Akari, I don't know if you're still awake, but I'm going to turn you over." Having her face in the dirt surely wasn't comfortable, and he wouldn't be able to administer anything with her eyes, nose, and mouth stuck in the ground.

Kurama reached out to turn her over towards him.

~!**!~

As soon as Hiei had pulled away, both physically and mentally, Shikiyoku started trying to wipe away at the dried blood that had crusted just beneath her nose, unsuccessfully attempting to rid her face of the stuff, and licking her lips a little, tasting a strong iron flavor that meant the blood had dripped down farther than she realized.

Shikiyoku let her own gaze flicker to the ground and smiled a little at Hiei's comment, knowing that neither one of them would have simply let the other fall.

She kept her gaze turned downwards as if she could see where the blood was she was trying to remove still remained.

Even with only half a pact to work with, Shikiyoku could still feel the echoes of the moment they had shared earlier resounding within her mind, for it was not a moment she would soon forget.

For her at least-she could not speak for Toriko-it would remain forever etched in her mind: the first moment she and Hiei had been on the same page, carried the same desire, the same purpose. It was those moments which she as the Ward strived for, fulfilling whatever it was her Champion desired. Like a drug, she was addicted to that feeling, but she also wished it for more innocent reasons as well, because the truth of the matter was she wanted nothing more than for her Champion to be happy. 3

Hiei stood there, staring at the ground for a moment in thought, though not _many_ thoughts crossed his mind at the moment other than the fact that he still felt as if his own energy was intertwined with Shikiyoku's. He could see his own energy blending with hers, creating an odd glow that could only be seen by the keenest of gazes, and even then it was nothing more than a slight distortion of color in the air.

He was rather impressed with the discreetness of such a combination, finding that it could likely be something that could later prove to be very, very useful. Perhaps in a stickier situation he'd remember this.

Assuming they could duplicate what had just happened quick enough to make a difference.

He turned his eyes up to Shikiyoku now, a smirk just gracing his features for a moment. "I suppose we should continue on, get this over with."

And with that, he began dropping from branch to branch, making his way to the ground.

~!**!~

Nabu trotted up to where Kurama was kneeling beside his best friend, coming to a stop beside the male's knee and watching his hands move Akari, who, at the moment, seemed completely unresponsive. His ears lay flat on his head and he glanced over at Kurama, taking a step closer to the thigh of the other as he craned his neck towards Akari, sniffing at the air around her. "_Akari?" _he whined out, earning no response either.

And again he turned his head to look up at Kurama, saying nothing to the male but silently begging for him to help.

And then he was ducking behind the male as Akari's body suddenly came alive with movement, hands reaching out and pushing Kurama's hands away and proceeding to form fists that flew almost at random.

~!**!~

_Akari made as if she weren't even alive, her breathing nonexistent in the moment as she ceased all movements at the touch of now two hands at both shoulders, pulling her not only closer to the male on her right, but over onto her side. Still, she didn't react, not even when her bare skin peeled painfully from the surface it had stuck to._

"_Another chuckle rang in the still air, and this time her fear drove her to at least attempt fighting again, despite her six other attempts that had all ended in the same way. It was instinct, and those instincts weren't so easily squashed. _

_She balled her hands into fists, swiping her arms at the hold on her shoulders and proceeding to strike from where she lay, earning a grunt or two from the male as her hands struck the bare abdomen of the other. A snarl left her lips, and she was pressing her feet to his knees and kicking him away from herself, her arms taking to covering herself as she scooted across the tiled floor on her back now. "You will not touch me!" _*****

"Akari-" Kurama blocked the fists that searched for him, deflecting them away.

She was most definitely asleep. And not only asleep, but likely trapped in her own illusory dreams.

He could only guess at what those dreams consisted of, but even what little he knew of her past sent him frowning at the prospects.

She would probably continue fighting against any effort he made should he continue in this manner.

As Kurama quickly filtered through what he considered his options, searching for the one that would bring the fastest result, he felt a little sigh escape from his chest.

This was not going to be pretty.

"Akari…" He grimaced, but placed a hand on the grass beside him and started feeding his energy into the ground, "I'm so sorry."

The grass burst upwards in between them, strategically encircling Akari at her ankles and wrists, reaching up and pulling her until she lay flat on the ground, and then acting as restraints to keep her in place.

Kurama's face had grown dark at the sight, knowing that he would only feed her visions with such an action, but also strongly feeling as if this would be the fastest way to rid her of those visions.

As the grass settled, another quick burst of growth shot up from the earth near her head, covering her entire neck and the lower part of her face, leaving her nose free to breath, and becoming only tight enough that she would not be able to move. Kurama did not wish to become bit for his efforts as he reached with his free hand into his back pocket and pulled out the sleep-inducing, dreamless remedy that he nostalgically recalled the two of them talking about at a time when he did not think he would be using such a concoction in _this _way.

The dirty-white crystal was brought up to Akari's nose and Kurama rubbed at it between his fingers, releasing its scent into the air and simply...waiting.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku followed after Hiei, taking off once again for The Palace as soon as her feet touched the forest floor, her core soaring as she felt no resistance with the thought or the direction coming from within her own body.

Her energy still licked off of her skin into the air around her as she ran, creating this streamlined effect that echoed her direction, and she saw no reason to contain the power, her eyes glowing excitedly as they closed the last bit of distance between them and The Palace itself, the miles going past in mere minutes for the pair.

As they broke out of the treeline, the building suddenly loomed in front of them, towering high into the sky in red marbled slab, truly a gorgeous palace to behold.

There was no sign of life coming from the castle, no guards or servants scurrying around. And there were no walls either, the entrance just a long and wide series of smooth, marbled red steps leading up to the doors, starting roughly half a mile out.

Shikiyoku came to a sudden stop about a third of the way up, seeing a demon come into view heading down in their direction.

The other demon appeared to have spotted them as well, her pace slowing until she stood twenty or thirty steps away from them.

This female had spiky orange hair, short, sticking out from the top of her head, and her expression looked as if it were stuck in a permanent frown, her steel-grey eyes staring at the pair angrily as if she did so all the time. Her clothing was fairly nondescript except for a thin silver circlet that she wore on her head.

"I take it you are the ones responsible for the disturbance on our lands?" She called, her tone matching the angry look in her eyes.

"We weren't on _your _lands." Shikiyoku clarified. "Not when we did _that_."

Her energy still filled the air around her and she took a languid step in the other demon's direction, moving up two or three stairs to close the distance between them with her hips swaying, her eyes glowing coyly.

"Tell me, gorgeous: where can we find Gekijou?" Shikiyoku's eyes pulsed once with a mesmerizing gaze, catching the other demon's stare and not letting her look away.

The other demon seemed fairly bored with the question, raising a single orange eyebrow.

"Are you paying more than the other guy?" The demon responded.

Shikiyoku did not flinch, but took another couple of steps closer, "I assume that means you are she?"

"Or are you just a messenger of his?"

Shikiyoku moved the tendrils her energy forward to start encircling the demon, though as soon as they got within reach, Gekijou batted them away absently without taking her eyes away from Shikiyoku, and to Shikiyoku's surprise, the energy responded to the gesture, moving to the side as if actually hit.

"You do not wish to try my patience." Gekijou spoke up again. "I thought he said he needed my brother and I because he could not get you to comply with his wishes."

Over fifteen years was a long time since the last Shikiyoku had interrogated anyone, and she was usually close enough to them to touch them, which played into how responsive they would be. She did not think this demon was going to let her approach any closer for now so she let out another pulse of energy and made sure it went far enough to brush through Gekijou before fading.

"He told you about me, then." Shikiyoku's voice grew huskier as her energy wafted into the air, her smile luscious.

"Naturally." Gekijou responded without hesitation. "Though your attempts at interrogation also give you away, demon of desire." Her eyes flicked over to acknowledge Hiei's presence for the first time since his and Shikiyoku's approach before returning to Shikiyoku. "That must be your Consort. It would explain the energies I felt mingling all the way in there." She jerked her head back towards the palace behind her.

Shikiyoku blinked at the incorrect title Gekijou gave Hiei, a small frown drawing the edges of her brows together. She sent another pulse of energy outwards.

"What exactly does Otento need you for?"

The tendrils of power had woven themselves around Gekijou during her speech, and Shikiyoku made sure the two of them had locked gazes.

"Same thing he needed you for." The reply came readily enough, as if she were still not affected by the power and answered of her own free will. "Though obviously you were too useless for him. Otherwise he wouldn't have called on my brother and I."

Shikiyoku felt a pang of anger shoot across her mind, vaguely aware that the emotion had not directly come from within her.

This time Gekijou took the step forward, coming down two or three steps closer.

"Ah, a reaction, I see. I must have hit a nerve." Her eyes smiled cruelly, but the emotion did not reach her frown. "How _exactly _can one be so useless when they have a Consort?"

"He is a Champion." Shikiyoku spat, "Not whatever you keep calling him."

Gekijou's eyebrows rose, "Only a _Champion_?" She shifted her gaze to Hiei, "Well, no wonder Otento could not use you. You still have to have a Champion. How cute."

Shikiyoku could feel the anger within her begin to simmer the longer Gekijou talked.

"Perhaps one day when you're less _useless _yourself, you'll find yourself a companion who is worthwhile." 3

Hiei had pulled up short so that he was standing about a foot behind Shikiyoku, expression its normal, neutral by the time he'd been able to see the palace that jutted out into the air, almost the same exact color as its surroundings were it not for the shine of the siding and windows. For a moment, he took to memorizing the details of the building, eyes taking in every inch he could see before turning to the patron on the steps that Shikiyoku had taken to addressing.

He spoke no words, brought no attention to himself for the time being, instead deciding to watch rather than take over. It wasn't his place anyway, and _his _form of interrogation would not work here. At least, he assumed it wouldn't, as it appeared that the other demon was completely unphased by Shikiyoku's energy that poked and prodded at the air around her.

His hands slid into his pockets after a moment, ruby eyes trained on the unfamiliar demon that Shikiyoku had confirmed to be the one they'd been sent after. He watched the features of the demoness, seemingly unimpressed by her ability to wave away Shikiyoku's prodding and continue on.

As soon as grey eyes met crimson ones, the fire demon began assessing her expression, taking in everything in stride, mind recalling that Koenma had said Otento had wanted her as a replacement for Shikiyoku.

The fire demon stared unblinkingly at Gekijou even as she turned away from him, eyes immediately taking to searching for clues as to what he needed to guard against. And, oddly, he became aware of a dull thud in his mind. He turned inward for a moment, assessing the bond that seemed to throb here and there, as if being poked in the wrong way.

By the time he refocused on the conversation at hand, Shikiyoku had spoken up with defensive words.

It couldn't have been more obvious at this point, and the fire demon blinked once more at the pair, considering his options while simultaneously checking his mental guards. He would have spoken up by now, but he knew that one slip of the tongue could bring the attentions onto himself, meaning he'd be poked and prodded.

And he wasn't sure how strong this one was.

"_Caution, Shikiyoku."_

~!**!~

_Akari hadn't gotten very far before the male was towering over her, on his feet in a movement that almost couldn't be considered humane as he reached down and pulled her back to where she'd been laying before, promptly dropping so that he straddled her waist, his large hands quickly making grab for her wrists and roughly pressing them to the floor. She wriggled about underneath him for a few moments longer, snarling weakly._

"_You know how this ends. Might as well give in and lay down like a good dog."_

_The words cut across her mind like a blade to skin, and while she struggled just a little longer, her snarls dying away into whimpers, the feeling of his breath on her neck was enough to send her to tears that begged for mercy. Her lips parted and released a small sob as her muscles simply went lax, one of his hands moving from her wrist to cover her mouth and stifle the sound._

_And she simply gave up, eyes staring at the dark ceiling overhead as another, very quiet, very gruff chuckle echoed in the dark, quiet room._

_**I just want it to end. **_

_She was giving up. No use fighting a battle she'd never win._

~!**!~

Nabu had slowly re-emerged from behind Flowers , leaning around the male's hip to peer at Akari, whose muscles went so still that he thought maybe the problem had been solved within a few short minutes. He slowly moved out from behind the back of the male he'd lead here, taking cautious steps to Akari and sniffing at the bindings that held her to the ground, eyes watching the crystal that Flowers held beneath her nose.

Just has he had the first time.

His ears perked up just a little and he turned to the person beside him, silently thanking the other before turning back to his best friend, who suddenly released a sound of distress that made his body go still, his ears going flat again as he crept closer, nose sticking to her face as he sniffed at the rivers that had begun to fall down her cheeks.

_She's never cried before._

He released a whine and slowly lowered himself to the ground next to her shoulder, curling up so that he could rest his chin on her arm, his head pointed to Flowers and worried eyes watching him as well. _*****_

Kurama wasn't entirely sure what to think of Akari giving up when she had so vehemently attacked him before, but he slowly loosened the restraints around her, letting them morph back into the rest of the grass beneath her body.

Glancing around once, Kurama hesitantly slipped an arm underneath Akari's neck, sliding the other under her knees, and picked her up, turning and walking for the nearest tree where he sat down with Akari in his lap, holding her up so that when he resumed intermittently rubbing the crystal and waving it under her nose she would not fall over.

He closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the tree.

"I-" He sighed, feeling as if he spoke to the wind, "I'm so sorry."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku clenched her teeth together when the other female simultaneously insulted both herself and her Champion in the same breath.

She took another step closer, hearing Hiei in the back of her mind, but paying him no heed.

Eyes pulsing with power, Shikiyoku pulled her energy inward until it caressed the skin of Gekijou.

"What is Otento's game?" She said through her teeth.

Gekijou regarded Shikiyoku with a momentary glare, "Haven't you heard?" The female leaned closer to Shikiyoku, breath washing over her face the two had gotten so close together, "There's a war coming." Gekijou leaned back again, "Otento is gathering troops who will fight for his cause. And there happens to be enough mayhem planned that I will be more than use_ful _to him."

Gekijou's own eyes flashed as she emphasized the word and Shikiyoku let out a low growl.

"It's too bad, really." She went on, "I would have thought someone like you could have been more help. Were you not strong enough? Can't hold on to more than one thing at a time? Is that it, then? I thought your kind was good at that sort of thing. If you can't multitask, then I suppose you really _aren't _of any use."

Shikiyoku snatched at the front of Gekijou's shirt and pulled the demon's face until it was inches away from her own.

Her power had started to become more densely formed around the two of them.

"What. War."

"Between the demons and Spirit World."

"Then why is everyone gathering in Human World?"

"Because it's much easier to get Spirit World from Human World."

"But why. Why are they trying to get there?"

"To overthrow the king and take back what is ours, I assume."

The two glared at one another before Gekijou finally smiled, a wicked, nasty thing upon her lips.

"You're lucky the rulers aren't here, seductress. They would put you in your place. How _dare _you step onto these grounds as if you have any right. You have no place here any longer. They killed your entire family. What makes you think they won't hesitate to do the same to you should they find you here?" 3

Hiei felt his brows furrow at the turn of the conversation, suddenly finding himself struggling to stay in place, to stay in check. His composure outwardly hadn't changed, but at Gekijou's last words, he felt a small amount of irritation form. _Simply to get into one's head. _

Obviously, it was working.

Yet, simultaneously, he felt as if Shikiyoku was making a type of breakthrough as well, as she was beginning to get answers. Answers that were very valuable to them. Again, he refrained from stepping in.

Why interrupt when Shikiyoku was getting the answers they needed?

Except, things were going pretty far in the heat of the moment. Finally, he decided to cut in, taking a few steps forward until he was standing just a few steps from the ground, having climbed three or four stairs before pausing again, keeping his distance.

"What do you mean by _take back what is ours?" _he suddenly inquired, deciding to pry into the conversation with a metaphorical crowbar. "Wouldn't such a war be swatted down by Enma?"

~!**!~

Nabu moved when Flowers did, following after the male as he carried Akari quietly across the park until he was settled at the base of a tree. The dog watched the other male for a moment, contemplating the air about him before giving the dog equivalent of a deep sigh as he approached the male, this time taking to curling up next to him.

He rested his chin on Kurama's thigh, at the small space between himself and Akari that was free, and just large enough for such utilization. Silence followed for a moment until Kurama spoke up, earning a small whine from the dog's lungs.

"_She's going to be okay. You'll see." _He didn't know why the male blamed himself for Akari's circumstances, but.. "_I like you more than the other one. You don't play games. You care, and she knows that. You'll see."_

With that, he turned his eyes to Akari, who shifted once to move an arm, her body now relaxed in a way that was much different than before as a hand grabbed at Kurama's shirt and she turned her face towards the male, her head coming to rest on his shoulder as tears dried and she took in a deep breath.

"_See?" __*****_

Kurama pulled back the hand that held the crystal as Akari shifted, careful to not let it get knocked from his fingers as he watched her move.

When she finally came to rest, even closer than before, Kurama noted her warmth in his arms, her breath moving across his neck as she seemed to sigh and perhaps relax a little.

_This shouldn't have happened in the first place. _He let out his own sigh and rested his head back against the bark of the tree behind him. He felt reluctant, but…

_I should tell her I can remove the scars whenever she wishes._

~!**!~

Gekijou was locked in a stare-down with Shikiyoku and did not answer until Shikiyoku snarled, "Answer his questions."

Gekijou growled as Shikiyoku tightened her hold on the shirt caught between her fingers.

"I do not know." She raised a lip threateningly to reveal her sharp teeth. "Something is different this time. Enma is too sure of his defenses. And the end goal-" Gekijou snapped her lips shut.

Shikiyoku's energy writhed furiously in the air.

"What?"

No answer.

"What is meant to happen?"

"I do not know." Gekijou blurted out, "Only...only that removing Enma from power is just the first step."

"Why does that _matter_?" Shikiyoku pushed farther, sensing something in the way the demon spoke the last sentence.

"Enma uses us." Gekijou spat.

"Enma cannot stand demons."

"Enma is a two-face _bastard_."

Shikiyoku's eyebrows rose as the word venomously dripped from Gekijou's lips.

"You are demons. You know there is more to us than what _they_ think."

"Do go on."

"There are stories, stories of demons torn from their homes, from their lives, dropped into Human World by _his _hands with their minds wiped of anything but hatred. Just so his people can have something to do. So that it will keep the masses thinking he is _good. _That he is doing _something_. When in reality he is of no use. And when a ruler is of no use, they are removed from their rule." 3

Hiei's brows furrowed, drawing together to create a shadow over his eyes in contemplation, confusion. Removing Enma from power was not something so easily done. The king had been in rule for… eons. Longer than Hiei could even imagine, and his power was something that even the strongest of demons feared.

Right?

In any normal circumstances, Hiei likely would have scoffed at Gekijou's words, but…

This time, the sincerity behind the words she spoke was hauntingly clear. And it seemed just like something someone such as Otento would be in to.

But the most unsettling part was the last things said, the last words even so much as _uttered. _If it were true, then…

Suddenly, a sneer was on Hiei's face. He'd always hated the system and how it worked. He'd always joked about how skewed it was. Now, he was practically being told that he'd been right all along. Hiei stepped forward, taking the last few steps until he was standing beside Shikiyoku, expression deadly as he glared at Gekijou.

"These _stories_, how often is one circulated? What makes you _believe _in them as you do? Surely no fool would simply _fall into _blindly believing tales. Enlighten inquiring minds."

~!**!~

Nabu frowned up at Flowers, staring at the male who rested his head back and seemed to fall more into the mood that had the air feeling so heavy. The dog released a sound into the silence, a small bark no louder than a usual whine. There was no reason behind it, other than to make his presence known, to offer a small sound to let him know that the dog was concerned over him as well.

As if to highlight the meaning behind the sound, Nabu's nose ran along the arm he could just reach, licking at the hand momentarily before resting his chin on said hand and looking up at him again. "_She's okay. I promise." __*****_

Kurama let his eyes open at the dog's attentions, and sighed again, slipping his hand out from under Nabu's chin and idly beginning to pet him.

"I know." Kurama smiled a little, "But her predicament was my fault in the first place." His smile faded and he turned to watch her as she breathed deeply, "So, you can hardly blame me for worrying."

~!**!~

"Answer him." Shikiyoku immediately demanded.

"You want the most recent rumor?" Gekijou scowled. "Of an Aswang from the first level who had taken in orphaned demon children? Disappeared. I can only imagine the _spirit detectives _found her rather quickly. All the demons that go missing are from up there. You would think the smarter ones would have caught on." 3

The words from Gekijou left Hiei momentarily speechless, his mind quickly going back to stories _he'd _heard when he was younger. Stories he hadn't listened to because he'd been too wrapped up in his own dealings to care about others and their ridiculous tales.

After a few moments of recollection, Hiei suddenly found himself scowling, this time not at Gekijou, but at the prospect of it all. Scowling in thought. He hadn't heard of any Aswang being in human world, but, knowing Yusuke, or any of the others, in fact, there would have been no hesitation.

He made a mental note for later.

"Any other recent rumors?" he inquired, this time tone much less harsh and filled with genuine curiosity, colored with caution. "We will leave you be, should you answer our last few questions."

~!**!~

Nabu leaned into Kurama's petting, eyes remaining up at the male's face as he spoke his thoughts aloud. The dog's head turned slightly, as if in thought, before he made another sound and gave a gentle swish of his tail. "_You couldn't have known. She will forgive you, just like you would forgive her. Right? That's how friends work." _He gave a pause, tail swishing once again. "_**I**_ _forgive her for being mean sometimes, because I know she's just tired. And she forgives me for waking her up at night because I can't sleep."_

Another pause, another tilt of his head. "_She forgave you when you bit at her for her scars and compared her to another. I don't know why you guys were so mean to each other, but she forgave you, and you her. Why would now be any different?" __*****_

Kurama considered the little dog carefully.

"When-" Here he ruffled a little at the dog's head, "-did you suddenly go and grow up?" This time his smile was wider.

~!**!~

Before Shikiyoku could demanded another answer, the demon Hiei addressed spoke up.

"My anger only fueled you." Gekijou's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Shikiyoku did not respond but with a small tilt of her head and a sultry smile.

"Heh." Gekijou's laugh did not reflect in her expression. "Maybe you'll be worthy of a Consort some day after all."

Shikiyoku frowned at the word, its meaning escaping her.

"Tell me-" Gekijou's eyes flashed, "-how are you with _pain_?"

Shikiyoku growled, but released Gekijou, reaching up and brushing the back of her hand against the other's cheek.

"Tell me," She purred, "Who else has gone missing?"

Gekijou's eyes flinched at the question.

"There are at least two more within recent enough news who have disappeared unannounced. Both on the first level." 3

Hiei watched the new exchange with disinterest, waiting until the conversation again turned to what he had wished to know about, his mind going over many things at once even as he listened to the current conversation at hand.

One, if this were true, should this information be passed on to Koenma? _Not likely._ However, he had the slight suspicion that perhaps the prince was uninformed of such rumors.

Two, if this were true, and Enma was behind such disappearances, would that…. Would that make the enemy more like.. an ally? If the tables were to turn in such a way, it would make the enemy to be those who are creating unnecessary problems, correct? In that case…

_Otento still dies._

Hiei was, for the first time in a long time, confused about where to go from here. So, when Gekujou enlightened them of two more disappearances, Hiei nodded once and turned, taking his leave silently, too wrapped in his thoughts to say anything verbally about heading back the way they'd come.

They'd gotten the information they needed. There was no reason to linger any longer.

~!**!~

Nabu ducked his head and closed his eyes this time when Kurama rubbed at his head, huffing once as if the male were speaking of a topic he had already been informed in. Otherwise, he gave no response to Flowers' question, which, in his opinion, warranted no reply whatsoever.

After all, in order to keep up with his best friend, he possibly _couldn't _stay a puppy forever. Though, that didn't mean he wouldn't act like one here and there.

Nabu released another sound, this one more of a sigh that was a little bit more relaxed than before as he rested his chin again on Kurama's thigh, eyes closing. "_I like you. You're my favorite." __*****_

~!**!~

"You, my dear," Shikiyoku smiled at the female, "Will speak of this conversation to no one. You _will _join your brother and accept Otento's offer, and you will _also _find a way to inform me when you feel the next step is about to be taken, understand?"

A low growl had started in Gekijou's throat.

It felt to Shikiyoku as if breaking the mesmer put upon her by her mother had unlocked, at least momentarily, the knowledge of how to use the spell. And she wove said spell around the demon with a precision she had not realized she was capable.

Shikiyoku released Gekijou and the latter stared at her as she turned to follow after Hiei.

_Hopefully the mesmer will ensure she won't turn obsessed like Otento…_

She didn't feel optimistic. Not with her lack of experience in using such a spell.

Shikiyoku trotted to catch up to Hiei, lost in her own thoughts as the two moved silently beside one another.

"I can only imagine what my powers were meant to be used for, and why they decided I was not worth the trouble," Shikiyoku began, "But I think the prospect of removing Enma from power will rally many a demon to the cause of the fake Youko. Especially if what Gekijou said about Enma using demons like she claims is true. The part that bothers me is the fact that she really did think that overthrowing Enma was possible, and that taking down Spirit World's leader is only the first step in some larger plan. _How _exactly does one take down Enma? And what else _is _there after that?" 3

Hiei continued on, walking away from the continuing conversation behind him at a leisurely pace. He only half listened to the orders Shikiyoku was giving to the other demoness, mind still stuck on his circulating thoughts of what had just been revealed to him. He, for the time being, didn't know what to think. Demons going missing wasn't exactly something to go crazy over. The fact, however, that _most _were from the first level…

To say the least, Hiei didn't believe in coincidences.

By the time Shikiyoku had caught up, speaking her thoughts aloud, he'd already made up his mind. They were going to investigate a little before heading back.

Or, at least, _he _would be investigating. If Shikiyoku wished to return to Koenma, he wouldn't stop her. But the fire demon's curiosity accompanied by the _need _to know more about the topic was strong enough to keep him here.

At least for a little while longer. _*****_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	52. Episode 137 - Travels and Illusions

**A/N: **Hello once again, Readers!

There's a bit of a time-skip that occurs for both Hiei and Shikiyoku as well as Kurama and Akari. For the former, we quickly shift them through the month it takes to get them from the Ninth Level up to the First, and for the latter, day passes to night.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari wanders away from school after Kurama activates the fire alarm and drags her outside,  
and Kurama takes to following her, worried about her walking around town by herself.  
He follows her about from a distance until Nabu comes running up in a hurry,  
and the two of them run to the park, Kurama finding Akari has collapsed.  
Using the sleep-aide the two of them had talked about making for their class project,  
Kurama helps pull Akari away from her nightmares and into a dreamless sleep.

As day turns into night, she does begin to dream, in a manner of speaking...

~!**!~

As Hiei and Shikiyoku are standing there in the tree attempting to overcome the mesmer Shikiyoku's mother placed on her,  
the two of them realize that the ritual-dance Shikiyoku had done at Shubou's had actually pinpointed Hiei,  
pegging him as a companion who did not seek to abuse her, instead of being useless as Shikiyoku had first thought.  
Upon such discovery, she is finally able to break through the binding spell placed upon her in childhood,  
and she and Hiei finish their quest to question Gekijou.

They learn several interesting things, including the fact that it appears as if King Enma is stealing demons from the First Level,  
sending them into Human World to be killed by the Spirit Detectives, possibly as a distraction for whatever he is really doing.  
Or possibly to mask the fact that he is completely useless as a ruler in the first place.

Something stirs within Hiei at the prospect, and he makes it his new mission  
to figure out if the stories of abductions of demons from their homes on the First Level are true...

* * *

Of _course _Shikiyoku wasn't going to let Hiei go alone. Besides, she felt it more than appropriate that a Spirit Detective _finally _employ the "investigation" side of their job description.

Granted, how _long _such a job was going to be in place remained only a matter of time should the stories of Enma be true...

But she kept such thoughts to herself.

Between Shikiyoku and Hiei's knowledge of Demon World, the two managed to traverse the other levels without much incident, keeping to themselves and making as quick of work as possible in their trek.

For Shikiyoku's part, she felt closer to Hiei than ever, knowing of course that he desired to look further into these disappearances helped, and while on occasion she would forget that her penchant for physical contact did not match up with his own feelings on the matter-there was at least once where she'd hugged him about something or other before startling back and apologizing-the journey was not a disagreeable one for her nature.

She knew what he wanted.

And her Champion _always _got what he wanted.

As the two emerged onto the First Level, lighting crackled across the sandy-colored sky as if there was a constant storm overhead that never released the water it threatened to drop.

Shikiyoku frowned.

The acidic rain was going to be an issue here. The flora and fauna may have built up an immunity, but that did not mean Shikiyoku's skin would appreciate the stinging holes. 3

Hiei hadn't said much of anything on this journey. Not even when Shikiyoku had her moments where she got too close for his liking, at which point he'd simply stared at her and considered the moment before letting it pass and continuing on. The few times they had stopped for rest, Hiei hadn't really slept much, not that it mattered. He'd gotten just enough sleep in to keep his wits about him and appear just as normal as could be.

All because he was torn about the situation.

If Enma was in fact plucking demons from the First Level of Demon World and setting them free in Human World, wouldn't Koenma be informed of such happenings? If so, telling him what they found out would not be wise.

But, there was the possibility of Koenma being completely blind to it, as would everyone else be.

These two contradicting thoughts had circled in his mind, over and over again, creating a swirl of confusion and impatience in his core.

Of course, he'd be pulled from those thoughts occasionally.

And this was one of those moments.

Hiei's eyes focused on the sky now, witnessing the flash of light that moved across the clouds with a storm that never really seemed to have an end in sight. The wind that blew by was anything but gentle, whipping leaves and branches of trees around and around, creating the sound of a creature howling.

He paused in his steps and looked about, as if the foliage around him would enlighten him of the next acidic rainfall. He turned around in a half circle in place, eyes taking in each detail around him in mere seconds before he turned and decided they needed to keep moving.

It was clear that the next cycle of rainfall was soon, as several plants were beginning to close their leaves in defense from the onslaught.

The cloak he now wore, one he'd grabbed from a city they'd passed through, would do nothing against the acid. Nor would Shikiyoku's clothing.

"We'll stop in the nearest public building to wait it out," he informed Shikiyoku, turning his eyes to look at her from the corners. "Perhaps eat while we wait."

~!**!~

_The sunshine was warm, inviting, and quite frankly, Akari hadn't been able to stay inside. It simply was just too nice of a day. So, she'd gone to the park, met up with someone she'd been trying to track down for days, to thank him for being a calming presence when she'd been anything but. It hadn't been a planned thing this time, as she'd tried to establish. It just simply occurred as it normally did: Foko simply appeared at the most opportuned of times. _

_She stood over him now, hands on her hips and tongue stuck out at him, his smile a teasing, lopsided one. "I didn't ask your opinion, Foko."_

_Again, he chuckled at her and rolled over, laying now on his stomach. "It's free of charge. You don't have to ask for one."_

_She sighed, eyes rolling up to the sky in slight impatience. "You think you're so clever."_

_He made no response, and for a moment, silence floated on the gentle breeze between them. She continued to stare, watching the way the sun made his hair gleam and shine, the way the wind made his ear flick every so often. His tail twitched once, and his voice floated lazily to her ears. "You're staring again, Inu."_

_This time, instead of picking an argument with him, she gave a shrug that he didn't see and she moved to sit beside him again, close enough that when she reached out to grab a handful of his hair, it wouldn't pull on his head and create discomfort. Her fingers wove in and out of the silver locks, at first simply detangling them before she began to weave his hair into a simple braid._

"_Enjoying yourself?"_

"_M-hm." she hummed at him with a gentle smile. "It's so soft and… smooth."_

_He gave no response other than a deep sigh of content. Again, silence ensued, but this time it was more comfortable, as if either one of them could roll over and go to sleep if they so desired. And when her fingers finished their work with his hair, they unwound the locks and started again. _

_**It's such a calm day. **__Her thoughts strayed from whatever had been previously bothering her, something she couldn't remember at this very moment. __**And everyone else is in school. Must suck. **_

_After a moment, she gave a sigh very similar to Foko's, who turned his head to look at her, golden eyes flashing with amusement. His white teeth glimmered for a moment as the gears in his head turned, but for the moment, he didn't move. "Do you _want _me to go to sleep, inu?"_

_Akari gave a huff of a laugh, but otherwise continued what she was doing, unwinding the woven locks of hair again and, for the third time, starting over out of pure desire to feel his hair in her hands. _

_And suddenly, she was pulled to the ground, fingers releasing his hair out of reflex as she fell to her side, hazel irises finding amber ones and locking with them. She heaved a sigh for the third time as he brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, knowing the routine that was beginning. _

_But before he could poke or prod at her, Nabu was climbing over her side, nose in her face. "You're with Flowers! I should have known!"_

_Akari laughed. "No, Nabu. Wrong one."_

"_Foko?"_

_Akari nodded once and pulled her arm out from between herself and said demon, pointing a finger at the red cloth at the male's waist. "See?"_

_Nabu turned his head to peer at the cloth, tail stopping all movement before taking to wagging furiously again. "You wore it this time!"_

"_I said I would, didn't I?"_

_Akari smiled and pulled away from the male, sitting up._

_Now that she thought of it, Kurama could pass at any moment… School was letting out soon and he had the tendency to show up at random._

"_I think… I'm going home."_

"_Leaving so soon? I was having fun." _*****

Before long, night had fallen across the park, waking Kurama up.

He ruefully thought of both his and Akari's things left neglected in the classroom at school.

Granted, he hadn't exactly been planning on _this_.

He glanced down at the demon who had her head close to where his heart, her fingers clutching at the pink overjacket of his uniform.

It was lucky his mom was on vacation with her fiancé. She wouldn't have been expecting him to be home this evening and worrying when he didn't appear.

"Akari…" He breathed quietly, moving a bit of hair away from her lips where it quivered from her breath. "Akari, we should probably leave."

He hadn't more than murmured the sentence at her, and got no response as a result.

Even so, Kurama reached up with the hand that wasn't between her and his knee propping her up and gently started to unfurl her hold on his clothing.

He pulled back a little when she shifted in her sleep and closed her grasp tighter.

Eyes kind, Kurama instead moved that arm underneath her knees and slowly stood up, starting to walk in the direction of his home.

~!**!~

Unfortunately, bag at school meant key at school.

Fortunately, a part of Kurama had been a thief as a former occupation.

He entered his home with little trouble, letting the door close behind him as he stepped on the heel of one shoe and slipped his foot out, doing the same to the other before moving farther inside and going up the stairs to his room.

Attempting to put Akari down on his bed was met with more resistance from the girl and Kurama let out a sigh, climbing onto the mattress, shoving a pillow into and leaning up against the corner where his bed sat at the wall with Akari still in his arms.

Moving around until he was comfortable, in much the same pose that he had held for hours in the park, Kurama cleared hair from the demon's face once more, watching for a moment the peaceful expression on her sleeping profile.

And then he blinked.

When his eyes opened again, he felt the haziness of the air around him, alive with the same energy he had seen constantly radiating from the girl ever since that morning in school.

He was standing in the park he had just left, in the middle of the day, and saw Akari and Nabu and...Youko?

Of course he knew this was simply an illusion of the girl's mind, but...what exactly had happened between her and the fox demon to merit _this _sort of picture? Or was this simply a product of her brain that _wished _this kind of interaction had taken place?

Kurama could only guess.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave Hiei a nod to indicate that she had heard him, then turned to follow the fire demon as he moved off.

As his cloak billowed slightly in the wind, Shikiyoku wished not for the first time that she had acquired for herself a similar article of clothing.

Finding anything that fit had been a problem. And she wasn't about to go walking around as her kind of demon in just _anything_.

She let out a low grumble about being stuck in human form, and then found her thoughts returning, as it often had the entire way to the First Level, to the information of which Gekijou had so _generously _provided them.

Heh.

On the one hand, if Enma were gone, there would be no warrant out for Shikiyoku's arrest. She would be free for the first time in over a decade.

On the other hand...actually joining the fake Youko, however 'noble' his true cause might be, felt to Shikiyoku a bit like betraying her former Champion, the _real _Youko, whom she couldn't possibly imagine contriving something as ridiculous as the fake Youko's plan unless there was something shiny to be had from it. 3

Hiei's feet carried him through the trees expertly despite the distraction his mind posed. He simply couldn't push away the thoughts long enough to focus on what was going on around him entirely. He'd considered just about every turn that the information he'd been given could produce, and none of them seemed worth the fight against the ruler of Spirit World.

At least, not to him.

Nothing seemed worthy of such a battle.

He _had _to be missing something.

His eyes turned to peer at Shikiyoku again from over his shoulder, this time thoughts shifting to the display in power she'd had back at The Palace.

If her command stayed in place, Shikiyoku had just created the best information broker that he'd ever seen. It was likely that no one would assume the sister to be giving out information. Why would she, when it would put her against her brother in the end fight?

Hiei turned forward again, his thoughts staying on Shikiyoku and her energy this time.

If she had in fact surpassed her mother's ranking, then Hiei assumed she'd be above the lower A class ranking now.

Meaning she was stronger than he. It was a little odd, the thought of the one he was protecting being more powerful than he was in such a system.

Suddenly, Hiei's feet hit concrete, and his eyes focused on the path to the city that lay ahead, eyes finding a building that demons were circulating in and out of. Obviously a public building. Perhaps trade.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as the air around him changed and his eyes noticed the demons all scattering in different directions, disappearing into homes and other buildings alike.

He picked up the pace, knowing that if they didn't reach it to the building on time, they'd end up with melted skin and much, much more pain than most any attack could create in one blow.

~!**!~

_Akari took a deep breath in, eyes sliding closed. She was so tempted to stay, and his presence was so inviting…_

_But if she did, and Hiei or Kurama appeared…_

_She could convince Yusuke and Kuwabara easily of the identity of this one. That was no problem. The other two, however.._

"_Flowers!"_

_Akari's eyelids slid open and she turned to Foko, expecting Nabu to be jumping all over the male. But the dog wasn't even nearby anymore, and Foko's golden eyes were trained forward, cold gleam aimed at someone beyond Akari._

_She turned around, shifting in the grass until she was looking at the redhead across the park, meeting his confused stare with a wide one._

"_How..?"_

_How had she not felt his energy nearby? How had Foko not felt it and taken off? How had he slipped by?_

_Nabu sat at the male's feet, tail swishing against the grass happily and tongue lolling as he looked up at Kurama. "You're here! Make the other one leave! I don't like him!"_

"_Nabu!" Akari reprimanded out of pure instinct, huffing at his words. "That was mean!"_

"_But he's playing tricks, remember?"_

_Akari shifted, pushing herself to stand, brushing off the skirt of her school uniform. Why had she put on her uniform only to skip school? _

"_Inu," Foko whispered, pulling Akari's eyes down to the male who was now sitting up, eyes pointed at Kurama, "caution."_

_Akari laughed, albeit a nervous laugh before she turned to face Kurama again. "School's out already?" __*****_

Kurama settled into this strange dream-illusion with relative ease, knowing that _this _was the picture in Akari's mind as he held her in the real world, and closed the distance between himself and Akari with an easy gait.

He nodded to answer her question.

"I didn't see you in class, so I thought I might check and see if you were here." His eyes sparkled, "I knew the day was too beautiful for you to stay cooped up inside."

~!**!~

As they neared the city, Shikiyoku pulled the large hood of the top she'd stolen up over her head to better hide her features, making sure that her hair was tucked away inside it.

This fabric was more resilient than most, and ever since breaking through her mother's compulsion, Shikiyoku had become more aware on an unconscious level that her power subtly permeated the air around her head like a perfume. And that said perfume was now thicker than before.

She made sure the long sleeves were pulled down as far as possible over her wrists, for her skin had also started to take on a natural brilliance of sorts that she could not readily explain.

Thusly covered, Shikiyoku trotted after Hiei as he headed towards a building, just as eager as he to make sure they got out of the rain before it started to fall. 3

Hiei slowed his run to a simply trot, and then to a walk as he approached the building he'd laid eyes on earlier, hand clasping the handle of the door and turning it downwards, pushing it open and quickly stepping inside to allow Shikiyoku in as well.

Just in time for the beginnings of rain to hit the roof overhead.

As the door swung shut behind Shikiyoku, Hiei turned to survey the place, realizing that it was not a trading post, as he had initially assumed, nor was it a pub as was the norm, but instead, it was more like a lounge of sorts. The room opened up into what could only be described as a living room one would see in the Human World, makeshift couches spread out around the area and a small counter at the opposite end of the room meant for eating, a small area for preparing such food and beverages closed off behind such counter.

Soft music was being played on a harpsichord-like instrument by a male demon in a coat who sat in a corner of the room by himself, eyes closed and body swaying with the soft melody that contradicted the pattering rain outside.

And the few demons who were still in the building were speaking to one another in hushed voices, as if someone were sleeping and not to be awoken.

It was oddly calm, he noted. Normally he associated the First Level with constant fights and meaningless arguments.

But here, it was almost as if he'd entered a bubble of serenity, where no troubles could find him. Of course, that wasn't the case, but he didn't let his thoughts shift again.

He merely stepped further into the room, making slow steps across the way, around couches and chairs, until he was standing at the counter, staring at a demon who had his back to Hiei and was tending to a boiling pot.

~!**!~

_AKari raised a brow at the calm air around Kurama, hiding the confusion she felt towards his easy acceptance of Foko's presence. Though, at his words, a light smile passed over her lips before disappearing again with a shrug._

"_Class is boring. Why stay there when I can lay in the sun?"_

_Foko shifted again behind her, this time moving to stand, back leaning against the tree he'd been lounging under. "Why should she go to class when __**I **__can be of entertainment?" __*****_

"Indeed." Kurama commented to his counterpart. "I suppose I have you to thank for keeping her boredom at bay." He inclined his head slightly to the fox.

~!**!~

There were other things...little things...that Shikiyoku had just begun to notice in the month that it took them to get to their destination.

Like the way when they stopped sometimes that the creatures would approach her with captivated eyes when she had done nothing to provoke them, and indeed had been trying _not _to. How her hair had taken on more of a natural shine.

_Problems. _Shikiyoku thought privately to herself. _Nothing but more problems. _

Not if she had been in demon form. Certainly not. But with a more humanlike appearance, and a particular mission to boot, she felt as if her very presence could compromise any progress they wished to make. She should have gone back to Spirit World.

_More uselessness._ A small sigh.

Shikiyoku stopped short of Hiei, stepping to standing next to him, if still a little behind, keeping her head down and her ears open to their surroundings. 3

Hiei stood at the counter in silence for a minute, watching the male on the other side as he continued stirring at whatever it was that was boiling, making the room smell rather…. awful. He eyed the other things around the other demon, finding nothing of interest that would suit his slight hunger. He wasn't exactly ready for a full meal yet, anyway.

"_You gonna order or wha'?" _The voice seemed to float on the air and echo about the room, but it wasn't a _loud _voice. In fact, Hiei half thought he hadn't heard the demon at all, until he repeated his question. "_You gonna order or just stand there, gawking like a fool?"_

The demon turned to look at Hiei over his shoulder, revealing a mouth that seemed to have always hung open, a tongue similar to that of a reptile's, and beady eyes that were filmy, milky in color. _Blind_. He turned to Shikiyoku. "Anything?" the fire demon asked in one, simple word under his breath.

"_The special is our gumbo. Big enough for two."_

Hiei glanced at the demon out of the corner of his eye, noting that, as he had suspected, the creature's mouth didn't move a bit, the voice seeming to float out of the open jaw like a record player.

~!**!~

_Foko made no indication of hearing Kurama other than watching the other, expression neutral despite his calculating, watchful, cold stare. It was obvious that he wasn't happy about the appearance of Kurama, but he also seemed to think that making a move to leave was not a wise option, instead taking to simply being there._

_Like a guard._

_Akari sighed again, this time in impatience. _

"_He's grumpy because he didn't get his nap," she grumbled, turning to look at the silver-haired male who flickered the glare over to her. "I woke him up earlier." There was a pause as she turned away from Foko again, eyes finding emerald ones this time. "It happens a lot. He'll be fine."_

"_As enjoyable as your presence is, inu, I do enjoy my naps."_

"_What happened to the playful smirk, hm?" __*****_

"I think my appearance itself is cause enough for his mood." Kurama suppressed a grin, coming farther forward so that he stood next to Akari, "Have you eaten yet, Akari?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave a slight shake of her head.

"Not hungry." She breathed back to Hiei just as quietly, her eyes still turned to take in the rest of the room.

Something bothered her, and it took another moment of her resting her gaze on one of the demons in the room to finally discover that when she looked at one, whether discreetly or otherwise, their gaze lifted and looked back at her until she shifted her eyes elsewhere.

It was rather disconcerting considering the fact that her green eyes remained well shaded beneath the hood over her head.

Shikiyoku absently tugged at her sleeves, as if it would make them cover more of her hands.

_Maybe I should have considered snatching some gloves. _3

Hiei nodded once to Shikiyoku, eyes never leaving the demon who was now facing him, tongue tasting the air once before disappearing in his open maw again. "Beverages?"

""_There's this one," _the demon turned and grabbed a bottle from a shelf Hiei hadn't seen, crossing the few feet it took for him to approach the counter before he placed it down, making a small _clink_ against the tiled countertop. "_On the house."_

Hiei eyed the bottle warily before looking up again. "Why?"

There was a pause and Hiei could have sworn the other's eyes turned to Shikiyoku. And then his mind's presence was touching Hiei's. "_She's uneasy. This is no place for fear or squabbles." _The demon turned away, returning to his boiling substance, this time speaking aloud. "_There's a separate room on the side, normally reserved for…. special guests. Help yourselves, just don't lock the door with every lock. Doing that seals it shut for hours."_

Hiei nodded and turned, grabbing Shikiyoku by her upper arm and directing her to the right, as the demon had nodded in that direction. His other hand held out the glass bottled drink to her, a thumb expertly removing the metal cap with a flick. "Until the rain ceases."

~!**!~

_Akari raised a brow at Kurama, her eyes crinkling just a little at the small smile in response to his first words. And at his second question, her eyes shifted up in thought. When _was _the last time she'd eaten? A frown colored her features now as she couldn't quite recall, thinking back to drinking water, but refusing food as it had kept her awake easier. _

"_Not yet," she finally replied, eyes turning to Kurama again as she all but forgot of Foko's presence. "Not in a while, actually…" __*****_

Kurama placed a hand on Akari's arm, "Then how about we fix that? Where would you like to go? Anywhere at all and let's be there."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had let her gaze fall to the floor upon her unnerving discovery, and it was about this time that she felt Hiei begin to drag her off and thrust some drink or another out to her.

She took it, but did not drink, keeping her fingers wrapped around a bottle that she somehow didn't really see.

_For someone who had been eager for cities at the start of our mission...I think I've had my fill of them for a long, long while._

At least until she could return to them in demonic form. That was always the exception to the rule. 3

Hiei hauled Shikiyoku into the only side room he'd seen, leading her in through the door first before following suit and shutting the door behind him. His eyes shifted to the window that the door had- apparently just for this reason- and eyed a few of the patrons sitting around in the lounge, a few dropping their gazes while one or two watched him as well.

He moved away from the door, pulling down the small curtain that had been tied to allow his curiosity until it hid the inside of the room from outside onlookers. A hand deftly locked two of the three locks before he turned and took a seat at one of the three couches that resided in the rather small room.

He propped his feet up on the coffee table lazily, crossing his ankles one over the other as he lounged, linking his fingers behind his head as his eyes took to surveying Shikiyoku, taking in the air around her.

"We shouldn't stay on this level long." His words were meant to be a form of consolation for her, though he wasn't sure such words would achieve that with her current mood and their situation. "If this town isn't home to one of the demons missing, then we'll make quick leave and continue to the next. For now, we can only wait." He thought for a moment, trying to recall how long such a downpour lasted on this level.

~!**!~

_Akari's eyes turned to the hand now on her shoulder, confused for a moment. Last time she'd seen him, she'd been rather cold to him, practically ignoring him any chance she could. And he'd been just as tired as she._

_They'd both been trying not to sleep in class._

_He was being oddly friendly with her despite her own attitude towards him. Her eyes again skirted up to meet Kurama's, ignoring the small scoff of the male behind her. _

_That is, until arms circled her waist and her feet were lifted from the ground. She made a small peel of sound from surprise as Foko turned, heaving her over his shoulder so that she could still see the male she was being carried away from._

"_H-hey! Put me down! I wasn't done talking to him!"_

"_I don't like his presence."_

"_It isn't your choice! I'm hungry, and I want to eat! Put me down!"_

_Another scoff._

"_Now!"_

_And suddenly, she was on her feet again, looking up at Foko with a glare to match his, arms crossed over her chest. "I've been here all day, so you shouldn't be complaining."_

_The glare she received was colder, more harsh than any he'd sent her way. And then he was turning, leaving her standing there, staring after him and sticking her tongue out at his back. "Want to lose that tongue, Inu?" he called without looking back, and Akari quickly pulled her tongue back into her mouth and turned, trotting back to Kurama and sighing._

"_You choose. I'm up for anything." _*****

Kurama wasn't _quite _sure what exactly would lead Youko to acting in such a manner around Akari, and he let out a loose chuckle at the image her illusion was setting before him.

Perhaps this was what she _wished _Youko would do around her.

If that was the case, it would be best for the seducing kitsune not to know.

"Alright." He replied, "There's a ramen stand near here. How does that sound?"

He wasn't sure if he should be acting so amiable around Akari when he really just wanted to apologize for all the trouble he'd caused her.

But this was her dream. And she appeared to be enjoying herself.

~!**!~

As soon as Shikiyoku heard Hiei locking the doors, she breathed an audible sigh of relief and reached up to throw her hood back and shake out her long, dark hair, trying to release the pent-up tension that had settled across her shoulders.

She absently rubbed a hand at the back of her neck as she sat down on the edge one of the other couches, listening to Hiei talk.

"An hour at best. Four at worst. But no more." She shifted her shoulders around again and held up the glass bottle to her nose, lightly sniffing at the drink before pulling it away again.

She didn't know _what _it was, and she wasn't quite sure if she _wanted _to know. Not knowing made her less likely to drink it, however. 3

Hiei's eyes turned to Shikiyoku at her words, answering his silent question he'd been pondering over. He nodded once and turned away again, staring at the dark red cloak he had grabbed in one of their earliest cities on the trip here. The black lining was almost indiscernible from the rest, the red dark enough to pass as black if one only glanced. The fabric was comfortable, almost a replica of his normal cloak.

The thought of it back in the palace of the Ninth Level made him sigh to himself.

He'd have to find a new one.

His eyes suddenly shifted to Shikiyoku again, zeroing in on the bottle in her hands. "It's a fruity mix," he began, moving a hand from behind his head to wave it in the air, "Hence the reddish-pink color. Nothing more than a rehydration drink meant to calm the nerves."

~!**!~

_Akari felt a spark of recognition at Kurama's words, blinking once as a small smile formed on her features. She hadn't visited Shyn in…. who knew how long. Her eyelids slid closed and she took a deep breath, this time much more aware of the scent that rolled off of Kurama and wafted on the breeze around her. _

"_Sounds good. I haven't been there in a while."_

_Without another word, aside from her loudly grumbling stomach, she turned and began heading in the direction she'd almost forgotten over the past few weeks. _

"_Have you eaten at that one yet? The chef… he's a good guy. Acts like his customers are his family." _*****

"I have. Mother enjoys eating there as often as she can." Kurama wondered what illusion-food would taste like.

He also wondered how long it would be until Akari woke up and they left this serene dream world behind.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's lip twitched and she put the drink down on the table without tasting it. She would prefer for her nerves to stay right where they were, thank you.

She did catch sight of Hiei fiddling with his cloak and her eyes brightened with a humorous secret.

"I've got someone working on that." She nodded her head just a little in his direction to indicate she meant his old cloak, giving him a small smile. 3

Hiei frowned when Shikiyoku set the bottle down. He knew that one bottle would do nothing more than allow one to sit back and relax, even fill an empty stomach. But he suddenly found himself imagining Shikiyoku drinking more than one, leaning back into the couch with half-lidded eyes and a dreamy smile. Those were the first telltale signs of having drank too many of the relaxants.

The other signs normally pointed to something similar to how a human would react to… what was the plant called? He couldn't remember.

But it would have been quite the funny sight, he had to admit.

Hiei returned from his thoughts, raising a brow at Shikiyoku and again glancing down at the cloak he wore. A frown pulled at his lips. How would she have managed something like that, when they'd only been in each other's company, and no other's?

~!**!~

_Akari nodded her head to show she'd been listening, her small smile in place as she walked alongside the male. Her hands searched for pockets, finding none in this skirt, but she didn't mind. She merely let one hand fall to her side again, the other reaching up to smoothen out the mess the loose bun on her head had become._

"_Have you made him laugh yet?" she asked after a moment, eyes zeroing in on the stand now that could be seen just a few blocks away._

_And in no time at all, she was waving away the flags that hung over the entrance and ducking into the small ramen stand, eyes moving from the ground and up to peer at Shyn, who didn't turn to look at his new customers right away._

"_I'll be with you in just a moment! Sit wherever you like!"_

"_Gladly," she responded to the older gentleman, who paused and peered over his broad shoulder at her, grin quickly coloring his features. _

"_I knew it was about time for another visit." _*****

Kurama felt...strange about the passage of time here. As if it didn't happen at all. Perhaps that was merely an oversight of the girl sleeping in his arms, currently without a care in the world and as safe as she could possibly be. She did not have to worry about such details.

Kurama only nodded when Akari asked her question, moving after her into the makeshift building and then finding a seat among the many empty ones the restaurant had open.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes glanced back at the bottle as she rubbed her hand at her neck again.

"I don't know if you've realized it yet, Hiei Jaganshi," Shikiyoku lifted her gaze back over to him, nose slightly higher in the air and a mischievous gleam in her eyes, "But I'm actually quite amazing. There's a lot I can do that you couldn't even imagine in your wildest dreams." 3

Hiei frowned at Shikiyoku after a moment, brows drawing together as he took her words in stride. Of course there was a lot he didn't know. He'd thought of that much earlier in their journey. But _this_ had him curious, tempted to ask _who _and _how_ she had planned for another cloak to be made.

And then a thought struck him. If his cloak, something he'd worn for a vast majority of his life, was with a disgruntled queen who had missed her opportunity to keep a prize within her grip…

His eyes shifted to the door for a moment as he considered the possibilities. It wouldn't be unheard of if they were being followed, being watched. It wouldn't surprise him if there were demons, legions of them, hunting him down in various ways.

Enma knows the many different ways to track a demon. By their scent, via spellwork - albeit a bit more difficult - or maybe even another demon with an eye like his. It wasn't exactly uncommon for a demon to make an attempt at the Jagan. Surely he wasn't the only demon with a third eye by now.

After a moment, he resettled back into the cushions of the couch, deciding that if they _had_ been hunted down, they would have run into problems by now. In fact, he half considered the thought of each and every guard, each and every military personnel from the Queen's rule being dead, at Uryo's hands.

The thought brought a sneer to his features for a moment.

And then he was turning to Shikiyoku again, thoughts once more on their current conversation. He eyed her steadily for a moment before his lips parted. "Hn. I suppose I give you this one."

Normally, he would have sneered and rebutted her words with a snide comment all his own, but quite frankly, he'd found less reason to do such a thing as of late.

~!**!~

_Akari slid into a seat on Kurama's left, eyes on the back of the chef who held a towel in his hands as he turned to her and Kurama, eyes shining with mirth. "I know what you're having," he said to Akari before turning to Kurama, "what'll it be for you this time?"_

_Akari leaned forward on the counter, placing her crossed arms on the surface as she leaned a majority of her upper-body weight onto it. Her eyes were turned to Kurama, shining with cheer. She wasn't sure why he was being so cordial, considering her attitude the days before, but she found she rather enjoyed his presence._

_Likely more than she enjoyed Foko's, at the moment. __*****_

"The same as her." Kurama replied easily, tipping his head in Akari's direction.

He noted her looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Something of interest, Akari?" He turned to look at her, small smile on his face.

~!**!~

"You'll have your old cloak back soon enough." Shikiyoku finally sat back into the couch, mysterious smile on her face, "Being in my company affords you certain...advantages should you desire something strongly enough. Call it..." She acted as if she searched for the word, "A _perk_. If you will." 3

Hiei sneered at Shikiyoku, that being his way of showing his utter amusement at her. And quite frankly, he was thankful for her resourcefulness, as mysterious as it was. He flashed his teeth at her for a moment before turning his head away.

"I hope you don't expect special treatment."

~!**!~

_Shyn nodded and turned away, leaving Akari and Kurama to themselves. And the demoness merely turned her eyes away from Kurama when he called her out, her smile widening only slightly._

"_Nothing really. Just…" she paused before shrugging. "You're acting differently than I'd expected you to be." __*****_

Kurama cast his eyes down at the counter, "I owe you an apology. For all the trouble I've caused you."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku scoffed, "Tch. From you?" A single dark eyebrow lifted, her smile gone, nothing more than a ghost that flickered over her lips, "Not likely. Don't go doing me any favors _now_. Unless you wish to be rid of me," Here she finally broke into a wicked grin that mirrored her glittering eyes, "As I'm sure to drop _dead_ from the shock." 3

Hiei made the same _hn _sound at Shikiyoku, eyelids sliding closed at her as he fought the twitch that threatened to touch his lips. Even at her last comment, he seemed able to keep himself under control, his expression a mask of calm as he shifted, one foot planting on the ground while the other balanced on his knee, which rested on the cushion of the couch.

For the moment, he said nothing. He merely sat there, listening to the acidic rainfall outside and the sound of Shikiyoku's breathing.

Maybe he _hadn't _slept enough the night before, like he'd thought. He could feel his body sinking into the cushions, his mind calm now that he was certain they would not be bothered, as he had realized that the substance it was made from could only be penetrated by… well… itself. It was something that was commonly found in palace walls or walls that outlined cities.

"You're capable enough to not _need_ any favors done," Hiei suddenly piped, mind waking with a slight jolt and his eyes sliding open lazily to view the female he now sneered at. "My job is that of a body guard, nothing more, nothing less. Errand boy is not within that description."

Of course, he was only _half _kidding.

~!**!~

_Akari's brows furrowed at the change in atmosphere, and Kurama's words suddenly had her looking around the small shop. For the first time, she realized that this may be something other than a simple _dream. _Her eyes focused on Kurama again, the realization that he was _not _simply an entity in dreamland having her feeling very, very cautious._

_Foko's appearance in this _illusion _could have ended much differently than how it had. _

_She sighed, good mood now almost entirely gone. Again, her gaze shifted, this time to watch Shyn, who stood over his stove. "I don't know what you're talking about."_

_While she had, in the beginning, been completely confused- something that hadn't changed- and angry about the situation, the only thing she found herself angry about was…._

_Herself. _

_If she'd just… _ignored _it, his gesture, and gone on as she had with every other scar, then she wouldn't be _here_. _

_Though, she had to admit, the redhead wasn't exactly easy to forget about, especially when he did things like _scar and kiss _people. _

"_Stupid fox." __*****_

Kurama chuckled.

"At least you finally fell asleep." He peered at her out of the corner of his eyes. "I thought I was going to have to resort to drastic measures."

~!**!~

"Any favor that I would wish to have would certainly not require something so mundane as an _errand-boy._" Shikiyoku replied primly, "My tastes are much more refined than _that_."

She sunk back into the couch, pulling her feet up to her chest and closing her eyes. The weariness of their travels, their constant vigilance, hit her all at once and for the first time in weeks she relaxed.

"Besides-" She mumbled quietly, "-you've done so much already." 3

Hiei slid a single eye open to stare at Shikiyoku, appearing almost entirely uninterested in what she was saying. Even a few moments after she'd finished speaking, he did nothing more that watch her with his one open eye, a brow slightly quirked at her as if he had no clue what she was referring to.

And quite frankly, for the moment, the only thing he could think of was the moment before they'd reached the castle, where their energies had locked together.

Thinking over it, he could still feel his energy reaching out, mingling with hers, even as they sat in the quiet room.

It made no sense.

After a moment, he released a small sigh and let his eye slide shut again. "Don't be a fool." After all, he hadn't done much more than simply do his job. And that he hadn't even done very well either.

~!**!~

_Akari grimaced. She couldn't remember falling asleep, especially not at the hands of the male beside her. She thought, mind making a very avid attempt to look back, but all she came up with was…_

_Foko. The park. Braiding his hair and him braiding hers._

_She grimaced again and turned her face away, leaning her chin on the palm of her hand. After realizing this was an illusion, she was painfully aware of his every move, his every breath. Since she was apparently asleep, it was very likely she wouldn't remember this, as if it were a dream._

_But that didn't mean he'd forget it. _

"_You know, I was mad." she suddenly mumbled, still keeping the back of her head towards him and chin in her hand. "Mad because…" she took a deep breath, "you scare me sometimes. And.. in the gym… I wasn't sure what was going on or what had warranted an attack."_

_She stopped there, eyes sliding closed as she became more aware of her own exhaustion, making the scene seem to waver, though his presence never did. "I don't understand you, and… I think it scares me." _*****

"Then understand this, Akari, know this one absolute truth," Kurama reached over and gently took her chin in his hand, knowing she was likely close to the illusion falling away to her sleep. He moved his face closer to hers, tipping her cheek towards himself, "I wish for nothing more than your happiness." He pressed his lips to her cheek and then let his hand fall away as he delicately pulled back.

~!**!~

_"Tell me...how well do you deal with __**pain**__?"_

Shikiyoku shot up in the couch in a cold sweat, eyes clearing to reveal the room in the lounge, and nothing more.

Her chest heaved with the anxiety of her dreams, which were all but fading from memory, but still that one phrase echoed inside her mind and she could not shake it.

_"How well do you deal with __**pain**__?" _3

Hiei had been so comfortable, so close to sleep.

Actually, his mind had been nine miles past sleep when the sudden alarm shot across his mind, his muscles first tensing even in his sleep. His body shifted once before his eyelids flew open and he was sitting upright, red eyes quickly taking in the area as more alarm seemed to run across his mind.

But he saw no threat, so his eyes traveled to Shikiyoku, who stared wide-eyed and wild ahead, breaths coming quick and sweat glimmering on her forehead and nose.

He frowned. Her alarm was out of place, odd, and he wasn't quite sure why _her _sudden awakening had awoken _him_. But for the moment, he watched her, realizing she must have been dreaming.

"Shikiyoku," he called in a calm voice, watching her carefully as if she were capable of attacking at any moment. Was she even completely _awake?_

~!**!~

_AKari hadn't been expecting the gentle fingers that pulled at her chin, and her eyes flew open to see the male who drew closer. For a moment, her body was stock still, unsure of his motives or thoughts behind the gesture until she realized that _she _was in control here. If he stepped out of line, she cou-_

_She blinked once at the words he uttered and the gesture he made, staring at him in open surprise now before her lips turned down just a little, a hand moving to her cheek where his lips had touched. She took in a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak._

_Only for the redhead to disappear, leaving her alone in darkness that was both very satisfying to her tired being, but frustrating to the part of her that had wanted to speak. _

In her sleep, the demoness shifted, pulling herself closer until her arm moved, her hold on his shirt releasing as she instead wrapped her arm about his neck, her nose finding Kurama's collarbone easily, almost as if doing so would keep her from forgetting what she'd been about to say.

And thus, keeping him from escaping her.

She settled again with a small sigh of content. *****

Kurama found himself sitting back against the wall of his room, much like he expected, with Akari still draped across his lap.

He briefly loosened his hold when she started shifting around, surprised that she did not in fact pull away, but came closer.

His smile was kind, his eyes gentle, and he couldn't help planting a soft kiss in the midst of her light red hair, filling his nose with her rosemary scent in the meantime.

"Rest, pup. You are safe here." He murmured.

Kurama leaned his head back against the pillow in the corner of the wall behind him and gazed up at the ceiling, lost in thoughts that swirled around the female in his arms.

His shift in attitude towards her had been a subtle thing. But that moment when her life hung in the balance and he wrested back his demonic powers...he would not have been able to do that when they first met.

Kurama's eyes had closed sometime during his inner dialogue and he felt himself on the verge of sleep, knowing that the desire for her happiness stemmed from some deeper part of him that had discovered without his direct notice something the rest of him had been acting out all along.

He cared for her.

~!**!~

Her energy formed a hazy barrier around her body, licking off of her skin to caress the air around her, leaving the rest of the world looking like a shimmering oasis far off in a desert from Shikiyoku's eyes behind it.

This was in fact a physical manifestation of the aura that constantly surrounded her, growing denser in response to her panicked awakening.

_Pain._

They were two sides of the same coin, pain and pleasure. And at the same time, each one was the absolute antithesis of the other. The only beings in this world who could actually counter and manipulate her own energy without her consent. But, she had nothing to fear, right? All the demons of pain had died off long ago.

Then why could she not shake Gekijou's words?

"Hm?" Shikiyoku absently responded to her name after a moment, looking over at Hiei, her eyes glowing and piercing through the hazy veil of energy with perfect clarity, appearing as if she had not become aware of herself yet. 3

Hiei's eyes took in the haze around Shikiyoku after a few blinks of his eyes, clearing away the sleep now that he was certain there was no threat inside this little room. The glowing green orbs that turned to him from behind the odd barrier of energy was almost off putting, as he could easily see she was not really seeing him yet. It was almost as if she were dreaming, but responding to the world around her anyway.

He didn't know what to say. His mouth remained closed as he eyed her, the energy around her moving, almost slithering through the air as if searching for a target. Searching for the source of her distress.

He didn't think using the Jagan in this instance would help.

Finally, his mind strung words together for him and he spoke. "There's no one here, no one attacking. We're alone." _*** **_

Shikiyoku blinked a couple of times upon hearing Hiei pipe up again, her eyes slowly scanning the room around her.

She frowned a little, pulling herself from her thoughts to actually comprehend what Hiei was saying and respond.

Well. Right. They were in that lounge. No one here.

Shikiyoku's unease did not lessen, but the energy around her did-fading away until only the usual scent remained-when she took note of the fact that she was not in any immediate danger.

Gekijou did not seem old enough to know about demons of pain, and it was this one thought that allowed a dark cloud to settle over Shikiyoku's heart.

It meant that either someone had told her-unlikely since these demons weren't supposed to exist anymore and it had been so very long ago when they _were _alive that few knew about their former existence, Shikiyoku only knew because of stories from _her _mother-or...they _did _still exist, and Gekijou _knew _one. And for some reason the second option seemed to be the more likely of the two. 3

The frown set on Hiei's lips pulled even further downwards as the haze around Shikiyoku began to lift, leaving him looking into her face as if nothing had been between them previously. For the moment, he eyed her with an even gaze, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees, feet planted on the floor firmly as he sat on the edge of the couch he'd taken residence of.

After another moment he took a breath in to speak, hesitated, then spoke up anyway. "Thinking on it does no good here." He gave another short pause to consider her again. "It's an issue that will be solved with time, not by worrying." _*****_

Hiei's voice drew Shikiyoku's eyes back to the fire demon and she regarded him with a neutral expression while he spoke.

Should she tell him? Was it worth explaining her concern?

If nothing came of it later, then the knowledge would be useless anyway.

She needed to try and control herself better in either case.

Shikiyoku sat back again, settling down as if to return to sleep, and took a deep breath through her nose and tried to remember that they were safe for the moment, calming her nerves and setting her mind on the task they would have at hand. 3

Hiei sat still for a few moments, taking to resting his chin on his fingers that linked together to create a platform. He stared unblinkingly at Shikiyoku, even as she went still again and seemed ready to go back to her previous state of sleep.

He wasn't sure if she would be going into a peaceful sleep at this point, or only return to whatever had awoken her in the first place.

After a few more moments of contemplation, he pulled himself up to sit upright, then moved to stand, crossing the area between the two couches. He stood over Shikiyoku for a brief moment before inching by her and sitting on the free spot next to her, leaning back and crossing one knee over the other, the arm nearest Shikiyoku lifting and laying across the back of the couch. He took in a deep breath before leaning his head back, closing his eyes to lounge quietly.

If he'd learned anything over the past month, he'd learned that while he didn't quite enjoy contact, he didn't mind being near. And it seemed to help. _*****_

As soon as Shikiyoku's eyes had closed and her brain edged towards sleep, the voices and images from the dreams she had just recently left began whispering across the surface of her mind, causing her face to twitch.

Just before she released her hold on the land of the waking, she felt a warmth wash over her and the distractions were gone, her body relaxing into a more peaceful state.

Her eyes flickered open once, seeing the dark cloak and confirming the presence she had felt settle next to her.

Closing her lids again, she let out a tiny sigh and let sleep take her. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	53. Episode 137 - Resting Realizations

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Enthusiasts!

So, where the previous couple of chapters were short because of my attempts to cut these chapters into relative coherency, this one in return is a littler longer, heh.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

As Akari 'dreams' while sleeping, Kurama is actually pulled into what accounts as little more than an illusion,  
finding himself amused to find Akari has Youko inside her dreams. Of course, 'Youko' is actually Foko,  
but Kurama does not know this and interacts as if there's nothing odd about the silver-haired fox  
acting rather over-protective of the girl.

Playing along with the world she has created, Kurama asks if Akari is hungry,  
and soon the two of them are sitting together at a ramen stand.  
Kurama apologizes for the trouble he's caused,  
bringing Akari to realize that she's asleep.

As she falls away into the darker reaches of slumber,  
Kurama admits to her that he wishes for nothing more than her happiness.

He is dropped back into his room, where he has Akari in his arms as he leans up against the wall,  
and he resigns himself to staying there when she appears to almost protest him leaving her.

~!**!~

Over the next month-in Demon World time-Shikiyoku and Hiei make the trek from the Ninth Level to the First.  
Hiei is looking for information regarding King Enma kidnapping demons from the First Level and relocating them to Human World.

As they arrive in the first city, it begins to rain and the two of them go into a nearby lounge to wait for the acidic downpour to stop.  
The owner of the lounge gives Hiei a drink and provides them with a private room,  
sensing Shikiyoku's tension and explaining there is no place for it there.

Shikiyoku has noticed that since she broke the compulsion her mother placed on her,  
there have been subtle changes to her body that happened without her direct say-so.  
Her scent is more potent, her hair gleams, and the most disconcerting:  
her skin almost _glows_ with beauty, meant to beckon others closer, to touch it.  
Lesser demons pay more attention to her now than ever before,  
and it has steadily made her more and more nervous.  
She now goes around as covered as possible, but despite her best efforts,  
she has found no gloves that would fit her rather small, humanoid hands.

In any case, she and Hiei take their rest in the private room, intending to stay until the rain stops,  
and after having what equated to a 'bad dream,' and waking both herself and Hiei up,  
Hiei moves over next to Shikiyoku with the intention of his closer presence being of a help.

* * *

Hiei had stayed in that exact spot for about two more hours before his ears had picked up the slight change in the sound, his instincts picking up on the change in the atmosphere that told him the rain had let up. His eyelids slid open and he stared up at the ceiling for a moment before his irises turned down to the peaceful expression on Shikiyoku's face.

After a slight moment of contemplation, the fire demon moved each and every muscle slowly, carefully, until he was sliding away from the couch and slinking out the door, shutting it behind himself silently. With eyes set on the demon behind the counter, who now seemed rather bored as he rubbed at a few bowls with a towel. The fire demon approached the counter with silent steps that, somehow, were not lost on the demon who turned a blank stare onto him.

"_Nice nap?"_

Hiei raised a brow before turning eyes back to look at the different snacks and such in the area, the soft music of the room floating around just as easily as the demon's voice.

"_Another one?"_

"Yes," Hiei replied finally, deciding he'd have the drink rather than a snack. "Two, this time."

"_She gonna drink this one?"_

Hiei gave a smirk. "I guess we'll find out."

"_Indeed."_ the demon replied as the bottles slid across the counter and into Hiei's waiting fingers. Without another word, the fire demon dropped a few coins onto the counter and turned, making his way back into the room where Shikiyoku had been left alone to sleep.

~!**!~

The darkness of sleep didn't really seem to fade entirely as Akari awoke, and the only thing she did at the moment as shift, pulling herself closer to the pillow she was hugging, tangling her legs in the blanket around her feet and burying her nose into the fabric of the sheet that felt extremely warm.

She took in a deep breath, willing herself to go back into the sleep she'd somehow managed.

A dreamless, beautiful sleep that she hadn't had in what felt like an eternity. Nothing but darkness, restful sleep.

And she could go for a few more hours of such sleep.

And that thought lead her to tangling herself up further into the sheets, arm pulling her pillow closer and nose rubbing one more time against the sheet with a sigh of content. _*****_

There had been a moment or two over the past day where Kurama had considered getting up, but each time the urge had arisen, the demon he now lay next to on the bed would move closer, pull him tighter, or murmur something in her sleep, completely rendering the urge moot.

So, he had himself napped on and off, waking on occasion to assure himself that she dreamed none during her rest, and found the next night that somehow in the middle of all of this, instead of sitting with his back against the corner and Akari in his arms, they were laying next to one another, Akari tangling her legs up in his-and ridding any chance Kurama had of leaving without her notice-with her arms around him and her face buried in the sleeveless white undershirt of his school uniform. He'd removed the pink jacket at some point.

He froze as she shifted around again.

Once the night had come upon them, he had found himself unable to fall back asleep, and took to weaving vines into Akari's hair, giving her a brilliant green crown, and he wondered if his actions had nearly woken her.

He waited a few seconds after she stopped moving before returning his free hand back to her hair and this time continuing to circle the vine down around her long curls, encouraging the growth gently with his energy while at the same time weaving it with his fingers.

~!**!~

With her internal clock set to wake her when the atmosphere changed, Shikiyoku could feel that alarm slowly pulling her from rest, becoming aware of the fact that she had found a couch pillow and was hugging it, curled around it in a ball on the seat cushion.

She blinked sleepily once, eyes closing quickly again with heaviness of not being fully awake and wondered somewhere in the back of her mind where Hiei had gone off to. 3

Hiei slipped back into the room silently, cold glass bottles between his fingers clinking only a little as the door shut behind him silently for the second time. He popped open one of the two, hearing a small sound of fizzing sound just before he lifted it to his lips, taking a small sip of the drink that suddenly had him pausing, staring at the red slush within the glass confines with wide eyes.

It reminded him of _strawberries_.

After that thought, he took another drink, this time savoring the taste and comparing the flavor to that of the little red fruits of Human World, moving to stand over Shikiyoku, extending his hand until the cold glass bottle touched Shikiyoku's cheek.

"Time to get moving."

~!**!~

Akari settled again, just thinking that she might be able to fall back asleep until she felt her hair move. She heaved another sigh, this time thinking maybe Nabu had taken to chewing on the ends of her hair again- something that hadn't happened for months now.

But…

She couldn't _hear_ the smacking of the dog. Nor could she _smell _the pup. She let her eyes slide open, her senses slowly waking and her brain finally registering the fact that the scent of the area was nothing like the smell of her home.

And when her vision cleared, she saw _white_ sheets. _Perfectly white_ fabric. And the feeling of her hair being moved was much more prominent this time, and her hold on the fabric that smelled alarmingly of roses and other greenery released, pulling away from the pillow she'd been holding on to. She looked up at the source of the movement, finding an arm clothed in the same _perfectly white_ fabric of what she just realized to be a shirt.

Her eyes followed that arm to stare, wide and unblinking at the face of Kurama. _*****_

Kurama felt Akari shift in his embrace, but this time didn't bother stopping his work.

His green eyes briefly lowered to her hazel ones to indicate the he knew she was awake, but then they went back to looking at her hair.

"Sleep well?"

~!**!~

In her semi-hazy state of sleep, Shikiyoku could feel the air of the room shifting around, so the cold bottle on her cheek did not startle her, instead bringing her eyes open as she heard Hiei speaking to her.

She sat up and took the extended bottled offering, looking at it skeptically before sliding her eyes over to watch Hiei partake of his. 3

Hiei released his hold on the bottle he'd extended to Shikiyoku as she took it from his grasp, lifting his own to his lips again and wandering towards the door, the taste on his tongue so very uncannily similar to _strawberries_ that he was almost certain it was concocted of the fruits.

He paused by the door, turning to Shikiyoku with a patient expression that said he was waiting.

Then he held up his bottle to indicate the subject of which he was speaking, "If you try it, you may find it an enjoyable taste."

~!**!~

Akari immediately detangled her legs from Kurama's as soon as she was aware of herself, pulling away, though keeping her hair under his touch so that he wouldn't end up pulling her locks harshly. "What do you think you're doing?" she growled, feeling completely unsettled.

How in the three worlds had _this _come about? _*****_

"Weaving?" Kurama raised an eyebrow, stopping the moment he felt her shoving back, "And I'm not done yet." He remained paused for a second longer, then went back to it when she did not immediately continue to pull away.

Since she had been asleep when he relocated them to his home, Kurama felt no surprise at her reaction.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stood up when Hiei stopped to stare at her, realizing that he meant 'time to get moving' _now_.

She still gave the bottle an identical look of skepticism as she started to follow after him.

"It is the same as the other?" 3

Hiei turned to continue through the door, stepping again into the room that was filled with soothing music and soft murmurs between inhabitants of the lounge- not surprisingly the same demons that had been here when he'd first arrived.

He didn't even glance back at Shikiyoku.

"Not precisely. Serves the same purposes, aside from the calming effect." He took another drink of his own, keeping the bottle against his lips until it was empty as he stepped outside. "Just drink it. No complaining."

~!**!~

Akari glared up at Kurama from under her hair and the hand that was still woven into her locks, not daring to move any further from him at this point, as she had become more than just a little aware of his energy pulsing in the room.

Against her own that was still radiating around her body.

She took a moment to consider the situation, glancing around the room and then looking back up at Kurama from where she lay propped up at the elbow on her side. "Why?" _*****_

Kurama kept his face neutral, gently twisting his fingers and the vine through the lock of hair he had been working on.

"Because I was bored." He said plainly, avoiding any other manifestations of the question that Akari posed at him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku heaved a quiet sigh of deference at Hiei and went ahead and opened the bottle and began drinking, stopping only to pull her hood up over her head and self-consciously tugging at the ends of her sleeves to cover as much skin as possible.

As they got outside, Shikiyoku glanced around while taking another begrudging sip of the drink while she stuck to Hiei and paying little attention to the taste, instead thinking about how she might acquire a pair of gloves small enough for her hands.

Her hood shadowed her face well enough, but her fingers were still visible and their enticing, almost pearlescent gleam made Shikiyoku feel very strange about letting anyone see them. 3

Hiei continued moving through the town that seemed to come alive, demons moving from building to building, continuing their daily lives even as the last of the day's light disappeared. Or, maybe it was reappearing? He wasn't sure. He'd forgotten how time passed on this level after so long of being gone.

Plus, what did it matter?

What they needed hadn't been here. If no demons gathered in a social building knew of the rumors Hiei had been inquiring of earlier, then neither would the common folk of such small town.

However, he _did _want to visit the trading post, for more than his own amusement. He almost felt as if it were a necessity at this point, as they'd visited almost every single trading post since the Ninth Level. Why?

Sometimes for his own amusement, sometimes for something Shikiyoku felt she needed.

~!**!~

Akari huffed at Kurama, momentarily turning her eyes away as she forced herself to not ask any _more_ questions, though there felt like there were many. But for the moment, all she could think of was the fact that she was stuck here, in an unfamiliar room with Kurama, who was currently _toying_ with her hair.

Much like _Foko _had done.

The thought had her eyes sliding closed and taking a deep breath.

"What _exactly_ are you weaving, might I ask?" she asked, voice calmer now than previously. "Don't tell me it's some ridiculous headband or another." _*****_

"A 'ridiculous headband' would be much too mundane for the likes of you." Kurama responded. "You can see it when I'm finished."

His eyes remained trained on his work, getting down to the bottom of one full curl of her hair with a vine and going back up to where the crown came around just behind her ear and coaxing out another length of plantlife, slowly taking it down another curl.

"Did you sleep well?"

~!**!~

After the first couple of sips, Shikiyoku let the bottle hang at her side, keeping her head down as she followed after Hiei.

Being lost in thought about a demon of pain led to her bumping shoulders with another demon going the opposite direction and she didn't stop to turn around, instead being startled out of her thoughts and quickly stepping up as if she were Hiei's shadow, staying close to him.

The demon she ran into didn't say anything, but did pause to look after her for a moment before turning and continuing down the path the other way.

Shikiyoku could feel the eyes of that demon on her, and wished suddenly for the power of invisibility, but said and did nothing save for keeping next to Hiei and making sure she stared at the ground near his feet. 3

Hiei refrained from the sound he wanted to make, keeping his sigh in his chest and squashing the sound before it could even be made. He could feel the distress of the person trailing him as if it were a tide rushing over his entire being, as her energy often did.

He continued onward, paving a path between the moving bodies of demons of all kinds. He glanced over his shoulder once at the woman making herself his shadow, his body very much aware of her close proximity on his heels.

After a brief glance, he turned forward again.

"There's a trading post a few meters away. Might have what you're looking for."

It hadn't been hard to guess what she wanted. After all, it was hard not to notice the odd sheen that covered one's skin.

~!**!~

Akari didn't respond right away, instead letting her body finally sink into the mattress again as she forced herself to relax. She let her eyelids slide closed, mind almost immediately going over the only other person who'd been allowed to play with her hair.

But, for some reason, she felt as if Kurama's work was _gentler_, more kind than that of Foko's, who, in comparison, seemed almost as if he'd never done such a thing before.

Of course, that wasn't the case, she knew. He'd been quick with his work.

Unlike Kurama, who was taking his time, enjoying himself.

"M-hm." she finally replied, the sound one of relaxation. She didn't want to ask _how_ or _why _she was in Kurama's house. "How long have you been at this, exactly? And… How long did I sleep?" _*****_

His internal clock told him he had started this a few hours ago, but his response consisted of, "I'm not sure. But you've been sleeping since yesterday."

Kurama watched his fingers curl around the strip of hair, winding the vine to the contours of Akari's hair with ease.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku closed the hand that did not hold the bottle into a fist, flexing once before releasing it.

As if she'd really thought Hiei hadn't noticed.

Perhaps on some level she wished he didn't, but since she felt sure this strange mutation was a hinderance to their more subtle work here she did not find herself surprised in his comment, but instead a little grateful that he would go to the trouble of seeking out something for her, even if it was probably for his own peace of mind.

She nodded before she realized he couldn't see her do so, but stayed quiet anyway, following after him just as she had been. 3

Hiei walked on despite his sudden irritation at the close proximity of the female and the cloud that he could all but _see _hanging over himself and her. His jaw set as he thought about it, not having to even make an attempt to guess what it was that was bothering her this time.

Because it was the same.

Every. _Damn. _Time.

Hadn't they moved past this stage already?

Suddenly, his calm mask became a glare at demons who passed too close, earning a quick scuttle out of the way or a challenging glare here and there, all to which he found useless and pointless. Unamusing.

He flexed his jaw discreetly, hands moving to his cloak pockets with ease instead of pushing open the door of the trading post, which was designated by his shoulder as he brushed by the wooden structure and inside the large warehouse-like building. Demons were everywhere, looking among stalls and stands galore, some with dull, old objects worth absolutely nothing and others with shiny, new objects also worth nothing. Some had food, some had what others would call simple _souvenirs_. But the only stands he needed, or felt he needed, were in the back.

He cut a straight path through the building, sending a glare to anyone who even so much as glanced his direction or even thought about heading towards him, whether it be for another stall or otherwise. He approached the stand that held hats, gloves, and shoes, each different colors with different purposes, some made of material he'd never seen before.

And instead of wandering away like he normally would have, he decided to stay near Shikiyoku.

It wasn't like his wandering away would help her mood in any way, shape, or form.

~!**!~

A long, loud sigh left Akari's lips at Kurama's words. _Since yesterday?! _How long had she actually gone without sleep? Her closed eyelids hid the roll to the ceiling her eyes made as she thought back, earning hazy memories of, the latest….

School? Maybe?

Right, a loud, annoying sound.

She frowned to herself and let her eyelids slide open again, this time looking up at Kurama's calm expression as if it held her answers. But all she could come up with was, still, the loudest, most annoying sound.

"_A fire alarm."_

She tried to recall more as she watched the redhead, the way his eyes moved to follow the motions of his finger and what she assumed to be vines, the way his hair moved when his shoulders did. "Why are you such an _ass?" _she suddenly inquired, releasing a sound that could almost be called a scoff.

She was supposed to be mad at him.

It was hard to be when she was just so _comfortable_. _*****_

Kurama's eyebrows lifted at her words, but the small smile that his lips pulled into belied his surprise at her question.

"And how exactly am I supposed to answer that question in a way that would satisfy it?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stepped around Hiei and immediately moved to the section containing gloves.

Her first impression was that none of these were small enough, her second that she found herself searching for something black for no other reason than the fact that it would match the rest of her clothing.

She nearly snorted at the pettiness of such a thought. She should be thankful to find _anything_, pink, blue, chartreuse or otherwise.

Somewhat wistfully she thought of her old clothing, some gloves included, back in Toriko's home, knowing that with just a little time she could modify any of it-much like she had modified the original cloak and outfit she wore initially for she and Hiei's excursion-from what her former demonic form measurements had been to those she had now in her more humanoid guise.

The wistfulness turned into almost an audible snort of derision in thinking of how _quickly _Rae had adjusted every single piece of clothing in her old closet in Rae's palace back on the Ninth Level. There's no telling how many poor tailors she figuratively, and likely literally, whipped into submission in order to accomplish such a task in hardly any time at all.3

Hiei stood over the stall, eyes roving over the varieties of gloves, among other things he realized were scattered about, seemingly hidden from sight as if the gloves were most important of them all. A sales tactic, for sure. It was the same as when he'd been in the first city on the Ninth Level.

The one he'd taken a katana from.

The same katana that he just realized had been left behind.

With his cloak.

Hiei felt his lips pull down into a grimace at the simple _thought _of his cloak being left behind, replaced by the out-of-place, very flammable cloak he wore now. The itchy material was nothing compared to his favorite article of clothing.

"Ah, browisn' fer gloves I see!" Hiei's red eyes looked up to the shopkeeper who seemed to have simply _appeared_. The shock of purple atop the demon's head was completely contradicted by the glow of turquoise that peered at Hiei momentarily before turning to Shikiyoku. "An' fer good reason too! Yer pos'tively _shinin'."_

Hiei felt a brow twitch at the dialect of this demon, who sounded remarkably similar to another he'd met. One he hadn't heard from since the tournament.

_At least Jin was on occasion worth listening to._

"Ooooh! Look how small yer hands are!" He peered over the stand at Shikiyoku's hands with shining orbs, smile wide and showing two rows of crooked, discolored, pointed teeth. "You nee' somethin' special."

He reached below the counter, hands moving objects that gained Hiei's attention as they _clinked _and _clunked_, even jingled against each other.

"Is you lookin' too, flame-boy?"

The scowl Hiei gave was accompanied by a twitch of his brow and lips, the vein in his head suddenly throbbing. "No."

_Don't call me that._

"Mmm… Too bad."

~!**!~

Another scoff and Akari was shifting, moving so that she lay on her stomach on Kurama's bed, chin on her hands and eyes sliding shut again.

"I guess what I'm meaning to say is…"

She gave another pause. What _was_ she trying to say? She wasn't going to admit that she'd been _trying _to be angry at him. She had plenty reason to be too. So why wasn't she?

"What is it exactly that makes you _want _to be an asshole? I mean, come on…" _*****_

Kurama gave a little sigh, smile fading away.

"To be truthful, it is never my intent to come across that way." The smile returned for a second, "Unless it's needed to knock some sense into someone and no one else has volunteered for the job."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku clenched her teeth together and held back a low growl that threatened to start vibrating in her throat, instead idly shifting through pairs of gloves as if she could find what she searched for.

There were many beautiful specimens of work, each crafted with care. There were ones that would only go to the wrist, ones with the fingers cut out, others that were meant to extend to the elbow, some that would reach even further up the arm. Some had gems or feathers, some had embroidery or etch-work. There were some interesting materials as well. Nothing Shikiyoku did not recognize, but several instances of things she knew were not cheap by any definition of the word.

And all too big.

Even the smallest she knew would not accommodate her human form's short fingers and small palms.3

The shopkeeper noted Shikiyoku's eyes that glanced over each and every pair of gloves even as he continued rummaging underneath his small counter. "Aw. don' be sad. I have special ones too!"

Hiei turned his eyes away, looking at a nearby stand to keep the desire of striking this foolish demon under wraps. Neither of them were children, and they shouldn't be treated as such.

"Here, try these!" The demon moved, pulling his hands out from under the surface and extending a pair of gloves that were simply one color, gold, with dark thread where the cloth had been sewn together. "Is my smallest pair! Ne'er though' I'd sell 'em."

Hiei's eyes zeroed in on the color, noticing the light sheen that seemed to glow around the color. Wasn't the point of gloves in their case to draw attention _away_ from her hands?

"Here, have these as well!" The demon turned to Hiei, extending a pair of dark blue gloves. "They're rumored to be able t' ward off the kidnappers! They're common abou' these parts, though no' many people believe a crazy shopkeep."

Hiei frowned at the offer, crimson eyes turning up from the gloves to the turquoise gaze that shone with excitement. "Kidnappers?"

"You ain' heard th' stories?" His voice was hushed now, the demon leaning forward to create an air of secrecy as he spoke. "I've seen 'em."

~!**!~

"Yeah, well, y'know…" Akari began, not looking at Kurama. "it isn't your job to _set someone straight." _A small smile ghosted across her features before disappearing entirely. "And quite frankly, your methods are questionable, at best."

She gave another pause.

_I don't see why you care anyway. It matters not what you think, because either way, it's still my problem. Dumb fox demon. __*****_

"Ah." Kurama 'realized' what Akari was talking about, "You should know what I did had nothing to do with being an 'asshole' or setting you straight." His face dropped into a neutral, guarded expression and he had to force himself to continue to work on the curl he currently had in his grasp, getting to the end and stopping completely before going on.

"And I'm afraid I must apologize as apparently I only made things worse. That certainly did not factor into my calculations as a result and it was never my intention to cause you more trouble."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku took the gloves from the merchant and immediately slipped the left one on her hand, putting the bottle down on the table inbetween them and then placing the other over her fingers.

They would...do. For her purposes. Neither particularly aesthetically pleasing for Shikiyoku nor really the right size, but they extended up her arms to just shy of the elbow and would conceal her skin even if her sleeves accidentally lifted a bit.

As she inspected her newly acquired gloves, turning her hand first one way then another, she held back a scoff at the exchange occurring between the shopkeeper and the fire demon next to her.

There was no way to tell if they warded off kidnappers or not-she barely glanced at the gloves the shopkeeper offered to Hiei-as if it _were _true, the pair would likely still be on the hands of some demon somewhere. 3

Hiei let his eyes drop again to the gloves offered to him, expression mildly irritated and slightly disgusted, as if the articles were tainted. The shopkeeper seemed to notice and place the small gloves down, hands resting atop them as he leaned forward. "No one's e'er seen 'em before, y'know? The kidnappers."

Hiei made to leave, ignoring what he said. He was now entirely uninterested.

Out of all the stands, the one they needed just so happened to have the craziest demon behind it.

"They took an Aswang, y'know tha' right?"

Hiei paused, finally turning to look at the demon again. Smile gone, expression troubled now instead of happily servicing customers. "You expect anyone to believe you?"

"So you _do _know. Rumor has it, she's dead alrea'y. Killed after taking a human child's life."

Hiei's brows furrowed only slightly, eyes shifting to Shikiyoku as his mind brushed hers. "_What do you think?"_

~!**!~

Akari heaved a sigh, turning her face away. She had the oddest sense of déjà vu going on.

"It doesn't matter." she replied, cheek resting on her hand making her words slur just a little. "It isn't like it hasn't happened before." she paused, contemplating his words. She wasn't exactly sure why, but no matter how hard she tried, she just _couldn't _find it in herself to be mad.

"Don't be stupid." she suddenly said, deciding his apology wasn't necessary. "Your intentions were different than those in the past. I acknowledge that." She gave another pause, finally turning her face and opening her eyes to peer at him calmly again. "Just…." she let her words die away, deciding not to say them after all.

She pushed herself up to sit up, shaking her arm in an attempt to awaken the numb limb. "Like I said, it doesn't matter." _*****_

"Well, it obviously _does _matter since you sent yourself into a frenzy to stay awake to ward off dreams that _my _actions caused in the first place." Kurama tilted his head slightly, "So, on some level, whether you acknowledge it or not, the entire situation was my fault. And for that," He took a breath, "I'm sorry." He closed his eyes.

"I would take it back if I truly thought it would help."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku continued inspecting her gloves, acting as if she hadn't heard Hiei's question.

"_Merchants are sometimes known for having information the general populous does not. They're also known for being quick to tell you what you __**want **__to hear, and not necessarily what is true." _3

Hiei turned to the shopkeeper again, this time facing him entirely with a watchful gaze. He considered pressing on, but quickly decided he was in no mood to linger around for information that could be entirely false. So he turned to leave, his Jagan quickly and discreetly gracing the demon's mind with its presence in search of-

"Those gloves, they're eight-"

It took a lot to keep from pausing and turning to face the merchant.

"Your service is much appreciated," Hiei cut him off, continuing to move away. He didn't even give the demon a hint of the coins he'd left inside the other pair of gloves, something he'd learned to do long ago when he felt… generous.

"_Two towns over is the home of the Aswang." _Apparently, the merchant had known the creature personally. Though, as for seeing her taken…

That was nothing more than a load of crock.

"_This place is useless now."_

~!**!~

Akari set her teeth together. Here she was, being nice, and Kurama was trying to convince her to be angry. Like she hadn't already tried. She moved, leaning forward and hitting him on the chest. Hard, with an open palm before leaning away, brows drawn down and lips pulled into a scowl. "Get over it. Just dreams, just memories. The past." She moved, sliding away and swinging her legs over the side of his bed.

"What in the _hell_ makes you think taking it away would matter anyway? Haven't you learned _anything_ about running from your past? Surely someone like _you_ knows how that goes." _*****_

Kurama sighed.

If he hadn't given her the scar in the first place, then she wouldn't have been driven to dreams of her former station in life that were _so _ugly she had forced herself to avoid sleep for, what, three days? He couldn't really be sure. To say that he had regrets was an understatement of the third degree.

"No. Not particularly." He finally said. "What reason do I have for running from my past? Considering _it _actually ran into me…" He mused on Youko's spirit entering the body of the child Shuichi Minamino.

That is, himself.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku caught the shopkeeper's gaze after Hiei turned to leave, glancing meaningfully at the bottle which she had left on the table before following after the fire demon.

Assuming he didn't choke on the coins left inside the beverage, Shikiyoku had used some sleight of hand to leave him at least some recompense for the information, if not for the gloves.

When she felt Hiei telling her of the information he'd gathered from the shopkeeper, she gave him the mental equivalent of a nod before pulling her mind away from him to realize something she had not considered before.

Hiei really _did _have no use for her.

Considering she spent the majority of her life as an information gatherer of one sort or another, with _both _her second and third champions, the sudden thought that the thing she would consider herself best at was completely moot for a demon with a Jagan hit her all at once.

Why the _hell _had he agreed to protect her in the first place? There was absolutely _nothing _for her to do in return except follow him around and cause more trouble than she was certainly worth, given that she really _had _no worth to him.

_Ugh._ 3

Hiei continued walking in silence for what felt like an eternity, finding no reason to rush to their next destination. The next acidic rainfall wasn't for a few days, at least, and quite frankly, he was sick of running around like a moron.

Or maybe his patience was wearing thin. It was something he hadn't noticed until now, but every time Shikiyoku seemed to fall into one of her _moods_, his patience seemed to wear thinner and thinner.

Until he was almost afraid he was going to _snap. _

He didn't understand her in the least bit. Her mood changes. The causes of such changes. Only that his presence would sometimes calm her, sometimes make the cloud over her head darken.

"Enough."

He wasn't sure why she continued to shift the way she did. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much. All he knew was that the longer they were in one another's company, the darker her mood seemed to get, and thus, the shorter fuse he had.

"That. Is. Enough of that."

~!**!~

Akari planted her feet on Kurama's floor and she was making for his door, hand pausing on the handle as he spoke up. She turned her head slightly to show she had heard him before turning her eyes forward again, then down to her fingers around the knob.

"I'm a mess. Get over it. You did what you saw fit in an attempt to fix my mess. While I appreciate that, it's also made me realize how much of a mess I actually am, despite these months after Sensui. Your actions were…" she gave a pause as she pulled the door open.

"Never mind. Point is: you made your point." _*****_

Kurama was standing, listening to Akari's words and trying to decide whether or not he should physically prevent her from leaving.

"And do you know what that point was?" Kurama wanted to know, his expression just as neutral as it had been.

~!**!~

_At least-_

Hiei's voice pulled Shikiyoku from her next thought, startling her a bit.

It dawned on her that Hiei was likely picking up her thoughts on some level or another, something her previous two champions got quite good at doing _without _the aid of a third eye. And given that the two of them had been in close company for over a month demonic-time, him sensing the gist of her mood was unsurprising.

She didn't actually answer him, instead finishing her thought about how what with their fast approaching return to Human World, and subsequently to Koenma with the information they gathered, Hiei wouldn't be stuck with her for much longer.

That lifted her spirits, if only a little.

For now, at least they had some direction or another, though Shikiyoku could only guess why Hiei wanted confirmation about the kidnappings; _she _didn't particularly care. Let the three worlds do as they pleased.

...and maybe once she had a moment she could figure out what _exactly _surpassing her mother's strength had done to her. 3

Hiei continued walking, brushing his hands discreetly on his cloak for a moment as if brushing away his irritation. His mood, however, stayed, just as persistent as his sudden silence and the desire to say no more in case he actually _did _snap at her. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to.

"I normally wouldn't care," he suddenly began, not sure what had prompted him to speak, "but this is.. different."

Again he went silent, this time truly not intending to speak, no matter what she asked, if she even decided to prompt him.

~!**!~

Akari's hand fell from the knob after the door had been pulled open, turning to go down the hall and only pausing to consider his question. She let her eyes turn to him, looking at him from the corners for a moment before a brow raised.

"Scars are scars. As you said, they tell stories. Survival stories." Her brows resettled into place, expression turning neutral again. "I just have to get through my own, get over it because I'm an idiot stuck in the past. Now, if you'll excuse me, Nabu's probably running around like an idiot."

With that, she let her feet carry her to the stairs. _*****_

After she left the room, Kurama let his eyes close, a pained expression falling over his face.

Of _course _that wasn't his only reason, his only point, but why did he find it so difficult to try and explain it to her?

What, he could admit it to her mostly unaware self because somewhere in his head he knew she wouldn't remember? Or was it that he felt if she actually rejected him, it would just chalk up as another failure, like giving her the scar?

Kurama collapsed back into sitting on the bed and stared at the point where Akari had disappeared, saying nothing.

_Stupid fox._

~!**!~

She knew it was different. And she knew apologizing for it would make no difference.

She also knew faking her mood was likely to be just as bad.

So, for the moment, she settled on contentment, resting on thoughts of the matter at hand as well as the thoughts of fulfilling that which she felt Hiei desired most.

_Soon._ 3

Hiei walked. And walked. And walked. Never once had he decided to pick up the pace, only deciding to keep this slow pace out of preservation for the both of them, giving Hiei time to keep himself in check and Shikiyoku time to sort through herself.

So, when he set foot into the city he'd been looking for, his expression was of calm neutrality. His hands were at his sides, eyes glancing about calmly as he considered the extremely silent town. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought this city to be completely abandoned.

The difference?

He could see blinds moving from windows, shuddering back into their original places as demons retreated from the visitors.

A shaken town. Almost small enough to be considered a village.

"Unsettling." _Even for Demon World._

~!**!~

Akari gave a pause at the top step, a hand moving up to her hair as her eyes turned back to the open door of Kurama's room that was just down the hall. She released a silent sigh from her lungs. "Hey!" She suddenly called down the hall, a very slight smile touching her lips. "I dunno what you did, but thanks." She turned and continued down the stairs. "I haven't slept like that in ages."

She let her feet carry her down until they touched the platform of the living room, gave one more pause, and then turned to leave, hand falling to her side. _Crazy. __*****_

Kurama had lowered his head to stare down at the floor, leaning over with his arms resting on his legs, but his head lifted at Akari's words and he actually found himself smiling.

At least he'd been able to do _something_ right.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku bent her head slightly forward in a nod as she glanced around them.

"Is _this _proof enough for you, then?" She asked quietly, noting the haunted look in the eyes of any who she could catch peering at them before escaping back into the buildings. 3

Hiei continued to stare at a pair of eyes that had locked with his own, meeting the gaze squarely, but with no hint of malice whatsoever. No ill intent. And as a reward, the eyes simply stared back, as if a silent conversation were going on.

But in reality, Hiei felt mildly disturbed. He couldn't feel _anything_ of the eyes that stared back at him. His mind, or rather, his Jagan simply couldn't focus on the being, as if the air around the demon was hazy, unstable.

Or maybe it was stable enough to _seem_ unstable to him. But the more he poked and prodded at the mind that he could clearly see churning behind the blank stare, the less he seemed able to focus on the being.

_Force won't always work, I suppose. _

He suddenly was walking forward, raising a hand to wave Shikiyoku to follow, not that he hadn't thought she wouldn't follow.

"_Your turn. I'm useless at the moment."_

~!**!~

After a while, Akari had decided to do something she'd been putting off for a while now:

Visit Spirit World.

"You picked the best time to visit! Koenma was just about to send me to give you the communication mirror he has specially for you!"

The demoness shrugged, but gave no response to Botan, who continued on happily, as if no response whatsoever was required of the girl. And for a moment, Akari considered turning around, going back. She almost wasn't sure she wanted to know the answers about her former team. After recalling the demise of Gourmet, she did give a short pause and glance back.

But it was too late now. She was already in the office, watching the large doors slide shut behind her.

She turned to look at the toddler prince, who was staring at her for a moment with a calm gaze. His lips twitched slightly, making her brows furrow before she sighed. "I suppose you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me?"

"That depends on the question."

Akari gave a small pause before smoothing down her shirt. When was the last time she'd stood before this desk? A few months ago? "I'd like to know, if you would allow me, about what happened to the team."

She watched him sit back, regard her for a moment. "I'd been wondering when you'd ask." His hands moved to a drawer she couldn't see, his eyes below the desk surface as he pulled out files, setting them in a neat stack and sliding them towards her without so much as a hesitation.. "Help yourself."

And she made herself comfortable in a chair in front of his desk, files in hand and silently shifting through the first one, Sniper's. _*****_

~!**!~

The cool night air rustled through Kurama's hair as he walked through the trees on the outskirts of town.

Sleep had been...a no-go.

After spending the past day and a half tending to Akari-and by 'tending,' mostly sleeping-Kurama had found that laying back down and staring up at the ceiling had been the most of what he could do at that moment.

He was thankful his mother was on vacation.

He _could _have used some sleep remedy or another on himself and _forced _the sleep, but it felt much nicer to be up and around, easing some of the pent-up tension he had gathered from staying in much the same position for so long.

For the most part, he kept his mind clear, avoiding the internal monologue he'd been running through about Akari, as well as the one involving Hiei and Toriko.

Or...hopefully Shikiyoku. Especially if, as Kurama suspected, the pair had gone off into Demon World together. Protecting Toriko from the things she appeared to fear the most would certainly be-

Kurama shook his head.

Clear mind. No thoughts.

Because there was always a chance of-

Kurama staggered as he felt a wave of..._something_...shudder through him, and he whipped around to see Otento, having not heard nor felt the demon approach.

Otento's platinum blonde hair waved slightly in the breeze, his arms crossed over his chest and his expression blank.

"Greetings...Kurama."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku followed after Hiei, wondering almost incredulously at what exactly Hiei thought he was useless for, as the fire demon led the two of them towards a house off to the left. 3

Hiei never let his gaze stray from the one he was locked with, almost thinking that if he broke the contact, he wouldn't gain it again. But as soon as he was standing at the door, the eyes drew away from the window and, in a second, were peering at him from a crack between the doorframe and the door itself.

"What?"

Hiei raised a calm brow and glanced at Shikiyoku. "We're traveling through, need to ask a few things.

"Company not wanted."

Hiei stepped forward, using his foot to stop the door from slamming shut.*

Shikiyoku glanced behind towards the street as Hiei stuck his foot between the door and the frame and prevented it from closing, earning himself a glare from the owner of the home within.

Slipping her small frame inbetween Hiei and the door, getting wedged against the two, Shikiyoku raised her head so that her eyes behind her hood would meet with the ones of the demon she could make out in the gloom beyond.

Her green eyes glowed with subtle power and she reached a small hand into the house through the opening Hiei had kept, finding the jawline of the demon beyond and brushing her fingers from ear to chin.

"Let us in." She said simply, voice low and husky and filled with that same subtle hint of power her eyes held.

The spell seemed to work, the door opened slowly, and the demon stepped back, giving them just enough room to come inside before he closed it behind them.

There was a lantern in the corner of what Shikiyoku would have equated with the living room of Toriko's home, and it cast just enough light to reveal a comfortable chair, which was all Shikiyoku needed.

She did not make eye-contact with Hiei, instead letting her gaze catch the demon at the door and hold it, but she did speak into her own mind a warning for her Champion.

"_If you wish for me to do this, be prepared to behead the poor fool once I am finished."_

Shikiyoku raised her hands and slowly pulled her hood back, letting her ebony hair fall about her shoulders with a shiny gleam like so much silk, a tell-tale perfume beginning to permeate the air around her.

"_And make sure you keep hold of the pact so you too do not succumb."_

Each motion Shikiyoku made was deliberate, her eyes never leaving the demon before her, and his own brown eyes locked with her gaze.

She pulled up the sleeve of each arm in turn, every movement somehow sultry, and then peeled back a single glove, revealing her skin which, like her profile, held a faintly pearlescent glow all its own that seemed to almost beckon one to test its smoothness.

And beckon Shikiyoku did, holding that hand out, palm forward, to the enraptured demon by the door who made no hesitation to join her, reaching out with his hand and intertwining his fingers in hers as he came closer until he stood practically in her embrace. He released her fingers to hang by her side and ran his up her exposed arm to lightly rest there, staring down into her eyes which held the answers to everything he could ever ask and more.

Shikiyoku's energy had not even manifested visibly yet, filling the nose of this demon in silence with only her eyes giving an indication of the seduction happening between them.

The demon leaned closer, inches away from Shikiyoku's face, and his eyes flickered briefly down to her lips, finding them lush and enticing and slightly parted, before returning to her eyes.

Those lips curved ever-so-slightly as Shikiyoku took a breath to speak into the warmth she had created between them.

"What do you _desire_?"

A thousand things ran across the demon's mind as he stood there, breath moving slightly faster than was normal, and Shikiyoku blinked once, hiding the brilliance of her gaze from him for only a moment, but leaving him, in that moment, feeling as if he might go insane should she never gaze upon him again.

As her eyes came open again, he had taken his other hand and placed it at her neck, as if that would make her open them faster.

His vision and mind both tunneled onto this exquisite being before him and he finally gave his reply, the spell over him coming to a completion.

"I desire... ...you."

Shikiyoku's head tilted slightly as if she had fully expected his response. This demon gave in quickly to her tactics, his strength of mind fast overwhelmed by her energy, her presence.

"Tell me," She moved her face so that her cheek brushed up against his, moving her lips close to his ear, and he appeared to shiver at the touch of that same inviting skin against his face that his fingers now caressed up and down her bare arm, his eyes shuddering closed, "How often does Spirit World come to kidnap demons here?" 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, but otherwise moved out of her way, sliding his foot from the door's frame and simultaneously taking a full step back, catching Shikiyoku's words and giving an imperceptible nod to show he'd heard and understood. Her energy moved around her, making the hairs on his arms and neck raise. At Shikiyoku's second prompting, Hiei made no motion that he heard her.

He merely turned his attention inward, deciding that trusting her judgement was likely the only thing he could do at the moment. So his mind focused on the pact, the bond that dully hummed underneath everything else currently on his mind. He carefully kept his eyes turned away from the scene, instead taking in the darkened room despite the beginnings of light outside. He tugged once on the bond, earning a dull throb in his temple from the gentle prodding of such a thing.

"_What do you __**desire**__?"_

The question cut across Hiei's mind, sliding into the forefront of his mind and settling there as if it were making a home for itself. As if it didn't wish to go unnoticed.

And for some reason he couldn't quite comprehend, he himself began sorting through the things he so desired. At first, it was simple things, such as to get this _mission _over with, to leave this level and figure out what was going on between the three worlds. He thought about wanting to see Yukina and make sure she hadn't gotten onto him yet.

His next thoughts consisted of Shikiyoku and Toriko, letting them see the parts of Demon World they wanted to see. And then, he found himself wanting Shikiyoku to feel a little less… _useless. _He wanted her to be _herself_, not a tool for others.

He wanted another moment like the one back at the pond. He wanted them to have _fun. _To enjoy one another's presences and-

The bond suddenly rang in his head, making him blink and focus on it again, previous thoughts now forgotten. His eyes slid open- when he'd shut them, he didn't know- to peer over at Shikiyoku curiously, not sure where she was in her questioning.

"_Is it time to kill yet? I'm ready to get out of here."_

~!**!~

Akari thumbed through file after file, reading the pages with a soft smile here and there. Hagiri, as she'd referred to Sniper as, had gone back to school. He seemed to stay mostly to himself, but that wasn't surprising, even to her. Kamiya had escaped from jail, not only changing his own face and name, but changing his lifestyle as well to support the sick and dying humans. Mitari…

She paused at the file and gave a small smile. He'd been the smartest of them all. He'd been the one to see that Yusuke and his team were the good guys first. He'd done right before any of them could, and she found herself wishing to hunt him down, say hello. Ask about mundane things such as school.

Amanuma. Her fingers paused here as well, almost not opening the file. She remembered how it had been set up, how the youngest of them all had been set up to die in order for the others to continue. But when she opened the file, she was surprised to see that his status read: Alive and well. She read the notes along the side, glancing up at Koenma briefly, who took no notice in the change in air around the female. She found herself feeling a bit more… respectful to this toddler prince.

Not only had he given _her _another chance, but Amanuma as well. She wondered if the others knew that bit.

Her eyes turned down again, skipping Gourmet's file and going straight to Itsuki's, which, like Sensui's, was covered in red letters that read _MISSING_ and _THREAT_. She looked at the closest wall clock, finding that Koenma's clock was generous enough to give her the date back in Human World.

Two months ago. If his disease had stayed persistent, Sensui would have died two months ago. Itsuki…

There was no telling where that one went. He could be stuck in a shadow realm at the moment, and not even the best of shadow masters could find him. It was just that simple.

She closed the last two files and took to staring at the top one in thought.

Maybe when she got back, she'd find them. Say hello. Catch up.

Or, maybe not. _*****_

~!**!~

Within seconds Kurama had evaluated the situation.

To be faced with a demon who could not only mask his own energy, but his scent, his sound, his very presence…

It _this _wasn't an S class demon, Kurama didn't know _what _was.

How he managed to get past the Kekai-

Didn't matter.

Kurama knew he was outmatched, even before he attempted to reach for his demonic energy and found that the same black orb had encircled it once more, locking it away within his body.

The seeds he had been experimenting with that would react to the soil or the air or water-anything that wasn't his energy specifically-were nowhere near out of prototype, as it remained difficult to infuse something with his demonic energy without the knowledge of how to actually seal that energy away from himself, save it for later. He knew nothing of rituals or curses or anything that might allow him to do it. Spells in that realm of knowledge were out of his expertise, though to be fair it wasn't as if many walked the planes of existence that were experts in that sort of thing anyway.

And, at any rate, he wasn't about to throw those seeds at this demon when he actually had no knowledge of what Otento was capable.

"Otento." Kurama said simply, all of these thoughts passing through his head at a moment's notice.

The other demon did not move.

"You are to come with me, fox."

"And if I refuse?"

The blonde uncrossed his arms and held out the leafy crown that Kurama had woven into Akari's hair.

Kurama's expression did not change, even as the crown shriveled brown and then crumbled away into dust in Otento's fingers.

Otento did not have to say another word. His meaning was clear enough for the redhead.

"You will _not _harm her." Kurama's voice lowered, his gaze steely.

"If you come with me of your own accord, no harm _will _come to her." Came the reply.

The urge to reach for hidden seeds almost made Kurama's hand twitch, and even though he restrained it, Otento's vibrant eyes flickered to Kurama's fingers as if he had sensed to desire.

"We will be doing something about that." Otento commented sharply.

There was nothing with which he could legitimately respond. If there was even the slightest chance that the enemy had captured Akari, Kurama wasn't about to risk _her _life.

And, really, it was only a matter of time before the fake Youko needed Kurama removed from the playing field. He was too much of a liability to have walking around.

Kurama blinked once, then held out his hands, wrists together, to which Otento came forward without hesitation, producing a length of wire from somewhere that felt strange when tightened against Kurama's skin in a makeshift pair of handcuffs.

The wire held some sort of power all its own and the energy of it hummed against Kurama's wrists.

Otento started to walk beyond Kurama, tugging at the wire when the fox demon stayed in place for a second too long and setting Kurama to a slight stumble after him.

~!**!~

"You try my patience, fox." Otento growled, slashing again at Kurama's thigh with the needle-thin blade.

Kurama had been led here, wherever _here _was exactly since it had gotten misty with an otherworldly fog and obscured his vision and removed any sense of direction he might have had, and Otento had promptly thrown the other end of the wire up into the branch of one of the dead trees to pull Kurama's hands above his head.

What had followed was a series of increasingly short-tempered questions regarding the whereabouts of 'Toriko.' The interrogation had gone south quickly when Kurama refused to respond, and now Kurama could not even lift his head, his clothing in tatters and bloodied with each strike the other demon had taken. His mind was hazy from the blood loss, and there were no such thoughts of escape in his mind.

Because...if he tried to escape...they might do something to Akari...

Kurama coughed a little as blood got caught in his throat and made his breathing difficult.

He would have-_should have_-blacked out hours-_minutes?_-ago, but somehow his high constitution allowed for no such thing, leaving him in a state of semi-awareness in which he could no longer consider flinching-_not that he had_-under the subsequent attacks.

"Answer me!" Otento brought the blade up across his body and slashed through Kurama's arm again.

The fox stayed silent.

~!**!~

_He was __**supposed **__to have been back an __**hour **__ago. _Foko grumbled to himself as he tromped through the trees. Unfortunately, other things had held the pseudo-fox's attention just long enough for the sleight to go by unnoticed.

_He didn't even need half the time he requested for the job in the first place. What's so hard about apprehending a fox when you have the power to- _Foko stopped dead in his tracks, nose flaring.

Blood.

But Otento's or Kurama's?

Too far to distinguish. He was not in full control of the fox's senses as of yet.

What could have gone wrong?

Foko broke into a dead run, sprinting in the direction of the scent's origin and breaking through the trees with wide eyes onto the scene, seeing Otento's back as he lifted an arm to make another slash meant to join the already countless others that covered the tattered body of the redhead the demon had been sent to obtain.

Foko let out a snarl that shook the trees as he continued forward without pause, bringing up a fist that suddenly sprouted with a sword of deadly plant life and making the last dash forward, swinging the sword down through the very arm that Otento held up to strike into Kurama, and continuing a few paces past both demons before skidding to a halt and turning to glare menacingly at Otento.

Otento stood in shock, staring at the place where his shoulder should have connected to his torso and finding nothing there, the arm fallen to the ground below.

Foko stalked back to the demon, plants disappearing from his fist, and grabbed the blonde by the front of his shirt, turning and slamming him into the trunk of the tree from which Kurama's arms had been strung up.

"You were to bring him back to _me_." Foko's words were crystal clear and articulated, as well as almost to low to hear and dripping with barely-contained fury.

Otento's eyes were just as wide as possible, blood dripping from the place where his arm had once been, staring directly into Foko's cold, golden gaze.

For a split second, Otento's eyes narrowed, but a plethora of indescribable plants erupted seemingly from the air behind Foko and trained themselves upon, facing towards, Otento's body.

"Just _try _to work your magic on my energy." Foko seethed, "I _dare _you. You will be _dead _before your work is finished."

The tension of Otento's body did not lessen, but it changed, and the plants behind Foko disappeared, slithering away out of sight as if they had emerged directly from Foko's back.

"I will spare you your life," Foko snarled viciously, "But only because he is not dead and you have up to this point proven yourself a valuable asset."

Foko glared at Otento, finally releasing the demon from where he was held up against the tree trunk so that he slid back down for his feet to touch the ground.

In two steps, Foko had Otento's limb in his hand and he threw it none too gently at the other demon, who barely caught it in his other hand.

"If you are not back at base by the time I return, I will hunt you down and kill you myself." Foko snapped again. "Get going!" He growled when Otento did not move immediately.

The purple-eyed demon shuddered, but slipped off of the tree, never leaving eye-contact with the pseudo-fox even as he stepped to the side of it, but then he turned tail and ran, quickly moving out of sight of the shifting mist.

Once alone, Foko visibly relaxed, but turned concerned eyes to the fox demon before him, starting to check for vital signs and the extent of the damage. He removed bits of fabric where they had gotten caught inside the wounds, not caring that his hands were quickly becoming soaked in the blood of the overly injured avatar as he made his inspections, speaking quietly to the fox in the hopes that Kurama might latch onto his voice and not fall into unconsciousness.

Unable to recognize the voice, Kurama still did just that, fighting back the urge to give up and let go and knowing on some level that doing so might cause him to never wake up. 3

* * *

_It's said/hinted at here and there in our roleplay around this time, but CM and I discussed the difference in Shikiyoku and Hiei's interactions when we decided a time-skip was in order (that is, the possibility of Hiei being more talkative with her and the like) and we decided that because of the traveling they did together (the month of a time-skip we did for them basically) that Hiei has become at the very least more amiable specifically when it comes to Shikiyoku since they've been companions and in close quarters for that length of time. And why things like her mood effect him more. So, if you notice moments that you might think are out of character for Hiei, know that CM and I made the choice to have him act in such a way because of their month of travelling, and that here is where we are in fact consciously starting to make the slow shift for Hiei to begin caring for her, and that the change, while meant to be subtle in some aspects, didn't come all at once, but instead did happen over time (we just skipped all the boring travelling they did in that month since nothing terribly important happens)._

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	54. Episode 138 - Confirmation and Care

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dear Reader!

Get to the chaptah!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari finally wakes up in Kurama's arms on Kurama's bed,  
with the avatar weaving vines into her hair out of partial boredom.

After a brief conversation in which Akari tells Kurama she got his point about her scars,  
she leaves and ends up heading to Spirit World in an attempt to discover what became of Sensui's psychics.

Kurama, meanwhile, can't sleep after having mostly slept himself while watching over Akari,  
and he subsequently is caught off-guard by Otento, his energy sealed away.

Foko was expecting Otento to return with Kurama, and the psuedo-fox goes looking for the pair,  
and he finds Otento brutally torturing Kurama for information.  
After removing Otento's arm and sending him away,  
Foko sets about stabilizing Kurama's condition.

~!**!~

Hiei and Shikiyoku leave the lounge in which they had taken refuge from the acidic rainfall of the First Level.  
Hiei takes them to a bazaar, a trading post, specifically seeking out a glove vendor for Shikiyoku.  
They manage to find a pair that will fit her, and also glean information from the vendor:  
there have in fact been demon disappearances as of late,  
and an Aswang went missing most recently from a nearby town.

They journey there to find the town in a state of solemn caution,  
not a single being on the streets.  
Hiei catches sight of a telepath whom he cannot read,  
and decides Shikiyoku will interrogate the demon...

* * *

Shikiyoku moved her bare hand up to brush against the cheek of the demon, eyes locked in his.

As she questioned him, she found herself moving and doing and saying things she had never even considered options before.

She knew somehow, without consciously acknowledging it, that her touch was more potent now, that each attention she gave even with that one free hand was somehow more effective than a thousand before it, requiring exponentially less energy to entice the one in her grasp.

And the demon before her moved his own hand up to place it on top of hers, longing for her touch, for her gaze, for her everything. In her were his desires manifest; without her there would be _nothing_.

He held her against him with his other arm wrapped firmly about her petite waist, staring down into her eyes where he nearly towered over her small form, and the moment would have been considered quite intimate save for the fact that now her energy was visible, wrapped about him and binding him to her in their own private cage of power, her eyes officially glowing and her scent rising invisibly from her hair to enfold the demon in its perfume.

"_Anytime now." _

The demon was leaning closer to her, eyes starting to close as he prepared to finally place a kiss on those lips he had long since wished to claim as his own. 3

Hiei had lost any and all train of thought by this point, watching the way Shikiyoku's energy move, swirling around and around the demon in question and even around herself. Occasionally, he turned inward, touched the bond with his consciousness and earned a hum of joy.

But in the next moment, he would always end up distracted by something or another, normally by a question or the way the demon would answer.

For instance, in this very moment, he was stuck staring again at the haze around the pair, lips pulling downwards at the sudden silence in the room. Then he realized that must mean it was _his _turn. The fire demon moved without so much as a blink of an eye, his sword appearing and then disappearing in a flash of light.

A moment later, the demon's head was literally rolling, falling from his shoulders and to the floor with the rest of him. Hiei, who hadn't even blinked, turned to Shikiyoku with a blank stare.

"We're leaving."

~!**!~

Akari had been taking her leave from Koenma's office and towards the gym before a very loud siren began ringing in the distance and a single light in the hall she'd been meandering down began flashing an angry red. It was at that point that several things happened at once:

One, an ogre ran by, barely keeping from running her over, and only because she'd made herself flat against the wall to avoid him.

Two, she felt her curls fall around her face again, the once green, leafy decoration in her hair falling to the floor in front of her. It was at this point she felt her stomach drop and her feet turn to begin their trek back to Koenma's office.

Three, Botan appeared and was pulling her away, one hand giving her the communication mirror Koenma had told him to remind her of before she left the entire building, the other hand closed tightly on her wrist.

Before she knew it, she was in Human World all over again, feet carrying her as if she knew _exactly _where to be. Quite frankly, she wasn't exactly sure _why_ she was running. She hadn't heard anything Botan had told her. But, the only thing she found herself thinking about was the dead plants that had fallen from her hair. The same plants Kurama had, as she assumed, taken _hours_ to fashion into her hair.

_They wouldn't just __**die**_ _like that. _She knew that if he put them there, he would have fashioned them to stay there as long as she desired. Why? Because… well, it was Kurama.

And the fact that they'd simply fallen from her hair after such a short amount of time… it left her more than just a little uneasy.

"You're going the wrong _way_, Akari! His energy was-"

"No, you're trying to pull me away from his scent. Shut up and let me do my _job_, Botan."

Silence as the reaper followed. She wasn't sure how long she ran, and the girl flew, before Akari broke through a line of trees. But when she did, she was aware of three things: One, Botan had left her be, let her handle the situation to watch from a distance, perhaps. Two, Kurama was hanging, white shirt almost nonexistent and whatever was left of it certainly wasn't _white_. But red. A very bright, angry, gory red that clashed with the wonderful red of his hair. She had the awful sense of déjà vu, but had no time to consider as her eyes shifted to the hands that were covered in red that pulled away from the form hanging from the tree.

And several emotions clashed, forming a large ball of swirling emotions within her, until she settled for one, solitary emotion: rage. Her teeth set as her eyes locked on Foko- no. The Pseudo-Youko. Her lip twitched, lifting only slightly to reveal a single sharp tooth.

"If you do not step away," she began, energy humming through her body, though not moving _away_ from her yet. "you will find yourself _without_ hands." She wasn't sure what kind of confidence she had in herself at the moment, but if it came down to it…

She'd simply fight long enough for Botan to grab Kurama and go, if she were still nearby. If not, well… She'd figure _something _out.

Because Kurama dying was _not _happening. Not with her here. _*****_

As Foko methodically tended to clearing some of the deeper wounds of their debris, thoughts that he'd never had before started stirring in his mind. Realizations and images of plants and their properties, which ones would be useful for healing these cuts, cleansing them, removing the scars that would remain behind.

He became lost in the visions and the knowledge that threatened to overflow within his mind, forgetting to even cut the fox demon avatar in his hands down, though the position did make it easier to work.

Foko only had one such useful plant on his person at the time, and by now the seed had been slipped onto Kurama's bloodied skin near the bottom of his ribs and was being coaxed by Foko into its viney form, slowly spreading underneath the tattered shirt over Kurama's stomach and ribs outwards towards his chest and starting to, wherever it touched, stop the blood flow.

For a split second, he did not register Akari's words, but his ear flicked back and that brought his attention to follow, turning his head until he caught her eyes, his face blank and lost in the deeper thoughts he was attempting to make sense of, his golden eyes obviously distracted and far away.

Her glare pulled Foko from those thoughts and his eyes suddenly cleared, momentarily questioning her expression until he glanced down at his hands, which had come slightly away from Kurama's body.

They were covered in blood, as were part of his arms.

Mostly Kurama's blood, though he was sure there were specks from Otento mixed in there as well.

Foko turned back to look at Akari, and saw in her eyes no immediate chance of redemption for the situation she supposed to have caught him in.

And that's when his gaze hardened, something within him mixed in with all the thoughts and visions coming to the forefront of his awareness and making his face cold and calculating.

A fading wish to explain to Akari what had happened was quickly squelched underneath this tide of new emotion, and it was as if Foko knew now that there would be no turning back.

However...he had no desire to fight her. And with Kurama's energy locked away, this time as permanently as Otento had been able to manage, Foko knew somehow that the fox demon within would not be able to roam free.

And that was the point after all, wasn't it?

There was nothing more for him here.

"We are enemies, you and I." Foko said cooly, quietly. "On two sides of this war." He did not take a step back from Kurama, but he did whip his hands to the side, splattering more blood onto the ground. "And you would do well to remember it."

Something within Foko shouted at him, screamed as he seemingly cut off all contact with this demon whom he had come to cherish. Respect. Perhaps even _love_, in his own way.

But he made no flinch, no hesitation, face remaining in that same flat and emotionless expression that gave no indication of his own private war that he fought within himself as he looked for what he assumed would be the last time upon Akari's face.

Then he simply turned and left, disappearing into the mist that swirled around and ate him up, leaving behind no trace of the silver fox as it enveloped him in its otherworldly mask.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's abruptly disgusted expression did not come from the headless body itself, or rather the beheading of the demon, but from being wrapped in his embrace, which she rapidly extricated herself from with a practiced ease, slipping out of the dead arms and letting the body fall mercilessly to the floor.

Her lip was curled as the body made a thud and she looked down on the empty shell with no small amount of disdain.

The demon's desires were still freshly singing their song inside her mind, and she felt no need to disguise her distaste at their parade, instead pulling her energy away from him and recalling it out of sight.

For the first time, the abrupt death stirred nothing within her. Where before she remembered mind-wrenching devastation at each sacrifice she took under her power, she felt none of that now. Only an aversion to the desires she somehow found disgusting that she had read from the demon now on the floor.

Her eyes stopped so prominently glowing, though they still retained a sort of inner light, and her exposed skin did much the same thing, settling back down, but still whispering of a smoothness of touch that beckoned to be tested.

Shikiyoku wiped her bare hand on her clothing as if that would help remove some of the invisible gunk of desire the demon had left behind in her head, and then slipped the glove back over her fingers and up her arm, pulling down her sleeves and turning to leave the house as she replaced the hood over her head and folded her hair to be hidden within it. 3

Hiei witnessed the way Shikiyoku's energy moved about, slithering around in the air and towards herself until his eyes could no longer see it. He could still smell it, of course, but it was only at this moment when he realized that her scent was from her energy itself, not simply her skin or hair. All of her.

By the time she had slid her gloves up her arms, Hiei had regained control on his own thoughts and was staring down at the body. Now that he thought about it, killing the fool likely wasn't the best idea. This town could likely see _them_ as kidnappers. And that would _certainly _be a hindrance for their travels back to the Ninth Level, and thus, for their travels back to Human World.

The fire demon frowned at the thought, but turned his eyes away from the body anyway, instead pulling them up again to Shikiyoku, watching her hide her face and hair again beneath her hood. Instead of ridding of the body as he normally would have, he decided to leave it where it lay, to avoid others assuming he and Shikiyoku were a part of the group of kidnappers.

He wordlessly turned to go, silent steps moving towards the door and pulling it open, twisting the lock as he stepped aside to allow Shikiyoku to go out first.

He saw no need to look for more answers. He had everything he needed to know, and that left the male in a very quiet, withdrawn state.

It seemed that Gekijou was not lying about a single thing she had said to them.

At least he'd have a month to decide how to go about this…

~!**!~

Akari's energy had slowly begun to move about her skin in the moments where the Pseudo-Youko gave no indication of responding other than turning to her. She shifted her own weight only slightly, balled fists staying at her sides even as her nails dug into her own skin. Every inch of her being screamed at her to move, to fight, to let out the rage.

But she didn't. Instead, she was watching his every single movement, cold stare matching the golden glare she was now receiving from the other. For the first time in her life, she was planning ahead, searching for the twitching muscles that would indicate plant growth around her feet, or a vine manifesting from his hand. She was searching for any and all signs of a pending fight.

So when he moved, shaking the blood from his fingers and palms, her eyes followed the motion before flickering to his face again, catching his words with a twist in her lips that created a gesture that was often accompanied by a growl. _You don't say? _

For a moment, an image threatened to pass before her mind, but she paid it no mind, not allowing memories of _anything_ distract her. And she said nothing to the demon who turned to leave. She merely waited until his form was completely gone from her immediate eyesight.

And she waited a few moments longer before turning her eyes to the male that hung from the branch of the dead tree, her expression suddenly blank and eyes guarded as she took quick steps across the clearing. With swift motions and sure hands, Akari's energy formed a small shadow blade that cut through the binding around the male's wrist, her other arm quickly creating support for the dead weight of Kurama until her first could gently aid in lowering him to the ground.

Silently, her fingers waved before his slightly parted lips, finding the whisper of a breath there and slight relief. _Still breathing, good. _Her energy moved again, this time to the vine she could now see underneath his shirt, cloaking it until her shadows simply _rotted_ it away, after which they carried it away from herself and Kurama.

_I'm sorry. I'm so stupid and-_

She shook her head once in a jerky motion. Now was _not _the time to get stuck in her own mind.

"Kurama?" she called out to the male as a finger brushed away blood from his cheek and then moved to his eyes, peeling back an eyelid to check the reaction his pupil would give. "I'm moving you. Don't fight me." She didn't think he _could_ fight her, even if he was still conscious in any way, but it was a precaution.

Without another word, she moved to stand, carefully pulling the male up with her until she had the entirety of his weight on her back, his arms over her shoulders and her own hands wrapped about an unharmed portion of his arms. Even when Botan silently appeared in front of her, expression of shock before she offered a helping hand, Akari took to moving silently away from the area.

"Akari, he-"

"No. I caused this, I'm fixing it. Just… get me the necessary supplies, if you will. And if you see any other demon in the area, let me know. I can't fight."

"But-"

"_Now." _She turned her eyes to the girl before giving a short sigh. "Pease. Just gather the necessities."

With a frown and a silent nod, Botan was again leaving, and Akari was making her way to her own home, deciding it was much closer than Kurama's. _*****_

"_Where IS she?! Answer me!"_

"_I will spare you your life..."_

"_Moving will make it worse...please remain still while I do what I can. You're bleeding out. I need you to stay with me."_

The voices kept bringing Kurama back from unconsciousness, though they seemed distant, but with this last one he found his pain lessening and that it was easier to latch on to the voice, such a familiar voice, that continued to murmur quietly to him.

It took a moment for him to realize this voice was speaking through remedies he already knew of, creating a steady lull of sound that Kurama tried to make sense of, but only caught the bits and pieces.

"_If you do not step away..."_

Another voice.

He tried to say her name, but his lips parted and no sound came out.

"_We are enemies..."_

No. No, that wasn't true. Otherwise he would be dead.

Kurama opened his mouth again, mind unable to reason any thought as to why, if they were enemies, he had been kept alive.

He could feel the blood coating his throat and could not manage more words.

"_Kurama…?"_

He tried to speak, unable to open his eyes or make much sense of things, and swallowed fiercely as he felt himself being moved.

"_Please…"_

"A-Akari?" His voice sounded hoarse to his own ears, and he attempted to find his own feet underneath himself. 3

Akari paused at the sound of her name being breathed into her own ear, but after such a brief pause she continued on anyway, leaning further forward as she felt his struggle to stand.

"Don't." she said simply, keeping her voice even, keeping her own thoughts and emotions veiled as her energy moved about her, searching for threats in the area. "You're not stable enough to stand, much less _walk_. The bleeding has stopped for the most part, so there's no need to reopen the wounds."

She gave a small frown, eyes staying trained forward as she moved with relative ease despite his weight on her back. "For once, let _me _help _you." _

_Rather, let me fix what I started. Let me help so later, maybe you won' kill me. At least let me make it up to you. __*****_

Kurama made no further movements of protest, knowing that while his size compared to hers might make the position slightly awkward, his weight would be of little to no consequence for another demon.

In the midst of all the blood and gore, the faintest scent of rosemary wafted through his nose as her hair rustled in time with her steps.

_She hadn't been captured._

Kurama didn't know what to think at the moment, though there were few thoughts actually occurring besides breathing, but the welling up of relief from that simple fact flowed over him as he relaxed, fighting once again with slipping into unconsciousness. 3

Akari stayed quiet, mind roving over several things at once. When she felt Kurama was too relaxed, too close to unconsciousness, she would adjust her hold on him as she walked.

_How could I have been so stupid? What made me think that this time, it would be different? _

_Well, it __**is**_ _different._

_This time, I wasn't the one who came to harm. Someone else was. Someone who'd helped multiple times came very close to __**death**_ _because of me._

Those thoughts swirled over and over in her mind, making it impossible to keep her expression blank as she methodically pushed open her front door, using a foot to easily shut it behind herself before continuing on.

She wasn't surprised to see Botan sitting on the floor, talking to Nabu, who said nothing as he eyed the clean sheet and bandages and a whole array of things meant for Akari's use.

"You live _here_, of all places?"

Akari didn't answer, only moved until she was able to lay Kurama on the clean setup Botan had prepared. And she was quick to begin dressing wounds, starting at his arms.

_"I told you," _Nabu suddenly piped in a small tone. _"No one who-"_

"That's enough, Nabu. Botan, I can handle this. Tell Koenma that if he has questions, he knows how to find me." _*****_

If he had the strength, Kurama would have protested the attentions that Akari had started to give him, but his half-lidded green eyes gave every indication that he was having trouble staying conscious, and couldn't see much past the length of his arms, which had since been picked up and started to be cleaned.

Not to mention the fact that he was feeling very...human at the moment. He could not feel the avatar within himself, and without Youko's presence or the ability to access his demonic energy, it left Kurama feeling much the same as he had the first time Otento had locked everything away. Except perhaps more pronounced what with his injuries, which he knew would be healing at the same rate as a mortal.

Hence not _actually _protesting the help. 3

Akari took her time with each and every wound the redhead had, eyes staying carefully trained on her work even as she swapped from one arm to the other. She hadn't watched Botan leave or Nabu get comfortable near Kurama's face, as her attention was solely on Kurama and the wounds that were the worst, the ones that still threatened to bleed.

Once she was absolutely certain no wound would begin bleeding again, her hands slowed their work and her mind picked up on the thoughts she had tried to leave behind.

_It should have been me. What was I thinking? Why didn't I think about this being a possibility?_

_Because I'm stupid and acted like I didn't care for the others. I acted as if I thought nothing of their safety. _

But it was true, she hadn't considered the others being attacked anymore, because she'd put herself in the hands of the enemy, let them get into her head and fool her that maybe she was doing something better than she'd previously done. She'd never considered the fact that others would be affected by her own actions, her own choices.

Then again, she hadn't ever cared about the others before now. Before this group, it had been only her. She hadn't worried about others because there had been _no others. _She hadn't…

She hadn't cared before now.

And now that she had, she'd put them in harm's way.

Her hands suddenly paused their work, hovering over the bandages she'd robotically tied together. She stared at it, not really seeing the bandages around Kurama's bicep or anything in front of her. She clenched her teeth together.

"_We are enemies, you and I….. And you'd do well to remember it."_

_Why? _Why had she stupidly ignored everything that was so obvious? Why did she ignore every single hint? Nabu had even warned her, but…

She leaned away from Kurama now, hands dropping to her lap and head bowing, eyes sliding shut. _You're so stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid._

She suddenly moved again, resuming her work with tender fingers, tying more bandages around wounds that were already clean.

"_Akari?"_

She ignored Nabu's small sound, forcing her expression and mind blank all over again.

"You still conscious?" she asked coolly, tone even and words quiet despite her inner war. For the moment, she wouldn't let her thoughts show to the fox. _*****_

Kurama remained awash in a sea of pain, intermittently closing his eyes completely and opening them just enough to look in the direction he knew Akari was supposed to be.

His eyes had been closed when he felt her stop working, and he had slowly lifted his lids in time to feel her start again.

She hadn't said anything in a long time, and being unable to see her face, Kurama noted nothing of the inner turmoil she felt, but as soon as she spoke he felt something quiver inside him as if noting a strangeness to her voice.

"No." He answered, the corners of his lips tugging upwards a little with the threat of a smile. 3

Akari glanced at Kurama's face, noting the very small twitch of his lips before she turned her eyes back to her work. While she would have found his response funny in another situation, she didn't even consider a smile or a retort for the moment. Nabu shifted somewhere nearby, but again the demoness made no note of anything else aside from the motions of her own hands and her own thoughts.

And for a while, she was just as quiet as before, until she sat back again, this time sitting back on her rear and crossing her legs underneath herself. She rested her elbows on her knees and leaned forward until her hands were propping up her chin, the dried, crusted blood of Kurama rubbing off here and there along her jawline as her eyelids slid closed.

She considered laying down, but her shaking hands were only the first hint that she wouldn't be able to sleep.

_You have to tell him._

"I," she began, giving a small pause, a small hesitation, until she suddenly decided to _not_ say what she knew she was supposed to say, "wrapped up all your wounds. Sleep isn't recommended, but if you were to, I won't be going anywhere." _*****_

Kurama's breathing had steadied, though he still found it difficult to pay attention to anything but the pain, which he felt was only magnified by the fact that he could not feel his body actively seeking out and healing his wounds.

On the plus side, he also felt as if he was no longer bleeding out, thanks in no small part to the demon who had sat back from her work next to him at that very moment.

He opened his eyes half-lidded again, not remembering when exactly they had closed, and found that his vision had cleared a little more, letting him see just the edges of Akari's face in the low light.

"...thank you." He managed after taking a shaky breath. 3

The churning in Akari's gut increased tenfold when Kurama spoke up, and it took every ounce of willpower to keep her expression blank. "Don't," she responded in a flat tone, eyelids finally sliding open to allow her to stare at him blankly.

What was she supposed to say? _You're welcome for getting you almost killed? _

"Just… don't." _*****_

Besides a single eyebrow lifting in question, Kurama's expression did not otherwise change.

"You wrapped my wounds when I was unable to do so." Kurama murmured, "Am I not allowed now to be grateful to you for this?" 3

This time, the flinch was not only internal, but external as well, and Akari was turning her face away. "No." she answered simply, eyes closing again.

"_She's mad because I was right and she was wrong, and…. Akari?"_

For once, Akari hadn't told him to shut up when the dog had begun boasting about her being wrong, because for once, she knew without a doubt that not only had he been right, but listening to him could have prevented so, so much.

"Shut up and sleep, will you?"

"_But he's not supposed to sleep, remember?" __*****_

Kurama's gaze moved over to look at Nabu, then back to Akari's face.

"I do not think sleep would be wise at this juncture." He noted, hesitating for a second, "Akari…" He moved his closest hand towards her, finding her knee and resting it there. "Why do you frown?" 3

"Why do you sound like a character from a human's literature book?" she suddenly retorted, slowly shifting away from the hand that had reached out to her. Akari's thoughts were jumbled, mixed into a swirl of nonsense that had long since been this way.

She wasn't sure she _could _answer him correctly, even if she _wanted _to. _*****_

"You're going to have to tell me eventually." Kurama noted, pulling his hand back and masking his reaction to her pulling away. "Or I might do something we _both _regret." 3

"Threats mean little to nothing when your energy is sealed away and your body is incapable of moving on its own."

"_You're being mean again, Akari."_

"Shut up, Nabu."

"_See, there you go again."_

Akari huffed a sigh out at the dog before opening her eyes and turning her gaze to Kurama again, watching him with a dull gaze that no longer shielded her emotions. It just wasn't a possibility anymore. She felt like she'd been running a marathon of fools, and had lost the entire thing. She opened her mouth to speak, but slowly shut it again. How would she even begin to say it? _*****_

When Akari did not go on, Kurama started shifting about, testing his muscles and the strength that they held, and slowly started to push himself up, his stubbornness, as well as his high constitution, starting to show. 3

For a mere moment, the dog demon watched the fox move, shifting his weight and shuffling about in an obvious attempt at sitting up. An attempt that she didn't think was wise.

"Would you _stop_? You're in no condition to move about and you can't afford to have reopening wounds." _*****_

Her words went unheeded, but Kurama did speak up, his voice steady and normal as if he had not just practically gone to Spirit World for last judgement and come back.

"If I can sit up and look you in the eyes, maybe you'll tell me what's troubling you." 3

"Or maybe you'll _die_, like the moron you are." she grumbled back at him, feeling the flinch at her own words. "It's not going to do you _any _good if you're _dead_, you stupid fox." _*****_

"If you hadn't noticed," Kurama had himself up on his elbows by this point, "I'm much harder to kill than Otento apparently thinks." 3

Akari's teeth were gnashed together now, her jaw muscles flexing in time with her fingers that curled around them. She moved, and in a swift motion, she not only had a pillow where his head would hit the floor from such a motion, but she had a hand on his shoulder and pushed not-so-gently. "What did I just tell you?" _*****_

"I'm not sure." Kurama actually let a small smile cover his lips, "But I don't think it had anything to do with my original question." 3

"You're acting like a child." She retorted, still avoiding the question as she forced him to lay back on his back again. Her hand, despite her earlier motions to get _away_ from his reach, remained on his shoulder as she leaned forward, head bowed so that her hair fell over her shoulder as her eyes slid closed.

"Just… stop moving, okay? Please, just lay still. I don't want to see you hurt anymore."

In truth, a small part of Akari had changed, though she wasn't sure what that change entailed. All she knew was that it centered around this one, solitary person, and he was possibly the most _stubborn, irritating _being in the three worlds. _*****_

"I don't know if you knew this, but someone has taken care of my injuries, so really there's no need to worry about them." He moved the shoulder she had her hand on up as if to rise again, though he did no other movement. "However, as I have yet to receive an answer, I might be forced to more drastic measures." 3

The frown the pulled Akari's lips down was one of irritation mixed with unamusement and other emotions. Emotions she herself still hadn't sorted through entirely. She knew she felt embarrassed at her own blunder, nervous at how he would look at her after she told him, betrayed because-

_Not going there._

Disappointed. She'd thought she was doing better, but she'd just repeated history.

Angry.

And so much more. Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed and she drew away fro Kurama, as if saying he could do what he wanted. She wasn't in charge of him anyway. If he wanted to reopen wounds, so be it.

She rubbed the back of her hand roughly against her eyes, as if wiping away the stinging sensation behind her lids. The cause, at the moment, was lost on her.

"You could have _died_." she suddenly spoke up, voice shaky even in her own ears. "You could have _died_, and it would have been _my _fault because I'm an idiot." _*****_

"Akari," In a swift motion only Kurama could have managed after being injured thusly, he was turned over on his side, leaning on one elbow and reaching for Akari's face with his other hand, where he took her chin and moved her face towards his, attempting to get her to look him in the eyes, "Akari, listen to me." He searched her face, green eyes now bright and filled with the years of life he had vicariously lived through his avatar, "None of this is your fault." 3

As soon as Kurama's hand had hold of her chin, Akari was yanking away, batting her hand at his wrist and leaning as far as she could from the male without toppling over. She wasn't sure what the sound was that she choked on, whether it was a growl or something else, but in the next moment, her mouth was open.

"No, _you _listen to _me._" She took a deep breath, suddenly very aware of her next words and how he would react. "_You _can't say it isn't _my _fault, because you don't have a _clue_." An image suddenly crossed her mind and she paused, blinking once before returning to reality. "_Youko_ was not in that illusion. I haven't even _met_ _Youko_, because there's been no need for me to _meet_ the real deal." Her breath hitched for a moment. "_You _were nearly killed because _I _amd the same moron I've always been and it should have been me and, and…"

Suddenly, she was unable to speak, her throat now thick and breaths coming much faster now as she rubbed at her face again, swiping at the wetness on her cheeks.

Her next words were nothing but a whisper. "So don't tell me it _isn't my fault." _*****

Kurama listened patiently, still propped up on his side, as several things made sense in his head all at once.

His first instinct was to laugh in relief, but for her sake, he discarded that initial desire.

_That _was her big secret? As if she was the first being in the world to be betrayed.

And for that matter, not even 'be' betrayed, but no, 'feel' as if she were betrayed.

Kurama slowly shifted again, this time with much more measured movements, until he sat cross-legged across from Akari, his expression solemn.

"Akari." He started, stating her name in a practical manner. "When you found me, what did you see?" 3

Akari hadn't even been aware of Kurama's movements until he spoke, drawing her eyes up from her hands that had stilled for the moment to peer over her fingers. The expression he wore had her feeling as if she should be ashamed, as if he were hiding his real emotions about what she'd just said. And his question was ridiculous.

Her expression turned from… whatever it had been… to a darker once, shadows seemingly forming on her face as her mind very easily produced the memory before her mind's eye. Again, several emotions hit her at once, but the most prominent one was _anger_. "You were all but dead." _*****_

Kurama's head shook, just slightly, once, before he pressed her more exactly, "Besides me, _who _did you see?" 3

Again, emotions shifted, and when the mental image cleared, Akari was left glaring ahead, her expression remaining on the stronger of the emotions that had been coaxed forward. "What do you mean, _who?" _she replied, but giving him no time to answer. "_Who_? That- That," she struggled, colorful words crossing her mind before she settled on a simpler term, "_fox_." _*****_

"I suppose there's no point in asking you what you _thought_ he was doing." Kurama noted, "Allow me to guess: his hands were covered in my blood?" 3

Akari's stare locked on Kurama and hardened into rocks, his words feeling a bit like a challenge. "And?" _*****_

"And what would you say if I told you that had the...'fox,'" Kurama went with her word for the pseudo-Youko. "Not chosen to stabilize me when he appeared, that even your wondrous wrapping abilities would have done no good."

He had not turned his gaze from hers, but he made sure his next words were clear.

"The fox did not do this to me, Akari." He gestured nebulously to his body, his injuries, "Truth be told, I believe he did not _mean _for this to happen to me. If you wish to be furious at someone, then your anger would be better spent pointed at _Otento_ who-" Kurama's words caught in his throat as he suddenly realized he had been about to admit to exactly _how _the infamous kitsune-avatar had gotten...err...captured.

Because he'd thought they'd had Akari. 3

At first, the demoness had done nothing more than meet Kurama's even gaze with a steely one, as if challenging _him _to challenge _her….. _as much sense as that made. But as he spoke, words slowly began sinking in, and her expression gradually changed from a dark, irritated one to a look of surprise. Her lips parted in a small 'o' formation for a moment before sealing shut again.

And she sat in silence, hearing nothing more that the fact that the false Youko hadn't done harm, but…. helped?

_Still.. _A small voice filtered from the back of her mind, wriggling its way to the forefront of her mind. _He may not have directly attacked, but he's still at fault. _

Suddenly, her expression was blank, and when she blinked, so was her stare that lifted from the floor to Kurama's eyes again.

"It doesn't matter _who." _she pointed out. "He's to blame as well, because he-" she cut her own words off with a sigh. _No use in sharing these thoughts. They're useless to someone who doesn't care about-_

_She cared._

That thought had her jerking just a little before returning to passive again. "It doesn't matter." she repeated, blinking once slowly at Kurama again. "How're you feeling? I mean, you can't be _too _hurt if you're making stupid remarks." _*****_

Kurama let Akari's first comment slide.

He knew that the fake Youko was to blame for his capture; the fox had likely given the order. But...the memories he had of the exchange between Otento and his leader indicated to Kurama some sort of strife that had not been so prominent before.

He felt sure that the original intent of his capture had been strictly to restrict the true Youko's ability to be summoned. And Otento deciding to 'interrogate' him on the whereabouts of Toriko was very obviously something the fake Youko did not intend to have occur.

The question _did _remain, however, as to _why_ the fake Youko did not want Kurama dead. Would it not be easier to simply kill him and be done with it instead of going to all the trouble of locking Youko away within him?

But the fake Youko very obviously did _not_ want Kurama dead, otherwise he would have either not interfered, or allowed Otento to continue, or simply let him bleed out.

Kurama had considered the motives of this band of demons before now, but he looked on them in a new light, wondering at their real intentions.

"Actually, I'm not really certain if I can move any longer." Kurama gave Akari a simple, almost cheerful, reply, letting none of the thoughts that had passed through his mind in an instant darken the words. 3

The frown that pulled at Akari's lips was deeper than one she'd worn before, this time aimed at Kurama and not herself. She released a small huff of a sigh, eyes closing for a moment in order to restrain herself, keep herself from making a remark.

When she reopened her eyes again, she was staring at him. Her lips twitched just a little. "Maybe I'll leave you like that then. Serves you right." She made sure her tone matched Kurama's pleasant one perfectly, even adding a small tilt of her head. _*****_

"It certainly would. Far be it from me to deny the truth." Kurama replied easily, "At least this way I can see you better." 3

"Frankly, I'm surprised you can see _anything _other than the darkness of unconsciousness." She admitted, smile still just as pleasant as her tone. "I could fix that for you, if you wanted me to." _*****_

Kurama's eyes narrowed playfully, "And _how, _pray tell, do you plan on _fixing _that?" 3

"I guess if you _really _wanted to know, I could _show_ you. But I don't know if you'd enjoy it as much as I would." _*****_

"And I'm not sure you have any _idea _what I might or might not enjoy." 3

Akari rolled her eyes to the ceiling at Kurama, for the moment deciding not to answer because, quite frankly, she didn't know how to. And when her eyes rolled down to meet his gaze again, her smile was gone and she was releasing a long, tired-sounding sigh. "I've learned challenging fox demons aren't fun. I lose." she reached forward, placing a hand on his shoulder with the intentions to guide him back to a comfortable laying position. _*****_

"A most _wise _lesson to choose to take to heart, pup." Kurama chuckled, but allowed Akari to help him lay back down, watching her thoughtfully. 3

AKari helped Kurama adjust until she felt his muscles relax under her grasp, at which point she retreated, taking to sitting just how she had earlier, legs crossed and elbows on her knees, chin in her hand. This time, she took to watching the other calmly, quietly. "You're no fun." _*****_

"Is that so? Pity. I've been told I'm loads of fun." Kurama's expression remained dry. "It's absolutely terrible to have been lied to all these years." 3

"Well, I mean, _I _was able to recover from being thrown to and from treetops in an hour, tops. I even was able to play tag and-"

She stopped, frown suddenly forming on her features again. The memory of being thrown via rock platforms through the air, only spared by the fake Youko had her feeling rather… queasy. Sick. Ill. Whatever one wished to deem it as her stomach rolled. _*****_

Kurama turned his head slightly so that he might be able to see the small dog nearby.

"Nabu," He said with faux-seriousness, "Whatever possessed you to let her run around playing _tag _after being hurt?" 3

Nabu stirred, lifting his head from where he'd been curled up, listening quietly before huffing indignantly at Kurama. "_I can't tell her what to do. You've seen how she listens to me."_

Akari mirrored the huff Nabu had made and turned her head to the side. "I do what I _want _to."

"_And it leads to trouble."_

"I've saved your butt more than once, or have you forgotten about the dog catcher?"

"_We don't speak about that. Flowers, make her stop." __*****_

"And just where do you think you would be were it not for your comrade here?" Kurama spoke up, eyes glimmering with both humor and the seriousness that such a question demanded. 3

Akari's smile suddenly returned, bright and wide and toothy as Nabu scrambled for an answer. "_I'd _be creating problems and likely being hunted down by Koenma, if not dead by now."

"_I would be with a __**nice**_ _family, who had kids who let me lay with them at naptime and-"_

"Now _that_ is an exaggeration. You can't handle kids."

"_Neither can you."_

"Wrong. I can handle it if I need to."

"_But remember that time when-"_

"We don't speak about that, either." _*****_

Kurama's eyes closed as the two continued exchanging banter back and forth, a smile fixed over his lips as he finally felt the weight of the last few hours settle across his body, finding that rest did not take long to fall over his mind and cause him to drift off to sleep. 3

Akari and Nabu both went quiet as they noticed the silence from Kurama, who, upon closer inspection, had drifted off. Nabu curled back into his ball of fur and went back to his attempt at slumber, and Akari…

For a while, she found herself watching the pair with gentle eyes and a kind smile. And after a few more moments, she found herself heaving a long-suffering sigh that almost transitioned into a yawn. She shouldn't be tired.

But watching the two males sleep made her feel as if she herself needed a nap. Maybe not a full night's- or rather, day's- rest, but… a small nap wouldn't hurt.

She shifted about, until she was laying on the floor where she had been sitting, laying on her side so that if something were to happen, Akari would already be facing the redhead who she had decided would be under her supervision for a bit.

_At least until he can move again. __*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wasn't really sure what to think of the developments she and Hiei had discovered while here in Demon World.

She spent the month journey back to the Ninth Level in a much more somber mood than the trip down had been without really understanding why.

After all, the intel they gathered didn't particularly affect her.

What did _she _care if demons were being stolen from their homes and dropped into Human World, minds-wiped of all but aggression, with antagonistic purposes? And even if they _were _being taken by Spirit World's King Enma himself, again, why did it matter for _her_? She couldn't particularly care less, though she supposed perhaps that was because it had not affected anyone she knew or cared for.

As for Hiei...well...wasn't he technically in the _employment _of Spirit World? Perhaps that made things different for him.

Being a demon who spent the majority of her life out of the direct influence of Spirit World-considering that the 'offices' only had 'control' over the part of the First Level-she hadn't ever come across them, save for when they sent Hunters or whatever after Youko and subsequently her. But even then, it wasn't as if she could _blame _them for what they tried to do. In their own twisted way, they probably thought it was the _right _thing to do.

Though, _if _King Enma was overthrown, Shikiyoku _supposed _that the warrant out for her arrest would go away. That would be a plus. And she guessed something of a similar sort for the fire demon. But they seemed to have forgotten about her anyway, so in the end it didn't really matter, right?

...then why did she still feel so _lousy_? 3

He wasn't sure exactly _when _he had made up his mind, but some time during the trip back to the Ninth Level, Hiei had decided that telling Koenma _anything_ was, as of this very moment, out of the question. There were, quite frankly, too many risks in telling the _prince _that the _king_ was to be overthrown, if possible. While the fire demon still thought of it as something completely unable to happen, he realized that the possibility of such an event would mean nothing, but the simple _threat_ could end in mass destruction of…. well…

Every one.

Every single demon who had ever _once _stepped out of line, and that would, eventually, lead to Shikiyoku and even himself being targeted.

And that was a no-go.

Even still, while the rumors of demons being taken from their homes and planted on the plane meant for humans was very obviously much more than a simple rumor, there was no evidence stating that Enma was behind such a thing.

There was no evidence whatsoever that even remotely _hinted_ that it isn't simply just…. Demon smuggling. Slave trade.

In fact, he'd almost convinced himself that that was _exactly _what was going on.

But still, something continued to pull at the fire demon, make him retrace his thoughts and circle back to the very beginning all over again.

In the end, he had decided that it was now _his _responsibility to look into it. He'd talk to the smartest of them all first, see what the fox had to say about such a possibility.

From there….

Well, he'd just have to play it by ear.

Red eyes focused again on the path ahead, quickly adjusting his step to avoid a tree he'd been careening towards. Hiei narrowly missed the branch with a simple shift in his stride, landing expertly within the shadows of the tree he'd been moving through. He felt his hair resettle into place, along with his cloak and swords, and he turned to gauge their location.

Not that it helped much. He knew, still, nothing of the Ninth Level. Only that there was one particular place he wished to avoid at all costs.

But…

For now, break time was in order. _*****_

~!**!~

A babbling river produced many a creature for consumption, and Uryo had more than hunted his fair share, conjuring a fire at his feet in front of the fallen log upon which he sat and roasting two fish in one hand on two separate sticks while simultaneously tearing into a third fish which had finished cooking a few minutes before.

Not a single beast disturbed him as he hummed to himself some snatch of a long-forgotten song and turned the sticks over the fire this way and that to spread his flame evenly across it.

Uryo had been hanging around the cross-ways for the past week or so waiting for the pair to come back.

Escaping the wrath of the palace was of little to no consequence for him as he had yet to meet his match in speed or strength. Angering the royalty was probably the most exciting thing he'd done for...a long time.

Chuckling to himself, Uryo tore into the cooked fish for another bite, tilting his head only slightly as he sensed them descending into the level, his body jolting slightly in a hiccup, his breath-as always-heavy with drink that made his world swirl slowly around him.

They were much too far off to detect his presence, but he stayed where he was, knowing he sat in relative closeness to their path, at least close enough that eventually they would know he was near.

Especially since he was broadcasting his energy for them to find.

They'd come. Soon. Ish. 3

~!**!~

Time seemed slower here than other levels, the fire demon realized as he stood. While the First Level had days that only lasted a few hours, this level seemed to have days that lasted…. much longer. And as he stood still in the branches, his Jagan swept for immediate threats, searching for unwanted attention before he turned inward, checking the bond that had, as of late, become rather quiet within his mind.

Almost nonexistent.

After another sweep of the area, Hiei decided that maybe it wasn't yet time for a break. They could have one when they found an abundant source of food.

Which was, obviously, not within the very dry, very silent area he'd stopped in.

So he turned and nodded once at Shikiyoku again and continued moving on, heading straight and never altering his path.

Not even when a source of very strong energy slipped into his consciousness and grabbed hold of his attention. In fact, he'd decided to stop by and visit the source, who was very obviously _not _within the city walls of the town that Hiei and Shikiyoku had broken away from.

After all, Hiei felt as if he owed the demon a thanks for all the help. How he would do such a thing, he didn't know, but he'd think of something. Eventually.

As he closed the distance between himself and the demon he'd been looking for, Hiei slowed to a casual gait, hands finding his cloak pockets and a calm air finding its way around the fire demon, who had previously been rather tense about… everything.

"Have enough to share?" Hiei called before he even saw the demon, having smelled the cooking grub and sensed that it was of the other's doing. Of course, he was kidding. _*****_

A sloppy smile spread across Uryo's flushed face and he deftly tossed one of the sticks in his hand towards the other fire demon.

"I thought you'd never ashk!" He rejoined in good humor, watching the pair emerge from behind the forest of red-colored trees to his left.

He shifted the other cooking fish into his right hand with the one he had been eating from and reached inside the front of his tunic for a flask that he took a large quaff from before replacing it out of sight.

Shikiyoku nodded solemnly to Uryo who found her expression troubling as she closed the distance between them and sat on another fallen log arranged across from Uryo, staring silently into the fire that danced without fuel near Uryo's feet between them.

The river to Uryo's right laughed and giggled downstream happily, its red-tinted waters keeping hidden the creatures below, but Shikiyoku sat lost in her thoughts and did not seem to notice much until Uryo stuck the partially eaten fish in front of her face.

She startled back slightly, eyes wide, and Uryo blinked, quickly retracting the offer and giving her the proper fish he'd meant to. The uneaten one.

Unable to stand the silence, he spoke up again, frowning slightly.

"You haven't sh'een Ryou, have you?" He looked about them, half-expecting to see the tiny black dragon wheel out of the trees above with them. 3

The fire demon deftly plucked the fish from the air with a calm grace that made it very easy for Hiei to simply lift it to his lips, taking a bite out of it anyway despite his earlier thoughts of catching his own meal. After all, it was much too easy to simply stay here and eat what was offered to him. By the time he had swallowed, Uryo had asked a very simple question, but it left the fire demon momentarily thinking back.

Was even the lur'mog still with him and Shikiyoku? He wasn't sure.

But Ryou…

"No," he replied after a moment, moving to stand at the space that was between the two fallen logs, deciding that he didn't feel like sitting just yet. "Only a lur'mog." _*****_

Uryo had taken to staring at Shikiyoku, and whether or not he heard Hiei was hard to say.

His stare was not the most polite or subtle either, but it held nothing but pure curiosity, if of the drunken kind.

Shikiyoku had pulled her hood back when she settled down to eat, her dark hair falling around her shoulders as she absently tore pieces of the fish off the stick to put into her mouth with a still-gloved hand.

In the light of the Ninth Level though, Uryo could see the pearlescent gleam that since their last meeting had settled over her skin.

It was...it was meant to be enticing. He knew that much. And while the previous time, like the first, he noted how much her energy wafted around her body like so much perfume, this time the power was so much more dense, in a greater quantity than before.

Her clothing did appear to constrain it a bit, as the majority of the energy was currently roiling about her head in a scent that would be dangerous with too long of an exposure.

But that's what a Champion was for, no?

"You're different, lady." He said around a large chunk of fish he had just taken his eyes off of Shikiyoku to rip from his stick. "Oh!"

He once again reached his hand into the gap of his clothes at his chest and pulled out...something, and held it out towards her.

"Hey!" He said, a little louder than his conversational tone. "Wake up! You've been bugging me for week'sh about them and now you've gone and fallen ashleep jusht when they've gotten here! You drank too much!" He hiccuped.

A small, scaly body curled up in Uryo's palm started to stir. The lur'mog had his tail up over his face, clutching at it in his sleep with both paws. He wriggled around a little, warm in Uryo's hand, but did not take much stock in anything else at the moment. 3

Hiei turned his eyes over to Shikiyoku once he noticed Uryo's lack of reply and complete interest in the female. He stayed silent even when the other male made a comment, all of which Hiei wasn't very surprised this demon could see or feel or whatever….

Nothing about Uryo would surprise him anymore, he decided.

"She's gained more power." Hiei stated in a very small tone, one that was almost considered prideful for her. He wasn't sure why, but the thought that she'd overcome even her own mother's power over her was something he thought was quite the milestone. "It's been a bit of trouble to keep under wraps." he said quietly, watching her for a moment before moving to sit on the grass, legs stretched out before him.

And then he was staring at the curled up lur'mog in Uryo's grasp. He raised a single brow at the sleeping creature before turning his red gaze up at Uryo again. He said nothing, only observing for the moment.

Because, for the first time in two months, Hiei felt rather calm. _*****_

"It'sh dripping off of her." One of Uryo's eyebrows raised, but his eyes were still on the lur'mog in his hand. "You've made quite the sh'pike sh'ince the lash't time we sh'aw one another." Uryo hiccuped again, silently, and then took a deep breath.

His eyes clouded with worry, thinking about Ryou as he looked down at the creature that had just started to wake, sitting up and shifting to let his tail fall over the side of Uryo's hand and starting to rub at his closed eyes with his fist clenched into tiny paws.

"Ryou disappeared about the time we parted." Uryo's voice sounded darker, sad. "I haven't seen him since. I was honestly hoping he had simply gone adventuring with you, but I see now that isn't the case."

The thought was very sobering.

Uryo smiled and wiggled his fingers a little when the lur'mog was slow to see who Uryo meant for him to see.

"You must have...hic...drank quite a bit to be _this _slow on the up-take."

The lur'mog didn't seem terribly bothered by the jostling, but Uryo's voice drew his wide eyes upwards, his mouth falling open just a little as he gazed glassy-eyed at the older fire demon.

Uryo made a point to turn his hand so that the gaze would be facing Shikiyoku and the lur'mog gave a little start, promptly falling off of Uryo's hand in a little poof onto the forest floor, landing on his bottom and staring up at her.

A whispered smile passed over Shikiyoku's lips but did not stay long as the lur'mog slowly righted himself and stood up, bobbing over in a walk to her ankle, a faint flush across his nose slits.

He started talking once he reached her, throwing his arms around her ankle and beginning to chirr and chirp all at once, wrapping his tail lazily about her and telling her all about everything.

The world blurred around him as she gently reached down and scooped him up in one hand, placing him on her shoulder where he promptly rocked to the side and started to fall, Shikiyoku frowning a little and catching him, putting her legs side-by-side to create a platform and setting him in her lap.

Once sat down again, he stood and clutched at his tail, still looking admiringly up at her, blinking his large eyes, and continuing to chatter the latest news to her. 3

Hiei went quiet, listening to the lively sounds coming from the lur'mog who was perched in Shikiyoku's lap. He continued to watch the spectacle, though he wasn't really _seeing _the scene. His mind was far away, again trained on the days to come when he'd be standing in front of Koenma, telling the prince that _nothing _had been revealed, but that they still _did _have a spy.

And If they had come back with no information, as he would tell Koenma, would Shikiyoku still be released from her warrant? Surely an internal source was good enough, right?

Again, the thought of staying _here_, in this world, crossed his mind.

But it was quickly, and again, contradicted with his urgent need to learn more of what was going on, to speak with his comrades and find their opinions on the matter.

And to kill a very certain someone who was _not _in this world. He hadn't forgotten that. Not yet. Not ever.

Otento would pay dearly. Hiei would see to that personally.

But still. What would all of this add up to? _If _Enma was behind the happenings, then what would that mean for the group _he _was supposed to fight? Would that make them…. the _good _guys? No, not possible. Anyone with any sense of honor wouldn't do…. what has been done.

And, _if _Enma were overthrown, what would happen then? Would the three worlds merge? Would they collapse? Would things simply stay as they were?

Surely not.

_We'd all be dead for opposing. __*****_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	55. Episode 139 - The Northern Tribe, Recoup

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow FanFiction Fanatics!

As I was preparing this chapter for posting, I realized I introduce some romanized Japanese words in here that have specific meanings, and were chosen very specifically. Heh. Anyway, it got me to thinking that several names or words that CM and I use also have meanings behind them, and it is with that in mind that I am going to start defining such words at the ends of the chapters. I have already started the process of going back and inserting previously mentioned terms into previous chapters, but it's a work-in-process that will probably take me the next couple of days at least. Because I _am _going back and inserting definitions in the appropriate chapters in which they are introduced, I will only be putting words introduced for the first time in _this _chapter in the end notes here.

If you want to catch up in a more immediate manner with the various romanized words used in the story, you'll have to go back through previous chapters for now. I may compile them all into a chapter sometime in the future once I'm all caught up, but that will take a while for sure.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari finds Foko tended to Kurama, but she assumes Foko to be Kurama's attacker.  
Foko takes the opportunity to sever his tie with her,  
slipping farther into the persona he has taken on,  
and leaving Akari to pick up Kurama.

Akari takes Kurama back to her home  
and uses healing implements provided by Botan to tend to Kurama's wounds.

When he awakens, Kurama manages to convince Akari that it was not Foko,  
but Otento who had done the damage to him.

Both Akari and Kurama fall asleep soon after that.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku and Hiei have all of Gekijou's words confirmed to them  
via the interrogation Shikiyoku does on the First Level resident.

After this, they spend a month travelling back down to the Ninth Level,  
and upon arriving they find that Uryo has been waiting for them.  
They are reunited with the lur'mog, and they share in Uryo's meal.

* * *

"Uryo…" Shikiyoku hesitated, eyes still down-turned onto the lur'mog on her lap.

The older fire apparition lifted his attention to her, still unsure of how reserved she had become and what exactly it meant.

Could she...could she _fear _her power? After all this time?

With more of a sense of curiosity than his initial, brief assessment, Uryo metaphorically reached out through the space between them to get a better feel for Shikiyoku's power.

In the meanwhile, he waited for her to continue.

"Were you...were you alive when there was only Sekaiju?"

Uryo's eyebrows raised in surprise at her question as he probed gently, undetectably, at the demon across from him.

"That world is only a myth. An _old wives tale_, as the humans so often put it."

Shikiyoku caught his sanguine eyes with her own, and he felt somewhere inside a tick of awareness of the deepness of her gaze, where somewhere far within there was an ethereal glow that she only had to blink in order to summon. For the first time he understood how one could lose themselves in those eyes, and he did not look away.

"In legends lie truths too big for facts to hold." Shikiyoku finally replied.

Uryo caught something else in his evaluation of Shikiyoku, something that was not..._right_, though he did not truly have the vocabulary to describe exactly what.

_You have changed much in the months since I have seen you. And not all of it for the better I think._

"I'm not surprised to hear that you know of Sekaiju, storyteller that you are, lady."

"But...you do not know of it."

"I know less than yourself I imagine. And I...hic...have not experienced it, no."

Uryo laughed and broke eye contact, neatly cutting off the spell that had been attempting to weave between them and had settled over their conversation.

"I am not _nearly _old enough for that." He took another bite of fish.

Shikiyoku lowered her eyes again, finding the dancing fire that Uryo still had flaming upon the ground.

There was only one other she could think of to ask. Only one other contact she knew that might have lived, or perhaps had a parent who lived, when the three worlds had been one, when humans lived alongside demons.

Kafu...

But that would mean returning to the very city that was still under Rae's control.3

Hiei stared at the scene before him for what felt like an eternity, wrapped in his own circulating thoughts even as conversation unfolded before him. And for a while, he was oblivious to the words that floated between the pair he faced.

What pulled him from his thoughts was the sudden burst of laughter that filled the air. Hiei turned his red eyes up at the other demon, blinking only once at the rather loud sound that had almost startled him. Almost.

He wasn't sure what the conversation was about, and for a moment, didn't care. It didn't seem important thanks to Uryo's talk of age. But, again, with the cloud that hung over Shikiyoku, he considered consulting his Jagan for a playback.

But he decided against it. It was likely something he didn't need to know anyway, otherwise she would have let him in on it long ago.

Suddenly he realized he was still holding a speared fish, the stick still in his hand and the fish only half eaten.

"How long have you been out here?" He suddenly asked, realizing that the time difference between levels would be rather vast. What could have been a month for him could have been only a week for Uryo. _*****_

Uryo gave Hiei another lopsided grin.

"My time, or your time?" He used the moment to consider the question, but raised and lowered one shoulder after a brief pause. "Time is of little consequence to me. Seconds are like days and weeks if I do not keep myself hazed."

Shikiyoku found herself lost in thought again.

But what would the _point _be in bringing the three worlds together?

That was assuming it was even possible, because to her knowledge there was little proof of Sekaiju ever having existed, except in wistful accounts of half-baked demons who ached to rule over those 'lesser humans.' There had _always _been three worlds. Since the beginning of time. ...Right?

_In legends lie truths too big for facts to hold._

Her own words to Uryo echoed back at her.

The reason for these thoughts were guesses that Shikiyoku had started to make. Conjectures as to what the 'fake' Youko was up to. A war on Spirit World? To what end? Enma was not their end goal, but...

If it were possible to gather the three worlds into one, to once more allow demons to rule the land as the old stories said they had done, then it would be within Spirit World that the secret would lie.

For...the story went it had been the Kamis who saw humanity cowering in fear, unable to flourish under their demonic brethren, and that the Kamis themselves tore the world apart to separate them...and set up Spirit World as the gate between...3

This time, when he looked to the older fire apparition, Hiei was contemplating a few things. He'd never _thanked_ someone before. Certainly not for saving his life, because he'd never had it happen before. This demon's help had been extremely needed, and Uryo had simply lended a hand without even being asked, or it even being _hinted_.

And he'd likely saved Shikiyoku's life as well.

How should he go about such a thing? Such words were lost on him.

So he turned away, again deciding to stay silent on his thoughts. Instead he took to watching Shikiyoku, something he hadn't done recently. At least, not for any reason other than to consult her about directions or something pertaining to their return to the other two worlds.

And now that he observed, he realized just how _dark _the cloud that hung over her was. While her irises shone with hidden energy, they were, in a sense, dull. And the shadows that fell over her face were not from the light of their surroundings.

He'd gotten distant with her lately, all because he didn't know how to go about what was ahead. _What a foolish thing to do. _

Then again, he felt as if the only way she would brighten up is if she simply worked through it herself.

Whatever _it _was.

After all, his own attempts never amounted to much. In the end, she returned to _this. __*****_

The area had grown quiet save for the river and the occasional chirp of the lur'mog who would remember something important he had forgotten to say, the conversation fading away.

Shikiyoku's mind stayed upon the stories she had heard over the years, ones that she had taken and pieced together in what she thought to be the most coherent tale of how Sekaiju, the one world, had become three.

Instead of creating a new world for the demons, as they did not have the resources to do so, the Kamis decided to simply split apart the _one _world. For such an arduous task, three beings were needed: A demon powerful enough to act as a conduit to draw the other demons to their new home, a human strong enough to keep the other humans in place, and a Kami, to serve as the median between the two.

The Sundering spoke about how great the sacrifice had been to pull apart the very fabric of reality in order to give demons a separate home. Or force them there. Depending on who was doing the telling.

In fact, the demand of such a task was so great that the Kami became mortal, the human died and his spirit was no more, and the force necessary for the banishment flung the demon so hard into his new home that he crashed through eight levels of earth while encased in fire before slamming onto and stopping at the ninth.

It worked, though. In a manner of speaking. But instead of _two _worlds, the Kamis had created three, and they put the now-mortal Kami in charge of the third.

These things had been on Shikiyoku's mind since she and Hiei had gotten their information from the demon she interrogated on the First Level. Ever since they had gotten confirmation about Enma's actions, and in the same breath affirmed that the fake Youko intended to _do _something about it, Shikiyoku found herself stewing on what there could be done after Enma was overthrown. And what else but to 'raise the demons up' once more and 'restore their rightful place as lords over the humans?' And how else would one do it outside of restoring the three worlds to their former singleness?

Why had such conjectures left Shikiyoku's frame of mind in a dark state?

One variation on the story had more than just three beings involved in the ritual. It claimed that it had taken the lives of many humans, and that more than one Kami lost their immortality and ended up residing over what became Spirit World for as long as their mortal lives allowed, after which their progeny took up the task.

This same variation also talked of more than one demon involved, and while the one who served as the catalyst-some claimed this was the first demon, the most powerful of them all and the one from whom all other demons descended-still found himself cast into the depths of Demon World, the one upon whom fell the main task of unweaving the fabrics of reality was none other than the mightiest demon of pain the land had ever seen. Because only one who knew pain intimately, and could resist such pain, would be able to withstand the excruciating process of tearing apart the world. And even then the demon died from the strain of unraveling the dimension.

Now, why had the fake Youko been so eager to persuade Shikiyoku to join him?

Because if that variation was right, and if Shikiyoku's conjectures were also correct...if a demon of pain separated the world, why would not a demon of pleasure be the one to restore it?

Uryo glanced up at Shikiyoku again, then back down to the fish he had in his mouth.

"Brooding doesn't sh'uit you, Junai." He said unceremoniously around the food as he chewed the meat.

At the last word, Shikiyoku looked up suddenly, her expression unreadable.

The smallest smile curved Uryo's lips and he just as suddenly reached over and took Shikiyoku's chin in his hand, scrutinizing her face as he turned it left and right.

"Most demons do know me by that word." Shikiyoku said quietly, refusing to meet his gaze as he inspected her. "In fact...less than a handful."

"I am not most demons." Came his answer. He dropped his hold on her and sat back again. "But then again, few live to be my age and never come across it."

Shikiyoku's face grew curious and she looked over at him.

"Where is she now?"

"Dead." Uryo made the word sound simple. "Love is blind. She was not as strong as I first thought. Or perhaps...no, I am for certain that it was actually I who was not as strong as I first thought. She took her own life. And I was not there to stop her."

Shikiyoku's eyes softened and she looked upon Uryo differently with that knowledge in mind.

His crooked smile returned, "It was not as long ago as I might suggest."

The lur'mog chirped loudly, then hiccuped and fell over, squeezing his eyes shut and wondering if the forest around him would ever stop weaving about. 3

Hiei had grown silent, and stayed that way even as talk again picked up between the pair. He kept his eyes turned away for a bit, as if deaf to the conversation, but really he was curious. He didn't know what the subject consisted of, though one thing stood out to him.

Okay, two things.

One, Uryo had lost someone… close to him. Then again, in this world, who _hasn't_?

Two, he hadn't imagined it. Shikiyoku _was _acting, well, like herself. In a mood he didn't understand, a mood he didn't see having any cause. Something he couldn't fathom other than it being _Shikiyoku_. He'd never understand her thought processes, or how to stop the flow that, inevitably it seemed, ended here.

Maybe he himself had fallen into a mood similar as well. Occasionally, over the past month, he'd found himself much more short-tempered than normal, much less patient over small things.

Over all, he'd also noticed the lack in the bond throwing reactions at him. He didn't know why.

Maybe it was…. diminishing?

Was that possible?

Hiei's red eyes looked up again, focusing on the two in the area and taking in the air. He realized he hadn't been in his own thoughts for too long. In fact, he wasn't sure he missed much of anything.

Still, he said nothing, simply waiting and listening. It seemed personal, after all. A conversation between two friends perhaps that did not include an outsider.

~!**!~

One moment, she was dreaming. Nothing too big, nothing even memorable. The next, Akari's eyes were open and she was sitting up, eyes roving the room she was in and a hand slowly sliding the blanket around her waist away from her body. Her eyes were drawn towards the stairs that lead to the unstable upper rooms, but nothing stood out to her.

Maybe she'd heard a mouse or something.

Akari visibly relaxed, eyes sliding half-closed again as she heaved a sigh. She was still in a school uniform, shoes and all. Had she gone to school? What time of day was it? Her internal clock was skewed enough that she wasn't even sure if it was morning or night, but the lack of light outside made the room dark with shadows.

Shadows that moved occasionally when she stared at them for too long. They stilled eventually, like always, but this time she didn't have to _tell them _to sit still. They simply… stilled.

_Odd._

When was the last time she'd called on them? Trying to remember made her head hurt and instead she simply pushed herself to stand, not even looking at the pile of blankets she was _supposed _to have been laying on. It wasn't odd for her to have rolled _out _of those particular blankets.

She quietly stepped around the dog curled on the floor, who'd been very close to her frame while she'd slept. She stepped out of the shoes she was still wearing as she walked, taking to padding across the wooden floor in her socks as she moved into the next room- the kitchen- grabbing a different shirt from the pile on the desk on the way.

She felt…

_Disgusting. _Dirt was on her face, she felt, and something else was making her palms feel dry and in dire need of lotion or something. Her hair was a mess and when she ran her fingers through it, she was sure a dead leaf or two fell from her curls. _Funny. _

Maybe she'd sneak into the nearby gym showers again? Or maybe she'd just…

Well, why go through the trouble? She could use her energy this _once_, right? Not like Koenma would care if all she was doing was _showering…_ right?

She paused with her school uniform jacket halfway down her arms, glancing down at her once white undershirt that was now a bit more… off-white. The washers of the gym didn't work well either. _New ones. _

Maybe today she'd _actually _use the leftover money from Sensui's account for something… _useful. _For instance, actually _shopping… __*****_

If there was one thing Kurama learned in the time that he had spent drifting in and out of a restless sleep, it was the strange sensation that he was suddenly and completely very alone.

His dreams were dark and not conducive to productive recuperation, and any time he found himself aware, if only briefly slipping between the waking and sleeping world, he found that the titular 'heart' of himself that beat alongside his human one was no longer there.

Youko had been locked away.

In a moment of awareness, Kurama turned onto his side, wincing but refusing to take the motion back, feeling that a sort of weakness had settled over his entire body and left him, for the second time, feeling rather...human.

~!**!~

"What troubles you, lady?" Uryo wanted to know, his red eyes suddenly losing their glaze as he peered over his conjured fire that still danced merrily between them.

Shikiyoku had taken to gently, absently, stroking the lur'mog's scales. The tiny creature was sitting on her lap, enjoying the attention with half-lidded eyes, clutching at his tail and beginning to thrum happily.

The expression he wore seemed to bring a bit more sparkle back into Shikiyoku's far-away gaze, but Uryo's question brought her back to the issue at hand, an issue that seemed to revolve around a single entity in her life.

Should she decide to go along with the fake Youko's cause, as she felt so assured of his motives now, there was no doubt in her mind that she would perish.

Should she do so after returning to Koenma with the information he required, Hiei would be freed to Demon World, and then freed of her.

And yet this convoluted purpose she had contrived for herself from what little her Champion had thus far given her to work with still left her feeling...wilted.

In exchange for protection, she herself became a tool. That was the equalizer, that was what made the pact within her hum in happiness. On some level she supposed the pact, where it instilled in her Champions a fiber of protectiveness, for her it instilled a need to repay that protection, to _desire _what they desired.

Just as she had started to gather up courage to attempt to explain this in some form or another to Uryo, she sensed another approaching and glanced up just as a stranger, a demon, skidded to a stop from somewhere behind Uryo, next to the stream.

The older apparition had long ago felt this newcomer approaching, but had sensed no malicious intent and made no move against the lanky male whose nest of hair appeared to have been put through an extended mussing, a portion of it falling over his young eyes when he stopped.

He gave his head a slight toss, appearing to do so out of habit and removing the hair from his face in the process, as his eyes took in all three of the demons he had stumbled across.

His chest heaved, out of breath, and both Uryo and Shikiyoku lifted their gaze to take his skinny form in while he attempted to catch himself.

For his part, the newcomer let his eyes flicker between all three demons, for a moment appearing unsure until he finally took in a large suck of air and started to relay his message.

"I...I have been sent to find The Lover." 3

Hiei himself didn't wait for the answer Shikiyoku would give. It was likely the same as the first time he'd witnessed her in such a mood: _uselessness._ But he himself had no idea what that meant for _him _to do. Give her a hug and pat her back, tell her she was useful and then continue on? _Tch. _

He himself turned away both mentally and even physically from the topic, as if it had nothing to do with him at all. After all, there was absolutely _nothing _he could do about it. He'd tried.

Only then did he let his eyes fall on the newcomer, deciding that maybe the sudden appearance warranted acknowledgement. He stared silently for a moment.

But the moment the words _The Lover _left the demon's lips, he was absolutely sure he meant Shikiyoku.

Meaning he also meant for _Hiei _as well. Because where Shikiyoku went, he went. He spoke up without hesitation. "Your business?"

~!**!~

Akari stared at the off-white color a little longer before sighing and continuing through her change of clothes, quickly deciding that she'd go shop as soon as-

Wait, what was today? If Sunday, then the bank would be closed…

As she turned inward again to consult her inward clock, she buttoned up her pair of jeans and adjusted the simple black t-shirt she'd plucked from the pile. Deft fingers worked at pulling her hair into a ponytail as she moved again around the kitchen, eyes roving the miscellaneous items she'd scattered.

_Yeah. Today should be fine._

She pulled at her hair again to secure the hair tie before moving back the way she'd come, not noticing the sound of movement until she was standing in the threshold of the doorway between the kitchen and the living area, staring down at Kurama from across the room with a blank expression.

She blinked once, thinking for a moment before remembering the morning before. Was that right? Morning before? She wasn't sure.

She couldn't bring herself to say anything. So, she simply stood there, hands still holding her hair and blank expression aimed at the redhead. The redhead in her home. On her bed.

_Seriously? What now?__*****_

_In this place, there was utter darkness and Kurama knew not how much time had passed. He also knew, with that same assurity, that no matter if his eyes were opened or closed, the same penetrating, unrelenting darkness would be there._

"_Youko?"_

_His voice rang and bounced into the empty space, giving no hint as to the shape or size of the room._

_There was no answer._

_The oppressive lack of light settled heavily over him until he could not tell who he was or how long he had been there. Was he standing? Sitting? Did it matter?_

_Was it earth beneath him? He could sense no life there, no grass swirling with energy, no trees that he could feel growing and sending their roots deeper into the ground. _

_Nothing._

_Simply...nothing._

~!**!~

The younger demon seemed to brighten immensely when it appeared Hiei might know of whom he spoke.

"You have seen her...him?" He wanted to know eagerly, though he seemed unsure of whom exactly he was looking for, continuing without pause anyway, "Where? Close-by? Which direction?" His face started to glance about quickly. "We thought the rumors might not be true. That Iro couldn't have returned to Demon World." He appeared to grow sheepish for a moment, "Or at least, certainly luck would not have it: return to our level."

Uryo said nothing, keeping his gaze free of expression as he thoughtfully considered the demon before them who appeared to have yet to grow into his body, his hands and feet, and even his head, slightly too big for the slender frame he cut.

Shikiyoku wasn't sure why she did not speak up. Perhaps she felt struck by the nomenclature the demon used for her, suddenly transported back in time to when things had been much simpler.

As soon as the original question had been voiced, she calmly turned back down to lur'mog, resuming her attentions without a word, though her ears remained perked with at least some semblance of interest. 3

Hiei continued to stare at the babbling demon, expression unamused and gaze growing colder by the moment. Each word uttered, each question asked made his ire rise further. His question hadn't been answered. In fact, it had been avoided all around.

And that made him narrow his eyes at the male.

He weighed his options, thinking for a moment. While getting back seemed a good priority, he didn't feel like returning with his partner in _this _frame of mind was a good thing to do.

Plus, the last time she'd seemed even remotely, genuinely happy was back before their journey to the First Level…

"I said, _state your business." _he enunciated again, tone dry and eyes cold. He'd decide in a moment, he supposed.

~!**!~

Akari continued to stare at the redhead on the floor for a moment, taking in his face in the darkness of the room. She could tell he was awake, but why he didn't look up at her like he normally would, she didn't-

_His energy is locked away._

Her mind jolted awake, and after a beat of hesitation she let her hands fall to her sides. "How do you feel?" she asked in a quiet voice, to ensure that, should he be close to sleep again, he wouldn't be disturbed. She didn't know what his energy being locked away would do to him, but she was certain that, at least, healing would take longer. _*****_

Kurama did not let himself be jolted by the question that aired in the room that he had felt to be relatively quiet until then.

Without looking at her, he attempted to _feel_ her presence, unsurprised to find that he had no sense of her being anywhere near.

He could not hear her breathing, could not smell her. With a sense of resignation, he allowed his eyes to open, but he hesitated a moment before finally admitting, "Empty."

Yes, he was sore, yes, he had a long way to go before his body would be healed, but somehow at that moment, the awareness of a part of him having gone completely missing resounded the loudest throughout his being.

This felt very different than the last time.

~!**!~

The younger demon swallowed nervously, "I-I was sent to find The Lover." He repeated, thinking perhaps the job would have been better suited for an Elder. He could feel the extreme amounts of power rolling off all three of them and he bit his lips nervously.

"News travels fast." Shikiyoku spoke up quietly, not looking up, but letting her voice carry calmly to the demon's ears.

It did appear to settle his nerves and he nodded, "Aye. The union of Central Tribe did not go unnoticed by any of us." He made an amused noise, "The Elders seem to think the time of the tribes has come again. Something about a 'Golden Age returning.'" The demon's expression reflected his incredulity towards such a thought, but he shrugged to dismiss it.

"Where do you come from?" Shikiyoku wanted to know.

"North." The demon answered readily, appearing to stand a little taller in his shoes, "We're the largest tribe left, but-" His eyes shifted to the side as he appeared to deflate a little and he shook his head, "It doesn't matter. We were hoping to gain Iro's favor so that we too might be blessed."

As the demon continued to speak, Shikiyoku's eyes lifted to consider the boy again, her expression a strange one.

"The Northern Tribe becoming united once more would be a grand step, indeed." Uryo commented lightly, not actually looking up, his hand drawing through and around the fire he had at his feet, the flames giving way to his attentions and swirling about softly. 3

Hiei had to restrain himself quite a bit to keep the comment that threatened to be tossed at the other demon from escaping his mouth. Repeating himself had no effect here, and quite frankly it only made him even more impatient.

He was half tempted to toss a small attack, rid himself of the source of annoyance.

But Shikiyoku spoke up, and after a few moments of thought after the silence ensued again, Hiei was thinking. He hesitated for a few moments before suddenly turning his eyes onto Shikiyoku.

He watched her, waiting expressionlessly for her own reaction. If she denied, well….

Too bad. Last time she'd danced for something of the sort, she'd looked…. radiant. Alive. As if it was what she was made to do. Her calling, so to speak.

Her sole purpose, almost.

He wouldn't let her return to the Human World like this, in this somber mood. Not if he had the chance to change it.

~!**!~

Akari continued to stare at Kurama in the darkness, his answer making a small frown form on her face. And it was painstakingly obvious he couldn't see her in the darkness. She didn't reply at first, unsure of what to say to him.

After a moment, she sighed. "Can you move?" she asked, though she was positive she already knew the answer. He had rolled over, but at what cost? "Nevermind." She turned her eyes to Nabu, who had stirred, looked at her, and went back to sleep after stretching, sticking his nose in Kurama's face and huffing once. "I have nothing here to eat. Anything sound…. good?"

She didn't want to leave him alone, but there was no food and, well, they'd have to eat _sometime. __*****_

A humorless laugh left Kurama's lips when Akari retracted her question, but he did consider her question regarding food thoughtfully.

"Ramen." He replied simply before going on, "From the stand you took me to. In your illusion."

~!**!~

"When we pressed Central Tribe about their union, their leader told us Iro had passed through their lands and left for one of the upper levels." The younger demon provided, "I just got wind of someone returning and thought you might know of anyone who came by."

Shikiyoku's gaze lifted slightly to encompass the trees around her.

_News from the forest travels very fast indeed. _They had certainly not been on the Ninth Level for long.

The younger demon looked between the three in the area and frowned, making as if to say something else.

"It is not only up to me where I travel." Shikiyoku finally responded, lifting the veil of her status and feeling the younger demon simultaneously brighten and grow apprehensive at her answer.

"W-who, then shall I ask, Iro?" He faced her and lowered his head slightly in deference.

"Her Champion, of course." Uryo replied with a smile, turning to look at Hiei and defer the younger demon's attention to the second fire demon sitting with them.

The boy blinked at the several revelations hitting him in a row, eyes darting around them once more with a different light in his expression. One of...hope.

He looked to Hiei and lowered his head again.

"Champion." That one word held every question within it that the boy wished to ask. "Will you grace us with your gift?" 3

Hiei's expression did not change when Shikiyoku spoke up, nor did it change when he turned to regard the newcomer again, expressionless but eyes cold as he stared. He considered the demon, or at least, acted as if doing so. He'd made up his mind long before the question had been posed verbally.

Still he acted as if hesitating, as if considering the offer and anything that might come of it.

Hopefully it would do its trick and serve as it should.

"State your name," he said suddenly, deciding he might as well get a move on. Might as well, right? He turned to Shikiyoku and eyed her again. "_One more stop will harm nothing." _

"Don't expect an extended stay."

~!**!~

Akari blinked. _What? _Ramen did sound good, but… What illusion and when did they go eat together? When did _that _happen?

She stayed silent for a few moments before her eyes slid closed, thinking back in an attempt to find any memory abou-

"_At least you finally fell asleep."_

She didn't mean to, but Akari took in a sharp intake of breath.

"_I don't understand you."_

She stood there, silent. Right, Foko had been in that one. And she'd been worried about Kurama and Foko and..

_Ramen shop? _She remembered sitting there, talking to him. But… she'd forgotten it. She suddenly huffed out at the redhead. "Ramen, of all things?" she asked, as if thinking nothing of it. "That's a sit-in thing, Kurama."

"_...know this one absolute truth…" __*****_

"He does take-out." Kurama quickly replied, "He...he did it a lot for me when mom was sick. Just tell him that...ask him if he'll let you do it. For Kurama." He smiled as he thought of the older gentleman that ran the stand and the long talks they'd had, sometimes late into the night after the stand should have been closed.

For whatever reason, the owner-cook seemed to know there was something...different about Kurama, and while the avatar had never explicitly said what exactly made him 'different,' the name his close friends called him had come up and the man had adopted it in place of his more human one, once saying that he thought it 'better suited' the younger male.

~!**!~

"Douji, Champion." The boy replied quickly, words tumbling out of his mouth, "A-and even if she were just to dance a single dance for the one night's celebration, it would be an honor."

Douji turned again to Shikiyoku and for the first time since joining them he smiled, his eyes bright. "You would have our deepest thanks, Iro."

He caught her movements as she played with lur'mog and his smile grew wider.

"You...he..." Douji laughed as if delighted, then made a chortling noise with his throat.

The lur'mog immediately sat up at attention and stared at Shikiyoku.

She raised her eyebrows, but met the gaze of the small creature, who had started wringing his hands on his tail, the spines down his back coming to attention with pent-up excitement.

Shikiyoku nodded to him and the lur'mog slowly waddled in place until he faced Douji, who was grinning at him.

Douji held out his hand as if making a gesture and made the same sound.

The lur'mog appeared on his palm, hopping back and forth from one foot to the other and starting to talk with Douji excitedly.

Douji made another noise and the lur'mog responded with what was likely an affirmative by the way Douji grinned again. The younger demon smoothly transferred the lur'mog to his shoulder as he reached into a pouch that had a strip of leather which circled his thigh to keep it in place. He sat down as he removed a writing tool and a strange bit of ultra-thin fabric which he placed on the ground, scratching something on it with the writing tool with practiced ease as the lur'mog appeared next to the fabric as if reading what Douji wrote.

As Douji started to curl the fabric deftly into a small roll, he spoke briefly to the lur'mog again as the tiny creature held out his paws to delicately take the scroll from Douji.

The lur'mog chirped once and then disappeared, Douji putting away his writing tool as he stood up.

The creature appeared on Hiei's far shoulder, out of sight of the rest of the group with the scroll clutched in one paw as he hopped forward and nudged at Hiei's neck, a low, happy thrum resounding in his throat as he paused to purr at the fire demon for a moment before disappearing again to the North.

"His message will let the tribe know we are coming so they can prepare for the night's celebration. He will arrive much faster than we." Douji's eyes gleamed with the thought. "It will take _us_ the rest of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon before we make it there."

"Then we had best start moving." Uryo stood up and appeared to dust off his pants, his fire going out as he made to leave with them. "And before anyone decides to protest, my original intent was to see the two of you safely around the city at the very least," Here he looked meaningfully at Hiei and Shikiyoku, "As things have yet to really settle down after our escapade."

Douji nodded, thankful the older apparition would be joining them. "We know of the commotion surrounding you in relation to the cities. All the tribes have done their best to keep news of your return under wraps, however." He smiled roguishly, "We do not wish for the cities to steal you away again."

Shikiyoku's smile was grim and did not reach her darkened eyes, but she did not protest Uryo traveling with them either.

"If you all have no further business here, we go North." Douji gestured in their direction, looking to each member for affirmation before he started to lead. 3

Hiei had momentarily glanced to the creature when it landed at his shoulder and nudged at him, but after that moment he was again staring at Douji who continued speaking, obviously taking Hiei's question of his name as the affirmative it had meant to be. He eyed the lanky tribesman for another moment before shifting his weight and standing, finishing off the last of his almost forgotten fish before simply engulfing the stick in fire, destroying evidence of his presence in this clearing.

He saw no problem with Uryo accompanying. In fact, he welcomed the fire demon probably more than he welcomed, say, Kuwabara.

Okay, so he welcomed Uryo's calm presence _much _more than Kuwabara's annoying one.

He let his hands find his cloak pockets as he slowly moved forward, though making sure he still stayed close to Shikiyoku.

He wasn't going to let more than an arm's length distance between them on this trip on _this _level.

~!**!~

Akari's lips pulled down just a bit more at Kurama's words. She really didn't want to leave him here, where Otento had shown up once before. A demon who could go unnoticed was a dangerous one, no matter who you were.

Still, she released a sigh of resignation. "Fine. But you're getting whatever I decide."

She glanced at Nabu, who was now looking at her, awake but not making it obvious that he was. She nodded at the dog, who blinked once at her in what she had learned by now to be understanding.

"I'll be quick." she finished, grabbing a jacket on her way to the door and sliding it over her shoulders even as she pulled it open, revealing what she could now see to be morning light. Still, she didn't know which day of the week it was. _Oh well. It doesn't matter. Either way, I'm going nowhere but to Shyn's and home._

As she shut the door behind her, she made sure the look back, speaking through her energy to the shadows by the doors.

_No entries but me. Any other, alarm me. _

And with that, she was jogging down the sidewalk. _*****_

Kurama only just took notice of the change in light spilling into the room from out of doors, able to make out through the haze of grey a tiny black nose not terribly far from his own face.

As he tried to move his arm to reach for the dog, he grimaced, surprised by how keenly he felt the pain surrounding the cuts on his body. He was just able to get one arm underneath the pillow at his head and managed to reach out and find the fluffy top of Nabu's head to ruffle the fur.

"Your ears have finally stiffened, little one." Kurama murmured, finding the base of one of the ears and feeling that the ear was no longer flopped forward. "When did you grow up so much?"

~!**!~

Douji seemed to know the forest exceedingly well, leading the group along pathways where they were unbothered by any denizens of the forest. The trees and foliage all looked the same until the morning filled out into the light of the afternoon, and the fullness of the plants made them appear heftier, donning deeper shades of red here and there intermixed with the usual bland color that graced most of the rest of the Ninth Level.

Other than the brightening of the filtered light around them that fell between the leaves high above, it was hard to denote the passage of time as they traveled, and little words were passed between them.

Douji seemed eager to lead them on as quickly as possible, Shikiyoku appeared lost in thought, and Uryo remained silent as well, on occasion reaching into his tunic for a drink.

When they could see a break in the trees a distance in front of them, the light of the afternoon just starting to deepen towards evening, Douji started to trot towards their destination, the sounds of preparations ringing clear through the foliage and undergrowth. These were excited sounds, tinging the air with a barely restrained happiness as orders were shouted back and forth.

Stepping past the treeline, it was easy to see this tribe was bigger than Shubou's right off the bat. While the clearing was much the same, the tents similar if made of different fabric, there were many more such tents to their right than there were for the Central Tribe. And it was impossible to see the trunks of the trees farther to the North as the number of the tents and the varying heights prevented it.

Off to the left many demons were busily expanding the clearing outwards-there were no tents in this direction-and yet other demons scurried about with other various jobs. There was the smell of food cooking wafting through the air, and while the merriment was strictly kept to intermittent outbursts of laughter among the business of preparing for the night, there was a buzz about the area that held a promise of things to come.

A shout went up when the group was spotted, and though none of the visible demons stopped their work, the cry echoed through the encampment to the right, occasionally picked up by one or two to the left who happened to be within earshot.

From a tent in the middle of the clearing, almost directly in front of where the group was coming in, an older female demon appeared, stepping out of the tent from a door to the left, facing the clearing that was being expanded, and followed by three others of similar age but varying heights, immediately turning and starting to walk for them.

"The Elders." Douji murmured as he led them to meet these venerated demons that emerge from a tent that was obviously ceremonious in nature as obvious by the decorations-beads, splashes of art, feathers, a few bones and sticks in patterns-that were smattered around the outside and on the fabric of the tent itself.

Douji stepped to the side and tilted his head slightly as these demons approached, revealing Shikiyoku who had been standing right behind him.

The lur'mog was on the shoulder of one of the short male Elders, and upon seeing the group, chittered and appeared on Hiei's shoulder, settling down to watch.

"Iro, you honor us." The first female spoke when they got close enough to be heard, putting her hand to her chest and inclining her head in greeting once they stopped moving. "Even I have only heard tales of your prowess."

Shikiyoku nodded her head slightly in return, "The honor is mine." Was her quiet response.

"If you need to make preparations, we are willing to assist you in any way." She indicated the tent the four of them had come from, "And you may use the middle tent as you please. Will you have need of anything?"

Shikiyoku nodded, "A few things."

"We will see to them." The female turned to Douji, "Well done."

Douji glowed.

"I would offer my assistance," Uryo stepped forward and gestured to the left where demons were clearing trees.

The female met his gaze, looking him eye-to-eye and gauging him before dipping her head in affirmation.

"We have none of your kind among the Northern Tribe. Your flame would be put to great use should you wish to lend us your power." Her eyes glimmered and a faint smile passed over her lips, "We will be needing much more room than we currently have, I think."

Finally, she turned her eyes onto Hiei and made the same gesture to him that she had done for Shikiyoku.

"You have done us a great service, Champion. My deepest thanks." 3

Hiei felt as if he'd simply _blinked _and was standing in a growing clearing, red eyes watching the bustle of demons running about, casting glances at the newcomers even as they continued their work. The fire demon simply watched, only half listening to the female that had appeared, until Uryo was leaving the group. At this point, he turned and made sure he was watching the elders, as Douji had introduced quietly, and met the gaze that was trained on him.

He wasn't sure how to respond. Should he? What was the custom to something like this?

In the end, he merely stared at the four demons, not verbally responding to the situation. He did, however, despite internal reluctance to do such a thing, bowed his head in respect, something he decided necessary.

Might as well start on good terms, right?

He was simply here to follow Shikiyoku's lead and ensure that this mood would lift before they left this world.

~!**!~

Nabu blinked at Kurama as the male moved, catching the grimace with keen, watchful eyes. He didn't know what had happened, but he did know that this person was in pain. And a lot of it. So he even inched forward a bit, resting his chin on the blankets again that were touching where Akari and Kurama had both slept, only a small space between their small pallets making his fur touch the wood floor.

And he waited a moment after Kurama's question before answering.

"_When you and Akari went missing." _He felt his lips twitch, turning into an expression close enough to a frown to be seen as such. "_I was scared."_

~!**!~

Akari moved through the town at a steady pace, arms swinging almost lazily as she kept half of her mind on the energy she'd left behind at the house, the other half focused on her path ahead. She didn't allow herself to stop and think, especially since she wasn't even sure what there was to even think about.

Other than the illusion that she only half remembered. She was sure there were bits, probably unimportant bits, that she couldn't remember, but she didn't care about those.

"_I wish for nothing more than your happiness…."_

Akari shook her head again as she jogged, this time causing her to slow to a walk as she neared the small restaurant Kurama had requested. _I don't understand you._

_Stupid fox._

She stepped inside, stepping into the bright lights that stood out in the early morning sun. She immediately laid eyes on Shyn, who turned up from the dish he was grabbing and met her gaze squarely. For a moment, he just stared, obviously conflicted as it was probably too early for him to be open, but at the same time, she hadn't been by in…

Weeks.

"Well, it's about time." He spoke, his lips suddenly pulling into a wide grin. "It's not even a school day and you're up this early. You sure you're a normal human being?"

"Whoever said I was human? I'm an alien, for all you know." she replied quickly, easily falling into his good-natured banter. Just as quickly, she was switching gears. "I have a favor. I know I haven't stopped by, but I… I really can't stay today. I'm helping out a friend, and-"

"Nope, you have to stay. You can't just pop in and run."

"I will come back soon, when things settle down, but for now… Kurama is-"

His expression changed so swiftly that Akari paused, raising a brow as the man stood up straighter. "I hear you. You just tell him to stop by soon too."

"It's a deal."

"Hell, even stop by together." he added as he busied himself over the stove.

"Sure." _*****_

~!**!~

Kurama closed his eyes, squeezed them shut even, and kept running his fingers through Nabu's fur, feeling-for some reason-better just by doing so.

"Besides likely being worried to death about Akari whenever she has to go off and do something, how have you been?" Any distraction from his pain would be a welcome one, and he didn't really want to exactly _think _about anything at this time.

~!**!~

The female demon's eyes flickered to Shikiyoku, who still hadn't met anyone's gaze, as she spoke to Douji.

"Many of the lur'mog have returned from their work and could use some looking after."

Douji nodded and took that to mean he was dismissed, moving off to the right.

"We have things to do ourselves," She looked to Hiei, "And I do not know what role you play, but we can always use an extra pair of hands." She glanced in the direction Uryo had disappeared as a flare of energy and the smell and sound of fire erupted briefly into the air, "Either with them, or even Douji could use some help. It is up to you." The Elders behind her had started moving off in different directions as well, and she looked to Shikiyoku, "If what you need is not already in the tent, call upon any demon running by and they will assist you."

Shikiyoku nodded once, the female demon turned away to go, and Shikiyoku started for the tent the Elders had come from earlier. 3

Hiei nodded once at the female that addressed him after a moment, and even as she moved away, the fire demon stood, considering his options. While burning down a forest would certainly be fun, there was also the opportunity to see a great mass, possibly, of lur'mogs. That would likely be an amusing sight.

Or…

Annoying. If they all chattered at once, he'd probably just be annoyed by the sound.

So, two options.

After another moment, his eyes found Shikiyoku's back disappearing into the tent that seemed to be the point of the encampment. He frowned and decided that, in the very least, he could learn a bit more about Shikiyoku and her… abilities.

So he followed after her silently, casting a glance in the direction of Uryo in time to see a burst of flame in the air. Then he too was enveloped in the tent's dim lighting, red eyes easily turning to Shikiyoku.

"Your mood is going to make this pointless."

~!**!~

Nabu considered the male for a moment, staring unblinkingly at Kurama for a few moments in silence. He considered various answers, but really, he found himself more attuned to Kurama's emotions than his own thoughts. So, he scooted himself closer, letting his cold, wet nose just touch the other's cheek so that, maybe, it wouldn't take as much effort for the male to reach out for him.

"_I caught a fly yesterday." _he suddenly answered. "_It's been in the house for days, and it ticked my fur. So I ate it."_ He huffed once, very softly, as he scooted again, time time bringing his body close to Kurama's as if to offer warmth and comfort.

"_Also, there's this dog down the street. She's mean. Barks at me every time I leave. She once tried to bite me, so I ran away. I think she's just lonely though. Her owners are mean to her."_

~!**!~

Akari stood in the artificial light of the room, arms crossed over her stomach as Shyn cooked, both of them silent, both in their own thoughts. For a few minutes, it stayed this way. She was left thinking about things she hadn't yet stopped to think about, and for a few moments, she was wrapped up in those thoughts enough that her eyes even slid closed.

Shyn spoke up first.

"I can see you haven't gotten over your own obstacles."

Akari let her eyes slide open, her gaze falling on Shyn's back as he cooked. "Hm?"

He didn't even pause, didn't even glance at her as he sighed. "You know what I mean."

She frowned at him. "What makes you say that?"

"You're still wearing a jacket when it's the middle of summer time. Not most people care, but I'm an observer, as you know."

Akari frowned. "Yes, you are." She glanced down at herself, realizing how absurd it would be to a human for one to wear a jacket in the summer. It didn't matter much to her, it was simply… a habit. One she was not willing to break, even still. "It's nothing really." She said in a small tone, looking behind herself towards the street, where lamps were beginning to turn off and the sun's rays were beginning to shine.

_He helps, I think._

She blinked at herself. That thought had been…. random.

A small laugh suddenly filled the air from Shyn, who had turned to look at her. "I didn't mean to make you overthink. Don't hurt yourself now."

"That's hurtful." she grumbled at him as she reached out, taking the two bowls that were being passed to her.

With his now free hand, the man ruffled her hair. "You'll get past it. You've still got a ways to go, but you'll get by. Especially now that you've got help."

She raised a brow at him in confusion, and he merely smiled knowingly. As if she'd told him about Kurama's efforts that had only just become recognized by her, as if she'd informed him of every detail about her days and how she handled them.

"You better get moving. Your friend's waiting on you." _*****_

~!**!~

"Mm. You have a busy life." Kurama gave the reply into the silence of the room, only able to imagine just what Nabu was telling him.

In reality, he wasn't looking at him.

After stroking down the dog's back a few more times, Kurama steeled himself and began to sit up, pushing himself off the floor steadily and finding a wall to lean up against, collapsing backwards into it.

His entire body hurt, his eyes closing again as he let his head rest on the wall behind him. And there did not appear to be any promise of relief. Not any time soon. No tell-tale hum from his veins where the demonic side of his heritage would be thrilling through him to more quickly heal his injured body.

This time, the spell Otento put on him had been much more thorough. Much more specific. He did not simply lock Kurama's abilities away, lock away Kurama's access to his demonic energy. No, this had targeted Youko and every benefit Kurama received from the union.

For the first time in his life, he was not Kurama, avatar to Youko Kurama. He was only...Shuichi.

~!**!~

When Douji had moved off the lur'mog had followed, leaving Hiei's shoulder bare when he followed Shikiyoku into the Elder's tent.

This tent rose to a peak in the middle, and was obviously outfitted for ceremonious reasons, the inside just as, if not more, colorful and decorated than the outside.

At first, Shikiyoku did not realize Hiei had followed her, did not particularly see the tent around her either.

But when he spoke up, Shikiyoku turned to face him, staring down at the furs that lined the floor with haunted eyes. She blinked and the moment was gone, her eyes clearing as she heaved a sigh.

"I know." She replied with a tinge of sadness, "Or it might not even work. Or it might backfire or-" She stopped suddenly before the fear in her voice crept any farther, turning away from him and the entrance of the tent to go sit more towards the back, turning and facing Hiei again as she settled herself down so that she might see if anyone started to come inside.

Shikiyoku pulled back her hood, which had been placed over her head once they left the riverside with Douji, and let her dark hair free.

"How much do you know about my first Champion?" 3

Hiei stood in front of the tent's entrance, blocking it so that should anyone try to enter, he'd be in their way almost immediately. He watched Shikiyoku calmly, eyes unblinking as she spoke words he'd already considered. Again, he found her sudden panicking state worth very little, and it meant nothing to him other than confusion. He didn't understand her moods and how they came about, what caused them. He only knew that, occasionally, he was able to find a way to get her out of that mood.

Maybe it would happen this time as well.

At her sudden question, he didn't answer. He simply stared, thinking back and almost effortlessly recalling what had been said to him, what he had learned.

"_He was the cruel, jealous sort, hardly worthy of the occupation, and she was allowed no such thing as a lover, not even him. Nor even so much as to be loved by any, outside of that which would let him bask in her glory and reap the benefits."_

He blinked once finally, this time at Shikiyoku as he picked and chose his words.

"He didn't deserve your presence." he said calmly, continuing to stare at her. And that was how he left it.

~!**!~

Akari smiled at Shyn and nodded once before turning to leave, tossing a smile over her shoulder as Shyn again told her to come back soon and visit for a while. She made her way slowly through the streets this time, her mind again checking the steadily pulsing energy in her core that told her all was well at home.

Several things were on her mind, but each and every one she ignored, deciding she'd think about it at a later time, when she had a moment by herself to think and express her thoughts without worry of being watched.

Especially when the subject of such thoughts was currently in her home, and was very, _very _keen.

~!**!~

Nabu moved away enough to allow Kurama the freedom to move without the threat of placing his hand on the dog, his wide eyes keenly taking in each movement, ears twitching as he picked up the air around the male. Once Kurama stilled again, Nabu was moving closer, sitting beside him in much the same way Kurama sat, tail and rear touching the wall, shoulders slumped to make himself appear smaller. He kept his eyes, however, on the redhead.

"_Are you gonna stay here for a while? I think your company will keep Akari from wandering, pacing." _He paused, giving a small sigh. "_I think you calm her subconscious." __*****_

Kurama turned towards the dog, or at least tilted his head and eyes enough to catch sight of him, as the animal gave a tiny huff of air.

Gathering strength again, he lifted the hand closest to Nabu and reached for the dog's soft fur once more, but found he could do little else but rest his fingers just beneath Nabu's shoulders.

After finding Nabu's back, Kurama rested his head against the wall again, letting out a sigh himself, once more thankful that his mother would not be at home to worry.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku found herself smiling at Hiei's frank description. A small smile, one that did nothing to rid her face of the dark shadows underneath her eyes, but a smile nonetheless.

_Kind are your words. To both you and myself._

Shikiyoku began to slowly remove the gloves from either hand as she asked another question, "And what do you know of his-" Her voice hitched and she faltered at grabbing for one of the fingers of a glove, but the hesitation was momentary. "Do you know why I am no longer with him? How our severing came about?" 3

Hiei tilted his head only slightly at Shikiyoku's smile, and he blinked only once at her when she asked her next question. For the moment, he didn't think he knew anything more than what Shubou had said, which…

He hadn't been informed of their union? Not that he remembered immediately. So he stayed silent, choosing to let her continue on with whatever she was going to say without verbally saying he wasn't knowledgeable of her first champion. Part of him didn't want to know, but then again, in order to get anywhere with his own abilities as her Champion, he needed to know the mistakes of her previous ones. *

* * *

Sekaiju \- Yggdrasil; The World Tree

Kami/Kamis \- god/s (I don't know if the plural of 'Kami' is 'Kamis' but I did it anyway)

Junai \- pure love

Douji \- boy; kid; child

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	56. Episode 140 - Mis- and Understanding

**A/N: **Hello once again, Beloved Yu Yu Hakusho Fans!

I am continuing to do as I mentioned in the last chapter: define romanized Japanese words/terms/names used in the story. Or leave them undefined as the occasional case may be. As of this chapter's posting, I am up to, but not including, Chapter 38. My tentative plan is to still possibly post a compiled version of the words at the end of the chapter at which point I have caught up in aforementioned definitions.

My apologies for not doing so before, but a shoutout here to mk and ChaoticHarmony1991 for the kind reviews you left!

I'm also going to mention this here before you read the chapter as a heads-up: there is a point where Shikiyoku's thoughts repeat themselves with little variation, some like, for example:

_She needs him._

_She needs him._

And while this seems sort of ridiculous, in GoogleDocs one can change the size of the font, and each subsequent (semi-repeated) thought was done in successively smaller fonts until hardly readable, giving the impression that the 'voice' speaking such thoughts was becoming smaller and more drowned out as it went along.

Of course, this does not translate here into FF's docs, so I'm forced to explain it to you.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

The reunion between lur'mog, Uryo, Shikiyoku and Hiei|  
is cut short by a young demon by the name of Douji,  
who claims that his tribe is looking for Iro, The Lover,  
so that she might dance for them.

Everyone makes their way to the Northern Tribe,  
and they are greeted by the Elders,  
who give Shikiyoku use of their tent for her preparations.  
Hiei follows her, curious to learn about such preparations.

Once they are alone, Shikiyoku expresses concerns about dancing,  
and starts to tell Hiei about how she and her first Champion were separated.

~!**!~

Unsurprisingly, Kurama's demonic energy is still locked away even after he and Akari awake.  
He feels especially weak, especially _human_, and knows that his recovery by natural means will take a while.

Akari leaves to get food, ramen, for both her and Kurama from Shyn's ramen stand,  
and Nabu keeps Kurama company, though something seems a bit off...

* * *

Nabu continued to stare at Kurama, suddenly aware that he'd received no answer. And before, even then, the answer had been… vague. He gave a small whine that held no meaning, suddenly realizing the male wasn't able to understand him. _Why?_ He had before, when they'd first met. Even the last time he'd seen him.

He sniffed at the air, and this time, after his eyes reopened after briefly closing, he realized that _Flowers_ didn't quite look like _Flowers_. He looked… shorter, perhaps. His hair, for sure, wasn't as long. Why hadn't he realized this before?

_His tail is gone. And ears._

But there was no doubt that this was the real deal, unlike the other one. The one he didn't like, the one he didn't trust. The one who played games and tricks and pretended to be someone else. Rather well, actually…

The dog moved, rubbing his head against Kurama's forearm in a loving fashion, eyes closed and ears turned away. "_It's okay." _Really, he didn't know _what _to say.

~!**!~

Akari frowned as she walked, eyes moving around in the morning light and the silence. So it wasn't a school day. Meaning… it was a weekend. Probably a Saturday, considering the fact that no lights were coming on at this hour, where as on Sundays, she noticed some people awoke earlier, to get last minute errands done before the work week.

But still, it was just so _quiet_. No birds. No crickets.

Maybe it was just because she had her own presence magnified, due to her energy streaming from herself to her home.

_You're getting paranoid. _

She huffed at herself and continued on, shifting her hold on the ramen in her hands as she caught sight of her own home. She found it awfully unsettling that she _knew _Kurama was inside, but couldn't _feel _his presence. At all.

So, before entering, she paused outside the door and checked every window, every door that could be an entrance, making sure her own energy would cloak the house entirely, creating her own alarm system. _*****_

~!**!~

At Nabu's nuzzling, Kurama smiled, eyes still closed as he felt how excruciatingly slowly his body was healing in comparison to 'normally.' And he gently scratched at the dog's face, absently petting at his neck.

As soon as he could get up...no as soon as he could walk, he was going directly to Koenma. There were many things he had to discuss with the toddler-prince, and for the first time in a long time he could not predict what exactly the future would hold.

~!**!~

"It was the dance." Shikiyoku answered for him, her voice barely audible.

Shikiyoku examined the now-exposed skin of her arms and hands before resting them in her lap, unsurprised to see the luster she had grown accustomed to hiding behind the gloves was greatly lacking, dulled and muted.

There was no use for it. No purpose.

"He made it, fashioned it. I only executed it. To his specifications. I was very young, and he knew exactly what he wanted." Shikiyoku took a breath and her voice came more strongly when she spoke up again, "In the end, he desired to be the ruler of the Ninth Level. Wished to bring all the demons who lived there under his control. He was...ambitious." _To put it mildly._ "And so, he called everyone together, as many as he could muster, disguising it as a great celebration."

Her eyes appeared lost in another time. "I remember being nervous. Scared. I was not strong, and most of the tribes at the time were not small, living in groups scattered throughout the level. So he…"

Another breath, "He decided to supplement my power with his own. Where before he had been so calculating, this time he seemed to have extra fervor, and convinced me that we needed no practice. After all, we had many times performed other rituals together; he playing his instrument and singing while I danced. We knew that his energy would amplify whatever power I was accessing. But the Odori Iro had always been my own. Done with the tribe playing."

Her voice had steadied the longer she went on, and she did not appear to be near stopping, but she dropped quieter again.

"There were too many this time." She paused. "When our spells, our energy, intermingled together to make up for it… The results were...dire. His desire to rule over so many proved too much for me and the ritual both. It went wrong. Backfired. Killing him and nearly killing me. It drove the demons present into a frenzy and they started to destroy one another. And I..."

Eyes in another place, Shikiyoku appeared to be reliving the past, "I was stuck until the ritual was complete. Stuck there in the middle of the bloodshed, nearly broken myself, forced to finish the spell lest it consume me for stopping as they tore one another apart, decimating one another and setting the clans back millions of years. There were very few who walked away from the celebration that night. And I cannot anymore recall the memories of anything other than collapsing when the ritual finished, and waking up elsewhere many days later." 3

There was no pause between Shikiyoku's words and Hiei's response. "Am I supposed to pity the fool?" His tone was just as level as his stare, which was expressionless in its entirety, giving way nothing of his actual thoughts on the matter. "You did what you thought best. He acted anyway." He finally blinked once at her.

There were many thoughts he held on the situation, on her words and her mood about them, the way she lingered on the past. But he kept them to himself. For now, anyway.

~!**!~

Akari, after circling the house twice, moved to the front door again and tugged at her energy, creating the secure barrier she'd only learned recently she could create. A barrier unseen by any but a demon who utilized shadow creatures.

She wasn't sure of its credibility, despite the rumors and such, but now was as good as any time to try it, right?

She precariously balanced the two bowls of ramen in one arm and grasped the handle in the opposite hand, pushing the door open and looking around the room until she let her eyes fall on Kurama, who had a very gently Nabu leaning against his arm, who didn't even look up at her.

She stared at the scene for a moment before she realized a smile had settled over her lips, at which point she kicked the door closed and continued moving forward, towards the inclining redhead and her companion.

"Shyn said to stop by as soon as you can. He needs an update, apparently." _*****_

"Is that so?" Kurama had flinched at the sound of the door slamming, unaccustomed to being unable to have his other senses warn him of another's approach, but regained his composure in the next instant. "I suppose visiting him with you in our heads can't really be counted."

The light did by this time afford Kurama enough to be able to spy Akari as she moved towards him and he smiled at her as she came closer.

~!**!~

"I did not tell you this for _his_ sake. I both loved and hated him." Shikiyoku felt her lip twitch as if in a growl. "But they…" Her eyes flickered beyond him, to those outside, "I sensed it somehow even within Douji. They wish to be bound together once more. To reclaim their former glory. But there will be so many of them. I can..."

She blinked and for the first time met his gaze, "I can sense their collective desire. It's overwhelming. The Northern Tribe is calling together all of their lost ones, the bandits, the wanderers, all of those within their lands who were once part of the whole. There will be many here." She dropped her gaze and rubbed absently at her neck with a hand. "They will expect to be united and...and I do not think I am strong enough to fulfill their desires with my dance. Not so many. Not all at once."

_And if it goes wrong..._3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku almost imperceptibly, the motion so small that even he was almost unaware of the motion. He thought back to how many he had seen in the clearing when he'd approached. Many, of course, but for there to be more…

That was going to be a rather large crowd. A rather large problem, should it get out of hand.

But still, he thought back.

And with the mental image he found, a sneer colored his expression. It was one that was humored, taunting.

_Still. Even still you don't understand your own power._

"Look at me." he said in a demanding tone, though his voice was no louder than a murmur.

~!**!~

Akari made no indication that she heard Kurama, deciding that she didn't know how to respond to his words and her thoughts over the subject he'd brought up. Instead, she moved until she was sitting crosslegged in front of him, placing the bowls on the floor and pulling the lids from them both, but not sliding one to Kurama. She grabbed one of the pairs of chopsticks that had been given to her and pulled them first from the paper, then apart.

For a moment, she stared at the chopsticks, then turned her eyes up to peer at Kurama thoughtfully.

"_He's in a lot of pain, 'kari. And he doesn't even understand me when I talk anymore. He doesn't even look like __**Flowers**_ _anymore…"_

She didn't even glance at Nabu, who had easily picked up on her conflicted thoughts. She sighed and dipped the chopsticks into the bowl, twisting until a good amount of noodles were presented from the contents. She waited for the excess soup to drip from the noodles before finally turning up to Kurama, offering the noodles to him, but not the chopsticks themselves. "Don't fight, don't complain. Just eat." _*****_

Kurama stared at Akari, lips for the moment unmoving.

"Am I allowed to protest?" It was neither fighting, nor complaining.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku was biting her lip in thought, remembering how open she had been to the desires of those she danced for that last time with her original Champion. How the desires had not been encouraged as was supposed to happen, but how once she realized she would not have the power, once her Champion joined his energy to hers, they all turned to bloodshed and she had quite literally lost herself, her mind, to their darkest-

Hiei's words pulled her out of the past with a jolt and she complied to his request, looking up. 3

The moment Shikiyoku's eyes met his own, his mind bombarded hers in an unwarranted attack that held no hostility in any way, shape, or form. Instead of words or emotions, it was his view of the moment when their energies had mixed before she'd overcome her own mother's power. Their own energy shooting into the sky, enveloping them in a cloud of power so dense, so strong that even The Palace had been aware of it, despite their distance. Creatures had scattered, and quite frankly, Hiei himself had never seen, nor felt, so much power in his life.

Ever.

The image quickly faded, turning to the moment she overcame the other demon, directly after, whose name for the moment he didn't care to remember. It didn't matter much to him. Just another pawn.

And then his mind was abruptly pulling away from hers, and should her eyes focus on his face, she would find an expression of irritation.

"Still think you're useless? _Powerless?"_

Again, he sent an abrupt image of her dance, of how she had affected an entire tribe and brought them together, like nothing he'd never seen. Just as quickly, the image was gone and his mind had retreated from hers again.

"The only limits are the ones you put on yourself, and quite frankly, it's the most irritating thing on this plane of existence."

~!**!~

Akari immediately took to scowling at Kurama, eyes glinting in the dim light of the room. "No," came her simple answer, tone as final as her stare and the simple motion she made with her hand that said _eat._ _*****_

Kurama let out a very tired sounding sigh, "I just want you to know that I'm doing this under great duress as I'm quite sure that I am perfectly capable of feeding myself." He lifted his hand as if to take the utensils from her, but did not actually do so.

~!**!~

Once Hiei pulled away from her and she was left with the image of the tent around her once more and his words fading on the air, Shikiyoku actually laughed.

It was a pleasant sound, not meant to raise ire, and her muscles almost immediately reminded her that she had not done so in a very long time, so the laughter faded away almost as quickly as it had started, but her face held echoes of the emotion.

"To think-" She appeared to be almost talking to herself, her voice fading off. Here she looked back up at Hiei, her eyes holding a little of their former brightness, "Do you know what connects each of those images?" 3

Hiei was, though he didn't show it, rather surprised by her response. But, the sound of her laughter, no matter how brief it was, seemed to lift a bit of weight from his shoulders. As if her mood had directly affected his own.

So when she asked of the connection, he simply raised a brow at her before sneering. It didn't matter the connection, and he didn't actually care of the connection. "Humor me."

~!**!~

Akari immediately, upon seeing his hand reaching for the chopsticks, retracted the utensils and glared harder at the redhead. "And you should know that I could care less what you are _perfectly capable of_." she replied in a grumble.

She again moved the noodles closer to him, glare hardened and focused on the redhead even as she offered the noodles. _*****_

Kurama waited another beat before leaning forward a little and accepting the offering, chewing a little and then speaking around the food.

"Happy?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku slowly stood, starting before Hiei even had a chance to answer.

Still within the safety of the tent, she relaxed and felt a strain at her neck disappear, her hair rustling softly as she cleared it from her face and took a step towards Hiei.

"You," She began, eyes glimmering slightly, "What do _you _desire, Hiei?" 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku. _He _was the so called _connection_? The thought was a rather amusing one. He found himself sneering suddenly, a brow still quirked at her. Even at her question, he didn't respond right away.

He suddenly scoffed. Rather loudly. But still, he made a point to think about it for a moment before repeating the sound, eyes meeting hers again.

"Don't be an insolent fool. Do what you're fully capable."

~!**!~

Akari retracted the chopsticks as soon as he had taken the noodles, and without hesitation, repeated the motion of gathering noodles, but this time, instead of offering them to him, she instead took them as her own, eating them without a second thought before twisting more noodles and offering those to him.

She too spoke around her mouthful of ramen. "Ashk me again when yoo've eat'n more." _*****_

He took this bite without protest, but spoke up again, "I could fulfill that faster for the both of us if you would just let me do it myself."

~!**!~

The muscles in Shikiyoku's face twitched briefly into a frown before flickering to neutral.

"And if there are too many? If I begin to drown in their desires and lose focus? What then?" 3

No hesitation, no beat between her question and the shift in his mood. Hiei's eyes darkened and his lips twitched in irritation. "Then you will have failed in fulfilling your Champion's desire." His tone was even, expression almost cold. "Do what you're capable."

~!**!~

Akari huffed once at Kurama, twisting more noodles around and around. "Did I say time was an issue?" she retorted, not looking up at him this time. "Get over it and just _eat_, you jackass." _*****_

Kurama let out a low chuckle, pulling his lips into his mouth slightly to prevent the smile that threatened to overtake them.

"Nabu," he turned to look at the dog, "You've known her longer than I have. Has she always been this way?"

~!**!~

There was no disguising the shudder of finality that overtook Shikiyoku, instantly dropping the semblance of her former self that she had managed to pull together.

The pact within her hummed with his words, for she had gotten an answer.

Without looking at him, she sank back down to the furs, her skin suddenly feeling very cold.

_He will be the death of me._

A strangely comforting thought that steeled her mind like a frozen trap.

_So be it._

"Leave." She said aloud, her own voice devoid of further emotion, loosing her energy in earnest as she closed her eyes against the figure her Champion cut at the front of the tent. The power filled the area to the brim within a beat of her releasing it in the hopes that such a sudden exposure would encourage him to go faster.

This time though, when her energy buzzed along her skin, tingled at her scalp, it was accompanied by the strangest burning sensation that Shikiyoku did not recognize.

_Do what you're capable._

_..._

And if she died?

Then his one, true desire would be fulfilled and she would have done her job.

The energy swirled about her in denser amounts, beginning to roar in her ears, even as she felt her heart hitch once before she regained her path. This time, however, the luster of her skin and the gleaming of her hair seemed...alien. Even the power itself, instead of caressing into existence, slicing across the air.

_What's wrong with me? _3

Hiei stood still in his place, hands finding his pockets in a show that said he didn't plan on leaving, not matter her demand or what she threw at him. His mind quickly focused on the bond that, for the moment, seemed much more prominent than it had been in weeks. It seemed to growl within his mind, angry and protesting… whatever.

He continued to stare at Shikiyoku, blinking once at her.

Finally, he decided to go ahead and say something that he'd held back earlier. "The rest, leave to me." His voice was quiet, but his tone filled with calm resolve, as if he'd made his mind up about some problem or another.

~!**!~

Akari stuffed more noodles in her mouth, choosing to ignore Kurama as he spoke to Nabu, who was sitting at attention nearby with ears trained on their conversation. She'd almost forgotten the dog was even present, as quiet as he was.

But, she did look up when she didn't _hear_ a response.

Nabu was simply staring at Kurama, blinking once before she saw his head move in a motion that was considered human. _No_, he indicated, glancing at her once before again turning calm eyes onto Kurama. But otherwise, he didn't elaborate. _*****_

Kurama smiled at the recognizable gesture.

"Seems you've picked up a few things. Probably a product of being around her too much, hm?" He teased at Akari, but spoke to the dog and ruffled his hand at the top of Nabu's head a little.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's energy rushed in her ears, unleashing more than she remembered being able to before.

It had been a long time since she had allowed the stuff to go free, at least as utterly and completely as she was going now.

While the tent around her did not so much as rustle, the fabric imbued with strong containment meant for confining anything that happened within so that there would be no indication of it outside, Shikiyoku's power intensified and filled the tent several times over, the density causing a haze to settle as the air grew heavy.

As she felt herself reaching the last of her demonic energy, Shikiyoku opened her eyes-which no longer held any of the recognizable green within them and were instead gleaming a bright, harsh yellow-and saw that Hiei had not left yet.

"Leave me." The words almost did not sound in her own voice, tinged with a sharpness that echoed the fierceness of the energy she released. "You are not _needed_."

_Or wanted. _

_Like I am not needed. _

_Or wanted. _3

Hiei's red eyes slowly moved about the room as the energy emitted by Shikiyoku began to form into first a fine mist, then into a thick haze in the tent. There was almost a sort of _weight _in the air that seemed to replace the weight he had previously felt lifted from his mind. It made him frown in thought.

And then her voice rang through the air, unrecognizable to him. It was harsh, sharp as his own blade. And her last word seemed to slice through the silence just as easily as his own blade through skin.

And with that word came more weight from the energy around him. A warning, he could feel.

But that wasn't what really had him turning to leave silently. He didn't look back, didn't even consider glancing back at the she-demon on the floor as he waved the tent flap aside and stepped into the evening light. He didn't pause to let his sight adjust to the sunlight. He didn't pause to let his eyes wander either. He simply turned and left the area of the tent, easily avoiding any demon that rushed by him.

He couldn't care less at the moment of the bustle around him. Still, he turned and headed in the direction he knew Uryo to be.

Not that he was headed to the demon specifically. But, burning a few things would be…. helpful.

Because hearing those words hadn't meant anything to him in decades, but…

But it was different this time, apparently.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at Kurama as she held out chopsticks to him, noodles presented to the redhead again. "All dogs can do it, understand humans, eventually. It just takes… a medium." she said, ignoring the teasing altogether.

Nabu's tail thumped once against the wood floor. "_She's taught me a lot."_

"You learn on your own, Nabu. You've learned more on your little _escapades_ than from my lessons."

"_...yeah but those always became lessons. Lessons I didn't listen to."_

She huffed at him once and looked to Kurama. "He once got lost in town, and when I found him, the dog catcher had him in a net. Who uses nets anymore anyway? I thought that was a human cartoon thing?" _*****_

Kurama listened quietly to Akari, taking bites when they were offered.

"If you wished to prevent those things from happening, a tag with a number to call would suffice." He could, however, understand why doing such a thing would be frowned upon by either party.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had closed her eyes and did not see the fire demon leave, though she did feel her energy immediately fill the void his body had left.

Her jaw was clenched together. A tightness had settled over her throat similar to the tightness at her brows, and across her neck and shoulders.

It was only when she felt certain she would not be interrupted further that she finally let the tears drop from her eyes, leaving shimmering streams of pent-up anger down her cheeks and dropping off her chin.

She pushed her power farther and farther, feeling as if she were emptying her very soul into the loneliness of the room around her.

It had been such a trifle to dance for Shubou. His clan was small. His intentions pure. But she had also been...happy. When was the last time she had felt happy? It was...difficult to recall.

A strange feeling washed over Shikiyoku as she refused to back down from the outpouring of her energy, and the shift in the air from the light haze deepening made her gasp and open her eyes, head raising a little as the energy she began to access came not from her demonic stores of power...but from her very life force.

And she let it. Let it fill the room fuller than it had been, scrambling to exert it all, and yet finding at the very last that her body refused, snapping off her admittance to the energy and throwing her forward where she caught herself with her hands and watched blearily as salty water left darkened drops in the furs between her palms.

Ironically, without purpose she would not be able to do what had crossed her mind. Her body would not let her.

It would have to wait.

~!**!~

"No, that is quite excellent! Take that one away too!" Uryo gestured for the demons to go ahead and bring the large tree down, turning back to the close set of four he had stepped in front of.

Taking a swig again from the flask just inside his tunic-as he had been since arriving at the encampment-it took little concentration for Uryo to sear the trunks of the trees from the forest floor, slicing the four of them as they fell towards him, creating more firewood that other demons started to carry away, and simultaneously rendering the leaves and branches to ash just as they started to tip in his direction.

He stepped forward and ran his hand along the grass where moments before a tree had stood, and felt satisfied to find that, once again, not a blade had been singed and the earth where the tree had sprung was smooth and would not be tripped over. 3

Hiei moved through the crowd, eyes forward but not really seeing anything. Not at first, anyway. But when he heard demons making a fuss, yelling back and forth, his eyes focused again and his mind immediately became a blank canvas, leaving him able to assess what he was seeing.

Demons scurrying away with wood that appeared almost perfectly chopped. Several of them. And Uryo was inspecting the ground.

He paused a few yards away from the larger fire demon, his eyes turning to assess whatever operation was being run here. He could simply jump in, but it appeared salvaging the wood was necessary, meaning jumping in and simply firing away was out of the question.

He'd have to actually focus here.

His hands withdrew from his pockets, fingers flexing as a flame formed over his palms and his eyes assessed the nearest tree. And without a single sound to indicate he was there, he followed Uryo's lead, throwing the flame in a stream along the grass and towards a tree, causing it to first catch fire and, after another stream of flame followed, the tree to topple.

He didn't find the job amusing or distracting enough, but continued on anyway.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow, chewing at noodles with an unamused expression pointed at Kurama. "No phone, even if I liked the idea." she retorted almost lazily, offering noodles to Kurama again. "It isn't much of a problem anymore anyway. Nabu's learned from that," she shot a glance at the dog, "and has found it smart to stay away from stores."

"_I was only looking for what you wanted!"_

"Was it worth the trouble?"

"_...no."_

She gave a smirk and turned back to Kurama, this time taking to simply watching him, the room falling into silence. _*****_

"Well, I was going to offer a phone number, though I had imagined it wasn't an issue any longer." Kurama shifted slightly where he sat, his shoulders heaving in a silent sigh that left his nose noiselessly.

He flexed muscles here and there, absently testing their strength and responsiveness and knowing before he started that he would not be moving much in the foreseeable future.

He _might _be able to get Botan here to whisk him away on her oar, but being stuck immovable at the offices of Spirit World would likely prove less fruitful than he desired.

~!**!~

Uryo felt Hiei's approach even before the other fire demon threw energy at the next tree.

The older apparition stood up and took in the strange tenseness he could sense in the flames the other emitted, not to mention the fact Hiei's expression felt...odd to the fire demon.

He approached Hiei openly.

"They are in need of that stretch of forest to be eliminated." Uryo motioned to the South, where little work had been done. "At least ten trees in and going all the way over to where we came in." His eyes followed the path to the trees that were parallel to the Elder's tent. A good bit of land.

"No need for restraint there." He added. "They want it completely gone." Uryo started to turn away, "Good way to blow off some steam if you ask me." He walked back to where another set of demons stood prepared to gather more firewood. 3

Hiei didn't even pause at Uryo approached, didn't even glance at the other as he carefully mirrored what he'd seen the other do. Of course, it was nothing compared to Uryo's work, but he supposed it didn't matter what it looked like. It was to be burned anyway, right?

However, he did look up to follow Uryo's gaze as the other spoke about a stretch of land that was very much available for destruction. For complete annihilation.

But was it really _steam _Hiei was letting off, or simply a distraction? Hell, he didn't even know. All he knew was that he didn't want to have time to consider the words that continued to echo in his mind. Because if he did, he'd likely do something he'd regret.

So, without a word, he turned and made to cross the land again, sights set pointedly on the stretch of trees Uryo had indicated. Though, after a few calm steps he decided to cross the distance at a run.

In a blink, he had a great deal of trees aflame, burning slowly, as if he wished nothing more than to watch them burn.

~!**!~

Akari hesitated only a beat before her own amusement got the best of her. She adjusted the hold she had on the chopsticks and leaned forward, poking one of them against his forehead tauntingly. Her lips twitched, but her expression shifted to one of light mischief, teasing.

"Well, I mean, if you _want _to give me your number, no one's _stopping _you." She paused, a sly smirk stretching her lips. "Of course, there's no guarantee I'll get back to you _immediately." __*****_

"I thought it was a clever way to get you the information." Kurama shrugged, appearing unphased by her response. In truth, the thought had not occurred to him as the number would get her the house and likely his own mother, which would probably cause just as many problems for him as it would solve for her and her companion upon reflection. "Without directly coming out and handing you a slip of paper that I would expect you to promptly toss or claim to have forgotten where you placed it when I asked you its whereabouts later."

~!**!~

Uryo could feel the confliction in the fire Hiei wove into the air, smell it in the ashes that started to float about that area of the encampment.

It did not bode well and had Uryo frowning at the logs he sliced with ease and absentmindedness.

If they in some way reflected one another, mirrors after a fashion, and Hiei's core was disturbed enough to affect the emotions within the flames he was able to produce…

Uryo let his eyes shift to the Elder's tent, easily seen as it was in front and tall in the middle of the clearing. He recognized the symbols as ones meant to weave containment upon the fabric and was not surprised to find he could not pierce beyond them to the female he knew to be within their depths.

"Ho! Uryo!"

At his name, the apparition sheathed his sword and turned, beginning to see that other demons were starting to enter the clearing and set up tents along the outside edges of the areas he and the others had already finished with. 3

"_You're not __**needed**__."_

It seemed those words echoed in the air around him whether he was burning trees or simply watching them burn. And it took a few minutes for him to realize that it was not _anger_ he felt at her for those words. _Anger_ was something he knew how to withstand, how to control and how to conceal.

He clenched his jaw and released more than the simple stream of flame. This time, a sound similar to an explosion resounded as trees popped and crackled from the sudden burst of flame, the sheer amount of fire and sound from such flame enough to make more than the simple pop and crackle of fire.

"_You're not __**needed**__." _

"_No one __**cares **__about you."_

Those two meant the same to him. Both had been said. Both had once angered him. He'd moved past it all decades ago.

He felt the stirrings in his core that indicated his energy responding to his thoughts, forming another stream of fire in his hand without his conscious thought of doing so. He played with the flame for a moment before letting it soar, finding its own tree that disintegrated almost as soon as the flames touched it.

Maybe he'd just _leave_ her here.

_That will solve nothing, fool. Running solves nothing._

~!**!~

Akari's smile grew, showing pointed teeth as a glint made her expression seem just that much more sly, mischievous. "Oh boy." she began, rolling her eyes. "You don't know me very well then. I'm not one to simply _misplace _things." she paused, meeting his gaze again. "I'd rip it up in front of you."

Of course, she was kidding.

Or maybe not. Who knows. It wasn't like she'd be put in that position anyway. _*****_

"Well, that makes me feel better." Kurama answered as if the words were truth. "If you tore it up in front of me, at least then I would know where I stood directly. None of this 'he said she said' bit," He waved his hand about complacently, "Better to be rejected immediately."

_And how often have you put those last words into use?_

Quite often, thank you. There was the girl in-

_With __**her. **_

Kurama mentally cleared his throat and turned his thoughts from the subject.

~!**!~

As Uryo assisted in directing some of the foot traffic, he felt himself constantly reaching out to test the flames he knew were in existence on the other side of the clearing, and as he turned to follow another demon of the tribe who had been sent to make sure Uryo started the main bonfire, the apparition stumbled and clutched at the fabric of his tunic above his core.

He waved off any concern from the demon, as if the smell of alcohol might answer any questions, and gestured with his other hand that they should keep moving.

Uryo's eyes wandered to the Elder's tent and he found his paced had slowed, reaching out towards it again and once more being unable to penetrate the defenses.

He rubbed at his chest where the pain had occurred and reached for the flask hidden away, his soberness that fell over him during the stumble needing to be staved off before his body began reacting.

The flames Hiei was using...something was very wrong.

The last time Uryo remembered using those flames, the last time he had felt his core wrench so terribly within himself...had been about a century before, though the memory still haunted him as if it were only seconds ago...

...when he discovered his lover had killed herself.

Uryo shook off the sudden cloud with a great deal of effort, being presented to the fire pit where the bonfire of the night would be flaming, wood piled high within it.

He began weaving his energy delicately, careful that no portion of the flame he meant to light it with would burn the wood any more than necessary so that the fire would last as long as the night required.

And still he found his gaze lifting towards the other side of the clearing, each blast of power sending the slightest of shivers to his toes. 3

~!**!~

Akari fell into silence, her thoughts suddenly transitioning from the fun she was poking at the redhead to the fact that she had taken to feeding him because she thought he was healing too slowly. Because of Otento. And the Pseudo-Youko's lack of control over his own underlings.

The thought was an unsettling one.

But not as unsettling as the fact that _Kurama _had been caught. Almost _killed_.

"Hey," she called out in a whisper, eyes trained on the bowl of soup that she now swirled about with the chopsticks. "What happened, exactly?" she asked, knowing that if the fox could be caught, then they all needed to be on guard…

Suddenly she remembered her own reaction, and the stance she had taken when she'd found Foko. When she'd resigned to a fight.

She'd never done that before: decided to fight for someone else. And the stance… it hadn't been one she'd been taught to assume when presented with a skilled fighter.

Finally, she lifted her eyes to Kurama's face. "How'd he surprise you?" _*****_

"Otento can not only mask his energy signature, but everything else about him as well. He cannot be smelled, his presence cannot be felt. I would wager that he also would not leave tracks or fingerprints, rendering himself unfollowable. He left no room for decision this time, locking away Youko within me. It was a simple matter at that point to overpower me." Kurama paused, "I believe he was...done toying with us at that point."

~!**!~

((The semi-repeated thoughts -starting with 'She needs him.' and going to 'Yes.'- that Shikiyoku has in this segment originally became smaller and smaller in font with each successive one as a representation that the 'voice' is being shoved away or drowned out, but that does not translate to FF, hence the explanation.))

Shikiyoku gasped for air, her eyes flying open and the energy in the room slamming back into her body, causing no small amount of pain as it did so and forcing her forward again to her knees where she barely caught herself before her face hit the floor. She stayed in that position, breathing heavily and seeing nothing.

The emotion had not come from within her that time. She was positive. Her body shook with sobs and her hands clenched at the fur between them.

She did not bother moving this time, instead turning inward and panicking for a moment as she did not immediately grasp at the pact between her and Hiei, searching deeper and barely finding it, giving out erratic pulses that sometimes beat fervently and other times would go almost too long before sounding again.

Shikiyoku slowly sat back up, thinking it appropriate that the pact acted as if it was on its last leg of existence. She wondered if a Champion would feel the sever as she had, and if it would be easier to ignore since it had grow so...weak.

She sighed into the empty room, feeling old and weary and thinking back at how she'd ended up in this predicament, going so far as to push her very own Champion away so that she might be alone to wallow in her inadequacy.

If she were a better seductress, she could have coaxed from him desires to fulfill. If she were a better seductress, she wouldn't have fallen in with him in the first place. If she were a-

"_Then you will have failed in fulfilling your Champion's desire." _

Even now her core felt as though it dropped into her stomach as the cold, cruelness of his words pierced her inner thoughts.

"_Do what you're capable."_

But she couldn't. That was the point. There were so many, too many and-

She needed help.

_**She**_ _needs __**him**__._

**He** did not need **her**. Therefore **her** need is moot.

She would not be able to do this on her own, she would need help.

_**She**_ _needed __**him**__._

Shikiyoku stood up, feeling a great deal of anguish that made each step seem so much heavier than they had ever been, and started to walk towards the entrance of the tent.

Sticking her head out of the tent-flap, her face was back-lighted by the glow that came from within the Elder's tent, and she found that it was almost completely dark outside and she could not see.

"Need something?" A passing demon asked, news that the Iro was to be assisted if it was required having been told to the entire tribe.

_**She**_ _needs __**him**__._

"Fetch me H-the fire demon."

"The Champion." The demon appeared to be recalling where he had seen the Champion last, glancing into the darkness.

Shikiyoku shook her head, "No."

_Yes._

"The other one."

"Is everything okay, Iro?" The demon had caught sight of her face and it appeared ashen, grey...almost sickly.

"Yes."

The demon nodded and turned to go, not even aware of the voice within her that had suddenly, finally, been silenced, its cry going unheard.

~!**!~

Uryo could taste the unhappiness on the air, and even staring into the blaze he had lit that flamed merrily into the sky did nothing to lift his awareness of it.

He could no longer hold himself back and turned to find Hiei, his steps quick and his eyes keen to speak with him. 3

He could feel it. Every pull it gave at him, every erratic thrum in warning at him. The bond was suddenly very active to him, pulling at his every thought and making it _very _hard to make his mind become the blank canvas he desired.

He wasn't angry.

He was recovering.

And he needed time to push away whatever had resurfaced. It was stupid, foolish. He'd been past this. He'd heard it a million times over, both from people he know and from ones he did not.

_But you care about this one._

It was almost as if that single line had come from Kurama, who would have very easily sorted out Hiei's feelings on the matter. A bitter sneer formed on the fire demon's face as he stilled again, staring at the stretch of land he had cleared- much more than Uryo had indicated he thought. Oh well, more room to maneuver.

He looked about himself, expression finally neutral and mind quiet for the time being. He could see the glow of the flames at the camp, could see the outlines of the tents in the darkness. He could still hear the bustle, but it was almost like another world to him. So close, close enough that when the celebrations started he would be able to hear it, to _feel _those merry dancers and their emotions. But at the same time, he was separated from it. In another plane, it seemed.

"_You're not __**needed**__." _

His eyes slid closed and he took in a deep breath as he turned away. Again he considered leaving. After all, if he wasn't needed, then why should he stay?

But each time the thought arose, the bond screamed at him, pounded in his head and created pain in his temple. It was similar to a blade being plunged into his skull at times, but this one… this one felt like an axe to the brain.

Another deep breath.

Another beat of silence.

And then another tree burning, disintegrating on impact.

Another attempt at a blank canvas going wrong.

~!**!~

Akari didn't look up at Kurama as he spoke, taking everything in stride. She knew he couldn't be smelled- she just hadn't said it to anyone yet. He was virtually impossible to sense coming. So, it made sense that he'd used that to his advantage, whereas before, he'd used it for his amusement, played a game of 'who will find me first' before revealing himself.

Like that time in the park, when her energy had been locked away, like Kurama's.

Foko had been able to sense him.

But… that didn't mean anything. Foko had his own energy under wraps as well, and had been over Otento for…. who knows how long. HE'd know how to…

She scowled down at the floor.

"He's losing control." she mumbled, referring to Foko. But, really, she wasn't even sure she was speaking to the redhead, or if she was speaking to herself.

However, she did look up now, expression serious. "Otento's becoming a problem now. Before, he wasn't serious about us being in his way. But now, he is. And he's shown that he's much more powerful than he's been hinting." She paused, eyes sliding closed for a moment.

She found herself thinking of Yusuke and his fighting style, and Kuwabara and Hiei. And after a few moments, she felt as if, maybe, this time…

The team of detectives that Koenma was so proud of… might not be able to handle this.

Otento could hide himself enough to surprise each and every one of them. By himself, he could very likely pick off the entire team. Foko was a very meticulous copy of Youko, meaning he had each and every ability the fox had, and just as much power, if not more.

And she remembered there being others, others who hadn't shown themselves yet.

_We're in serious trouble._

When she opened her eyes again, she was very aware of the way Kurama sat, very still and very stiff, as if any movement would cause a tremendous amount of pain. And the fact that _Youko_ had been locked away… She was sure that meant he wasn't healing the way he usually would.

Meaning he'd be here for a week, at least, unable to do anything but sit here and talk.

_Botan can fix that. He doesn't have to be stuck here like I am._

She rubbed at her face. "We can't just sit around anymore. Waiting isn't an option, and Koenma knows that." Suddenly, she was pushing herself to stand, offering the chopsticks she'd been holding to Kurama, along with the second bowl, in case he was still hungry. She was going to have to make a call. _*****_

Kurama took the food without hesitation, slowly beginning to eat, his lower speed a combination of both his pain, but more so now his mind becoming lost in thought.

Youko was needed to be locked away. Why now when not before? Something triggered the need for the fake Youko to move about freely without fear of Kurama's other half becoming active.

So what did that mean?

They were on the move.

The thought chilled Kurama. On the move for what? _What?_

What was the purpose? What was their goal?

They had unsuccessfully attempted to acquire Tori-err Shikiyoku. Her powers, if Kurama had to guess, would let them...control vast amounts of people? Could she do that?

With Youko locked away, Kurama was unable to prod the demon for reassurance.

But they had not gotten her, assuming Koenma still knew where she was since everyone else was being kept out of the loop on that one.

_So what would Youko have done if his first plan had failed?_

The thought came out of nowhere and Kurama realized very suddenly that _he _was the best one to know what the next step for them would be because _he _had co-existed with the very being their enemies were imitating.

The realization was both freeing and harrowing.

He had to speak with Koenma. And soon.

~!**!~

Uryo made quick steps across to where he knew Hiei would be, where he could _feel _Hiei's flames still occasionally erupting through the air, wrought with emotions that made Uryo's own core sting in response.

Uryo wondered if Hiei had yet discovered that blasting away an entire forest doesn't actually make one feel any better. He would be better off tearing through half a million low level demons. At least then the bloodlust would pound away any other thoughts in his head.

Unphased by the fires that still blazed and lit the sky around him, Uryo walked through any remaining flame that still scattered across the forest floor, kicking up ashes of ruined grass and underbrush.

He noted briefly, somewhere in the back of his head, that the forest here would grow up stronger than before, the ashes fertilizing the new growth, and how ironic it was that such a tantrum would eventually create such beauty.

As he drew closer, he took another drink from the flask though he didn't know how much good it would actually do. Being bombarded by the emotions from the flames he made his way through was very sobering.

He paused in mid-step, caught suddenly by the flickering of a single flame in his peripheral vision, which he let his eyes follow, finding himself staring at the fire created by the energy of the demon less than ten feet from him now.

Something...clicked in his mind as to the very nature of the fire this particular demon wielded and one of his brows raised, but he dismissed the sudden revelation and took another few steps forward, folding his arms over his chest and assessing the newly-burnt, still-heated clearing from a foot behind Hiei.

He grunted.

"Could use a little more off the top." 3

Hiei, truthfully, hadn't been paying any bit of attention to his surroundings other than the parts he burned. But, subconsciously, he was aware of Uryo's approaching presence even as he let his own flames light up the night sky again.

Funny how something so warm could come from someone who felt as if the world were cold.

When Uryo spoke up, Hiei didn't even pause to look at the other male, instead taking to simply igniting more of the area around him, though the action called for no physical movement from the demon who now stood within the circle of his own destruction.

"And what makes you think I care how it looks? It needed cleared, so it's cleared."

~!**!~

Akari moved from the livingroom area and into the kitchen, immediately taking to pulling drawers from the countertop open. The wood rattled in protest from disuse each time, creating a sound she hated each time. A few even rattled with utensils that had been left behind by whoever had once owned this place.

But drawer after drawer, she found herself pouting.

Thanks to the person in the living room and the events that had surrounded him, she found herself unable to remember where she'd put the communication mirror, as Botan had called it.

Maybe…

_Oh, right._

She turned to a small basket she'd found a few days ago, piled high with clothes she had yet to clean. It was easy to find the jacket she'd pulled off earlier and pull the mirror from it with a calm ease, pausing only to consider how the thing worked.

Last time, Yusuke had dialed Koenma, and she'd just… taken over.

So she flipped it open, frowning when no buttons were seen, but giving a start when white noise sounded from the thing. And after a moment, she was seeing the toddler prince. _*****_

~!**!~

"Koenma-sir, I need you to sign this."

"Koenma-sir, we've got problems in the lowest sector!"

The bustle of the office had not died down for the past two days and Koenma was frantically filling orders and giving commands from his desk.

"Koenma-sir…"

Koenma felt the buzz go across his desk that indicated one of the detectives was attempting to reach him and immediately disregarded whatever it was the ogre was going to say, but underneath all the paperwork and stuck in the middle of a rather demanding group of workers, Koenma had a hard time remembering where exactly the button to answer was.

"Koenma-sir, we've just gotten confirmation that-"

"Don't care! Busy!" Koenma shuffled papers to the side, waving a tiny hand to stop the noise coming from the ogre's mouth.

"Koenma-sir, what _are _you doing?" George wanted to know, standing at his customary position just to Koenma's right.

"Trying to find the button for the…" Koenma's voice mumbled off incoherently.

George sighed, feeling the vibrations from the desk as he stepped closer, and moved a particular pile of papers out of the way to jab a clawed, blue finger at the button for which Koenma searched.

"You mean _this _button, sir?"

A screen in front of Koenma popped up from the desk, promptly scattering any papers that had been on top of it willy-nilly about the room.

"Yes, _ogre_." Koenma's expression was a mixture of gratitude and put-out as he gave George a look as the screen fizzled with white noise before presenting him with Akari's face.

"Akari." He seemed a little surprised that she was the one calling, and it was easy to see that his eyes had a bit of a haunted look to them, as if he had seen and heard too many things in the last few days and had not had enough time for sleep to recover from them. The noise of the office did not lessen even when he took the call, the sound of papers shuffling and ogres running amok being picked up by the microphone in the desk near Koenma's face.

~!**!~

"Mm." Uryo grunted again. "And what do you all think?"

He lowered his gaze and looked to the right.

Not three feet from where the two fire demons stood, a small army of lur'mog were seated on their haunches, eyes lit by the flames around them and all wearing similar expressions of fascination with the fire. Every so often a tail here or there would twitch, but they did not respond to Uryo's question.

Or rather, one did. The largest one who sat in front of the others, his gaze solemn and his eyes wide, blinked slowly, once, and looked up at Uryo.

The older apparition recognized this one. He had spent much time with it in the last few weeks or so.

A bit of flame washed over the lur'mogs, but they seemed unaffected by it, only staring after it with that same awed gaze.

"It never really helps, does it?" Uryo murmured, sighing to himself as he let his eyes lift and take in the destruction around them. "And the fact that things will grow back stronger because of it...maddening. Irritating." His voice took on just a bit of an edge and his jaw clenched. 3

Hiei had, for some reason even he didn't know, allowed the last of his flames to die out, leaving himself standing there, watching whatever didn't require his energy to feed burn whatever it clung to. He didn't really see it, though he tried, but it was just..

_That stupid bond._

_Those stupid words._

Nothing left him be. And it was only now he found himself growing irritated, borderline angry. But still, he merely stood there, letting his energy simply taper away and eyes stare ahead.

Might as well stop destroying before the tribe decided he was causing useless damage.

He didn't respond to Uryo, who seemed very keen on whatever was bothering the shorter of the two. It was something he hadn't considered: another being able to feel his emotions like his own. Perhaps it was something only the older could do, or maybe it was something fire apparitions with experience could do. He wasn't sure, and he didn't think about it.

He finally turned his eyes to look at Uryo from the corners, but only for a moment before turning to move away, hands finding his cloak pockets.

He didn't need someone telling him how maddening anything was. He already knew.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at the scene she could see and hear, momentarily distracted by whatever it was that blocked her view of the prince for a second. Paper, she deduced, as she saw several other leaflets of it falling through the air behind Koenma.

She huffed in amusement once before sighing. "Apologies for the interruption. Is Botan busy?" She glanced up, looking to the wall that separated herself from Kurama, still sitting in the next room with Nabu. With her voice a whisper, as before, she sighed and continued, "He's healing about as fast as a human, and I'm sure being locked up here will do no good." _*****_

Koenma's brows furrowed.

Botan had told him little of the incident, though he had been distracted at the time, only saying that Akari insisted on fixing the 'problem.' Whatever that meant. Apparently it meant nursing or something.

He sat quiet for a moment, the noise of the office around him growing no softer before he spoke up.

"Truthfully...we've had to call her in for Reaper duties. We're swamped. There's been a-"

"Koenma-sir." George's voice could be heard over the intercom, though he was not seen.

Koenma gave the blue ogre a glare.

"They _deserve _to know. If I'd had a moment to breathe, I would have told them earlier."

"We are on _strict _lockdown, sir. Ordered from your father himself. You shouldn't even be answering the call."

"Ha! And now they know about the lockdown and it's not my fault!"

George opened and closed his mouth in consternation, his cheeks reddening as he realized what he'd done.

Koenma leaned closer to the screen, speaking much more quietly than before.

"Truth is, we're not supposed to let anyone in or out of Spirit World right now because-" Koenma's gaze lifted suddenly as another yell, louder this time, echoed through the office, and when he looked back to Akari, his words came faster, "There's been threat of an attack. If I can get you out of Human World and _here_, where we need _help_, I will. Promise."

Koenma slammed down the screen just as the ogres parted to let another through, this one wearing the official letters of his father.

"Prince Koenma. Your father wishes to speak to you."

~!**!~

"_Hiei."_

Before Uryo had a chance to say anything else, a tribesdemon approached them, though in truth, for once Uryo didn't know what to say and felt thankful for the reprieve.

The demon seemed hesitant, however. Unsure.

"Th-the Iro is asking for you."

Uryo glanced over to gauge the other fire demon's reaction.

The demon who approached them made a strange noise, as if to speak but then not. It drew Uryo's attention back to him.

"_Hiei." _

"She…" The demon appeared uncomfortable, "She asked for _you_." The demon looked meaningfully at Uryo, "-but...something is wrong. She- I- I think she _tried _to ask for her Champion first." The words came tumbling out, "She looks ill. I do not want her to dance if it means- I don't know. Something's wrong." He repeated.

"_Hiei."_

A strange warmth settled over Hiei's shoulders, spreading across the back of his neck and settling there. Waiting. 3

Hiei didn't pause when Uryo called out, though he wasn't really even sure where he was going. Perhaps back to camp, perhaps away. Either seemed fine to him, though away seemed more… fruitful. He'd be left alone for a bit.

But then again, what had _that _done to help him? Nothing more than create a clearing of ash.

Maybe one of blood would be better.

Again, his name was called, but this time the fire demon realized it wasn't being called _aloud_. Telepathically.

He gave a pause, this time tuning into whatever it was Uryo wanted of him, and realizing another demon had approached, talking to Uryo about… Shikiyoku, from the sound of it. For a moment, Hiei could care less. She wanted to be alone, so she was going to _be _alone. For a while, at least.

His feet moved again, carrying him away even still as his name was said a third time, this time almost more forcefully. At least, to him it sounded forceful. Urgent. While his own name did not stop him, the sudden warmth over his shoulders did, pulling him to a stop and to face Uryo with a blank stare.

Her words again echoed in his mind.

But he still didn't move away.

He blinked once at the pair before suddenly finding himself feeling rather.. worn out. He resigned himself to making the trip back towards the pair, hands still in his pockets, but clouded, shadowed eyes piercing the newcomer.

"Elaborate."

~!**!~

Akari stayed quiet as a voice she didn't recognize filtered through the communication mirror, and she only blinked once when Koenma turned to her again, after she'd heard the second voice speak of _lockdown. _But he didn't give her time to ask, or even try to do so.

He simply went on to elaborate, even after he was momentarily distracted and-

_Hold on. King Enma has them on lockdown? _Her brows furrowed after the word _threat _came through the speakers.

"They're-" she tried to say, but again he continued.

And before she could say anything more, the screen went black and she was staring at her own baffled expression.

_Spirit World under attack? _

She stood there for a minute, letting her mind register everything Koenma had said before she snapped the mirror closed- rather loudly- and stuffed it in her jacket pocket as she shuffled her way into the next room.

She paused in the threshold of the kitchen, staring at Kurama as she opened her mouth to speak, but wasn't sure how to word it.

"Well, as soon as someone appears, you and I are taking a trip to visit Koenma." Her lips twitched into a humorless smirk. "Though, it could be a while." _*****_

Kurama had sinced finished his food, the bowl and utensils set next to him as he absently pet Nabu's head.

Something about Akari's tone had him looking up at her, seeing the grim smile.

"What's wrong?"

~!**!~

The demon Hiei addressed had by this time began wringing his hands together as if the tension of the conversation might prove too much.

"H-her skin it-" He held up his own hand, looking at it, "Like this when she came in, yes? Normal?"

The warmth over Hiei's shoulders seemed to grow...heavier, more weight, but more substantial. And something began gently tapping against the upper portion of his arm like...a tail perhaps. A slow, steady rhythm. Unexcited. A pulse of movement once in a while that was not meant to grab any attention, but spread like a rather contented feeling…

The demon shook his head, "I could not see _exactly, _but I believe her face was…" His eyes caught sight of the destruction around them and he picked up the word, "Ashen. Grey."

Across Hiei's other shoulder, a thrum began resonating, vibrating against him.

"_Hiei."_

"Her voice was…" He appeared at a loss for words, "Perhaps darker?"

"_Do you know from where she gets her strength, Hiei?" _The voice seemed to come from inside his head, but if it had an origin...somewhere it sat...it would have been just above the shoulder that currently had the thrum resonating peacefully. 3

Hiei felt slightly annoyed at the way the demon stuttered and wrung his hands in front of himself as he spoke. It made the fire demon want to just wave him away, tell him to find something better to do than waste his time. But the information the demon gave was something that caught his attention.

He thought about those factors, the things the messenger told him. He thought about the different possibilities. Demons could get sick, from stress or any other factor. Wasn't unheard of in any case, really, but…

Suddenly he wasn't seeing the demon in front of him, or hearing him either. He was within himself, searching for the bond he suddenly realized wasn't screaming at him, wasn't pulling at him. It wasn't thrumming, it wasn't growling, it wasn't… there. At all.

But.. wouldn't he know if it had broken? Wasn't that a thing?

Now Hiei was frowning to himself, only focusing on something other than the bond when a question was aired in his mind. Telepathically. Unrecognized? But the question was one he felt he should know the answer to.

Calmly, he turned his attention to the voice itself, as if it were a manifestation in his mind altogether. He didn't answer with words. He just… waited for an elaboration.

~!**!~

Akari moved further into the room, noting Nabu's curious stare that seemed very identical to Kurama's own questioning one. "They're on lockdown. A threat of an attack." she said slowly as she moved to sit in front of him. "Apparently, the king is very adamant that no communication in or out, likewise with people, is forbidden." _*****_

Was _that _it?

Kurama's mind raced.

Was the fake Youko trying to...to what, attack Spirit World? Ridiculous.

...it would explain why they wanted Shikiyoku so badly, assuming she could catch the attention of multiple denizens at once.

And if they had failed to capture her, what would Youko have immediately done?

_He would have had someone else. A back-up plan. And as soon as he had acquired __**that **__one…_

Kurama sighed, nearly a groan, and reached up to rub a hand against his forehead as if in pain.

"We need to get into Spirit World. The sooner the better."3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	57. Episode 141 - Plans Within Plans

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of FF!

Onwards and upwards!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari makes it back to Kurama with their ramen,  
and Nabu resting his head on Kurama's knee.

Kurama has managed to sit up but is leaning heavily into the wall behind him,  
still feeling deeply the affects of having Youko so completely locked away from him.  
Nabu has realized that Kurama cannot understand him anymore,  
and the dog also notes that Kurama no longer has any 'ears' or a 'tail.'

Akari insists upon feeding Kurama herself, not taking 'no' for an answer,  
and Kurama obliges her with only a little protest.

As Akari feeds him, the two banter back and forth,  
until Akari finally comes around to asking Kurama what happened  
and how he managed to get so beat up.

This leads to a conversation between the two that ends with Akari getting up,  
intending to use the compact Botan gave her to call Koenma and ask for Botan's healing.

Akari discovers that Enma has ordered a lock-down of Spirit World  
because of a threat of an attack, no one allowed in or out of the place.  
Koenma wants to send someone to get them and bring them to help,  
but he informs her it might be a while.

She tells all of this to Kurama, who agrees that the sooner they could get to Spirit World, the better.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku reveals how violent the death of her first Champion had been,  
and how she is concerned the same sort of thing will happen here,  
given how big the ritual that night for the Northern Tribe will be.  
When Hiei expresses an ultimatum of her doing the ritual anyway,  
his desire for it rocks her to the core, and she believes he has given her to death,  
though he tells her to leave what she cannot handle to him.

Starting preparations for the ritual, she demands he leaves the Elders' Tent,  
telling him he is not needed, and such a statement throws Hiei into his own turmoil.  
Finding Uryo, Hiei is assigned to a section of the forest that needs burning without prejudice,  
and he sets into it furiously.

Internally, Hiei eventually realizes that perhaps her words shook him so much,  
when others had said such things and he had never thought a second thing about it,  
because he actually respects and cares for the person who said them this time.

Sensing the emotions in his fire, Uryo comes to watch for a moment,  
and the two are joined by a third demon who was sent for Uryo by Shikiyoku,  
but who expresses an unsettling amount of concern for the state he had seen her in.

As this demon is speaking, Hiei realizes someone, or some_thing_,  
is attempting to speak with him telepathically, a presence coming to rest at his shoulder.  
The voice in his head asks Hiei if he knows from where it is that Shikiyoku, the Ward, gets her strength...

* * *

The thrum, no the _purr_, grew louder as something soft and furry that wasn't there butted itself affectionately against the side of Hiei's neck at the bottom of his ear.

And as the fur made contact with his skin, so too did the answer alight into his mind.

"_It is __**you**__, Hiei Jaganshi."_

As the soft fur moved away, the voice went on.

"_**You **__are the source of her strength. She reflects __**you**__, amplifies __**your **__power. She can only be as strong as her Champion will allow, only as strong as he can strive and grow to be. And...because of that..._

_She __**needs **__you. Desperately. With every fiber of her being. But not only that...she __**needs**_ _you to __**need **__her. For something. For __**anything**__. Even if it is only as simple as desiring her presence. Something you can express to her. Tell her. Without purpose from you as her Champion, she is better off dead, for the pact within her causes an isolation that will drive her to do things even the insane would not applaud. And she is no good on her own-she would die-just as you will find yourself so much less when she is gone." _3

Hiei's body stiffened for a moment as recognition hit him like a blow to the gut, the voice suddenly _very _recognizable to him. And the words spoken to him were ones he could _feel _the truth in, as if he should have known the entire time.

Words were recalled in his mind, words he had ignored earlier that day, because they had had nothing to do with him at the time. "_She was not as strong as I first thought. Or perhaps...no, I am for sure that it was actually I who was not as strong as I first thought. She took her own life. And I was not there to stop her." _Hiei blinked, slowly, and his eyes refocused on his surroundings.

Even as Maneshi's voice filled his mind, he was moving, listening but simultaneously acting.

Yes, her words had stung. Perhaps it was for the very reason he'd come to respect her: because she'd refused to call him the _cursed child_ that everyone else deemed him. But for the moment, it didn't matter.

Because he was her Champion, and it was his duty to see to her, keep her safe. And his speed made it very easy to return to the very tent he'd left earlier, entirely forgetting the two he'd left behind. When he was at his destination, Hiei brushed the tent flap aside unceremoniously and stepped into the very dark room, eyes finding the cloaked figure farthest from the entrance to the tent.

He could still taste the last of her energy lingering in the room, telling him it had blanketed it enough to have been a very dangerous thing should anyone had entered.

He stared at her evenly, arms hanging loosely at his sides as he took in her appearance- or what little he could see of it for her cloak.

"_...she needs _you _to need _her_." _

"Do you plan on sitting in this tent forever?" he asked in a calm, even tone.

~!**!`

Akari nodded once, but sighed at Kurama. "If you know of another way to Spirit World that doesn't require Botan, I'm all ears." She paused, assessing him for a moment. "Though, it's hectic, just from what _I _saw and heard."

She glanced at Nabu, who was still curiously looking at her. "_Is this your… boss?"_

She nodded at the dog before turning back to Kurama. "I was trying to get Botan specifically, but she's busy…" _*****_

"We _are_ in Human World." Kurama started, "There are portals from here to both Demon and Spirit World, though I think it would be a matter of finding them, which is our current problem anyway."

Kurama leaned his head back against the wall.

"Something is bothering me though. The fake Youko needed me sealed away. But why now? Is he going to show himself finally? Is that what the attack on Spirit World is about?" It didn't feel right, but it was the closest thing Kurama could come up with. He shifted in place, agitated that he could not place his metaphorical finger on what didn't sit correctly with him about the current situation.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku could feel her entire body tense when it was Hiei's voice and not Uryo's that she heard from the front of the tent.

"Until I am needed." She replied softly without thinking, feeling the dryness of her throat as she tucked her hands into the sleeves of the cloak and ran her fingers along skin that no longer felt enticing.

She found a scar on her left arm that had disappeared sometime before then, the scar from when she fell into the pit near Central Tribe. The imperfection was back now, her fingers tracing the rough patch, and she didn't understand why. 3

Hiei didn't react to her words at first, finding that now he understood the deeper meaning of such a thing to say. Before now, he'd always thought that a creature of desire never felt the need to be… well desired. To him, it didn't really make sense, but that part didn't matter.

"Until you are _needed_?" he repeated, tone almost incredulous. He wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't good at… touchy-feely things. Not in the least. "Perhaps you should try that again."

~!**!~

Akari frowned. Finding one of those portals could take… hours. Days, if one was not within this particular city or the next. Surely Koenma would be able to act quicker than the time it would take for Akari and Kurama to _hunt down a portal themselves. _

Especially with Kurama in as much pain as he was.

When he spoke up again, her frown deepened, leaving her watching the redhead thoughtfully even as his words died away.

_He's right. _

There had to be a reason for Youko to be locked away, and locking him away for the sole purpose of attacking _Spirit World_, who _knew _where the real Youko was at all times anyway, did not seem… _intelligent_. It didn't seem..

Like Foko.

"He's been using that skin for business deals." she suddenly said, blinking once at herself as the words simply fell from her lips. She pursed those lips together, trying to remember what had caused them to say those words.

_Right. _

She suddenly remembered slamming into a tree. A sigh escaped her. "Business deals and keeping his power over other demons, right? So maybe it's a deal he's trying to distract us from." _*****_

Kurama looked at Akari suddenly.

_It fit._

Youko would not use this moment to attack Spirit World. What good would it do him to be so open about it? Subtlety. Manipulation. These were his strongest weapons.

That meant something else was going on instead.

"So...I am in Human World. Unable to be Youko." Kurama began slowly. "Spirit World is attacked. It's a distraction."

_That _felt right.

"But a distraction from..." _From what?_ "...to keep Spirit World's eyes off of Human World. Youko would use the distraction to-" Kurama took a shot in the dark, "Bring more demons into Human World right under Spirit World's notice." Kurama blinked at Akari, the gravity of how sure he felt about that statement settling over him. "I think perhaps it is not Spirit World who needs help...but us."

~!**!~

_Try what again?_

Shikiyoku scratched absently at the scar.

She was simply waiting until...well since Uryo was likely not coming, until she was to dance.

She let out a defeated sigh, attempting to put it as many different ways as she could think of off the top of her head, "What do you wish me to say? I wait until I am called for, until I am necessary, desired." She choked, about to say 'wanted,' but unable to get the word past her lips.

She fell silent again. 3

Hiei crossed his arms over his chest lazily, still blocking the tent flap and not moving any closer to the woman who had done rather well in pushing him away earlier. He still felt reluctance, but he ignored it as best as he could.

"I do not _desire_ anything." he suddenly said, going back to what she'd asked him earlier. He paused, staring at her with a blank stare. "Material things have no value to me." He blinked once at her again. "What I _want _is _you _to do what you know you can do." he paused again, contemplating his words. "Leave the rest to me." Again, he paused.

Should he elaborate?

_What would I elaborate?_

~!**!~

Akari blinked. Did they just figure it out? Did they just _decode _the _unpredictable _enemy?

"Lots of it, I bet." she responded in a mumble. She sat silently for a moment, thinking. If they informed Spirit World, would Foko find out? Would that blow their chances?

"If they've threatened an attack, how long before they begin bringing demons? Are _we _a factor to _their _movements?"

She thought back to Foko, his actions when she was nearby.

_No. _

He'd act regardless. If something happened, he'd deal with it. He'd kill anyone in his way, or anyone who put a hitch in his plans. Even if they just made him _wait_. _*****_

"Why?" Kurama asked suddenly aloud. "Why will there be an influx of demons to Human World? What's the point?" He searched his mind for an answer. "Getting them here is just the first step. Throw Spirit World into chaos, make them think they're in danger. When the dust clears, do they know there are more demons here? Are they allowed to realize what the deception was for? And if so, does that make them feel safer, think that they're safe? And then they attack Spirit World? Or are they just wanting to get _here. _To the humans."

That last part felt off. Something else had to be going on. If it truly was a simple task to transport many demons to Human World, and the end goal was to overtake Human World, then surely they would have done so by now.

It was all about timing. _If _it was all about timing...then why _now_?

~!**!~

"You desire something." Shikiyoku replied in that same defeated tone-_otherwise I would not be here_. "Everyone desires something."

Did he desire to have a desire? Did they pact simply so they could become unpacted?

She had no answers anymore. Merely felt as if she had failed somewhere along the way. And if so, then she deserved the only ending she could foresee occurring that night.

"I will do as you say you want." She added softly, running her thumb over and over the scar. _Or I will at the least die doing so._

She would _not _cry in front of him, tears of joy for fulfilling what she believed he wanted or tears of sorrow for utterly failing him, she did not know...but he was making it very hard. 3

Hiei scowled, deciding he'd say just what Maneshi told him to say. Though the word _desire _was not a word he liked, he decided to use it anyway. After all, Maneshi said it was the only way, so..

"I desire _you. _Your presence." he grumbled, only loud enough that if a human were nearby, they would not have heard him. He continued to stare at her with an even gaze. "I desire for this mood of yours to pass."

He suddenly realized that, maybe, these words rang more truth for him than he'd thought.

~!**!~

Akari frowned. "That's too simple. Just overthrowing Human World…. it's too simple." She let her eyelids slide closed as she thought of each and every encounter with Foko, with Otento. "He wants as little casualties as possible, but he was dead set that Shikiyoku would be one." She thought harder, rubbing her temple with her hand.

Was it something that was obvious, and she was missing it? Or was it something completely absurd to her, something she'd never _dream of?_

Suddenly she was thinking as if she were talking to Sensui, planning elaborately. Keeping up with his seemingly overrated plans and-

"If they wait for the dust to clear, let Spirit World know of their distraction, then attacked… Why would they attack Spirit World? Not for possessions, they've got all they need. Would _every _demon go? If so, that means Shikiyoku would have been needed, or in the very least, another like her who could control such a large group…. Meaning it's something…"

_Something one wouldn't do of their own will. _*****

"So, say they attack Spirit World." Kurama allowed. "Do they really think they're going to over-power King Enma? Did they find themselves another demon like Shikiyoku who is meant to…" Kurama blinked, "Who is meant to take over? Or, would controlling Enma have killed Shikiyoku and done their job for them?" Kurama fell silent again.

~!**!~

In the darkness, Shikiyoku's head lifted, dull eyes finding Hiei's shadowed form across the tent.

For the first time in so many hours, the pact within her stirred and she blinked at him.

_What? _

"I-" She hesitated, confused at the sudden contradiction. "I do not understand." Her eyebrows furrowed together. 3

Hiei scowled at Shikiyoku now, eyes hardening at her slightly. "You're being rather slow." he responded, really not sure he could say it again. He just… he wasn't one for saying such things…. no matter how true he felt them to be.

He stayed quiet another moment before repeating himself. "I _desire your presence."_

~!**!~

Akari rubbed at her temple again. He was asking questions she wasn't sure about. But, if she had a guess… "Foko." It was a one-worded answer, in regards to who would take over. Because, quite frankly, she couldn't see it going any other way. "Otento will go out of control, likely be killed by Foko anyway. Shikiyoku was meant to die by Enma… Why? Why target Spirit World? What's causing their uprising?"

She suddenly sat back, eyes sliding open.

"_If fake Flowers doesn't want casualties, why were you and Stripes attacked that day?"_

Akari sighed. "Demons, Nabu, attack for no reason sometimes. They're mad, they hate this world, and their bloodlust is…" she frowned. "let's just say that you know the nicer demons."

"_Are there a lot of mean demons?"_

"Nabu, now really isn't the time for 20 questions."

The dog huffed and Akari turned to Kurama. "_Why _would they want to take over? _Why_ now, and _why _Spirit World, instead of Human World or Demon World?" _*****_

"There's something Spirit World has that the other two doesn't." Kurama found that his reply came simply, though he hadn't considered it before. He shrugged, "I have no idea what that would be. If it were truly Youko, I would have to say the end result would most certainly _have _to be something shiny, but I'm almost positive our fake Youko has other reasons in mind."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku was taken aback by Hiei's repetition.

She had not misheard him the first time, and once more that same soft pulse reverberated in her soul from the pact, her skin tingling.

"But-" She attempted to rationalize away the obvious with the lies that had been whispering in her head since the day they had first met, "But you _hate _me." The word seemed foreign coming out of her mouth. "Wish to be _rid _of me." Her responses sounded confused, "You don't want me."

This time when Shikiyoku scratched at the scar, it was because her skin had started itching, the pact humming at her in direct contradiction to everything she was saying. 3

Hiei raised a brow, scowl still in place. Her words were odd, and brought back something Kafu had said to him the night they'd been in the Niiro Kaga. His sneer disappeared, his expression turning… soft almost. At least, for him, this neutral expression could be seen as soft for his normal mask.

"I would have killed you myself by now if that were the case." he retorted calmly, shifting his weight enough that his cloak shifted, revealing briefly his sheath in a show of emphasis.

~!**!~

This time, Akari had no thoughts on the matter. She'd shared just about as much as she knew of Foko. And, as it turns out, it was much more than she'd realized. But the information they had gathered for the time being was… enough. Enough to catch up even if just a little.

She sighed, and then smiled at Kurama. A very small smile. "Well, at least we've figured out more." She sat back, resting her palms flat against the wood floor. "If there's going to be more demons, then we're going to need more help." She took a deep breath.

_Well, at least my research into the other's whereabouts will be put to good use. __*****_

"I think I may know of a few we could rally to our cause." Kurama mirrored Akari's smile with one of his own.

For the moment, perhaps they had a chance. At least of being able to _say _they had attempted to put up a front line defense.

~!**!~

A sudden thought, seemingly out of nowhere, stuck Shikiyoku.

_He had no mother._

Where Shikiyoku craved words, craved touch, needed to be told and showed how use_ful_ she was, here stood a demon who seemed capable of doing _none _of those things in the manner she had been raised up with-even outside The Palace as she was-in the manner each of her previous Champions had discovered quickly to their advantage. He did not understand them. Had not been taught them.

Several pieces started to fall into place in Shikiyoku's head all at once. Little things she had realized along the way, but had never gathered together until that moment.

He did not wish for ultimate power, or ultimate riches. For him, it was much simpler than that.

Perhaps he only needed...her.

She blinked at him.

Perhaps just as desperately as she needed him.

The muscles at her neck that had tightened upon Hiei entering the tent suddenly dropped, releasing her shoulders.

"You..." Shikiyoku picked her words carefully, looking back into his face, "You only wish for my presence? For my...companionship? There is nothing else you would ask me to do for you?" The question was important, a genie offering three wishes, more than that, countless desires fulfilled, unconstrained by any liabilities. All of it...for him.

_What do you desire? _3

Hiei was suddenly sneering, completely and utterly amused at her question. He hadn't realized before now that she was simply desperate to fulfill her _Champion's _desires. He released a sound similar to a single dry chuckle. And when his eyes found hers, they were filled with amusement.

"You'll be the first to know should anything else arise." He scratched idly at his face. "For now, your presence is enough."

~!**!~

Akari smiled and nodded at Kurama, "But, alerting Koenma may not be the best idea. Foko's got sources." She shifted until she was standing. And then she remembered Kurama couldn't really move, and promptly sat back down. Finding people could wait for just a bit longer, until Botan or someone with those abilities cou-

_Yukina could heal, right?_

She remembered seeing the female once, when Sensui had briefly taken interest in her. He'd considered an attack, considered picking the team off one by one before he'd decided he enjoyed the chase more than the actual kill.

Or, even better… _Kamiya._

Two birds with one stone, no? She smiled and turned her eyes around and around the room. Shadows responded to her gaze, some stilling, some moving, others moving towards her. In a second's notice, a shadow had moved to her side, only large enough to fit in her palm, and her eyes were locked on it. It moved, changing from a dark blob into a shape similar to a small creature, a mouse with red eyes that chittered once.

And then it was gone and Akari was sitting back again, eyes closed with an expression of calm patience, serenity. _*****_

Kurama nodded in agreement with Akari, becoming lost in thought.

What in the three worlds lie with the Spirits that neither the Demons nor Humans had?

He could think of several things off-hand, but none demanding the level of deception that the fake Youko was employing.

If only he could speak to Koenma in private, pause and pick the Prince's brain. Even Botan might know of something that Kurama would not have been privy to, being only an avatar.

"Akari, what do you wish for more than anything else in the three worlds?" Kurama asked thoughtfully.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku smiled at Hiei from underneath the hood of her cloak, her eyes just starting to glitter again.

"You are...a strange demon." She informed him with amusement. "Has anyone ever told you that?" 3

Hiei sneered even more at Shikiyoku. "Not directly." He went quiet again, watching her carefully. He'd never considered something as simple as _companionship _before. He'd relied on it as a child, with the bandits, but after that, he couldn't have cared less one way or the other. He'd always just done as he pleased.

Now things were different. She depended on him, and in a strange way, Hiei found he'd come to depend on her as well. Her company since arriving in Demon World had become something he was accustomed to, enjoyed even.

As Maneshi said, she reflected his power. But, what did _he _reflect about _her_, because there was no way it was a one-way mirror.

"Now, do what you're capable." he repeated for the umpteenth time this evening. "And leave the rest to me."

~!**!~

Akari was waiting in silence, tracking her own energy through town with closed eyes when Kurama spoke up with a question she found rather random. Random enough to bring her eyelids open and gaze on the redhead.

_Something I want… out of all three worlds? More than anything? _

She didn't know.

"Can I put that aside for a later date?" she inquired, indirectly saying she had no idea.

_How'd that happen? _Before now, had she been asked that question, her answer would have been quick, she wouldn't have hesitated. Before now, she would have wished for her memory to be erased, her skin be clear and her past be nothing more than a dream. Maybe even return home in Demon World, despite the trifles she'd dealt with there. Those troubles had seemed nothing compared to what she'd experienced here.

"What do _you _want?" she reversed to him, curious. _*****_

"Safety." He replied readily. "For my mother and her husband-to-be. But how many demons do you know that would only ask for such a thing?" In truth, Kurama did not have an answer to that question because when he thought about it, there were not many demons with which he had ever sat down and discussed it.

None that weren't trying to kill him in the first place.

~!**!~

"As you wish, my Champion." Shikiyoku's smile stayed in place as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Would you send Uryo in for me? He's been waiting outside the tent for you to leave." 3

Hiei blinked once calmly at Shikiyoku, expression turning neutral again after a moment. He felt… calmer than he had in weeks. Perhaps he reflected her moods, to some degree. The thought made him scoff as he turned to leave.

"Foolish woman."

He swept the tent flap aside and stepped into the darkness of the night, looking about until he spotted Uryo, "Your turn."

~!**!~

Akari watched Kurama calmly as he spoke, finding his answer odd, but at the same time… suitable. He had something to protect, someone to look after. She had Nabu. A dog who could handle himself should it come down to it, because he knew this city like the back of his paw and was smart enough to find the easiest ways to lose a pursuer.

Unless they had a net.

She suddenly laughed once without meaning to, and automatically covered her mouth with a hand and waving the other one in the air in front of her face. "I'm not laughing at you, I promise."

She took a deep breath. "It's good, having something to protect, someone to look after." The mental image of Kurama hanging from a tree bombarded her mind and it took almost all of her effort not to flinch physically. "Having something to fight for makes one very dangerous." _*****_

"That is why a soldier is almost always fiercer than a warrior. One is called upon to protect, while the other only destroys." Kurama sighed, "I asked because I wonder what would drive demons to act in this way, if not to simply rule. Are you and I too few in number? Is most of our kind truly bloodthirsty with desire for little else?"

~!**!~

"They have just started the celebration." Uryo commented as he passed Hiei to reach for the tent flaps. He grinned. "Find us a good place where we can sit and watch."

"Hiei," Shikiyoku's voice called from within the darkness of the Elder's tent, "It will ease my mind to know you are nearby tonight. You are most assuredly needed." As if the pact within her had not confirmed that little fact with its trills. "And wanted."

The pact thrilled once more within her, finding truth in these words were there was not in fact truth in their opposites before.

Uryo raised an eyebrow at the other fire demon, but kept moving into the tent. 3

Hiei paused and turned back to the tent flap for a moment, expression neutral at Shikiyoku's callings. His eyes turned to Uryo as he entered the tent, giving a short nod to the male before he turned and continued on his way. He moved through the night, moving towards the fire he could see and even _feel _dancing nearby, hands in his cloak pockets.

As he passed demons, he nodded a greeting when addressed.

~!**!~

Akari stayed quiet for a moment, thinking back to the days she could remember of her own home. Those memories were clouded, almost entirely forgotten and rather difficult to call forth. It was almost painful to pull them forward, to focus on the unity that had been present there, in the pack of dog demons that had depended upon one another for… everything.

She'd been the daughter of the Alpha, who hadn't really had time to play games. Her mother had been kind, until she'd come of age for..

Didn't matter.

"I don't know much about the rest of Demon World, but my own family, my own home had been filled with serenity. Interdependence. Losing one person meant the whole pack falling apart, scrambling to fill that person's duties. Similar tribes around us lived like that, never bothering us." She took a deep breath. "The fourth level, from what I remember of it, was a simple place. While there were territorial fights, there was also peace, the ability to trade amongst each other should we need it. I often ran those errands."

A small smile formed on her face and she refocused on the present, looking at Kurama. "We all had a duty to fulfill, and someone to return to. I don't think we're few in number, just… quiet. And if we speak up, it's because we've been wronged." Another pause. "I've been on both sides." _*****_

Kurama made a thoughtful noise.

"So...what cause do you think would drive you, would drive your entire clan, to fight for? What could they desire beyond their territory that would make life better for them?"

~!**!~

The Northern Tribe's encampment no longer simply buzzed with excitement, it practically erupted with it.

The merriment that had come with Shubou's tribe celebrating was magnified tenfold, and the area in front of the Elder's tent was very much packed with people. Food and drink were being passed along without discretion, musicians were playing instruments, dancers were stepping about next to the bonfire which had been placed not far from the Elder's tent itself, most of the demons spread farther West into the clearing Uryo had a hand in making for them earlier.

The area Hiei had burned was free of ash and now full to the brim with tents, even what extra space he made being used completely.

The demons spread about the clear area meant for dancing were in varying states of reclining, some sitting on logs, others on the grass, there were groups standing about in pockets of laughter and discussion.

Directly across from the bonfire, and the Elders' tent, with a span of many hundreds of yards between the two, sat the white-haired female demon who had first welcomed Shikiyoku into their encampment, obviously an epicenter of activity with the other Elders sitting on the ground around her, smiles on their faces as they talked together and with other demons who approached. 3

Hiei looked around at the craziness of the area, taking in the sheer numbers of demons here and realizing why Shikiyoku had been so nervous. However, he still had confidence. If she couldn't do it alone, then he would add his own energy to hers. Should that become a problem, then he'd figure it out. That was his job, after all. Watch over her, and if problems arise, handle it.

He moved through the crowds with expert steps, eyes roving over each face he passed momentarily before turning to the bonfire again, sights set on it. She needed him nearby, and quite frankly, he wouldn't have it any other way.

So he moved as close to the fire as he could get, though it wasn't very hard since demons parted to let _the Champion _through.

~!**!~

Akari stared at Kurama as she thought, realizing he was quizzing her, testing her answer to see if it held any semblance to their current situation. And, really, she didn't see any difference between the reactions. What, however, would cause an uprising, a riot?

She thought, staring unblinkingly at him. "Personally, I… I'm not sure. I haven't been home in a few decades. I hardly remember what I shared." Her eyes slid closed again as she thought back. Had they ever actually fought before, that she knew of? "For a group at peace… it would take a lot of wrongdoing. A lot of…" she made a noise of consternation. "Betrayal." _*****_

"It's no secret that many demons are unhappy with Spirit World." Kurama began, "How, or even what, could make them feel betrayed to the point of an outright attack? And what would be the end goal of such a maneuver?"

~!**!~

"Have you eaten yet, Champion?" A voice called over the hub-bub, approaching through the crowds from Hiei's left.

Douji threaded his way through the bodies with a plate in each hand and a portion of food hanging out of his mouth. On one plate was balanced a drink, and on either shoulder sat a lur'mog. The one much bigger than the other chirred a greeting at the fire demon barely heard over the noise of the celebration, and then appeared on Hiei's shoulder, leaning against his neck affectionately. 3

Hiei paused mid step at the voice that stood out, obviously calling to him though Hiei hadn't at first registered the question. He easily spotted Douji coming towards him in the crowd, seeing the plates in his hand and easily figuring the question that had been presented.

"No," he answered plainly, eyes turning away from Douji and to the lur'mog that landed on his shoulder. He moved a hand and prodded at the creature with his index finger in greeting.

~!**!~

"After being pushed for a while, people tend to act when they've had enough. Meaning whatever it is, it's been going on for a while, because it isn't big enough to have reached the state where word passes _between _worlds too. Such as the wars." She thought for a moment, thinking back again.

The only thing she could think of is how her own family would react to her disappearance. That was something she hadn't thought of in a long time, but it had nothing to do with Spirit World. Her own circumstances had been stemmed from, quite simply, _wrong place at the wrong time_.

"Kurama, do you believe _everyone _has something to fight for?" she suddenly asked, something popping to mind. "Everyone, even those driven mad?" _*****_

Kurama considered Akari's first comment. It was little to say that Spirit World's 'oppression' had been going on 'for a while.' Since the beginning of time as far as he knew. Were the demons just now beginning to become fed up with it? Or had this plan been in the works for centuries?

Kurama's eyes pulled back to the present to regard Akari as she spoke.

"I think if someone is fighting, then they certainly have a reason for doing so, however convoluted their reason might be. Otherwise...why would they be fighting?"

~!**!~

"You are welcome to some of mine, then." Douji replied pleasantly, balancing the plates on one arm as he reached for the drink. "Though there will be plenty passed around."

"Don't mind if I do!" An equally good-natured voice called from behind the young demon, reaching over and plucking a handful of meat from the piled plate. "Though, I might advise we move a little to the left." Uryo stuffed his mouth, speaking around it and making a path for himself in the direction he spoke. 3

Hiei blinked once and Uryo was there, stuffing food in his mouth and then moving away. Hiei made to follow, grabbing meat from Douji's plate as he passed and putting it in his mouth, using his finger to very delicately tear off a small piece from the end and offer it to the lur'mog on his shoulder.

As he walked a bit further after Uryo, he plucked a drink from a demon's hand who had smiled and offered it to him, nodding and holding up his own as the fire demon continued on. "I'd forgotten what gatherings like this were like." he grumbled more to himself than anyone in particular.

~!**!~

"Then tell me something," she said slowly, eyes moving to the ground as she hesitated. "What does Yusuke, Kuwabara… What do you guys fight for? I understand the demons that attack humans, but what about those that are just mingling?" She looked up again.

"For instance," she began, tone small and voice quiet, "say _I _hadn't ended up where I am now. Say, somehow, I ended up in the Human World. I've been here a while, but haven't come to light until my energy was spotted by Koenma, who promptly orders my elimination because… I'm a demon in a world where I do not belong. No evidence of killing another, yet… I'm on the hit list." She met his gaze squarely. "It isn't something found often. But, if you saw no evidence of wrongdoing, would you still carry out your mission? Without pause?" _*****_

"You know, I've often wondered why I was spared myself. Koenma knows the greatest thief of Demon World resides within me. And what about Hiei? Why were we simply not done away with?" Kurama shook his head, "No one came after me when I was a child in Human World. Not until I made myself known and stole the mirror. I do not think anything differently would have happened with you. It would not have mattered if Koenma picked your energy signature on a radar unless you started to terrorize innocent humans, which is where our job comes in. You would have never been on a hit list in the first place unless you deserved to be there. And even then...I was spared. As was Hiei. Who is to say the same would not have happened for you? Who is to say that it didn't?" His eyes gleamed with humor.

~!**!~

"Would you prefer a _ballroom_, Champion?" Uryo threw the question over his shoulder at Hiei, tossing him a wicked grin as well. Uryo's eyes glowed in the light of the fire as he turned and stopped moving, halfway between where the Elders were seated and where the fire burned merrily to their right. "I think the atmosphere here is much more welcoming than that stuffy old building." 3

Hiei scowled at Uryo. "Never again." he responded almost immediately. Though, really, he hadn't minded it, other than the fact that he had been _forced _into it. Tossed into it at the last moment and practically learning as he went.

And he had to agree, the ballroom had been very stuffy, and this open air was much, _much _better. And the outfit back then-

He didn't want to think about it.

~!**!~

Akari took in a long breath and let it out through her nostrils. "Okay, fine. Here's this instead." She paused, blinking once as she gathered herself. "You're just gotten word of a demon in the area. There are rumors that they've been… antagonistic. Use your imagination there. But you have no proof. Still, you're ordered to attack. Would Yusuke pause, or simply deal with it? Would you pause, or simply deal with it?"

She didn't give him time to answer.

"You've dealt with it. The demon's dead and now there's ten more of them. They're angry, because someone who was close to them has been taken away from them. They're a small tribe who had been searching for sanctitude. None of them have traces of human blood in their system. You've just killed an innocent _demon. _There's a first for everything, right? Would you fight those who attacked you, or would you flee?"

Again, no time to answer. "Of course, it's all hypothetical." She sat back, rolled her shoulders as if the subject were nothing to her. "Another thing. Why would a demon simply come to Human World only to _kill? _If they're not fighting _for _something, then why are they _fighting?" _Her eyes slid closed as she thought of the Aswang she and Yusuke had killed. She'd killed a child, gutted the poor boy. But, _why? _"What causes one to attack a child?"

She laughed, suddenly remembering her own 'attack' on a child. "What would bring a demon to _gut _and _eat the heart _of a human child?" _*****_

"For an attack to be ordered, to come to us by Koenma himself, then whoever we were to attack had most assuredly done something for Koenma to make such a call." Kurama shrugged, "He has never had us attack anyone who did not deserve it. And from what I can tell, the only ones to get through to Human World are the ones who have some vendetta or another against humans, and are thus those who attack and deserve to be punished for their crimes. Low-level demons are driven by hunger. Higher ones could perhaps be jealous of their state of living when compared to the humans. So, either the demon was hungry and ate the child, or the demon saw the child had something it wanted and so it took the child's life in retaliation."

~!**!~

Uryo gave Hiei another grin at the other fire apparition's answer.

A gasp went up from the dancers nearest to the bonfire, and the heads of other demons began whipping in the direction of the sound outwards from that point, unsure if such a gasp was meant for an injury or something more pleasing.

The music began to change, to fade away only into a few sounds reminiscent of the human's Feudal Era. As if to accentuate this, the dancers all began to back up as a portion of the giant bonfire had taken a humanoid form that slowly started moving forward, a flaming figure holding fiery fans taking a more definite shape.

The form's movements were precise, recalling ancient times when fan dancers had been well-known to the tribes, and so stilling the dancers who watched, transporting them back centuries.

Each wrists' flick was executed with pinpoint accuracy, and each time tongues of fire were released from the flaming fans themselves, swirling up into the air.

Finally free of the bonfire, this dancing portion of the blaze continued to step forward, parting the other dancers as the fans snap out very precisely from the main body each time a foot touched the grass, though the foot left no print behind, did not so much as singe the ground.

A smile was playing at Uryo's lips.

"So, she _can _dance."

Douji's eyes were wide, hand halfway to his mouth with food when he had caught sight of the blazing figure, and he nodded absently without looking away. 3

Hiei's own eyes shifted when the music changed, turning to the bonfire in time to see the emerging figure. He was immediately captured, eyes glued to the person coming into view, the movements fluid and very easy to follow. He didn't say anything to Uryo or Douji, who hadn't seen her dance at the other tribe.

Which was… different than this one was. He felt himself more entranced by it, focused and almost entirely unable to look away. Even if he wanted to.

~!**!~

Akari frowned, still unhappy with Kurama's logic. She'd been trying to have him _ignore _the norm. She gave a sigh and gave up on that, instead frowning with the question that arose. "Has it always been that way, though? Were the younger and/or lower level demons acted out of hunger, out of primal instincts? Anger… it's a basic thing…" She frowned. She herself remembered being temperamental, but… not irrationally so. At least, not to the point of letting her hunger and anger control her. And she'd never met a demon like that until she'd been… _here_… in Human World.

She'd heard stories of demons going insane and simply _falling _into that state after a trauma, but to be that way naturally, she'd never heard of. _*****_

"I have perused some of Koenma's files in his office. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a moment of 'oops.'" Kurama's face turned grim. "The only moment of such that Koenma ever had documented was in sending Sensui after the portal the Black Black Club was using. In those days, Sensui had been sent to close many such places, and the Prince thought this would be another routine closing. He never would have dreamed _humans _would be using it to acquire _demons_ when every other instances had been just the opposite. And when no such thing has been recorded by Koenma before or since, I have nothing else to draw conclusions from. Though...I'm sure such atrocities have and will continue to happen." The last part was accompanied by Kurama laying his head back against the wall, his face darkened by the thoughts and shallow from his pain.

~!**!~

The dancers had since sat down to watch, leaving the figure easily viewed by anyone who looked from the celebration around it.

As a roll of a chord rose higher, the flames began to thin, and the watchers could see that the figure was cloaked in something similar enough to a kimono-were it not for the hood-the fans nothing more than the long sleeves that now obviously hung towards the ground.

The flames seemed to leave a pattern as the dancer kept moving, a fiery trail along the fabric which swirled with the color of the fire and left the eyes wondering at whether its true dye was red, or maybe orange, or perhaps yellow.

With the fans gone, swirls of yellow energy began to form within the heat of the flames and it was with this that the figure began to weave shapes on the air, around the article of clothing and even with the fire itself.

The music appeared to be just as integral to the spell, both dancer and musicians reacting to one another as if they were the same being.

And as a low rumbling from the drums started to grow-or had they been there the whole time?-the flames at the bottom of the cloak actually began burning away the fabric, licking upwards and rendering the entire clearing dead silent as if everyone present suddenly realized the cloak had been holding something back, and the fire was removing the buffer between them and the dancer beneath.

When the music exploded back into the earthy sounds before, so to did the fire suddenly erupt upwards, taking the outer clothing with it and revealing a form dressed as one of the Northern Tribeswomen-Shikiyoku herself in their garb-that paused only a moment in a pose, laughter in her eyes which gleamed as yellow as the golden glow that enveloped her entire body. It made her appear as if she were still on fire as the energy twirled about her luminescent skin, which expanded outwards into tendrils of power and began to weave about her as she continued to dance.

The other dancers leapt to their feet with so many shouts and whoops to join her as the crowd roared and cheered in excitement with them. The dancers began weaves patterns around her, occasionally hiding her from view occasionally with their own patterns, but they were unable to completely block the yellow glow that emanated from the middle of their midst.

As with the Central Tribe, after a few minutes of dancing, intermittently being watched by the rest of the demons there that night, the innumerous threads of Shikiyoku's energy started to move to loop around those closest to her as she kept the others swirling about herself.

As before, each demon would receive a single loop, which would pull them back to the ground to watch her in awe, though each face would be left with a sadness they did not understand when the tendril of power would move on.

Soon, Shikiyoku was the lone dancer once more, weaving patterns into the air as she easily stepped about those sitting around her.

When the ribbons of her energy had finished looping the dancers, they started moving for those in the circle, and a pulse of power resounded from her into the air like a brief bubble, which appeared to cause more of the threads she danced with to snake forward to join the ones from the dancers and begin to give a single loop to those in the front of the crowd.

Another soft pulse of power. More tendrils. Already a hundred times a hundred more than she had to send out into the Central Tribe.

Shikiyoku could feel the sweat glistening on her body as she felt both her push and the demons' pull of her power that allowed her to make a wreath around each one. With most of them, it would quiet their desires and leave her free to move to the next, but with others, the loop acted as a rod that flung their deepest wishes into her mind where they all started to roll together inside her head.

And with so many, she felt herself beginning to be lost underneath their tide, pulled in every direction, in as many directions as her power now stretched.

And then there came the first one who received more than a single loop, which she felt keenly as the ribbon stiffened and started to snake its way back towards her body. But almost immediately another tendril found a second. And then there was a third.

Instead of instilling in her mind the strength to continue the ritual and find these demons afterwards, it only distracted her-_a fourth, a fifth, how many could there be_-and left her wondering if there would be enough length within the bits of her energy still wandering through the air.

...there were still so many left to go. 3

Hiei himself was utterly entranced, staring much the same as the rest of the demons in the area. His eyes never left the woman moving about.

Her energy colored the area a bright yellow that reminded him of the Human World's sun, and the rays it threw down to the earth. To him, it was warm and inviting, just as those sun rays were. But at the same time, he was separated from it, able to ignore her energy if he so desired and simply watch the source of such power.

And while he was indeed entranced, he was also able to think clearly, assess her state and read her expression. After a few minutes, he could see the sweat glistening in the glow of her energy and the fire, and while her eyes were closed, he could sense the tension behind the lids, see the tension between her brows as she obviously struggled.

Maybe not too much, but this early on…

He glanced about, noticing the stretch of her energy still had quite a ways to go.

When his eyes turned back to the dancing woman, they were glowing slightly, colored their normal hue, but… brighter, as if fire were alight within his irises.

And his own energy slowly, discreetly, began to seep from his body and move through the crowd, unseen, unnoticed, and towards her. It stretched enough to allow it to just brush her skin, inviting and warm should she have need of it soon, but not demanding. Calm, warm and only meant for reassurance. For now.

Should she need it, he would allow her use of it…

However she did it.

~!**!~

There was a small moment of silence as Kurama rested his head back and Akari simply watched him. Surely it wouldn't be too long now… Her eyes stared unblinkingly at Kurama, but not seeing him for the time being as she recalled the files she'd read about her former team mates. Each of them had changed from their days with Sensui, almost as if the male had… as if Sensui had controlled their thoughts altogether. Though, it had taken longer for Akari herself to change.

Probably because her own association with the man had been of her own choice. She hadn't needed to see the Chapter Black tape to be on board. She'd been happy to do whatever he wanted her to do, because… her life had belonged to him. He'd, in her eyes, saved her life.

Though, he hadn't meant to, she knew. Had he seen her on the floor that day, he'd likely have killed her as well. Instead, Itsuki had found her, helped her just enough to give her the freedom to move away from that place and do as she desired. She'd _chosen _to hunt him down, and somehow, for some reason she didn't understand even still, he had taken her in. Taught her the ways of the Human World and…

Well, everything else. How to fight, which had been forbidden to her in her homeland. He'd taught her how to weed out the enemy, how to overpower them with sheer emotion, intimidation. And then how to kick them when they were down.

He'd taught her how to harness the energy her father hadn't agreed with. And then, when his plan blossomed, she stayed by his side- watched the tape and laughed at the bitterness. She'd given herself to him and done everything he'd wanted her to do- short of killing another, though she'd been ready to do so.

So when he'd tossed her at Yusuke, and then kicked her aside.. She'd been ready to die.

The others hadn't had a clue, and at the time, she hadn't cared. She'd let them fall into Sensui's plans. Hadn't warned them in the least. Yes, she'd regretted it. It had been part of the reason she'd welcomed death.

So when she'd awoken to Botan…

She'd been angry. She'd thought her own self pity and suffering was over, that she wouldn't have the chance to repeat that mistake. Instead, in her eyes, Koenma had robbed her of her only chance at peace.

Only now did she realize that he'd not _robbed _her, but _given _her a chance. And while the others had changed immediately after Sensui's disappearance, Akari herself had remained bitter. She'd had no regard for herself, even attempted to anger one of them enough to attack.

And then when he did, she'd been… confused.

A smile formed on her lips.

_What a team. _

And for the first time in her life, she'd put her life before another's. She'd been worried about someone other than herself. And she'd changed entirely in that moment, her fighting stance, her thinking…

When she'd seen Kurama strung up like-

_My thinking…. _She blinked. _I'd actually…. looked for his movements, tried to predict his attack. _She'd become, for an instant, an actual fighter, not someone just trying to _survive. _

_I need to figure out how I did that. _

Suddenly, her energy hummed within her in warning, and she was moving to stand. She stretched her arms over her head and moved towards the door, energy testing the presence that stood outside and finding it to be human.

_He's here. _

She paused at the door and glanced back at Kurama, a hand clasping around the doorknob. Still she gave no warning, and turned back to the door to reveal a man she hadn't seen in over half a year. A man who didn't look even remotely similar to the one she knew.

"You called?" He asked, lips twitching into a wry grin. "Back from the dead so soon?"

"I don't stay still for too long." she replied good-naturedly before sighing. "Glad you're well, Doctor."

"_Kamiya." _he enunciated. "As you are not the Ace, I am not the Doctor. Not the one you knew." _*****_

From the time his head found the wall behind him again, Kurama had grow lost, wandering within himself alone and dazed in a flurry of pain that did not appear to have lessened, and in a cloud of darkness that had yet to fade.

"_Youko…"_

~!**!~

For the first time since she had started, Shikiyoku could feel her brows attempting to draw together as she once more gave a _push_, and another pulse of energy bubbled out into the clearing, releasing another wave of her ribbons.

This time, she could feel the sweat roll down from her hairline at the back of her neck and her breath faltered as she forced her movements smooth and measured.

The tendrils left about her body looped sensuously about her as she continued to move through them, with them, even the ribbons that extended beyond her body still twisting lazily in the air.

_Another. Was that six now? _

Each time her energy stiffened and started to return to her, Shikiyoku could feel her legs wanting to give out.

_Sure. Central Tribe I don't find a single one of them. _

She almost grunted with effort as she continued to feed her spell with her energy, feeling like she was too little butter trying to spread over too much bread.

Just as she nearly faltered in her steps again, the brush of what felt like a finger made her open her eyes to confirm that she was the only one dancing still, but there was no mistaking the sudden warmth that hovered just at her cheek before she could feel that it had covered the portions of her skin that were revealed by the Northern Tribe's garb.

It was the same warmth she always felt when he invaded her mind with his, and she felt her muscles actually relax into its greeting, even when she had to send another pulse of energy outwards to release more tendrils, which were this time thinner than the ones before. She was reaching the end of her power, scraping now almost up against her life energy.

_Seven._

This time her eyes clenched back together as another tendril stiffened and began to return.

Uryo found that he could not look away from her, found that he was actually smiling at her in an expression he had not worn in a very long time.

He was certain that each pulse of her energy was sobering him, and yet he felt no need to hurry to dull his senses, felt no buzzing of his core that made him feel as if he might die if he did not move.

He did not notice the ribbon that snaked its way through the air to him, pausing a moment when it realized he was not a member of the tribe, pulsing once and becoming a deeper gold before looping twice about his left ankle and starting to head back to its mistress.

For Douji, he would come later to realize that he did not blink the entire time Shikiyoku danced, but when the yellow bit of energy wrapped up his arm two times, he found his eyes drawn to it, his core humming excitedly. He felt the urge to step forward, to get past those at the edge of the circle of dancers so that he could stand where she might see him, and where he might see her with no obstructions. 3

Hiei could _feel _her strain now, as his energy touched her, brushed her and offered her some comfort, some help. He could feel how her energy was stretched, and for a moment, he thought he could feel pain as if it were his own energy being spent, when he knew it was not.

He could see her eyes were squeezed shut with concentration, her face now covered with sweat that seemed to make the glow about her a bit more prominent. So he let his energy thicken around her, and he even stepped closer, so that maybe she would feel his presence and know that he was offering assistance, and all she had to do was accept.

His eyes were trained on her, his mind recalling what she'd said about her first Champion who had died during a union for something similar to this. How she'd said she'd nearly killed herself in the process as well. He took three steps closer, and when he noted her eyes did not open, did not turn to him, he gently pulsed his energy to her again.

"_Breathe." _

He didn't wish to interrupt her, distract her, but she was tense. Too tense, in his opinion.

On some level he knew her energy had wrapped around him in two loops just as it had at the Central Tribe, but her comfort superseded such a realization.

~!**!~

Akari nodded once to Kamiya, smile still in place for the moment's notice. "I have a few things I'd like to ask of you."

"For old time's sake?"

Akari gave a humorless laugh. "How about not. Neither of us are those people."

"I see that. And I also feel…" His eyes wandered from Akari and landed on Kurama across the room. He made a small sound of confirmation, then gave a sigh. He moved by her, already having guessed what it was that she was to ask of him. "He's had quite the number done on him. I'm surprised he's even alive." Akari didn't respond, only closing the door with a soft click and following the male who crouched in front of Kurama, who, for the most part, didn't appear aware of Kamiya's presence. "Nice to see you again," Kamiya spoke in a low voice, as if testing Kurama's awareness and willingness to let the once-crazy man near him. _*****_

"Kamiya." Kurama replied, his lips allowing themselves a small smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Kurama opened his eyes, unsurprised to see a face he did not recognize peering at him, but he _did _somehow see the same soul resided behind the dark eyes that peered back at him from the changed façade.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku smiled, eyes opening again, and as she made a turn, she scanned the edges of the much quieter crowd, seeing on her next turn the glimmering crimson gaze that pierced through the darkness to her.

She did as his suggested, steadying her lungs into a simple rhythm as much as the music around her wished for her to do the opposite.

When she felt his energy blooming around her, she hesitated in her own mind to reach out for it, remembering how to do so...or how it was supposed to go. But would the knowledge be enough?

She swallowed nervously, pushing her energy father and knowing that soon she might not have a choice. It would be either accept his help, or shorten her life span. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	58. Episode 142 - Companionship and Movement

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow Ningen!

To the next chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Kurama continued to speak about the closing of Spirit World,  
and what such a thing might mean in relation to the fake Youko and what moves he might be making.

Kurama makes the conjecture that the threat on Spirit World is only a distraction,  
and that the true move is the fake Youko bringing in more demons to Human World.

They think that perhaps after such an action, with Spirit World then thinking it is safe,  
the fake Youko and the others then invade Spirit World to maybe dethrone Enma.  
They think it is possible Shikiyoku was meant to make the job that much easier for them.

With such knowledge, they believe rallying the others in Human World is their best bet,  
to make some semblance of a stand when the invaders come, and to be ready when Koenma calls for them.

As they are sitting there, Akari sends out a message for Kamiya, intending to have the psychic heal Kurama.  
After a time, Kamiya arrives and approaches the nearly incapacitated redhead...

~!**!~

Brief, inexplicable contact with Maneshi leads to Hiei returning to Shikiyoku in the Elders' Tent  
and informing her that he desires nothing other than her presence.

Such a proclamation seems to dismiss her mood entirely, and when he leaves her to finish preparations  
he is met by Douji, who shares his food, and then Uryo,  
who tells them they ought to move closer to the bonfire for the best view.

While there are already dancers out in the cleared, circular space around which everyone is mingling,  
a kimono-cloaked and hooded figures steps out of the bonfire, seemingly on fire,  
and begins a fan-dance that eventually ends with the flames incinerating the kimono,  
revealing Shikiyoku dressed as one of the Northern Tribe.

She starts dancing the Odori Iro much as she did for the Central Tribe,  
but much as she had conjectured, there are too many for her and eventually  
the tendrils of her energy begin to thin out.  
Hiei responds to this by extending his own energy invisibly towards her,  
intending to both comfort and ease her stress as well as offer it up to her for use.  
It does such, but Shikiyoku hesitates even so to use it,  
soon realizing that it would be either accept his help or shorten her life span...

* * *

Hiei's eyes connected with the glowing orbs of Shikiyoku's gaze as she turned, and he felt his own muscles lose the small amount of tension he'd felt beforehand. And this time, when he blinked, he was watching the dance, taking in her fluid motions and how they seemed to relax, even if just a little more.

He turned to the bond momentarily, finding that it calmly thrummed at him, but seemed as if it were… waiting. And so too was he, because now he was certain she wouldn't be able to do this without his help. She did, however, do as he said and had done what she could, giving him enough time to prepare for her to invite his energy to join hers.

He was fully confident that she could do whatever it was she was hesitating to do. And if something happened, again, he was here and ready, energy already surrounding her. He wasn't worried, and neither should she be.

~!**!~

"It's a wonder you're even conscious," the man mused, stretching a single hand out to touch Kurama's shoulder with an index finger. Kamiya sat in silence for a moment, staring at his own finger, and Akari turned her eyes to Kurama with a lopsided smile of _sorry. _She was glad he didn't seem opposed to this person's presence, but somewhere, she still felt as if it were… wrong… to have his old enemy here and… well… assessing damage that had been done.

She wondered if Yusuke would be as good-natured about the alliance as Kurama seemed to be, as this was her own way of introducing her own form of help. The more the merrier, right?

Kamiya was suddenly sitting back, rocking to his heels and balancing himself with his elbows on his knees, eyes on Kurama's face now. "You've got nerve damage, but other than that, it's not too bad. This person knew what to avoid in order to make sure your death came by blood, not by the actual attack itself." He turned to Akari with an even gaze. "How eager are you to get out and about? Or are you going to use another mouse for them as well?"

"Mmm… It can wait just a bit longer."

The man nodded and turned to Kurama again, seeming to completely ignore Akari now. "I apologize for any extra pain or discomfort." With that, Akari felt her hair stand on end with Kamiya's energy, which he presented to Kurama in the palm of his hand to give warning before resting his palm on the other's shoulder. _*****_

While pain was certainly nothing new to the avatar, this particular pain swept through his body like wildfire and did have him closing his eyes in discomfort, jaw clenching together as he felt keenly aware, not of the energy itself of which he found he had no awareness whatsoever, but instead of the forcing of his body to rapidly regenerate, at a much faster pace than his human side would ever have been allowed normally.

As for his thoughts on Kamiya?

Mostly lost into the cloud of pain that swirled more heavily about in his head now, but who was he to deny help when he felt help was going to be very severely needed in the near future. And with no contact to Spirit World, they were likely on their own for this one.

~!**!~

There would be no 'easy does it' with this. It would either be all or nothing.

And even so, Shikiyoku felt no sense of worry within the red energy that surrounded her, no minute hesitation from the other party out in the crowd of demons.

Shikiyoku took a deep breath and her lips parted, beginning to softly murmur the words her first Champion's unsuccessful spell had required, one that would deepen her pool of energy and allow her to merge her power with the other, to take it on as her own.

For a moment, a single word shimmered excitedly up from the pact inside her head and blossomed into her mind as she began to draw strength from Hiei's steadiness nearby.

_Companion._

At the last of the spell leaving her lips, Shikiyoku found herself releasing a laugh that made her already brightened eyes shine with newly orange-appearing power.

_Something searched for so long being right under my nose._

Hiei's energy around her suddenly influxed into her body in a silent implosion, and then erupted outwards mixed with her own, the red and yellow intermingling so deeply that upon first glance the threads about her appeared orange, as a final pulse of energy pushed the last threads needed into the crowd and urged the others onward to loop the final demons the ritual required.

And in that same moment, the energy that licked about her skin also did the same with Hiei, leaving him-under no other demon's notice-also looking like a tongue of orange flame that swirled upwards into the sky. 3

Hiei felt it almost immediately, the change in his energy from being his own to being united with Shikiyoku's. Even before the explosion of flame-hued light, he felt the change in the air. It became charged, and even he himself felt as if he had more power than before.

And when the energy was billowing around them, his eyes were following it, each tendril moving like silk ribbons and wrapping around demons before moving to the next. He felt the pull of that energy and how it affected the other demons nearby, as if it were a calming factor in himself and the crowd both simultaneously.

And it had his eyes turning to Shikiyoku, shining the very color of the energy that moved through the crowd as if the energy _made _him. As if his entire being were filled to the brim with the united energy. It was a very… uplifting feeling. As if he were flying, running as fast as he could with no obstacles in his way and only the wind in his ears.

And her presence beside him.

It was all he needed, he was sure.

~!**!~

Kamiya worked silently, and Akari simply watched. Nabu was quick to scurry out of the way, moving to sit at Akari's feet and watch in much the same manner Akari was. She crouched down after a few minutes and patted the dog's head, who didn't take his eyes off of the working man and the pained redhead.

Kamiya, however, was concentrated, eyes following a trail of energy that only he could see, mind on each wound that he felt. Here and there his energy paused, centering on a wound that was worse than the others before moving on. He started at the shoulders, close to the heart to ensure nothing had been close enough to cause enough damage there to prove fatal later, should something go wrong.

And when he found the darkness within the redhead, Kamiya bypassed it, not recognizing it as a wound or anything he could help with. It was simply… there. And testing it with his energy didn't seem like the best choice here. So he moved on, healing cuts and gashes on almost every inch of the male's body.

And the closer to the stomach or chest the wounds were, the deeper the damage. In his back, there were nerves that were distraught, tense and pleading for release. Pleading for healing that, naturally, would not have come for several weeks.

Kamiya could feel it, the pain. It was only vestiges of it, nothing like what the redhead was feeling, but it was enough to have the man sitting back after all was said and done, sweat on his forehead and heartbeat erratic.

He hadn't healed someone like that in ages.

Or, maybe ever, now that he thought of it.

"My advice is to not move for a bit. My energy is still there, checking for any other lesions and anything… _extra_." He stared at Kurama, his breathing under control for the most part. "There will be soreness, as if you slept wrong, but other than that, you should be…. normal." Of course, the word wasn't right to him, as he felt the offness of this person, the dark energy within him alien compared to the energy he'd once felt from this one.

Energy that was now lacking. _*****_

When the psychic had finally pulled away, Kurama's eyes had come open, their green color no longer flecked with the torments of pain that Otento had bestowed upon him.

"I would protest," Kurama began, "And say that we should get moving as soon as possible, but I'm afraid I don't even know to _where _we are to get moving."

He did, however, begin to slowly flex the muscles throughout his body to test their strength, finding that they felt strange to him, different without the power of Youko's core flowing through him. Weaker.

He supposed he should just be thankful he hadn't lost his mind.

~!**!~

The music stopped in a last triumphant chord, but Shikiyoku had finished weaving her, no, _their_ ritual the moment before and while the final notes still rang on the air-just before the mass of demons began cheering and exclaiming their appreciation-Shikiyoku was already moving, her eyes bright, the orange energy only barely letting their true emerald color shine through, and locked on her Champion where he stood, beyond the edge of the crowd and nestled back behind those in the very front.

Her energy began to unweave from around those caught in its loops as soon as she started to move to step around the demons cheering at her from the grass, snaking its way back into her body. As it did so, the demons in the giant crowd who had received two swirls about them began to be drawn towards her, pulled with the energy, all of which had been colored orange with their combined power.

When she reached the edge of those gathered about the ground that had been cleared for the dancing, the cheering still continued, eyes on her, but the demons parted to either side to give her a clear path, one that led her straight up to her Champion.

The demons being drawn to her were converging on her position, and one or two of them were close enough to call her name, one even reaching out to touch her arm as she passed, but she ignored each and every one of them, having only eyes for her Champion.

When she stopped in front of Hiei, less than a foot from his face-aware offhand that both Douji _and _Uryo were very close by-she found that no longer was she eye-to-eye with him as they had been when they first landed in the Ninth Level-a time what seemed like ages ago-but that she actually had to raise her chin several inches to gaze up into his crimson irises. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered when he had grown and how she had not noticed until that moment.

"Prince of Fire." Shikiyoku began, her voice clear and full of restrained happiness as she kept her gaze steadily looking into Hiei's face, knowing that only the two of them could see how their energy still mingled together, licking upwards off their skin.

Those around her got a little quieter, sensing the sort of pronouncement, proclamation even, that their Iro was about to make.

Suddenly, Shikiyoku dropped to one knee in a bow before him, throwing the sensibilities of those watching into shock and surprise and wonderment at her as she knelt, resting one arm across her thigh, and tilted her head down in deference to Hiei.

"Would you allow me the great honor of being in your presence this evening?" Her head remained lowered and she did not otherwise move, her question also floating between them on another level that they shared.

_Partner. Confidant. Strength._

_Companion. _

All she was asking was to be close by his side for that night.

The other demons who had been drawn to her waited with bated breath, her energy still enrapturing them in paired loops even as the rest of her power continued drawing away from the other demons gathered that evening.. Even Uryo, standing next to Hiei with his own wreaths of her power about his left ankle, looked between them and waited patiently for the answer. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku with an unblinking gaze as she approached him, moving in a straight line in his direction specifically, gaze meeting his still. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but he felt no need to back away. In fact, he was almost positive that the bond was trying to coax him forward, to meet her halfway. But before he could even move, she was in front of him.

And then she was kneeling, and he was looking down at her with a raised brow of curiosity and confusion coloring his irises, shining with the orange glow that still overlapped his normal ruby color.

And with her question, he was almost… confused. Wasn't that how this worked?

But in his soul, he _felt _the question as if it were her own spirit touching his. Before now, she'd been in his presence because it had been almost required. But now, she was not only _asking_ for his _presence_, but for him _specifically_. Perhaps that meant no others, he didn't know.

But it made him recall what Shubou had told him.

Without a beat's hesitation, Hiei reached down and took Shikiyoku by the arm, gently pulling her from the ground to stand.

"You need only ask." he responded calmly, and when she was on her feet, he was shifting his weight, turning so that his side was close to her, and he presented an arm to her much like she had made him do at the palace.

Despite the rather… odd gesture… his expression was one of sneering amusement. "Better than a ballroom."

~!**!~

Akari looked to Kurama, noting the absolute change in his sitting position even as Kamiya sat back and nodded once at the other. "Well, I'm sure moving alone isn't a good idea, since _my _presence was necessary. I'm sure Yusuke will _adore _that."

Akari blinked. _He didn't know yet. Oops. _"I know where to look for what _I _have in mind, but it's only to find the others…" she said, giving a shrug. "Mitari is likely home right about now. Doesn't like mornings much."

Kamiya laughed. "Neither does Hagiri. But he's with his sister."

"Sister?"

"Oh, something you _didn't _know. Good." Akari glared at the man who laughed good-naturedly. "I've found nothing else," he suddenly spoke, turning to Kurama as his energy tapered away. "Now you can move as you please." Again, he turned to Akari. "Have a specific place in mind to reconvene? Or should I be listening for squeaking mice?"

Akari turned to Kurama this time. "What first, Yusuke's?" _*****_

Kurama slowly started to rise, testing the strength in his limbs.

"While I admire your willingness to throw ourselves into battle, what I meant was that we don't have any idea _when _or _where _this is going to happen." He did smile. "And neither do we have a way of seeking out such information with any sort of speed."

~!**!~

Even as the demons around them began to murmur their approval, there was a distinct sense of disappointment from those who were now finally having the double loops of energy about them removed.

Shikiyoku's eyes reflected her delight as she gracefully accepted his arm with a wide grin.

Where she touched him, their energy sparked between them before merging and making one mass of power around them that no one else appeared able to see.

"I don't think that is how it's supposed to work, lady." Uryo admonished with a teasing frown. "It felt to me as if _I _was the one who was supposed to ask _you _for your company. Not the other way around."

There were other murmurs around them now, ones of agreement sprinkled with wistfulness that each had not been allowed a chance to approach her.

Shikiyoku appeared briefly startled, as if only just now realizing that the older apparition was among those she felt her energy drawing her to. It meant many things as she searched his blood-red eyes with her own, but her arm remained steady where it had woven into Hiei's. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Uryo, momentarily unamused. But then a smirk came to play on his features, making light dance in his eyes as Shikiyoku remained silent. "Well, next time put that speed to use." he said almost loftily, though he was only taunting.

Shikiyoku was not a prize to be won, but… for some reason, he felt as if this moment would probably be the rarest thing to have happen in his life. And he wasn't going to pass up her request. She asked, and as her Champion, he agreed.

And..

As her companion, he'd stick to it.

~!**!~

Akari took in a deep breath, then released it in a very loud sigh, eyes looking up to the ceiling. "Remind me not to be your bedside nurse again," she taunted, tone exasperated. "I didn't say we were going to jump into battle. I'm saying it would be good to update _your friends _of what we discussed and then prepare for anything that follows, because Spirit World is not of use right now."

She took another deep breath and turned her eyes to meet his. "I'd rather be prepared _before _stuff starts happening, because for all we know, they're already moving and we're behind again. I don't know about you but I don't like being the prey here."

Kamiya sat to the side, watching quietly, amused. Nabu approached, sitting at his knee where his legs crossed beneath him. _A lot's changed, hasn't it? _*****

"Then we will just have to _agree _to _disagree _on our order of methods." Kurama teased, "But for this I will concede that informing others is definitely high on the priority list. At the very least, we do have a few on our side who would make for good eyes and ears."

_Genkai for one. Yusuke and Kuwabara do go without saying. I think we have many allies, but the others who come to mind as being the most useful are likely in Demon World and of no use. Touya and Jin. Chu and Rinku. ...assuming they aren't a part of the ones who will be crossing over. _

"If the point is for this operation to go by unnoticed, as I believe, then I doubt the assembling point will be near the city, but I do think it will be near _our _city." Kurama's eyes grew far away as he considered what Youko might do.

~!**!~

Uryo let out a good-natured laugh at the fiery demon's rejoin.

"Ha! Well put." His eyes sparkled. "But I would like to see _you _make use of your speed while under the enchantment of your lovely partner's dancing."

"Maybe next time, Uryo." Shikiyoku let the tip of her tongue stick out at him impishly.

Uryo's eyes flickered swiftly between the image of the pair. "Pardon my saying so, but I think I'm old enough to know when I've lost a fight before it's begun, lady."

Shikiyoku did not reply, but some time in their banter her other hand had risen to rest lightly across her body on the upper part of Hiei's arm, and she felt a great deal of contentment wash over her.

And in the same moment, a great deal of exhaustion. 3

Hiei's sneer stayed in place, amusement bright in his eyes at Uryo's counter. True, had he been where Uryo had been, he likely wouldn't have moved very quickly either. It was certainly very easy to see how he'd be delayed in reaction, should it be him under her power. She was rather… enchanting, to say the least.

He said nothing though, to counter Uryo's reply. He was still amused though by the other's points.

He glanced at Shikiyoku, this time taking in her face and the glow in her eyes. He was keenly aware of the air about her.

"_Where do you wish to be?"_

~!**!~

Akari crossed her arms over her chest and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at the redhead, though it went unable to be resisted and she ended up sticking it out at him anyway. And then Kamiya was moving, grabbing her attention because she'd forgotten he was there. He brushed himself off and met her gaze.

"Well, don't hesitate should you need me again. You know where I'll be."

"I appreciate it."

"Don't fill me in until I'm needed. For now, I'll keep my nose clean." He paused during his turn to leave. "If you see Hagiri, tell him to stop by some time." He turned to Kurama. "Always a pleasure," he said in farewell before turning to leave. _*****_

Kurama only caught the last of Akari's tongue snaking back into her mouth before Kamiya was getting up to leave. He nodded his thanks to the other male, then met Akari's eyes again.

"So, shall we raise an army?" His eyes sparkled at her.

~!**!~

The demons around them, including the ones drawn towards her by her energy, had taken to beginning conversations and Shikiyoku did not let her ears rest into any of them, instead feeling Hiei's eyes on her and then hearing his inquiry, feeling the warmth of his mind brush against her own and remain there, awaiting her answer..

_With you._

_By your side._

_Wherever you wish me to be._

"_Right here." _She finally settled on as a reply, pressing her fingers lightly into his arm to indicate what, or rather _who_, exactly 'here' meant. 3

Hiei waited patiently for her reply, and when she finally graced him with one, he wasn't surprised. He continued to stare unblinkingly at her for a moment before deciding she at least decided to eat and drink _something _after her dance for these demons. His eyes lifted from her and took to glancing around at the demons around him, at first finding no food or drink within immediate sight.

And then he spotted a few demons passing it around again, even caught the eye of a few of them, who quickly nodded at him once and began gathering meat on a plate, a drink in each hand, and was making their way through the crowds and towards him.

He tugged lightly at his arm and took to leading Shikiyoku in that direction, not surprised that the demons in the path parted for them.

"_Then eat, at least."_

~!**!~

Akari waved at Kamiya as the door shut behind him before turning back to Kurama, catching his glance and the question he aimed at her. She felt her lips twitch and form into a smirk that mirrored his glinting eyes, turning her body to motion for him to take the lead.

"It's a Saturday, so there's going to be people getting up and about now. Except, I'm sure, Yusuke." She grinned still at him. "But, lead the way, sir." _*****_

"Well, I'm sure we can _quickly _remedy that little problem. Such a travesty to be missing out on such a beautiful day. The dawn of the end of civilization as we know it and all." Kurama moved for the door. "I think we would be wise to gather not only Kuwabara, but also his sister. If there is something to go wrong in the near future, she would be the first to know about it."

~!**!~

"_As you wish. Though, I will be more famished in the morning." _The thought of her scarfing down meat in Shubou's camp passed over her mind's eye. And that had only been with a small ritual. "_And I will need to at least sit very soon. If not rest." _3

Hiei had already thought of that, even searched for a spot to at least sit. However, he felt that actually _resting _would prove best for her, as he was entirely sure she'd be growing even more tired as the time went on. She'd used a lot of energy and-

Hiei was suddenly _very _aware of the eyes on him and Shikiyoku. He blinked once, expression neutral suddenly as he took in the stares, stares that were pointed at _him _now. For a moment, he remembered the ballroom, the way those demons had glared, had tried to separate him from her.

And in the same instant, he realized that _these _stares were different in almost every imaginable way. Demons weren't glaring at him, but smiling, nodding at him, even giving various forms of approval ranging from a nod of their head to a thumb's up.

He realized _these _demons were watching him, not to plot ways to separate him from Shikiyoku, but _because _he was with her, and no one else could be.

Was it… respect he saw here and there?

The difference was so _vast _that, for a moment, he didn't really register it. So when his eyes again moved to the parting crowd and the two demons coming at him through said pathway, he became very aware of the _friendly _atmosphere. The _warm _atmosphere. The welcoming party that grinned at him.

His free hand reached out to take the plate now offered to him, turning and offering it to Shikiyoku while he gestured for the other demon to place his drink in the hand that was close to his torso, that being the arm Shikiyoku claimed.

"_Definitely…. better than a ballroom."_ he repeated, this time in awe almost.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small laugh. "Wouldn't want to miss _that_, would we?" she mused, following after him out the door and onto the streets that were now lit with the rising sun's rays. There was already a cool breeze slipping by, and when she looked to a nearby tree, she became aware of their dulled color.

Autumn was just around the corner now. Her favorite time of year was getting closer.

Maybe by the time snow touched the ground, this would all be over and she'd be free to enjoy it.

She looked to Kurama again, watching him quietly for a moment. The sight of him up and moving was much better than seeing him stuck on the floor.. pain riddling him. _*****_

Kurama could feel the stiffness in his limbs as he moved down the street. But it was what he couldn't feel that affected him more.

The breeze was not as noticeable, his sense of smell was dull, and he could not feel Akari walking next to him. Not even when he glanced over to make sure, as he felt he should know, that she was still there.

"Yusuke. Kuwabara. Shizuru." He started rattling off names, "Genkai. Kido. Yanagisawa. Kaito. And Yukina and Keiko should at least be made aware. Did I miss anyone?"

~!**!~

"_But you handled yourself so well!" _Shikiyoku countered with a teasing air, as she relinquished the plate from his grasp, "_You would make an excellent courtier with a little training." _Shikiyoku recalled his suave manner once he had lifted the dance steps from her mind and the thought pleased her.

"_Out here, though...out here I am not a curse for you to bear upon your arm." _Her Northern skirts whispered around her legs as she walked with him, "_And you are not a pawn to be sold to the highest bidder. Even so...there are many things I miss about court life." _Her words sounded wistful.

Even as she recalled such things, Shikiyoku took note of the way those around her regarded her and the fire demon she walked next to. She felt surprised on some level as to their reactions to her specifically, as they seemed more genuine than any interactions her and Hiei had with outsiders up to this point.

At that moment, a swathe of nearly orange energy from her arm caught her attention and as she stared at it, hardly able to distinguish her energy from Hiei's, realization dawned: up to this point her and Hiei had no way of communicating to the layperson that they belonged together, that Hiei was her protector.

All her other Champions had gotten to mark her at the moment of pact creation as a part of the ritual, which resulted in a portion of their energy taking a shape similar to a mate's marking-and done in a similar fashion as to how such a mark was acquired-in a visible place somewhere on her body.

With her first Champion, that mark had been what he told her was an 'eighth note' in the middle of her forehead a few inches above her nose. Such a marking allowed his energy to mingle with hers-she recalled vividly the strange burning ache of a sensation that swept through her veins as his fangs injected a small portion of his energy via his bite-and would glow with his energy when another demon was about to be entranced accidentally by her without her knowing. It would warn the other away, or at the very least break them out of it. It let her function with some semblance of normalcy in everyday life. The bit of energy from him that flowed constantly throughout her body muted her own energy and thus made her capable of interacting with other demons without fear of immediate attraction.

Not having the mark often placed both her and Hiei in situations like what happened when they arrived in the first city they came to at the beginning of their journey and the snake demon wished to claim her as his own after the first sniff.

Now, however, with Hiei's energy mixed in and muting her own as it was now, it was the first time in over fifteen years that anyone was able to see her for who she was, and not for what power she held.

_It's too bad the effect will wear off and that the spell is so exhausting._ 3

Hiei cautiously accepted both food and drink with a nod of thanks to the demon who smiled widely, gave a bow of respect and then scurried away, returning to his chattering friends. The noise in the area seemed amplified now, strengthened by the excitement that had stemmed from Shikiyoku's dance.

"_I never cared for royalty," _he admitted, though his tone was an amused one. "_Too much politics, all of which I could care less about."_

He continued to move through the path of demons. They seemed to know exactly where he was going, because without any trouble, he was easily able to make it to the logs that had been positioned for sitting about, some for large groups and others for small families, perhaps. He didn't hesitate to make himself comfortable, making sure Shikiyoku got the message that she should do the same.

"_Bandits and tribesmen always know how to host a party."_

~!**!~

Akari turned her own eyes away when Kurama turned to look at her, though she nodded when he began rattling off names. Each one would be of help to some degree, and given the circumstances, the more the merrier in her opinion.

Because who knew how many were being brought over.

The thought of Spirit World currently being in chaos had her expanding her senses, her eyes wandering about the area both in front of and behind her. "Hagiri will be of great use, since he can fire long-range. He wouldn't even be in the way, should a large-scale fight happen." Her lips twitched. "It's always good to have a sniper nearby."

She went quiet again, thinking of the others.

Really, only Sniper and Doctor could be of use here. Mitari needed pristine conditions, and Game Master… well, he wouldn't be of much help. Gourmet was… gone, so no thoughts there.

Itsuki would have been a great help, if he had stayed. But he hadn't, and that was that.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, a memory playing briefly in her mind's eye, and she had to tell herself to keep moving. But, for now… the thought was not a probable one…. _I need to get into Spirit World…. __*****_

There was something else, Kurama felt. Something that he was missing.

It was the motive.

Why?

What had happened to this fake Youko to cause him to establish such an elaborate ruse? And what was it about Spirit World that was so important?

Kurama wished for an easy way to Spirit World, not for the first time, and certainly not for the last. Surely he could have a talk with Koenma after this was all over about such things.

Assuming they lived through this.

Kurama absently led the way to Yusuke's apartment as he rolled over in his head reasons a demon would want to get into Spirit World besides to overthrow the King.

Other than the artifacts of the Vault of which Kurama knew everything about and could name nothing useful to Youko. Of course, the fact that this was not truly Youko could make all the difference.

Kurama sighed.

~!**!~

"_Mm, but __**subverting **__said royalty. __**That's **__where the fun comes in." _Shikiyoku replied with a mischievous tone. "_Manipulation and subtlety in the courtroom are key. And make for exciting momemnts."_

Shikiyoku sat next to Hiei gratefully, staring at the food in her plate and unable to remember the last time she ate, and at the same time feeling no need.

She picked up a few pieces anyway.

At Hiei's words, she raised her eyes to look around at the revelers.

"_Even though these are greater numbers, the merriment of old far surpasses it. You should have seen them then." _Her eyes flashed with the thought. 3

Hiei could certainly imagine how such a thing could be _fun_, but really, he wasn't one for it. While telling others what to do, how to do it, and when to do it could prove useful here and there…

It was simply too much for him. Royalty, in general. He could care less about _the people_.

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku's counter of older parties, older gatherings and how they far surpassed this one. Truthfully, he couldn't quite imagine such a thing. Sure, if he wanted to, he could lift those memories from her mind but…

What was the fun in that anyway?

"_Perhaps you'll show me one day."_

He knew there was a way to share memories, just as they shared power now, but it was something he didn't know how to do yet. And, quite frankly, it seemed easier than sifting through another's brain for such memories he wished to acquire.

Though, from what he understood, it normally happened with demons who'd been in one another's companies for several decades, at the least.

Perhaps it was something that came with time.

~!**!~

Akari stayed silent as she walked, eyes now fully taking in her surroundings, each detail down to the last blade of grass. She didn't like the idea that Kurama wouldn't be able to sense someone coming before she, because it meant that she would _never _be able to sense someone coming. Until it was too late.

The thought had her wishing she were in Spirit World at that very moment, in the gym. Working on her energy and the many ways it could develop.

Because, really, she didn't feel much like a fighter. More of a distraction, because that's all her energy was capable of providing at the moment.

Mice and distractions.

She gritted her teeth for a moment before relaxing her jaw and mirroring Kurama's small sound with her own sigh of discontent.

She turned to the redhead to say something, but her lips merely parted, releasing no sound. Her eyes, however, took very keen notice, suddenly, of the dirt on his skin from her home.

And then the fact that his outfit was… tattered, to say the least.

"Uh," she began, taking a moment to find her voice, but not really able to make the words form on her tongue. _*****_

"Hm?" Kurama heard Akari start to speak, glancing over at her when she didn't continue at his intoned murmur.

Seeing her eyes looking him up and down, Kurama followed her gaze in an attempt to catch what exactly was making her look at him that way, and for once he let out a pleasant laugh.

"It seems I am in no condition to make any house calls." He felt strange that he hadn't been aware of his appearance when usually he was rather proud of it. Was that actually something the fox had a hand in as well? "Tell you what. I'll go and make myself look presentable while you rally Yusuke to our cause. Sound good?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave Hiei a sidelong look out of the corner of her eyes.

Out of all the things so far she'd met in the fire demon, she found somehow that his expressing to share in a mind-meld with her to be the most surprising gesture yet.

Especially when she _knew _he had a Jagan.

"_You could simply see for yourself." _She nudged him with her shoulder impishly, her eyes flickering up to the bandana around his forehead. 3

Hiei didn't respond immediately, didn't even need to look at her to know Shikiyoku was gesturing to the Jagan. He considered giving a shrug, but with her hold on his arm and the drink in his hand, he decided against it altogether.

He considered the demons around them for a moment before turning to meet Shikiyoku's gaze again, watching unblinkingly. "_That requires a lot of energy." _It was an excuse, and a very weak one, but really he didn't want to sift through memories, because even if she thought of one specifically, it wouldn't be as sharp as it would be if he plucked it from her mind without her notice.

Plus, minds converging… that could be something rather amusing to try at some point. And likely very useful, if done right.

Likely entertaining too.

He suddenly scoffed at that thought and the possibilities that such a thing could prove, completely amused.

~!**!~

A single strawberry brow raised at the sound Kurama released, wondering why it was so funny to him. He looked like absolute hell, now that she looked at him, and he was _laughing _about it? She sighed and turned her eyes to the path ahead. _I don't understand you._

When Kurama spoke up, she listened, but his offer was one she didn't agree with. "No," she responded easily, tone flat. She didn't look at him, only looking ahead as if something interested her there. _*****_

"Suit yourself." Kurama shrugged and turned away from the direction they had been heading-Yusuke's apartment-towards his own home. "But I plan on taking my time. And it would be faster if we split up. I'm sure Nabu could watch after me just fine."

~!**!~

A bit of a frown fell over Shikiyoku's face and she wondered if the younger fire demon next to her actually knew what he was suggesting they do.

She had a little experience with the process as it had been something one of her champions-_which one was it?_-and her had tried briefly.

They had found their bond would allow them such intertwined contact, at least enough that Shikiyoku had been able to show him-as Hiei had just asked-of earlier, more primal times in the Ninth Level.

But at the time they were each still very private with their thoughts, and to be completely exposed, wrapped up in, another like that had been both disconcerting and unnerving.

A total mind-meld would have allowed them to see what the other saw-useful for their line of work-but it also meant the other was there _all the time_, that their memories were passed between them effortlessly and would overwhelm the one with less memories to share until they became lost in the older one's past.

And such double vision gave one a numbing headache after too much use. It would have proven useful in a fight, though. Not that they ever really got into one of those.

Curiously, Shikiyoku's gaze turned introspective as she reached within herself to the half-pact she could access.

It hummed happily at her, wavelengths in tune with the apparition sitting next to her, though the hums were always cut short halfway up or down depending on the direction.

"_We could try. If you like." _She gave the pact a nudge to see how it would react to her, feeding it with a specific memory of the Northern Tribe the last time she'd been here to see if it would accept and transfer it. "_But only if you're willing." _3

Hiei felt the flex of the bond, and his eyes focused on Shikiyoku, mind pulled from his thoughts that he hadn't realized he'd been wrapped up in. Thoughts that were, truthfully, inconsequential. That meant nothing, unlike his normal thoughts that consisted of things dire, things to come, or even things already happening.

And Shikiyoku's words had him raising a brow, then clamping down on the bond, not allowing such access as he even blocked his mind for the moment. When the bond returned to the normal pulsing hum, he let his mind brush hers again.

"_Now's not the time." _he stated calmly, blinking once at her as he took in the way she sat, the way her shoulders were beginning to slump from tiredness. She'd used a lot of energy, and it could tip the balance.

He'd heard of things like that going wrong as well. Never good.

Then again, when was a mistake in Demon World easily able to be recovered from?

"_It was just a thought." _He paused. "_Though, remind me when your energy returns."_

~!**!~

Akari turned a calm gaze onto Kurama, watching him for a moment before her lips twitched. "What, not happy with baby pictures being hung on the walls?" she teased. "While getting the others is necessary, I don't feel like splitting up is an option anymore." she admitted, turning her eyes forward again as she rubbed her palms against her jeans, as if to rub away the feeling of his blood on her hands. _*****_

"There aren't as many as you would think." Kurama let one of his brows raise, "I was a...difficult child."

He let the subject of her coming with him drop, though he figured were he at home, he could just as easily call and talk to Shizuru-the person he wished to get in contact with first anyway. Once he had her in on the situation, he would feel better knowing she could sense if something was going wrong.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let her hold on the pact drop, feeling indifferent at the moment to Hiei's reaction, but sending a sense of affirmation that she would mention it to him later into his head.

She hadn't ever felt this _tired _after performing the ritual before. Hiei had probably been wise not to let her try. _Heh._ Usually, she was charged by the dance and spent the night among the others in their time of revelry.

As Shikiyoku thought back, her eyelids beginning to struggle to stay open, other companions came to mind like the ones who had tried to approach her tonight. Other encampments, other ballrooms, even other interrogations courtesy of her third Champion, all muddled and tired, playing back into her head just for a moment, and yet-

...a-and yet-

She found no person, no place that she would rather be-

"_Nowhere else, but right...here...with you..."_

As the final word passed over her mind, said with a sense of warmth and contentment, Shikiyoku finished the slumping that had started as the memories played back, her cheek closing the last few inches between her and the shoulder of the arm she held that was Hiei's as she came to rest gently against him.

"_...fire-prince." _3

Hiei watched the heavy eyelids of the demon next to him slide closed, and for a few minutes, he stayed that way, only moving to catch the plate she nearly dropped. He considered leaving, considered letting the party around him continue on without a chance to disturb Shikiyoku, but really, he didn't see it much of a possibility at the moment.

Instead, his eyes moved up, searching for the faces in the crowd he knew he'd have to address sooner or later. They were likely the center of attention, being as high on the totem pole as they were. It shouldn't be-

His mind picked up on words _just _barely whispered between them and the warmth that seemed to radiate from them. Calmness. Content.

_Happiness._

That same warmth became a physical aspect as her cheek rested on his shoulder, her hand pulling only slightly at his arm as if to keep him right where he was.

And for the first time, when he thought about how separated he felt from the rest of the world around him, he didn't view it as much of a bad thing.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at Kurama - sensing a sort of.. shame? Was that it? - and considered his expression for a moment. She gave a small hum of thought before turning her eyes away, linking her fingers in front of her as she walked.

She didn't have anything to say about that. She felt that she _should _say something, but really, she didn't know _what _to say. Everything that came to mind was… Ridiculous. And were she to say them, she felt that she'd be discussing a topic she knew nothing about.

Because, really, she didn't know how a human's mind worked. Their sentimentality was… different. What they felt empathy towards, she herself felt nothing about. What they got angry over, she simply brushed away.

Or, at least, that's how she used to view it. Now, she didn't know. On some level, she felt that maybe she'd formed into a being rather similar to a human when some aspects came up. She'd changed on some degree, but how, she wasn't really sure.

She wasn't as blindly aggressive, that was for sure. She'd dealt with difficult situations and…

"I don't think it matters how difficult you were." she suddenly commented, shrugging. "But, that's just my opinion." _*****_

Kurama chuckled, "Well, it _does _matter when the child won't allow the parent to take any pictures. Hence why there aren't really any of myself up around the house."

The discussion revolving around his childhood brought his mind back to-as most things did-his mother. He hoped her vacation was going well. The wedding was coming up soon, but it was going to be rather small and he had insisted she get away from things for a while and her fiancé had readily agreed.

~!**!~

The white-haired Elder who had greeted them when they first came into the encampment paused in her steps when she saw Shikiyoku fall to sleep on her Champion's arm. So, when she continued to approach the pair, it was for a different reason now.

"I was going to offer her my gratitude," The Elder murmured, standing just on the other side of Hiei, "And inquire as to how she danced inside the flames like that, but I see like everything else it will have to wait for morning." She wore an amused expression as her eyes alighted on Shikiyoku's form, breathing even and slow.

"She will be busy enough as it is tomorrow I would imagine." The Elder looked out over the innumerous heads of the demons gathered in the clearing. "You all may make use of the tent of the Elders tonight. Whenever you wish." She added as an afterthought, clearly in no hurry for the pair to move as she herself stepped away on silent feet. 3

Hiei was pulled from his thoughts as a calm, even voice spoke near him, obviously directed for the fire demon specifically despite no formal address. His eyes moved calmly from the peaceful face of Shikiyoku and up at the demoness standing nearby, a light in the white-haired woman's eyes dancing with mirth.

It was almost as if she'd heard Hiei's thoughts on seeking her out for refuge, as she answered his question without him having asked of it. He nodded once at her in quiet thanks and appreciation for not disturbing Shikiyoku.

While he _did _consider staying just a _bit _longer, he decided, in the end, that Shikiyoku's need for peaceful rest came first. So with calm, smooth motions, the fire demon shifted until he was able to slide his free arm underneath Shikiyoku's legs and calmly detach her hands from his other arm to provide support for her shoulders. Without pause, he was moving away from the loud area and towards the tents, not for the first time appreciating the path that was parted for him as he moved.

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes, but otherwise gave no reaction to Kurama's amusing words. "But, seems you haven't changed much," she commented, turning glittering eyes onto him from the corners. _Still difficult._

Though, really, she didn't mind one way or the other. She was stubborn enough to argue as long as necessary, should the subject call for it. Though, knowing the redhead, he'd simply resort to using his entire vocabulary against her, using words she didn't know to have her unknowingly agreeing to.. whatever cause he fought for.

_That _would be funny, no matter _who _he used his mental dictionary against.

"You know, not being in school makes me realize how boring it actually is when I _do _go. How do you stand it?" she suddenly asked, the question coming to mind when she'd seen a classmate rather far ahead. "Sitting in a crowded room and listening to a teacher drone on and on… sometimes I imagine myself jumping from the window just to go find some real amusement." _*****_

"You didn't grow up doing so." Kurama replied. "And my body is actually growing at the normal rate for humans, so I've been in school since I was young. Unlike most demons."

Kurama walked with his head high as if he _wasn't _wearing clothing that hung about him in tatters. And ignored anyone who gave him a strange look as he went by.

Hopefully he, uh, wouldn't see anybody he knew.

~!**!~

"What is that expression for, youngling?"

Douji scratched absently at the cheek of the lur'mog in his lap, his expression reserved even when faced with the utter joy the creature had in his attentions.

Uryo belched and reclined back on the log as he waited for the boy to speak up, setting his empty plate next to him.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" Douji asked quietly, not looking up.

Uryo ran his tongue over his teeth, crimson eyes catching sight of the Champion lifting Shikiyoku away, presumably to bed. He watched the crowd make way for Hiei almost without the fire demon's direct notice and huffed a breath out of his noise.

"You had to feel it. I saw her energy around your ankle." Douji insisted, falling silent again. "What did it mean?" The question came almost muttered from Douji's lips.

"It was nothing to be so _concerned _about." Uryo grinned. "It was…" Uryo searched for the right word, his eyes roving around for a moment. "A compliment." Yes, that seemed close enough. "You're special." He added.

Douji frowned, not quite understanding exactly what it meant.

"It's difficult to explain." Uryo murmured, his gaze settling upon the bonfire and immediately pulling him back into the image of Shikiyoku and her flaming fan-dance, how he had manipulated the bonfire itself to allow her to be within it, using his energy to burn the outer kimono away and reveal her. _An excellent dancer indeed. _3

~!**!~

Akari sighed to herself. While she liked the learning, getting to know the world she was currently stuck in, she didn't enjoy the cramped rooms, the snide students and the petty fights that seem to brew between the students over… words. It was all ridiculous and-

Akari's eyes caught sight of a shop as she passed, and while her steps never faltered, her gaze did linger for a bit. _That one_.

It was a clothing store, one she had yet to visit. One she had made a mental note of, and then forgotten where it was located. She took note of the opening time, even glanced at the wall clock inside to gauge how long until it was open for business before turning forward again.

She'd made up her mind now, despite her earlier reluctance to move on her own. _Just for a bit wouldn't hurt…_

She stayed silent the rest of the way to Kurama's house, eyes taking in each detail around her, taking extra note of the scent on the breeze that hinted a chillier day to come.

A cold front, as called here.

The thought had her smiling. It wouldn't be too cold, as she wished it would be, but it would be a rather cool day later. Maybe that meant the seasons were _finally _changing. And maybe she'd actually get to be in the snow this time, unlike the years with Sensui… _*****_

Kurama didn't even have to reach into his pocket to know that the key to his house was lost somewhere between here and wherever Otento had taken him.

If having his energy locked away last time taught him anything, it was to have a spare key nearby.

He reached behind the back of some foliage in a ceramic pot on the porch for the toothy-looking plant in the back and pricked his finger on one of the spines. The hinges parted and he plucked the housekey from the mouth before it began to close again, unlocking the door and slipping off his shoes before moving beyond the threshold farther inside.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes opened to the muted darkness of the Elder's tent, and as quietly as she was able, she slipped outside into the reddish-grey of the very early morning.

The bonfire she had emerged from the night before blazed in a much-reduced form, and there were a few of the older demons that had come last night sitting nearby it, looking up to give her welcoming glances as she approached and providing for her a large plate of food which she graciously accepted and sat down among them with, beginning to ravenously tear her way through it.

The old demons chuckled and exchanged glances before starting to drill Shikiyoku with various questions she found only vaguely related to her abilities. She wondered what exactly the type of rumors that had been passed around the night before consisted of, since their questions ranged from birthing of demonic babies to debating the existence of a love spell outside of her manipulative powers.

None of them seemed to care that she talked with her mouth full or rarely answered questions at all when it meant eating more food was possible.

"Iro."

Shikiyoku dropped her head back to see the white-haired Elder-woman standing over her with a slight smile.

"Yesh?"

"There are a few things we have here that we could use your help with."

"Of coursh." Shikiyoku swallowed what was in fact the last of her food and stood.

The next few hours before true dawn consisted of such tasks as the Elder required, though in the middle of completing one a demon approached her and asked if he could speak with her, to which she agreed, allowing the male to lead her a distance away from any others.

Upon her brain catching up, she recognized immediately that this slender demon was not a member of the Northern Tribe, his clothing reminding her vaguely of a level of Demon World which had been obsessed with the period of time that occurred in Human World known as 'Victorian.' He stood out from the rustic appearance of the tribe to say the least.

When he stopped and turned to face her, Shikiyoku stood dutifully nearby, allowing his calculating gaze to meet her own guarded one.

"You are strong, 'Iro.'" The demon gave her a dazzling smile, revealing two rows of perfectly white teeth.

Shikiyoku only tilted her head slightly, waiting for more.

"Very strong. You would make any demon proud to call themselves your mate."

Shikiyoku blinked in an expression of '_really?'_

As if there wasn't a demon among the entirety of the Nine Levels who did not prize strength and power-especially in a female as a prospective bearer of the next generation. Especially a demon like _this_.

"Need I say more?" He gestured with a flourish of a laced-sleeve of a hand.

"No. No, there is no need." Shikiyoku frowned, unsure as to whether to take this demon seriously or not.

He took her momentary silence as hesitation.

"Is it truly that difficult of a decision?" He wanted to know loftily.

There was a word for this type of demon, and it was on the tip of her tongue…

"Is there really any need for a delay? You can sense, I'm sure, that I am just as powerful as yourself. We would make a good match."

They called demons like this _something_. _What was it again?_

"I...have a Champion." Shikiyoku provided, frown still in place as she fished in her brain for the word.

"Is that all?" The demon replied with a laugh.

Something...the other demons called these Victorian impersonators. With their frilly waistcoats and perfect hair-dos.

"He is not your _mate_," The demon emphasized as he went on, "Otherwise I hardly would have approached you at all, now would I? It's obvious to _anyone _paying the least bit of attention."

"I would _hardly _make such a...decision without my Champion's express permission." Shikiyoku blinked, a blank look on her face. "Surely you understand."

_Convoluted? No, that's not quite right. Complacent? No, that's not what I mean._

"No, I'm not exactly sure that I do." The demon pursed his lips at her beautifically. "Of course, I can't exactly say that I truly understand-"

"Conceited!" Shikiyoku exclaimed, her expression clearing up as her eyes brightened when she remembered the word.

"I beg your pardon?" The demon raised an artful eyebrow at her. 3

~!**!~

He'd been up and around for quite some time now, and rather busy since… well, he wasn't really sure. He did know, however, that this _creature _was rather elusive. Hiei, however, was bound and determined, because it had been the one that had, one, attacked him first and, two, been on the hit list he'd been given by the other demons he had parted from about an hour ago.

It moved just as swiftly, just as quietly as the fire demon himself did, and quite frankly, he found this more of a game than an actual _hunt_, which had kept Hiei rather occupied for the early morning hours. Happily so, even. Killing both creatures _and _time! It was better than nothing, which is what he'd done almost all night long while Shikiyoku slept and he himself found he was unable to do the same, for whatever reason.

He moved through the trees, stalking the very elusive creature that, somehow, could not be tracked via Jagan, but only by scent and sound. Perhaps it was a Ninth Level thing.

He suddenly paused, coming to a halt in the darkened limbs of the treetop he had been silently moving through. He kept his weapon at the ready, held in his left hand and tucked close to his stomach, other hand grasping at string and arrow as he listened.

It had stopped moving, but _where_, he wasn't sure.

He focused harder, listening for-

_There._

He moved, calling on old memories to help him as he slid silently, back against the bark of the tree, around to the next branch. When he peered down, his keen eyes could make out the large, scaled creature that leaned forward, snout to the ground and forked tongue just touching the grass of the forest floor. It's six eyes were focused down at its feet, its four ears twitching frantically for any sign of danger.

Once Hiei knew he was not known to be in the area, he shifted, lifted the bow and pulled the arrow back.

The screech that filled the air moments later sent creatures scattering, making the area come alive and arrows fly.

And to think he'd almost forgotten how this felt.

~!**!~

"You're more skilled than you let on, Champion!"

Hiei turned his eyes to the corners, catching the wide grin aimed at him from the largest of the twelve that had found him. The bow Hiei had used was in this demon's hand, held as if it were his prized treasure. In his other hand was four small creatures, each the same, each able to feed, at most, two demons.

"A swordsman _and _an archer. Would have been helpful during the wars."

Hiei turned away from the conversation that turned to older times, times that had long since passed. History, to him. Nothing more than stories.

He shifted his hold on the rope he had slung over his shoulder, the five medium-sized creatures thumping against his back. His other hand shifted its grip on the largest creature, a creature as large as he was. He walked as head of the chattering group of demons, only doing so because they'd insisted he do as such. And he'd been too lazy to argue.

His eyes, once he reached the encampment, searched for the person whose energy he could feel moving about, doing things here and there. While he couldn't see her for the moment, he decided to leave her be, let her do… whatever it was she'd been asked to do.

Until her energy paused, then moved further away from the encampment. At this point, Hiei himself changed directions, deciding that he'd at least pass by, see what she was doing.

It didn't take long to find her, though he was approaching from behind the male that had very obviously pulled her aside. The little snippet of the conversation he heard told him all he needed to know: the male was interested, Shikiyoku was not.

So he approached, coming to stand just a little ways behind the male. "Obnoxious works just as well." he intoned, adding to Shikiyoku's word choice. "Or _pestiferous."_ *

* * *

Kido \- **1: **wicket gate; wooden door; **2: **entrance to an entertainment venue (i.e. sumo arena, etc.)

Yanagisawa \- Place name, Family or surname

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	59. Episode 143 - Busyness

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dearest Readers!

I meant to say something a while back (in fact I meant to say something when we reached Episode 113 which was Chapter Twenty-Eight so at this point it seems a little silly) about the fact that we have surpassed how many episodes the anime itself actually has, heheh. The last episode of the anime is 112, and while the manga does actually go past the point the anime reaches, we're admittedly basing our YYH world more on the universe from the anime that the manga, though there are a few things we borrow form the manga on occasion.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Using the same spell that her first Champion had once taught her,  
Shikiyoku successfully merges Hiei's energy with her own,  
using it to supplement and spread hers farther so that she can finish the ritual.

Almost before she even finishes, Shikiyoku goes directly up to Hiei  
and kneels before him, asking if he would allow her to be in his presence that evening,  
to which he answers affirmatively, leaving the other demons who had also received double loops from her  
in a slightly disappointed mood.

Both Hiei and Shikiyoku take note of the different way in which the demons of the tribe regard them,  
Hiei mentioning that it was 'better than a ballroom' as the demons here appear to respect them,  
and Shikiyoku realizes that it is the intertwining of their energy that is dampening her own usual, provocative aura.

Exhausted from the ritual, Shikiyoku falls asleep against Hiei, and at the Elder's behest,  
Hiei carries her off to the Elders' Tent for the night.

They are both kept busy the next day, though by the time Shikiyoku and Hiei cross paths again,  
it is Hiei walking up to Shikiyoku who is being propositioned by an outsider to become his mate.

~!**!~

Akari calls on Kamiya, who arrives at her home and subsequently heals Kurama of his physical ailments.

Akari is eager to get things moving at that point, but Kurama points out that they don't have much to go on.  
Akari counters by saying they need to get ahead while they can, as their enemy is likely still moving,  
and that they should at least, if not gather the others, inform them as to the going-ons.

They leave her place with the intentions of calling on all the others that they can,  
but Akari takes notice of the state of Kurama's clothing, which is ripped and torn,  
and their destination changes to that of Kurama's home so he can make himself presentable.

Having lost his key during the interaction with Otento,  
Kurama accesses a small, carnivorous plant in a pot outside his front door with his blood,  
relinquishing it of the key he placed in its mouth in order to let them in,  
a precaution he took since the last time he lost touch with his energy  
and couldn't just "pick the lock" and get inside...

* * *

Akari waited for Kurama to get the door open, ignoring the scent of his blood, figuring it was of his own doing. She moved after him into the house, looking around for the first time at the cozy home that she had run from the last time she'd been here. The memory of her last visit had her glancing at Kurama, even running a hand through her bangs before she turned away from him and wandered further inside, towards the kitchen.

"Cozy," she commented, eyeing the well-kept dining area, the spotless kitchen, the clean couches. Everything her own _home _lacked. Cleanliness, organization, even basic furniture and utilities. It reminded her that she needed to find a way to work on her current place of residence, find a way to make it… cleaner. More like a home than a run-down, abandoned building.

_I'll get on that…. when this is over. __*****_

"I get my cleanliness from my mother." Kurama replied with his nose sticking slightly in the air. He immediately was reminded of the condition of his clothes and glanced downward, "Which is why this is going to be taken care of _now_." He moved towards the stairs, waving a hand lazily to Akari. "Don't wait up!"

~!**!~

"Ah, Champion!" The demon turned with a flourish and it was difficult to tell if he had simply decided to ignore the slights upon his person or if he had not actually understood them. "You have an excellent head on your shoulders, I'm sure. Do you not agree that the 'Iro,' as I have heard the natives here call her, would make an exquisite mate for any demon she deems worthy enough to share in her presence?"

Shikiyoku regarded the back of the demon's head with an amused expression. 3

Hiei was unsurprised by the flourished motion of this one. He'd met one such demon before. Ended his life in a second. This situation, while similar, had stark differences. For instance, this one irritated him more.

The expression that crossed the fire demon's face was, originally, one of incredulity. However, it transitioned to an even gaze, not a single muscle twitching, not even his brow that wished so dearly to turn up at this demon's question.

"And you just so happen to… decide you're _worthy?" _he said slowly, tone even and almost… bored sounding. "It seems that out of the three here, only two of us have brains that function properly." He paused for a second to glance at Shikiyoku before turning again to the male. "And you're not one of them."

~!**!~

Akari's brow shot up faster than it ever had in her life at Kurama's words, but she didn't turn to the male. She didn't have to look to know his chin had lifted higher. His tone had implied the motion. However, she did turn to look at him when he dismissed her with a wave. She frowned at the place where he left her eyesight, momentarily unhappy with his wording. She wasn't waiting _up _for him. She was simply… waiting.

She turned and continued surveying the room, glancing at pictures here and there, hands behind her back to refuse touching the trinkets and such. However, she did pause at a picture of a woman and a man, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, warm smiles on their faces and gleams in their eyes. Even from the simple picture, she could see that they were happy, probably the happiest they'd been in their life, and they were as close to each other as they could get.

After a moment, she noted their intertwined hands between their hips, and she stood upright again, leaning away as she took in the picture a bit more.

Itsuki had told her of such an emotion that made these two faces glow. But to her, it was alien.

_Love, hm?_

She moved away from that picture, easily stepping around the dog that had silently sat at her feet. She wandered a bit more, looking at pictures that seemed very similar to the one she'd looked at before. And then she was bored.

"_They look happy." _Akari turned her eyes to Nabu, who wasn't looking at her, but at the picture she'd first paused at. She glanced at it again, and again found herself staring at it. "_I bet you could be that happy one day. I mean, you're happy now, but not as happy as they are."_

"Their happiness is different, Nabu."

"_I know. It's the same happiness I feel when I'm around you!"_

"No, not quite I don't think."

"_But I love you! You're my family!" _Akari sighed. "_Don't you love me too?"_

She didn't reply. "You stay here, okay?"

"_But I thought we were waiting?"_

"You're waiting. I'm going to the store."

"_Steak!"_

"Nope. Wrong kind of store." she replied as she pulled the door open. "Just stay here. If you need me… bark I guess. I'll be listening." With that, she closed the door behind herself and walked back the way she'd come, down the busy sidewalk and towards the shop she'd seen earlier. _*****_

Kurama immediately made his way to the bathroom to turn on the water and strip off his ruined clothes before thinking he might call Shizuru _before _he took a luxurious shower-just in case-and wrapped a towel around his waist to head back downstairs.

The phone rang twice before she answered.

"Shizuru? It's Kurama. We've got a slight problem…"

~!**!~

"Hm. That's funny." Shikiyoku put a thoughtful finger to her chin as the demon turned back to her with a slightly irritated expression, "I don't really see _any _demons worthy enough to-oh wait there's one."

She pointed directly at Hiei, getting the demon to whip back around as if he didn't know who she pointed at, and she immediately stepped around the demon while he turned, up to Hiei's side where she gave him a quick, poignant kiss on the cheek in front of the other demon and linked arms with Hiei like they had last night, turning her back on the demon and beginning to pull Hiei to walk off before appearing to change her mind, and pausing to toss her next words over her shoulder.

Shikiyoku picked up on the demon's slight accent and imitated it, "You're amusing, darling, you really are, but you're just a little too...foppish for me." She wiggled her fingers on the word 'foppish' and kept going, leading Hiei _away_. To anywhere but _here_.

The demon just smiled royally and shook his head a little.

"Your rejection only makes me want you more, Iro!" He spread his arms out to either side.

"I know!" She called back with a sing-song tone, "But that doesn't make the rejection any less permanent!" 3

Hiei didn't react to Shikiyoku's words of his... candidacy… for a potential mate. To him, it was her excuse to get away from the other demon, and quite frankly, he couldn't care less. However, when she practically skipped his way, he shifted his hold on the rope that tied the dead creatures together for easy haul, letting the rope rest higher on his shoulder as Shikiyoku's small hand grabbed hold of that particular arm. Her lips to his cheek was unexpected, but the only way he gave that away was with a glance at her from the corner of his eye before they turned to leave.

At which point he entirely ignored the other demon, shifting his right hand's hold on the spiked tail of the largest creature he'd killed. Maybe he'd go hunting more often-

Wait, they were returning to Human World.

_Damn._

~!**!~

Akari moved through the crowds expertly, only pausing between Kurama's house and her destination when she caught sight of a bank- one she hadn't known had been in the area. Instead of going inside like she normally would, she stopped at the ATM, used the numbers she had memorized of Sensui's information, and then was, just as quickly, moving away from the machine with a good amount of money in her pocket.

Minutes later, she was inside the shop, the only customer in the building due to the early hour, and the fact that she'd arrived as soon as the doors had opened. Her hands roved over fabrics of shirts, pulled on hangers so she could see such articles better, and then put the item back.

She did this several times before finding a jacket, very similar to the simple grey one she wore now, and a couple of shirts that… weren't so bad.

After a bit more browsing, Akari found herself leaving the store with a single new outfit and a new destination in mind. She again maneuvered around the crowds, eyes searching for the building she knew to be near.

~!**!~

Being clean felt so much better. Her hair was still wet despite her efforts to dry it, but as Akari moved back towards Kurama's house, she felt certain it'd be dry by the time she got back. That was one of the perks of her breed of demon: Hair dried just as fast as, well, fur, no matter the thickness. This was mainly due to…

Well, what did it matter?

She slung the plastic bag that now held her dirty clothes over her shoulder as she marched up the steps to Kurama's door, hesitating none as she pushed it open and stepped inside, first looking to the stairs and wondering what she'd do with her other outfit.

After all, the new one felt so much more comfortable… _*****_

"No, Genkai was the _second_ person I called." Kurama said patiently into the phone.

He was partially leaning over the counter in the kitchen, one hand pressed down onto the countertop, the other at his ear with the phone. His long red hair was pulled over one shoulder and still dripping down his bare chest, though he had enough sense of mind to wrap a towel around his waist again when the phone rang in the middle of his shower.

"Because, Yusuke, both she _and _Shizuru are more likely to sense something before either you or I. Especially since Otento-" Kurama waited as Yusuke went on. "You'll have to talk to them about it." Another pause. "She said she would get back to me on that, and I explicitly trust her judgement, as should you."

Kurama didn't even look up when the front door opened.

~!**!~

"We need to go soon." Shikiyoku said wistfully after they were out of earshot of the other demon as she dropped her arm from Hiei's to clasp her hands together behind her back. She started to grin, "Or never go at all, I suppose." 3

Hiei, on some level or another, was a bit surprised Shikiyoku had stepped away from him so quickly, but he wrote it off. Ignored it, because he still had things to do. For instance, return his kills to the others, help gutting if necessary, and-

Shikiyoku's last words caught his attention, entirely pulling him from his thoughts and his eyes down to her. "Do not tempt me, woman." he said in a low tone, though his gaze was not one of threat. He'd already talked himself out of it once.

~!**!~

Akari paused with the door only half-closed, hearing Kurama's voice and, for a moment, thinking she'd missed someone's energy signature. After listening for a second, however, she was aware that the person he was talking to was not _here_, but at home, using the same device the redhead surely had to his ear to speak through. So she let the door shut on its own and moved through the living area, mouth opening to ask the male a question.

That is, until she caught sight of him. With her head peering around the corner, she noted first that the male's hair was still wet. All fine and good, except so was his back. Wouldn't that cause sickness after a while, if one didn't have the immunity for it? Such as, _demon energy?_

Next, her eyes found a particular line across Kurama's back, obviously rougher than the rest of his skin, but made by, say, a blade. There were others similar to this one, some smaller, some less noticeable. Some of them even looked identical to ones she herself had, which were very obviously made by the same type of weapon.

The one that stood out the most was one that went the length of the arm that was extended, that hand propped on the counter to provide support as he leaned against the countertop. It was… newer, she could tell. She assumed it was one from a fight he'd had with the Spirit Detective team, likely the tournament they'd been tossed into. The one Sensui had kept tabs on.

This scar was, in a word…. grotesque. Its edges were jagged, as if the skin there had simply been _ripped _open and hadn't healed the way it should have. And while the scar itself was smooth, it also appeared rough, not just around the edges, but all over.

A frown settled over her lips and she glanced down at her own arms, hidden beneath the half rolled-up sleeve of the white button up shirt she'd bought. From the elbows to her wrists, there were no visible markings. However, the elbow and up…

_How'd he get the confidence to show them? Why did he not care if others saw those marks?_

She took a deep breath and looked up, again preparing to speak.

But this time, her eyes caught the _whole _scene. Not just the bits that stood out at first. She blinked, and then promptly turned her eyes away from the male who wore nothing more than the white towel around his waist. After a moment, she turned and left the area that would give her the ability to see the male, instead taking to sitting on the couch while Nabu sat curled on the floor, looking up at her curiously.

"_What's wrong?"_

She didn't reply. Instead, she made herself comfortable on the couch, leaning back and putting her bag on the cushion beside her. _*****_

"Yes. You can call him." Kurama shook his head, smiling a little. "I'll leave it to you then."

He hung up the phone and moved towards the front door, peering at it curiously.

He'd _thought _he heard someone come in, which would be disconcerting if he didn't think it was probably-

When he turned around he caught sight of Akari, moving closer and then nodding approval at her new clothing.

"You look lovely. Allow me to go finish getting ready and then I'll tell you what I've heard." Kurama moved past to head back up the stairs.

~!**!~

Both of Shikiyoku's eyebrows raised at Hiei's choice of words, her expression turning sultry as she looked up at him through her eyelashes from his side, her next words low and seductive.

"Oh, but that's what I _do_, Hiei." Her lips curled into a mysterious smile, "I'm not called the _temptress _for _nothing_." 3

The fire demon chose to ignore the words Shikiyoku purred at him, his eyes only momentarily looking over at her before turning away again. His lips were tempted to twitch at her retort, but his expression remained as neutral as before as he approached the demon who had, earlier, allowed Hiei use of his bow for hunting the particular creature he'd wanted so dearly to kill.

"Ah, there he is!" the demon's booming voice echoed, chest moving with laughter that followed suit. "We'd thought you ran away."

"I don't _run away." _he retorted as he offered his kills to the demon.

"Of course not!"

~!**!~

Akari heard Kurama's approach and made a point to let her eyelids slide shut and her head lay back on the cushion of the couch, face turned away from the direction he'd be coming from, just in case. Nabu made an inquiring sound just before Kurama spoke up.

It took a great amount of self control to appear as if she hadn't noticed a thing. "You-" she began, about to say _you go do that, _but instead, "aren't allowed to say that. Now go… away." _*****_

Kurama stopped, curious expression on his face at first.

"I'm...not allowed to say I'm going to get ready?" He appeared to consider it and shrugged, "I could just tell you now, I suppose, but I didn't really uncover anything terribly urgent."

~!**!~

_Of course, if he __**did**__, it's not like __**you'd **__notice_. Shikiyoku thought wryly about the demon who addressed her Champion.

It felt...strange. If they really _did _want to stay, there was nothing holding them back from staying _here_. In fact, the Elders would probably welcome them with open arms. 3

Hiei looked about at the different carcasses that were being skinned and gutted, several demons sitting with two or three creatures in front of them as they chattered and got through their work. It was obvious these demons were skilled at this, likely the normal hunting group while the rest did whatever other duties needed to be fulfilled. Though, for as many demons as were here, there sure weren't a lot of them.

"Well, we've got plenty here if you'd like to join us. The other groups are just now heading out."

_Ah. Waves._

Hiei glanced at Shikiyoku, catching her thoughts about him running. His lips twitched before he moved to sit on the only available log, catching a blade tossed at him by the demon across from him. "Make sure to keep the skins and furs of all of them. They'll be put to use soon." The demon turned to Shikiyoku, offering her a knife as well, a smirk of amusement on his face. "Wanna help your Champion? You're welcome to."

~!**!~

Akari's eyelids slid open and she turned an almost bored gaze onto Kurama, meeting his gaze pointedly with her own. "No," she responded in an even tone. "You're not… you don't _compliment someone _when you're…" she paused, not sure how to say it, "...unclothed." She promptly turned her back to him again. _*****_

Kurama's head tilted slightly to the side as if in consideration of her statement and he lifted a finger to his cheek thoughtfully.

"That's strange. I've always been told that's the _perfect _time to be throwing compliments around. In various states of undress of both parties, of course."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku took the offered knife with a blasé expression, moving her hand up and down a fraction to test the balance before meeting the eyes of the demon who handed it to her dead-on.

"I really don't think it's a very good idea." Her face may have appeared bored, but her tone was anything _but_. Almost absently, she began weaving it dextrously through her fingers, "Hand me a knife and demons tend to have this bad habit of becoming, shall we say..._distracted_. From whatever they're supposed to be doing." She easily caught the knife on the flat of her palm and gave the edge of the blade a flick with her finger, letting it twirl twice before catching it at the hilt, then flipping it around with a quick motion to pass it hilt-first back to the demon with a slightly lewd expression on her face. 3

Hiei seemed to be ignoring the banter around him, both from Shikiyoku and the demon who addressed her and the others who spoke amongst themselves. His hands made quick work of untying his own creatures from the length of rope he'd been carrying, and then he was busy first drawing the knife over the underbelly, and then easily, with practice that he'd learned decades ago, began skinning the furs first.

"Suit yourself," the demon responded with a wicked grin, taking the knife from Shikiyoku and using it with his own work. "Though, nothing bonds demons more than skinning a good hunt."

Hiei paused briefly and glanced up with a raised brow before turning back to his work.

"That only applies in the battlefield." he retorted, tone even but lips forming a sneer. "I suppose this is… similar."

"He's a fighter, not a lover. Good to know!"

~!**!~

Akari was momentarily taken aback by Kurama's straightforward retort, and for a minute she wasn't able to think of anything to _counter _him. Except..

"But _we _are not…" she paused, again searching for better vocabulary, and coming up short, "in such a situation. Thus, you are not allowed, and should _get ready _so we can go. oh I dunno, visit your friends." _*****_

Kurama made it a point to stand for a moment longer smiling down at Akari.

"First of all, we don't _have _to go anywhere yet. And secondly, there's no need for that look. I'm sure you'll learn how to outfox a fox _someday._"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku felt her eyebrow, no her entire body, quirk at the last comment the demon made.

_You're telling me._

She chose to address his first comment.

"Am I _really _one you need to lecture about _bonding _with, love?" Shikiyoku lazily reached her hand out, palm up like she had when she'd taken the knife, and ribbons of her yellow energy sensuously extended seemingly out of nowhere from along her arm upper arm below the elbow, wrapping about it like living snakes before twirling away from her skin and twisting through the air to caress gently at the demon's cheek and neck before Shikiyoku moved her fingers towards her palm and then moved her hand and arm back towards her torso, the ribbons reluctantly pulling away, uncurling back towards her before disappearing as they moved up her arm from where they came. 3

For a moment, Hiei wasn't paying attention, only skinning the creature before him. So, when Shikiyoku's energy wove into the air about him, he briefly glanced up to see why, then turned back down to his work, deciding to let her do as she wished. It wasn't like he could stop her anyway, even if he so desired to do so.

The other, however, grinned even wider at Shikiyoku as her energy snaked across the way to him, just touching his cheek and leaving behind remnants of warmth and the scent of her being. His eyes stayed trained on hers, and despite the spell she seemed to weave about him, his mouth moved with the words he'd been about to say. "Even if you wanted _me_ as your love, it simply wouldn't happen." His lips twitched again, almost knowingly at her, and he turned his eyes to the coils of energy that disappeared again.

"Though, I'm sure you could change that, but it would not be what either of us really _desire_, now would it?" He met her gaze again, this time to wink at her and turn his eyes down to the pile of small creatures near him.

~!**!~

There were several things that popped into Akari's mind at that moment, but they all seemed to jumble together and she found herself momentarily scowling at Kurama. She sorted through her thoughts with a huff before opening her mouth again.

"First off, _no_," she said, though she wasn't sure why. "Second," she paused, sensing a bit of hesitation within herself but choosing to ignore it altogether, "you _yourself_, at this very moment, are not a fox. Simply a redheaded boy with a smart mouth." _*****_

"Fox or not at this exact moment, I _have _learned from the best." Kurama grin wickedly, "There's no denying my heritage, currently able to manifest or not." He dropped the expression and shrugged, "But if that's the best you can do, we'll simply have to train you better."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's face remained in the expression she'd had the whole time, with one eyebrow raised archly and a half-smile on her lips.

"'It simply _wouldn't_ happen?'" Shikiyoku repeated skeptically, "I'm afraid you simply can't _imagine _what I desire. And I could easily _convince _you to desire whatever _I _wished." Her sparkling eyes belied her apparent eagerness to mold him to her will. 3

The demon paused, again looking up to meet Shikiyoku's gaze, this time with a calm, thoughtful stare as he considered her words, her expression, and even what he could _feel _from her. He blinked slowly at her once before turning his eyes to the Champion, who appeared deaf to the subject at hand, and then turned his eyes meaningfully back at Shikiyoku.

"I'm sure you could. I don't doubt your abilities, _Lover_." The emphasis on the word was, quite frankly, meant to contradict what he'd said earlier about her Champion, the _fighter_.

_Two sides of one coin at times._

"I hope you have no place to be. We plan on putting together an actual feast today, in your honor and for our gratitude."

~!**!~

Akari's jaw flexed a bit, her teeth grinding at Kurama's words as she turned to look at him again. And then her expression shifted to a neutral one and she was shrugging. For a moment, she had nothing to say since the facade was rather difficult to keep up. "I bet _that _would be fun." she said, tone sarcastic, "Spending several hours with one person, reading a dictionary for a warm up and making sexual jokes as the first exercise." _*****_

Kurama blanched, "A _dictionary_? Oh _no_. That sounds _terribly _tedious. Not to mention the fact that the _point _of innuendo is that you _aren't _directly coming out and saying something. No, not just _studying,_ that simply won't do. It would definitely be more of a _hands-on _experience."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku couldn't help what she knew was a visible flinch that time, making a slight noise of protest through her nose. The demon's eyes passing from her to Hiei and back was not wasted on her and her jaw snapped shut, teeth clenching together as this time her eyebrow really did quirk. The right one.

She worked her tongue around in her mouth, but refused to so much as glance at the fire demon who sat diligently working nearby.

"Tch," She finally scoffed, her voice very low in a mutter as she finally turned away, "As _if _anyone cares what I do."

_As if __**he **__cares what I do._

She stalked for the white-haired Elder she knew to be on the other side of the encampment. 3

The demon raised a single bronze brow at Shikiyoku's flinch, before resettling back into place and even pulling downwards into a silent apology that was, truthfully, only half serious. He couldn't feel their bond, as he knew there was one, but what he _could _feel was the underlying trust they had in one another, the underlying _dependence _upon the other.

And it seemed only one of them knew they depended on the other.

"You'd be surprised, Iro." he responded to her before turning back to his work, allowing her to take her leave without his protest. He didn't glance up when the curiosity of the Champion made the red-eyed demon check the area, eyes obviously following the seductress before turning down again.

"Hey, Kitseki, you still have that extra blade?" someone called to him from a few yards away.

~!**!~

The sound Akari made broke all forms of her facade, making her eyes narrow at Kurama and her jaw flex again from… several different emotions. Ire was the first to be registered, and the first to be acted upon. She stood abruptly, hand grabbing her bag of clothes, and she moved around the couch.

As she passed Kurama, she tossed the bag at him, aimed for his face and not tossed very lightly, before continuing on without pause.

Out the door, slamming it as she went, at which point she took to pacing the sidewalk outside. "Stupid, irritating," a few more words came to mind, but wouldn't leave her lips, "_fox!" __*****_

"Oh dear." Kurama easily caught the bag, "Was that too far? I can never tell with you." His expression never faltered until she had left the building, at which his free hand came up to cover his lips lightly with his fingers in the tiniest of smiles.

"I like you too, Akari!" He called, louder after the door was shut, finally losing it and biting his lips to keep from laughing so hard that she might hear. He glanced down at the dog still in the room.

"I haven't the faintest idea what could have _possibly _made her storm out like that." He told Nabu innocently, "She has such irrational moods."

Kurama glanced in the bag, seeing that these clothes were at least salvageable-unlike his own-and tossed them in the direction of the washer and dryer units before finally turning to go upstairs and actually get dressed.

...as amusing as it would be to just follow her outside.

Kurama paused on the steps.

A smile spread across his lips, but he shook his head.

_I'll save that one for next time._

~!**!~

Shikiyoku nearly threw her hands up in the air.

Of course, she also nearly made a grab for the nearest attractive male demon-of which she passed three in Northern garb along her path.

Neither happened of course.

_The foppish demon's offer doesn't sound quite so bad anymore, does it, __**lover**__? _She thought to herself ruefully, even going so far as to glance about and see if she spotted him.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily as her mood stipulated at that exact moment, she did not in fact see him in the immediate area, otherwise she might have marched right up to him and taken him for herself. And then run away with him.

Her skin twinged at that last part.

_Okay, __**maybe **__not run away with him._

_..._

"_I desire your presence."_

_..._

Shikiyoku grumbled nonsensically to herself.

_Fine, fine. __**Not**_ _run away with him._

But nine levels did that offer sound amazing right about now.

"Ah, Iro. Good." The white-haired Elder said as Shikiyoku approached. "A few of us were hoping you would demonstrate the fire dance you did for us last night."

"You gotta fire demon on yah?" Shikiyoku rumbled, still in her previous mood.

The Elder either did not notice or chose to ignore her.

"At your shervish, lady!" Uryo grinned, stepping up from somewhere behind the Elder.

Shikiyoku gave Uryo a dry look.

"Are you sure this is a good idea for you right now?"

"When have I ever shteared you wrong, my lady?"

The flushed across Uryo's face was impossible to ignore, but Shikiyoku only lifted an eyebrow and said nothing.

"That's settled then." The Elder began walking back towards the bonfire from the night before and Shikiyoku held out a hand to stop her and shook her head.

"Oooh no, I'm not going to be paraded around for the entire village here." She folded her arms over her chest obstinately. "You want a lesson with a few of the tribe present, sure. But I start dancing for everyone and you'll never let me stop."

"Fair enough." The Elder conceded mildly, as if she had expected Shikiyoku to say as much, and turned to lead them away from the main tents.

Uryo fell back to walk alongside Shikiyoku, hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"Shomething's bothering you."

"Oh really." Shikiyoku replied blandly.

"Yesh." Uryo scratched his head. "Want to talk about it?"

Shikiyoku stared up at him and for once the fire apparition felt a trifle uncomfortable under her gaze, shifting his shoulders about absently as he broke the eye-contact first.

"You don't want to know." Shikiyoku said darkly, finally turning away.

"I don't?" Uryo looked up at the sky a little, pondering the question. "Then why'd I ask?"

"Over fifteen _**years **_now." Shikiyoku seethed at him from between her teeth as they walked, almost causing the words to come out like a hiss. "_That's _how long it's been, Uryo."

_And getting an offer like that demon just gave me seems to have reminded my body of that._

She nearly twitched.

He mouthed 'fifteen years' with a puzzled look as if he didn't understand what it meant at first, a little slow on the uptake, and then his head began to nod and his mouth formed an 'o' shape.

"But what about your Ch-" He interrupted himself before he went any farther, his eyes growing big, his brows drawing together tightly a moment after, and his mouth forming the 'O' as if he had just seen someone get smacked across the face with a ton of bricks.

Shikiyoku didn't really know how much Uryo actually understood in that moment, and frankly, neither did she _want _to know. Suffice it to say that it appeared to stop him before he questioned her about it into his own grave. Or possibly into her bed. One of the two.

A few demons from the tribe had gathered together for the demonstration, all of which Shikiyoku was fairly sure she recognized as among those dancing the night before.

If she did it right, this would be a fantastic way to let off some steam.

"Do you require some sort of outer covering, Iro?" A dancer asked of her.

Shikiyoku shook her head slightly, face frowning as she walked through the would-be onlookers and stretched her neck to either side.

As much as she may have made it seem that Uryo being drunk would be a hindrance, in truth she figured his focus was likely _better _in such a state than it had been when they did this previously.

"What we did last night, Uryo, if you please." Shikiyoku faced them and closed her eyes, taking a relatively relaxed stand as the dancers moved to sit down several feet away in front of her, all the tension across her forehead vanishing. She took a deep breath. "Fans as well." She added.

There was a moment of held breath as they saw her shoulders relax, and then Shikiyoku's arms began to move meticulously, wrists leading the motion, the left rising straight towards the onlookers and moving to stretch above her head, the right at the same speed extending out perpendicular with her body.

Just as they reached the peak of their movement, several things happened at once. Shikiyoku's wrists snapped into position, finishing their pose, her head whipped with exact timing to look over her right shoulder, and in that same instant, her entire body was set aflame with roiling red and orange and yellow fire, little tongues leaping out from her blazing face and wrists when she snapped them, the same fiery fans from the night before whooshing into existence as if held in her fingers.

Her movements after that were measured with pinpoint accuracy, first her arms coming back to the middle with the fans as well as her profile turning forward so they could see her burning countenance, eyes shut calmly.

Her feet started next as she deliberately began taking steps, heel to toe curving delicately upon the grass mere inches at a time before lifting again, never singing a single blade despite the inferno. Her back would arch, flames encasing her entirely as from the beginning, licking along her skin, but never appearing to cause pain or sear her flesh as their intensity might suggest.

Each time she would snap the fans into position when required, flutters of fire would wave off the ends of them into the air, and the heat around her made for a hazy aura to the eye.

Her audience sat mesmerized, even though her eyes remained closed and she released no power, all of them able to hear in their heads the ancient music she followed from an era long past, the sound nearly floating in the air about them as they looked on.

As Uryo watched, his eyes lost a bit of their drunken glaze, a portion of him concentrating almost without his direct influence upon the fire that did not just _hover _above her skin, but was actually in full contact with it.

His soberness grew out of the realization that he _knew _the steps she was taking, knew what was coming next.

Her dance was a double-sword technique he had not seen used in ages-modified to be used with fans, but still, all the steps were there-but one he had been trained in, and his eyes followed her zen-like motions, taking appreciative note of exactly how precise she made each movement of the deadly art.

Her skill was...unmatched.

This was most definitely _not _the dance he, his fire, had done with her the night before, and upon reflection he felt no surprise at her choice of the meditative style which she had decided to perform.

After all...fifteen years was a, uh, long time for such a thing, to put it mildly. Especially since it was _her_. He had no idea how _she _of all demons had managed that one. And keeping in mind all the things he had come to realize of her Champion last night...he found himself unable to quantify just how much longer it would be, if her circumstances did not change.

Suffice it to say he thought she might be using this routine a lot more in the future, if she had not been doing so already. 3

~!**!~

Hiei glanced up briefly when he felt eyes on him, meeting the gaze of the demon across from him. He didn't blink, and neither did Hiei, though there was no tension between the red gaze and the grey one. There was curiosity from the other, while Hiei merely waited for a moment, waiting for whatever he seemed to be calculating, before giving up and turning down again. This time when his eyes followed his hand's movement, he wasn't consumed by his work.

He was aware of his surroundings again, listening for whatever-

"I don't think we've formally introduced ourselves, Champion." Again, Hiei glanced up, though his hands continued working slowly, peeling skin away from meat and bone. "I'm Kiseki, leader of the hunts in the Northern Tribe." From there, he went about naming demons, who either nodded and waved at him when they noticed, or simply continued their offhand banter with one another.

"Hiei." came his lone, even response as he, for the third time, turned his eyes down.

"I bet being referred to only as _Champion_ gets a bit…. monotonous from time to time, hm?" When the fire demon didn't respond, Kiseki gave a chuckle. "Then again, you seem indifferent to both." There was a pause, a lull in the one-sided conversation where they both continued skinning and gutting, tossing away unnecessary bits of the creatures and piling up the meats and skins that would be of use.

"I had expected you two to be gone by dawn."

Truthfully, Hiei had _planned _on being gone by then. But… whether he _wanted _to be gone or not… that was a different story. He actually enjoyed this group, as he had the last, and it brought back older memories of times long past for him. Times he'd almost forgotten while in Human World.

And the thought of staying was becoming much more than a simple thought, turning into a dangerous temptation that he was having trouble talking himself out of.

_They can handle a few rogues. They aren't the first, nor last to provide a challenge._

"What has you staying here, when you could be elsewhere?"

"Business, I suppose."

"Isn't it always, with your line of work?"

Hiei glanced up briefly. "_Line of work _isn't how I'd put it."

"Oh?" Kiseki waited, quietly working but with a curious air, for the fire demon to continue. And after a few moments of silence, he gave a chuckle. "Don't talk much, do you?"

Again, Hiei gave no answer.

~!**!~

AKari paced for a bit outside the house, grumbling nonsensically to herself with a hand occasionally rubbing roughly at her face, over her lips and chin. And then she huffed once, turned back to face the house with crossed arms at the shout she heard, and considered yelling back. But she didn't.

Instead, she moved to sit on the porch steps, her elbows finding her knees and her chin resting in her hands, her body leaning forward as she sighed.

_Okay, so I did that to myself. You win._

Her eyes took to watching the crowds move in front of her, a couple of people glancing in her direction from the sidewalk as they passed, but otherwise paying her no mind whatsoever. And she did just the same to the passersby. _*****_

Kurama came out of the house dressed in mundane, normal clothes with Nabu at his heels.

"There isn't particularly anyplace that _I _need to go." Kurama told Akari as he stood in the doorway. "Though if we are going to leave, I would rather head to Kuwabara's because I told Shizuru to call me if she got wind of anything."

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku came to the last steps, her mind had stilled like a glass lake undisturbed by ripples of thought.

She finished, and the fire peeled away from her skin into nothingness and she finally reopened her eyes, blinking twice in the light of the day before they cleared to look beyond those gathered relatively near her feet.

The Elder and Uryo stood still, for a moment entranced until Shikiyoku gave a small smile that broke the moment and the other demons at her feet took a collective breath before bursting up onto their feet and rushing for her, all talking excitedly as they gathered around.

The Elder finally came back to herself and let out a long, silent woosh of air as if she'd been holding it back the whole time.

Her eyes flickered to Uryo, who was still gazing thoughtfully at the demon in their midst.

"Quite an enchanting display, Iro." The Elder took her eyes off of Uryo and the demons around Shikiyoku quieted a trifle.

Shikiyoku's small smile was a calm one, her green eyes reflecting that same peace, "You should have seen the form I cut as a true demon." Her eyes grew wickedly self-assured.

"A sight to experience, I'm sure." 3

~!**!~

Hiei tossed aside the last of the small creatures, the fur to his right and the salvageable meats to the left, the meat slapping onto a pile that had been growing for a while now. He gathered the intestines, the unneeded insides and tossed those too into a growing pile, the same sound as before floating through the air. Then he stretched his back and reached to the side, grabbing the larger, lizard-like creature and dragging it towards himself, just as quickly taking the knife in his hand and beginning to scrape the scales away.

The sound was one he hadn't been expecting, the sound of blade on scale. Instead of the normal sound he had been accustomed to, even expected from such a creature, the sound was more like…. dragging claws down a board, but… a bit less severe.

He paused and glared at the creature, ignoring the laughter from a few demons nearby as he shifted the body, testing the stroke this time and finding that there was no sound when the knife was dragged the opposite direction than normal.

"Tell me, Ch- Hiei. Which level are you from?"

"Doesn't mean much, does it?"

There was a chuckle from Kiseki. "You're right. Though, it would be easier to describe the creatures around here with other creatures to refer to."

"No need."

Another chuckle and the demon was turning to the others, saying something or another about some subject Hiei didn't listen in to.

"Tell you what," Kiseki said suddenly, voice loud to gain Hiei's attention. "Since you killed that one, it is reserved specifically for you and your… partner. It's a rarity around these woods, so you'll be eating better than anyone else here. It's part of our thanks."

_What does __**that **__matter?_

~!**!~

Akari didn't look back at Kurama when she heard the door open, nor did she open her eyes that had, at some point, slid closed as he spoke. She didn't move from her spot either, momentarily confused. "I thought the point of leaving was to find Yusuke and the others? I mean, you _called _him, but I figured you'd want to _see _them as well."

Her eyes finally slid open and she shifted, turning her head so that she could peer over her shoulder at the redhead. "It's… whatever you wish to do, quite frankly." _*****_

Kurama said nothing at first, moving to sit down next to her and recline on the steps, leaving the door open behind him so that he might hear if the phone were to ring.

"I'm satisfied for the moment that notifying the correct people has been enough. I really don't see much point in doing anything else when we don't know more."

~!**!~

"Alright, you've had your fun." The Elder said in a no-nonsense sort of way, clapping her hands together twice at the demons who had scrambled to start speaking to Shikiyoku again. They grew quiet, if a little sullen that she was breaking them up. "I would like to speak with the Iro. Alone." Her eyes gleamed meaningfully at the others.

"But you hadn't even _asked _her yet!" One of the dancers complained.

"We want to know!"

"We want the answer to be _yes_." A third pointed out with a grin.

Shikiyoku looked at the Elder as if waiting.

The Elder sniffed derisively, "They wish you to give lessons."

The demons clamored to correct her, but Shikiyoku could make no sense of their arguments.

The Elder held a hand up and the demons hushed.

"On dancing."

"It's been done before." Shikiyoku allowed, the demons around her growing excited again.

"But not right _now_." The Elder insisted, voice loud enough to cut through the demons.

They grumbled and dispersed when she gave them another grave look.

"Uh, might I exchange a quick word with Shikiyoku first?" Uryo turned to the Elder for permission and she nodded.

Uryo closed the distance between them and put a hand at Shikiyoku's back to lead her a little bit further before turning to her.

"I'm growing restless here." His eyes darted about the clearing, "And it would ease my mind to know what Rae is up to, so I'm going to take my leave for the moment." He turned back to Shikiyoku. "If I get word of anything I'll likely come myself rather than sending a message along."

Shikiyoku nodded. "You are greatly appreciated, Uryo."

Uryo gave her a lopsided grin, a portion of his dark bangs falling over his eyes.

"If you happen to see Ryou...tell him I've been looking for him."

"Will do."

The fire demon nodded farewell and took a step to the left to get clear of Shikiyoku before he disappeared completely, disturbing not so much as the wind near her as he left.

The Elder stepped forward and gestured for Shikiyoku to join her in a walk.

"Shall we?" 3

~!**!~

AKari let one of her hands fall from her chin, that elbow still lazily draped over her knee and her hand hanging lazily in the space between her knees. Her eyes followed Kurama as he sat, inclining back almost as lazily as Akari suddenly felt. She nodded once at the redhead before turning her eyes to the moving crowds at the sidewalk again, watching humans pass by, some in a hurry and others sauntering by.

"I have… nothing in mind for the day." she finally replied, feeling a bit reluctant after the scene a few minutes ago. "Or rather, what I _want _to do is out of the question, because _where _I want to be is currently locked to all patrons, in and out." _*****_

"Agreed." Kurama appeared slightly irked at the remembrance. "We simply don't have the capacity or the...'technology' at our disposal. Neither do we have a way of contacting them."

He fell silent for a moment.

"You know, Spirit World was already backed up. Behind. Can you imagine what this is doing to their quota? I'm thankful I'm not dead right now, that's all I have to say about it."

~!**!~

The Elder did not speak until they had reached the treeline of the forest that surrounded the clearing, and then she turned so that her and Shikiyoku would be walking along it.

"You cannot stay long."

It was not a question, but neither was it a statement meant to say they were not wanted. Simply a fact.

Shikiyoku nodded, "For now it would seem my presence is of little consequence, but while you may wish it otherwise, due to the circumstances of my current Champion and I's relationship, the dampening effect currently reducing my aura will not last."

It was the Elder's turn to nod. She had thought as much.

"You do not seem in a hurry to leave at least."

Shikiyoku felt...conflicted about the observation. And for the first time wondered if she would ever be able to find a home among others, or if she would be forced to stay on the move, perhaps wandering from dance to dance once more as in the past. If for slightly different reasons.

"The other tribes will be clamoring for an audience with you. News that the North is on the rise has already traveled to the borders of the level."

"I do not know if returning to the old days is an option for me." There would be many complications for such, the least of which being the pending return to Human, or rather Spirit World. Shikiyoku thought that if she provided Koenma with all the information she knew of Otento, plus that which they gathered from Gekijou, that perhaps she could garner her own return to Demon World, warrant be damned, along with Hiei's.

They could figure things out together from there.

"It is something to consider." The Elder's eyes turned in towards the encampment as they traversed the circumference of it. "Our lands will always be open to you. As I'm sure Central Tribe has said the same and so would the others were they here to speak with you."

"Well, for that at least, you all have my thanks."

The Elder smiled, "Strange. For it is truly _us _who should be thanking _you_."

Shikiyoku did not reply. 3

~!**!~

Akari gave no response to Kurama for a minute, taking to considering the amount of paperwork and such piling up. Quite frankly, being dead at this moment couldn't be near as bad as being _Koenma _at this moment. The thought made her release a single snicker at the thought, one she tried to keep within by pursing her lips together.

Akari's eyes moved, pointing towards an area of the crowd she'd thought she'd seen one of her own shadows move, but saw nothing out of the norm and turned to Kurama calmly. "It wouldn't be so bad, I'm sure, if _we _didn't know what was going on and know the cause of it. I think that makes it more… pressing." she released a long breath through her nostrils. "Because we have nothing to do but _wait, _and I don't know about you, but I feel like it's getting close to time for waiting to not be a possibility anymore." _*****_

Kurama wasn't sure about _feeling _since he wasn't feeling much of anything at that exact moment, but he could rationalize that her words held much truth to them.

And yet he still couldn't figure out what the point of it all was. Okay, sure, they bring demons to Human World to attack Spirit World, but to overthrow Enma? Was that really possible?

Not to mention the fact that he for some reason kept coming back to his 'shiny' idea; Youko would only make such an elaborate ruse in the event that a shiny object might be obtained as a reward.

But what on earth-perhaps, 'what in Spirit World'-would drive someone to gather an entire army? 3

A long sigh was released from Akari's lungs and her eyelids slid shut for a moment as she listened to the area around her, to the sound of humans moving by and the breeze beginning to pick up. She could hear, some distance away, a fire engine blaring its sirens down the road as it moved towards whatever catastrophe had struck the world of Humans.

She could smell the cold front coming closer, feel the minute changes in the air as it began to cool down. And she could feel the sun's rays beginning to fade, hiding behind clouds that rolled through.

When her eyes opened again, she was searching for the shadow she had thought she'd seen earlier, eyes roving the crowd for a dark mass of nothingness, and finding no such thing. And yet she felt watched.

Akari shifted and pushed herself to stand, turning her head to Kurama. She thought of various places to go that wouldn't be _here_, and then turned again towards the street. _Where are you? _"You know, I liked a few of the shops we passed earlier." she said nonchalantly, though not looking at Kurama as she again searched for the shadow she was now _sure _was moving about freely, without her consent. Yet, it wasn't requiring her energy to do so… _*****_

Kurama hesitated, reluctant to _go _anywhere when they could be called and needed at a moments notice from the phone inside the house.

He stood up anyway, choosing his words carefully, "If they're on the way to Kuwabara's apartment, I suppose I wouldn't object." 3

Akari didn't object, only nodded to Kurama and waved for him to lead the way, not exactly remembering where Kuwabara's apartment actually _was_. At the time, she hadn't made note of its location, but really, the point was not to _shop_, but for her to weed out the alien shadow that-

_No, I would have felt another presence._

So, it didn't belong to another Shadow Wielder. But then, _what _had the creatures of darkness moving? Watching? If they left the area, and she no longer felt watched, then she'd know that it was Kurama's _home _being watched, and that could mean something completely different.

If it lingered with her and Kurama, then… She'd simply figure out why it was interested. _*****_

Kurama went back into the house to grab the spare key, as well as an extra set up in the drawer in his room, and put on his shoes, Nabu following him out the front door when he went past it again.

He put the spare key back in the plant-pod, locked the door with the extra set, and then turned to lead the way down the sidewalk, crossing the street to where he knew the shops would be and meandering down that side of the road, waiting for Akari to indicate which one she wished to explore. 3

Quietly, Akari meandered down the sidewalk, eyes roving over the shops but entire mind consumed with the presence she could still feel. Meaning it wasn't locked on Kurama's home and was not a potential danger to his family. Her eyes found a shop that smelled of a fresh bakery within when the doors opened, and without pause, she turned and headed inside, deciding that she'd kill two birds with one stone here: grab Nabu his favorite non-meaty treat and see just how far the shadow was willing to follow.

She moved inside through the automatic doors, pausing only to take in the fresh smell of rolls and donuts and fresh-baked loaves of bread. She didn't know why, but Nabu's favorite just so happened to mirror her own: the buttery, cheesy bread that was normally fresh baked whenever she found it. Never stale, always steaming when she tore it apart.

Of course, Nabu sat outside, knowing that he wasn't allowed inside such a store due to all of the open produce areas and such.

As she approached the counter at the back of the store, she pointed, finger just touching the glass casing that separated her from the mouthwatering varieties. "Two of those, please." She asked, then turned to Kurama with a curious gaze of _do you want anything?_

And behind him she saw the shadow creature dissipate altogether when her eyes found it. "I'm paying, if you want anything." _*****_

Kurama absently followed Akari, lost in his intertwining thoughts which were leading him nowhere nearer to an answer as to _why _the fake Youko wanted to get in Spirit World.

He missed Akari's expression completely, only giving her a mild, "Hm?" When she finally spoke.

He shook his head slightly once his brain played back her question which took a beat, eyes still turned inward and musing upon the possibilities, ignoring entirely the grumbling sound his stomach made as if unaware of it. 3

* * *

Kiseki \- miracle; wonder; marvel

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	60. Episode 144 - Contentment, Kuwabara(s)

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Dot Net Users and Anonymous Readers alike!

Sixty Chapters. Good grief, what were we thinking. xD

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari escorts Kurama to his home so that he might be able to get cleaned up,  
and before he gets into the shower, he calls on Shizuru to get her feel on the situation.

Akari leaves Nabu to watch over Kurama and goes to get new clothes and clean up herself,  
and when she returns its to Kurama standing over a counter in the kitchen,  
towel around his waist and hair dripping as if he had been interrupted by the phone.

Kurama is talking with Yusuke, and doesn't appear to notice Akari,  
who has gotten caught up in examining from a distance the scars covering his skin.

Approaching her after finishing his conversation, Kurama spends a bit of time  
'torturing' Akari with some 'innocent' wordplay before going upstairs to change.

The two of them decide to make the trek to Kuwabara's apartment.

~!**!~

After being 'propositioned' by a demon wishing to take her as his mate,  
and subsequently denying him and using Hiei as an escape route,  
Shikiyoku follows Hiei over to where the demons are gutting their prey,  
but she gets called over by the Elder who asks her if she would do a demonstration of her dancing.

Uryo assists her, and the dance calms her body down from the agitation it had gained  
from the other demon reminding her how long she has gone without any mating at all.

After the dance, the Elder takes Shikiyoku aside and lets her know that she and Hiei are welcome  
for as long as they wish to stay around, and may use the Elders' Tent for the duration of their stay.

And before either Shikiyoku or Hiei realize it, a week passes...

* * *

There was a lot of hustle and bustle, demons moving around, some taking tents down as they left for other places to be, breaking away despite any reluctance they felt towards leaving. Each demon had things to do, and with so many demons around, there were times when Hiei was gone all day long, giving a helping hand with anything asked, merely to elongate his time in this world, on this level.

He'd decided a few days ago to stay, whether that meant in this encampment or traveling the levels, avoiding the first and second altogether. And quite frankly, he felt it had been the best decision he'd made in a while.

He felt like he was… at home. As if he belonged. The tribe here welcomed him and Shikiyoku with open arms, even so much as assigning specific tasks to the pair while they stayed.

For instance, Hiei was currently directing flow of traffic in an area that had been asked to be cleared, the trees being taken for firewood. A demon would ask which would be easiest to chop down, he'd burn away excess leaves and such, and then use his energy to break the tree away from the soil, causing it to fall, at which point other demons would use various means of attack to break the bark into smaller logs, others catching and hauling away the log.

It had been something he'd taken from Uryo, that first night of their stay.

Occasionally, a demon would shout at him about some creature or another moving towards camp, and he'd add it to the pile of trespassing creatures after catching it.

Really, he was rather entertained.*

The days began early and ended late for Shikiyoku.

Shikiyoku hardly had her cheek hit the furs in the Elders' Tent-gracious accommodations that remained open freely for her and Hiei's use-but to have her eyes close almost immediately and then find herself opening them again for the next day feeling almost as if she'd never slept at all.

There was no time for thinking about returning to Human World, her Champion did not make any indications as such and so she did not ask, and truthfully the farther away the encounter with the demon-who-would-be-her-mate got, the easier it was for her to forget it, and for her body to forget it as well. She did spend the very next night forced to get up when her dreams turned...graphic, but after skirting the edge of the encampment and dancing that same meditative dance as she had done the previous day until her mind rid itself of such things, she had come back to bed and not been awakened until morning.

The near-franticness of her days also meant she never got a chance to think about the last time she'd gotten to exchange two words with Hiei privately, but she always felt him nearby and had no quiet second to grow concerned or to truly come to miss him. The spell she had woven over the both of them to combine their energy had not even lasted that one night, but the effects of that closeness lingered.

A large portion of those she had bonded ended up permanently taking up residence with the Northern tribe, a few heading off to make smaller pockets of safety, but still remaining relatively near to what was now considered the main encampment. This slight change in numbers did little to relieve how much work was needed to maintain the new size, and for the first few days everyone was scrambling around to keep up with the work, though those few days also consisted of long nights of feasting and that of course did nothing to help. There was talk of eventually merging all the Northerners into one large encampment, but no one particularly wanted to turn into a village or town, so the thought was merely passed around as amusement, with the realization that the main encampment as it was now would likely be broken into smaller parts before too long.

The demons seemed to think Shikiyoku knew much more than she actually did, and there were many one-on-one conferences with members of the tribe on a vast range of subjects, many of which did revolve around _desire_-usually how to snag the demon of their liking or various seduction techniques-but there were other questions posed at her that she had to wonder what made them think _she _was any more of an expert than they. Which roots for healing, when was the best time to capture a certain beast...that sort of thing. All of which were completely out of her realm of typical activity.

Probably the strangest task was actually assisting in two separate births that occurred within the week that passed by before she had a moment to lift her head and check her surroundings.

She did in fact end up teaching a few of the more precocious demons some simpler dances they could do at feast-times, and after that the lessons were always packed with eager faces.

After running around during the lit hours for such things as these, not an evening went by when she was not asked to perform. Oftentimes they asked for dance while the fires blazed merrily with eating and drinking all around, but once in a while they wanted stories.

It was during one such late night when Hiei was assisting with clearing away lumber and the occasional creature passing by that Shikiyoku had both told a tale and danced at least twice, and then had been dragged away to the other side of the fire by a handful of the tribesmen where she sat next to Douji on one of the logs pulled up as a part of the giant circle of demons surrounding the blaze, one hand holding a drink of some sort, playing with one of Douji's lur'mogs while the arm of the demon on her other side had been thrown over her shoulders as he laughed and joked with her and the other demons who had gathered around, a few sitting close at her feet, another three or so crowded behind her.

Her smile was genuine as she teased the lur'mog with a finger, her skin glistening with the sweat of her recent exertions, bits of her straight, black hair having come loose from the intricate braidings at the back of her head and the escapees were plastered to her small neck and shoulders which the garb of the Northerners left bare. She had taken to wearing their style quickly after realizing she would not be leaving with any sort of haste, and it seemed like each day a different demon approached her asking if they might weave her hair. Tonight it had beads and ribbons as adornment.

Shikiyoku's eyes were bright with the shine of the fire reflected in them as her merry laughter joined in with the demons around her, grinning and tossing in a comment of her own to them which set them all going again. 3

Demons scattered for a moment as the tree he'd burned through fell the wrong way, taking another tree with it. Hiei made quick work of the leaves in both trees, and even quicker work of the creatures that scattered from the collateral damage as more trees began to fall. After the initial scattering of the demons on hand, each demon who had been helping began working at the trees again, and before more than three trees could fall, Hiei and the others had cut through the bark of each tree and had stopped the domino-effect.

And with that amount of timber, the fire demon decided he'd done enough and sheathed his sword, recalling his energy and extinguishing any flames in the area simultaneously. While other demons gathered logs, Hiei gathered the carcasses of the creatures that had made a run for the camp, and made his way with the ten others who had asked his assistance.

"I think this'll hold us for the next three days, if used wisely." Kiseki commented to Hiei as he caught up. "You've been an immeasurable amount of help."

Hiei glanced at Kiseki from the corner of his eye, a sneer forming on his features. He would have thought this level to be _home _to fire demons such as himself.

"And those meats will do well for the next two days as well."

Hiei turned forward again as he approached the camp, lazily tossing the carcasses into the tent Kiseki had shown him earlier that week, designated _specifically _for the meats and pelts of nearby creatures. The loud laughter of the rest of the group passing by drowned out the sound of the rest of the tribe, but only for a minute as Hiei took a moment to breathe, finding that this was probably the first moment since that first night that he'd been able to do so.

And he decided now would be as good as any time to sit around, take a while to relax. "I'm done for the night," he informed Kiseki, who nodded once at him with a grin.

"I thought so."

With that, the fire demon turned and sauntered away from the older male, hands finding his cloak pockets as he followed the energy signature he hadn't had a chance to be around much recently. By the time he was standing nearby, watching her laugh will full intensity, he had realized just how much he enjoyed this. How much he- no _they _needed this.

It was so much better than being _stuck _in Human World, under the thumb of _Spirit World_. Here, they were free to do what they wished, free of any influence from unwanted parties.

And Shikiyoku was happier than he'd _ever _seen her, hoking with the group as she was. And all he could do was simply _watch _her laughter. Her pure, genuine laughter.

~!**!~

Akari sighed and held up three fingers to the girl behind the glass, who smiled kindly, nodded, and added a third roll to the bag, despite Kurama's verbal negatory. She took the brown paper bag from the girl, exchanging it for the proper amount of currency before turning to leave the area, saying a quiet thank you as she walked away.

Without hesitation, she passed Kurama a roll anyway, then pulled out a second one and stuck it between her teeth, letting it hang there as she reached in the bag for the last one, Nabu's. She let herself look for the shadow again, but it seemed she'd scared it off.

"T' Kuwawara'sh?" she asked around the roll as she stepped outside, stopped briefly to pass Nabu his own roll, who barked his thanks and accepted the treat with a wagging tail. _*****_

"Sure." Kurama replied absently, unaware until they started down the street that he had somehow ended up with a piece of bread in his hand.

He stared at it blankly for a second as they moved along towards Kuwabara's apartment before finally feeling the heat from it warming his palm and fingers and smelling the mixture of butter on the roll, which instantly had his stomach protesting at him for not consuming it.

With a small smile, he lifted it to his lips and took a bite, surprised at how flavorful he found it to be.

"Thank you." He gave Akari that same smile after swallowing, not realizing until that moment that he had actually been hungry.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku could feel him approaching, and she looked up over her shoulder at him, leaning back a little and her smile growing wider when she finally saw him and caught his red-eyed gaze.

The demons around her continued talking and laughing, having given the lur'mog some of the drink from their mugs and watching it hiccup and grow flushed while it smiled.

She appeared as if she were about to say something to him, her hand slipping behind the demon next to her to reach out towards him, but before she got very far, said demon leaned heavily into her and Shikiyoku shifted back in surprise, bumping shoulders with Douji.

"Give us a kiss, Iro." He kept coming, a bundle of good-humor, and Shikiyoku pulled her hands up to press gently into his chest and keep enough distance between them that he could not reach her.

She let out a laugh as she turned her face back forward so he could not get to her lips when he advanced on her still, "You're drunk, Zareru."

"And you're pretty," He grinned and shrugged, still leaning into her, "What's your point?"

The other demons did not stop their conversation, but they each had an eye on the pair, or rather on the less sober of the pair.

Douji stood, passing the lur'mog to Shikiyoku's lap and grabbing for the arm over her shoulders to get it off of her.

"Aaaaand that's when we take you to bed, Zareru. Here, help me out." He reached out and grasped at another of the demons at Shikiyoku's feet to pull him up and three or four of the other demons stood to help get Zareru off as well, though he blew a kiss at Shikiyoku as he was dragged away, the other demons around her beginning to separate off as well until she sat alone.

Shikiyoku took a drink from her mug as she grinned and shook her head, watching, and held her other hand at the back of the tipsy lur'mog so that it would not topple off her lap. 3

Red eyes had considered the arm around Shikiyoku's shoulder, and at first hadn't cared. He'd considered the hand she stretched to him, and frowned when she'd been stopped. His eyes watched as the other demons were quick to remedy the situation, and before he knew it he was standing there by himself and Shikiyoku was sitting as if she hadn't been with any others.

He eyed her a bit more before moving to stand in front of her, the warmth of the open flame behind him seeping through his cloak and reaching his skin beneath, making his muscles relax. Muscles that he hadn't realized were tense and tired.

"They're rather welcoming." he stated nonchalantly, as if he'd only just noticed. "and despite their numbers, not very bothersome."

~!**!~

Akari pulled away a piece of the bread, using her teeth to tear just enough away that she could eat and speak at the same time, though she didn't dare ignore the buttery, slightly garlic-y, very wonderful taste in her mouth. "It's Nabu's favorite, so I grab it when I can." She rolled the bread away from the inside of her cheek to chew now, eyes glancing down at the dog prancing very happily at her feet, roll still between his chops.

She smiled and swallowed her mouthful before speaking again, this time on the more serious matter. "You know, I can't come up with much of anything." She began with a small sigh. "I mean, for a reason. They don't seem the type to be doing this for a treasure of any sort, y'know?" When finished speaking, she tore another portion of the cheesy bread away and popped it into her mouth. _*****_

As Kurama listened, he bit through more of the bread.

"I agree." He added once he mouth was no longer full, sighing, "I sincerely wish we were able to at least _speak_ with Spirit World. I'm afraid we simply don't have enough insight into how the system works, and everything I've thought of as a possibility just doesn't ring true."

He took another bite, appearing thoughtful and brooding once again.

~!**~!

Shikiyoku's eyes followed Hiei as he moved, appreciating for the first time the fact that she had not been given a quiet moment to exchange so many words with her Champion in roughly a week.

She chose her statement carefully, "They are indeed...grateful."

Her eyes flickered over to see the last of the group hauling off Zareru around the corner of the tents and found that a frown had settled over her brows.

While she had experienced much camaraderie as the tribe enfolded her into their midst, for some reason the request for a kiss almost felt like a warning instead of a innocent flirtation.

She took another drink. 3

Hiei's eyes followed Shikiyoku's, watching the group until they were out of his sight, at which point he again turned to Shikiyoku, noting the tension in her forehead, the thoughts turning for a moment behind her eyes. And for some reason or another, he felt as if they needed to travel soon, away from this encampment despite the fact that he rather… enjoyed it.

"Your friend-" he began, referring to Shubou, "How far is his camp from here?" He considered stopping by, merely to say hello before they continued on to explore, because really, Hiei wanted to see the _whole _level. Not just the parts they had seen during their beeline for the information they required, and then their beeline to the first level.

Maybe she'd show him her clearing again, the place she'd referred to as 'home' when they'd first arrived in this level a few months ago.

Had it really been a few months? It certainly didn't feel like it.

"Hn," he hummed out thoughtfully as he turned his eyes around to the flames behind him. There could be _other _places she could show him, should she desire to do so. "Or any other place you wish to visit?" Because, at this point, he was almost convinced he'd be staying in Demon World for…. quite some time.

~!**!~

Akari nodded at Kurama absently, eyes taking in his expression before turning to her surroundings. She'd completely forgotten her real reason for wandering about at this point, and now she was simply taking in the route to Kuwabara's, making sure she remembered it should she require the knowledge later.

And the breeze was cooler now. _Much _cooler, and the air was moving enough to cause her bangs to occasionally slide into her view, which she remedied with a small toss of her head from time to time.

"What if.. they're trying to do what we don't think is possible?" she murmured, half thinking he wouldn't hear her musings. _*** **_

"The only thing I have considered to be 'impossible' out of all the options would be actually succeeding in overthrowing King Enma and taking over Spirit World." Kurama pointed out, "But _why_? What would actually be gained for doing it? What would drive any demon to such drastic measures?" Kurama pulled back from his roll as another thought occurred to him, "What could King Enma have done?"

~!**!~

"Shubou is behind us. To the Southeast." Shikiyoku provided, thoughtfully musing upon revisiting Central Tribe. "Though...that puts us within what is also considered Rae's territory."

Shikiyoku considered Hiei with that same thoughtful expression, "Where is it _you_ wish to go, fire-prince? What would you like to see?" 3

Hiei frowned at that revelation; he'd forgotten how close to that place the tribe had been. And it was _much _too close for his liking. Plus, it would cause unnecessary trouble for the peaceful tribe as well, he was sure. And that was simply… too bothersome. Best to stay away from that area for a while.

So he thought for a moment, until something else popped into mind, very similar to his earlier thought. His mouth reacted as if he'd bitten into the fruit, and he actually had to swallow a bit before letting his lips turn into a smirk and he gave his answer. "Your home." he said calmly, eyes flashing as he thought of the many fruit trees in that area, and just how calm it had been there. "And anything along the way."

~!**!~

A frown pulled Akari's lips downward as she chewed slowly, thoughtfully on the bread between her teeth. _If _that were the case, someone being dumb enough to go after Enma, then _what _would have caused such an uprising? It would make sense that it would put herself, Kurama, and the others _against _Foko and his crew, considering their employment with King Enma's son, but..

_Surely no one is __**that **__stupid._

But, if there was one thing she knew, it was that Foko and Otento were anything _but _stupid.

So that would mean they _wouldn't_, right?

…_.._

"Surely not." she said after a moment, eyes narrowing as her thoughts churned. _What would cause someone to have enough willpower to go against the strongest in all three worlds? Not the power, because Foko doesn't have to _take down _the big man in order to _become _the big man. _

_So what's the underlying reason?_

"_Akari?"_

She turned her eyes to Nabu, frowning. He'd interrupted her thoughts. "What?"

"_Why would someone with ill intentions be _good _to someone else?"_

"...They wouldn't, Nabu."

"_So why would fake Flowers be nice to you?"_

She made a sound of irritation. "I don't know, Nabu."

"_I mean, he didn't kill you. And even though I didn't like him, he was never mean to me. He even played actual _games _Akari."_

Another groan. Her head was starting to hurt. "I don't think anyone could take down King Enma, no matter _what _he did in the past or does in the future. So wouldn't that be a moot point? A lost cause?" _*****_

"Mm." Kurama intoned, unaware of the bits of conversation that occurred between Akari and Nabu. "Unless they know something we don't. So...say, by some twist of fate, they _do _manage to remove King Enma from power. My instincts tell me that _isn't _the point, that whatever is in it for those involved doesn't revolve around Enma being gone, though that will certainly be a perk for them. There's...something else. Something I can't put my finger on."

~!**!~

"Anything along the way…" Shikiyoku echoed, considering the statement as her eyes drew back to the fire.

She had the strangest sense as she did so and she blinked, seeing that on the other side of the fire, where others demons were gathered together in small groups, that occasionally one would be gazing back at her for no readily explained reason.

Shikiyoku sighed, her eyes growing a little sadder, and lowered her face to take another drink.

"We should leave sooner rather than later." She sounded wistful, a little melancholy slipping into her tone as if this had happened many times before where she would, as she came to put it, 'wear out her welcome.' Granted, with a visible mark of her Champion, things did not tend to happen quite this quickly. Not that said Champion ever _let _her stay longer than he wanted.

With her head down, she could see that her skin gleamed in the firelight, and not just with the sweat only now drying across her arms. 3

Hiei frowned slightly now at Shikiyoku, though he didn't turn around to see the cause. He figured it was due to their departure, though really, he himself didn't see it as much of a bad thing. Then again, he didn't know these lands, hadn't seen them all a million times or lived here for… who knew how long. He was curious, whereas she was not.

Still, he felt as if moving on were best at this point. Why, he didn't know. However, he'd learned long ago to trust his instincts.

"Then we'll part," he said calmly, watching her unblinkingly. "There's always time for another visit." After all, demons had much longer lifespans than other beings. And, quite frankly, he felt as if they'd overstayed their welcome, despite the hospitality and cheer they'd been given.

~!**!~

"What if they want to unite the three worlds?" Akari suddenly said, tone thoughtful and eyes distant. It was… closer than Foko taking the power out of mere greed. He wasn't…

_He isn't greedy. Not for possessions, I don't think. He's actually rather.._

_Caring._

"_You and I are enemies….. you'd do well to remember that."_

He'd said that, and yet…. He'd also once said they were _not _enemies. So which one was it? Why would a demon who had been so calm before, suddenly declare they were enemies- despite the obvious of Akari's own threat towards him.

_He could have killed me then. Why didn't he? _

"He's not…" she began, not realizing she was speaking aloud. "greedy by any aspect. He's actually… warm, in his own way." She made a thoughtful noise. _If only I knew his real name, then I could…_

_Then I could research him, find files in Spirit World of him._

_Then again, it'd be over by now if that were the case. Right? _

She rubbed at her face with her hand, suddenly forgetting the roll in her other hand. _*****_

Kurama's mind froze for a moment, stuck on Akari's observation. He waited for a dismissal of the idea, but it never came. Neither, however, did he feel affirmation that she was correct, exactly.

"So, the fake Youko wishes to unite the three worlds. How exactly would removing King Enma from power allow him to do that? There is still something missing, a puzzle piece we haven't yet." He did send her a smile, "I think that's more on track though. Maybe Genkai would have a suggestion."

~!**!~

"I have not trekked through the Ninth Level in many ages." Shikiyoku found the thought pleased her, considering who her company would be _this _time.

She grew silent for another moment as she finished off her drink and then sat idly running her fingers over the rim, the lur'mog having fallen asleep in her lap.

"I am..." She hesitated, voice quieter than before as she slowly continued, "Sorry we must keep moving." It was her fault, after all. "I have grown fond of this place. I could be content here…"

Given the circumstances of their pact, of the ritual, Hiei would be forced to wander for as long as he was her Champion, never able to stay long in one place among other demons. Never able to call such a place 'home.' 3

Hiei raised a single, thin brow at Shikiyoku before releasing a scoff at her. As _if _he'd become troubled with traveling. Did she _not _pay attention and realize he'd been _stuck _in one world? Traveling would be a welcomed aspect of his life, to say the least.

"Leaving does not mean you will not return." he countered, turning as if to walk away, but not moving any further than turning his side to her. "If you're fond, then we'll be back." Of course, it wouldn't be right away, but he didn't care. He knew the nomadic life well, after all.

They'd keep moving as much as she needed, and he wouldn't care. Why? Because he hadn't before, why would he now?

~!**!~

Akari made a sound of confusion. "I thought we were going to _Kuwabara's?" _She asked, suddenly very, very lost. Who was Genkai, and why hadn't she heard of this one?

_Great, _her thought process had been lost. She sighed and stuffed the remaining piece of bread in her mouth, turning a slightly grumpy look onto Kurama, as if saying he'd lied to her.

"Ma'e up yo' min'." she grumbled around the bread. _*****_

Kurama regarded Akari with amusement. "We're most certainly going to Kuwabara's. I don't think either of us would particularly _want _to make the trek out to her lands at the moment. I was merely saying that it might be good to run some of these ideas by her. Her wisdom is vast, and she has likely had more interaction with Spirit World in the past than either of us have up to this point."

~!**!~

"Yes, but not _having _to leave for once would be nice." Shikiyoku sighed again.

She gave Hiei a side-long glance, before voicing her thoughts, "You...do not mind being a wanderer? Even if it is not by choice?" 3

Hiei didn't look at Shikiyoku. He considered her words for a moment before giving a small hum similar to the one he'd made earlier. "If I minded, I would not have suggested a destination." he retorted, finally turning his eyes to her out of the corners.

Quite frankly, he didn't care either way, though he thought he'd probably end up bored sitting in one place for too long, no matter where it was.

~!**!~

Akari huffed at Kurama, accidentally spitting out some of her bread at him, though she merely accentuated the act with her tongue sticking out at him as well. She swallowed the bite of cheesy goodness and wiped the remaining bits of the saliva-encased bread from her chin, turning away as if nothing had happened.

"Maybe next time you should _clarify_, fox." _*****_

Kurama calmly reached over and flicked off a large bread crumb that had landed on his shoulder when she huffed at him.

"Well, I didn't change our trajectory, did I? So, I'm not exactly sure why you thought we would be going anywhere _except _Kuwabara's."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made to stand, scooping up the lur'mog in her lap and placing it gently on the log where she had been sitting, putting her mug beside it.

"Should we leave tomorrow then?" She smoothed her hands down the front of her skirt as she waited for his answer. 3

Hiei gave a small nod to Shikiyoku after turning his eyes onto her, deciding that staying _this _last night wouldn't hurt much of anything. Plus, they'd both been busy, and likely _needed _the rest before trekking around the level at various speeds for various amounts of time.

He moved closer to her, looking over her shoulder at the lur'mog asleep on the log. That reminded him… he hadn't seen Ryou, and hadn't really been looking around for the creature either. The creature that was very obviously a close companion to the other fire demon, who he hadn't seen in a week just about.

He figured the demon was off doing business… and it wasn't any of _Hiei's _business, so he didn't question aloud. Instead, he stood up straight again and looked at Shikiyoku, meeting her gaze squarely. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then shut it again.

It didn't matter anyways. Eventually, they'd return to the place with the fruits. He'd just be patient.

~!**!~

Again, Akari huffed at Kurama's matter-of-fact tone. "I wasn't paying attention." she grumbled at him, still not turning to look at him. _I can't believe I did that. _"So, if you had desired to change the course, I wouldn't have noticed. Thus, in my mind, I thought you _had _changed course. Because, as I said, I wasn't paying attention."

"_You're babbling, Akari." __*****_

"Perhaps you should learn to be more aware of your surroundings, then." Kurama replied mildly, reaching over and plucking a large crumb of bread from the front of her shoulder before going back to his roll for another bite.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku looked up at Hiei just in time to see him close his mouth as if he had been about to say something and then changed his mind. She let her head tilt to the side, blinking questioningly at him in a silent 'What?' 3

Hiei blinked at Shikiyoku as she turned her head curiously. After a second, Hiei turned away and glanced at the area around him, more to keep his gaze from Shikiyoku's than to observe his surroundings. He had a craving, but wasn't sure it was for something they'd find just _anywhere_. After all, he hadn't seen them since…

Well, since the area where he'd plucked them from. Months ago. Had that been the first night they'd been in Demon World? He wasn't exactly sure anymore.

Finally, he opened his mouth anyway. "Those fruits.." he began, thinking back to the sweet ones he'd enjoyed the most. "...are there any near here?"

~!**!~

AKari mocked Kurama's words in a quiet tone, saying them in an odd voice that was meant to make fun of his own, though not particularly loud enough for him to hear should he not be listening to her. Then she huffed at him again. "Perhaps _you _should _shut up_." she grumbled at him, this time loud enough for him to hear regardless of intentionally listening or not. She _was _going to say something else, but decided against it, since it wouldn't do much good.

Not like anything else served a good purpose either, but whatever. _*****_

Kurama let out a low chuckle, finishing off his roll as they turned the corner to Kuwabara and his sister's apartment, starting to make his way up the stairs, but choosing to refraining from egging Akari on any further.

His thoughts darkened and he hoped Shizuru hadn't gotten any of her 'feelings' since he talked with her last. Perhaps they all _should _gather together. Just in case.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes grew kinder, but she had to shake her head, "Not unless any have popped up since the last time I was here."

Which, granted, was several hundred years ago. Ever since she left the Ninth Level and ended up with Youko Kurama. Given how enclosed the blackened mountains were, she doubted any seeds had left their home.

It was Shikiyoku's turn to open her mouth as her eyes brightened with a sudden thought, but she held her breath just as she was about to say something, growing hesitant and releasing the air silently. 3

Hiei turned calm eyes onto Shikiyoku now, having figured as much. As he'd thought earlier, he'd just have to be patient. Wait until he could find some, or until they returned to that area. He was patient enough as it was. What would it be to him to wait a while?

However long that would be.

It didn't matter, he decided.

However, he did catch the brightening of Shikiyoku's eyes and the opening of her mouth, followed by hesitation, then release of whatever words she'd been about to say. He raised a brow at her curiously, mirroring her earlier curious expression, but with his own silent curiosity.

~!**!~

Akari was actually surprised a bit by the silence that followed Kurama's chuckle, but didn't dare make any indication of it as she followed him up the stairs, eyes on his back. Suddenly, she found herself envisioning the scars she'd seen earlier, her eyes tracking the spots she'd traced earlier, despite the shirt he wore hiding them.

Her expression shifted to a neutral one, her mind going blank.

And then she remembered that she'd only seen them because he'd been in a _towel_, and her eyes turned to the side, though her suddenly somber mood did not change. _*****_

Kurama reached up to knock politely on the door only to have it open with Kuwabara standing grinning on the other side.

"Hey Kurama! Sis said you guys were coming over." He explained as he stepped back to let him in, nodding greetings at Akari.

"I don't seem to recall telling her that." Kurama mirrored Kuwabara's smile as he passed over the threshold into the apartment.

"It's kinda funny, you know," Kuwabara shoot the door behind them as Kurama slipped his shoes off his feet in the entryway, "She's gotten a lot keener on that sort of thing lately. I've stopped being surprised at this point."

"Hey guys!" Shizuru called, coming out of the kitchen with her usual cigarette in her mouth and a tray of tea and snacks, "Right on schedule."

"Anything yet?" Kurama asked her, face momentarily serious.

Shizuru put the tray down on the coffee table as Kuwabara led the others over to the couch. She sat down across from them on the floor, crossing her legs and leaning an elbow on her knee, resting her face it in.

"You know, I've had this weird feeling for the past week about _something _about to go down, but since it hasn't changed, I'd say we're good for now."

~!**!~

"I...it's, well, nothing much." She lowered her gaze and put a hand to the back of her neck, unsure what suddenly made her feel so shy, "I just didn't know if you still wanted to see what a _real _party was like back in the old days. You probably don't care, it's not a big deal." She ran through the last few words as if dismissing the entire idea. 3

Hiei's brow rose further at Shikiyoku's first words, half thinking she wouldn't tell him despite his curiosity. But when she did, at first, he didn't recall what she was talking about. His brow resettled into place as he pondered, until he remembered that he'd _asked _her to remind him at some point. And now that he had, he'd almost forgotten about it.

And now that the question was posed again, his lips twitched in amusement at the idea of it. "I _am _rather curious."

~!**!~

Akari followed Kurama absentmindedly, only pausing to step out of her shoes when he did, mind now stuck on thoughts of scars, both hers and Kurama's. But, really, she wasn't sure what to think at the moment. He'd let her see his. Twice, actually, and then offered to have hers _removed altogether. _

She'd forgotten until now.

She moved to sit beside Kurama, legs crossed underneath her, her hands falling in her lap and eyes focused on Shizuru, but not really seeing the female for the moment. _He said until it healed, right? I don't have an answer yet, and he hasn't asked me…_

_A good thing, really. __*****_

"I haven't been getting anything myself." Kuwabara frowned, "And, I mean, I know sis is better at this sort of stuff than me, but if it really _was _bad, I'm pretty sure I would pick up on _something_, you know?"

Kurama didn't say anything, reaching for a cup of tea before sitting back in the couch and crossing his legs, taking a thoughtful sip.

"I just got off the phone with Genkai a little bit ago." Shizuru added. "She says she hasn't heard anything herself." Her brown eyes flickered over to Kurama. "I went ahead and asked her to come over. Had a feeling you might want to speak with her in person."

Kurama nodded, "I'm hoping she might have some insight into the situation. Maybe something I've overlooked."

~!**!~

"It wouldn't be as intimate as a mind-meld," Shikiyoku hurriedly clarified, "You'd just get to see how things used to go. Just the one memory." She seemed excited at the prospect of sharing such a moment with Hiei. 3

Hiei nodded once in understanding, his lips twitching only slightly in amusement at her hurried words and excited tone. He turned to her again, this time with his whole body, and moved to stand over her. "And how do you propose doing such a thing?"

Of course, he'd never done anything like this, so…. he'd have to play along.

~!**!~

Akari blinked once at herself, considering her options and weighing her own feelings about the offer. If she agreed when he asked, and he was _bound _to ask, then what would happen after that? If she disagreed, what would happen?

_Either way it doesn't seem like…. much of a change. _Because he couldn't give her back what Kamiya had already attempted to do. She'd be without ears and tail either way.

_Heh. If I had ears and a tail, Koenma wouldn't be able to keep me here. _

Her amusement faded. _If I agree, my skin would be free, but would my mind? If I disagree, I'd have to handle it all as I am now. It's not so bad right now, but… there are still days where…_

Where she could **feel **each one.

_Maybe… maybe he'll give me more time, if I ask. __*****_

"What is it, Kuwabara?" Kurama asked calmly after taking another drink of the tea.

"Huh? What?"

"You've been staring at me since I came in."

"Oh. Uh, well," Kuwabara shifted his eyes away and wouldn't look at Kurama directly, "You just...you feel different, man."

Kurama said nothing at first.

"Like, almost a completely different person."

"I did warn you about what happened." Kurama replied evenly.

"Yeah, but..." Kuwabara winced, "I didn't think it would be...like _this_."

Shizuru mirrored Kurama's reserved expression as she looked at him, though she appeared thoughtful as she pulled the cigarette out of her mouth, but said nothing.

~!**!~

"Well, I-" Shikiyoku blinked up at Hiei, taking into account once more how much taller he'd gotten over the past couple of months and being momentarily distracted, "That is, when you feel like you're about to step inside of me, just close your eyes and let it happen."

She reached inwardly for the portion of their pact that she had access to and gave it a little mental tug, keeping her eyes on Hiei to gauge his reaction and see if this was even going to work at all. 3

Hiei raised a brow curiously, not understanding what she meant when she said _step into her_. Physically? DId that mean he needed to be closer? _What good would that do? _But his confusion remained contained, his eyes calmly watching her as she stared at him just as evenly.

And then there was an odd sensation from the bond, though it wasn't directly noticeable at first. He quirked a brow, mainly to himself than to Shikiyoku, wondering if the bond had reacted to something he wasn't aware of at this moment.

~!**!~

_More time, that's what I'll ask for. He can't do anything if I don't have an answer, especially in the state he's in and-_

With the tail end of that thought, Akari's eyes focused on the room around her suddenly, bringing her back to the actual moment and the possible conversation she'd been ignoring for a while. Her eyes found the cups of tea and snacks, and before thinking much about it, she reached forward and took hold of the hot cup, moving carefully so that she wouldn't spill it as she sat back again, feet still on the couch and legs still crossed beneath her.

She took a careful sip, not minding the taste but not finding it a favorite either while her ears listened to the lull in conversation, not sure what she'd missed. _*****_

"It did not last long in previous manifestation. I'm sure this is only another minor setback as well. I believe the fake Youko wished to make sure the actual Youko would be unable to be seen."

Shizuru nodded, "Makes sense."

In spite of the reassurances, Kuwabara still couldn't shake off the weird chills he got when he looked at his friend.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku rapidly sifted through memories of nights long ago spent dancing the ritual, finding one appropriate to her desires and beginning to feed it into pact that had started to hum inside of her head.

She could feel her own vision closing in, the darkness of the air around them starting to shimmer, and she shut her eyes as she began to recall that night so long ago, where there had been feasting and dancing and drinking and fighting like nothing that had been equaled since... ...

_The light of the ballroom around her sparkled on the jeweled bracelet that sat on Shikiyoku's wrist, over the top of the white gloves covering her arms up nearly to her shoulder. She lifted her hand up towards her face to inspect it closer, the hands that had been placing the jewelry on her wrist pulling back as she did so. _

_The bright blue of the stone in the middle sparkled and brought a smile to her face as she turned her eyes to the demon before her, his two differently colored eyes-one white, one pink-gleaming at her._

"_My thanks, Derrin. Rae. It's gorgeous."_

_The prince, in his white tuxedo, merely let a small smile grace his lips and he pulled away from her as his platinum blonde-haired mate with her amethyst eyes wove her hands back into the crook of Derrin's arm, her eyes much more mild and kind than Shikiyoku remembered._

_The strangest sensation was perhaps the realization that despite both Derrin and Rae's tall and slender forms, Shikiyoku was in fact looking the pair almost in the eye, even though the shoes on her feet did not have a heel taller than an inch or two._

"_They're playing our song, m'lady." A bass-timbred voice murmured into her ear, slipping her hand into a hold on his arm and leading her away._

"_Your timing is impeccable." Shikiyoku mumbled as soon as they were safely out of earshot, allowing herself to be led away to the dance floor where the music had just changed rhythm and tune._

"_Did you expect anything different of me, Yoku?"_

_Shikiyoku closed her eyes as she felt herself released save for her hand, led gracefully in a circle until she faced her own partner, settling into his frame._

"_Ready?" The voice murmured at her again._

"_Always."_

_Shikiyoku opened her eyes and would have stumbled were this not a memory in which she was swept off into the dance with as much poise as ever._

_Her partner had no face._

_There was...supposed to be one, but instead of where she expected a rakish smile and roguish lips, the image was fuzzy and incomplete. In fact, the entire body of the one she had placed herself into was hardly there, though she felt it firmly underneath her hands._

_There was no...no hair color, no indication of skin type or eyes or...well, anything._

_She could remember nothing...but to make it even worse, she couldn't even remember who it was __**supposed **__to be, who it was she had even forgotten…_

Shikiyoku flinched as if she had been hit and suddenly the night rushed back in around her as her eyes flew open, wide and staring forward at Hiei but seeing nothing.

She blinked a couple of times, opened her mouth as if to speak, but did no such thing as her eyebrows drew together in a cloud over her face. 3

He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but after a few moments, Hiei understood what Shikiyoku had meant by _stepping into _her. He felt the bond hum, move, flex almost in his mind before he himself felt as if he were being pulled forward, coaxed into…

Into a room he recognized, into the eyes of someone staring at a jewel. He himself admired it and the way it glinted, before his eyes moved upwards and a voice seemed to float on the dreamy air about him. He recognized the face he looked up into as well, recognizing it as the companion of the female he'd escaped during the first week or so of his stay in Demon World.

He didn't understand why she was showing him a scene similar to the one he'd experienced, but he watched anyway, half expecting things to get crazy, or something.

And then he felt as if _he himself _had been pulled away from the conversation, and his eyes found… something that he assumed was meant to resemble some_one_.

He frowned slightly, suddenly feeling… uncomfortable as he was pulled into the dancer's embrace.

And then the scene was fading away, and a moment later, he was staring at Shikiyoku, feeling slightly confused but not saying anything about it.

He noticed she made as if to speak, but when she didn't, he raised a brow at her curiously, suddenly very amused that she didn't seem to have pulled forth the memory she meant to show him.

Though, the faceless, formless person still had him curious.

~!**!~

Akari sipped, looking over at Kuwabara and catching the smallest muscle movement from him, but ignored it since it seemed nothing more than… a shiver at most. She lifted the cup to her lips again, using both hands to hold the cup and look at the two sitting opposite herself and Kurama.

Another moment passed and she was glancing curiously at Kurama, as if waiting for him to say something because, truthfully, the silence felt awkward to her.

Maybe it was because she'd been wrapped in her own thoughts, hadn't been paying attention…. _*****_

"Shizuru, have you ever done any training with Genkai?" Kurama asked suddenly.

She shook her head, "Nah. Haven't had time. The old lady said she could teach me a few things, but between work and looking out for this block-head I've never gotten to."

"Hey!" Kuwabara protested.

Kurama just nodded, "I think you would be a prime candidate to master Reikibuki."

"Reki-what-ee?" Kuwabara repeated.

"Your sword, numbskull." Shizuru whacked her brother upside the back of his head.

~!**!~

"Sorry." Shikiyoku said after a moment of opening and closing her mouth, "I guess I didn't really think having only a part of the bond to work with would make any difference, but that's not the memory I meant to show you in any case."

Shikiyoku's eyes squeezed shut and she put the back of her hand up between her eyebrows as if she could press the remembrance of who she had been dancing with back into her memory.

When had she forgotten? _How _could she have forgotten? She seemed to have the impression that the male had been very important, but how in the three worlds was she supposed to know when she couldn't remember who he was or what he looked like.

The loss of such a thing left Shikiyoku feeling disconcerted. And almost...afraid. 3

Hiei felt his brow twitch upwards just a fraction more than before as Shikiyoku spoke, though he said nothing as he'd suspected as much. However, the level of disturbance she seemed to feel about that memory and the lack of facial features of the main subject drew _her _brows downwards even further before her hand hid them from his view.

He remained quiet a few moments longer before he moved to make way for the tent in which they'd inhabited for the past week. "Dwelling on it will do nothing," he said calmly as he moved away, though not glancing back at her as he moved.

~!**!~

Akari's brow raised a little at Kurama's question to the woman across from them, though she could certainly see why he had asked such a question once he explained. Shizuru seemed to have quite a high level of intuition, and quite frankly, there was something about the brunette that struck Akari as appropriate for such a technique.

It would be a curious thing, to have Kuwabara's sister using the same technique, and even more amusing if she ended up being better at it than he. The thought made her lip twitch at the male she hadn't realized she'd turned her eyes to.

It took a moment for it to register, but Akari became aware on some level that she could just hear soft footsteps outside, closer than any of the traffic down on the sidewalk, heading, she presumed, to this very apartment. However, curious as she was, she made no indication and simply shifted the way she sat, uncrossing her legs and planting her feet on the floor as her eyes turned to Shizuru again, wondering if the woman was also aware of the approaching person. _*****_

Kuwabara reached over for his own cup of tea, his eyes suddenly taking note of how many drinks there were and he scratched at his head, about to ask Shizuru why there were more drinks than people when she suddenly got up without a word and went over to the door, opening it to reveal Genkai about to knock.

The short old lady nodded approvingly in greeting.

"The offer still stands, you know." Her gravelly voice was met with a grin from Kuwabara when he saw who was at the door. "I would take you on as an apprentice in an instant if you so much as said that word."

Shizuru backed up to let the door open further inward, putting a nervous hand up to the back of her head as she smiled sheepishly while Genkai came inside.

Genkai waved away whatever Shizuru was about to say, "I know, I know. You 'don't have time.' Pity."

Without further ceremony, the woman moved over to the couch, hands clasped together behind her back, and hopped up inbetween Akari and Kurama, reaching forward for the last cup of tea and taking a drink before she visibly relaxed, eyes closed as she appreciated the flavor.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku found her feet following after Hiei as she grimaced again and rubbed some more at her forehead, finding now that she looked several instances of this...person whom she felt to be the same one each time, throughout her memories. In an unsettlingly large amount, in fact.

Hiei's apparent unruffled reaction did ease her concern, but her frown did not disappear.

"Yes, but..." Shikiyoku squeezed her eyes shut again, scrambling for something she could equate it with that he would understand, "What if...what if you found one day that you suddenly couldn't remember your sister. That...you knew you had one, or something, but you had no memory of her. Every time she _should _be in your mind's eye...she's just...not." Shikiyoku finally opened her eyes again, shifting them to the left to look at the ground. "Would you not also find your spirit unsettled? When you cannot place a cause or reason to it?" 3

Hiei didn't even glance back as Shikiyoku spoke to him, her words floating between the distance from herself to him until they reached his ears in a question he wasn't sure how to answer. If he'd somehow forgotten Yukina, but still had memories where she was supposed to be…

Unsettled as he might be, he wasn't sure what he himself would do. Likely tear Demon World apart looking for such an important puzzle piece, as he had then, but… Shikiyoku was not him.

He chose not to respond, instead taking to thinking over different causes of such a thing. It could have been purposely done, he knew, by that party. Or, it could have been done by Shikiyoku herself, if that particular person had lead her to a situation she'd rather not remember.

Sure, there were other reasons, other causes to such a thing happening, but really he didn't think many of them over at this point.

~!**!~

Akari found herself unsurprised when Shizuru suddenly stood and made for the door, all eyes in the room seeming to follow her as she opened the door to meet the older woman on the other side. Needless to say, she was a bit impressed, as this woman did not rely on hearing or smelling as a demon like herself would, but only…. instincts.

And then in the next moment, she recognized the smaller, older woman who moved into the room and even made herself comfortable in the space between Akari and Kurama, at which the demoness responded to by giving more room by leaning against the armrest of the couch.

The last time she'd seen this woman was a couple of months ago, when Sensui had attacked the apartment the entire detective team had been gathered in. And instead of leaning further away as she would have a few weeks ago, she instead found herself fighting a twitch of her lips.

_A lot's changed, I think. __*****_

"What are you all staring at?" Genkai pronounced suddenly in a grumble, opening her eyes to see, as she had felt, the faces of everyone in the room looking at her.

Shizuru had moved to sit back down next to Kuwabara on the other side of the coffee table. Genkai reached forward to grab for one of the cakes on the tray.

"Can't an old lady enjoy some tea in peace?" She briefly took stock of those in the room, "And where's Yusuke? Isn't he supposed to be the leader of this sorry outfit?"

"He, uh," Kuwabara laughed perhaps a little nervously, "He said he had something important to do."

"More important than the end of the world?" Genkai asked grouchily.

"He said it's _always _the end of the world around here." Kuwabara provided. "And that Keiko would kill him if he didn't go shopping with her today."

"Heh." Genkai smirked and pulled her tea up to her face. "He's more scared of her than anything Spirit or Demon World could ever throw at him."

"For good reason." Kuwabara piped up.

~!**!~

"He was...important. I can't shake that feeling." Shikiyoku said softly aloud, mostly to herself if it would help her sort through the mystery. "I don't even really care _why_." She let out a frustrated sigh and decided to leave it alone. "I'd much rather have forgotten Taka." 3

Hiei released a scoff before turning amused eyes back at Shikiyoku. "That can be arranged."

Of course, he wasn't sure he _could _do such a thing as thoroughly as Shikiyoku seemed to indicate, even if he _were _fully serious. Though, the thought of the other demon being wiped away was… appealing, to say the least. He turned forward again, waving away the tent flap and pausing to glance at the demons moving by, both watching his surroundings and allowing Shikiyoku to go first, though he wasn't quite sure why he was doing as such.

"Perhaps it's something that must be triggered." he mused aloud, not really meaning to do so.

~!**!~

Akari turned away from Genkai when the older woman spoke up about being watched, amused for a moment as she again lifted her cup to her lips, finishing off her own tea and watching the people who spoke as the conversation turned to Yusuke.

Who wasn't here because of a girl.

She made a small sound of amusement to herself before speaking for the first time since she'd entered the apartment. "Of all things… Well, I guess _someone _has to keep him in line, hm?" _*****_

"She's certainly well-equipped for the task." Kurama replied mildly.

"You should see the back-swing that girl's got." Shizuru chuckled, "I've never seen anyone else able to take that boy down a notch with a single hit."

Genkai smiled into her tea cup as she took another sip. "So. What kind of end of the world situation are we dealing with _this _time? I know we've all had our separate briefings, but making sure we're all on the same page would be a good place to start."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku just stuck her tongue out at Hiei as she passed by him when he let her inside the dark tent.

"What are we if not a series of memories? Take our experiences away and we are nothing." She answered his first comment loftily.

She stepped further into the tent to let him inside as well, making a thoughtful noise.

Shikiyoku huffed, "I don't know. I don't remember the last time I tried to actually think about my time in the cities." She reached up to rub at her forehead again. "Who am I missing?" She mumbled. 3

Hiei raised a brow as he followed Shikiyoku inside, his eyes quickly adjusting to the complete darkness of the tent. She had a point, really. Every being was simply growing on experiences, which turned to memories, which turned to… well, a certain aspect of one's personality, he supposed.

He was of no help here, it seemed.

"If it's that important," he began calmly as he made himself comfortable among the furs on the ground, lounging lazily with his hands linked behind his head and legs crossed at the ankles, "then it will come to you." His eyes slid shut, though for the moment he didn't plan on sleeping. Merely…. relaxing. He hadn't had a chance to do that in a week now, and he felt a calm moment was in order.

~!**!~

AKari leaned forward, setting her empty cup on the table and sending a small look to Kurama, as if asking where to start. However, when she leaned back, she gave a small sigh. "As I'm sure you know, there's an impersonator of Youko running about, gathering demons and causing… trouble, to say the least." She paused, unsure if she should start from the beginning or simply go on with what she and Kurama had discovered in the past two days. _*****_

"His right-hand man is called Otento," Kurama picked up, "And their main target appeared to be Toriko for a while, going so far as to kidnap her with the help of a demon with abilities to teleport. As far as I know, she was titular in their plans, but would not work with them and was tossed aside." 3

* * *

Zareru \- ****1**: **to be playful; to gambol; to be amused (with something); to play; to sport; to frolic; to joke; ****2**: **to flirt with

Reikibuki \- "Spiritual weaponry arts" or "Art of spiritual weaponry"

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	61. Episode 145 - Expositions

**A/N: **Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!

It's surreal for me at times to go back and edit things like this. At this point in the story I just feel like it goes and goes and goes and I catch myself reading way too far ahead for what the current chapter is to be and then I have to go back and be all, okay, where was I again?

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Kurama and Akari arrive at the Kuwabara apartment,  
and they were apparently expected as Kuwabara, Kazuma tells them  
Shizuru knew they were on their way and she says she also invited Genkai to join them.

Akari is musing on Kurama's offer to remove all of her scars,  
realizing that she doesn't really have a straight answer for him yet.

When Genkai arrives, the group decides to start at the beginning  
to bring everyone up to speed on the current situation.

Akari starts by speaking of the demon running around under Youko's name,  
Kurama picking it up by mentioning Otento and the fact that Toriko had,  
at one time, appeared to be their main focus.

~!**!~

A week passed for Hiei and Shikiyoku among the Northern Tribe before they knew it,  
though Hiei had decided he would rather they stay in Demon World.

However, Shikiyoku sees the beginning signs that the aftereffects of the ritual,  
which wove her and Hiei's energies together and helped mute her powers,  
are wearing off and the two of them will need to get moving again soon.

Shikiyoku accesses the bond between them, intending to show Hiei of revelries past,  
but instead he experiences a moment where Shikiyoku was with Rae and Derrin at their palace.  
For Shikiyoku, the memory is unsettling as the demon who pulls her away from that encounter  
to dance with her is without face or features, only a voice echoing in her mind's ear.

After pulling away from the bond, and blaming her only having access to half of the pact,  
Shikiyoku sifts through her memories to find that the demon is missing from _all _of them,  
only that same fuzzy shape where she knows he should be.

Hiei states rather simplistically that if the demon was important to her, then she will recall him.

* * *

"You make it sound so easy." Shikiyoku mumbled, still standing near the entrance to the tent with her face pursed in concentration as she continued to sift through old memories. 3

Hiei scoffed quietly to himself. "You should know, nothing comes _easy _with me." he retorted, amused with her words. Nothing was easy where the fire demon was concerned, and he would have figured she would have found that out by now.

~!**!~

Akari interjected almost as soon as Kurama was done talking, "Otento had tried recruiting me, saying they had use for me if I had decided to help, which is how we followed Otento to help Toriko. While there, Hiei killed one of their numbers, but there were four others, Otento and Youko included, and one I believe was the teleporting and the other…" she paused, realizing she'd only seen those other two that one time. "I'm not sure, really. I think he was projecting their images to the warehouse, because they weren't really _there_."

She gave another pause to think, giving a sigh as the next thing that came to mind happened to be that same night. Or maybe it was the night after? She felt a bit hazy on that part. "Pretty soon after, they managed to kidnap Kurama, to presumably lock away the real Youko, and myself, simply because I'd been there." She blinked once. "That's when they'd brought in a new demon, I think. He wasn't one of the ones I saw in the warehouse." _*****_

"I remember that guy." Kuwabara interjected. "He did something to make us real sad."

"I believe he was meant as a sort of replacement for Toriko." Kurama noted.

When he got looks from Kuwabara and the others, he went on.

"Toriko is actually just a front for a demon named Shikiyoku who is on some level able to manipulate the desires of others. This other demon is essentially able to do the same thing, but deals specifically with 'sadness.'" He summed up, moving along, "The most recent bit of activity is Otento completely sealing away Youko within me and the news that Spirit World has shut down, closing its doors because there has been a threat of an attack. And I imagine the threat is very real otherwise King Enma would not have resorted to such measures."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave him a withering look, eyes narrowed, a breath slowly releasing from her nose that had it actually been given sound would have most definitely been a growl.

As _if _she didn't know he wasn't _easy_. That had been established rather early on.

"That's putting it a bit _mildly_, don't you think?" She asked archly. "I might suggest you're the most _difficult _demon in the nine levels. In the three worlds." 3

Hiei slid one eye open to regard Shikiyoku silently for a moment, his lips twitching into a sneer at her words. He considered his various responses before letting his eyelids slide shut again and nestling further into the rather comfortable furs.

"I wasn't aware. I figured my presence was about as bothersome as a lur'mog's." he commented, smirk disappearing after another moment, but his amusement everlasting.

~!**!~

"I tried to get in touch with Koenma this morning," she picked up easily, "and he _did _answer, but he was rushed, quiet. No calls in or out, no visitors, nothing. Total lockdown because of the threat." She paused this time, turning inward for a moment as she considered her words. "But the threat… it doesn't seem like much more than a distraction, when I think about it."

She paused again, thinking about what had made her consider that as an option, and wondering if telling the others that she'd been in the company of the false Youko for a while would be a good idea. It made her hesitant, because she knew…

Wait, why hadn't _Kurama _been angry about it? Her eyes turned to him almost curiously, but she didn't voice her sudden thought. _*****_

"A distraction for Spirit World would seem to indicate an actual threat to Human World." Kurama went on.

Genkai made an affirming noise, "The only problem is, unlike with Sensui, we don't know when or where."

"And without access to Spirit World and Koenma, we're left to our own devices." Kurama pointed out. "I am also left wondering _why_."

"I think finding the answer to _that _will also answer more questions we have." Genkai agreed.

Shizuru shook her head, "I don't know _why_, but I can tell you the feelings I get aren't..._bad_. I can't explain it. Except that with Sensui, it really did feel like the end of the world to me, and this is…" She shrugged, at a loss for words.

Genkai raised an eyebrow, "If you'd let me help you refine that talent, we might have a better chance." Her expression appeared to suggest _now_.

"How much do you really think you can do?" Kuwabara wanted to know, "We don't know how much time we have."

"Time isn't important otherwise your sister would know it. If there really _is _something happening to Human World, but it's not life-ending, then how can we objectively pronounce it to be _bad_?" Genkai pointed out.

~!**!~

"What, you mean like all teeth and no bite?" Shikiyoku retorted quickly, turning away from him to stare at the tent walls with her arms crossed. "At least I can stick the lur'mog down my shirt and he shuts up. I can't say the same for _you_." She stuck her tongue out at him again over her shoulder, tossing him an impetuous look. 3

There was a moment where Hiei wasn't sure how to respond, though several different retorts _did _fly by the forefront of his mind. His eyelids slid open and he turned his head to look at Shikiyoku with a serious look, gaze even and calm as he opened his mouth, intending to say one thing but saying something entirely different.

"Wouldn't me being down your shirt be counterproductive?"

~!**!~

Akari blinked once. "_If it really __**is **__something happening to Human World…"_

Why did that stand out to her? Her eyes turned down and her mind suddenly began churning, thinking about what she knew of Foko. _He doesn't want to kill unless necessary. He's said that __**we**__, specifically, are not his enemy, but that Otento was out of hand. _She ground her teeth together. _He wasn't attacking Kurama, he was __**helping **__Kurama. I just… didn't see that. I saw what I had expected to happen, and that resulted in the declaration of enemies._

_But…_

_Is he really after Human World at all? I know earlier I said uniting the worlds,... Is that actually closer than anything else?_

"Kurama and I were talking earlier," she suddenly spoke up, thoughts churning, "and we agree that the threat would most likely be a front, to bring more demons here." She looked over at Kurama. "When the dust clears, it's probably going to be the most opportune time for them to actually attack Spirit World, right? Well, if their intentions aren't _bad_, then why would they want to unite the worlds?" she asked, lips twitching downwards. "Because I'm certain it isn't a prize _in _Spirit World they want. It isn't worth this much planning. Like you asked earlier, what would King Enma have done to warrant an attack?" _*****_

"Unite the worlds?" Genkai repeated, her face looking far away for a moment before she came back to the present, "King Enma is not without fault, and I think viewing him in a similar manner to how Sensui used to view humans and demons, one the ultimate good and the other the ultimate bad, will back us into a very similar corner that the former Spirit Detective found himself. Demons are not _inherently _bad, and neither, would I venture to say, is Spirit World inherently _good_."

_Though whether it was, or was supposed to be, at one time or another is something...is something that we cannot say for sure._

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's mouth opened, but no sound came out as if the words were strangled in her throat before getting very far, and for what was probably the first time in her life she could _feel _what it would be like to blush.

Not that she did so.

She refused to turn around to look at Hiei, but managed to state rather matter-of-factly: "The counterproductivity of you being down my shirt would be directly related as to _why _you were down there in the first place." 3

The sound Hiei released was uncannily similar to a chuckle, but not quite falling under that category as Shikiyoku turned away from him. He stared at her with a toothy smirk of amusement aimed in her direction. "I suppose that 'stuffing' me down your shirt to… as you said, silence me, would prove to be quite counterproductive. Closed spaces do not sit well with fire demons."

Still, he was showing the utmost level of amusement at her.

~!**!~

Akari turned a curious gaze to Genkai, a brow raised. It was true that Spirit World had been lacking here and there, often gaining ire from Demon World, but what would be considered _bad_ from Spirit World? "Sensui's point of view was driven that way because he'd been _told _demons were bad, and then saw for himself that demons attacked humans. And we assume Spirit world is _good _because they mobilize against the ones doing wrong, right?" she tilted her head slightly in curiosity. Where was she going with this, exactly? _*****_

"Ah, but who was it that _told _Sensui demons were bad?" Genkai eyed Akari out of the corner of her eye before turning her head slightly to look at the girl. "The very same who wished him to think that _they _were the ultimate good, no?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's arm flinched with the desire to pull it out from where she had crossed it to raise a finger which would emphasize what she was about to say, and while she resisted the first, her mouth did still come open as if to immediately send him a retort, one that she quickly bit back even as the muscles in her throat and torso tightened to deny her whatever it was she had been about to say.

Managing not to make any sort of strangled noise leak out from her throat, Shikiyoku also thankfully did not groan as she unwove one arm from the other still firmly against her chest to let the ends of her fingers rest against her mouth.

There was no way he had done that on purpose.

The amount of confliction on her face went unnoticed since she faced away from Hiei, most of her facial muscles twitching as she shut her eyes.

She kept opening her mouth to say something, but every time another reply popped into her head she would let her lips close behind her fingers, refusing to take the unintentional bait that Hiei had laid out for himself.

_I blame this on Youko for being the __**worst **__demon at turning everything I said into an innuendo when we were together. Who cares if I actually meant it that way or not. He wasn't __**supposed **__to know. Cheeky fox." _

"I'll...be sure to keep that in mind." Shikiyoku finally got out between clenched teeth, managing not to snort or otherwise comment on his wording. 3

Hiei raised a brow calmly at Shikiyoku, but otherwise gave no reply as his lips twitched one more time at her before he turned away. His eyelids slid closed again as his muscles seemed to _finally _relax completely into the furs.

"Are you going to stand all night?"

~!**!~

A frown pulled the corners of Akari's lips down and her brows over her eyes. Sure, it made sense that if one wanted the other to _believe _they were good, then they'd _tell _another, even find ways to _convince _others that it was the truth. But, Spirit World?

She didn't see it as Koenma, since he'd allowed her to live, but…

"You're suggesting King Enma, the most _powerful _being in the three worlds, is… bored and causing enough trouble to raise a rebellion?" _*****_

"Not exactly." Genkai tilted her head, "But I _am _suggesting that it is an option which should not be overlooked." She turned back forward and took another bite of the cake in her hand, not bothering to swallow when she continued speaking around it. "I am also suggesting that perhaps Enma is not as powerful as everyone seems to think, and these demons coming to attack are just the first of those who have been made aware."

~!**!~

"Possibly." Shikiyoku's teeth were still almost clenched together, "I might see if I am capable of sleeping on my feet."

Shikiyoku knew Hiei wasn't _intentionally_ stirring her up, as he likely had no frame of reference for what that actually meant anyway. Or if he did, she could just see him being appalled in some manner or another should he find out.

_Were I __**you**_ _in __**my **__position, I'd go out and kill a few things to blow off some steam. That is not, however, an option for me._

Even just the slightest indulgence of her mind in seducing the fire demon behind her had the pact pulse warningly at her.

_But he's making it so difficult, _She whined silently at it, knowing her words would mean nothing to it. 3

"Suit yourself." Hiei replied nonchalantly, moving his hands out from underneath his head and rolling over onto his side, effectively turning his back to Shikiyoku and settling for sleep. Though, he was certain sleep wouldn't become an ally for a while, as he was simply too amused. Too aware at the moment.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and let his eyes close again, feeling more comfortable than he had in a while, and he took a moment to release a contented sigh.

Staying in Demon World… seemed so much better than returning to Human World, something he hadn't thought about in a while. And now that he _did_, he was sure that he wouldn't return if he had a say in the matter.

And, they just so happened to be on the level furthest from Spirit World's reach.

~!**!~

Akari leaned back into the cushion of the couch and remained quiet, taking in Genkai's words. It could be a very real possibility, now that she thought of it. She herself had even thought of that point- Spirit World convincing others of demons being bad- but hadn't really taken herself seriously, it seemed. Or, at least, she hadn't thought it could lead to being the reason.

_If that's the case, then what's Spirit World doing, if not simply degrading demons as a whole? _That obviously wasn't enough to explain Foko's doing, but… it was closer.

_How would they _prove _demons to be the bad guys?_

She frowned. The only way to do that was to manipulate demons into acting out, which… wasn't actually a difficult thing to do…

And she was a prime example, in several ways. _*****_

Kurama had let the conversation between demon and human go on uninterrupted though Shizuru and Kuwabara expressed the same desire to only listen, wheels turning in their heads as they watched the pair.

It still led Kurama back to his same-old question of _why_, though Genkai's commentary did alleviate a portion of his frustration.

If they meant to dethrone Enma-which...would _not _be cause for the end of the world?-then what would happen next? Does Koenma take over the throne? It seemed unlikely, especially if this 'first wave' of demons as Genkai appeared to suggest had other plans in mind. Would they raise their own up to power? ...wouldn't _that _be world-ending?

Kurama found that his eyes had fallen onto Shizuru, though he was unable to read anything behind her browns eyes with their neutral expression as she attentively took in what Akari and Genkai exchanged words about.

"So, then," Genkai spoke up, "I think the real question becomes: who do _we _side with?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku threw a glance over her shoulder to see Hiei had turned away, and she quickly averted her eyes back forward.

She grumbled, "I'm...gonna go...kill something." She made as if to leave the tent. 3

Hiei's eyes slid open at Shikiyoku's words, finding himself surprised by them. As far as he knew, she'd never killed anything in her lifetime. So, her sudden words had him turning his head to peer at her over his shoulder curiously, though not rolling over to face her.

"You're going to go… _kill something?" _he repeated, tone curious and amused. "If so, try doing so without the use of your energy. Take a blade… or something." he suggested, suddenly finding himself not liking the idea of her using her energy to reel something in. Sure, if something happened, he could be there in a moment's notice, but he really didn't want to take that chance.

~!**!~

A frown twitched at Akari's lips as she considered the thought of manipulation being how King Enma was… uh… making himself the good guy, to put it simply. It wouldn't be very hard, with or without the amount of power he had. All one had to do was push a demon over the edge, and..

Like herself, they'd do whatever asked if it included their own interest, the same way she had with Sensui. In the beginning, she'd been on board with his idea, loving the idea of actually punishing the race and/or species that had done her wrong, but at the same time, she'd been reluctant. He'd twisted his words and fashioned his ideals in a way to void her concerns and create a blind follower.

However, in the same way, Akari herself could likely manipulate another, if she learned. Shadows could seep into one's blood, she knew, but the damage would be extensive to the brain and nerves. However, the ability to create _illusions… _was a powerful one. If she so desired, she could likely make a person believe another had done them wrong, even likely twist the way they thought of the world until…

Until they lived on nothing but anger. Until they killed innocent people for the joy of it, or because they believed it to be a way of life.

Akari suddenly sat back, blinking once as she thought about the Aswang she and Yusuke had killed last month. The lore of such creatures had always pitted them as cruel, bloodthirsty, heart/liver-eating beings, but she'd only met one before that day. She'd seen another attacked by such a creature, and die within seconds because of the poisons, the toxins in their weapons, their blood, their claws. But the person who'd been attacked hadn't been _gutted_.

In fact, she didn't recall ever hearing of a creature being gutted, except for in _Human World. Human children. _

And suddenly, Genkai's question seemed to have an obvious answer to her, despite the blame she placed on the demon she would prefer to side with. _*****_

"I think a more realistic question would be to examine exactly what sides exist." Kurama pointed out.

"I am _not _working with that blonde-dude." Kuwabara said emphatically. "I don't _care _what anyone else thinks Enma's done wrong. He-" Kuwabara screwed up his face, and then spoke more quietly, "You all saw what he did to Toriko. I won't side with someone who does that."

Kurama knew the determined look in his friend's eyes, and truth be told, he felt the same way. He'd been called a traitor by demons already, it wouldn't be anything new. However…

"Do we really think Koenma is in on all of this?" Kurama wanted to know. "Are our only choices to side with _Otento _or _Enma_."

"I'll just side with _humanity_, thanks." Kuwabara grumbled. "No offence."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku paused, half in and half out of the tent when Hiei talked.

"Yeah, yeah. Right." She mumbled, dismissing him with a wave of her hand as she stepped into the darkness of the night, "Or _something_."

She stalked away from the Elders' Tent and towards the treeline, about a hundred paces to the South near the edge of the clearing Hiei had burned away a week ago. She met no others along her way and had no trouble seeing, her skin almost seemed to hold its own luminosity despite there being no moon in Demon World.

Nonsensical mumbles were said under her breath as she moved, determined to get out of sight of the encampment.

When she'd gotten a league or so away, and could hear nothing from the camp any longer, she stopped among the dark trees, lacking color without light, and found a space that left her ten feet or so to work with.

Of _course _she wasn't actually going to kill anything. And she didn't know how to use a blade properly in the first place. Aside from 'don't hold the pointy end.'

There was one thing she could do that was just as good.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, drinking in the smells of the woods around her before taking the first position of the fan dance she had done after that one demon propositioned her and beginning to meticulously flow her way through. One would have almost been able to see the swords in her hands as she slowly blocked and parried invisible enemies, though her mind held nothing but absolute peace. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku disappear behind the tent flap and turned his head again until his cheek found the soft, smooth furs all over again. His eyelids slid closed and he took in a slow, deep breath before releasing it just as slowly through his nose.

And that was enough to put him in a small lull, where the only thing he remained aware of was the being moving away from the encampment, the being who stopped a good distance away from the tent, and stayed in one spot.

He wouldn't sleep yet. And even if he did, his mind was locked on Shikiyoku and her energy, just in case.

~!**!~

Akari focused on the conversation in front of her suddenly, just in time to hear Kurama talking about Koenma. Honestly, she didn't think the prince was a part of it, but at the moment, there was no telling. She didn't know the King's son well enough to make such a judgement call, but she felt she _did _know Foko enough to say that attacking Enma for a reason such as what she'd just considered was very much in character.

Which means he _had _to have known someone who had been manipulated, and then killed. By Yusuke and/or his friends. Or, even her, maybe.

But she wasn't sure. At least, not 100%. _I could track him down and-_

The mental image of Kurama hanging from a tree hit her like a ton of bricks, and inwardly, she shied away. She flinched, blinking rapidly two or three times before recovering and turning inward again, not privy to the conversation in reality anymore.

_It doesn't matter. Foko didn't do it. Otento did. Foko was helping, and I know that now. While he didn't stop the attack, he… he kept Kurama from dying. And I need to know, because if I say it aloud, and I'm wrong…_

_We could __**all **__die. _

Akari sighed quietly to herself, eyes finally focusing on the room for good this time after making a mental note to find Foko later. As _if _she'd forget.

"I think Otento is his own side, in a way. While he is under the false Youko's rule, he also does whatever he wants, no matter what Youko has to say. It's been displayed several times. So, for all we know, the group could likely fall apart- except the fake Youko would kill anyone who betrays him just as quickly as… well, Youko would. Just a thought." _*****_

It was no news to Kurama that someone impersonating Youko would be quick to remove any obstacles in his way. If memory served, Youko had done just that when his lieutenant had stepped out of line.

...why then had the fake Youko not gotten rid of Otento?

Another question he didn't feel would be answered any time soon.

"That fake Youko person was a part of Toriko being hurt." Kuwabara remained stubborn.

"So, if the activity you feel is going to occur," Genkai shifted a glance at Kurama, "Does not in fact adversely affect Human World in any way, you would simply do nothing?" She turned back to Kuwabara.

"Well. Yes." Kuwabara replied.

"Even if by doing nothing you cause Koenma to lose his life? The very person who brought Yusuke back from the dead?"

Kuwabara appeared torn.

"I don't see any harm in us closely following whatever the other demons are up to." Kurama chimed in. "If we see or hear of something we don't like, then we act."

"And in what way would you act?" Genkai asked again, "If you were the dimwit, I'd know you would just jump in guns blazing without a second thought. You, however, must have _some _plan stirring in that mind."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku ran through the steps at least twice before feeling any sort of actual calm, though by that time the sky had darkened entirely into the deepest part of the night and her skin glistened with sweat, drops of which fell down the back of her neck.

She stopped, breath coming heavy as she collapsed with crossed legs onto the forest floor with a clear mind, her eyes still closed.

"Thatsh a pretty dansh, lady."

Shikiyokuk's eyes flew open to see Uryo leaning over her, his red eyes gleaming. She'd been so absorbed she hadn't even noticed him approaching, though he wasn't broadcasting his presence like she was used to, either. And he only smelled vaguely of alcohol, as if he'd only just started drink.

As if to emphasize her silent point, Uryo took a step back to get a long draught from the flask he always carried, Shikiyoku noticing that it had been in his hand the whole time.

"I have newsh."

Shikiyoku only nodded.

A frown darkened Uryo's face, "I had hoped...hic...that you all would have left by now."

When Shikiyoku didn't answer, Uryo continued.

"Rae knowsh you're here."

Shikiyoku's eyes widened and she scrambled to her feet before Uryo reached out a put a hand on her shoulder.

"Not _here_," He waved his other hand around to indicate the air about them, "But here." He pointed down. "Back on the Ninth Level." Another drink, a thoughtful look as he swallowed, "She doesh know you're in the North, though. Thing ish," He kept going before Shikiyoku could interject, "Apparently Shpirit World hash shut down." Uryo wobbled a little on his feet and appeared to attempt to remedy it with another drink. "Nobody goesh in, nobody goesh out. And demonsh are thinking they're gonna try to shut down all exits and entranches...hic...everywhere!"

Shikiyoku opened her mouth to speak before she caught a whiff of how much more potent the alcohol had become and almost gagged.

"And before you shay otherwish," He held his finger up in front of her nose, "Demonsh are thinking Shpirit World can do that if there'sh a crishish. Like, no way from Shpirit World to Demon World, or Shpirit World to Human World," He held up two fingers for that one, "And no way from Human World to Demon World. ...hic." Three fingers came up and Uryo squinted at them as if he wasn't sure they were there. "Or any other way around that you can think of!" Uryo's hand finally lifted from Shikiyoku's shoulder and he waved it around again. "Vish-a-versha. And shtuff."

Shikiyoku hadn't really even been given a chance to get a word in edgewise, and she continued to not get a chance as Uryo went on.

"Sho, if you and that hybrid are shtill gonna leave Demon World...hic...you gotta do it yeshterday." He finished by taking a finger and tapping Shikiyoku on the nose with it with his last word, standing up 'straight' to gauge her reaction.

Before she got a minute to collect any words, Uryo had blinked twice at her, seeing the density of the power around her and thinking it had this _pink_ color before he took an experimental sniff.

"You're really pretty. Everybody shays sho."

Shikiyoku finally laughed at him, "You know, I'm not even sure if we were planning on going _back _to Human World."

Uryo blinked again before he heard her words and came up with a reply.

"I thought thatsh why you were here in the firsht plashe. Sho you could go back." 3

~!**!~

For a moment, Akari said nothing, but as soon as there was a lull, she found herself speaking up, eyes set on Kuwabara. "Actually, I feel like you should know this, but he- the fake Youko- actually saved two of our lives this month." she paused, holding a finger up. "Two lives in one week, actually." She glanced at Kurama. She hadn't told him about her own experience yet, but..

"Actually, one of us had been saved _twice," _she was ashamed to admit it, really, but it was the truth. She'd been saved more often than she'd _done _the saving. More often than she'd done any good around here.

She needed to remedy that soon.

"Oh, yeah, and I forgot to mention," she suddenly piped again, giving no room for another to speak up just yet. "He isn't just _impersonating _Youko. He's actually _becoming_ Youko, memories and all." _*****_

Kuwabara's eyes narrowed, "Wasn't he trying to get you to join him in the first place?"

Shizuru and Genkai both turned to look at Akari.

"I'd like to know where you've been getting so much information about this fake Youko." Kuwabara's gaze did not soften.

_Becoming Youko_. That wasn't a power Kurama had come across yet. But it didn't seem like a spell that would be too far out of the realm of possibility. But he would expect it would mean completely severing oneself from their former personality.

And having an actual Youko, should he be as the original Youko sans the human boy's soul, walking around free in Human World could very quickly become world-ending indeed.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku shrugged and Uryo gave her another half-drunken stare.

"You got the informashion you needed...hic...right?"

She nodded, "I guess."

"And the people who need that informashion aren't in Demon World...right?"

Another nod.

Uryo considered Shikiyoku through glazed eyes that appeared to be quickly sobering, "Then why...are you still here?"

Shikiyoku didn't have an exact answer for him.

"You were hired for a job, and you're _not _going to finish the job?" He scoffed as if slightly disgusted. "What happened to 'honor among demons?'"

"We weren't _hired _by demons, if you'll recall." Shikiyoku finally rejoined, "And what if I happen to like my head right where it is?" She blurted out.

Uryo's eyebrows raised and Shikiyoku sighed.

"There's a warrant out for my arrest. From Spirit World. Someone hired me promising me the warrant would be voided, but it's out of the realm of his power." Shikiyoku pulled one hand over to rub absently at her elbow as she refused to meet Uryo's piercing stare.

"But you haven't taken the information back, so you don't actually know if that's the case or not."

"And you'd rather I risked my life trying to find out?"

Uryo gave a half-hearted shrug, "There are worse things than death."

Shikiyoku let out a short, dry laugh, thinking briefly of what she had let drive her out into the forest in the first place.

"It's not just up to me, you know." Shikiyoku spoke after a moment of silence.

"Then, I suppose if _he _says no, then there's no point in worrying about it, hm?" Uryo's eyes flickered off into the distance, "That's going to be up to you to take care of, lady. My advice is to get out of Demon World. I don't know if Rae is really going to let this just blow over, and she's had someone following me ever since I left the city, so I won't dare tarry any longer." He looked back down at her. "I'll lead them on a bit of a wild chase, as I'm sure Rae thinks I'll lead her back to you."

"She was right." Shikiyoku said archly.

Uryo just laughed, bouncing on his toes.

"Be careful." Shikiyoku warned, "If Rae has decided to turn her wrath upon you, you're in for a rough century."

"No one's caught me yet." Uryo winked, then appeared to take it back. "Well...there was that one woman. But-" He shrugged, "I let her _think_ she caught me."

"Wise."

"I thought so." He replied with his nose in the air a little. His expression grew more withdrawn. "You be careful."

"No one's caught me yet." Shikiyoku replied with just as much loftiness as Uryo had.

"Now, how come I don't believe you?"

"Because you're drunk."

Uryo laughed, "I can think of one demon who has you quite firmly in his grasp."

Shikiyoku growled, making as if to take a swipe at him, which just made Uryo laugh harder as he disappeared, leaving Shikiyoku standing with a smirk in the woods by herself. 3

There was no disturbance in the air, but he woke anyway. He shifted, stretching. He could tell he hadn't slept long, but he felt just as rested as if he had. Odd, how time worked here, and how the smell of his home world changed how he felt about things at times.

Hiei shifted some more until he was laying on his stomach, head turned so that when he opened his eyes, he could see the tent flap. His cheek dug into the furs, though it wasn't uncomfortable, and he realized Shikiyoku hadn't yet returned. Curious, he continued to stare at the tent flap, mind blank aside from the impression of curiosity, eyelids half closed as he took in another deep breath.

When she _did _suddenly come into view, stepping from the darkness outside to the darkness inside the tent, he watched her with half-lidded eyes and a small sense of curiosity.

And when he spoke, his words were slightly muffled by the pressure of his cheek on the furs. "Did ya' kill somefin?"

~!**!~

Akari met Kuwabara's narrowed gaze with a calm one, not surprised by his sudden accusation. "Before you get huffy, I'm not… _in league _with them. Once you've been targeted a certain amount of times, you tend to figure out ways to learn about your enemy. It's something Sensui taught me." She paused, sighing. "I also have loads of free time on my hands, and sitting around isn't really my thing."

She raised a brow. "Though, _if _I were to join them, you would have known by now, because I am terrible at keeping myself out of trouble. I thought you knew that by now."

Here, she decided to shut up, though her gaze never parted from Kuwabara's. _*****_

"Stop being stupid." Shizuru whacked Kuwabara in the back of the head again. "You know as well as I do that she doesn't give off any bad vibes."

Kuwabara had let out an exclamation of pain, reaching up to rub at the place she'd hit him, but neither did he protest at her words.

"Shizuru...how..._good _would you say you are at reading people?" Kurama wanted to know.

"You mean people besides you?" Shizuru replied, cigarette in her mouth once more. She shrugged. "Depends."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made her way towards the darker shape among the furs and dropped to her knees, crawling up next to Hiei as he voiced his question.

She plopped down on her side, facing him as she answered, "Yes. Lots of things. All the things." Just before she settled back, she leaned forward and pressed her lips briefly to his nose with a light kiss, "Just for you." She snuggled down into the furs and pulled her hands up to her chest to bury her face in them. 3

Hiei blinked sleepily at Shikiyoku as he saw her shadowy form move closer, her voice floating on the air in an almost dream-like way as he felt half sure he wasn't really even awake. His lips twitched slightly at her words, his eyes sliding shut as he contemplating going right back to sleep.

He took a deep breath in as he listened to her shuffling about, that being the only sound he was privy to at the moment. When he felt odd contact with his face, his eyes slid open again to regard the demoness now laying next to him curiously. There was a beat of silence before he spoke up, "What wa-sh tha' for?" He paused to fight back a yawn and shifted a bit more, "Yoo make no sensh to me." He shifted only enough to pull his chin a bit closer to his chest, his eyes sliding shut again as he fought off sleep for the second time.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at the display between brother and sister, her outward reaction nothing more than slight amusement, despite her inward relief. Really, she didn't like being cornered into situations like that. She hadn't done much wrong, except… you know… lay around with the person deemed their enemy. Play games. Take naps in the sun and-

_Okay, so really, I should be dead. Whatever. They'll get over it. ...Eventually._

When the conversation picked up via Kurama, she turned to him curiously, wondering what he had in mind and displaying that curiosity with a raised brow as she waited. _*****_

Kurama fell silent, lost in his thoughts, and when it didn't seem like he would speak up again, Kuwabara and Shizuru exchanged glances as Genkai calmly continued to sip at her tea.

"I feel like we should do _something _to help Koenma." Kuwabara finally said. "He's our friend after all."

"And what exactly do you propose we do, little brother?"

"I dunno. Rescue him?"

~!**!~

"Because I'm rather _fond _of you, Hiei." Shikiyoku inched closer to him as she felt the warmth radiating off his body, "I do these things because I _like_ you. Does _that_ 'make sense' to you?" She lifted her head just enough to let the tip of her tongue stick out at him, sleepily impetuous. 3

There was a moment where Hiei seemed to be thinking over what Shikiyoku said, pondering her words as if they had another meaning behind them. And, after that moment, he merely blinked at her once before his eyes slid shut all the way.

"Do you want to lose tha' tongue?" he grumbled at her, his threat countered by the twitch of his lips.

~!**!~

"Rescue the _prince _of Spirit world… from _Spirit World?" _Akari's brows disappeared into her bangs now. "That would require _getting into _Spirit World, first off, because alarming him with any sort of technology _made _by Spirit World is… stupid, to say the least. And, honestly, do you think he'd readily believe that his own father was the _cause _of all of his troubles- aside from the usual way?"

Akari frowned slightly. It was true, though, that really, they had no _proof _that it was of Enma's doing. Only hunches and guesses and… puzzles.

Though, despite lack of proof, Akari still felt sure of what she'd thought about earlier, still felt sure that she needed to find Foko and make for _certain _she was right before doing anything else. Now, _how _she was going to find the false fox demon, that was another question.

A question she suddenly realized was going to be difficult to answer for a while. _*****_

"Well, I wouldn't want anything to happen to him." Kuwabara made a face, "And I don't see him as being the type to just go along with whatever his dad says. Not on something like this." He looked at both Kurama and Akari pointedly. "He already has a different opinion of demons, don't you think?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku bit back a rather inappropriate reply, settling for a milder, "Only to you."

A smiled danced over her lips as she closed her eyes again, immediately becoming bothered by Uryo's words.

"_Sho, if you and that hybrid are shtill gonna leave Demon World...hic...you gotta do it yeshterday."_

Shikiyoku could feel her brows drawing together with the thought. 3

Hiei made a hum of acknowledgement at Shikiyoku to show he'd heard her, but otherwise made no indication of even a possibility for a reply. He took in another deep breath that turned into a brief yawn, pulling his right arm up and under his head when he felt the furs beneath tickling his face and neck.

"Shi'," Hiei suddenly grumbled out, only half awake causing the shortening of her name, "you're not so bad."

~!**!~

Akari drew in a deep breath and met Kuwabara's gaze squarely when he interrupted her thoughts. "While I'm sure Koenma is _very _different from his father, there's still that family bond thing. And telling him his own father is causing mayhem without any _proof _could either go very well, or very bad, depending on the specific situation."

She paused to rub at her temples with her index finger and thumb, her mind split on several different thoughts and creating a mild headache. "But, he _does _need to be warned. It's just going about it that needs thinking over." Another pause to take in a sigh. She suddenly found herself wanting to be up and moving, instead of _sitting _here where her thoughts could be interrupted. _*****_

"For what it's worth, I think I'll stay here awhile, if that's alright with you." Genkai looked between Kuwabara and Shizuru. "I think having me close at hand wouldn't hurt anything. And it'll give me a chance to pin you down, girl."

Shizuru seemed pleased that Genkai would offer and nodded.

"If you'll stay here, sis, I think I'm gonna go see about finding Urameshi. At least letting him know what we know, even if we aren't going to do anything about it right now." Kuwabara started to get up and clear away a few of the dirty dishes on the coffee table.

~!**!~

Hiei's words almost startled Shikiyoku from her deep thoughts, her eyes flying open at his words when the tent had been so quiet. It took another moment for her brain to play back what he'd even said, but upon hearing him she actually smiled, her expression soft and grateful though he surely couldn't see it in the darkness.

"You're not so terrible yourself, Hiei." 3

"That can be arranged," he countered suddenly, though his eyes never opened as he shifted some more until he lay on his side instead of his stomach. He was so close to sleep that he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be awake now.

His mind was blank, his body relaxed, and after a few more minutes, his breathing started to even out, his lips parted slightly due to the pressure of his cheek on his arm. He was just so darn _comfortable…_

~!**!~

Akari noticed that the others were beginning to disband, and jumped all over the idea. She turned to Kurama and sighed. "I think I'm gonna go home soon." she informed as she stood, stretching her arms over her head as if she'd been sitting too long.

And then she remembered earlier thoughts about his offer and a frown pulled her lips down again. She was going to get that out of the way as soon as they were out of earshot. _*****_

Kurama felt torn about whether or not he should leave. On the one hand, he felt as if Akari speaking directly _to _him indicated she wished to speak with him away from the others.

On the other hand, Genkai would likely be able to shed some light onto his energy being locked away and getting a chance to speak with her while she was around would be invaluable. Plus, the more of them that were together, the less difficult it would be to contact one another should something happen.

It was in the middle of his musings that Shizuru and Genkai began exchanging small talk as Kuwabara grabbed a light jacket and said farewell as he went out the door.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wasn't sure exactly _what _Hiei was going to arrange. Being more terrible or being less so.

She didn't press the issue, instead simply maintaining the same expression, her eyes open to where she could barely make out the darker portion of air in front of her where he lay.

Getting lost in her silent arguments about leaving Demon World or staying, she absently scooted closer again and buried her face into the upper part of Hiei's arm, squeezing her eyes shut, but quickly releasing the tension when she was suddenly overwhelmed in her next breath by that fiery cinnamon and cloves scent she had long ago associated with him.

She let out an audible sigh.

_I guess it can just wait until morning. _

_...if he wakes up again in the meantime, I'll tell him._3

He was sure he heard movement, but at the same time, Hiei wasn't sure he'd really heard anything at all as his mind delved further into sleep mode, his senses only portionally aware of his surroundings. At least, only aware enough that should danger approach, he'd know it and be prepared before the threat was close enough to strike.

And in an instant, the darkness of the world around him shifted to the light of dreams.

~!**!~

Akari took note of Kurama's hesitation and gave a small sigh. If he didn't want to leave, she had two choices: Go home and let the subject be on hold for a while, or stay until he was willing to leave and get it out of the way. If she waited, who knew how long he'd be here, depending on what held him here. If she left, it could be at least another few hours before she saw him again…

_Then it's settled. _

She took a deep breath and moved to sit again, indirectly saying she wasn't letting him leave without her, and vice versa, for more than one reason. _*****_

"Well, how about right now? It's not as if we don't have the time." Genkai said.

Shizuru shrugged, though the brightness that came to her eyes at the suggestion belied her indecisiveness.

Genkai hopped off the couch and went to go sit in the middle of the room, Shizuru shifting and scooting over until she was opposite.

"Give me your hands." Genkai sat cross-legged, a movement which Shizuru mirrored, and put her hands out into the air between them, Shizuru taking them when offered. "Now close your eyes…"

"If we need to speak privately, I can always walk you home." Kurama murmured once the older teacher had moved. 3

Akari leaned into the cushion behind her, throwing an arm up to rest across the back of the couch as Nabu suddenly joined her, taking the spot Genkai had vacated and laying as close to her as he could be. His chin rested on her thigh after she crossed the leg closest to him over the other, resting her ankle on her opposite knee.

She pulled her eyes away from Genkai when Kurama spoke up, turning a calm gaze to him as she nodded. "I'm patient enough." _*****_

Kurama's eyes flickered towards the training session that had started in the middle of the living room.

"It seems that my entire reason for staying has decided to become engaged in other activities, so if you wished, we could certainly leave now." 3

Akari gave a brief shrug at Kurama with the shoulder of the arm that was resting on the back of the couch. "It's up to _you_." Her eyes turned to the two on the floor for a moment, only slightly curious as to what was going on. Like she had said, she was patient enough to wait.

Especially since now she wasn't really sure how to bring up the topic. _*****_

Kurama made a small shrug as if to indicate that he did not particularly care either way, but at Akari not immediately acting upon his offer, he leaned forward and retrieved the cup of tea he had been sipping from off the table.

"What side would you wish to be on, all things aside?" Kurama murmured to her in the same low tone. 3

For a moment, Akari wasn't sure if Kurama's question was rhetorical, or if she was _meant _to give a serious answer. She didn't look at him, but she didn't hesitate in her answer either. "Whichever doesn't get us killed." She did pause for a moment after though, staring unblinkingly at the pair on the floor, but not seeing them at this moment. "Kuwabra's right, though. Otento… needs to go. No matter how _useful _he is to the cause that Foko has going. But, if you take into account that _Koenma _isn't with his father on this, then… there's not really much of a choice there. Foko may have a reason for what he's doing, but Koenma seems like the better choice, in my opinion." _*****_

The next question was of course, if it came down to a fight between Koenma and Enma, which Kurama could ses as an entirely possible situation...who would actually come out the victor?

There was no doubt in Kurama's mind that Koenma would prove to be a perfectly capable ruler, though going so far as to say that this entire situation had been originated from the toddler-prince seemed a little far-fetched to Kurama.

In the end, as with most of his choices, Kurama would choose whatever would lead to his mother's safety.

Excepting that it be the fake Youko's side. He'd never hear the end of it if he went with something like _that_, no matter what the cost. 3

There was a moment of silence in the entire room, leaving Akari to realize that she hadn't said whatever didn't get _her _killed, but whatever didn't get '_us' _killed. With that thought again came the scene she'd run into, and every moment after. Her eyes looked down at the hand in her lap, almost expecting to still see the blood there, but unsurprised to find none.

When had she gone from thinking about herself to thinking about everyone else first?

Her eyes again turned to Kurama, this time from the corners. She had the vague sense of deja vu as her thoughts turned to the redhead being the first to create such changes, and she sighed quietly to herself before turning her eyes from him again.

"For so little seeming to be a threat these days, I feel as if there's even more of a threat than ever, now that Enma's a factor." _*****_

"I wonder...if Enma is as strong as we've always believed. If he is not as...good as we've been led to believe, then what's to say there are not other things in the myths surrounding him which have been stretched far from the truth?

"What is his job, really? To maintain peace and order? Who gave him that mandate?" 3

Akari gave another one-shoulder shrug at Kurama. "When you rise to power, as he did, then you're free to do whatever you want, because there's no one to stop you from doing so. You're free to give yourself your own title, your own duties, and to control another as you please. It's something Sensui prided in himself for a while, the way he rose from what he saw as nothing more than a guinea pig to a human with the strength of an S class and complete control over the Sacred Energy."

Her eyes took on a faraway gleam as she thought about it, remembering the training he'd put himself through, the absolute _hell _he'd given himself. "Some people earn their power through hard work, others simply end up there. Which one, might I ask, is Enma? The 'privileged', or the 'hard worker'?" She gave another thoughtful pause, accompanied with a sound to match. "The only way to find out, I suppose, is to see for ourselves." _*****_

As Akari worked her way through her perspective, Kurama came to the realization that he really had no idea particularly _anything_ about Enma. About how he came to power. How long he had been there. And for the first time he thought about how much more useful it would be to have _that _insight rather than his insight into how the fake Youko might act.

...but the only one he could think of to ask about that, the only one he thought might have some insider information that no one else would be able to provide...

...was currently stuck in Spirit World undergoing whatever _hell_-_heh_-was being thrown his way.

"I do not know." Was Kurama's reply. "And that is a question that I feel as if we desperately need to have answered." 3

Akari turned her eyes onto Kurama again, several thoughts distracting her for a moment before they reordered themselves and she was able to speak. "The thing about that is, there's only one way to get such information, because anything _we_, as in demons and Spiritual beings alike I'm sure, know about him is what has been passed down by talk, by bedtime stories. Meaning, as I'm sure you've noticed, Koenma is likely the only one to shed any sort of light."

_Except someone who has already searched into it. Except someone who already __**knows **__the answer from a first-hand experience, or even their own research. Someone like Foko. _

She turned forward again with a small frown. "And as you said, we're left to our own devices. On our own for the time being, and quite frankly, after we _can _get hold of Koenma, it might be too late to warn him at all." She gave a half-hearted smile, "That's the beauty of being in power: you're viewed by others as you _want _them to view you." _*****_

Kurama did not look at Akari, watching Genkai and Shizuru interact, though hearing nothing of what they were saying, but he said quietly, "The very same is to be said of the fake Youko himself."

He slowly lifted his eyes and turned his head to look at her, expression neutral. 3

"Mmm," Akari hummed out, choosing not to give an actual reply to the redhead who turned to her. Nor did she look at him, for a moment, anyway. Her eyes were focused forward, but not really seeing the room as she considered her response carefully, even weighed if responding was a good idea.

In the end, she gave no reply, simply turning to meet the unreadable gaze with her own unblinking one, as if she'd just been given a warning, and taken it into account. _I know, I know. __*****_

Kurama said nothing, gauging Akari silently in that moment before he broke his piercing stare to relieve her of it, shifting in his seat and switching which leg was crossed over the other, leaning his elbow on the arm of the couch and resting his chin across the top of his hand.

He didn't feel as if anything needed to be said. She would do as she wished. Only this time...he would not be there to save her. 3

When Kurama turned away, breaking the heavy moment entirely, she too turned away, her eyes turning down to Nabu sleeping quietly with his head on her thigh. Her arm dropped from the back of the couch, her hand gently running along Nabu's head and down his back.

_I'll be careful. I have to be. There's too much going on to not be paying attention. _

Nabu's eyes opened half-way to look up at her as she disturbed his sleep, causing her to pause as he shifted a bit, kicking his legs against her thigh until he was laying a bit further, head still on her thigh and eyes now watching her curiously.

"_What now?"_

She shook her head lightly at the pup and pet him once again, giving a soft smile.

_When I find him- and I'm going to- I'll need to make sure Otento isn't around first. Then…_

_I'll just have to figure it out after that. But first… Before that… I can't forget to talk to Kurama. Foko can wait just a bit longer. __*****_

"Do you...wish to go now?" Kurama murmured, sensing as if there would be such a thing as a 'good time' for her to see about getting a hold of the fake Youko, it would be better served to be sooner rather than later. 3

Hazel eyes turned from Nabu and up to Kurama, half surprised that he asked. Whatever it was he wished to speak with Genkai about, it seemed he felt it could wait, if just a bit longer. So, she nodded once, simultaneously giving Nabu a gentle pat that said 'lets go'. As soon as the dog was lifting his chin from her thigh, she was standing and brushing off her jeans, eyes down at the action as she realized she hadn't thought of a way to bring up the conversation.

Oh well. Easy does it, right?

...Or maybe not. Either way. _*****_

Kurama stood smoothly as Akari did, glancing over at Genkai and Shizuru before deciding that leaving them uninterrupted would likely be of more use to them here than announcing their exit, which they would probably be aware of on some level anyway, and he turned to head for the door, slipping his shoes on calmly as he reached for the knob and stepped out into the open air. 3

Akari took a bit longer than Kurama did to slide into her shoes, and then she too was stepping into the cool, crisp air that had, during their time inside, blown through the town and made the temperature drop several degrees. She glanced down at Nabu, assuring herself he was outside before she shut the door quietly behind herself and turned away. Her hands slowly stuffed themselves into her jean pockets as she moved down the stairs, still quiet as she considered several ways to go about this conversation.

She waited a bit longer than she'd originally planned, not sure if Genkai would have better hearing due to her high amounts of spiritual energy or not. _*****_

Kurama strolled easily down the sidewalk, realizing after a moment that he wasn't as impervious to the chill in the air as usual, with one hand nonchalantly in his pocket as he turned over in his mind all the things that had happened in the past few months.

It was hard to believe that he was in his last year at Meiou High, as his perception of time had slowed-_or was it quickened?_-with his human body, even with the Youko's spirit as intertwined as it had become with that of Minamino, Shuichi. His thoughts began turning towards the future, beyond just the year, into the next five, even ten, and musing at the possibilities. 3

For a few minutes, Akari allowed silence to stray on the air between Kurama and herself, her eyes calmly pointed forward and ears picking up the smallest of sounds- from Nabu's claws on the concrete behind her to the loud engines of the vehicles several blocks away.

And after those few minutes, she decided she'd stalled long enough, yet she still wasn't sure how to _ease into _the topic.

So, she dove right in instead.

"I need more time to… consider a few things." _*****_

Kurama only glanced at Akari out of the corner of his eye instead of fully turning his head towards her.

"Oh?" 3

She didn't look over at him. "I haven't had a chance to sit and think since we talked about it last." she continued, making a small sound before speaking up again. "Or, rather, _you _talked about it last. Assuming the offer still stands." _*****_

Kurama let out an amused breath through his nose, "Well, you certainly _have _time to think about it, as I'm afraid I am currently incapable of living up to my promise. So, it's good that you have not decided as of yet." 3

A small hum resounded from Akari's chest, as if his amusement meant nothing to her and hardly called for her acknowledgement. Her eyes remained forward as she thought about the first time he'd offered, and the _fashion _in which he'd given the offer. A single brow raised calmly at the recollection before she sighed.

"Glad you find it so amusing." _*****_

"I apologize. I did not mean it condescendingly. Perhaps more..._thankful _that you have not decided for it right at this moment, as it means I have not failed to keep a promise I made to you as of yet." 3

Akari raised a brow in slight amusement. "I was talking about your energy. Not… the offer… being amusing." she clarified, turning to glance at him finally. "Though, I do appreciate the sincerity there. Quite touching, might I say." she teased, though her eyes didn't sparkle nor did her lips twitch with amusement. _*****_

Kurama let out a low chuckle this time, "Well, I could take it all back if you'd prefer." 3

"Mmm, nah." she replied, her lips finally twitching. "I mean, unless you have something _better." _Her eyes turned away from him and up to the grey clouds that moved over their heads, carrying the colder breeze through the city and to the next.

"Tell you what: When I have an answer, _I'll _come to _you." __*****_

"It's rare for there to _be _anything better." Kurama said a bit loftily, just as Youko would have.

He glanced at her again, "As you wish." 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	62. Episode 146 - Scars and Separation

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of this FanFiction Realm!

Whew, this chapter was hard for me. I knew it was coming, but I had entire sections of my things to edit on this one and while I had all the changes up in my head, it still took longer than I thought it would.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Uryo appears to Shikiyoku and informs her that not only does Rae know Shikiyoku is back on the Ninth Level,  
but Spirit World has apparently gone into crisis mode, completely shutting down,  
and is closing all portals inbetween _anywhere_, including Demon and Human Worlds.

When she returns to the Elders' Tent, it's to a rather sleepy Hiei,  
who informs her she's 'not so bad,'  
but she waits to tell him anything until he's more coherent.

~!**!~

Akari and Kurama continue bringing Shizuru, Kuwabara, and Genaki up to speed,  
explaining how Spirit World closed after a serious threat of attack.  
Shizuru seems to get the feeling that whatever is going on,  
demons being snuck into Human World or not,  
it doesn't feel _bad _for Human World,  
in any case not 'bad' like it did when they were dealing with Sensui.

Their plan seems to be 'mobilization with intention to gather more information,'  
and Akari and Kurama part from Kuwabara's apartment  
just as Genkai begins to sit with Shizuru to attempt to help the girl hone her power.

Akari has remembered Kurama's offer to remove her scars,  
but tells him she needs more time to consider his offer,  
ending up telling him that _she _would find _him _when she has an answer...

* * *

She relapsed into silence again, her eyes finding random things about their surroundings to note, such as the leaves on the trees, the people she passed, the dogs in closed fences or cats in windows. Shops. Food stands. Etcetera, etcetera… Whatever grabbed at her attention as her mind thought over his offer again.

_If the scars are taken away, I'll look just as normal as I want to be. I'll look just as close to the person I was before. It's something I wanted for… a long time. _

_So why am I hesitating? Because of a couple of stupid ears and a damn tail? So what? __*****_

Akari's mentioning of his offer led Kurama's mind to the procedure he would have to do in order to remove the scars as he promised.

...which lead his eyes absently over to Akari's head where he could just imagine the ears she once wore flicking at each sound they heard, analyzing and likely dismissing them without her direct notice.

Removing scars was one thing. One thing he researched heavily in to once his...mother...received hers from...him.

As to the restoration of long-forgotten limbs...

...it was something Kurama did not find himself surprised to be considering searching for a method to do. And something he felt would not be outside his realm of ability.

...once he and Youko were one again, of course. 3

_It isn't like…_

_It isn't like I'm going to go _home _anytime in the near future. Or, likely ever, really. If I stay in this world, then the absence of such things would mean nothing to anyone except me. I've lived without them for this long, why do I need them now anyway?_

Again, she wondered why she was still hesitating, what it was that she had to _think _about. The memories she could deal with, given the right moment. They were manageable, as was having no ears and no tail. She could still _hear _like a dog demon. She still had each ability that she'd been born with.

She absently looked down at herself, as if seeing the skin beneath the shirts she wore. The skin that itched here and there when she thought of the marks that colored her torso and various other places. The marks that sometimes _stung _when she thought of the weapons, the utensils that had been used against her.

She also thought of the fact that she hid them, despite the fact that others had told her not to. But, really, it wasn't a story she wanted to tell, a story she wanted others to see. It was a story she wasn't proud of, wasn't glad she'd made through. It was a story that used to leave her crippled for days on end, leave her unable to function for that same amount of time, sometimes longer. Even now, a decade later, she sometimes felt as if she wanted nothing more than to shut herself away and hide herself from this world.

So why would she show a story like that to someone who wouldn't understand? _*****_

"Is living through it not reason enough to be proud?" Kurama wondered aloud, having caught Akari's glance and taken a guess at her thoughts, "Or is it that you wished you _hadn't_?" His second question was tinged with an innocent curiosity, thinking back to the complete and utter change of mind his mother saving him had bestowed upon his psyche. And how guilty he felt, over a _decade _later, each time he saw her scars.

...and recalling that as being the reason he did not remove them from her even once he discovered how. As if it were punishment for him to be forced to watch her live with those scars and the unending guilt he harbored for having been the cause of them. 3

Akari's eyes moved away from her torso when Kurama spoke up, but she didn't look at him. Her expression turned unreadable, if it hadn't already been as such, and her shoulders straightened just a little, not realizing she'd been hunching over just a bit from her own thoughts.

Truthfully, she used to wish she _hadn't_, as he asked. But admitting such a thing made her feel even worse about it. So, she didn't say that aloud. In fact, she didn't answer at all, because really, she didn't have one for him. At least, not one that wouldn't lead to a conversation she didn't want to venture into. _*****_

He saw out of the corner of his eye that Akari had straightened up next to him at his question, leaving it unanswered and on the air between them.

He thought about how he had, at one time, attempted to transfer his mother's wounds to himself-so that the reminder would be forever upon himself as the scars he had known then she would receive from the injuries-and found out at the time that it was beyond his means, beyond his abilities; how he had knocked himself out for three days and caused her more worry than if he had just left them alone.

He hadn't tried it again after that, though it led his precocious mind to seeking out alternatives, and to unlocking the secret he now offered to Akari.

_It had been more painful to leave the scars, and so that's what I did. What will Akari finally decide upon, I wonder._ 3

She had half a mind at that exact moment to tell Kurama she wanted them gone, because the more Akari thought about it, the more reasons she found to accept his offer. Simultaneously, though, she seemed to find that the same reasons to get rid of her marks were also things she'd been ignoring for a long time. Working her way through slowly. Almost _too _slowly, she felt.

But, again, she hesitated. She thought of Foko and the way he didn't _compliment _them, but seem to accept them altogether. She thought about the way Kurama offered her a way out, first by adding another to the pile and then…

Lecturing her, it seemed. She couldn't decide, really, but a part of her almost wanted to deem it as _pity_, which was another reason she kept her scars hidden.

And the mere thought suddenly had her frowning at the sidewalk ahead of her.

_I'm not pitiful. He has no room to lecture. __*****_

He remembered how self-conscious she had been of her scars that day in the gym. How he could tell the age of the scars just by looking at them, and wondering why exactly she was still brooding over them, why she hadn't gotten past it yet.

He..._assumed _she only needed a kick in the pants, that those she had been around had likely nurtured her into the inability to move on and had not done such a thing.

Mentally he made a scoffing noise at himself.

_We all know what it is to 'assume,' don't we?_

It makes an 'ass' out of 'u and me.' 3

"I know I've said this," Akari suddenly spoke up, eyes turning to Kurama from the corners again, "but I _really _don't need a lecture from anyone." she grumbled at him, her gaze even and not betraying her own thoughts over the matter. "I've also said that it's my problem, and that I'll get over it."

She turned her eyes forward again, her hands digging deeper into her pockets as she shifted out of a man's way as he rushed by her. "So, needless to say, repeating myself isn't something I enjoy doing." _*****_

Kurama felt his tongue sharpen and he bit back a scathing reply, settling on a calmer, "If I was ever to actually _lecture _you, I assure you that you would be aware of it immediately without question." 3

Akari chose not to reply, deciding that restraint was going to be her ally here, and likely get her through this without creating a toxic moment for the both of them. Sure, there were several things she wanted to say, but she felt that for the sake of both of their sanity, it'd be best to keep them to herself.

And, she noted somewhere in the back of her mind, for the sake of the odd relationship that had formed, she wouldn't push his buttons further. No matter the point. _*****_

If Kurama had been less of a demon, he would have chalked up her silence as a 'win,' but the thought did not even cross his mind, as he felt at first a tension from her that denoted a desire to counter his words, and actually found himself surprised when she elected to remain silent, and he let said silence grow between them. 3

Akari stayed quiet for a few minutes as she bit back each and every word that threatened to move past her lips and into the air between herself and Kurama. And, really, it wasn't hard to keep the slight ire held back enough to keep herself at bay, to keep herself from saying something that he'd easily counter, as he _always _did.

Now _that _was more irritating than anything else, that he had a counter for _every single thing _she said, and ended up getting the last word _every time_.

She took in a deep breath and released it through her nose.

"Your ability to counter is annoying." she grumbled, stating it as calmly as if she were observing the color of his hair. "There's no winning with you." _*****_

"Come back to me when you have a few more centuries under your belt." Kurama replied mildly, "I'm _ahead of the game_, as it were." 3

"Though the game isn't an enjoyable one. Not really worth playing." she grumbled on, his words irritating her more. He was taunting her because she was _young_. Wasn't that supposed to be a good thing in this world? _*****_

"That's because you seem to think I always _win_. We're not keeping score." At least, not out loud. 3

"It's especially no fun when the other does the exact thing the first does." she suddenly pointed out, this time cutting her eyes at him out of the corners. "Makes a sore loser even more irate." _*****_

Kurama only raised an eyebrow at Akari questioningly, actually unsure what she was talking about and waiting for her to elaborate. 3

Akari caught the silent question sent her way and turned her eyes forward again, her cheek twitching a bit as she chose her words… okay, maybe she _didn't _choose her words carefully.

"I mean, if _I _hide my marks, I'm ashamed of them. If _you _do so, it's perfectly fine. Quite the hypocrisy, hm?" _*****_

"Do you really think I hide my many scars because I'm ashamed of them?" Kurama asked, his eyebrow remaining arched just as it had been, though its purpose seemed to convey a different emotion now than before. 3

"Did I say that?" she countered easily. She was sure he wasn't.. _ashamed _of them, per se. But perhaps… _not proud _of them. Maybe the reason she pointed it out was because she herself wished she were that far, not ashamed, but not proud either. _*****_

"If I were ashamed of them, then your accusation of my hypocrisy would be well-placed. As it were, there is not an ounce of shame within me in regards to the scars scattered across my skin, rendering your indictment against me a moot point." 3

"The _point_ was not _shame," _she said carefully. "It's simply what _you _locked onto." Her hands pulled out of her pockets and she pulled to a stop, turning to him as her fingers wrapped around the open button-up shirt she wore and pulled it outwards a bit, to indicate the subject. "The _point _was that people keep telling me that I shouldn't _hide them_, but those very same people do the very same thing, and I'm losing what little patience I have." _*****_

"Give me a single, _**good**_, reason as to why you should hide your scars." Kurama allowed none of the edge he felt spike across his mind into his words, letting the sentence roll from his tongue calmly, with patience. 3

Akari felt the change in her core that hinted at the slightest bit of adrenaline at the challenge he'd issued calmly, at the fact that she'd _just _thought about another asking this very question. She had to fight not to toss her hands in the air in frustration, in anger almost. She huffed out a very short breath from her nose, and were she a dragon, it would have been fire instead of simple air.

"Because it _hurts!" _she growled at him. "It isn't the _shame _that keeps them hidden," she continued, voice low and barely restrained. "I _feel _the cause almost every time I look at them. Even your stupid whip stings from time to time, so to keep from feeling it again, I don't look at them! If I _see _them, I _feel _them. And in case you don't recall, the feeling of being _cut open _and _lashed at _is not an enjoyable feeling!" _*****_

"And you sincerely, honestly believe that keeping them _hidden _behind clothing is helping? Have you ever _tried _looking at them? Not all at once, not for a significant amount of time, but actually _seeing _them for what they are? Pieces of skin drawn together in order for the body to survive? Have you considered that perhaps in order for their healing to begin, for the pain to stop, that you might have to allow them to breathe once in a while?" Kurama shook his head, "Medically, once dire blood flow has stopped, do you not give a wound access to oxygen to quicken the healing process?

"If after all this time you have felt no improvement in your condition, would it not be prudent to consider a different course of action than the one that isn't helping? The one that might, in fact, be _hindering_ progress instead?" His voice never rose, remaining that steady volume he always seemed capable of using. 3

Akari suddenly stood up straight, smoothing down the sides of the shirt she'd bought earlier that morning and letting her eyes follow the action. This time, when she spoke, her voice was even, controlled. "You think I haven't tried?" Her eyes turned up to him again, blank as if not seeing him for who he was. "The only thing I _haven't _tried is getting a damn shrink, all of which you are not. And, before you say so, I will not be doing that." She crossed her arms over her chest, ignoring the very, very quiet sound of Nabu making a noise of concern at her feet.

"I've done everything I can imagine, just short of accepting _your _offer, which I did _not _ask for. _You _chose to jump in. Why, I don't know, because you hide your own scars. It isn't like _you _don't have something you haven't moved past yet, and don't you tell me otherwise because _everyone _has something they would rather not share with the world. Let this one be mine, and I won't press you about yours. Capiche?" With that, she turned and made to continue on. _*****_

Kurama stopped and let her move on a pace or two before speaking up again in reply.

"I am **for certain **you haven't tried. I'm **positive** you haven't. Not really. Because I _know_ you. I know how **exceptionally **stubborn you are, as I've been on the receiving end of that stubbornness many a time, and the thought of you allowing bits of flesh to **own **and **consume **your entire mind, is unfathomable to me.

"You wear chains of your own devising, and it is only _you _who will be able to break yourself free of them, no matter what outside assistance there may be offered, no matter what strength another may wish to allow you to lean upon should you deem them worthy enough to help you, should you truly find yourself in need of help." He did not appear to suggest an answer for her in either direction.

"The difference between you and I, your scars and mine, is that you _haven't moved __**passed**_ _yours_, and I never had anything to move pass in the first place. You remain stuck, wallowing in them, using them as a crutch to hide a beautiful demonic figure, while I keep mine from my mother's view because she simply _cannot handle them_. The mental strain, the worry, the absolute _anguish _it caused her to see her child with something so simple as a banged up knee...all of that because she wanted to take the injury on herself to spare her selfish boy from a cut-that for me healed within seconds-and _couldn't._" Kurama ruefully considered how his mother had dove to 'save' him from the broken glass he had caused, another injury he would have had no trouble healing; how she had 'gotten her wish' in the most aimless, fruitless, meaningless manner possible.

"_**That **_and _only _that, is the reason why mine are kept out of sight. For _her_. Because I _am _in fact a _selfish_ boy and wish her to have as fearless a life as possible; a life _without _fear, without concern, without apprehension for where I am and what I am doing.

"However, I would agree: I am absolutely _certain_ you have done everything you could have ever imagined, because I highly doubt you've ever taken it upon yourself to walk around your house _naked _until the pain _stops_." And with that he turned, leaving Akari to walk the rest of the way to her home by herself, heading back to Genkai's apartment.

_Which is where __**I **__come in. To suggest things you could never dream up on your own. _He smirked to himself as he moved, unable to prevent the mental image he'd just suggested to her from popping into his mind and finding that such a picture pleased him, even if he immediately dismissed it for her sake.

...for once it was as if Youko were there in his head still, and Kurama wondered at how intertwined their spirits had become. It was as if he still channeled the fox even though the fox was not there. 3

Akari pulled to a stop when Kurama spoke up again, keeping her back to him as she listened, but didn't even deem a glance worth sending him. But as he continued on, at first she wanted to say that he didn't _know _her. Then he continued on by making her feel as if he'd struck her. Her eyes turned to the sky, as if it would help her keep her calm in the sudden onslaught of Kurama, whom she now knew to be _actually _lecturing her.

_He hadn't been lying when he said I'd know it. _

She didn't react to his words about his mother- she'd already considered that, already assumed it to be the reason he hid his, because of his human mother. She hadn't seen the woman, had no idea what she looked like, how she acted, knew nothing about her, but from what she knew of _human _mothers, she hadn't found it hard to guess that he was-

_What a funny way to say one was selfish. _

"Stupid." she grumbled, almost not catching the last part. She wasn't sure why, but she felt as if he were slapping her with his words, as if he were actually _attacking_, his words sharp as his whip, though not from his tone. She opened her mouth to say something, turning to even look at him.

And then she registered what he'd said, and her mouth simply hung there, open as it had been, no words falling out. She blinked, not sure what to say, if anything. For a moment, she only managed to stare after him incredulously, arms still crossed over her chest.

There was something, just sitting, on the end of her tongue for a moment, but by the time she was able to remember how to speak, whatever had been ready to fly had been forgotten. Her jaw snapped shut, her lips pressing into a thin line as she watched Kurama continue back the way they'd come.

And instead of yelling at him- what she wanted to yell, she didn't know- she simply turned and continued on her way home instead, head down as she moved through the crowd that had parted around her and Kurama during their moment.

And then she remembered taking note earlier of tracking down Foko. She paused only a moment before deciding it could wait long enough for her to recover from… whatever had just happened. _*****_

~!**!~

As Shikiyoku ran in Hiei's wake, she took note for what seemed like the first time of the invisible haze of energy that flowed behind and around her. Over the last couple of days she had gotten to feel it slowly seeping back into existence as the aftereffects of supplementing her energy with Hiei's during the Odori Iro wore off.

Her eyes flickered to the pocket she had found within Hiei's cloak two days ago the last time they had fallen asleep together in the Elders' Tent. He had yet to notice-or comment if he knew-that she had slipped the Koorime tear-jewel within that pocket once he had fallen into deep sleep, and with him in the lead she hoped he would not question it.

Once Shikiyoku spoke with Hiei about all Uryo had told her, he had made no hesitation in deciding that the time for them to return to Human World was, as Uryo had put it, "yesterday," and it was with full speed that the two of them made for the mountainside they first emerged from all those months ago.3

For the past two days, Hiei hadn't been able to think of much more than the fact that Spirit World had been shut down. Of all things, he hadn't considered Spirit World shutting down, because to him, that meant that all hell was going to be released soon, if it hadn't already. It meant that Kurama and the others would need an extra hand, that if he didn't return, a lot could happen and he'd never live it down.

So his feet carried him just as fast as Shikiyoku could go, eyes trained ahead and searching for the portal in the side of the mountain he vaguely remembered exiting through. Once he and Shikiyoku were back, they'd be able to fill in the others, get a step ahead of whatever was going on and end this ridiculous 'mission'.

And for the first time, he felt that Koenma had no hand in this, because why would the Prince, who had spared multiple demon lives, set up the death of numerous other demons?

As he pondered this, Hiei's fiery red eyes caught sight of the mountains, and the area from which they had come and he shifted gears a little, changing his course just enough to take the shorter route towards where the portal would be..

Before much time had passed, he was moving through the portal, not looking back as he crossed into the darkness of the portal, feet moving until he crossed the Kekkai Barrier and-

Something within him seemed to falter, deaden, and he pulled to an immediate stop and spun to face the Kekkai, seeing it flare up briefly before a sort of darkness took its place. There was the distinct feeling of a solid wall where once there had only been the shining yellow net of energy. His Jagan reached out, finding the bond he could only find a _bit _of and pulling on it, accessing it to create a moment where he could speak to the person he could no longer see, no longer hear, and no longer feel nearby, though he, for the moment, said nothing. _*****_

There had been few words exchanged between the pair since they left the Northern Tribe, for which Shikiyoku found herself thankful. It was difficult enough to keep her reservations to herself, and had they not spent the last two days constantly on the run, she feared Hiei might notice her newly acquired solemnness that she tried desperately to hide, though without much success.

Shikiyoku had not thought about the Kekkai Barrier since she first passed through it, but now that they were heading back, her thoughts were consumed by it.

She remembered distinctly the tug it gave at her when she tried to pass through the first time, and while at the time she dismissed the sensation, it now alarmed her.

...because now...she was stronger. Stronger than her mother. And if the barrier _had _tugged at her before because of her power, if it _had _been directly related to how close she was to the 'A Class' Hiei told her about...

Shikiyoku let her feet mechanically follow the directional change Hiei made and she swallowed nervously, glad not for the first time that he had taken it upon himself to be in the lead. If he looked back at her, she was not certain she would be able to smile reassuringly, as if everything was going to be okay.

With him in the lead, and with the portal-opening tear in his pocket, Shikiyoku was sure he would get through. She _wasn't _sure how she was going to convince him to go on once he realized she got stuck. She could just see him marching right back up to the golden net with that scowl on his face, glaring at the poor thing as if he could intimidate it into letting her through.

She actually smiled a little at the image.

He _had _to go back, had to go help his comrades, go help Spirit World. Whatever mess he would emerge to would be one he would assist in fixing, she just knew it. They needed him.

_You need him._

No, it...well, _yes_, but...

Shikiyoku held back a sigh and her vision suddenly cut off, pulling her from her thoughts as she dashed into the mountainside and into darkness where Hiei had just disappeared.

She caught sight of his back as they approached the Kekkai, looming brilliantly before them, and for a split second she let her speed slow so that Hiei might gain a bit of distance on her. When he did not appear to notice, she slowed further, unsure what the Barrier might do once she approached it and intending to _not _run headlong into it.

As she expected, Hiei passed by without trouble, and while she was only a second or two behind him, she pulled herself to a stop just short of the net, looking up at it and taking a deep breath before reaching out timidly, much like she had done the first time they approached it.

As soon as her skin came in contact with the energy, the Kekkai crackled at her, confirming her fears as she jerked her hand away to look at her fingers, seeing how they appeared singed.

Shikiyoku took a second breath and looked up, prepared to attempt _something_ in the way of convincing Hiei to go on without her, only to find herself suddenly and completely alone in the dark.

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, desperately trying to see, and she clenched her slightly burnt hand into a fist briefly before reaching up with it again and without hesitation moving her hand forward until her palm hit something solid and smooth.

She felt the half of the pact she had active within her head suddenly flooded with the warmth of Hiei's mind, feeling that he reached out to her in some strange manner through the pact with the Jagan as well.

Shikiyoku opened her mouth as if to say something, her mind suddenly strangely blank and uncomprehending of what exactly was going on.

_This isn't...normal. I can't even feel the passageway in front of me anymore. _

Something within her lurched and she shivered.

"_Hiei, what's happening?" _

Shikiyoku could _feel _somehow that parts of her sentence did not get through to him and a sudden rush of adrenaline made her core start pumping faster.

_No...not like this..._

"_Don't-" _Don't what? Don't leave?

She lurched again and it felt as if something behind her had grabbed a hold of her body and was about to fling her back out of the passageway.

She pressed her hand harder up against the wall of darkness as if she searched for some purchase that she might be able to hold onto, but at the third lurch even her feet slipped backwards and a strange sort of calm overtook her, even in the midst of the Jagan's fury.

"_...don't forget me." _

She took another breath and let her forehead rest against the wall as if she could feel him through it, letting her eyes close as even the warmth of Hiei's mind touching hers began to fade, though she could feel him struggle against it, trying to stay in contact with her.

Even the pact started to go mute, and Shikiyoku's hand closed into a fist again, her teeth clenching together as her throat went stiff and she bit back an angry sob.

_We were supposed to talk. You were supposed to be stubborn. You were going to glare at me when I told you to leave without me, and I was going to smile at you and imagine leaping through to hug you and having you hug me back-_

_..._

_...not like this._

...

"_...I love you." _3

Hiei felt her communicating through the Jagan, and waited for her to continue on after saying his name. There seemed to be a hesitation, or perhaps a lag from the barrier as he waited, because there was a beat of silence.

"_...forget me."_

Hiei blinked as a few more words seemed to make an attempt to filter through the sudden buzz in his mind, though they were disjointed, fuzzy, and held no meaning to him before the connection was cut off entirely. He hadn't even had a chance to say anything to her, and now he simply stood there, at the edge of the barrier, teeth grinding together. _Why _hadn't she gone through?

His fingers twitched before he suddenly felt as if a vacuum had opened up in the space behind him, pulling him away from both the barrier and Shikiyoku all at once, and throwing him out into the sunlight of Human World, where he sat on the sand in the middle of nowhere, staring ahead at the vast desert void of mountains and void of any and all portals that had recently been there.

~!**!~

Three days, and still, nothing. Three days of wandering with her nose in the air, and Akari had yet to find any sign of Foko, or any activity that might even _hint _that the demon was anywhere near the city _at all_. It was clear that the city itself was clean of any demonic activity, aside from those Spirit World had assigned specifically- such as herself and Kurama- but other than that, nothing out of the norm.

Though, she'd dealt with a small group of trespassers yesterday, who'd not seen her wandering by when they'd made to corner a camper some miles away from the city lights. It had reminded her why she was out there in the first place, because the demons seemed to know nothing but pure anger and murderous intent.

The human had gotten away, though only because she'd been able to use her illusions on the male to hide the actual scene and steer him clear of danger.

It hadn't been an easy task, but she'd done it. With minimal time loss and minimal injury, might she add.

Actually, the only reason she'd gotten the scratch was _because _the human had wandered too close.

After that, it'd been back to aimless walking and constant sniffing of the colder air, her breath coming out as puffs in front of her face now that the _actual _cold front had hit. Even now, as she stood in the middle of a bundle of trees and stared at her own breath, she wasn't sure where to go.

_If they're bringing more demons, then surely I could feel their presence. _

Her energy stretched out further around her, searching the immediate area and even a good distance away, and finding nothing as she probed the air. So, she adjusted her t-shirt, stuffed her hands in her back jean pockets, and continued walking again, eyes continuing to move about as she wandered, mentally keeping track of where she'd already been and where she _hadn't _been.

After about a half hour longer of simple wandering, she considered calling it quits for a while and returning home to Nabu, to a warm bed where she could nap after being out almost all night and all day, and back to… as much as she didn't like saying it… doing as Kurama had suggested and simply sitting around, fighting herself and actually sitting around in a simple t-shirt and shorts, allowing herself to stare at scars for a while before finding something to keep herself busy.

Which was why the shirt she wore now hung off her shoulder slightly, her hair pulled up into a ponytail to ensure that when she occasionally looked down, she'd be facing her own self. It seemed to work, though there were points where-

_What was that? _

Akari paused suddenly, feet planting in place and nose raising high into the air as she took in a long, deep breath of the crisp air. _There, again. _It was only a small whiff, but it was so much more than she'd gotten in the past two days that she turned and made way towards the source of the rotten flesh, the smell of a place she hadn't been to in over a decade.

_Found you, Foko. __*****_

~!**!~

If his sources were correct, and his sources were _always _correct, the Youko-who-was-not-Youko knew that the timing of this final influx of demons was going to be _quite _difficult to pull off.

It only made him smile that icy smile he had found himself using much more often these days.

He stood back from the wide mouth of the cave, arms crossed over his chest in waiting and not in response to the chill of the air, and could feel the fluctuations from within, his second lieutenant standing at his side and watching, _feeling_, the changes that were occurring on both sides of the barrier, changes that were being helped along by others of the gang, no, the _army_.

Youko pondered briefly upon Gekijou's unintentional betrayal. He had guessed as much when the demon of anger had so readily accepted the invitation, able to smell and even _sense _the power of the one they had 'lost' upon her. Calculating such a thing into their intentions had been of little consequence.

_Plans within plans._

"Here they come."

Youko's lieutenant pulled the fox's attention away from his inner musings and to the mouth of the cave. The demons were beginning to pour through now, and Youko nodded to the demon at his side. The demon moved forward to begin greeting those that were just now marching out of the cave, a mass of demons that would increase the size of the army twofold, doubling their current numbers.

Pleased, Youko started to gracefully slip away on silent feet until a movement, and an energy, piqued his mind. He kept moving, getting beyond the nearby trees to hide his presence, and watched as demons started to go by before stalking into their midst, grabbing the arm of the female demon he'd seen attempt to merge herself with the others, and drag her away, only receiving mild looks from the other demons in the crowd as he did so.

"_What _do you think you're _doing?_" Youko growled at her as they broke free of the other demons. He led her without pause farther into the treeline until they would not be seen by prying eyes before releasing her roughly across from him, taking to glaring at her dangerously, arms folding over his chest once more.

~!**!~

Though she did not know it, Shikiyoku had gotten flung away from the wall in much the same manner as Hiei on the other side of it, and she currently sat staring blankly at the mountainside from the ground where she had been flung.

She didn't even hear the noises of the Ninth Level around her anymore, didn't particularly see the deep reds of her home-level.

All she could feel was the complete silence of the pact within her, unbroken, still intact, but dead and unresponsive.

As she finally blinked, Shikiyoku knew if she sat there long enough, the realization, the utter finality of her situation, would dawn on her and tears and grief would come. She wanted nothing more than to curl up on the forest floor right there and give up.

But at the same time, other emotions stirred deep within her.

_Not like this._

This is not how things were supposed to go.

That damn wall wasn't supposed to be there.

She didn't get to see him, to say a proper goodbye.

_Not. Like. This._

And it all made her very angry.

Her teeth clenched together as the muscles in her arms tightened violently when her hands formed into fists and she finally stood up with a growl resonating deep within her chest.

The mountain before her did not even so much as have the dark opening where one might begin passing through to the other side, but that didn't stop Shikiyoku when her vision tunneled in and she began attacking it.

It took three cycles of day and night, of Shikiyoku hurling her energy at the unyielding mountainside in a fury unmatched, before she finally collapsed to the ground, completely spent and feeling no better off than when she started.

Just...

...more alone. 3

Hiei sat there for a while, until the sun was hidden behind clouds and he became aware of the chill on the air, though not really feeling it. After a span of time he wasn't sure of, he shifted to stand, glaring harshly at the place where he knew he'd been tossed from before turning away and heading towards the direction he knew to be of the town Kurama and the others would be in.

His energy expanded, his Jagan searching first for Kurama, and when he couldn't find his comrade right away, he searched for Yusuke. Of course, it was an automatic thing, to find the detective's energy, which would be enough to ensure he _was _indeed on the right path towards town.

And he ran, his feet moving just as fast as if he were moving through Demon World all over again, his eyes dead set forward until he was just where he wanted to be. He only stopped when he was standing outside Kurama's home, hands in his pockets and eyes on the house, searching for any sign of Kurama's energy.

And found none.

But he also found no signs of a human inside, so he simply moved forward until he stood right at the door, a hand grabbing the knob, turning it and finding it locked. He glared at the mechanism as if it did this purposely to him, before turning and marching around the house, until he found a window that seemed to be ajar just enough to indicate it being unlocked.

He quietly slipped through the window, shutting it behind himself before he turned and meandered his way up the stairs and towards the room he knew to be Kurama's- he'd done this many times in the past, after all- and not hesitating even a blink when he reached the bedroom door, pushing it open calmly and simply stepping inside as if it were his own room.

~!**!~

After locking onto the scent, it hadn't taken Akari long at all to reach the place she needed to be, finding that there was a small cave that seemed overflowing with demons. She hadn't hesitated in the least to move in amongst the ranks, sending a coy smile to the demons who noticed and tossing her hair slightly to rid her vision of her bangs.

Her eyes had seen Foko moving away, but lost him only until he was pulling her from the grouping, which didn't surprise her a bit. She allowed him to pull her along, positively growling at her as he hauled her away.

"Mm." she hummed out with a shrug. "Just.. popping in to say hello." she said casually before releasing her, almost tossing her a little away from him- something she'd also expected. She turned to face him, expression turning serious, but calm as she watched his every move.

"You're going after Enma, aren't you?" she asked him without hesitation, not even so much as blinking at him. "And before you ask, no, I haven't said anything about it to anyone." _*****_

Besides his obvious ire, which he found himself unable to mask, Youko allowed nothing else to pass over his face as Akari spoke.

"This does _not _concern you."

~!**!~

It took seven days for Shikiyoku to stand back up.

When she had no tears left, when they had dried, shriveled away somewhere inside her, when they no longer stained her cheeks, she slowly pulled herself from the ground.

Feeling as if she were a husk, not truly a living being, missing whatever it was that used to make her whole, Shikiyoku turned her empty eyes upon the red forest around her...and started to wander, her mind made up, her destination chosen, but her path far from that of a sane one.

She felt...nothing.

~!**!~

"Well, that's quite an excellent feat, then." Kurama replied into the receiver of the phone, "I look forward to seeing it."

He sat at his desk, phone to his ear as he reclined with his back to the door, one leg crossed casually over the other.

"Naturally." He answered to the voice on the other end, "But did you expect any less of me?" 3

Hiei paused only after he slid the door back to its original position to being _almost _completely closed, no sound coming from the wooden object as he turned his red eyes onto Kurama's back. He raised a brow slightly before resettling back into place, only a small sense of patience left within him right now.

So, realizing the fox didn't seem to know Hiei was there, the fire demon continued to move, using his speed to disappear from one place and appear at his windowsill, lounging almost lazily as he normally would have, except every single muscle was drawn taut with the fatigue he felt over the separation of himself from Shikiyoku.

How the hell was he supposed to protect someone who wasn't even nearby?

~!**!~

Akari shrugged nonchalantly, gaze unwavering from the male in front of her as she took a calm breath inward before releasing it through her lips. "I figured you'd say that." She moved, stretching her arms over her head and glancing briefly down at the scars she could see on her left shoulder, fighting the cringe she felt and turning to Foko again.

"Before you decide to kill me for being in the way, at least answer my questions." she said, as if she fully expected him to do just that: slaughter her. "You had someone manipulated by Enma and dumped here to die, didn't you?" Her voice was small, her expression calm as she asked, but eyes kind as if she already knew the answer. "Because that's how he keeps his power, by making others believe he's in control of the three worlds, isn't it?" _*****_

"Ha," Youko's laugh was dry, "Is that what you think you've got figured out?" He shook his head, his smile that same icy expression he'd worn earlier. His eyes had not changed, the same hard anger that he had begun to feel upon seeing her once more.

"Allow me to make myself clear: you understand _nothing_." His voice was as crisp as his expression. "Thinking that this is something as simple as an act of revenge is too innocent a reason for what it is our goal to do." His eyes narrowed, "And it does not concern _you_."

~!**!~

Kurama blinked, and suddenly found himself staring not out the window, but at Hiei.

He immediately took in the haunted look in the fire demon's eyes, and it unnerved him. So much so that he missed whatever Kuwabara said and found that the human had repeated himself, calling Kurama's name.

"Of course. I'll do that." He said farewell and hung up the phone, sitting back and waiting expectantly for whatever reason Hiei had decided to grace Kurama with his presence. 3

The fire demon didn't turn to look at Kurama when there was sudden silence in the room, not having taken notice of his friend hanging up with the oaf on the other line- not that he'd cared much in the first place anyway.

"Enma is plucking demons from the first level, wiping their memory and then sending them here to die. By our hands." His voice was even and expression, he thought, neutral when he turned to look at Kurama. "Spirit World shut down all portals an hour ago."

~!**!~

"I never said it was simply revenge." she said calmly, arms crossing over her chest to mirror Foko's stance, only… calmer. She met his hard gaze squarely with her own open one, so that should he choose to do so, he'd note that she was not there to invoke him.

Not that it mattered. Her mere presence seemed to do just that. Not surprising in the least.

"But, you didn't deny my claim of Enma simply having demons needlessly killed." she pointed out. "You may believe it's none of my concern, but I have a job to do, and that job includes making sure _innocents _aren't targeted. Not _humans. _And quite frankly, I couldn't care less on what your _big picture _is."

She gave a pause, shifting her weight as her eyes noted a muscle twitch. She took in a deep breath. "Also… I owe you both an apology, and a thanks. You didn't have to, but… you saved a friend's life and I jumped to conclusions." _*****_

"I knew no demon stolen from their home, mind-wiped and exported to Human World." Youko almost spat it out at her, barely reigning in the aggravation he had at her presence that he could not rightly explain, "Though these are all true things that have happened."

Youko narrowed his eyes at her as he went on, "Overthrowing Enma is not our goal. It never was. Our fight is not with you. It's not even with the humans. We merely wish to reclaim what was once _ours_, and breaking the system apart will simply be a by-product of what we will do.

"If you are truly _thankful_," He went on, mocking her tone, "Then you will leave before you die. Run back to your little friends. Tell them what you have learned."

His eyes flashed dangerously, "Perhaps I intended for you to come here, to see what army we have begun to amass, and to tell them every single word I have uttered to you today. There are plans within plans at work, wheels inside of wheels that have been turning for longer than you have been _alive_. You cannot even _begin _to comprehend what there is in store, _dog_. But I would _dare _you to try."

His grin all wicked, all Youko, and he turned from her, rejoining the others at a pace Akari would not be able to track with her eyes.

~!**!~

"Unsurprising." Kurama replied, "But passing that news along is not why you've sought me out, is it?"

~!**!~

She didn't know how much time had passed between when she stood up and when she found herself inside The Palace of the Ninth Level.

Years? Decades? ...Centuries?

It didn't matter anyway.

As Shikiyoku walked up the deep crimson rugs that led from the huge ornate doors she had without ceremony entered, she took in the two thrones that sat just at the top of a few steps at the other side of the Throne Room of her former home.

While the path her feet took through The Palace had been without hesitation and without misstep, led by distant memories of the giant building in which she had once resided, the memories did not so much as stir behind her lifeless eyes.

The air was heavy, hazy, as if to lull one to sleep with its strange warmth, and somewhere within her Shikiyoku recognized the haze as if it were her own, permeating completely each nook and cranny of the room.

There were several demons spread about those steps beneath the thrones, languidly laying about all mixed together, a single body difficult to separate from another.

In the left throne sat a male demon who made her core stop for a single moment when she placed her eyes upon him.

His eyes were a piercing, bright blue, his black hair as deeply rich as a raven's wing, cut short, but shaggy about his pointed ears with a ponytail gathered at the base of his neck and bits of stubble here and there along his chiseled jaw.

He sat lazy across the throne, sideways with one leg over the arm, his cheek resting idly in his hand as he leaned his elbow on the other arm of the magnificent chair.

"Ah, she _comes_." His voice was rich, sensuous, able to make a weaker demon fall to their knees.

But she felt nothing anymore.

He took in her blank eyes, noted how gorgeously her skin reflected and refracted the light of the room, sensed the fully-scented aroma about her, how she too would be able to make even the most sensible of demons swoon with a mere look...were it not for that haunted expression on her face.

"What can I do for you, dear heir apparent? Abdicate my throne?"

There was laughter from the demons near his feet, but it garnered no reaction from the female demon that stood before them, her tiny frame cutting quite the figure even behind the dismal, dark clothing that she wore, obviously dirty and worn much like her appearance.

"It's _me _she wants, isn't it?" She said very quietly, eyes looking far away.

"So, you're giving yourself up? Just like that? How amusing." His blue eyes gleamed.

Shikiyoku found herself staring at him.

"Where _is _she? Your mate? ...The demon of pain?"

The demon male before her made a thoughtful noise, noncommittal.

"She is..._somewhere_." He waved a hand vaguely about.

"I am the one she needs. She would not sacrifice _you_ to bring the three worlds back into one, to usher in the new era of Sekaiju."

"So, you figured that out, did you? About how she wishes to return things to the old ways? For demons to once more rule? For Human and Demon and Spirit Worlds to once again be one and the same like in days of yore? About how beings like _us_ have that power, the power to bind them, when combined with what is hidden away, coveted away, by Spirit World? But it would destroy us to do so?" He seemed to grow excited, "Can you feel it inside you? How the purity of your ability to love like no other before or since would grant you the power to do such a seemingly impossible task? To bind three _entire __**worlds**_ back together by sacrificing yourself in return?

"Tell me, what was it that gave it away? Spirit World shutting down? The Youko impersonator?" He smiled a dazzling smile, "I truly wish to know."

Shikiyoku said nothing.

"Oh, come now. Surely it can't be as bad as you're making it out to be. I find it simply _hilarious _that she could not break you, bend you to her will. Tell me, how was her torture? Was it as riveting as ever? Did she make you scream?"

For an instant, Shikiyoku recalled the moments after Otento and Terepo had kidnapped, had whisked, her away from her Human World home. Remembered only now, as if from some distant dream that cut through an overwhelming pain, the eyes that peered down at her as she felt her body being ripped to shreds. Or at least, feeling as if it were ripped to shreds, though the healing of Youko afterwards did seem to reinforce that there _had _been her blood split.

He took a sniff of the air.

"I can still smell your Champion on you. Though by the looks of things...no one else can." He smiled with a secret understand of the visible mark that should have been obvious on her skin, the symbol of their union that she somehow did not have.

Shikiyoku did not react.

"Where is he?"

Nothing.

The demon finally frowned, though his face seemed just as beautiful for it.

"Ah." The truth dawned on him. "That...that is most unfortunate." He actually sounded upset, allowing the silence of the room to engulf them both for a minute or so.

"She could not use me, anyway." He said quietly, his eyes flickering to the floor. "Because I no longer have any need for a Champion. I am a being of pure desire no more."

At that, Shikiyoku finally _looked _at the demon, finally saw him.

"You think it strange, demon of pleasure?" He caught her gaze, a light smile peppering his lips. "She may be my mate, she may have once been my Champion, but she is now my Consort. She is who taught me," A beat of silence. "And if you desire, I will teach you. I will teach you all of it. But- There is one thing you should know. Without a Consort, you will be forever stuck within your pain, for the Consort holds the key to your true nature. ...you will have no need of a pact anymore. This will lift it from you. From the both of you. It will free you from the ability to make a pact ever again. Do you understand what that means?"

She did not answer, still staring at him and almost unable to comprehend what he suggested.

"Why would you do this?" She asked after the silence.

He tilted his head, a roguish grin spreading over his face. "Simply for the amusement. For the frustration and anguish it will bring upon my mate. You will be rendered truly useless to her, and it shall confound her most deliciously." He gave a happy little sigh at the thought. "My apology for it and the making up I'll have to do will make it all worth it."

Shikiyoku did not reply this time and it appeared to take a moment for the demon on the throne to come back to the present.

He regarded her with a gorgeous solemnity.

"The secret, my love, is to know pain." His voice was even softer than before. "Do you know pain?"

The question echoed over and over in Shikiyoku's mind, throwing memory after memory at her of how much pain she had endured in her life, how like a trifle each bit of pain had seemed until she awoke from Toriko's grasp, and how the human-side coveted that power and from then on pain had been unendurable. Her high tolerance for pain, her close connection to pain...

...the pain she felt now. The pain within her chest that felt tight as if bound by an iron band.

A different sort of pain.

She did not need to say anything, as the demon before her knew her answer.

"Then you will come to know pain as you have never experienced before." He rose from his throne, the picture of perfection, of desire, and regally waded his way down the stairs, through the bodies of the lounging demons-his children. "You shall become acquainted with pain, friends with pain, even lovers with pain." Upon reaching Shikiyoku he held out a hand, palm up, and bowing slightly.

"Do you desire to join me, my love?"

Shikiyoku's green eyes lifted, and she found no mesmer in his solid, blue gaze, and knew that this choice would be hers and hers alone.

In her future, she could see nothingness. Should she become the catalyst required to unify the three worlds, she would cease to exist. She would...never again look upon the face of the prince of fire.

She knew somehow that this demon would not allow her to give herself up to his mate in any case.

She was dead now anyway. Even _either_ way; attempt to join his mate and he would kill her, but join the mate and she would die.

So, she picked the third option.

She placed her small hand within his.

"Yes." 3

~!**!~

Hiei shifted where he sat, pulling one leg up in the windowsill with the rest of his body and resting his right elbow on his knee. His ruby eyes stared down at his black pants, the ones that were not of his norm and thus were not fireproof. The material was slightly irritating.

Or perhaps it was just him. Irritated about everything under the sun and simply unhappy in general.

"The impersonator has also found a replacement for Shikiyoku. The replacement is one of a pair of twins, the other not having joined her brother's team until recently- after Shikiyoku ordered her to do so." he informed, still, in a roundabout way, avoiding the topic that he knew the fox was waiting for. "She, the twin, works with anger."

He paused again, eyes turning to the outside world almost casually, as if he'd heard an interesting sound.

"Shikiyoku's power was more than the Kekkai would allow to pass through to Human World. But the portals closed between us in any case." he finally admitted, going silent for a moment afterwards. His eyes searched for something amusing, something enticing in the outside world, but truthfully he wasn't sure there was such a thing at this moment.

So, he instead concentrated on his friend's energy. Or, rather, the lackthereof.

He turned to Kurama finally, a neutral expression on his face. "How long has Youko been sealed away?"

~!**!~

Akari's mouth moved to call after Foko when he disappeared, but shut immediately after when she realized it wouldn't matter. It wasn't hard for her to realize that he was completely channeling the fox demon's personality altogether now, likely not even thinking like the person he _truly _was, other than for his cause.

Then again, what did _she _know?

He hadn't really helped her much, other than the fact that they were _taking back _something. That was the only thing she hadn't considered- she had already known that Enma being dethroned was _not _the point.

She blew out air through her lips, around her clenched teeth. _You're of no help. _She turned and moved away quietly, calmly despite his threat. Normally, were circumstances different, she would have followed. However, today…

Today, she was feeling.. sluggish. While her senses were alert, her brain was only functioning at half-capacity, it felt like. She rolled her shoulder, effectively pulling up the collar of the loose shirt and hiding the bare skin entirely.

_This is ridiculous. I skipped school for… nothing, it seems._

Her feet carried her calmly away from the area that smelled very much like home, very much like the place she suddenly wished she could be, very much like the place where her only duty was to oversee the trade between packs and-

_Too bad. You have other things to worry about. Other things to do._

So she headed home, her mind no longer on hunting down Foko, but on words that had, at the time, stung a little. Now, they merely irritated her.

"_...I know how __**exceptionally **__stubborn you are, as I've been on the receiving end of that stubbornness many a time, and the thought of you allowing bits of flesh to __**own **__and __**consume **__your entire mind, is unfathomable to me."_

_Irritating Fox. _

But, really, she couldn't help but feel that he'd-

"_However, I would agree: I am absolutely certain you have done everything you could have ever imagined, because I highly doubt you've ever taken it upon yourself to walk around your house __**naked **__until the pain __**stops**__."_

…._Jackass. Stupid fox. _*****

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	63. Ep 147 - In Which Many Things Happen

**A/N:** Hello once again, Audience!

Okay, so, first of all **GORE WARNING** for this chapter. If you get queasy, there's a bit of a nasty section in here.

Secondly, there is actually quite a lot of time-skippage that occurs in this chapter, as we're hitting on the 'high points' of various important moments in the timeline as everyone is preparing for what Foko and his army are supposedly going to do. If anyone finds themselves confused, feel free to speak up and I'll start putting up a timeline for events at the ends of the next few? chapters. Just keep in mind that when the ~!**!~ symbol appears that not only is it a scene switch, but in this chapter it is definitely denoting the passage of time.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari calls Kurama out on him hiding his scars while pointing out it is bad that she does the same,  
but he counters by saying he has nothing to fear from his, and only does so for the sake of his mother's mind.

This leads to a scathing lecture from Kurama at how Akari has never  
honestly and truly tried to rid herself of the power her scars exercise over her,  
and leads to the two of them parting ways, Akari appalled at Kurama's suggestion,  
wherein she is to walk around naked to get used to herself,  
and attempting to rid herself of the thought by tracking down Foko to get some answers.

Eventually, Akari finds herself at Ground Zero where Foko is ushering in the largest group of demons yet,  
just before Spirit World can close all portals, but she gets little in the way of answers from him,  
save that they 'wish to reclaim what is theirs,' and that Enma being overthrown is simply a by-product.

Akari then heads to Sensui's old apartment to attempt some variation of what Kurama suggested...

~!**!~

As Shikiyoku and Hiei leave Demon World, they are separated by the Kekkai Barrier,  
which prevents Shikiyoku-now an A Class demon-from passing through.

However, in the moment Hiei realizes she is stuck, Spirit World shuts down all passageways  
between all three worlds, and the resulting shockwave flings Hiei out into Human World,  
and Shikiyoku out into Demon World.

After Shikiyoku exhausts herself attempting to break through the mountain to the portal,  
and with a quickly unraveling psyche, she wanders the Ninth Level until she somehow finds herself at The Palace.

Shikiyoku has figured out that it is the demon of pain who has been behind it all  
from the very beginning: the fake Youko, Otento kidnapping her, and above everything else  
the push for the three worlds to become one.

Where a demon of pain once ripped Sekaiju apart, only a demon of pleasure can return it whole once more,  
and it is Shikiyoku's intention-with nothing left to live for-to offer herself up as the sacrifice for the ritual.

Simply because he wishes to cause his mate, the demon of pain, consternation,  
the demon-king at The Palace offers Shikiyoku the option of "learning pain" as he did,  
and ridding herself of the need of a pact and the need of a Champion  
as well as rendering herself completely useless for the ritual for which his mate might use her.

Knowing that this demon-king would not let her live long enough for his mate to get her anyway,  
and with little mental faculties left to her any longer, Shikiyoku accepts his offer.

~!**!~

After recovering, Hiei immediately gets up and runs to find Kurama, telling the redhead of Enma's actions,  
and the portals closing with Shikiyoku left behind in Demon World.  
He then questions Kurama on how long Youko has been locked away inside of him...

* * *

Kurama did not let any of his thoughts penetrate the level expression with which he regarded Hiei.

"It has been three days, twenty hours, four minutes and counting." Kurama replied, letting a bit of his ire at the situation slip through his façade as he worked his jaw around the words. He let the emotion slide away, concerned for the comrade who was obviously shaken by whatever had occurred in Demon World between he and Toriko's true form.

"You went missing thirteen days ago." He said mildly, "Though I know Demon World time does not often sync with Human World. Any idea how long it's been for you?" 3

Hiei frowned slightly, lips twitching at Kurama's words. Otento had sealed away the fox demon rather well, he could tell by the lack in energy about the room. And quite frankly, the absolute absence of Kurama's presence was pretty unnerving. If something were to happen soon, he'd have no way to help out other than hand-to-hand and whatever tricks he _had _to have come up with. After all, he wasn't one to go unprepared for a _second _time.

Kurama's question pulled the fire demon from his thoughts, a brow raising as he thought for a moment.

He hadn't really kept track of the days, to be honest. At least, not at the forefront of his mind. But, when he sat and thought about it, it'd been quite a while. Much longer than Human World time.

"Seventy-seven days." he answered, his response absolute and unquestionable. "Perhaps a few hours longer than that." _*****_

_Ah._

That explained the withdrawn expression Hiei now wore quite effectively. Since the fire demon had already attached himself to her before the pair even left, and then getting to spend that much time in their homeworld in one another's company…

Kurama wondered briefly if Hiei even realized why he felt the way he did, protection duties aside.

"We have reason to believe the fake Youko is attempting to get into Spirit World, hence the portals shutting down. Though, we also think it is a distraction and he's actually ushered in an army of demons to Human World under the guise of the threat, since it's easier to get them to Spirit World once here. As to their goal… honestly, if this Youko really is in some capacity or another changing into the fox, I can't say I understand _why _he would be doing all of this." 3

Hiei didn't have a response for Kurama. He didn't have an answer as to _why_, because, quite frankly, he hadn't had any time to come up with any reasonable guesses, especially since he hadn't been aware of the demons being carted from Demon World to this world. It made sense, to have an army when attacking Spirit World- if that was indeed the plan.

And there was no reason to doubt that plan.

"Hn." _*****_

"The question I would ask you to consider, if you have not formulated an answer already, is if it comes down to a fight what side you would be taking." 3

Hiei turned a calm stare onto Kurama, as if he could only half believe the question that had been asked of him. "My own." he said calmly, not even so much as blinking at Kurama. "The fools can handle Spirit World without my hand. And if they can't, then they've learned nothing of their own past experiences. You and the dog can handle the impersonator, as you're fully capable." He paused to turn away, eyes training on the smooth wood of the windowsill. "I have my own agenda." _*****_

Kurama felt no surprise at Hiei's answer. Were Spirit World to fall, were Enma to be dethroned, the fire demon would be a free soul once more.

"To tell you the truth," Kurama began, lifting one hand to his chin thoughtfully, "I think I've come to a point where I'm prepared to just sit back and see what happens."

He went on in an effort to explain, "We have some very spiritually aware people, namely Kuwabara's sister Shizuru, who is honestly not picking up anything world-ending from future events. And with Sensui's plan she was definitely in the know of how badly it could turn out for Human World. I find myself feeling that as long as Koenma is able to take care of himself, Botan as well since she is stuck too, that perhaps this 'war' the fake Youko is attempting to start might not have any affect on Human World whatsoever. Or at least nothing it can't handle." 3

There was a moment where the room became silent, save for the clock that ticked away on the opposite wall and the sounds that he could hear from outside the house. For some reason, Hiei wasn't particularly surprised by the revelation of Kurama's thoughts on the matter. After all, the only person who seemed to be causing trouble outside of Spirit World matters was the only person Hiei would _love _to see laying in a pool of his own crimson life force. The purple-eyed demon was the only one causing mayhem, from the looks of it, while his _leader _seemed to be doing nothing more than ordering for the true Youko to be hidden away, which he took as a successful attempt seeing as the only indication that Kurama was even _remotely _nearby was the sound of his breathing and the sound of a human heartbeat.

It was odd, not being able to feel the presence of the fox demon despite the act that he _knew _the redhead was in the room, sitting in a chair a few feet from Hiei himself.

"I couldn't care less what you do." _*****_

"Is that so?" Kurama countered, "And if I suddenly decided my services would be better put to use by this fake Youko...or say, _Otento_?" 3

"Assuming _Youko _allowed for such a thing?" he retorted, fighting a physical reaction to the name that Kurama had enunciated. There was a part of him that wished to issue the very same threat he would issue to any other, but quite frankly, he didn't truly, deep down, _want to. _Circumstantial or not.

So he settled for a level stare, as if the thought were nothing more than such a thing: a thought. Not even a mere possibility. _*****_

"Just asserting that you didn't really mean what you said." Kurama's eyes gleamed knowingly. "Though, no. I don't think the fox would let me assist either the faker _or _the man responsible for the state we've found Youko's former Ward in on occasion. If he had his way, I'm fairly certain the both of them would be dead on the floor at this very moment." 3

Hiei continued to stare at Kurama unblinkingly, his irises gleaming with the irritated thoughts churning in his mind. After a few more silent beats from the fire demon, he sat back and turned back to facing the outside world almost curiously, his eyes seeing none of it and mind picturing the mess Kurama had spoke of.

It would be a very amusing thing to see, sure, but…

He was sure the fox knew that Hiei fully intended to take Otento himself, no matter how things 'shook out' around Human World. He couldn't care less about the humans and their 'fate', or even of Spirit World's.

Just so long as Otento was erased from the entire picture. By Hiei's own blade. _*****_

"My only problem with simply sitting back and doing nothing is the fact that _inaction _could very well be synonymous with _assisting _both the fake Youko and Otento," Kurama pointed out slyly, finally getting to his point and gauging Hiei's reaction, "And only acting against them or taking preventative measures towards whatever they hope to accomplish would truly be a hindrance to their cause. Something I very much feel Youko would wish to do regardless of Spirit World's involvement." 3

Hiei sneered at the window he was facing, his reflection seeming to sneer right back at him, the red eyes in that reflection flashing slightly with a gleam that seemed to have manifested out of nowhere. He'd never once said that he was going to simply sit back. He had no reason to do so. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind….

Except for when he'd decided to stay in Demon World.

"While you decide, I've already thought it out. You're getting slow, fox." _*****_

Kurama chuckled, "You've had several more months than I, mind."

He let out a reserved sigh, "Unfortunately, all I can see in the near future for myself is waiting, though-"

The phone rang and Kurama stared at it for a second, frowning, "Something I've been neglecting what with the current...issues, but when you pass by would you mind sweeping around Toriko's home for Maneshi? He's been missing."

Kurama reached for the phone, and without giving any greeting of any sort, as he had gotten in the habit of doing given that the caller lately had been one or the other from a particular apartment, answered with, "Any word?"

His expression immediately shifted into a kinder one, "It _has _been a long time, Yukina."

A pause.

"If it would ease your mind to attempt something to assist me, I certainly will." Kurama smiled. 3

Hiei looked at Kurama through the reflection on the window, ears taking to promptly ignoring the sound that rang through the entire room at an annoying volume. He raised a brow at the prospect of Maneshi being gone. Surely not, as the cat…

Well, actually, it made a bit of sense. Maybe?

He didn't know. He'd simply look when he was done rifling through the demonic relics hidden within the home of Toriko. It wasn't like he had any other plans at this very moment anyway…

Other than searching for a way to get back into Demon World, which he had already assumed to be impossible.

With that thought, the fire demon shifted, readying a hand against the window after unlocking the latch, readying to take his leave when a name caught his attention. He paused, listening with his back still to the fox instead of turning around. It wasn't like she was _there_. But, he realized he hadn't thought about his sister in a long while, hadn't even considered checking on her.

Maybe…. Maybe he'd wait to see what she was up to. _*****_

Kurama said nothing nor made any movement to wish Hiei a farewell as Kurama fully expected the fire demon to come and go as he pleased as he always had.

"We have actually been meeting once a day, though it's mostly just for sake of appearances. I'm sure any of the others have filled you in? Right. No, I will definitely make sure I am there tonight." 3

Hiei stayed in the windowsill for a few moments, listening to the calm, quiet voice of his sister on the other end of the call. A part of him felt odd that he hadn't thought about checking in on her recently, even before he'd left for Demon World. Which, he realized, was not near as long of a time to the others as it had been for himself.

Thirteen days compared to seventy-seven was quite the difference in time.

And the thought of Shikiyoku still stuck there, for much longer in that world than he would be in _this one_, had him silently removing himself from Kurama's home by slipping through the window, not even bothering to shut it as he moved at full speed across town.

His sister could wait; he could visit her at any time.

Shikiyoku, however… was without protection. And _that _was more important at the moment. _*****_

Kurama watched Hiei slip out the window, wondering if the demon would visit his sister first to make sure Kuwabara hadn't tried anything-unlikely anyway-or if he would drop by Toriko's as Kurama originally assumed anyway.

"I'll make sure I come early this time then. She's fine, still on vacation. I just talked with her earlier today. I'm actually considering testing out. Mm. I have this strange feeling it'd be better to finish _sooner _rather than later. Who knows what state things will be in, and if my soon-to-be step-father does want me to come work for him, it would be nice to simply get it out of the way." 3

Hiei moved quick enough that his presence to the humans would have been nothing more than a slight breeze as he passed by, had he chosen to take the streets instead of the alleyways and rooftops to Toriko's home. It wasn't long before he was actually _inside _the house, every window having been unlocked making it very easy to slip inside unseen.

As he moved from one room to the next, he took stock of everything inside, searching for signs of Maneshi as he made his way to the closed he knew to be dedicated solely to Demon World relics. And as Kurama had said, there was no sign of the cat anywhere, from Toriko's room to the closet he began to rifle through. _*****_

~!**!~

Since Kurama had no way of testing the energy that lay beyond the door to Kuwabara's apartment, it was the voices instead that revealed the usual crew had a few additions when the avatar let himself inside as had become customary.

"I don't see how yah coulda na' missed me boyo!"

Kurama smiled to see Jin with Yusuke in a chokehold, the black-haired boy laughing and obviously not trying very hard to escape. The fox slipped into the room quietly and sat down on the couch after leaving his shoes next to the multiple pairs at the door.

Shizuru came out of the kitchen and gave Kurama a smile through a cigarette and a nod, carrying the tray with drinks and snacks to the coffee table, but no one else appeared to notice him at first save for Genkai who lifted her eyes when she felt his presence. Or his lack thereof.

He found himself next to Yukina, who after a moment realized he'd sat down and looked at him with wide-eyes.

"Oh, I'm _so _sorry, Kurama." She knew without any further indication from the other that his loss was deep-set. She pulled her feet up underneath her on the couch as she turned towards him. "Just sit still for a moment and let me feel it out."

She closed her crimson eyes as she faced him and held her hands over his closest arm, a glow beginning to gleam between them.

"As I was sayin' before me words was tackled outta me," Jin appeared to have been speaking before Kurama came in, but didn't let go of Yusuke who was still laughing, "Touya and me be ready for anythin'. Thought you might need a bit of help for the go-around, and we're feelin' a bit ants-in-the-pants about the way this guy Otento likes to shimmy around the block."

"Not to mention the fact that we were pretty sure _Youko_ wasn't the head of _any_ gang of demons anymore."

Kurama saw that Rinku was also in the room, on the other side of Yukina, and the boy reached forward for a snack.

"We weren't sure," He spoke with his mouth full, "If we could get all of us away without anyone noticing, but we wanted to at least find you guys to let you know what was going on, so we decided the two of us would have to be enough."

"And how many of you are there?" Kurama finally interjected.

The entire room went silent, Jin releasing Yusuke who appeared about as nervous as Kuwabara at that moment.

"Blimey! They weren't just a'tanglin' our knickers!" Jin breathed, "It really _is _impossible to feel yah."

"So-" Rinku's brow furrowed, "Is that Youko-guy...the real thing?"

Kurama shook his head, "I do not know how much you have been told, but Otento is able to use his energy to lock away the energy of others."

The pair continued to stare at him wide-eyed.

"That's a' real shame, Kurama." Jin shook his head. "I get tah feelin' we be needin' your planty-mojo soon."

"Has much been said about _why_ they are going to invade Spirit World?" Kurama wanted to know.

"Yah know Spirit World closed all portals. I don't know how they're going to get through anyway." Kuwabara pointed out.

Rinku frowned, "There's been a lot of talk about 'taking back what is ours.' Which everyone seems to get all gung-ho about and then fail to explain it to the rest of us."

"'Taking back what is ours?'" Yusuke repeated with a confused expression. "What would Spirit World have taken from Demon World?"

Kurama felt as if he knew the answer to that question, but as he sat with Yukina while she continued to diagnose him, he came up with no answer. Just that...he _knew _and couldn't remember.

_Youko. _The avatar thought to himself wryly. The fox probably had an inkling.

"There...is an old legend." Genkai started, hushing the others in the room, "And I considered it before only to dismiss it, but if that is truly the word being passed around-" She looked at Shizuru and frowned, "I'm not sure what to make of it."

"What legend?" Kuwabara prompted.

"A long time ago, when man was still very young, there was not three worlds, but one world, and only a sort of flimsy veil of the afterlife to separate the living from the dead. It is said this land was known as Sekaiju. More often back then did spirits walk among the living, and there were less differences between man and demon back then, namely the type of energy they wielded for spells as is true today, but in any case demons terrorized and ruled over the humans, who lived in fear of their stronger counterparts. Supposedly, that's what drove the Kamis to divide the world, to allow man to flourish, and it is possible that these demons wish for the three worlds to be one again. The legend goes that the humans got to stay _here_, in what we call Human World, and that the demons were cast out into what became Demon World. In uniting the three worlds, the demons would essentially be 'taking back what was theirs.'" Genkai finished with a bit of a shrug.

Kuwabara's eyes got wide, "B-but aren't demons- wouldn't that-" He looked desperately over at his sister.

Shizuru took a puff of her cigarette and pulled it from her lips to speak, giving Kuwabara a shrug that mirrored Genkai's, "You know as well as I do, little brother, that this is different then what Sensui was planning. Something _this _time feels almost...as much as I hate to admit it what with that fake Youko and that nasty Otento being involved..._**right**_." 3

~!**!~

Hiei had rummaged. And rummaged. And rummaged. It seemed like he'd sifted through demonic relics for several hours, his hands always picking up an object and then replacing it just as quickly when he realized that the object would be of no help to his cause. There were several things that had been interesting, but useless. There were some things he only vaguely recognized from tales. And there were things, many things he realized, that he had no idea what they were. Objects unfamiliar to him entirely, objects that hummed with old power unutilized in likely decades.

But nothing that would help him find a way back to Demon World.

And he hated to admit it, but he hadn't expected to find anything of use to him here. So, as the fire demon stood in the darkness of the small, stuffy, cramped closet with eyes turning around and around, he released a half-hearted growl of disappointment.

Perhaps if he _did _find Maneshi, he'd have a chance. At least, he hoped so.

With silent, deft steps, Hiei maneuvered around the many demonic items and out of the closet, shutting the door behind himself just as quietly before he continued moving, energy expanding to envelop the house and every room within as he searched for Maneshi first with his own energy, then with his eyes as he scoured the entire house.

And, as Kurama had said a few hours ago, there was no sign of Maneshi anywhere in or around the house.

~!**!~

"_Are we going to live here from now on?"_

"No, just for a while."

"_I don't think he liked me."_

"That's because you're not supposed to be indoors. Not here, anyway.."

"_Then why did he let me pass?"_

"I asked nicely."

"_No you didn't."_

Akari sighed and pushed open the door to a very familiar penthouse, the walls a simple white color and furniture to match. Even the coffee tables still had white-painted wood with glass surfaces, just as she'd remembered them to have.

It was odd, walking into the very same flat that had once been home to three people and finding it _very _empty, very quiet. No greeting, no energy to test her presence to ensure she was not a threat.

No Sensui. No Itsuki.

"_Why are you just standing there?"_

Akari blinked away images of the two men sitting on the couch and moved away from the door, pushing it shut with a gentle nudge from her fingers. "Nabu, don't get on the couch, okay?"

"_Mkay!"_

"The bed, however, is all yours."

"_What about you?"_

"I have my own." _But I won't need it. _

Akari's eyes moved around the room again, taking in the closed curtains of the wide glass windows, taking in the threshold to the kitchen that opened up on her right, taking in the large flatscreen television in front of the three-seater couch and two single recliners.

One of which had a glass sitting on the floor next to it, filled with what she could only assume to be water. If there had been ice in it, it had melted some time ago.

She paid it no mind and simply tossed her duffel bag onto the soft cushions of the couch, earning a small pouf from the contact before she herself followed suit, staring forward at the black screen of the television.

_It's so odd… I'm not sure how I feel about this. _*****

~!**!~

"So, you're really gonna do it, huh? Testing out and everything?" Yusuke's eyes were looking out the window of the café, absently pulling his hand up to his face to take a drink from the cup he held.

Kurama nodded, reclined at the table with the fingers of one hand wrapped around his own mug in front of him.

Shooting him a knowing grin, Yusuke turned back to face the red-haired avatar.

"I never _really _thought you'd finish-"

Kurama made a noise of amusement.

"-at least not conventionally." Yusuke leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, frowning, "What's going to be done about Toriko?"

Kurama hesitated to reveal his plan, deciding to raise and lower one shoulder in a shrug.

"I'm not even sure if Toriko _exists _anymore."

"Oh yeah?" The dark-haired youth met Kurama's gaze and raised an eyebrow, "What makes you say that?" 3

~!**!~

Several hours had passed. Or, hell, several days for all she knew at this point, and Akari cared very little for the time being. After getting over the initial reminiscing over the flat she'd taken over for a while, she'd gotten down to business, to the sole reason she'd come here.

And it left her just as she'd thought it would: curled into a ball on the floor, eyes squeezed shut and chest moving with her rapid, short breaths. Her knees were touching her chest, her elbows tucked against her stomach and fingers tangled in her bangs and the hair on the very top of her head. She was only vaguely aware of Nabu sitting close by, but other than that, she didn't really make any sense of the world going on around her.

The curtains were closed, making it hard to discern day from night- not that it mattered anyway. She was sure there had been knocks on the door several times- likely cleaning services- but she hadn't bothered to actually get up and see if she'd _actually _heard anyone else nearby.

And she was only just getting over the first wave of pain, of memories, when she made to move and the skin of her bare stomach and shoulders, arms and legs pulled at the carpet beneath, the sweat that had made her skin feel disgusting causing a slight itch that turned to a pang, and ended up delving her straight into memories again.

And this cycle would prove to be never ending for what felt an eternity. _*****_

~!**!~

"_Such a high tolerance for pain." The demon mused, his eyes wandering over the battered and bruised body of the female before him. She did not answer, lungs heaving just to take the next breath. "It's a wonder you weren't a demon of pain in the first place. You seem to have the predisposition for it."_

_Her eyes flew open and regarded the demon coldly._

"_Careful, my love." He appeared amused, "A look like that could kill."_

_The green color of her irises were dulled, her ashen skin already having lost its sheen months ago, but still she glared._

_After several more cycles of inhalation and exhalation, she finally spoke, voice hoarse and raspy. As if from overuse._

"_You...should be careful...Renai. You may...get more...than what you bargained-"_

_Renai lifted his arm and slammed the point of the blade he held between two ribs, just missing her heart._

"_I don't think I like the way you're looking at me, my love." He commented mildly as she screamed, her head thrown back and her eyes shutting. _

_Watching for a moment, the faintest of smiles played across his lips._

"_Better." _

_He removed the weapon and made a wicked, jagged slash down her arm, a wound to join the countless others he'd given her since starting. How long ago had it been? He supposed it didn't really matter._

"_But how about this?" Flipping his hold on the dagger, he let the tip sink in past the first few layers of her flesh, ignoring her continued vocalized agony which sounded raw as if she might start bleeding at the throat at any moment and changed pitches as he began carving absently into her skin._

"_You know what will stop this." Renai sighed as he kept going, shaking his head slightly. "I'm not really sure why you keep refusing to try." _

_He finally pulled the blade away and leaned over onto the table, elbow resting on the cold, hard metal and face in his hand as his eyes roved over his handiwork. There were scars on top of other scars at this point. _

"_Amusingly enough, the longer you allow this to go on-"_

_A creaking sound had Renai raising his eyebrows, watching as Shikiyoku's cries started to fade, the arm just in front of his face straining against the leather that held her wrist to the table as she writhed._

"_Feeling anything yet?" He asked with ironic intentions and that same light tone, giving her a beatific smile as he stayed leaning on the table._

_Shikiyoku's eyes flew open and several things happened at once._

_She whipped her head to get Renai in her sights. The male started back at the hollow, haunting deepness to her gaze, seeing the darkness within them that had its own sort of depth in direct opposition to the power their kind usually employed, and he found himself unable to so much as congratulate her on her transformation as he crumpled to his knees next to the metal table._

_The tips of Renai's fingers barely managed to grasp at the edge of the table to prevent his complete collapse as his other hand clutched at his chest, the dagger it once held clattering free of his grip onto the table._

_He could practically __**feel **__the blood pouring out of a wound made from a sharp edge that plunged between two ribs and just missed his heart, the same wound that moments ago he inflicted upon her person._

_When her energy struck him again from the inside, he scrambled backwards from the table, any thoughts scattered while he desperately put distance between him and the demon on the table._

_Slouching against the wall with one hand at his heart and the other at his head, Renai watched through pain-riddled vision as she slowly sat up, her gaze still locked on him and her own eyes pulsing with darkened yellow power._

_Her onslaught lessened briefly as she glanced down at the dagger he left behind. She managed to take a hold of the hilt, turning it about and slipping the flat of the blade underneath her wrist where with a quick tug to the side she cut herself free, easily doing the same to the other restraints at her second wrist and both her ankles._

_Just as Renai had caught his breath, mind beginning to piece together, she turned on him once more and this time it was his voice and not hers that filled the room with anguish as he clutched at his head, where he knew the true origin of the pain he felt lay._

_As she shifted around and began to slip off the table, eyes flashing at Renai, blood trickled down her skin from every imaginable source possible and left tiny rivulets atop the metal wherever she paused for too long._

_Favoring her right leg as she finally reached the floor, it was easy to see the multiple breaks where the limb contorted unnaturally, a portion of the bone at her thigh visible, if only barely, through the blood streaming down her knee._

_Staggering forward, her leg dragging uselessly behind her, she clutched at her ribs where several had not mended, but seemed to ignore them as her vision tunneled in with sheer unadulterated determination blazing dangerously in her eyes._

_After several shufflingly agonized moments interspersed with her labored steps and his strained cries, she finally stood over him, lungs desperately trying to pull air into themselves as the blood pooled around her feet, but a sort of demented, frenzied exultation in her eyes as she watched him writhe beneath her in helplessness._

_The strain on her body proved too much however, and as her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her legs gave out from underneath her._

_Renai instantly banished her control as he knew her power like his own and caught her before she fell to the floor, grinning instantly at her fainted, exhausted body._

"_Well done, my love. Well done, indeed." _3

~!**!~

For several days, Hiei had searched for a way to get back to the Ninth Level, a way to get back to Shikiyoku. And for several days, he continued to come up with absolutely _nothing_. He'd searched up and down for Maneshi, then searched even more rigorously for a portal to Demon World that _hadn't _been sealed off completely. Not surprisingly, he'd come up empty handed there as well.

So, to reassure himself, he'd regularly checked the bond within, only to find himself more than slightly perturbed when he found the bond itself to be dull within his mind, occasionally giving a twinge with some sort of disturbance or another. A disturbance he could only guess at. The energy there skipped and had no absolute rhythm, no happy hum as it once had, before the separation.

And it was at such time when confusion roiled over Hiei. He sat in utter silence, half of his mind listening to the words being said to him from Kurama, the other half focused on the bond, checking on Shikiyoku in the only way he could, and finding it agitated still. It hadn't changed _once _within the past few days.

And as he thought of this, all words even uttered by Kurama became lost, falling on deaf ears as the fire demon again tried to think of a way to get back.

And after a moment, he found it hard to concentrate on the bond, an odd mental image passing by the forefront of his mind's eye consisting of a small black dragon, akin to Ryou but more like a picture of him than the actual being, a dragon that seemed to fade both in color and existence until it was gone.

And then, it seemed, so was the bond. It wasn't muted, like it had done previously. He could tell now that when he searched for the bond, it was simply… nonexistent. No big to-do about it either.

Simply gone. And that feeling, the odd feeling of his mind being so silent, had the fire demon's eyes sliding shut, completely forgetting where he currently sat.*

"Hiei?" Kurama called for the third time, his expression just beginning to be concerned, "Hiei, what's wrong?" 3

Dimly, the fire demon was aware of his name being said, and it took another moment for the fire demon to recover from… whatever had just happened.. and turn a neutral stare up at Kurama, a brow raised as if to say 'go on'. _*****_

~!**!~

Weeks had passed, she was sure. Many, _many _weeks, because every time Akari opened her eyes, they burned, stung, watered despite the amount of tears she had shed, and then she would close them again and force herself to delve deeper, into memories she'd long since filed away and almost forgotten. She would leave no stone left unturned.

But, she was worn out. And after a while, she realized she'd circled the same memories, the same visions, several times. They still hurt, they still left her entire being shaking with the echoes of pain from those times as if the slices on her skin were new, as if the wetness on her skin was a mix of her own blood and sweat, instead of simply being the sweat from her own mental exertion.

She'd fallen asleep here and there, only getting enough to keep her wits about her when necessary before she became lost to the real world all over again. And she repeated this process. Over, and over, and over again until, finally, she was left laying in a loose ball on the floor, hands near her face and legs loosely extended away from her torso now.

She didn't want to move. If she moved, she hurt. And, well… she already _hurt_. Her shoulder was numb from laying on the same side of her body for who knows how long, and her eyes burned against the dull light of the night that filtered only slightly through the closed curtains of the room.

After another short while, she realized she was staring straight ahead of her, looking at the door but not seeing it. Not seeing Nabu sitting nearby, nor seeing anything else, really.

Because she still saw faces and weapons, blood and death and… Other things.

_Why am I doing this again? Why am I laying here? _

She'd forgotten what had provoked her to do this to herself. She'd forgotten what had made her _want _to relive each and every moment, one by one, over and over again. Had Sensui been here, he would have pulled her from the floor and given her an objective to fill.

But he wasn't here. And she was doing this to herself because…

Because…

_The lights were unnaturally bright for her sore eyes, though they did nothing to deter her from seeing the male standing in front of her, nor the whip that encircled her wrists. She knew that in the moment, she'd glared at the redhead, but here, Akari merely stared up at Kurama, expression a frown and eyes darkened. Her energy, just as it had done then, wrapped around the whip, making as if to deaden the weapon, but being unable to do so. _

_Her growled demand to be let go floated on the hazy air, only to be countered with a strike that stung ten times more than the strikes she'd recently been enduring over and over again. Perhaps it was her own imagination, but __**this **__whip seemed sharper, meant only to leave the impression of pain right where it struck and doing so very, very well. It echoed throughout her body, and while she growled, there was a part of her that stung at the attack.._

_And even now, it was hard to look away from the stare the green eyes pierced her with, hard to ignore his close proximity, as if it had been a simple way to say that he was a type of support. _

"_Now. That's deep enough to leave its own scar. f you want to be rid of it, I can take it away, but if I do so, all of your other scars will be removed in the process. Is that what you wish?"_

_**No.**_

_She'd panicked then. Now, however, no such emotion bloomed or bubbled to the surface. _

"_I will wait for your answer until after the mark I gave you sets in." A pause floated on the dreamy air. "Until then, I sincerely hope every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you will first see my scar. And that instead of thinking back to past moments belonging to those underneath it, you'll instead be reminded of this moment."_

_And that had been when he'd leaned forward, ending his speech with a gesture that had, for a very long time before then, been a type of threat to her. And the gesture was warm in its own way, despite the lingering emotions she had felt that day, the anger and the surprise by his see-sawing actions and words. Despite everything she'd thought afterwards, every moment she'd told herself she hated that moment, that person… _

When her eyes slid open again, she was admitting to herself that he was the very reason she hadn't simply bailed, and ended up dead by this point in time. And while she half thought she was doing this _for _the person who'd pushed her into doing such a thing, she realized she was pushing herself _because _of this person, when no one else had done such a thing.

And she'd done nothing but nip and pick at every flaw she could find about Kurama.

_Well… that's rather silly of me._

She gave a short, dry huff intended to be a sound of amusement, but it turned into a small cough that jerked her body. Her tired, shaking body that didn't hurt save for the one mark she'd just remembered. And despite her shaking muscles, her protesting arms and legs, she shifted herself around on the floor until she was on her rear, a hand on the floor to help push herself to stand.

_First, a shower. _

Then… then she'd venture as she wished, because staying inside was _not _going to help the progress she could already feel she was making. _*****_

~!**!~

A few more days passed.

As Shizuru aptly put it at one of their weekly gatherings: it felt as if all three worlds were holding their breath, waiting for something either too fantastical or utterly terrible to happen. _What _exactly, she couldn't say, but the air was charged with _something_.

They only began to get nervous when the visits from Jin and Rinku or Chuu or Touya stopped completely, unsure of what that could mean, and concerned for the demons who had so willingly decided to play the double agents.

Kurama made no further progress with the Youko within, but it was heartening to see how far along Shizuru had come in her training, and even Kuwabara finally admitted it would be great to be alongside her when it came time to fight. 3

~!**!~

He wasn't sure when he'd stopped looking, but after a while, Hiei gave up on the possibility of getting back to Demon World and had taken to simply looking for the source of his agitation. And, just as it had been with getting himself back into Demon World, his efforts had proved more than simple fruitlessness.

The purple-eyed demon was no easy catch.

And it made his temper very, very short, even as he slid into Toriko's home again, taking to once more searching for Maneshi, though at this point he knew that too would be just as useless.

Nothing at all had changed since he'd arrived in Human World, and he didn't see why-

In the midst of this thought, the fire demon paused and flared his nostrils at the air, picking up the smallest hint of a scent that was… new, to say the least. Not as stale as the air that hadn't been stirred by any other than himself and...

Whoever else had been here.

He slid through the house on silent feet, ruby eyes searching for any signs of the person still inside, and instead finding something that left him… surprised, to say the least. Relieved, because a part of him had thought...

Well, whatever he'd thought, the material he now stared down at, accompanied by the glittering of a very decorative sword in the light of the room, was now completely washed away and replaced with the knowledge that Shikiyoku was alive, and in good enough shape to send along his belongings and a small, folded sheet of parchment.

Without pause, Hiei took the clothing in his hands and with a flourish simultaneously incinerated his current outfit and replaced it within half a minute with the newly returned articles. He took absent note that everything fit perfectly, despite knowing he had grown taller somewhere along the way, and as he swung his old cloak over his shoulders-finding accurate adjustments had been made to it as well-the stirring of the air made the scent of the person who must have kept it in her possession for quite some time permeate the immediate area. And while one hand held his sword, the other held open the note that confirmed what he already knew.

_With all my love_

_-S_

Without further ado, the fire demon turned and made a very quiet exit from the house, turning now to join the others, something he had yet to do, and check on his sister with his very eyes.

Now that his mind had been settled, even if just a little, there was no reason not to step in for a _moment. _

~!**!~

"So... you wouldn't mind giving a hand, should it come down to it?"

There was a pause that was interrupted only by the thoughtful noise Hagiri made as he sat forward on the park bench, elbows resting on his knees and his chin in his hands. "It isn't like I've got anything better to do. And, this will…" his sentence trailed off, his eyes taking on a faraway gleam.

Akari understood without his saying. "Honestly, I'm hoping I won't have to ask you to come in. But, if things go south and we need the help… I won't hesitate to call on your abilities. Especially since you will be out of harm's way, for the most part."

He gave a dry laugh. "I can handle myself."

The silence stretched on and Akari's ankle bounced slightly, as if in time with a tune she had stuck in her head. Her arms both rested along the back of the bench, her eyes on her former team member. "You've changed."

"Haven't we all?" He turned to her for a moment, sitting upright again and resting his back on the wood calmly. "Have you heard from Itsuki?"

"Nope. And I don't think we ever will now that Sensui is gone."

"Good."

"Well," she said calmly, leaning forward and uncrossing one leg from the other, setting her feet firmly on the grass as she stood to stand. "I owe you one, whether I have to ask of your services or not." She gave a small smile at the male. "Hagiri, take care, mkay?"

"Same to you."

And with that, she turned and left the teen behind, hands finding the pockets of her jacket as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, adding more warmth to the air. After all, she still had work to do before returning. _*****_

~!**!~

"I seek the leader of your guild."

"You tell us who you are and what you want with him first."

The dark cloaked figure did not at first answer, and the prying eyes of the two demons guarding, or rather blocking the way forward could not penetrate the heavy cowl that completely cast the face behind it in utter darkness, the long robe preventing anyone from being able to tell what kind of figure the demon underneath them cut.

"My business is not with you."

The guard who spoke up had felt the concealed eyes considering him before saying anything.

"Unless you tell us who you are, you don't get to go anywhere. The leader doesn't make deals with worthless, low-life no-names who just rolled into town."

Granted, the entire city was abuzz with the arrival of this newcomer, who had strolled directly into the epicenter of the mercenary portion of town, a strange power rolling off of whatever remained hidden within the cloak.

"Then you can inform him yourself that I am not a 'worthless no-name.'"

The guard laughed, "Yeah, yeah, you and everyone else in the world. Look, he isn't interested in your job. Whatever it is."

"And what makes you so certain I come here with a job for him?"

"Then you tell us what your business is with him, and we'll decide whether it's worth his trouble, you hear?"

"I am not here to discuss anything with you." The tone of the voice, already steely and harsh, took on a darker pitch as the cloaked figure started forward to go inbetween the two guards, appearing almost to float along the ground.

The one who had been talking stepped over to block the way, looking down at the shorter demon with a glare.

"Move. I will not repeat myself."

The guard growled and started to reach towards the hood of the cloak, intending to flip the fabric back and reveal whatever hid behind it.

The other guard blinked and his partner was on his knees, howling in pain and clutching at his heart though there seemed to be no exterior damage.

The hood turned to him as the other fell over, screaming. He said nothing, did not so much as even look to see what had hit the guard as the cloaked figure began to step around the writhing demon.

"What's going on here?" A tall, wiry demon threw open the door and stepped up, eyes taking in the fallen guard, the silent guard, and the dark cloak. Curiosity blazed in his sharp face and his brilliantly bright blue eyes. "Well?"

"Someone to see you, sir." The standing guard gave a gesture to the other demon.

The guild leader let his gaze rest on the hidden figure.

"He's actually quite useful. I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill him." He requested mildly, giving this stranger a crooked, roguish grin.

The guard on the ground stopped screaming, but curled up into a ball and did not appear to be willing to get up.

"My office awaits," He stepped to the side and gestured for the demon to enter. Once the demon had passed him he began to shut the door, but glanced at the standing guard, "My thanks for not being foolish."

He closed the door and turned to see the demon had stopped near the other side of the room.

"What can I do for you?" His long legs carried him over to the desk and he sat down casually, making sure the three swords at his waist were out of the way as he did so, scratching a hand absently at the shadow of stubble on his face, and pushing a lock of white hair that had come loose from the low ponytail behind his ear.

The cloaked demon waited another beat, until the guild leader looked up again, then reached up and pulled back the hood, letting it fall away.

The guild leader sucked in a breath.

"_You_."

The dark-haired demon tilted her head downward slightly in a nod, green eyes regarding him with a hollow, gaunt expression.

"I offer you my services." Her voice was hardened, cold.

He only stared at her, taking in the scars that decorated her face and what he could see of her neck, the hair that was braided and had fallen out of her hood down her back.

Her eyes were like pits of darkness and he shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts from the macabre direction they had begun to take without his direct notice.

"Not the same services as before, methinks." The guild leader leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his chin with one hand as he rested his other underneath that elbow in thought. He could not help the brief stare one particular scar of hers warranted as it seemed harsher, deeper, perhaps _crueler_ than the rest of those on her face. It started at her scalp and wound down to disrupt her eyebrow, leaving a slight inconsistency in her eye-he could only image what her eyelid looked like when closed-as it continued to crescent beside her nose all the way to her lips where it cut down over them to leave a nasty partition and end beneath her chin.

"The end result will be the same."

He couldn't get over how remarkably _stark_ the difference was in even just the tone of her voice from when he had seen her all those years ago, walking down the streets of his city.

"If I didn't know it was you...I wouldn't know it was you." He said lamely, feeling how differently even the air was about her. "What happened to...where is your Champion?" The guild leader recalled the short, fiery demon who had accompanied her that day he rescued her from the lower-life demons of the city.

Her haunted eyes only stared at him and he thought he might get lost in that gaze until she blinked and broke the contact, looking down at the ground.

"Gone." The fierce cut of her jaw belied nothing of her feelings on the admission, her voice remaining just as rough as it had been when she first spoke.

The guild leader made a noncommittal sound.

"If you had offered only days after you arrived in the city that first time, I would have declined. Rae and her demons are still in an uproar about you, even this many years later, and even here in this city we feel her wrath. They know you're still on the Ninth Level, but they haven't been able to locate you." He regarded her with a neutral expression. "Now I know why."

He rubbed at his left shoulder, over the spindly tattoos there that disappeared underneath the sleeveless tunic he wore.

"I can honestly say that something _has _come up very recently that you would be quite useful in handling…" He finally replied with caution.

"If my presence ever became a burden, or my identity a compromise, I can assure you I would not stay here."

The guild leader almost shivered at how _wrong _her presence felt. Now that he knew what she had once been, the energy he read from her itched at the back of his mind.

He pulled himself to the present when he realized her blunt gaze waited for his answer.

Giving a sharp nod, the guild leader replied, "Welcome aboard." 3

~!**!~

A week and a half. That's how long she'd been at this, losing sleep constantly to get this over with, then regaining it during the daylight hours just enough to continue what she'd been doing. Of course, occasionally, Akari would leave the flat entirely and wander about Mushiori, find food or something that entertained her to help maintain her sanity.

And after she'd spoken with Hagiri, she'd made sure to spend much more time getting acquainted with herself than she had before, the memories passing and leaving behind less pain than the day, even less pain than the hour before.

Until she'd gotten back into the routine of sleeping nights and working during the days. Sure, she _dreamed _about those days, about the pain and about everything else, but she almost felt detached from it, on some level. As if it had happened too long ago to remember each detail as clearly as she used to.

There were still a few nights, however, when her dreams would be vivid concoctions of each moment, vivid mixes of memories that occasionally hurt more than anything else.

And it was one of those dreams that had her eyes flying open, her mind scattered and her breaths coming short as she stared up at the darkened ceiling. The ceiling that was… too dark almost..

The darkness moved, shifting slightly, and Akari was sitting up, sitting at the feet of the figure standing over her that, for a moment, had snuck in on her. Until she realized that the figure had no facial features, no matter how long she looked at it.

She gave a small sigh and tugged at her energy, intending to lull the shadow back into its original position, wherever it had come from. But it didn't move. It merely stood over her, its own energy licking about her skin and creating an other-worldly chill as it moved a step closer.

It wasn't attacking, but…

_Passive aggressive, are we?_

"What's stirred you?" she inquired, and at first, the only response she received was another wave of cold energy that sent her skin riddling with goosebumps, completely contrasting the sweat that had settled over her during her dreams. And still, she waited for an answer.

_We are not mere underlings. _

She raised a brow at the form. "I'm sorry?"

_No master._

This time, the chill that moved around her settled, the energy staying in the air around her. She understood that the unhappiness of this one was directed at her, likely even having stirred for quite some time. However.. She knew how to treat her shadow companions, her shadow helpers. She hadn't once-

"_I am your __**master**_ _and you will do as I tell you." _

Akari blinked, her mouth becoming the 'o' shape of shock. Had _she _said that?

"_Now remember, sweetheart," her instructor had spoken, voice gentle as she addressed the very young girl in front of her, "you must _never _deem yourself a shadow's master, a shadow's puppeteer, because once you've insulted them enough, they will consume you entirely." There was a pause as young Akari had memorized these words, then nodded. "And should you ever anger your allies, the sooner you apologize, the better. Understand?"_

Akari's eyes focused on the shadow looming over her again, taking in the way the edges of its shape moved with the emotion it gave off. She took in a deep breath and lowered her head in a respectable fashion, hands finding her lap as she crossed her legs. "I deeply apologize. I was not in my right mind then, and had I been so, I would not have said such a thing to you." She gave a small pause, feeling in the air that the energy around the shadow had also paused, as if waiting for more. "I am not your master, and never will be. Should you find it necessary, any strike you send will be accepted without any hesitation, and should you accept my apology, I will be in your debt."

The room became silent again, and for a moment, Akari fully expected to be struck by the energy she herself had served for her entire life, harvested when needed. But no attack came. Instead, the energy withdrew. _All forgiven. Never happen again._

"Of course." Akari mumbled as she looked up, just in time to see the shadow sink into the darkness of the room, not even discernible as being her own personal shadow in the darkness of the room. _*****_

~!**!~

"Shikiyoku. Look at me." Kyonshi grabbed for her arm, his eyes pleading that she turn her gaze upwards.

Shikiyoku kept her face cast down at the ground for a moment longer, not wanting him to be able to look into what she could feel most keenly were dull, haunted eyes.

She could vaguely recall the first time this demon had come up to her what had to have been decades ago at this point. He had asked to have her as his mate, complimenting her strength, and she had dismissed him as a fop from the Seventh Level, one of those demons who had invested too much interest in that 'Victorian' era of the humans.

Now, she learned he had been seeking her out ever since that day, finding her now as she finished up a job for the guild, and in this moment entreating that she come with him, join him, not even as a mate, but desiring to help her, and asking for her companionship.

"You do not want this." She said quietly, aware for the first time how sharp her voice sounded nowadays, how cruel and twisted it had become. _You do not want me._

"If you can see nothing else, see my sincerity?" He pleaded, searching her sharp features, her fierce face, so different from the one he proposed a union with all those years ago.

Shikiyoku still hesitated, then finally let her eyes come up to meet with his.

He smiled.

"Come with me. Please." Kyonshi shook his head slightly, "If for no other reason than to allow me to share in your company."

"I am no company worthy to be shared." She resisted looking away, and he had brought his other hand up to her chin, not letting her.

"I think you and I will have to agree to disagree." A small smile danced across his face as he released her chin and let a white-gloved hand trace a scar that started at her forehead and stretched down over her eyebrow, her eye-she closed both of them as he reached it-and curved down her cheek where it disrupted the line of her lips with its wickedness, making that portion jagged. "I don't think you understand just how much I fancy the macabre."

Shikiyoku let his voice wash over her while her eyes were closed.

"And I have yet to explain exactly what I would be getting out of this...companionship, besides your esteemed self." He leaned over and whispered into her ear, letting his lips brush against her skin in a way that at one time would have pleased her and now garnered no reaction from her at all. "You...have much demonic energy...and I...have a large appetite." 3

* * *

Kyonshi \- Chinese "hopping vampire"; jiang shi; jiangshi; chiang-shih; reanimated corpse

_So, the slices of Shikiyoku's life in Demon World are intentional in how they are both disjointed and indeterminate insofar as how much time has passed between each scene that occurs. It's supposed to convey in that manner exactly how she is experiencing her existence-that is disjointed and without direct notice of the passage of time-where there are only specific moments where she even looks up and notices anything around her._

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	64. Episode 148 - The Final Stand

**A/N:** Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction World!

Yeah, I've totally been neglecting going back and inserting in word meanings in case anyone has been following that. And on occasion I'll forget to do them in recent chapters, ha.

Anyway, this is another one of those weekends that I will be gone, so there will only be "bare-bones" chapters-without author's notes or 'previously'-for the rest of the month.

Speaking of which, starting in February I will be switching to a Monday/Wednesday/Friday update schedule, so there will not be a new chapter up this coming Sunday as that is the first of the month.

I also just want to say that I've been waiting, like, sixty-three chapters for you to get to this point in the story! Tee hee. Personally, I feel that the story, the plot really, doesn't start to take off until after these next couple of chapters (granted, there is a TON of important things that happen within the last chapter and onto the next few), and from an outside-reader's perspective, I'm always concerned that someone will come along and be all 'omg this has such a slow start,' and then won't give the plot a chance to really get going. My thanks if you have enjoyed our roleplay so far and have stuck it out this long!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

__As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis._  
_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Kurama and Hiei discuss how long Hiei has been gone-only thirteen days passed in Human World,  
whereas Hiei has lived through seventy-seven with Shikiyoku in Demon World-and  
Kurama asks Hiei to see if he could find Maneshi, who has apparently gone missing.

The gang has taken to meeting up together at the Kuwabaras' apartment,  
and Jin and Rinku show up for one such meeting, having come through the portal Akari had been at the opening of,  
informing everyone that the others of their friends are also among the demons who came through.  
Apparently all any of them knows is that they are to 'take back what was once theirs.'

This leads to Genkai telling the others about the old legend of 'Sekaiju,'  
that when the Kamis first created the world demons and humans lived alongside one another.

Meanwhile, Akari has taken up residence at Sensui's old apartment to attempt to 'get over' her scars.

~!**!~

It takes years, but Shikiyoku goes through the torture put upon her by Renai,  
King of the Ninth Level and formerly a pure demon of desire like herself,  
and she comes to learn the ways of pain, which frees herself and Hiei of their pact,  
as she no longer needs someone to protect her.  
However, once in 'pain form,' she will be stuck there unless she has a Consort to change her back.

Shikiyoku then seeks out the guild leader that she and Hiei once met in Demon World,  
offering her services to him.

After years of working under the guild leader, she is found by Kyonshi,  
the very demon who asked her to be his mate after her dance for the Northern Tribe.  
While he does in fact merely ask now for her companionship,  
it is also revealed that he feeds upon demonic energy,  
and intends to do so with her should she join him.

~!**!~

A week or so after his return to Human World and Hiei finds his old clothes and the sword he stole  
sitting on the counter in Toriko's house with a note that reads "With all my love, -S"  
A few days before that and he felt the bond fading away from within him,  
and he had not been for certain until that moment about whether or not she was still alive.

Three more weeks pass uneventfully in Human World...

* * *

Dragging feet lead to slumping shoulders, and slumping shoulders lead to a yawn, and eventually, Akari was exhausted all around.

Walking from Mushiori to Kaidan was a much longer trip back than it had been the other way around. And, quite frankly, Akari had decided some time ago that instead of walking to her home, she'd stop by Kuwabara's first. Get caught up and.. whatnot.

"_You're stumbling."_

"Am not." she grumbled down at the dog, hefting the duffel bag on her shoulder higher as she moved down the street, able to see Kuwabara's apartment now. And as her eyes set sight on the stairs she'd have to climb, she groaned.

_I just want a dang nap. Is that so much to ask for?_

"_Maybe Loudmouth and his sister will let you sleep!"_

"I'm just stopping by to get caught up. That's all." she responded as she dragged her heavy legs, picking them up slowly to ascend the steps. Again, she had to adjust her hold on the duffel bag that continued to slip down her shoulder again anyways.

She didn't even bother knocking on the door, as she could hear a few voices inside already talking. She merely turned the knob and pushed the door open, pausing only to kick her shoes off with a yawn and scuffle her way through the house, eventually finding herself on a very, very comfortable couch.

She opened her mouth to say something to Kuwabara, though her eyes closed as she got comfortable, and in the end, she said nothing. Instead, she simply rested her head back and went to sleep, a nap much more important at the moment than whatever she'd been about to say. _*****_

The current talk had been of relocating to Genkai's lands for more intense training. Even Shizuru had to agree that she felt a fight coming on, despite the fact that Yusuke said he knew it in his bones that this wasn't over.

That could have just been his way of saying he really wanted a good fight.

It was almost December, and with no further word from Jin or the others, the group had gotten antsy.

Compound that with the female who had just walked in unannounced and taken up residence next to Kurama on the couch to fall asleep without so much as a by-your-leave, and it left the group staring at her, amazed at how quickly it appeared she could leave the waking world.

Shizuru just smiled at the sleeping girl.

"There's a mat set up in my room for her if anyone wants to carry her in there."

They all turned to stare at Kurama who only raised an eyebrow at them.

"It appears she's just fine where she landed."

Kuwabara gave him a look. "That's not very gentlemanly of you, Kurama."

"And waking her would be?" His expression had not changed.

In truth, he'd felt something stir inside him when the couch gave way to her weight as she plopped down next to him, and he hadn't had enough time to sort through his feelings on how she'd been gone for nearly three weeks only to return suddenly.

"As I was saying, there would be more than enough room for you all, and it would allow us to be within close proximity of one another when the time comes." Genkai picked up the conversation where it had left off.

"And you're certain you'll be able to feel when that is?" Kurama looked to Shizuru, who seemed to have gained even more of that same calm confidence she had always had.

She gave a nod, shifting the cigarette in her mouth over to the other side, "Getting to train for whatever...battle it is we're going to be in that I'm picking up is the most important thing right now."

"I'm not opposed to the suggestion, but I also no longer have to worry about attending the high school's classes either. I passed my exit exams about a month ago. I would only need make sure I was home in time to help my mother with the final preparations for the wedding."

Yusuke looked grim, "The school year doesn't end until March, and Keiko would kill me if I dropped out of middle school so close to the end."

Kuwabara gave the same sort of expression, "Sis and I have already talked about me testing out of the last few months. I know I can do it, and I...I want to go to high school, you know?" He peeked over at Yukina and turned a little red, "I'd need some time during the day to study if we were out there."

"There's nothing to say that you and dimwit both can't bring your materials with you. As long as you can pass those exit exams, they can't refuse you your graduation." Genkai replied.

Yusuke sighed, "It just means Keiko gets to be on my case about attendance again."

"It isn't like she won't understand." Yukina said quietly from where she sat next to Kuwabara on the floor.

"I guess that's true."

"As long as you've told her." Kuwabara added, glaring at him.

It was Yusuke's turn to turn a little pink around the ears. "I just...haven't gotten around to it, that's all." 3

No dreams. It was just the way Akari liked it, and quite frankly, she'd been having more sleep like this since… well, for about a week now, really. So, when she felt the darkness fading, turning into the feeling of artificial light against her eyelids, she shifted slightly, letting out a small huff of air at the prospect of leaving such a peaceful realm so quickly.

But, her internal clock seemed to tell her than an hour's worth of sleep was more than enough to recover from the trek she'd trudged from one district to the next. And, despite all efforts, her eyes opened anyway, as if commanded by an unseen force to do so, and she was staring up at a slightly familiar ceiling, blinking away the blur of sleep from her eyes.

She made a small sound as she shifted her head, testing the slight stiffness in her neck from the way she'd been resting her head against the cushion of the couch.

"_Akari's awake." _a small voice said, as if in warning, and the movement of Nabu by her feet was only indicated by the sound of his claws on the wood floor. "_Don't be loud. She'll attack."_

"Will not, Nabu." she grumbled in response, not surprised by the fact that the dog was talking to other people. She hadn't forgotten where she'd ended up, not even the slightest. _*****_

"Sleeping beauty returns to the land of the waking!" Yusuke exclaimed with a grin, "Without a kiss and everything! So much for the fairy tale." 3

"Now _you, _Yusuke, I have no trouble attacking." she replied easily, shifting again so that her back was straight when she lifted her head, turning calm eyes onto the detective.

And then around the room at the many people. Many more that she remembered being here. Or, now that she thought of it, she hadn't looked at a single one of them when she'd stopped by.

"Also, you're the dumbest person alive. That is all." _*****_

"Kuwabara, next time I _ever _say anything about missing Akari, punch me real hard in the face." Yusuke grinned as Kuwabara laughed, Genkai even shaking her head.

"It's good to know you're still around. We'll need all the help we can get." Kuwabara told her. 3

"Don't worry, I'll be honored to do that in Kuwabara's stead." Akari countered, lazily moving to cross one leg over the other, blinking once at Yusuke before giving a crooked grin of her own. "I still owe you, after all." And when Kuwabara spoke up, she raised a brow and turned to the larger male, smile gone. "Nice to know you thought I wouldn't come back. Love the faith." She paused, pushing the joking aside. "Whatcha got for me? What have I missed?" _*****_

"Thankfully, not much." Shizuru spoke up, eyes glancing to the others in the room, "We were just talking about how we are probably going to all pack up and head out to Genkai's for training. I've got a hunch there's going to be one last showdown for all of us." 3

Akari nodded, glancing about the room when Shizuru's eyes wandered to each person. She took in each face. And, when she found Kurama next to her, she blinked.

"Still unsettling." she said casually, referring to his lack of energy before turning back to Kuwabara and the others. "Well, I'm up for it. I still have to drop by home first though. I haven't had the chance yet, as I'm sure you've noticed." She gestured vaguely to the bag that had fallen on the floor when she'd plopped down earlier, a slightly lopsided smile sneaking its way onto her features. "Glad to hear I haven't missed anything too crazy. I'd hate to miss the fun parts." _*****_

"I wish Jin or Touya or somebody would be able to join us out there." Yusuke made a face.

Shizuru opened her mouth to say something, but paused and looked at Kurama.

The phone rang.

"It's your mother." She told him, standing up to answer, "She wants to know if you'd mind coming home early tonight to talk about the wedding."

"Tell her I'm on my way." Kurama got up and wove his way through those gathered on the floor, eyes only just alighting on Hiei before he slipped his feet into his shoes by the door and left.

"Meet up here tomorrow!" Shizuru called after him, "If you want to go out there with us!"

"I work," Kurama paused in the middle of the door, "And will have to until the end of the week. But I'll get out there as soon as I can." He closed the door gently behind him. 3

Akari waited until the room was silent before she gave a small sigh, unable to ignore the sound her stomach made. And without further prompting from her stomach, she decided to give in and pushed herself to stand. "Well, sorry to nap and run, but I've gotta get myself _and _Nabu something for dinner, and plenty other things I put off for two weeks. Thank you for catching me up, and not disturbing me." She gave a lazy wave to the room about her and picked up her duffel bag, ignoring anything anyone said as she slipped her shoes on and then slipped into the cold afternoon air, Nabu on her heels as she caught up with Kurama.

"So, your mother is getting married?" she asked casually, the conversation more of a spur-of-the-moment decision that she hadn't been able to keep from acting upon. She felt that he'd told her this before, but her two and a half weeks in Mushiori had her forgetting several things that hadn't been very pressing. _*****_

Kurama nodded, "Towards the end of December. She's very happy. Which is all I could ask." He hesitated, "I encouraged her to move it sooner, she was going to wait until Spring. But what with...whatever Shizuru is picking up…" He trailed off. 3

Akari kept one hand on the strap of her duffel bag to keep in in place, the other hand finding her hoodie pocket almost lazily as she let her eyes follow the puff of white that her breath created on the cold air. She hadn't been paying attention to the cold, and realizing she could see her breath suddenly had her rather joyous, though her expression betrayed none of that.

"Well, I'm sure it will be a wonderful union." she commented lightly, saying nothing more since she wasn't _entirely _familiar with wedding rituals. _*****_

Kurama chuckled, knowing that Akari likely didn't know what to say about the process.

"It will." He paused, thinking about it and bringing a smile to his face as he did so before he let his eyes glance in her direction, "Did you find what you were looking for?" 3

Akari gave a small sound that said she acknowledged Kurama's words of the wedding, along with the chuckle she _knew _to be aimed at her. But, for a moment, she let the silence stretch on.

It was odd how comfortable she suddenly felt, as if before, she'd always been tense around him for reasons even she didn't understand.

So with his question, she only glanced at him for a brief moment before turning her eyes to her cloud of air again, her lips parted for the soul reason of creating the wonderful cloud. "I wasn't _looking _for anything. I knew where everything was." she responded mildly, eyes never leaving the area in front of her face. "Hagiri is on standby, but he's only… a just in case thing. A reassurance, really." She stopped there, unsure of what to say next, if anything. _*****_

"I'm sure he would be welcome, though I am not entirely positive if he would truly wish to join us." Kurama thought about their upcoming training, amused at how she brushed aside his question. "And I'm glad you already knew where everything was. That must have made things easier." 3

Finally, Akari turned her eyes onto Kurama, a calm and level gaze staring at him unblinkingly for a moment. _It's because of you, you ass. Don't act like you aren't aware. _She made a sound of amusement and turned forward again, deciding against saying that.

"I'm hoping Hagiri won't be needed." she continued on, before giving a small sigh.

There was another pause before she decided to respond to his last words anyway. "Well, nothing comes easy with me, as I'm sure you already figured out." Her lips twitched and she blew out air, purposefully making a small cloud again. "But outside forces are always acting, I suppose." With that, she turned and altered her course, tossing a wave over her shoulder. "Have fun with your mother." _*****_

Kurama said nothing in reply, though he watched her go as she separated and headed for her own home, the wheels turning in his mind and suddenly wishing for the first time in a long time that he could feel her presence, wondering what else besides the look in her eye had changed. 3

"_Do you think he knows?"_

"Mmm, 'bout what?"

"_That he is such a big influence on you?"_

Akari sighed, "I have _no _idea what you're talking about." She rolled her shoulders a bit, releasing the leftover tension from her nap in an instant as she moved towards the ramen stand she hadn't visited in… three weeks, just about. Maybe longer.

"_I like him."_

"...Me too." _*****_

~!**!~

The winter months gave way into spring for those on Genkai's lands.

Both Kuwabara _and _Yusuke passed the exit exams for middle school. Kurama left for a week to help his mother with her wedding and to see the newlywed couple off for their honeymoon, but he returned faithfully to pick up where he'd left off.

Training continued almost constantly at the old psychic's house, each participant growing stronger under her patient tutelage as they wished, sometimes going off on their own to further themselves. Yukina patiently took care of those injured when her powers were required, though only when the injuries meant training would have to be postponed.

The others were impressed with Shizuru, who had long since mastered Reikibuki. Her versatility was unmatched, going so far as to having several forms her weapons could take and coming to be proficient in two or three of them. Yusuke's favorites were her spirit energy version of brass knuckles, but everyone knew he was biased.

It was one such night in March when Kurama went been off by himself, as he had taken to doing since they started training.

For the first time, he'd felt self-conscious about his lack of access to any energy, and he knew that he would not be able to at first keep up with the others, his reactions too slow even if his brain mostly maintained the same speed.

He had to get used to not only thinking through every step his enemy might use, but reacting to the first four or five of those steps seconds before he had been used to thinking as he lacked the hearing and the smell he had before so heavily relied upon. The lack of Youko's influence deeply disturbed him and he did not wish to be a burden to the others, so he would go off by himself, early in the morning, returning late in the night.

Kurama blinked the sweat from his eyes, the moonlight above only barely reaching down through the trees where he stood, deep within the dark forest that lay at the back of Genkai's lands.

He knew this was no time to be distracted by something so mundane as sweat.

A dark shadow skirted by his left, but he did not see it, did not feel it.

It did the same thing again, passing him on the right and only barely leaving a wind trail on Kurama's bare skin, stripped to the waist as he was.

Kurama moved forward several steps and turned, feeling the wind pass by the place he had just stood.

There was another reason why he wished to have no one else around.

A second low-level demon shot out of the nearby trees and Kurama only just managed to dodge, reaching up to block his face with his arms as he felt the angry swipe he accurately guessed would be coming gauging deeply into the palms of his hands.

He had acquired many new scars as he pushed himself.

Kurama lowered the block slightly, only to feel several more slashes across his back which made him ball his hands into fists as he refused to cry out in pain.

He reached up into his hair with his left hand as he took several strides forward again, making sure the seed was coated with the blood from his palm as he passed it to the right hand and feeling it pulse before extending into a whip out from his grasp which he used to lash out at the enemy who had cut at his back.

Another demon body-tackled him to the ground, and just before he hit the grass he had taken out the first demon with several well-aimed hits of his whip, turning at that point to block the mouth that had made for his head with his free arm and earning a solid bite of said mouth into his flesh, easily tearing through his skin.

The claws of the demon ripped into his bare chest even as he brought his right arm up and over with a snap to attempt to entangle the beast, two or three more such beasts joining the fray and starting to rip at Kurama's legs and face.

Without demonic strength, there was not much the human-Shuichi could do, but he felt the grass underneath his bloodied back erupt around him in his defense, cutting viciously through the beasts like so many blades and wrapping around Kurama as they did so in a green cocoon.

When the beastly demon on his chest finally stopped struggling, his head having been sliced off by the blades of grass, Kurama managed to throw the demon off of himself and lay there as he felt the blood of the others, dead now as well, seeping towards him.

Unable to stand, to so much as move what with his legs and torso and arms bleeding out on the forest floor, Kurama lay there staring up at the moonlight, his eyes finally shuddering closed as he felt his own blood leaking out from his body and creating flowers in the grass. 3

After being convinced by both Nabu and her own fighting thoughts on the matter, as the months passed Akari had taken to studying with Yusuke and Kuwabara during the day and training during the late night hours, usually with Genkai who occasionally left her either angry enough to walk away or tired enough to do nothing more than sleep where they'd been training.

But once she'd taken her leave for the exams and then returned, school out of the way entirely, she'd become a bit more centered around her own energy, her entire mind consumed with different abilities she knew that her own family had used, along with ones Genkai introduced.

She'd learned a lot during these months, and found that after a while, even the low-level demons outside of Genkai's temple were nothing more than pests, their blows doing nothing unless they were in huge groups and had some sort of ability that countered her own.

Though, she'd run into a few who were 'cousins' of the Aswang, their strikes including toxins. Needless to say, she'd found that she didn't appreciate the glower from Genkai as Yukina cleansed away the poisons from Akari's blood.

But as soon as she'd been able, she'd returned to the outside world and stayed well into the night at times, no matter what was suggested for her.

And it was one such night that Akari had found herself wandering through the trees, eyes wandering over the shadows in the area and toying with ideas, things she could put to use here. With the moon overhead as it was, there seemed to be a huge party of shadows dancing about, waiting for her to call on them and ask of their services.

At that moment, had Akari had her canine ears, they would have turned back to assess the sound of a screeching creature, and then lay on her head in annoyance as more sounds followed. Here she was, looking for one such group of demons, while another- likely Kurama, from the absence of energy- killed them all off.

So, she sighed and turned, going back the way she'd come before branching away from her first path and following the sound of fighting that, after a minute, died away, leaving only the smell of blood that wafted on the gentle breeze occasionally.

Just as she walked onto the scene, Akari became able to distinguish several different scents of several different creature's blood, all that overlapped and seemed to almost cover up the smell of Kurama's own blood that she could easily see now. She gave a small sigh and moved forward, finding herself unsurprised by the scene.

With steps that weren't meant to conceal her presence, she approached Kurama, and without even asking or announcing her presence verbally, she grabbed him by a portion of his torso that was _not _covered in cuts and blood, and lifted him from the forest floor, turning her back to him so when she stood, he was draped over her back, his arms over her shoulders.

She looked up, easily taking in the sight of a few demons running by her, a frown settling on her face. "_Now_ I can find a group of demons? Just _perfect." _She turned and began moving towards the temple, very aware of both Kurama's injuries and the amount of bleed that she could feel soaking into the back of her shirt.

So instead of wasting her time, like she normally would have, she simply let her energy snake out around her, creating a dark, dangerous barrier around herself and Kurama before she took off, not even taking note of the demons that made attempts at attacks and were promptly consumed by the shadows in the area.

And before long, she was inside the temple and looking about for Yukina, pausing only briefly to inquire Genkai of the girl's whereabouts before turning and heading to the Ice Maiden's room. _*****_

Kurama made no noise of protest when he felt himself lifted from the ground, eyes still closed. In truth, he was grateful for the assistance, if a bit displeased at not having recovered quickly enough to get back on his own two feet.

It wasn't the first time he would be returning barely conscious. Not since he had discovered Youko's demonic energy still flowed through his veins anyway. While he could not call upon said energy himself, all of it locked away from his direct contact, he found he could manipulate it after a fashion if his blood touched the flora first.

The day he had discovered it had been in a fight similar to the one that had just occurred and had left him out for at least four hours before he was able to rouse himself and return to Genkai's house. 3

Akari's energy, or the last of it that had surrounded herself and Kurama, tapered away as she approached Yukina's door, the quiet energy of the Koorime on the other side and already approaching the door. Without any prompting from Akari, Yukina's door slid open and revealed the calm gaze of the female, whose eyes widened when she saw Kurama.

"There's an extra mat on the other side of mine." she informed, and Akari didn't hesitate to move inside and maneuver around the blankets and such on the floor, before lowering Kurama down to the one Yukina had gestured to.

Instead of leaving as she normally would have, Akari moved to sit cross-legged on the floor near Kurama's head, reaching forward and poking him once with her index finger. "You're not gonna get very far if you keep this up." she grumbled at him with a sigh.

"Everyone is working so hard. I think they deserve a break soon."

Akari didn't reply to the girl who went to work as soon as she'd finished speaking. _*****_

Kurama knew as soon as Akari had entered the Koorime's room, not just by the soft, gentle, cool clove smell of the maiden which even he could pick up, but by the absolute calm that simply by stepping over the threshold placed one within it. That feeling seemed to permeate the entire room, a calm cultivated by centuries of her kind that seeped into the very cracks of the building wherein she resided as well as the hearts of all those nearby.

He made no sound as he felt himself lowered to the ground, only opening his eyes just a touch once his head was laying flat, shifting them over just in time to see Akari lean forward to poke at him.

"Unfortunately, there's no other way to do it." Kurama replied into that same air of peacefulness that had overtaken him once they'd gotten inside. "My attempts thus far at storing my blood for later usage have been entirely unsuccessful." Something he hadn't revealed to anyone else up until that point, he realized. 3

Akari frowned slightly into the eyes that found her, realizing for the first time just how… human the redhead was at this point. Sure, she knew his body couldn't heal as well, but… that was only one of the many things that having Youko sealed away seemed to have caused. One of the many things that could easily lead to a situation that no one wanted to face.

And if he had to continue to do this to himself, even during the real fight… He was going to end up bleeding himself dry.

"Take a break tomorrow." she said calmly, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting back against the nearest wall. "I think you need it." _*****_

"And fall further behind?" He replied with a small smile, "I think that would not be prudent at this juncture. I'm most certain I will already only be in the back for support, so whatever I can do now to increase my stamina will be that much more I can provide once the fighting begins."

He shifted around a little as he tried to get more comfortable on the mat as Yukina continued to work.

"Perhaps...perhaps I will endeavour to not go _quite _so far into the forest tomorrow, if that would ease your mind." 3

Akari's eyes slid closed. _How did I know you were going to say that? _

Verbally, she gave no reply to Kurama at all, because really, she felt there was nothing she _could _say to convince him otherwise. He'd do what he wanted, whether or not she had a say to it. And, really, who was she to tell him he couldn't better himself, even if the only way he seemed able to do so put him in _this _position?

"Just don't get yourself killed." she finally said, voice quiet and tone small. "Got me?" _*****_

Kurama opened his eye further to regard Akari with a neutral expression, taking in her face, her hair which he realized had been pull up.

His lips twitched as he tried not to smile.

"Mm. I'll..._try_." 3

"Ha ha. Very funny." she responded in the same tone as before, eyelids sliding open to allow her to stare at him with an even gaze. "But I mean it. Because I hope you know I'd personally hunt you down in Spirit World and kick your ass all the way back." _*****_

Kurama let out a pained chuckle and his eyes squeezed shut as the mirth shook his body just a little.

"Well, it's a good thing Genkai believes there won't _be _a Spirit World much longer should we fail. I won't have to worry about it, that being the case." 3

"Are you doubting my abilities?" she countered, lips suddenly twitching. "You don't know me very well then, I'm afraid." Her eyes turned to Yukina, who seemed to be smiling at their banter despite the concentration she dedicated to her handiwork. _*****_

"Oh? You're claiming to be able to pierce the beyond, then? To understand what even Spirit World has no control over? Bold." Eyes still closed, he allowed himself the smile that threatened to take over his features anyway. 3

"You never know. Something new could happen." she responded with her nose lifting in the air slightly. She went quiet again, slowly lowering her chin to watch Yukina's hands and the power that glowed as those hands passed over cuts and gashes, gently encouraging them to heal and pull together in the middle.

_This sucks. __*****_

"How are Yusuke and Kuwabara faring?" Kurama asked suddenly, eyes coming open again to look over at Akari.

He knew she'd be training with them and not only Genkai. 3

Akari shrugged nonchalantly at Kurama's answer. "They've learned that they don't like shadows anymore." Her voice wavered with an unissued laugh at the thought, but she became serious again. "Kuwabara's energy is starting to feel similar to when Sensui needed use of him again. I know he hasn't harnessed it yet, because there's been no reason for it, but he also seems to be fighting it… though not without his direct notice." She frowned as she voiced this observation; she hadn't told anyone else about her thoughts on the matter, mainly because she figured the only ones who could feel the difference were the ones who knew how to either help or squash that ability. "And Yusuke still fights without thinking about his opponent. I've wished more than once that _you _would give him that lesson, because he doesn't seem to take me very seriously." _*****_

Kurama gave another wry chuckle, "Yusuke tends to win his battles with more luck than skill or anything else. Though he _is _a force to be reckoned with, either way.

"And I had hoped seeing how much his sister has caught up with him might spur Kuwabara further. She's likely going to pass him soon, if she has not already, and I wonder how _that _will make him feel." 3

"Well, he's definitely putting in the effort to get a kick forward, it's simply that his Jigen Tō isn't a stable energy yet. He's trying, obviously, he just doesn't know how to call on it yet. And, quite frankly, I don't know how to push him hard enough to need it without trapping him inside another dimension and leaving him there." She gave another shrug. "Which, of course, would mean I'd have to call on Uraotoga." She shifted her weight, uncrossing her legs before they fell asleep. "You should see when they fight each other. It turns from training to a complete brawl." _*****_

"I'm sure Yusuke makes it a point to 'win' every time." Kurama replied mildly, "I'm also sure their days of training with Genkai give much more fruitful results." 3

Akari gave a hum of affirmation as she took to looking down at Kurama again, "I'm sure everyone has better results when with Genkai rather than on their own." She considered her own moments with the older woman, suddenly remembering something else she could request of later, when she was alone with the woman again. "How much longer do you think we have before the fight brews?" _*****_

"There's really no way to tell. All we have to go on is Shizuru, who has started to say 'soon' instead of 'closer.' Her own training has become even more focused of late, which may be the best sign out of anything." Kurama let out a little sigh. 3

Akari gave a small nod, but otherwise said nothing to the redhead. She continued to stare at him, her thoughts churning over several different things at once, none of them even remotely on the same subject as another, each one swirling around and around her mind in a dance that never seemed to end.

And after a bit, Yukina sat back and looked up at Akari before offering a small smile to Kurama. "I'm glad you got here sooner this time, Kurama." She looked up at Akari again and offered the same smile. "You're both working hard, so if there's anything I can do, please, don't hesitate to ask." _*****_

Kurama began to sit up, giving Yukina grateful smile and knowing that he and the Koorime had more than their fair share of encounters within the past few months where the avatar had known he would be unable to function for a few days and found the prospect unacceptable, enlisting her help to at least close his wounds so he could continue.

"And you, Yukina, are working just as hard as the rest of us. Don't _you_ forget to give yourself a rest once in a while." 3

"Of course," Yukina replied, her head tilting with the wide smile she showed Kurama. Akari shifted around, leaning away from the wall and pushing herself to stand after a moment, reaching a hand down to offer Kurama a hand up.

"Just so you know, I wanted that group of demons." she finally said, giving the redhead a small look of jealousy. "Thief." _*****_

Kurama took the hand, but aspired to an air of loftiness at her words while he stood up.

"You _do _realize you're speaking to what is the avatar for the most infamous kitsune in all of Demon World?" He didn't even look twice at her, sashaying past her and out Yukina's bedroom, only turning his head slightly with his nose lifted in the air to give a haughty sniff as he came to the threshold of her door, "You should feel _honored _to have had your prey stolen from you by me. Or at least _honored _that I didn't take anything else." He arched an eyebrow, gave a smirk, and finished exiting the room. 3

Akari huffed at Kurama, crossed her arms at him, then stuck her tongue out just a little. "Honored, my backside. You should be glad I didn't interfere sooner." She kept her brows raised at his last words, and before he got too far, she followed after him. "And what do you mean by _that_, sir?" she inquired, tone incredulous. "It isn't like you'd get far anyway. Not in that state." _*****_

"I would get just as far as you would let me." Kurama shot right back, his own tone never changing as he kept moving for the exit of the house and his face maintaining that same self-satisfied expression. 3

"I can assure you that it wouldn't be very far." she repeated, hands sliding into the pockets of the jacket she wore lazily. She wasn't sure why she still wore it. Perhaps it was just a habit now. _*****_

"Mm." Kurama intoned noncommittally, "I don't think you can accurately assure me of anything since I haven't actually tried. Even _you _wouldn't stand long against the wiles of a fox demon." 3

Akari rolled her eyes, catching on likely a little late, but… better late than never, right?

"Well, I _must _admit," she suddenly began, tone turning sultry, "I _do _touch myself when I think of you." She paused, eyes finding the back of his head. "Granted, it's usually my fingers rubbing my temples, because your presence creates the _worst _headaches. It's rather trying, really." _*****_

"Ha!" Kurama barked out a single, amused laugh, "The she-demon likes to play with twisted words, does she?" Kurama didn't stop walking, "I'm sure I could teach you a few things about being _twisted_." He tossed her a glance over his shoulder, turning so he could face her, going on a couple more steps backwards towards the door, "But in any case," he reached forward as if to brush her cheek with his fingers, "Progress is progress."

He stopped short of the door being flung open, turning to catch it as Yusuke stomped inside.

The dark-haired youth barely gave Kurama a glance, taking in the wicked scars across the avatar's bare skin and raising his eyebrows.

"Nice." He commented as he passed by, realizing that he'd never seen the other without a shirt, for good reason considering how many marks the fox had on his skin, but finding himself unsurprised that there _were _marks. He knew the kinds of fights Kurama got into and out of. 3

The twitch of Akari's lips was hard to fight, and after a moment of fighting the smirk, her lips ended up tilting up anyway, a crooked smile adding to the gleam in her eye of complete and utter amusement. Quite frankly, she wasn't sure what had made her think of it, but… Oh well.

"Glad you approve, though I didn't say it for the approval," she replied easily, arms crossed over her chest again as she eyed the hand that outstretched to her.

And then Yusuke was passing by, giving a single word comment to Kurama that Akari rolled her eyes at. *

~!**!~

It was not two days later that Genkai suddenly stopped in the middle of her lesson and Yusuke faltered in his steps, taken aback by the sudden severeness of her expression that was aimed just a little to the right and above his shoulder.

He followed her gaze and realized it led back to her home, then looked over at Kuwabara to see his red-haired friend have the same odd tilt of his head.

The pair took off towards the dojo without a word and Yusuke said nothing, sensing the heaviness of the air around them and running after despite his not realizing what had been the cause for their abrupt dispersal.

The three of them burst through the doors to see Shizuru sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor, her eyes closed and her brows strained together.

Yukina looked up at them as they came in, standing over the human female with concern.

Shizuru's brown hair was a mess, falling out of the ponytail she obviously put it in before she had started, her feet bare and her skin glistening with sweat leftover from the moves she had been walking through, quite obviously having likely dropped into her current position directly out of her technique.

"What is it?" Yusuke asked desperately.

"It's time." Genkai replied, Kuwabara nodding absently, a far-away look in his own eyes.

"Something's happening." Shizuru said, her voice strained, "It's not _here_, not _Human World_. Not yet. But something." Her knuckles were white where she clutched at her ankles, the hardened muscles in her bare arms tense.

Kurama came in the other side of the dojo-Hiei trailing behind him-his upper body bare save for white bandages which he had obviously just finished changing that went from over his right shoulder down across his front to his waist, which had a few passes of bandages wrapping around his hips.

As he came closer, Yukina immediately turned to tend to him and he didn't protest.

"I know you said not to bother," She said patiently, reaching up to put her hands near his chest where she remembered seeing his wounds, "But you'll need all your strength." Her hands began glowing and he did not flinch away. 3

~!**!~

Darkness surrounded Akari, who merely sat within the odd space that she seemed to drift through, her eyes closed and hair moving with an unseen breeze. She took in a deep breath and let her eyelids slide open, her lips curling into a smile. She'd finally perfected the technique that was more often than not a rare specialty move among her kind, and even more so to those who were of mixed blood.

It only took two whole days and nights without sleep, some rest, and a few more hours of vigorous attempts at it before she'd been able to fall into the realm that consisted of nothing more than darkness and cold nothingness.

She slid her eyes closed again and willed herself to be released from her own energy, and after a few more minutes, she felt the chill of darkness dissipate and her feet touch the soft soil of Human World. She dug her toes into the grass before she opened her eyes, a smile dancing in her irises but not touching her lips in the least as she began moving to the form ahead of her, her prey.

She could take it by surprise if-

Akari paused mid-step and glanced behind herself, suddenly feeling each and every energy of the people on the grounds of the temple moving in the same, single location. Her own gut churned and her core leapt, and instead of turning back to the demon she'd been hunting, her body turned and followed the other energies towards the center of this property, leaving the lower-level demon unaware of the threat that had been on his heels.

She was easily able to foresee and avoid any and all obstacles, and within no more than a minute and a half, she was moving inside the temple, hands pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail that fell well down her back, almost brushing the hem of the white button-down shirt that was worn over the yellow halter underneath.

She was in time to hear both the end of Shizuru's words to whoever was listening and Yukina's words to Kurama. _So… it's time… _

She glanced about the room, waiting for… something to happen. _*****_

The utter silence in the room did nothing for the level of intensity that seemed to spike higher the longer the silence went on.

Shizuru's expression did not change, until a few moments had passed. Then, her eyes flew open.

Just to her left, a portal to Spirit World tore open in the middle of the dojo and the sounds of battle filled the room. Clashing steel. Cries of pain and others of triumph.

The view was difficult to make out, the portal widening suddenly until it stood taller than Shizuru-who had scrambled to her feet by that time-and at least three times as wide.

An older looking Koenma positioned himself half-in and half-out of the opening, his eyes carrying a hunted look that did not truly acknowledge everyone there, instead motioning frantically that they should come through and then disappearing back onto the other side.

Shizuru made no hesitation to barge into the portal, the others following quickly after.

Within Spirit World they found that the portal had opened them into the main offices, the castle, just inside the foyer which had demons pouring in from the entrance, met with resistance from the various denizens who made this their home.

While the smell of blood and sweat filled the air, there was no death, the demons making a point of simply knocking their opponents out as soon as they were able, leaving otherwise untouched bodies strewn about the floor.

In the lead, Shizuru took off after Koenma who started yelling over the din as he moved through both friend and foe, towards a deeper part of the castle.

"They've breached our forces! There are more inside!" His cape whipped wildly about his feet as he took off at a dead run.

Shizuru dual-wielded a pair of slim swords, bright green energy humming from her hands as katanas, with enough accuracy to fend off those who tried to take down the Prince, knocking them aside and even going so far as to change the weapons into a bo staff in mid-swing to slam the longer Reikibuki into a group that advanced on him, scattering them away, but spilling no blood herself.

The noise of the next room was confined to smaller brawls, but Koenma made no appearance to stop and assist, charging down the long hallway until turning right, the lights above them flickering inconsistently as if the very foundations of the palace were being disrupted.

He had seen what he took to be the main attacking force of the demons break through his people, but had been in the middle of attempting to open the portal and unable to assist.

He did not know what they were after, and the sparing of the people of Spirit World confused him, but he could feel his father in this direction, knew they had taken him somehow, and kept right on running down the corridor, taking turns and stairs that even he might have gotten lost in had he not been so desperate.

Koenma stopped only briefly to pull back the gigantic doors that led into one of the main office areas and went in head-first, stopping short with a skid when at least a thousand demons turned from the door at the other end of the hallway and started advancing on the newcomers, the intruders.

Shizuru lightly danced around Koenma and rushed forward, bo staff still in hand, "I'll make a path!"

"Don't kill them!" Koenma pleaded, unsure of what made him say so.

Shizuru turned to throw him a grin over her shoulder, keeping the lit cigarette clutched firmly inbetween her teeth, "What am I, new at this?"

She let out a chuckle and then her face closed with concentration, the bo staff growing longer as she dove head-first into the fray and started to clear the way for Koenma who had taken off just behind her. 3

Akari hadn't had time to think after the portal to Spirit World had appeared. She'd simply… followed as asked of her, eyes roaming as her ears stayed trained on the group that moved through the chaos that was… surprisingly… _clean_. No last breaths, no cries that tapered off into hollowed nothingness.

And with Shizuru in the front line, keeping demons away, Akari herself had only had to bat away a single demon who'd slipped by and made a grab at her. She'd merely done as she saw the rest doing and went for a pressure point, not even pausing in her run to follow after the group she trailed after.

She'd chosen to be at the end, for a very particular reason. From where she was, she could see anything and everything, and with the amount of shadows ahead of her, she'd have more fighting ability from her standpoint, should she need it.

But, it didn't seem she'd need it. Not at the moment, anyway, because for one, Shizuru had it under control. Two, their lives didn't seem threatened, aside from the panic that Koenma seemed to be consumed with that could mean otherwise.

She had her own thoughts on that, but for now, decided that Koenma was the main objective, the main person to protect, if there was even a remote possibility that Foko wanted _anything _to do with the prince.

So, when the group skidded to a stop one by one in a room filled with more demons than she could count, she _did _step up, fingers flexing and eyes gaging the nearest enemies while Shizuru seemed to simply _plow through _them.

Akari moved forward to lend a hand, slipping between the people she'd been originally trailing after and using her own energy to completely consume demons in her own shadows, dropping them into another realm for the time being when she thought they were either too close to the group or Shizuru. _*****_

As they sprinted their way towards the other doors, the group spread out around Koenma, keeping him in their midst and fighting back the demons who attempted to prevent them from continuing forward, the demons succeeding in slowing their progress when their numbers thickened around the circle of defenders.

With no threat of their lives being actually taken, it was easy to turn fist or sword aside, only fear of being overwhelmed an immediate concern.

When they reached the doors, it became a fight to get them open as the sheer number of demons who kept coming tried to push them back, making sure they were position so that the doors could not be pulled inward as they were meant to do.

Genkai slipped inside the circle next to Koenma who was up against the door, Kuwabara and Yusuke who had been on either side of her stepping over to cover where she had stood.

The old psychic began muttering under her breath, weaving her hands in a pattern in front of her body which seemed to enrage the demons around them who desperately tried to break through the protection the others maintained.

"_Kiai Cannon!"_

With the final words of the spell, a massive, if invisible, wave of spirit energy erupted from the old woman's body and blasted back those that were attempting to break through and keeping them from getting the doors open.

As soon as he saw they were free for the moment to move on, Koenma grabbed for one of the doors, Kurama reaching out to get the handle of the other and they pulled the doors apart so that everyone could slip through before the demons recovered, following their comrades inside and pulling the doors shut behind them.

Kurama pulled a small blade out of his pocket and without pause slashed open a palm, reaching the now-bleeding hand into his hair and then smearing the palm across the door just above the handles on this side, vines bursting out from underneath his hand and moving to entangle the handles together, as well as extending outwards until they covered a good portion of the doors as well.

He wasn't sure at first why no one had moved until he lifted his gaze and saw that King Enma himself was on his knees, doubled over with what was obviously pain on his face, kneeling in the direction the group now faced.

Not forty feet from Enma, to the King's right, was a familiar sight: a silver-haired fox demon who had also at some point crumpled to the floor, wearing a similar expression as the royalty next to him.

And inbetween them, standing in the middle of a short flight of stairs was a woman. A female demon whose wickedly fierce beauty cut across the room as she viewed the newcomers. Her aura was powerful, the very room filled with her presence so that it eclipsed that attention which Enma normally would have demanded.

The air was heavy with her energy, not visible with the eyes, but felt with the skin, with the soul.

Shizuru collapsed almost instantly to the ground, Kuwabara following after. Even Genkai dropped to one knee, and both Yusuke and Koenma wore strained expression as they all felt their energy within them rebelling and leaving them with the sensation that their very veins coursed with excruciating pain.

If one managed to see beyond wonderfully terrible figure of the female demon, there were two others at the top of the stairs on the platform, one with red hair, one with blue-Gashiru and Gekijou-who had their hands joined together across what might have been a table or a chest, their eyes closed. After a moment, after getting past the savage gaze and oppressive aura of the female demon, one could hear the twins' voices on the air, speaking unintelligible words to a ritual that obviously involved whatever was between them as it glowed with power while they spoke to weave the enchantment.

Besides that, there were other demons in the room, some who appeared unaffected by the power of the female demon, others who were dropped to the floor in pain, but all of them staring transfixed at her.

She raised a hand towards Koenma, "And so the child comes." Her tone echoed almost frighteningly across the room, intense but also magnificent, "Is it _he _who wishes to strike the final blow?"

"Let him go." Somehow, Koenma's voice seemed just as strong as hers, gathering himself up so that he might soon take a step forward.

"To what end? He will not leave this room alive." Her frankness of tone and ease with which she spoke of the King's death seemed in stark contrast to the pronouncement she just made. "Surely you know what a pathetic _worm_ he has become. If there was a time when he _was _worthy of the station, I know not of it."

Koenma did not this time reply. He...he knew of his father's actions of late, had discovered the awful things he had been carrying on about in secret. But...but he was _blood_. _Kin_. His very own _father_. He could not sit back and do nothing, no matter who deemed the King unworthy. Right?

Taking a small step, shifting her feet towards him, the demon across the room raised a single perfect eyebrow and lowered her hand.

"If you do not advance with the intent to take your father's life, you will advance no further, I can assure you of this."

Koenma said nothing, meeting the demon eye-for-eye, the look on his face one of utter determination as he finally managed to force his feet to take steps in her direction.

Kurama took three steps forward, reaching out as if to stop the teen-prince, but the female demon's eyes flashed and Koenma doubled over in pain, stopped in his tracks.

The avatar blinked, then turned his face up to her.

She seemed for the first time to falter in her surety as she gazed into Kurama's eyes, and he lowered his hand from Koenma, waiting a beat, and then took another deliberate step forward.

Her eyes narrowed when he dared keep coming, and suddenly the fake Youko was on his feet and in front of Kurama, clutching at true avatar's throat with claws that pierced Kurama's skin, making him bleed.

The two stared into one another's eyes and within the false Youko Kurama saw confusion and pain, as if simply standing there hurt him desperately.

"Free this one of his energy block." The she-demon seethed at someone out of sight, on the other side of King Enma, but maintained her eye-contact with Kurama, "I wish to see him _writhing _upon the floor."

"You...promised me...what I desire above all else." The pained response came from somewhere on the other side of Enma, but there was no mistaking the timbre of the voice unseen.

"And you betrayed me for my own kin, my own _children_." She bit back, turning her head to look at the blonde-haired, purple-eyed demon who had gotten to his feet somehow and moved into view, still doubled over and clutching both hands across his stomach.

Her eyes softened only a trifle when she glanced at the pair still chanting behind her. "My own flesh and blood." Her words came softer this time.

When she snapped her head back to regard Otento, her eyes grew colder than before if possible.

"Because..._you_ could not break her..." Otento seemed to find the thought funny, lifting his torso just enough that he could peer at her through his white-blonde hair that covered his face. "I only did...what was needed."

Otento let out a strangled cry and dropped to his knees, a single demon stepping up to stand next to him.

Terepo.

The presence of this demon seemed to make the female shift in place and she left Otento alone for the moment, tossing her gaze out over the other ones near the door and giving Kurama a look that would have made a lesser man quail.

"If I...will not have what was promised me." Otento began to stand up, straining as he did so and lifting his hands towards her, "Then you...shall not have what you desire."

Several things happened at once.

The female demon whipped her head back towards him and threw her hand out at him, her expression all of a sudden desperate, "KILL HIM!"

The aura of the room dropped its oppression completely as the demon of pain felt her core becoming locked away and Koenma began to run towards his father, the others taking longer to recover and only beginning to have their minds returned to them. The fake Youko let go of Kurama and disappeared to reappear next to Otento, Otento throwing an arm over the fox's shoulders as Youko helped him stay on his feet. Terepo stepped up underneath Otento's other arm.

Otento turned towards the twins and made the same gesture as before with his hand. The chanting faltered, caught in their throats as an energy that had started buzzing around them began to crackle strangely.

There was a flash of light over the body of Enma, who had started to stir, and then the King slumped over, dead on the ground.

At the sound of the chanting faltering, the she-demon's body flung around to face the twins with a frantic cry of, "NO!" as their hands released one another and they jerked about and let out cries of pain.

Knowing that they were lost, feeling the oppression of Otento's blockage of her energy, the demon let loose a banshee-like scream and practically flew across the stairs at Otento and the other two, brandishing a jagged knife and managing to plunge it into Otento's chest at which he let out another echo of pain into the air.

The fake Youko succeeded with his free hand in parrying her thrust just enough that it missed Otento's heart, the other demon, Terepo, making the four of them disappear in another flash of light just as the fake Youko's form began to melt away to reveal his true body.

Kurama felt his energy roar into his veins and he threw forward a hand, plants exploding from his palm as he tried to stop the other four from leaving, he himself having started to run at them as soon as the fake Youko released him.

A strange shimmering, incandescent envelopment of power burst from where the twins stood, consuming them completely as it moved outwards and through the entire palace, through the entirety of Spirit World and beyond, carrying with it the final shrieks of the two who died to unleash it.

And then...it was exceedingly quiet. 3

* * *

_So, I'll freely admit that the idea for Shizuru mastering Reikibuki comes from an awesome picture on DeviantArt showing her with a couple of different ideas for the types of weapons she might wield. CM and I agreed that we wished she had gotten to be a fighter in the anime, given that the ratio of male to female fighters is pitiful, and so that kind of culminates in the bit I write about Shizuru protecting Koenma, after which CM said something about Akari not really having to do much because Shizuru got her shining moment, ha!_

_The idea for Human, Demon, and Spirit World being one world at first actually originates in the crossfic idea that Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho take place in the same universe, with the 'future Japan' of Inuyasha being one in which the three worlds have been separated, as they are in YYH._

_As for Enma actually being a bad guy, that is taken directly from the manga! Most of the story-related things revolving around King Enma and how he was actually in cahoots with demons-like the Three Kings-and afraid of the more powerful ones, as well as the fact that he did steal demons from their homes and plop them in Human World, are things that we tried to remain true to here in our RP. _

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	65. Next Saga! :: Ep 149 - New Beginnings

**A/N:** Hello once again, Dearest Yu Yu Hakusho Lovers!

I'm just going to say, getting to write the back-and-forths between Youko and Shuichi (take note of the new italics rule included in this chapter!) are like one of my favorite things to do ever so I hope you all enjoy them too xD We blame Youko's new-found talkativeness to the lifting of Otento's block between them, maintaining that such a block actually caused a more distinct separation between the two souls, and woke Youko from his 'slumber' completely.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
___"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari has done as Kurama suggested and subjected herself to a rigorous training  
in regards to 'getting over' her scars. After three weeks, she rejoins the others,  
all of whom are at Kuwabara's apartment discussing relocating to Genkai's lands,  
so that they will all be in the same place for whatever battle Shizuru feels is going to occur.

The Winter months pass into Spring.  
Kuwabara and Yusuke successfully tested out of middle school,  
Kurama and Akari doing the same for high school.  
Kurama's mother had her wedding at the last of the year,  
and is currently on her honeymoon, leaving Kurama to train as he will with the others.

Unfortunately for him, his energy is still locked away with Youko,  
but Kurama has discovered that the energy still flows through his blood,  
he is simply incapable of accessing it.

Two days later and a portal from Spirit World opens up in Genkai's dojo,  
Koenma motioning for everyone to come through.  
Spirit World has been attacked by the false Youko's army,  
but there are strangely no real casualties.

Koenma leads them all deeper into the facilities,  
and upon reaching one of the inner rooms,  
they are all immediately accosted by the painful aura of Renai's mate.

Apparently, Otento is using Gekijou and Gashiru to instigate the ritual that will cause the unification of the three worlds,  
and those twins are in fact the pain demon's children.

In a flurry of events, Otento locks away the twins' power as well as their mother's power, King Enma is killed,  
the pain demon manages to stab Otento near the heart, and Terepo teleports himself,  
Otento, the false Youko, and, unintentionally, the pain demon away.

When Otento is stabbed, it releases the lock on Kurama's energy.

Our story picks up from Akari's point of view after Koenma gets them into the inner room...

* * *

For a while, Akari had stood tall and proud next to Yusuke, despite every inch of her being screaming, crying for reprieve of pain that for years had been little more than simple echoes. She kept her knees locked, her feet planted, and eyes trained on the demon who caused this amount in pain, both within herself and the others in the room.

She'd seen Enma, and quite frankly, hadn't cared save for the fact that he was _on his knees_. But, she'd decided weeks ago that Enma was not her concern, and his fate meant nothing to her. Not after her suspicions had been confirmed when she'd been caught up by the others.

He didn't _deserve _her pity, she felt. Or anyone else's might she add.

So as she stood and took in the scene, muscles twitching with the strain it took to remain standing, she decided that the only people here she even remotely cared for were the ones on the floor around her, and the pair who had broken away just slightly.

She made an attempt to concentrate on her energy, to make it move through her veins like adrenaline, preparing for whatever might happen, but even when she could smell Kurama's blood and Foko was a threat, she couldn't do much of anything except let the muscles of her knees make her legs fold beneath herself, bringing her to the floor with clenched teeth of both pain and anger.

_Simple emotions. Control one, conquer the other. _

She'd done it once, so she could do it again.

By the time she was forcing herself up again, a hand on the handle of the door Kurama had sealed, too many things were happening for her to keep track of. And by the time she was on her feet, the weight on the air had dissipated and Hiei was dashing forward, breaking away from the group with his sword in hand, eyes locked on the four demons that Kurama too was making an attempt to attack.

And it seemed neither succeeded as silence moved into the room.

At first, it seemed no one even dared to move, not even a muscle twitch. And the first to move was Kuwabara, who was also the first to speak. "Everyone's okay, right? I mean, aside from…"

Akari sent a severe look at him that told him to shut up, her eyes holding the same message that Shizuru's communicated just as effectively. Then her eyes trailed to Koenma, then to his deceased father who hadn't moved in… a few minutes now.

Akari moved with silent steps over to Kurama, her energy only just beginning to feel out the room around her and assure her that should something happen, she'd have full control over each and every dark mass in the room, each and every object that had even the smallest of shadows would be a source of power to her.

She looked at him with the silent question of '_are you okay?' _when she stopped beside him, eyes glancing at the blood trailing down his skin where Foko's hands had drawn the red liquid. And after he gave his answer, she turned her eyes to Koenma, expression neutral.

_My condolences, prince. __*****_

In the silence, even the demons seemed reverent, all eyes now on the body of the male who had been King. He seemed...smaller, somehow.

Koenma's steps had slowed once the attack had happened, taking no notice of any of the events around him as his vision appeared to tunnel in and only left him a path to the body that had once held the soul of his father.

It was no longer there, the soul. Koenma knew that much. As for where it had gone, he couldn't really say. They didn't understand everything about their occupation, what role Spirit World played exactly, and no one had ever been able to pierce the beyond that separated true death from the living once.

The former-prince's steps were slow and measured, quiet even in the exquisitely silent room. He blinked several times, but did not feel any tears in his eyes, finally coming to his father's side and dropping to both knees to sit beside the body.

When Kurama was unsuccessful in getting the four demons who disappeared, the avatar lowered his hand, plants dissipating and his eyes turning to take in the dead King.

He _felt _Akari come up besides him, _smelled _her rosemary scent that wafted from her hair when she stopped next to him and did not so much as have to look over to know what question she asked.

_[It is good to be back.] _A dry voice spoke out from somewhere in the back of his mind. _[I don't think you have any idea what to do without me.]_

The wounds Akari appeared momentarily to take in had already healed despite the little bit of blood that still snaked down his neck and Kurama did not answer her aloud, only...taking a step closer to her and looking on as Koenma fell to his knees next to his father, head bowed.

There was a banging on the massive door behind them, breaking the momentary vigil, and Kurama released the hold the vines he created had on the structure.

A small group burst in the door as soon as it was freed, among their numbers both Spirit World and Demon World residents alike, all with expressions of confusion and concern. At their front was George.

"Koenma-sir..." The ogre had felt, like all of those in the previous King's employ, the exact moment their master had fallen, and he would not have interrupted the new ruler's grieving if it had not been for...

"...Demon World is...breaking apart." 3

~!**!~

Despite the silence in the room, there was a loud roaring in Hiei's veins, a ringing in his ears and a pounding in his head. He'd been planning this moment for _months_, and what had he gotten? Crimson eyes stared at the space where his target had disappeared, where his prey had gotten away via teleportation.

He'd thought of everything, save for one, tiny aspect.

_Being unable to move. _He hadn't considered the enemy to have a demon of _pain_, otherwise he would have taken the correct preventive measures for _succumbing _to such pain. He would have _planned _to kill both the woman and the male who _deserved _nothing but a _slow, torturous _death.

He'd planned each strike carefully, planned each blow so that the demon's life would continue on just enough so that he'd feel each and every moment of pain, never receiving healing and just close enough to death to allow the _hope _to die.

And yet…

_And yet I failed. _

He ground his teeth, eyes still staring at the floor as he took in slow, measured breaths through his flaring nostrils, almost feeling as if he could physically spit fire from his jaw if he allowed himself to do so.

But instead, he calmed himself, steeled himself for another attempt at a later time, and turned to leave the scene entirely, not even glancing at Koenma or the dead King on his way out.

After all, he still had unfinished business.

He was halfway out the door, standing in the middle of the threshold when the blue ogre spoke, breaking the fragile silence of the room with words that brought his fiery eyes over his shoulder to inspect the room. If that was true, then Otento would only have _one _place to go from here. _One _world to hide himself in.

_As would Shikiyoku. _His mind spoke the words just as quietly as a shy child would have, making him pause mid-step for the second time. _Which would you rather find? _

Either way, he was not needed here. He'd come for one reason, and lost that reason within a millisecond to a teleporting demon.

The others could do just as well without him.

He continued on his way without a second thought.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes stayed trained on the prince with a kind gleam, a shine of understanding and empathy for the male who'd lost someone he cared for. She kept her arms at her sides, her weight shifting to one foot, leaning to her right slightly just before she was aware of Kurama's step towards her.

_It's going to be a long few days._

When the doors to the room opened and sound filled the room, she turned her head to peer over her shoulder, watching the creatures that piled in one after another, only falling silent when they caught sight of their dead ruler and mourning prince.

Except for one, who continued forward and spoke in a tone so low that had she had any less hearing ability, she likely would not have heard the words uttered. It was just as Genkai had predicted, and just as Akari herself had thought would end:

The three worlds were beginning to form into one.

She took in a deep breath, not happy about speaking up but doing so anyway. "Where do you need us?" she inquired, her voice floating through the room and indicating that she and the others were more than willing to do whatever he asked of them. After all, that was their job, their _duty_, right? _*****_

Without a pause, donning a mantle of self-assured calm that radiated outwards from his shoulders, Koenma stood and turned to walk towards the blue ogre who had made the announcement, only giving Akari a momentary glance, then a slight nod that indicated she should follow, turning back to George.

"Show me."

~!**!~

Teen-Koenma stood in front of the monitor George had summoned from the floor three rooms over in another one of the offices, and around him gathered a gigantic mixture of demons and humans and beings of Spirit World, their past conflicts forgotten as they all stared, those that were close enough, at what the sensors Spirit World had on the First Level of Demon World were transmitting. Sensors that, at this time, were tracking what appeared to be miniscule disintegration just at the outer edges of that level, but a disintegration that was rapidly, exponentially growing at a rate that left Koenma unsettled.

The demons around him were almost in a panicked frenzy, lamenting their homes, their families, certain that it was not only the First Level being affected, which the same sensors did appeared to indicate disturbances at lower levels.

Koenma appeared lost in thought, staring blankly at the readings the monitor fed them even as the noise around him grew.

"Koenma-sir! Koenma!" A voice rang out from above their heads. It was Botan, wheeling in breathlessly and nearly falling off her oar. "Look...at Human World."

With a few quick taps at the screen, Koenma switched the view to one of Earth and a shocked gasp went up from the crowd that could see, passing word along to those who could not.

Human World was...changing. To the eye of Spirit World's sensors, it was as if Human World was growing layers, though at a faster rate than-Koenma assumed-Demon World appeared to be losing them. And instead of the layers going only in one direction, like how Demon World grew deeper with its lower levels, they appeared to simply be superimposed on top of one another.

It meant...many things.

Koenma found a small smile forming on his lips, almost welcoming the change and the busyness he could sense coming from the next few months, if not _years_.

It would keep...other problems at bay.

Then he started issuing orders.

"George, you will delegate the re-opening of all portals between Demon World and Spirit World to those who can handle it the most efficiently. I want _you _to head to the main portal between Spirit World and Human World to get it up and running. You will be in charge of tracking those who make it through. On your way, get others to begin gathering those demons already here to prepare them for their transfer. In fact," Koenma turned to Akari, "That's something you can do. All of you." He looked at Genkai, Kurama and the rest. "We need to move fast and save as many of those living in Demon World as we can, and if we begin with those already here, we'll have something of a head-start.

"And if you see Jin and Touya and the others," He grinned, having spotted them sometime in the battle, "Tell them to start doing the same. They're officially employed under the new ruler of whatever is left of Spirit World.

"A-about that, sir." Botan came closer and the demons and others around him parted enough so that she could land. "...Spirit World is...breaking apart too."

The room went silent, Koenma blinking at her a few times as if he hadn't understood her before saying slowly, "Well, then...ask Jin if he'll help round up those here...for a _friend_." 3

Akari nodded at Koenma before turning to Kurama, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt and motioning with her head for him to follow, moving through the large crowd of creatures that parted enough for her to move through, reaching a hand out occasionally and grabbing random Spirit World creatures and uttering a few calm words to those who protested, all along the lines of "might as well get going. Panicking will save us no time, and no lives."

By the time she was stepping out of the room, Akari had seven others, not counting Kurama, following her lead as she stopped and rounded on the group, a calm gaze roving over each one before landing on Kurama. "I figured Koenma had enough to handle, so I suppose we'll be on our own for a while, hm?"

She reached out a hand, palm facing the redhead as she spoke up again, her energy moving through the small group in the empty corridor. "Now, you're going to lose your footing, so don't panic. It's faster this way." After a few moments, darkness seemed to envelop the floor beneath the group's feet, and Akari was the first to fall through, her energy the first to be accepted, the others falling soon after into the realm of shadows with various sounds of surprise even as they continued to fall.

Hazel eyes were focused downwards, as if waiting for a ground to land on, but really, her mind was seeing another place entirely, imagining the place she wished to end up, just as if she were teleporting.

And after another moment, likely nothing more than thirty seconds to the rest but several minutes to her, their feet hit solid ground and the darkness gave way to the bright glow of the Kekkai that was still dissolving, having begun in the middle and continued outwards, creating a hole just large enough for a mid-sized demon to fit through. Without pause, she turned her eyes back up to the others.

"Demon World is going to be chaos. There's going to be hundreds, even thousands of demons trampling each other to get through. Five of us will stay here, monitor the ones passing the Kekkai and directing them to Spirit World. The rest of us will be in Demon World, directing traffic here." She turned to Kurama now. "Do you want to split who goes and who stays, or should it be a matter of whoever decides where they wish to be?" _*****_

"I think," Energy shimmered around Kurama and it was suddenly the tall and slender Youko standing there next to her. His yellow eyes glittered as a sly grin broke across as quite the smirk over his lips. He gave his hair a slight toss, his voice now lower than before, "That I shall pick the _third _category, pup, and stray farther afield." He started moving through the opening in the Kekkai Barrier, pausing only long enough to speak to Akari again, "After all, who is going to argue with the infamous Youko when he tells them their level is about to fall down around their ears?"

He raised a slender eyebrow at her without expecting her to answer and turned tail, disappearing into the darkness. 3

"Well, it's good to see _you _too," she grumbled after the kitsune with a small huff and cross of her arms over her chest. "But who's going to believe you're with Spirit World?" she grumbled to herself, not caring if he heard or not.

Then again, what did it matter? His confidence wasn't exactly _misplaced_ now, was it? If he said he could get it done, then he'd get it done.

Perhaps quicker than any of them could.

"You guys handle this?" she asked of the others, who when she turned to, nodded once. "You," she pointed to the second-largest of them all, "Follow me. Youko's rounding up, we're keeping them straight. Got it?"

"I'm sure I can handle it."

"Good." She turned and lead the way through the Kekkai, taking in a very deep breath of the air that blew through the dimensional space from the open portal at the end. She launched forward, running through the rest of the space until her feet hit the soil of Demon World, the male behind her no more than a step and stopping at her side, arms crossing over his chest expectantly.

"We're going to be here awhile, I hope you know."

"I've had my fair share of sleepless nights. Worry about yourself and we'll be fine." _*****_

~!**!~

Things slowed down in Spirit World...eventually.

Six months later, while there was still an almost _constant_ flow of refugees from Demon World, things were not quite as hectic as those first few days had been. Thankfully it seemed as if Spirit World would take much longer to unravel, so time didn't seem to be a pressing matter. And Touya and Chuu and a few of the others had elected to stay behind and continue ushering demons through the portals in any case.

For his part, Yusuke _elected _to return home.

..that didn't mean the verbal beating Keiko gave him was any less harsh. After all, he _had _sort of just disappeared with everyone else without telling her what was going on. Again.

He chuckled at the memory and reached up to rub a hand absently against his cheek as he cleaned the counter of his small ramen stand with the other hand.

The boy had managed in the meantime to coerce her parents into letting him work for them for a while, and he had picked up the business quickly, moving on to open the stand on his own.

Yusuke leaned his hands onto the counter and looked out absently at the passers-by, left alone for the moment with his thoughts.

His vision blurred on him and he stood back up, blinking twice before resting a hand back down on the counter and squinting as he patiently waited for the shifting of his vision to stop.

Supposedly "New Human World" had nine layers to it now-Yusuke hadn't visited them all for himself, but that's what he heard-and it seemed to be a rule that as soon as a demon set foot in the newly unified world, he or she would find themselves on the 'correct' layer. That is, the equivalent of whatever level they had lived on in Demon World. And the layers remained exact replicas of the levels they had left behind, all flora and fauna and buildings intact.

Kurama suggested that this 'imperfect' unification was a result of Otento closing Gekijou and Gashiru off from their energy just as the ritual would have been completed. It completely anyway, obviously, but likely not in the manner it would have without Otento's interference.

_Like I have any guesses. _Yusuke grimaced as his vision shifted again, finally squeezing his eyes shut.

There weren't any passageways between the layers like there had been passages between the levels of Demon World. It was nice in a way because none of the 'intact flora and fauna' interacted negatively with any of the other layers. They were all sort of self-contained, almost like their own separate little worlds.

Demon World's First Level had merged directly with what humans called 'Earth,' though it actually made very few changes to the terrain, only causing a giant influx in the population of demons, all of those who had made the First Level their home.

Those demons were actually making the transition to coexisting with their human counterparts rather easily. Most humans were too weak to particularly notice or _see _the new inhabitants anyway. And almost universally demons were discovering that, where Enma may have pegged them all as soul-eaters or at least led everyone to believe as such, they could actually feed off of human _energy_-a much more easily sustainable resource than souls anyway-and that they had processed the energy from their food while in Demon World, or anywhere else for that matter, this whole time without knowing it.

There were of course still the occasional issues between demons and humans, but a few of Yusuke's old friends had been delegated into a new Task Force specifically instated to deal with these issues as they came up.

Members of this Task Force really only had to meet a single requirement in order to sign on: be able to shift between the layers.

Yusuke opened an eye and released a slight breath of relief when he found his vision returned to normal, rubbing at his forehead.

There seemed to be no rhyme or reason as to _who _had the ability to shift between the layers, though most people Yusuke could name off the top of his head were capable of it. The numbers seemed few enough to not be a cause for concern.

For his part, Yusuke had picked up on the method of concentrating and willing himself through the layers rather quickly, but the double-vision that occasionally plagued him would sometimes leave him with a headache.

In truth, Yusuke found himself thankful that not everyone had acquired the ability. There were rumors of ultra powerful demons living on what was now the Eighth Layer, who had been rulers vying for power on the level anyway, who were apparently gunning for control of all nine layers.

While the prospect of facing those demons in battle charged Yusuke like nothing else, he found himself satisfied in seeking out others who would spar with him on the other layers of New Human World.

"Thinkin' deep thoughts there, boyo?"

Yusuke found himself startled to see Jin's grinning face sliding into a seat on the other side of the counter.

"The usual?" Yusuke couldn't help grinning back.

"Aye."

Yusuke started to fire up the food. "Come across any Lost Ones recently?"

Lost Ones were humans with high psychic awareness or strength who would occasionally shift through the layers without reason, finding themselves no longer at home. While it was possible to see higher layers if one concentrated-at least possible for those who could shift through them-the shift tended to just disorient the human, sometimes driving them deeper into the layers instead of in the right direction.

The Task Force dealt with this off and on. Most of the time if the human was older, they could simply be taken back to the First Layer and would stay there, but the younger ones had less control, and often were brought to Genkai's lands, where the older psychic had a well-established dojo for such children so that they might have a safe place to stay until they were aware enough to remain on their home layer.

"Nah, not so much. Been busier than a forewind chasin' after its tail."

Being one capable of sliding between layers, Jin had signed up on the Task Force, and almost all the members knew of his ramen stand and used it as sort of a 'home base.'

Inexplicably, the tiny establishment was one among the small number of extremely rare places that existed on all the layers at once, and any demon who knew the name 'Urameshi' had coined the place as the 'New Detective Agency.' Even humans dropped by with paranormal work for the teen, and he found himself rarely with a dull moment, the knowledge of the caliber of the food as well as the caliber of the one serving it spreading his fame farther than it had even when he worked for Koenma and Spirit World.

"Got a bit of a problem." Jin piped up as he watched Yusuke work.

"You never seem to drop by unless you do." Yusuke replied.

"I see what you're'a gettin' on about." Jin grinned, "The times are too busy for idle chit-chat. I'm lucky to get to see yah at all."

"Only when you have work for me." Yusuke repeated, gesturing at the wind-master with a cooking utensil.

Jin shrugged and didn't disagree, taking the bowl when Yusuke offered it and diving in, Yusuke leaving him to it while he cleaned up a bit.

"So, what's it about?"

"Well," Jin always talked with his mouth full, "Heard about somethin' new a few days back." He swallowed, "Somethin'...somethin' none o' us that I've talked to has ever even _considered_."

Yusuke fell silent at how serious the expression of Jin's face became, watching the other carefully as Jin even went so far as to glance to either side, then appeared to blur in his seat as he checked the other layers for listeners.

He leaned forward and Yusuke mirrored him across the counter.

"A _vampire_." He sat back as if satisfied that he'd delivered the news.

Yusuke opened his mouth and appeared to hesitate, "...aren't _all _demons something of a 'vampire' nowadays?"

Jin leaned forward again, "This ain't your everyday human-energy feeding demon-vampire, boyo. _This _vampire," He leaned closer, "Feeds on _demons. _A _vampire_-demon."

"What?" Yusuke replied flatly as if he hadn't heard correctly.

Jin gave a self-assured nod, "Sucks 'em dry o' their energy and leaves them where they fall. Never heard of no vampire's _vampire_ before myself." He gave a little shrug of his shoulders as he dove back into his food. He pulled back after a moment and stirred his utensils absently in the bowl, slurping in a few noodles as he appeared to grow reserved again. "It wouldn't be no-nothing of a big deal, but when I say 'sucks 'em dry'...I mean to say that those demons never get back up." He met Yusuke's gaze again and the teen took in a surprised breath, to which Jin nodded once seeing he understood.

"Likes to strike at dance clubs. Bars. Places where lotsa demons gather at one time. We haven't been able to catch 'em though. Moves too quickly. Can slip between the layers like you've never seen before and loses us every time, wouldn't you know it?"

Yusuke frowned. They'd never been confronted with something able to move between the layers that wasn't someone they already knew.

"And if _you _can't catch this...vampire, what makes you think I'll be any better at it?"

"Not sayin' yah would be." Jin pointed at him with his utensils again and giving him a pointy grin, ears twitching a little, "But you're the only one who can contact that fellow with the Jagan, if you be followin' me. He's quick on his toes, and even if the perpetrator goes to layer-sliding, with that Jagan and his speed, he'd be able to keep up. Capture whoever it is for us."

Yusuke raised and lowered one shoulder, "Hiei comes and goes as he pleases, but he has a knack for showing up when needed. If I happen to catch sight of him, I'll let him know what's going on."

"That'd be mighty fine of you, Urameshi!" Jin gave him another grin, "If he could keep his Eye out, I'd bet he could catch 'em faster than I can fly about the world!"

"Any ideas about where or when the next place to catch this...thing might be?"

"There's no tellin' really, exceptin' whoever it is seems to like the weaker demons. Mostly on the first layer. Doesn't often bother with anything else." He shrugged again, "Maybe it's easier because those demons don't put up a fight. Always at social places though. Like I said, where lotsa demons gather. Always indoors too. Never parks nor nothin' of the no-like.

"I would normally keep myself on it, but other demons are starting to take notice and beginning to talk. A demon killing other demons willy-nilly is a terrifying thing. The faster we can get the lid on this, the better it'll be for everyone."

Yusuke nodded, "I completely agree."

_A demon killing other demons...by consuming their energy. It's a new one on me. _3

~!**!~

Six months. Six _full, long _months, and the only thing he'd found were crap rumors about things that held no particular meaning to him, and quite frankly, the fire demon wasn't sure that he'd have the capability to continue doing this without knocking a few heads and making a few of those heads roll off the shoulders.

Because each and every rumor he caught, Hiei dismissed. There was absolutely _nothing _on 'the lover' or anything even remotely similar. There'd been, more often than not, rumors of completely contrasting abilities than the one he searched for, but he wasn't interested in _pain _and _suffering_. Especially not in others.

Unless it were Otento. And unless it were by Hiei's own hand.

That would be a _completely _different story.

Which, by the way, he hadn't found that one either. Not even a single sign.

Both demons he hunted, both trails, gone. It was almost as if the two beings no longer _existed_.

And that was probably the prospect that both angered and stressed Hiei the most. It was a thought that seemed to haunt him every time he thought he'd found a new trail only to find it go cold. A thought that haunted him each time he tried searching for Shikiyoku with his Jagan, and come up empty. Not even through trial and error did he seem to get anywhere.

So, for the past two days, he'd simply taken to traversing the layers of the worlds, moving whenever he felt restless and forcing himself to slow down, forcing himself to listen to the rumors again. There'd been one that had been a bit interesting, but really, he felt nothing over the fact that a demon was killing other demons via energy-stealing. It meant absolutely nothing to him, so he'd ignored it, gone on and taken to going from the deepest layers to the highest.

And when he'd reached the firstl, he'd been tracked down, pulled to the side by Yusuke, who'd passed the rumor he had already dismissed weeks ago. And when asked to be of service, to lend a hand because he was the _only _being within the layers to keep up, He'd simply sneered, told Yusuke to find someone else, and disappeared from that layer all over again, faster than he'd ever moved between the layers.

And yet, here he was, tracking the darkest energy he'd encountered in a while, and only because he'd happened to cross the demon's path entirely. At one point, he'd slipped into a small tavern outside of Yusuke's hometown, dead set on finding a new lead as he'd been pointed in that direction, and he'd arrived in time to feel every ounce of energy inside dissipate. When he'd stepped inside the tavern, he'd seen more with his Jagan than with his other two eyes.

A dark, almost muddy-yellow color had been the hue of the tendrils about the room, tendrils that released the last victim to the floor before returning to the heavily-cloaked figure in the room, who had already begun to blur out of the layer before he'd even turned to see who it was.

He'd felt something odd about the being, and after a few suspicions had crossed his mind, the fire demon had decided that maybe following this one, hunting this _one _demon down wasn't too bad. So he did. He followed, Jagan locked on the energy that seemed just fast enough to maintain the distance between himself and them.

~!**!~

"Are you a _superhero?" _

Akari's brow raised and lips twitched in response to the innocent question of the child who'd found himself on the second layer, completely and utterly afraid of the things he could now easily see walking the streets. She lowered herself to a crouch in front of the small boy, whose blue eyes followed her movements easily. "If I answer that question, then it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?" She glanced over at the demon who sat on the ground to her right, eyes on her but not seeing her. He hadn't attacked, but a large demon moving towards a small child was a rather scary thing for such a human.

So, she'd coerced him into sitting with a simple illusion, and he'd willingly complied to her request and sat where he stopped, legs crossed beneath himself and hands around his ankles.

"I won't tell!"

Akari grinned at the boy and stood up again, ruffling his brown hair with her hand as she did so. "Promise?"

"Yeah!"

She took another small sniff of the air and her eyes moved up, looking at the woman who was looking about, searching for.. something. She wasn't panicking, but…

"_What are we going to do?"_

She glanced at the dog sitting on her left and gave a shrug before turning back to the boy. "This is Nabu, my faithful sidekick." She waved a hand to the now fully-grown dog, who responded with a happy wag of his tail and loll of his tongue. "He helps me find people like you who need my help."

The boy hesitantly stepped towards Nabu, who responded with the lowering of his ears and head to allow the boy to pet between his ears. "His fur is soft!" He gave a laugh. "Nabu, I'm Kita!"

"Well, Kita, I have a very special, a very fun place to go, if you want to come with me. You can stay there while I look for your mother."

"My mommy was in a store, and I got lost."

"Don't worry, you'll be back before you know it!" She reached down and easily picked up the seven year old, moving him around onto her back until his arms circled her neck and legs were around her waist. "Ready?"

"For what?"

"Watch this," she said with a grin, "and hold on, okay?"

In the next second, her feet left the concrete of the sidewalk and dropped into the very familiar world of shadows, a world she'd been utilizing almost every chance she got. This time, though, she moved slowly, letting the child get a look of the illusion she'd coupled with this technique before she again let her energy slide away from herself, earning a small sound of surprise from the boy as soon as the illusion was gone and he was left staring at Genkai's temple.

"Whoa! You time travel?"

She gave a laugh. "One of my specialties," she said, though he wasn't _technically _right. She wasn't about to explain the ordeal to the child. "This, Kita, is a very good friend's house, who helps you become big and strong, so you can see your mommy real soon!" Even as she explained, her feet moved towards Genkai's temple, Nabu a few feet ahead to get the older woman's attention if she wasn't already aware of Akari's presence. _*****_

~!**!~

Shizuru opened the door of the dojo to see Genkai seated at the front, her newly acquired students cross-legged in the same position as she talked them through what they were supposed to be thinking and feeling.

The children were remarkably well-behaved considering the differences in their ages, from little ones just recently able to walk and talk to those having just reached their teens.

Genkai opened her eyes as she spoke, taking in the view which did bring a smile to her wizened old face, if only a little one.

_These _proud few could be among the next generation of fighters and psychics, the Lost Ones who had somehow broken through their home layer because of their strength. Some of them, most of them, would lose their sight as they grew older, return to the first layer and likely forget all they had learned. But among these few would be the even rarer jewel who would continue on to do great things.

Shizuru came up to sit down next to Genkai as her voice faded with her latest instruction.

"Another, mm?" The old lady started to stand.

Shizuru nodded and took up where Genkai left off, leaving the older teacher the freedom to go out and meet the newcomer, seeing Akari come up the lane hand-in-hand with a small child, Nabu galloping ahead to greet her.

~!**!~

Today, she had no patience for the bright lights and pounding rhythms of the clubs her prey so wonderfully gathered within for her. She had no wish to dance among them, to join in their supposed _joy_. Today, she was simply _starving_.

It seemed as if she needed to feed more and more often of late, seemed as if she lost her mind and forgot where she was with greater regularity, waking up among trees or asphalt with no memory of how she had gotten there. And the hunger...

Always hungry.

And it was like an insatiable hunger, one that she could only stave off, one that always came back, and came back in greater force. When had that started to happen?

Something else she couldn't remember.

She could _feel_ her energy weaving among them, at a level that these weaklings could not sense or see, and it took little concentration for her to ensure that every tendril of power she controlled wrapped about them. And when that had been done? When every single demon lay in her grasp, a thin string of energy entering each mouth unnoticed?

She simply...ended them. Sucked their very life force directly from their cores, their energy exiting their bodies to swirl up the tendrils of power and be absorbed into the shadowed and hooded figure in the corner. Their sacrifice dulled the ache that would pound in her veins when she went too long without.

Turning so that she could feel her dark cloak swirling about her feet, she phased between the layers-where she had picked _that _up was something she could not remember either-moving forward and sifting through every layer, through all of them, making for certain that she could not be followed by those reckless demons who had taken to hunting her down.

She...did not wish for conflict. Not with them.

Her head throbbed as she dashed away.

It wasn't enough.

It was never enough.

But she was tired. Exhausted. She could feel the sweat that had settled on her skin, could feel the fever that threatened to overtake her vision.

She just wanted to get home.

Yes, perhaps rest would help.

Though she would probably wake up hungrier for it.

The house she aimed for resided entirely within the first layer. A human home. One that she...felt connected to for reasons that she didn't understand. One that _almost_...felt like home. Or that it could _be _home. Or...something.

She stopped her running, finding herself in the middle of the living room of 'home,' and making her way slowly upstairs, throwing the cloak off into the bedroom as she walked past to get to the bathroom, leaving the light off, but moving to the sink to throw water on her face.

She caught her own gaze in the mirror as she looked up, droplets of water falling down her cheeks.

She didn't recognize herself. Ashen-grey skin with scars _everywhere_. Her face, a wicked one ranging from scalp to chin that stood out from the rest. Her shoulders, which her dark-tanktop left bare. Down her arms. Even on the skin that wasn't visible, hidden by the long dark pants that hugged her legs. A prominent one on her left arm she could see in the mirror. Beneath the others. Different. Circular. One she knew had come from _before_.

Her long, dark hair was up in a ponytail, kept away from her face, though bits of it had come lose to frame her hollow cheeks, her expression permanently fierce and dark. But it was the eyes...those eyes...

They were probably green. Had been green at one point. Were still green, but barely. They were so...empty. So...haunting. And very dull.

She looked away, hands on either side of the sink as she leaned forward.

So very...tired.

She wiped her face dry with a washcloth she tossed back on the counter, slipping off her shoes as she walked into the door of the bedroom and kicking them to the side, knowing she was safe as she kept the entire house completely locked, and padded silently across the carpet to the bed, not bothering to pull back the covers and instead collapsing on top of it all onto her stomach, cheek on the cool pillow, the dark circles under her eyes not lifting the cloud from her face even when she fell into sleep, beginning to wander through feverish dreams. 3

He wasn't sure _when _he'd begun suspecting who this demon was, but at some point, Hiei had begun to think that maybe the person he'd been _hunting _was actually the very same person he'd also been _searching for_. It made sense, went along with the energy tendrils he'd seen, the darkened color of that very energy that he'd laid eyes on a few days ago.

But what didn't make sense was the amount of darkness that twisted the presence that should have been anything but. He hadn't _entirely _decided, but deep down, Hiei seemed to have decided subconsciously on the identity of this one, even before he followed her presence from one layer down to the very bottom, then all the way back up, even before he found himself standing inside a very familiar house.

A house he'd raided several times for clues on this very person.

He stood at the front door, back just touching the wood where he'd landed himself almost perfectly. There was no one in _this _room, but…

His eyes turned up to look at the ceiling, at the place where the energy no longer moved, no longer seemed to want to leave, to run from him.

He moved silently through the living room and up the stairs, stopping at the door that was wide open and only glancing inside, his eyes finding the smaller, sunken frame of the female who lay on her stomach, with the back of her head to the door.

Without the hooded cloak, he could see that the hair in the ponytail had lost some of its sheen, her body had lost some of its mass. She was, in a word: small.

And he'd never used that word for her before.

Instead of disturbing her as he would normally have done, he moved towards the only other window in the room that was not by the bed she had taken residence up on. He shifted until he was comfortable, one foot up in the windowsill to support his elbow, eyes never leaving the woman's frame.

And they wouldn't until she woke.

~!**!~

Akari turned a smile to the boy as she dropped him to his feet, his hand taking quick hold of her own as he stepped closer with the arrival of Genkai. Nabu took to walking alongside the older woman, his deep brown eyes meeting Akari's for a moment before he looked up at Genkai. "_He was by himself. He wasn't attacked, but he __**was **__terrified of the demons who passed. She did the usual subduing trick."_

"Nice to see you again, Genkai," Akari greeted, continuing her way to meet the woman halfway. "Kita, this is Genkai. She's the person who _trains _us superheroes. She's going to help _you _too, so you can help me find your mother soon."

"Can _I _become a superhero too?" he asked in a shy voice, peering up at Genkai through his lashes just as shyly.

"_We were going to go meet Koenma when we found him. I think he has potential." _Nabu said as he again moved, this time away from Genkai and to sit beside the boy, just tall enough to look up and run his nose along the arm of the boy comfortingly, who broke away from Akari to wrap his arms around the dog lovingly.

"I hope you have room for another. They're starting to grow in numbers…" _*****_

Genkai sized the boy up with her usual frown, arms crossed over her chest.

"To become a superhero, you'll have to work hard and earn your keep. We don't take slackers in here, but if you learn well and can take instruction, we might just make a superhero out of you yet, boy.

Her eyes softened, "And get you back to your mother besides."

"This is Shizuru." The women had walked up behind Genkai while the older woman spoke. "She's going to be your big sister while you're here and you'll have to listen to everything she says as if it were me saying it, got it?"

Shizuru smiled at the boy and knelt down in front of him, "You ready to come inside?"

Genkai's ears perked at Akari's words and she stepped aside to speak with her more privately.

"I won't turn one away for something so trivial as running out of room. You know that. They can sleep under the stars and on the ground. It'll make them tougher. But as soon as you figure out what makes a building exist in every level, you let me know so we start construction, yeah?" Genkai glanced up at the dog demon with a gleam in her deep-set eyes. "And make sure this one's mother knows he's still around."

~!**!~

Her feverish dreams were frequented with darkness and running and pain and separation. But their direction relation to one another she'd never been able to sort out once among the waking world, if she even remembered them at all.

In her sleep, she growled and got up, eyes open in slits but not seeing anything other than what her mind held for her in dreams.

She stood, beginning to move to the free window next to the bed-staying on the same layer and giving off no intention of blurring into another-and upon reaching it, placing her palm against the glass and resting her forehead onto it.

Her body twitched as in her mind's eye she ran through forests of deep red and fell into traps with sharpened stakes at the bottom that pierced her arm and leg. The right hand that had moved to press against the glass fell down and clutched at the forearm of her left, rubbing at the old, scarred-over wound. A place on her leg began throbbing somewhere in the back of her mind and she shifted just enough to rub her other foot at the spot. 3

Hiei sat at his window, eyes carefully watching Shikiyoku's small, shrunken frame twitch occasionally, indicating that whatever dreams she was having did not call for a peaceful sleep. It made him watch her more carefully, taking in the marred skin he _could _see and only imagine the skin he _couldn't _see.

She was, to say the least, not the same person as before. Not the same demon he'd spent months in Demon World with, traversing the levels and staying with tribes. She wasn't the same demon who'd danced to bring tribes together, who had used her energy to coax large groups into a calm trance.

She wasn't, in a way, Shikiyoku at all. At least, not the Shikiyoku he had known.

Not the Shikiyoku who had desired to have a purpose while fulfilling others' desires. Not the same demon who seemed to _enjoy _being in his presence, when others wouldn't care unless they gained something from the _cursed child. _

When she moved, he shifted, readying to follow only to realize that, while her eyes were open, she didn't seem awake in any way. Her muscles twitched, her skin moving with miniscule movements that indicated flight from some enemy or another.

A frown pulled his lips downwards for a millisecond before he regained composure, his expression shifting to neutral observation over the female. He considered reaching out to her, considered the different things that could happen. She could likely make an attempt for his own life, if her wits were not about her.

Then again, who was he to say that she wouldn't make that attempt _with _her wits. He had, after all, been hunting her down for a few days.

His eyes followed the hand that she moved to her elbow, massaging at a scar he remembered the origins of, unlike the many others he saw littering her skin.

That's when he'd made up his mind.

His Jagan reached out to her slowly, at first merely brushing her consciousness before enveloping her in its presence, offering the image of himself seeing her floating towards him in the therapeutic waters that he remembered them floating in after the ordeal that had brought on the scar on her arm. He himself saw the memory, even as the Jagan played it out for her.

It had been a moment he'd thought about here and there.

But not near as much as their time with the Northern Tribe.

~!**!~

Kita broke away from Nabu to assess Shizuru with a shy gaze, only briefly looking to Akari before turning back to the other woman. "I'm Kita." he said to her after a moment, seeming to decide that he trusted these people. "And I want to have super powers too."

Akari smiled to herself before turning back to Genkai, having been listening to the older woman while she had watched the child. "I've… found two buildings like that so far, but when I look at them, there's nothing similar between them. Not that I can see or _feel." _She turned her calm eyes onto Genkai. "I was on my way to inform Koenma before running into Kita." She offered a small smile that said it was at the top of her list of things to do. "I'll update you when I find something."

She turned to Nabu, who had joined her to stand at her side. He looked up at her with calm eyes that seemed much, much older than he was. "_We still have to meet Juun."_

"I'm well aware. And I will." She turned to Genkai again. "Sorry to drop off and run, but I'm sure both of us have enough to keep us busy for a while. I'll see you again soon, I'm sure." She paused. "Take care until then."

And with that, she disappeared from the temple grounds and reappeared within the area of the only portal between Spirit and Human Worlds, stepping through that very portal with her best friend at her side and her thoughts straying for the moment to someone she hadn't seen in half a year.

_Maybe I'll pay him a visit soon. _

That was her lone thought before she relapsed into business mode again and made her way dutifully through the corridors of Koenma's castle. _*****_

~!**!~

"You have been..._most _helpful." Youko practically purred, releasing the bindings of plants that had been wrapped about the female demon, gazing covetously at the shiny artifact he now held in-hand.

The demon alighted easily on the ground away from the wall and sashayed up to him, pressing her body against his with her hands on top of his tunic and starting to finger at his bare chest, pushing aside the yukata as she batted up through her eyelashes at him.

"I've always heard the tales about your..._cold _and _calculating _indifference, Youko Kurama. You surprise me."

Youko took another second staring at the artifact.

_{Tch, typical.}_

The thought across his mind had the kitsune blinking and pulling his yellow-eyed gaze down to the demoness basically pawing at him, and at his notice of her actions, his eyebrows raised, a lewd smile spreading over his lips as he regarded her with an amused expression once his mind played back her words.

"Then obviously," He laced his tone with as much heaviness as she had hers, "You haven't talked to many of the females. Rumors like that are often spread by jealous males."

She made an intrigued noise, "Perhaps you'd care to...show me what I've been missing?"

_{No. No, we wouldn't, in fact.}_

_[Would you shut up for half-a-second?]_

_{You __**know **__I won't. Especially if you even so much as __**think **__about-}_

"Unfortunately for you, gorgeous, I'm otherwise engaged and have to run."

"Too bad." She left her fingers trace up to his neckline and Youko had to hold back a growl as he extricated himself from her grasp with his free hand.

_[You absolutely __**ruin **__all my fun, Red.]_

_{Ask me if I care.}_

"No, does in fact, mean _no_ this time, darling." He had both her hands by the wrists in his free one and he slowly lowered them until they were in front of her.

Youko turned tail and blurred through the layers, putting as many between himself and the female as absolutely possible, growling aloud once out of her earshot and his knuckles turning white where he clutched at the artifact.

_[Do you, in fact, care?]_

_{No. No, I don't.}_

Another growl, though he already knew the answer to the question before he posed it.

~!**!~

Her thoughts, her dreams rather, were suddenly filled with a warmth as she struggled against the stakes which had pierced her skin, and the dream shifted-as dreams will often easily do with minor suggestion-presenting her with another image, another setting.

This one threw her for a bit of a loop, as she realized she was not witnessing a dream through her own eyes, instead seeing herself through another, but-

...this wasn't her. Perhaps it was a product of the dream...was it...wishful thinking? How her skin practically glowed and her hair was, even while flecked with water, full of some inner shine?

...

Outside the dream, her body did relax, her hand no longer rubbing at the scar and simply holding on to her arm, even going so far as letting out a little sigh that passed through her without her direct notice. 3

Had Hiei's eyes been open, he would have _seen _the muscles of the female relax. Instead, with his eyes closed and mind on the memory he shared through the Jagan, he _heard _her relax, a small sigh only just audible enough for him to catch the end of.

He hadn't been aware of his own tenseness until his muscles relaxed as well.

Within the memory, Hiei stared at the wonderfully-colored hair that moved with the flow of the water, fanning out underneath the surface. He eyed the hands that stretched out to him, eventually curling about his shoulders until her head came to rest on one of them.

And the time seemed to stretch, that moment not seeming to end as he made a point to emphasize the calmness of the moment, the emotions she'd felt then.

He wasn't sure what had caused Shikiyoku to change from the person in this memory to the person in Toriko's bed, but… he wasn't sure what to do about her other than make at least _one _attempt to ease her consciousness.

Even if it meant she'd make an attempt at his life when she awoke.

~!**!~

"I see." The prince, who'd not stopped moving since Akari had found him, nodded once in a thoughtful manner as he continued down the corridor, cape moving about his ankles as his feet carried him to.. wherever he was going at this point. "Then, continue with your hard work. I'll look into it and-"

"I didn't come here to ask for you to _look into _it. I simply came to _update you, _Koenma."

There was a lull in the talk for a moment as the new king sighed.

"You have a million things going on. I simply wanted you to be kept up. Now, I plan on finding Juun and checking on section C. He's bound to have passed through every demon by now."

Koenma gave no reply for the moment as he spun on his toes and entered another room with a flourish, his cape whipping about frantically with the abrupt movement and stilling again when the kind too came to a standstill in front of his many monitors.

"I _would _file a formal report, but I'm sure you have enough paperwork right now to read and such, so I'll compile it all at the end, when things slow down just a little more."

"Much appreciated."

"I'll be back when I have an _update _for you, sir." she informed before turning heel and leaving again, moving through the portal in the room until her feet hit the first layer of Human World, where Nabu sat, waiting.

"_That was fast."_

"Well, it was only an update, Nabu."

"_You know who I want to see now?"_

"If it isn't Juun, then you're out of luck." she replied calmly as she closed her eyes, a hand reaching for the dog before she blurred from the lowest layer to the fourth layer, effectively bringing Nabu with her. She gave a sigh. "I know, Nabu. But, we don't have the time right now."

"_We can __**make **__time to see your friends, you know. It would be worth it, in the end. You're too… you're like a workaholic."_

"Shut up." _*****_

~!**!~

Her eyes slowly opened, automatically, as she awoke and she blinked twice, the warmth and absolute peacefulness of the dream she just left lingered in her thoughts, even as the remembrance of said dream faded with the waking world.

She leaned forward again, her forehead coming to rest against the glass of the window, unsurprised to find that she did not wake up in the bed she remembered falling asleep in. She...couldn't honestly remember the last time she had woken up in the same place where she laid her head.

Restless. Much too restless.

Another sigh. Deeper than the one she didn't know she released in the dream and her eyes slid shut again with the exhale.

Felt _beyond _tired. More like..._worn_ _out_.

Didn't really seem to feel hungry though. No more than the usual dull ache after feeding within recent memory. A small comfort. But a 'comfort' nonetheless. 3

Hiei let the memory fade away when he became aware of Shikiyoku's stirrings, his eyes sliding open to view the room around himself first, and then peer at the form whose back was to him. He watched even as her shoulders and chest heaved with a sigh that seemed much too large for her small body.

He stayed silent for a minute, his expression easily blank, neutral to his surroundings even as he chose his words carefully.

He hesitated only a moment before speaking up, his energy moving towards his body and staying close, to show he held no threat to her life.

"You're rather difficult to keep up with." he commented mildly, eyes staring at her evenly.

~!**!~

"_Well, you _are_. You haven't even stopped to relax in weeks."_

Akari shrugged at Nabu as she walked through the layer that was colored with familiar territory, territory that resembled her home level of Demon World almost perfectly. Though, the level and the layer number didn't match up, which confused her a bit. Apparently, there was more than one thing she needed to figure out before the end of this week. "You know why."

"_I also know that you're avoiding something."_

"Do you, now?"

The dog made a sound of irritation, a huff through his nostrils as she passed through another portal, this time her feet finding the dimension that would have, before this, lead to the Kekkai barrier. Instead, the only thing there was a small line of demons, all standing with their backs to the entrance and each facing the side that lead to the remains of Demon World.

Only one of them turned to look at her, and his teeth glimmered in the dim light. Pointed, sharp, like a shark's. "There she is. Were yer ears a-burnin'?"

"Only enough to make them disappear."

"Word-play suits you."

"You're annoying me." She came to a stop in front of the demon who stood a good two feet taller than she, his arms crossed over his bare chest and his black eyes looking down at her with a gleam of amusement. She had to actually look _up _at him to meet the teasing gaze, and to issue the frown meant just for him. "You're still here? I thought you said you'd be done by yesterday?"

"Well, a few things came up. We handled the problem, but-"

"You didn't kill them, did you?"

"Of course not. I sent them _back_."

"That defeats the purpose, Juun." She rubbed at her forehead with the heel of her hand. "Our objective is to get everyone to Spirit World _safely_. Not send them to their _deaths_."

"You and I both know that there's no proof of their _deaths."_

"A dimension disappears, so do they. Hence, they die. What was your reason?"

Juun's sharp jaw flexed slightly at her stare, and he turned so that his shoulder was facing her. "The demon reacted to the smell of blood. Rather violently."

Akari made a small sound and moved by him, walking up to the other three who had been talking amongst themselves. "Anything else happen?"

"Nope."

"No' that I know of."

Akari turned to Juun. "How did he react?"

"He grew, quite literally, ten feet taller and then proceeded to stomp his way through us. He yelled something or another about 'being free'?"

Akari sighed. "If you're asking me, then you aren't fit to be here."

He growled at her. "Then _you _stand here all day and all night and do _nothing_ while _I _go play detective and be the dog of Spirit World."

"Be my guest, if you believe you can handle _that _better than _this. _Oh, and let me know when you find out what makes a building exists on _every _level simultaneously." She paused, eyes forward as she sensed another energy approaching. "Also, on your way, tell Koenma that this section is about to be closed off. There's no more than three demons on the other side, and _I'm _going to go round them up." She gave another pause, this time to turn and look at him over her shoulder, her grin matching his previous. "While you're at it, find Youko Kurama and tell him I request a day of leisure, if he's up for it. Whatever he sees fit, though none of the _funny _stuff, as he likes to call it."

The demon sent a growl that was louder than before, bared his teeth at her as his eyes shifted from black to a deep burgundy. "I'm not your errand boy."

"I thought you _wanted _something to do." With that, she turned and left him to his tasks, only pausing to say one more thing. "If he agrees, tell him to find me in an hour. I'll be done by then."

The only sound she registered as she took off after that was the sound of snickering from the others in the area. _*****_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	66. Episode 150 - Reacquainting

**A/N:** Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!

Onwards to our chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

King Enma is dead, and Spirit World and Demon World are breaking apart.

While the implications of Spirit World ceasing to exist have not been explored,  
Demon World has already joined with Human World, giving Human World a new total of nine "layers."

Akari takes it upon herself to assist in moving the demons from Demon World into Human World  
as soon as Koenma opens up the portals between Demon World and Spirit World once more.

Six months later and the transition has slowed down.  
Demons who step onto Human World soil automatically find themselves  
on the corresponding "layer" that had once been their home level in Demon World.  
There are a few people capable of traversing between the layers,  
(the usual method of passageways between levels no longer works)  
among whom are Yusuke and most of the people he knows.

Yusuke has set up a ramen stand, which has come to be known as the 'New Detective Agency,'  
and members of the Task Force assigned to help smooth the transition of unification  
use his stand as a home base of sorts, as the stand itself exists on all the layers.

Jin, a member of the Task Force for New Human World, comes to Yusuke with a problem:  
there is a demon going around the lower layers and killing other demons by sucking out their energy.

While it's been discovered that what amounts to 'energy sucking' is how demons process their food,  
and all are sort of considered 'demon-vampires' at this point, Jin asks Yusuke to set Hiei after this "vampire-demon,"  
as whoever it is always manages to escape capture by moving through the layers too quickly to follow.

At first Hiei refuses, though when he comes across the demon and sees the devastation, he begins tracking after,  
finally catching up when the demon stops for rest in Toriko's old home.  
The demon is in fact a scarred and twisted version of Shikiyoku, and Hiei helps her move past her nightmares  
and when she wakes up he notes aloud that she's rather difficult to keep up with.

Akari is still assisting with transferring demons into New Human World, but she also occasionally picks up 'Lost Ones,'  
humans (usually children) who accidentally shift layers and don't know how to shift back,  
and takes a new one, a boy by the name of Kita, to Genkai's lands, which are now a sort of safe haven for such children.

She informs her underlings to find Youko Kurama and tell him to meet her for a day of leisure.

Youko has been entertaining himself by procuring new shiny objects,  
much to Kurama's dismay. To be fair, Kurama isn't letting him have all the fun he wants,  
and when Youko is told Akari is looking for him, he sets off to find her...

* * *

_[I'm only doing this for you, Red. I hope you're __**happy**__.]_

Youko couldn't help the growl that originated from deep in his chest at a pitch too low to resonate as he blurred through the layers.

_{I'm absolutely over-joyed. You're so kind and thoughtful.}_

_[Your sarcasm is not lost on me.]_

_{Quite purposefully so.}_

_[Stop sounding so smug.]_

_{I learned from the best, silver-tail.}_

Youko let out a sigh that could have been either a groan or a growl.

_[I don't know why I put up with this.]_

_{Because you don't have a choice.}_

_[I didn't ask for your opinion.]_

_{And yet I freely gave it anyway.}_

Youko ran his tongue over his teeth in irritation, making a quiet sucking noise through his lips as he did so.

_{And you haven't given me control back, mm? Why would __**that **__be? Getting a soft spot are we?}_

_[None of your business.]_

_{You know what she'll do if you try something.}_

_[It's been six months. You have no idea.]_

_{Suit yourself. But I harbor no pity for the black-eye you'll likely be sporting.}_

_[Shut up.]_

One of Youko's tall silver ears flicked as he finished shifting to the first layer, stopping in place and tilting his head as if listening with an ear as he zeroed in on the energy signature he sought.

His tail flicked once in amusement as he took off towards it.

_[You're forgetting, Red.] _A wicked grin spread across his lips, revealing a pointy-toothed smile that would give even the most respectable female pause for thought. _[__**She **__asked for __**me**__.]_

~!**!~

She nearly jumped ten feet into the air when the silence broke, her entire body reacting with the startle-effect where it seized up, then she whipped around in the direction the voice floated from, pivoting on her right foot, her eyes darkening into void-like pools when, as she turned, flung with a hand a bolt of blackish yellow energy in the direction of the sound in an instinctive reaction which she had no time to think about.

As _soon _as her eyes returned to their usual dull-green with the release of the energy, her jaw dropped open in disbelief and she made noises as if she were trying to speak but kept forgetting how.

"I-It's you!" She finally stammered, the usual hardness of her voice making the words sound sharp instead of surprised, "Y-You...you're the..." She blinked several times, shaking her head a little as if she did not believe it and was trying to clear her vision, but he did not disappear, "The demon of my-" She shook her head a little again and corrected her wording, "_From _my dreams."

She reached up with a hand and pressed her palm against her forehead as if trying to fight away a headache, or possibly a hallucination.

When she lowered the hand and he still stood there, she frowned, etching her face with further severe lines, "What do you want?" She asked bluntly, appearing to have recovered from her initial shock, eyeing him like a mouse might eye a cat offering the former a meal. 3

Hiei wasn't surprised by the attack thrown at him, though he didn't _see _it. He did, however, _feel _it. The pain shot across his face, momentarily scattering his thoughts and making it very, _very _hard to maintain his composure. But just as quickly, the pain was gone, only a twinge in his twitching muscles.

He reached a hand up and rubbed at his chin, flexing his jaw as he recovered, his mind working as the Jagan's energy seemed to fluctuate around him a bit, allowing him to assess the pain without feeling it for a second time, along with several other things.

Ruby eyes stared calmly at the sunken face of the female who at first glared at him, and then recovered a moment later and settled for a less severe stare, though it didn't seem any less dangerous than the previous one. _There_, his mind spoke to him, drawing his eyes over a particular mark along her own features that seemed to stand out against the lackluster skin beneath. That was the pain she had inflicted on him. The sensation of the blade that had cut that particular scar across her face was the sensation he had just felt.

"Want?" he repeated, tone bored and eyes still just as watchful as before. "Absolutely nothing." He paused, dropping to the floor. "I was simply confirming a suspicion or two."

~!**!~

_I can't believe the idiot. _

Akari ground her teeth as she stood in front of the place where she'd exited the portal, staring at the entrance as it closed up slowly. She'd gotten the last three out of that level of Demon World easily, as they'd already tried passing through once before and was turned away, each for the very same reason.

_That giant, overbearing, dense, testosterone-filled idiot. _

She rubbed at her temples as the last demon who'd stayed behind to oversee the last moments of this portal said his farewell and parted ways. Her eyes slid closed and, absently, she offered a wave over her shoulder to the other in thanks for his service.

_You don't send away a demon for being free of their __**boss**__, you stupid-_

She took a deep breath.

The demon Juun had turned away hadn't reacted to the smell of blood, but to the smell of another _world. _The _blood _that had been mentioned had been _Juun's_. A taunt. A test made by the king of morons. _Demons don't eat demons anymore. What era do you think you're in, you dumbass? _

The demon had been fired up by the possibility of _freedom _from whatever mess he'd gotten himself into, as had the other two demons who'd been turned away for the very same reason. All had likely gotten mixed with an underground trade group or something, and had feared leaving. At least, that was her best guess.

It didn't matter, either way. The only problem had been the moron who'd turned them away in the first place. _Why did I leave him here to deal with this? _She'd known he hadn't been _fully _fit for the job, but…

Perhaps she'd hoped he wasn't as stupid as he'd played.

What was that saying again?

_Oh, right. "Stupid is as stupid does."_

She opened her eyes again to see the portal had closed up and she turned away, looking down at the silent dog that watched her with a curious tilt of his head. "We're going back to the first layer." she informed calmly, reaching forward and easily transposing both herself and Nabu to the very first layer of this world, her feet landing on soft soil outside a small pub that had been build by demons only recently. She regarded it for a moment before turning and moving away, deciding that a _pub _was not the best idea for a day with _Youko_.

She took in a deep breath, realizing somewhere deep in the back of her mind that he was already heading this way. So she turned and calmly began to saunter her way away from the wooden building, running a hand through her curls and removing her bangs from her eyes.

"_So you decided to see him anyway?"_

"Might as well, right? Everyone needs a break once in a while." _*****_

Youko pulled his energy in close around himself as he approached on silent feet once he smelled he had gotten close.

_{You'd better not ruin this.}_

_[Me?]_

_{That innocent tone does nothing to ease my mind.}_

The only response was smugness.

"You, pup, look quite lovely today." Youko stopped just behind her and leaned himself over her shoulder slightly to make himself known, his eyes following the curve of her shoulder and the scars that at first peeked out from under her sleeve and then continued the rest of the way down her arm to her elbow.

He reached up as if to trace a finger along one of them-

_{I wouldn't.}_

Youko threw a silent curse at the presence in his mind, but did stop before actually making contact with her skin.

~!**!~

She seemed taken aback by his response, her eyes shifting to a far-away view almost beyond or through him as she looked inward to remember.

"Strange..." She murmured slowly, voice nothing more than an absent mumble, but somehow for that instant losing the fierceness that her sharp features constantly held, "I always thought he needed?" The word didn't quite fit. "..._something_."

She blinked and the moment was gone, eyes back on the itchingly familiar demon before her who had brought life to the figure that often haunted what dreams she could while awake recall.

"How did you...get in here?" She demanded, fighting off a shiver, refusing to appear weak while she still did not know the intentions of this one, but aware that the heat of her fever now spread cold chills over her body, making the bits of sweat she felt here and there seem strange and out of place. 3

Hiei raised a brow only slightly at Shikiyoku's mumblings, but otherwise ignored her shift in demeanor for the moment and took to watching her movements, motions that were slightly jerky here and there and were more often than not highlighted by a slight sheen of light that reflected from the sweat he could see along her arms and face.

Had he not _known _this was Shikiyoku, he never would have seen her as the same demon as before. She was just so… different. Twisted, dark… A complete contrast to the demon of desire he'd known before.

"The same as you." he answered offhandedly, almost considering a shrug but not ever really making the gesture. He stared at her with a level gaze, not even so much as blinking. "Something bothering you, _lover?"_ he suddenly inquired, using the title simply to see her reaction of the word.

~!**!~

AKari hadn't even so much as jumped when Youko's smooth voice was in her ear, his presence suddenly very, _very _close to her. She did, however, pause and turn to look at him over her shoulder, expression almost curious as she raised a brow. "Do I?" she asked with a thoughtful hum. "I hadn't meant to be." And, the thing was, she was _completely _serious. She'd simply dressed for the season with the first things she'd found, decided the colors went well together, and went with it.

Her eyes slid to the finger extended to her, then up to the golden eyes of Youko. "Careful, _fox_." Her tone was even, but every bit a warning as if she'd growled it. She turned and continued walking on, glancing around with her eyes as if something had caught her attention.

Nabu had wandered away, but that wasn't unheard of. He tended to do that when business was done for the day, because, as he'd once said, _You work even in your sleep and it's frustrating. _

Apparently he felt he needed time away from her on occasion. The thought made her almost laugh aloud. _*****_

Youko let out a huff of air through his nose as Akari warned him and moved away, a single ear flicking in irritation at having already dealt with the presence in his mind telling him as much.

_{I told you so.}_

He didn't dignify the phrase with an answer. A kitsune was not so easily daunted. He would have to simply attempt..._other _means.

_{I can't __**wait **__to see what methods you shall employ.}_

Youko struggled to keep the growl from sounding, clenching his teeth together.

_{Give up yet?}_

_[__**Never.**__]_

_{Suit yourself.}_

Youko trotted to catch up with Akari, walking smoothly next to her and taking in a deep breath as if to fill his nose with the scent of the layer, instead filling his nose with rosemary and giving Akari a side-long glance.

"What did you have planned? Anything?"

~!**!~

She...she did not know there were _others_. _Others _who could...fold the layers around them and pass them over. It was-

The edges of her eyes flinched as if to narrow at him, but did not complete the gesture.

"I do not find your _joke_ amusing, demon." Her have a lover? Didn't he see how...unflattering she appeared?

It made her remember that she could not recall the last time she had laughed out loud.

...and there was this other side to her somewhere freaking out at the prospect, at not _remembering _this demon as her lover, as he appeared to claim. 3

There was a change in the eyes of the demoness who stared at him. It was a miniscule change, a flash of light that was gone just as quickly as he'd seen it, and with it came a sense of satisfaction from Hiei. There'd been a change, though what it was over, he didn't know. While the word, the term _lover _had been used in place of her real name, he hadn't actually _thought _it would create any sort of change.

"Joke?" he repeated, his own eyes narrowing at her slightly. "You should know, I do not make jokes, Iro." Again, he used terms she'd been called, but refused a single one that he himself had never enjoyed her being called. Seductress just did not...chime right within him.

~!**!~

Akari gave a simple shrug at Foko, her mind popping up with several different answers, some rather ridiculous and others being ones she wouldn't _dare _use to the kitsune, who'd very easily turn them on her. So, she settled for a mild, slightly sarcastic, "I thought the _men _arranged the dates?" She turned a taunting glance at him before turning forward again, "I hadn't had time to think of anything specific." _*****_

"I-" Youko put a hand to his chest, "-am no simple man. A _demon_ such as myself comes when a lady calls." He tilted his head slightly downward, smirking, "I am at your service. What would you ask of me?"

~!**!~

Again, he essentially called her _lover_, though she did not know how she knew the meaning of the term.

_Iro..._

Again, she remembered how long it had been since she had laughed, but her lips could not remember how to smile, and her brow turned down over her eyes in a frown instead. And instead of laughter, the sound came out as a scoff.

"Tch. If you do not make jokes, demon, then perhaps I addled your brain when I struck you. Have you looked at me?" 3

"Of course I have." Hiei responded without pause, eyes flickering over the many scars he could see. "Your transformation is a rather distinct one. Hard to miss, quite frankly." He gave a pause, his eyes finding her hair and the color of her skin. "It's repulsive."

He wasn't sure _what _moved within his core, but at his own words, he almost felt as if he himself would cringe. He would have never used that word for her before, but when faced with the simple change from the demon of desire to… whatever she was now… it was the only word her found suited the transformation.

Or, rather, what it had done to her.

"The scars, however, are… different."

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes at Youko, reaching a hand up to flip the ends of her hair at him in an almost dignified manner. Again, several responses came to mind, and again she took a second to consider those responses. Instead, she ignored his first words and continued on with, "I have nothing specific to _ask _for." She paused, turning to glance at him again. "Except maybe a little less sass." She flashed a smile. "Then again, it's amusing. Dismiss that."

Her hands tugged absently at the end of the scarf she wore, fingers toying with the seams out of habit. "Actually, I think it'd be nice to just _sit _and _be _for a while." She suddenly said, turning and altering her course with a sweet shop in mind. _And I'm hungry. __*****_

Youko only grinned at her when she asked for less sass, his expression unchanging when she just as quickly retracted the statement.

At her request for rest, his smile softened and he faced forward again, keeping the direction his mind had taken hidden behind his exterior countenance.

_{Not __**that **__kind of rest.}_

_[Don't like those thoughts, hm? Do they __**bother **__you?]_

"Doing nothing for once would be wonderful." He added a touch of wistfulness to his tone.

_{You're not fooling me.}_

_[Not helping, Red.]_

_{And whatever gave you the impression that I was meaning to __**help**__?}_

~!**!~

She didn't so much as flinch at his apt description, nor the way he appeared to take her in all at once. She stood there just as openly as before, letting him see what he pleased.

As if she didn't know the truth already. Did he assume to startle her? Was he fishing for a reaction? Like she had never looked at a mirror in her life. Avoided them. Maybe. Did she? Frankly, she didn't find that she cared most of the time. Ever.

"Transformation?" She absolutely did not understand his comment about her scars and so discarded it as unimportant, "You use strange words, demon. What are you to me but an intruder that I-" She was going to say _have never seen before_, but it wasn't entirely true. "-have only seen passing through my dreams." She had already admitted as much anyway, and suddenly had another thought occur. "You are likely a hallucination of my own making, in fact." It fit with her fever. She wouldn't be surprised at all to find that her dreams manifested themselves now. It was the only thing that really made sense. Fool. 3

Both of Hiei's brows rose now, and then furrowed at Shikiyoku. After a beat, he released the same sound she had earlier: a scoff. His sound, however, was a bit more harsh, a bit louder and accompanied by an unamused expression that was more than slightly irate.

_As If _he was a hallucination.

Had she lost her _entire _mind?

He scoffed again, this time to himself.

"You're rather foolish. I hadn't thought you a fool, but now I see you're just as dim as the rest." He took a step forward, expression never changing. "I can assure you, I am _no _hallucination. No product of whatever is eating away at you. At your mind. And I would gladly prove that to you, should you so much as _indicate _the desire to find out otherwise."

~!**!~

Akari stayed quiet for a moment as she walked, actually fighting the urge to just drop through her own shadow and reappear where she wished to be. After all, that would mean either grabbing Youko and pulling him with her, or leaving him behind and thus abandoning his company.

And, quite frankly, she was tired of using her energy. She'd used it excessively today, and it left her a bit worn.

"I hadn't actually thought the _infamous thief _took breaks." She paused, hands dropping to her sides again. "Find anything…" she thought for a moment, back to something Kurama had once said, "... _shiny_ enough to pique your interest yet?" _*****_

"I don't, hence..." He replied, waving his fingers a little as if to indicate the truth of his former words. "And it is constantly my endeavour to seek out and acquire whatever should happen to catch my eye. Therefore-" Here he meant to correct her, "-not simply 'shiny,' but rather, multiple 'shinies.'" His eyes gleamed.

~!**!~

She only blinked once as he spoke, letting him finish whatever miniature tirade it appeared her words had provoked before staring candidly at him in silence for a beat.

"You are much more annoying out here than you are in there." She informed him matter-of-factly. 3

Hiei leveled Shikiyoku with a glare. "As are you" he retorted, crossing his arms over his chest in a show of ire. He continued to stare at her for a moment before he decided she hadn't been convinced in the slightest. So he took another step forward. And then another, and then one more.

He held out his hand palm-up, and within a millisecond a small flame formed in his hand, though it didn't stay there long.

Instead, it moved towards Shikiyoku, clinging to the hem of her shirt and catching easily, the smell of burning fabric filling the room.

"Am I still a figment of your mind?"

~!**!~

Akari let out a laugh at Youko's words, a mental image of him sitting atop a pile of jewels sliding across her mind's eye and making it hard to stop the laughter that had bubbled up. After a moment, she took a deep breath to collect herself.

"Oh, well," she waved a hand almost dismissively, "and here I thought you were going to say something _charming _and say _I _had caught your eye." She gave another laugh. "Alas, I was proven wrong." _*****_

Youko appeared to at least get an impression of what first crossed her mind: a dragon with its hoard. He only smiled that same small smile.

"Whatever makes you think I was not also referring to _you_ when I spoke?" He replied slyly, "After all...I am here, am I not?"

~!**!~

She appeared almost bored, did not react to the flame, though her eyes did watch it appear. She let it burn, going ahead and lowering her head as if to watch with interest, though no such thing shone behind her eyes.

"Quite likely. Elaborate, I'll admit." Was her brusque answer, lifting her gaze to him after a moment, "It's rather twisted in there. You should know."

A violent shiver that she could no longer hide moved up her spine and her hands clenched together into fists, a wave of light-headedness causing her eyes to go out-of-focus briefly as a single drop of sweat fell along the side of her face, following the path of the rough patch of skin scarred to her jawline. 3

Hiei stared at Shikiyoku with a blank expression now, carefully controlling his rising ire. She was being exceedingly trying, and quite frankly, he almost considered leaving, giving in because it seemed a lost cause to some degree.

Instead, his eyes turned to the small flame that had begun to lick at her shirt, and instead of simply _letting it _continue on, he _added _a bit more energy, a bit more heat to the fire and watched as it moved at her clothing faster, destroying it quicker than before and even threatening to touch her skin. And he didn't even control it.

He simply let it do as it wished, his red eyes turning up to meet her dark, dull, once-green irises. And he waited, letting the fire do as it wished as if it had a mind of its own.

~!**!~

A small hum resounded in Akari's chest, amusement still evident on her features. "Smooth recovery." she taunted, not looking at him. However, a thought occurred to her and she felt her expression shift to match his sly one.

"It must be the jealous males who call you _cold and indifferent_, because quite frankly, you're about as cold and indifferent as a puppy finding a new friend."

She moved now into the crowds of the busy town, eyes finding her designated stop that was just across the street and to the right. It seemed empty from where she looked on, but she knew that there were others inside. Humans doing their jobs, whatever they may be. _*****_

Youko let out a mock-gasp, "A _**puppy?!**_" He exclaimed, "You would call a fox a _puppy_?" He huffed, "I'm nowhere _near _as cuddly as _you_."

~!**!~

She did not at first react, and even when she raised her eyes to him again after looking down at his handiwork, still appearing unbothered by it, her face seemed emotionless.

"...who _are _you?"

The words came out whispered, hoarse, something within that she did not understand pleading to know the answer, though she knew her face could no longer reflect whatever mental state she felt, hidden well behind her haunting eyes.

A small voice inside her piped up, "_Because if this is not real...if this is a dream..." _She wavered in place, still feeling the chills from her fever, "_I wish to never wake up."_

She felt an ache spread over her limbs, her legs giving out with overwhelming weakness, at their limit, and the ground rushing up to meet her as her vision of the demon before her wavered. 3

Hiei had already chosen how to answer the question she posed to him, long before she'd asked it. That didn't, however, make the sting from the question any less painful.

He moved forward as soon as he noticed the twitch in her muscles, as soon as he noticed her knees folding and her entire body going slack. His hands found her shoulders, the fire that had been burning away her clothing simply disappearing even before he lowered her to the ground and sat beside her.

"_I __**desire **__your __**presence**__." _The words were part of a conversation he'd thought about a million times over the past nine months, and with those words he was careful to show her how he'd seen her at the time. As someone who he _hated _to see in the mood she had been at the time.

"_But you __**hate **__me." The words came out of her lips slowly, almost in a fashion that said she was much more confused than she let on, and her eyes.. She hadn't looked at him for a bit. "You wish to be rid of me…. You don't __**want **__me."_

_At the time, he'd remembered something Kafu had told him, about telling her that she was not hated by him. He'd remembered it, used it to his advantage, in a way. "I would have killed you myself were that the case." he'd said. But, internally, he'd been… He hadn't been sure at the time, but internally, he'd been fighting to keep calm, fighting to do anything but growl at her and spit those words out, because he'd simply hated the mood she'd been in __**that **__much. He'd wanted her to… _smile.

_After a silence, her body relaxed and her lips moved again. "You only wish for my presence? For my...companionship? There is nothing else you would ask me to do for you?"_

Hiei let the memory fade from both his own mind and hers, though his Jagan never retracted from her mind. Instead, he finished by saying, "_Your Champion. Hiei."_

~!**!~

Akari let out a small noise of amusement as she crossed the street, eyes looking towards Youko out of the corners. She opened her mouth to respond, but quickly changed what she was going to say and replaced it instead with, "If _you _think _I _am cuddly, then you've been talking to the wrong demon." She pulled open the door to the small shop she'd laid her sights on a while back and stepped inside without pause, turning her eyes to meet a human's, who waved and called for them to sit wherever they liked.

And she did just that, turned and chose a small booth by a window, where she could keep watch should something happen.

"_You're like a workaholic."_

Akari felt her lips twitch at Nabu's earlier comment before she turned to Youko again. "But you didn't deny my claim." _*****_

"I think you'd be quite surprised at how cuddly I could make you. How cuddly you could be if you'd only let yourself." Youko raised an eyebrow as he slipped into the seat across from her, his face completely void of smile as if he'd just said the most serious thing in the word.

He leaned an elbow onto the table and rested his cheek in a hand, gazing across at her. "But what claim would that be I am supposed to have denied?"

~!**!~

_Champion..._

The word echoed across her fevered mind as if from a great distance as her waking-dreams trickled away from the visions of once more running at a frenzied pace-this time through, what, a palace?-and into a state she recalled being similar to the latest dream she had-the same sudden warmth that was...of great comfort and felt strangely familiar-the one where she was seeing that other demon, the one that could have been her in another life. Maybe. She wasn't sure in even _her _wildest dreams she could have looked that way.

But what had he said? Transformation?

...wouldn't that be something someone usually remembered?

Like your memories have been all that accessible in...years? What was the last thing she remembered? Sucking the energy from those demons? How many days ago had that been? When had that started?

The wave of faintness passed, though she could feel that the chills had given way to the heat of the fever once again, and she opened her eyes though they felt heavy, seeing that the demon had not left, which struck her as odd at first.

She blinked up at him.

"When...when did you last see her?" 3

Hiei stared calmly down at the demoness whom he used to know, his red gaze never even wavering as she opened her eyes and peered up at him. _Such an empty stare. _

He raised a brow at her question, "You mean _you?" _he clarified, though he didn't wait for an answer. "For me, it's been a little under a year, I think." He paused to think, his mind making quick calculations. If she'd stayed on one level, it could have easily been…

"For you? At least a decade. Perhaps longer." He shifted where he sat, turning so he could stretch his legs out in front of him without kicking her. His eyelids slid closed as what he'd just said sunk in. _A decade. She could've been this way the entire time. _That single fact lead to many things passing through his mind, and made it much easier to see why she didn't remember him as he did her. Or even herself, it seemed.

~!**!~

A lopsided smirk pulled at Akari's lips, making the skin by her eyes crinkle in amusement. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to _convince_ me to _cuddle_." Her eyes turned to the waitress who had stepped up to their booth, a pad of paper in one hand and a pen in the other.

"I'll have the Classic Sundae," she informed calmly, finding that for the first time in months, something _sweet _sounded appetizing, instead of her normal salty preferences. _*****_

Youko let his eyes flicker only briefly to their server, "Cherry milkshake?" He wasn't positive they could make one, "Or vanilla will do if not."

He turned his yellow gaze back on the demon across the booth, face still void of 'humor.'

"I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I only endeavour for you to at least take note of what others already know to be your...potential."

_{Ugh.}_

_[I thought you were going to let me work?]_

_{That was absolutely terrible.}_

_[Thank you.]_

~!**!~

Eleven months since he'd seen...

She let her gaze shift to stare at the ceiling, "Did you...did you miss her?"

Trying to associate herself with whom she assumed he was referring to, the demon she kept seeing, did not settle well with her, and she found maintaining the distance that it was another was...easier. 3

Hiei chose not to answer her, his eyelids staying shut and his lips passing a very small, inaudible sigh. He'd thought that finding her would release his tension, but… But it seemed that his tension had only magnified, doubled. He wasn't calmer, not on the inside anyway. How could he be, when the person he'd found wasn't the same person he'd once admitted to wishing to stay close to? The same person who'd been left behind…

The same person he felt he'd failed.

So, he didn't answer, because truthfully, she had asked a question that was a dangerous one to him, and the answer would never be… simple.

~!**!~

Akari noted the leaving of the waitress before turning back to Youko, watching him with gleaming eyes despite his humorless expression. She rolled her eyes to the ceiling and made a small sound at him, though its meaning she didn't quite know herself. "_My _potential specifically speaking, or _my species _potential as a whole? You know, rumors of groups don't often include the individual differences. So, while my kind _are _normally filled with… potential, as you put it, I myself couldn't, quite frankly, care less. Though, your words are flattering." She gave a lopsided smile again, one that portrayed her continuing amusement. "Also, I'm quite aware of my own potential. I simply choose not to act on it." _*****_

"Shame to let all that potential go to waste." Youko mourned, his eyes glittering at her and letting out a melancholy sigh as he continued looking at her.

_{Don't say it.}_

_[Why on earth not?]_

_{Do I really need to explain?}_

_[Do you really an explanation would help?]_

_{No.}_

_[Then don't bother.]_

"So, before I completely lose my mind contemplating your potential, what have you been up to this last six months?"

A groan from the other occupant of his mind nearly had Youko breaking his expression of interest for an amused one.

Nearly.

~!**!~

She shifted around a little as if to get more comfortable, unaware of his silence in regards to her question.

"Hi-ei." She worked the two syllables around her tongue, her eyes closed. Hearing it move past her lips, hearing it in her own voice, made the edges of them lift in what was _almost _a smile. At least the faintest resemblance to one. The closest she could ever remember getting. "It...I like it."

_Why does his touch seem so familiar?_

Without realizing it, she had bent a single hand up to brush her fingers against the place on her shoulder where he'd caught her.

"I would bet she missed you." She recalled the _way _the eyes she had been looking through regarded the other one. There...would have been much to miss.

_I missed you._ 3

Hiei turned his head towards Shikiyoku again, a single eye opening to peer at her for a moment. Outwardly, he gave no reaction, as if her words meant little to nothing to him. As if he'd heard them a million times and learned to dismiss them as soon as he heard them.

Inwardly, he cringed a bit, and this caused him to turn his head away from her again and let his eyelids slide shut once more. He didn't know what caused her to be like this, but he wondered if there actually _was _a way to bring her back, the she-demon he once knew.

So far, he hadn't seen much change in her demeanor. He wasn't even sure she _could _change from this mindframe.

"The demon of desire promised her presence." He suddenly said, tone even as if he were merely talking about the weather outside or some rumor he'd heard. _Things change._

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes again, her smile fading and the gleam in her eyes only slightly diminishing. Quite frankly, she wasn't sure how to react to him, his presence overall despite her having been the one to call on him. But, really, she'd expected it to be the redhead. The only reason she'd said _Youko Kurama _was to make it easier for the _moron _to understand and-

She took a deep breath.

"Dealing with idiots." she replied after a minute, giving a shrug and completely waving away Youko's…. admittance. "Working." She turned her eyes to the window to view the outside world, her ears momentarily taking in each and every sound she could hear within a mile or so, her eyes looking for anything out of the norm.

If there was even such a thing at this moment. Hell, she didn't even know what was _normal _anymore.

As soon as she realized she'd slipped into working thoughts again, she peeled her eyes away from the outside world and focused on the world within this building, the smells and sights within her immediate range. "Nothing that'd be of interest to you, anyway. What about yourself?" _*****_

Youko appeared to brush off her interest a little, responding with a shrug, "I have only been contriving ways to obtain what I want, and occasionally following through with those plans as I see fit. As for you though, you'd be surprised at what interests me, I think. Humor me?"

~!**!~

_My presence is a poor replacement for-_

The word he used echoed in her ears and her eyes came open again.

That...that word it...it meant something...important. She couldn't remember.

_...desire..._

She scrambled up from the floor to a sit facing to him, leaning forward with vested interest and peering at his face, blinking, something fighting inside to break through the haze of her fever.

She had never cared before this moment, never so much as considered how she lost her own name somewhere along the way, but-

"Hiei...who am _I?_" 3

Hiei turned to Shikiyoku again, her question calling for a curious gaze from the fire demon who stayed quiet for a few more moments. He kept a single brow raised at her for another moment, and when it resettled into place, he turned his eyes away from her and instead took to watching out the window nearest him.

"You are Shikiyoku, once hidden behind a human personality named Toriko. Once a demon of desire who strived to have a purpose, purpose I was not fit to give you." He paused, thinking about the tribes they had visited. "You were well known for your rituals, which brought entire _tribes _together for merry celebration even I couldn't resist." He let his eyelids slide shut again. "You were once wanted by King Enma, but your warrant has been lifted with the death of the king and instatement of his son, who'd promised you that freedom."

"At least, that was you eleven months ago. A decade ago."

~!**!~

Akari sat back in the cushion of the booth, her hands landing in her lap and her fingers linking together as she watched a single ear atop Youko's head flick a little, either to brush away a strand of hair or acknowledge a sound in the distance. Her eyes lowered just a little, to meet his even gaze.

"I've been maintaining control over portals in several layers, two of which have closed recently, leaving only one to be monitored on occasion. Simple maintenance when something goes wrong or damage control when someone screws something up." She paused, thinking of Juun and having to fight the irritation that bloomed with the mere thought of the male. "Also helping Genkai when necessary."

She paused, eyes gaining a gleam. "Which, may I pick your brain for a minute?" _*****_

"Busy, then." Youko replied mildly, letting his head tilt to the side as he held back anything else he might have had to say in response and indicating for her to continue with her inquiry.

~!**!~

She closed her eyes as he started speaking, giving in to the visions of which he spoke that came unbidden to the front of her mind, his voice calling them forward and leading their direction. Were these...were these her-_My?_-memories?

_Shikiyoku._

The name sounded...foreign, but everything this demon said about...well about her-_About me?_-seemed to ring true.

She opened her eyes as he said the last words and looked at him again.

_I __**desire **__your __**presence**__._

She blinked at him, then looked down at her hands which were presed over her knees, the scars there nothing special, nothing she hadn't seen before. She lifted one of them and brought it to her face, slowly rotating it.

_Then...if that is what I was...how did it come to this?_

"I-Is..." She hesitated, still gazing at her blemished, ashen skin, "Is a Champion anything like a...Consort?" 3

Hiei didn't turn to Shikiyoku, didn't look at her when she asked her question. Quite frankly, there were several things he had to consider before answering. His initial reaction was to say no, but really… He wasn't sure what the word Consort would mean in relation to Champion.

If there _was _any relation.

"You would have been the one to know that." He answered calmly, actually shrugging just a little. "A Champion was… a sort of guard for a demon of desire. Or, likely, for any other demon who could manipulate types of emotions. A Champion's duty is to protect their… Ward- you- and be a source of…" Truthfully, he wasn't _entirely _sure about his own title.

Or, rather, the title he used to have.

"As to the relation between a Consort and a Champion, I do not know."

~!**!~

Akari nodded once at Youko before going on. "It's something I've been looking into for months, but quite frankly, it's a little… over my head." she admitted, giving a shrug. "There are a few buildings that I've noticed to exist on _all _of the layers at once, and I just so happen to need _use _of something like that. However…" She paused, turning her eyes to the side to peer out the window, as if slightly embarrassed to have admitted her inability to understand. "I haven't found anything that stands out to make such a thing happen." She turned her eyes again to Youko, almost completely ignoring the waitress who sauntered her way to their table, set down their orders and promptly left them to their conversation. "Any ideas as to what would allow something like that?" _*****_

"Initially? None. What makes it that you or I can blur between levels, but other demons cannot? Even ones stronger or faster than we?" Youko replied, "I have not bothered myself to notice any such structures, so direct sight and interaction with such a building might give me further clues or spark an idea of some sort.

_[Anything come to mind?]_

_{I have paid no more attention than you. We have both been too distracted by other things to notice.}_

"If you have need of one so badly, have you attempted _relocating _a building already doing so? Worse case scenario it loses whatever grants it that ability as soon as it is moved. You could test it prior by simply taking a piece of the building, like a brick used in the wall, and removing it, checking to see if it maintained the same properties as the rest of the structure when moved away."

_{Well put.}_

_[We were both thinking it.]_

_{We're both of above-average intelligence.}_

_[Are you insulting the lady?]_

_{No I-}_

_[Should I tell her what you said?]_

_{...Should I even bother to protest? You'll twist my words in any way you see fit, silver-tail.}_

_[I would __**never **__intentionally make you look bad in front of the woman you love.]_

_{I never said I love her.}_

_{Actions, or in our case, emotions or thoughts, speak much louder than words, Red.}_

_[Have I mentioned lately how annoying you are?]_

_{You know, I think it __**has **__been a while.}_

_[You're annoying.]_

_{Thank you.}_

~!**!~

"...of comfort." She found herself murmuring almost inaudibly as she looked at him. The idea pleased her for some reason, leaving something akin to peace settling across her core, though her face gave no sense of it.

She appeared to forget her original question, sitting back as something behind her hollow eyes tried to stir again.

"And you are her-" She struggled with something, "Are..._my_... Champion?" 3

Hiei's expression gave away none of his thoughts on the question presented to him. Truthfully, the answer would be _no_, he wasn't her Champion. Not anymore. But there was a part of him that _wished _to be, wanted to say _yes_. What caused the internal conflict, he didn't know, but he'd later think about it, when he didn't have hollow, blank eyes watching him, his every move.

"Not any more." He finally admitted, turning an even stare on to her that veiled his thoughts effectively, making him appear nothing more than the calm he wanted her to believe he was. "I _was_, before we were separated by the Kekkai, and the portals between Human and Demon world were shut down."

"_Forget me."_

He hadn't forgotten her, not even for a moment. It would have been easier to do so, he realized, but really, he hadn't been able to even _consider _it.

"I didn't forget you, like you asked of me."

~!**!~

Akari released a sigh. "I tried that. It diminishes the ability of the building to exist on the layers little by little, and after a while, the ability to exist on only _one _layer is all it does. It takes about a week and a half for it to happen, but still, it happens." She paused, thinking of the drywall she'd broken away from the home that had existed on every single layer, and of the wooden beams of the shed that did the same. It had happened to both structures, every time she tried it.

A thought hit her and she blinked, her eyes focusing on the ice cream that was now in front of her, her hand mechanically reaching for the spoon that was within the glass. _Is it only the building, or the land as well? _She couldn't remember, not even when she looked back at the memories of the area. _If it's the land, then maybe there's something special about the location. _

She stuffed the spoon in her mouth and let it hang there, her tongue rolling over the sweet strawberry flavor she'd chosen to pick from first. _Or perhaps… _

She pulled the spoon from her mouth after a moment and again turned to look outside, as if her answer lay just beyond the glass. Her eyes searched for something, though what it was she wasn't sure. And after another minute or two, she turned back to Youko again.

She gave a short laugh. "Maybe asking for your presence wasn't such a bad thing after all!"

Of course, she was only kidding. _*****_

_[Hear that, Red? She likes me.]_

_{I wouldn't go __**quite **__that far.}_

_[You wouldn't.]_

Youko watched her thoughtfully as she appeared to turn inward to her own remembrances.

"The only problem I have with the turn this conversation has taken," Youko sat back, milkshake in one hand and the other arm thrown over the back of the booth, taking a sip through the straw that had been provided with his beverage before going on, licking his lips of any stray liquid, "Is that we seem to be forgetting our time together is supposed to _not _relate to our work."

He tilted his head, his long hair whispering silkily against his bare arm, "So, I'm going to have to respectfully ask you to stop any work-related thoughts you have going through that pretty little head of yours."

~!**!~

She wished...she wished he _was_. Or perhaps...she wished they had not been forced to part.

Surely _this_-she glanced down at her hands again-did not happen until after they were separated. She felt a certainty about that particular musing. Surely he would not have let it happen.

Let what happen? You don't even know yourself. Demon of desire? Then what does that make you _now_?

"I am...not sure what drove me to ask you to forget me." She admitted, going further, "I tend to remember very little beyond the last day or so."

She didn't think it had always been that way. She thought it was probably whatever sickness she had contracted, though she couldn't remember who or what had caused _that _either.

When she met his gaze again, there was no disguising the relief that had relaxed her face, severe as she appeared, "But I find myself grateful to you for ignoring my stupidity and seeking me out anyway. If I ever thought I would thrive alone, if that is why I asked it of you, then I was a fool." Her lips twitched as if she wished to smile, "And you were right to let me figure it out on my own."

Her eyes shifted as if searching for the right words, sifting through the memories she could make no sense or order of, but feeling as if she was on the right path anyway, "My presence is likely poor substitute for what you once knew," She looked back to him again, "But if you can stand it," She shrugged, "I cannot deny I would appreciate the company." 3

This time, when Shikiyoku spoke, Hiei turned his eyes to her and _looked _at her. He saw the scars on her face that made her appear as a totally different person. He saw the lack of color in her skin that had once been radiant with an otherworldly glow, a glow she had once tried to hide. He saw the dim color in her eyes that, if he looked long enough, was _some _sort of green, though nowhere near their true color he remembered. They held none of the life they had before, held none of the happiness she'd shown him the night before they'd left the Northern Tribe. Her lips were thin and cracked, seemingly no longer able to show the wide smile, or part way for a laugh that he remembered coming from her mouth when he'd approached her that night.

Even if a fire were to be glowing nearby, it wouldn't even _remotely _resemble the person who'd sat by the fire that night. The glow would do nothing but highlight the _differences_, the stark contrast between the woman she once was and the demon she now was.

He didn't even go on to think about her hair, her energy, or even her voice. If he did, he would never be able to pull from those thoughts and respond to.. whatever she'd just said.

He had missed her. And when he'd suspected the demon who stole the energies of other demons, he hadn't suspected her to be _this _different. To not remember him when she had seemed so fond of him, so determined to keep him nearby and even desperate to do something to make _him _happy.

"I have no other place to be," he finally said, again turning his head to the side and his eyes to the window, as if expecting someone to be there, watching and listening. "My work, for the time being, is finished."

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at him as she stuck the spoon into her mouth again, regarding him with a calm look before she spoke around the utensil and treat on her tongue. "You shtarted it." She grumbled at him before flashing a small smile. "You ashked, I anshwered." She repeated the motion of withdrawing the spoon, dipping it in her sundae, and sticking the spoon in her mouth before sliding it away again, eyes never leaving the fox demon.

"You," she said after she swallowed, gesturing with her spoon to him, "caused this conversation. So, don't be reprimanding me for continuing it." Again, her lips parted to flash her teeth in a smile. "So, choose another topic, mister _picky." __*****_

_{It really is your fault.}_

_[Must you __**both **__be against me at every turn?]_

_{Of course.}_

_[Cheeky.]_

"I think that might be rather difficult, pup." Youko replied mildly, "After all," He leaned forward onto the table in a confidential manner, "What have you done these past six months _besides_ work, mm?"

~!**!~

His answer was...unsurprising, she supposed, since she didn't feel like she knew what was 'normal' for him. He had nothing better to do, so why not? He would probably leave her whenever he pleased, or when he realized-

You know, funnily enough, she still didn't feel hungry. She'd had no close company in a very long time, or she had killed anyone who had been in her company for any amount of time. She couldn't really be sure. At any rate, she wasn't exactly salivating over the prospect of feeding on this demon's energy. Which was...progress?

Which was a good thing, since she still felt too weak to do anything else but stand and make it to the bed. And probably wake up half a mile away this time.

"Before you...truly decide to remain here, you should be made aware of-" She became distracted by a drop of sweat that pooled at the nape of her neck and slid down her back beneath the collar of her shirt, "I do not know if whatever illness I have is catching, but I understand if it is something you do not wish to risk by being nearby." 3

Hiei still didn't look at Shikiyoku as she spoke, as he'd already deduced as much about her… illness, whatever it may be. After all, it had muddled her scent, twisted it and made it… well, there was no explaining it other than saying it was unrecognizable. Just like everything else about her.

He made a sound in his throat that, had it left his lips, would have been a scoff at her. "I'll do as I please. Worry about yourself." he retorted, tone almost irate as if she'd struck a nerve.

But really, he had nothing else to say, because everything else was simply… unacceptable for him to say. He'd rather have her think him _cruel _and _indifferent _than _weak _and _simple-minded_.

~!**!~

Akari gave a hum, actually having to _think _about the question presented to her. Because, as of late, she'd done nothing _but _work, work, work. She'd visited Koenma at least once a week for updates, and was more often than not given a new objective that easily took her entire day away. And, as this morning, she'd sometimes find a child on the streets of the second layer and had to deal with _that _as well. Pile that on top of her researching the buildings that existed on all layers, overseeing portals and the crews who maintained them, and her basic day-to-day necessities…

Well, recently, she hadn't had any time to do anything _but _work.. And, now that she thought about it, it'd been that way for a while. _No wonder Nabu thinks I'm a workaholic. _

Instead of saying this, she turned up a sly smile. "I _would _say it's business in the front and party in the back, but I don't quite think that it's… _enough_ to describe my days."

She suddenly remembered Juun, who _had _invited her to a pub a few weeks back. The thought made her lips twitch and a sour feeling churn in her stomach. All of which she didn't allow Youko to see. _*****_

"So then...if work is all you're doing," Youko's eyes gleamed, "Then what is it you're _avoiding_?"

~!**!~

Her thoughts were muddled, but her shrug at least gave off an air of disinterest while her feelings remained locked away as she rubbed again at her forehead, trying to will away the dull ache of hunger and the more prominent aches of the fever.

"It is not my place to warrant your undivided attention, so I would not ask it, as I imagine you will come and go as you please." She made as if to get up and quickly decided against it when her vision wavered.

Did food make the fever lessen? She couldn't remember if she'd tried it before.

Well...not _food_, exactly. More like..._feeding_.

Did she dare try and sleep? If he left, perhaps. She would likely irritate him if he was a witness to her nightmares and her penchant for sleep...running.

She couldn't imagine _feeding _in front of him. What was he to think? Likely that she might feed upon him.

Though...she felt no desire to...3

Hiei didn't respond to Shikiyoku, not even with a glance in her direction. Instead, he shifted about, moving himself across the carpet until he was leaning against the wall, under the window he'd abandoned earlier. He crossed his ankles and folded his arms over his chest, eyes again closing as he made himself comfortable where he sat, designating it as his spot for the rest of his stay, however long that may be. He wasn't even sure himself how long he wished to be here.

"How many hallucinations have you had?" he suddenly inquired, genuinely curious. Perhaps if he was able to pinpoint the type of disease she'd contracted, he could… ease her out of it… somehow.

Likely call on Youko later, if he had to…

~!**!~

Akari paused with the spoon just in front of her lips and a brow raising high enough to hide in her bangs. "Avoiding?" she repeated, as if he'd asked the most _ridiculous _thing in the world. "Simply because I enjoy staying busy, you believe I have something to _avoid?" _she asked before sticking the spoon in her mouth.

She wasn't _avoiding_ anything. At least, not that she _knew _of. Not to her direct notice.

Except, maybe…

_Well, I wouldn't avoid __**that**__, as it's a minor thing and I've already prepared for that conversation._

Okay, maybe she _had _avoided it for a while, the offer she still had yet to talk to Kurama about. But, really, she'd just ended up _busy_. And rather enjoyed having something to do.

So, she shrugged at Youko. "Ever consider I _enjoy _being busy, rather than sitting around doing nothing or wasting my time chasing material things?" _*****_

_[How does that saying go?]_

_{I'm not helping you.}_

_[Too late.]_

"Methinks she doth protest too much." Youko murmured, "I mean, obviously you couldn't possibly have been avoiding us," He gestured to himself, "As if that were the case you probably would never have asked for the company."

He took another drink, "But I suppose if you aren't going to tell me, I'll just have to start imagining what it could be." His eyes flashed, "Though I have to warn you, my imagination has been running rather wild lately."

~!**!~

She felt a pang in her core that she silent told to go away. Now was not the time, after having been reminded of it, to be hungry.

"You, um, would have been the first." She replied matter-of-factly.

_No, stop it. Didn't you just eat? And a good many of them too. Or how long did it take to get back? And how long did you sleep? Maybe it was days. You don't rightly know._

"As far as I can remember." She quickly added, "But I'm still fairly certain the answer is 'none.'"

_Have I imagined him at other times? Or were those only in my dreams?_

_What I wouldn't give for a clear head. Then, maybe, I would know how to ask him..._3

Hiei nodded to tell her he acknowledged her words before he delved into his own thoughts, momentarily deaf to the world around him as he began to force his mind clear, force himself to ignore anything and everything that threatened his view of this person and who she was. He brushed away memories, brushed away thoughts on how she used to be and how she used to act.

Which, actually, wasn't too different from how she was now. Perhaps he need only to get past her exterior, her energy, and her voice to begin finding the similarities and _bring them forth_ to her. Maybe _that _would…. change a few things.

After her wrath had subsided and her curiosity, her thoughtfulness had taken over, she seemed… similar to the mindframe she'd been when he'd seen her last. At least, a little anyway.

When he came back to the world, came back to the room he'd made himself comfortable in, his lips moved without his permission, his mouth saying words he hadn't even known he was about to say.

"If you have something to say, simply _say it." _He wasn't sure what had called for that prompting, but he didn't look at her to find whatever had caused those words to be pulled from within.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged again, delving her spoon into the leftover ice cream and leaving it there, her fingers releasing the utensil and her elbows coming to rest on the tabletop, her chin resting in both of her hands. "What a _smart cookie _you are." she mused with a small smile. "I mean, it takes a _genius _to know I am not avoiding _you _of all people." She gave a small laugh before shrugging at him again, her tone calm when she spoke this time. "Well, _I'm _not the one inside your head, so your _imagination _has no effect on me whatsoever."

She let her eyes slide closed and a moment of silence pass from her before she spoke up again with heavy sarcasm. "Though, you were beginning to sound a bit like a shrink, and I was worried you'd make me tell you about my dreams for a minute there." _*****_

"If _I _didn't know any better, I might think you were patronizing me."

_{It's a good thing you don't know any better.}_

"And if you _want _to tell me about your dreams, I'm certainly not going to stop you." Youko took another drink, "I'd be particularly interested in any of them that concerned me."

_{Of course you would.}_

"Should I tell you of the ones _you've _had a starring role in lately?" He inspected his glass of milkshake, pulling his hand from the booth where it rested and reaching in without ceremony to fish out a cherry he spotted.

_{Just kill me now.}__3_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	67. Episode 151 - Banter and Hunger

**A/N: **Hello once again, Readers!

Onwards to our chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Youko seeks out Akari, the latter of whom was looking for a day off and asked after him.

While exchanging distracting banter, Akari leads them to a store wherein they sit down  
and order desserts, a sundae for Akari and a cherry shake for Youko.  
Youko asks how she's been spending the last six months,  
and they end up talking logistics about how a building is able to exist on all the layers.

In an effort to converse about something other than 'work,'  
Youko wants to know what she's been _avoiding _since it seems all she's been doing is work.  
That leads to Youko consequently being awkward about dreams and asking Akari if she's dreamed of him.

~!**!~

After tracking the demon who has been feeding on other demons,  
Hiei is led to what had been Toriko's home, finding that the 'demon' is in fact Shikiyoku.  
Sort of. She has no memory of him, and her appearance and her energy have become twisted as well.

After helping her through the nightmares she was having, she wakes up and Hiei begins speaking with her.  
Initially she attacks him as he startles her, admitting that she has seen him somewhere in her dreams.

Hiei continues to try and jog her memory, calling her both 'lover' and 'Iro,'  
and while she gives a little indication of a reaction to him, she tells him she believes him to be a hallucination.  
Slightly irritated at both this strange condition he has found her in as well as her lack of reaction,  
Hiei sets her shirt on fire.

Becoming overtaken by the disease she has contracted, she starts to collapse to the ground just as she asks who he is.  
Hiei catches her, sending via the Jagan more memories and telling her he was once her Champion,  
and lays her down gently while the two of them continue talking about who she was.

As she struggles with the desire to feed again, she attempts to think of other things to ask him,  
and Hiei speaks up, encouraging her to say what is on her mind...

* * *

She shifted until she sat with her back leaning against the side of the bed, looking up only when he spoke, "What are you, a telepath?"

Her eyes flickered to his forehead, expression perfectly serious, "And here I was thinking you'd been so vain as to arrange for cosmetic surgery for that extra eye. I suppose you _could _add a Jagan explicitly for the aesthetic qualities." 3

Hiei's eyelids seemed to snap open at her words, and the stare he issued to her was not a harsh one, nor a curious one. If anything, it was one of surprise as he recognized what she was saying, and almost immediately he recalled the first time he'd heard words very similar to those, from that same person.

And he found he didn't know how to reply, though it was likely due to his sudden surprise at her words.

After a moment, he regained his composure and gave a sneer. He took a moment to recall what he'd said then, what he'd replied with. He even went so far as to consult his Jagan, which easily, almost readily gave him his answer, and the words came rolling from his tongue rather quickly.

"If you so believe that my third eye is so beautiful, then you obviously need more time to observe. Indeed it has its value, but beautiful is not the word. I do not do anything that pertains to how I look merely because that is a waste of my time. I have no idea what Prosthetic Surgery is, but I can assure you that I have never experienced it, since it seems directly involved with how one looks. I hold no interest in experimenting with my looks, and I never will."

He wasn't sure if this would help, but perhaps repeating old times would… help.

~!**!~

"Mmm," Akai hummed out, eyes gleaming slightly as she considered a few responses, a few ways to twist the situation, but in the end she decided against it. "I guess you'll simply be disappointed then, because I can assure you _none _of my dreams feature you."

She watched his slender fingers dive into his glass and fish for what she knew to be a cherry, and she glanced at her own, her fingers plucking it from the top of her ice cream before she quickly leaned over the booth and reached for his as well, a sly smile finding her features. "But, I guess you could _humor _me." she said as she made a grab for his cherry as well. _*****_

Youko allowed her to have the cherry, though he only offered it after jerking his wrist just in time for her to miss, giving her an amused smile.

_[Should I tell her yours or mine, Red?]_

His counterpart gave out a sigh before responding.

_{I'd just as soon neither.}_

_[I dunno. You had a fairly heavy one a couple of nights ago.]_

_{That was __**you**__.}_

_[She doesn't have to know that.]_

_{You're impossible.}_

Youko leaned back in the booth again. "Mm, see the difficulty would be in choosing just _one_."

~!**!~

"Beautiful?" A single dark brow rose up her forehead, "That is a word of your own devising, though I will not disagree with the usage. A Jagan is very attractive to the right person." She leaned her head back against the bed and closed her eyes. "I would just as soon use the word _handsome _for yourself though." Her voice trailed off, "Why would every part of you _not _be attractive?"

She grew very quiet, taken by the odd sense of repetition of the moment, of reliving something that had happened before...3

"Perhaps one day you'll witness it for yourself, then." Hiei said easily, the Jagan feeding him exactly what he needed. However, instead of going on like he had before, he stopped there. He saw no reason to go on. So this time when his eyes turned to hers, they held a gleam of familiarity, and instead of seeing the _changes_ he saw the _similarities. _

_Progress is progress._

~!**!~

Akari sat back again when her fingers had hold of the cherry he'd allowed her to have, popping it into her mouth, stem and all. Using her teeth and tongue she separated the stem from the cherry before biting down on the fruit and savoring the flavor before swallowing it and taking to toying with the stem.

"I guess you have quite the problem then, no?" she spoke around the stem easily before falling silent again, her eyes turning to the window again to watch people pass by. _*****_

Youko sighed long-sufferingly, "You have no idea how much of a problem you are, do you? A welcome problem," He was quick to say, "A most wonderful problem. But a problem ever-the-same."

He held out another cherry by the stem between two long fingers, "Care for another?"

_{You're enjoying this.}_

_[Absolutely.]_

~!**!~

"Ah," It came out like a sigh, her eyes still closed as her head rested against the bed while she started to mutter further, "What are you doing to me, fire-prince? It seems I cannot make sense of my own thoughts, and that you know them before I can remember. Are you cheating? Is that Eye of yours lending a hand?" 3

"It isn't _cheating." _Hiei said casually, giving a pause to allow his sneer to form again. "Merely utilizing my resources." He continued to watch her, realizing that she'd called him _fire prince_, something he hadn't been called in what felt like a very long time. And it seemed to bring about a sort of calm to his core, a sense of peace and, dare he say, fondness?

"You'll remember soon enough. In your own time."

~!**!~

Akari turned eyes that gleamed with amusement at Youko again before she suddenly popped the stem between her lips, her index finger and thumb grabbing it and holding it in front of her face for close inspection.

The knot she'd formed was a tiny one, and she was easily satisfied with it despite the fact that she hadn't done this in a couple of years. So, when Youko offered another, she simply held her hand out for it patiently.

"I'm glad to be of service. I rather enjoy causing problems, especially when I can get away with it." _*****_

He _almost _released a growl at the sight of the knot and the thoughts it stirred within him, covering it by retracting the offer and placing the stem in his own teeth, cherry bouncing slightly against his lower lip.

_{What? Not having fun anymore?}_

_[You know __**exactly **__what.]_

The laugh that echoed at him in his own head was not a kind one.

"Tease me _too _much and you'll find yourself in a corner, pup. One that I will have backed you into _personally_." He grinned, showing the sharp teeth that firmly held the cherry.

_{You did it to yourself. By ordering the flavor in the first place.}_

_[I thought it would be funny.]_

_{She's not going to get it. She wasn't raised among humans like you were with me.}_

_[Too bad for __**her**__.]_

_{I didn't know foxes __**purred**__, but I would say that was a fairly good imitation of it.}_

_[Only when their counterparts get their hackles all raised about it.]_

_{Hmph.}_

~!**!~

The muscles at either side of her mouth twitched, "How did I know you'd think of it that way? _Resource. _Tch." When her eyes opened to stare at the ceiling though, there might have been a spark there that contradicted her tone if one was paying attention.

"Soon enough will never come soon enough." She complained softly. "You...you were _important. _My companion. My-" What had he said? Lover? ... Closer than a friend, perhaps.

_My what?_

"My Champion. How does one just _forget_ something like that?" 3

Hiei didn't reply to Shikiyoku's words, only continued to stare at her from where he sat on the floor. He shifted which ankle crossed over the other, effectively waking the first and causing an odd sensation to shoot up to his knee. He ignored it easily once he stopped moving.

Another moment passed and Hiei let his head rest back against the wall.

"I could help," he murmured, not really meaning to do so. The Jagan could help, but… "But it would do nothing for you, should this happen a second time."

_And it would only be for my own benefit. _

~!**!~

Akari's brows raised at Youko's retracting offer, her eyes following the cherry until it came to rest against his bottom lip. Her eye twitched slightly and she turned a disappointed look up to the fox. "Those are my favorite. You're a cruel, _cruel _demon." she said, resisting the urge to just _take _it from him.

Though, she had the sneaking suspicion that that was _exactly _what he wanted her to do. What _he _would gain from it, though, she didn't know. So, to keep her hand from making a grab for it, she put her elbow on the table and her chin in her dominant hand, huffing once at him. "Cruel." _*****_

Youko let out a chuckle, "Apparently you look and sound just like Nabu when you do that."

_{...}_

_[Your thoughts betray you.]_

The avatar within him just let out a heavy sigh.

~!**!~

She did not answer at first, trying to form words with the question, the only question, that popped into her head.

"And...and if it happened a second time...would you...do whatever it is for me again?" She pulled her head up from the bed. "I want to remember you." 3

Hiei resisted the frown his lips threatened to give her, resisted the urge to turn his eyes away from her again. "What would you gain if I did it _for _you?" he said, tone as calm as the mask his expression had become. "Nothing, in the end." He continued to stare at her, not saying anything else.

Because as much as he wanted to help her, it would do _nothing_ for her, and if it _did _happen again, then it would only lead him back to _here_. And while it would be _easier _to throw her a lifeline, his core was almost entirely against it. She needed to…. be strong enough to do it herself.

"I would, however, be near should you ask it of me." It had been his job once, and he wouldn't mind it being his job- no, his _privilege _to do so again.

~!**!~

"Do I now?" Akari mumbled, giving a one-shoulder shrug. Her eyes again trailed to the cherry, eyeing it thoughtfully. _What is the point of that gesture? _She figured there _had _to be a reason. If she knew _anything _about demons, it was that they did _everything _for a reason.

She just so happened to be the exception to that rule.

"Tell your counterpart I say hello," she said with a grin, eyes looking up to his again before she moved on. "I hope you know I _will _find another cherry." _*****_

"He can hear you perfectly fine. You can tell him yourself." Youko shrugged as if he'd thought she knew, his expression sliding into mock-disappointment, "Aw, you don't want to take _my _cherry?"

_{She may not understand all of this business with the cherries, but I do and-}_

_[I know. What, you think I'm only doing this for __**her **__benefit? I thought better of you, Red.]_

~!**!~

If her breath had come out her mouth, if would have been a scoff. Released from her nose made it a much softer reaction.

"You would deny us a moment of happiness then?" She appeared to be searching his face as if to understand better, "Even if it only lasted for the night? For the hour?" She continued, shaking her head, "And how can I ask something of you that can be nothing short of merciless for you to endure? How sadistic it must be- How _cruel _of me to ask that of you. Knowing that every time I look at you I see nothi-" Not _nothing_, "I only have a vague recollection that we were once-" She appeared at a loss for explanation, their previous relationship defying her current state of mind. 3

Hiei's expression gave way no reaction to Shikiyoku and her speech, his eyes regarding her calmly and only blinking at her twice. When she went quiet, he still didn't speak, still didn't even make that he'd heard her in any way.

Honestly, he felt as if _giving _her the answer would do more harm than good. That if he did it _once _he would have to continue doing it, over and over again, otherwise they'd _both _end up losing themselves.

"Think what you wish," he said calmly, "But whether you've noticed or not, you're already changing. Consider me cruel, I don't care, but I will not hand you the easy way out. Not when you have the capability to pull yourself out on your own."

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes at Youko. "You're defiled it." she stated simply, lifting her chin from her hand and pointing her index finger at him. "It's no longer _pure_, and quite frankly, I do not wish to _taste_ your saliva on the stem or your breath on the fruit itself." She shrugged and set her chin in her hand again. "But, don't get me wrong, it's a very _tempting _offer." _*****_

"Oh, as if driving the knife into my heart wasn't terrible enough, now you've gone and twisted it all around." Youko appeared _awfully _broken up about it, his expression dry, and he reclined back again, crossing one leg over the other. He made no further show of the cherry other than to deftly draw it into his mouth to eat it.

_{She guessed at you rather aptly though, I might say. Even if she doesn't know it.}_

_[Oh hush.]_

~!**!~

She rested her head against the bed again as if in defeat, "I meant it is _I _who would be cruel to ask you to be near while I am in such a state, fire-prince, not to imply your denying me what I _want_ to be cruel. You're stronger than I in that respect, I suppose." She started mumbling again, "Even if I _could _probably just torture you until you did it anyway." It took on a growlish effect as she grumbled, "You'd still be right in the end I suppose." 3

Hiei stayed silent as she spoke, eyes narrowing slightly at her words of torture. Honestly, he didn't see why she hadn't done so already, but he gave no indication of such thoughts. It wasn't as if he'd actually give in out of _pain _anyway. Especially not if the Jagan was well aware of both the source of the pain _and _the style of the attack, both of which he'd noted earlier.

Even when she admitted that he'd be right, he didn't speak up, didn't change his expression. He merely sat in silence, waiting for anything else she had to say, anything else she wished to _clarify_. Not that it would change anything.

~!**!~

Akari frowned when the cherry disappeared between his lips, disappointed. Maybe she _should _have made a grab for it when he'd given her-

_Not if he's __**giving **__you the chance, you moron. _

She huffed and turned to her ice cream, noting the last of it was entirely melted now and nothing more than a sloshy cream. She pulled the spoon from the glass and stuck it in her mouth, letting it hang there as she turned to Youko again. "It's payback for the cruelty of taking the cherry back." She finally replied, her expression matching his easily. "You're absolutely _no _fun." _*****_

"I. Am a bundle of fun, I'll have you know." Youko threw back at her, "I just get the feeling that my particular brand of fun is not something you wish at this juncture to dally in. You're really forcing me to make it up as I go along. I'm completely out of my element." His golden eyes gleamed.

~!**!~

Her core churned.

_I __**just **__ate. ...didn't I?_

Perhaps. But the demon across the room was starting to smell _wonderful_. And she wasn't talking about his skin.

_And you've been consuming larger amounts recently._

Fever makes me hungry.

_The sickness will consume you._

If I let it. That's why I have to eat more often.

Distraction.

"When...when was the last time I was happy? The last time _you _saw me happy?" Strange question. 3

"Eleven months ago." Hiei said without hesitation, the memory easily coming forth before she'd even finished asking him her question. "We were in the Northern Tribe," he began, not even aware he was speaking, not even seeing the room he sat in anymore. Instead, he was on the Ninth Level, watching a demon lean into Shikiyoku, who had turned to him with a smile and made to reach for him before the demon next to her leaned further into her.

"You'd danced, brought together a tribe in a way only you could do. We were there for a week, in the Northern Tribe's company and helping with daily endeavors. The last night, you had sat with several demons, joking, laughing, drinking."

He suddenly cut himself off, eyes losing the faraway haze and quickly focusing on the room again, staring at Shikiyoku for only a moment before his eyelids slid closed and he leaned back against the wall again.

~!**!~

"Glad to make you _think_ about it. It means I present a _challenge_ for the infamous thief." Akari turned her nose a bit higher in the air at him, her smile a smug one. "It wouldn't hurt to dabble in _other brands _of fun every once in a while, hm?" She let her teeth flash in a lopsided smirk. "I'd hate to be like the _other_ women you've encountered. It makes this all the more fun for _me." __*****_

"Oh, I assure you, you're nothing like the other women I've encountered."

_{Your wiles wouldn't work on me.}_

_[Well, then it's a good thing I'm not trying to woo __**you**__, then isn't?]_

Youko put his now-empty milkshake back onto the table.

"Would a _walk _please your majesty, or is that not _fun _enough for you?"

~!**!~

She had her eyes closed, but nothing was coming to her. How sad to not remember the last time one had been happy. Comforting, she supposed, to have one that did remember nearby. Her life of late had been from one meal and bed to the next. At least that was all she could recall.

Something else, then. To distract her.

_What else was there? _

She did not take note of the fact that she had begun to rub again at the old wound in her arm. Her fever had made it begin to throb, which she was used to, and the action was one of habit at this point. 3

Hiei heard the smallest of sounds in the room and peeled his eyelids open to glance at Shikiyoku, red irises easily finding the almost _too _quiet sound and locking onto the hand that rubbed at her arm, over a spot he'd seen her rubbing earlier, but hadn't particularly cared to take note of.

Now, however, he realized he recognized the scar he saw between her fingers.

"That one came from the Ninth Level as well. You fell into a pit after pushing _me _out of the way." His tone seemed almost nonchalant as he spoke again. "That lead to us visiting a friend of yours, Shubou. You danced for his tribe as well, though slightly reluctantly."

~!**!~

Akari took to turning the spoon over and over her tongue, a brow raised at Youko. _Sarcasm? Or seriousness? _Her lips twitched a bit more and she lowered her chin to her hand again, her other hand retracting the spoon from her mouth, though she made a point to give no reply to Youko whatsoever.

Though, at the idea of a walk…

She dropped the spoon lightly into her glass, ignoring the small clink sound it made as she shifted, a hand sliding into her back pocket and pulling out some cash that she put onto the table as she slid away from the window. "Suits me just as well." _*****_

"Only if you promise not to think about work as soon as we get out the door. I've been threatened to prevent you from doing that again. You're supposed to be taking some time _off_."

_{Don't drag me into this.}_

~!**!~

She looked up when he spoke, then down with surprise at her hand which had gotten over to the other arm. She moved her fingers to the side to stare at the scar shaped oddly in comparison to most of the others she had. Besides the fact that it was older and _beneath _any of the others.

She had a sudden revelation and turned to stare at her knee, moving her fingers over and touching the fabric of her pants lightly.

"Is that where this one comes from too?" 3

Hiei gave a short nod. "Both from a spike pit. It wasn't supposed to be triggered, but it had been, and _you _fell instead of _me." _He reached a hand up and scratched idly at the back of his neck, ridding himself of a bothersome itch in no time and resettling the way he'd been sitting all over again. "Both were healed in a hot spring a lur'mog had directed us to."

~!**!~

"Nice to know," Akari replied with a smile. "Only if you don't bring it up." She stood and stretched her arms over her head before letting her right arm rest atop her head, her left hand grabbing at her right elbow as she stood there, waiting on the fox to move as well.

She glanced at the waitress who had emerged from the back room with a smile, and Akari waved, then pointed to the table to indicate she had paid and wasn't simply skipping out.

Then she turned to Youko with a curious stare. "Lead the way, since you asked." _*****_

"With pleasure." Came the smooth reply as he slunk out of the seat and sashayed towards the door, stopping and turning part-way back, tossing something in the waitress' direction with a wink before continuing out into the day.

He peered up at the sky, gauging the time and how long it would take to get where he meant to lead her, pausing to wait for Akari to fall in step beside him before moving down the path.

~!**!~

"A...lur'mog?" She blinked at the strange word. 3

Hiei had to resist a sigh. "It's a creature of the Ninth Level," he said calmly, though really he didn't have anything more to say about it than that. So, he let his Jagan envelop her mind and showed her the memory of the creature writhing beneath his index finger, chattering and pushing at his index finger to stop the gesture the fire demon had once made.

The image faded after a minute. "They're fascinating creatures, really."

~!**!~

Akari didn't look back to see what Youko tossed behind them, only following him out the door and into the sunlight of the mid-afternoon, the bustle of the sidewalk thin since it was the middle of a work day. "And where exactly do you have in mind?" She inquired of Youko when she caught up, easily keeping in stride with the fox. _*****_

"Nowhere in particular." He replied easily, moving on silent feet down the road, his ears flicking every once in a while out of habit to check to see if they were being followed. "Does it matter?"

~!**!~

It became easier to see the memory when she closed her eyes, though it confused her and the warmth she felt intruding into her head distracted her.

"That was...you?" It looked more like his hands and she opened her eyes to glance over at them. "What were you doing?" 3

Hiei raised a brow, then his lips twitched, and his expression fell blank again. He struggled to find the word that described the action, suddenly realizing that she hadn't been awake for that. Or, not that he remembered. She'd been sleeping beside him.

"...tickling it." He finally admitted, the word finding its way on his tongue. "It was… amusing."

~!**!~

"Mmm, no. I was just curious, is all." Akari fell silent again, her own eyes turning about her surroundings almost curiously, taking in anything and everything they could as she passed. Her mind was, for once, void of any troubling thoughts, void of anything pertaining to business or anything to do with the recent events. Her muscles weren't tense, and she actually had the time to _feel _the breeze that blew by, that just brushed her cheeks and played with her hair.

_Nabu was right. I needed this. __*****_

Youko strolled along, taking particular notice of the tenseness that he had felt across Akari's shoulders melt away with the outside air. His silver hair and tail would pick up slightly in the wind or, more rarely, from his elegant stride.

"Feeling any better?" For the first time, he sounded genuine.

~!**!~

"Tickling?" She frowned. What the hell was _that _supposed to mean? He'd just been, what, pointing at it in what she saw? And such an action was amusing? Did one have to experience that to get that feeling? "Wait, were you doing that to it? Or was it tickling you?" 3

This time, Hiei didn't fight the sigh that left his lips and the slumping of his shoulders. _She's impossible. _"_I _was tickling the _lur'mog." _he emphasized, taking a hand and rubbing it on his temple, right over the vein that had begun throbbing. "It's…" he was at a loss for words. How would he _describe _something such as tickling?

"I can't explain it." he admitted finally with a shrug. "It's unimportant anyway."

~!**!~

Akari took in a deep breath through her nostrils, and for the first time since she'd called on Youko, she actually acknowledged _his _scent, which was, unsurprisingly, similar to Kurama's. And it was… enticing, pleasing to the senses, to say the least.

So it took a moment for her to respond, to even register Youko's question. Though, she did turn her eyes to him for a brief moment before turning them away. "Much, thank you." _*****_

"Let it not be said that a kitsune is anything but simply a master of distraction." Youko replied with a upwards turn of his lips, "Though, I hear you're quite the master of such things yourself."

~!**!~

She had no reason not to believe him, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to _think_ anyway.

"I, uh-" She tried to come up with another question, but her core was starting to rush in her ears, her vision darkening.

She didn't particularly _want _him to see her like this. Maybe she could lose him in the layers so he wouldn't _have_ to see.

She did try to stand, using the bed as a sort of prop to help her, but only getting far enough to sit on top of it, leaning over with her hands planted on either side of her hips on top of the quilt and feeling the weakness in her limbs from the fever that still had a glisten of sweat along her hairline.

_Distraction._

_I can't think of one any more._

_Not the hunger. Just go __**away**_.

It never listened. 3

When Shikiyoku did not go on with whatever she was going to say, Hiei turned his eyes up at her and watched, suddenly very aware of the tenseness in her weakened muscles, of the lines between her brows and the darkness that seemed to deepen in her eyes. And, most of all, the subtle shift in her energy. It began to thicken slightly, to permeate the air in a way he couldn't explain in any other word than 'frantic'. As if it were searching for something without her direct notice.

And he could _feel _the emotion that had begun to swell within her, _taste _it on the air and in the energy that had begun to swirl, unseen, about her body.

"What _do _you remember?" He asked in a calm voice, wondering if the chat helped at all. "Besides what I've shown you. What _dreams _have you had?"

~!**!~

"That's only when I have to be," Akari replied easily, giving a shrug of her shoulders. "And sometimes when it benefits me." This time, she turned glittering eyes onto Youko for a moment before turning forward again, feet still moving to follow wherever it was Youko went, whether or not he had a clear destination.

"And I must admit, it feels nice being on _this _end of the distraction for once." _*****_

"Most happy to be of service to you." Youko inclined his head a little, "It's quite wonderful to be appreciated in my own time."

He stopped in place, lifting his nose to sniff at the air.

"Up for a bit of a chase?"

~!**!~

"I..." She struggled not to give in for another moment, "I often forget my dreams upon waking. I...remember you being there, though I would not have recalled without meeting you." As she attempted to remember, the desperation was channeled away into her thoughts, but these were jumbled.

She knew she _had _dreams but as to their subject, she generally could not sort through with to any satisfactory clarity, except-

"Running." She whispered hoarsely, "Lots of running. To or from something, I do not know, whether under duress or of my own free will, simply...running.

"Lots of red. I am most often running surrounded by red." She shook her head, "But that is all I can readily pull from them of my own volition." 3

_Lots of red_. Couple that with the fact that she'd admitted to him being in her dreams as well, and it wasn't hard for Hiei to guess at the setting for most of her dreams. "Red is the dominant color of the Ninth Level of Demon World, where we spent a lot of our time." He could _see _the difference that idle chatter made for her, and he continued it easily. "We ran from level to level, and around the Ninth Level quite a bit. It's where we escaped Queen Rae and…" _What was his name? _"Her _prince_." _That will have to do. _"With the aide of Uryo, might I add."

~!**!~

"I'm always happy to _boost _someone's ego," she replied with no small amount of humor in her eyes. And then she noted his nose in the air, though she did not repeat the action for her own self. _I… Chase? _She gave a sigh.

"It isn't _working_ I suppose," she said with a shrug before giving a small smirk. "Why not?" _*****_

"Slight catch..." He lifted a single finger, his form starting to blur, and before he left the layer entirely he said, "You're chasing me through layers."

As he started falling, or rather folding, the next layer around himself, he went ahead and took off running in the same direction they had been traveling, giving Akari only a single glance behind.

~!**!~

She appeared slightly crestfallen when he mentioned names and she pulled nothing from her memories-her dreams.

She shook her head, "Did she...did I know many people?" 3

"Many more than I did. Then again, that level, I believe, was of your home." Hiei shifted a bit, uncrossing his arms and instead crossing his fingers behind his head, his eyelids sliding shut all over again. "Then again, you are vastly different from myself. Where you thrived among others, I did not."

~!**!~

Akari paused and gave a raised brow. "I'm _wha-" _she gave a small sound of confusion. "Why would-" and then he was taking off, his image blurring even as he ran down the sidewalk. And, suddenly, she was thinking many months back, blinking away an image of Foko playing this very game, though obviously not in this manner.

"You're a _child_." she grumbled with a small sigh that, without her notice, ended with the turning up of her lips. "Fine, I'll play along."

Her feet began moving towards where he'd disappeared, her own image blurring from one layer to the next while her eyes searched not only for Youko, but also for his shadow.

Because, quite frankly, she liked to cheat at games. _*****_

When he felt her sliding into the next layer behind him, he left that layer completely and wrapped himself in another, making sure she would at least sense which direction he was going before completely disappeared from it.

Though if she was anything like himself, he knew she would be able to see him no matter what layer he waded into, just as long as he ran slow enough for her to keep up.

~!**!~

_Home_.

She had such a place? Somewhere she had been born?

...it was all very strange, having a past and knowing nothing of it.

_How am I supposed to act when I know nothing of what I did before?_

_Who am I?_

"Then...why did you stay with me?" 3

Here, Hiei _did _hesitate a moment. _Why? _It was such an easy question, and he had the answer as soon as she'd asked, but… SImply saying it was a Champion's _job _did not seem like enough of a reason. He'd… _enjoyed _his time with her, despite the times she'd drove him almost into wanting to strangle her. Still..

"It's a Champion's job to watch over their Ward." He said anyway, giving a shrug. "And frankly, Demon World was rather entertaining." Again, he paused. Hesitated. When exactly did he start to _hesitate _when she was concerned? "The company was... intriguing." _To say the least…_

~!**!~

Akari traversed from the first to the second layers, eyes transfixed on Youko even as she ran, even as she followed him to the next layer, never having enough time to use her energy to her advantage. Not that _that _was surprising, in the least. She grumbled intangibly to herself as she made _another _attempt to get her sights on his shadow, and again was unable to do so.

Though, she was thoroughly amused that the _actual _fox thief enjoyed this game. _*****_

Youko never faltered, never paused, never did anything other than maintain his pace, which kept him far enough away from Akari to keep himself out of trouble.

He easily traversed two more layers, but did not commit to the last one, staying in the midst of five and six, in that inbetween place that meant he did not actually exist in one or the other.

It was in fact darker down here, time having passed on into evening, and Youko consulted his internal direction system for the final place he meant to lead her.

~!**!~

"My company? Or others?" She didn't _really _understand why he wouldn't have just up and left if she had led him to places he didn't enjoy, though he seemed to indicate to her that it was his work ethic that forced him to stick around, being someone who left no job unfinished.

Is that why he had not giving up on searching for her? Even...how long did he say?...six months later? 3

Hiei raised a single brow, but didn't open his eyes to view Shikiyoku. "Yours, mainly." he admitted without pause, "though there were a few others. I'm not one for crowds." _Or others, really. _He took in a long breath through his nostrils, easily able to distinguish Shikiyoku's scent now that he'd become more aware of it. It would become handy later, he supposed, if she went on another one of her escapades.

~!**!~

Akari followed through the layers, landing on the sixth and continuing to follow after Youko, realizing that he had no shadow, and no absolute form. She blinked to herself as she ran, and then growled when she realized what he'd done. "How in the _hell _did you manage to do that?" she called after him. _Stupid cheating fox. __*****_

"Hm?" His voice sounded distorted, only floating on half the air from the sixth level, more in the "inbetween place" as he had taken to calling it. Youko glanced back at her over his shoulder, his hair and tail streaming behind him with his pace. He could easily see her form existing on the sixth level.

"Oh. I only do it to confound chasing pups, really." He looked back forward and kept moving.

~!**!~

His response led her to a question she felt she had been searching for since he had caught her falling to the floor, and for the first time in the whole conversation, she felt...anxious about the answer.

Anxious was not quite the right word. Eager? No, too much in the _other _direction.

"Did she..." She shook her head slightly and huffed a grunt as she scooted up onto the bed with only a slight struggle to sit criss-cross.

_Feeding or sleeping, which do you prefer?_

_Find myself._

She scratched at the scar on her right brow, the one that curved down her entire face and stopped only after passing over her lips, and then dropped the hand back into her lap.

"Did I love you?" 3

This time, Hiei's eyes slid open to regard the female on the bed with an expressionless mask. How was _he _supposed to know that answer? _He _hadn't the first inkling of what many called _love_, and thus really held no answer-

Well, except the note she'd had passed along with his belongings, but it hadn't been a direct thing. And, actually…

He shifted about, his hands coming out from behind his head and reaching into a pocket, fishing out the folded up sheet of paper and tossing it over to her, deciding to give no verbal answer.

Because, really, only _she _knew the answer to that.

~!**!~

Akari had to struggle to catch the words that just barely reached her ears, had to struggle to make sense of them for a moment before she ended up huffing at him. _You and Kurama both. _Their odd desire to _taunt _and _mock _her seemed one and the same, no matter _which _one of them it was.

And it was the most _irritating-_

"You're lucky that doing that erases your shadow, otherwise I would have dropped you into a dimension of my own devising and _left _you there for however long I saw fit. No matter whether or not Kurama had a mother to return to." And, quite frankly, she meant every word. _*****_

"Oh?" Youko replied archly, "And you did not first think that perhaps it was the very _reason _why I did so?"

His next words sounded bored, though he was grinning viciously.

"_Do _try to keep up, pup."

~!**!~

She picked the note up from her lap, unsure of his silence at first, and unfolded it, taking note of how well it had been kept.

She struggled at first to concentrate enough that the kanji made sense, her mind resisting the knowledge. Finally the symbols unjumbled themselves.

_With all my love_

_~S_

S. Was that her?

_Me?_

Had she not _told _this demon that she loved him? What would her motivation behind doing so be?

Her eyes looked up and around the room, searching for something, but not finding it.

With purpose, she gathered strength and scooted back until she was against the wall at the top of the bed, breath starting to come more quickly with the effort.

She leaned over and pulled open the drawer of the bedside table, eyes alighting on what she wished to find.

Picking up the pencil, she began copying the words on the front of the note to the back, flipping the sheet back and forth to take note of how the symbols were written with a concentrated expression before using her knee as a desk and writing slowly until she was satisfied with the result.

They looked...the writing looked...very much the same, she decided.

She sat back against the wall and stared down at the note still laying against her leg, pencil held loosely in one hand that had fallen on top of the bed next to her after she finished.

Funny how amidst everything else she had forgotten, she knew what it meant to love. Surprising to consider that she felt most certainly that she could still do so, if given the chance.

_But did I love __**him**__?_

She didn't look up at him, starting to struggle to stay awake.

"Is this-" She lifted the note in her other hand, "Am I 'S'?" 3

Hiei watched almost curiously as Shikiyoku rummaged around, first shifting the way she sat and then rummaging through a drawer, only sitting back when she had a pencil in hand and was scrawling- albeit a bit slowly- on the flipside of the paper he'd given her.

He'd kept it with him because it had held her scent for a while. And, quite frankly, he didn't simply want to _throw it away. _Not when it was a reminder that she'd been alive after the bond had dissipated. It had, in a way, driven him further to hunting her down despite her last words to him.

Or, rather, next to last words to him, though he hadn't caught the _last _thing she'd said.

Nor had he lingered on it.

Shikiyoku pulled him from his thoughts, bringing his calm eyes up to meet hers, followed by surveying the note. He merely nodded once. "Shikiyoku."

~!**!~

"You know, dropping you into the dimension sounds more and more satisfying the more you talk." Akari's words held an underlying growl to them, her irritation peaking as she pushed her legs to go faster, to make a better attempt at keeping up with the demon in hopes that she would figure out how to do what he was currently doing, and then do as she threatened to do.

The mere thought was satisfying.

"You can't stay in there forever." _*****_

Youko almost made a sound meant to reprimand her as he felt her speeding up, keeping himself the same distance from her by simply matching her speed.

"I can stay in here longer than _you_. That will have to do for now." He sounded smug. His travels through the layers had been going on every day since he and his counterpart had become two fully separate consciousnesses and he had become quite proficient at a good many things regarded the transition between them.

They were getting close now.

~!**!~

_Shiki...yoku._

She looked at the 'S' again, lowering her hand to consider the name behind it.

"Shiki...yoku." She tried it. She hadn't particularly thought of herself as anyone. She couldn't remember having a name. He had said this before to her though, yes? Since he had arrived?

Her eyes closed, feeling heavy, and her voice lowered, "Why did you find me?" Her chin started to sink towards her chest as she fell closer to slumber. 3

Hiei's brow raised only slightly before he regained control over his mask. The sound of her repeating her own name was odd, as if she were a child hearing her name for the first time and learning to speak the syllables presented to her.

And, really, he wasn't sure how to answer her question. Why? _Because you're Shikiyoku. Because you were causing trouble. Because I was once your Champion. Because..._

There could have been an entire list had he gone on and on. And really, none of them seemed to suffice for a proper answer. So, he countered her question.

"Why did you stop running?"

~!**!~

"You know, I like the redhead better." She commented when she noted the fox easily matching her speed, keeping the distance between them ever-the-same despite her efforts. She fell quiet, eyes staying trained on the kitsune's blurred visage, taking in the way that despite the inbetween layer he was in, she could still make out the individual strands of hair that were affected by his speed.

She made a sound of amusement to herself as another thought passed, but she dismissed it just as quickly. _*****_

"Well, he likes you too." Youko replied with petulance.

_{Youko.}_

_[Using that warning tone of voice with me does nothing you know.]_

_{I know, but it makes me feel better.}_

Youko did begin to slow, making sure the speed reduction was measured enough that Akari would not be hindered behind.

Night time was almost upon them, the sun fading quickly into twilight over the trees.

He had brought her to a meadow, plain and grassy and wide and unadorned, open and free, and he finally came to a stop once in the midst of it, but remained wrapped between layers, turning to see her approach.

~!**!~

She had not fallen unconscious quite yet, though her eyes were closed and her head nodding a little, but in the middle of the waking and sleeping world, her dreams-her memories-started to drift past her with odd clarity and she became in those moments more like _herself_, more like Shikiyoku, than she had in over a decade.

_Why did you stop running?_

"Because-" She murmured, "-because I wanted you to find me. I stopped running a long time ago, but I had forgotten why. I saw you...today. And that's when I remembered." 3

Hiei wasn't aware of it, but his own expression shifted to a calmer one, an almost… softer one as she began to fall asleep, though continued talking. He became aware of the fact that _this _sounded more like the Shikiyoku he had once known, and her words… they brought about a sort of peace to his core that he hadn't known in a long while.

"Perhaps you should remember _this_, then." His own words were murmured, as if afraid he'd keep her from sleep. "Remember how it feels to remember." He paused, a line coming to mind that he gave no hesitation in speaking. "'Do what you're capable, and leave the rest to me.'"

~!**!~

"Yes, he's told me," Akari replied under her breath as she slowed a bit, frowning when she realized he was slowing but not leaving his in-between state. _But, quite frankly, I'm not sure to what degree. _

_Where on earth did __**that **__come from?_

Akari came to a calm meander when she noticed Youko had stopped in the middle of a field, her eyes looking about the calm area. She'd suspected he wanted to lead her somewhere, but… _here? _

She turned to him with a raised brow of curiosity. While the meadow was peaceful, she wasn't sure what _he _was thinking. _*****_

He only stood long enough to make sure she wasn't going anywhere else, then he plopped down onto the ground without further ceremony, laying on his stomach.

His legs were bent at the knees so that they occasionally kicked idly in the air even as he crossed them at the ankles, and he held himself up with his elbows, one arm firmly on the ground to help prop him up, underneath where his chest was lifted, the other hand reaching out to pluck a stem from nearby before he set the elbow onto the grass and twirled the plant in front of his face.

Once settled, his hair flowed like so much water over his shoulders and down his back, some of it long enough to make rivlets in the grass next to him.

He took a deep breath, staying right where he was between layer five and six.

He wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't drop him in his own shadow if he gave her half a chance.

~!**!~

"As you wish, my Champion." Came her soft reply.

"Hiei." Shikiyoku breathed his name after a moment of silence, a small smile on her lips and full recognition behind the use of it, and she paused before going on to revel in that fact.

"You're a strange demon. Has anyone ever told you that?" 3

Hiei felt his lips give the smallest of twitches before his expression was once again a genuine calm one, riddled only with slight amusement at her words. "Only here and there." he replied calmly, still watching her, recognizing that she was speaking to him as if she remembered _everything _that had happened.

~!**!~

As soon as Youko was comfortable in the grass, Akari gave a small sigh and made to join him, taking to sitting about a foot in front of him and watching the way his slender fingers toyed with the stem in his hand. And his staying between the layers was not lost on her; it even brought an amused smile to her lips. "I'm not going to drop you through your shadow." she admitted with a restrained laugh as she crossed her legs beneath herself and took to looking around the meadow instead of at him. "As tempting as it may be…" _*****_

He gave her a candid look. "You'll have to forgive me if I decide for myself when it is safe. We're not an easily trusting breed."

His gaze lifted with a reserved excitement as the sun finally started to disappear entirely and the whole sky, the whole meadow, seemed to hold its breath.

And when the stars above were just able to be seen, the field around them burst silently into bloom, stems unfolding to reveal that they had been hiding a particular type of flower that uncurled and glowed in the night, a soft bluish-green.

Youko said nothing, the stem in his hand acting like its brethren and unraveling as well, even as he gave it another twirl and then lifted his arm on the ground to rest his face in that hand as he watched it.

~!**!~

"I miss you." Her core ached with the truthfulness of the admission and her smile disappeared, though its effects on her face lingered, leaving behind the echo of its existence by peeling away some of the severity of her expression.

"It seemed like an eternity..." Her voice wandered off only to barely come back "...so much happened." 3

Hiei blinked once at Shikiyoku, his expression never changing and his eyes continuing to follow her movements, as few as they were at this point. "I'm not going anywhere," he stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire planet. "Much can happen to a person in a decade," he said slowly, indirectly inviting her to talk about it, but not saying it was a requirement. He would listen should she speak, and and stay should she not. Either way, he wasn't leaving any time soon.

~!**!~

Akari hadn't been paying _too _much attention to the time of day, or the different blades of grass in the meadow or anything of the sort. She'd simply been sitting, drinking in the fresh air and the serenity of the area when it suddenly burst to life. She gave a start as darkness was thrown away by the soft glow of the flowers that opened up all around her, their color radiant and beautiful. She wasn't aware of it, but her jaw fell open and her eyes widened as she took in the changes going on around her, her eyes turning down when she noticed a flower rather close to her unfurling its petals and tossing its glow up at her.

And for the first time in a very long time- six months, to be exact- she was rendered speechless. And the only thing she found she could do was reach out and run a finger along the petals of the nearby flowers before turning her amazed gaze up at Youko. _*****_

When he'd sensed her distraction, her amazement, Youko relaxed and let his body settle onto the sixth layer, watching her happiness bloom in front of him like the flowers around him he meant for her to witness.

And when she looked at him, he only smiled that same small, mysterious smile that embodied him so perfectly.

_{Well done.}_

~!**!~

"I…" Shikiyoku appeared reluctant when she remembered their parting, felt amusement at how she had taken out her anger on the poor mountain whom she blamed for separating them. "I was lost. I don't know how long." Mentally, physically. Lost.

"You say only ten years? It felt like a hundred. It had to be a thousand. I-"

She remembered first seeking out Renai, to give herself up to his mate, the instigator of the entire situation that had started with her meeting Otento as Toriko so long ago. And instead of submitting, learning how to take on the aspect of pain and render herself useless. And also...the bond...useless.

"I need a Consort." She mumbled more quickly than her previous words, suddenly remembering and feeling her body fall deeper into sleep where she would not be able to talk to him, and not remember him when she awoke. "I...I am...stuck and-"

_Relax. Everything is okay now. Everything will be okay._

She let her body sink a little more.

_One last thing._

Shikiyoku fought the sleep off and licked her lips, parting them for the 'one last thing.'

"Don't forget _**me**_.

"...I love you."

If he answered her, she could not hear it, for after saying as much she fell beyond the waking world into sleep.

And not a blissful one, for her sense of self left her almost instantly and her dreams became haunting once more, nightmares that her body twitched within for she did not understand them.

Her hand clutched at the note he had tossed her.

She was running. And everything was red. 3

Hiei didn't respond to Shikiyoku, because really, he wasn't sure what to say. To _any _of it. He had no idea what a Consort was. And, it was _obvious _he wouldn't forget her. He'd already proven that, hadn't he? And as for…

"_I love you."_

It…

"_Don't forget me…. I love you."_

He..

She'd said that to him then. She hadn't told him to _forget_, she'd told him _not _to forget. And, those words he hadn't made out, those words that she'd tried to say that had come out muddled in his mind, come across weak and insensible, had been words he still didn't know how to respond to.

Luckily for him, she didn't seem to wait for a response. Instead, her mind was consumed with images that made her body twitch, her muscles jerk here and there as she again ran from whatever dreams she had.

His energy swept across the room, expanding enough to envelop the bedroom in warmth as if from a nearby campfire. Harmless, and meant to keep one warm. His Jagan swept across Shikiyoku's mind, presenting nothing but the peaceful blankness his own mind had become.

_Perhaps… _Maybe, helping her rest would be beneficial. Perhaps he could pull her back, just this once. And if not…

He'd figure it out, just as he'd said he would.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes left Youko as insects took flight from the grass and flowers, some full of colors, some too small to know if they even _had _color, and some… blinking with light that mirrored the color of the flowers that had bloomed. Her eyes followed the nearest insect that winked at her with its glow, her mouth finally closing and her lips pulling into a calm, fascinated smile as it hovered before her eyes, then took off and flew over her head.

She'd… never seen anything like this before.

"...thank you," she finally whispered, eyes still following the small insects that continued to rise into the air before falling down to take in the amount of flowers again, appreciating their soft glow. _*****_

He had a dozen speeches prepared, a dozen different ways in which he was going to expound prolifically on how he, how _they_, had planted the meadow nearly eleven months before, how this was the first time it had _ever _bloomed, that she should feel _privileged_ to be among the first to witness the results of his labor, but-

But at being enveloped by her joy which nearly radiated off of her seated form, Youko found himself staring more at _her _then at the beauty of the field around them.

_{It seems the silver-tail has lost his silver-tongue.}_

_[Oh, hush you.]_

_{Well done, indeed.}_

~!**!~

Not all at once, but slowly she felt pulled away from the dreams she didn't understand to a darkness which did not feel quite so unfamiliar. And, a strange thing, the darkness felt warm and comforting, hiding her from the view of the dreams which, the memories which-

"_Hiei." _She curled up in the middle of the darkness and relaxed, ignoring whatever colors or scenes of blurred trees or walls that threatened to pull her back under.

When she would awaken, she knew she would be driven by hunger, a hunger that even in her sleep she could feel growing steadily more powerful, fueled by her fever, by her sickness, in a way she could not control.

For now, though...she would remain blissfully unaware as best she could, drifting among the deeper parts of sleep inside the bubble of calm. 3

Hiei sat back- when he'd hunched forward, he didn't know- and rested his head against the wall again, inspecting the way Shikiyoku's body continued to twitch and move for a few more minutes, every ounce of his energy enveloping the room now without his direct notice. His energy seemed to wrap about Shikiyoku, the Jagan remaining locked on her mind even when his own eyes slid closed.

He wasn't threatened by sleep until he heard the shift in her breathing, heard it turn from short, panicked breaths to deep, calm ones as whatever nightmares she had were lifted.

He didn't know how long it would last, but for now, at least, she would have a reprieve.

And for the first time in eleven months, Hiei himself slipped into a dreamless sleep.

~!**!~

The soft glow in the meadow almost seemed to warm her to her very soul, as if the flowers that had opened up for her eyes to see were speaking words of peace to her. Their color was joyous, a color Akari had always deemed her favorite. So, it was almost impossible for her to turn her eyes away from the flowers and to the golden gaze that reflected the light just a little, to the person whose hair, ears, and even tail seemed to glow the very same color, shining almost _brighter _than the rest.

Normally, by now, she would have said something… snide or… sarcastic, but really, she couldn't find _anything _of the sort to say. So she settled for her thoughts on the location he'd lead her to.

"This is absolutely… beautiful." Her eyes again turned to the flowers near her crossed legs, a hand again reaching out to just _touch_, hardly even _brush _the petals with an index finger. _*****_

Youko still did not say anything, as he felt he might break whatever spell he had accidently woven around the two of them in the meadow that night.

Instead, he made a small gesture towards her, with the hand that held the flower he had plucked, intending for her to take it from him.

He slowly moved until he was seated, mostly still watching her reaction, but now and again gathering a flower into his hand from here or there near him, his movements slow and measured as if picking only certain ones that he thought were the largest or shining the brightest.

~!**!~

When she awoke, she found that she had at some point during her sleep slipped off the wall and lay on her side on her bed, curled up until she was very small.

As she sat up, arms almost shaking with the effort, she heard a small crinkle and her eyes moved to the piece of paper still in hand. Sitting back on her feet, she opened it again, looked at the words again, and then turned the paper over to where she remembered copying those words down. 3

Hiei's ears twitched slightly as movement somewhere near him pulled his mind from the sleeping world out of pure reflex, his mind awake even before the sound of crinkling paper brought his eyelids open to look about the room calmly. He'd _almost _forgotten where he was. _Almost _left as soon as his mind had become aware of movement.

Instead, he'd stayed for reasons that he understood only after waking and his eyes laying sights on the female sitting up on the bed now, eyes down on a paper in her hands. He didn't say anything, merely watched, observing how she reacted to her surroundings and the note in her hand.

~!**!~

Akari caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her gleaming gaze up to the fox again, hand still lightly fiddling with the glower nearest her ankles even as she eyed the flower he extended to her. She felt her smile widen just a touch as she leaned forward and reached for the outstretched offer, her fingers curling around the thornless stem carefully, as if afraid it would break under her touch.

When he didn't retract the offer, she plucked it from Youko's grasp and lifted the flower to her nose, curious of its scent. She took a small whiff of the flower, the scent teasing her nose and the petals reacting as if she'd sniffed harshly at the air about them, curling inward slightly and just brushing her nose. She gave a small sound of amusement and another experimental sniff, finding the scent pleasing, but… indescribable. At least, to her it was as such.

Finally, she looked up at Youko, and her eyes stayed steadily focused on him. "Did, uh, _you _do this?" _*****_

He nodded, paying little attention to how the glow was being reflected by his light-colored clothing, bathing him in a bluish-green light, and also not looking up from his work.

Youko had a good many flowers gathered now, and he had taken to weaving their stems together until their form became most obviously a crown, which when finished he lifted up to inspect for weak points, then leaned over without ceremony and gently crowned Akari with, taking only a moment to see how the flowers lit her copper hair in the darkness before turning back down to the rest of the pile in his lap and beginning again.3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	68. Episode 152 - Moon Flowers, Aversions

****A/N: ****Hello once again, FanFiction Enthusiasts!

Onwards to our chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Youko and Akari continue exchanging banter,  
and after a time he leads her to a meadow.

As darkness falls around them, the moon beginning to rise,  
the flowers of the meadow begin to open up and glow around them.

Akari is speechless for a moment and Youko quietly begins weaving a crown from the flowers,  
placing it upon her head and beginning to make a necklace.

~!**!~

Hiei continues to speak with Shikiyoku, finding that he is able to remind her of certain things,  
trigger responses from her when setting their conversation up to repeat previous ones.

He passes her the note she gave him when she returned his cloak and sword,  
and as she nears slumber it appears that the veil of her disease is lifted and she remembers everything.

Momentarily she struggles against sleep to tell him she needs a Consort,  
but she quickly falls into nightmares as she had before.  
Hiei extends the Jagan into her mind to blanket her with darkness  
in order to let her sleep undisturbed.

Shikiyoku wakes up and seems to remember at least the previous day...

* * *

She could still feel the disease coursing through her, still had a fever that had not gone away with the coming of night, and as she had thought, her hunger had magnified after sleeping.

She'd never been forced to feed twice in one day.

Seems the sickness was moving faster now.

With a concentrated effort, she crawled backwards out of the bed on all fours, getting her feet onto the floor and walking evenly over to where Hiei still sat, thrusting the note out to him but not looking at him.

"You...should probably keep this. I'm likely to forget where I put it." 3

Hiei eyed Shikiyoku as she moved, his keen gaze taking in her gooseflesh here and there, the sweat that just lightly glistened in the darkened room, and the wobble of her muscles every once in a while. He noted that while she seemed to feel… weak, it seemed, she still _knew _who he was despite her earlier dream terrors. So, when she was standing over him, eyes turned away and hand reached out to him, he turned his eyes carefully down to the note she extended to him.

However, he didn't accept it.

He merely sat there, ignoring the offer as if he saw it as nothing more than _just _a sheet of paper.

And he still made no motion to move, to leave. Only watched her with a steady gaze.

~!**!~

Akari felt her lips twitch even more, tilting upwards in a soft smile as she continued to watch the fox demon as he worked on his personal project, which she found was not a surprising one once the circle of glowing buds was placed atop her head. For the second time this night, she realized that she would have normally made a joke here, but found nothing came to mind.

She opened her mouth to make as if to say something, but still nothing came to mind and she ended up slowly clamping her lips together, that same small smile on her lips as she lowered her head to inspect her flower crown from under her lashes.

And for the first time in months, she found she not only enjoyed _where _she was, but _who _was with her.

And that thought had her smile widening and her eyes peering up again to continue watching the kitsune. _*****_

Youko continued to let the silence between them remain, the only sound being a soft rustling as he meticulously wove the other flowers in his lap together. As with the crown, he manipulated the energy within the flowers to better fuse them together, while at the same time encouraging larger blossoms, growing the petals just big enough for there to be a noticeable difference.

This chain of flowers ended up longer than the first and, still refusing to even so much as whisper for fear of breaking the spell the meadow seemed to have woven about them, Youko only picked up the living necklace and held it out towards Akari, quietly asking her permission to place the creation on her person.

~!**!~

She made a sound of impatience and glanced with a huff from her nose in Hiei's direction when he did not immediately relinquish the note she offered from her grasp.

She knew she would forget where it was put should she maintain ownership of it, but perhaps it was too forward of her to think that he would wish to keep it.

Perhaps it meant nothing to him.

_Then why had he kept it in the first place?_

Whatever.

She dropped the arm that held the note to her side, giving him an unreadable look, and then pivoted away, starting to move towards the door, but couldn't quite bring herself to crumple the thing up even as her hand twitched as if to do so, this one little bit of proof that she _had _known this demon, this 'Hiei,' that he wasn't lying about her transformation, the only thing connecting her to all the things she couldn't recall.

What did it matter? She would likely forget about the note's existence anyway.

With only a beat of hesitation at the door to the room, she flicked her wrist back and let go as if she didn't care, tossing the note aside where it fluttered towards the ground near the bed behind her and she immediately continued passing through the doorway into the hall without giving the note a second look or consideration.

She hardly noticed how quickly her breath came as she kept going down the hall and stairs, unable to distinguish anymore as to whether it was from the effort of movement or from the hunger that felt as if it ate away at her insides.

How ironic, she thought, that only by feeding did she feel strong enough to feed.

She stopped once she got several steps away from the stairs, nearly forgetting where she was, how she had gotten there, and what she had meant to do by getting up.

Tired of running. Couldn't remember why she had been running in the first place. And had no idea if she had been running _from _or _to _something. Had she escaped it? Had she found it yet?

A hand went up to her forehead and she rubbed it down her face, feeling as if for the first time the numerous scars there and trying to ignore the discomfort of her hunger.

Oh right.

Food. 3

Hiei's focuzed gaze never left Shikiyoku's form as she first huffed, then left after unceremoniously tossing the note she'd been trying to hand him over her shoulder. Without crumpling it or tearing it, he noted.

Only when she was out of his direct eyesight did he move, finally stretching and leaning away from the wall to gauge his surroundings, searching for any sign that perhaps Maneshi had been _with _the female. And, as he'd suspected, there was no such sign to be seen, smelled, or anything of the sort.

He pushed himself to stand, silently turning and following after the female, leaving the note where it had fallen, despite his inner desire to snatch it up and stuff it in his pocket. He meandered to the top of the stairs, and simply took to looking down on the female whose feet he could _just _see.

Why was she stalling on… whatever she was going to do? _Feed, likely, as it seems she has taken to doing. _That was, honestly, the only way he could describe it, as it had been for Yusuke and, apparently, Jin. _Energy-stealing _simply wasn't… enough.

Without knowing he was going to do so, Hiei's mouth moved and his voice floated down the stairs with a question. "You said you were in need of a Consort. Why?"

~!**!~

Akari watched the meticulous work Youko wove into his new project, the way his hands moved and the way she could feel his energy fluctuating here and there to create larger blooms or, assumedly, weave the flowers together. And, really, it was something she found interesting to watch, because unlike other times when Kurama had done similar things, she was _able _to witness. Not asleep, or not in the middle of a fight.

It was funny how the male seemed able to take something so beautiful such as a flower and turn it into one's cause of death. Sort of...

She made a small sound of amusement as the word _poetic _came to mind, definitely _not _what she'd call it. And only after did she realize Youko was offering the necklace to her, and she quickly recovered and leaned forward, head ducked slightly to allow him to place it around her neck.

And again, she found it funny that such a decoration could likely be a weapon if he so desired. *****

Once he placed the chain around her neck, Youko admired his handiwork, and how the soft light glowed against her skin, and then dipped his head slightly to her and murmured, "Queen among the Moon Flowers."

For once, his eyes held nothing of the wry or mocking expression most associated with the fox as he lifted his head and finally smiled, "May your reign be as everlasting as your beauty."

~!**!~

What was she doing, again?

Hiei's voice drifted towards her ears and they twitched just the slightest bit in catching his question.

"I-" Her gaze shifted anxiously around the room, "I do not remember how to-" No, wait, that wasn't right. _Was it? _"I have forgotten-" She stopped herself there, as it was the simple truth, though she blinked as the words lingered, waiting for addition from her that she did not know with what to follow.

She made a quiet noise of frustration as her hand went up to her face once more, a pang of something resonating across her skull whose meaning she could not place. 3

Hiei frowned slightly now, having expected just a _bit _more of an answer than that. Oh well, what did _he _care anyway? It wasn't _his _job to watch after her anymore anyway. So he stuffed his hands into the pocket of his cloak- the very cloak that still smelled very faintly of how she used to smell- and moved down the stairs one by one almost lazily.

"I suppose it's in your best interest to _remember_," he said in an even tone, almost a bored one as he set foot on the last stair. "Otherwise, why would it strike you as important in the first place?"

Then he turned and headed for the front door, passing by her without glancing at her.

~!**!~

Akari's head lifted when she felt the flowers settle around her neck, seeming to line the thin scarf she wore as if they were _made _with it. She inspected them for only a brief moment before looking to Youko again, a brow raising as his words reminded her of something Juun had said once, though it wasn't as… _nice_ as Youko was being.

After all, she hadn't been very _nice _to the male either.

So his completely contradictory words had her raising a brow and her lips twitching upwards. And she _almost _said the words that sprang to her tongue, _almost _told him that a queen needed a king.

_Stupid._

It was likely what he wanted to hear anyway, and she was _not _giving him that.

So she settled for merely meeting his gaze with that same soft smile on her lips, same relaxed posture that said she'd rather be _here _anyday than _elsewhere. __*****_

_[Well. Now that she's been properly put off her guard, I do believe it's your turn.]_

_{What? Youko, what are you- Wait-}_

"Stop!" Kurama jolted into awareness in the middle of the field of flowers, immediately turning pink when he realized his words rang out in an echo over the hill.

_{I __**will **__kill you.}_

_[I look forward to it, Red.]_

It had taken but an instant for the silver-haired kitsune to switch places with his counterpart, and Kurama flung a string of curse words silently at the fox to which Youko responded with only laughter.

Kurama heaved out a sigh and shook his head, "Sorry about that."

~!**!~

She growled, mind as pitch black and empty as her eyes had become, a burning sensation at the base of her neck and spiking across her scalp starting to spread to cover the rest of her.

His smell as he passed had become too much, his core pumping precious energy through his body that made her nostrils flare, and she reached out to snatch a hold of his arm in a vise-like grip, stepping up to him with her fangs bared in a snarl as tendrils of energy began to snake up from her throat and past her lips. 3

Hiei hadn't pulled away from the grip that suddenly grabbed at him, but he _did _turn to face the person, his eyes narrowed slits and irises burning similarly to the flames he had _almost _instinctively released from the sudden attack.

And the gaze he met was… unsettling. It was a dark, colorless void of… nothing but what could only be described as anger. He'd noticed earlier the color of her eyes, but now he noticed the definitive _lack _of color, and it made his energy spark only slightly before pulling towards himself in preparation, his eyes shifting to the energy he could both _feel _and now _see _moving.

"_I can assure you, you will not live if you go through with that attempt." _His words were spoken both aloud and within her mind, more than a small warning coating his words. "_I am no measly low-level, as you've been consuming." _

And within the next beat, he let the image of his own fire energy tearing through forestry on the ninth level, the Jagan enabling him to give her the view as if she were standing behind him during one of his rampages.

~!**!~

Akari had let her eyelids slide shut for _just _a moment, and in that moment she was startled, giving a small start when a familiar, rather _loud _voice shouted a single word into the silence and effectively shattered it, even startling a few creatures nearby that scurried away to their respective hiding places.

When her eyes were focused on the redhead, whose entire being was now enclosed in the wonderful light of the flowers and moon, she gave a small laugh at his apology, though she only heard the first word. The color thrown onto him reminded her vaguely of the blacklights in a gaming center Yusuke had taken her to, and briefly she was a bit… distracted by the thought.

What had that game been called again? _Laser Tag?_

She dismissed the thought an instant later and waved her hand in front of her face dismissively. "I'd yell too if I was dumped on a random situation." _At least, that's how it seems it happened. _Her eyes turned away from his hair and clothing and took to noting the way the light bounced in his eyes, turning them from their normal emerald color to a lighter shade of… something wonderful. She promptly turned her eyes to look about their surroundings, as if something had grabbed her attention. "Good to see you again. It's been a while.." _*****_

Kurama had a little...trouble shaking the abruptness of Youko's whim, one of the many ways the fox had taken to exercising his strength over his avatar, but behind Kurama's typically serene façade it was nigh impossible to tell how truly irate the words he threw at Youko were.

For Akari, he only smiled, and at looking upon her felt...at least marginally better, his ire sliding away to be shoved down Youko's throat later.

_[I butter her up for you and __**this **__is how you thank me? With silence for her and a tirade of explicits for me? How, please explain, does that make any sense?]_

"It has." Kurama replied easily, ignoring Youko for now, "But I imagine we have both been kept quite busy."

He shifted around and stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his hands to take in not only the blooming moon flowers around them, but also Akari herself, bathed in their light.

~!**!~

It was not his words that brought her up short, for she was past their comprehension, and neither was it his pictures, for her mind was too far gone to understand what he attempted to show the dark miasma of nothingness which her thoughts had become...

Instead, as she did not hesitate to draw herself up almost against him, it was something else entirely.

A smell.

And not the one of his energy, which filled her with single-minded purpose: to _consume_.

Her lips drew slightly over her teeth as her mouth closed a little, and for the briefest of instances she winced, dropping his arm as if he had in fact burned her, the tiniest bit of green coloring her eyes before it became lost once more in the abyss of her hunger.

But she looked at him with an understanding she had not had before, even as she retreated a step or two, hunched as if he'd struck her.

And then she was gone, tearing herself an opening into the place between the layers and pulling it closed after her and dashing off, the quickness of her steps ripping from her nostrils the faintest recognition of what she had once known to be cloves and cinnamon.

Her entire existence tunneled into seeking out the nearest source of energy, demonic energy, and not that of the one she intended to leave unscathed behind. 3

The continued advancement in the steps of the woman had Hiei preparing for a counter, if there was one, and even preparing to blur through the layers if he had to. Several other routes had mapped themselves out for him in his mind, but it seemed that they were not necessary.

Shikiyoku's pause had even Hiei pausing, his narrowed eyes glaring down threateningly at the female that stood up against him now. Once, she'd done this with a different purpose, to back him into a corner and… well, he wasn't sure about that either. Likely for her own entertainment at the time.

But now, there was no banter, no underlying amusement.

And he noticed the change in her eyes, no matter how brief it had been, before she stepped away and simply disappeared from his eyesight.

It took a while after that for him to actually relax, his muscles staying taut for a few minutes before suddenly releasing their tension. Andinstea of chasing her as he had been doing for a while, he simply stayed where he was, basking in the silence of the room and the emptiness of the house.

~!**!~

A small hum of affirmation resonated behind Akari's lips in response to Kurama's words, the sound never leaving her mouth in a word or anything else. She shifted slightly, moving her legs closer to her body and crossing them tighter underneath herself, taking to placing a single elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand. She took in a deep breath of her surroundings, her eyelids sliding shut as the scent of the flowers around her tickled her nose, accompanied with the scent of Kurama's rosy scent as well.

And for once, the silence wasn't one of tension, as had become the norma for her. Her silence was not one that meant she was picking and choosing words, rifling through commands to give others and tip-toeing around annoyances.

She was comfortable. Relaxed.

Happy. _*****_

Kurama contented himself with gazing up at the dark sky, able to make out the stars scattered across the heavens above them.

He, for one, certainly had nothing on his side of things particularly interesting to share. He had opted out of attending college, instead having his stepfather hire him, and the mundane ins and outs of everyday human life would certainly hold no appeal to someone of whom he and Youko had heard rumors about her line of work.

_[Well, maybe I __**should **__have stayed out there. I could have impressed her with tales of my-]_

_{Youko?}_

_[Mm?]_

_{Shut up.}_

~!**!~

_He did not follow._

He would not see then, the dark shadow he did not chase slipping into existence nearly halfway around the world in the middle of a rough and rowdy demon bar, one of countless that had popped up on the first layer, meant to be a safe haven for their kind.

He would not have to watch as a drunk demon made a pass at her that she allowed, the lowlighting of the establishment swathing her and her presence in enough darkness that the poor demon did not know what he was in for when she flitted between bodies with the demon behind her giving chase until he had her backed into a corner, leaning over her as he slid his hands to her hips.

The demon only knew something was wrong when she touched him. The rough skin of the hands which she locked upon either side of his cheeks were meant to draw his mouth close enough that when she opened her own, the tendrils of energy Hiei had seen, but which those of this layer could not so much as sense, snaked out and down his throat.

If he struggled, she did not see nor did she care as she began murmuring the words to the spell that led to more of her energy released off her body to weave around the room.

The demon in her grasp slid to the floor when she released him, and all around the bar others began collapsing in a similar manner.

There was one demon sitting at the bar however, who merely waved a hand at the advancing sinews as if brushing away an annoying fly, taking another drink from his mug and frowning, lifting the same hand to bat at the energy which was not deterred.

This time, the energy appeared to make a little lunge and wrap itself about his wrist as he lowered it back down.

He regarded it with a raised eyebrow when his hand rested on the counter.

There was something very...familiar about it.

He let his eyes scan the rest of the establishment, now not only feeling but also seeing the bodies as they dropped to the floor, and spying the dark figure that appeared to be drawing the energy from their bodies and absorbing it.

He had known only one vampire-demon in his time, but to have another emerge from whatever pit they were spawned in now, at a time when the world was the most vulnerable-

Wait, shouldn't this one be stuck on whatever layer they-

Wow, whoever that is has the energy capacity of-

The dark-haired fire demon stumbled to his feet, mug in hand, and started staggering over to the figure, shaking off the energy around his wrist.

This power...it _could _be her, but it was twisted, a darkened shadow of what it had once been.

Her face was lost in the corner, her black eyes giving off no glint in the light as she raised them to consider the demon coming towards her, stepping over and sometimes tripping on the bodies of the fallen.

Here is one that would surely keep her satisfied for at least a week.

She slunk forward.

"There'sh no ush trying to be shneaky about it." Uryo waved his mug around before remembering it was in his hand and stopping to take a drink.

Behind him, her energy had finished with the rest of the room and now turned like eager attack-dogs to begin ribboning their way for the last demon standing.

Uryo's eyes softened as he looked at her, saw her and what she had become. He smiled.

"Sh'o, you felt like it had come to that, huh? And what did your Champion have to shay about it...hic?" Uryo frowned, "I guessh he'sh not your Champion anymore now ish he."

She was almost up to him now, surrounding him with her power as she stalked towards him.

"What did Renai call it? A Conshort?" Uryo looked down at her tiny frame as she approached, "You got one of doesh yet? I guessh not by the looksh of thingsh."

When she came to a stop looking up at him, Uryo dropped down to a squat, effectively bringing himself to her level so that he could peer into her eyes.

She opened her mouth slightly and he watched as tendrils of energy emerged from within and began moving towards his face as she closed the last bit of distance between them.

He shifted his weight a little, a bit of hair coming loose from the ponytail he still wore it in, but he did not look away from her, noting appreciatively the scars on her face, able somewhere in the back of his mind to analyze the type of strike, the direction, the weapon used...she had seen much since they last saw one another. She was staring directly into his crimson eyes, and he found that he did not want to look away. Let her read his soul. See what she thought of anything she found there.

She flinched as if startled by the black hair that swung down to the side of his face, her mouth starting to close as her eyes widened and recognition dawned inside her darkened mind.

_That smell..._

And she was gone, pulling the layers over herself like so many blankets and disappearing into them, leaving Uryo behind, still squatting and staring at the place she had just been.

Uryo felt a slight warmth come upon the inside of his arm and as he twisted it to look, he caught the last of what had been shafts of yellow light disappearing and leaving behind a symbol that left him staring at it for a long while.

It was, quite simply, a heart. 3

~!**!~

Akari sat still for a while, eyes closed and nose drinking in the scent around her, ears listening to every little sound in the area. The quiet was so welcoming, so calm and so blissful. Despite this, though, her mind ended up wandering, distracted by earlier thoughts of Juun, the complete idiot who was currently running loose on the fourth layer, likely at section E and-

She took in another deep breath of the night air. _Nothing I can't fix later. _

"The answer, in case you're wondering," Akari suddenly spoke, words muffled from the pressure her hand had on her cheek, "is no." It had been the most random of thought, but really, it was something that had cropped up with her thoughts of what others called _work_. The marks on her skin was often the first thing a demon saw, and while in the past she had been _afraid _of that, now she realized it gave her a sort of… _power_ over the other. She wasn't challenged very often, wasn't rebutted by a demon with the desire to be in charge. It wasn't something she understood really, but it was an advantage, and well…

She used her energy enough to traverse from the layers to the portal dimensions that she didn't think that, should a challenger arise, she'd be able to do anything more than what she'd threatened Youko with earlier: dropping them in their shadow.

And _that _took more energy than _traversing herself _through the dimensions, and even _more _so to _keep _one there.

She'd learned _that _the hard way. _Trial and error, right? __*****_

Lost in an argument with Youko, it definitely took longer than it should have for Kurama to both hear and understand what Akari had said.

"Is that so?" He finally quipped, "Well, I'm glad to hear you've finally reached a decision. Any final thoughts you wish to share on the matter?"

~!**!~

She shivered, but she didn't know why.

The bustle of the city around her did nothing for how alone she felt, but it was not the first time that denizens of the First Layer hardly gave her more than a glance as she walked along, hands clasped to her arms across her chest.

She coughed, stopping in place and having a human bump shoulders with her, giving little more than a murmured apology.

It was almost as if they couldn't see her. Well, they could. After that first bump, no others did so. But they could not see her scars for certain, their minds too preoccupied, too caught up in other matters, and frankly too weak to give her much notice.

And so it was with the same amount of indifference that they passed the collapsed form on the one side of the walkway, their minds placing a rock or a shoe where there was in fact a living being unable to stand back up.

There was one who could see her, but at first, with her bundles in her arms, she almost passed the body by.

Struck with a compassion that was as much her as any other portion of her personality, the teal-haired Koorime gave a little gasp and hurried over, setting her groceries and packages to the side before coming to her knees, her crimson eyes growing wide when she realized how many marks were upon this demon, but her eyes softening when she just as quickly came to find that the scars were all old.

_Warm. Fever. Chills._

She wasn't versed very well in the diseases that could ravage a demon, her healing usually restricted to wounds, but the gentle girl did put a hand to the over-hot cheek that trembled at her touch, her hand beginning to glow.

"Can you tell me your name?" Yukina wanted to know, seeing this demon's eyes flickering behind not-quite-closed lids. "Or where you come from?"

The demon under her healing shifted, eyes coming more open to stare blearily up at her.

All this demon saw were large, crimson eyes, eyes she had seen twice already this day.

Chills shivered down the demon's skin as she felt the hunger starting to come back. With her lips parted in a pant, little tendrils of energy started creeping out her mouth without her notice.

Yukina leaned further down, expecting the demon to speak through the parted lips and hoping to catch a word.

Her hair fell over her shoulder and the demon's mouth snapped shut, eyes squeezing closed in an effort to resist.

_That smell..._

Would she be unable to escape it today?

She heaved herself up, startling Yukina who scooted back to give her room.

"You are far from home, Ice Maiden." She spoke through chattering teeth, swallowing more energy that threatened to fulfill her need whether she meant it to or not.

Yukina's eyes crinkled a little at the edges with her smile as she looked into the darkened green gaze of the demon before her and shook her head a little, "I _am _home." 3

~!**!~

Hazel eyes were revealed as eyelids slid open lazily, the light reflecting in them glinting as Akari turned to look at Kurama. She'd delved into thoughts as soon as she'd been finished speaking, and even actually _forgotten _she'd spoken up until he'd asked for any comments.

At which point, she had to think back and recall what she'd said.

_Oh, right._

She shrugged at him nonchalantly, giving a lopsided smile of mischief as she sat up straight again, hands tugging at the scarf that had begun to make the back of her neck itch. "You're a pain in multiple ways, but thanks." she said as her hand unwound the scarf from around her neck and pulled it away from her shoulders, letting it drop into her lap before going to scratch at the itch the fabric had left behind. "Though, that's all I can come up with." _*****_

Kurama let out a light chuckle, but moved his gaze from Akari back to the sky.

_[You saw it, right?]_

_{Saw what?}_

_[...there's no point in trying to fool __**me, **__Red.]_

Youko had easily seen through Kurama's eyes the numbered tattoo near Akari's neck.

_{And what does it matter?}_

_[You aren't going to say anything about it?]_

_{She has spoken volumes without mentioning it simply by allowing me to see it, and quite possibly by revealing it to others, and you wish me to comment on it?}_

_[...]_

_[You're not as thick as I like to think, Red.]_

_{I'll ignore the insulting portion of that compliment.}_

_[Do that.]_

~!**!~

"But more importantly," Yukina stood up and started to help the other demon rise, "Where is _your_ home?"

The demon stood up, but froze in place as Yukina began to put one of the other's weak arm over her strong shoulders.

"I- It- You should stay away from me." The demon pulled back from the contact as if burned.

"Is it contagious?" Yukina asked mildly.

"Do you need some help, ma'am?" A human paused and gestured to the bags which had been set aside.

"Yes, please!" Yukina replied warmly and the human started to gather her things.

"Very." The demon interjected, wishing for nothing more than to be left alone, "By contact alone you could-"

"You're not a very good liar." Yukina informed the demon, once again gently-this time more firmly-pulling one of the other's arms over her shoulders to help support the weakened limbs.

The demon had not the strength to complain other than to make unintelligible noises of protest which Yukina very calmly ignored.

Deciding that Keiko would not mind the extra company, Yukina continued along the way she had been going, the human falling in step beside her and striking up a conversation that kept the Koorime's attention averted as the demon's eyes beside her began to darken.

Trying to fight it off, the demon desperately took a smell of the air, hoping to catch some more of that scent which she knew had earlier prevented other, stronger demons from being fed upon, but this time there were no familiar spices filling up her nose, only energy, and demonic energy at that.

The demon stumbled and drew Yukina's attention away from the pleasant human next to her, stopping as the demon bent over as if in pain.

"What's wrong?" She asked hurriedly, suddenly aware of some mist or another that was coming out the demon's mouth. Was this part of the affliction?

_No! No, please! Go away!_

Without the demon able to walk beside her, Yukina stopped and let the demon down to lean up against a building, bending over her and looking strangely at the mist which she did not notice breathing in herself until her body stiffened and her eyes lost focus, a panic instantly settling over Yukina's mind when she found her body would not respond to anything she told it to do.

_Please...please...no...someone... _Behind the black pools of hunger, the demon struggled against the energy that had started to enter her body, and instead of sucking it all away at once like she might have if she had not fed mere hours ago, she attempted to shove it away, to keep it out, only slowing the process to a crawl and finding no way to stop it. 3

Hiei stood in the kitchen of the house he'd stayed in, spoon in one hand and tub of sweet snow in the other, something he'd stumbled upon mere minutes ago and simply _delved _into. It wasn't as.. _yummy _as the Strawberry one he'd loved, but it… would suffice, he supposed. It was better than nothing, when he had actually felt a _craving _for something like this.

It was awfully plain. Probably what he imagined the Strawberry sweet snow to be like _without _the strawberries. Perhaps that was exactly what this was. He wasn't sure, but he slid the spoon in his mouth again anyway and leaned back against the counter, eyes not focusing on anything in particular and mind not really thinking about anything _specific_.

Not at first, anyway.

Sometime during his fourth spoonful, his mind turned to his sister, though at first he didn't really understand why. He'd kept tabs on here here and there, even been caught by her once or twice, but otherwise he'd been… preoccupied. So why was she sneaking into his thoughts now?

_Perhaps I'll check in._

He had time. Loads of it, now that he knew for sure who was behind the energy stealings. Now that he'd also found Shikiyoku, it didn't matter what he did. He could find Shikiyoku anytime he wished.

Again, Yukina came to mind, and this time with a sort of warning in the back of his mind.

He pause, spoon just touching his bottom lip as the Jagan slid open and began the routine search for the energies around the layer.

And when he found her energy, he also found a small spark, as if she were reaching out to him, _begging _or his attention.

Without further ado, without further inspection, he slid the open tub into the freezer, dropped the spoon on the counter, and moved through the house and down the street at a speed much too great for a human to catch. Not even a breeze.

He arrived to the scene, Yukina crouching in front of a darkened figure he knew well now, and his Jagan invaded the mind of Shikiyoku, his hands grabbing for her and pulling her from the ground.

"_You will cease." _His words were forceful, the Jagan avidly shoving his energy in front of Yukina's and into Shikiyoku's mind, without his consent throwing random images of the Shikiyoku he once knew into her mind's eye, one after another after another. "_You are __**this **__person. You are Shikiyoku."_

~!**!~

There had been words after the sentence she'd said about Kurama that she hadn't been willing to say aloud. _You're a pain in multiple ways, but thanks… Thanks for being the pain in my side that pushed me onward. Thanks for being there when it was too much. You don't know it yet, but you were there. _

She could have gone on and on with those thoughts, but instead she simply let them trail off into a calm nothingness, her eyes training on the redhead and her lopsided grin lessening to a soft smile. She opened her mouth to repeat two words that had often been silently given to the fox and not actually said aloud, but her voice… just wouldn't do her bidding.

Her hand fell to her lap to toy with the scarf, eyes following the motion to look at the blue cloth that had gone with the white shirt she'd chosen for the day.

"You know, I often nitpicked at you," she grumbled, her voice finally coming to fruition and forming words. "I knew it was a childish thing to do.." She let her words trail away, fingers toying with the ends of the scarf in her lap out of habit. "Thank you, for being patient with me." she finally voiced, though it… wasn't anything _near _what she had prepared herself to say over the past few months.

But, it would suffice, for now. _*****_

_[Do you hear __**that**__, Red? She never murmured such sweet nothings to __**me.**__]_

_{My ears are in good working order as you well know, silver-tail.} _

Leaving it at that, Kurama slowly lowered himself down to the ground as Akari finished, putting his arms behind his head to prop himself up from the soft bed of flowers.

"Well," Kurama began, "I can't let you off easy and say you weren't _trying _at times."

His lips did not so much as twitch, and he intentionally started to close his eyes as he felt that _there_, if nowhere else, is where one would see the glint of a tease.

~!**!~

Yukina suddenly came back into herself with a gasp as if for air, and not seeing the demon before her, whipped her head around to find that it was in fact Hiei who had intervened.

The intensity of his gaze had Yukina remaining quiet, though she desperately wanted to intercede on behalf of this broken demon she had only just met, but she did stand up, eyes trained on the pair quietly, searching for any change in either.

The darkness of the other demon's mind erupted into flashing images put upon the sick demon by an outside force, and she too made a gulp for air when parted from Yukina, the spell that had been pulling the Koorime's energy from her body interrupted.

Her eyes, which had shut sometime while she fought against feeding, flew open, greener than they had been upon first seeing Hiei, but still dull and woven with darkness.

His crimson eyes pierced through her, appearing even in this heated moment so much like the others of the day that she was struck dumb underneath both his gaze and the shining remembrances of what he claimed was her former self.

It took another moment for her to gather herself under his constant pummeling of her thoughts, and when she did so, she jerked her hands from his as soon as she was aware of his touch, lowering her head as if ashamed as she crossed her arms underneath her chest to hide her fingers beneath them.

First that Ice Maiden, now him. Such contact felt strange and foreign to her, contact initiated by another of their own volition.

She shuddered.

She did not raise her head to look over at Yukina, who had by this time taken a step closer, compassion still in her eyes for the other, but she in return took another step away, letting her head shake back and forth once.

"You- I said stay away." She said hurriedly, hoping to dissuade the girl from coming closer. "You should listen next time." 3

Hiei followed Shikiyoku's step backward with his own step towards her, a little longer than hers and bringing himself closer to her, red eyes still searching her face for the eyes he'd seen a minute ago, though his mind was completely consumed with the images that the Jagan continued to filter through their telepathic connection.

"She wouldn't have to _stay away _if you controlled yourself." He spoke in a low tone, voice meant only for her to hear as his Jagan suddenly decided that there was a single image he needed to focus on, a single image that he'd ignored three times already and passed along to another.

And suddenly he felt as if he was reliving it. Bright lights lit up the tiled floors, reflecting around the room and bouncing from the various types of jewelry the women wore, the decorations on the men's suits flashing occasionally with each turn they made with their partners.

The sounds in the room were that of heels clicking on the tiled floor, of dresses swishing against skin and other outfits, of music floating through the room and of quiet chatter between dancers.

And the warmth Hiei felt was not of his own, but of another's hand within his, of another being very close to him. And he too was moving in circles, moving in steps that he hadn't learned before this day, before he'd been forced to pluck them from from the very mind of the person he was looking down on again.

Except instead of in the darkened streets of the First Layer, they were in a ballroom, and Shikiyoku wore jewelry that glittered even more than the jewelry of any other in the room.

At least, that's how it felt to him.

And he was wearing the most ridiculous outfit that had a cloak that swished with his movements, brushing his ankles and making a small sound to fill the silence between himself and the female who moved with him.

And he'd never thought he would have missed this.

~!**!~

AKari huffed at Kurama, eyes quickly shifting from the scarf in her hands to give a glare to the redhead. _I was trying to be nice, you jackass. What, you want a kiss on the cheek and sparkling eyes and a heartfelt "thank you, prince charming!"? _

Her thoughts stayed stuck there and she gave a small sigh. "You're infuriating," she stated, tone betraying nothing of the thoughts she had and instead staying calm and even. _Maybe I should…_

_Forget it. _

She couldn't be mad. Why? Because she still, despite the irritation he seemed to provoke here and there, was _Kurama_, meaning that while he taunted and made attempts at getting a rise from her, he was still… there when needed, whether the person receiving his kindness knew it or not.

_Stupid fox._

She felt her gaze turn soft again as she stared at the male, whose feet were extended towards her. His eyes were closed, though she could just imagine the color behind the lids. The very color that had gleamed at her in amusement, glared at her in irritation, and even flashed at her when he'd had enough.

_Prince Charming, my ass._

She sighed to herself and shifted her weight until she was crawling on her hands and knees, moving until she was beside the male and lowering herself about a foot away from him, laying on her back and her eyes on the sky.

"You're _so _much better than Juun." she remarked with a smile of mischief to the stars overhead. _*****_

"Juun?" Kurama murmured good-naturedly, opening his eyes again to look at the stars, though they were still mischievously regarding the heavens above, "I would ask if I am supposed to be jealous, but you _did _just say I am 'so much better than' him."

_[Cheeky.]_

_{You're one to talk.}_

_[I thought you were ignoring me?]_

_{I am.}_

~!**!~

Memories started to stir at Hiei's words.

She _had _been able to control it.

There _hadn't _been anything to control.

This hunger.

It was new. It came with this...this sickness that fogged her mind, that plunged her into darkness where no light could penetrate and were she could become lost as if-

When she opened her eyes, it was to bright lights of hanging chandeliers high above her head, moments later music filling in the silence, and even though she knew for a fact she was standing, nearly broken, on a sidewalk with a fire demon who had gotten much too close for her comfort, she was instead _here_, doing something strange with her feet as if she had been born with the ability instead of unable to even recall the word.

She could feel the fabric hugging her skin, the skirts as they rustled around her legs, and suddenly she found she was very much _not _alone, for there were other bodies, all around her, doing the same thing as she. And for that matter, she realized, she was in the arms-even closer than he stood to her on the sidewalk-of this demon who had so bluntly called her 'lover' within minutes of meeting her for what she thought to be the first time outside of her dreams.

"_What...what __**is **__this?" _Her wonderment could no longer be contained, even as her eyes came to rest from the demons around her to the demon holding her, guiding her smoothly across the tiled floor. 3

Hiei's red eyes stayed trained on the female in his grasp, his entire being aware of their extremely close proximity as if he were in the moment for the very first time. Everything was just as he remembered it, but for once there wasn't the dread he'd felt, the duty and the drive to get away plaguing his mind. Now, there was no danger.

"_This is where we were a year ago. Dancing." _He didn't admit that he hadn't known at the time, because if it worked right, she'd _remember_ that part. "_The Ninth Level's Queen Rae had us escorted, and we were forced _here_, escorted by her own army from the Niiro Kaga."_

He gave her a small spin that he hadn't remembered giving her before pulling her back, .his next words calm and matter-of-fact. "_I hate ballrooms."_

~!**!~

"Mmmm, well," Akari began with a small hum and the widening of her smile. "He _does _have his strong points. His stubbornness, his drive, his motivation." She paused, letting her eyelids slide closed. _The only problem is that he's __**driven, motivated, **__and __**stubborn **__when it is in his _best _interest to be as such. Which… _This game was no fun.

"Let's just say that he's lucky Youko decided to accept my request, because he'd be dead tomorrow if you two hadn't shown up." She rolled to her side, propping her elbow on the grass and cheek in the palm of her hand. "So, you know how _my _past few months have been. Tell me about _yours._ Youko was boring on that subject." _*****_

_[Sounds a lot like someone __**else **__we know.]_

_{I cannot disagree with that sentiment.}_

Kurama shifted his head over that he might look at her when she moved, "Was he?" He replied evasively, "Well, I cannot imagine my comings and goings will be more interesting than _his_." He smiled at her, "I have been living a mostly human life myself, much to my counterpart's chagrin."

_[Now that isn't __**exactly **__true.]_

~!**!~

Her eyes, accustomed to hiding all her thoughts behind their dull curtains, for once betrayed her, revealing within them that same sense of wonderment that had overcome her and driven her to speak.

The room twirled gently around her before she found herself back in his frame, mind continuing to spin even though she had stopped.

"_Did __**I **__hate...ballrooms?"_ 3

Hiei gave a small raise of his brows. "_Not that I knew of." _he replied calmly. "_There were certain aspects of this you hated, such as Rae. However, I believe you enjoyed this part of it all." _He thought back, remembering her words of politics and the parts she'd said she enjoyed. He'd understood, and quite frankly, cared for none of it.

Not the way she did.

"_It was made more for you than someone like myself."_

~!**!~

"You're being…." Akari puffed her cheeks at Kurama, unable to come up with a word for it. It was _right there_, the word she wanted. So she skipped it and went on. "How's your mother and her husband? You're working now, so tell me about your job." She stopped there, deciding to give him a chance to answer at least _one _of those questions.

"Plus, your _mundane _life, as you put it, is more interesting than hunting down _shiny objects. _Remember, I'm a demon with not much knowledge of the _mundane." __*****_

_[Hey!]_

Kurama smiled and turned his own body to face her, propping his head up with his hand as he sat his torso off the ground a bit.

"Well. Which _thrilling _activity would you care to hear about first? Filing papers? Making copies? Using a stapler?" He said them with such fervent excitement that inside his mind, Youko had gotten over his initial bruised ego to laugh whole-heartedly at the turn the conversation had taken.

_[Trust me, pup. These things are __**nothing **__you're going to want to know about.]_

~!**!~

She shook her head.

"_That cannot be true. Or else this would not have been as easy as you make it seem." _Her eyes flickered to the demons around them who paid them little attention, for they blended in among them as if they belonged, "_One cannot so simply adapt to a challenge they were not, in some capacity, 'meant for.'"_ 3

"_I have my resources," _Hiei replied easily, "_I have had no experience in __**this**_ _before or since." _He turned her again, his eyes turning up to the chandeliers over their heads. The lights refracted from the crystals and were almost too bright for his eyes, so he turned down to her again.

"_I imagine if we hadn't been tossed here, you would have enjoyed yourself."_

~!**!~

Akari felt a wide smile color her features at Kurama's sudden shift, her eyes sparkling with amusement. She thought for a moment before her smile widened. "What about the _signatures_?" She made a small sound before she raised a curious brow. "What _kind _of work is it? Paperwork, I mean. What kind of business is it?" _*****_

"It's the most _enthralling _kind of business," Kurama went on, pausing a little for dramatic effect, "Because the paperwork...is about paperwork."

Youko howled with laughter.

"My step-father runs a supply office." Kurama further specified, "Only the most exciting work to keep the fox preoccupied."

~!**!~

She frowned for a moment, as if struck by something incorrect in his words.

"_That's...that's strange." _She looked up at him pointedly, face neutral, "_Because...because I think she enjoyed it anyway." _Her gaze dropped, "_Because...she was with __**you**__." _3

Hiei felt his brow raise higher on his forehead, almost hiding under the hair that occasionally blocked his view of the surroundings _above_ him. He needed to get it trimmed, he realized, but it was a brief thought. After the brief distraction he realized she meant that _she _herself had enjoyed this.

_She's remembering on her own. _

"_You mean __**you**_ _were with me." _he corrected, pulling back a bit before he decided one last turn was in order, the visage fading as she spun and being replaced with the actual surroundings where they'd been standing.

And as if he'd turned her again, he pulled her towards himself as if they were still within the ballroom, aside from the next steps that would normally be required.

~!**!~

Akari's brows raised high into her bangs, hiding for a moment before they furrowed, drawing lines of confusion. "Paperwork… about _paperwork?" _That made no sense to her. Why would one have to sign papers about signing papers?

Chain of command, perhaps?

_I guess it would make sense. _*****

Kurama gently reached over and took Akari's chin in his hand, shifting her face back and forth a little as if to further examine her expression.

"You're remarkably adorable when you don't understand what's going on."

~!**!~

Her eyes had squeezed shut at his words, her eyebrows coming together tightly over her nose.

"_It's...very hard to think of it that way, but..." _After a moment longer of resistance, she gave in, "_Yes. ...I...enjoyed it...anyway."_

Upon admitting it, she felt the tightness across her forehead slink away and she opened her eyes, finding that she no longer stood shivering by herself, instead feeling how warm the fire demon was because...well because they were rather close.

She stiffened, eyes riddled with confusion as she sat there, unable to even make enough sense of the moment to pull away as she desperately wished to.

She did, however, release a noise that mirrored her expression from her nose, a huff of air with no other sound behind it.

Without the lights and the bright room around her, the gestured seemed odd. Out of place.

"_What is the meaning of-...why do you do this?" _The terseness in her voice aptly communicated how uncomfortable she felt. 3

Hiei stared down at Shikiyoku calmly, despite her confused stare and question. He contemplated her question and the various ways to answer before he felt his brows settle into place and his expression turn to a calm, albeit a bit of an amused one.

"_What does this mean, woman?" _He moved his arms just a bit, to gesture to the closeness of their beings.

~!**!~

Akari pursed her lips at Kurama, blinking only once when he had grabbed hold of her chin and not resisting when he turned her head this way and that. Her arm kept her propped up, half of her torso lifted from the ground as her elbow dug into the grass and soil. And at his words, she gave a small smile and met his gaze.

"Same to you," she said teasingly with a grin, poking fun at his obvious knowledge of everything going on. "_Quite_ adorable." _*****_

He let go with a small smile, his hand lowering to the space between them, "You must remind me to look in the mirror the next time I appear to be confused. It happens so rarely afterall, I myself have forgotten the feeling, much _less _what I look like."

_[Lies. All lies. You're a terrible liar.]_

_{What I wouldn't give to land one solid punch on that self-righteous face of yours.}_

_[Wouldn't that be a little strange? A bit like punishing yourself or something?]_

_{You're going to haunt me forever, aren't you.}_

_[To the very end of your days.]_

~!**!~

She huffed again, aggravated that he had only answered her question by asking her the same thing, in so many words, and she took to glaring at him as he had not yet let her go.

Her teeth clenched together and her answer came back snipped, "_I don't __**know**__." _Otherwise, why would she bother asking? She continued with just as much heat to her response, "_It is many things..." _She blinked, ire melting with words she found bubbling up from somewhere, "_...for me." _Another blink, and then one of her eyes shut as if a headache had just sprung up behind it, the rest of her face pulling together. 3

Hiei felt the satisfaction begin to rise, but did not allow it to show in his eyes nor his features as he stared down at Shikiyoku, who flinched after a minute. His expression shifted to a neutral one as he waited, expectant eyes looking down onto her and not even blinking as she stayed quiet for a moment.

If she continued, then he will have achieved more than he'd thought he would. If she didn't, then…. He'd find something else. He could always _show _her, if he needed to.

~!**!~

"Maybe I'll take to carrying a camera, just in case." Akari leaned closer to him, amused eyes never breaking from his stare. "After all, a picture _does _last longer, and I'd rather enjoy seeing you befuddled for once, sir know-it-all."

Her lips pressed together for a moment as she eyed him, a sudden urge keeping her within the space she'd leaned into. She eyed him carefully before giving a smile rather similar to one Youko had flashed earlier and leaning away, rolling again onto her back and closing her eyes. _*****_

_[Oo, she __**is **__good.]_

Kurama almost released an imperceptible sigh.

_[You know, I think I could come to like her myself, Red. She's a fast learner.]_

_{You're absolutely unbearable.}_

_[It's why you love me.]_

"So, if this is your first holiday, you haven't really had a chance to enjoy the changes the merge has brought about, have you?"

~!**!~

She fought against...something, and whether she was fighting to get in or struggling to get out, she could not tell, but her other eye slid shut and she sat there for a moment, taking the time to actually relax, to release the hindrances of the sickness that constantly badgered her person.

They were still there, but she...accepted them for the moment, moved beyond them and found-

A memory.

It was incomplete. Broken and playing through her mind as only bits and disjointed pieces of recorded events.

_My touch is...my fondness...my affection._

Who had said such strange things?

She felt her heart sinking strangely, her stomach rising up to meet it.

_...__**cannot**_ _be anything other than these things...for I cannot kill another._

As if defeated, she felt herself sag.

She was no longer this person, these faded memories. How could she be? She could not count how many lives had at this point been taken for she could not even remember their faces or how it had happened.

Her touch...was not these things.

Her touch was used for-

She slowly started attempting to extricate herself from this fire demon before her, and she felt very...lost. 3

Hiei kept his hold on Shikiyoku, not allowing her to escape from him just yet, though he was not rough about it. He simply kept her there, calm eyes pointed down to her in curiosity. "_The only thing that's changed is that you now can fight. That does not mean you are no longer capable of those gestures. It's why you cut the bond; I was your fighter."_

He paused, head tilting only a bit. Odd how that sounded, going along with something someone else had said about him being the fighter and her the lover.

What had that demon's name been again?

It wasn't important at the moment.

"_You are still Shikiyoku. Just… a little different." People change. _He hadn't ever believed in that before he'd met the detective, but… "_Changes happen. If you deny those changes, you deny yourself." _

~!**!~

"M-mm." Akari hummed out a negatory, as she often did with Nabu. She took in a deep breath of the night air and stretched her torso just a bit, earning a nice pop from her shoulder and the feeling of the tension in her muscles being flexed until it dissipated. She could almost fall asleep, if she were even remotely tired.

Perhaps it was because she usually wasn't home until late.

_Nabu can wait. Or entertain himself. It doesn't matter._

"Why? What's on your mind?" _*****_

"It would...take much too long _now_, but there are many wonderful things the union has done to the world, if you pause and look around." His eyes lifted to look beyond her, over the sea of glowing flowers, "And if not for Youko, I myself would be much too busy to see them, but-" He raised and lowered one shoulder in a shrug, "We have an advantage, after all, that few other denizens of this new world do."3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	69. Episode 153 -Niiro Kaga, Relaxation

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Dear Reader!

In case anyone missed the memo: updates for this story will be on a M/W/F schedule until further notice!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Youko and Akari enjoy a quiet moment together in the field of moon flowers,  
Youko weaving a few of them together and placing them as a necklace around her neck.

Youko then abruptly switches places with Kurama, after "buttering her up,"  
and Kurama and Akari manage some strained small talk.

With Youko complaining in Kurama's head, Kurama takes the following silence in stride,  
silence that Akari breaks by finally telling Kurama the answer is 'no,'  
she does not wish him to remove all of her scars.  
Akari apologies for being a bit of a pain, and thanks him for being patient with her.

Akari inquires after Kurama's life up to this point,  
which has been filled with working for his father-in-law  
who owns a supply office.

Kurama asks if Akari has gotten to venture on holiday yet,  
to experience what the unification has brought about,  
asking if she would want to do so with him sometime.

~!**!~

Her hunger overwhelming her, Shikiyoku nearly exercises her power on Hiei,  
stopping short when his scent wafts over her senses.  
She flees in lieu of feeding on him, and instead decimates the patrons of a bar.  
Her energy tries to wrap around Uryo, who is also there,  
but he is able to resist. He seems accepting of her changes,  
and while she acts as if to attempt to feed of him as well,  
Shikiyoku manages at the last to run,  
leaving Uryo behind to contemplate the heart-shaped mark that appears on his forearm.

Yukina finds Shikiyoku collapsed up against a building in the city,  
and seemingly against her wishes, Shikiyoku begins feeding on the Koorime  
who had only stopped to try and help.  
This actions grabs Hiei's attention and he manages to intervene,  
pulling Shikiyoku away and bombarding her mind with images of who she had been.

At the last, she questions his touch, as he grabbed her to pull her up and kept hold of her,  
and she becomes more despondent as she remembers once speaking that her touch was only affectionate,  
because she could not kill others with her energy. At this point she attempts to pull away from Hiei,  
who keeps her in place and tells her that she is still Shikiyoku, just different. She is a fighter now,  
whereas he had once been her fighter _for _her...

* * *

Giving in, she stayed in place, but leaned forward and buried her head in his chest.

"_I don't __**want **__to fight. I don't __**like **__fighting. I'm tired of it." _She realized her words took on an air of a petulant child, but at the core of it she did sound truly exhausted. "_It's just like running...doing it by yourself isn't any fun." _3

Hiei made a sound of amusement as Shikiyoku came closer, her head resting on his chest and her nose burying into his cloak. He kept his hands at her arms, where they'd moved when she'd tried to get away. Half of him was afraid that if he moved, she'd take it as an advantage and disappear. "_Then I suppose you should find someone to fight with." _he replied calmly. His eyelids slid shut and he took in a deep breath, feeling as if he was speaking to a person he _knew _now.

"_Quite frankly, I'm interested in seeing what you've learned, aside from the obvious."_

~!**!~

Akari gave a small shrug, rustling the grass and flowers around her. She reached up to adjust the flowers on her head, only just noticing that they were _still _sliding towards the ground and pulling at her hair. She wrapped her fingers gingerly around the decoration and moved it to rest on her stomach, her hand simply resting an inch above it.

"Then I suppose you'll have to find me when the mood strikes you, because quite frankly, I'd accept as soon as you asked." _Anything to get away from Juun and his group of idiots._

_Also, you're quite entertaining and… _

_And…_

_I missed this. __*****_

Kurama let out a sigh, "Finding the _time _is the issue. Slipping away at Youko's whim is one thing, and he thankfully lets me return so that I am not missed, but-" He shook his head, "A true holiday, like I am thinking, will consist of more than just a few hours of a single night, and I would not want to take advantage of my step-father's kindness and ask off for as much as I would _want_ for a venture such as this."

~!**!~

"_Who'd wanna fight with me? I'm a terrible fighter. I don' like fighting." _If she had spoken the words out loud, they would have been muffled in his clothes, and as it was they were grumbled regardless. "_-no business fighting with anyone. And there's no point unless you have someone to fight __**for**__."_

She started hearing other voices in her head, voices from memories she could not recall.

_I'm sure you could. I don't doubt your abilities, Lover._

...

_Temptress. Seducer. Courtesan. Allurer._

_Who am I?_

_Shiki-...Shikiyoku?_

_Iro. My Lady. 'Yoku. ..._

_Didn't she have a fourth one? Strange._

She let out a long sigh.

_All these memories, but none of them seem like_ _**mine**__._ 3

For a moment, Hiei wasn't sure whether he should peel back from her and look at her or not. He considered it, a single brow raised in his momentary contemplation. But her words had his brows raising for a different reason, and he let his arms fall to his sides, his head dipping towards her slightly.

"_You fought for yourself." _The words were in a small tone, as if hesitant to speak them. "_You had your reasons. Reasons I am not aware of, but reasons all the same."_

She always had reasons for what she did.

~!**!~

Akari, despite her efforts against it, gave a small laugh at Kurama. _How __**selfish**_ _of you, hm? _She turned her head away from him, not giving him the opportunity to see the smile on her face. _If only others were as __**selfish **__as you._

"Like I said, _you _find _me_. I can make time if I so desire." She turned her head to him, eyes watching him with a gleam. "Because, you know, I'm just _overseeing _morons. Just doing _damage control_." She gave a shrug, earning the rustling of the grass under her shoulders and the flowers around her neck. "_I _have time, whenever I _want _to have time. _You_ do what you have to. Though, a break every once in a while wouldn't hurt anything." _*****_

Kurama regarded her seriously before continuing, appearing to size her up.

"It could be a very long time," He warned.

_Hopefully it will be a very long time. _

If he had his way, it would be until his family had no more need of him. Until they had passed on blissfully.

"You may not want to anymore at that point." He finished.

~!**!~

She didn't answer for a moment, but after that pause her head moved back and forth just enough to indicate a negative response.

"_She did not think so." _It was a simple matter to comprehend her reasons, being this close to the source. "_She merely acted a part as those she was with required, but everything she-" _Another pause. A silent struggle, "_Everything...I...did was always for another. And...not because, at the last, she had always been that way. But because...she chose to. Because...I wanted to." _3

Hiei let his eyelids slide closed, his entire being focused on the person he was standing with and the words she said to him, her body hugging against his. Odd, how he didn't mind it.

Rather enjoyed it, actually.

But he didn't say anything to her. He merely stood there, silently giving her the choice to continue if she so desired. He merely gave a small sound of acknowledgement and stayed where he was.

~!**!~

Again, Akari shrugged. Several thoughts came to mind, some similar to _then I suppose we have a problem, _a couple along the lines of _you're right, I could be disinterested by then._ But really, she didn't feel like saying either of those things. Neither of them felt like something she actually _wanted _to say, because really, they weren't actually _true_.

She shifted her weight about until she was rolling onto her side, the flower crown falling forgotten for the moment as she reached over and just poked at Kurama's cheek. Again, she was struck by a small urge, a small temptation that kept her from rolling away again. So she contemplated.

"I'll get over it." _*****_

_[OH, could this GET anymore melodramatic. What ARE you, a sailor asking his bride-to-be to wait for him while he ventures over the open seas?]_

_{You've been watching too many movies.}_

_[Hmph. Says __**you**__.]_

_{You know we could just as easily visit her on those nights you wish to 'get away.'}_

_[True. Am I really that kind though?]_

_{You are if there is sufficient motivation.}_

"However-" Kurama went on, just wearing that same small smile as before and training his eyes onto her own, "That isn't to say we can't see each other until then." He went on, his smile growing just a little, "But I figured you could only stand a single evening of me every six months or so."

~!**!~

Her eyes blinked open to the dark fabric where she still had not moved. She could feel through the cloak his quiet strength as he let her lean against him, her arms still folded underneath her chest.

"_I am...so very tired." _She could feel the sickness sapping her bones, replacing their health with weakness. "_But I am so very hungry." _The desire to feed remained a constant ravaging across her mind. "_It makes it difficult to think. Or remember anything."_

She took a deep breath, filling her nose with spices, with the fire demon's scent, and feeling her mind clear.

"_...What...fire-prince, what is 'Ogre's Blood?'" _She questioned with the smallest hint of curiosity. Why would an ogre's blood hold any significant place in her mind? 3

Here, Hiei's brow raised higher, and he let his eyelids slide open to cast a curious, albeit slightly confused, stare onto Shikiyoku. "An ogre's blood?" He half suspected it to be a type of drink, though he felt that she wasn't really asking about anything like _that_. Though, he assumed there was a reason for her asking, a reason for this random question to fly into the forefront of her mind and out of her lips.

He thought for a few minutes, eyes staring at Shikiyoku but not seeing her for the moment.

_Ogre's Blood…. _It could very well be a literal thing, but something else about the way she asked about it had him shaking away the thought of it being in the literal sense, that the blood from an ogre's veins was _not _what she meant.

Suddenly he was thinking back, recalling something he'd learned… what felt like forever ago, during the dark tournament.

"It's a drink," he said suddenly, recalling Chuu's beverage of choice. His eyes focused on her again, curious. "Is it of significance?"

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes at Kurama and let her hand fall to the grass between them. She leaned away just slightly, suddenly recalling older times when she'd been sitting with Sensui while Itsuki was out, leaving her bored and doing nothing more than watching the television screen that the older male had been tuned into for several hours at a time. "You remind me of a soap opera," she commented with a small smile to match his.

And again a thought crossed her mind, and this time she gave a sigh and rolled closer to him, until she was all but crushing the crown of flowers beneath her and laying on her stomach. Before she could talk herself out of it, Akari leaned close enough to just touch her lips against his cheek, where she'd poked earlier, before she pulled away, eyes down.

And she found she couldn't bring herself to say what she'd wanted to say. _*****_

Ever calm, Kurama had taken her comment in stride, though somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered what her interactions had been with soaps. His mother had never been fond of them.

And before he could let the response that welled up do much more than stir in his brain, she had closed the distance between them and planted the softest of kisses on his cheek.

Even Youko didn't have anything to say about that for a moment.

He lowered himself to the ground, bending his elbow back and laying his head on it as a pillow and merely looking at Akari.

"What was that for?" He murmured, the question quiet as if afraid to ask.

~!**!~

"I...I cannot say." Her words were a little muffled in his cloak, her eyes distant as she tried to remember. She would have stood up and away from him if she had thought she had the strength at that moment, but instead her contemplation took place while still against him.

She shifted her face so that her cheek lay on his clothes and her mouth was more free to continue.

"Only that...the drink? You said?" She flicked her eyes up as if she could see his face to confirm the question, "Is closely related to the phrase 'Demon's Fire.' ...and I...I think I want some." 3

Hiei's brow raised, and then he gave a scoff of amusement, almost even _laughed _at her admittance. Without thinking twice about the action, he reached up and just patted her head once, eyes turned to her with an amused gleam. "Well, answer this: do you remember the Niiro Kaga?"

~!**!~

Akari slowly slid away, eyes just as slowly turning up to the redhead as she settled on her back again, half tempted to turn her back to him entirely. She opened her mouth to respond with a genuine answer, found no words, closed it again and gave a soft sigh to herself.

Then a small smile crept onto her features. "You're remarkably adorable when you don't know what's going on. Too bad I don't have that camera, hm?" _*****_

Kurama actually let out a chuckle that filled the space between them with his amusement.

"I suppose I deserved that, mm?" He closed his lips over his teeth, but his wide smile remained.

~!**!~

_Red Flower...Bud?_

She made a noise of concentration, hardly noticing his contact with the top of her head.

She almost went ahead and admitted that she could recall nothing, but after a second longer she frowned, the echo of a voice passing through her mind. One that called her 'girl.'

"I...only that there is an old man." Her voice sounded slightly irked, her source of frustration being that a demon would be so forward as to call her a girl. 3

"Kafu." Hiei provided the name just as quickly as it had come to the forefront of his mind, his lips twitching into an even more lopsided, amused smirk at her ire. He supposed it was the barkeep's term of endearment to her, though it didn't seem she was aware of it at the moment.

He rifled through his own memories until he found one of Kafu, thinking on it for a moment as he considered the trek. Would it be fruitful? Would it be _worth _it?

He had to fight the shrug he almost gave as he stepped a bit away from her. "Ninth Layer, I do believe, if you want one bad enough."

~!**!~

"Very much so, might I say." Akari turned her head away from him now, her eyes taking to observing the expanse of the meadow to her left and the creatures that occasionally came forth in curiosity of the glowing flowers. Shadows danced, moving when the creatures did, when the leaves on distant trees swayed by the wind. And, there was only the quietest of birdsong in the distance, only the quietest of sounds.

_So… tranquil. _Why had she delayed saying hello to this person again?

Well, if she _hadn't _delayed, she likely wouldn't have ended up _here_ anyway. So what did it matter?

"It was a thank you, by the way." she finally answered, not turning to look at him. "An unplanned one, but a thank you nonetheless." _*****_

Kurama let his eyes closed, though they were still crinkled just a little at the edges of his eyes with the smile on his lips as he remembered how softly the gesture from her had been against his skin.

"I'll keep that in mind."

_[We should find out more things to cause her thankfulness.]_

~!**!~

She stood up finally as she felt him step away, hands still crossed so that her shoulders hunched forward a bit as she considered the information Hiei passed her.

She...she tried to remember if there had been any good feelings connected to the Ninth Layer-_or had it been Level?-_but only a darkness and a reeling sense of despair and...and also nothingness. A nothingness of depression.

And the knowledge that she had not set foot there in a long time.

She raised her eyes to him, face as neutral and inexpressive as ever, "...was the drink any _good_?" 3

Hiei raised a brow, then gave an expression that meant he was thinking back. He remembered several things about that night, several things popping up at the forefront of his mind almost instantly. He remembered Taka, the demon he found he _still _held a general dislike for. And.. a conversation he'd overheard. His mind lingered there for a moment before he finally refocused on Shikiyoku, his expression difficult to keep under control.

"You seemed to enjoy it." He didn't answer on _his _part, since she hadn't asked if he specifically enjoyed it. And if she asked, he wasn't even sure he'd answer her. Because, in the end, he didn't want her to know what he'd discovered that night, didn't want her to know what he'd heard and how he felt of it, even now.

_...you've still never called me cursed..._

"Though, why would you _crave _one now if you hadn't liked it _then?"_

~!**!~

"You do that."

This time, Akari turned her back onto him, rolling onto her left side and letting her eyelids slide closed. Nabu would likely be waiting at the house for her by now, as he'd taken to doing when they ended up separated. Surely he'd understand if she didn't come home for the night, right? If she slept _here_, where the soft glow of the moon and the flowers that radiated on her skin warmed her to the very soul? Surely he wouldn't be _too _upset if she explained.

She pulled her left arm up and under her head, propping her cheek on the skin near her elbow and up off of the ground. _He'll get over it eventually. It isn't like I haven't done this before. __*****_

A cool breeze swept over the meadow, gently sending the flowers waving as if to one another as it passed over the field.

Kurama opened his eyes to see that Akari had turned away from him now, and the night had deepened enough that now the flowers sent out a more muted glow, one that would lull him into sleep if he were not careful, what with the warm earth beneath his side and the expanse of the sky above them.

_[It is quite lovely here. Peaceful.]_

Kurama pressed his other palm against the soil, feeling the beating rhythm of the energy that flowed all about him, energy he could tap into. And he did so, spreading his power underneath the ground to the roots of the plants that led him upwards to burst out of the dirt into so many petals and stems, their interconnected networks as beautiful to him as the end result of their glow.

Slowly, and with no malice, the flowers on the other side of Akari began to rise from the ground, looking as if they were pushed out by their brethren as they silently shimmered upwards, Kurama weaving together into a single sheet a multitude of the flowers that rose like a tiny wave of greenery lit with the bluish glow over Akari's waist to rest upon the flowers blooming behind her.

It was a blanket, one that did separate from the field but served as such, thin enough to not be of a discomfort, as soft as the interwoven plants that created it, and it finally stopped rustling and moving once it had covered her other side.

_[Hmph. I would have covered __**both **__of us in it.]_

~!**!~

She raised and lowered one shoulder, "She could have been a masochist. I wouldn't know."

Looking into his eyes, she could see _something _stirring, but dismissed it as she did not understand.

"...would you take me there?" 3

Hiei made no indication that he heard her first words, only continuing to stare at Shikiyoku curiously. Would she be able to withstand something like a visit to the pub? The tavern could very likely be full of patrons at this hour.

However, he decided he'd do as she wished, given her sudden ability to remember a few things here and there.

"As I said. Ninth Layer." With that, he began to blur between the layers, crimson eyes still watching her as he moved from the first layer to the second, and continuing on.

~!**!~

Akari didn't move when she felt Kurama's energy fluctuate just a fraction, nor did she react when she felt the movement of the nearby plants, slow and harmless. She was tempted to voice her curiosity, to open her eyes and cast a glance over her shoulder, but she did none of those things, not even when she felt the very slight pressure settling over her.

"You're odd." she grumbled to the redhead, lips not even so much as twitching despite her small sense of amusement. _*****_

Kurama settled back into place, releasing his hold on the plants though still able to feel as always the hum of their inner life.

"And why would that be?"

~!**!~

As she had done countless times before, without so such as a single hint of effort, she wrapped herself in the layers as they stood there, easily manipulating them around her as she slid herself between them until she found the last one and came to a stop, waiting expectantly for Hiei to make the next move. 3

Hiei came to a stop on the Ninth layer and found that he didn't have to even wait for Shikiyoku, who had settled on the very same layer an instant later. He turned as soon as he noted her expression, taking to running at a speed he had used for her when they'd run through the levels together the last time.

It was odd, really, how he'd visited this layer so many times that he'd become acquainted with every threat, every step it would take to get to where he wanted to be. Where _she _wanted to be.

He'd visited Kafu only once, and hadn't stayed longer than to get the little information that had been given to him from a denizen inside. But it didn't make the trip any less easy for him to map out.

~!**!~

AKari took in a deep breath, giving a long, contented sigh into the night as her muscles became _very _comfortable in the position she was laying in, despite her definitive lack of her normal night attire. If she didn't move, she wouldn't be bothered by the jeans she wore or the blouse that occasionally caught on the grass and was tugged at.

These things were easily ignored after Kurama spoke up.

"Hmm… Should I start from the top of the list or…?" _*****_

"Humor me." Kurama intoned with a grin, "I'm afraid I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."

~!**!~

Her entire body made a groan that managed to sneak past her lips when she saw him take off.

Running on the layers, in her condition, was not something she often took the effort to do.

Make that: she _never _took the effort to do.

Before he had gotten more than a few steps, she sighed and pulled the layers around her again, falling into their embrace which took her inbetween, where her body did not feel so old and her joints did not protest her movement.

Her forehead still felt hot with fever, but the toll it had taken on her limbs lessened once she stepped off the existing layer again, blurring her form insubstantial. Here her hunger also muted, and she stood straighter.

Even with her doubled vision, seeing both the eighth and ninth layer of the world at the same time, it was easy for her to make out the direction Hiei dashed off in, and she calmly followed, with only a few strides catching up so that she was just behind and to the right of him.

For her, it seemed only a slow jog, as she almost did not herself move, instead shaping the two layers around her in such a way that they themselves almost pushed her forward with little struggle on her part. 3

Hiei continued moving, his feet carrying him at a simple speed through trees, through streets that he'd run a hundred times in the past few months. His eyes stayed trained forward, his mind easily creating the easiest route through the layer so that it only took a few _minutes_ for him to traverse his way through the many hues of red and into the city he occasionally told himself he still loathed.

And another few minutes later, he was standing outside the Niiro Kaga, stopping at the door to turn and look at Shikiyoku with a blank expression, to see what she thought of the place that looked completely unchanged from the last time they'd seen it.

~!**!~

"Well, first off," Akari began in that same, half-asleep mumble that her tone had turned to being, "you're unnaturally colored. Your hair is extremely bright- it sometimes burns the eyes- and your eyes are like actual gems. I am half surprised someone hasn't mistaken them for emeralds and tried to gouge them out." She gave a shrug. "Also, that combination reminds me of something I once saw on a television show: a holiday some humans somewhere else celebrate that has the colors of red and green."

She gave a small sigh, another shrug to the flower blanket that now rested over her shoulder. "There's also- wait, no. I like that. Never mind that." _*****_

Kurama's shoulders shook with silent laughter as he opened the green 'gems' that were his eyes and took to looking at Akari's back.

"Oh, now you _can't _just say something as alluring as _that_ and then _not _go on."

_[Agreed.]_

~!**!~

When he stopped, she let her last step take her from the inbetween place and onto the gravity of the last layer, feeling immediately the difference of being nearly hidden and then fully existing in the one. Her shoulders tensed back up and the constant dark circles under her eyes appeared now even more prominent.

She gave Hiei another expectant look when he paused and turned, but then lifted her eyes to see the hanging red-wood sign over the door of the building made of the same stuff with the image of a red flower painted upon it.

She considered it thoughtfully, and it _did _seem familiar. And it wasn't wrapped up in any of the dark emotions that usually bombarded her thoughts when she thought of this layer.

"Interesting..." She murmured to herself, taking in the outside of the establishment, the two-stories, and the few demons that were milling about the streets of the city. 3

Hiei waited, gauging her reaction with a keen gaze as she looked up at the building, then about them, then back up at the tavern. He saw a flicker of familiarity, albeit a bit of confusion muddling it, but otherwise she gave no indication that she even _remotely _knew of this place. And her one-word description of it seemed to be mirroring his own thoughts of _her. _

With that thought, he turned and headed inside, a hand pushing the door open and even keeping it open for her to enter if she so desired. His eyes, however, turned up to search for Kafu almost curiously, knowing the barkeep would be watching the door.

~!**!~

Akari's eyelids slid open, but still she did not turn to look at Kurama, despite the feeling of his eyes on her back. Her lips twitched up, the skin by her eyes crinkling in complete amusement at him with the smile that colored her expression.

"There's also the fact that you seem to…. wait, not that either." She gave a pause. "Your list is shortening little by little!" She turned her head now to cast a gleaming glance at him before she turned forward again.

"And I suppose you'll just have to _figure it out _on your own, hm?" _*****_

Kurama let out a long sigh, "Whatever am I to do with you?"

_[I can think of a few things?]_

_{Shut __**up.**__}_

~!**!~

The bartender's eyes weren't the only ones that looked up when the door swung inward.

Being the time of night that it was, things had slowed down and the current patrons were of the more subdued kind, turning back after a moment of staring to continue their murmured conversations that settled back over the building with a constant, if soft, lull of noise.

As he always appeared to be doing when he had the moment to breathe, Kafu had a mug in his hands, standing about in the middle of the bar behind the counter, and was wiping it dry.

He gave an inviting nod to the fire demon whom he'd seen a while back, fully expecting Hiei to join him at the bar. His face upon seeing the demon with Hiei stayed as unchanging and stoic as ever when she stepped past Hiei and into the room, her eyes a little wider as she took it all in, slowly coming inside as if she hadn't the slightest idea of what she was meant to do next.

He noted her scarred face, her almost complete lack of exuding energy-_almost as if she isn't really even there-_and waited for the pair to approach before speaking, though a pitcher from over his head started to make its way towards him, and he let go of the tankard he cleaned to reach for two others and place them near his hip behind the countertop.

She stepped cautiously into the room, her eyes darting around to see that more than a few of the demons in the area had let their gazes linger, but more upon the demon behind her than herself. Something in their eyes agitated her, and her ears twitched as she started to pick up snippets of their conversation, which revolved not only around her, but also around the curs-

"A drink, lady?" He asked mildly when she was close enough.

He appeared to have startled her, though she was difficult to read, but she recovered quickly and gave a small nod, climbing into the chair in front of him and frowning.

"I- I would like-"

"Demon's Fire. I'm almost positive." Kafu's lips turned upwards just a little as he had already placed his rag and mug down to pull out one of the tankards from near his side and fill it swiftly with the pitcher, placing the tankard in front of her.

She gave a little nod and reached for the drink to stare at the contents.

"Anything for you, Hiei?" 3

Hiei allowed the door to shut on its own after Shikiyoku had passed him, earning a creak from the wood and a loud slam to echo through the room that had silenced for a moment at his entry. Even as he moved to the bar, he didn't spare a glance towards the others in the room, didn't allow himself to listen to their talk because he already _knew _without a doubt their topic.

And his temper was _much _too uncontrollable for that now. While he'd gained control over it long before his first visit here, he'd long since lost that control when he'd…

He let the thought trail away as he slid into a seat at the bar, eyes trained on Kafu and giving his own nod of greeting even as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the countertop.

He couldn't even bring himself to glance at Shikiyoku for the moment.

He contemplated the question the bartender aimed at him, contemplated the drinks he could see beyond the bar, and he finally lifted a hand and shook his head in negatory. "Not yet."

~!**!~

Akari shifted around just a little, pulling her legs closer to her chest and curling her arm under her head even more. Her eyelids slid shut again, and this time, when she stilled, she was much more comfortable than before.

And it took an extra second for her to realize Kurama had spoken, and a little longer than that to say anything, though she wasn't aware she was speaking.

"Whatever you wish, I suppose. If you wanted, you could kill me in an instant, or just let me take a nap. Either way." _*****_

Kurama at first couldn't even make _sense _of the eruption of volume Youko just splattered across their mind, and he grimaced, closing his eyes and almost growling at the fox, whose comments were most certainly _not _ones Kurama felt he would particularly _want _to sort out the meaning of.

_{I am __**not **__moving.}_

_[Reeeeeeed, you're so boooooooring!]_

_{And I shall remain that way for as long as it continues to confound you.}_

~!**!~

She had by that time taken a sip, but she could not shake the unrest she felt come over her.

"This is...strange." She looked down at the tankard and gave a sniff, then took another drink.

"How so, lady?" Kafu inquired, picking up his mug and continuing where he had left off.

"You have..." She struggled for the description, "Influenced this beverage in some way. It is not only alcohol within here."

Kafu said nothing, smiling down at his work. 3

Hiei sat in silence, ears carefully tuned into the conversation nearest him and eyes forward, staring at but not seeing the bottles that lined the wall, the glasses that occasionally shifted when Kafu had need of them. He'd forgotten what it felt like to sit in one place with other demons, what it _sounded _like on occasion. Low murmurs and small laughs here and there.

After a moment, his red eyes turned to Kafu, a brow raised in curiosity at the conversation he'd been listening to. His own eyes turned to the drink in Shikiyoku's grasp, eyeing it as if he'd be able to detect the difference, if there was one.

Though, for some reason, he couldn't remember the original taste nor smell of the drink.

~!**!~

Akari's breathing had slowed, she noted, and her entire being had relaxed into the grass below and the warmth of the glowing flowers over her. She was so comfortable, so relaxed that she almost missed the slight change in the air, the charged energy nearby that was not demonic, but… simple tension energy.

Her lips twitched.

"Aw, is _Youko _bothering you?" She gave a small hum of empathy. "You handle it so _well. I _certainly couldn't." _*****_

"Bothering me?" Kurama replied as if he hadn't the slightest idea what she was talking about, taking care to release the pressure around his shoulders and relax. "Whatever gives you that idea?"

~!**!~

Another drink.

"It is not only made of...liquid, is it?" She commented after swallowing, letting the taste stand on her tongue.

Before Kafu could answer her, one of the waitresses silently slid a mixed drink to her elbow, and she only gave it the barest of glances, but the waitress caught the bartender's eyes and something passed between them before she turned and left, moving quickly.

The drink sat where it had been placed for only a second before Kafu reached out and took it from her, drinking it himself and then putting the glass behind the counter, his eyes flashing as he looked out into the room, finding that not a single one of the demons would meet his dangerously flinty gaze. 3

Hiei's eyes followed the motion of the newcomer, having seen the waitress step up before he'd actually even been aware of her presence. He eyed the drink that was placed on the bar top, curious and suspicious all at once. He knew demons often bought drinks for another in a tavern, normally to show interest, but this one was oddly… different.

And that suspicion was confirmed when Kafu stole it away from Hiei's eyesight, the fire demon turning and following the gaze of the barkeep and finding the same as the other: no eyes pointed to the front.

So he turned back to Kafu, then turned to Shikiyoku with a casual raise of his brow.

"What's mixed in?" he prompted, deciding to keep her preoccupied for the moment.

~!**!~

"Mmm, I dunno…" Akari mumbled, her lips just barely letting the words form, not even twitching to show her amusement that was completely shrouded with her sudden desire to sleep. "Maybe it was.." The rest of her sentence trailed away into incoherent mumbling, her lips no longer cooperating as her mind began to fall into the darkness of sleep.

"-fox." she finished, the lone word escaping her mouth before she took another deep breath, and gave in to the bliss of dreamless sleep. _*****_

It was blessedly silent for a moment.

_[She's dangerously perceptive you know.]_

_{I was enjoying the peacefulness.}_

_[Too much. Just a little too much.]_

Kurama huffed and turned onto his back, putting his arms behind his head again.

_[You aren't really going to stay, are you?]_

He let his eyes close.

_{The office isn't open tomorrow. Maybe I will.}_

~!**!~

Her eyes, even as dull as they had become, were sharp enough to catch the end of the steely gaze Kafu released on the rest of the room, but when he turned back down to look at the mug in his hands, the expression was gone.

She considered the drink and Hiei's question, "It is not..._precisely _his energy, for that would delude the flavor. I...I think he imbues it with his _essence_."

Looking up through her curtain of hair, she examined him more closely as she talked; not a single white hair was out of place on his head, his strong-jawed face as serene as ever, but the upper part of his arms, revealed as they were from his rolled up sleeves, were tightened severely, making the well-formed muscles there prominent, and while she thought it was a trick of her eyes, she would have sworn she saw the last of what could be yellow shafts of light dissipating just shy of the edge of the sleeve on his left arm.

"That is how," She never missed a beat, "It tastes different with nearly every sip." She finally raised her head. "Are you an empath?"

Kafu did not get a chance to answer as a drink slid onto the counter between her and Hiei, just within Hiei's hand's reach. Her eyes narrowed and her world tunneled in on its contents.

Without hesitation, she snatched the drink and whipped around, but the waitress had already disappeared, and none of the bar appeared to notice her infuriation. She felt her jaw clenching, her eyes taking on a similar gleam to the deadly one Kafu had worn earlier, when a drink had been set at _her _side.

"Do you do nothing about the scum you serve?" She spoke through tightened teeth.

Kafu made a noncommittal sound, "Should something _happen_, perhaps it would whip into shape my other clientele, lady. These are not the most...desirable of patrons here this evening. Things have changed greatly since the merging, but... My hands, you must understand however, are...tied."

"Then the _pleasure_, is mine." Her scowl had deepened and she pushed her seat back to hop down to the floor, beginning to feel a burn starting at her scalp to envelop her entire body.

"Stay...behind me." She advised, just managing to growl out the words coherently, eyes rippling deeper into the blackest abyss of color as she took a single step away from the bar.

For a second, a few of the other patrons looked up, having heard her move her chair back and her feet land lightly on the ground, but the entire building-it seemed-felt like it was holding its breath.

With the giant influx of her power, however, _everyone _stopped what they were doing, the space around her growing darker as her energy started licking of her skin in an aura that steadily filled the space around her.

"**You wish to stare?"**

So what if his blood was that of fire and ice, two 'conflicting' elements? So what if he was the bastard child of an Ice Maiden? What did it matter?

"**Then I will give you at which something to stare."**

She herself now was akin to his hybrid state, two opposing ideals living simultaneously in one body, if more pronounced than his state, and perhaps that's what made the anger more _personal_, but...she knew that was not true.

"**You want to talk?"**

Why anyone would set before him a drink meant to use him should he wish, to mate with him, but to never keep him, to never _become _his mate for fear of watering down their own power-

"**Then I will give you about which something to talk."**

Her wrath manifested within her energy, making ripples shudder outwards, the entire room overcast with the veil of her power.

"**You desire to see **_**cursed**_**?"**

Her face had darkened, making her scars appear to stand out more on her skin, her voice eclipsed by the same shadow of emotions that fired her veins.

"**Then I will show you which one of us is truly **_**cursed**_**!"**

Dark tendrils of energy that had at one time been yellow erupted from her body, too numerous to keep track of, and shot forward, almost instantly finding their way around the necks of those previously gossiping patrons in the room who could only stare as their deaths approached them.

Unable to draw air to speak or scream, the demons struggled silently as the ribbons of energy lifted them into the air, the waitresses in the room having all disappeared except for one who had backed up against the bar, holding her tray to her chest, eyes wide as she could do nothing but watch.

Once in the air, the energy tightened and the demons began to struggle harder, groping at their throats in their attempt to get themselves free.

She did not relent and the energy easily started to snap necks broken, a handful of the demons having their heads popped clean off to spray blood into the air.

It was not until the other demons had stopped struggling, until the last one of them had suffocated and died, that she released them, dropping their bodies unceremoniously to the floor, her energy winding back towards her, leaving her looking much the same as she had when she entered the establishment, grey-skinned with too many scars covering her face, breathing heavily with bits of her hair stuck to her neck from the sweat that had manifested under her effort, barely able to stay on her feet, but surveying the rest of the room with a rather blasé expression. 3

Hiei had sat back for a brief moment, arms still on the counter of the bar and eyes momentarily shifting with the consideration of glancing back at the room again, to give a warning glare at a conversation he hadn't truly meant to overhear. But instead his eyes were drawn to a drink being set beside his hand, within his reach if he so desired of it.

And he didn't even contemplate it for longer than a second. He wasn't thirsty, wasn't interested in any _freebies_ that came his way. It was probably something he wouldn't enjoy anyway, so why bother?

Shikiyoku, though, seemed to have different thoughts on the matter. While they were slightly parallel with his own, they were also.. magnified, more intense than his own towards the drink for reasons he didn't understand.

And her reaction, coupled with Kafu's when Shikiyoku had received a free drink, made him suspect that the _freebies _weren't exactly… _free. _

He turned a curious stare briefly onto Kafu before he turned in his seat to watch Shikiyoku, who was now standing, giving her own words to the room that seemed to be filled with the same venom, the same darkness that had become her.

He blinked only once when the words _cursed _came from her lips, but otherwise his expression gave way none of his thoughts.

Thoughts that were conflicting one another, swirling about in a frenzy that had him unable to keep from watching the scene.

And yet, he wasn't exactly _registering _his own thoughts. Merely witnessing the events unfolding before him with a blank mind and a stare to match. Even as silence befell the room, he hadn't moved an inch, hadn't found anything to say or anything to do.

_She's not __**cursed**__. _After a moment, his eyelids drew closer, narrowing to slits that allowed just enough red to be seen to be thought of as either a warning or contemplation. Again, she'd said _he _was not _cursed. _

_Hiei, _the fire child born from an Ice Maiden, was not a _curse. _

Had anyone else said it, he would have likely given a bitter scoff and proved them just how wrong they were. But Shikiyoku…

How could he do that when _she'd _called _herself _cursed?

Finally, he shifted in his seat and faced forward again, as if he hadn't even noticed the dead bodies and pools of blood in the room, as impressive as the show had been.

"I'll take a Demon's Fire." _*****_

She shivered in place, arms clutching to one another underneath her chest, suddenly wrecked with the effects of her disease in an even greater amount than before. And so she stayed in place for a moment, watching as the waitress next to her appeared to multiply into innumerous copies and calmly begin cleaning up the mess she had made, just as unceremoniously as she had dropped the bodies dumping them outside.

"My thanks, lady." Kafu's voice floated over the countertop and to her ears.

"Don't mention it, old man." She replied hoarsely, her knees slowly bending as she slid to the floor and ended up sitting on her feet.

All of her anger had drained away, and she truthfully could not remember the cause of it save for those who had once inhabited the bodies now being carried out calling Hiei some blasted word or another that had set her off in the first place.

What had it been?

_Cursed?_

Foolish demons. They did not know what cursed meant. They had likely never even seen a curse before in their lives, only associating it with a hybrid for reasons they had likely forgotten themselves.

_What, like __**your **__curse?_

Yes, like my curse. Do you not see how it has ravaged my mind? How it now consumes my body? Whatever I once was...I am only a shadow of it. A passing shadow at that. One not likely long for this world.

Another shudder as the chills crept to her scalp and stayed there. 3

Hiei waited until a tankard was in his hand and he'd had a drink before he turned to glance at Shikiyoku again, this time with an unwavering stare that gave way only a few of his thoughts.

For one, her show had been rather impressive. Highly amusing, even.

Two, the waitress cleaning up the mess made it even better.

Three…

_That's twice now. _Twice she'd said he was not cursed. Both had happened in this very tavern, though she hadn't been aware of his presence the first time. And this time, she'd called _herself_ the cursed one.

_How foolish. _

_What a foolish, foolish woman. _

Such a title was not something she was to be called, if he had a say in it. Because, really, he felt it wasn't true. She was not _cursed _in any way that he saw. Simply… _struggling. _

Going through a rough time, to put it mildly.

He reached down with his tankard, tipping the chair sideways just enough to allow him to stretch and close the distance, just touching her arm with his tankard in an offer.

"I am not in need of this."

~!**!~

Akari's sleep had remained dreamless throughout the night, as odd as that was for her. For the first time in weeks, she hadn't dreamed about work, hadn't dreamed about things that stressed her, hadn't dreamed about the numerous things she needed to remember to ask Koenma about.

She merely… slept.

So, when that blissful sleep was interrupted, she was _not _a happy camper.

Akari shifted slightly, pulling away from the person she hadn't realized she'd been sleeping up against, rolling onto her left side in the grass as the breeze picked up again, a voice carrying on the energy that had caused it to move in the first place.

"_...Aka…"_

"Shut up." she grumbled to the wind, eyes still closed and mind only half between the waking and sleeping world. If she so desired, she could deem it as the beginnings of a dream and brush it away.

But _no._

That wasn't how things worked, was it?

The wind stirred again around her face, making her hair tickle her nose and lips. "_Akari…"_

"I said, shut _up_." she grumbled, this time more force.

"_I apologize about disturbing, but-"_

"If you were _sorry_, you wouldn't _call on me._ Whatever it is, _handle it."_

"_-someone is here, asking for you at sanction E and-"_

"I'm not even alive."

"_-they say it's important."_

Akari growled as the wind shifted about her face. She batted at it, eyes closed still, but of course earned no budge from the slight breeze about her.

"_He says he needs-"_

"Tell him to kiss my ass and go back to hell."

"_It isn't __**Juun**__, Akari. He says his name is…" _There was momentary silence. A silence that stretched on. And on. And on.

She almost thought she'd be going back to sleep. But _just _as the darkness of sleep began to welcome her again:

"_He's resisting giving information. Only… drilling us and-"_

"God _damn it_, Lou! What did I _say?!"_ Akari was sitting up now, snarling and eyes open to stare at the space in front of her face as if someone stood before her. "_One day! _Or, hell, _a few peaceful hours to sleep in! _You can't handle a simple _curious demon?!" _She couldn't help the words she spat, almost quite literally, at the wind that she could _see _moving in front of her face. "I am _not _the only _capable _being on the nine levels! _You _are able to-"

"_Akari, I understand you're angry, but this is out of my hands. He __**evades**_ _my attacks. Aside from myself, the only person I've ever known able to see them is __**you**__, meaning he is not __**from **__the fourth level."_

Akari gave a snarl and promptly turned onto her back, rolling again until she was laying on her right side, comfortably up against the person she hadn't realized had stayed. "Find another lackey of Spirit World who gives a shit before dawn."

"_It's midday here.."_

"Like I said." _*****_

"Tell them there's a problem on _this_ layer and you can't leave until it's taken care of." Kurama murmured, still half-asleep and moving his arm over Akari's shoulders as if to prevent her from getting away again.

~!**!~

She barely moved her head, just enough to see what Hiei had offered her, and reached up with shaky hands to take it from him, only just managing to set it in her lap before the strength of her fingers gave out.

And she stared at it with empty eyes, somewhere in her mind still laying true curses upon the bodies of the dead she had been instrumental in causing.

Now they could say they had seen a curse. And now that they had seen her, they had been disposed of. Quite satisfactorily.

That _was _cause for a drink.

But she found she couldn't so much as raise it to her lips.

...maybe it wasn't cause for a drink, then. 3

"_You do not have to do that every time I am called 'cursed'. It holds no effect on me. You're wasting your time anyhow." _Hiei released the tankard and turned to the bar again, simply sitting there just as calmly as he had before. His eyelids slid closed and he thought back only briefly to her quick work of the demons who'd once been inside this bar.

He found it odd that in all his life, this was probably the only demon he'd ever met who had done something of _this _magnitude simply for the word he'd been called. "_Rather foolish."_

~!**!~

Akari took in a deep breath and, without thinking, hugged closer to the person who had spoken and draped an arm over her. Her mouth opened to relay the very message, but the wind around her stirred with "_I heard that."_

There was a pause as Akari blatantly ignored the energy, and the demon communicating behind it seemed preoccupied for the moment, until his voice suddenly floated through the clearing again, in a much lower, much quieter tone than before, as if afraid to be heard. "_What if it's _the big man_?"_

Akari didn't even miss a beat. "Koenma would not ask _you _where I am. He'd simply _find _me. Or, rather call."

"_Should've known better than to use that again."_

Another pause and Akari was comfortable, giving a sigh of content and burying her face in the soft fabric that smelled of roses. "Contact me when something _important_ comes up, no?"

"_...I didn't want to say, but it's the fourth time this week he's been here."_

Akari finally let her eyelids slide open. "Repeat that."

"_Must I really?" _When she didn't reply, a sigh floated on the air. "_HE's come demanding for your presence for four times in the past six days. Today, he is more persistent and has not left in hours."_

"Description."

"_tall, dark hair."_

"That helps." With a growl to accompany her sarcastic tone, she shifted a bit again. "Anything _else?"_

"_Nothing that would actually be of help, as he says you do not…. care enough to notice such things."_

Akari could just make out some rambling in the background of what could only be described as a type of call, almost similar to a communication mirror allowing another's voice to float through a microphone. Though, she understood none of what the words were.

"_He's disrupting the flow of things. Greatly." _

"Can you deal with it for…" she thought about the time difference, the way the time passed on the fourth layer in direct contrast to the sixth. "an hour?"

"_Affirmative."_

"Stop talking like that. I'll be there."

Of course, she gave no motion to move away from the person she had _yet _to realize she was still laying on, her arm draped over his waist and head on his chest. _*****_

A very fox-like growl had been rumbling in Kurama's chest until the communication cut off, a deep vibrating noise that did little else but settle into a low sound that never came up past his lips.

"I could _very quickly_ become a problem even _they _would not be able to handle." The only reason it did not come out as a snarl was because he sat too far into the sleeping side of the world.

~!**!~

"_I know better than to believe your claims, Hiei Jaganshi." _She responded with a sense of finality, of declaration. Not affecting him. Ha. "_You, dearest prince of fire, are not cursed. Having hybrid blood is nothing more or less than just that." _She sighed, thinking of her own duality, thinking of the audacity of the drink that had been set next to him. "_And they crossed a line besides." _The fragment was accompanied by a growl.

"_They will come to understand what being cursed truly means. Or they will perish." _Strange how quickly she had found something to fight _for_, when only admitting it to be a necessity not all that much earlier.

...she really should invest some time in learning a few good curses. _That _would likely prove more satisfactory than just plain _killing _them.

Oh, I'm _so sorry_, did you enjoy being able to eat? How _is _it that you came to be incapable of feeding yourself? Missing with a utensil every time like that? Finding your plate or your meal mysteriously to the left of wherever you decided to plunge your face towards it? Pity. 3

"_...You're a fool." _

Hiei gave no words _against _Shikiyoku's claim. He sImply.. didn't agree either.

The fire demon took in a long breath through his nose, releasing it in the same fashion as he leaned forward just a bit, his upper-body weight now on the countertop. He stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating the silence in the room from the few remaining.

And then he thought of the effort it must have took for Shikiyoku to pull off such a thing as killing each and every demon the way she had.

"Can you move at all?"

~!**!~

Only now did Akari realize she was up against another, and quite comfortable being as such might she add. She drew in a deep sigh and patted her hand against his chest in slight protest. "Shh. I can't _sleep_ when you're threatening lives. Just five minutes." _Five minutes, and then I'll go kill them all myself._

_Or trap them in a shadow. Starve them all and-_

_Oh hell, it isn't worth the energy. _ _*****_

Kurama held back the next string of his actions, where he would be perfectly content with meticulously disemboweling the lot of them, and only shifted slightly, turning his head to the side and letting himself fall back down into the darkness of sleep.

~!**!~

She was breathing.

Did that count as moving?

"I'm perfectly fine." She responded, voice as blunt and forward as ever with that same seriousness she always seemed to have. "The floor is simply much more comfortable than those chairs."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kafu had not moved from his spot, even during her outburst, still cleaning glasses as calmly as ever. 3

"I know better than to believe your claims." Hiei said calmly, repeating her earlier words nonchalantly as his hand snaked out to take her previous tankard, deciding he needed a drink after all. Her's was only half full, but it would do. He had decided a while ago that he didn't want much of anything anyway.

So he took a sip. And then another. And then simply downed the whole thing before touching the mug to the countertop and sneering.

"Quite the show, though."

!**!~

Akari waited until Kurama's breathing evened out again, his mouth closed and no more growling emitting from his chest. She waited until she was absolutely _sure_ he was asleep again, and even waited just a bit longer, out of precaution.

Only then did her eyes actually open, flashing at the field around her in irritation as the sun's rays began to peak over the horizon in the distance, casting a light glow over the trees in the distance.

_I hate this job._

Akari began to slide away from Kurama, careful not to let her hair fall over her head and into his face. _I can't believe you stayed, you moron. __*****_

_[She's leaving, Red.]_

_{I know.}_

_[...and you aren't going to do anything about it? We were __**so **__comfortable.]_

_{And what would you have me- You know what, don't answer that.}_

_[How well you seem to have caught on.]_

...

_[...well __**I'll **__still be interested to know if she says anything or not, regardless of your...attempt at hiding your disappointment.]_

_{Silver-tail?}_

_[Mm?]_

_{Shut up.}_

~!**!~

_You don't know. You're not down here._

As if to prove him wrong, she stood up and moved back into her chair.

She _did _cheat though, phasing inbetween the layers in order to be able to do so.

And, naturally, immediately regretted the decision as she was hit once more with the brunt of her exhaustion and found that she leaned into her elbows on the counter more than normal. Much more.

Her knuckles, the ones of the fingers that clutched at the tankard, were white, and she closed her eyes, trying to find comfort in breathing steadily.

She could _feel _that she had much more power within her than what she had just exerted, but the fever, the sickness within her, told her she had nearly _died_. 3

Hiei glanced over at Shikiyoku when she was firmly seated in the chair she had vacated earlier, a brow raised in her direction in slight amusement and curiosity. He hadn't _meant _to challenge her, but.. Oh well.

_Why is it that when I issue a __**direct**_ _challenge, you ignore me, but accept the smallest, most __**meaningless **__of challenges? _Again, he had the urge to call her a fool, but really, who _was _the fool here?

He turned away from her and took to watching Kafu's motions, though he didn't really see the bartender in any way. His eyes were a million miles away, as was his mind, his thoughts on different times when she'd bested him without even seemingly knowing she'd done as such.

~!**!~

Akari shifted, and shifted, and shifted until she was successfully out of Kurama's reach, eyes glancing at him briefly before she turned away with an inaudible sigh. _I was so comfortable… _She glanced around, looking for anything that she might have dropped on the ground during the night, such as the mirror, and when she found nothing, she gave an audible sigh of discontent.

_Well, back to work, I suppose… _

Her eyes turned to Kurama for another moment before she let herself fall through her shadow, effectively traversing two layers and ending up within a portal's dimensions within seconds, her calm, serene expression now replaced with a severe one as she set foot in the darkened between dimension, her feet moving towards where the Kekkai used to be.

"Now, explain to me _what _you can't handle again, exactly?"

Two demons turned, one male, one female. The one that spoke was the owner of the voice that had awoken her in the first place. "He's on the other side of the portal. Said to let you know he was waiting."

"He's blocking traffic." the female explained with an exasperated sigh. "I tried, really, but he isn't _prone _to manipulation like most others."

"Well, at least you tried." Akari grumbled as she continued moving past the pair. "Prepare to escort a body to Spirit World."

"You don't think she's serious?"

"I guess we'll see." _*****_

~!**!~

With the entire reason for his lethargicness at leaving gone, it took little effort for Kurama to sit up once she left, his motivation one of returning home, perhaps before his parents knew of his absence.

After all, he hadn't exactly _planned _on sleeping next to Akari all night.

Not...not _exactly_.

~!**!~

Feeling her head becoming more and more heavy, she reached up and settled her cheek into her other hand, not even at this point bothering with the tankard she still held, though her eyes would on occasion shift longingly towards it.

It was never worth the effort, though.

She didn't particularly want to sleep, though it tugged mightily at the edges of her vision.

If she slept, she might forget. If she slept, she would wake up hungry once more.

And after all, the bodies still being carried out behind her had not been _worthy _of having their energy removed.

_Let them rot. How __**dare**_ _they._

Another single flame of ire had her eyes opening again to stare off at the shelves behind Kafu.

_He is most __**certainly **__not 'cursed.'_3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	70. Episode 154 - Memories

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Fellow FanFiction Fanatics!

This chapter consists entirely of interactions between Hiei and Shikiyoku. Akari's doing boring work and Kurama is also doing...boring...work. Heh.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Kurama and Akari discuss a distant point in the future when they will venture out into the unified world together,  
the both of them agreeing that no matter how much time has passed they will definitely do so.

Akari ends up kissing Kurama on the cheek in thanks for putting up with her.

The both of them eventually fall asleep side-by-side in the meadow,  
though they're given a rude awakening by a colleague of Akari's.

After the conversation, Akari pretends to fall back asleep in Kurama's arms,  
but slips away once she thinks he's slipped back into slumber.  
Kurama is of course aware of her departure and he leaves for his home soon after she is gone.

~!**!~

Though she is still struggling to remember who she is,  
Shikiyoku remembers the Niiro Kaga, or rather she remembers "Ogre's Blood," the drink,  
and Hiei leads the way down to the Ninth Layer.

Once there, a waitress eventually sets a drink near Shikiyoku,  
but before she can notice, Kafu the bartender snatches it up,  
drinks it, and glares at the other patrons.

A few minutes later, a drink is set down near Hiei,  
and this time it is Shikiyoku who notices,  
though her reaction is much more severe than Kafu's.

Such drinks mean something, and Shikiyoku turns to the rest of the room,  
whom she had heard gossiping about The Cursed Child when she and Hiei entered,  
and decimates the clientele under the indifferent eye of Kafu.

The attack exhausts her, so much so that it is a struggle to get into her chair,  
and she nods off in her seat while still seething with irritation at the demons she just killed...

* * *

Hiei hadn't been paying attention, really. Hadn't been listening to the room around him in any way. He'd simply been lost in a couple of thoughts, one running right after the other and demanding his attention, such as what to do next. Now that he found Shikiyoku, what would he do? How would she remember him and _everything _else she'd forgotten, however much that may be? Was it even a possibility? How had she gotten sick in the first place?

What was she sick with?

That last one had his eyelids sliding open, his irises turning to her to inspect the definitive lack of color in her skin, lack of energy she seemed to have when it came to moving about too much. Even sliding into a chair had been quite the effort, he'd noticed.

Enough so that she was…

...

...sleeping. Sitting upright at the bar, chin in hand and eyes closed, mouth slightly ajar. Sleeping.

The fire demon turned to Kafu with a calm expression. He seemed to have found himself in need of… a room and a bed. And he just so happened to be near one such thing.

"It seems we require more than drinks." he commented casually, almost allowing his amusement to flash in his eyes. _*****_

"So it would seem." Kafu acknowledged, letting his eyes slip a peek at the sleeping form of the demon who had changed so very much since the last time she had darkened his door.

He noted that the sheen of sweat she had worn earlier was gone, though he could feel the heat from her fever radiating from her body still, even though she shivered occasionally as if cold.

The ashen-grey skin, the scars...the absence of shining luster from her hair...he knew these things came from the change within her, knew that Hiei no longer sat next to her as her Champion. And he wondered briefly _why _the Champion had still decided to sit next to her.

"The same room you used before is unoccupied. Perhaps it will...help to restore her mind."

"Mm, don' push yer luck, old man." Shikiyoku mumbled, her words very steeped in slumber, besides being partially garbled by her hand, and coming from her as if she simply spoke to Kafu in her dream and the words happened to leak out between her lips.

"I wouldn't dream of it, lady." 3

Hiei didn't move for a moment, still simply sitting there as if indecisive about moving her, her reaction to such a thing being inconclusive to him. While that was indeed a _part _of the reason he stayed, it was not his _entire _reason for hesitating. For waiting and listening to the very brief conversation between demon and demoness.

It was not his job to care for her anymore. It was not his _duty _to ensure she was well, unharmed, even… happy. It was not his responsibility to look after her anymore.

And yet, here he was. Unable to walk away, unable to extract himself from her presence.

She was fully capable now. She had displayed her ability to take up for herself mere moments before. She didn't _need _him as she had before.

He lingered on that thought, that _fact_ for a minute longer before he shifted in his seat, setting his feet on the floor and, without further hesitation, making easy work of sliding Shikiyoku from her own seat. He was met with absolutely no resistance, surprisingly enough to him.

Actually, he was surprised when Shikiyoku wrapped an arm behind his neck and over his shoulder, her other hand simply laying on her stomach once she was settled in his arms. He glanced briefly at Kafu, gave a nod of appreciation, then turned and wordlessly meandered his way towards the stairs, feet carrying him almost mechanically up each step and through the hallway, as if he'd done this hundreds of times before.

In reality, he was following a path he remembered clearly, almost _expected _Shikiyoku to be leading him to the room she'd stormed into the previous time they'd been there. He could almost just _smell _the scent he'd followed that night, _hear _the heavy steps of irritation she'd stomped around.

It was easy to extend a hand to the doorknob of the vacated room, easy to push the door open and then gently nudge it shut with his foot. It was easy to move towards the mattress across the room, to stand over it and map out the easiest way to lower her so that he may leave without her knowing.

But what _wasn't _easy was actually _laying _her down and taking his leave. Instead of settling down as he'd thought she would, she kept a firm hold on his cloak with one hand, her other arm even tightening around his neck as if afraid to release him.

_You don't need me, fool_. He gave a small twitch of his brow as she resisted further, her fingers not even budging from his cloak when he pried, her entire body shifting when he made an attempt to uncoil her arm from his shoulders.

After another moment, she grumbled incoherently and shifted again, and he simply gave in. He wouldn't be able to leave her without _waking _her first. And, as much as he felt she didn't need him…

"_...affection.."_

He gave an inaudible sigh and hooked his arms under her again, lifting her and turning until he was able to sit on the small bed, shiting until he was in _just _the right position that when he leaned back, he was reclining with his shoulders against the wall and Shikiyoku laying into him, arm still curled around his neck and hand still holding his cloak.

So much for _that_.

Then again… what damage could _this _do anyway? _*****_

~!**!~

Kafu stoically continued to clean the mug in his hands as the fire demon carried her away, but as soon as the pair disappeared up the stairs he stopped, staring blankly at the rag and cup in his hands and finally lowering them to the preparation counter he stood over when he realized he wasn't drying anything.

He let them go and leaned into his palms, still not really seeing the red-wood underneath his hands.

"Problem, Kafu?" The other waitresses had disappeared again now that the Niiro was empty of...patrons, and the mess looking to have never been there, so only the one with her lone tray walked up and leaned onto the counter. "And you're not allowed to say 'no' this time. Because I know that face." She looked pointedly at his expression.

Kafu let out a huff of amusement, but remained with his weight on his hands.

"You can go home, now."

She blinked at him, studying his features, then finally gave a shrug and a sigh, standing back up, "How long have we known each other and you _still _won't talk to me?"

"Not long enough." Was his amused reply.

"Fine, fine. I'll be here bright and early." She gave him a wave as she started to walk out, tossing the tray up towards the shelves behind him where, as usual, one of the invisible hands easily caught it and set it up high where it belonged.

He waited until even she had left before looking over to his left arm, standing up and lifting the edge of his rolled-up sleeve to reveal a tattoo that had not been there earlier that day.

It was just a heart, lightly embellished with a few curving swirls, and in black ink, but as he lowered the sleeve back down he let out a noise akin to a sigh and rubbed his fingers across the bridge of his nose before putting his face in his hand.

_Problem indeed. _

~!**!~

She let out possibly the most contented sigh she ever remembered releasing in her entire life.

Funny how it happened while in the arms of someone who was no longer forced to be her Champion. She would never have considered being able to exist without one.

...and never would have _wanted _to exist without one if she had a choice in the matter.

But when it had come right down to it, between life or death, when she had so many times before wished to be free of the mortal coil...she'd chosen life. And at the time, she hadn't really understood why.

It was clearer now.

She only shifted slightly, enough to let go of the cloak and slide her hand up to his shoulder, enough to let her forehead bury itself in his neck and smile.

And then she actually fell beyond her own awareness, into nightmares of the unknown where her memories started haunting her, where she did not understand them. She ran through red forests with faceless creatures. And she ran alone. 3

Hiei had become comfortable after just a bit more shifting, both from himself and Shikiyoku, and instead of closing his eyes and waiting for sleep, he took to watching Shikiyoku as best as he could, his eyes trained on her from the corners. He felt rather than heard the sigh she released, noted the momentary release of tension in her entire being.

After a few minutes, he was aware of the tension returning to her muscles, which occasionally twitched with the dreams that plagued her mind. Dreams he decided were likely the very same as the ones she'd been having the night before.

He thought for a moment, rifling through his own memories until he found a simple one that was of nothing more than he himself and Shikiyoku settling down for a calm night between cities on the Second Level, having agreed to take a few hours' rest before finishing the trek to the First Level.

And as he accessed his Jagan, goaded it to transfer the image from his own mind to hers, he realized that while she may not need him for _protection, _she very likely needed him for _other_ reasons. And probably didn't even know it.

So he let his eyelids slide closed, watching the quiet memory of the two of them sitting in front of a fire, saying nothing but not uncomfortable with the silence. And he too would find himself falling into a calm sleep. _*****_

~!**!~

"Do you ever sleep, Kafu?" The brown-haired demon made quick work of the distance between the door and the bar the bartender stood behind as he always did, though Kafu's hands seemed preoccupied with something _other _than cleaning the countless glasses.

"Do you ever think of coming in while we're open, Taka?" Kafu replied without looking up, rolling the sleeve of his left arm back down to match the location of the other.

Taka waved a hand dismissively as he slid into the seat that Shikiyoku herself had been in not a few hours ago, "It's never stopped me before."

"I can't argue with that."

Taka leaned onto the counter and waited expectantly, but the barkeeper did not oblige him in the silence, instead turning to lift a rag from the prep counter and beginning to dry a glass as usual.

"Are you gonna serve me a drink?"

"Are you going to ask me for one?"

"Ice Wind." Taka provided without prompting, beginning to watch the ingredients coming down towards them.

Kafu apparently couldn't be bothered with even mixing the drink as it did so for itself in mid-air before landing neatly in front of the other demon.

Taka threw back a large gulp and then let the other half of the drink set declaratively back down on the counter where he took to staring at its sea-foam colored contents. He absently lifted a hand and rubbed at the right side of his neck, a move which did not go unnoticed by Kafu, though the bartender did not have to look up to notice it peripherally.

"You've got one too?" Kafu spoke up mildly, unsurprised.

"Hm?" Taka's eyes focused back in on the bar around him, and he blinked once before actually seeing Kafu again.

His grin grew sheepish, "Noticed it, huh?"

On the exact spot which Taka had been rubbing was a tattoo which Kafu very much recognized, though the black ink did not stand out quite as much on the bird-demon's darker-brown skin.

"It...it showed up about a month ago." He reached up to touch it again, and his voice lowered to almost an incoherent mumbled, "I-I hadn't even so much as _thought _about her in decades."

Kafu's eyes shifted briefly to the stairs, but with his head down, Taka did not see, preoccupied with his thoughts.

"Then you know what it means." Was all the bartender said.

Taka raised and lowered one shoulder, "I...not really. Just have suspicions about it."

Kafu let out a breath from his nose that could have been a 'hm' if he'd wanted it to.

Taka peered forward, trying to catch the other demon's eyes, "What do _you _know about it?"

"Nothing that you won't figure out yourself." Kafu lied with as much ease as ever.

The points of Taka's ears twitched, but he knew that tone and knew he wouldn't get anything else out of the old demon, so he leaned back, working his tongue around in his mouth before deciding to stay quiet, finishing his drink and standing up.

He hesitated before turning away, "How am I to figure it out?"

Kafu stopped what he was doing and lifted his head, meeting with Taka's gaze for a pause, "Patience. You'll know."

Taka grumbled and kept moving towards the door, "I hate waiting."

~!**!~

It wasn't until she woke up that she realized she'd slept peacefully, and when her eyes slid open to find _who _she'd slept peacefully with it-

Well, it didn't seem to bother her.

The first time he had reached out to her, she had been uncomfortable, because who in their right mind would _want _to, after all, knowing what she could do, what the scars meant she could do. But he'd done so seemingly without hesitation-twice? three times now?-regardless of how 'repulsive' he had claimed her to appear. Without thinking of how whatever disease she had might pass along to him.

She desperately hoped it would not.

And he was warm.

Warm enough that he kept her chills at bay, even though his neck felt uncannily cool compared to her forehead which pressed up against it.

..._what was his name again?_

In a moment of desperation, she frantically scoured her mind, wondering if she would perpetually be take two steps forward and one back until she found it again and her eyes closed in relief.

_Hiei_.

There was something else too. Something else she had called him.

_Flame-boy._

_Fire-prince._

The first amused her, as the memory of the name was usually tinted with annoyance. The second seemed more...well whatever it was, it was kinder. ...perhaps the first had evolved into the second, as perhaps their relationship had, in the same manner, changed from 'annoyance' to...fondness?

Hm. 3

Hiei wasn't sure when, but sometime in the middle of the night, he'd taken to dreaming up old dreams, old memories and his mind rifled through them one by one, slowly. Each one held a different element: irritation, calmness, anger, desperation, fondness..

Silence.

His eyelids twitched as if to open, but really, he wasn't awake. Instead, he was traversing layer after layer, following a lead he'd gained and was heading to the seventh. He was running, eyes set forward as a demon evaded him after having found out the _cursed child_ had learned of her intel.

And when he'd caught the female who'd been rumored to have seen the one he'd been hunting, Hiei found himself once again disappointed. Angry. She'd simply thought it would be _fun _to gain the attention of the _champion_, not having realized said _champion _was a _cursed being_.

He'd let her live, but she was very likely to never forget the encounter.

And the tenseness of the memory had his mind waking, his eyelids sliding open to stare at the wall across from him, the muscles in his face twitching for several different reasons.

"_I bet she doesn't even __**need**_ _you anymore. She's likely __**dead.**_"

His eyelids slid shut again. _*****_

She had felt, somewhere in the back of her mind, a strange tautness to muscles she did not own, even lost in her thoughts trying to sort through memories she could not find.

As she neared slumber again, lulled back towards the sleeping world by the quietness of the moment, from within her memories welled up what felt to her like another demon entirely, filled with everything that was the antithesis to herself, but one that she gave into gratefully if it meant escaping her fears and misunderstandings for a while.

"What is it that troubles you, my prince of fire?" She murmured, the words coming out softer and warmer than she had ever thought her own lips capable, and she found herself carried off somewhere, body relaxing as if at any moment she could drift off to sleep. 3

Hiei didn't jolt, wasn't even remotely surprised by the voice that floated to his ears, the question voiced in a manner that sounded much more like Shikiyoku than she had since he'd found her. His eyelids stayed shut and he drew in a calm breath, his muscles forced to relax as he became more aware of his surroundings, eventually remembering where he was and _who _was with him.

She was warm. Too warm, he noted.

But really, there was nothing he could do about that.

So instead he decided to bat away her question. Less worry meant less stress, right?

"Nothing of consequence." _*****_

She let a gentle noise hum against her lips, which smiled even at her negative response to his dismissal.

Shikiyoku shifted a little before speaking again.

"I am more troubled that you would not tell me than I would be should you simply do so, Hiei." 3

"Hn."

For a few moments, that was Hiei's lone response. He gave no indication that he would continue, gave no hint that he was even _considering _telling her of what had plagued his mind for months at a time. The singular thought that had driven him to continue his search even when he felt as if doing so would end fruitless.

Sure, he'd realized at the time that when the bond broke, it had not been due to her demise. After a week or so, he'd realized that the bond would have _warned _him of such a dramatic thing, would have _screamed _at him if her life had been on the line, no matter the separation.

But that meant nothing for the time _after_ the bond broke. And it had drove him almost insane lingering on that possibility.

To this day, he still wasn't exactly sure _why _it had- no, while it _still _mattered. And it occasionally lead to moments like this, where he'd forgotten someone had spoken to him and he was left contemplating his own thoughts over the matter.

Only when he shifted a bit did he remember her presence, her question and her prompting for his answer. And he continued to contemplate anyway, not really sure _what _to say on the matter. So, he said the simplest thing he could think of:

"Dreams of old travels that mean next to nothing now." _*****_

In his own way, she understood, he was still dismissing her, but...he _had _tried, and that is what kept her smile on her lips as she accepted his response this time.

Her grip on his shoulder tightened briefly as a thought crossed her mind, and she had trouble saying it, her brows furrowing together and the smile disappearing.

"I-" She swallowed the lump that had somehow come to rest in her throat, and her words came out hoarsely as if she could just barely manage to say them, "I thought I had been cursed to walk the layers alone, to never see you again-"

Her voice broke and she fell silent, her fingers at his shoulder pulling part of the fabric of his dark cloak into her grasp for a tense moment before it passed and she released her hold, if only slightly. 3

Hiei finally let his eyelids slide open and he turned to glance at Shikiyoku from the corners, expression calm and collected as she spoke. Normally, he would have given a glare for that word, would have said something against it and… well, he didn't even know. It was a word he _loathed. _

But at the same time, her words did not bring on the ire that normally would have erupted at the very _beginnings _of the word she'd said. And he supposed it was because he _understood. _On some level, he realized he'd felt… similarly to how she admitted to have felt.

Even when she'd fallen silent, and stayed that way for a moment, he didn't seem to have anything to say. His eyes shifted to the wall across from him again, staring blankly at the surface. He understood.

Because _he'd missed her too._

He opened his mouth only slightly, as if to speak, but found no words on his tongue and shut it again. He took in a breath through his nostrils, eyelids sliding shut again.

Finally, he found something to say.

"Seems you were wrong." _*****_

It was too weak to be a laugh, but the breath that came out her lips, cold air that brushed across his neck, released the emotions that had been gathering over her face.

"I have never been more thankful to be wrong in my entire life." She finally managed to say. "I thought I'd lost you. Forever."

She snuggled closer to him, enjoying the moment that she knew would not last: one where she could remember. 3

Hiei felt his lips twitch just slightly, not in amusement or ire, but… cheer? He released a calm breath through his nostrils and took to staring down at her in calm curiosity, though he did not voice his curiosity over what had driven her into this state, into breaking their bond. He didn't ask why she'd severed their connection after they'd already been separated by the worlds.

He didn't ask what she did to keep busy for ten years, because really, her scars held answers to that unvoiced question.

Instead, he shifted about again, lowering himself the rest of the way down until his head touched down on the pillow he'd been leaning on previously, having no immediate plans to extricate himself from her or the room itself any time soon. _*****_

He may not have asked it of her, but her mind lingered on the events that brought about her power over pain, even as she move her legs to lay down next to him, placing her head over his chest where she could feel the energy pumping through his veins from his core.

The desolation of being separated from him, knowing that she could either die to bring the three worlds together or live and remain stuck in the Ninth Level for eternity, or at least until the Kamis saw fit to let her die, had led her steps to Renai, and even then, when presented with her death or her other option, why had she chosen to sever their connection and save her own life?

_Because of __**this **__moment right here. The one you'd never truly stopped hoping for._

The door to the room slammed against the opposite wall and in an instant, before it even hit, Shikiyoku had shot up, eyes black and an unfocused wave of dark energy in the hand that did not hold her up.

"Iro!" The figure at the door announced with unhidden consternation after the entrance had shook the walls of the room and stomping inside and over to the bedside.

With the light shining in from the hallway, she couldn't make out the demon until her eyes adjusted.

"Remove this...this _mark _from me at once!" The short demon's brown hair was frazzled, the matching red slices of color on either cheek drawn downwards in the frown that plagued the demon's lips.

"Shubou?" She asked kindly, her eyes softening as their darkness melted away, finding that still her memories-for the moment-remained intact.

"I have been unable to get you out of my mind for _weeks_, and I _know _ it _has _to be related to this _ridiculous _mark you've somehow seen fit to _bestow _upon me." Shubou stood inches from the edge of the bed with arms interwoven together, feet apart and expression cross.

She _almost _laughed, but it had been so long since her muscles had done so that it only came out as an amused sigh that hummed from her lips.

"And where is it, pray tell, this mark you seem to think I have given to you?" She asked him, eyes dripping with innocence.

Shubou only made an angry noise at her, barely containing ire as a growling from the throat.

Of course...there was a heart-shaped 'mark' staring at her from Shubou's forehead.

"You know _perfectly _well _where _this mark is." The demon seethed through clenched teeth. "Now take it _off_!" Shubou's eyes squeezed together, hands dropping down as a single tiny foot stomped in a miniature temper-tantrum that appeared to suit the child-like size of the demon before her. "As if it isn't hard enough for the rest of the clan to take me seriously, now you've gone and-"

Once Shubou had his eyes closed, Shikiyoku calmly moved over to the edge of the bed and sat cross-legged with her hands in her lap, head tilted just a little to consider the little demon.

"What." Shubou had stopped upon realizing she stared and bluntly questioned her.

She hesitated, lips parting, "I can..." She actually appeared concerned, "I can certainly _try_, dear one. But I cannot make any promises that it will work."

_I've never done this before._

Shubou's eyebrows met together in a deep frown, arms crossing together again.

"Well...try anyway, woman!"

Shikiyoku let out a sigh that seemed to travel the entire length of her body, her back sagging from the weakness she felt traveling along by the disease unchecked.

"Come closer, then." She reached out a hand, voice tired and low.

Shubou's eyes grew wide, pressing right up against the bedside and feeling Shikiyoku's hand move to the demon's chin.

Tilting Shubou's face up towards her gently, Shikiyoku leaned down and put her lips upon the mark, pulling away again to see the demon blinking at her expectantly.

She regarded the mark with guarded eyes, and as she opened her mouth to say something about having tried, the black outline glowed softly, changing to yellow and causing little shafts of same-colored light to further outline the heart until the color seemed to lift right off Shubou's skin and dissipate into nothingness in the air.

"Better?" She asked hoarsely, dropping her hand which had suddenly felt very heavy.

"Much." Shubou said without pause, turning to go. Upon reaching the door, the demon hesitated in mid-step, hand on the door frame.

"Thank you, Iro." Shubou quietly murmured before reaching over to close the door while stepping back out into the hall.

In the silence, Shikiyoku lifted her hand, reaching into the place in the air where the light had disappeared. 3

Hiei hadn't moved even when Shubou stormed into the room, hadn't even twitched a single muscle as if he'd been expecting someone to come barging in. He merely lay there, glancing at Shubou, the mark on his forehead, then let his eyelids slide closed to keep from staring at it. It was an odd thing, the tattoo on the other's forehead that was painstakingly obvious.

He was curious, to be honest, what the mark meant and how _Shikiyoku _was involved. What it meant for _her_ to see such a thing.

A _heart_, no less.

What? He wasn't _incompetent_ when it came to things like that. Simply didn't _care _for them.

The air seemed to become charged for a moment, causing the fire demon's red gaze to fall again upon the demon who'd entered the room and created a scene. The one who'd effectively ended their peaceful moment, who was now without the mark on his forehead and was taking his leave.

Hiei turned his head away from the door again even as it slid shut, taking to staring at Shikiyoku with an unblinking gaze.

Though, he didn't _voice _his question about what had just happened. _*****_

_Strange._ She thought.

She stared at the place where she had last seen the bit of yellow.

_I never knew a piece of me was missing. ...but why do I feel worse somehow, now that I have it back?_

Without a word, she shuffled herself back around and made as if to lay down next to Hiei again.

Before lowering herself down, she leaned towards him and pressed her lips briefly against his cheek in a similar gesture to the one she had just made upon Shubou's brow, settling her head onto the other pillow maybe a foot or so from the one he lay on.

"...thank you." She murmured sleepily to him. 3

Hiei let his eyes follow after Shikiyoku as she shifted around, settling next to him again after a small, gentle and warm kiss to the cheek. One he took note of, this time. He raised a brow at her, confused. What was she thanking him for?

"For what?" he finally inquired in a quiet murmur, as if unsure if she were still awake.

If she wished to sleep some more, he wouldn't stop her. _*****_

She had her answer, but floating inbetween waking and sleeping, it took longer to get it out of her mouth.

"I...know it's you."

Another pause.

"...in my dreams. ...helping me...sleep." She faded off, the last word coming out as a mumble, and as if she struggled to say something else.

"...but I can never...remember." 3

Hiei turned his head away from Shikiyoku as she spoke, eyes turning to the ceiling over their heads. He felt his expression shift, turning to one he didn't recognize, mirroring an emotion he felt well up within him for which he had no name.

Odd, how this _one _person could cause unnamed emotions to come forth in him. Emotions he didn't understand.

He let his eyelids slide closed, his lips turning upward in the very slightest way as a small breath left him in a very soft, almost inaudible hum.

He wouldn't say it aloud, but he'd do it a million times, whether she remembered or not.

"Go back to sleep, woman." _*****_

She smiled sleepily at him.

"Only if..."

Her smile started to fade as her muscles relaxed further.

"...I get to dream with you." 3

Hiei felt his lips twitch even more, and he didn't even have to look at Shikiyoku to know she was smiling too. It was in the air around her; she seemed much more relaxed than she had since he'd found her again.

_Of course._

That would have been his answer, had he said it aloud. Instead, he merely wracked his brain for another memory, searched for something else to show her that he thought would be of use, would be _worth _remembering if she chose to deem it as such.

And he knew the perfect one.

His mind's presence brushed hers calmly, his own eyes sliding shut as he relayed the memory of his hands on her cheeks, his eyes staring directly into hers as blood dripped from her nose, as her energy began to spazz against what she'd wished to do.

It was probably the most powerful moment- no, the _first- _powerful moment they'd shared, when their energies had intertwined for the first time. And it had been the moment he'd recalled a million times before now, and would continue to recall a million times in the future. _*****_

"_Don't move." She managed to tell him, her breathing labored._

She did not even get a chance to fall far enough into sleep to find herself among blurred visions of red trees, instead finding a memory from a time that seemed so long ago floating across her dreamscape.

Wordlessly, face in his hands, she recalled what she had shown him, what she hadn't the strength to say.

The Palace. On the Ninth Level. Where they would go after that, and where she met her fate later when he was not there.

Visions of Renai passed over her mind, knowing now as she did that he and his mate had been the source of the attack on her family.

Her mother whisking her away to a back room, opening one of the many hidden tunnels that went underground and came back up way out of their lands.

"_Look at me, Princess."_

She hadn't wanted to.

"_You will run. And you will hide. You __**must **__stay away from everyone, or you will die."_

"_You are hereby __**exiled **__from these lands." Her eyes shimmered again. "And you may __**never **__return."_

"_Go! Now! Run!"_

She had been mesmerized by her mother's bright green eyes, a spell placed on her that in her mind was forgotten somewhere along the way between dancing for her first Champion and that moment when she'd been knocked out of the tree at the edge of her former homeland.

...and that remembrance, where she had needed to just _be still_. To have a chance to fight against her own mother, centuries later.

_He _had been with her. Enveloped by the warmth of his hands, of his mind. She remembered what it felt like, his wrists beneath her fingers, her eyes gazing into his own.

_...-useless..._

_...not useless…_

_What she_ _**needed**__, what she __**desired**_ _with every fiber of her existence was standing before her in the form of a fiery demon. In the form of her Champion._

In the form of this fire demon who had come back for her.

_Companion._

The realization that he embodied..._everything_ for her had brought such a release, one that she would only replicate later when he finally came to tell her that the _one _thing she wanted of him...was the one thing he wanted of her.

But in that moment, for her, standing in the tree...the spell had been broken. 3

Hiei allowed the memory to play through, watching it with Shikiyoku as if he were reliving it from his own perspective again. He himself did not fall into sleep as he had considered, since he did seem rested enough to not need more sleep.

Instead, he let the memory play through, and by the time it came to the moment where they'd dashed away, towards the castle again, he let the memory fade, transition smoothly into the night when she'd danced for the Northern Tribe, starting at the very beginning when she'd emerged from the flames, allowing her to see her from _his _view. _*****_

Somewhere not quite at the forefront of her dreams, she remembered thinking how _odd _it was to see herself from another's eyes.

_And while he was indeed entranced, he was also able to think clearly, assess her state and read her expression. After a few minutes, he could see the sweat glistening in the glow of her energy and the fire, and while her eyes were closed, he could sense the tension behind the lids, see the tension between her brows as she obviously struggled..._

_And his own energy slowly, discreetly, began to seep from his body and move through the crowd, unseen, unnoticed, and towards her. It stretched enough to allow it to just brush her skin, inviting and warm should she have need of it soon, but not demanding. Calm, warm and only meant for reassurance. For now._

The moves came back to her, surrounded by his energy in a calm and self-assured bubble.

These were steps she had done a thousand times, a thousand _times _a thousand.

And suddenly, it was not the fire demon in the crowd, but the _other _one. The first one. And he was not out in the circle looking in and watching her, but at her feet, seated on the ground.

She danced around him, movements steady and true, and as he played the instrument in his lap, his energy, brown like the earth, came whispering from his fingers, came to coil around her.

She _tried _not to shy away from it, but it felt sickly and nasty to her skin and she shivered.

"_Pay attention, __**Iro**__." _He had sneered under his breath to her, using her name as he always did, as an insult. As a jab at the control he exerted over her. "_You will __**never **__find someone with __**that **__look on your face. Who would __**want **__you, lover?"_

He began to sing once she released the tension around her shoulders, a feat considering how he goaded her onwards, as much as she wanted to run from the tendrils of his power that looped around her long and lithe arms and legs of her true demonic form as she moved through and with them. The strings of energy left her skin feeling dirty as they sensuously curved about her. His song empowered the air as always, the words ones he himself had arranged as always, but these not for entertainment, instead meant for weaving their power together, so that she might draw all there together under his rule.

It did not take long for her to tell it wasn't working, even as her energy, entwined with his, left her to loop around the ones who had come. Her stomach convulsed inside her as she could not stop, could not tell him to end it, her power being sucked away, out of her control.

And then the screams started.

Her eyes were forced open.

The circle was in turmoil.

And she could not stop.

Brother was fighting brother. Sisters were killing fathers. Demons were on the ground, eyes wide with death, and she could not so much as wipe the blood from her bare skin, did not even shudder as her Champion's mouth opened and words did not come out, but blood hit her bare skin when she passed him by.

She could see clearly the bones of his fingers where he was being forced to pluck at the strings, and she suddenly realized she had no idea how long they had been at it. His blood streamed down the instrument that had served him so well, and still he played.

It was only when the spell had finished that she stopped moving to dance, frozen in place and barely alive, but able to see the atrocities the demons gathered there continued to commit to one another as her energy, as the ritual, had mistakenly driven them mad.

She could hear the battle around her, the fighting, the ripping of flesh, and even louder were the noises her Champion attempted to make, himself unable to move, his throat gurgling with blood that seeped from his eyes, his lips, his ears.

The fighting continued, but a few of the demons had spotted her, and though there were tears falling down her cheeks at the destruction the one called _Lover _had caused, in their own gazes was no mercy nor pity. Nothing but rage.

She finally cried out when she felt the swipe of claws down her back, the abrupt physical pain collapsing her knees and then dropping forward onto the ground, feeling now her own blood beginning to seep out from the deep wounds to join the blood of others that stained the ground.

A shadow fell over her and she wished for death, but the death that came was not her own, only given to all those who tried to come close.

The last sound she remembered hearing was that of her Champion's head falling with a thud to the grass and her mind screamed within the bond that had been so viciously and abruptly severed.

A large, rough tongue began running itself up her back, over the claw marks that cut into several layers of skin.

She could feel the air vibrating with speech, but she was lost in her own head, weeping over the scene and the absence of the bond.

The last thing she remembered feeling was soft fur underneath her, strong muscles carrying her on its back away from the smells of sweat and battle.

And even as she relaxed into the darkness of unconsciousness that graciously enveloped her, she stained that dark fur with tears that did not stop flowing for a long time. 3

Hiei's energy linking with Shikiyoku's in front of the Northern Tribe had been one of his favorite moments. If he had to choose, it would likely have been his _top _favorite moment. Which was probably the main reason he'd decided to show her _his _view of that night.

But he hadn't expected it to take the turn it did. He hadn't expected that he himself would not have control over what images were being passed along, what the Jagan accepted to be relayed between the two of them. He hadn't expected to witness what he could only describe as a massacre, a ritual gone wrong.

She'd told him that she'd lost a champion in this fashion, but he hadn't _quite _been able to picture what she meant. What she'd been afraid of at that time.

But as he blinked the image away and he was able to see the room he lay in again, he came to realize just how _afraid _she had been that night, and it completely explained why his _pushing her_ to do what _he _wanted her to do had made her react the way it had.

He turned a glance onto Shikiyoku briefly before his eyelids slid closed. _His _way of doing things didn't work for _her_. More harm than good came from it, not that he'd realized he'd been aiming for the _good _in the first place.

His eyelids came open again to stare at Shikiyoku, and really, he wasn't surprised to see the tears that flowed in rivers down her face and into the pillow.

But instead of asking the Jagan to lend its power again, instead of sifting through memories as he had been doing, instead of chancing the Jagan allowing her to see another memory like that instead of the peaceful ones he'd meant to show her…

He simply reached over with his left arm and wiped at her face, removing a few tears from her cheeks that had fallen in the meantime before he turned away again and took to staring blankly at the ceiling.

If there had been _any _chance of him going back to sleep, it was long gone now. _*****_

Darkness at first, and then a voice called to her.

"_Do you still trust me?"_

_When she opened her eyes, he seemed almost afraid of her answer._

As in the dream, she reached out to him, but here pulled herself closer until she lay up against him, head buried in his arm.

"_There will be a time when you go along with a decision __**I**_ _make, and you will be hurt, and I will almost kill myself with guilt because of it, much as I think you have __**this**_ _time."_

And he _had _gone along with it. Except...not exactly by choice. She had thought he'd been lost forever for her, chose to break the bond-instead of by her death which would have ravaged his mind-in what turned out to be the most discreet way possible.

...and she _did _almost kill herself with the guilt for the answer she chose. 3

Hiei didn't dare to even so much as move a single muscle, his eyes still up at the ceiling even as the Jagan allowed Shikiyoku the ability to show _him _one of her own memories. For some reason, he couldn't exactly recall at the moment what had brought about the conversation he now heard again.

Perhaps it was because he wasn't really paying full attention to the memory itself, as if afraid that if he did so, it would shift again.

But it didn't, and even as Shikiyoku pulled herself up next to him, to lay against him, he still didn't even move aside from the closing of his eyelids. _*****_

"_But you did what you thought was __**right**__, what you thought was __**best**__. How could I __**not**_ _place my trust in you for even just that reason alone?" _

Had she really said that? How profound it seemed.

And how idiotic from the other side of it.

_She watched with interest as the fire demon moved and eased himself into the water that her legs dangled in, then turned and held out his arms, making a small smile come onto her face as she reached out with her good arm and planted it firmly on his bare shoulder, letting him lift her down and into the cold spring. _3

After a moment, the image in his mind became clearer than it had before and he found that he was watching himself.

Which was quite an odd thing, since he'd never been able to do something like _this _before.

Through her eyes, he seemed much calmer than he remembered being. Had something like this been shown to him before he'd met her, he would have scoffed and likely beheaded the poor fool who thought Hiei Jaganshi would _ever _extend his arms out to another, ever _ask _another if _he _was trusted.

It was odd that he also found a sense of _warmth _from this perspective, as if it were his _own_.

He remembered what he'd been thinking here, what he'd been refraining from saying at the time. The internal battle he'd been fighting.

And every single bit of it had been about the being he now lay beside. He hadn't realized it until now. _*****_

Her vision shifted, blurring as if passing through time until it landed on something she had never once thought about, never once knew had in her mind existed...

_He coughed and glared at the bowl as if it had in some way offended him, then he turned those same smoldering-gorgeous-crimson eyes on her person._

_Her hair was up in a bun, her glasses thick, and her ears were twitching with the tiniest bit of aggravation at the response she had just seen the fire demon give her. _

"_If you don't __**like **__it. __**I'm **__eating it." She made no hesitation in reaching over to take the bowl from him._

_He possessively scooted the bowl farther away, and she noticed his eyes darken, daring her to try._

_She tried not to smile, and since she still felt a little irritated with him, it was easy to resist._

"_What __**is **__this ridiculous substance?" He had demanded none too kindly of her._

_It seemed more like a statement than a question at the time._

"_Ice cream...but it always seemed more like 'sweet snow' to me."_ 3

Hiei had… _I'd done that? _

The fire demon watched the new scene with curiosity, as if he didn't even recognize himself or what was going on. It was as if, somewhere along the way, he'd forgotten moments like _this_, where he hadn't been too far from the way he'd been _before_, but not exactly who he was _now_. He'd forgotten, somewhere along the way, that Toriko had been a factor somewhere. He'd forgotten how irritated he'd been with the human side of Shikiyoku at times, how he'd thought he hadn't cared at all, and then promptly took to pulling pins from her hair or glaring at her over a bowl of sweet snow, as he was doing in the image here.

How had he forgotten those things? How had he forgotten the _beginning _of it all? _*****_

_She stomped down the stairs, unsure of what had her in such an uproar of emotions, until she found herself thinking about the fact that she tried __**not **__to use her powers around Kurama because it was the first time she had a friend that wasn't being nice to her because of her energy._

_She came into the kitchen and practically ripped the drawer with the silverware from its hinges, snatching a spoon, then directly tromping over to the refrigerator where she flung the freezer open, unceremoniously grabbing the plastic container within and dropping cross-legged to the floor. She ripped the lid off and promptly began drowning her anger in the cold, sweet treat, which stung at her teeth and head with her first large bite._

"_Is this how you cope?"_

_She __**refused **__to look up at what had been the source of her anger, her lips twitching down at the container before her._

_Her answer was to fling the spoon at his face, following it with a heated, "You should try it."_

"_How ridiculous."_

_He must have caught it, but she only reached over and grabbed another spoon, balancing the tub on her knee as he slid down to the floor next to her to help her demolish the chocolate ice cream within. _3

Another _Toriko _moment. Not a _Shikiyoku _memory, but one from the counterpart she'd created within herself for protection, self-preservation. At the back of his mind, he wondered what this meant, if perhaps the two beings had become one whole being again, but at the forefront of his mind was amusement.

He remembered plucking the spoon from the air with ease, even fighting the slight amusement that had bloomed from her gesture at the time.

But that amusement held _nothing _to the amusement he felt now, his lips twitching upwards and his throat humming out a sound he hadn't made…. for as long as he could remember. _*****_

Even in her sleep, she felt a smile peeling back her lips and her head shook back and forth a little against Hiei's arm.

_Stupid girl._

As if to show her how 'stupid' she herself had once been, her vision shifted again...

_She was hungry._

_**Starving **__in fact._

_Had that scrawny weakling never fed their body?_

_It wasn't hard to discover the secret of the white box in the kitchen, but only because it had handles that she instinctively pulled at, surprising herself with how easily it came open._

_Nothing._

_She crinkled her nose in disgust as she peered in and pronounced everything within sight inedible, even though she flung a few things in plastic containers at the floor after checking them to make sure._

_Defeated by the lower thing, she let go and stood up to open the upper one, the other door swinging shut silently when she released it, but banging against her legs as she stood in the way._

_She pushed past a heavy plastic container with a hand, but knocked it out onto the ground as she tried to rummage further._

_Curious, she closed the white thing's doors and sat down on her feet, towel wrapped around her torso coming further up her thighs. _

_She tilted her head first one way, then another. She lifted it up in both hands, finding that the same chill that struck her when she opened the place it had been sitting was inherently held within the plastic, and she rotated it a bit as the cold stuck to her hands._

_It smelled good, once you got past the plastic. Which she had no idea how to do. _

_She tried gnawing at a corner, but her teeth were not sharp enough any longer to make much of a dent. _

_She growled at her human form._

_Confounded, she plopped the container back down on the floor and crossed her arms over the towel covering her chest, glaring at it as if it could be intimidated into revealing the secret of its contents._

"_It's upside down."_

_She'd nearly scoffed, thinking 'and what do __**you **__know about it?' until he promptly came over to flip it, pick it up, and pop the lid off to the amazement of her wondering eyes._

"_Sweet snow." He'd provided, holding it out as if for her inspection, which she obliged by sitting up a little straighter to peer over the edge at the contents. "With bits of...strawberry."_

"_Straw...berry." Her tongue and lips curled around the strangeness of the word. "And you __**eat **__it?" She sounded incredulous at that thought. "How?"_

"_With spoons."_

_He'd tossed her one._

_Duh._

_She watched him carefully, intending on replicating his every movement as he showed her 'how,' tilting the tub to her once he had his spoon in his mouth._

_Her lips were drawn together, waiting for him to fall over as if poisoned, but the smell was too great of a temptation and she relented, mimicking the manner in which he had dug some of the substance out and after scrutinizing what was on her spoon, putting it in her mouth._

_She coughed and glared at it as if it had offended her person, turning that same glare up to Hiei as if __**he **__had something to do with it, sticking her tongue out as if that would warm it up faster._

"_It __**burns.**_" _She declared accusingly after drawing her tongue back into her mouth, eyes narrowing slightly at the amusement she caught gleaming in his stoic gaze when he looked back at her._

_He had __**not **__told her __**that**__. _3

Another one of those _hums _of amusement left Hiei's lips, this time a little louder than before at the accusation he'd heard declared in her mind. For a moment, he compared her reaction to his own, noting that they were very similar in the initial reaction, both accusing the other of not having warned.

He knew that after the initial reaction, they'd both come to enjoy the frozen substance of Sweet Snow. He also remembered their escapade after the sweet treat had been consumed entirely by the both of them, the trip to the store they'd taken.

Briefly, he wondered what the others would think of him if they knew of that escapade. However, the thought was gone in an instant, replaced again with his growing amusement. _*****_

The memory faded, jumping again, and when it came back into focus, she was glaring at him in her former rooms at Rae's palace.

"_You-" Her eyes narrowed further at him as she held back almost painfully her initial desire at Hiei's destruction of the clothing, which had been to throw her arms about him and kiss him soundly, "-have just earned my undying devotion. And if you don't burn as many things as possible like that while we're here, I'll consider it a slight upon my very person."_

_Her eyes flickered towards the last of the tiny ashes that seemed to disappear into the air, trying very hard to keep under control the smile twitching at her lips._

_..._

_Her stomach had lurched frightfully when the sudden realization dawned that Hiei would have had no training in court arts whatsoever._

_And yet, he had surprised her, continually, that night._

"_Clever demon." She murmured to him, lips pursed coquettishly as she settled into his arms once he had expertly taken the lead._

_He had pulled her close-much __**too**_ _close for proper dancing in public-whispering in her ear._

"_One must be as clever as the person leading them, no?"_

_His breath had moved across her skin, setting it tingling and rendering her speechless at his 'audacity,' which in truth pleased her somewhere behind the blush that had crept up her neck._

"_I've learned from the best."_

_There was another lurch in her stomach, but this...was not from fright._

"_I think," She was breathless, cheeks burning, barely able to form a thought in her mind, left completely off-guard in his arms by his previously unprecedented actions. Something like that had not...had __**never **__happened before. "At least in this case, your cleverness far surpasses my own, flame-boy." _3

Hiei blinked as he saw himself through her eyes this time, and thoughts that were not his own seemed to float through the memory Shikiyoku had begun to shift through. Memories he'd thought of continuously, but not… not the way she did, it seemed. His initial reaction when he thought of Rae and Ballrooms and dancing was irritation, ire at its peak because he'd been _forced _into it. _Forced _to play another's game and abide by their rules, for _her _life had been, the way he saw it, in danger. All he'd been ready to do was get out of there, destroying everything on the way out if he had the time.

But the thoughts Shikiyoku had, ones he now had access to as she replayed the memory from her standpoint, were very different than his. Instead of anger, as he'd been displaying, or even mild irritation, she'd spent her time _enjoying_ the things he'd done specifically to keep them out of trouble, to keep _her_ out of trouble that he himself would not have been able to handle.

While he'd been searching for ways _out_, she'd been wrapped up in _him_, content to spend that time _with _him.

And her narrowed eyes at him that day had been for an entirely different reason than he'd suspected that day.

Which, by the way, he didn't know how to take. He didn't know what to think, because really, he'd never met someone who'd ever _had _thoughts like that towards him, no one who'd ever actually _cared _about _him_ and not his status as a 'cursed' being. Not in such a way as she did, any way. _*****_

In the midst of her slumber, she moved her head over his shoulder to meet her nose gently with his cheek to nuzzle at him sleepily before pulling away, breathing softly out her smiling lips.

This time, the memory was clear, the emotions raw...because this time the memory came from the most recent of events, where she stood daring every last demon in the room to come at her...

"_**You wish to stare?"**_

_Her eyes narrowed into slits, unable to see anything but the drink that had slid onto the counter at Hiei's elbow._

_Within an instant, in spite of the disease that clouded her mind and disrupted her natural thought, she remembered __**exactly **__what that drink meant, what the intricacies of each ingredient stood for. And it made her angry._

"_**Then I will give you something to stare at."**_

_She had heard, when they entered the bar, the whispers about the Forbidden Child, the Cursed Child. But it was not until this very moment that she became enraged, for their whispers had not been meant to insult her-which she had at first assumed and would withstand- but were about him-which she would __**not**__._

_He was 'forbidden' by Koorime law, birthed out of a union the Ice Maidens had banned long ago by restricting their interaction with the outside world. But they also called him 'cursed.' As if they had __**ever **__been cursed; as if they knew what the word actually meant._

The fury of that moment had her, outside the dream, beginning to growl low in her chest, recalling her anger and starting to pull herself inadvertently back towards the waking world, stirring where she lay.

"_**You want to talk?"**_

_He was not cursed, it was __**they **__who were cursed. Cursed with idiocy. Cursed with foolishness. Cursed __**blind**_ _by their unwarranted hatred. Any of them-__**all **__of them-who saw him as somehow 'less' of a demon simply because of the circumstances of his birth-when the truth was she knew him to be a demon greater than any of them could ever dream of aspiring to, and knew also that he was not yet done achieving his greatness-made her furious._

_They were cursed with __**jealousy**__._

_Or they should have been, if they could see past their stupidity._

"_**Then I will give you something to talk about."**_

_The drink._

_That __**drink**__._

_It infuriated her beyond reason._

_The demon wished to __**use **__him-not even simply mate with him-not keep him. Never keep him. Never become his life-mate. Throw him away. The contents of the glass made it perfectly clear that he was not worthy, off-limits, of being anyone's 'mate,' even a prospective one, due to the conflicting elements in his blood. He would have been nothing more than a moment of a thrill, to thumb her nose at everyone by having had the bastard child of an Ice Maiden in her bed, nowhere near valuable enough to have as a companion. She was proud of her strength, wouldn't want to 'risk' watering it down with his questionable background, for surely any offspring of their mating would be weak._

_Because after all who would risk their power-the one thing all demons covet-with one of both fire and ice; who would jeopardize any children with one like __**him**__._

_Nonsense. Utter nonsense._

_Why the __**hell **__is that an issue? Could they really not see how infernally __**attractive **__he was? Did that one thing alone, that by itself not make them as frustrated as she had been at times-blasted bond-for not getting to bed him herself?! As if it hadn't been bad enough that __**she **__could not at that time mate with him, that __**she **__had been forced to restrain herself, __**now **__they dare __**insult **__the demon who was her former pact-mate? As if she __**wouldn't **__have chosen, if given the choice, anything less than the picture of perfection that he was!?_

_She saw within that one drink the entirety of Demon World mocking him, attempting to lay a true curse on him, and the worst curse of all. A curse that he should wander the lands __**alone**__. Too dangerous even to innocently share in his company._

"_**You desire to see **_**cursed?**"

_May the Kamis __**damn **__you all._

_And if they won't do it..._

_I will._

"_**Then I will show you which one of us is truly cursed!"**_

_And she did. By offing every last one of them._

_Their opinions wouldn't matter much when they were dead._

Why the **hell **did their opinions matter anyway?

_I dunno, but it __**pisses **__me off. _3

* * *

_It's kind of an aside/moot at this juncture, but I did want to point out a little thing that was extremely intentional on my part: If you go back and look at Hiei and Shikiyoku's interactions since he's found her, you'll notice that I never actually use the word 'Shikiyoku' to describe what she is doing. It's always just simply 'she.' This is happening because Shikiyoku doesn't identify herself as 'Shikiyoku,' since she's lost her memories. You'll notice that anytime it **does **actually say 'Shikiyoku,' it's in a moment of clarity when she is able to remember._

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	71. Episode 155 - Trying to Remember

**A/N: **Hello once again, Beloved Yu Yu Hakusho Fans!

As with the last chapter, this chapter also consists of only interactions between Hiei and Shikiyoku.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei carries Shikiyoku up to the room they once shared the last time they were together on the Ninth Level,  
and when he goes to lay her down, she refuses to let him go so he relents and lays down with her in his arms.

Downstairs, Kafu dismisses the waitress for the night and examines a heart-shaped mark that has appeared on his upper arm.  
Taka enters with his usual brusqueness and it's revealed that the bird demon has a similar marking on his neck,  
and that the marks are related to Shikiyoku herself, Taka admitting he hadn't thought of Shikiyoku in decades.

After a few quiet minutes with Hiei, ones in which Shikiyoku finds herself able to remember,  
their peace is interrupted by the abrupt entrance of Shubou, leader of the Central Tribe,  
and the shorter demon demands she remove the marking he bears on his forehead:  
a heart-shaped tattoo.

Shubou leaves once she removes the marking, and as Shikiyoku falls back asleep,  
Hiei once again uses the Jagan to influence her dreams and keep the nightmares at bay.

While he starts with the memory of her overcoming her mother's mesmer,  
he shifts them to the moment she had danced for the Northern Tribe.

The Jagan allows Shikiyoku's dreams to shift the memory to the night the ritual went wrong,  
revealing to Hiei the massacre of the tribes, a night that set them back thousands of years.

Continuing to transmit the dreams between them, the Jagan shows him several things:  
the night at the healing springs near Central Tribe, when Toriko introduced him to 'sweet snow',  
when Toriko had flung a spoon at him, when Hiei had opened the tub of ice cream for Shikiyoku,  
moments from their time at Rae's Palace in the Ninth Level, and finally, the most recent moment:  
when she had lost her temper with the demons downstairs in the Niiro  
at the drink which proclaimed him little more than a worm to be used and tossed away.

* * *

Hiei blinked, and the next thing he knew he was feeling a fury that, while it was not his own, easily matched the magnitude of complete anger he felt here and there, more often in the past few months. And, quite frankly, it was an astonishing thing, because he'd never seen her angry the way she had been the night before. Especially not from _her _perspective, where it seemed magnified and each and every one of her thoughts were projected to him as if they were his own.

And for a moment he wondered how such a small demon who thrived on fulfilling desires and bringing demons together, thrived on her own hopes and the need to _be _needed, could hold so much… fury.

The thought made him remember that she'd once admitted to never having killed.

A lot must have changed and-

Wait, what?

After another moment, the fire demon realized that her thoughts, her entire _reason _for slaughtering the demons had been for him. While he'd noted that earlier, he didn't really understand at the time what had been the cause for her to stand up for him. He hadn't known the meaning of the drink, hadn't paid any mind to the talk that had ensued when he'd entered, because really, he hadn't cared. He'd been with Shikiyoku, who seemed to very easily distract him from such things when he reminded himself that she was there.

By the time the image began to fade, he was rendered completely, entirely… speechless. Thoughtless.

Stunned.

_What? _*****

Her eyes opened to the dark room, the bedding under her, the dark shadow of a body in front of her eyes.

She felt the rumbling in her chest disappear just as she became aware of it, just as she woke up.

She could almost _taste _the wrath, though. Whatever she had dreamed about...lingered, her mind almost blind with rage for reasons she could not remember, for the dreams faded as quickly as her eyes had opened.

As if whatever angered her might be in the room, she sat up and looked around, but saw nothing that triggered the need for her fury.

She shifted around silently, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them, resting her chin on top as she frowned.

She never remembered being _that _angry in her entire life. Well...what of it she could recall. Which, she supposed, wasn't much at all. 3

Hiei felt Shikiyoku shift about and his eyes shifted to the side. He blinked only once at the door he could now see, as if expecting someone else to come barging in. But really, he wasn't sure what to do, say, or even think.

She'd wanted…

To _mate_…

with _him?!_

_What?_

He _still _didn't know what to think. _*****_

She finally glanced over, taking note that the demon was...Hiei. Which made her feel a little better...but the expression she caught in his eyes.

She cut her eyes the other direction.

"You look like you've eaten a-" ..._what was that called again? _"Huh." She made a disinterested sound, and then mumbled as she buried her face in her arms, "Can't even remember what it was called." ...sour thingy? Yeah, sure. That's it.

She sighed. 3

"Lemon." Hiei supplied naturally, focusing on the only thing he _could _really focus on. He let his eyelids slide closed, his nostrils flaring when he huffed out a long breath of air. There was a moment where he considered turning to look at her, but then he remembered the thoughts she'd relayed, seemingly without her notice at all, and he simply _couldn't. _

Instead he moved an arm behind his head and shifted about, to make as if he were resettling into sleep again. _*****_

"No," She said impatiently, "I don't know what _that _is."

She lifted her head, staring intensely at the wall. "That sour thing. That...that fruit."

Her eyes darted to the side again in thought. "The one you ate, and you made such a horrible...face..."

She slowly turned her head to look at him as she faded off, her eyes brightening and her face growing a bit lighter.

"Hiei..." She said slowly-_funny that it's the awful look on his face that I remember first_. "Where...where did we eat fruit like that?" 3

"It was on the Ninth Level in demon world. You called it 'home', where the first fire demon fell." He still didn't look at her, his eyelids even sliding shut as he crossed one ankle over the other. "The sweet was my favorite. You threw me the sour when I asked for sweet."

_How long ago was that? __*****_

"Well, I didn't _mean _to." She shot back, eyes narrowing a little before she widened them in surprise.

"Hiei...Hiei, I _remember _that!" She seemed excited, as much as her fairly neutral expression could be, though her eyes glinted in the darkness.

She turned and hopped off the bed, taking a few steps towards the door and then pausing. 3

Hiei didn't reply to Shikiyoku, didn't even look at her when she crawled across him to get off the bed, her footsteps almost silent as she continued moving. Though, when she paused, he raised a single brow, as if he expected her to say something more, as if he expected her to be looking at him. _*****_

"...I want to go there," She started, turning back around and actually wearing a sheepish expression as she looked at her feet, "Only...I do not remember the way. Would..." She appeared to work her jaw around the question.

_Why hesitate? If he says 'no,' you'll go anyway._

"Would you take me?" 3

Finally, Hiei let his eyelids slide open and his gaze slide over to peer at Shikiyoku, his expression calm and collected, mind carefully avoiding any thoughts on the most recent dream she'd showed him, the most recent memory, the most recent _happening_.

Then again, he noted somewhere that she had _quite _the restraint, if-

He blinked once, clearing his mind again.

He focused on her question, thought back to the first time they'd traveled to the spot.

Would he… be able to recall where it was…?

Hiei finally shifted, moving until he was sitting, and just as calmly moving to stand. He took one step, paused to assess her expression, then continued past her and was pulling the door open before he spoke.

"You'll remember it along the way, I'm sure." With that, he took the lead. _*****_

"...maybe." She answered skeptically, falling in step behind him as he left the room.

For the first few feet, she was lost in thought, lost in _memory _to be exact, recalling taking a bite of the sweet fruit and being...surprised since she thought she had thrown _Hiei _the sweet fruit. She had hidden behind a tree, only to have him follow and pluck the fruit from her fingers.

As she got to the top of the stairs though, Hiei half-way down, she looked up when she felt herself being watched, and met the eyes of a male demon walking up the stairs, staring at her with a wicked grin as she started following the fire demon, her own expression devoid of emotion, unsure of his motives.

The instant he parted his lips, his eyes lewd, she felt her ears twitch, "How was the fu-"

His head fell from his shoulders to bounce back down the stairs, his body toppling forward up them.

The single strand of wiry energy that had separated his throat neatly from his head whispered back towards her hand as she continued to nonchalantly walk past what was left of him, her eyes black and her teeth clenching together behind her tightened lips.

She felt her stomach contract with a cough, which she managed to hold back, but the darkness in her eyes faded into confusion as she held her hand up to her mouth and kept going down the stairs. 3

Hiei ignored the demon he passed, even when he heard the other's sentence cut off, smelled the life essence of the demon. He couldn't care less, really. He'd already guessed, as now it was all _too _easy to know what they'd be thinking after he'd learned the meaning of the drink he'd been given hours ago, after he'd seen _Shikiyoku's _side of everything.

Really, he wasn't sure if he was _glad _to have learned, or if it made it _harder _for the fire demon to ignore it.

A part of him would churn in anger, his mind momentarily contemplating his own way to murder the demon he'd passed. Another part of him, however, genuinely couldn't care less.

The only thing was:

Which half of him was stronger?

It didn't matter. She handled it for him anyway.

His feet finally touched the bottom stair and he paused, turning back to Shikiyoku with a raised brow. "Try not to massacre everyone this time. No matter the reasons." _*****_

She froze in place, eyes wide, hand still over her mouth and she fought against whatever it was that threatened to come out her lips, only swallowing and nodding to Hiei when he spoke. 3

Hiei raised a brow in silent question of the gesture she made, unsure of its meanings. He considered turning and continuing on his way, as if he'd never said anything, but instead he turned to face her, calm eyes watching her. He waited for a moment, watching her with a steady gaze, a bit perplexed at the hand that covered her mouth. _*****_

She had fully expected him to turn and keep going, and her weight had shifted accordingly. It was only when he continued to stare at her unmoving that she felt a warmth unrelated to her fever settling on her neck.

She slowly lowered the hand, her expression blank and expecting him to continue, swallowing again and resisting the tightness at her abdomen.

She pulled her lips into her mouth, snaking the very tip of her tongue to the corner where she felt blood starting to pool.

Before either of them could say anything more, a voice from the now busy room they were walking into called out in a loud voice, "Done with him already-"

The demon didn't get to finish whatever he was going to say.

She had wrapped herself inbetween the layers and appeared instantaneously in front of the fool who stood next to the bar. He had just been leaving it with his two friends to go sit somewhere in the room, each with a drink in their hands, when he had caught sight of them on the stairs, thinking himself funny.

With the thin, wire-like strand of dark energy around his neck, his tall figure bent over as she held it as if it were a tie to jerk him down to her level, he found himself without air, unable to finish what he had started, mouth gaping open and forced to look her in her pitch-black abyss-like eyes.

His two friends, while they had themselves been grinning at his joke in regards to the Forbidden Child and the obviously battle-hardened female demon coming down the stairs together, were now staring in shock at how the scene had turned.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear, _worm._" Her voice was low, but the buzz in the entire room stopped as if she had shouted, each word articulated with icy clarity. "I am **not** _involved _with him, but that does not give you the _right _to your idiocy." She snarled at him, "And I would _never _treat such a worthy ally in whatever half-cooked manner your half-wit brain has thought up."

He was gasping for breath now, his drink fallen forgotten to the floor, both hands at his neck trying to scrape the offending energy away as his bulging eyes could do nothing but stare into hers.

"And no longer will _you_." She gave a tug and her energy cut clean through his neck as she stood and impassively regarded his two former friends while his body and head fell to the floor.

Her lip twitched with a scowl as she narrowed her eyes at both of them, frozen in place as they were.

"Find better friends." She snapped coldly, making them jerk as if she had cut their cheeks with that strip of energy which had by this time disappeared.

She stepped over the body inbetween them and they looked at her and then at one another as she passed, leaving their friend on the floor and hurrying to an empty corner to sit.

Her back remained ramrod straight and she walked stiffly for the door, pausing only when a folded piece of parchment appeared before her path, hanging invisibly in the air.

"A letter came for you." Kafu said calmly from behind the bar.

She nodded, but did not turn back, taking the paper and stuffing it deep in her pocket, brushing past the place where Kafu's invisible hand had extended to her the letter and managing to get out the door. She half-heard it start to shut behind her, moving quickly to the right into the darker alley next to the Niiro before she brought her hand up to her mouth a second time and could not hold back the cough, this time blood spurting out from behind her fingers.

A haze of dizziness took her to her knees after only a few feet into the thankfully empty alleyway, the fever sending out chills that shook her body as she doubled over, catching herself with both hands before she hit the ground.

She couldn't even see the dirt beneath her palms as her head swam and her body convulsed to send more blood splattering out from her mouth to the path beneath her.

_What's wrong with me? _3

Hiei had seen her tongue snake out and lick away a liquid he hadn't smelled until that moment. He'd assessed her just a moment longer, contemplating saying something, but before he'd even had the chance to _decide _whether or not to speak, another voice had cut into his thoughts and Shikiyoku had disappeared from the spot she'd been standing.

He'd guessed where she'd gone, turning to witness the scene with uncaring eyes. The very silent room was filled with patrons holding their breaths, as if afraid of _breathing _loud enough to gain the angered demoness's attention.

And they were right to be afraid, because Hiei himself felt as if he had had enough. The fire demon only stood where he was, hands in his cloak pocket, because Shikiyoku had beat him to it. She'd disposed of the demon before he'd even had the chance to locate the male.

And when she was gone from the room, all eyes, wide and staring, turned to him. For a moment, he merely stood there.

And then his expression shifted to bitter amusement, a spark lighting his eyes with flames that his energy was _tempted _to release on its own.

But he didn't. No matter how much he wanted to, killing them all would do _nothing_. Not even make him _feel _better about it.

So after a bitter sneer, a dark glare to any who _dared _meet his gaze, he turned and exited the Niiro himself, fists clenched in his pockets hard enough to make his nails bite into his skin, almost enough to draw his own blood.

But the moment he was out into the darkened streets, as soon as the door shut behind him, his expression was again blank, eyes their normal ruby color, even if a bit more of a _flat _color.

He heard the cough in the alleyway nearby, and without a single beat's hesitation, he turned and followed the trail he knew Shikiyoku had taken. But instead of approaching, he merely stood at the end of the alleyway, both blocking access to anyone who _dared _follow him, and offering his silent presence as he witnessed the blood hitting the soil, the heaving of her body as she coughed again.

He didn't say a single word, because really, what was he _supposed _to say to her?

Not even a _thank you_ was appropriate at this time.

After another moment, Hiei slowly approached to stand at her side, then lowered himself to crouch at her right, snaking his left hand out and offering silent assistance by sliding her hair out of her way.

Perhaps _this _would be thank you enough. For now. _*****_

Her entire body was tensed from the convulsions that sent more blood to the ground, though when she cut her bleary eyes over to the right, wide, watery, and tinged with embarrassment at having been caught in such a weak moment, the strain across her shoulders lessened upon seeing Hiei there, expression softening in gratefulness before returning attention to the final shudder that had her spilling up the last bit of blood from...wherever it originated. Her efforts had paled her ashen face, making her numerous scars stand out even more.

Her lungs expanded and contracted at a hyper rate, pronounced by her likely malnourished form, her arms shaking from holding herself up, but after pausing for a second and feeling no more indication of further upheaval, she reached up with her blood-free hand to wipe at her eyes as she started to sit back.

She scooted over to the wall of the building and collapsed into it, moving her legs around until they were bent at the knees, her elbows resting on them as she let her head fall back until it rested upon the wood-work. Her nostrils flared with each breath as if to drag in more air, her mouth finally opening to help.

After taking a few seconds to gather herself, she lifted her head back up, twisted her wrists to look at her hands, the right one covered in a fine layer of now-dried blood.

Feeling blood start to drip from her nose and the corner of her mouth, she reached up with the already bloodied hand and wiped it away. 3

Hiei scowled when Shikiyoku moved away, not sure what was going on. He assumed it was from the illness that he knew was rampaging through her. An illness he didn't understand. An illness he didn't know anything about. An illness he didn't know _how _she'd come to contract. Or its effects.

Anything.

So when she sat back, head against the wood of the building that had been to her left, he himself sat back a bit, leaning back on his heels and resting his elbows on his knees, eyes watching her carefully as he saw more blood begin to fall from her nose and lips again. His scowl deepened, edges of his lips pulling downwards and wrinkles forming between his brows.

"What happened?" He asked after two days of waiting. After two days of _avoiding _asking what she'd been through, now he felt it was a question he should've asked in the first place. Because now she was covered in her own blood and he didn't know what to do. _*****_

"I-" She made a face and cleared her throat, turning her head to the side to spit more blood out, expression lost as she leaned her head back again. She let out a sigh.

"I can't remember anything beyond the last couple of days. Beyond when...well when you showed up." 3

Hiei's lips drew down further, his eyebrows mirroring the movement as much as his expression would allow. He turned his eyes to the side, as if someone it held all the answers to… everything. He _almost _opened his mouth to speak, but chose against it in the end and simply took to sitting there, shifting until he was sitting on his backside in front of her and his eyelids shut, hiding his darkening irises.

_That… was a problem. _

At least she was making _some _sort of progress, right?

He gave a small sound akin to a sigh, suddenly realizing he himself hadn't actually eaten anything in a while.

Two days, actually. It simply hadn't _crossed his mind_ to stop for food, other than the few scoops of Sweet Snow he'd allowed himself.

_Speaking of which…_

"Can you move?" _*****_

"Probably." She gave him a sidelong glance. "What did you have in mind?" 3

"You need to eat," Hiei responded easily, almost lazily. And while Sweet Snow sounded _delicious_ at the moment, he decided that what _she _had asked for earlier was likely _better _for her than the sweetened substance of artificial flavoring. He'd _carry _her if he had to. _*****_

"Probably." Her lips twitched, but she didn't actually smile, still giving him the look out of the corner of her eyes. "But likely no more than you." 3

Hiei's eyelids finally slid open to turn a raised brow over at her, his expression being one that said _Oh really? _He shifted, pushing himself to stand despite his thoughts of waiting for _her _to move, which he half expected to be quite some time if he allowed her to call the shots.

So he moved to stand over her, extending a hand out to her to offer his aide in getting to her feet. "Perhaps I'll remember the way." _*****_

Out of habit, she reached up with her dominant hand, but before getting it close saw the blood and made a sound of discontentment, switching and grasping his with the other one.

As he pulled her up to stand, she grimaced, quickly blurring between layers to make it to her feet without much effort before landing on the ninth layer again.

She nodded her thanks to him as she wiped her bloodied palm on her pants, starting to let go of his hand. 3

Hiei's hand grasped Shikiyoku's, and he pulled gently. One moment, he was looking at her on the Ninth Layer, and the next he felt himself being pulled from the layer into an odd space in between, something he hadn't done _ever_, simply because he hadn't _had to_, and he was seeing double. He felt as if he were floating on a substance lighter than air.

And then it was over and he was standing on his own two feet again, on solid soil with a single brow raised at Shikiyoku, not allowing her hand to slip away from his yet.

His gaze narrowed at her slightly. "How long have you had to do that?" _*****_

She paused in the middle of wiping her hand off, feeling her other one being met with resistance when she started to pull away, then looked up at him with a blank expression before she went back to cleaning off her hand.

She didn't think she'd be able to get away with acting stupid about it, though her first reaction was 'Do what?'

"...more often of late." She murmured without meeting his gaze. 3

She was weaker than he'd first thought. Not in power- _never _in power- but physically. From the illness. And the fire demon did _not _enjoy that thought. It troubled him a little- okay _more _than a little- that she had to rely on the in-between layers to move freely, to move with a speed greater than a walk, to move with any sort of force.

He continued to stare at her for a moment, not sure of what to do next. He thought for a minute, considered several things.

And then he tugged slightly on the hand he still held, took a step forward, then simply scooped her up from the ground.

No use in her wasting energy, especially if it lead to moments like the one he'd witnessed a few minutes ago. He shifted his hold on her ever so slightly before turning to begin on his way to the clearing he had in mind, the place she'd asked about earlier. _*****_

The quick pull at her hand had her nearly stumbling forward, but before her off-balance could turn _into _a stumble, she found herself swept off her feet, as if that second of her being unprepared was all he needed to follow through with the action he intended.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The question actually came out quite sincere, even as he started to move away, her dark eyes staring at him. 3

Hiei didn't even look down at the eyes he could feel boring into him, much less give her an _answer_. Because, really, what did it _look _like he was doing? _Playing a prince and carrying the princess over the sunset-lit hill? _The thought had him almost making a scoffing noise.

And he continued on, expression giving way none of his thoughts, nothing of what he thought of her rather ridiculous question. _*****_

"Put me down."

She almost went on, almost said something about not needing his charity. She could...walk...on her own two legs. In some fashion or another.

...but there was this other part of her that had her lips snapping shut, refusing to go on; this other little part that...maybe _wanted _his charity, as much as she would have never admitted it aloud. 3

Hiei only glanced down briefly, showing Shikiyoku he had _heard _her, but made no absolute indication that he _cared_ about what she'd demanded of him. He didn't answer still as he moved through the streets that were beginning to bustle with early morning activity, demons coming from their homes and flooding into the streets in groups, normally twos. He didn't acknowledge a _single _one of them, though he could feel their gazes on him, could feel the air moving with their quiet chatter, chatter he didn't care enough to tune into. _*****_

She kept staring at him, but did let out an exasperated sigh that did not reach her eyes as she relented and moved her arms until she had them encircling his neck.

"You are positively the _worst _person to try and have an argument with, did you know that?" 3

Hiei fought with himself for a moment as Shikiyoku shifted, her arms moving around his neck. He fought with the amusement that bubbled forth, that threatened to actually _show _itself in something other than his normal sneer.

And the battle was lost as his lips twitched, the corners winning over his willpower and turning up, his chest rumbling with one single laugh before he gained control of _that. _

And still, he didn't even look at her as he passed through the very heart of the town he'd once evaded with his entire being. _*****_

She dropped her gaze, giving a half-hearted growl that sounded more like an incoherent grumble.

"It's only funny because it's true." She _sounded _like she was still upset, but for the first time in many, many years there was a sparkle deep within her dark green eyes. 3

Hiei felt the threat of another sound of amusement, his lips twitching even _more _than before and eyes still locked on the path ahead, though they too sparked as he remembered something from times long past. "Nothing comes easy with _me." _he stated calmly, voice never wavering. _*****_

She lifted her eyes back up to stare at his profile.

"You know," she started thoughtfully, "You'd think I would have learned that by now." 3

Hiei finally looked down at Shikiyoku, the spark in his eyes growing to a light that shone with great amusement. "Foolish woman." He turned away again, leaning forward slightly before he suddenly took off, finding himself tired of walking through the crowded streets where he was stared at, tired of others listening in to his conversation, despite the fact that it wasn't _supposed _to feel like a private conversation.

And he was ready to blur between the levels should Shikiyoku display any form of discomfort. _*****_

"_I'm _the fool?" She arched an eyebrow at him, "If _I'm _a fool, what does that make _you _for insisting upon keeping my company?" 3

He answered without thinking, without even a beat's hesitation.

"A fool who has _no _idea what he's doing." _*****_

"A bigger fool, then?" She nodded once in agreement. "Appropriate."

She turned her eyes outwards, finding that somewhere in their conversation he had smoothly dashed forward, and she became amused with herself for not noticing.

"Finished parading me through the middle of town, mm?" 3

Here, he _did _hesitate with his answer, the fire demon not wanting to admit that he'd begun to feel their relentless stares, their ridiculous talk. Because, really, what would it make _her _if she was allowing the _cursed child _to carry her around like a doll? Either a saint, or an insolent being in their eyes. And while killing a few demons in a bar was amusing, he figured burning an entire city was not recommended.

Because if it were _only _about him, he could get over it.

"They are not _worth _parading through." _*****_

"I could just kill everyone in the city. Then we could parade all we wanted." 3

"Then I'd be hungry _and _murderous." he mused, expression serious suddenly. "I don't believe it would be as productive as it sounds. Just a mere distraction." _*****_

"Oh no," She corrected, "You'd just have to content yourself with watching." Her face did not so much as twitch, "No need to soil _your_ hands with the business." 3

Hiei's lips finally turned up into a bitter sneer. "We're known for our destruction." He didn't have to elaborate, didn't have to explain what he meant by 'we', because it was implied, everywhere he went, that _his _kind were nothing but creatures of pure, unadulterated anger that went unchecked, destroying one thing after another.

"At least they got _that _right." _*****_

"Tch," She turned away from him to watch the blurred scenery, "They're only 'right' because you _let _them be right. Why not define yourself _for _yourself? They're miserable cretins; where do they get off telling you how to act?" 3

"I act as I please, and killing is actually quite satisfying, as I'm sure you've learned recently." He passed through the gates of the city walls, his feet making a smooth and easy turn in direction and heading due West, relying on pure instinct and blurred memories of the in-between trip from one place to the next.

His voice lowered slightly, as if giving an afterthought without realizing. "Though, it _is _annoying waiting until their _bones _turn to ash." _*****_

"Fair enough." She allowed, "But I feel I should make it clear that I hate killing. And I'm terrible at it besides." 3

Hiei kept a nice and steady pace, the wind making his hair almost lay flat atop his head despite the normal lack of such a thing happening. He even had a few strands hanging in front of his eyes that he had to shake his head at to disengage from his lashes.

_Irritating. _

Again, he made a mental note to cut it later.

He found Shikiyoku's statement odd, that she hated killing. After all, she'd killed countless demons since the worlds had merged, enough that even _he _wasn't sure how many had fallen at her wrath.

Though, he found it more characteristic of her, more like the Shikiyoku he knew. Or, _had _known.

"_Terrible_ isn't the word I'd use." he said slowly, in an even tone. If she were _terrible _at it, then those demons at the bar would still be _breathing_. The thought made him scoff. "Not when you've got your mind set, anyway." _*****_

She gave a little sigh, "That is my precise problem. Knowing that you can kill someone in an instant, but having the self-restraint to walk away and leave them to continue on with their miserable life. Killing is a _mercy_ and should not be handed out to those who are undeserving of it. _That _is what I am terrible at." 3

Hiei didn't reply, instead deciding that, by her standards, _he _was terrible at killing as well. Because, in the end, he'd much rather rid himself of the problem than let the other live with stupidity that never ceases. Why should _he _put up with another when he could so easily _kill _the problem, remove himself from it entirely?

"There's a thin line between mercy for _them_, and mercy for _you." _He just so happened to ignore the line and draw his own every time. _*****_

"There are..._other _ways to handle the mercy _you _speak of." Her tone darkened a little. "Death may be the immediate choice, but it is the least self-gratifying in the long run. There are other options that are...more _satisfying_ than simply severing a head from its neck." 3

The sneer that pulled Hiei's lips was dark and bitter, because she had brought up thoughts he hadn't had in a while. She had reminded him of the demon who'd gotten away before he could… exploit his _other _options, as she put it. The more _satisfying _options hadn't had a chance to be tested, because his _test subject _had gotten away from him via teleportation.

It took a lot of self control to wrangle in his sudden flash of anger, his sudden desire to drop what he was doing and hunt down his _second _objective, to finish what had _yet _to be resolved the way he so dearly wished it to be. So much effort, actually, that he hadn't spoken a word in a while, his eyes forward and expression beginning to become blank again, his thoughts being forced to shift away from the blonde that had so easily escaped his grasp like sand through his fingers.

It took a while before he regained his inner control, putting a lid down on the ferocity she had inadvertently pulled forth from the depths of his being. A ferocity that had once been used to wipe out entire tribes, when he had been younger.

Once he was calm again, he looked down at Shikiyoku. If she had spoken before now, he didn't know it.

"Did you remember the name of the fruit yet?" _*****_

She didn't answer him for a moment, having felt his tension, having seen him pass through a gamut of emotions. She didn't look at him; didn't have to in order to know.

Her voice fell flat, expression as blunt and serious as ever, "You're cute when you're all full of bloodlust." 3

There was a beat where Hiei wasn't sure what to do or say, so he said nothing and continued on, eyes flickering down to her only briefly in consideration before he turned his eyes up again, lips twitching in a slight smirk again. A smirk that didn't stay long, because he _still _didn't know how to react.

"I am not _cute." _he finally said, tone even. "I'm _fierce." _and he couldn't help but admit to himself that he was _completely _amused. _*****_

"My apologies." She quipped without batting an eye. "You're terribly fierce when you're all full of bloodlust." 3

"And deadly at any other time." Hiei continued, giving a sneer of amusement when he made a turn, taking another path through a forest of trees and underbrush- an area he remembered well. "But _never_ am I, a fire demon, _cute." __*****_

"Of course not." She was quick to agree. "My mistake. Dreadfully deadly at all other times, without a doubt." 3

"It'd be in your best interest to remember that." Hiei made another turn, this one a bit sharper than the others as he remembered last-second where the path would eventually lead if he followed, deciding to avoid the areas where tribes often hunted and such. He continued to move through trees and brush until he was able to see the peaks of mountains over the trees ahead.

Peaks of mountains that very quickly came into better view, very quickly began to tower over him.

And he didn't hesitate to scale them the same way Shikiyoku had shown him the first time, his feet expertly gaining traction as if he'd done this a million times over until, after another moment, he could _feel _the peaceful air he was beginning to intrude upon.

A few minutes later, and he was peering down at the darkened crater between the mountains, pausing to look down on it as he had the first time she'd shown him her _home. _And for a while, he found himself unable to move, left staring at the darkened soil and mountainsides with awe. _*****_

She followed his gaze, stoically taking in the view before her curiosity won her over.

"...what happened here?" 3

Hiei finally seemed to remember he wasn't alone to stare at the clearing below, and he turned his eyes to Shikiyoku with a single brow quirked. In the next moment, his lips stretched into a knowing smirk and he turned, beginning to hop down from where he stood until his feet touched the darkened soil of this peaceful place. He lowered Shikiyoku to her own feet, eyes set on a specific tree with a very specific fruit he'd been craving for _months_, but hadn't had the time to _satisfy. __*****_

Once let down to stand on her own, her eyes darted about, frowning at the blackened foliage around her as one hand absently moved over to rub at one of the scars on her bare arm.

She really wasn't sure what to make of all of it. 3

Hiei waited only one moment before turning and disappearing into the top of a tree, grabbing himself a couple of fruits before he moved to another, hopping branches and gathering more fruit as he went about until he had his arms full of them, and a single, very _sweet _fruit stuck between his teeth, the juice running down his chin when he finally stopped in front of Shikiyoku again.

He shuffled his hold on the mass amount of fruit he'd gathered before he sniffed at one, put it back in the pile and sniffed another, made a face at it, then extended it to her with nothing more than a small sound from his teeth tearing into the fruit he had been holding between his lips. His other hand quickly caught it before it fell, but didn't wipe at the juice that continued to roll down his chin. Instead, he moved the chunk of the sweet fruit into his left cheek and ran his tongue as far over his chin as he could, catching most of it before it dripped down onto his cloak. _*****_

She eyed both him and the fruit he offered to her skeptically.

"Why would I want the fruit you just so obviously broadcasted a dislike for?" 3

Hiei chewed on his fruit almost _cheerfully_ while he extended Shikiyoku another, different one. At her question, he raised a brow. HAdn't _she _shown _him _that memory earlier that day? He opened his mouth to speak, remembered he was still chewing, and promptly closed his lips around the large bite he'd taken, instead accessing the Jagan to show her the memory she'd dreamed up earlier that morning.

The memory of her tossing him the wrong one, tossing him _her _favorite, instead of _his _favorite, and his reaction to the sour taste he hadn't very much appreciated. _*****_

"Oh." Came her quiet response as she took the fruit from him delicately, then held it in her hands, turning it over and over.

She sat down before she fell over, cross-legged on the black grass and putting one elbow on a knee, propping her face up with her fist and holding the fruit up in the other hand, not looking _at _it, but really beyond it.

_Why can't I remember?_ 3

Hiei continued to watch Shikiyoku as she lowered herself to the grass, following shortly after to sit in front of her and allow his armful of fruit to fall with a small _thud _to the ground as well, several different flavors and many of each flavor. He stuck his fruit to his mouth again, taking another bite and this time wiping the juice away with his sleeve, completely content to do nothing more than sit there and eat.

"Jus' ta'e a bi'e." Hiei grumbled around the fruit in his mouth, tone nothing more than encouraging as he nodded his head at her once. _*****_

Her gaze focused back in on the fruit and she shuffled it around in her hand a bit.

"But what if I don't like it?" She asked softly.

_**Then **__who am I?_ 3

"Then you'll try another." Hiei replied easily, just as nonchalantly as if he were telling her about the changes in the weather. "If you don't like that one, then you're free to either stop trying or to keep sifting through them until you find one you like." He paused, his tongue again roving over his lips and down over the parts of his chin it could easily reach, tasting the sticky sweetness that lingered there.

"Your choice."

He took another bite. _*****_

She scrunched her face up, trying to put words to what she _really _meant.

"But what if..." Her eyes shifted to the side, her voice lowering further. "And what if I'm not the same _person_ as before?" 3

Hiei raised a brow. He'd thought of that, a lot actually. He'd thought of how she could be changed permanently from the Shikiyoku he'd once known into this Shikiyoku. He'd thought about every single thing he could when it came to those changes, the possibility, even, that she would one day simply glare at him and tell him to leave her.

He'd considered her trying to kill _him _if he stepped over a line.

But really, lingering over thoughts like that…

What good was it for?

"Then I'll just have more to learn." He gave a shrug. "As will you." _*****_

Her eyes lifted from the fruit to the crimson-eyed demon in front of her, and his words cut her to the core, leaving her blinking and speechless at him.

_I...you..._

_Why would he do that for me? Why act like he wants to stay around?_

Well, why _does _he stay around?

_I don't know; that's why I was asking._

She quickly lowered her gaze to stare at her hand again.

"Why go to all that trouble?" She hadn't raised her tone. "Why...why stay?" 3

Hiei's chewing slowed and his eyes shifted down to the fruit in his hands. He'd asked this same question to himself, and hadn't really been able to come up with an answer. Not a definitive one, at least. He thought over her question again, as if by _her _asking, an answer would come clear into his mind.

And like the first time, he found a vague feeling, an odd emotion he didn't understand making his stomach churn, his core… react.

That was the only way he could explain it.

So instead he gave a shrug and looked up again. "Why would _you _trust _me _when I nearly got you killed?" _*****_

She had lifted the fruit to her lips, but stopped before actually taking a bite, turning to consider him.

As far as she could remember, he hadn't done anything to put her life in danger.

Which wasn't saying all that much.

But, assume it was true, then. He's obviously convinced what he speaks is truth.

"Because," She began slowly, "In the end, I'm rather obviously _not _dead. And...and I cannot see you intentionally putting me in harm's way." She admitted, "Even now."

"Not when you've been so-" She paused, blinking down at the fruit in her hand and almost considering laughing as she wished to place the word 'fierce' into the sentence, instead having to sigh and settle with: "So..._kind_." She finally filled in softly, shrugging as if she could not come up with a better word to use, even as her profile lost a bit of its savageness afforded it naturally by her scars at the admission. 3

Hiei gave the same shrug Shikiyoku gave, the cloth of his cloak rustling about his shoulders and making very little noise as he lifted the fruit to his lips again, paused, and looked up at her once more. "Just eat the damn fruit. If you don't like it, spit it out and get another. If you do, take another bite. Your taste has nothing to do with _who _you are. That changes." He took another bite finally, a much larger one than normal to keep himself from talking anymore. _*****_

She hardly heard him, for something in the question he asked her had set her mind stirring and her eyes drew into that same faraway look as she tried _not _to force whatever wished to surface, letting it float up from what seemed like some distance place in the landscape of her head.

"_But you did what you thought was __**right**__, what you thought was __**best**__. How could I __**not**_ _place my trust in you for even just that reason alone?" _She did not realize it, but her mouth moved with the words as she recalled them and her eyebrows drew sharper over her nose.

_Where had that come from? __**When **__had that come from? _

She tightened her eyes shut, but the more she struggled to picture anything, the farther away the memory grew until the only thing she could recall was the clear smell of water, cloves, and...cinnamon. 3

Hiei blinked only once before he looked up, a calm expression on his face as if she hadn't just repeated words he'd heard three times now, as this time she had almost broadcasted them from her thoughts, regardless of whether she spoke them aloud or not. He fought the twitch his face made, not allowing the feelings he felt towards her progress to be shown. It was something that would come with time, he knew. Something that he assumed would have to be worked diligently towards before she remembered even _half _of her life.

The thought was odd, helping another because he _wanted _to, because he actually _enjoyed _doing so. And what did he gain from it?

Unlike other times, he hadn't considered what he'd gain from the situation, because really, he couldn't care less what _he _gained. It was not about _him_.

So instead of speaking, he stayed silent, wondering if she'd recall anything _else. __*****_

She sighed as she completely lost it, the moment from before gone until she could no longer even remember what had started the stirrings of her mind.

"This sucks." She said grumpily as she bit into the fruit in her hand finally, hardly noticing the flavor in her dark cloud of irritation. 3

Hiei popped the rest of his first fruit into his mouth, chewing the small bite and swallowing before he raised a brow at Shikiyoku, who reminded him of the descriptions of her energy-coveting. The few who had known of her had called it "energy-sucking", a few calling her just that: an energy-sucking demon. A _vampire_.

_Interesting word choice._

He turned his eyes to the pile of fruit he'd dropped to the ground, eyeing each one in turn before reaching forward and grabbing a random one, deciding to try it since he couldn't remem-

_What in the hell is __**that?**_

He was quick to spit out the odd flavor, promptly tossing the fruit over his shoulder before he grabbed for another, this time more _tentative _with the bite he took and was glad to find the meat-flavored one.

Though, it really didn't help the very _bitter _taste in his mouth. A taste he knew not the origin of. _*****_

She kept her mind as blissfully blank as possible as she slowly chewed the only bite she'd taken from the fruit in her hand.

It wasn't until she started feeling the _other _sort of hunger that she checked herself and quickly spat out the bite, dropping the fruit as if it were on fire.

The last thing she needed was to stir _that _particular aspect of her body, though she could already feel it starting to awaken again just by inching back into her awareness. 3

Hiei looked up in time to see Shikiyoku let a piece of fruit fall from her lips, finding himself only _slightly _surprised. He turned down to the pile of fruits again and rifled through them, his own held in his right hand and to his lips as he chewed the second bite he'd taken, ravenously attempting to cloud the bitter taste with this new one.

His left hand encircled another fruit and he held it out to her silently, expression calm as he tore another bite. _*****_

She drew her knees up to her chest, eyes darting to the fruit offered and then away, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around her legs and let her chin rest on top of one knee, looking anywhere except in the direction of the _food_. Either kind. 3

There was a pause where Hiei held the fruit out to her and she silently refused, and the only thing the fire demon could do was give a slightly irritated expression at her. He let his right hand fall to his lap, half considering tossing the fruit at her, but thinking against it. "You have to eat." He let his other hand lower now, though he didn't exactly retract his offer to her. _*****_

"I don't _have _to."

_Though I __**want **__to._

"I'm not hungry."

_I'm __**starving**__._

Her stomach is not what grumbled at her, for it remained blessedly silent. Instead her mind roiled in her head and she shut her eyes, refusing to let them see anything that might...move her to action. 3

Hiei let the fruit drop to the pile again, his other hand lifting his own to his mouth again. "Suit yourself."

Though he seemed nonchalant, he continued to watch her, continued to assess the tenseness that had suddenly appeared in the lines of her forehead, in her shoulders, in her white knuckles. He wondered if she was even aware of those things, of how her mental fight against herself made her physically fight herself as well.

He knew she had to be hungry by now, because he hadn't seen her eat a single thing since… since Yukina had found her. Since he'd torn Shikiyoku away from Yukina.

A frown pulled at his lips, which he easily hid behind the large fruit he poised in front of his lips as he readied for another bite. _*****_

She reached up and rubbed absently at a place at the back of her neck, her eyes, darker now than before, fluttering open to shoot the barest of glances at Hiei before looking away and letting out a puff of air that was the closest to amusement she was going to get.

"You...you forgot to put the spoon away." 3

The words Shikiyoku spoke were so random that he didn't even know if she was speaking to him or herself. He gave a confused stare, even a slight turn of his head in curiosity.

After a moment, after he swallowed his mouthful, he inquired with a simple: "What?" _*****_

She opened her mouth to answer, but found herself at a loss for words.

There was just...something floating around, some image or impression of...of leaning over papers? A-And a sudden blunt pain stabbing into the back of her neck.

She raised and lowered one shoulder as if dismissing the thought. 3

Hiei's brow raised even higher at her dismissal, now genuinely curious about what she'd meant. He'd left out a spoon? When? He thought back, but really, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had sweet snow aside from the day before. And he'd tossed the spoon in the sink.

Right?

Suddenly, he couldn't remember.

She hadn't been home since then, right?

So he simply stared at Shikiyoku, waiting for her to continue despite her dismissal. _*****_

She felt his eyes on her even though she had looked away, and she opened her mouth to try again, but only a frustrated sort of sound managed to get out of her throat.

"It's...nothing. Forget it." 3

Hiei continued to stare, fruit in his hand momentarily forgotten as he tried to pick through his own brain to find a time when he might have forgotten something so small and simple. But, still, he couldn't recall leaving out a _spoon _of all things.

And yet it continued to irritate him that _he _couldn't remember, but _she _could. He worked his jaw a little, and then suddenly gave up and decided it wasn't important.

It wasn't like a _spoon _was going to turn up at random and declare his forgetfulness as a sin, right? _Heh._

He shifted around a bit, turning himself until his legs stretched out in front of him on either side of the pile of fruit between himself and Shikiyoku. He leaned back on one hand, head tilting back so his eyes could view the red sky and even darker red clouds.

And suddenly he was very amused at the fact that she remembered something so _trivial. _A _spoon_ of all things. _*****_

Well, it wasn't exactly _nothing_, now was it? There was something there, floating in the back of your mind.

_Yes, but…_

Then, stop _trying _to remember and just _remember_.

She opened her eyes, attempting to shove everything else away and letting her gaze settled on Hiei, reclining back and simply watching him without any thoughts passing over her mind.

_She hadn't even heard him enter the room, or even come up behind her, lost in her school work as she was._

_She __**did**_ _however, feel the stabbing pain in her neck, her hand going up to cover the spot as she shifted around to see Hiei's obvious expression of pain, his lips curling away from the metal as he spat the utensil into a hand and held his jaw open in discomfort to glare at it._

_She shot up and spun around to face him, her own pain forgotten, "Are you hurt?" _

_That question was dumb, but she followed it up as she continued to move towards him, "Did you break a tooth?" _

_She grabbed the lower part of his jaw in one hand and forced him to look at her, using the other hand to slip her glasses up onto the top of her head and yanking his mouth open farther as she did so, getting as close to his face as she could and squinting down his open maw to check._

If _anything _sounded like a laugh coming from her mouth of late, it was the nearly silent air that her stomach contracted in several quick bursts that skittered out her nose as her vision focused back in on the fire demon across from her and she buried her face farther in the crook of the elbow propped onto her knee. 3

Hiei acted as if he didn't hear the sound Shikiyoku was suddenly making, as if he hadn't noted the way she buried her face into her arm out of the corner of his eye. He assumed she remembered whatever it was that she'd been talking about a minute or two ago, but he didn't ask. If she wanted to share, she would.

If not, then who cared?

Though, the sound she'd emitted made it difficult to keep from turning to look at her in curiosity. _*****_

"_You aren't my mother, yet you act like a worried human."_

Her eyes crinkled at the edges as she lifted her chin to rest it on her elbow, the only indication on her face that if she could remember how, she would be smiling at that moment.

"_Doesn't everyone need someone to worry about? And someone to worry about them?" _

Her eyes widened at _that _and she got that same far-seeing look as the phrases, spoken in a voice much like her own, continued to echo across her mindscape. 3

Hiei continued to stare up at the sky for a moment longer, until he felt his neck give a small twinge from the way he sat. He shifted, moving to sit upright again with his eyes coming to rest on Shikiyoku again, his hand reaching out without thinking and grabbing another fruit. He noted the lines by her eyes, the way she seemed to be lighting up a bit with what he could only assume to be amusement, as she seemed rather awkward about it.

Which in turn had him turning his eyes away to keep control of his _own _amusement. He lifted the fruit to his mouth and took a hunk from it, more to give his mouth something to do other than twitch with a smirk. He didn't even notice the bitter taste this time. _*****_

"You..." She started, "You jabbed me in the neck with a spoon...and I checked your teeth to make sure you hadn't busted a tooth." Her eyes were still fixed on the horizon to her right. 3

He hadn't expected her to speak, really. So Hiei blinked once at Shikiyoku, turning his eyes to her curiously because, really, he didn't understand what she was on about. He thought for a moment, a single brow raised and his eyes trained on her, but not _seeing _her in the least. He was sifting through memories, thinking back to times when he might have stabbed her with-

_Oh. _

A small sound threatened to rumble in his chest, but he swallowed the sound easily and focused on her again. He'd forgotten about _that. _Jabbing her when he'd been curious of her paperwork, of her books and why she cared about it enough to sit down and look at it for _any _amount of time. He'd forgotten the spoon that day. In his mouth.

His eyes turned to the side.

He'd also thought she pulled a Kurama and hid strawberries in her hair, though that thought was only vaguely remembered. He remembered the twitch his fingers had made when he'd considered the thought of _strawberries_ being hidden, coveted by her. He'd been curious.

It was a very serious battle for Hiei not to show any of his feelings on the memory, of the moment he'd long since forgotten.

"I was curious…" _*****_

She blinked and fell back into the present, shifting her gaze to him, her hunger momentarily muted.

When he faded off, she prompted him, "Curious? ...about what?" 3

The fire demon still couldn't bring himself to look at her. Which should he answer about? The reason for the neck-jabbing, or the reason his fingers had twitched? The reason he'd almost decided to rifle through her locks and-

"The papers. You'd been so concentrated I'd thought they were important." _I didn't understand them, however. __*****_

"At the time, I suppose," She grew thoughtful, "They _were _important. They were due later that week."

Another huff of amusement, "_I'm _curious as to why you let me _do _that to you. Tch."

"_Stupid girl."_ 3

Hiei raised a brow only slightly, then gave a small shrug of his own at her. "It wasn't like I had a _say _in the matter." Normally he would have gotten as far away from such contact as possible, but he'd been too..

Too…

_Entranced_. Yeah, that word fit. _*****_

"You had plenty of opportunity to pull away." She pointed out. "But you didn't. I sincerely doubt you were _worried _you had actually damaged something." 3

"Hn."

Hiei didn't respond more than that for a moment, still not looking at her as he took another bite from the bitter fruit. A taste he _still _didn't seem to notice as his mind was elsewhere. Contemplating what he should and should not say. And in the end, he decided not to speak. _*****_

"Actually," She mused, voice growing softer as if she spoke to herself, "I _know _you weren't. Because you called _me _the worried one and-" Her mouth stayed open as if she was going to speak further, but she let her lips come closed, unsure if she really wanted to repeat what she had said that day in response.

"_Doesn't everyone need someone to worry about? And someone to worry about them?" _3

"Strawberries," Hiei finally said, deciding that he'd let her in on his thoughts of that day. Of his thoughts even _now_. "Your hair smelled like those little red fruits." He gave a one-shoulder shrug and forced the rest of his fruit in his mouth. And that was _all _he had to say about _that. __*****_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	72. Episode 156 - Fiery Assistance

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of FF!

This is another one of those chapters that consists of only interactions between Shikiyoku and Hiei. If you want more Akari and Kurama, you'll have to wait until the next chapter!

A side-note: Yes, Shikiyoku is occasionally not keeping her thoughts to herself. It is in fact intentional and not an accident. I honestly don't have a big excuse/reason for it. Maybe Hiei's listening in more of late, given his current situation in dealing with her.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

In this chapter, the character of the fire speaks a different language entirely, the language of fire itself, which is conveyed by what I described before as 'dancing.' This is simply referring to the manner in which fire moves as it burns, which normally would not mean anything, but given that this particular fire is a sentient being, one can translate its dance-like movements into speech, which Shikiyoku has done in the past for Hiei. You will see after a certain point in this chapter dialogue that is in italics and followed by a tilde, which will look like this:

__Sleep now, she-of-desire.~__

This is indicative of the fire's speech and how it is not spoken, but instead danced.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shikiyoku remembers giving Hiei a sour fruit when she meant to give him a sweet one,  
and Hiei agrees to show her the way to her 'home.'

When they arrive, the fruit Hiei gathers for them does little else but stir Shikiyoku's _other _sort of hunger,  
though she does recall a past memory of Hiei jabbing her in the back of the neck with a spoon,  
and eventually Hiei admits to having been curious about her homework at the time,  
as well as thinking her hair smelled of strawberries.

* * *

She sat staring, unreactive to his admission.

Truth be told, she didn't really remember what a 'strawberry' was, nor why it would hold such a high place in the fire demon's mind as to make him pause as he claimed for it to have done in that situation.

She did, however, find herself resisting pulling a portion of her hair over her shoulder just to see if she could smell what he was talking about.

"_That was a long time ago, fool." _She resisted releasing another scoff, one aimed at herself and not the girl from before. Little chance of that still being the case.

Her hand twitched. She recalled hearing somewhere that memories were most often tied closely with scent, and maybe it would-

"_Stupid."_ 3

As soon as Hiei swallowed the last of the bitter fruit, he turned and spit a seed from his lips, then proceeded to wipe his chin with the palm of his hand. "That's why I didn't move. Because your hair smelled like strawberries."

Now that he thought about it, he realized it could very likely have been her energy working on what he _desired _at that moment, making him smell the scent of his favorite treat.

Or it could have been her shampoo. He wasn't sure.

"I'll find some later." _*****_

She still wasn't really sure why he'd thought that.

She didn't smell anything particularly inviting about her hair.

_Maybe that's the point_.

"How did you..._meet_...me?" 3

Hiei raised a brow and turned his curious expression onto Shikiyoku. _When_ had he met _her? _

Did she mean her overall, Toriko and all, or… Shikiyoku _specifically?_

He decided it didn't matter, since she'd taken to remembering a few things about Toriko as well. One being, right?

He thought back, racking his brain for every memory he could, until he remembered getting involved with the Sensui project of his own accord. He'd grabbed Yusuke out of Sniper's gunpoint, almost killed the teen before he'd sparred with the detective and then followed him into the cave system of Demon's Door.

"Sensui was opening a portal to Demon World. I met you when we were in Game Master's cave, and you tossed hair pins to the side, along with your glasses, after the brat annoyed you into doing so. You played tennis. I took a nap." _*****_

She made a derisive noise at that last bit of information.

"What, were we supposed to wake you for the end of the world?" 3

Hiei gave an amused smirk and a single nod of his head. "I know about as much as games as I do about hugs and puppies. And I care for them even less. So, I took a nap." he paused, rolling his eyes upwards. "Or, tried to. You and the others were…. obnoxiously loud."

_Okay, so that wasn't the truth. __*****_

"Oh?" A single eyebrow arched upwards on her face and she slowly turned her head to consider him, but she found she could recall nothing of the time in which they spoke. "Why do I get the feeling that _none _of what you just said is true?" 3

Hiei's sneer widened and he gave a shrug. "What does it matter?" After all, GameMaster _had _been rather annoying. And Yusuke had been loud, as had Genkai. Toriko had been simply.. there, to get through her part and do what she could, he supposed. _*****_

She huffed and tried to remember. Regardless of what he _said_, he certainly didn't act like he knew nothing about h-

An impression of sweat and frustration, off removing thick glasses and taking down hair which was sticking to her neck and hanging in her eyes...

And...and a _tingling_, so very similar and yet so very opposite to the burning she felt nowadays, brought upon by energy that she tried so desperately at the time to divorce herself from, eyes shimmering...and anger. _Passion_ seemed closer. Maybe. 3

Hiei watched her curiously now, having nothing more to say about the topic. He did, however, linger on the memories of that day, of the games that had been played and the way the group had gotten through.

Even more amusing, he remembered Shikiy- no, Toriko being hit by a flying Kuwabara, knocked from a rock she'd been sitting on before they'd been swallowed by some creature Itsuki had summoned. _*****_

_Hm_.

She kept getting vague impressions, uncomfortableness at the fire demon when he had first approached her, first spoke to her, hell first _noticed _her. Had she been embarrassed?

No way to tell.

She took in a breath as the visions faded, wondering if later she would be able to recall them.

Her nose flooded with scents she only now became consumed with: the burnt smell of the clearing around her, the fruits spread out at her feet, and-

And _him_. Not 'him,' really, but his energy, tantalizing.

She could _feel _that her eyes had grown darker as they sat there, her other senses beginning to peak with awareness.

She stood up all at once, unfolding herself from the ground and able to ignore the sickness, as she always found she was able to do when the hunger began to set in.

She turned her eyes to him, gaze smoldering, demanding, as if she were about to speak.

"_Show me more. The area is interesting."_

She twitched, eyes blinking as she turned away, and she felt as if the words that had echoed in her own mind had been spoken at one point by someone else.

..but she just couldn't remember.3

Hiei had been reaching for another fruit when Shikiyoku moved, suddenly standing up and turning her back onto him even as she demanded to see more. Or, had she? A single brow rose and he stayed where he was for a moment, his hand over a sweet fruit, fingers twitching with uncertainty for a moment.

He listened to the sounds of the tranquil clearing, to the sound of her breathing.

"I…"

He didn't know much more about the area, really. Aside from…

Would it allow him to find it? Would it allow them to visit?

Hiei moved to stand, fruits entirely forgotten now as he turned to look about the area. He couldn't remember exactly, but..

He moved past her, hands finding his cloak pockets. Maybe luck would be with him today, and he'd both remember _and _get to see the flame. _*****_

Her vision had grown sharper, the world around her-in a sense-getting keener edges, even as the colors faded a little.

She didn't need her eyes to see him step beyond her, as she had heard the shuffle of his cloak when he stood up while she wasn't looking. She even picked up the beating of his core, his nucleus, as it pumped energy through his veins, almost calling out to her.

What had made him stand, anyway? And start to move off?

It didn't seem like anything even so much as rustled in the valley, at least nothing not hit by a slight breeze. She knew without giving it actual thought that they were the only demons for many hundreds of miles.

As if to emphasize what was happening to her, her vision tunneled onto his back and she shut her eyes as her mind reeled with hunger.

_Yes, I __**know**_**. **She told it. As if every fiber of her body wasn't _also _crying out for her to notice the demon whose lungs she could hear expanding with air only to release a breath. She fought against moving, against dashing forward and satisfying the hunger with his very life force. 3

Hiei continued moving, eyes roving the area even as he passed by places he _knew _were not within the path of the fire. His feet moved silently across the blackened grass, across the clearing and into more trees and underbrush. Some trees bearing fruit, some only with leaves, some barren altogether.

He wasn't sure if he would actually _find _the flame, but it wouldn't hurt to _try. _

He didn't call to her when she didn't follow. If she wanted to come along, she would. If she had second thoughts, well… that was her problem. _*****_

He never truly left her sight, even as he disappeared far beyond her, she still found she could focus her eyes onto his position, could still tune her ears in to hear the stirring of his cloak about his ankles.

And so it was that she enclosed herself in the fold between the two layers and took to following him, though it would have been more accurate to say 'stalking' him, on silent feet that nimbly lead her along his path. 3

The fire demon continued moving, not aware of whether or not Shikiyoku had given in and followed. He meandered, hands calmly in his cloak pockets and eyes just as calmly taking in the scenery as he passed, walking for what felt like an eternity. Walking, and walking, and walking. And then still walking.

Minutes ticked by and he found himself more consumed in his thoughts than his path, thoughts that rolled from one to the other. Thoughts that blurred into never-ending sentences that he really couldn't make sense of after a while.

Had he paid particular attention to any single one of them, he likely would have noticed the main subject of his thoughts, and the fact that her energy had seemingly disappeared from his radar. _*****_

"_Who __**are **__you?"_

"_Your Champion. Hiei."_

The words kept repeating themselves in her mind, the only coherent thoughts not related to _feeding _and _eating _that she could make any sense of.

And the only thoughts that kept her from taking the few simple strides needed to close the distance and stealing his energy.

Even so, her mind had twisted into a completely predatory state, and even inbetween layers as she was, she could still taste the air of the Ninth Layer and know his direction, his energy leading her forward like a moth to a flame.

"_Your Champion. Hiei." _

There it was again, just as she tensed her body to strike, her deep conscious fighting against attacking this demon, the only one who had...who had cared. 3

Vaguely, Hiei realized he recognized this area and his attention became locked at his path again, his thoughts silencing for the time being as the sound of running water caught his attention. It bubbled merrily, and as he remembered Shikiyoku doing in time's past, he turned and followed until he found the best place to cross, at which point he did just that before continuing on, away from the brook entirely.

That was when he noticed a fine mist rolling through the air, and a smirk of victory found itself on his features. At least he'd gone the right way. _*****_

The mist that grew thicker and extended farther upwards the longer she followed did not deter her one-track mind, though that one track kept getting interrupted with and almost _kind _voice repeating the phrase over and over in her head.

"_Your Champion. Hiei."_

The trees grew blacker, if possible, and started leaning inwards, all bending towards a single point of light that she took notice of, but did nothing more than acknowledge its existence.

Alone, but not alone, the fire gurgled quietly amongst all those within, then whirred happily in the middle of the steps of its eternal dance as it sensed someone approaching.

Two someones, in fact. But the first was _very _important. Child-of-self was here! This is one we like. Missed him! Let him pass.

The flames chuckled silently with itself, not with humor, but with happiness and-

Suddenly the fire erupted into blue and white flames, sending a precise blast of heat that tore invisibly through the air, the only indication of its passing being the shimmer of the heat wave contorting the air, until it caught the predator that had just dashed forward between the layers, unable to resist any longer.

The figure was immediately set ablaze, torn from that 'neither' place and smashed into one of the trees that lined the dark clearing from the force of the blow, though-surprising the fire-the form did not cry out, and instead started to get up.

The fire grew curious, feeling itself burning away at the-what was it again? Oh yes-_flesh_, and the...um..._clothing_.

The flames disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and had only left the edges of the clothing giving off the slightest bit of smoke.

_Your flesh is strange!~_

It had felt...rougher than the child-of-self, and yet...the being to which the flesh belonged to seemed familiar. Not wanting to burn something it wasn't sure if it did not like, the fire sat with a contemplative dance, staring at the formerly inflamed being across the clearing.

Her eyes were completely black as she opened them, the pain of the fire nothing greater than anything she had felt before and thus easily shrugged off, though her mind seemed a little more intact than prior to the blast, even as her eyes shifted to stare at the fire demon.

_No attack child-of-self! Leave alone!~_

She had the...strangest sense that something was trying to get her attention, and then felt as if something watching her wished her to come forward, come closer to the light. 3

Hiei's eyes had lighted on the flame as soon as he caught sight of the light. Light that had dissipated after a moment, turning into nothing but heat energy that seemed to move by him in a haze that he only part way felt moving by him. He didn't sense it, didn't hear or feel it after the initial movement, but he somehow knew where it was aiming its wrath.

He turned around, eyes finding the demon who had hit the tree and easily recovered, her eyes no longer holding any color of green that he'd previously seen making an attempt to shine through. He stared at her with a blank expression, meeting her gaze squarely.

He'd been waiting, really, for something like this. For her to attack. The air became charged again, yet was still, as if waiting for another attack from the female.

_...Leave alon…~_

Hiei didn't turn to look at the flame. He merely watched Shikiyoku, a single brow raised as she hesitated. _*****_

"_Your Champion..."_

She blinked.

_See what you've done? What you've become?_

She _tried _not to. She had.

_But it didn't work. It never works. This is why you took to avoiding them._

Her face appeared conflicted, her body trembled.

Another impression to simply _look _at what she now realized was a tear-drop of fire, about the size of her head, floating in the middle of the clearing.

_You should not be among them. You should be alone._

_...She-of-desire...what has happened?~_

She shifted her feet.

_...why do you not see me?~ _

And started to wrap herself in the other layers.

_...why do you not hear me?~ _3

Hiei stared, his mind making sense of a few things the fire spoke, but not all of them. He watched Shikiyoku as she stared blankly in front of herself, eyes not seeing anything where he himself saw the flame now dancing in the air.

_Why… not hear me?~_

Hiei felt a brow quirk as he noticed the beginnings of the blur around her frame that indicated an escape.

He himself folded between the layers, quickly blurring in the very same fashion he'd noticed she did, and just as she had done multiple times before now, he reappeared before her, a hand grabbing at her wrist and his eyes boring into her own as his feet hit the layer again, trying to pull her with him and finding that she resisted..

"Running away will make it worse." _*****_

"But I can't be _near _you-" She protested desperately, trying to twist her arm away, words fuzzy at first before she relented and moved onto the Ninth Layer with him. "It is the _worst _kind of torture." Her eyes squeezed themselves shut as if it would help, her face scrunching up in desperation, "Because I don't _want _to take anything from you."

The fire only continued its dance, quietly observing and watching the interaction. 3

Hiei continued to stare, not even so much as blinking at her words. He'd suspected it, especially when she'd spit out the fruit, but really he hadn't known how to handle it. So, he'd ignored it in hopes he was wrong. Of course he wasn't. It just didn't work like that, did it?

"You were fine before you started thinking about it." He eyed her a bit longer, head tilting to the side and hand never releasing her wrist. "Look around. What do you see?" _*****_

"I don't even _have _to look. All I _see _is you." She kept her eyes shut, muscles in her jaw tightened viciously. "All I _smell _is you, all I _hear _is you." She licked her lips and grimaced at having done so.

"...all I _taste _is _you_." 3

"Then concentrate _harder._" he demanded, working his jaw around just a bit in irritation. He easily steadied himself, working the tension away entirely because he knew it would only drive her senses further. "I am _not _the only being here. Do not focus on _me_." He stepped away, releasing his hold on her and shifting to the inbetween layers, as she had done earlier. Perhaps… it would help.

And if she tried to escape again, he was a step ahead of her. _*****_

"I can't." She nearly whimpered, even after he'd let her go, dropping to her knees, refusing to let her feet follow him as they wished. "I'm _supposed _to be able to sense you. It's what I _do_." Her voice lowered until she whispered, "I can't be _near_ you."

_...She-of-Desire?~_

The fire piped up, wondering if it could hear her at all.

_She-of-Desire, what has happened? Can we help?~_

"...but I don't want to go away." She finished, voice hoarse as she admitted it. 3

Hiei remained in the in-between state, arms crossing over his chest as he adjusted to the double vision he had. It took a moment before he was able to see clearly the layer he wanted to see, to focus on the person he could still see and hear, though her voice was slightly distorted in his ears.

"Then don't." Hiei said in a small tone, eyeing her with an even gaze as he kept the foot of space between himself and her. "There is a being nearby asking to give you assistance. All you have to do is _listen." __*****_

"But I _have _to go. Before I-" She grimaced again, then spoke more quietly, "All I can hear is _you_," She repeated, "I can hear your cloak rustle when you move, your feet shifting as you redistribute your weight from the left to the right, on your toes as you prepare yourself for my possible attack, your hair whispering in the air as you do so, every single muscle as they prepare for anything. I can hear the next five moves you could make should I decide to turn on you. All I hear is each beat of your core, each rush of energy that flows into your veins, driving me to the brink of-"

She finally opened her eyes, two holes of pitch-black abyss, the strain from resisting making her paler, her scars standing out even harsher on her skin.

"It doesn't matter where you are, here on this layer or there inbetween," She started, softly, "You're the closest source of food for _miles_ and I can't stop listening to each breath you pull into your lungs, each time you blink at me. Your very existence consumes my every thought...and in the end it makes me want to consume _you_.

"It makes me...very..._hungry_." She said through clenched teeth, her tone darker than before, turning her face to stare at him with that hunger she talked of beginning to cloud her vision before she broke it and turned away again, rubbing her face with her hands.

"I-" She let out a strained breath and started to get up. "I cannot resist you, I do not have the self-control. Your very life essence...it _sings _to my blood. Tells me to rid the world of you. Of _all _demons. And I...I don't _want _to. But I cannot control it. This...this sickness has rid me of my ability to do so."

There was a time when she _could._ When she did not _have _to feed. When it was an option, a learned method and not a way of life.

No more.

She started to fold the layers around herself again, though whether to turn and pounce the nearby demon or to flee to spare his life, she did not know. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku as she spoke, taking every word she said into account, his mind working. He'd already figured as much, already noticed her apt attention to his entire being. He'd already noticed all of these things, though perhaps not making direct note of them.

Or perhaps he'd expected it.

After all, she seemed the _opposite _of herself, in several ways.

So this time, when she began to fold herself between the layers, he simply watched, letting her decide for herself what she needed to do. He couldn't stop her anyway, so why try?

If all else failed, he'd simply hunt her down again. _*****_

As soon as she slipped between the layers, everything that had been fuzzy about his presence next to her cleared, and her entire body coiled together as if to spring on him.

Before she could either fight off the urge or give in, another silent haze of fire shot through the air and ignited her again, burying her mind in true flame, in blue and white-hot curls of heat.

The sensation dropped her back into the Ninth Layer, but before the fire was drawn away, she forced the layers back around her and shot off to the southeast.

She only made it a mile or so before the flames pulled at her again and dragged her once more into the Ninth Layer, dropping her to her hands and knees just shy of what was a sudden drop off into water.

Breathing heavy, she just barely managed to lift her head from looking at the smooth rocks beneath her to spy a hot spring, a small pond of water that made the air heavy with humidity.

The fire wasn't burning at her clothes or her hair, but felt more like an anchor meant to keep her from...well from moving since she knew she would have trouble doing much without being able to traverse between the layers.

But the water wasn't that far off...and maybe it would extinguished the flames. 3

Hiei stayed where he was, deciding not to move even when he saw the muscles of Shikiyoku become taut, ready for a fight that he would in no way urge. In fact, he had decided to rely on the outside force that seemed to be hell-bent on keeping him safe, and was not surprised when Shikiyoku was tossed to the Ninth Layer again.

His lips threatened to pull down, but for the most part, his expression remained blank, his eyes following her every move. When she was almost out of his sight, he took to using his Jagan to track her, though his feet did not physically carry him after her. If he was a temptation to her in such a way, he would not push her limitations.

So his hands slid into his cloak pockets as the Jagan locked on her, allowing him to watch her within his mind's eye. _*****_

It took every ounce of strength to even lift a single hand and lower it towards the water, but when she immersed it up to her wrist, the flames hissed angrily at her as they went out.

The water was more scalding than the flames had been, but when she pulled the hand back out, quickly planting it back onto the smooth rock beneath her in order to hold herself up, the fire did not spread back onto the hand.

The hand, however, starting prickling strangely, but seeing that her efforts were not in vain, she managed to crawl closer, though it felt as if the fire was fighting with her every inch of the way.

She collapsed onto her stomach, fingers of one hand clutching at the edge of the drop-off as she slid her non-flamed hand down into the hot springs up almost to her shoulder, breathing heavily and not sure if she could even get any further.

This time the prickling followed the height of the water on her arm, but she only rested her face on her other hand and paid no attention to it until her arm twitched and she found she didn't have the strength to pull it out.

Muttering curses, she let it hang, trying to gather herself up to get in. Or maybe take a nap. The rocks were warm.

What she didn't see, didn't feel, was that each scar she had acquired on her arm had begun to reopen, starting to fill the water around it with her blood. 3

Hiei had considered taking to sitting, had considered simply sitting on the ground and just watching. He'd considered actually lounging in a tree, closing his eyes to watch and perhaps taking a nap if she disappeared again. He'd even begun to move towards a particular tree nearby, stepping again on the Ninth Layer with relative ease, though the transition was odd. He felt heavier now, as if he'd only weighed half his actual weight on the inbetween space.

But he paused, even turned his head in the direction Shikiyoku had moved towards, the Jagan still focused on her laying form. It took but another moment for him to realize what had gotten his attention, and even another moment after that to release a small sound and move after her.

His feet carried him slowly at first, giving her time to sense his approach, though he knew she was well aware of his whereabouts. After a few minutes, he took off, closing the space easily with a calm jog, which ended when he was within her immediate eyesight if she chose to look up at him. However, he did not actually approach her.

"You don't recall the last time you were here, do you?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. _*****_

The rumble had started in her chest, growing only to reverberate in her throat when he got close enough and spoke. But it was half-hearted, even if a warning, and she did not move. Rather...could not move.

"Why would I?" She grumbled, closing her eyes as the heat from the obsidian colored rocks felt almost soothing to her. 3

"Because you're bleeding out." came his quick response, though he did not move to her still, eyes taking in the scars that had reopened into new wounds again. She was so small, so thin now that he really wasn't even sure how much she could afford to lose. And the longer her arm stayed in the water, the more he saw coloring the liquid. _*****_

"Wonderful." Came her flat response to the rocks beneath her face. "That's _precisely _what I need." The muscles at her neck and shoulder shifted as if to move and pull her arm from the water, but to no avail. She heaved a sigh and honestly couldn't decide if she cared or not.

Another attempt to rise. Nothing.

The flames that still encased her body seemed to giggle up and down her back.

_You are funny, she-of-pain.~ _3

Hiei continued to stare, continued to watch blood flow into the water as she made no move to leave the water. He even scowled at her when she spoke, but otherwise said nothing to her. He waited a minute, tilted his head at her, gave an uncharacteristic sigh, then moved forward. Without even asking, he moved until he stood over her, pausing only briefly to lean down and pull her arm from the water.

Though, unlike last time, he made no motion to move her away from it entirely. He merely let her lay on the rocks, taking to crouching nearby to watch the open wounds, just out of her reach. _*****_

Her black eyes opened to slits when he touched her, watching him through a haze of heat and drowsiness, but making no move against him. She did let a shaky sigh out through her nose though as she closed her eyes again, now able to feel the blood seeping out from the many scars on her arm to pool on the flat surface of the surrounding rocks.

The fire hummed quietly to itself on her body, tongues of flame thoughtfully making shimmers in the air.

_Could you not consume me_ _instead, she-of-pain?~ _The white and blue flames licked merrily over her skin. _The others may not like it. But would help?~ _3

Hiei raised a brow and turned his eyes to the dancing flames along her skin, eyeing the dancing colors along her body. He listened to the question it posed and the words that followed, then he turned his eyes curiously to Shikiyoku. He waited a moment before he moved, taking to sitting on his rear and crossing his legs loosely in front of him.

"The…" he paused, unsure of how to say it. So, he went to his telepathic abilities. "_The flame offered itself to you." _He followed his sentence with the memory of the last time they'd seen it, of himself consuming a flame and the taste he'd been so kindly offered. _*****_

_Yes! Like that!~ _The flame made a dancing smile at the child-of-self. _Kin knows!~ _The flames fluttered happily about her body, still encasing her entirely.

The warmth of the invading mind nearly matched the warmth of the rocks beneath her. A small furrow appeared between her eyebrows at the concept though. She took in a deep breath, nostrils flaring, and her eyes opened into those same dark slits to see the fire demon's clear outline near her.

"I-" She began hesitantly, "I don't know."

Her eyes closed again, though the furrow remained.

"I can't even _sense _the flames about me. Not in a-" She groped for the wording, "Not like it would satisfy me. Not like..." She sighed again, "Not like you."

_Could always try.~ _

"And besides," She buried her face back into her hand, "I can barely move. How am I supposed to consume _anything_?" His closeness may have been irksome to her senses, but she meant that she knew she would be unable to actually get to him with the flame on her as it was and his hesitation to come closer was moot. 3

Hiei had to fight not to raise a brow at the flames that continued to reply to his every move, along with Shikiyoku's. He glanced at the wonderful, swirling fire that seemed warm even to him. Inviting. His eyes quickly trailed back to Shikiyoku. He made a small sound of contemplation, laced with a single drop of amusement.

"You're out of choices." He gave a small motion akin to a single-shoulder shrug, though it was rather lazily done. "And it's insisting." _*****_

"And if it doesn't work, you're stuck with a very hungry demon with nothing to stop her from feeding on _you_." She pointed out, eyes opening wider to set their darkness upon his form.

The fire didn't have much to say to that, dancing and whirling thoughtfully around her.

She felt the weight, the heaviness on her, start to recede and she slowly pushed herself up off the ground, managing to sit up cross-legged and warily set her gaze on the flames that were gathering together down her left arm until she held her palm out and a single tongue of blue-white fire rested in her hand.

Fascinated, she gazed at it, almost mesmerized by how joyfully it burned.

_Is not hard.~ _The flame smiled at her, dancing merrily. _Must only be distracted. And the greater the hunger, the larger the distraction.~ _

It continued to flit and sing, flaring here and there and keeping her attention.

"Even if I _did _eat you," She started declaratively, eyes still transfixed though she tried to make it appear as if she lessened her interest, "I'm still going to get hungry again. And _then _where will I be?"

The fire stared at her and did not at first have an answer. 3

Hiei sat back, letting his eyelids slide closed in slight irritation. The patience he'd been exercising with Shikiyoku's stubbornness was beginning to dwindle. At increasingly alarming rates.

"Then you'll be back to hunting, and I'll go back to hunting _you_." he answered easily, tone even. "Just _eat it." __*****_

She blinked down at the fire in her hand, which seemed to shiver excitedly as if in agreement with the demon's words.

Raising her black eyes, something deep within them gleamed, and her head tilted to the side ever-so-slightly to consider him.

When she finally spoke, she did so slowly at first, "You would...find me again? When I got lost?" 3

Hiei's eyelids slid open, his red irises turning to Shikiyoku with a level gaze, a spark igniting within them. "What did I _just _say?" _*****_

Her entire face took on a strange air that it had not seen in a long time, the edges of her eyes crinkling and the sides of her mouth barely, just _barely_, relinquishing their hold on her lips in their permanent frown, lending the rest of her features a foreign softness in contrast with their usual sharp fierceness.

She made an almost amused huff as her eyes lowered back down, and as if it knew, the tongue dwindled more until it was about the size of her finger, curling encouragingly about itself as if to say 'that settles that.'

Her head shook a little at it, still wondering why it would offer such a thing to her, but in deference to its suggestion, she went ahead and lifted it to her parting lips and let it tumble into her mouth.

As she felt it sink down her throat, a searing heat intercepted her thoughts.

_You are...so sick, she-of-pain.~ _The voice sounded sad, echoing inside her mind in a manner she could not rightly describe. _I will do my best to help.~ _

The heat spread to the rest of her and she let out a sigh, still unsure about how she felt in eating such a thing. 3

Hiei continued to stare at Shikiyoku, the same spark still lighting his eyes even as her expression became a little less severe, in an attempt to what he could only consider to be a _smile_. His eyes followed the movements of her hand, until the flame disappeared behind her lips, and even still he continued to watch her, waiting for something, _anything_ to happen, to change. _*****_

She felt the inherent shakiness in her limbs start to fade, though her fever remained, but the strength coming back to her physical body was enough to have her asking, _What are you doing? _

_It is not your stomach that needs me, I don't think.~ _The searing thoughts pierced the plane of her mind. _And your mind I will leave to child-of-self.~ Is in good hands.~ Your __**body**_ _needs fixing.~_

_I could have told you that. _She stared forward at the rocks without really seeing them.

_Stand.~_

She hesitated.

_Trust.~_

She closed her eyes and took in a breath, steeling herself for the attempt until she finally started to unfold her legs and rise up, successfully making it fully upright, if a little unsteady on her feet.

_You will still fade.~ _The heat of the words was much less now, and growing fainter. _But for now...~_

She strained to hear it.

_...sleep.~ It has taken much to embrace you.~ _

She lifted an eyebrow, for she felt no tiredness, but the other presence in her head disappeared and she was left standing by the hot spring. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, both eyes following her as she moved to stand with, surprisingly, relative ease. He blinked once, finding that he actually hadn't _thought _this would work, even in the slightest. Being surprised left him simply staring a blank stare at her, as if he'd just witnessed the miracle of a lifetime.

And then he was blinking away the expression, his lips twitching into a smirk of victory and his eyes sparking with amusement. _*****_

Upon introspection, yes the fever was still there-that had not lowered-but the constant ache it spread to the rest of her body had grown to be only a minor annoyance in her mind.

However...there was still the problem of the absolutely delicious smelling demon next to her and she lifted a hand to rub at the bridge of her nose as she grimaced.

"I've been told I should sleep." She announced, "But I don't _feel_ tired." She shifted her unchanged, black eyes down to Hiei, lowering her hand and sighing. "And I'm fairly certain you'd invade my dreams as the titular feature at this point anyhow, so I don't know how wise that would be at this juncture."

As if to further prove her statement, her stomach let out the slightest of growls. 3

Hiei finally sat back- when he'd sat forward again, he didn't know- and took to lounging back on the grass, irises losing their amused shine and his expression turning neutral again, as if he hadn't paid attention at all. He didn't even raise a brow at her observation, as if he'd understood even before she'd _thought _about it.

"Then do whatever you please." _*****_

She leveled an even, neutral stare at him, unblinking and just long enough to get the message across that he had just given her permission to do _anything_ she desired.

"That is probably the most asinine thing someone in your position could have _ever _told a-" She blinked and broke the gaze, reaching up to scratch at a scar just behind her ear, the action more a result of absent-mindedness than actual itchiness.

She turned and started to walk off, looking as if in a daze.

"Strange." She probably wasn't even aware she had taken to talking out loud, her eyes shifting around as she tried to access memories that were slipping from her mental grasp as if through a sieve. "I was going to say something there." She mumbled and looked up between the blackened trees as she walked. "But now I can't remember what it was." 3

It took _everything _in his being this time to not react outwardly to Shikiyoku's musings, knowing that she wasn't speaking _to _him, specifically. Inwardly, he was thoroughly amused that he'd gotten the reaction he'd wanted, though he did have to admit that he hadn't expected her to come _that _close to referring to herself as who she used to be.

Outwardly, he was merely staring, as if she hadn't spoken at all.

And while he _did _feel tempted to say something more to her, he did not, deciding he'd let her go on about her business without him.

...For now. _*****_

It had been right _there_. Right on the tip of her tongue, the edge of her senses. Her sensibilities, even. As if something in that moment had triggered...

"_Triggered __**what **__exactly?" _Her eyes shifted back to the left as she struggled to decide. And could it happen again?

This inevitably led her down a winding path that encircled the fire demon behind her, wondering what he wasn't telling her, since she doubted very much that he had attempted 'that' on purpose.

"_Whatever 'that' was." _

She half-considered turning around and seeing to gathering whatever information from him she could, as if it would help her, guide her, in the correct direction. She even had a series of questions ready to drill him with, but dismissed them for the moment.

Her wanderings had her eventually stopping at the bottom of what she assumed was the largest tree she had ever seen in her entire existence, and even as she still remained lost in thought, she found her eye drawn upwards along the magnificent trunk from the rolling roots on the ground, to see that even with her heightened sight the lowest branch was a great deal higher than the tops of any nearby trees.

So, of course, she started to scale it. Half-heartedly on the first attempted, and not even getting a quarter of the way up before she felt gravity becoming too much and pulling her back down.

Forcing her concentration away from the fire demon and even herself, she actually tried this second time, and managed to get halfway.

The thought to wrap herself between layers occurred, but she was fairly certain she would make it, so she attempted again on her own power. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku move away, but didn't move from where he sat, half expecting her to pause. When she didn't, he allowed his lips to stretch into the very wide, very amused smirk that he'd fought for several minutes. He even released a small huff to mirror the emotion, eyelids sliding shut for a moment before he opened them again to stare after her.

He sat there a few minutes longer, allowing his expression to shift to neutral again. He waited until he had recovered before he shifted his weight around and pushed himself to his feet, moving closer to the water nearby to inspect it curiously. He found it odd to find something that did the opposite of the spring he and Shikiyoku had visited by Shubou's tribe.

He reached out with his right hand, placing his palm just over the water, but not touching it. He couldn't _feel _the properties of it at this distance, other than the heat and mist. _Strange. __*****_

Stuck mid-way up, she had lost momentum while running full-tilt-gravity was a master at its work-but managed to somehow find footholds in the bark, grabbing into them with her toes and digging her fingers in to help hold her in place.

It was not the fever that had sweat rolling off her hairline down her neck and back this time, her hair sticking to her face, and the exertions had summoned an aura of darkened power around her body without her direct notice.

The bare muscles on her arms were straining, the discolored scars standing out even more against her ashen-skin with her efforts, and her breath heaved in and out of her lungs in large gulps of air through her nose.

She felt very alive in that moment, fighting against nature as it were. It felt...good. And was much better than being forced to have every thought rotate around the fire demon she had left behind. How his energy might taste, filling her mind with its-

She growled at no one in particular and bent her thoughts onto the task at hand.

She debated on whether or not her energy could hold her own weight, if she might toss it at the lowest branch still far above her head and use it to climb the rest of the way, but she feared it would only cut into the tree itself and do more damage than it would assistance. 3

Hiei continued to stare at the waters, his hand hovering just above the untouched surface. He slowly lowered his hand to touch the hot water, letting it move around his fingers until the water was up to his wrist. He didn't have to wait too long until a few small cuts from times past suddenly reappeared, normally unseen scars opening up again and giving just the barest of stings.

He retracted his hand, brow raised at the small knicks in his skin that had been from some excursion or another many years ago. And just as quickly, the wounds were closing up again, leaving nothing but droplets of blood and a slightly bruised area where the cuts had been.

He flicked the water and little amount of blood there'd been away from his skin in a simple motion, and then used the same hand to push himself to stand again, eyes turning in the direction Shikiyoku had gone. He thought for a moment, debating with himself and considering several things before he decided he'd follow anyway.

Just… not quickly. _*****_

She shook her head slightly, realizing after a moment that her hold had loosened as she found herself staring blankly at the bark in front of her face.

What had that thing said? Exhausted? That was, uh, a problem. This high off the ground.

Tightening the hold her fingers and toes had on the trunk of the tree, a shiver ran down her body and she honestly couldn't decide which direction to go.

Coiling her muscles up, she made the decision without her own direct notice, using the purchase she had maintained on the bark to shoot further up the tree, only just managing to shorten the distance by half, but starting to feel her legs and arms wobble in protest.

If she _was _going to sleep soon, she would be damned if it wasn't going to be a _good _sleep. 3

Hiei sauntered his way away from the pond he'd been interested in, finding his curiosity satisfied enough to allow him the ability to follow the path Shikiyoku had taken at a slow saunter. His hands, as usual, were in his pockets and his eyes pointed forward, his nose leading him along the right path.

He stopped at the base of a tree, a rather familiar tree, and turned his red gaze up slowly. He searched the tree limbs until he saw the form of Shikiyoku, who was almost nothing more than a moving dot among the shadows and leaves.

He considered climbing up as well, considered seeing just how far he could go up into the highest tree he'd ever seen. But he decided against it, decided to let Shikiyoku do what she wanted without his presence at the end of her nose.

So he moved, turning his back to the tree and leaning back into it, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. _*****_

"_DON'T YOU DARE MOVE."_

Her shoulder began aching, and she felt a slight pressure on her chest, a voice puncturing, invading her mind as she felt searing pain begin to melt her flesh together.

A sudden whiff of bark had her eyes flying open and she swallowed a sudden feeling of bile that had crept up her throat.

As if in remembrance, her shoulder continued aching and she frowned, shifting her weight and reaching over to pull her tank-top away from the offending area.

There were three wicked, claw-like marks that, like the scars on her arm and leg, sat below all the others. Older.

Realizing she should likely keep moving, she coil herself up again and took another short burst up the side of the trunk.

"_I made this ridiculous pact with you, and you aren't letting me keep up my end of the deal," he snarled into her head,_ "_You __**will **__be waking up, even if I have to force you to. __**Wake up, you foolish coward."**_

Her eyes flew open again and it took longer this time for her to make sense of her surroundings, even though the blackened bark had not changed.

Breathing fast with a sudden rush of adrenaline-like anger aimed at...something she couldn't quite remember, she took one deeper breath and shook her head a little, looking up to gauge the distance to the branch she intended to reached.

Two...maybe three more. Assuming she could make it that far. 3

Hiei's entire body weight was leaning into the tree, his heels digging into the blackened earth below him to keep himself standing. He listened to the quiet surroundings, to the breeze moving through the area, making leaves move overhead. He listened for any sign of trouble overhead. He didn't look up at Shikiyoku again, didn't move or make any sound to indicate his presence.

After all, why interrupt someone during their escapade when there was no reason to do so? _*****_

"_HA! You were wrong." She held rather triumphantly a serving spoon, skipping over to the tub and being unsuccessful in her attempts to open it. Grinding her teeth together, she tried again, coming to a point where she shoved the tub in Hiei's direction._

"_Can you...open it...please." She glared down at the table, refusing to look at him_.

This time, the sound of scraping bark jolted her eyes open and as she realised she had started to fall, she pressed more deeply into the trunk, looking up to see that she had slid several feet without knowing it.

"_The secret, my love, is to know pain." _

_She ran through the red-colored forest, seeing the dark shape in front of her, but as closely as she followed, as fast as she ran, she could not catch up._

_The shape ran headlong into darkness, but the darkness would not let her in... _3

Hiei slid one hand from his pocket to scratch at his face, the breeze picking up enough to make the ends of his hair tickle his cheek and cause the itch sensation. It was this annoying, continuous sensation that had his eyelids sliding open and turning up to glare at the strands he could see falling in front of his eyes.

And his eyes, after a moment, focused on the moving form overhead. The form that paused in her fall. Hiei took in a deep breath and pushed away from the bark of the tree. He began to walk away from the base of it, moving a good distance away. And then without pause he turned and, at his utmost speed, ran at the base of the tree. For a moment, he shifted between layers to get more momentum, and by the time he was climbing the tree, he had his sword in hand, just in case, and had climbed over half the way up.

It didn't take long for him to bypass Shikiyoku, stopping only a foot above her as he held onto the bark of the tree trunk,, his breathing just a little heavier. He hadn't realized just how high up he'd gone until he was staring down.

But he didn't think about it for long. When Shikiyoku's grip again began to slip, the fire demon reached down and grabbed her by the wrist, hauling her upwards with him as he launched upwards inbetween the layers and made it to the lowest branch on the tree in one swift motion without making even the slightest sound. _*****_

_Her body was so small that any struggling she did was akin to a beetle in the paws of a tom cat. When her legs started to kick, he moved one of his own and put enough pressure on them that they could not move. When she tried to reach up and claw at his face with the arm not already pinned by the hand he tangled up in her hair, he laughed into his kiss and caught it, holding it back down onto the bed easily before breaking away from her to look into her face._

_She remembered thinking somewhere in the back of her mind that if she could just let her energy __**go**__, if she could only __**wake up**__, she could regain control of what had rapidly unraveled into power that wrapped around them both and egged him further. It was...frustrating, being stuck watching, able to sense the struggle and yet unable to react, to even coax any sort of acceptance or peace, which might let her manipulate the situation._

_It was all she could do to simply let the waves wash over her, and hope that she might give in to the tide and let it lead her to a point where she might once more have control_. 3

With Shikiyoku now pulled from her falling state, no longer in danger, Hiei shifted on the branch, pulling her the rest of the way up until her full weight was leaning into him, one arm around her midsection as he leaned back into the bark again. He glanced up, impressed for a moment at how much farther the tree stretched above them. He looked back down at Shikiyoku after a moment. Her breathing was still labored as if she'd only _just _stopped running up the side.

He slid down against the bark until he was lounging back, her sleeping form held firmly to his chest with his arm keeping her steady in place.

"Foolish woman." _*****_

The vibration under her ear had her eyes coming open again, but the edges fought against her and forced them closed again.

"Nu-uh." She breathed in protest, curling up closer as if it were possible and reaching up with the arm not pinned against him to place it over his chest.

The rhythm of his core beat steadily against her cheek and she smiled that same sleepy smile she had worn before. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku's response, only half surprised she'd woken enough to hear him. When she shifted closer, he made sure to adjust his hold on her accordingly, so that later if he too fell asleep- which he was almost certain wouldn't happen anyway- she wouldn't have a chance to fall.

He didn't respond to her negatory, deciding he'd let her slip back into sleep if she so desired to do so. _*****_

The pause was a long one, her breath slowing as she steadily became more aware of his warmth and his scent that had practically enveloped her, but she did eventually speak.

"Hiei-" She murmured, "Why did you come back for me?" 3

A thin brow raised high enough to disappear within dark hair, and red eyes turned to look at the area he could now very easily see miles and miles of. Trees upon trees, even the pond he'd left earlier and the mountains in the distance.

His own pause equaled that of Shikiyoku's, though his was from thinking over her question and the proper answer to give her. For a moment, he wasn't sure he _could _give an answer, or even if he _should_.

But, she'd asked, and he decided he'd answer to the best of his own ability.

"Because you would have done the same for me." _*****_

The grin she gave was hidden partially against him, but would have affirmed his statement had he seen it.

"What on earth makes you think something like _that_?" 3

"Intuition," came Hiei's lone response, his eyes finally turning down to look at the ashen-skinned female who lay against him, her body both cold to him, but warm at the same time. He couldn't decide what it was that caused this confliction with how he perceived her body temperature, but he knew that it was likely a good idea to _not _warm her more than necessary, since he could still feel the fever that heated her skin. _*****_

"...you're...ridiculous. ...fire-prince." The words came out more mumbled than before as both her mind and her smile started to fade away into that one dream where something was leading her around blood-colored trees, and she kept calling out as she ran after it, kept trying to warn it not to go that way, but every time finding herself stuck outside of the darkness, unable to follow it inside. 3

Hiei's brow remained raised at Shikiyoku, even as she drifted into whatever dream state she was in. He noted the way the breeze moved her hair, and for the first time, he took careful note of each and every scar he could see. How each scar stood out angrily from her grey skin, how even the older scars looked harsher than they'd been.

He also noted the movement behind her eyelids, the shifting of her lashes here and there as she seemed to continue looking about the dream she was trapped in. The tension her muscles occasionally gave before releasing into relaxation again.

_Indeed. __*****_

"_Did ya' kill somefin?"_

"_Yes. Lots of things. All the things." Just before she settled back, she leaned forward and pressed her lips briefly to his nose with a light kiss, "Just for you."_

"_What wa-sh tha' for?" He paused to fight back a yawn and shifted a bit more, "Yoo make no sensh to me."_

"_Because I'm rather fond of you, Hiei." Shikiyoku inched closer to him as she felt the warmth radiating off his body, "I do these things because I like you. Does that 'make sense' to you?" She lifted her head just enough to let the tip of her tongue stick out at him, sleepily impetuous._

"_Do you want to lose tha' tongue?" he grumbled at her, his threat countered by the twitch of his lips._

_Shikiyoku bit back a rather inappropriate reply, settling for a milder, "Only to you."_

"_Shi'," Hiei suddenly grumbled out, only half awake causing the shortening of her name, "you're not so bad."_

"_You're not so terrible yourself, Hiei."_

"_That can be arranged," he countered suddenly._

"What can be arranged?" She murmured out in her sleep, "You being _less _terrible? Because I might like _that_." 3

Hiei blinked once in confusion; what was she talking about? He could tell she was still asleep, meaning she was also dreaming, since she'd spoken aloud. As to _who _she was speaking to, well… He wasn't sure. He could assume it was aimed at him, but really, for her, there was a lot of time to account for, many conversations she could have had to say something like that to just about anyone.

But, the idea of it being aimed at him _was _amusing, because, really…

He'd become rather _terrible_ to others, and yet… _not as_ terrible to her. _*****_

_Amethyst-colored eyes stared hungrily down into her own, the glint of moonlight reflecting off the white-blonde hair. She could only feel panic this time, her entire body trembling, unable to hear the beckoning of her energy which tried to coax her into acceptance. _

_There was only...fear. A heart-wrenching fear as she struggled against the other. _

_When she tried to cry out, he had covered her mouth with his._

"_Who __**are **__you?!"_

"_Do you not __**remember **__me, lover?" He seethed, "After all this time?"_

_He bent over her again and she struggled against him._

"_What do you want from me?!"_

"_What I __**want **__is what I have been denied for __**centuries. **__What I __**want **__is __**you**__, lover."_

"_You are no lover of mine." She told him through gritted teeth, body stiffening as he bit at her neck._

"_You don't even know what that means anymore, do you? So how can you really tell me that I'm not?" Pulling back inches from her face he gazed deep into her green eyes, "Besides, I was. Once. Or very nearly."_

"_You're lying."_

"_Quite the contrary, lover."_

_She flinched, but her uncomfortableness only seemed to make his smile more wicked._

"_And the truth is..." He leaned closer again, "__**You **__came to __**me**__."_

"_N-no," Her protest this time was more of a whimper-and she was unsure whether she was denying his words or his touch-as she felt the terror closing in around her, pushing at his chest in what seemed like a fruitless effort as his weight pushed down on top of her._

She trembled again, starting to try to sit up in her sleep, murmuring low the words out loud this time, "N-No. S-Stop." 3

There was a beat where Hiei himself tensed up from the tension of the person laying against him, out of pure instinct. His body told him that one being fearing something meant someone else was near, his core readying for a sudden ambush when his mind knew perfectly well there was no such thing on the horizon. So he took in a very slow, a very deep breath through his mouth, releasing it just as quietly again through his lips.

He began to play with his energy, to fluctuate it periodically and create a warm little space around himself and Shikiyoku, the air warming up as if they were near a fire. It would be...comforting, if nothing else. His entire body relaxed and his hold on her waist loosened, his head falling back against the bark of the tree and his eyes closing, his mind conjuring the first picture of peace he could.

A warm campfire in the middle of night, the sounds of a bubbling brook nearby and pleasant night creatures moving about the woodland area he'd once inhabited on his own. It had been his safe haven once, his _home_, as it were. The smell of the trees nearby calming and the feel of the air on his face even more so.

And that image, that scene, was projected slowly via the Jagan onto Shikiyoku's mind's eye, first coaxing her into darkness if her mind allowed, and then bringing the rest of the scene in around her if she so desired to see it.

But in the end, it would be up to her. _*****_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	73. Episode 157 - Hiei's Desire, Trespasser

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fellow Ningen!

Once more do Akari and Kurama enter the story! Also there is Nabu. Also there is Youko. I luv me some Kurama and Youko interaction. Totes some of my favorite dialogue to write. I feel as if I've said this before, but...you can deal with it. I make myself laugh with their conversations and that's all that matters, tee hee.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei continues to try and help Shikiyoku remember her past in anyway he can,  
and by the time he has led the way to the All-Fire, she has given in to her hunger,  
resulting in the All-Fire blasting her with flames to pull her to the ground  
so that she cannot feed on Hiei's energy.

She ends up running from him, still set ablaze, to the nearest source of water  
in the hopes that she might be able to extinguish it.

The water opens her scars and she begins bleeding out,  
Hiei coming and pulling her out just far enough so that it will stop.

A conversation occurs between Shikiyoku, Hiei, and the bit of flame encasing her body,  
and the end-result is Shikiyoku consuming the flame, which does its best to help heal her body.

Instead of resting as the flame had suggested, Shikiyoku tries to rid her mind of the desire to feed  
via physical exertion, which ends up with her trying to run up the trunk of the giant tree of her home  
and periodically falling asleep while doing so, memories of the past flitting across her mind.

Hiei catches her in the midst of her sliding back down the tree trunk again,  
and when her dreams become overtaken by nightmares of Otento,  
Hiei reaches out with the Jagan and offers her a peaceful scene of where _he _had once called home.

* * *

She had closed her eyes against the vision of those purple eyes that seemed to pierce through her, but almost in the same moment the pressure of him lifted, and even when she opened her eyes in that dream, she found she could not see.

It had her sitting up and bringing her knees up to her chest within the darkness, curling her arms around them and trying to rid herself of the images her mind conjured.

She shivered once, and suddenly there was warmth and her eyes started to clear, her legs relaxing in her grasp as she blinked and looked around, finding that the increase in temperature was not only 'external' as it were, with a nearby fire, but also within her mind, where a warmth seemed to have invaded that she found familiar. Comforting.

"_Strange." _She thought. "_I can even smell the forest, but I...I have no memory of this place." _She rested her chin on one of her knees, her eyes still darting around to the grass and in the direction of the noises of animals hidden somewhere out of view. "_Where am I?" _3

Hiei felt the tenseness of the person against him melt away, and he knew she'd taken to the calmness of this memory. A memory where he'd been, for once… calm about where he was. Not in need of a fight, not in any form of desire to kill or to hunt down his family. That night, he'd merely gotten home, and that was all he'd wanted.

To relax. Sit in front of the fire he'd conjured and stare at it for hours, as he had done that very evening.

He could hear her thoughts as if they floated on the breeze of the memory, projected likely without her immediate notice. "_This," _he thought back, voice calm, just as the wind that blew by was, "_was once __**my**_ _home." _He let the view of his place expand, a makeshift hammock tied to a couple of trees, where an ally had once slept before his demise. It had remained, merely out of laziness and fondness of the memories, but that was not something he thought about right that moment.

On the ground near the hammock was a small pile of spears, a bow and a quiver of arrows made by his own hands, and a cloak. The very cloak he wore outside of the memory.

He also knew that beyond that spot, beyond the line of trees the hammock was tied to, was a cliff. A cliff he had later nearly fallen from, but a spot he'd enjoy for many years before that incident. "_This… was my life, once." _*****

She _almost _started upwards, _almost _scrambled to her feet when she realized she was not exactly alone. But...but the voice itself that spoke actually _kept _her where she sat, and her initial tension only stayed for the moment in which she first heard him speak.

...what was his name?

"_Hiei." _She was relieved when it came to her, having been struck suddenly by the fear that she might have forgotten.

She had forgotten so much of late.

Closing her eyes, she let the breeze lift through her hair, feeling the serenity on the wind.

"_A good home." _3

"_Indeed." _This place, when he looked around, had probably been the best place he'd ever been in his life. The most peaceful even when… it wasn't. He knew the reason it was so peaceful was because of an enchantment, but really, he didn't care. It'd been wonderful, blissful to stay in this place.

He stared at the hammock for a moment before turning his eyes to a line in the trees, a path he'd taken year after year back to this very spot, where he'd do this very same thing for weeks on end.

Even when the person who'd shown him this place had left, he'd stayed. To this day he wasn't sure what had been the reason he'd trusted the demon, followed her to this place of serenity, but even to this day he was rather glad he had. He'd calmed down quite a bit for a while, until the next demon intruded and broke whatever enchantment had been placed upon it. It had set him back _years_, had created the same anger he'd rid himself of all over again.

"_Perhaps one day you'll see it in person, though it isn't near the sight it used to be." __*****_

"_It is different? ...then maybe I ought not see it. I like the way you remember it." _She opened her eyes again, blinking, and took a deep breath.

"_This...this __**feels**__...so strange. I know I have not been here, but there is something so similar about the air to my senses." _It could have been the fact that she was surrounded by _him _in this memory, for if they had been close companions as she was starting to suspect, surely this kind of thing had happened between them before.

But still. ...so familiar. 3

Hiei felt a twitch in his expression that threatened a slight smirk, but it remained neutral anyway. He slowly turned, allowing her to see the journey to another place he thought she'd enjoy seeing, as it had been _his _favorite part of the whole ordeal.

In the memory, he meandered away from the fire, a hand stroking the hammock as he passed it before he grabbed at the bow and a single arrow, his muscles twitching with remembrance of how to utilize the weapon once more.

His feet carried him through the trees, into darkness that was away from the calm fire that died without his energy feeding it anyway. The woodlands silenced as he moved, only his own breathing heard even when his footsteps should have made sound.

And he didn't pause until he was looking over the cliff he'd lost his tear gem over. He glanced down briefly, looking down at the trees below that were nothing but mere specks from this height, and the city that lit up the horizon many miles away. He stared for a few moments, drinking in the darkness, the moonless night that was only seen through by demons.

And then he was looking down again, his hands moving to poise the bow, the arrow aimed straight down as he'd once been shown. He took a deep breath, drank in the cool night air, and then released the arrow, sending it whooshing through the air.

At first, nothing seemed to happen.

And then, a few flickers of light suddenly became known many miles below, dying down after only a mere moment.

In the next instant, the area around him suddenly lit up with millions of insects flying about, their orange glow blinking as the bugs took flight, joining the insects that suddenly rushed up from below and creating a million more of the twinkling lights that danced around in the air, floating on the breeze.

"_Contrary to popular belief, fire demons do rather enjoy the small things." __*****_

It felt...awkward to be so free of pain. To be able to follow as the memory led her with no hesitation or struggle.

But then again, this was not _her _memory.

She watched quietly from behind him as he drew the bow, noting how smooth the motion was for his arms, as if it were an action that had been repeated many times.

In the aftereffect of the reaction to the shot he fired, she found herself staring more at the fire demon, at the way the lights danced over his features, without realizing _why_. Until she actually _caught _herself doing it and quickly flickered her gaze away from him, her confliction about staring at him well-hidden behind her sharp, scarred visage.

She slowly lifted a single hand as if to coax one to land on her palm as she heard him speak.

Her head tilted at his words. "_Fire demons are...not supposed to?" _3

"_Not…" _Hiei paused, his eyes staying trained on the many miles between the cliff's edge and the forestry below, his irises staring down at the specks of color now illuminated by countless insects between that space. Insects that floated calmly now, instead of rising up and stirring about from the intrusion of the arrow in their territory. Because of the enchantment, these insects were not likely to attack as other bugs would, their cruel nature suppressed to allow a moment such as this to pass.

Perhaps it had been the same with him as well.

"_Not fire demons of my kind. We are born to destroy, born angry and normally rush to death after destroying countless civilizations. Fire demons of my kind… usually do not care for more than the color of blood." _There had been a few. A few to survive the days of bloodlust and go on as normal demons, so long as they ignored the talk of the cursed children. He'd even spoken to a few, who had told him he was very likely to be killed.

Of course, he'd only been driven by those words to be the _killer_ instead of the _killed. _

"_But there comes a time when even my kind cannot be as we are supposed to. Even the more malicious of us can succumb to things such as this." __*****_

She hadn't honestly thought he was the type to _listen _to such ridiculous nonsense, though it appeared in how he spoke of it that he had given into whatever rubbish he had been fed.

"_You are..." _She blinked, her thoughts stirring sluggishly as she tried to gather them into coherent words, "_Better...than whoever told you such things." _Better? "_...stronger." _She shook her head, though she wasn't sure if it was at him or herself, "_They fear your..." _She took a deep breath as if to sigh, "_They fear what it is you could be, child-of-fire." _3

"_As they should." _came Hiei's response, calm and collected, as if his response meant nothing. But in his mind's eye, he saw Otento, saw the demon glancing over his shoulder at him in an alleyway, and it took everything in his power to keep the scene around him from folding into that one. He took a deep breath and finally looked up from the ridge, calm again as if he hadn't meant anything behind his words.

"_Firefly Ridge, as the humans call it. In human world, they have one similar. Here, were it not for the enchantment, we'd be attacked for my intrusion." _He tilted his head at her slightly, noting the glow around her. He hadn't realized she'd actually been projected into the memory as well.

Perhaps it was his own manipulation of it that allowed this occurrence.

"_I'm sure you've been here yourself, as you've done traveling of your own." _

For all he knew, she could have arrived shortly after he took his leave of this place, or vice versa. For all they were aware, they could have missed one another at this very spot. But, what did that matter anyhow? _*****_

"_Firefly..." _Her eyes no longer stared outwards at the surrounding imagery, and she said the word as if to herself, perhaps unaware that such thoughts were spoken now as if aloud. "_Fire...mm, no. Not child-of-fire. What __**was **__it, again?" _Her eyes shot to the left as she reached for a word she could not quite recall.

_Feels better! Is good. Wanted to help._

She frowned.

_Sleep now, she-of-desire. Will be good. Has self-protection._

Where had she heard that before?

"_Littles?" _She murmured, eyes narrowing slightly in thought and she reached up to rub the back of her fingers absently against the long scar that ran down from her eye to her lips. "_What are-" _Not to mention, "_Child...of self. Where do I know that from?" _3

Hiei's brow raised, his mind picking up on the monologue Shikiyoku had taken to and deciding not to interrupt. He simply watched her, noting the way she ran her fingers over her face absently- had she always done that?- and the way her eyes narrowed in thought to create an even more severe expression.

Even amidst the glow of the calm insects, she appeared deadly as before, which amused him to no end for some reason or another.

While she thought, he turned away again, waving a hand through the insects that moved with his motions, as if drawn to him, and gave a small sound of amusement as they began to follow his hand one after another, forming a small line of light that blinked like decorations. Decorations that rested on his fingers when he paused, blinking slower than before as if contemplating his existence as a whole.

And just as suddenly they took off again, hovering about his frame almost curiously. Even when he made an attempt to wave them away, they lingered, undeterred by his motions and his dismissal, as always. _*****_

_The grove twists and bends in on itself to protect him and the chances of it and him both letting anyone actually in are slim. He may be easily excitable, but he is also easily angered. And his fury is more dangerous than any living beings' could ever be._

It was..._her _voice. Or, very near it.

She squeezed her eyes shut briefly, the effort sending a pang of what could have been a headache just behind her temples, and she let what she could only assume was the remembrances go, her vision focusing back on the memory she still stood within, and on the fire demon who appeared to be twinkling before her.

Her eyebrows twitched as he tried to get the creatures away, her mouth making a similar action as she regarded him with no small amount of amusement trying to spark behind her black eyes. 3

Hiei waved one more time at the insects, who only moved out of the way briefly before returning to their hovering state around him, their little wings creating the slightest sound in his ears as he gave a deep breath. How could he have forgotten this part?

They twinkled at him merrily, as if they accepted his presence, his warm energy radiating to them and being the reason for their stay. He brought his eyes from the insects up to Shikiyoku again, giving a raised brow of slight exasperation.

"_They are attracted to heat energy." _Needless to say, he'd forgotten that fact. _*****_

"_Is that so?" _Her expression relaxed, her tone dry, but she closed one of the hands at her side slowly, feeling that her skin was just as cold as ever, even wracked with the fever as she knew she had to be.

She appeared to hesitate about something, going ahead and stepping forward after a moment, coming closer to him and waiting to see if her presence would discourage their attentions from him. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, one even twitching slightly in curiosity and amusement as he noted the twitch her hand gave and the thoughts that were more than likely churning behind her mind's eye. When she stepped forward, drawing closer, a couple of the insects scattered, before returning to where they had been hovering, slowly.

He reached a hand up into the air again and waved a few of the insects into his grasp, suddenly stretching his hand out to her and opening his fingers to let the blinking insects be revealed on the palm of his hand. For a moment, they remained there. "_These insects are unique in this way." _He tipped his hand, making the insects tumble due to their lack of grip on his skin, their wings easily picking them up and keeping them afloat in the air before her face.

Slowly, one by one, the insects began to move around them, their lights dying out as they drew closer to Shikiyoku. "_Heat fuels their lights. They often slumber in the cold, hence their lack of light during the night. And it is difficult to see them during the day." __*****_

Her head tilted just a little, eyes catching the tiny movements in the air between her and Hiei where she had stopped.

"_Fascinating creature...s" _She added the 's' on almost as an afterthought, her eyes closing to clear her vision of Hiei as she shook her head a little almost to clear her thoughts. 3

Hiei watched each light die out until the insects were merely hovering about in the air, some disbanding and some lingering in the area. a couple landed on his shoulder, on his arms, one on his nose that he waved away easily. And after a few more moments, even those insects seemed to disappear, the night seeming to cave in on their tiny beings again despite his lingering warmth in the area.

"_You're lucky they didn't decide to rest on _you _for the next few hours." _His lips twitched into a sneer of amusement. "_It isn't fun having thousands of them on your skin at once. They don't have any sort of grip, but they always come back." _HE tilted his head at her again in thought, suddenly wondering if she was actually resting or if this prevented her from doing such a thing.

But if he retracted, would she recede into nightmares again? _*****_

"_That's what you get for being so hot." _She replied evenly to him, opening her eyes and blinking at him once before sending her gaze after the one that escaped from the tip of his nose. 3

"_Is that so?" _The fire demon's lips twitched upwards again, his irises flashing with bright amusement at her words. Words that seemed much more like her. Teasing, joking, and yet without the air to indicate as such. Or maybe she was talking about his energy. He really couldn't be sure, but either way he was still amused by it. She was still teasing him, still poking fun.

….maybe.

He couldn't tell. _*****_

A single black eyebrow rose at his response and she had the distinct feeling that her lips wanted to go about twitching again, but she couldn't quite understand why exactly.

"_But of course. I wouldn't lie about such things. Though I can't possibly imagine that you didn't already know." _3

Hiei's amusement skyrocketed at Shikiyoku's retort, his eyelids sliding shut as he fought the sound that threatened to leave his lips. His shoulders gave a single, small jolt with the inaudible sound, but soon after he collected himself and opened his eyes again to stare at her evenly, a brow raised.

"_I'm a fire demon. Hot doesn't cover it." __*****_

"_Well, I'm certainly not going to call you 'flaming.'" _She replied. "_That doesn't suit you at all." _She appeared to consider him for a moment. "_Would rather I referred to you as blazing? Scorching, perhaps?" _3

"_Smoldering works just as well." _Hiei replied nonchalantly, even giving a shrug of his shoulders. "_Or any synonym of the sort." __*****_

Her expression did not change, even when he gave her such permission as he did-maybe even lingered a moment as if to give him a chance to think about what he'd just done-though her eyes had not left his face since she started speaking to him.

Just enough to indicate that she appeared to be taking him at his word and coming up with a 'synonym,' her eyes narrowed slightly before releasing again.

"_Smoking hot, then." _She decided, without so much as a second thought. 3

"_As I said, works just as well." _This time, the smirk flew onto Hiei's features at light speed, flashing in his eyes faster than any flame he could conjure within his grasp. He shifted his weight, let one hand find the pocket in his black pants as he shifted to one foot, as if to turn away but not completing the motion. "_I have no disagreements." __*****_

"_Perhaps you'll keep me around, then." _She told him, "_In case you ever need reminding of your nature." _She turned her face slightly upwards as if in thought. "_How troublesome to walk around and not know." _3

"_Indeed you'll be around, though it shouldn't be only __**my **__desire." _He turned to look at her again, same amusement on his features. "_Though, I don't quite see you putting up a fight about it." __*****_

Something _did _flicker in her mind at that...that word.

"_Only __**your **__desire, oh fiercest of demons," _She said strangely, "_Or your __**only **__desire?" _

She frowned and looked away, almost able to feel that flicker from before. 3

Hiei blinked once calmly, but didn't answer because, really, he wasn't sure. If he told her it was his only desire, would it matter? Would it change things? Likely not. Or it could. There was no _guessing _that sort of thing. There was only to jump, and deal with the outcome later.

So he did.

"_Both, I suppose. The second wouldn't matter if I was the only one wishing to have your company. What good would it do if you didn't desire _my _company, hm?" __*****_

"_As if there was any doubt." _A portion of her mind flashed the thought into her awareness, even as she continued to look away, her eyes slowly coming closed as if she was giving in to the voice that now spoke to her.

_He __**is **__so very...__**fierce**__. And terribly...__**deadly**__. _

When she opened them and lifted her gaze to him, there was more green in them than black, though the severity of her expression had not changed.

"_What do you __**desire**__...fire-prince?"_ There was no power behind her words, no remnant of energy that cascaded over her eyes...only the smallest of flickers behind what seemed to be the permanent darkness that colored her gaze.

And she took a single step towards him.3

Hiei managed to blink once at Shikiyoku's greener gaze, meeting her eye to eye calmly as he watched the battle between the colors of her irises. Even in this realm, she was affected by it. Even in sleep he could see her changing before his very eyes. It was good to know she could regain her self-control, regain the ability to keep her wits about her.

He blinked again and his mind was clear, his ears twitching very slightly when her voice floated on the hazy dream-wind that blew past. He turned to face her full again, hands still in his pockets and gaze still calmly watching the step she took forward.

"_You know full well what I desire." _*****

She did not take her eyes from him, but for a moment she appeared to be looking through him and not _at _him.

When she pulled back to the present, she slowly closed her eyes, a brief knot between her eyebrows forming before she lifted her lids to look at him again, giving the tiniest, almost imperceptible shake of her head as her gaze dropped slightly.

This time her voice sounded more reserved, withdrawn, "_Maybe I did. Once." _Another slight shake as if it would clear her memories of their contrite little cobwebs as she closed her eyes and the frown reappeared between her brows. "_But I-" _She let out a frustrated breath, "_I- I'm not really sure why I asked." _3

Hiei's brows moved downward just a bit, only enough to show he'd been listening and had a few gears turning in his mind, but not enough to create shadows over his eyes. The tension disappeared just as quickly, his head tilting to the side.

"_Foolish woman." _He wasn't being harsh, nor was be reprimanding. He was merely…

Hm.

How would he consider his own tone? _Odd. _

"_I desire your presence. __**You.**_" **_*_**

Something...something heavy, like an iron band that had been fastened tightly around her chest suddenly disappeared and she sucked in a silent breath through her nose which flared as her eyes came open again and she just as quickly released the air back out, struck with the strange sensation that she had not until that moment realized clamped over her ribs.

Her expression was almost frightened as she found herself looking back at Hiei, and she did in fact take a step back, dark green eyes colored with confusion.

She opened her mouth. And she meant to say something, though she had no idea what. But nothing came out and her lips closed again. 3

Hiei's lips twitched just slightly before his expression returned to neutral. Frankly, he hadn't expected an answer from her, because he knew that there were many differences from the Shikiyoku he'd first said those words to and the Shikiyoku he stood before now. And that was fine with him. He didn't need an answer, because it wouldn't matter either way.

And he had nothing more to say to her either. He merely stood, waiting to see if she'd say anything, but not expecting much more than the confused expression he received. Perhaps soon….

Perhaps soon he'd let her fall into a simple world of darkness for slumber. _*****_

The wind made her eyes sting and they flinched as she continued looking at him for a moment longer before her shoulders slumped and she whispered hoarsely, "_I...I don't understand-" _

Her knees buckled slowly as she let herself sink to the forest floor, appearing defeated where she sat, staring at the ground.

"_-you...how do you make me feel so strange?" _She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered once, though it was not from the cold.

_You only wish for my presence? For my...companionship? There is nothing else you would ask me to do for you? _3

Was there any way for him to give her an answer? Was there really and truly anything the fire demon could respond with that would suffice? He wasn't even sure what she meant, much less form an actual response to her inquiry. Where would he begin anyway? Where would he start to analyze what she meant?

He blinked.

"_Am I supposed to have a sufficient answer?"_

Perhaps it had been rhetorical. If so, than his own question would pose much the same way. Because, really, there was no telling with her. _*****_

She supposed not, though if he had been doing it on purpose, she had no way of knowing if he would actually tell her as much.

"_You...you said those words to me once." _Did she actually remember? Was she not simply being influenced, succumbing to the power of suggestion? Her eyes stayed on the forest floor as if it would hold answers for her. "_...and...and I offered you the world." _Nameless wonders. Desires fulfilled. She grew crestfallen at the thought because...well...

She shook her head, "_I can provide no such thing now." _She said very softly. "_I have nothing to offer you in return." _3

Hiei raised a brow. He'd never asked for anything else. He'd never even _considered _anything else, because really, he hadn't… felt the _need _to find something else to ask of her. He hadn't felt the _desire _to ask her of something else, of anything else _but _her lively company. Company he'd gone without for what felt like very long while, but in truth was only a short amount of time.

"_You don't have to provide me the world. I did not ask of it, nor do I find that it would be necessary. And I would not ask something of you that you were not capable, anyhow." _He paused and turned his eyes to the cliff once more, down to the many miles between this ledge and the ground below. He could see the very last of the insects from before disappearing from his view, hiding in the shadows for sleep again.

"_As for giving me anything in return… I want nothing." Nothing but your safety. Your presence. __*****_

As he spoke, his words filling some comfort that she couldn't explain, her eyes began to close as she let his voice wash over her ears uninterrupted.

Her hands clutched to her arms began to loosen as she relaxed closer to slumber and the darkest portions of the cloud that covered her countenance seemed to lift as she smiled.

"_You would make me feel useless, Hiei?" _3

Hiei blinked, frowned, and then gave a small sigh to himself that came out inaudible. He had forgotten that part, where she needed something to do, needed to.. needed to be _needed _he supposed. He'd forgotten that asking for her presence alone hadn't helped for long. The moods she'd slipped in and out of during their journeys. Moods he hadn't understood and had absolutely _loathed_.

"_If you consider my desiring of your entire being __**useless**_…_." _He gave another inaudible sigh, refusing to turn and look at her for a moment.

"_Then I suppose not. However, you'd have to be rather patient with me, as I don't often desire much of this world anymore." _*****

She gave a small hum, an amused sort of sound followed by a lone breath that could not be confused as anything else but the mildest of chuckles.

"_**You **__desiring __**me**__? Now __**there's**_ _a novel idea." _She shifted around a little as if trying to get more comfortable before continuing in a kinder tone, "_I appreciate your candidness, but I was only teasing, fire-prince." _She spoke the last word fondly, lips still curled up at the edges. 3

Hiei's lips twitched again as he inspected the ground far below, the specs that were trees suddenly very intriguing to him for… reasons. He flexed his fingers slightly within the confines of his pockets, making the fabric of his pants move just a bit. He considered a reply, but decided not to say it, merely keeping his back turned to her, deciding now would likely be a good time to allow her the bliss of peaceful sleep.

So he let the memory slowly begin to dissolve, the darkness getting even deeper, the shadows seeming to take over until he and Shikiyoku were merely standing in what one could only describe as a void of pitch-black darkness.

"_Sleep well, Shikiyoku."_

With that, he let all images fade, but willed the peaceful darkness to stay the main subject of her dreams, creating a barrier between the nightmares and her consciousness. _*****_

Leaned against him outside of the darkness he pulled over her mind in the tree that overlooked her former home, Shikiyoku shifted in her near-sleep, making quiet sleepy noises before settling again, the same smile that had colored her features reflected here on her face.

She did not fight the darkness, though she murmured once aloud before it engulfed her, "Only...when _you're _here." 3

Hiei's eyes slowly slid open and blinked into the darkness of the night, making him realize how long he'd allowed himself to remain within Shikiyoku's mind, showing her things he hadn't even _considered telling _others about. He glanced down briefly to watch Shikiyoku shift a bit, making sure she didn't move too far one way or the other before he gave his own small sound of amusement at her.

And instead of sleeping as he normally would have, his mind was wide awake and his eyes remained open to view the lands he could see all around him, taking in the view that was, despite the darkness that melted one object into another, breathtaking. He'd forgotten how this place looked after a while. He'd forgotten the serenity.

And he decided he'd remain here until she awoke, until Shikiyoku decided to leave.

~!**!~

You know, when one spent so much time moving between the levels and overseeing a certain amount of projects happening all at once, one tended to lose track of the days. Lose track of time and merely go on about their way as if no amount of time had passed at all. Sometimes, one even forgot to sleep, eat, to even stop for a small break before going out again.

This sometimes lead to a person's head hitting a comfortable surface- it didn't even have to be a pillow most times- and staying there until either something disturbed one's sleep, or they'd gotten the sufficient amount of rest to start all over again.

This was Akari's story for the time being, running the same errands over and over, overseeing the same operations that had been thrown at her, organizing the same projects that she'd taken on herself simply because she _could_.

Most nights she remained out late, returning home just before dawn before starting again. Today had been very similar in this way: She'd gone to bed about six in the morning, and a mere three hours later, Lou had disturbed her dreams with news of passing the last demon through.

Which, by the way, was the sole reason she wasn't aiming death threats at a rather excitable demon, whose arm was repeatedly brushed from her shoulders, whose remarks were always ignored until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Akari, how do we seal this up anyhow?" Lou suddenly piped, earning the silence of the other three in the space between the dimensions.

"Koenma sends someone to do that for us. Though, you should be celebrating. None of you died."

Each demon blinked once, and after a beat realized she'd been joking and erupted into snorts of laughter again. "Juun is especially lucky, eh?"

"Indeed."

"Don't be so harsh, darlin-"

"You're about to lose that precious tongue of yours."

"OKAY! I call for drinks! But, since we can't _all _go to the Ninth Layer like _someone_, I guess the local pub will do! First round is on me!" Keia, the only other female in this group, quickly skipped by, grabbing Juun and dragging him along with her through the opening that lead to the fourth layer.

"You're welcome to join us, Akari." Lou said calmly, a small smile on his face. "I mean, we owe you since we all made it hell here."

AKari shook her head dismissively, her energy beginning to move around her. "No need. You can make up for it by drinking enough for the both of us. Also…. don't call me unless you're dying. Or Koenma orders of it."

"That I can do."

Within mere seconds, Akari's feet hit pavement of the first layer, the scent of humans returning to her nostrils even stronger than before, and a very patient Nabu waiting where she'd left him before.

"_You know, that means we're done for Koenma now, right?"_

"Mhmm." She paused, rubbing a hand over her cheek as she turned and began walking in the direction of a small shop she'd taken to eating at. "Well, for portals, anyway. I still have Genkai's temple to figure out, and-"

"_Yeah, yeah. But today is a break day. You should celebrate too, you know. Plus, no more Juun."_

"That is **definitely** cause for celebration."

"_Are you going for another sundae?"_

"You know it's a daily routine thing now."

"_Actually….. it's more of a once-a-week thing. You're bad at keeping track of time." __*****_

~!**!~

"Are you...are you certain?" Kurama wasn't quite sure whether or not he should believe his ears. And he also wasn't positive he _wanted _to.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." His step-father waved off his concern, leaning forward on the desk to look Kurama squarely in the eye. "Listen, I appreciate all the work you do here, don't get me wrong on that count. But-" Here he leaned back into his chair again, giving the red-head a smile and shaking his head, "Look, you need a break as much as the next person."

Kurama mirrored the smile he was given, "So, you're expressing your gratefulness by forcing me to go on paid leave."

_[Would you just shut up and run out the door before he changes his mind?]_

"I would be lying to you if I said that your co-workers didn't think you were making them look bad by being so _good _at what you do."

Kurama leveled his gaze onto the man, quipping without hesitation, "I _have _no co-workers."

His step-father only grinned, so Kurama went on.

"I'm the president of the company, therefore...the only person that could possibly be considered a close co-worker would be the CEO or owner."

"They're the only ones remotely equal to your position, yes." The man allowed with a nod.

Kurama stared at him a moment longer before going on, lips twitching from the neutral position he had withdrawn them into, "_You're _the owner and CEO."

"Oh, hm. You know. I think you're right." He appeared thoughtful.

"Am I _really _making you look that bad?" Kurama arched an eyebrow at him.

Another grin, but he said nothing.

"I'm...not going to be able to change your mind, am I?"

_[No, Red. AND STOP TRYING.]_

Kurama gave a little sigh of protest, but gave in as he knew he was going to before he sat down.

"Anything to maintain the image of the man in charge." He sighed again.

"Well, we both know who that _really _is, but I appreciate the gesture regardless." He glared menacingly at him, "Now, get OUT of my office and don't so much as set a single TOE inside the property line or I'll make it half a year!"

"Yes, of course." Kurama droned, starting to rise and giving the man a slight bow from the waist.

"And leave your laptop on the premises!" He yelled after him, earning another long-suffering sigh from the retreating form.

"Yes…of course." He resigned reluctantly, shaking his head and closing the door behind him.

~!**!~

"_You'll be the first to know should anything else arise." He scratched idly at his face. "For now, your presence is enough." _

The words echoed inside her mind as she shifted, slowly coming into the awareness that she was waking from a sleep she did not remember actively seeking.

As her eyes blinked, she recognized first the smell even before her eyes cleared.

Something of...cloves and...a fiery sort of cinnamon. And it surrounded her almost completely.

Strange how...overly familiar she felt with such a scent, when she could hardly remember who it belonged to.

_Hiei._

Well, yes, she remembered his _name_. But as far as his motives-

_I desire your presence. __**You.**_

Yes, yes. But what does that mean, _really_? It was a hard enough concept to wrap her mind around in the first place. She couldn't remember _anyone _who had actively pursued her and-

_**He **__did._

Honestly, it was like a demon wasn't allowed to have any doubts around here. Or any concerns or-

_Do you not realize how __**safe **__you feel right now? Right here?_

She paused to take into consideration the presence of the fire demon, fighting past the sickness, the fever, in order to have any awareness of anything at all besides that smell.

_Well?_

She sighed. 3

Hiei didn't move a single inch in the time Shikiyoku slept. He stayed perfectly still, keeping his mind occupied by taking to memorizing each aspect of the lands he could see. He didn't sleep, because he felt no need to. He occasionally glanced down at her, at the sleeping female in his arms to ensure she wasn't dreaming, and each time found himself relieved to see her mind still relied on the darkness he'd gifted her with. The dreamless sleep she'd needed.

He hadn't been aware of her stirrings until the moment she sighed, at which point the fire demon turned his eyes down very briefly before turning them to the trees on the horizon again, deciding he'd wait to gauge her reaction first before he spoke.

~!**!~

"_Do you think they'll let me in this time?"_

Akari gave a shrug, her lips pursing briefly in thought before she repeated the gesture. "Probably not. You're not a service dog."

"_Right. So would you particularly care if-"_

"Go play at the park, or nap, or whatever it is you do when I'm not around. I don't mind. You aren't on a leash, Nabu. Asking is kind of… pointless."

"_Just making sure." _The dog turned, his claws clicking on the concrete as he began to walk back the way he'd come. He paused again, making Akari pause just briefly. "_I go to our old napping spot, by the way. It's good for you."_

"I'll remember that." She continued on, the dog also picking his pace up again to leave her presence as she rounded another corner and pushed open the door to the small bakery. The smell of fresh bread hit her nose, making her mouth water and her stomach growl.

When had she eaten last?

"Hey! Long time no see, stranger!" The girl behind the counter called, her hand raised in a friendly wave and a smile painting her lips. "The usual? I made extra because I just _knew _you'd come in!"

"Yeah. Though, this time, add one of those-"

"One of those donuts you like, with the cream filling. Coming right up!"

Akari gave a small sigh of resignation, crossing her arms over her chest as she took to staring at the many varieties of bread behind the display glass, her stomach growling even louder the longer she looked, the longer she lingered within the shop. "Hey!" She suddenly called to the back, where the girl had disappeared. "A soda too, if you don't mind!"

"Is that her?" she heard mumbled in the back, responded to with a laugh.

"Yup! Our most loyal customer decided to come back."

"Good, I'd thought she'd skipped town." _*****_

_[Oh, come ON! You haven't let me do anything fun for DAYS! I'm so BORED in here!]_

Kurama meandered down the sidewalk with no hurry in his steps, one hand in the pocket of his suit, the other up at his shoulder hanging onto the handle of the briefcase that thumped occasionally against his back when he took a step.

_[You're terrible company, you know.]_

The air moved by his forward motion made the edges of his suit-jacket flap quietly, his hair doing much the same.

_[Reeeeeed, __**please **__talk to me?]_

_{You seem to have so much to say whether or not I contribute to the conversation.}_

_[Ah HA! So, you CAN still hear me!]_

_{Whatever made you think I couldn't?}_

_[Oh, I don't know. Perhaps the fact that you haven't said a word to me in three days?]_

_{I've been-}_

_[Busy. Lame.]_

_{You should be resting anyway, shouldn't you?}_

_[It's like you're punishing me for what happened.]_

_{Well, it __**was **__your fault.}_

_[I-]_

_{There's no point in trying to deny it. I was __**there**__. ...stop sulking. It doesn't suit you.}_

_[I'll sulk if I want, thank you very much.]_

_{You still don't think you did anything wrong.}_

_[Of course not-!]_

_{So, you'll stay where you are until you admit that you __**actually **__made a mistake.}_

_[Good luck.]_

_{It's your decision.}_

_[At least you're not __**ignoring **__me anymore.]_

The chime of a bell down the street had Kurama's eyes focusing more sharply on the world through which he moved, giving a little smile as he caught the last of the figure that stepped into the shop, and another to the dog that appeared to be leaving her behind.

_[Red?]_

"Nabu?" Kurama called pleasantly, wondering when the last time he had seen the animal was.

_[Reeeeed!]_

~!**!~

She hurt all over.

Ached, was more like it.

Nowhere near as badly as she had the day previous, but it was this dull sort of pain that _almost _had her pulling the layers around herself in an attempt to seek refuge from it.

Almost.

Because all the parts that were in contact with the fire demon were completely free of any of it, as if his warmth soothed all of the uncomfortableness away.

It was possible.

She sighed again. 3

"Sigh any harder and you'll fall." Hiei suddenly intoned, still not looking down at Shikiyoku as he spoke. One hand moved to swat an insect away, the other scratching idly at an itch on his leg that dangled off the branch. He stilled again, his hand resting on his knee while the other was pulled up to prop behind his head, keeping his hair from getting stuck to the tree's bark.

~!**!~

Akri waited, and waited, and waited, until finally the dark-haired teen popped into the room from the back kitchen, a paper bag in one hand and a glass in the other. Her brown eyes twinkled merrily, her smile wide and just as happy as the rest of her being. She seemed to radiate a cheer that was… she couldn't decide if it was relaxing or annoying.

Perhaps it wasn't annoying because she wasn't babbling. Yet.

"Here ya go, hun!"

"Thank you," Akari extended one hand with the appropriate amount of money before she accepted both the bag and the drink, turning without a second's hesitation to look about the empty shop, finding that she would actually rather enjoy sitting inside for once. Each table was small and round, able to fit three adults around it at best, four school kids on some occasions. So she took one of the rounded tables in the corner, close enough to a window to feel the warmth of the sun, but not close enough to become distracted with watching the patrons pass by.

AFter all, she was done with work for the day. She wouldn't let herself slip back into it unless necessary.

Or unless she had a sudden idea about the problem with Genkai's temple existing only on one layer still. _What a pain._

She quickly withdrew the cream-filled donut and stuffed it in her mouth as much as she could, leaning back in her chair until it was only on two legs and the back just touched the wall of the corner behind her.

~!**!~

Nabu kept his head down as he began weaving through people, winding around pairs of feet that just as carefully stepped around him when he was noticed, or feet that nearly trampled him when he was not noticed in the slightest.

But he paused, an ear flicking back at his name, and he lifted his head again to look back into the crowd, searching for the person who'd called to him.

It hadn't been Akari. That was for sure. She hardly put in the effort to yell for him anymore. She did enough yelling at others to spare her voice in shouting at him, or even for him.

His eyes finally found a familiar person whose eyes were on him as well, and Nabu's tail immediately took to wagging furiously behind him as he turned and made an easy trot back towards the shop, past it and up to the person he hadn't seen in what felt like ages.

"_Flowers! It's been a while!" __*****_

As the dog approached him, Kurama squatted down and smiled, holding out a palm for Nabu's inspection. "Well, hello, handsome! It's been a long while, indeed. You've grown."

~!**!~

"I'd like to believe you wouldn't let me." She replied bluntly, making no move to leave and letting her eyes slide closed again. 3

Hiei raised a brow, turning his eyes down briefly at Shikiyoku before he released a small huff of amusement. She'd caught him red-handed. "Not unless you deserved it." Which, of course, he felt she wouldn't deserve even if she made an attempt to rip his core out at that very second.

The thought, the mental image, had him scoffing again.

~!**!~

Nabu's nose stuck out to sniff once at Kurama's hand, and shortly after he sat his happy rear on the concrete and let his tongue fall from his maw, his tail swishing against the pavement and ears twitching with the cacophony of sounds around him.

"_Yup! I'm full grown now; as big as I'll get. You've changed too, since I last saw you. More… hair. And more ears and tail than before." _The dog's head tilted slightly. "_I like it. Suits you better."_

He turned his head away after a moment, eyes turning to look in the direction of another dog he'd smelled passing, but he didn't look long and turned back again. "_Sharper edges suit your sharper wits." __*****_

Without hesitation, Kurama reached out, letting his briefcase rest lightly against his leg, and used both hands to scratch Nabu behind both ears, refraining from comment on what the dog had brought up.

_[__**See. **__Even the __**inu **__knows what's good for you.]_

"Where are you going?" Kurama wanted to know.

~!**!~

"And how would one earn such treatment?" She murmured half to herself, unsure if she was actually curious or not, but too comfortable to particularly care. 3

Hiei managed to give a small shrug. "Throw me from a cliff and then we'll see. Though, you won't have much luck there." The fire demon made another sound of amusement, deciding he was _entirely _joking, instead of only half kidding.

~!**!~

At the very loving affections Nabu was receiving, the wonderful scratches behind the ears, the dog's entire being moved with excitement, his leg even thumping a bit on the concrete with the magnitude of satisfaction he was given from Kurama's scratching.

He recovered just enough to reply, "_Well, I was going to go to the park and take a nap, because Akari and I were out until this morning for some things, but it can wait. Especially now that all of her portals are closed and the only thing left is Genkai's temple and a few little things for Koenma."_

~!**!~

"Sooo, how is it?"

Akari glanced up, the sweet donut still between her lips, over half gone now, and raised a brow at the girl who pulled a chair out to join her. Tana, she remembered the girl's name to be, plopped down into the seat and rested an elbow on the table, her chin immediately resting in her hands. "It's ashh goo' ash alwaysh." Akari spoke around the food, earning a bright, toothy smile.

"Good! It's a new, more refined recipe I came up with! I'm getting ready for a competition at my school for this year's summer festival!"

"Tha's comin' up? Already?"

"Mhm! And that's gonna be my main focus, the thing you're eating now."

Akari pulled the treat from her mouth and swallowed the bit she'd been chewing, holding it up for inspection. "You should add some decorations."

"I was just thinking about that."

There was silence for a few moments as Akari took another bite, gauging the girl next to her curiously. She was about to ask why Tana was so cheerful about seeing her, but the loud slamming of the door against the wall and the bell ringing as it was pushed open harshly paused all thoughts, Akari's eyes turning up to level the person with a glare.

The person who didn't even turn his head to look at her, didn't even seem to notice her presence in the room.

"Anyone home?" His loud voice called, his fur… cloak? No… it was… just decoration, it seemed… It fluttered about with a flourish as he sauntered to the counter, his hands pressing on the glass as he leaned over it.

"What can I do for ya?" Tana quickly asked, scurrying away to her post.

"Well, darling, first I'd like the sweetest thing you have in the shop! Second, I'll have whatever you reccomend, love." Akari couldn't see the person's face, but she was one-hundred percent sure this person-

No, this _demon _had a smirk on his face and a sparkle in his eye that was meant to be charming.

"Sure!"

"Thirdly, I'm… You know what? Never mind. Just those, love." *****

~!**!~

Kurama's attentions paused for just a moment before he continued.

_[So, they're...they're gone, huh?]_

"Sounds like you've been rather busy."

_[...]_

_{What?}_

_[I... it's nothing.]_

_{...}_

_[We... Ah, forget it, Red.]_

_{Don't tell me you're going to get all sentimental on me all of a sudden.}_

_[...we can't ever go back, Red.]_

_{...I know.}_

~!**!~

"Won't have any luck throwing you off a cliff?" She wondered, "Or won't have any luck earning such treatment by doing so?" 3

"Both." Hiei replied easily, his lips turning up into a smirk again. "An attempt to toss me over a cliff would be futile, for one. I tend to avoid them now, on most cases." He looked down at her again. "As for allowing you to fall… well, then I'd be stuck without your presence. It really isn't worth the trouble of losing such valuable company."

~!**!~

Nabu inched closer to Kurama, redirecting the fingers that scratched at him to a spot a little higher on his head, a spot that normally only Akari would scratch when she took a moment to sit down and do nothing.

"_Very. But isn't everyone these days? I hardly see Stripes or Loudmouth anymore, and this is the first time I've seen you in a long time. Sometimes I go a day or two without seeing Akari too, but she always comes back for me because she knows I worry."_

~!**!~

The demon took to leaning against the glass display with his entire upper body weight, his arms resting on the glass and one foot crossed over the other, his fur decorations accentuating the ears and tail he wore- something Tana didn't seem to notice in the least bit.

Akari turned away, uninterested as there was no threat. Merely a flamboyant moron who liked having attention and-

Something within her core had her turning to look at the demon again, eyes narrowed slightly at the form. His pants were made of a cloth usually resigned for upper layers of this world nowadays, and he was barefoot. But that wasn't what had her watching, waiting for him to turn around.

Whatever it was that _did_, though, she wasn't sure. It made her energy react, fluctuating in small pulses of cheer and her muscles tense in impatience.

"...love."

"Sure thing!"

Akari's lips twitched. _Who are you?_

She blinked once, and when her eyes rested on the male again, he had his head turned in her direction, his dark brown eyes staring at her blankly. He didn't blink, didn't even move when Tana reached out to pass him a styrofoam cup.

And then he was standing over her, moving so fast that she could have sworn he'd..

_Shadows._

"What is your name?" The demon asked, his tone low, but eyes curious. "Name, love. Hurry, time is of the essence."

"I don't answer when called."

"No, but you answer to an alpha. Now, what is _your name?"_

"You hold no power over me. I am not your beta, nor am I an omega."

A pause, tension rolling on the air. And then the demon's lips twitched, and his expression turned into one of bright cheer, his eyes lighting up and his lips forming a lopsided smile, his canines flashing in the light. "Oh, love, I knew it was you! You grew your hair out for me!"

"...I did no such thing." And truthfully, she had no idea who this demon was.

And he seemed to understand that, and again his expression changed, turning demanding, his irises darkening with power as he leaned closer, his lips finding her ear. "_Tell me… your name, pup."_

Without her permission, her lips moved. "Akari."

"_Last name?"_

"Hanase."

"Delightful!" _*****_

~!**!~

Kurama obliged the dog's shifting about, following the motions with his scratches.

"Have you actually looked for Yusuke?" Kurama wanted to know. "He has a ramen stand just down-"

This time Kurama actually stopped, his eyes raising to look down the sidewalk. Had he the ears Youko sported, they would have twitched slightly.

_[You felt it too?]_

Kurama did not respond, knowing the fox had his answer before asking.

_[I __**don't **__like it.]_

_{Of course you don't.}_

_[This is __**my **__territory.]_

_{You have little claim to any lands these days.}_

_[And whose fault is that?]_

Kurama turned back down to look at Nabu again, "Though, Kuwabara is busy with school nowadays." He took up scratching once more.

~!**!~

_Valuable company my __**ass.**_

She frowned.

"I don't understand you." 3

Hiei didn't react to Shikiyoku's words with even a raise of his brow. "It's not supposed to be easy. If it were, you'd be bored."

~!**!~

"_Yusuke has ramen?" _The dog asked, turning to look down the street when Kurama did so, but turning back to the other just as quickly, not finding anything of interest at first. "_And Loudmouth is in school. You work, I can tell." _His eyes flickered down to the briefcase on the ground. "_Now I know what everyone is up to, not just Akari!"_

~!**!~

Akari's eyes narrowed at the male who stood upright again, his hands leaving the table she hadn't realized he'd been leaning on. She opened her mouth to speak, to make any sound that would issue a warning, but stopped short when he suddenly had her by the face and was rubbing his nose against hers.

"I almost didn't recognize you, love! You're battle-hardened and very cold! Not anything like you used to be." He leaned away, pulling a chair up rather close to her, and running his fingers through her curls. "And like I said earlier, you grew it out for me. Lovely. It suits your rounded face."

Akari's glare hardened and she ground her teeth together, her entire being struggling against the desire to lash out, to drop this demon into a void that he'd just as easily escape from. "The length of my hair means nothing to-"

"In our pack it does. Or do you not remember that either, love?"

"Enough with the-"

"I could call you _darling."_

"You'll lose your ability to speak."

His irises flashed, this time in amusement, but her body flinched all the same, expecting a command. "The others thought you'd left, run away, as it were."

She blinked once, and this time the stare she issued was not a harsh one, but a calculating one. She took in his dirty-blonde hair that matched the darker blonde, almost brown color of his ears and tail. His furs that he wore were dark and speckled with age here and there, the head of the felt resting atop his own, just between the ears that flicked at her once.

And then her jaw slowly went slack, realization dawning on her.

"Isa?"

"Ah, it's about time, love. You're slower than normal." Her speechlessness made his smirk return full-force, his eyes flashing in amusement. "You didn't run away, I'm sure. What happened?"

"I… I thought my father was-"

"Nope. Handed the privilege to me a year after your departure. Decided a new Alpha being assigned couldn't await for the, as you always called it, arrangement. Which, by the way, when you return, can be-"

"He gave it off anyway? I wasn't even necessary?"

"Well, technically yes, but-"

"But you're still Alpha, which means-"

"By the trust of the others, yes. What you witnessed is actually kind of new. The _power, _per se, is rather tedious to come by. For instance, I bet I couldn't make you go get my drink from the human girl."

"If you do it, I swear, Isamu-"

His irises flashed again and his smirk grew. "Now love, you'll go grab my drink from the girl for me. Kindly, if you will. No grumbles."

Her body twitched. "No." she responded, her teeth gritted. "For this being _new_, you've gathered it quite well."

He released his hold on her and gave a loud, boisterous laugh, his hand shooting forward and grabbing hers to kiss the palm in his very specific greeting that he'd once reserved for her. "Told you." _*****_

~!**!~

_{Stop that infernal growling.}_

_[I __**don't **__like it.]_

_{So, I've heard.}_

Kurama gave Nabu a smile, "I think you should visit Yusuke if you get the chance. He'd appreciate it."

_{__**Stop that.**__}_

_[Let me __**out**__, Red.]_

_{__**No.**__}_

_[You can't hold me back forever.]_

_{I can't __**trust **__you not to-}_

_[How long do you think you can hold out?]_

_{...I've learned from the best.}_

_[I won't argue that point. ...but this one is __**trespassing**__.]_

_{When was the last time you actually claimed the area?}_

_[When was the last time you __**let **__me?]_

_{...I don't want to be in charge of a concrete jungle.}_

_[This sort of thing wouldn't happen if you'd just let me do it.]_ 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	74. Ep 158 - Dogs, Marks, A Fox, and A Cat

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dearest Readers!

Onwards!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

The final portals between Demon World and Spirit World come to a close,  
which means the vast majority of Akari's work is done.  
She celebrates the closing by going to a sundae shop.

Meanwhile, Kurama's step-father has ordered him to take some time off,  
and Kurama runs into Nabu, who has just left the sundae shop for his and Akari's usual napping place.

During their conversation, Akari's snack inside the shop gets interrupted by a dog demon  
who goes by the name Isamu and is from her home pack.

Youko and Kurama both feel the influx of his power from outside the establishment,  
and Youko begins growling inside Kurama's mind, knowing full well what the intentions of Isamu are,  
as well as complaining about the intrusion on 'his' territory.

~!**!~

Hiei mentally walks Shikiyoku through the woods that used to be where he called home,  
and as he once again admits to desiring nothing more than her presence,  
she begins to fall asleep, leaving Hiei laying in the tree's branches with her in his arms.

When she awakes, Hiei tells her he wouldn't have let her fall as it would have meant losing 'valuable company,'  
to which Shikiyoku replies that she doesn't understand him. He tells her it isn't 'supposed to be easy,'  
and if it were, she would become bored.

* * *

_Unlikely. When have I ever been bored around __**you**__?_

She didn't answer at first, falling silent for a while until it would be obvious her next words were unconnected to their current conversation, mumbling into his cloak.

"...thank you." 3

Hiei had leaned further back, only moving just a little to recline just a bit more, making sure his shifting didn't affect Shikiyoku in the slightest as he did so. By the time he was comfortable again, Shikiyoku had spoken once again, on a completely different topic, he assumed.

Whatever the new topic was.

He didn't reply. He merely rested his head back once more and let his eyes close, taking in a deep breath of the air around him.

~!**!~

Nabu's tail stopped wagging, his tongue hid in his maw again, and his head tilted slightly at Kurama, sensing the odd confliction within. "_I will." _He responded after a second, considering the gleam in Kurama's eye that said he was paying attention, but not... _fully _doing so.

~!**!~

Akari stilled her hand in Isamu's not allowing his lips to touch her palm, instead curling her fingers around his thumb to ensure he couldn't do such a thing. "Why are you on the First Layer, instead of the Fourth?"

"Because this place has good bread."

"You're lying."

"Are you sure _you're _not the alpha here?"

"Isamu."

"Fine, I heard rumors of a dog working for Spirit World, for the new king. A dog without her ears and tail, and with the ability to use shadows to move between the layers." His eyes traveled to her head, lingering there for a moment before meeting her gaze again. "It's a shame. They'd go great with your hair."

Akari gave a dry laugh. "It's easier to blend in this way."

"You did it to yourself? But-"

"No, I didn't."

There was a pause as Tana approached, setting down Isamu's order before she was waved away by the male, who didn't even spare her a glance. "Half of them think you're dead."

"It's staying that way."

"You're not coming home?"

Akari's brows raised high enough to disappear into her bangs. "I have other jobs to see to, and I can't take care of them from the fourth layer. Not anymore."

"So it _was _you in the hole between the collapsing worlds?"

"Naturally."

"You're like your father."

"Now _that _is an insult."

"Come now, love. Don't you miss home? The feeling of being with pack-mates and with running with us all again. The fun times?"

There was a pause.

"Come visit for a week. If you still don't enjoy it, then you can leave. Alpha's word on it."

"No, Isamu." Her very core protested her response, her energy moving in sync with the male's in front of her, the bond of old pack-mates reviving. "I don't have _time _for that."

"Fine then." The male suddenly sat back, releasing her hand and giving another dazzling smile. "I'll stay with _you _for a week. If I like it, _I'll _stay."

"Wha- That is _not _what I meant, not in the least!"

"Alpha says so, Beta must follow!" _*****_

~!**!~

"Nabu-" Kurama started, eyes looking up over the dog once more before giving in to the demanding voice in his mind that was growing louder by the second. He looked back down, giving the dog's ear another scratch, "Would you give me five minutes? I would _love _to go take a nap somewhere if you want to, but there's something I have to check first."

~!**!~

"Hiei...how do you know of this place?" She opened her eyes again, taking in the blacked mountains off in the distance which she knew marked the end of the territory they rested within. 3

Hiei didn't open his eyes to view Shikiyoku, neither did his expression change in the least. For a minute or so, he gave no actual indication of having heard her, but seeing as he was _nowhere_ near even _considering _sleep, there was no reason for him not to answer. He was merely relaxing, drinking in the peacefulness.

"You showed it to me when we were sent on a _mission _for Koenma."

~!**!~

"Isamu, that's not how-"

"I'm staying with you for a week, and that's _that!" _

"You are _not_. My home is private, and-"

"Is it an abandoned building?"

"Of course not!"

"You're lying."

She kicked at his chair lightly, huffing at him once. "You are _not _following me home like a puppy."

"I'm sick of being in control. Let me be the follower for a week! I need a breaaaak!"

"You should have thought of that before asking to be Alpha!"

"I never asked!"

"You didn't _decline _either."

"True…" There was a pause, and this time Isamu shifted in his seat, twisting the chair around until he straddled it, his arms resting on what was the back of the chair, but now acted as a resting point for his torso. "I may be six centuries old, but I'm still the pup you knew, you know."

"I can see that. Unfortunately for you, I coul-"

"Don't be so harsh, love. I mean, I could _force _you to let me in your home, but what fun is _that? _For ol' time's sake, eh?"

"...the answer is still _no." _

"Oh come _oooonnn_. You're no fun."

"You're lying."

"Caught me that time!" _*****_

The bell to the store rang again as another customer entered.

_[__**That's him.**__]_

_{I see him. Stop it.}_

Kurama stepped up to the counter, considering the items in the glass case next to the cash register as he leaned into a hand pressed lazily down on the countertop.

_[Let. Me. Out.]_

"I want-" Kurama began, "Whatever it is that smells so delicious." He beamed a smile at the person waiting on him.

~!**!~

Koenma.

Why did she know that name?

"_Yoku..."_

It sounded familiar.

"How did...how did _I _know of this place?" 3

Hiei took a moment to think back, back to the time she'd shown him this place the first time and feeling slightly as if he'd done this already. But that was alright, even if he had. "You called it your home," he responded calmly, pausing to think back a bit more. "The place where the first fire demon resided, if I remember correctly." He thought some more, feeling as if that wasn't _quite _right. "He created the crater between the mountains, where the fruit trees are. You liked the fruits and the serenity, I suppose. Also, the story is rather interesting."

~!**!~

Neither demons at the table even so much as _heard _the bell in the shop ring. Nor did they hear the door shut again.

"You have two choices, love." Isamu said suddenly, tone turning serious for a second, though his smile remained in place. "And you know those choices. Which sounds more… appealing?"

"I choose answer choice C, none of the above."

"That's not how this works, Aka."

"Nuh-uh. None of that. Take _all _of that and put it back in the box you just opened. This instant."

His chuckle was good-humored and filled with joy. "The lid doesn't quite fit anymore, _Aka. _I'm afraid the contents grew too much over time."

"Then _make it fit. _Because that's how it works these days."

"But you kept your hair long for-"

"Not for you, not because of you, it had _nothing _to do with you, Isamu. My decision."

"As is this one. Two choices, Aka."

She huffed and her tone dropped to a grumble, "How about your demise?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said neither." _*****_

Kurama waited patiently at the register, though the growl inside his mind had continued increasing the longer he listened to the conversation going on in the corner.

_{I'm not really sure why you're so upset about this.}_

_[And I'm not really sure why you're NOT upset by this.]_

_{Since when have you __**ever **__cared about her?}_

_[Since when didn't __**you**__?]_

With one final wrench of effort, punctuated by his last word, Youko wrested control from Kurama, appearing in place of his alter-ego in a small shimmer of silver, which the person serving him didn't seem to notice even as he reached out long lithe fingers for the pastry she offered him, winking at her as he turned and took a few steps from the counter.

_{...Youko, what the __**hell **__is __**that**__?}_

_[Mm?]_

He appeared to glance down at the treat in his hands, feeling his core jolt when he spotted what Kurama had already seen, though Youko only calmly moved a portion of the napkin out of the way and took a bite as if it had been the purpose of his action the entire time.

In that single instant, Kurama gleaned from the fox's mind what their eyes took note of and the meaning behind it.

_{Oh. OH. ...that...that explains...so much.}_

On the outside of Youko's ankle, in what appeared to be dark ink, a lavishly decorated heart sat on top of his skin, embellishments extending down the front of his foot and up the side of his leg, disappearing into the cuff of the pants of his yukata.

_{...and yet so little.} _

~!**!~

"_Yoku, where are you?"_

"Did I...know lots of stories?" She asked curiously, eyes still wandering over the dark mountainsides, wishing not for the first time that she could remember. 3

Hiei gave a small nod to Shikiyoku. "Many, I assume. Though, I only heard a few, personally. one about the dragon, one about the first fire demon, one about the fire you saw earlier." He gave another small gesture, a small shrug, before resettling back into place. "Countless stories, I assume."

~!**!~

Akari had opened her mouth to continue when a spark of energy lit the room up, brought her senses back to the world around her and causing slight alarm, as she hadn't been even remotely aware of her surroundings. Her eyes alighted on Youko, her pupils dilating, almost overcoming her irises in surprise.

Isamu, on the other hand, merely glanced over his shoulder, not even leaning away from the part of the chair he leaned against. "Is that the famous fox thief? On the first layer, no less. Interesting."

Akari opened her mouth to speak, found no words, and shut her mouth again in time for Isamu to turn back to her, expression calmer now than before with the new arrival.

"Aka, whether you believe it or not," he began, completely ignoring the fox, "you're needed at home. Love, you don't understand how much the people have been through in the time you've been gone."

"I-" she paused, suddenly unable to think, whatever spell that had been winding between previous pack-mates broken all over again. Even when she looked to Isamu again, she didn't feel the pull at her core. "I held no power there, so it doesn't matter."

Why in the _hell _was Youko suddenly here? _*****_

_{Don't you DARE just waltz out of here.}_

_[Why not? My reaction to your female's predicament was simply an emotional response that resulted from the lack of physical manifestation of this mark I now bear. And now that I know my projecting does in fact originate from dear Yoku, it appears as if I no longer care.]_

_{You OWE me, fox. At least this much.}_

_[And you'll stop holding it over my head?]_

_{Probably.}_

So, instead of waltzing out of the door, Youko slid in the direction of the two conversing nearby, raising the pastry a little at Akari, "Your recommendation was well-founded, gorgeous." He took a bite as if to emphasize it. Without much care as to whether his mouth was full, he continued speaking, "I'll be waiting in our meadow should you decide to cash in _now _on the thanks I owe you for this." He didn't bother giving the other demon so much as a glance. "But I would _still _argue you're the best reason to visit the first layer, no matter _how _good the bread may be."

Youko nonchalantly started walking away, waving his free hand in the air behind him.

"Don't keep me waiting _too _long, pup. Or I might come back and collect you myself."

_[You know I'm not going to wait terribly long for her.]_

_{I know. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't entirely sure Tori-uh, Shikiyoku made it into New Human World.}_

_[It appears she has.]_

_{Indeed.}_

~!**!~

"_Yoku...I __**miss **__you."_

She frowned, though it was not at the information Hiei gave her.

Reaching up to rub at her eyes, she parted her lips to speak, "Did you...did you ever call me...Yoku?" 3

Hiei raised a brow and turned a curious and slightly confused gaze down to Shikiyoku. "No." He replied simply, not even so much as blinking at her.

~!**!~

Akari didn't even catch what Isamu was going on saying now, her eyes staring unblinkingly at Youko, her mind as blank as could be.

"...mother died two years ago and… Aka, you're not listening."

"I'm aware of that," she retorted without hesitation, giving a small huff in the direction of Youko, that being her _only _answer to his _suggestion. _But.. the meadow _did _seem like a pleasant place to be right now. Perhaps that's how she'd celebrate, how she'd spend her time glad that the portals had finally been closed up and-

"You're just as spaced-out as ever, love." Isamu's lips twitched into a wide grin as he turned to look over his shoulder at the disappearing fox demon. "And as always, you have interesting _allies. _How'd you pull this one off?"

"My secret."

"You're being an awful dog demon, Aka. Remember, we never lie to pack-mates."

"I don't belong in a pack anymore, Isamu." Akari's eyes slid from the male again and to the door, considering leaving that very second. But, she hadn't seen Isamu in over a decade… And he'd somehow stumbled apun her, as he used to do.

"You know that isn't how I see it, nor the others. But, you'll see for yourself in a week or so, when I win and you come home for good! Finish what we started!"

"Isamu-" He suddenly lurched forward, a hand grabbing at her arm and a single claw just nicking her skin, his index finger quickly covering the scratch before her skin was met with a chill and the sensation of his energy washing over her arm. By the time he pulled away, a dark spot slid around under the place where he'd scratched her, now healed, and a small shape began to take form. "What in the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

"We did this a lot when you left for trades, remember? This is so I can find you, when you're done _frolicking _with a fox." The shadow he'd imbedded into her arm settled into a familiar shape, dark enough to appear as a normal tattoo, resting on the underside of her wrist. "So I don't have to hunt you down later. And you can find me whenever too."

Akari ground her teeth. "Get it out. I hate this trick."

"You used to love it."

"Get. It. Out."

"I could follow you to the meadow and then home, but I'm sure you have your reasons for meeting such an ally alone."

_Stupid. _"Fine." She took in a deep breath. She really, _really _didn't want to test Youko on his… threat to retrieve her himself. For all she knew he'd just toss her over his shoulder and-

"But just know, if it moves from this spot, I _will _do harm to you. You know what this is very easily capable of doing," she pierced his even stare with a dark glare. "And that is no _threat_, but a _promise_, Isamu."

"Then I will see you when you return, love." His lips turned up in a lopsided smile, his irises softening in a quiet promise. She hesitated, watching him settle again into his pose of straddling the chair, resting both of his bulky arms atop the back of it. "Don't get into _too _much trouble."

"Yeah, yeah." She gave a deflating sigh, giving in to the smile he flashed at her and deciding she didn't want to argue it any longer. "But don't just _sit around _and wait on me. Go home, do something productive until you feel me move from my spot. Won't be hard, right?"

"No promises, love."

"You're a moron." With that, Akari let herself fall into the shadow realm to traverse the layers, her energy converging around her in mere milliseconds to drop her from the male's view. _*****_

~!**!~

Youko stalked out of the store, managing to prevent his tail from bristling until he was out of sight of the establishment, but as he approached Nabu and the briefcase Kurama had left behind for the dog to watch, his ears flicking back and forth in agitation.

_[But I don't __**want **__to stay, Red.]_

_{__**You're **__the one that made the promise in the first place.}_

Youko growled, his chest rumbling.

_{...I appreciate the promise, if it makes you feel any better.}_

Youko felt himself visibly relax and he shifted his shoulders around, making a face that was still indicative of his unhappiness.

_[Well, I'd certainly rather she was with you than that damn __**whelp**__.]_

He grumbled something about 'territory.'

_{Trust me when I say you know my feelings on the matter very clearly.}_

Youko didn't have to respond. He knew.

The fox let out a little sigh as he squatted down in front of Nabu and gave the pup and friendly scratch on the head between the ears, resting his elbows on either knee as he stared at the dog, unblinking.

"Want to come run around in a meadow?" He reached next to the dog for the briefcase, then held out his arms, waiting to see whether or not the dog would respond.

~!**!~

She appeared to sink back down into her own thoughts, though she murmured a half-serious, "Pity."

"_Yoku...come __**home**__."_

"_What __**home**__? Where is __**home?**_" If there was someone actually speaking to her, and she could not precisely tell, they did not answer her question, which set her frown deeper down onto her brow, though she found she could not place the voice nor the memory the words might have emerged from. 3

Hiei didn't respond to Shikiyoku in any form, not even a small twitch of his brows. His eyelids slid closed and he took to simply listening to the air that moved around him, to the leaves rustling, to her breathing and the sound of her core beating at an odd rhythm. He took a deep breath in, held it for a bit before letting it out through his lips again slowly.

He was completely relaxed.

Just as he used to be.

And for the first time in a while, he stayed awake by choice, not because he couldn't sleep.

~!**!~

Nabu sat patiently, head moving around as he stood guard over the bag he'd been left to guard. Several people looked at him curiously, some with consideration in their gazes before they all, each and every one of them, continued on about their business, leaving him and the briefcase alone, untouched.

Only when a hand was scratching at his head did he turn to look at Youko, his tail quickly making happy sweeps against the concrete in greeting. However, the action quickly stopped, his tail stilling again against the sidewalk and his head turning slightly in curiosity.

But he didn't ask on the other's air, didn't ask what troubled the other. It wasn't his business anyway.

However, at the idea of a meadow…

He turned to look in the direction of the shop Akari had visited, watching a male leave and move down the sidewalk as if he belonged among the other two-legged denizens of the city. As if he had no ears, no tail, no wolf furs over his shoulder and atop his head.

_Curious._

He turned back to Youko and eyed the open expanse of space offered to him. "_I think I'll pass this time." _he began, moving to stand upright. "_I still have to go by the park. I developed a particular routine about that." _His ears flicked a little and he gave a small sound from his chest, "_Rain check, yeah?"_

~!**!~

In a blink, Akari was on the sixth layer, where the sun was closer to setting and the air was heavier with humidity that had her sliding her jacket from her arms and simply carrying it along with her. It wasn't like she'd worn it for any particular reason, other than the fact it was comfortable.

Her eyes took in the area she'd dropped herself in, and after a beat's hesitation she realized she wasn't actually far from where Youko had previously lead her. It was a miracle she even remembered where it was, considering her normal tunnel vision.

And, curiously enough, she considered turning back and returning home, despite her confliction about such thoughts. After all, she'd promised she'd be around whenever he called… _*****_

~!**!~

Youko released a disappointed huff of air.

"Suit yourself, I suppose." He started to stand, hefting the briefcase over one shoulder where it hung down his back as he rested his free hand on his waist. He looked at the dog a moment longer. "I guess I'll have to chase all the butterflies myself this time, then."

He started to phase away, ears twitching, and it took a good deal of self-control for him-after turning away and starting to walk for his meadow-to actually stop on the sixth level instead of doing as he wished.

As soon as the flowered grass was beneath his feet, the petals closed in the sunshine, he lazily dropped the briefcase to the ground beside him and let out another restrained puff of air, irritation prickling his ears at delaying, at the thought of tarrying here any longer than necessary instead of being off to search for Shikiyoku.

He could hear somewhere in the back of his mind that Red was telling him something, trying to get his attention, but he expertly ignored the other occupant of the body as he let his form shimmer silver in the air.

Kurama was surprised as he felt the shift that he did not end up on the other side of it, instead finding they had dropped onto all fours, legs lengthening, silvery fur sprouting along their skin, nose elongating until forming a muzzle.

Granted, the meadow underneath them grew farther away, and several more tails were sprouting until Youko caught himself, not wishing to revert to true kitsune-form, and the growth reversed, the trees around them appearing to grow taller once more and the meadow coming back up to greet them as Youko's size became akin to large dog and his tails disappeared until there was only the one.

His nose immediately picked up on the scent of prey and he crouched to the ground, feeling the animal was only a few feet away.

Youko began to creep forward, belly to the ground, one paw at a time, his muzzle hidden in the greenery of the meadow, but his bright yellow eyes gleaming below a pair of ears standing at full attention, and his movements not so much as rustling the foliage through which he scooted.

~!**!~

She somehow found herself unable to become worked up about the strange mutterings of her own mind. Not when the moment was so peaceful. Not with her nose being constantly filled with his scent as it was, her cheek resting against his cloak.

But what now?

"_Come home." _

Just...go away. She closed her eyes. "_I am…" _What was the word? "_Content. Here."_

"_But I miss you." _

"_I don't even know who you are." _She tried not to think about how insane having a conversation with something that wasn't actually talking to her could be.

"_I __**want **__you." _

At _that_, she felt her entire body do something she could not in her limited memory remember it ever doing: she flushed from head to toe, feeling this odd mix of a burning and...perhaps almost...sparkling sensation dance over her skin. And the flush was _not _from the fever that still heated her.

"_I __**desire **__you." _

Stop it. "_This isn't funny." _Her teeth clenched together and her frown, which had disappeared in the peaceful moment before, covered her face once more.

It was strange how she had no idea what those things actually _meant_, and at the same time, she _knew _what they meant. Or...she did...somewhere...at least. Somewhere in her head. Otherwise she wouldn't react to them. Right?

"_Leave me alone." _She closed her eyes again, trying to recapture some semblance of the previous calm and finding herself mostly unsuccessful. 3

He'd tried to ignore it. Hiei had tried to let Shikiyoku sort through whatever was going on on her own, but the constant tensing and then relaxing, and then tensing up of her body again was rather difficult to ignore. It made his own mind wide awake, his own body itch to suddenly be up and moving, to do anything but sit there, where he had been comfortable minutes before.

And he tried to ignore it again, and again.

But to no avail.

"What's troubling you?" He suddenly spoke, his voice hardly louder than a lazy mumble.

~!**!~

One step after another, and before long she was following the fluctuations of energy that began to grow ahead of her. Akari made a small sound to herself before tossing her jacket onto her shoulder, letting it hang over the right side of her body as she lazily meandered her way through trees, winding her way through barks of wood until she was standing just on the outside of the ring of trees, pausing briefly in hesitation to glance over her shoulder as if Isamu would pop up out of the blue. She contemplated, again, turning back and making sure he wasn't causing trouble, making sure he actually _went back _to the fourth layer, but she resisted and turned towards the edge of the meadow she could see now.

Without further pause she moved only two steps into the quiet, serene area, eyes finding something that didn't seem to fit among the sleeping flowers.

First, she realized, it was a very large, very wonderfully-colored, very _dangerous _kitsune, tails whipping about briefly before it suddenly shifted again, choosing a smaller, rather condensed form of itself, one tail instead of nine.

Any other day, she would have been impressed, likely staring in awe, but today she simply turned to look over her shoulder again, nagging thoughts keeping her from really noting what she'd just witnessed. _*****_

Youko huffed, a tiny bit of grass shivering in response to the air as his nose twitched and his ears suddenly swiveled, tail whispering once through the meadow as he stood up on his lithe legs and turned to see that Akari had appeared, though she seemed distracted.

He blinked at her, staying upright only for a moment before dropping back down to his belly facing her, a single ear turning to see if his hearing agreed with his scent and his sensibilities that she was alone.

_{Not quite.}_

Youko didn't let the growl that passed over his mind make it to his throat, but he went ahead and crawled forward a bit in her direction, eyes bright and gleaming just above the closed flowers, nose hidden beneath them.

Another scoot.

Then another.

His hind legs came up in what he knew was a playful-bow, tail swishing once in the air before growing still again, his entire attention on the other demon.

~!**!~

Her eyes came open at his voice and she stared for a moment off in the distance.

"Memories. I suppose." She replied. "Only..."

The word hung on the air and she wasn't really sure what to follow it up with. 3

Hiei wasn't sure if he wanted to press on the matter or not, wasn't sure if she would even answer his curious intone. But he asked anyway, because really, he wasn't quite able to ignore it.

"Only what?"

~!**!~

When Akari turned forward again, her entire attention was on the silver fox that stared unblinkingly at her, gleaming among the green he unsuccessfully hid in. And as soon as the tail-end of its body came up in a playful manner, Youko's tail swishing once, she was fighting a smile, fighting the urge to laugh.

She didn't break the silence of the meadow. Why would she speak when her message could be conveyed with a simple twitch of her lips and a small tilting up of her chin? _Whatcha gonna do, hm? __*****_

Youko froze in place as soon as he knew he had her attention, eyes still staring at her without blinking, the only indication that he had not turned into a statue being the soft breeze that gently ruffled portions of his fur, sending the silvery strands waving almost serenely along his back.

His nose twitched and he crept forward an inch on this belly. Then again. Then once more, his paws making no sound as they smoothly scooted towards her through the grass.

Foxy-yellow eyes grinning mischievously, he paused in place, his intentions still unclear.

~!**!~

She didn't answer at first. Couldn't, almost.

"_Yoku..."_

"Only it keeps talking to me." She grumbled, turning and burying her face in his cloak. 3

Hiei was confused, unsure of what she meant by _it_. A memory, per se, wouldn't _talk to _her. It wasn't a direct thing, in a way. It would grab her attention, yes, but not make an attempt at conversation. He wasn't sure if she was trying to confuse him on purpose or if she was being genuine.

Either was possible, he supposed.

He considered what she'd said for a few moments, staying completely silent and not even twitching a muscle when she stilled against him again.

_It very well could be telepathy._

"Is the voice familiar?" he finally asked, deciding he'd just see how she'd come about her own conclusions.

~!**!~

Whatever had been nagging at her before was completely forgotten now. WIth the sight of Youko in his fox form creeping forward, she was very easily entertained, very easily able to forget any and all thoughts she'd been considering minutes ago.

_If I could shift, I'm sure he'd rather enjoy a game or two. _

Except, while she was amused, she wasn't really in the mood for _games_. Wasn't really feeling… _playful. _

Though, she _did _consider picking up the fox, it had been a brief and fleeting thought, only brought about because the situation was rather similar to one she'd experienced with Nabu, who hadn't, at first, enjoyed being picked up a whole lot.

This was… different.

But still, she was amused all the same, waiting with that same tilted smile and raised chin. _*****_

Youko's expression changed as if he could feel the lack of excitement from the other party and he huffed a displeased puff of air from his nose that sent the grass skittering apart in front of his muzzle, after which he promptly dropped his hindquarters and sat up elegantly, his form shimmering until it revealed the more humanoid-fox hybrid sitting cross-legged amidst the meadow in front of her with his hands holding his ankles.

"You and Nabu both, huh?" He looked at her only for a moment before turning his head to the side as if he was looking out over the rest of the hill, frowning. "What's wrong?"

~!**!~

She considered his question before answering.

"I-" She closed her mouth, lips turning downwards. She really didn't know, except- "It isn't _unfamiliar._" Another pause. "Though I can't decide if that's helpful or not." 3

_That _was certainly helpful. In no way, shape or form.

The fire demon let out a small breath through his nostrils. He considered it a few more minutes before simply giving up on it; if it was a demon, they'd show themselves eventually and he'd deal with it, if necessary.

Though, he wouldn't deem it necessary unless Shikiyoku herself couldn't deal with it.

"You do know laying in such a high altitude for longer than ten hours is harmful to your body, right?" He suddenly voiced this random fact. "Especially when one is already feeling… unwell." Finally, he opened his eyes to look down at her again, a neutral gaze staring down at her.

"You should consider a place to be for a while that is on level ground."

~!**!~

Akari's expression remained the same lopsided smile of patience as she witnessed the fox huff once at her, sit on its rump, and then transform into the demon who now sat in front of her. She raised a brow at him before dropping her chin a little and giving a shrug. "I've run Nabu ragged these past few weeks. It's no wonder he doesn't want to run around."

She took a few steps forward, closing a bit more of the space between them before lowering herself to sit cross-legged on the ground in front of the fox demon. "You've got quite the form, though. Lots of fur, probably very soft." She gave a teasing grin. "Must be hard to hide from your prey with that coloring though." _*****_

Youko huffed again at the excuse she gave for Nabu, still not looking over at her even as she sat down.

He _did _however shift his eyes over to regard her at the mention of his fur being soft.

"It is in fact the softest thing in the entire world." He announced, letting his eyes look back over the meadow. "Not that _you'll _ever get to find out." He raised his nose a little higher in the air.

~!**!~

"_Yoku, where are you?"_

"_In a tree." _She tried answering again.

"_Yoku, I __**miss **__you." _

"_Then come find me." _

She was fairly certain the responses either weren't going through, if someone was indeed attempting to speak with her, or she was going crazy and hearing voices.

Whatever.

Her ears perked when Hiei spoke again and she let her eyes close, feeling his chest rumble with his words against her cheek.

"But you're comfortable." She murmured.

_Wait, that...that wasn't what I meant to say._

"But I'm comfortable." She quickly corrected, voice louder this time. 3

Hiei blinked at her a few times and fought the temptation to move, to sit upright again and physically tell her it was time to get moving. But, as she said, he was comfortable- though he knew she meant it in a different sense than the way he'd just used it.

"I know," he responded simply, "it only takes a minute for that comfort to become discomfort up here." He turned to look at the expanse of land around them, then looked down to see just how high up they were.

Higher than he'd thought originally.

Plus, he was _still _craving something sweet, and had been ignoring it for _weeks. _Sweet snow would be _wonderful. _

But, it wasn't about _him, _in any way. "We don't have to go yet, but the moment you feel discomfort is the moment you need to move. Understood?"

~!**!~

Akari gave another shrug. "It doesn't matter much to me; it was just an observation, Youko."

She mirrored his pose after pulling her jacket from her shoulder, letting it fall to her lap before she let her fingers encircle her ankles and her eyes turned to follow his gaze, though she saw none of the meadow. Her mind was making very avid attempts to wander to a place she hadn't been in years, to think about things she hadn't even _considered _in a decade.

And that distraction made it hard to come up with _anything _to say to the fox demon a few feet away from her. _*****_

Youko's teeth pressed together in his irritation, a single ear flicking slightly in the breeze.

He ran his tongue up against the back of his teeth before he parted them to speak up again, "I know _he _knows where you are."

His jaw worked around the words and he finally turned his head back to the front, staring pointedly at her wrist and the mark he could feel there.

"But if he ever _dares _to so much as set a foot on these lands, I _will _kill him for trespassing."

_[It's bad enough he was talking to you in the first place.]_

_{Youko…}_

_[Don't take that warning tone with me. You know as well as I do what his intentions were.]_

"Red...wants to talk to you." He grumbled, shoulders deflating just slightly.

_[Make it quick, Red. I have other business to attend to.]_

His form shimmered again, but this time in its place came forth the red-hair and green-eyes of Kurama, which blinked a little in the light as he shifted pull one knee up closer to his face so that he could rest an arm on it, reclining back on his other hand.

~!**!~

She nodded to indicate she heard him, the barest of smiles coloring her eyes as she let out a rather contented sigh...until she almost immediately frowned again and sat up on the branch, leaning away from him and turning her head so she could look into his eyes and peering there, suddenly awash with the strangest of feelings that, like the voice, she wasn't...precisely..._unfamiliar_ with.

She blinked, expression conflicted, almost confused.

When her lips came apart to finally say something, she still hesitated and the words came together unsure and broken, "What..." She struggled to give coherence to the feeling. "What do you desire?" 3

Hiei raised a brow and shifted his body a bit when Shikiyoku suddenly moved, pulling himself into a more sitting position to face her curiously when she didn't immediately take off, as he'd half been waiting for her to do. And at her question, both brows disappeared behind his bangs and he blinked once. It was almost as if she'd been reading _his _mind for a moment.

His lips twitched. "Since when were _you _a telepath?" He turned away from her for a moment, eyes finding the furthest point he could just make out on the horizon line as his lips released the slight smirk he'd been tempted to give. "At this very moment?" he asked, but didn't give her time to answer. "Something sweet."

~!**!~

Akari blinked at the sudden words Youko ground out and turned to stare at him again, her expression very quickly shifting to a guarded one when he too turned to her, turned to stare at the wrist she'd been tempted to work her fingers around. The very wrist that held the odd feeling of another's energy below her skin, of another's _shadow _moving against her own pulse and telling her exactly where the demon who'd put it there was if she decided she needed to know.

There was a fleeting moment where she became defensive, and she _almost _gave a retort out of pure instinct; he was a member of her pack and-

_Former member, Akari. You're not there anymore. You have no pack, remember?_

She didn't even so much as open her mouth to speak when Youko paused, then gave a grumbled string of words she almost dismissed before he disappeared, replaced with the redhead she'd been expecting to show up this whole time.

Unlike usual, she had no greeting ready, had no smile on her lips. Just a neutral stare and a raised brow of patience, half wondering if _he _had anything to say as Youko had.

She really, _really _didn't want to argue with him, because she really, _really _wasn't sure what she would have to say. _*****_

Where Youko had very obviously been tense and on edge, the avatar of the fox demon sat calmly and quietly where he had appeared, taking a moment to close his eyes and appreciate the peacefulness that the wind itself carried here.

Strange that a character such as Youko Kurama could find it within himself to create a place such as this.

_[Everyone needs a retreat, Red. A haven. A place of safety. Did you really think our fortress would have four gloomy stone walls with archers manning the towers?]_

"What he probably _should _have said," Kurama began patiently, "Is that the meadow itself is a living creature that would consume anyone able to navigate past the defensive barriers set up in the forest around it, should they be here without his express permission. And even if one made it inside, say via layer-travel, the meadow itself would rise up against them. So, it would be in the demon's best interest not to try and come here."

_[I couldn't have explained it better myself.]_

_{You didn't.}_

_[Entirely beside the point.]_

~!**!~

_Ah. So there __**was **__something._ _I knew it._

She blinked at him, expression as neutral as always.

_You mean he isn't satisfied with __**me **__simply being here? And I'm so very sweet after all. _

_Pity._

Shifting around, she let her legs hang off the edge of the branch, her eyes very clearly gauging the distance between where she sat and the ground below. 3

Hiei stared at Shikiyoku as she moved and readied to, he assumed, just drop to the ground. He too moved, sliding along the branch and letting his own legs dangle over the side of the branch, his own eyes looking to the ground again.

"Do you remember what Sweet Snow tastes like?" He asked suddenly, lips twitching in amusement as his fingers curled around the branch as much as they could.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small nod followed by an imperceptible sigh. She turned her wrist over to stare at the mark for a moment before using that hand to scratch at her face. "Good to know." She shifted a little and gave another huff of a sigh. "I'll remember that, though it won't be much of a problem. He's a dog, but not a puppy. He knows what _no _means."

She turned her eyes up to the redhead again, this time her stare a calmer one. She offered him a small smile. "Anything new?" _*****_

_You mean besides discovering within the last hour that the spirit I am sharing this body with is eligible to be the Consort to a former demon of desire we haven't seen in well over a year? _

Kurama let out a sigh and reclined back onto the meadow, the soft grass giving way under his back as he put his arms underneath his head and stared up at the open sky above them.

"Only things with substantial consequences, as always." He sent a smile in her direction. "Nothing particularly world-ending, however. I hear congratulations are in order for you, though. From what I understand you play a large part in how smoothly the closing of Demon World went."

~!**!~

A vague image of Hiei stand in the middle of a blizzard with his head lifted and mouth open attempting to catch falling snowflakes flew past her mind.

She shook her head.

"These lands have never seen snow." 3

The brow that Hiei raised made his bangs just touch his eyelids, tickle his lashes. It quickly settled into place again and he gave the barest of sounds in amusement. His lips parted in a toothy grin and he shifted between the layers, simultaneously dropping through the air.

"Let me show you what that _really _means." he called as he fell through the air, only coming back to rest on the ninth layer when he'd safely landed on the ground.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small sigh as well and turned her eyes away from the lounging redhead. "I wasn't the only one; Koenma simply decided I should take on the _most _when it came to assigning the portal watch." She gave a shrug as if he could see it, then gave a small smile.

"It's going to be odd, not running back and forth between the layers for people who aren't able to do that. Now what I'll be doing is, I guess, whatever I want to do."

She let her eyelids slide close and she remembered the last time she'd tried anything for Genkai's problem, and the issue with children _still _finding themselves on random layers. She'd been _so close_ last week…

"Still _stapling papers together?" _Her lips turned up in a wolfish grin. "And _filing paperwork? _I remember how _exciting _that is for you." _*****_

Kurama's green eyes opened again and he gave her a wry look. "Terribly exciting. Not _world-ending_, though my step-father might act as if it is on occasion, but dreadfully intriguing. You have no idea how enthralling such work can be until you're in the midst of it and realize you've run out of staples."

~!**!~

"Is it half as exciting as you're making it out to be?" She mumbled to herself as she watched him drop.

_**You're **__the one that had to go and move._

She shifted forward until she felt her balance about to give way and then pushed off the branch, falling straight for the black grass beneath them.

_And he was so very comfortable._

If she had been able to appreciate things any longer, it certainly would have been the wind whipping through her hair as she fell, watching the ground rising up to meet her.

Just as her feet would have touched the ground, she pulled the layers around herself and came to rest easily from her place inbetween them, blinking expectantly at Hiei from where she stood. 3

Hiei turned and watched Shikiyoku drop to the ground next to him, giving her a single sneer in amusement. "I'll let you determined that for yourself." In the next moment, he was turning and moving through the forestry, simultaneously traversing from the ninth layer to the eighth, the eighth to the seventh, and all the way down to the first layer, a single destination in mind.

~!**!~

"That must be the absolute _highlight _of your day, procuring staples for your empty stapling mechanism!" Akari was positively grinning now, each tooth flashing in the evening light. She gave a small sound of amusement, stopping the sound before it could become an actual laugh by taking a deep breath in through her nostrils.

"Okay, okay, I'm done." she finally adhered, raising a hand in the air in surrender. "No more office humor."

She took another deep breath of the air and settled for a small smile at the redhead. _*****_

"It's a live or die trial, you can be sure." Kurama replied evenly, his expression never changing. "So, what _are_ you going to do now that the portals have been shut?"

~!**!~

Curiosity set ablaze at the fire demon's response, she only followed him...

"_Yoku..."_

...down through the other eight layers until he stayed on the first, finding that, as before, staying between the first and second allowed her a freedom of movement she did not think she could managed were she to run along one or the other. 3

Once Hiei's feet touched the first layer, his pace slowed and his eyes took a swift glance around to figure the quickest trek to where he wished to be. And once it was established, he shifted gears and turned into an alleyway, cutting the quickest path to the house he'd stored some of the Sweet Snow in the last time he'd procured some of the sweet substance.

He slowed to a lazy saunter when he was just down the road from the house, his right hand finding his pocket as he turned a glance to Shikiyoku, wondering if she had any reaction to where he was leading her.

~!**!~

Akari took in a deep breath, "There are still kids being transposed from one layer to the next. While I can take them back to the first layer, they always end up right back on the second, so Genkai's been taking them in and teaching them about Spiritual Energy." She paused, visualizing the bricks she'd pulled from the land of the buildings that had once existed on all layers, and now only stood on a single one. "She still needs the temple to exist on every layer, to make things easier for that, so _that _will be my main focus."

She took another deep breath. "After that, I'm not entirely sure. I guess I'll just waste time until Koenma decides he needs another hand again." _*****_

"How many buildings have you found that exist on more than one layer?" Kurama wanted to know. He didn't remember Youko taking any particular notice of such buildings on their treks to the other layers.

~!**!~

When she finally became sure that Hiei was truly staying on the first layer, she did go ahead and pull herself there to join him, though her shoulders hunched over just noticeably when she did so.

The weight of existing on the layer seemed heavier than on the ninth, her feet feeling as if they would drag along the ground should she let them.

Anyone passing by hardly gave the demon a look when they passed, though her ashen skin and bare arms covered with scars surely would have caught someone's attention. Truth be told, there were few that could _see _her, their minds dismissing her existence since they could not explain it.

She had stuffed her hands in her pockets, making her appear smaller, but she reached up to rub a set of fingers at her neck, over a scarred bit of tissue that itched. 3

Hiei gave a sneer at Shikiyoku before he turned forward again, not even pausing when he reached the door, extending his free hand to simply twist the unlocked knob and stepping inside without pause, heading straight to the freezer and pulling out the bucket of Ice Cream he'd stored in the uppermost part of the contraption.

And only when he had the lid pulled from the small tub did he look up at the ceiling, taking note that the lights were _on_, when he clearly remembered they had been _off _when he'd been here last.

He took to inspecting the house, the tub still in hand and his other hand reaching for a drawer, as if he noticed no change in the room. He produced a spoon from one of the several drawers he'd opened, took a scoop of the sweet snow, and then passed the tub and spoon to Shikiyoku, never even glancing at either the woman or the treat.

~!**!~

"Initially, only two. Now, however, I've seen a multitude of them. Too many to count, which was actually really helpful. And more crop up every time I go on a search, meaning someone is _making _them do that. Which would be helpful if I could find any clues to their presence, but I'll just content myself with procuring their means of _causing _the entire thing." Akari gave a smug grin. "They're obviously not too worried about it, since _I'm _not being hunted. Though, that would be rather interesting." _*****_

_[That indicates there __**is **__someone who knows how to do it, however.]_

_{Indeed. It also indicates there are likely many more demons able to traverse between layers that we don't actually know about.}_

_[What, you mean Koenma hasn't called for a census of all demons capable of doing so?]_

_{And who exactly would respond to such a call? No demons I know of.}_

_[My point exactly.]_

"Aren't _you _able to slip between the layers? Without shadows?"

~!**!~

She followed Hiei obediently, if only half-aware of their movement, lost in the expanse of her mind.

She almost ran into him when he stopped to grab something out of the freezer, and absently took to staring at him as he moved around until she blinked and suddenly realized they were in the house he'd found her in...and that the lights were all on.

Her eyes darkened and her other senses kicked up, taking an experimental sniff of the air and working her way past the energy of the fire demon who had just come back up next to her, holding something out with the obvious intention for her to take it.

Without particularly paying attention to what it was, she did reach out for it, but something moving at the top of the stairs, followed by the scent of energy, and she never actually took ahold of the thing, the stuff falling onto the tile with a clatter.

In that moment, she had shifted a single step, positioning herself between the figure that had started to come down the stairs and Hiei, a ball of crackling dark-yellow energy coming into existence in her hand.

"Yoku..."

_This _time, the voice wasn't coming from her mind, and she was sure of it.

"Is this how you greet old friends now?" The deeper voice carried easily across the house, and she moved slowly out onto the carpet, drawn by the voice and the familiar way with which this demon spoke to her.

"Old friends are difficult to keep." She provided, hoping to stir the demon into speaking again.

"You of all people should know that isn't true, my lady." The demon appeared to be glancing down at his feet as he came down the stairs, though when he looked up, the tall black ears at the top of his head came to attention from the midst of his long, black hair that fell straight down his back, some of it rustling back and forth over his chest as he moved.

Something about the gracefulness and efficiency of his movements lended itself to being catlike, if that wasn't already obvious by the shape of the ears and the long slender tail that moved slowly back and forth behind him as he came into view.

She shifted her feet slightly as if preparing to release her energy, but something about how familiarly the voice spoke to her still held her back, blinking at his tall and wiry form, the hidden strength of his lean muscles easily visible-at least for his arms-through the sleeveless black yukata he wore.

"I mean you no harm. Surely you remember _that _much." The bass timbre of his voice took on some amusement at sensing her desire to attack him still.

He paused in mid-step on the stairs, taking in her scarred form and harsh expression for the first time, his heterochromatic eyes-one blue and one brown-widening with concern.

"Yoku..." This time when he breathed her name, it held the full extent of how distraught her appearance seemed to make him, and he swiftly and silently padded down the last of the stairs, making it across the room in less than a second and moving with such compassion in his eyes that it was all she could do but stare at him as he came right up to her.

Upon reaching her, he gently wrapped his lithe fingers around the side of the shoulder with the hand primed to unleash her energy, though she could feel the firmness in his grip that would not let her move it if she could even form a coherent thought enough to do so.

His other hand came up with slender fingers to tip her face up towards his as he bent down from his much taller height to meet her.

She found herself lost in that gaze when he began to move his face down towards her, confusion blinking over her eyes.

"It is my most desperate wish," He murmured, regarding her through half-lidded eyes, "That you should never again have to be in such a state, my lady."

At the last of his words, he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her deeply.

She twitched at the contact, suddenly made aware of his hand and how uncomfortable touch made her, and initially tried to back away. His hold on her shoulder prevented that.

Her core almost immediately started pumping madly in her chest, and her eyes closed as a feeling akin to ice ran chillingly into her veins with each beat.

In the next second, the change started where her lips met his and was almost unnoticeable, slow.

Color began returning to them, and the effect spread outwards from there, as if peeling back her ashen-grey skin, licking away like fire at her scars. The former luminescence to her skin returned, the scars disappeared to be replaced by a healthy glow.

Moving faster now, when the change reached her scalp it shimmered visibly down her hair, filling out the layers and rustling them slightly as its fullness returned, filling the room with an almost imperceptible smell.

At the same time, the change continued down her neck, and from there must have burst onwards with exponential energy, for it quickly came back into view out from the tanktop to proceed down her shoulders, and it was safe to assume the rest of her body as well.

A glow started to appear on the demon's right hand, the one still tipping her face upwards, and etched in what could have been black ink, blooming from the yellow shafts of light that radiated straight upwards, a heart marked the back of his hand, extensions swirling a little up his wrist and forearm before resting in place as the glow disappeared.

Needless to say, the energy in her hand winked out of existence as her whole body relaxed and filled out, and when the demon pulled away from her, his eyes were squinting a little at the edges with a cat-like smile that he echoed with his lips.

She blinked up at him, stunned to find herself standing under the gaze of-

"Iro!" She exclaimed his name a little breathlessly, all of her memories rushing back to her at once as she recognized the face of her second Champion: their frantic escape from the Ninth Level because of events that led to her accidentally enchanting Taka-and neither of them wished to kill the bird-demon-heading to higher levels at the behest of her Champion's cousin, Youko Kurama, whom they had been in contact with. And the subsequent sacrifice of her Champion that allowed her a chance at escape, though she got hit by the weapons of those who chased them and only now realized his existence had been erased from her memories by those weapons. Youko had come looking for her, had rescued her, though at the time she had not known who he was other than her savior.

"I-...I thought you were dead." She blinked up at him, eyes wide.

Both of his eyebrows moved upwards and he did not retreat from his stance so close to her, still standing with his mouth hovering just over hers.

"Me be killed by something so frivolous as an injury? Even one of the mind _and _body?" He clucked his tongue at her. "And here I thought you knew me better, my lady."

She blinked at him twice more, and a wave of memories struck her again in the next moment.

Shikiyoku pulled herself out of her grasp, looking over at Hiei, and the cat-demon let her go-if with a little reluctance that she did not seem to notice.

She faced Hiei was a frown reminiscent of what had seemed to be her permanent expression while in her other form, crossing her arms over her chest while giving him an unreadable look.

"Hiei." Her voice was stalwart, reserved. "I do hope you'll find it in yourself to forgive me for what I'm about to do."

She sized him up, sending her eyes roving from his head to his toes and back again and nearly breaking what she meant to be a severe expression as she drank in his form with a restored mind.

A single dark eyebrow rose on her face as she continued, "Though, I would remind you that you _did _tell me I could do whatever I pleased."

At that, the cat-demon behind her appeared quite taken aback at the audacity, aware of how _dangerous _uttering such words to Shikiyoku could be.

"Bold of you to say such things to a demon like myself." Taking a single step towards him, she smirked and her arms came down before she broke the mood entirely by the sudden, pure smile that parted her lips while she closed the last distance between them with a final bounced step and a small leap that allowed her to fling her arms over his shoulders with a great deal of abandon and delight, clasping them together behind his neck as she left the ground to gently tackle him with a hug, ending up with her cheek pressed firmly against his and her lips near his ear.

"Fire-prince..." Her voice was so low even she could barely hear it. "I remember..." Her throat seized up and she found she could not continue, wary even of trying to speak with him through her mind, so stirred had her emotions become.

She remembered _everything_. From the very beginning of her time in Human World. When he had unintentionally made the pact with Toriko. Even him finally finding her that night not too long ago.

Her chest and shoulders shook once in a silent laugh as she kept being flooded with memories, and she gave a little pressure against the cheek next to hers, nuzzling it affectionately as she closed her eyes, and then buried her face in his neck, her scalp, her skin starting to hum happily with energy she felt she could release if she wanted.

But for the first time, it did not happen automatically and she was _aware _of that fact, aware that if she wanted, her power would rest in a haze around her body. She knew that she could increase the shine of her skin, of her hair, of a million little things that would make her appear more desirable, that it had all happened before without her direct notice or attention.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she hoped the fire demon wouldn't hate her _too _much for this.

It had been so very long. Longer than he had thought. At least a decade. Perhaps more.

It didn't matter. Not anymore.

Though, she supposed he could kill her in an instant for this if he really wanted to.

She smiled. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	75. Episode 159 - Gathering, Relaxing

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Dot Net Users and Anonymous Readers alike!

Yeah, I got nothing. Enjoy!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Isamu, a dog demon from Akari's home pack, has apparently been searching for her,  
the daughter of the former Alpha of their pack. He insists she come back,  
at least for a week, and upon her refusing, he decides he'll stay with her for a week.

In the midst of their conversation, Kurama leaves his briefcase for Nabu to watch  
and comes inside the sundae shop, fighting against Youko who is insisting Kurama let him out.

The other two do not notice Kurama, but Youko becomes more assertive at the sight of them,  
and wrests control out from Kurama. While Youko is eating the treat Kurama ordered,  
Kurama points out a heart-shaped marking on Youko's ankle,  
and Youko realizes his being upset with Akari's situation  
didn't actually have anything to do with her or her situation.

Youko does actually go over and interject on Akari's conversation,  
leaving the pair in the shop as Isamu places a shadow in Akari's wrist to keep tabs on her.

Both Youko and Akari end up in Youko's meadow, and eventually Youko lets Kurama out.  
Eventually Akari and Kurama begin talking about buildings that are able to exist on all the layers,  
and Kurama asks Akari if she is able to go inbetween without her shadows.

~!**!~

As Hiei and Shikiyoku lay in the tree in the Ninth Layer and talk,  
Shikiyoku starts hearing a voice calling out to her and urging her to come home.  
She is eventually unable to ignore it, but neither does the voice appear to be holding an actual conversation with her either,  
only urging her to come back 'home,' and continuing to repeat 'I miss you.'

Eventually, Shikiyoku and Hiei start to head back to Toriko's home on the First Layer,  
Hiei deciding to reintroduce Shikiyoku to 'sweet snow,' but when they arrive,  
they both realize someone else has been in the house since they left it.

A cat demon strangely reminiscent of Youko, tall and slender, complete with black hair and yukata,  
begins coming down the stairs, calling Shikiyoku 'Yoku' and telling her he means no harm.

Upon actually _seeing _her, he rushes the rest of the way down the stairs and kisses her,  
claiming that his deepest desire is for her to never _have _to be in such a state.

The kiss results in Shikiyoku's pain-form slipping away and restoring her to sound mind and body,  
immediately remembering the cat demon, whom she at first calls 'Iro,'  
her second Champion, but quickly after recalling Hiei,  
and all that he had done for her from the first days of his meeting Toriko up to the present,  
and she reminds him that he told her she could do whatever she wanted as she tackles him in a hug  
and tells him that she can finally remember.

* * *

The sound of the Ice Cream tub and the spoon clattering to the floor went unnoticed by Hiei, not even earning a glance to the floor where they landed. Instead he was taking a very apt inspection of the rooms, looking for any obvious signs of an intruder, which was easily proved the moment Shikiyoku stepped in front of him, drawing his eyes to the stairs when a voice rang out in the silence.

The fire demon also tensed, a hand reaching for his katana, but not drawing it immediately. The voice spoke so familiarly to Shikiyoku that it gave him pause, made him realize she had been referring to _this _voice speaking to her, calling her _Yoku. _

And he too knew this voice, which made the next moment very, very odd to him.

Because in his mind, all he could see was the feline form of this demon.

Which had him releasing his hold on his sword's hilt and settling back on his heels, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his eyes away in mild irritation, even considering _leaving _were it not for the shift in the air, the change in the energy that charged Shikiyoku's being.

The change that brought his eyes back to her form, to see her hair full and shining again, her scars disappearing and her skin glowing with its natural color. To see her standing up on her own two feet with the strength she deserved to have at her disposal.

So many emotions bombarded him at once: awe at seeing Shikiyoku at her full height, full power again. Awe at seeing her hair with volume as it always had, at her shoulders straightening and her spine holding her taller than he'd seen her in… a long time.

Surprise at how quick this demon, whose name was not _Maneshi_ as his former form had been called, had drawn her back to her usual self.

Irritation at the fashion with which he did it.

And so many other emotions. Some he didn't care for, some he didn't understand, some he didn't even acknowledge.

All of this was _before _her lips parted with his name and her brilliant green irises turned to him, and then her asking his forgiveness. _Forgiveness for what? _He blinked when she brought up him telling her to do as she wished, and his lips twitched slightly, though whether into a sneer or a frown, he wasn't sure.

And when she took a step forward, he dropped his arms, foreseeing her next bounding steps just before she issued them. By the time her arms were around his neck and her cheek against his, he'd relaxed fully, resigning himself to let her stand there as long as she so desired because, after all, he'd given her permission.

And, though he wouldn't exactly admit it to anyone in particular, he didn't mind it. Not at this moment.

His hand twitched with a slight urge, but before he could follow through with it, he was aware of a warmer sensation on the left side of his torso, beginning a few inches below his shoulder and extending in several directions, even up to his shoulder and a little over it, a small bit of that same warmth moving along his collarbone, extending a few inches until it settled there.

An alien feeling to be sure, but perhaps it was related to her closeness and for the moment he ignored it and raised his left arm up and over Shikiyoku's shoulder, returning her gesture as he'd wanted to do earlier. His lips parted in a small huff, his eyelids sliding closed as he took in a small breath of her scent through his nostrils.

"You're on a time limit, woman." he grumbled, though his lips twitched in amusement at his so-called 'warning'.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at Kurama curiously now, eyeing him for a moment before letting her eyelids slide close in thought. She thought of each and every time she'd ever moved between the layers, and realized that there'd only been _once _when she had done so without the use of her energy.

When her eyes opened again, she was concentrating on her being, testing the ability and making an attempt to fall from one layer to the next _without _her energy.

A few minutes ticked by, and she was still sitting there, in the meadow, on the sixth layer.

She finally gave a shrug. "I did once, but doesn't seem like I can now." _*****_

_[I can actually attest to that, Red. She could do so at one time.]_

Kurama didn't comment, eyes closing in thought.

_{How could a building go from resting on one layer to living between them? Or on more than one?}_

_[Valid question. For which I have little in the way of an answer.]_

"I wonder," He began, "If in the same way as you have found yourself unable to move between layers, there are buildings which exist that could at one time be approached on any layer, but are now confined to one."

~!**!~

"Mm, is that so?" She murmured back, "Then I suppose I should quit while I'm ahead." She started to pull away from him, finding that her feet had actually left the floor. She'd forgotten how young he had been when they first met, so upon reflection it wasn't surprising to find that he was taller than before. 3

Hiei let Shikiyoku pull away and let his arm slide away from her shoulders, now more aware of the warmth spreading over his skin beneath his clothing before it dissipated all over, leaving him puzzled and curious, but not giving any indication of anything out of the norm.

"Wise decision."

~!**!~

Akari gave a shrug. "Not sure, but I do know that some of those lands have relics on them, some of the building have simple bricks, but the common entity is a sequence of markings- I assumed tribal but haven't had the time to look in Koenma;s library- that are engraved in the surface. If you remove each and every one, the building loses its ability to exist on the levels and settles on one. IF you leave only, say, one of those relics or one brick, it exists on a couple of layers, but eventually the energy in it diminishes."

For once, Akari wished she carried a bag of the objects around with her, to show the redhead. But, oh well. "It's actually pretty fun to mess with, but if you try to order them in the sequence, which is different every time it seems, and get it wrong… Well, let's just say I'm not fond of enchantments or anything even _kin _to it." _*****_

_[Sounds like there's a spell or something someone is casting on the buildings]_

_{Yes, but...why so many? Wouldn't that be a knowledge one would covet?}_

"Need to get whoever is marking the buildings to Genkai's then, it seems." Kurama murmured.

_[Red...I...You've tarried here long enough. Do you not have anything worthwhile to say to the pup?]_

_{It-}_

_[Then say it and be done with it. I have things to do.]_

Kurama tried not to let out a sigh, having just felt comfortable enough to actually relax.

~!**!~

"She isn't known for her stupidity." The cat-demon in the room replied. "At least...not _well-known_ for her stupidity."

When Shikiyoku finally set her feet on the floor and stepped back from Hiei, she looked at him for a moment, smiling, truly happy to see him.

She did turn to give the cat-demon a look, though.

"As if you would know."

"I know quite well, thank you."

"Is that so?" She actually turned to face him, moving over and glaring up at the demon, who met her gaze with an even-temper, his head bent down to look at her. She frowned.

"You're much taller than I remember."

"You always appeared larger-than-life to me when I was in pet-form." He admitted, towering over her with a wry smile. "It appears I was mistaken. Didn't you used to at least reach my eyes? You're quite petite now. Still can't return to demon form?" His face was fairly unexpressive, as a cat's usually is, but he blinked slowly at her with a tease gleaming in his eyes. 3

Hiei took to watching the two curiously, though most of his mind was preoccupied, wondering if that odd warmth would return. He waited, and wasn't really surprised to find that it didn't return, though the urge to leave the room- or even do it right there- and peel away his cloak and shirt to see what had happened was a strong one. Had _she _done that?

An urge he resisted for the moment. He drew his thoughts to the demons in the room, to keep his eyes from focusing on his shoulder and stay focused on Man-

Iro.

His name was _Iro. _Odd..

_Wasn't __**she **__Iro?_.

Now his _entire _attention was on their interactions, on the way they spoke and looking for anything that could give way to any sort of hint to their past.

Because he was sure that her being called Iro, and his name being the same, was _any _sort of coincidence.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at Kurama's mumblings, then gave a small sigh at him. "_We_ nothing. As fun as it would be to _team up_, I rather enjoy figuring this one out as I go." She gave a lopsided, toothy smile. "I'm afraid if you want something other than office work, you're gonna have to haggle for it, fox." _*****_

"When did I _ever _say 'we,' hm?" He wondered, eyes remaining closed, "It was merely a suggestion. Perhaps you simply _wished _I said 'we?' So you could shoot me down even though you'd already _wanted _my help?"

At that his mouth did end up smiling, teasing her as he was.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku scrunched her nose up at him in mock-irritation, eyes glimmering.

"Don't make me send you sprawling to the ground screaming in pain."

"What? Just so I have to kiss you again?" He appeared to consider it, "I'd call that a fair trade for how long it's been since I've had the privilege."

She growled. "I take it back."

"I'm hurt." He moved his right hand up to his chest to express his emotional pain, "And here I thought you were trying to come up with an excuse to get me to kiss you again. You _know _you only have to ask."

"I didn't _ask _for you to kiss me in the first place_, _Kit." It came out similar to her growl from before, if belied by the smile her lips pulled up to.

"Well, then, I suppose sometimes my kisses are free." He stuck his nose in the air loftily.

"Most of the time they come with a price, if I remember correctly." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"_Never_ for _you_, Yoku."

"Debateable."

It was hard to miss the marking on his hand that swirled a ways up his forearm passed his elbow, pressed to his heart as he had it, and her eyes rested on it, him following her gaze and pulling down the hand in front of the both of them.

His smile turned softer, losing any of the teasing it had formerly held as he inspected the heart-shaped mark.

"As I once marked you, so you now mark me." He murmured pleasantly, "Fitting. Don't you think?"

She did not answer. She could feel within the mark that a portion of her energy resided within it, hidden from anyone but herself, a sign of his eligibility to become her Consort. The fact that it already had embellishments came as no surprise to her, for this was a demon whom she had known for a very long time.

"I do miss seeing my whiskers on those cheeks though." He reached up with that hand underneath the veil of her hair that had come free from behind her ear when she leaned over his hand to look at it and he brushed the backs of his fingers lightly where she once had his markings, the markings passed from the Champion to the Ward.

At his touch, she remembered vividly the bite he had given her, injecting with his fangs a portion of his demonic energy directly into her veins in much the same manner that a partner would do as a part of the mating ritual. A burning ache had flowed through her body as his energy had spread to mingle with her blood and her own energy. It was meant to seal the bond between them, but instead of scarring into his Mark in the place he had bit her like if they had been life-mating, the wound healed and a mark appeared at her cheeks, a symbol of their unique union. She recalled the feeling of when the three marks like whiskers on either cheek would glow with his energy when she was in danger, effectively breaking her unintentional spell more than once. And she remembered how she used to mute that power, so that she could work under his protective eye and still gather information for them.

All of this passed over her thoughts in an instant, even as his fingers left her skin and moved her hair back behind her ear.

She started back, feet shifting a little away from him as if aware of his proximity.

He peered questioningly down at her, but said nothing. Not here. Not with...another present. 3

Hiei stood there for a few more moments, his fingers twitching slightly at his side with the returning urge to peel back his cloak. But he paused as his eyes caught sight of the mark on this demon's hand, very similar to the one Shubou had had on his forehead before Shikiyoku had relieved him of it.

Somehow, he felt as if that mark was very symbolic of something he should know the meaning of. As if he'd known once, but couldn't remember. But he was more than _fairly _certain that he'd _never _come across something like this before, where two demons had very similar marks and that they were related to one single demon.

Both marked demons having eyes for Shikiyoku.

…

…

…

_What in the hell._

The longer he stayed here, the less comfortable he felt.

So the fire demon turned and slipped from the carpeted room to the kitchen, and towards the back door.

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched and she narrowed her eyes at Kurama a bit in a playful manner. "I had called upon your wits mainly because I'd been goaded into work-mode. Dangerous thread you're traipsing across, fox." She leaned forward a little, eyes sparkling with mirth. "and what I _wish _is none of your concern." _*****_

Kurama opened his eyes to look at her, taking on a more melancholy expression, "I'm terribly hurt you would say such things." He resisted the urge to smile quite well. "You're not very nice."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku heard him move away, and even twitched her head in his direction, but when she opened her mouth to say something, it came closed again, feeling that he desired to remove himself from the situation.

"He seemed eager to leave." The cat-demon murmured.

"You make him uncomfortable." She pointed out.

"And why on earth would that be?" He leaned down and started to kiss her cheek.

"Kitoushi..." It didn't come out quite like a warning, but more of a sigh.

"What? You know what I desire, do you not?"

A wrinkle appeared inbetween her eyebrows.

"It's been a long time, Yoku." He kissed her again and this time she did actually step away, leaving him standing with eyebrows raised.

She still looked to the side, refusing to meet his gaze.

"And for you as well, if memory serves." He commented, eyes flickering towards the exit the fire demon had just made before he took another step.

"Don't-" She held up a hand between them, "Just...don't, Kit."

"Shikiyoku-"

The doorbell rang and she looked up at him and he down at her, after which he promptly gave her a shrug.

"Strange..." She said to herself as she turned to answer the door.

When she opened it, there was a lanky demon standing there, wringing his hands together and looking surprised when she appeared before him.

"A-are you..." He fumbled to speak, but held out his hand, palm up to her, blushing and looking to the side. "P-please, I don't..."

Her confusion turned kinder. She recognized the demon, though she doubted he actually remembered her.

She took the hand as she peered at him, "Can you get home on your own?" If he didn't live on the first layer, she didn't think he could get back to his own layer unless she took him herself.

He nodded, still too flustered to say much.

Without further hesitation, she pressed her lips to the mark that adorned his palm and the energy she could feel within it released into the air and returned to her.

They both gave each other a small smile, the demon nodding his thanks before he turned to leave, disappearing beyond the wall at the end of the sidewalk leading up to her home when he turned to go down the street.

She watched him leave, frowning, and as she went to shut the door another demon appeared, coming up the walkway, leaving Shikiyoku standing with her jaw open a little as she could easily make out the mark that he wore on his cheek.

_You've __**got **__to be kidding me._

A second demon followed that one, and then a third and Shikiyoku put her hand up to her forehead and started rubbing her eyebrows with her fingers.

_You've gotta be __**fucking **__kidding me._ 3

Hiei left the house on silent feet, his steps just as quiet on the grass as it had been on the wood and carpet. He glanced over his shoulder only briefly before he folded himself between the layers, leaving her to.. whatever was going on. His body blurred from the first layer and to the second, then from the second and to the third, where he stalled and took a brief glance around.

It was the proper layer, but as to the direction he needed to go…

He couldn't remember exactly, now that he was standing here. He took another glance around, noted a demon that passed him by, then turned and set off in a direction he vaguely remembered taking.

And as his feet moved, he found familiar territory, a layer he had completely ignored when he'd gone through Demon World. A level he hadn't paid any attention to then.

A layer he now wanted to seek refuge in, where no one could interrupt his personal inspection of _whatever _it was he'd felt earlier.

~!**!~

Akari's smile widened to show all of her teeth. "Being nice hasn't gotten me very far. If you wanted nice, you should've met me twelve years ago, sir." She rolled her eyes to the sky. "Well, that isn't _exactly _the truth. Nice got me places for a while. Made trade easier, along with exploiting other territories."

When her eyes came back down to rest on Kurama, her gaze softened. "What's on your mind, fox?" _*****_

"Only that I'm glad I have met you _now _and not twelve years ago." His face brightened into a small smile.

_[It's not the __**only **__thing.]_

_{Like I need you to remind me.}_

_[Apparently you do.]_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku glared at the back of Kitoushi's head, which she could easily make out over the back of the couch.

"_Why _won't you _hide me _like I _asked_?"

The doorbell rang for the umpteenth time and Shikiyoku twitched.

Kit did not so much as move in any indication that she had heard him, an ear only flicking back to take in the sound of the doorbell, his eyes fixed on the television he had on and was watching intently.

"Because you know it wouldn't matter, my lady." He finally replied into the silence between them. "They will find you no matter where you go. They are drawn to you."

"I _hate _you." She said firmly as she turned to go back to the door before it fell in on itself.

"Love you too, _Iro_." He called after her with a smile.

~!**!~

Taka stalked through the trees on the Fourth Layer, grinding his teeth together.

He'd given up on flying.

Until a few hours ago, he had not known about the existence of these 'layers,' as he had privately started calling them.

Until a few hours ago, he had been blissfully unaware.

Until a few hours ago, he had not been dragged across these 'layers' relentlessly, without so much as an inkling of control of where or when the dragging occurred.

Oh, he knew exactly what it was that drove him forward. The image of her in his head had not so much as flickered since his upheaval started. Each time he _blinked _she was there, whether in her true demon form as he knew her from the beginning or in the tinier, more human-like form he had met not all that long ago in the scheme of things. It didn't matter.

All that mattered was that flying had not ended well and so he was forced to walk like some sort of idiotic ground-dweller.

Letting out a frustrated noise, Taka stopped in his tracks, rubbing at his neck absently until he realized what he was doing and quickly pulled his hand down. It had become a habit. The thing kept burning right before-

A tug at his midsection nearly had him stumbling, his vision blurring as he felt his body being yanked up from the fourth layer to the third, where, when he landed, his wings popped into existence to help him get steady on his feet, flapping a few times as he caught himself and this time rubbed at his forehead and the dull ache that he now expected since it'd happened after every shift. 3

Hiei continued walking, a hand reaching up and tugging at his scarf and loosening it from the tight coil it had around his neck, his eyes glancing about briefly before he felt perfectly content with checking _now _instead of waiting.

So with a fluid movement, the scarf was loose and simply hanging down his front, and a hand was sliding to the collar of his cloak, pausing in silent debate to pull the whole thing off or to just _peek _and see what was going on.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow. "Yeah, I'm sure if you'd met me twelve years ago, you'd be bored." Her teeth flashed in the dying light of the sun's setting rays. "And would likely want nothing to do with my kind. We're rather dependent upon one another. Usually."

"_See you when you get back then, love."_

Akari nearly physically flinched, but refrained, the only change in in her demeanor was a slight twitch of her lips that quickly returned to their wide grin. "And we _certainly _had nothing to offer that was shiney by any standards." _*****_

"Twelve years ago, I would have just been walking and talking." Kurama replied, his expression devoid of emotions. "And quite possibly only _just _out of diapers, though admittedly I do not recall." He masked his amusement at her, though Youko was indeed laughing from within their minds.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had gotten comfortable on the couch, her head laying in Kit's lap where he had taken to stroking her hair as they mind-numbingly watched whatever show the TV happened to be playing.

His actions actually had lulled her close to sleep, even more so on the occasions where he would bury his hand in her hair and start rubbing his fingers on her scalp.

So, naturally, the doorbell rang and her entire body tensed up into awakeness.

She let out a groan as Kit took his hand out of her hair and rested it on her shoulder.

"I _would _answer it, but really it's for you anyway."

She started to get up, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You're _so _kind."

"I know."

It was difficult not to roll her eyes at him, but the desire was there.

~!**!~

"Yo! Flame-boy!" Taka called out, spotting the fire demon and beginning to move towards him. "You get stuck on the third layer too?" 3

Hiei's entire being froze at the so-called 'nickname' that was shouted at him, and his fingers, which had begun to push away the cloth of his cloak. He saw nothing, but hadn't had a chance to look far enough under the cloak to be satisfied. But he had no choice.

In a single movement, the cloak resettled where it had originally rested and he had his scarf tossed over his neck again, and he was turning to face the idiot who'd called to him in the fashion that left him wanting to skin a demon alive.

And the demon he saw made it _very _tempting to simply disappear from one layer to the next.

"Stuck?" Hiei repeated, tone filled with irritation. "Hardly." _I have no patience for the likes of __**you**_ _today._

~!**!~

Akari's mouth emitted a small laugh to herself. "Right, I forgot. You would've been close to four then, technically." Her lips pursed together, then were pulled inwards as she refused another laugh. She could just _imagine _the boy this person would have been. And it was just too _amusing_ and, quite frankly, _adorable. __*****_

"Allow me to also say that I'm glad you had not met _me _twelve years ago." He said wryly, thinking of how vindictive and arrogant the spirit of Youko had made him originally, the fox demon impatient with his growth as well as Youko's own slowness at recovery.

~!**!~

Taka wasn't quite sure how to take that.

"Really." He gave the fire demon a bit of a stare. "Don't tell me you knew about this whole 'layer' business?" 3

Hiei's brow raised only a bit in incredulity. He had half a mind to say he'd witnessed the _cause _of the "layer business", but decided against it, in the end.

"Naturally." He responded simply, impatience growing by the second.

Because in his head, all he could hear was the words this demon had spoken so long ago. Words this demon didn't know the fire koorime had heard. Words that _used _to be words he would kill over. Words he _still _fought against, even over a century later.

"Did you assume I simply _manifested _on this layer, bird-brain? I'm not weak enough to be _sucked _back and forth."

~!**!~

"Would have been quite the sight, I'm sure." Akari commented, pulling her lips into her mouth again and turning her eyes away. She assumed Youko's spirit would have been a huge factor in his childhood days, but other than that she was stuck imagining the chubby baby cheeks he would have, the messy toddler-hair. The ridiculous outfits.

_Stop it, Akari. __*****_

"I was not...nice." Kurama finally said.

His mind was drawn back to the moment that had brought about his change, and within his head he could feel Youko becoming more impatient with the red-head.

The scars his mother wore because of the fall...

The craving for the cookies she had placed on the higher shelf...

The glass and his mother falling...

The memories shifted to a timeframe much longer in the past, and he found himself recalling through Youko's eyes a moment when the demonic form of a female Youko assured him was Shikiyoku took what was basically an arrow for the fox, leaving him, the Champion, feeling useless for the week that it took her to recover from the poison that had been imbedded in the tip.

That someone...a mere _human_, would imitate such a gesture...needless to say, Youko had withdrawn from the forefront of the boy's awareness, left him to live his own life as his contemplation of the moment actually drew him into a slumber that the boy never really figured out how to break.

~!**!~

"Is that so?" Taka raised a brown eyebrow at the fire demon. "Well. Pardon me for assuming you were here for the same reason as I." He appeared smug at the thought that Hiei _wasn't _being jerked around, closer to Shikiyoku. Wherever she was.

The mark at his neck started burning again and Taka reached up to rub at it before his hand dropped and his eyes grew wide when he recognized the signs, feeling another pull.

Before he could say anything snarky in reference to _him _being a part of...whatever this was in reference to Shikiyoku, his vision blurred and his wings spread from where they had been hanging down his back while he was jerked onto the second layer.

When he had landed relatively safely, out of view of the fire demon so he thought, he reached up and rubbed at his forehead again.

"Good gods, sweetheart... Where _are _you?" 3

Hiei felt his lips pull into a sneer as he noticed the beginnings of the blur around Taka's form, and the words "Good day, bird-brain," slipped from his lips before he could resist, just before Taka blurred entirely, his form nothing more than that in front of him now.

Hiei moved to pass through the blurred form, easily doing so, and only glanced back briefly to ensure the bird didn't return to this level.

Only to catch swirling markings on the back of Taka's neck.

Markings that left the fire demon staring, halted in place. So the words the demon uttered left the fire demon rather temperamental for reasons he couldn't exactly explain.

_Fool._

Hiei continued to stand there, to stare at the black ink on the back of Taka's neck.

_You don't deserve her._

That thought was the most random, most unexplainable thing to have _ever _crossed his mind, and at first he didn't notice.

_Not someone with as small of a brain as you have, and certainly not someone as ridiculously, foolishly impetuous as you._

With that last thought, he turned and continued walking in the direction he'd been going, destination in mind and the path clear again, as if he hadn't been interrupted in the first place. And this time, he didn't notice the warmth spreading along his arm.

~!**!~

Akari's gaze softened. She knew what he meant; he'd told her, though at the time, she'd merely become irritated at him. Baffled and unable to speak against him, as was his point. At the time, she'd been too mad to care, too… as selfish as it was to admit, she had been too _insulted _by the way he'd spoken to her, by using her weaknesses against her.

Though, it'd gotten him the result he'd wanted, right?

And what for? A few fleeting moments here and there when they were free? Sitting in a field that slept during the day?

She wanted to tell him it didn't matter, but really, who was _she _to say that?

So she gave a small smile, suddenly thought of something she hadn't thought of in a while, and reached into her pocket. Part of her routine then had been to keep it on her, in case she randomly thought of it.

And for the first time in _months_, she'd remembered it, and it just so happened that she'd kept it in this particular pair of jeans. Her favorite pair, which was fitting because… well, reasons.

She pulled her hand from her pocket and pulled it up to her view, eyes resting on the palm of her hand before her smile widened into a toothy one, and the seed in her hand quickly grew, shifting into a rose she'd almost forgotten she'd had.

She twirled the stem in her fingers a moment before holding it out to Kurama, sticking her tongue out playfully. "_Niceness_ comes with time for some people, demons especially. Like wine, most of us tend to get better the older we are." _*****_

Kurama heard her rustling around and opened an eye after a moment, following it with the second one and upon seeing the rose, flicked his gaze up to her eyes and smiled.

"I think that holds truer for some than for others." He replied, his hand reaching out until he caught her chin briefly in his fingers before lowering his hand back down to let it rest over his chest.

~!**!~

The sun had fallen and a light rain had picked up over the house on the first layer.

In an attempt at 'running away' from those who sought her out, Shikiyoku was on the roof of the house, laying out with her arms behind her head and her eyes closed, untouched by the misting water as she sat firmly blurred between the two layers.

So far...it appeared to be working. She hadn't heard the doorbell ring for a few hours. She'd almost ripped the thing out of the wall.

Not that she'd ever particularly had a place outside of the old Ninth Level that she would have considered a 'refuge,' but having her house invaded consistently for the rest of this day had put a major damper on how attached she was to the building.

~!**!~

Taka growled at the rain, feeling his hair matting down to his head and getting in his eyes as he stalked in...a direction...that he thought might be correct.

At least the mark hadn't burned in a while. Maybe he was finally at the end of the layers.

He made for a tree and sulked underneath it, his wings wet and his mood fowl.

_Ha ha. Very funny, Taka. _

He growled again, rustling his feathers and flinging water off of them, their dampness off-putting and making his attitude worse.

He _hated _the rain. 3

Hiei walked for what felt like hours, which was very likely on this layer. So, when he reached the clearing he'd been heading to, he was unsurprised to find an untouched hammock, an old set up for a campfire. weapons discarded beneath the hammock, just as he remembered.

Except the trees were larger, a few fallen around the clearing and branches scattered about. Vines wound around each other and covered the ground and barks of the trees, almost hiding the weapons and fire pit from view.

He walked by all of this, almost as if he didn't see it, and took to standing at the ledge of a cliff, looking down into the darkness, just as he had in Shikiyoku's dreams the night before. This time, however, he did not stir the creatures below. The area was anything but peaceful, with predatory creatures lurking around even as he stood there, some large and some small. Each creature's footstep did not go unnoticed by the fire demon, who continued to stare in the lack of silence in the once peaceful area.

And area that used to be enchanted to be a hideaway.

"_But I enjoy the view, Hiei. You aren't going to make me pack up so soon, are you? I mean, the area is enchanted; no demon can get by without my permission. Not even you, if I willed it as such."_

"_Sorcery comes with a price, don't you recall?"_

"_Of course. Every day of my life. But that's why we should __**stay**__, because the moment I revoke my hold on it is the moment karma comes back."_

"_Suit yourself. I know better than lingering longer than I should. You should learn the same lesson, Haruka."_

"_Hiei, if you leave with no intention of returning, I can't allow you back in."_

"_That's what it means to have no intentions of coming back."_

A snap of a twig had Hiei turning to look over his shoulder, memories abandoned. "Show yourself, coward."

"These lands are dangerous, demon."

"Only for the fools." Hiei glared at the form that emerged, head bowed and eyes hidden.

"There have been tales of destruction of souls on these lands."

"Only fools believe _tales._"

With that, Hiei decided he'd had enough of this layer and he blurred between the layers, going nowhere in particular.

~!**!~

Akari gave a huff and turned the rose upside down in her hold, then proceeded to let it drop onto his nose, landing neatly and balancing enough to remain where she'd wanted it. "Shut up and smell the rose." she grumbled, turning her eyes to the side. "You're not fun when you're like that." _*****_

"Oh?" He didn't move, the rose staying in place even as he spoke. "And how am I _supposed _to be, exactly, to engage in this activity you're referring to as 'fun?'"

~!**!~

This...this was the place. He...he _knew _it. But...

_But then how come I don't feel as if this is over yet? _

Taka, hunched over from the rain hitting him, looked the house up and down, seeing lights on, but not particularly feeling as if the direct approach to the front door was the most fruitful.

Perhaps if he could get a look into the surrounding area.

His wings weren't drying anytime soon since he refused to put them away wet and the rain hadn't stopped, so he fluffed them out as best he could and then lifted himself from the ground with a couple of flaps, getting air enough to run up the sloped portion of the roof to the flatter middle.

Feeling his feet hitting the rooftop, Shikiyoku woke herself up, picking her head up from her hands to look in that direction and exclaiming, "Taka?!"

The bird-demon froze in place, eyes darting around the rooftop. Even if he couldn't hear her, he felt a tug and stayed where he had landed, crouched and ready for...something.

Shikiyoku, against her better judgement, unphased and said his name again, earning the demon's attention, whose eyes widened upon seeing her sitting with her hands propped behind her, holding herself up.

He was certain she hadn't been there the moment before.

"You can do that too, huh?" He grumbled, obviously pleased at having found her and he walked the length of the roof to the side she lay on. "Can we...can we talk somewhere else?" He shoulders hunched up again, his pointed ears moving slightly in his agitation.

A bit reluctantly, Shikiyoku held out her hand after a pause, and Taka took it, though his expression reflected his curiosity.

She blurred between the layers, taking him with her and he appeared to turn a little green, attempting to release her hand.

She shook her head and kept her grip, scooting back to lean up against what could have been a chimney behind her, "Not unless you want to drop back into one of the layers."

"I never thought I'd be less happy to hold your hand." His stomach roiled and he moved to sit down next to her, leaning up against the same wall she did and throwing his arm over her shoulders, at which point she let his hand go. 3

~!**!~

Akari gave a shrug, turned her eyes to Kurama again, and smiled at the fact that the rose remained where she'd dropped it, balancing still on his nose and not even so much as wavering. "You could do a hat trick, but neither of us have a hat, so.." She rolled her eyes up as if actually considering it. She stayed quiet for a moment, even when she decided she was tired of sitting and leaned forward, shifting around on her knees until she could lay on her stomach next to Kurama, her hands supporting her chin.

Suddenly, she was thinking about Isamu's words, about returning home and what it would be like if she _did _choose to go. Would she be able to leave? Would she even have a chance to _stay_ if she so desired?

"_For a week, and if you don't like it, I'll come stay with __**you**_ _for a week!"_

_Idiot. _

The thought had her stomach churning and she turned her face away from Kurama, resting her cheek on her hands.

"I'm gonna want that rose before we part ways, just so you know." _*****_

Kurama let the rose rest where she had placed it a few seconds longer before reaching up and taking it between his fingers, twirling it around as he looked up at it.

"Who says we have to part ways?"

_[ME!]_

~!**!~

"What did you need to talk to me about, Taka?"

As if she didn't already know. As if she couldn't feel her energy in the mark at his neck, couldn't feel where it had expanded to the back between his shoulder-blades.

Taka didn't answer for a moment, his head resting against the wall, blessedly out of the rain. He shifted a little to adjust his wings behind him.

"I...I haven't been able to get you out of my head."

"That's nothing new."

"Shikiyoku." He said long-sufferingly, giving her a look.

At him actually using her name, she let her mouth shut around her next retort.

"And you..." He started up again after another pause. "You've marked me. I think."

Remembering it, he reached up and rubbed his hand at the side of his neck, above his collarbone.

"I-" He took a breath, shifting again, "I think you should remove it." 3

~!**!~

For a mere moment, Akari's eyes widened and she gave a smile, but the expression passed and she was just as quickly giving a bark of a laugh. "I'm sure you'd rather not abandon the reason you've stayed on the first layer for so long, hm?" She retorted calmly, not turning to face him yet. "We both have things to do, remember?"

_I don't wanna leave. Not right now. So I won't. _

"And I didn't mean this very second, you loon." _Hopefully not soon. __*****_

"Things to do?" He echoed, turning onto his side to face her and gently brushing the edge of the rose against her ear. "What things?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku could hardly believe her ears.

"Come again?"

"Well, I mean," He flushed with embarrassment. "I don't- I don't really _know _why it's there. And I'm not sure if I _should _know. So, wouldn't it just be easier for you to get rid of it for me? That way I wouldn't have to know."

"I...I could do that." She admitted carefully. "If you want me to."

Taka nodded, "You should."

His eyes were closed when she looked over at him, so she was unable to read his expression in any case. Her eyes went to his neck, where she could see swirls of the mark from this side, knowing the heart lay on the opposite side, just under his jaw.

Taka lifted his head and turned to look at her.

"Just-" He grinned, "Just take me back to the lowest layer after you do it, alright?"

She laughed, "Why not leave you stranded here?" She poked his side, starting to move.

"In the rain?" His brown eyes grew larger and more pitiful.

"You're so helpless." She informed him.

"Always." He grinned again.

His arm had shifted when she sat up, and she kept in contact with it as she deftly stepped over his leg from her crouch, though he almost instinctively had grasped her elbow as if she might fall. His other knee was raised and she leaned into it, letting his arm go and gently tipping his face out of the way until she could see the black, ink-like heart that had at some point taken shape on his darker skin.

She glanced briefly up at him to see that he was watching her as best he could, then moved her face closer. 3

~!**!~

Akari resisted the urge to bat at the feeling that tickled at her ear, finding she was too comfortable to throw her arm up and over herself. After all, she knew it wasn't an insect, because Kurama had _moved_, and now _this. Wiseacre._

"That thing I mentioned earlier, for Genkai," she began, giving a small sigh of content at just laying there, just _being _there, despite the continuous tickling sensation. "Gotta deal with-" she cut herself off, giving a small frown and rewording her own sentence, "-problematic situations that arise, because you know those happen a lot." She paused, gave another sigh, "and then check in with Koenma, though he's busy as ever so I'm giving him time to go uninterrupted, for once. At least, by me anyway." There were other, less important things too, but why share those? _*****_

"Those all sound _terribly _important." He murmured, watching her through half-lidded eyes. He let the rose rest against the side of her head. "So I'm glad you think the best thing to do right now is just lay here."

~!**!~

"Taka, what the _hell_?! Really?!"

Shikiyoku muttered more curses in his direction, sprinting after the laughing bird-demon who tore down the empty sidewalk in front of her, his apparent dislike for the rain cast aside as he even went so far as to turn backwards and stick his tongue out at her.

It wasn't fair that his wings would occasionally stream-line out behind him, which Shikiyoku _knew _made him faster on the ground.

At least he hadn't taken to the sky yet, though she could see his feathers were so wet she wasn't sure if he could actually take flight. It also indicated to her that he was flat-out _enjoying _having her chase him. And honestly, she wasn't positive why she was doing so.

She stopped, eyes closing and an eyebrow quirking in irritation.

Taka came to a halt as well, sending a grin in her direction.

"Giving up so soon, sweetheart?"

She growled at him, then sighed.

"You're not going to let me catch you." 3

Hiei landed on the first layer again, already soaked to the bone from the rain on the second layer, which was just as bad as the downpour on this layer as well. He growled to himself and continued down the sidewalk, walking in no particular direction, but just walking despite his hate for the rain.

He was too lazy to go from layer to layer again.

So his hair stuck to his forehead, cheeks, and the back of his neck. His scarf and cloak had become extremely heavy from the amount of liquid the cloth absorbed, and quite frankly, he was in _quite _the mood.

Maybe he should've stayed _inside _earlier, instead of impulsively taking off for reasons he couldn't recall at the moment. He swiped his bangs from his eyes in irritation, the water falling in rivers down his face and making them slide right back where they'd been in mere moments.

At first, he didn't notice the two he was now walking towards, too wrapped up in his ire of the storm to look around himself, too preoccupied with brushing his hair to the side and flicking water away to even notice he passed by Taka wordlessly.

A few steps after he passed Taka, he looked up to see Shikiyoku, soaked like he was, and raised a brow at her. He glanced briefly over his shoulder, grumbled something about a bird, then continued on without pause, walking by Shikiyoku as well.

"I _loathe _water." he grumbled to her as he passed, nothing more than a mild complaint he decided to voice to show he'd acknowledged her.

~!**!~

"Well, even _I _need a break here and there, so I'm taking my break _now." _Akari let the rose stay where Kurama had rested it, too lazy to move a hand and grab it, and too lazy to even make it change forms again. And, she rather enjoyed the scent that wafted to her nose periodically now, more potent than before. "No better place to do so, in my opinion." _Your presence is always calming, always… welcoming._

_And warm. __*****_

"No better...person to do so with." Kurama mumbled a bit lazily, lips smiling a little.

_[Seriously, Red? ...really?]_

~!**!~

She really hadn't noticed how her black outfit clung to her even more so than usual until she suddenly realized Hiei was walking past Taka and approaching her, seeing how his hair was lengthened by the water until it hung well over his eyes.

At that point she felt the tanktop hugging her skin, drips of water gathering at her chin and her hair clinging to her neck and shoulders and her cheek as well.

The brief memory of Taka pulling away from the kiss she meant to plant on his neck, instead catching her up in her moment of disbelief to steal a kiss of his own on her lips flashed over her mind's eye.

Maybe _that _was why she had taken to chasing him. For his impetuousness.

She gave Taka a withering glare and turned to fall in step beside Hiei.

"Then perhaps you should get out of the rain." 3

"Don't patronize me. That's what I'm doing," Hiei retorted grumpily, hands again pushing his hair up and out of his face, only for it to flop back down and smack his skin. He continued to wipe water from his face fruitlessly, uselessly, and even made an attempt to get his hands into his cloak pockets, which was just as fruitless as the other tasks.

"This is ridiculous," he growled to himself, suddenly forgetting she was following him. He even pulled his sheathed katana out from under his cloak and carried it in his hand, feeling the cloak stick to his legs and hug his form in the most irritating of ways. And for the first time ever, he considered ripping it from his body and tossing it aside.

~!**!~

Akari's lips tilted into a soft smile. _My thoughts exactly. _She drew in a deep, contented sigh and released it through her smiling lips, her eyelids sliding closed just in time to miss the sudden blossoming of the flowers around her, which startled her only slightly, just enough to peel her eyelids open again and watch the unfurling petals around her.

"I hope you don't mind, but I don't plan on leaving this spot any time soon." _*****_

Kurama drew the rose away from her, ending up with it resting against his other arm.

"Well, that's good." He replied, "Because I wasn't planning on giving this back any time soon."

He had felt the energy moving through the flowers and their opening did not disturb him, though the earth underneath him did seem to feel warmer because of it.

~!**!~

She glanced over at him as he removed his weapon and walked with it in his hand, her eyes going up to take in his hair again.

"It won't help anything." She shrugged, feeling his desire to cast off his cloak and knowing it would likely make things worse. "Not until we're inside anyway." 3

Hiei raised a brow at her and turned his unblinking red gaze onto Shikiyoku. "That's new." he remarked, tone still filled with irritation, but not exactly aimed at her. And he had quite the urge to thank her for the obvious fact, but decided against it and simply huffed once, making rainwater suddenly scatter away from his lips and nose in little droplets.

He turned around the block and continued down the street, his feet moving in a set destination that he moved towards simply out of instinct, without even _thinking _about it.

Suddenly, he remembered the dropped sweet snow and his mood soured even further. _Oh well. _He was chilled enough as it was, considering the rain and its unrelenting downfall.

Without a single hesitation, Hiei turned and made his way up the sidewalk of Shikiyoku's house, his energy quickly enveloping in a very hot cloud to evaporate any water around him as he walked, to ensure he didn't simply waltz into the house and leave puddles in her carpet.

~!**!~

"As I said, as long as I get it back before parting ways. I rather enjoy it, even if sometimes I forget about it." She made a small sound in amusement. "Sentimental value, y'know?" She made a face, though she knew he wouldn't see it, and shifted her body just a little, extended a hand to poke at the flower closest to her face with sleepy attentions. "So _pretty…" __*****_

"Only sentimental value?" He murmured, lower lip pouting a bit, "I had hoped it would grow into something more than that."

~!**!~

_New? _What on earth was he talking about?

She had to hurry her steps to catch up with him, almost falling behind with the distraction, and ruefully watched him become drip-free in a matter of moments, feeling the water run down the side of her face as her teeth started to chatter, though she didn't feel cold. 3

Hiei felt the water on his skin, on his clothes quickly dissipate into the night air, and each drop that continued to fall near him doing the same before it could even have a chance to touch him. And he withheld this bubble of heat, this rain-free zone around his body even as he walked up the sidewalk to Shikiyoku's house.

He only paused in his lazy saunter when he heard Shikiyoku's teeth clattering against each other, and he glanced at her with a raised brow. He gave an impatient stare, widened the bubble around himself to for at least three people inside, and then pulled Shikiyoku by her wrist into the space of heat. It would take just a minute longer due to her body temperature being lower than his, but it would work much the same way.

"Simple as that," he remarked as her skin began to dry first.

~!**!~

"If it makes you feel better, it's been the only consistent thing in my house aside from Nabu and myself." Akari's lips formed a thin smile of amusement. "Which, by the way, I cleaned up and even had fixed. Pretty nice when it isn't moldy and disgusting." She gave a long yawn. "Still has a way to go, but I like it. I think I'm gonna keep it." _*****_

"_That _doesn't make me feel _any _better at all." He mumbled at her, pausing for a second and realize what it sounded like he said, and that he didn't mean it like that. "I mean, not that your house doesn't sound lovely. But you should just tell me you missed me or something."

~!**!~

Having him grab her was a little surprising, though equally so was behind surrounded by his energy, which immediately warmed her and evaporated the droplets on her smooth skin.

She glared up at a strand of hair that fell over her eyes, sending a puff of air at it from the corner of her mouth, only to have it immediately fall back into place.

Making a noise of impatience, she tossed her head slightly, feeling her hair drying and settling around her face and shoulders like normal, minus annoying strand.

"Thank you." She said primly to Hiei, though she did give him a smile after a moment. 3

Hiei didn't respond to Shikiyoku's thanks other than letting his energy focus on her for a bit, forming a hazy ring around her in the air, even as he pushed the door to her house open and stepped inside, turning his head towards the couch where he saw a demon watching the screen of a television, completely comfortable on the couch.

"I assume your real name is _far _from Maneshi," Hiei spoke calmly to the other, taking to standing over the back of the couch, eyes on the television screen almost curiously.

~!**!~

Akari gave no longer than a second's pause after Kurama was done speaking. "I missed you, okay?" she grumbled, shifting around a bit more and burying her face in her arm. "There. I said it," came her even quieter words, muffled by the ground she was facing. _*****_

"Hm." He smiled, unable to resist the small feeling of victory at her response. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I missed you too. Though, I imagine you already guessed at that."

~!**!~

Kitoushi glanced at Hiei out of the corner of his eyes, but flicked them back to the screen.

"You can call me Maneshi if you like."

"Please don't." Shikiyoku interjected, coming up next to Hiei. "Naming a cat what essentially comes out to mean 'cat' was not one of my more shining moments."

Kitoushi's eyes crinkled at the edges though his lips did not turn upwards to smile.

"Well, then perhaps Iro-"

Shikiyoku held up a hand and interrupted him, "Nope. Not even. Old habits may die hard for _me_, but there is no reason to continue that charade anymore." She gave an amused snort, "I doubt there is a single being alive on the First Layer that has even heard the name 'Iro,' and there's no reason for me to hide any longer in any case.

"Hiei, this is Kitoushi. Kitoushi, this is Hiei."

"I know the prince of fire well, m'lady." He did turn his head this time until he could see Hiei from over his shoulder. 3

Hiei had to fight the sound that threatened to rumble in his chest out of amusement, though it wasn't a difficult battle. It wasn't difficult to hold in what little amusement he felt in the moment, considering his mood was still clouded by the rain outside.

The fire demon nodded once when Kitoushi finally turned to look at him. _Indeed. _Had they been standing, facing one another, Hiei would have actually bowed in respect, but from this angle it wouldn't do much good.

And he had nothing to say, so he settled for nodding again and turned to move throughout the house, deciding he'd had enough of his hair and was going to fix that problem.

Preferably with a smaller blade than the one he currently held in his hands.

~!**!~

Akari smiled into the crook of her elbow, then gave a long sigh of content. "Just remember if you're ever bored, I'm always around," she grumbled again, fighting away the very strong urge to let her mind give into the darkness of sleep. Because, really, when was the last time she stayed awake because she _wanted _to? When was the last time she stayed awake to have basic conversation, and not plan out projects or map out her next moves? "I like you. You're my favorite." _*****_

At that Kurama opened his eyes to look at her.

"I'm always _terribly _bored. So you should stay around all the time."

~!**!~

Kitoushi turned away after Hiei nodded his greeting and moved off, his expression unreadable.

Shikiyoku had leaned up over the back of the couch, elbow resting on it and face in her palm.

"He would have bowed, you know." She mumbled through her fingers.

"Is that so?"

"If he hadn't moved off so fast, _you _would have gotten up to do the same."

Kit moved his head again to look at her this time, and she couldn't make out anything within his blue and brown eyes, though she found herself staring back at him.

"He did an excellent job with you." Kit said simply, giving away nothing of his thoughts in a manner even more closed off than Shikiyoku was used to.

He slowly closed and opened his eyes in a blink that she recognized as the deepest of approval for the cat, finding that he had retained much more of his animal form than she ever remembered him having previously, a thought she wondered at even as he turned away.

She'd always had trouble sensing his desires, but now it was almost as if he was closed off from her completely. And it made her want to try harder.

"I...I was stuck for a long time." His gaze lowered. Kitoushi knew better than anyone that he now felt more comfortable as a feline than in his natural form. "Forgive me."

"For what?" She tossed out without expecting an answer, turning away to follow after Hiei. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	76. Episode 160 - Consorts and Conversation

**A/N: **Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!

Slightly shorter chapter this one, but the place to stop was just too good to pass up. And the next part of the RP starts the next day and a whole bunch of stuff happens and...yeah it was just better to stop here instead of making it twice as long as usual, heh.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Laying around in Youko's meadow with Kurama, Akari admits she is now incapable of moving through the layers without her shadows.

Their conversation centers around the buildings on New Human World that exist on all the layers.  
Akari seems to believe that there is someone going around with a spell and etching it into the building materials,  
turning quickly into more playful banter between the two as Kurama studiously ignores Youko,  
who is telling Kurama to hurry up so he can get to Shikiyoku.

~!**!~

The cat Maneshi that Toriko had rescued all that time ago is revealed to be Shikiyoku's second Champion.  
His name is Kitoushi, a cat demon with an uncanny resemblance in both dress and appearance to Youko Kurama,  
who just so happens to be Kitoushi's cousin, though the two have never met face-to-face.

When the conversation between Kitoushi and Shikiyoku turns to flirtatious commentary about the nature of Kit's kisses,  
Hiei begins to feel uncomfortable and leaves, heading to the Fourth Level and what had once been his home of sorts.

Along the way, he runs into Taka, who is being jerked through the layers out of control and, like Kit, also has a heart-shaped mark.

Meanwhile, back at Toriko's home on the First Layer, countless demons show up at the door requesting to have their own marks removed.

It is towards evening that Shikiyoku retreats up to the roof of the house, sitting inbetween the layers,  
and Taka finally alights on that same roof, still searching for her. When she reveals herself,  
pulling him inbetween with her in order to get him out of the rain, he asks her to remove his mark.

Just about the time that Shikiyoku starts chasing madly after Taka down the street -  
he most definitely stole a kiss from her instead of letting her remove the mark -  
Hiei reappears on the First Layer and Shikiyoku gives up on her chase to follow him back to the house.

Thoroughly disgusted with both the rain and the length of his hair,  
after introducing himself officially to Kitoushi, Hiei decides to do something about his hair...

* * *

Hiei wandered into the kitchen and, after a beat's hesitation, began to pull drawers open, one after another as quietly as he could, in search of _something _other than his own blade. Because, really, that was more trouble than it was worth. Hence the reason his hair had grown as long as it had.

Long enough so hide his eyes on occasion and, when wet, to slap his nose and cheeks. It was long enough to rest on his collar of his shirt, should he decide to show it. His scarf usually did well in hiding that factor. But the rest…

The itching of his nose and ears was where he drew the line.

He opened the fourth drawer and stopped, eyes landing on a pair of scissors at the bottom, which he quickly retrieved and snipped at the air twice to test the sharpness.

_It will do._

~!**!~

"All you have to do is _ask_," she repeated, voice muffled and almost inaudible now. "I can't guarantee an immediate response some days, but I'm sure you'll find me like you always do." _*****_

Kurama reached over and moved a strand of hair away from where it was fluttering over her mouth as she spoke, his hand hesitating for a moment.

"I might...do that more often now. Now that you might be more free."

~!**!~

"Those will make a terrible mess of it, you know." Shikiyoku leaned against the counter, arms crossed over her chest and her eyes taking in the condition of his hair with a small smile. 3

Hiei turned an impatient stare onto Shikiyoku as she took to leaning on the counter, giving her that stare for a moment before turning to the scissors again. It would be easier to manage than his blade, that was for sure. "I've used worse." He admitted with a sneer, but placed the scissors in the drawer again anyway. "But, since you're so picky, how about _you _handle it."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes slid open slowly again, peering at Kurama for a few moments before she gave him a sleepy smile. She didn't respond verbally, only letting the smile be her answer as her eyelids slid closed again. He'd do what he wanted, and quite frankly, she wouldn't mind it. _*****_

Kurama lifted his head and leaned over, planting a gentle kiss at her forehead before his face came back down to rest near her arms, too sleepy to move himself further away.

~!**!~

"Worse than your katana?" She stood up. "I'll try not to imagine it."

She considered him for a moment, then she gestured with a finger for him to follow before uncrossing her arms and turning to head back into the living room, moving for the stairs. 3

Hiei gave a slight sneer. "It's easier than you'd think, but a pain nonetheless." He slid the drawer shut before turning to follow after Shikiyoku, hands already pulling his scarf loose again. He slid it away from his shoulders almost lazily, knowing that it would be in the way anyway.

"Just a fair warning: you cut me and I'll behead you, woman."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes slid closed with the contact issued by the male, a pleasant hum reverberating in her chest just before he pulled away. She opened her mouth to say something, realized she rather liked the silence and let her mouth come closed again. She peered over at the redhead with a single eye open for a moment before making a hum of amusement and sliding it closed again. And by this time, her mind was beginning to fall into the darkness of sleep. _*****_

_[I'm going to murder you. I hope you know that.]_

Kurama sighed, finally listening in to the words Youko had been trying to get across to him.

_{You have had every night to yourself for months. And you cannot let me have this?}_

_[It's different this time. And you know that.]_

_{I fail to see how that answers my question.}_

_[...I swear...if I so much as had the slightest inkling that we might be able to separate ourselves, __**that **__is what I would be seeking every night.]_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku couldn't help the small, breathy laugh that sneaked past her lips as she got to the stairs.

"Believe me when I say I've had more than enough experience with this sort of thing."

An image of Youko Kurama saying as much the same thing to her on the same subject soon after they met passed over her thoughts.

"And more often than not while blindfolded." She heard the front door begin to open and quickened her steps so that she might be out of sight upstairs before the demon at the door entered.

Taka came inside out of the rain and shut the door behind him, dripping onto the tile at the entrance and having to resist shaking himself, mostly his wings.

Before he had a chance to look up, to clear his hair from his eyes, a towel smacked him in the face and he made a half-hearted growl, but reached up and used the thing to wipe down his face, running a hand with it through his messy brown hair and finally catching sight of the black-eared demon sitting on the couch.

"I-Iro?!"

The cat-demon turned to look at him.

Taka gave a disbelieving sort of laugh, "I thought you- no, you know what, I'm not surprised." He grinned crookedly and went back to drying his hair.

"It's been a long time, Taka."

"That's putting it mildly, cat." Taka hadn't stopped grinning, though his face was mostly covered by the towel. "I don't even have to ask why you're here now."

"As well you shouldn't have need to." Kit blinked once at him, then turned away. "Please don't drip your nasty wing-rain on the carpet." 3

Hiei ignored the energy he felt approaching the house, his eyes staying trained on Shikiyoku's back even as she made a few extra steps to get out of view from the door. He used the moment of Taka's distraction to continue up the stairs, not bothering to even quicken his pace a _fraction_.

_Birds…_

Hiei actually scoffed to himself, but otherwise showed no signs of even noticing Taka's entrance as he stepped on the landing of the stairs and continued after Shikiyoku. _*****_

Turning almost immediately to the left after getting up to the second floor, Shikiyoku reached for the doorknob of To- of _her _room and stepped inside, hearing clearly the soft, steady rhythm of the rain tapping against the window.

She went over to the desk and knelt down, opening the lowest drawer and fishing into the bottom of it for a small leather pouch which she promptly placed on the desk, turning on the lamp there and closing the drawer with her foot as she unzipped the pouch and was accosted with more memories of Youko as she ran her fingers over the scissors and brush implements inside, each etched or engraved with various symbols of Demon World.

Downstairs, Taka defiantly spread his wings as far as the space would allow and gave them a decent shake, earning a wicked glare from Kit that he returned with a daring grin.

"You missed me. Don't deny it."

Kit let out something between a laugh and a scoff, starting to stand up.

With the towel around his neck, Taka lifted the edge of it and wiped more water from his face as he shivered his wings again, sending a pleasant rustling noise into the room that disappeared as Taka's wings started to grow smaller before going out of sight completely.

He found himself caught up in a hug, surprised, but less so when he saw it was the cat demon, grinning and returning the gesture before pulling away with his hands at the other's shoulders to look him in the face.

"I'm sorry." At first Kit didn't meet Taka's gaze.

"For what?" Taka raised an eyebrow. "It's my understanding that you did what needed to be done."

Kit gave a long sigh and met Taka's gaze, "That doesn't make it any more _right_."

He shrugged, "Sometimes choices are hard. I can't say I'm unhappy you decided to leave instead of killing me." His grin returned.

Kit did actually give a scoff that time, his lips pulling apart into a wry smile.

"You did what you thought was best. For _her_." He tipped his head back and forth a little, "And _maybe _for me." He allowed.

"Don't let it go to your head." Kit pulled away from his grasp and turned back to get to the couch, Taka following after.

"Don't I always?" 3

Hiei stepped into the bedroom and moved to stand a step or two behind Shikiyoku and curiously watching her. He listened to the sound of the rain outside, which didn't help his mood in any way, and the voices he could hear downstairs. He didn't listen to the conversation- he didn't particularly care to- but he did note that the air was similar to when Shikiyoku had seen Kitoushi: friendly and pleasantly surprised.

"So what's the story?" Hiei asked suddenly. "Companions downstairs, I mean." And yes, he was genuinely curious. _*****_

"Between Kit and Taka?" She asked, sliding the scissors out from the pouch and pulling the chair out from the desk into the middle of the room, gesturing that Hiei should sit down, though she went over to shut the door before returning.

"Taka ran around with us a lot." She shrugged, "We three were nigh inseparable for the most part." 3

There was a pause where Hiei merely glanced around the room, as if contemplating letting her cut his hair. He raised a hand to run over the strands of hair at the back of his neck, and when his fingers found his hair was long enough to rest on his cloak's collar, he resigned himself to removing the clothing, which he did in one smooth movement, even tossing his cloak and scarf onto her bed before he moved to sit in the chair she pulled out, crossing his arms over his chest and looking up at her patiently. _*****_

She wasn't really sure why she wanted to go on, to explain more, but she found that she honestly just plain wanted him to know, whether he cared to or not.

"Kit was...Kit was the one who rescued me the night the ritual went wrong." Flashes of the night passed over her mind: the blood, the screaming, her helplessness. The body that stood over her, the rough tongue that had licked at her back, the soft fur underneath her.

She moved over behind Hiei and absently pulled her fingers gently across the back of his neck in the midst of his hair, hardly even noticing the gesture as she made note of the length out of habit, at the same time giving his head a slight push so that he might dip it down to make her job easier before starting to methodically cut at it.

"He pacted with me as soon as I was coherent enough to form the contract." 3

Hiei refused the urge to nod, instead dipping his head lower as she prompted and closing his eyes, imagining what she explained and how it came about. Honestly, he wasn't very surprised, as he knew anything could happen with this woman.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had the thought of something along the lines of: _three musketeers_, though really he didn't exactly know where he'd heard it.

Perhaps it was something he'd picked up from the humans.

"So what mess brought them back?" _*****_

Lost in thought, somewhere in the middle of the extravagant ball in which she had first met Taka, Shikiyoku didn't answer at first, only realizing after a few moments of silence that Hiei had asked her a question.

Going through the motions of pulling her fingers smoothly through the hair at his neck and snipping at it with the scissors, she considered her response.

"They sought me out because they're Marked." She said finally. "Like Shubou was. If they wish to try, instead of my removing it manually, they can attempt to grow their Mark, which removes it from others. Which helps me out considerably, to be honest." She thought of the countless demons who had found her just today, and by judging the Marks on the others, knew that they had all saved her from having to 'unmark' many others. She made no claim to understand how some of the random demons came to bare their Marks, as most of them she only vaguely remembered. Others...well, for others the answer was much more obvious. 3

Hiei's lips twitched downwards and his nostrils flared just a little in impatience. He'd known they were marked, and that it had everything in the world to do with Shikiyoku, but he didn't know _why _they were marked and _what _it meant. Of course, he figured she'd answered him on the assumption that he hadn't noticed the markings, which would make her response valid, but it still irritated him that he already knew that much.

Well, except for the part where the mark removed itself from other demons. That was new to him.

Meaning there were likely many more than just the few he'd seen.

Instead of giving his impatient retort, as every inch of his being wanted him to do, he settled for a milder: "I'm aware of the marks. What do they mean? They help you out with what, exactly?" _*****_

Renai had told her from the beginning that he wasn't exactly sure what would happen for her. When he had gained access to pain energy, his mate-Champion had become his mate-Consort. Which had seemed like a natural progression for them at the time, especially considering she was also the one who helped him unlock the ability.

For her, she had no such equivalent. And, thus, really could only make guesses at the process, reinforced by what little Renai was able to tell her. Seeing as how they were the only two demons of their kind that they knew of, and he the only one with a Consort...her access to information was rather limited.

She answered his second question first, "If I remove a Mark, it returns to me. If another's Mark grows, it removes it from someone else. Meaning I don't have to seek out the keeper of the mark myself, nor do they have to find me, which is, as I said before, helpful for me in the long run."

She took a breath, "Someone who is...marked in such a way...has met the minimal requirements necessary to become...my Consort." 3

Hiei listened to the sound of the scissors snipping at his hair, and quite frankly it was the most musical sound in the room at the moment. It meant he was going to receive sweet relief from the awful itching sensations and the tickling of his ears. Thank the heavens for that.

Another snip, and Hiei was again paying attention to what Shikiyoku was explaining, and with the simple way she put it, he wondered what all _she _didn't know of the situation. After all, as he understood it to be, her breed of demon was even rarer than his own lineage these days.

Or… close to it.

"_Someone who is marked...has met the minimal requirements necessary to become my Consort."_

_**Consort. **__What kind of title was that?_

He felt as if he had heard it before, but couldn't exactly remember where at that moment.

If he had to guess, he assumed it was associated with what he witnessed earlier**, **when Kitoushi restored each and every one of her memories and brought life to her being again. When Kitoushi did what Hiei wouldn't have considered doing- not in that fashion anyway- because of how _odd _it seemed to the fire demon. The fire demon who'd been attempting to the same through tamer methods.

And it wasn't like he would have thought- even if he'd had the thought to do the same- that Shikiyoku would have allowed it.

"Interesting concept." Hiei commented, deciding he had no other inquiries about the matter. He'd learned what he needed. He didn't want to know the _requirements_, didn't _need _to know them. He didn't care to ask how many were marked, and who those demons would have been to her in a time when he hadn't known her. Because really…

He wasn't involved. Just a bystander curious of the events unfurling about him. Watching with only slight interest.

Another snip.

"You have fun with that turmoil." _*****_

Shikiyoku moved around to his front and bent over to look into his face, batting at the long bangs hanging over his eyes.

"Not even an offer to rescue me from the turmoil?" Her lips were pulled into the slightest smirk as she stood back up and stepped closer. "What a cruel demon you are, fire-prince." 3

Hiei's eyelids slid open and he lifted his chin to look up at Shikiyoku, irises flashing in amusement and lips twitching. "As amusing as it would be, there's the fact that Taka was pulled from layer to layer for it. It wouldn't do any good. You're on your own…. to an extent." His sneer flashed for a second. "Though it will be rather entertaining to witness." _*****_

She clucked her tongue, "Cruel." She called him again, "He's stuck on the First Layer now after all, since he's found me."

She deftly worked on the hair over his eyes, glancing to either side of his head and seeing the long hair still mostly covering his ears.

"So, really-" She went on, "We could run anywhere else but here." 3

"What a poor and _helpless_ bird, to be stuck on a layer he doesn't enjoy or understand." Hiei mocked. "Pity I couldn't shove him through the layers myself." The fire demon shifted his legs around a bit, stretching them just a few inches before pulling them back up under the seat he sat in. "Such a _cruel _fate for such a _wise _creature."

When he looked at her again, his expression lacked the sneer, the amusement. "If you truly wanted to run, you would have done so by now." _*****_

She recalled running through the rain, chasing after Taka, and knew that wasn't the 'running' Hiei referred to.

She frowned, opened her mouth and closing it again before mumbling under her breath, "I didn't know where you went and...and I thought you might...come back to the house."

He had disappeared on her after all. She wasn't about to go anywhere when he knew where she was and she didn't know where _he _had gone. 3

Hiei eyed Shikiyoku calmly for a moment before releasing a long breath through his nostrils, deflating entirely and giving her a lopsided smirk. He felt no small amount of amusement at her admission, and even more amusement that she'd waited for him when he'd made no indication of returning at any near future. "You're a strange demon." he commented, eyes following her steadily.

"Where do you wish to be?" _*****_

She stopped her work for a moment to look at him, a small smile tugging at her lips that seemed to ask if he expected anything _other _than strangeness from her.

"So I've heard."

After all, she embodied something few demons could comprehend, and even fewer had the capacity to learn.

At his question, another set of memories were sent scurrying across her mind: sitting with him after he had jointly completed the ritual on the Ninth Level with her and he had asked her the same question. She remembered her response, responses really, easily enough.

_With you._

_By your side._

_Wherever you wish me to be._

"_Right here."_

She set to working on his hair again, unsure of how to answer him.

Did she _still _feel that way?

Well, yes...

"If I am being truthful," Shikiyoku started, deciding she might as well dive in and admit it and deal with the consequences once he knew, "My previous answer to that same question still stands, should you remember asking it of me all that time ago." She delicately cut at his bangs, turning them this way and that to get them even and out of his face, cognizant of the bandana and the Eye beneath it. "However, if you desire a geographical destination for a response, that answer might take longer to come up with."

...but he was no longer her Champion, an odd admission that was followed by the even more mind-blowing concept of her not _needing _a Champion any longer, the titular figure of her entire _life_. Now what she _needed _was...both vastly different and yet rather the same in concept. Renai _had _explained that to her. In some fashion or another.

"_At its most basic, a Consort can be only a companion, should you both wish it. An equal. Someone capable of drawing you back into your true self," _Here he had placed two fingers to his lips, a reference she only _now _understood after having Kitoushi kiss her earlier. Renai was like that sometimes. "_As I can assure you I have never figured out how to do so on my own."_

"_Ah, but I recognize that look." _

She had been incapacitated on his table when he had begun to wax poetic at her.

"_That looks says to me, 'But Master Renai, what if I desire __**more **__than just a companion?'"_

He had leaned over the table to look more closely into her face, a grin plastered across his features.

"_Allow me to say that there are __**many **__reasons as to why my mate is also my Consort." _

He didn't have to extrapolate, and he stood up straight in a pose she recognized even in her half-dazed state, even before he cleared his throat: he was about to expound gloriously again.

"_The Kamis gave each creature on earth a purpose, my dear. Some are meant to seek enlightenment, some are meant to teach. Some are strife-makers, some are peacemakers. Some are meant to lead, some are meant to follow loyally. Some are meant to dabble in each of these things, some will embody more than one at a time. But you," _Here he turned back to her. "_Your original purpose, just like mine, was to love."_

He leaned back over the table, hands planted upon it.

"_You have no idea how satisfying it is to teach a creature such as her to __**love**__." _His eyes flashed dangerously, the room pulsing once with his power and drawing her eyes towards him when before she could not focus. "_Someone so vastly against it, someone so polarly opposite to such a concept, such an emotion. To be able to take her hate, like so much pain, and teach her that there is another, more fulfilling side to it: that there is love. And pleasure." _He held two of his fingers up again, crossing them together, "_Hate and love. Pain and pleasure. Two sides of the same coin, you will find."_ He got a far-away expression in his eyes, and a fond smile grew over his lips, and Shikiyoku knew he was thinking of his mate in that moment.

"_That, my dear," _He came back to the present and tapped her nose, "_Is what we were meant to do, is why the Kamis created us: to love among creatures who do not naturally know how. At least not many of them do anyway. Not __**enough **__of them. And there are too few of our kind, which is why you did not die that day, as much as I may have at the time __**desired **__to exterminate you. Your incredible capacity to love unconditionally and without prejudice did in fact catch the Kami's attention. They have been weaving your fate for a very long time." _

Here he smiled again, "_And because of that great capacity for the one," _He picked up a small dagger from the table, "_You can also __**hate**_ _like nothing I've ever seen before." _

When he drove the point into her skin, her eyes darkened and would have smoldered holes in his head with their gaze if they could have.

He only laughed at her, "_Yes. Just like that, in fact. So much wrath in such a tiny body. Fascinating." _3

The pause Shikiyoku gave had Hiei looking up at her curiously, with an even stare as he made an attempt to read her mind _without _the use of his Jagan, or any other telepathic abilities he possessed. The smile on her lips was one he hadn't seen what felt to be too long of a duration of time, and really, it was what he _actually _found himself focused on, even when she set to work on his hair again.

So it took an extra second for him to realize she'd answered him, and he took yet _another _moment to consider her response; to think back to the only other time he'd asked her that question.

_Right. _It'd been then, after he'd granted her access to his energy for the Northern Tribe. When he'd admitted the only thing he'd wanted of her was… well, _her. _When he'd still been her Champion.

When she'd still needed him.

He blinked up at her once before letting his eyelids slide shut. How odd it was to realize that she didn't _need _him, and yet here she was, just telling him she _wanted _him to stay. Even _hoped _he'd come back after his abrupt departure a few hours ago.

It felt _odd. _And he couldn't explain why.

And it left him unable to form any speech whatsoever. So he remained silent and reveled in the sound of her snipping away at the locks of hair that he'd put off for so long. _*****_

Her mind raced with thoughts for a while as she continued adjusting the length of his bangs, pausing once in a while to check that she didn't make them _too _short.

"I really did miss you, you know." She admitted quietly, a bit of wistfulness sneaking into her tone as she reached over for the comb she'd left on the desk. 3

Hiei's eyes didn't open to look up at her. He didn't have to look up at her to know the expression on her face, to see the little gleam in her eye that meant she was being sincere in every way. It was in her voice, in her words.

Words he'd thought he wouldn't hear.

"I know," he responded after a pause, lips twitching into the ghost of a smirk before it disappeared. He opened his mouth just a little in consideration, then let it fall closed again, finding no words equivalent to the months he'd spent hunting her down, killing demons left and right when they dared to even cause a slight distraction in his search. He couldn't find words equivalent to the months he'd spent looking for _any _sign of her presence, for _any _rumor considering a seductress, or even a surreal-looking demoness with bizarre energy.

How could he explain such things in a simple word or two? How could he explain that he went _weeks _without sleep, for a while thinking she'd died. And when he _did _sleep, he'd dreamt of things she'd told him about her 'mishaps', as if they happened _without _her having any protection whatsoever.

There was no way he could explain such insanity, when he himself didn't even know what it meant to its full extent. _*****_

"Thank you." She added after a second or two of his silence once he'd responded. "For finding me."

Her hands paused and she blinked, eyes far-away and seeing him in her room, in this very room, only days-_has it really only been __**days**__? Seems like months_-before. She really couldn't quantify how long she'd been lost and wandering the new world, as each day blurred into the next in the repetition of activity. It hadn't taken long after Kyonshi had succumbed to the disease that she contracted from him for her to go insane from it herself, consuming demon after demon in subsequently larger amounts to feed her ever-growing hunger. 3

Hiei didn't respond right away, his mind months away to the first demon who'd tested him, who'd died within seconds of angering the fire demon. Kafu hadn't stopped him, and really, Hiei had done the demon's bar no harm. There hadn't even been a mess to clean up by the time Hiei had had his fill and taken his leave. It was a wonder the demon had even allowed Hiei to return a few weeks later, for the exact same result to occur.

After that, he'd steered clear of the Niiro.

That is, until He'd found Shikiyoku.

Hiei's eyelids slid open to stare up at Shikiyoku again, not giving way to any of his thoughts. "You're not easy to track down when you don't want to be found," he commented in an even tone. _*****_

That earned him a bit of a laugh and drew her back to the present where she starting cutting at his hair again, a small smile settling over her features.

"I'm fairly certain I wanted to make sure there was only _one_ demon who would be _able _to track me down." Even with her mind completely devoid of any thoughts save her hunger, she had continued to return to this house. Even when she had been set on running, she always found her way back here, though she hadn't realized it. 3

Hiei's lips twitched slightly in amusement and his eyes crinkled just a little at the edges. "Even when you don't know me, you wait for me." He let his eyelids slide closed again, and suddenly the smirk on his lips was gone, along with his amusement. Was he distracting her from finding this… _Consort_ she needed?

She may _want _him around now, but she didn't _need _him, and he was very likely serving as nothing more than a distraction from the chaos brewing even just down the stairs. In this very house. And what exactly was he supposed to do about that?

Especially when he wanted to do _nothing _about it but continue as he was? _*****_

"Doesn't that seem to confirm that I know you _quite _well actually?" She appeared to be concentrating on his hair, but her eyes gleamed in spite of her neutral expression.

She took a step back to examine her work and tilted her head, gently encouraging Hiei to tip his face upwards in her direction by the way her fingers came underneath his chin and lightly pressed into it. 3

"Perhaps," Hiei responded calmly, his eyelids sliding open again and his head tipping back at Shikiyoku's prompting. He eyed her for a moment while his left hand came up to run over the hair at the back of his neck, testing the length and finding it exactly the length he'd wanted it to be. It was satisfying, to say the least, that his neck no longer itched and his eyelashes no longer caught his bangs. He took in a deep breath of satisfaction and let his hand fall to his lap again, and he leaned further back into the chair.

"Much better." He commented. "My thanks." Of course, he was aware she wasn't finished yet, but at this moment, it didn't matter much because the most irritating part of it all had been dealt with. _*****_

She dropped her hand from his chin, finding herself unable to resist the smile his words pulled from her lips. Not that she particularly wanted to resist it, mind. It had been a long time since she'd been able to even make the expression.

"Any time, flame-boy." She shifted her stance a couple of steps to his left and started cutting there again. 3

Hiei sat in pleasant silence while Shikiyoku moved to continue her work, his eyes staring ahead blankly as he listened to the scissors cutting, to her calm breathing and to the rain outside that, oddly enough, didn't bother him anymore. Then again, he wasn't out in it, was he?

His lips suddenly twitched. "It'd be faster with a blade."

Of course, he was only poking fun at her. _*****_

"But of course." She quickly replied, face serious. "Why do you think I decided to use scissors?"

As if she'd pass up on an opportunity to lengthen the time she could spend alone with him. Not that she trusted herself to _not _lop off one of his ears should she have used such a device.

Heh. 3

He tried to look at her from the corners of his eyes, and only gained vision of her arm. "Tired of bird-brain already? He hasn't been here long, I'm sure." His lips twitched into a sneer. "Quite the fool, if I do say so myself." He paused to turn his eyes forward again, blinked once, then released a small huff of air. "Birds."

He'd _never _had a good experience with the species. _*****_

"If you truly think him a fool, then he hasn't changed a bit. You're _supposed _to think he's a fool. It made our work that much easier back in the day. People tend to let things slip while you're around if they underestimate you." She ruefully thought of how that exact situation had led to him teaming up with her and Kitoushi. "He's not as dumb as he looks. He's actually quite-" The word caught in her throat and she tried not to laugh. Fierce. She wasn't about to use _that _word to describe anyone else anymore, even if Taka's hawk/falcon heritage lent itself to such a descriptor. "Ruthless." 3

Hiei didn't reply to Shikiyoku for a while. How could he, when he knew the only reason he called Taka a fool was because of the conversation he wasn't supposed to have overheard. He shifted in his spot just a little at the thought, at the remembrance of that night so long ago. Just _thinking _about it had him feeling… odd. Because she _still _didn't know he'd heard, and he _still_, to this day, trusted her with his entire being for it. Still wanted to _protect_ her, to repay her for it simply because…

Because she'd been the first he'd ever _heard_ defend him in such a way, to someone she'd known _much _longer than he, no less. She'd shot down a close friend for a demon who'd pacted at the most random of times, who'd quite literally not given a damn about her for the longest of time, and even after the pact still hadn't been sure how he had felt about her in any way. Some days he'd wanted to be rid of her. Other days he'd enjoyed her presence.

And, well, needless to say, after that night at the Niiro, he'd had no problem performing as her Champion. He'd even _enjoyed _it, to the point where, sitting here without the pact, he felt _odd _and _out of place. _As if the pact had _always _been there.

And he'd be lying if he said he was glad she'd broken it.

Lying through his teeth. _*****_

She wasn't sure if she should tell Hiei that he and Taka were actually a lot alike in some ways, but quickly decided against it given that it appeared Hiei's predisposition towards the bird-demon was a negative one and the comparison would likely get her into unnecessary trouble with the fire apparition. She was enjoying the simplicity of the current moment too much, one where she didn't have to think about the days she had ahead of her.

...she'd never thought she would ever reach a point where she quite possibly never wanted to have to kiss another ever again.

Granted, none of these kisses were _romantic _in nature. She could barely remember the last time _that _had happened.

She tensed briefly as her lips tingled, recalling the feeling of Kit's own lips pressed against them only hours ago. Soft and warm. Just as they had always been.

She heaved a rather large sigh inside her mind, wishing Renai had told her straight-out about the fact that she would need to be _kissed _to return to her true self.

_Do you really think Hiei would have obliged? Better that you didn't know rather than be disappointed._

Ain't _that _the truth. Like he'd be caught dead doing something like that to her.

For her.

...

Whatever.

She quickly focused back in on Hiei's hair in an attempted to derail her train of thought as it was making the tips of her ears pink.

_Tch. Like some human schoolgirl. _3

Hiei remembered standing outside the Niiro that night, only for a minute or two, before turning and heading back inside to order a drink. And the brief conversation he'd had with Kafu, who'd told him that Shikiyoku had thought the fire demon didn't _wish _to be around her, didn't _want _the pact or anything to do with her.

He wondered if she still felt that way sometimes, even now.

He opened his mouth to speak, but became distracted by the odd feeling of the temperature around Shikiyoku going up just a hair, around the area of her head. His eyes turned to the side to make another attempt at looking at her face, but as earlier, he couldn't.

"Is the fever back?" He suddenly asked, slight concern knotting in his gut because, for all he knew, she could revert back to her previous state of mind at any moment. He didn't know what _caused_ it. _*****_

"Hm?" She intoned, distracted for a moment before her mind played back his question for her. "Uh, no." She quickly followed up. "It, uh, I'm not affected by it when I'm like this."

_The problem will be when I inevitably switch. _She frowned.

_Also, __**please **__don't ask what that spike in temperature was just now._

Not that she expected him to. 3

Hiei raised a brow. "You mean, you're not affected by it when you're normal?" Hiei paraphrased, not even slightly amused by the way she danced around the wording. Though, he recognized that she did it merely because she likely didn't _enjoy _the thought of it. Which, really, made two of them.

"Good." He finally intoned, deciding that he was fine with her answer. And, relieved. _*****_

She let out a small chuckle, "I think the correct terminology would be 'true form' as opposed to 'normal.' But...yes...'good.'"

At least until she got into a situation where she would switch and-

_So why haven't you talked to Kit about it?_

She was frowning again, as she had begun to do when repeating Hiei's pronouncing the situation 'good,' which she found a relative term, seeing as how she was still technically sick.

And she hadn't talked to Kit about it because he would probably suggest something insane, like insisting that she let him contract the disease just so he could analyse it and come up with a cure like he always did.

_He hasn't failed yet has he? _

The crease between her brows deepened.

_It's the __**yet **__I'm concerned about. _3

Hiei crossed one ankle over the other underneath the chair, resisting the urge to shift in his seat and prop his feet on her desk, mainly because it would halt Shikiyoku's work- and likely mess it up. Which he knew would make the process twice as long.

Which he wouldn't mind, except that he rather liked his hair.

And his ears., might he add.

So he sat still, patient. Calm. _*****_

Settling into a rhythm of combing, holding, cutting, and repeating the process, Shikiyoku found her mind wandering, her thoughts centered around the demon under her hands, her mind patterning into memories of her time with him that she could only now recall in completion, finding herself more than once resisting a scoff at the actions of the one called Toriko.

She came across one she lingered upon, one that happened not all that long after Hiei had accidentally pacted with her.

"_I do not understand." She found herself confused, "How does one make snow 'sweet?'"_

"_Sugar..."_

"_Shu-gahr." The word was the weirdest one of them all._

...her 'first' encounter with-_heh_-sweet snow. One she cherished with a fondness she could not rightly explain.

"_Mi'lady, are you doing alright?" _The velveteen thought brushed around the edges of her mind, respecting her too much to completely invade.

"_Quite alright." _She replied silently into the silky smooth presence she felt in her head that awaited her answer.

Almost as if he melted out from the shadows cast by the lamp nearby, a small, sleek black cat sat a foot or two away from the chair in which Hiei sat, tail curled neatly about his paws, though the tip of it lifted and rested back down onto the ground in time to some internal beat of the animal.

The blue and brown eyes each seemed to glow a little in the low-light, regarding the scene before him with unblinking eyes. 3

Hiei's eyelids slid closed, and for a moment, he could have sworn he could just tilt his head back and… and just _sleep. _Because he hadn't slept when Shikiyoku did. Nor the night before…. perhaps. He couldn't rightly recall at the moment.

He took in a slow breath through his nostrils. For a few moments, he let that air out through his lips, and for the first time in what felt like years, his mind was blank and his entire body was relaxed, and he was pretty sure that if he allowed it, if he let himself sleep now, it would be a dreamless, very restful sleep.

_If _he allowed himself.

Which was rather difficult to resist at the moment.

"...woman." Hiei huffed out, in an almost impatient way. How did she make it so _easy _to feel so _tired_ and _relaxed_ around her? _*****_

"I'm almost done." She murmured, moving over to his other side smoothly. She had no way of knowing the last time he actually had a chance to rest. And now that his self-imposed quest was at an end, it came as little surprise to her how easily he was starting to slip away, though she took his word and impatience in such a manner that he wished her to finish so he could take such rest.

"_I wonder when Youko will show..." _Kit commented so that Shikiyoku could hear him, his tail still slowly curling and uncurling up and down over his front paws.

"_Hm?" _

Kit blinked at her once before his eyes slid to the mark he could see just starting to extend down the fire demon's left shoulder, a portion of it having just begun to climb up his neck.

It came as little surprise to Kitoushi that her most recent Champion should bear it as well as he. And he felt assured in thinking it quite likely his fox-cousin had been marked in much the same way.

"_This will be...most interesting." _His eyes flashed briefly at the thought.

Shikiyoku glanced up as the cat unwound himself and turned to slip out the room the same way he entered and she followed his path with a puzzled expression before he seemed to melt back into the darkness and disappear.

Quietly, Shikiyoku made sure with her last cut that she caught a lock of Hiei's hair, turning to place the scissors and comb inside the leather pouch and pressing the hair against a smooth stone in one of the other pockets.

It glowed softly, the other hair from her work silently joining its brethren on the surface of the rock, where it disappeared.

She smiled at the easy clean-up, zipping the pouch closed and placing it in the bottom drawer, readying herself to leave the room. 3

Hiei made a sound of acknowledgement at Shikiyoku's response, though it hadn't been what he'd wanted. He didn't mean to tell her to _hurry up_ or anything of the sort, but…. Well, it was probably better that she _did_, so he wouldn't actually fall asleep and suddenly loll his head one way or the other. _That _wouldn't be good.

Before he knew it, she was stepping away, and Hiei's eyes were open halfway, his feet on the floor and moving him to the bed silently, grabbing his cloak and scarf. He tossed them both onto his body in a lazy manner, his cloak fluttering in the silence as it settled around his body once more, his scarf hugging his neck the moment he was done winding it around the way he liked it.

And without further prompting, he simply let himself get comfortable on her bed, which included first simply falling onto it, and then rolling until he was comfortable on his side, facing the door. His eyes slid open again to glance at Shikiyoku, fully expecting her to join him, and making a small sound of impatience when she moved to leave.

"You're too far _away_, woman." he grumbled across the room at her. _*****_

Shikiyoku froze in place, her hand in mid-reach for the doorknob and fully intending to open the door. She only realized after he spoke that she _had _in fact heard him get up from the chair, though she honestly thought before this moment that he had just fallen asleep there.

Despite the fact that she blinked a couple of times, conflicted-perhaps _confused_-she couldn't help but hear herself in those words, if at the time _she _spoke them her tone had been more _emphatic. _His still had an eerily similar portion of demand to it though.

"_The part where shut __**up**_ _you're too far away."_

As she turned away from the door, taking a step in his direction, a smile fought to win-out over her puzzled expression, much the same one she'd given Kit a few minutes ago.

She took another step, gaze flickering over to the chair he had previously occupied and the thought of pulling it over to sit in occurring. 3

Hiei's irises flashed just a little at the confusion on Shikiyoku's face, his lips twitching to show slight amusement at her _predicament_ that he imposed upon her. He considered the words _I don't bite_, but quickly dismissed them and took a deep sigh of comfort, where his body sank into the bed some more. He considered repeating what he'd said, but knew it wouldn't help her.

He gave another small sound of content, though he wasn't _fully _able to slip into sleep just yet.

And he had the sudden thought that he did _not _want her to leave the room, or go down those stairs. Because then he'd be giving up his time that he could have with her, and that would mean that time would be going to, very likely, Taka.

_No._

"You're being ridiculous. Just come _here _already." His hand hit the mattress once. "_Please." __*****_

She...almost wanted to..._laugh_. And it wasn't at _him_, though he had certainly _never _acted _quite _in this manner to her knowledge.

It was at herself, and for freezing in place again at that _look _he had given her before speaking, leaving her blinking at him until he spoke up.

And at his 'please,' her resolve at...whatever she'd been resolved to do-_probably grab the chair if you'd had enough sense of mind to do __**anything **__with him looking at you like that, eh?_-melted and she moved forward without hardly realizing it, her feet padding softly on the carpet as she closed the distance between herself and the bedside, hesitating only for a hitch when she reached it before climbing on top of the covers and laying down next to him, facing him, with a relatively neutral expression on her face through which she attempted to mask her confusion.

Had it been anyone else asking for her presence-Taka, Kitoushi, even Youko-she would have known what was acceptable. Had they given her a similar look to the one Hiei wore moments ago, she would have without hesitation gathered them into her arms and fallen asleep _easily_.

So...what was it about this one that made her feel so completely _awkward _about being asked to remain nearby? 3

Hiei blinked only once within the time it took Shikiyoku to move across the room and lay upon the mattress with him, facing him with an expression he took as guarded, if only mildly so. His lips twitched in amusement and he pulled his arm closer to his body, as if afraid she didn't have enough room to lay with him.

Suddenly, he was so comfortable that his eyelids were too heavy to remain open, and every ounce of his body relaxed further into the bed, so much so that he felt light as a feather. His lips twitched once and for a moment, he wondered what about this person made him so comfortable.

Because every time he was with her, it was… normally, peaceful. And if it wasn't peaceful, then one of them would resolve it some way or another. And, in the end, it ended up like _this._

_How?_

"You…" he began in a mumble, taking a moment to refuse a yawn. _What _was he saying? He didn't even know. "You're comfortable." There was a pause, and suddenly he felt the need to elaborate. "Like… like _home._" _*****_

That was...that was it, really. All it took. Something so simplistic as that to tell her all she really had to do for this one right now was _be _there. Next to him. That it was all he wanted of her at that moment.

"Home, hm?" She murmured, wondering if it was possible for someone to consider another 'home,' instead of say an actual building or the like, no matter where they ended up.

Strangely enough, she didn't remember having this sort of affect on anyone else, to just sort of...be nearby and lull them into sleep as he seemed to be so very near at that moment.

With his eyes closed, it afforded her a chance to look at him without his direct knowledge, something she couldn't remember having done in a long while.

She felt rather smug about his hair, which looked nice if she did say so herself.

_And I do._ 3

Hiei made a sound of affirmation, a sound that just _barely _made it to his lips. There was another beat of silence before he gave another sleepy sigh.

"I didn't know that this is what it felt like."

He was sure half of those words came out gibberish, that his sentence had been nothing more than scattered sounds, but hey, whatever. Now that he'd said it, he was entirely content to just go to sleep now, and face whatever she had to say about it later. That is, if she _did _say anything. _*****_

Her mouth came open as if she had something to say, some comment to make, but her lips came back together and she only smiled at him.

_Home, huh? _She resisted the urge to actually scoff, her next thought containing more fondness than the words themselves would have indicated. _...foolish demon. _

As if watching him somehow transferred his apparent exhaustion, she found her eyes growing heavier, her smile softening but never completely going away as she followed after the fire demon into a dreamless sleep. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	77. Episode 161 - Waking Up and Stalling

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of this FanFiction Realm!

Nothing to say except that I hope you enjoy it!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

As Shikiyoku is trimming Hiei's hair, Kitoushi in pet-form appears and takes note of Hiei's mark,  
wondering when Youko will show as it is likely the other former Champion is marked as well.

Once he leaves, Shikiyoku finishes and a tired Hiei helps himself to her bed,  
plopping down and only opening his eyes once he realizes Shikiyoku means to leave.

Unwilling that she spend her time with _Taka_, though unaware that he himself is marked,  
Hiei tells her to stay with him, and after a moment she obliges him, laying down on the other side of the bed.

The two of them fall asleep a few feet from one another.

~!**!~

Meanwhile, Kurama and Akari had fallen asleep in together Youko's meadow.

The next morning...

* * *

"_Come home for a week, love. Visit your family. __**Our **__family." _

Behind her eyelids was the ever-smiling face of Isamu, whose eyes were bright and smile wide.

"_You'll love it again. You'll get to run with us again, like the old days."_

Her eyelids suddenly snapped open, and Akari was staring at an unfamiliar sky, with dark clouds moving across her view. Her jaw was clenched and she huffed out a breath through her teeth. Whatever plant her arm was tangled in, she quickly untangled it and tossed it over her eyes, but not before she saw the mark on her wrist- the mark that hadn't moved an inch, just as the demon had promised. The mark that had likely caused the dreams in the first place.

_I don't __**want **__to._

"_Come home, love."_

Akari gave another huff, then decided she needed to figure out where she was, and _why _she was laying in the grass. Disoriented as she was, she had no idea even what _layer_ she was on, much less _why_ she was there in the first place. _*****_

Kurama's eyes came open of their own accord, though what had grabbed his attention was _internal_.

_[She's awake, Red.]_

The words still echoed across his consciousness, sounding much more patient than the voice had been the day before.

"Sleep well?" He murmured, making his voice sound as if he weren't as wide-awake as Youko made him, watching her carefully.

_[The mark might draw her home. She gets there...and you'll likely never see her again.]_

The fox answered Kurama's query before the thing fully formed in his head. It led to him releasing an internal sigh.

_{In the end, it's up to her.}_

_[You'd just...__**let her go**__? As easy as that? Won't put up a fight?]_

_{You know better than anyone that I wouldn't particularly want her to go. But neither do I think her pack would readily allow a __**fox **__to join their ranks.}_

_[Maybe not...'readily.']_

~!**!~

She was drifting at the edge of awareness, the steady increase of light in the room doing more to draw her away from sleep than anything in particular, but the pathway was slow and without rush, because in sleep there were no worries, in sleep there was no concern.

To say that she acknowledged that she had been moved would have been giving her too much credit. Sure, she _felt _herself being shifted in a forward manner, but there was nothing to fear about such things when one was home, now was there? After all, home was a _fortress _of safety within which one could not be touched by outside forces who sought to do one harm.

That wasn't to say she didn't, after a second of settling, cozy up to the warmth she could feel radiating in her direction, even if she didn't entirely understand it yet. It did, however, earn itself a rather complete sigh that felt like came from her entire body instead of just out her nose, that speck of tension her subconscious had been so desperately clutching as she slept-the one that had made sure she did not so much as inch forward during the night-disappearing all at once when the source of said tension alleviated the situation _for _it.

_Home. _3

Hiei stopped moving as Shikiyoku's body began to shift, though his arms never left her. He allowed her room to get comfortable, which she didn't really need since she drew _closer_, and once she was settled, he too settled again. His nose remained against her skull of messy hair, his arms around her midsection loosely, as if afraid she'd suddenly need room to breathe if he held her too tightly.

The scent he drank in was one he'd missed for _months_. While he'd had her scent on his cloak for a while, it was _nothing _compared to actually being with her again.

Even if he still feared she'd suddenly shift demeanors and attack. He'd defend himself in any way he could, no problem.

And if she did, well…

Hm.

He really couldn't care less. He would handle as best he could. The thought fizzled away into nothingness, and Hiei was completely comfortable all over again, his eyelids sliding shut once more. His mind, however, did not return to sleep. Instead, he listened to the sounds of the morning, and, more specifically, Shikiyoku's even breathing that said she was here, and she was perfectly fine.

~!**!~

Akari nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of another's voice, her entire body tensing for just a moment before she realized she'd, somehow, not felt Kurama's presence or registered his scent on the air. And once she realized who it was, she was fully capable of telling where she was, how long she'd been there, and _why_ she'd come.

She slid the arm away from her eyes and blinked a few times, trying to rid herself of the blur that her vision had taken on.

"Not too bad, considering I momentarily forgot where I was," she said with a half-hearted smile, not turning to look at him. Her eyes stared at the clouds above, her hand now resting on her stomach.

"_Come home."_

"It was definitely more restful than any night I've had recently. Portal work sucked."

"_The pack needs you."_

"What about you?" _*****_

"I think this bed is quite likely the most comfortable I've ever slept in."

_[You're welcome.]_

"Now that you've gotten me to sleep next to you again, what's your _second _act as a free woman going to be?"

~!**!~

Before actually realizing what she was doing, still mostly asleep, Shikiyoku's arms slid almost automatically out from where they had come to rest pressed against her chest, between herself and Hiei, and slipped themselves loosely around the fire demon, her face burying itself against him.

She subsequently let out a loud push of air out her nose before taking in a silent breath, her lips parting themselves as she grasped something in the aura around him even while not completely present in mind.

"I only switch...if I feel physically threatened..." She wasn't coherent enough to remind him of her former defenselessness-and how her 'switch' was the solution to that and the cause for the dissolving of her ability to pact-and her words came out mumbled through barely parting lips, so she turned her head to the left until her cheek was pressed against him so the words wouldn't be too muffled by his clothing to understand, "S'long as you don' plan on...tryin' tah kill me or somefin'..." _That _thought was amusing to consider, her chest briefly releasing a sound in reference to that amusement, "...heh... ...you've gah no reas'n...tah be concerned...flame-boy." She smiled a rather sleepy smile. 3

Hiei pulled his nose away from her hair when she moved, instead resting his chin near her head and letting his eyelids stay closed even as she spoke. He made the quietest of hums in recognition of her reassurances, knowing that she was still asleep, mostly, and giving her the chance to fall back into sleep entirely should she wish it.

With her so close and his arm draped over her, it made it much easier for Hiei's fingers to just brush her hair, though he wasn't really aware of the motion, and a small twitch of his lips occurred when he recalled the time he'd wanted nothing more than to do just this.

Because he'd been totally _convinced _she'd had strawberries in her hair at the time. _Fool. _

~!**!~

Akari took a deep breath of the heavy air, her eyes still staring at the clouds that slid across her view. She nodded once in agreement with his statement of this _bed_, and after another moment she turned to look at him finally, staring at him evenly as she considered his question.

_I shouldn't feel so lousy._ _I mean, __**look**__. Look who you're with. Remember, you __**craved **__this moment, Akari? Come on, let it go, even just for a minute._

Akari suddenly rolled over, closing the distance between herself and Kurama to lay with her face buried in his shoulder. "Jus' gimme a minute' mmkay?" she grumbled against him. "I'm… not awake ye'." _*****_

Kurama's expression softened when she drew closer, though he had every intention of giving her all the time in the world should she wish it.

The arm that was not pillowed underneath his head reach out as if to encircle her, changing direction after passing over her back and coming up to find its way to her hair, gently tangling inside it and resting there softly, draped over her shoulder.

"You take all the time you need." He murmured.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a breath of air, momentarily curling closer into Hiei before relaxing again.

"Don'..." How did she put it? She wasn't really awake enough to know. "Don' _go _anywhere...m'kay?" As if a dream, the emotions she'd felt when separated from him entire _years _ago drifted over her mind, when she'd spent, what, practically a week attempting to tear her way through a mountain?

Sure, _he _hadn't exactly gone anywhere, they'd been forced apart, but how was she supposed to put _that _into words. 'Don't get torn away from me again 'cuz I don't like it 'cuz it sucked.'

Right. 3

Hiei's lips twitched ever so slightly at Shikiyoku's request. _Foolish woman. _He wouldn't leave her right now for… well, anything. Not a single thing in this realm could draw him away at this moment. "Whatever you say," he responded just as quietly, completely and utterly amused at the turn of events.

Just a year ago, he wouldn't have even come within a foot's radius of another's bed. Much less actually _shared _it with them. And he sure as heck wouldn't have _told _the other that he'd willingly stay.

And yet here he was, hoping _she _didn't randomly decide to get up and wander away.

_I missed you. _

What an odd thing to admit to himself, that he missed someone. It was… certainly a first for him.

~!**!~

AKari's eyes were squeezed shut and her nose buried in Kurama's shoulder, her lips only parting for a moment to release a small breath of air, her mind creating a mantra to shove away all other thoughts. After all, this was _her_ time. Not his. Not Isamu's… He wasn't _allowed_ to be the sole thing on her mind. It just wasn't acceptable.

Not when she could just get comfortable right where she was.

...If only her mind would _stop._

_Why did he come here anyway?_

_Stop it._

Her hand grabbed at his shirt just a bit. "Thank you."

_For letting me just be here. Because I know there's probably a million other things you __**could**_ _be doing right now, but you aren't. Because I asked. __*****_

"Mm." He intoned, letting his eyes slide closed again, his nose filling with the scent of rosemary as she drew still. "You should know by now that I would be _here _in an instant should you want it." He dipped his face down until he touched her head. "You only need ask."

He of course meant _here _next to her, regardless of location, meadow or otherwise.

Sometimes she might be dragged here when he felt she didn't know how to ask, however. Like with the day before. Everyone needs a place of safety. Of escape.

_[You're welcome.]_

Kurama could feel the fox was watching, waiting, but Youko did not urge him further in any manner.

_[You know what I wish. And I can wait. For this.]_

~!**!~

'And because I do crazy things when we're not together.'

That one was _sure _to go over well, should she figure out how to make her lips form the phrase. As if she hadn't already proved that, the evidence still somewhere in the house below them in the form of two demons Marked for her.

"I mmmm," She still hadn't decided if she wanted to wake up or not, almost afraid that she was dreaming, that she'd wake up alone and unable to remember the dream, much less who she was. Almost afraid that she'd break whatever spell had been woven into the air around her, the one that had drawn her into Hiei's arms.

...because if she _did _wake up, he might now be there at all. It hardly seemed likely she could feel so very warm and, well, happy, because something like _this _didn't happen to her. Not where _he _was concerned. Not when she could still remember clearly how stiff his interactions on this level had always been with her.

But that was...a decade ago, right?

_How long was it for him? I should ask._

"I missed you." The admission came out breathy, and at that exact moment she couldn't remember if she had said as much before or not. If she had, maybe he needed to be reminded. And if she hadn't, he needed to be told. 3

Hiei wound a finger into Shikiyoku's hair, then let the locks slide from his digit before letting his hand simply rest against it, the silky-smoothness of her hair just as he'd imagined it would be, but hadn't ever tested until this moment.

His eyelids slid open again to regard the calm expression of Shikiyoku, his own expression just as calm, with a hint of amusement and… something else he couldn't rightly place. And when she spoke, he realized he hadn't told her the same, that perhaps she too needed to hear those words from _him. _No matter how odd it was to taste those words on his tongue.

"I... " he paused, wondering of other ways to say it, but instead just jumped in and said the words anyway, "...missed you too." It was as simple as that.

~!**!~

Akari released a small hum against Kurama's shoulder, her thought slowly, but surely, turning away from what had woken her and to the peaceful moment, to the person she had rolled over to and took refuge in. She was entirely enveloped in the calm air around this person now, and with her nose in his shirt and his arm over her, it was actually _difficult_ to ignore his absolutely wonderful presence now, his absolutely marvelous reassurances likely more potent to her than he realized.

Her body released the last vestiges of tension the moment he was done speaking, her fingers loosening their hold on his shirt just slightly as she gave a small sigh to herself.

"I'll bear that in mind," she grumbled to him, ignoring the itching of her wrist that said Isamu was checking her state of being. _*****_

"Be sure that you do." He replied, finding that he had begun to smile.

_You don't even have to need me here. Or even __**want **__me here. Truth is, I'd just __**be **__here._

He shifted imperceptibly, the meadow feeling as soft as heather underneath him.

_[Funny how one inconsequential being can have you so utterly wrapped up in them that you don't even realize it at the time.]_

_{And how did that happen for __**you **__exactly?}_

_[...I don't want to talk about it.]_

~!**!~

She felt a little foolish at how completely incapable of removing the idiotic smile from her face she was at that moment, the gesture plastered over her features and her skin buzzing a little at his admission.

Not enough to be out of control, because in her lack of awareness there wasn't much of it to access, but enough that her scalp prickled pleasantly, the feeling spreading down the rest of her body.

If she had the sense of mind, she would have analyzed the phenomenon, but at that exact moment she had little else to do but let it happen.

"...stupid fire-prince." _Making me do things I can't control. _3

Hiei could see the smile that formed on Shikiyoku's lips, and he took the moment to simply stare, to note the way her eyes crinkled even while still closed and a dimple formed in her cheek. It was such a pleasant expression, and he found it hard to believe that _he'd_ caused that smile. That she was smiling because _he'd_ admitted to missing _her. _That had been all it took?

He'd have to do it more often then. Speak words he hadn't ever considered using before he'd met her.

_You make me do ridiculous things, woman._

"Foolish woman."

~!**!~

Akari didn't respond to Kurama. She simply lay there, eyes closed and lips twitching just a fraction before her expression turned to a calm one again. She turned her head to rest her cheek against his shoulder now, her eyes opening halfway to peer at the redhead almost curiously.

_When did this begin, exactly?_

When had she become _so _comfortable around him that she actually didn't _mind_ being so close to him, even at times _wanted_ to be like this when she'd had a hard day or… just _wanted _to be here? When exactly did she realize that not only did she enjoy this, but he'd _let _her?

….

"You know… I never asked…" she began, suddenly voicing a curiosity she'd harbored for… a while. "What caused the sudden change in demeanor that day in the park? One day I was the equivalent to Toguro, the next you sent me up a tree for fun. Why?" _*****_

It didn't take long for the redhead to remember his reasoning at the time.

"There is not a single person who is ever truly _meant _to be alone." He opened his eyes, looking absently but not really _seeing_. "And believing such can be quite dangerous. You were..."

_[Careful, Red.]_

"No longer alone." He smiled and blinked, focusing in on her hair. "If an innocent pup had befriended you, then you couldn't really have been all that bad. They sense things naturally, without prejudice. In a way..._he _changed my mind."

~!**!~

Her energy buzzed a little more and she frowned.

"Dammit. Stop that." She told herself in a mumble.

She didn't _want _to wake up yet, but it was getting harder not to. And, truthfully, she really did fear she was dreaming, that everything would simply evaporate around her into nothingness and he'd...and he'd be _gone _again. 3

Hiei released a scoff of amusement and shifted around a bit, stretching his legs out as far as they could go and earning a satisfying pop of one knee and crack of his lower back. He settled into place again afterwards and released another scoff.

"You started it, woman." _Don't tell me what to do. _

The tug on his lips made his thoughts much less harsher than they should have been, his irises sparking in amusement.

~!**!~

"Nabu." Akari breathed out the dog's name, her lips turning up in a fond smile of her friend. It reminded her that she needed to spend a day with him soon, like they used to do, before he went insane about it. Because, really, he'd worked just as hard as she had. Being dragged around wasn't fun, she knew.

She released a breathy laugh.

"Even now, he still refers to you as 'Flowers' on occasion."

_Silly dog._

Had she been told at the time the dog had started following her that it would, in some odd way, lead to _this, _she would have very likely barked out a laugh at whoever had said it and made an escape from the loon. _*****_

Kurama let out a little chuckle at the knowledge, reaching smoothly for the meadow grass behind her head and coaxing one of the flowers to his fingers, plucking it and filling it with his energy to make it bloom.

Its light was faded in the sun, but still gave it a bit of a glow and he pulled his arm back between the two of them so the glow might be that much more pronounced, twirling the stem gently to make the petals dance just shy of Akari's face.

"I did say they were rather perceptive creatures. I can't imagine a more appropriate name for him to christen me with."

~!**!~

Her frown melted as she felt his chest rumbling when he spoke, fading into a faint smile.

"Not _you_." She clarified. "I don't want _you _to stop." _Never want you to stop. Not when I feel so warm and...safe in your arms. Like...like home. Like you said._ 3

Hiei gave another scoff of amusement at Shikiyoku's response, the air around her giving him more of a response than she'd verbally given him. As if she didn't mind because… well, she rather _enjoyed_ his taunting. Which made the moment all the more satisfying.

He didn't say anything for a minute, deciding to let silence hang in the air between them for a while since they both seemed relaxed enough to not _need _speech to actually communicate.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes opened all the way when Kurama moved, tucking herself closer to him in the moment that he reached over her for the flower he plucked before placing it in the space she allowed between them in the next moment. She could still see the glow giving the flower it's blueish-green color, even in the light of the few rays of the sun that managed to slip between the clouds.

"He could've just called you Fox, since I am pretty sure he sees Youko's attributes too. But, hey, Flowers works, and I can't say it isn't a good one." She gave him a lopsided grin. _*****_

"Which do I seem more like to you, hm? A fox or a flower?" He let his arm move back over her shoulders once she'd taken the bloom from him, burying his hand in her hair again and doing much the same with his face, eyes closing though he smiled against her head.

~!**!~

_**Am **__I dreaming? It's hard to tell._

She blinked slowly, eyes finally opening a fraction to the darkness afforded her by both the color of Hiei's cloak and how his body blocked the light from the window for her. She let them close again.

Shikiyoku let the stillness grow around her, almost able to sense this bubble they'd created for themselves, one that outside influences had yet to penetrate.

She might kill anything that tried.

"Hiei...am I dreaming?" 3

"If this were a dream, do you actually think your dream would _tell _you?" Hiei responded easily, lips twitching up into a sneer. "Hardly." He made a sound of amusement and pulled his arm from around her so that he may scratch at the side of his head, then proceeding to smooth down the hair that he felt was sticking up there.

"Though, if you wanted, you _could _be dreaming."

~!**!~

Akari took the flower in her hand and proceeded to move her arm to lay cross Kurama's midsection, her hand holding the flower even as it hung over his back. She took a deep breath, readied to say something, but instead released the breath as her wrist began to itch again.

_Stop it._

Another twinge and she was giving another sigh.

_No._

"Are you hungry?"

Another itch, and she was fighting the urge to rub at her wrist. _I don't come to you when called, moron. __*****_

"I have no intention of leaving this spot until you do." He announced mildly, growing quieter after a moment.

"You don't...ever _have _to tell me anything, and I'm unlikely to press you for answers in any case should you not wish to speak about something, but I will listen. If you wish." His eyes opened again and he watched his fingers weave into her hair.

~!**!~

"It might." She retorted, "Though I can see how it wouldn't tell me if it were _you_." Her voice lowered, "That _would _be just like you."

"...if I'm not dreaming right _now_," She took up again at his last words, a hand moving to smooth along the back of his cloak before coming to a rest against him. "Then why would I want to start?" 3

"You asked." Hiei retorted calmly, even giving a small shrug of his shoulders. He would hardly give an attempt to _convince _her she wasn't dreaming. She'd just have to see for herself, he decided. "Unless," he suddenly thought, mischief coloring his entire being, "you want me to _pinch_ you."

~!**!~

Akari felt probably a bit too much satisfaction at Kurama's answer than she should have, but there was a part of her that was monumentally glad she didn't _have _to get up at that moment. She'd strongly considered it, but really, she was too comfortable now.

Another itch of her wrist and she shifted, looping her arm through the space between his neck and the ground where, for a brief moment, she reached to rub at the mark on her right wrist. _Pain in my backside, you are._

"It's.." she paused, both in speaking and in rubbing to give a small sigh. Part of her _wanted _to tell him, but at the same time, there was just so _much _she'd have to explain. Such as the actual reason she'd be going back. That was something… she didn't want to touch on. It was the reason she said an absolute _no _to returning home, even after things settled down.

"Isamu's.. I grew up with him. Rather, he actually _watched _over me for most of my life back home. The marking thing is how he used to keep me out of trouble, because I wasn't a fighter. It's not really a big deal, it's just… irritating when he tugs on his energy." She rubbed again at her wrist before letting her arm settle again. _*****_

"He must have some reason for marking you _now _of all times." Kurama mentioned, feeling within him Youko shifting at the reminders of being 'marked.' The fox said nothing though.

"Of course, now that you've been released from the main portion of your duties, I suppose you can do anything you like." And he would...accept it. Quite possibly begrudgingly, depending on her choice. And he wasn't going to promise _not _to suddenly decide no one else was allowed to monopolize her time but him.

...but that might have just been the Youko in him.

_[You're much more like me than you wish to admit, Red.]_

~!**!~

_That _had her tensing up as if he might do it, her eyes fluttering open again as she tried to sort through a pleasantly tired brain that couldn't tell if he _desired _to do so or not.

"Noooo," She finally managed to protest through her lips, scrunching up smaller against him. 3

Hiei's lips pulled into a larger sneer, his teeth momentarily showing through the gesture before his lips closed again as he noted the sudden tension that built up in her shoulders. And her response was that much better in his eyes. _And why not?_

"Just a suggestion." He finally intoned, his tone mirroring the amusement that flashed in his eyes and the mischief that momentarily ingrained in his very being. But he let it go, deciding he really didn't want to. His luck, she'd get up and leave him. All alone and comfortable, but not near as comfortable as he had been.

And he certainly didn't want that.

~!**!~

Akari refused the shrug she almost gave, since really, it would be a downright lie. She knew why Isamu was around, for the most part. He'd come outright with it almost as soon as he'd known it was her. But, at the same time…

She didn't want to share that reason. Because… because she didn't want to face it yet. Didn't want to admit that, after eleven years, it was a possibility still.

"It's a habit for him, I suppose. Every time I left him he used to do this. A security blanket, I guess." she responded, and really, it was how she saw the mark itself, if she didn't think about the actual meanings behind it and such.

"It really isn't, where I come from, anything more than a way to keep track of someone." _But the reasons for keeping track of someone… that was different from person to person. _"Especially for the Alpha, who usually used it to keep track of his warriors." _Not his family. _"Just in case, you know?" _*****_

"Mm. A security blanket more for you or for _him_?" Kurama replied, refraining of calling it something _else_, even with Youko simultaneously agreeing with his viewpoint.

When their viewpoints aligned, it made things _especially _difficult to keep under wraps, to hold his tongue when there were two who might simultaneously speak with it.

_{And how is it __**any **__different from the Mark you bear?}_

_[Would you really like me to start listing the reasons in regards to how they're very __**similar**__? Because __**that's **__where I think we might both go crazy.]_

~!**!~

"A rather poor one," She murmured, "If I do say so myself."

That didn't, however, mean she couldn't help but smirk against him, "Besides, my luck you'd probably make me switch. And _then _where would I be?" 3

"In a house." Hiei replied snarkily. "Probably not next to me anymore, but likely still in a house." He paused and took a breath. "A house with your eligible consorts, might I add. Eligibles who'd likely come running as soon as you changed."

He blinked once at her.

"I don't see it being much of a problem."

~!**!~

Akari huffed. _Him. Definitely for him. That much is obvious. _She shifted a little against him, moving closer and burying her nose in his shirt again. "It doesn't really matter." _Because I'm right here, right now. _"I'm too comfortable to care at the moment." _*****_

"Are you now?" He wondered rhetorically, "Should I be making notes? A list, perhaps? 'How To Keep Akari All To Myself.' Step One."

~!**!~

"True." She murmured, tucking her head underneath his chin and breathing in his scent.

_Luckily for me, I know exactly which one of them could actually catch me if I started running._

It was a strangely comforting thought, one that led to her shifting her head back until her nose was able to nudge against the underside of his jaw, which she did once.

"I'd have a head start on _them _though, if I started to run myself." 3

Hiei raised a brow. What did it matter if _he _caught her? All he'd be able to do was distract her until the others got to her, at which point he'd probably disappear anyway. He wasn't one of _them_, in any way. He wouldn't have the capability to change her back, even if he _did _catch her before the others. Because there was no way he could predict how quick the other two were.

Then again, he was the only one able to sift between the layers. That he knew of, anyway.

He knew for sure Taka couldn't.

There was no telling about Kitoushi.

_It doesn't, in actuality, matter. _

He didn't reply.

~!**!~

"Hey," Akari grumbled, "No one asked for that sass." She gave a small huff. "Plus, the fact that you've told me that tells me you've already thought of it." Her lips turned up into a wicked grin against his shoulder, one she only let him see with the glance she cast up at him. "Moot." _*****_

His expression neutral, he turned down to meet her gaze.

"Well?" He paused before going on to prompt her, "Is it working?"

~!**!~

A small puff of air escaped from between Shikiyoku lips with amusement.

"Did you know, Master Hybrid," She slipped her other hand out from underneath him to poke gently at his chest, "That I'm quite certain you're the _only _demon who's ever bothered to try and catch me? Much less actually _succeed _at it." _And more than you know. _3

"_Master Hybrid?" _Hiei repeated, incredulity coloring his expression. "I'm no master of hybrids." _Why would you call me that anyway? _"Foolish woman." He shifted only slightly again, stretching his legs just an inch further.

As for the only one able to catch her…

"I was the only one smart enough not to challenge you." He made a scoff and gave a sneer. "Otherwise I'd likely be dead." _You're quite the powerful being._

~!**!~

Akari's irises flashed again, her lips twitching. "I'm still _here_, aren't I?" she retorted before moving her face to his shirt again and closing her eyes.

"Stupid _fox." __*****_

"Oh, so I'm a _fox _now am I? Not a flower? How strange. When I was but a moment ago a simple flower."

_[Tch. A flower with hidden thorns perhaps.]_

_{You would know as well as anyone.}_

_[Indeed.]_

~!**!~

_Not a Master __**of **__Hybrids, you fool. Only the Master of __**me**__._

"The patience of the Koorime-" _Or was that 'stubbornness' in your determination to find me? _"With the ferocity of a fire apparition." Her face did not so much as twitch from neutral, even as she made a very specific hommage to a conversation she quite distinctly remembered having with him no more than a day or so ago. A conversation she wasn't soon likely to forget.

"What an absolutely _deadly _combination." 3

Hiei kept a single brow raised, but otherwise gave no other reaction to Shikiyoku's words. He considered her words, and then followed up with thinking back on the first few months he'd begun searching for her. He remembered, quite clearly, how he started out with an odd sense of feeling _lost_, when the bond had been in place but he couldn't _reach _her. How that feeling had turned to determination to find her once the bond had been broken. And then how that determination had turned to stubbornness, which easily lead to anger at every turn, at every dead end. And then, in the end, how that anger had almost decided to remain, but instead turned to his simple drive to find her again.

And here's where it had gotten him.

_Oh, _how it had been worth it.

"_Deadly _indeed."

~!**!~

"I said _Nabu _calls you Flowers. Never once did I say what _I _thought of you. Until now." She twirled the flower she held behind his back, as if she could see its wonderful petals spinning, even with her eyes closed as they were. She twirled it around and around between her index and thumb, listening momentarily to the whisper of sound it made against his shirt.

"Are we back to hearing things we wished the other would have said?" _*****_

"If you mean to imply that I wish you to consider me as a flower, I think we've lost something in the translation." Kurama let himself smile, "And I also think regarding me as simply a flower would be unwise. That is all I really meant to say."

_[...]_

_{Shut up, Youko.}_

_[I didn't say anything.]_

_{You didn't __**have **__to.}_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku pulled her lips into her mouth so that her silent laughter wouldn't audibly sneak past her teeth, though it was easy enough to see both her grin and her shoulders did shake a little with amusement.

It was that moment which actually had her waking, or at least coming enough into the world to _feel _where she happened to be at that moment.

Her eyes came open easily enough, but it wasn't so much the sight that sent her core skipping a beat in a moment of panic.

_Uh...wait, what? _She didn't have the sense of mind to say anything, her muscles tensing and her throat tightening as if to protest, when the truth was she just didn't know what to make of the situation in which she found herself. 3

"_You know, you __**really**_ _should make it easier to tell when you actually __**don't **__hate someone."_

The words slid across his mind from many years ago, and it brought Hiei's eyes down to the demoness he'd pulled closer, brows raising even further at the expression he caught once her silent amusement passed. And where her amusement ended, his began.

He pulled his lips into a sneer that let his teeth show just a bit, his irises brightening in amusement at the expression Shikiyoku wore. An expression that was… out of place, and yet so _fun_ to see he'd created.

"Problem?"

And he didn't move an inch one way or the other.

~!**!~

"Well, really, a flower doesn't cut it." Akari stated, almost shrugging her shoulders but instead simply giving a small huff through her nose. "I mean, you're pretty and all that, and smell like a flower, but it's just too.. _innocent._" Akari couldn't help the grin that formed now. "And, really, you aren't near as… _frail _by any means." _*****_

"I'm _not _innocent?" His eyes widened in an approximation of the word, "When did this come about? And why did no one have the heart to tell me?"

_[She's right about the other stuff though.]_

_{Shup __**up, **__silver-tail.}_

_[You know, really she ought to be thanking me. It's mostly my fault anyway.]_

~!**!~

Her 'shock' was belied by the slight buzz she felt under her skin as her energy began to react, catching up to her predicament.

As if to answer him, her mouth opened a little, words on the tip of her tongue ranging from a hastily put together 'no,' to 'I haven't decided yet.' Because, really, the last time she'd found herself in another's arms like this had been _ages _ago.

Her second response was mild irritation that he had dragged such a reaction from her, and she summarily glared at him while fighting back a smile, trying to decide whether she should kiss him for the sole purpose of making _him _completely uncomfortable. Just so he'd know how it felt. 3

The fire demon waited another second, watching with complete and utter satisfaction before he decided he'd done enough. He was satisfied for the time being, so he pulled away for a moment, before he proceeded to shift his body weight around until he was standing on the bed, then proceeded to meander his way to the end of the mattress and simply step over Shikiyoku's ankles, dropping to the floor in the next moment and turning to look back at the female he'd sensed an odd feeling of warning erupt from.

He gave a sneer for a mere second before turning to head for the door, determined to find some sweet snow since he'd missed out on it the day before.

~!**!~

"We thought you were _aware_." Akari mused, pulling away enough to look up at him with a smile that thinned out her lips. "I mean, you're so _smart _we thought you'd figure it out and all that." She gave a shrug this time as she pulled her arm back over him to reach up and brush the flower against his nose. "But I guess even _you_ miss a few things, hm?" _*****_

Kurama just let his green eyes gleam at her from over the flower petals.

"I'm fairly certain that when one is considered 'smart' about oneself, it's often mistaken for 'conceit.' And that's certainly nothing I want anyone making me out to be."

~!**!~

As soon as Hiei distanced himself, Shikiyoku calmed down from...whatever her reaction had been, shaking her head slightly.

_You're a pain. _

"You're lucky you have _me _around." She began, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed facing the door. "Otherwise there wouldn't be but a soupy mess left of your precious sweet snow." 3

"And yet all I would have to do is acquire more. An easy feat, compared to worms that swallow a person whole."

Hiei couldn't help bringing up the time he and Shikiyoku had both been bombarded by the creatures of the ninth level, where he'd been not only half-swallowed, but come back out covered in bile. Thinking back on it, he wondered why he hadn't just released the dragon in the first sign of trouble.

Then again, he hadn't _noticed _the first sign, he supposed.

"And without the stench." He added as he moved out the door and to the stairs.

~!**!~

"Hm." Akari hummed out, brushing the flower against his nose one last time before retreating, resting her arm on the ground the small space between them that was afforded to her.

And it made her realize _how _close they were.

And just as quickly as the realization hit, she felt the beginnings of discomfort, which she remedied by slowly pulling away, suddenly feeling as if she might be smothered by his body heat adding to her own.

It was…

She didn't know what brought it out, but she didn't like the feeling of it. _*****_

Kurama regarded her shift mildly, though Youko took larger note of it than he.

_[I believe your time is coming to a close, Red. If you remember, I have business of my own to attend.]_

_{How could I forget?}_

"So, you never did tell me what exactly your next plans were. Outside of more _work _that is." He teased.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku watched Hiei as he left, fully intending on following him downstairs, but struck by the memory he referenced and becoming accosted by several other emotions at once.

She wasn't sure if he was complaining about his former occupation, the thought that he might be in and of itself causing her to hesitate as she meant to stand and go after him.

Attempting to dismiss it-_you've as much told him you still wanted him around, and he didn't up and leave, right?_-she went ahead and got up, absently following in his wake.

"How...how long has it been since I saw you last?" 3

Hiei didn't even so much as glance over his shoulder, but several thoughts _did _pass by the forefront of his mind, ranging from mild irritation at the repetitive question to amusement for the same thing, to other reactions he considered for a moment as he descended the stairs in a lazy meander.

_Long enough for your scent to fade from my cloak. _

"You've repeated this question three times now, woman." He retorted instead, an even tone that hinted no irritation at the matter. "And the first two times I answered almost a year, but it isn't actually that simple." He left it at that as he turned to head into the kitchen, eyes set on the freezer.

~!**!~

Akari pulled away and proceeded to push herself into a sitting position, rubbing at her face a little as she considered Kurama's query. Aside from work, she… _Besides work?_

_Well…_

"I plan on playing with Nabu. Throw a ball or something, and then nap in the sun because I don't do it enough. and he enjoys it." Her lips twitched into a small smile as she turned to look at the redhead. "Is that sufficient enough for you?" _*****_

Kurama turned over on his back, eyes closing as his hands went behind his head, "I suppose it will do for now."

He paused, "I know you could likely send a shadow to find me should you have the need, but-" He opened his eyes, taking in the peaceful sky above them, "The rose ought to work just as well for a calling card."

~!**!~

_I did? _Her memories were a little fuzzy on that one, but she didn't see any reason for him to be lying about it.

"Gimme a break," She mumbled, "Everything within the last decade or so is a little fuzzy overall." She hadn't exactly had a moment to sit down and sift through her memories yet, though she felt confident enough that they would return to her easily enough once she tried.

Her eyes flashed as she followed Hiei into the kitchen.

"I have a trade you might be interested in. Something that goes quite well with the sweet snow that I'd be willing to share in exchange for what I saved." Her eyes flickered towards the freezer. 3

Hiei waited a moment before giving a small, inaudible sigh to himself, mentally going over the time he'd spent searching for her. "On this layer, eleven months. However, much of that time was spent on other layers, making it a considerably larger amount of time, though the exact, I'm not… quite sure."

_I'd lost count of the days, really._

_Probably up there with the body count._

The last thought had him sneering in self satisfaction.

At Shikiyoku's words, _proposal, _Hiei paused, at first not really interested, but curiosity slowly bubbled up even as he reached for the handle to the freezer door. His fingers encircled the handle, but didn't pull it open. Instead, he released it and turned to face her with a patient expression that read '_I'm listening'. _

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow, ready to press him about what _would _satisfy the redhead, but he continue speaking before she could form the words, which caused her lips to pull up in a smile again anyway. "You know, I only send shadows if it's a short message to someone I don't have any desire to actually see in person for any extended amount of time. So, I'd probably end up just hunting you down." She turned to look out over the meadow of closed-petal flowers and grass. "But, the rose works too."

Akari felt a twinge at her wrist, a signal different than the last one, and she gave a very dog-like huff through her nose. "And of course, you know how to find me." She flashed a smile at the redhead, despite the second, more noticeable twinge at her wrist. "May I ask what you did with it,?" _*****_

"You may." He responded calmly, sitting up to loosely cross his legs with his hands planted behind him holding him up. "I'm considering whether or not to demand ransom for it though."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku reached up to flip her hair over her shoulder, coming up with a single red fruit in her fingers that she held out for a moment, gauging Hiei's face before turning it around in her grasp as if inspecting it.

"Of course, if you _aren't _interested, I can eat them all myself." 3

Hiei took a moment to inspect the red fruit Shikiyoku had produced, and after a moment of _I knew it,_ he regained his natural thought processes and gave her a slight downturn of his lips. He considered her seriously for a few moments before turning to the freezer, not saying a word as he pulled the tub of sweet snow from inside and turned to face her again, taking two steps to close the distance and extend the tub out to her.

"You make the bowls," he informed as he inspected her hair a little before determining it was a one-time trick.

~!**!~

Akari gave the redhead a withering look before huffing through her nostrils for the second time. She crossed her arms at her stomach and turned to face him with her entire body, giving an unblinking stare of not-so-withheld impatience.

"You're _impossible." __*****_

He leaned towards her, resting an elbow on his knee and his face on his hand, eyes flashing.

"Tell me something I _don't _know."

~!**!~

She let the slightest grin flicker over her features as she impishly popped the fruit into her mouth, the green stem facing out, and reached for the ice cream, her other hand running behind her neck and coming up with another strawberry as she turned away from him, this one redder than the last.

The tub got placed on the counter, bowls coming out of the cabinets overhead and spoons pulled from the drawer as she reached for a knife from the block nearby. 3

Hiei moved the opposite direction Shikiyoku took, his eyes taking in the next room and telling him what his senses had already noticed**: **the house was empty save for himself and Shikiyoku. And he found that thought a very pleasing one.

He brushed the thought aside as he slid into a chair at the table, his eyes turning to Shikiyoku to watch her work, as he had the first time she'd introduced him to this.

"How did you manage that?" He asked suddenly, his curiosity of the strawberries in her hair getting the best of him.

Because, obviously, they weren't _always _there.

Right?

~!**!~

Akari gave a frown. "No." She stated simply, as if she already knew what he wanted in "ransom" for the rose. Of course, she didn't, but if he was anything like Youko, she could only _imagine_ what a fox's brain would come up with and-

She gave a sigh. "I dislike you." _*****_

"Not even going to bother to ask?" He didn't move, "Surely you don't think I'm going to listen to anything _Youko_ is suggesting. I'm half-tempted to let him out just so you can slap him."

~!**!~

"The strawberries?" Shikiyoku specified a bit absently as the ice cream was slowly dished out. "Oh, they've always been there." 3

"Liar." Hiei was quick to state, eyes narrowing and brows furrowing. He leaned into the table, both arms crossing upon the surface as he eyed her more carefully. "Liar." He repeated, without intentionally doing so.

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes. "As deserving as it may be, I feel it wouldn't be worth the effort." Her lips twitched, but only slightly at the thought. "And I'm sure I wouldn't be quick enough anyway." She gave a shrug.

After a moment of silence, she resigned. "Fine. _What is it, fox?" __*****_

Kurama didn't bother mentioning how he had intended to make sure she got the chance to take a swing at the kitsune.

"All you have to do...is promise to meet me here again tonight."

~!**!~

"Liar?" She didn't bother turning around. "You wouldn't really have any idea, now would you?" 3

Hiei's brows furrowed further, his eyes narrowed to slits. Was she challenging him? He'd thought of it once before, but really, she didn't hold the ability to carry random seeds about like the fox. If she did, he could imagine her carrying seeds of the fruit from the Ninth Layer around with her, for whenever she decided to eat one. Or, in the very least, other seeds for the same reason. Yes?

But, in the end, he merely continued to stare at the back of her head, at her hair, with calculating eyes that wanted to pick her apart and figure out _how_.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow. "You aren't going to make me spit in my hand and shake on it, are you?" she asked, a frown deepening on her features at the thought that had, originally, been a teasing one. "I can offer my pinkie finger if my word isn't good enough for you." _*****_

"I am fairly certain I can live with simply your word on it." He shifted until he was sitting upright again. "I wouldn't suggest breaking the promise though, as I can assure you I'll come after you if you _don't _show." He smiled.

~!**!~

Knowing perfectly well that he was staring at her, feeling his eyes scrutinizing her hair even from _that _distance, Shikiyoku deliberately reached back, her hand disappearing into her straight, dark hair, and produced another strawberry, placing it beside the other on the counter, next to the discarded stem of the one that had been in her mouth a minute or so ago, and then calmly resumed scooping out more of the ice cream, forced to work steadily as the treat was still rather solid and the consistency had changed a little from the time it had spent out of the freezer before she'd a chance to replace it inside. 3

_Surely_ this was a trick. _Surely _she was goading him, doing this merely to keep him as he was: confused, curious, and very much so wanting to search her hair himself because there was just _no _way. And the more he thought about it, the more he tried to rationalize it, the more tempted he bacame to simply get up and search himself.

Though, he knew she wouldn't _let him _once she knew what he was doing. And should he make her feel as if she were in _danger_, _He'd _be the one in danger.

So he settled for glaring at the back of her head and more attempts at rationalization.

~!**!~

Akari gave the barest of sounds of amusement at the redhead as she nodded once. "Fine, fine. I'll be here. I _promise_." She shifted her weight around a little. "Now, will you _please _tell me?" _*****_

Kurama gave the slightest shrug and leaned forward towards Akari, coming within inches of her shoulder as he reached into her hair and came back with the seed in his hand.

"You had it all along."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku calmly retrieved another strawberry from the depths of her hair after cutting the first too, this time not _intentionally _provoking the demon behind her.

The air just behind her blurred a little and suddenly the tall, dark-headed cat-demon had circled his arms over her shoulders, planting a single kiss on the top of her head.

His nose stayed near her scalp for a moment, "You smell of something sweet, m'lady."

Curiously, one of his hands started to reach up for her hair and she simply batted it away.

"_Sleep well?"_

"_Very."_

"_Oh?"_ There was no mistaking, through the telepathic bond he had quickly opened between them, how utterly laced with suggestiveness that one word was.

Shikiyoku blurred between layers herself, leaving Kitoushi grasping at nothing as she turned and walked through him, reappearing at the refrigerator and reaching inside for the container of strawberries hidden deep within, turning back to where she had stationed her stuff and shoving him out of the way with a hand on his shoulder.

"_Do you think me incapable of desiring anything else?"_

"_I have yet to be proven otherwise." _

Appearing to ignore the cat-demon, who leaned up against the counter wearing a neutral expression, his arms crossed over his chest, Shikiyoku continued slicing strawberries.

"_You have yet to see me without a Champion, without my purpose driven by another." _

For that matter, she had yet to see herself that way and Kit knew it as well as she.

"CAT!" Taka burst in the front door. "I HATE you!" He tromped across the living room and into the kitchen. "Just so you know."

Shikiyoku didn't so much as turn when the bird entered the room, though he surely took notice of her and started to move forward. His intention was to greet her in the same way Kit had, though the bird didn't know that precisely.

As he came up behind her, Shikiyoku pulled the layers around herself again, a bowl in either hand, and sent the bird demon stumbling a little towards the counter when he leaned forward, completely missing her or even the direction she went as she passed through him and walked to the table, coming back to the First Layer as soon as she was free of where Taka stood.

The bowls got slid onto the table as Shikiyoku took a seat, leaving Taka standing behind her, confused for a moment with Kit looking on in amusement. 3

Hiei was watching Shikiyoku one second, and within the next he was glowering at a newcomer, who'd shown much too soon for the fire demon's liking. It effectively put an end to the demon's curiosity, instead turning his red gaze to the side, ire slowly bubbling up but stubbornness keeping him rooted to the chair.

He wasn't going to miss Sweet Snow a second time.

Especially since Strawberries were involved.

The silence in the room was charged with energy that he recognized, but had no interest in testing. He held no interest in overhearing the telepathing conversation, even _if _he was allowed to do so. And, he held no interest for the other demon who bombarded into the house and shattered the silence, reminding him momentarily of a detective he hadn't seen in a while.

By the time a bowl slid across the table to him, his eyes were closed and a vein had begun to show in his temple- though one likely wouldn't see it for his hair.

He opened his eyes to regard the ice cream and little red fruits, satisfaction hitting him before he'd even had a single bite of it, and his mouth watering as he scooped the spoon into the bowl. For a moment after the ice cream touched his tongue, the world seemed silent and the satisfaction of tasting this substance again was enough to calm him.

And then he swallowed and was staring at a confused bird demon with carefully concealed irritation.

_Why must you be loud? At least the feline is quiet enough to not be a bother._

~!**!~

"As I said, you're a fox, not a flower." Akari grumbled as she reached for the seed, sighing only slightly at the redhead. "_Of course_ you would do that." _*****_

"Alas, I've been found out." If he had the ears of his counterpart, they would have been twitching slightly in good-humor as he allowed her to take the seed from him, not responding to her second comment, though he didn't bother defending himself.

~!**!~

Kitoushi stood up, uncrossing his arms.

"You should have distracted him longer." Shikiyoku grumbled as the cat started to flow past her into the other room, his tail slowly weaving behind him.

"I _did _try. But you can only amuse him for so long before he gets bored." He told her as he kept moving, going to sit at the couch again after turning on the television, the sound at the lowest possible setting.

Taka glared after Kit, turning his expression onto the back of Shikiyoku's head as he leaned back against the counter in much the same way Kit had been, arms crossed over his chest. 3

_Blissful silence. _

Hiei slid another small scoop of the sweet snow into his mouth, this time fishing out a chunk of strawberry and popping it into his mouth just as soon as he could, though the sweet, coldness of the ice cream melted rather quickly and he was left with just chewing on the larger bit of fruit he had procured from his bowl.

And for the moment, he didn't mind the way the house was.

~!**!~

"You're adding to that list of yours, aren't you?" Akari mused with a smile, suddenly aware that she'd been sitting here for longer than she'd intended, especially since the twinge at her wrist had become non-stop irritation under her skin.

Likely from not having this sort of contact with _another's _shadow in so long.

Or it could be a mild distress signal. Who knows?

_Who cares?_

"Clever." And yet she still didn't make a move to leave. _*****_

Kurama kept that same self-satisfied smirk in place, "Are you getting hungry yet?"

~!**!~

Taka only remained in place long enough to attempt to glare a hole in the back of Shikiyoku's head. But upon being unsuccessful, he let out a low growl and stood up from the counter, stalking out of the room, the front door eventually slamming behind him as he left.

Shikiyoku hardly seemed to notice, resting her face in a hand whose elbow was propped upon the table, spoon stirring absently in the bowl of ice cream that she barely touched, only rarely moving a spoonful up to her lips and even then only bothering to nibble on the tip of whatever she had gotten on the utensil. 3

Hiei had half of his own bowl of sweet snow eaten before his eyes traveled up to peer at Shikiyoku, noticing her treat was almost entirely untouched. While his first instinct was to tauntingly tell her he'd eat it if she didn't, he found himself instead simply watching her, spoon hanging from his lips for a moment longer than it should have before he realized he'd paused.

He decided to leave her be for the moment, watching her with a neutral gaze as he slid more of the sweet snow past his lips.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	78. Episode 162 - Musings and Botherings

**A/N:** Hello once again, Audience!

The current plan is to switch to a Tuesday/Thursday posting schedule starting next month, and you're getting a warning now that there will be a week that month in which I will be gone and likely not have internet access so there will not be any posts then.

You have been warned! Heh.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

After drawing Shikiyoku into his arms when he awoke in the morning,  
Hiei surprises himself by enjoying holding her as she draws closer to the waking world.

And even more so when he discovers, after she truly wakes up to find herself against him,  
that her uncomfortableness at his closeness manifests as her energy activating.

The two of them make their way downstairs and Shikiyoku puts together two bowls of 'sweet snow,'  
and as she prepares them, the quiet of the house is interrupted by the reappearance of both Taka and Kitoushi.

The former leaves once Shikiyoku indicates no interest in his shenanigans,  
and the later goes to sit on the couch and watch television.

This means that Hiei and Shikiyoku are left to enjoy their treat by themselves at the table,  
and Shikiyoku ends up thinking to herself about her strange displacement as no longer needing a Champion.

~!**!~

As Akari stalls on leaving the meadow, and Kurama,  
Isamu continues to 'call' her through the shadow-mark on her wrist.

She wonders when exactly it was that she came to covert her time with Kurama,  
asking him why he decided to change his mind about her when they were once enemies.  
Kurama admits the acceptance of her presence to be attributed to Nabu,  
as he doubted such an animal would have befriended her were her heart not truly pure.

Akari explains the significance of the marking on her wrist,  
and that Isamu wishes her to come back to their pack.

Before she leaves, Kurama requests she meet him at the meadow again that evening,  
and since they had been talking of getting food prior, Kurama asks if she is hungry...

* * *

Akari gave a single-shouldered shrug. "Not enough to complain." She looked up at the sky, looking for the position of the sun and the approximation of the time, and finding that it was still pretty early on this layer. "Even if I was, I have to feed Nabu anyway. Otherwise he'll crunch on a dead bird, and that is… unacceptable."

She turned to look at him again with the end of her tongue sticking out at him slightly. "You should've taken my offer earlier."

She hesitated some more, rubbed a hand against her thigh in absentminded thought, and then flashed a smile. "I guess if I'm going to get _anything _done before I have to be back here, I'd better get my tail moving, hm?" She pushed herself to stand, and proceeded to dust herself off. "I'd hate to be _hunted down." __*****_

Kurama ignored the _immediate _response Youko had about Akari moving her tail, and only smiled at her.

_[Oh, come __**on**__. She practically force-fed you that one.]_

_{I refuse to make a comment about getting to watch as she moved her tail, for the simple reason that __**you **__are actually the one who force-fed it to me.}_

"Hate is such a _strong _word. Wouldn't it please you in the slightest?" Kurama unfolded himself from the ground to stand in front of her.

~!**!~

How..._strange _she felt.

No pact. No tie to any other singular person, not feeling particularly bogged down by anything the other might require of her.

It was rather _freeing_, if at the same time absolutely terrifying.

She came to realize as she absently took a bite of the sweet snow here and there, that she really had no idea _who _she was on her own. Because each Champion had, in a way, dictated her personality as she molded to better suit them and whatever they desired.

It got her thinking about the first time Hiei released her, when she'd shot off in search of a human to exercise her powers on. She was acting as if still under the influence of Youko himself.

And of course, there was the more recent incident, where upon finding herself trapped in Hiei's embrace she froze up in both mind and body.

She equated that very much with how Hiei had interacted with her, which in turn had influenced her own interactions. Like Kit trying to kiss her again after reverting her and her refusing him.

Not to mention the fact that there were several..._new _things, like how she'd been able to sense Taka's desire to snatch her up into a hug upon first seeing her in the kitchen.

All of these thoughts passed through her mind and she mulled upon them, turning them over and over, her ankles crossing together beneath her chair as she stared with unfocused eyes at the bowl in front of her. 3

Hiei continued to watch Shikiyoku with a calm expression, not really trying to pick apart her thoughts or even deciding to _ask _on them, because really, he'd never seen her in this way. Staring, ignoring her surroundings entirely, delved so deep into her own thoughts that even the cold, melting treat didn't seem to matter much to her.

Yes, he was curious, but more so about how long she'd allow herself to stay in this way. How long she'd be comfortable being as blind to the rest of the world she was in that moment. And yet she seemed able to recognize what was going on around her in the same instant, even if she did not directly show it.

Because she still occasionally scooped icecream to her mouth. She still pulled bits of strawberry from the frozen treat and crunched on those first before taking in the melted cream.

He'd never seen her so stuck in her own thoughts before. At least, not in thoughts that didn't leave him irritated at her frame of mind.

So instead of inquiring as he normally would have, he turned his eyes down to his bowl again and continued eating in perfect silence.

~!**!~

"Perhaps… a little, knowing I could actually _create_ a chase if I so desired one. I am a dog, after all." Akari gave a roguish grin before she tugged at her energy just a little, creating movement about the meadow as shadows began to slide towards her slowly. "But, I think I'd much prefer to meet in the middle, as it were. I'm not sure of the _consequences_ of causing a scene."

Underneath her feet, shadows gathered to create a circle underneath her, a circle that opened up just a little, but she did not yet fall through. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bone to pick with an old friend." Finally, her feet left any form of solid ground behind and she was falling through dimensions, concentrating on the absolutely _irritating, _almost _painful _sensation at her wrist that lead her to the Third Layer. _*****_

Kurama didn't find himself surprised at her exit, though he did watch the space in which she disappeared for a moment, a smile tarrying on his lips for a moment longer at really the mere thought of her.

_{We have much to do.}_

~!**!~

-because she always had to _ask _before, didn't she?

_What do you desire?_

Always had to get the other to _tell _her, which was an easy enough task once she set her mind to it. But still.

She wondered exactly how _far _that ability could manifest. She'd done it in some form or another with Hiei. On several occasions, actually. Did she have to be in close proximity? But then, why didn't she realize Taka had no desire for her to remove the Mark? ...or was that exactly how it sounded?

...how easy it seemed she was able to sense others wants or needs-so far-and yet...how _difficult _she found it to sort through her own.

She half-wished asking herself the question worked.

She huffed an almost amused puff of air from her nostrils, one accompanied by the slightest twitch of her lips in a crooked smirk that disappeared as soon as the sound had been made.

The thought of trying it out, using a mirror of some sort, left her at the very least humored by the consideration of such a thing.

Lifting her head from her hand, she leaned a little in the other direction, even as she scooped more ice cream from her bowl and took just enough onto the tip of her tongue to get the flavor, and stared with that same unfocused expression at her palm as tendrils of yellow energy wove out from her hand just long enough to extend past her fingers, weaving actively in and out of one another, as well as over and around her skin. 3

Hiei finished his bowl of ice cream soon after he'd taken to concentrating solely on _it, _and for a moment he contemplated getting up and scooping himself some more, contemplated eating just strawberries- if he could find them- and even contemplated just eating the whole _tub _of ice cream. But in the end, he merely sat there, lifting his eyes to Shikiyoku again as she made a small sound, then glancing into her bowl of almost completely-melted substance.

Expression neutral as every, he stated in a calm tone, "It's going to waste."

He just couldn't _help _it. _None _of this substance should be wasted. _Ever. _

~!**!~

On the Third layer, Akari stood outside a circle of demons conversing in loud tones, Isamu in the center before his eyes lifted at her sudden appearance, his lips twitching into an even wider smile as he broke away from the other demons who were very obviously _not _a part of the pack he was _supposed _to be watching over.

"You never went home, so I searched for amusement in the nearby entertainment areas." He said in a quiet voice after appearing at her side, tossing an arm over her shoulder and rubbing his other hand against her hair. "The First Layer is dreadful. How do you stand it? How could you have lived with them for so long?"

"You get over it, eventually." Akari responded as she batted his hand away and dropped through shadows again, landing on the First Layer with Isamu right behind her, as she'd expected. "You're going to get rid of this thing," she informed in a calm manner, throwing her hand up to gesture towards the mark and the red, irritated ring that had formed around it. "It's annoying."

"Did it wake you?"

"Yes."

"My apologies."

"Liar." _*****_

~!**!~

She had begun twisting her wrist back and forth as if inspecting her hand, each sliver of energy probably half as thick as her fingers themselves and just about as long, each one making a lively dance in the air.

"It's only wasted if I throw it out." She replied, her expression one still rather far away from the present situation. 3

Well….

He couldn't exactly argue about _that. _Except that soupy, sloppy "ice cream" wasn't really something he thought would be appetizing, not even in the least bit. But, hey. Whatever.

He remained quiet, his eyes turning to the hand she twisted around and around, playing with lithe tendrils of energy that moved in graceful twists and loops about her fingers. He followed their every move, rather entertained at the gracefulness within these tendrils.

Tendrils that could have very easily killed another, if she so desired it.

Which was such an odd thought to begin with.

Nonetheless, he was rather entertained with her toying with her energy, and he continued to watch in silence.

~!**!~

Akari made a groan and threw both hands in the air, calling for immediate silence. "I can only answer _one _at a time, boys." She turned to Nabu. "I plan on visiting the park. If you're up for it."

"_About time." _he responded, though his tail swished several times in amusement despite his lack of such in his tone. "_You deserve it too, you know. And as much as I like Flowers being your break, you need __**fun**_ _here and there. Active fun. Like a dog."_

"Yeah, yeah, I know." She turned to Isamu. "The bricks have-"

"Yes I know about the symbols. Why are you collecting them?"

She blinked once before giving a sigh. "_Work _stuff. Which you aren't involved in."

"What if I want to be involved?"

"Then you're out of luck."

"_And hopefully out of __**here."**_

"He's mouthy, isn't he?" Isamu pointed a look at the dog's tail as Nabu disappeared into the kitchen.

"Only when he knows he can get away with it."

"_Which is always, because you love me." __*****_

~!**!~

Her hand suddenly froze in place and her energy disappeared all at once, winking out of existence without a sound, her arm lowering abruptly to the table and her gaze dodging down with it, darting to the side, all in the same instant as she was struck by a series of thoughts.

She had been tempted to weave the energy out, extend it around herself, but the idea reminded her of how she had once danced, loops and such moving with her, a part of her.

Something she doubted she'd ever do again.

Not now.

Not since she was...in a word _tainted_, embodying a duality only surpassed by the hybrid who still sat nearby.

Who was to say the ritual would even work right anymore anyway? She could see it being just like her first Champion to have a part of the spell-requirements be that the caster must never have spilled the blood of another or something ridiculous like that.

The phrase about blood had her eyes closing, head still tilted slightly downward and to the left as a fine line appeared between her brows.

Renai's voice echoed through her head.

"_My mate would have __**adored **__meeting you. Such purity of energy would have served her purpose immeasurably. It makes it all the more delicious to rob her of it." _3

Hiei's gaze turned to Shikiyoku's face as her energy disappeared all at once, his neutral expression giving way none of his emotions towards her sudden display of… some emotion or another he couldn't quite pinpoint just yet. And as his eyes focused on her expression, he noticed the line of liquid that coated her top lip and gave her a milky-like moustache.

His lips twitched, because in that moment, he saw a childlike-moment. A moment where she didn't care what she looked like, didn't have any standards to set for another. She could do as she wished.

Even it that meant forgetting to clean her face.

His lips pulled into an expression of amusement, and he even released a small puff of air through his lips.

"You've missed something."

~!**!~

Akari moved around the coffee table, pushing the thoughts away for a minute and wandering into the kitchen, Isamu close on her heels. She paused and glanced about, a frown coloring her features. "You _moved _everything."

"I put it all back." Isamu responded in a calm tone. "I was just curious."

"You put it all in the _wrong _places. This," she reached forward to grab a bowl from the table, stirring the scent of disgustingly-fake dog chow Nabu enjoyed, "was on the _counter_, by the sink to be washed." She tossed the plastic bowl into the sink before reaching for a towel. "_This_ is not for your hands, moron. It's for Nabu's ears, when the mites bother him too much."

"_You made her mad."_

"**This**," she slammed shut a utensil drawer, sending the silverware inside clattering around loudly, "is _never _left open, because it sticks and has broken multiple times."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" The male stood two feet away with his hands in the air and ears turned back. "Leave things as they were!"

"And _the bricks? _I don't want _my _house to appear on _every single layer."_ This, she snarled at him and spun to face him with arms crossed. "I would rather _not _have random demons in my household!"

"Those wouldn't make your house appear on all layers. You don't have all the components. Can't you _feel _the holes in the energy?"

Akari huffed and crouched down to the bag of dog food on the floor, pulling it open and scooping the bowl inside the bag full before setting it on the wooden floor beneath, Nabu stepping up as soon as she released the bowl and crunching on the bits.

"It isn't like I know _anything_ about those kinds of things. I've never _seen _marks like that before."

"They're older than _I _am. Probably older than your dad." Isamu gave a shrug. "They're like puzzle pieces. You're missing a few."

Akari turned to stare at Isamu silently, scowling at him. "W-" She gave a dog-like huff. "Nevermind. Not now. It's Nabu's fun day."

"Whatever you wish. I'm just observing, remember?"

"_My ball is where we used to keep it." __*****_

~!**!~

"I never miss _anything_, Hiei." Her reply sounded self-important as she rested her elbows on the table, both hands holding the bowl at a height just under her nose, from where she took another drink, eyes looking over the bowl at the opposite wall when she lowered it, the ice cream slowly falling back from the curve of the bowl to slosh quietly.

Her eyes flickered down, gauging how much she had left. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the reply he'd been given, and his sneer only grew. He eyed the moustache he could see over the bowl, and the more he stared at it, the funnier it became. He stared. And stared. And stared.

He made a sound of amusement again and turned his eyes to the side, not sure what exactly he wanted to do about it, if _anything. _He could stare in self-amusement. Or he could toss her a napkin. He could even wipe it away if he wanted, but really, he didn't _want _too. He was simply too amused.

So even after he'd turned his head to the side, he found his eyes looking to her again anyway.

~!**!~

"Take your time, Nabu. I'm hungry too, so just eat."

"How about we go for breakfast?"

"How about you go _home?"_

"But you're _here."_

Akari sighed as she stood upright and reached into an overhanging cabinet, grabbing a bowl and sliding it across the clean counter. She turned and opened another cabinet and pulled out a box of cereal, deciding to eat the frosted wheat cereal, which she dumped into the bowl and promptly tossed one into her mouth, not even bothering to go for milk. "You haven't gotten rid of it yet." She mumbled around the cereal as she stuffed the box away.

"You can't be eating _that?"_

Akari turned a glare onto the male and let the cabinet door slam shut. "Stop that."

"You know, after your earlier display of hypocrisy, I feel obliged to do absolutely _nothing_ you ask of me." He declared as he turned his nose higher in the air. "You're such a _dog."_

"Excuse you?"

"A hypocrite dog, at that."

"_I hope she stuffs you." __*****_

~!**!~

It did take a moment for Shikiyoku to register _something_ from the fire demon nearby, but it was so brief, and she was so unused to the sensation, that her reaction came much too late to understand.

The bowl tilted upwards again and she waited until the last of the sluggish soup that was going to make it to the edge of the bowl had done so before sticking her face into the dish and licking at the last pooling of sweet snow in the bottom curve of the dish.

She could feel where a portion of the treat had escaped somewhere between her lips and the edge of the bowl and was starting to run down towards her chin.

As the bowl came back down, her tongue snaked out and caught the drop, running over the entirety of her upper lip and getting rid of any stray ice cream that had been in the area.

Well. Almost all of it. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku finish off her sloppy ice cream, turning his eyes to the side again for a moment before his curiosity won over, and he _had_ to see if she would lick away the rest. Which, not surprising to him, she did.

But what warranted the loud scoff he gave was the obvious dot of white on the end of her nose. He stared unblinkingly at it for a moment before his amusement won over and his lips spread wide, his teeth showing in the slightest bit as he leaned across the table. He reached a hand across towards her, his thumb touching her nose and brushing the substance away.

When he pulled away, he sneered at her in utter amusement.

~!**!~

"I am no _hypocrite."_

Isamu shrugged, then held his two hands up, creating air quotes as he spoke. "I don't come when called!" He mocked in a high-pitched tone, even bobbing his head a little. "I answer to _no one!" _He dropped his hands and turned to walk away, his tail moving with his amusement and his ears flicking back to focus on the sound of disbelief she made. "The _only _exception is a _fox demon!_ Of all beings, a _fox_ has you under his thumb. I thought the former-alpha's daughter was _smarter _than that."

Akari ground her teeth and chucked a piece of her cereal at him, huffing as soon as the breakfast food struck the back of his head. "I do _not _sound like that! And I am not under _anyone's _thumb!"

"And yet you fled the scene as soon as the fox did."

"I didn't _flee. _I _left_ to _meet _with him."

"And yet you're in so much denial. You're trying _so _hard to hide it. I thought you'd remember the last time a fox demon came across our territories?"

"I wasn't even _alive_, moron."

"Doesn't change that they're all the same, love. Not in the least."

"And if I couldn't care less?"

"Then I can't even bring myself to pity you." the male responded as he disappeared around the corner, the sound of him flopping onto the floor echoing through the house. "But, I guess I can _let you_ find out on your own. It isn't like I have any choice in the matter. You're as stubborn as the stories said you would be."

"Those stories are crock, and you know it. I am _not _the reincarnation of the first female alpha. I have no _desire _to be an alpha, and you of all people are aware of that." _*****_

~!**!~

She only looked across the table at him when she sensed an inkling of something from him, but his action left her staring at his smile for a moment, taken aback by the humorous gleam in his eye.

It didn't take long for her to frown and attempt to look at the end of her own nose, blinking after the second in which she tried and muttering something inaudible to herself as she reached up with the back of her hand and wiped at the place he had as if he missed part of it, her lips setting into a thin line. 3

Hiei kept his amused expression as he sat back in his chair again, running his tongue over the finger he'd retrieved the cream from Shikiyoku's nose with. He quickly made a face at the odd, warm cream that tasted… dull in comparison to how it tasted when _frozen. _It was… bland.

"Did you hide _all _of the strawberries in your hair?" He suddenly inquired, deciding he wanted more of the fruit for now. If he wanted Sweet Snow, he'd get more later.

~!**!~

"yes, yes, I'm aware. I remember you giving that right to me, and I thank you for it." Isamu replied as Akari padded into the room, standing over him as she munched on her cereal. "Or, for _intending _to give it to me. The ritual still hasn't taken place, remember?"

"And yet you exercise so much control over the power you haven't developed fully yet."

"It hasn't been easy."

"It isn't supposed to be." Akari popped another bundle of the dry wheat bits into her mouth and crunched loudly on it, earning the twisting of the other's ear in her direction.

"Come home for a week and it will be taken care of."

"I have shtuff to do, and quite frankly, have no deshire to leave thish town except for work."

"And the fox."

"Shut up, no one ashked you."

"Love, you should remember my opinions are free. Then again, anything for _you _is free."

Akari huffed at him through her nostrils. "Except peace and quiet."

"You know, you would have gotten rid of me by now if you didn't want me here. You've changed a lot over the years, but _that _hasn't changed in the least. By the way, I haven't received my hug yet."

"Who says you get one?"

His grin only widened. "I thought it was understood." _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku set the bowl down on the table in front of her, only looking at Hiei when he began talking, watching him unblinkingly.

She crossed her arms over her chest, sitting back in her chair with an expression devoid of emotion, eyes still on the fire demon.

A single eyebrow rose at the end of his inquiry, her tone flat, factual, as she spoke up, "I don't hide strawberries in my hair." 3

Hiei stared unblinkingly at Shikiyoku, his lips forming a frown but his eyes gleaming in amusement still as he eyed her. He crossed his arms at her, mirroring the way she sat as if to mock, but not intentionally meaning to do so.

He scoffed once.

"Do you still _have _them on your person?" he rephrased, both genuinely curious and simply wanting to _have _a few.

~!**!~

Akari sighed and moved to sit in front of Isamu, bowl in one hand and the other digging around the cereal and tossing some into her mouth again. She kept a steady glare on the male, who smiled a wide smile and leaned forward, grabbing hold of her breakfast and taking a piece for himself. Within seconds of it hitting his tongue, he was making a face and spitting it out again, offering it to her.

"That's horrid."

"I don't want it back!"

"Take it."

"No! I have no interest in- NO!" She had to pull her bowl out of his reach to keep him from dropping it back into it, which she only managed to do by leaning away. "I don't want your disgusting saliva."

"But we used to share food _all the time," _he whined, leaning further forward in another attempt, which she stayed by placing a foot into his gut and keeping him at a good distance. "Come on, Aka!"

"I said _no!" _

"You're so fickle. Should I give it to the dog?"

"He wouldn't touch it."

"_My name is Nabu."_

"Well if _you _won't eat it, who will?"

"I don't know, nor care! Throw it away!"

"Come now, love."

"That tone of voice doesn't work anymore. I don't _care _for you the same as I did then. I'm not a part of your pack, and thus the only connection I have with you is-"

"The fact that I was your _best friend _at home. You know, the one who was there when your _daddy _decided you weren't worth it? Or when your mother had to leave for days? I taught you everything, and you're repaying me with harshness. How cold-hearted of you."

Silence filled the room as Akari blinked once, and Isamu's expression shifted to one of patience, a brow quirked as he waited for a rebuttal.

"I'm not here to be your _alpha. _I'm here to be your _friend. _To remind you what it was like to be a _free _dog, instead of a dog on a leash. Working for the new King of Spirit World? I wouldn't have thought that your style, love."

"I… do it because I want to, not because I have to."

"That's not how it actually is, is it? Being on a leash is so… disheartening. YOu don't deserve it."

"Don't act like you know, or care for that matter, _darling." _Akari enunciated the word harshly, as its meaning for the male had always been one of condescension to others. "I _stay _where I am because I _enjoy _where I am and who I'm with. I _stay _because I happen to _like _being here. And if you think you can convince me otherwise, then I suggest you leave _this instant._" She pushed herself to stand, waved her hand to the door, then looked down at him again. "I worked hard to get here, to get to where I could _enjoy _my free reign of the layers. Where I could enjoy working, because it's so much more complex than simple trade services, and so much more _appealing_. My _family _had nothing to do with it. The _pack _has nothing to do with my decision, and hasn't in a _long _time. I don't think by a _group. _I think for myself."

Nabu's claws clicking against the wood floor distracted her, pulled her attention to the sitting dog at the threshold of the kitchen. His eyes were curious, his ears turned back.

"You are welcome to stay, if, and _only _if you do not interfere with my comings and goings. Do _not _try and stop me from enjoying myself, because if you do, I can guarantee the pack will have _no _alpha to lead them. We may have been friends at one point, even arranged for.. whatever it was, but that means _nothing _here. You are a guest, and you will act as such, _sir alpha, _because you have _no _reign over me."

She slid her bowl onto the coffee table, half full still, and moved for the door, Nabu taking the lead with a ball in his mouth. "I apologize that you seem to think I'm that same person who went along with everything you wanted me to do then, but I won't apologize for my actions. Because each one is deliberate."

"I wouldn't expect an apology."

"Then you won't be disappointed." With that, Akari slammed the door shut behind her and took to following Nabu down the sidewalk.

"_For an old friend, he sure doesn't know you well."_

"To be fair, Nabu, you don't know who I was before this time."

"_...do I want to?"_

She gave a shrug. "It wouldn't matter anyway." _*****_

~!**!~

She blinked at him once before answering in much the same way.

"Maybe."

After a beat, she picked up the bowl in front of her and stood up, the back of the chair pushed away by her legs as she turned and moved for the sink to put the bowl inside. 3

Hiei's amused gleam disappeared in his eyes entirely, leaving his expression one of slight ire as he stared at the back of her head as she moved away from the table. He considered her hair for a minute, considered sliding his fingers through the locks in search for strawberries, since she was obviously _not _going to give him a straight up answer right away.

He could likely _wait _and see if she reached for one. But, would he still want strawberries by the time she decided to reveal them?

_Likely._

So he could wait.

It didn't matter one way or the other.

"Nice."

~!**!~

"_You know, the park is going to be full of people and other dogs."_

"I know, Nabu."

"_Are you sure you don't want to wait, when your temper isn't so bad?"_

Akari gave a loud laugh and tossed her head. "You're worried about _me? _Come on, Nabu. Take a break and play some dang fetch." She threw the ball into the air, down the almost-entirely empty sidewalk of the midday. "I promised a day, didn't I?" she called as he took off down the sidewalk, suddenly looking very much like the younger pup he'd been just a few months ago. _*****_

~!**!~

As she set the bowl down into the sink with a slight clunk, her lips twitched slightly while she was turned away, the only indication of her true motive in the conversation.

She turned and did the same with the knife and cutting board she had put to use on the counter, placing them next to the bowl and then moving to close the lid of the ice cream, grabbing it and the now-empty plastic container of strawberries.

She didn't find it necessary to mention that the container had once held a large quantity of the fruit, many more than the number she sliced up for the bowls.

Amusingly enough, Youko had taught her the trick.

The container went in the trash and the ice cream into the freezer. 3

Hiei sat back in his chair and propped his feet up on the chair Shikiyoku had previously occupied, still watching her as he crossed his arms tighter over his chest and continued to search calmly for any sign of the strawberries that were no longer in the container she threw away. He could still _smell _them, but as to pinpointing _where _exactly they were…

Well, he was beginning to simply assume she had them on her person and wasn't going to simply hand one over. It was almost as if she was holding them ransom for… something or another.

But he was patient, and would remain that way. _*****_

When Shikiyoku closed the freezer door and turned to step into the living room, she had a strawberry in hand, a chunk of it already missing.

As she passed Hiei, she reached her empty hand out just behind his ear, coming away with another strawberry that she palmed as she kept walking, turning towards the front door and beginning to phase between the layers. 3

Hiei frowned when Shikiyoku turned and walked by, a strawberry in one hand and producing another in her other hand as she passed. He turned his eyes to follow after her, giving a small glare at her taunting before he slid from his chair and moved to follow her out the door. Unlike Shikiyoku, however, he actually pulled it open and walked through.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't amused. _*****_

She kept eating at the strawberry, moving between the layers as she got to the sidewalk, until she was positive Taka had left the immediate area entirely.

She wasn't exactly in the mood to put up with his shenanigans. Which she had a strange feeling he knew, and had made his retreat earlier for that very reason.

Unwinding herself from in-between, she stepped out back onto the First Layer with ease, walking along and eating at the other strawberry.

She eyed the various people she could see passing by, or even the ones across the street. None seemed to notice her, and while she knew the reason, at the same time she wondered how easily she could get one's attention.

The thought had her sifting through key-words and seeing if she could come up with a spell that might suit her interests. 3

Hiei found himself wanting nothing more than to swipe his hand through Shikiyoku's hair _really _fast and pluck a strawberry from her locks. And at the same time, he knew she could tell what he was thinking, knew that she knew what he wanted, and that was what kept him from doing so. Because if she suspected it, he wouldn't get away with it. She'd likely pull the same trick she'd used when Taka had tried… whatever he'd been wanting to do in the kitchen earlier.

In fact, Hiei slid his hands into his cloak pockets to _ensure _he didn't simply strike out and make a snatch for the strawberries he was now _entirely _certain she was hiding. Coveting.

He opened his mouth to speak, found he had no words, and closed his mouth again and took to simply following after her silently. As he had been before. _*****_

Shikiyoku shaped the spell in her mind as she chewed on the last bit of strawberry thoughtfully.

She pulled her hand up to her mouth, fingers closed over her palm, and after a moment gestured outwards away from her lips, blowing warm air over her fingers, aiming it across the street.

Her hand came back down, and she watched as the pocket of air almost lazily drifted towards the other sidewalk, hovering about the face of a human who blinked as if awakened from a dream, gaze drawn over to Shikiyoku who hadn't stopped strolling along, hadn't even bothered to look, able to feel that the air-in truth her energy-had been inhaled by the other, immediately grasping their attention and directing it to her.

The human only had a hitch in a single step as they kept moving in the same direction as before, but even while continuing down the sidewalk a glance would be tossed in her direction until she was out of sight. 3

Hiei took three long strides so that he could walk alongside Shikiyoku, instead of behind her. He'd considered leaving her be, but decided that if she didn't want him there, she'd let him know in some way or another. So he went along anyway, eyes pointed forward and mind slowly but surely pulling away from his desire to have nothing but strawberries.

He felt the stir in the air and turned his eyes to the female at his side again, unable to see what she was doing but catching an odd shift in the air about her.

He turned forward again.

"Where exactly are we going?" _*****_

Shikiyoku sent a single wink in the direction of the human before turning to face the front, honestly curious about what exactly she could do with her energy. Without being hampered-_is that what I'm calling it now?_-by a Champion, the possibilities seemed endless.

She sent a brief glance in the fire demon's direction when he spoke, smiling at him.

"Where do you wish to be?" 3

Hiei turned to peer at Shikiyoku from the corners of his eyes, his immediate response suddenly being withheld, as if he _knew _she'd make some sort of reply that was anything _but _what he would have actually meant. So he took a small glance around, found himself unimpressed with the people he passed and the First Layer in general, but not having any immediate destinations in mind.

He thought for a moment or two, then decided he didn't care one way or another.

"I asked _you." __*****_

"And I countered by giving you an opportunity for some input." She replied blithely, "Though it appears you have none. Do you really not care?" 3

Hiei raised a brow. "I'm sure the destinations I wish to avoid are the same one _you _intend to avoid." He replied calmly, hands in his cloak pockets and eyes forward now. _*****_

"Is that so?" The only destination she could think them both having in common to evade was Rae's palace on the Ninth Layer.

...not that she was planning on returning there in the foreseeable future by any means.

"For all you know, I might want to make my rounds of the First Layer's demonic nightclubs." Something she felt certain he wouldn't bothering following her around for. 3

Hiei gave a scoff. It wasn't like _his _presence would keep her from doing anything she wanted to do. Though, it wasn't like he'd particularly _care _for the suggestion she just tossed in the air.

In fact, he'd likely just turn around and go find something _else _to occupy his time if that was what she wanted to do. But he wouldn't stop her, if that were the case.

"How _enjoyable _that would be." he mocked in a sarcastic tone. _*****_

Shikiyoku gave a toss of her hair.

"You wouldn't even know, now would you? I doubt you have any reference for what the phrase means in the first place." 3

Hiei made another scoff, then followed it up with a huff through his nostrils. "I find the color of blood on the grass quite enjoyable. Also, setting things aflame is rather amusing." _*****_

Shikiyoku actually turned her head to look at him, the strangest expression coloring her face.

She had no words for how utterly and completely he'd just proven her point.

She went back to looking ahead of them, taking a couple of more steps before she was able to open her mouth and get coherent words to move past her lips.

"It's a shame you have yet to realize how incredibly fierce you are." 3

Hiei waited for a response, actually unsure about the delay he heard hanging on the air as she took a moment to gather her thoughts and form words. And when she _did _speak, he raised a brow.

Yes, he knew he was _fierce_. He'd told her that himself in the-

_Oh. Right._

His lips twitched.

"Only a fool would forget that." _*****_

"Then I suppose it's lucky I am no fool, flame-boy." She told him loftily, her nose sticking slightly higher in the air.

Half of her still wanted to explain the whole nightclub thing, but the other half was still amused at his response. 3

"Indeed." Hiei replied calmly, glancing at her briefly before turning his eyes forward again. "If that's what _you _wish, I'm not stopping you." He kept his eyes forward and let his words hang on the air, not having to really tell her that he wouldn't follow her into anything of the sort, merely because he didn't care for anything the demons on this layer had. _*****_

"Haven't been and already decided you don't like it. Where's your sense of adventure?" 3

"Gone with my sense of humor." He replied quickly. "They're on vacation." _*****_

"No wonder you aren't any fun." 3

"If you're looking for _fun_, perhaps you should try finding a child. Or Taka." _*****_

"Well, if you're going to be _that _way about it, perhaps I should." She stuck her tongue out at him. 3

"You'll come back." Hiei lifted his nose a little in the air, his eyes pointed at her from the corners and his lips twitching into a sneer. After a moment though, he dropped his chin and his expression became neutral again, his mind quickly turning to the mark he'd seen on both demon's bodies, which reminded him that he himself wouldn't matter, if she didn't seem to like his company so much.

"But I'll be around. Should he bore you." _*****_

"But you'll still be 'no fun' in any case. For as long as your senses are on holiday, at least." Shikiyoku appeared to brighten in a sort of 'eureka' expression. "You know, it explains a lot, really." 3

Hiei didn't look at her this time. "And yet here you are." He kept his eyes forward and hands in his pockets, moving merely because she was and merely following her step for step even as she made her own step. An odd mood had struck him, and for a moment he struggled against it, before it simply settled over his core and had him giving a passive expression. A blank, unreadable stare at the path ahead.

Because the only thing keeping her here was… her. If she suddenly decided he wasn't worth it, she could just as easily step away and leave him wandering about, while she dealt with her "Consort" ordeal.

Still, he'd spend as much time with her as he could, no matter what happened. Because… he could.

"If I were _no fun_, as you say, you wouldn't be here." _*****_

She nearly made a quip about his being _born _with his aforementioned sense on vacation, or at least asking him if it was the case, but the thought was overshadowed by his last comment.

The look she gave him came across as 'is that so?' and she resisted giving a reply along the lines of 'Maybe I'm a masochist. You don't know.' She remembered retorting as much in a similar situation in the past and glossed over it.

"Right. So you're 'no fun,' and I'm...what exactly does that make me then, that keeps you around and all?" 3

Hiei took a moment to consider her retort, took a moment to sift through words to use. Foolish didn't seem right in the moment, didn't seem… _strong enough_. It simply wouldn't do. And _stupid_ wasn't a word he'd call her. Ever. It obviously wasn't desperation, because really, _he _had nothing to offer.

What was the word?

He thought for another moment before making a sound through his nostrils.

"A masochist." he replied after a moment, tone even and expression blank. _*****_

"Me being a masochist is what keeps you around?" She asked mildly. "That certainly puts an interesting spin on things." 3

He wasn't sure how to respond. For a moment, he said nothing, merely looked ahead as if he hadn't heard her. He could retort in a rather sarcastic manner, but really, he suddenly didn't feel up to the task. "My sticking around has just about everything to do with your never-failing company. I prefer your presence much more than most others. And I _hardly _find it based solely on your masochism." _*****_

"Perhaps," Her expression took on a slightly more serious aura, "But it _was_ solely based upon a connection that started out only because of something that could really be considered a lie when it comes right down to it. Or near enough to one to be called little else."

The thought made her uncomfortable. Because, really, he wouldn't be here _now _but for the accident that had brought them together, no? 3

Hiei scowled. "Lie?" He repeated, not sure what exactly she was referring to. He couldn't exactly see what all was a lie about the bond, other than the fact that he'd jumped right in without figuring out _what _he'd agreed to in the first place. But he hadn't lied in the least when he'd agreed that night to be her protector. Toriko's protector? Didn't matter.

And she hadn't lied when she'd said she needed someone of his capabilities to be around. She'd be dead were it not for… several circumstances, he realized. Some of his help, some of other's. _*****_

"Lie. Manipulation. Deceit. Call it what you want, I can't claim entirely in the end I didn't trick you into the pact in the first place." She paused for a second before going on, turning thoughtful. "It's the only reason we're sharing in one another's company now, is it not? After all, what interest would such a ferocious fire demon as yourself have in the weak and mild humanoid who couldn't even _consider _Demon World without having a mental breakdown."

She gave him a sidelong glance out of the corner of her eye, struggling not to smile as the next thought occured, "I suppose I should _thank _Toriko for that really, but I'd just be thanking myself, now wouldn't I?" The question was, of course, rhetorical. 3

Hiei didn't so much as make a sound, his thoughts turning as he considered the days before the pact, and the ones that followed the bond he'd tossed himself into. He could have just as easily said no, if he'd wanted to. What had stopped him from doing so, he wasn't sure. Pity? Not likely; he'd never acted on such an emotion before. Not in that way.

Though, he did have to admit that, without the bond, he wouldn't have looked at her twice, more than likely. He'd been curious of her, yes, but once he'd figured out her _thing _about demons, he likely would have scoffed at her and turned the other way.

Would he have ended up curious enough to return?

Really, he wasn't sure _what _would have happened without the bond. Perhaps Kurama would have taken it, taken up the responsibility to watch over her. He would have done much better at it than Hiei himself had.

Which lead to the thought that Youko had _once _been her champion too. Meaning it was very likely he would be marked as well, due to his… personality and their past relationship, which he had noticed that night when Youko had come out how familiar they were.

"_Yoku" _is what he'd called her. Just as Kit did.

…

_Damn._

"It doesn't matter." he replied in the end, eyes forward still and thoughts suddenly churning over and over several things. _*****_

_Yes, it does. _She protested to herself, almost immediately countering herself with 'no, it doesn't really.' Because in the end here she was and there he was and he was acting for all the world that he _wanted _to be there, at least for now. After all, he spent all that time looking for her. And chose to be with her for the moment above other things she didn't doubt he could be better doing with his time.

On an impulse, she turned in mid-stride and stepped up on her tip-toes to plant the softest kiss on Hiei's cheek before continuing to walk.

"Thank you. By the way." She watched her feet as she kept walking. "I don't think I ever said that." 3

Hiei gave the briefest of pauses when Shikiyoku twisted in his direction, eyes cutting to look at her blankly even as her lips touched his cheek. When she pulled away and continued walking, he too picked up his natural pace, watching her for a moment longer before turning forward, resisting the urge to rub at his cheek because it was such an _odd _feeling.

"The only _thanks _I need is simple**:** your company here and there." he retorted, his hand in his pocket twitching just slightly before it settled again, the urge passing just as quickly as it had come. *****

Shikiyoku resisted turning her gaze to the sky, "Well, it's so good to know I'm so popular that you want me around every _now and then_. Heaven forbid you get tired of me and dismiss me from your presence." Her tone dripped with sarcasm. "Remind me to add 'at Hiei's beck and call' to my list of functions in life." She smirked.

"Thanks for the compliment, though." _That _actually sounded sincere. 3

Hiei fought back a quick reply and instead gave a scoff. A part of him seemed to take her words with ire, and another part merely took them as her form of a joke. Which part of him won out, though, he didn't know. So he took a moment before giving another scoff.

"I suppose if you _wish _I could demand _all _of your time and allow _no other_ to be nearby. But I'm sure your consorts-in-training would have a few words to say about it." His lips turned into a dark sneer. "Not that I'd mind a good fight." His expression turned neutral again. "But I'll stick with _every now and then_ and use the term rather loosely." _*****_

"I would only _wish _it were it something you wished for yourself." She realized how confusing that seemed, but it was true. It was very easy still to only _desire _what another wanted, while at the same time she felt she wouldn't _wish _for anything that the other despised.

She needed to figure out a way to get over that. The Consort situation was _much _different than that of a Champion: they were meant to be equals, not one in the service of the other. Not all the time anyway. Give and take, as it were. 3

Hiei didn't turn to look at her. He pondered her words for a moment, took them into consideration before his lips turned up in a smirk that just _ghosted _across his features for the briefest of moments before turning neutral again. "I don't think _wish _to be the correct terminology." He pulled his hand from his pocket and rubbed at his cheek, where it itched just briefly.

Because really, he _wanted_ to spend his time with her. As much as she'd allow him, if possible. But there were pesky obstacles, pesky little creatures that would get in the way if he let them. And, in a way, he'd be getting in the way of her own well-being. And _that _he didn't want.

Especially if his suspicions were right and _Youko _was to be involved. _*****_

"Oh?" She replied, features settling into a smile, "Didn't you know? Haven't you been told? Your wish is my command." 3

_We are not pacted. It isn't that way anymore, fool. You have things to do, decisions to make. I'd be in the way, though I will enjoy every moment of causing the trouble._

_What a selfish fool I am._

"Still have strawberries?" He asked suddenly. "They smell… appetizing and I find myself wanting one." _*****_

"As it is my duty to fulfill your desires, so too shall you have your wish granted." She announced with a flourish only off-set by her grin, producing for him a handful of strawberries, eyes sparkling. "_Now_, however, I fulfill for you because I _want _to, and not because a bond dictates that I must." She clarified. 3

Hiei raised a brow at her before reaching over and plucking three strawberries from her grasp, tumbling two of them from one hand to the other and sticking the other in his mouth, his teeth biting into it but not cutting it all the way through. He savored the juice that ran along his lip and into his mouth, the fruit bursting with flavor he'd been trying to ignore the smell of for what was entirely too long of a time.

AFter a hesitation, he bit down and began chewing on it, his fingers holding the fruit in place at his lips.

_She is happier this way._

"Thanks." _*****_

"My pleasure to oblige." She clasped her hands together behind her back as she continued lightly stepping down the sidewalk, eyes roving around the surroundings.

"Though if I'm being perfectly honest, I can't say things were not incredibly easy as a Ward." A bit of wistfulness crept into her tone. "Never _having _to think for myself because I always had another to think of."

Her tone lowered, as did her gaze, and she muttered, "I have no idea what I'm doing. Not in the slightest. I'm...I feel a little lost, really." _Okay, a __**lot **__lost. Not even kidding. _3

Hiei crunched on the strawberry again and turned his eyes over to Shikiyoku as she began speaking, his tongue snaking out and retrieving a bit of the rogue juice that rolled from his lips and to his chin, catching it before his tongue disappeared behind his lips again. He made a small sound of acknowledgement at her words, saying he'd heard her, but didn't have a verbal answer at that moment as his mouth was otherwise occupied.

He swallowed a minute later.

"Do what you're capable." he said calmly, even giving a very slight, almost unnoticeable shrug. "and it's easy to say _do what you want to." __*****_

"The problem is I haven't the faintest idea of either what I'm 'capable,' as you so eloquently put it, or what exactly it is that I want to do." She mused aloud, finding it relatively interesting that she was bouncing ideas off of _him _of all people.

Had she always done that?

"And I really don't know how to figure it out for that matter." 3

Hiei scoffed quietly to himself. "If you're asking _me _for answers about _yourself_, then you're in the wrong place." He stuffed another strawberry in his mouth, this time whole save for the stem, which he tossed to the side. He chewed slowly at the red fruit, lips sealed to keep any from making a rogue escape until he swallowed again, his hand now empty and in his pocket, his stomach satisfied and mind settled.

And really, he had no ideas for her, because even before, he hadn't known what she'd _enjoyed _doing on her own time. Because, really, she'd given all of her time to _him_, her _champion. _

Which he hadn't realized until then. _*****_

Shikiyoku gave him a searching look, "What? You mean all those absolutely ferocious looks and not a brain for a thought between them?" She appeared accepting of the information. "I suppose we can't have it all, now can we?" 3

Hiei was quick to react with a harsh glare from the corners of his eyes, narrowed to slits at her and his lips pulling into a thin line of irritation. His teeth gnashed together for a moment, his jaw locking up and the muscles giving a twitch here and there.

"You _could _go home and deal with Bird-Brain. I'm sure he'd _enjoy _that, and you'd learn a thing or two about what you _do _and _do not _want." _*****_

She easily kept her amusement as his subsequently 'ferocious' look in her direction under wraps and refrained from commenting on it, though she _did _meet his rather baleful gaze with a brief, mild, and almost disinterested one meant to inform him that she found him neither 'scary' nor particularly intimidating. She knew him rather well, after all.

"Ah, see? That wasn't so hard was it? And that _is _an idea now, isn't it?" She appeared to consider it. "I'm not really sure why you would mention _that _specifically, however." There was a slight pause. "Unless you mean to be rid of me, in which case you should just come out and say, 'Woman, I wish to be rid of you.' I would oblige _that _sort request as well you know, and I'd much rather you come out and say these things as assumptions are-" _What got us into this position in the first place. _She bit back the end of her sentence, frowning. It _was _all actually _her _fault wasn't it? She'd be just as happy going and jumping off a bridge in this situation if she thought it would do any good.

At the moment, she really couldn't say that she _didn't _regret breaking their pact, as she currently could see nothing particularly _good _having come of it.

_Except for the fact that you've got Taka and Kit around now._

Yeah, and where _had _that gotten her exactly?

_You thought Kit was __**dead**__. _

And maybe it should have stayed that way.

_You don't really mean it._

On the whole, this entire Consort thing had really only provided a sort of bother, getting people-err, demons-crawling out of the woodwork when with most of them she would have rather that they simply _stayed _there.

In the woodwork.

And she had a sinking feeling that the mess she dragged them all into had only just begun.

After all, it wasn't exactly up to _her _how quickly the process went.

She held back a groan. 3

Hiei allowed Shikiyoku's sentence to go unfinished, noticing almost immediately the way she receded into her own thoughts and her own world, obviously not even waiting for a reply from him for a moment before she seemed to join reality again, even if just barely. He turned his eyes forward, expression neutral as it had been before, and silently he roved over a few ideas.

They could go back to the Ninth Layer. Visit Kafu again if she wanted, and perhaps she'd remember it this time.

Then again, it could easily turn into a sour situation, being in a rowdy, crowded bar such as the Niiro.

_Better not. _

A sudden thought occurred to him, and he stopped mid-step, eyes closing for the briefest of moments before he released a puff of air.

_How'd he forget that? _And he'd _just _visited the place too. Yesterday, actually.

Though, to be fair, he didn't linger long.

Because as another had warned, the area would "steal souls".

_Heh. Fool._

And with another scoff and a blank expression, Hiei was slowly folding himself between the layers, eyes on Shikiyoku as he concentrated on the mere thought of wanting her to follow. _*****_

Instead of a groan, she let out a sort of sigh, staring up at the sky and mulling over most of the previous thoughts she had, until she found herself lowering her face and looking in Hiei's direction, an uncertain expression in her eyes until she realized she could only half-way see him and she let out the smallest noise of amusement.

"Clever demon," She murmured with a smirk as she began bending herself inbetween the layers.

If she was being truthful, she hadn't really expected him to catch on quite so quick, and certainly not _use it to his advantage_. 3

The amount of amusement Hiei felt at watching Shikiyoku turn to him was almost impossible for him to keep under wraps. When she made a sound he _barely _caught from where he was on the Second Layer, his expression shifted to one of taunting amusement as he slid up another layer, and another, until he was turning and moving across the layer he so desired to be on, his feet carrying him at half speed merely out of laziness despite his internal excitement to show _another _this trick. This… form of amusement no one else but _he _had been granted for the longest of time.

But he could _share_ the experience, if he wanted. And for once, he actually _wanted _to.

So he ran along the layer until he was standing at the very place he'd been at the day before, darkness having fallen over the old campsite that still had a very quiet hum of energy residing over it. Still had the quiet protection spell woven into the air, a defensive mechanism to any who _dared_ destroy the area.

He slowed to a walk and moved amongst the trees, through the place where he clearly remembered sitting in front of a fire of his own creation, where he'd spent many nights sleeping.

The same place he'd shown Shikiyoku in her dreams, though he doubted she remembered it, really. And if she did, then all the more better.

He moved through the circle of the overgrown campsite and to the cliff's edge where he'd lost his jewel long ago, eyes slowly looking down over the edge and his toes just _meeting _the edge of the cliff.

He slid his hands into his pockets and stared down for a while, amusement gone for the time being and curiosity taking its place.

"Do you remember this?" _*****_

Shikiyoku remained quiet as she followed after the fire demon, still wrapping her mind around what exactly he'd just done.

As if he needed any _more _excuse to be as taciturn as she knew he often was. She could see it becoming a problem.

For _her _anyway.

She could see _him _just doing it to spite her.

As they began walking through the campsite, she found herself having to resist reaching out to touch things as they went by, and she slowed to a stop a few feet behind him when he took up a position standing at the cliff.

She almost nodded at first in answer to his question, though he naturally wouldn't have seen it.

"I do." 3

Though she couldn't see it, Hiei's lips turned up in the most crooked, most wicked of smirks as he stared down at the little specks below that he knew to be trees, the wind blowing up from the ledge and making it almost _difficult _not to move with it.

There was silence for a moment as he reconsidered, but in the end decided he'd do it anyway. Because, why not?

"I can assume you know its significance?" _In more way than one, really. _His lips twitched again, and after another moment, he turned to Shikiyoku, his expression blank and unreadable, hands still in his pockets. _*****_

Her head tilted slightly at him when he turned to look at her and she kept her face fairly neutral, if her lips did struggle a bit against smiling at him.

"I could hazard a guess." She replied lightly, completely unaware of the reason as to why he had brought her here and still trying to decide how she felt about it. 3

Hiei couldn't _see _the uncertainty, but he sure could _guess _at it despite her neutral expression. His facade remained in place, his mind blank of any thoughts other than the ones he presented to her, so as to not give anything away. He stared at her a few moments longer before he turned to look over his shoulder at the long drop again, expression momentarily shifting to and odd one as he recalled falling from the cliff, catching himself with his sword, but not his gemstone.

He'd lost something that day.

But he'd also found something else.

"I never did find it." He grumbled, momentarily lost in the memory of searching before his eyes focused again on Shikiyoku, red meeting green in a calm manner. "Scaling mountains isn't exactly… _fun, _per se."

His lips twitched.

_But the fall is._

He took a single step backwards and dropped from the cliffside, eyes not leaving Shikiyoku until he couldn't see her anymore. _*****_

Well, she _knew _that. The one he was wearing came from his twin, though Shikiyoku was fairly certain he'd never told the Koorime what he was to her. For whatever ridiculous reason he had for not doing so.

Just because she _knew _such things, did not mean she _dwelled _on them. It wasn't as if he had ever come out and told her any of this. But a wandering hybrid who just happened to have the same color and shape of eyes as a female demon with whom he shared aspects of a certain cold element she refused to chalk up to coincidence.

_She's not the only one, either_.

Her lips did actually twitch into a smile, which very quickly turned curious as she sensed the step Hiei took before she actually watched him do so, her head tilting further in question as she watched him disappear over the edge.

"I said _bridge_, not _cliff_." She mumbled as she stepped over to the edge Hiei stood at moments before.

A moment of hesitation overtook her and she glanced back at the rest of the campsite, turning and strolling towards it before making a noise something between a scoff and a laugh after getting a few feet, pivoting around and running full-tilt for the edge, beginning as she ran to unravel wide strands of her energy.

The almost golden tendrils emerged from everywhere along her body and as she jumped clear of the cliff's edge, there was a moment where she slowed in the air, letting the energy lengthen like kite-tails before she let more of it shimmer over the rest of her, creating a soft glow that covered her completely as she twisted around in the air, eyes coming closed.

_Just like a dance, hm? _

She gave a huff of laughter as she righted herself and opened her eyes, making sure she would be diving head-first.

And when gravity actually caught a hold of her and started to pull her down faster and faster, the threads of energy streamlined behind her as she fell, her hair and clothing whipping upwards in the opposite direction of her flight. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	79. Episode 163 - Fire Birds and Butterflies

**A/N:** Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction World!

Starting next week, updates will occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:00 am CST (or as close to that time as possible) and continue as such with no other plans of adjusting the schedule. I will, however, be out of town the third week of March and without internet access so no updates then!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari and Kurama part ways with the promise to meet again at the meadow that evening,  
and Akari is forced to deal with Isamu as she and Nabu try and have a fun day together,  
eventually slamming the door in his face and leaving with Nabu to go to the park.

~!**!~

After finishing their sweet snow, Shikiyoku and Hiei leave the house,  
and Hiei ends up leading Shikiyoku to the place he used to consider home:  
the clearing with the hammock in the tree that he had shown her.

Leading her to the cliff over which he had originally lost his tear-gem,  
Hiei steps off the edge into the air, Shikiyoku following shortly after him.

* * *

As soon as he was out of Shikiyoku's sight, Hiei whipped about in the air, his cloak whipping around like mad as he did so, tangling around his legs and his scarf tightening around his neck, moving in the barrage of sudden wind until it unraveled and disentangled itself from his person, at which point he snatched it from the air and tucked his arms closer to his body, his energy finally releasing in a bright ball of flame that streamed behind him as he began to fall faster and faster, his eyes bright on the rising trees below, but knowing he had _loads _of time before he'd have to deploy his safety net.

And as his flames whipped through the air, the night became alive with the insects he'd shown her in the dream land, and their bodies lit up all around him, making him feel as if he were falling through space itself as they hovered in the air, not taking chase after him nor seeming to care for Shikiyoku's presence in the least.

A presence he'd become aware of only a moment ago, and he glanced over his shoulder with bright eyes, though he couldn't see her through his own fireball.

As he continued to fall, the flames grew brighter, more intense, until he became a blazing ball of white through the pitch-black night.

And _that _was when the creatures began to stir, the sound of a roaring fireball falling through the air stirring many a creature below, sending those that could take flight scattering about, some whipping by him and others going the opposite direction.

He sneered as he searched for a particular creature, and while to any other being it would occur that the creature could very well be _dead_, he knew better. It only took… _patience._

Which was the fun of this all. Challenging the beast to see how long it would take before it rose to the occasion and would leave its nest to redirect any danger away. And the closer he came to the trees below, the wider his lips spread.

And then he _saw _it, and immediately his flames disappeared, his energy quickly folding into his body again so that he may be able to see behind him as well when it was necessary.

_Above him. _Whatever.

A screech tore through the silent air, and in the next moment a creature as large as Hiei's own dragon was moving, emerging from the trees and giving another loud, ear-piercing cry against Hiei's intrusion of it's air space as it bat its heavy, leathery wings on the air and launched at him.

As soon as he was close enough, the creature's body erupted into a flame very similar to Hiei's own, and his energy was quick to manipulate it to his advantage, the large beak just missing the fire demon that grabbed at its crown, grabbing feathers that were hidden beneath the flame that quickly dispersed once he had hold of its crown.

It didn't seem to have forgotten who he was, and Hiei could only smirk in pleasant surprise that the large, feathered tail didn't make a swoop at him. Instead, the phoenix stopped mid-flight, mid-charge and hovered in the air, letting him dangle from its head calmly, one foot placed firmly against its skull and his free hand stroking the bright red feathers that quivered under his touch pleasantly.

"Always the show?" _*****_

She could feel somewhere below that Hiei had his own energy out in full-force, though she mostly had her eyes closed since at the speed she descended anytime she opened them it was only for a squint. She could just image the ball of flame with him in the middle of it, though.

She had her own energy starting to curl and move about her, since she did not find actually dancing herself in mid-fall to be doable, she let the strands do it for her, feeling the soft glow of her aura around her and the buzzing of her skin, appreciating for the first time in a long time that exact feeling, since the closest she'd gotten to it was the burning _pain_ tended to leave behind. 3

Hiei clung to the creature with a single hand and his foot firmly in the side of its head, taking a moment to appreciate its calm demeanor about his sudden arrival after so long of _not _being here and most definitely _not _challenging it as he did. But, he realized that the creature was old enough that it likely didn't _matter _how long he'd be gone, because to it, time was nothing. Meaningless.

It made a small sound at him, huffing through its beak and swiveling its black eyes over to him almost curiously.

He himself had his eyes turning _up_, where he could see the glowing ball of energy falling at him, seemingly weightless.

He'd planned on simply surprising her with the beast, but hey, this worked too.

This way, she'd experience it the same way _he _did.

The bird turned its head towards Shikiyoku as well, focusing in on her with a curious air, a sound to match leaving its beak in a small stream of smoke.

"A minute longer." he reassured, making for certain that Shikiyoku got to fall just a little longer than he himself had.

And just when she was going to streamline by him, his hand shot through the air and grabbed hold of hers, his irises bright with the gleam of completely and utter childlike joy at having been able to experience this again. And even as they hung in the air, the glowing insects began to buzz about in the air around them and the beast, attracted both to Shikiyoku's light and Hiei's heat. _*****_

It was about the time Shikiyoku decided she might shift between the layers just to be able to see what was going on-Hiei's energy had blinked out-that something caught her by the hand, jolting her into a sudden stop that almost made it feel as if her arm might pop out of her shoulder socket.

She winced, letting out a unexpected 'ow' in reaction, the strands her energy swirling slowly about her now that she no longer fell. 3

Hiei let Shikiyoku hover in the air, holding her by her hand and looking down at her in his utmost form of amusement, a sneer coloring his features. He waited for another moment before pulling her up over his head, releasing her for the barest of moments before catching her again about the waist and proceeding to pull himself up the creature's head, pulling at the crown of feathers he had a hold of and pushing with his feet until he was standing on its head, overlooking the trees that were no further than a hundred yards away now.

He scoffed once as he set Shikyoku on her own feet, the feathers atop the phoenix's head hiding her feet and even covering her ankles. He released her slowly, his eyes watching her carefully as his mind finally registered her small sound of pain.

But he wouldn't apologize for it, because now she could go wherever she wanted, if she'd just open her eyes and look around her.

If she wished, she could see what this layer looked like from the heavens.

"He's one of a very few left, scattered among the layers now. Most of them died in the collapsing of Demon World." he said nonchalantly as he slid his scarf around his neck again, winding it into place slowly. "Fascinating creatures, if you're able to get close enough to one without being charred." _*****_

As soon as her feet were on relatively solid 'ground,' Shikiyoku rolled her shoulder, reaching over with her other hand to test it as the pain slowly passed.

_**That **__will be an interesting pain to test out on another_.

She blinked and suddenly became aware of the warmth beneath her, one which rivaled the fire demon anytime she got close enough to feel it.

How long _had _it been since she'd set eyes on a phoenix?

Her gaze dropped to inspect what she could see of the creature and gave an almost silent huff from her nose.

There'd been one, and her view of it had been from afar, so her interactions with the birds had been nil up to this point. At least directly.

"You two seem to know each other _quite _well." She commented as she went ahead and sat down, reaching between the feathers to smooth her hand along the bird's skin. 3

"It's been a few decades." Hiei admitted, though his smirk stayed in place as he watched her lower herself to sit. The steady rhythm of the bird's feathers beating against the wind had him looking up, towards the clear night sky and assessing it, thinking of places they could go if he decided she should see it.

If she'd be interested, that was.

He felt his energy slowly begin to mingle with that of the phoenix's, creating a warm space around the three beings that attracted the lit insects that began to slowly move their way, buzzing at a low volume. He tapped his foot once, lightly, on the bird's head, deciding _it _would decide where to lead them, and it slowly moved higher into the air, eventually up and over the cliff he and Shikiyoku had dropped from.

"This particular phoenix has been here long enough that the demons who take residence nearby worship it as their protector. Which is humorous, because it takes their _prized possessions_ for itself and hoards it, killing any who dare try stealing it back." He scoffed once, eyes turning down forward to see the horizon line in the distance. "They're all fools." _*****_

_Sounds a lot like someone I once knew. A particular, silver-furred fox._

"You'd think they might eventually decide having a prized possession isn't worth it." Shikiyoku turned her head to watch the scenery change around them. 3

"Greed is dominant over this area." Hiei replied calmly, eyes watching the horizon as the phoenix flew, seemingly to no place in particular. Occasionally, it made a sound, though in response to what, not even he knew. "This land is rich with jewels, in the right places." His lips twitched. "Not much worth the price for them." _*****_

"I'm fairly certain I've never visited this...layer." Or level, for that matter. When it had mattered. "Not in the flesh, leastwise." She gave Hiei a brief smile before going back to calmly watching the horizon.

She felt tempted to extend her energy around the bird, which is why she hadn't exactly 'put it away' yet. 3

Hiei turned to watch a lit village pass by underneath them some several-hundred feet below, noting the onlookers that paused, tiny dots stopping in the middle of whatever they'd been doing to look up as the bird made a screech through the air, one that announced its presence non-threateningly.

If they could see him, the demons below would have seen the completely amused sneer aimed down at them before the tiny dots ran, disappearing in all directions before the village was out of sight.

"Not worth much." Hiei said after a moment as he turned to the front again, shifting his weight just a bit, the feathers around his ankles rustling his cloak. "Aside from this creature, this layer is dull at best." To him, anyway. Then again, he'd spent his entire life here almost, doing nothing but killing and searching.

And when he wasn't doing _that_, what had he done?

_Nothing. _Quite literally. _*****_

"Dull? You mean you _don't _miss living life as a bandit?" 3

Hiei gave a scoff. "Why would I? As _enjoyable _as it is to slaughter an entire village, the rewards were never worth it. It wasn't even _fun _after a while. A _chore_."

_A bore. _Because he'd had nothing to conquer here, aside from those who looked upon him with sneers and scorn.

But _those _hadn't lasted long. _*****_

"You could have moved layers. ...levels. Sought out a different set of clientele. Victims. Whichever you prefer." She turned away from the changing landscape beneath them to watch Hiei as he answered. 3

Hiei chose not to answer her, because by the time he'd considered what she'd just said, he'd had another mission. Another reason to roam this layer. Level. Whatever. There had been no way, in his mind, that the jewel had been moved from one level to another. He'd hunted it down, until he'd come across Shigure.. After that…

Hm.

Really, he didn't know _why _he didn't simply run from one level to the next. He easily could have.

Perhaps it was simply because he'd been certain this layer had held what he'd been looking for. And it had, but perhaps not in the way he'd imagined it.

Was that it? Was that why he never hopped levels before turning to the Human World?

"Hn." _*****_

She wasn't surprised by his non-answer. He was..._young_. And a hybrid of conflicting elements at that. She could only imagine the terror he likely spread, especially once he lost his tear, which was in the end the only thing holding him back in any case.

A one-track mind after that, all thought bent on its return. And since he lost it _here_, why go anywhere else?

Shikiyoku wondered briefly what would have been different had she been picked up by bandits of the Ninth Level when she first escaped the palace.

_That would have gone over well_. 3

Hiei remained silently standing, hands in his cloak pockets and eyes sliding shut as he took to reveling in the feel of the wind moving by, his hair almost flat against his head. Aside from running, this was probably the easiest way for him to enjoy the sensation, especially when he'd been lazier on days where he'd _wanted _to feel the wind, but didn't feel like _running._

Heh. Remembering the first time he'd fallen and _hadn't _had his katana was amusing. He'd been resigned to death before the creature had reared its head and screeched at him.

What had made him think to use his energy to draw it to him, he didn't know.

"If you're lucky, the phoenix will let you into its nest." Hiei suddenly said, eyes still closed and lips twitching ever so slightly. "Quite the sight, if you catch it at the right time of year." _*****_

Shikiyoku hardly thought getting _into _the nest would be her problem. Until recently, she would likely have a harder time getting _out _without the thing putting her back _in_.

The image of the bird either grabbing her in his talons or beak and easy as you please plopping her back into the nest reminded her of a similar predicament in her early years when she flitted around the Ninth Level alone.

That had been a difficult escape.

She shook her head and let out a low chuckle. 3

Hiei slid his eyes open and turned to peer down at Shikiyoku curiously in response to the sound she made, barely heard over the sound of the wings and the wind. He could imagine what she was thinking, didn't even have to _try_ to read her mind, because he could imagine the creature seeing her energy, shining and bright, and regarding her with curiosity.

Though, for some reason, he didn't feel as if _this _one cared too much for _living _prizes. He'd never seen it take more than the shiny jewels and such that demons often wore to show off their daily thieving journeys.

He turned his eyes down to the orange and white feathers of the creature he stood on.

He couldn't really decide if that's what would happen or not.

Though, he would be lying if he said it wouldn't be _amusing. __*****_

Shikiyoku's hand smoothed back and forth of the bird's skin and she looked down to watch the motion, chagrin coloring her features.

"Hopefully it wouldn't be an issue." Shikiyoku murmured to the phoenix, "I'd hate to hurt you." 3

The fire demon watched Shikiyoku calmly, regarding her calmly before giving a small sound. "This one is actually quite docile. Unlike the normal phoenix, the only thing it cares for is its home lands being invaded. The only _reason _it invades another's land is for food, and when it can't find what it wants, jewels are its compensation. Almost similar to a tantrum."

Hiei made an amused sound at the back of his throat.

"So long as you replace what you take, it doesn't mind. Take without replacing, then you're a dead fool." _*****_

Pulled from her thoughts, Shikiyoku wasn't sure if she and Hiei were talking about the same thing.

Granted, the train of thought _she _was on led to his last words creating a ridiculous scenario in her head where _she _was the one being taken and someone was having to figure out what to replace her with.

Which was assuming, once enthralled, the bird would allow it in the first place.

The image in her head still had her letting out a silent laugh. 3

Hiei shifted around until he was facing the opposite direction, watching the lights in the distance disappear as the bird flew away from any form of civilization, its wings fully extended and tail fanned out in its entirety. Flames licked at the ends of its wings and tail, coloring the sky where it passed, never flying low enough to damage the lands below.

He considered moving down its back, but decided to stay where he was, as it was much easier to keep balanced here, where the bird moved less. It was less trouble to simply stay where he was.

"Find something you enjoy yet?" He suddenly asked, genuinely curious. _*****_

His question had her mind replaying everything from the moment she _enjoyed _his compelling her to follow him up to present, where she _enjoyed _spending time in his company. It wouldn't have mattered if they were flying through the air or stuck inside Rae's palace without hope of escape.

And the fact that he shared all of this with her at the very least simply because he _wanted _to share it with her, and not because he _had _to, made it all the more..._enjoyable._

She toyed with teasing him about his wording, since she had yet to _search _for something to enjoy while with him, because truth was _he _is what she enjoyed.

The thought struck her with a certainty she hadn't realized until just then. At least, she hadn't considered it since their bond had been severed.

And it left her a little...speechless, so that all she came up with was a quiet noise of affirmation in response for him. 3

Hiei gave a small, almost imperceptible nod to Shikiyoku's response, his eyes turning to the landscape again to watch it roll by. He remained silent, but the skies were by no means quiet as the phoenix occasionally screeched, and more often than not made a sound he assumed was directed to himself and/or Shikiyoku. He shifted his weight just a little, so that his was facing the female, but was looking over her, watching the land pass by and occasionally pushing away random memories that would surface about said area.

And he simply enjoyed the scenery, as he hadn't done so in several years. _*****_

Shikiyoku glanced at Hiei as he moved, lowering her gaze to let it settle on the horizon, though she was more lost in her thoughts than actually seeing the landscape.

She began shuffling together the demons she'd been in contact with recently.

There was...Uryo. In the club, when she had barely managed to run before draining him. She felt his mark as she turned away.

And Kafu. She remembered feeling the mark on _him _as she and Hiei left the room, though she took no notice of it or really understood it at all at the time.

She gave a little sigh.

There was Taka and Kitoushi, of course. And while she had yet to hear from Uryo or Kafu, there was little chance the former pair would be 'resigning' any time soon. They made that clear simply by sticking around the First Layer.

To be fair, Taka _couldn't _leave. But leaving wouldn't be like him anyway.

And then...there was...well...

Shikiyoku found her eyes drifting back to the fire demon standing over her. 3

Hiei's mind's eye filtered through several memories at once as he watched landscapes pass by, listening to the sound of his own cloak moving through the wind with the wings of the phoenix. The sound of Shikiyoku's hair and clothing doing the same; feathers rustling and flames crackling at the bird's wings and tail. The occasional screech.

It was...pleasant.

His eyelids slid closed and he took to _feeling _his surroundings, focusing on the air and the warmth that carried on the wind. The calm atmosphere between himself and Shikiyoku.

And he rather enjoyed it. It was _so _much better than sitting in the house with the cat and the bird. _*****_

"_And we were meant to __**love**__. And to show the others how to do the same." _

Shikiyoku shifted a little where she sat, Renai's voice echoing in her mind as it had taken to doing a lot of late.

She was fairly certain Taka wasn't _capable _of love, which means out of all of them, he would...certainly be the one Renai would pick for her. It would be...a whirlwind of existence to say the least.

Kit she was fairly certain _already _loved her in his own way, or it was near enough to it that revealing to him the nature of it would be a simple task. And she knew she would be most comfortable with Kitoushi, given their past. A future with him was a clear one to track indeed.

Shikiyoku blinked as if clearing her eyes of the images her mind conjured and attempted to actually take in the sights around her, faintly smiling as she finally managed to soak in a bit of the beauty. 3

Hiei felt the altitude change as the bird swept higher into the air, the temperature dropping a few degrees as they continued to climb higher and higher, the humidity thickening as they passed through a cloud or two. He opened his eyes here to stare at the clouds they were now flying over, slowly raising his gaze to stare at the twinkling lights of the heavens above their heads.

The air was heavy, and it was almost _too _difficult to breathe.

He tapped his foot once on the bird's head, the creature screeched, and then turned its trajectory, going another direction and swooping so that its tail just stirred the clouds.

He turned his eyes down to Shikiyoku again.

"This layer is always riddled with clouds." _*****_

Shikiyoku pulled her knees up closer to her face and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on top of her wrist, her eyes bright and her lips giving off the barest hint of a smile, the mist from inside the clouds settling over her skin like so many dewdrops, though she didn't seem to notice.

The bird underneath her, having catch an updraft, had accosted her senses with his scent, which consisted primarily of what the humans referred to as 'charcoal,' right after the flame upon it had been burnt out, and was mixed strangely with cinnamon. 3

Hiei continued to stare at the heavens above as the bird flew on, not saying anything more to the obviously-distracted Shikiyoku. The stars twinkled and flashed at him as he stared, the air seeming to thicken the longer they remained in the cloudy-atmosphere. His face began to feel odd with the humidity that mixed with his naturally higher body temperature, and after a few minutes of it he became physically uncomfortable.

Which the bird seemed to sense, because a solid minute later, the phoenix was lowering its head and shortening its wing span, lowering itself closer and closer to the ground below before continuing to fly just over the tops of the trees.

And a few minutes later, the bird was hovering in the air, making a few calls into the silence before moving on, repeating the sound, and then becoming satisfied with its surroundings and touching down on the solid ground.

Hiei reached down to pet the bird once before he leapt from its body, landing on the ground with the barest of sounds.

It was silent, save for the sound of a pond being disturbed nearby.

A pond that stilled after a moment.

The fire demon took to looking around the trees, finding no particular reason why the bird would stop here unless it were thirsty, which it gave _no _indication as it simply lowered itself to rest on the ground calmly, wings tucked to its body and head lowered.

He turned to say something to Shikiyoku, but a sound caught his attention and his eyes cut to the sides, fully expecting a demon to come charging at the beast.

And he was completely and utterly surprised by a small flock of orange-red birds, all aflame, bursting from the darkness and immediately invading his personal space, wings flapping and flames crackling about his head.

The fire demon merely relaxed and stood still, eyes sliding closed in irritation as screeches began to sound, one after another as talons occasionally pulled at his hair.

One bird landed on each shoulder, and three others remained in the air, fighting over…

He could only _guess _what.

"_This is ridiculous." __*****_

Shikiyoku could feel the shifting altitudes, knowing the bird sought a place to land and remaining where she sat until she lost sight of Hiei off the other side of the phoenix's head, though she presumed the fire demon had simply hopped off to the ground.

She stayed a moment longer, petting the bird as she slowly unwrapped herself and stood up, jumping down onto the other side where she could run a hand along the neck and chest as she stepped around it in the direction Hiei had gone.

Coming around the corner, at the sight of the chicks giving Hiei a rather _warm _greeting, Shikiyoku's delighted laughter rang clearly in the air, not meant tauntingly or teasingly, but purely a charming sound at the attentions of the smallish creatures-at least in regards to the parent nearby-and as she stepped away from the large phoenix near her, her laughter died down to intermittent chuckles, though she found nothing clever to say about Hiei's 'predicament,' her eyes only glittering merrily as she found him in the midst of the light. 3

Hiei waved a hand once at a bird that chattered loudly in his ear. He waved his other hand at the bird that grabbed at his hair, and batted his arm at the bird squawking the loudest, but each bird seemed only more _enticed _by the idea of winning against _him _as well as its brothers and sisters.

The two on his shoulders were as calm as could be, even ducking away from the fight in the air.

The fire demon gave a scoff of annoyance and glared up at the creatures, a stone-hard glare that shifted to Shikiyoku when he heard her laughter.

Every bird, save one, stilled in the air for a moment, each turning to see the source of the sound that had startled them. Hiei batted his hands in the air once more, and the birds scattered, only a single phoenix chick remaining and quickly settling in his hair, using its beak to move his dark locks about until its wings were tucked against its body and it was completely content with being where it was.

Hiei's glare lightened up when he saw the remaining four birds make a quick flight to Shikiyoku, suddenly disinterested in the fire demon.

"Simple creatures." _*****_

"So you might think." Shikiyoku replied, her eyes brightening further as the birds made for her this time, whereupon she sat down so they didn't knock her to the ground in their apparent excitement. "Creatures that appear the simplest are most often hiding the deepest thoughts."

As she cooed at the nearest one, her energy tremored excitedly around her, waiting until they approached before reaching out to greet them. 3

Hiei stood in the place he'd been overtaken, eyes turning up to look at the bird that lowered its head into his view, a small line of smoke leaving its nose as it made a single sound at him in cheer. "You're not _staying there." _Hiei growled, but otherwise made no move to remove the phoenix that puffed out a stream of fire before diving its head to hide among his hair, resting atop his head calmly with quivering feathers.

He considered reaching up and extracting the bird from its perch, but decided he'd rather _not _deal with the talons it would wield against him. Or the beak, for that matter.

"How ridiculous…" He thought of the creature that had once hid in his scarf, gave a scoff, and then suddenly remembered the time Uryo's friend, Ryou, had done the same to Shikiyoku.

Which reminded him that the last time he'd actually _spoken _to Uryo, the demon had asked about the little creature, saying he'd been missing.

Hiei took to looking around, eyes suddenly searching for the tiny black dragon, though he was certain he wouldn't find the animal on _this _layer. _*****_

The birds all excitedly clamored over Shikiyoku, and she took turns stroking each of them, giving them attentions which they all appreciatively squawked and chirped for, butting at her arms and hands until they each finally settled somewhere upon her, sending her chest shaking with chuckles as they all more slowly murmured back and forth to one another, eyes half-lidded in whatever conversation they were holding and she smoothed her fingers along beaks and shoulders and puffed up chests.

"I take it this wasn't an intended portion of the ride?" Shikiyoku looked up at Hiei. 3

Hiei turned a stare to Shikiyoku, though the amount of disgruntledness had died down once the birds had left his space. The phoenix atop his head chirped once, a bit of smoke rising from his hair at the release of the sound, but otherwise it quieted like the rest of them.

"Not exactly." he admitted, taking to staring at the little birds as the _much _larger phoenix stretched its long neck to peer over Shikiyoku curiously, then settle with around her calmly, its eyes closing.

_It did this on purpose. _he mused, staring at the birds in consideration.

"You're as popular as ever." _*****_

"I can't imagine why." Shikiyoku stuck her face closer to the one that had settled at her front, talons locked firmly about her ankle as she rubbed her nose gently against its beak, getting a sort of chirp-click from it as its eyes closed and it responded to her in the same manner.

Her energy had slowly folded away during the whole ordeal and she pulled back, taking a finger and running it from just below the chick's beak down the front of its chest.

"After all, I try so _terribly _hard to be as fierce as possible." Her head tilted to the side a little as she watched the bird's feathers fluff up further, hunching down lower to the ground. 3

Amusement crept its way into Hiei's eyes as a small gleam. At least she _enjoyed _it. And they weren't being _eaten. _He shifted about, turning around to look in the direction the chicks had come from, almost curious as to why they'd been over there. Sure, they needed water, but it wasn't like a creature of fire _enjoyed _being even remotely _near _the substance for too long.

He brushed the curiosity away and turned his eyes elsewhere, again looking about for the creature he already knew wasn't anywhere near the area. He'd just have to remember to keep an eye out for Ryou. Just in case.

Hiei took three steps, to stand at the base of the nearest tree, and then lowered himself to the ground with his back leaning against the bark, his legs crossing one over the other. He let his eyelids slide shut, figuring that they'd be here awhile if the birds _really _didn't want her to leave so soon. Then again, they could just move through the layers if they wanted. But… he wasn't _opposed _to sitting around and taking a minute to relax.

"Wake me if you get bored." _*****_

"Bored?" She looked up at him, stopping for a moment.

As if by some invisible cue, the chicks around her all gave two incessant chirps of strikingly similar pitches to the syllables Shikiyoku just used, each one turning their eyes onto Hiei.

Shikiyoku's gaze flickered from each chick in confusion before she finally gave out a little chuckle and reached to stroke the one in front of her again, at which all the birds hunched up again in their poofy manner.

"How could one get bored when surrounded by such affection?"

The chicks all murmured their ascent. 3

Hiei crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his body around just a fraction more until he was completely comfortable, at which point he settled against the bark and released a small breath of amusement at the mimicking of Shikiyoku's lone word the birds had issued.

He didn't answer her, because really, he didn't _have _an answer. He wouldn't know one. _*****_

~!**!~

"_This one's going to hurt, my love."_

_The pain of his knife stabbing deeper into her arm had her screaming, certain that __**this **__time he would sever the limb from her body. Had she not been strapped down, the convulsion she made would have ripped the dagger further into her flesh._

_When the blade slipped out of her, she sent a dark glare in Renai's direction._

"_They all..." She heaved for air, "__**Hurt**__."_

"_If you have enough sense of mind to comment, they aren't hurting __**enough**__." _

_For the first time, she saw his eyes grow cold and he slammed the tip of the dagger into the side of her face where she could feel it nearly scraping against her cheekbone._

_It was true: the sensation of the blade tearing down the side of her face and then over her lips, leaving a gaping wound, gave no room in her head to question it. It simply...__**hurt**__. _

Sometime earlier in the night, Shikiyoku had managed to lay on her side on the ground, the chicks only waiting just long enough for her to settle before perching over various portions of her body, one nuzzling itself up between her arms.

Outside of her nightmare, a thin line along her face began burning as she mentally struggled to free herself from the threat she envisioned so realistically, after gouging along her jaw, moving further along to do the same to her neck.

Shikiyoku shivered even as the burn spread to cover the rest of her, dark-yellow energy beginning to pulse in an aura around her in response to the threat that was only in her mind.

Where the burn spread, the scars appeared, sapping her skin of color.

The change woke the chicks and they chirped to one another quietly in concern, each one shuffling or huffing as the energy swirled around their talons, but did them no harm.

They could feel the chill that settled over the skin, and each felt determined to remain in place, fluffing themselves out as big as possible in the hopes of lending her some of their warmth.

The nightmare may have passed, her energy folding away, but the effect did not, and even in sleep she shuddered, eyes almost coming open in a fevery daze as she broke out into a chilled sweat. 3

Hiei hadn't been dreaming. He hadn't even really been fully asleep. He'd drifted in the half-asleep state, occasionally falling back and forth between the two states of awake and asleep, but never really being committed to either state of being.

So it didn't take much more than the small amount of sound from the birds to wake him, to pull the fire demon into the awake and aware state of being that had his eyes slowly sliding open to glance over at the quiet commotion.

At first, his blurred eyes saw nothing out of the norm. But after he blinked a couple of times and he actually _focused_, he noted the scars that now sapped all color from her body, standing out like marble on concrete and looking harsher than she'd looked even a few hours ago.

If it had even been that long.

Her energy was darkened and swirled slowly around her like a thick cloud, and the fire demon felt a sense of caution when he slowly moved to stand, noting she was still asleep, but also very aware that if she felt threatened, she could just as easily attack.

So instead of immediately grabbing for her, he spoke first in an attempt to wake her enough to let her know she wasn't in danger.

_If you attack…_

…

"Shikiyoku," he began, voice loud enough to hopefully gain her attention. "...are you awake?"_*****_

"Mmm, no-" Her voice came out all mumbled against her arm, her cheek smooshed into it. She shifted uncomfortably, frowning, "Buh Ah will be if thif damn bird doesn't stof gnawing on mah ear."

One of the chicks, the one at the top of her shoulder, had leaned over and started chewing at her earlobe, to which Shikiyoku let out something between a sigh and a growl and flopped over onto her other side, actually facing in Hiei's direction now.

The birds on top of her lifted from her body with several small whooshes of noise, landing back on her once she finished, puffing themselves out again when she shivered. 3

Hiei took a few steps until he was standing over Shikiyoku, a brow raised as she answered in a very lucid manner that had his nerves calming immensely. His body relaxed and he released a small puff of air. Now that he knew she wasn't…. _dangerous _at the moment…

"Yes, well, get up. We need to move." He looked to the larger, parent phoenix that stared at him blankly, its head raised high and its feathers shaking a bit as it woke itself in preparation for their departure. "Go back to the First Layer."

_Before you decide to try and kill someone and regret it later. __*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes came open just a little before closing again, and she snuggled further against what basically amounted to a blanket of downy feathers that felt soft and warm.

"...don' _need _tah do anyfing." She breathed, hoping he would just leave her alone and go back to sleep like she herself wanted to do. "S'comfy." 3

Hiei scowled at her. "This…. is no debate." He kept his tone even and was able to keep his own sleep-mind at bay, forcing himself to be wide awake despite her current lack in threat. But that didn't mean it wouldn't change.

So without another second's hesitation, he stepped closer, crouched down and moved her about with his hands, managing to position her so he could slide his arms underneath her to make it easier to lift her and go.

"No protests." _*****_

"I'm protesting." She mumbled, even as she let him pick her up, ending the words with a breathy growl that didn't actually vibrate in her throat. "You're lucky you're so _warm_." She flexed her energy around herself at him, the threat brief and half-hearted at best. 3

"_Don't _flash that energy at me." Hiei warned quickly, tone even and calling for no arguments whatsoever. "I'm warmer anyway, so your complaints are invalid." Even as the birds began to chatter at him in loud protest, Hiei was folding between the layers, traversing all the way down to the First Layer in a matter of moments before he was turning and heading towards her house, knowing that, in the least, Kitoushi would be there.

_Because he can fix it. I can't. __*****_

Shikiyoku let out a long sigh, not even bothering to lift her arms and just leaning against him, unsure if she could get them up to his neck anyway.

She was certainly still _weak_ enough like this. _That _hadn't changed.

_Not that I expected it to._

And he may be warmer but-

"_Hiei_, I was so _comfy_." She grumbled at him. 3

"And I wasn't?"

Hiei gave a small sound of annoyance. He'd _almost _managed to fall into actual sleep. And _of course _it would be that moment when he had to get up. Be aware. He knew it wasn't her fault, but he couldn't help being just a _little _irritated that he'd had to get up and move.

He could always go _back _to sleep. When she was okay again.

He slid to the inbetween layer and managed to stay there long enough to take off, his normal speed now quadrupled, which made it _so _much easier to run and arrive at the destination he'd intended. He landed on the First Layer again and pushed the front door open calmly, silently stepping into the house and looking about for the demon he had hoped to encounter _first. __*****_

Shikiyoku had her face buried against him, and responded anyway with, "Then why did we moooooove."

So unfair.

She meant to say something else, but it died before getting past her lips, coming out as a huff of air that still held all the indignant petulance the words themselves would have contained. 3

"Huff all you like. It changes nothing." Hiei gave a scoff and turned to move up the stairs, noting that Kitoushi wasn't in the downstairs area, and deciding Shikiyoku could _at least _lay in her own bed. With covers. Where she can sleep and _hush. _So _he _can go back to his nap.

If it were even possible.

He nudged the bedroom door open with his foot and moved into the room, standing over the bed and using one hand to pull back the covers before he set her down. He made sure her head was on the pillow and such before his hand grabbed for the covers, and he unceremoniously tossed them up and over her head, covering her face entirely.

"Now stop complaining and sleep." _*****_

Shikiyoku muttered a string of curses at him, already almost asleep and starting to daydream, though she whipped the covers back from her face so she could breathe minus the stuffiness.

Her thoughts had turned to complaints against her illness, which sent a shiver down her skin even though she could feel the hair at the back of her neck stick with dampness.

The fever, the ache. At least she was whole in mind again-and for the moment felt no hunger-but her thoughts spiraled in the direction of how she had managed to contract the illness, and she very quickly found herself face-to-face once more with a disease-furied Kyonshi, his mind beyond coherent thought above his desire to feed, which drove the pair of them into a savage fight as Shikiyoku strove to save her own life, in the end forced to take his.

Their battle flitted across her awareness, her energy slowly building up around her as if he were there _now_, attacking her _now_, and she was being forced to defend herself. 3

Hiei moved away from the bed and across the room, grabbing the chair from her desk and pulling it to the end of her bed, placing it so that when he sat down, he could prop his feet up on her mattress and be completely comfortable. He crossed his arms over his chest and let his eyelids slide closed again.

But just as he'd thought, his very being was focused on the energy of the only other one in the room, analyzing it, constantly checking it, especially when it began to thicken around the woman under the covers.

"Shikiyoku," Hiei mumbled her name out, not even opening his eyes. "You're not fighting; you're not being attacked." His energy, without his direct notice, began to blanket the room, causing the temperature to raise several degrees within the four walls of her bedroom. "You're in a house, in a bed."

~!**!~

"_Akari?"_

She was dreaming. A ridiculous dream, one she didn't understand nor care to actually pay much attention to, but dreaming nonetheless. She shifted slightly in her light sleep, earning a huff against the side of her face from the dog who'd laid next to her in the grass and the sun.

"_Akari?" _his call rang again, throwing away the dream and bringing her eyes open a little.

"Hm?"

"_The sun's setting." _Nabu's chin rested upon her shoulder, and he was laying on his stomach, tail moving back and forth a little and eyes watching her. "_Didn't you say you were going to-"_

"Mmmmm-hm."

There was a pause where the dog continued to watch Akari, but she didn't move from her comfortable position under the tree.

She was _almost _asleep again when she became aware of a shadow falling over her face, blocking out the sun's rays, and thus her source of warmth. "Go away." she grumbled. "I was enjoying the warmth."

"Is this how you spend your days, love?"

"When _you're _not around. Now _moooovee. _You're blocking it."

By this time, Nabu had shifted and was no longer resting his head on her shoulder. "_She gets grumpy when you block the sun. Especially when she's half asleep."_

"I'm sure she'll deal with it." the voice replied as Akari turned over, facing her back to Isamu. "Are you… _pouting?"_

"No, I'm _napping. _Or trying to. Whaddya want?"

"I came to apologize."

"You can apologize by moving out of the sun." There was a short pause, and then she felt the warmth of the sun's rays on her back. "Thank you."

"Am I forgiven?"

"...yeah."

"Good. How about dinner before you leave? You know, for the fox de-"

"Kurama."

"_His name is Flowers."_

"Okay then…. Dinner?"

"...not hungry." _*****_

~!**!~

At his voice, her eyes came open just barely, enough to see the room, enough that her energy paused in mid-swell, but did not recede as she fell back into more feverish dreams, where perhaps it was not Kyonshi this time, but it did not matter _who _the demon, only that they fought, and her energy continued pulsing slowly as if alive in an aura around her where she lay on the bed.

The battle raged on simply because she did not wish to kill him, did not know how, forcing him back repeatedly with blasts of pain that he powered through in his attempts to get at her, leaving her only course of action to retreat-since she knew nothing of fighting-until she could no longer evade him and was forced to send him to his knees once more.

When their clash had nearly come to its end, with him having captured her and beginning to draw her life energy away in a manner she had not seen from him before, something within her snapped, energy snaking out of her body like strands. Where these strands had once drawn demons together by encircling and binding them, her power now sought to end his life, coiling about him in the same manner as it had surrounded countless others, but tightening until it sliced through his flesh.

If she had not lost her mind to the disease he had passed to her before that moment, it fled her when his blood splattered against her body, and she could not cope with the knowledge that she had taken another's life.

As this scenario repeated in her mind, stuck in a loop of delirious visions, a shape darker than the shadows of the room around it walked calmly in the direction of the bed, making the simple, silent leap onto the covers near Hiei's feet without so much as disturbing the mattress and beginning to purr in a steady, thrumming sound that would have filled the room had it not been so low a pitch.

The black cat regarded Shikiyoku's state almost mournfully through his heterochromatic eyes, at least what he could see of it, which was her scar-riddled face, and feel of it, which was heavy in the air around her what with the thickness of her energy.

As he analyzed it, he gently leaned against Hiei's shoes, rubbing his sleek body along them as he moved forward, his tail curling neatly around one of the feet and smoothing off it as he passed, turning back and going the other way in the same manner, his eyes fixed on Shikiyoku.

Kitoushi sat down near Hiei's ankles, tail raising and lowering steadily in thought as he turned to look at the fire demon over his shoulder. 3

Hiei didn't notice the quiet presence until it was rubbing at his feet, which brought his eyes open and onto Mane-

Kitoushi.

That was going to be weird for a while.

He watched the cat wind around his crossed feet, considering the form the demon was in and easily deducing that it was not by choice, otherwise Kitoushi would have fixed the problem at hand by this point. His eyes turned to Shikiyoku, whose energy continued to darken and swell throughout the room.

He thought for a moment, occasionally turning his eyes back and forth between Shikiyoku and the furball at his feet before reaching out through the Jagan to the cat.

"_How long will you be in this form?" _

~!**!~

There was a pause on the air as Nabu gave a sigh and Isamu echoed the sound with a sigh of his own. "But I cooked and _everything."_

"You did _not_," Akari began, the image in her head one of Isamu creating an open fire to roast over in her home, "do what I _think _you did, did you?"

"Of course not. I've learned the ways around the human mechanics."

"_Too bad."_

"Nabu, wanna go with me?"

"Love, you should eat before-"

"I said I'm not hungry, Isamu. You should find something to entertain yourself with." Finally, Akari rolled onto her back again and sat upright, eyes open and turning to the sun that was almost entirely below the horizon now. "I'm not a kid you have to look after. I can handle myself."

Isamu lifted his hands in surrender. "I was just making sure. Have fun on your date." He turned to leave, his energy pulling on shadows from the area. "I'm going to check on the pack for a while. I'll be back tomorrow morning."

Akari huffed through her nostrils at the male who stepped into a shadow and disappeared, She turned to Nabu, who raised his eyes to her as well and turned his head slightly. "_Are we leaving now?"_

"Yeah, might as well."

"_I hope he doesn't come back in the morning."_

"Nabu, you're being mean. Remember your own words about being like that?"

"_Of course. But nobody takes their own advice." _*****

~!**!~

A sense of annoyance passed over the shoulders of the small cat as he looked away, back out over the bed at Shikiyoku, for whom as of this moment he could do little.

Not annoyance at the fire demon, but most assuredly aimed at the question that filled the space between them.

"_Until the morning." _Like clockwork, really.

Dusk falls, and until the sun rose, the former Champion found himself unable to change freely as with the rest of the day.

Something to do with having been stuck for so long, something he found he had thus far been unable to avoid.

Something that until this very moment he had honestly not cared one way or the other about, taking the shift in stride and being unsurprised that he had to spend a certain amount of time within twenty-four hours in the form he had worn the most since parting with _her_.

His ribcage expanded and contracted in an exaggerated motion, releasing a silent, sighing breath as he stood up, eyes wary of the energy that had just started to lazily flow in his direction.

It blessedly did not turn on him, but as Kitoushi approached her with soft steps across the blanket, moving upwards towards her head, he felt as if he waded through a gelatinous substance and it had the hairs down his back standing on end, every feral instinct within him warning him to flee.

He pressed a paw onto her arm, warning her of his presence.

The touch drew her lids back from her eyes and her dark gaze focused in on him, though not before he saw her lips move and form a single name: Hiei.

Kit could feel that if she had the capacity to move, she would have scooped him up into her arms, saw the desire to do so in her eyes and he blinked once at her, slowly closing his eyes and reopening them before lightly stepping over her torso to her other side and approaching her head where he curled up between her shoulder and the side of her face, still purring steadily as he had been since he entered the room.

Her eyes came back shut as his soft fur settled against her cheek, and her face moved just enough to give him a nudge that indicated she was pleased with his proximity, though her expression remained severe and incapable of portraying the emotion.

"_...I am sorry I cannot change you."_

The voice had her eyes opening to half-mast.

"_There is no need for such apology. No need for worry."_

Kitoushi's ears flicked backwards briefly as he nestled the top of his head against her neck, becoming a small, black ball of softness with his pink nose hidden by a single paw.

"_Why not?"_

"_Why no need for worry?" _She blinked and her eyes closed again. "_Worry is a waste of energy. It does nothing. Solves nothing._

"_You grow sicker each time you are like this. And I-"_

Shikiyoku waited for a moment as if she expected him to go on, unsure of where he had been going with the sentence.

"_I do not wish for you to __**die**_**, **_my lady."_

It wasn't what he was going to say and they both knew it, but Shikiyoku did not comment on it.

Her face twitched almost humorously.

"_I do not think you would let me." _3

Hiei shifted just the slightest, sliding a bit lower in his chair and crossing his arms tighter over his chest. His eyelids slid closed again and he settled for a bit, his lips turning down in a frown. So, Shikiyoku was to be in this form until morning? He didn't like it, but then again, what could _he _do about it?

_Nothing._

He wasn't… anything but a demon to her at this point. No special bond or mark. Nothing but his mere presence to offer, since she seemed to enjoy his presence.

Which… was the only thing keeping him here, even with Kitoushi in the room, curled up with Shikiyoku as he was. The fire demon could just as easily leave her in his care for the night and return later, if he desired.

He was almost tempted to do just that.

Except he stayed still, simply because he could. Because he wanted to.

~!**!~

Akari shifted a little and pushed herself to stand, Nabu doing the same as the topic died away and shifted to another. "_You know, I really like your group of friends. They're all… unique in their own way."_

Akari gave a small smile to herself as shadows formed a large circle beneath her and Nabu, opening up and letting them fall through and land on the grass of the meadow that was still dimly lit with the sun's rays as well. Rays that were very quickly dying out compared to the First Layer.

"They're something."

"_I think I saw Grump the other day. But I can't be sure, because I was half asleep and he moves too fast." _Nabu looked about the meadow with interest. "_Is this where you and Flowers meet up every time?"_

"Yeah. Wait until it gets dark. You'll love it." Akari stretched her arms over her head and turned in a circle where she stood, taking in her surroundings. "It's too bad you can't see in color. That's the best part." _*****_

~!**!~

Youko finally sat up from where he had been hunched over, working, his legs crossed beneath him with the heart-shaped mark visible and facing upwards should he ever take the moment to glance down at it. Which had only happened once or twice.

_[I hear you, Red.]_

The other occupant of his mind had been the only reason he sat back, stretching his arms upwards and feeling the muscles at his shoulders protest at how long he had been curved over.

_{It's getting late.}_

_[I see that.]_

Youko reached forward, grabbing for one of the things in front of him as he stood up, placing it deep within his pocket.

_{You're okay with this?}_

_[For now. I think taking time for preparations was the best move. I doubt, highly, that I'm the only one in the running.]_

He stretched again, and his image shimmered, moments later the red-head standing in his place.

Kurama could almost feel the fox curling up like some small animal, giving a yawn.

_[And your own excursion will give me a chance to rest.] _

Bending down, Kurama picked up his own portion of what Youko had been leaning over for some time now, the entire day really, and then blurred between the layers, starting to move and make his way with relative ease to the meadow Youko had claimed, where he landed with ease on the grass, beginning to look around to see if he was still alone. 3

Akari let her arms rest on the top of her head after stretching, eyes roving the area she was in and realizing she was pretty close to the trees on the _opposite _end of the meadow than she usually made an attempt to appear in. _Oops. _

And before she could take one step in any direction, Nabu was taking off, running in the direction Akari had meant to land in the very beginning. She gave a sigh and followed after, his enthusiasm making her smile as she noted how low his head was and how quick he'd locked onto the scent of the person who had entered the meadow.

Faster than _she _had, actually.

Nabu sped through the meadow, head down and tail streaming behind him as his feet pounded on the grass, his eyes set on a familiar person who had almost literally dropped in without his notice. He only slowed when he was within two feet of Kurama, at which point he circled once and then stood in front of the male, tail moving furiously through the air. "_I came to cash in the rain check!"_

Akari dropped her arms as she slowly meandered in the direction Nabu had gone, watching the dog interact with the redhead fondly.

_This is __**so**_ _much better than…._

Well, _that _wasn't a very nice thought. _*****_

It didn't take long for Kurama to hear the rustling of the meadow, turning to watch with amusement as a furry shape tore across the landscape towards him.

By the time Nabu had stopped in place and mentioned the 'rain check,' Kurama had bent down and placed the wicker basket in his hand on the ground next to him, and while doing so he recalled the offer Youko had made.

He found it amusing that the dog didn't seem to notice he was not with whom Nabu had spoken and, subsequently, made the promise.

Kurama turned and squatted down to the dog's level, elbows resting on his knees and looking Nabu in the eyes.

_{Mind if I borrow something for a while?}_

_[Mm? ...oh...sure.] _

The question had only barely roused the fox from his slumber, after which he quickly 'turned back over' and went back to sleep.

"And what rain check would that be, Nabu?" 3

Nabu's head turned in curiosity, his tail still wagging furiously- enough that his body moved a little with the motion- and he stutter-stepped in place a moment. "_About games and chasing butterflies?"_ His head turned a little more in curiosity as he eyed the male, suddenly realizing there'd been a brighter shine to his eyes the last time he'd seen this one. And his voice had been deeper than it was now.

His entire body stopped moving.

"_Right?"_

Akari had caught up by this point, a brow raised and her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. She eyed the basket on the ground and then disregarded it, instead curious of the conversation.

"What did _I _miss?" _*****_

Kurama turned his head up to give Akari a pleasant smile as she approached, nodding his head slightly in greeting, "We were just having a serious discussion about chasing butterflies, weren't we, Nabu."

He turned his attention back to the dog, eyes gleaming. 3

Akari's lips parted just a little in confusion, her brows lowering over her eyes. _Butterfly chasing? When did that come about? _"By all means, have at it." She waved a hand at the meadow. "I have no qualms with it. Actually, it would be amusing to see _you," _she nodded at Kurama once, "chasing butterflies."

"_Well, he… I don't know, I'm confused now. Didn't we talk about the meadow and I give you a raincheck?" _There was a pause, and then the dog's demeanor shifted into one of irritation. "_...if that demon is back too, I don't think the house will be the same."_

"Demon?"

"_...that… that __**one**_ _demon that-"_

"I'm quite certain you haven't run into _him_, Nabu. He's being hunted, remember?"

"_Too bad that __**other**_ _one isn't hunted too." _he added with a huff. "_Inviting himself into our territory like that." __*****_

Kurama lifted a single hand to his face, palm up, and blew gently across the top of his skin in Nabu's direction.

As the air moved towards the dog, a butterfly roughly the size of his palm swirled seemingly out of thin air and came to rest just on top of Nabu's nose.

"I don't think he realizes about Youko and I." Kurama let his eyes flicker briefly to Akari, before turning back to Nabu with amusement as the butterfly's wings slowly opened and closed. 3

Nabu's eyes quickly turned to the end of his nose to watch the insect, any further discussion forgotten for a moment. His tail moved back and forth in muted happiness, his maw closed firmly.

"I hadn't thought much about it." Akari admitted, giving a shrug. "I guess I never realized that when he saw you, he saw _Youko's form. _Makes it confusing, I guess." She turned to watch the dog, who briefly looked to her, then back to the butterfly, conflicted. "Though how I'd explain it…. Heck, I don't really think I could."

Nabu hesitated once before his eyes turned to Kurama. "_There's two of you?" __*****_

"There is only one of _me_." Kurama pulled his hand down from in front of his lips, resting his elbow on top of his knee as he watched the butterfly and placed his cheek in his hand. "But I share this body with another."

Kurama didn't turn from Nabu, but let his eyes move to look at Akari.

"You'd be welcome to join us, you know. There are more than enough butterflies to go around." 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	80. Episode 164 - A Parting, Reunited

**A/N: **Hello once again, Dearest Yu Yu Hakusho lovers!

What a great way to start out my new posting schedule, eh? An hour and a half late. And my excuse is lame. I was playing League of Legends and completely forgot. Please forgive me, senpai! Muah!

Eighty chapters. ...good grief what were we thinking. The funny thing is, CM and I are _still _bouncing ideas back and forth for parts of the story that we'll have to write through TWO other "sections" before we even get to them.

I hope you're enjoying the ride as much as we did/are.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shikiyoku gets to meet a phoenix that Hiei accidentally met one day as he fell from the cliff of his home,  
and subsequently the two of the are introduced to the phoenix's rambunctious brood, six hatchlings.

As they fall asleep there, Shikiyoku is haunted by nightmares of Kyonshi, the first demon she ever killed directly,  
and in her sleep she changes forms in reaction to the invisible threat inside her mind.  
She is, however, completely lucid once awakened by Hiei, and the fire demon scoops her up to carry her back to her home,  
where he expects, and hopes, to find Kitoushi so that the cat demon can change her as Hiei believes he cannot.

Her nightmares still haunt her as Hiei watches over her until Kitoushi appears, in full pet form.  
Having been stuck in pet form for so long, Kitoushi has to spend a certain amount of time at night looking like Maneshi.

Hiei remains in the room to watch over Shikiyoku as Kitoushi curls up near her head.

~!**!~

Akari remembers her scheduled meeting with Kurama in the meadow and her and Nabu travel there,  
arriving at roughly the same time as Youko's avatar.

Nabu informs Kurama that he is there to cash in on the 'rain-check' that he made with Youko  
in regards to chasing butterflies.

This causes a realization that Nabu does not actually know about 'Kurama' and 'Youko'  
as he only sees one being, namely a tall silver-haired fox complete with tail and ears.

"There is only one of _me_," Kurama tells the Shiba Inu, "But I share this body with another."  
He then extends the butterfly chasing offer to Akari...

* * *

Nabu's head turned ever so slightly, though it didn't seem to phase the insect on the end of his snout. "_Two in one?"_

Akari sighed just a little. "As fun as that sounds, I think… I'll pass. I know I just had a nap, but running around isn't as fun anymore."

_It isn't the same as running with a pack. All of which I want nothing to do with._

She waved her hand in the air, and Nabu turned to look at her fully, sending the butterfly into the air. "_You knew there was two different people in one? And you didn't say anything?"_

"To be fair, Nabu, I thought you knew. I didn't consider the thought that you saw only the demonic spirit, and not the human body it shared with the human soul. Also, it hasn't really ever crossed my mind until recently."

"_It would've been useful to know when- what did you call him? Foko?- was around. But, it's still confusing. How do I know which is which?"_

Akari pointed a finger at the basket she'd laid eyes on earlier. "What's that?" After all, she didn't have an answer for Nabu. _*****_

Kurama frowned at Nabu, "I'm not really for certain what you can and cannot see, so I'm afraid I'm no help at the moment. Youko is...indisposed, but remind me some other time. I'm sure he'd be as interested as I to attempt to assist you."

Kurama blatantly ignored Akari's question, instead winking at her and lifting up his palm to his lips in her direction.

This time when he blew across it, dozens of the same butterfly as the one fluttering about Nabu's head appeared out of thin air in an almost violent manner, their wings beating the air softly as they whirl-winded in Akari's direction, delicately parting around her and flowing like a cloud down the rest of the meadow.

"If you'll excuse me for a little while," Kurama gave her a small smile, "I _did _make a promise. Or rather, I intend to keep the promise that has been made."

Kurama leaned forward as if to go onto all fours, but his shape shifted before his hands hit the ground, a flurry of silver coalescing over his body until revealing a body with fur of the same color, standing only a foot or so taller than Nabu.

The regal fox held his head high, tail in much the same position as his nose sniffed at the air for a moment before he gave the tiniest leap backwards from Nabu, making hardly a sound on the meadow as he bowed playfully at the dog, jaw snapping once at the air excitedly. 3

Akari blinked and only slightly flinched away from the swarm that flew at her, relaxing when she realized the insects went around her effortlessly. For a moment, she remembered the first time she'd been with Foko, when his plant had done the same thing after Otento had shown up.

She blinked, rolled her eyes and waved a hand in the air by her face. "Don't hold back on my account. I'm just here to watch."

"_You're missing out!" _Nabu told her as he mirrored the fox's pose, his tail wagging in the air with excitement and his tongue lolling after he gave a short, playful bark. She smiled at the dog as she watched him bound forward, and around the sleek fox, only sparing a single glance back before he took to running after the insects.

She turned to the basket curiously, considering it for a moment before giving a sigh and instead turning her back onto it as she lowered herself to sit cross-legged on the ground.

She'd wait, because really, the idea of her hands going through the basket Kurama _hadn't _directly offered to her…

Well, to say the least, the image of Isamu going through _her _things stayed her curiosity. _*****_

As soon as Nabu took off, Kurama had risen, a single paw lifting as if to take off after him, but he paused in mid-step, turning to look at Akari with unblinking, yellow eyes.

When he moved it was almost as if he did not take steps, though instead of going forward, he turned and flowed in the opposite direction, gracefully prancing past Akari, though he turned and gave her hand a lick as he passed, and trotting over to the basket, where he sashayed around it and then ducked his head, pushing it in her direction a few scoots before stopping, his gaze meaningful but brief as he quickly stepped back around it in the direction Nabu had gone, and practically disappeared as he shot after the dog. 3

Akari's eyes had been on Nabu for a few moments before she realized the fox wasn't following, which brought them to the silver body that had paused. She raised a brow curiously and gave a smile to match, waving a hand in a "go on" gesture.

She followed his lithe movements as he passed, both brows raised now. "I hope you don't use that method to get my attention in human form." she joked, giving a small nod when his head reappeared over the basket after moving it a few inches. She held the yellow gaze for a brief moment before he was gone, joining her friend in the grass and butterflies.

_You're just like him. A ball of fun and adorableness. _She gave a small laugh to herself as she reached for the basket, pulling it towards herself and peeking inside, making no hesitation for the first piece of bread she laid her sights on before lowering the blanket back over the warm contents. _No use in letting it get cool._

"_There are so __**many!**_" Nabu's voice rang over the meadow, earning a laugh from Akari. _*****_

Kurama would have thanked the fox for the use of this form had the silver-haired demon not been still with slumber inside his mind, so he left Youko undisturbed and focused on the 'butterflies' he had released.

It didn't take him long to actually snatch a hold of one in his teeth, and he did it so lightly that when he stopped after having leapt in the air and opened his jaw, the butterfly took off again, joining its brethren in the cloud they gathered into while flying about.

He paused in place after losing the butterfly among all the look-alikes and watched Nabu for a moment, foxy mouth hanging open in a toothy grin. 3

Nabu bounced, and bounced, and bounced as often as he could. Once his feet hit the ground, he was jumping again, snapping playfully at the insects that evaded him almost effortlessly. He was half sure he was jumping in circles, but he didn't check because..

Well, because _butterflies. _They were _everywhere_, and by the time he caught one, he was releasing it and making an attempt to grab at another, not noticing when a tooth would puncture the wing of the butterfly. He also didn't notice that the hole seemed to disappear and the insect would take flight again, returning to the frenzy the dog had become as he leapt and jumped and barked in happiness.

"_Akari's missing out!"_

"It isn't missing out if I don't _want _to join, Nabu!"

"_Akari's missing ou- Got another one!" _*****

Kurama blustered the crowd of butterflies with his energy and sent them flying forward, then set himself chasing after them, his energy keeping them moving at a rapid pace as he let go of his instruction and they kept flying just out of reach. 3

Akari watched the scene with avid interest and a surplus amount of amusement as Nabu continued to jump and hop, sometimes stumbling and regaining his footing with ease that hinted he didn't even _know _he'd stumbled. She occasionally glanced to the fox when he gained her attention, running about almost calmly- an odd picture when compared to the exuberant Nabu- before he seemed to slow down a little.

Nabu had to have run by him twice before he noticed he was likely to run _into _the fox and took to being more careful of his steps.

_And here I thought I'd never see such a spectacle again. _Her thoughts were ones of amusement and slight awe, silently thanking _and _laughing at the fox who had created the scene effortlessly.

_Too bad you can't join them, _the little voice in the back of her head whispered, making her pause mid-chew and look down at the bread in her hand. She took a deep breath, swallowed, and looked up again, smile back in place and thought gone entirely, replaced with the nagging words of Isamu asking her to "run with the pack" again.

_Heh. As if. _

She was perfectly content sitting here and watching the two in the meadow run about like goofballs. Especially when Nabu ducked underneath the fox at the last second to avoid a collision. _*****_

The next time Kurama successfully caught one of the fluttering insects, he trotted purposefully back towards Akari, coming up next to her and opening his jaw to gently place the butterfly on her leg, sitting down with his tail swishing once in the grass behind him before his image faded and he was lounging next to her.

"So, you're really not going to join us?" 3

AKari shoved the last bit of the piece of bread into her mouth just as she noticed the fox making his way towards her, insect between his teeth and tail swishing here and there. She leaned forward just a bit, resting her left elbow on her leg and raising a brow at the fox when he set the butterfly on her knee.

"Cute," she commented as she stared down at it, small smile still in place. She stuck a finger near the insect's antennae, earning the feeling of it crawling onto her digit and resting on her index finger, where it calmly opened and closed its wings once in a while.

She didn't look at Kurama when he spoke, instead admiring his handiwork with what she now knew to be a plant, not an actual insect. "Well, I'm sure it would be funny to see arms flailing in the air for these little things, I think I'm content just where I'm at." She lifted the butterfly in front of her face for closer inspection. "This is... " She paused, giving a small laugh.

"Is there anything you _can't _do?" _*****_

"Lots of things." Kurama quipped entirely too quickly. "Unless it is something _you _wish for me to do." He turned his face to look at her, head tilted just slightly to the side. "Anything come to mind?" 3

Akari turned her eyes to the redhead with a raised brow, considering him for a moment before her smile widened and she gave a huff that resembled a scoff. She turned to the 'butterfly' again and took to inspecting it just a bit more before it took flight, her eyes following it until she was watching Nabu bouncing around again.

"Nothing specific," she finally responded. "I'm not exactly a picky person about things. And really, if I want something, it's rare I ask for it. Since, y'know, I could just get it myself." _*****_

"How disheartening." Kurama pined, reaching over Akari to the basket and retrieving an apple from inside before turning and laying with his back on the grass, one arm behind his head as he lifted the apple to his lips and took a bite. 3

"Disheartening?" Akari repeated with a raised brow as she turned to stare unblinkingly at him. She didn't see the issue; why bother someone else over something she could just as easily acquire on her own? Especially someone who had other priorities, such as a family they wanted to look after. She gave a small breath of a laugh and turned to watch Nabu again.

"I'm sure the infamous fox thief can withstand it, yes?" _*****_

"_He _isn't who we're talking about here, now is it?" He had chewed and swallowed his bite before speaking, taking another and doing the same. "I suppose I'll just have to keep doing things for you that you don't know how to ask for." 3

"Is that so?" Akari spoke almost absently, smile still playing on her features as Nabu's form suddenly disappeared in the grass, his body low enough in the tall greenery that he was well hidden within its depths. "Care to give an example?" she intoned just as the dog burst upward, sending the insects scattering again with a loud bark of enthusiasm.

_I wasn't aware I was indirectly asking of anything? __*****_

"You mean of things you would never ask for yourself?" He rolled over onto his side, facing her, head propped up with the hand that wasn't fiddling with the apple in his fingers. "Now, where would the fun be in me _telling _you?" 3

Akari gave a hum at Kurama before slowly turning her eyes onto him, considering him for a moment before giving a shrug. "I suppose if it were the other way around, I'd say the same." Her lips twitched into a lopsided smile this time before she made a face at him. She crinkled her nose and pursed her lips, adding to the expression with playfully narrowed eyes. _*****_

"Can it?" His eyes gleamed, "Be the other way around, I mean?" 3

Akari's expression turned thoughtful. "Are you asking me if I would do something for you, or if I would do something _without _you asking?" she intoned, not really sure which direction he was taking. Because, really….

She wouldn't hesitate if he asked something of her. However, if he _didn't _ask…

Well, she wasn't exactly a mind reader. She wasn't… as observant as he was. Would she be able to pick out something he didn't know how to ask for?

_Highly unlikely that's even a thing. __*****_

Kurama chuckled at her response, sitting up and taking another bite of the apple, his expression turning a little more serious.

"I...have something for you. If you'll accept it." 3

Akari raised a brow in curiosity. _He_ was going to ask _her_ for something? That was odd, since really, she'd always seen it as one sided. As if he'd never _have _anything to ask of her. "Well, it isn't like I can say no, hm? I'm all ears." She paused and turned her eyes upwards, as if imagining the ears that had once been atop her head. "Metaphorically speaking, that is." _*****_

Kurama solemnly reached back over her for the basket, picking it up and placing it next to himself, the apple disappearing inside as he appeared to search the contents within for something.

When his hand came back out, there was an object that could be called little besides a 'bracelet' encircling his fingers.

It was obviously made out of petals which seemed to gleam like emeralds and were attached around a jasper-colored bit of what was likely a vine of some sort.

The entire thing looked rather delicate as he held it out between them.

"There is a flower that blooms only once every few hundred years." He started to explain, looking down at the bracelet. "And its petals are coveted by many for the strange properties they bestow when eaten. The flower has simply been called 'Hope.'" He could feel the life beating in the plant resting over his fingers. "And it is believed that when one is in their darkest hour, if you do not have food or water, and find yourself in the depths of despair, a single petal from the flower will restore and rejuvenate you, bringing light to whatever darkness has come to rest over your very soul. Bringing...hope, as it were." He extended the bracelet towards her.

"I would like you to wear it. If it pleases you." 3

Akari leaned back a bit when Kurama reached over her for the basket, more to be out of his way than anything else. She watched curiously as he dug within the basket, her eyes following the motions he made before his hands withdrew from the object, holding a small circle she could easily see to be an object meant to be worn. She stared at it curiously, the colors vivid. She turned her eyes up to the redhead as he spoke, expression blank as she listened carefully.

She was impressed, to say the least, that he'd procured such a thing. How difficult had it been for him to get his own hands on the rare flower? Her eyes lowered to the bracelet again, a small smile forming on her lips in awe. _Such a little thing could hold so much power. _

She continued to stare at it for a few moments after he'd stopped talking, mainly because she hadn't _realized _he had finished talking.

_Of all the things he could have asked, and he asks something so simple? And how exactly would __**he**_ _benefit from this? Why am I the only one benefitting? Isn't it tiring to be on that side of it all?_

She blinked, and suddenly realized the silence on the air was a pause, a breath where she was expected to respond.

_Oh, duh._

"Even if I wanted to, how would I turn it down?" she replied with an amused tone. She reached out to accept it from him, her eyes on the bracelet for a moment before turning up to him. "Though, I'm curious. Of all the things in the universe, why something like this? You claim to be selfish and yet you won't even request something for yourself. You.. make no sense." _*****_

"You would turn it down by simply saying 'no.'" Kurama's eyes gleamed. _And let me tell you, Youko would jump on that in a heartbeat since he already had in mind who __**he **__would be giving it to. _"I suppose I should confess that this gift is as much for my benefit as it is for yours. If I know you're wearing it, I know there is little that can truly harm you, and I can't be around all the time, though I'm uncertain you really _want _me around all the time anyway." His brief seriousness fell away at the small, teasing grin he sent her before that too lightened, "And I'm certain there will be a time when you'll find yourself someplace where I couldn't reach you if I tried. At least with _this_," He reached over and tapped gently at it, "I'll know you're safe. That's the _real _reason I am giving it to you, if I'm being completely honest. So," He looked up at her and tilted his head, "Selfish."

Before she could say anything in response, he leaned back a little and went on, "You should be aware, that while few know of its existence, very few even know where to look, and fewer still than that who would recognize it at a glance, there is little one such demon would not do to take it from you. Which is why I've enchanted it. To everyone else it will appear as a jasper bracelet set with emeralds." He smiled a little at himself, letting the smugness peek through, "I would not give you something so coveted without taking a few precautions. Make sure you are in fact _certain _you wish to accept it." He looked up at her again, "Once the vine is fastened around your wrist, no one will be able to remove it from your person. Not even you." 3

Akari raised a brow and opened her mouth to speak, but didn't even get the chance and instead released a small breath and let her mouth come closed again. _Selfish my backside. Very debatable, sir. _She shifted, eyes turning briefly to the side before turning again to Kurama and the bracelet she held in her hand. She even rolled her eyes at him. "You're so over dramatic." It wasn't like anyone was interested enough in her for there to _be _such a problem as the one he described. Because, really, who would care much about a dog that could slip between their fingers whenever she so pleased? Could even paralyze a demon with a shadow, if she used enough energy to do so.

And the only thing she'd done worth much at all was oversee portal crews. As if _that _would help anyone in any heinous crimes. _Heh. _

Her lips twitched. _As for being in a situation where the __**fox**_ _can't get to me, I don't think it would be a problem…. much. But, whatever. _

Her eyes turned to the bracelet and she turned it over and over between her fingers, her smile ever-present and calm. "I have no reason to say 'no'." she replied, turning her eyes up to him. "and removing it wouldn't be a problem, as I'd have no reason to." She extended the bracelet to him on an open palm. "I assume you have to… _clasp _it?" _*****_

Kurama nodded and reached for the bracelet, "You are right-handed, are you not?" He gestured for her to hold out her left hand.

Sometime during his discussion about the properties of the Hope flower, Youko had stirred enough to regard the situation sleepily from inside Kurama's mind.

_[I don't think she really understands exactly what we mean with this gift, Red.]_

Kurama said nothing as he prepared the edges of the bracelet to connect with a portion of his energy warming them.

_[And I suppose she hasn't realized that if we of all demons had to go to all the trouble of __**hiding **__such a gift via enchantment, she could very easily get into trouble simply for carrying it around.]_

_{That's why we took the precautions that we did, is it not?}_

_[Fair enough. ...I can honestly say I hope she never has to use it, Red.]_

Kurama didn't have to respond. Youko knew their feelings aligned perfectly in that regard. 3

Akari lifted her left hand from her lap and extended it towards Kurama, palm up until she saw the mark Isamu _hadn't _removed, where she promptly turned her wrist over. _Dammit, I forgot. _She turned her eyes up to watch the redhead, noting his expression as she felt his energy weave into the bracelet.

She couldn't exactly explain the smile that pulled at her lips, but it lingered as she watched him, eyes turning to the bracelet every now and then.

"If you were half as selfish as you said you were, you'd be the most selfish person I know." she commented. "But you're not. Because wanting to know someone is _safe _is not selfish by any means." She puckered her lips in an expression that was meant to be mocking. "While I can't stop you from thinking so, I just thought I'd let you know that I consider you _quite _the opposite. If you wish, we can agree to disagree." _*****_

"Then I'm _terribly _afraid, oh most impetuous of dog demons," Kurama lightly wrapped the vine about her wrist, joining the ends together, "That we must agree to disagree in this matter."

The moon had just started to rise by this time, and the flowers around them most appropriately began to bloom as he spoke, the soft glow of the ones around Nabu bouncing off the silently fluttering wings of the butterflies that still twirled in the air. 3

"I figured so," Akari replied calmly, completely bypassing the word he used for her. Her eyes drifted to the flowers that began to bloom around her, her hand falling to her lap when Kurama withdrew after clasping the bracelet about her wrist.

She smiled down at the flowers, and a sudden outburst from several yards away had her almost jumping.

"_WHOA! So much light! This is the coolest thing I've ever seen! AKARI! DO YOU SEE IT TOO?"_

The laugh that she gave was filled with humor and joy. "Nope, I don't know what you're talking about!"

"_Then you're blind as a bat!"_

Akari snickered as the dog swiveled his head to look at her and Kurama, ears straight up and tail wagging just as furiously as it had been ten minutes ago. "Doesn't your backside get tired from all that enthusiasm of yours?"

"_Sometimes!"_

She sighed and turned to Kurama. "It's amazing, by the way." She lifted her wrist to glance at the bracelet pointedly. "Thank you." _*****_

"I'm very glad you like it." And if it wasn't obvious in his tone of voice that he spoke truthfully, it was definitely in the small smile that he gave her.

_[...You didn't tell her it was from me, did you?]_

_{Do you take me for an idiot?}_

_[Good.]_3

Akari's head tilted just a little at the smile he produced, her eyes looking over every facet of that expression as if she'd never seen it before. A few seconds later, she was turning her eyes away, down to her lap and to the bracelet and the mark underneath it. _Oh geez… _

She opened her mouth to speak, yet found no words.

Luckily for her, Nabu came prancing his way towards herself and Kurama, quickly seating himself among the flowers and then laying among them, resting his chin on the ground between their knees as he rustled the flowers. "_I like this place. It's calm and quiet, and very nice!" _He huffed, making a flower sway away from himself. "_I can see why you guys like it so much!" _he turned his eyes to Kurama. "_You did good!" __*****_

"Youko appreciates the compliment and would prefer that I don't take any credit." Kurama told the dog, turning and sending him an amused look, "I had little to nothing to do with this."

_[Tch. You had __**nothing **__to do with it.]_ 3

Nabu's tail swished once and his ear flicked in confusion. "_Well, whoever did it did a good job. You're confusing." _

Akari gave a small laugh at the dog and reached forward to pat his head a few times, even scratching behind his ear before pulling away again. "You'll get it, when you get the chance to see Youko again. Don't worry much about it."

"_Who says I'm worrying?"_

She glanced up at Kurama. "See what I have to deal with?"

"_Don't be crude." __*****_

"I just assumed he would say the same thing about you." Kurama replied teasingly, "You're just _so _much trouble to keep up with, after all." 3

"Ha! I _strive_ to be that way, after all. Otherwise I'm bored, and no one likes it when I'm bored."

"_It's true."_

Akari stuck her tongue out at Kurama. "Why do you think I work so much?" _*****_

Kurama leaned towards her confidentially, "You mean to tell me it isn't because you're a workaholic who doesn't know what to do with herself when she isn't running around fixing problems?" He leaned back again, "I'm terribly surprised to learn that _isn't _the case."

_[He hasn't taken it off her yet.]_

Kurama knew Youko was talking about the shadowing marking they had both seen on her wrist as the former clasped the bracelet on.

_{And?}_

_[Just wondering if you'd noticed is all!]_

_{You're __**so **__not helpful.} _3

Akari gave a shrug and a wide grin of secrecy. "Guess you'll find out, hm? I'm down to little else but boredom. After I finish this last thing, I'll be down to figuring out what to do next."

"_Hopefully it'll entail getting rid of that other dog. He's disrespectful and I don't like it."_

She gave a sigh. "Be patient, Nabu. He'll be gone in a week, tops." The dog gave a huff. "Plus," she added, mainly to herself as she raised her chin in the air, "He's gotta leave anyway. He can't leave a pack unattended." _*****_

"I would say we could just run off and leave him hanging his tail in defeat at our escape, but," Kurama let out an almost imperceptible sigh, "He would, of course, know exactly where you are." 3

Akari gave a shrug and let her chin fall again. Then, as if to herself, she gave _another _shrug. She'd half expected the words "we could just kill him" to come from the redhead- mainly because she had a feeling it's what _Youko _was thinking- but she wasn't surprised when it hadn't been the words he'd chosen.

Though he seemed to be teaming up with Nabu and backing her into a corner. All of which she promptly ignored.

"I would be lying if I said he was simple." She gave a third shrug, as if at a loss for what to say about Isamu. "He's always _acted _like a simple being, but there's always _something _going on in his mind. This time, it just so happens to be that he thinks I'm still dependent on a pack. He has a hard time believing a dog can go without a pack of other dogs."

"_Which, you're obviously not doing. I'm here."_

"Yes, but two is hardly a pack, Nabu."

"_Technically, you have a pack anyway. If you asked, you'd have several people by your side, I'm sure." _Nabu turned his head to look at Kurama. "_A fox can be a part of a pack too. Just like a human, or even a bird. They travel in groups. Most of the time." _

"Yes, yes, we get the point, mister philosophical." _*****_

Kurama regarded the dog quietly as he spoke, finding himself awash with no small amount of surprise that the dog would so easily accept such a rag-tag pack as he suggested.

And a fox, no less.

_[Would you want to be part of that pack, Red?]_

_{I think the real question is: would __**you**__?} _3

Nabu's eyes stayed trained on Kurama unblinkingly, and after a moment he lifted his chin to rest it on the knee of the male, his eyes closing. "_The thing about packs is not about how they are the same breed, but about how they are alike. How they interact. A pack of just dogs would be expected, but would be dysfunctional if they did not trust one another."_

Akari's head tilted a little to the side. _Did you just explain a pack's bond?_

"_Without that trust, that devotion to one another, a pack is nothing but a group of idiots looking out for themselves, and likely killing their friend in the process. And there's always an immediate sense of such a bond. I see it everywhere. With Yusuke and that girl he's with all the time. With Grump and Sparkles." _he paused and gave a huff. "_I bet if you thought about it, you'd feel it too."_

Akari blinked, then gave a sigh. "What brought about your philosophy?"

"_I'm not really sure."_

"You're a goofball. And I adore you."

"_I know." __*****_

"I think I'd be quite honored to have you consider me a part of your pack, Nabu." The dog had quite rightfully earned himself the affection Kurama began scratching him between his ears with. "One couldn't go wrong with such an adorable pack-mate. And I guess Akari's okay too." 3

Akari's mood quickly shifted and she was glaring at Kurama. "How kind of you, sir." she grumbled at him, huffing at him and crossing her arms over her chest. Nabu's huff was one of amusement, but otherwise he made no sound, his eyes closing as if in thought. "Don't be such a jerk." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I _am _adorable, thank you." _*****_

"Yes, but if we went around telling you that all the time, it would lose its luster, now wouldn't it?" Kurama put his two cents in mildly, still scratching at Nabu's head. 3

Akari's nose lifted higher in the air. "You don't have to _tell _me anything. I am aware already." She shook her hair out just a little before dropping her chin again, meeting Kurama's gaze squarely. "And lest we not forget my potential. I have a lot of that." _*****_

"She's absolutely unbearable at times, Nabu." Kurama said idly aloud, face belying none of his dry humor. "How on earth can you stand it _all_ the time?" 3

"_You either get over it, or leave." _Nabu replied calmly, to which Akari stuck her tongue out at the both of them. "_But you're the lucky one. You get most of it. Then again, you let her get away with it."_

"I get away with what I want, thank you."

"_That's the problem. Squish it while you can." __*****_

"So you think-" Kurama adopted a thoughtful expression, "That if I _didn't _let her get away with it, we would all be better off?" He summarily ignored Akari. 3

"_That's your call." _the dog responded, his tone holding no form of the amusement behind his words. "_I mean, it would probably be less trouble if she knew what not to do."_

Akari huffed through her nostrils and crossed her arms over her chest tightly, staring at the pair in silence. _How on earth did it go from pack-bonds to __**this**__? *_

Kurama appeared to consider it.

"You know, I really think I prefer it if she thinks she getting away with it. That's how foxes are wired, after all." 3

"_As I said, your call. If you enjoy the trouble, go ahead." _This time, his tone held a large amount of amusement. "_But you got yourself into it, remember that later."_

Akari huffed again and stuck her tongue out at the pair. "Maybe _you two _should live together and I can live by myself."

"_That's all fine and good, but then you'd __**really**_ _be bored and getting into trouble." _

"Nice to know I have a couple of guardians." _*****_

"Really, I think it should be _me _living with _you _two." Kurama rejoined without missing a beat, "Shouldn't a pack be in close proximity to one another? Granted, you could just move in with me, but it'd probably be less trouble the other way around." 3

"I take it back. No one's moving anywhere." Akari threw her hands in the air in surrender. "I concede**;** not happily so, but I concede nonetheless."

"_You know, that would end __**my**_ _problem. She doesn't particularly see it as a problem, but I do."_

"Blah, blah, blah."

"_I thought you conceded?" _*****

Kurama couldn't honestly think of a better way to be spending his evening.

_[I could think of a few better ways.]_

_{I didn't __**ask **__you, now did I?}_

_[No, but you may as well have.]_

_{I assume you're well-rested at this point?}_

_[Not so much that I don't still find this whole situation amusing on some level or another.]_

_{You're such a pain.}_

_[The feeling's mutual, I assure you.] _3

Akari fell silent, as did Nabu. And for the moment, both of them seemed to be immersed in glancing about the meadow, Akari staring at the flowers and Nabu looking for the insects, half considering chasing them again, but too comfortable to move.

His body twitched just a little and he shifted so that he lay on his side, his head still resting on Kurama's lap.

Akari's eyes turned from the flowers to the two across from her, a fond smile quickly coloring her lips as she noted Nabu's amount of trust in Kurama. And for a moment, the sight was all she needed to see. It made her hard work worth it, to be able to actually relax like this with two beings she enjoyed spending her time with.

And the silence was so calm, so peaceful that she couldn't bring herself to break it. So she simply sat there and stared with a small smile on her face. _*****_

_[You know...you still haven't told her.]_

There was no point in asking 'what,' as the subject of Akari and Kurama's affection for her were as plain as day in Youko's meaning.

_{I thought you were going to go back to sleep.}_

_[I'm just relatively curious as to why.]_

Kurama was certain the fox knew exactly why. What he _wasn't _certain about was why Youko would bring it up.

_{__**You're **__why. Though you're already aware of that.}_

_[Me?]_

Kurama indulged him.

_{Yes, __**you**__. You and that __**ridiculous **__mark of yours.}_

_[You can't say you're not interested in seeing her again.]_

_{My interest and __**your **__interest are on polar opposite ends of the meaning of the word.}_

_[You thought about her enough after she disappeared.]_

_{You know very well-} _

There really was no point in having this conversation, but Kurama had to struggle not to lift his hands to rub at the bridge of his nose in aggravation.

After he simply allowed the tenseness he felt at the situation pass, he was able to calmly gather himself and reply.

_{Besides, we can both be certain that Shikiyoku is being well taken care of.}_

_[Don't remind me.] _3

While she watched, Akari noted the tenseness seeping into the air about Kurama, but said nothing of it and instead turned her eyes away, looking to the flowers and reaching a hand to play with the nearest one almost curiously. And after a moment, she decided to lay on her stomach, crossing her arms so that she may rest her head upon them and stare at the expanse of meadow that had previously been behind her.

_So beautiful._

She had to resist not looking back at the pair at her left, deciding she didn't want to become curious enough to ask what was on the other's mind. Because, really, she could only guess it to be something Youko had to say.

And _that _she didn't want to know.

So she left him to it and went about admiring her surroundings, as usual. _*****_

"You have nowhere else you have to be...right?" Kurama broke the silence by sitting up straighter to stretch his back, gently warning Nabu that he intended to shift around before laying down on his side with Nabu inbetween he and Akari, still absently petting the dog once he settled back down. 3

Nabu shifted so that his head was no longer on Kurama's leg, resting his chin instead on the ground, his eyes on the flower at the end of his nose. Akari turned her head to look at the redhead, a brow raised. "Nope. Nothing specific in mind other than _this._" She made a vague hand gesture at her surroundings. It wasn't like she had any leads on her only mystery left anyway.

Aside from Isamu.

Who was gone until tomorrow anyway.

She gave a sigh.

"Nope, nowhere to be." _*****_

"Good." Kurama murmured, finding that his eyes had almost slowly shut once his other arm had gotten positioned underneath his head. "Because neither do I." It was clear he had every intention of going to sleep, though his lips still had a small smile on them. 3

Akari gave a smile at the redhead after his eyes were closed, Nabu taking to laying with his nose near Kurama's elbow, his eyes shutting too and his breathing evening out. She couldn't help but give a quiet laugh to herself; they'd worn themselves out and all she'd done was watch.

She glanced around and saw the basket of goodies nearby, quietly sitting up and reaching for it, placing it so that it was within her reach once she was comfortable laying down. And while the other two drifted off into sleep, Akari munched on a few treats and listened to the pair's breathing until she too began to feel tired. _*****_

~!**!~

Kitoushi had not slept a single instant that night, internally struggling at every moment to regain his human form, wondering how Shikiyoku had not gone mad at having so permanently-it seemed-lost her own true form.

With his proximity to her, curled between her cheek, neck, and shoulder as he was, Shikiyoku's distressed energy had slowly throughout the night waned, his closeness comforting her and ridding her of the fevered dreams that had plagued her, even if her sleep was a restless and unfulfilling one.

It was before the night sky outside had even lightened in the slightest that Kit finally lay stretched out beside Shikiyoku, his silent movements not so much as disturbing her where she lay.

He knew she wouldn't be particularly happy with him when she woke up, but neither was she able to _feel _her sickness as he could, and know that in this form, for whatever reason, she was fighting a losing battle.

So, he quietly leaned over her and kissed her lips, feeling strongly the desire that she regain herself and become the Shikiyoku he had once known.

He didn't linger, but the change was immediate, once more peeling back her scar-ridden skin with astounding efficiency.

Kit went back to lying on his side, feeling the sickness stripped away from her as well as the scars for reasons he found himself unable to readily explain. And it irked him.

His aggravation died almost as soon as he bothered to feel it as Shikiyoku shifted under the covers, turning on her side and readily moving closer to him, though Kit saw she was most definitely still asleep.

It didn't stop her from slipping her arms around his neck and he let her do as she wished, only reaching over to rest his free hand behind her back as she buried her head underneath his chin, finding his face partially hidden behind the mass of her hair when she did so.

Let her hate him when she woke up, should she chose to.

Because...for now...everything was fine. 3

Hiei's feet touched the floor silently, falling from the mattress and subsequently bringing him to awareness of the room, his eyes opening just a little in time to see Kitoushi pull away from Shikiyoku and her skin return to its natural glow. Her scars disappear. And when she pulled herself closer to the male, Hiei's eyelids were closing again.

She was safe. Back to how she was _supposed _to be. And she didn't run off and lose herself this time. His job of overseeing her was done.

His eyelids remained closed, though he was fighting with himself, telling himself to get up and leave. It wasn't like he wasn't _welcomed_, but at the same time, he felt as if he were imposing anyway. Because this moment went to the consort-to-be. Or… whatever.

_What. Ever._

What was he supposed to call it anyway?

_The Consort games? The Competition for-_

He didn't really like the way it sounded that way, but he supposed it was true.

And he was no part of it.

Hiei's arms came uncrossed and his eyelids came open, the male pushing himself to stand and turning to leave.

_I don't belong here anyway. _*****

Kit hadn't forgotten for a moment the fire demon in the room, though it wasn't exactly until he felt the shifting of the other's feet leaving the bed that he was reminded of his presence.

It was...strange, really. There sat another Champion turned wannabe Consort and while Kit supposed he should feel some sort of rivalry with the demon, all he really felt for Hiei was confusion.

Shikiyoku obviously cherished the time she spent with the most recent Champion, and truth was she had spent little time with anyone else of late, but perhaps it was Hiei's motives that Kit found he could not unravel.

He knew the fire demon was young, knew just as readily that with Koorime blood in the mix it was very likely his development was slowed, that if he _were _a hundred years old-which Kit wasn't sure about anyway-it would be no surprise to Kit if the asexual nature of the Ice Maidens would suppress Hiei's 'puberty' as it were.

Kitoushi turned his thoughts from the subject as he knew as well as anyone that the..._fiery_ nature Hiei inherited from his father combined with the fact that his development was being held back would certainly make for an interesting hundred years once-

...

And throw into the pile the fact that Shikiyoku had quite obviously lost her mind somewhere along the way and could not explain even to herself what a Marked One could do... Needless to say, Kit wasn't surprised to have found that Hiei had not _kissed _her.

On the other hand, what was this most recent Champion thinking? Returning her here and then letting Kitoushi be the one to change her back. Was he really that uncomfortable with the concept?

Funny. Kit would have placed him at the lowest tier in the running for such a reaction. Because that sort of uncomfortableness was ill placed in such a situation.

In _her _situation.

And yet...

"I've never seen her smile at anyone the way she smiles at you." Kitoushi moved his head far enough up that his lips were not in the midst of her hair, his eyes slowly coming open to regard the fire demon who had suddenly decided to get up and leave when Kit really saw no reason for it.

The odd blue and brown-colored gaze stared over at Hiei in that strange, unblinking manner that only a cat could achieve, thoughts hidden carefully from his face. 3

Hiei paused after another step, turning to glance at Kitoushi over his shoulder to regard him with a blank, unreadable stare. A stare he found aimed at himself as well, which wasn't surprising given the demon. He considered the words he'd heard for a moment before turning forward again and continuing on. He made it to the door before pausing again, though this time he didn't look back.

He again considered the words with eyes on the carpet before making a single sound and continuing down the stairs and out the door. He didn't bother shifting from one layer to another, because he had nowhere else to be. He'd simply wander for a while.

Hell, maybe he'd go get some _real _sleep instead of the half-assed nap he'd had throughout the night. That was at least _something _he could consider doing.

Not that it was dire.

~!**!~

Akari had fallen asleep about an hour after Kurama and Nabu had, and because of her nap the evening before, she was awake early in the next morning, sitting up and chewing quietly on a few grapes she'd found in the basket. She watched Nabu's paws twitch, as if he were running in whatever dream he was having. His ears flicked occasionally, his tail twitching and paws periodically moving.

Until he was still and in a peaceful slumber again, just as Kurama was.

She popped another grape in her mouth and ran a hand through her hair, quickly deciding that it was just too much of a mess to leave down. With ease, she had it up in a ponytail in seconds, and was popping a fifth grape of the morning into her mouth when she paused and glanced at the mark on her wrist, staring at it unblinkingly as a chill passed over the area.

_Isamu?_

She blinked and the mark was gone.

…_.okay then. _

She popped another grape in her mouth and continued chewing. _That ends that. __*****_

_[RED!]_

Kurama's eyes slid open, though he realized rather quickly that the call had been internal, echoing off the corridors of his mind, as well as numerous, and having grown louder over an unknown period of time.

_[We've got places to be. People to see.]_

Kurama let his annoyance roll over the fox.

_[Well, really just a __**person **__to see.] _

Youko seemed unperturbed by Kurama's silent threats.

_[Oh, come ON. She's got the rose, which we'll sense in an instant if need be, and on top of that, I __**graciously **__and of my own free-will retrieved Hope for her so that you would stop your incessant worrying. The LEAST you can do is let me have my fun for a while.]_

Kurama blinked once or twice and began to sit up.

_{You're not going to let that go are you?}_

_[About the flower? No, of course not. I __**could have **__saved it for the seductress, but I, in my unsurpassed charity, wove the bracelet instead for __**you **__to gift to __**her**__.]_

_{And I'm never going to live it down.}_

_[Of course not.] _3

Akari had eaten two more grapes before her eyes had gone down to her wrist again, this time her brows furrowing at the lack of mark there. He'd been so adamant at keeping it there. So why had it disappeared? She frowned slightly and began to search for any foreign energy that would entail the marking having just disappeared from view, or the shadow still being upon her person.

And she got nothing.

_When did that become a thing?_ It used to be that in order to remove a shadow, one either had to open up the skin and call it out or…

_Or they've become incapacitated._

She blinked at her wrist again. _He's not that dumb. He can handle himself, and has for centuries. _

Another grape, and a satisfying crunch.

_Right?_

He may be a jerk, but…

_Isamu you moron._

She gave a sigh and began to pull her energy closer to herself, deciding first to make an attempt at sliding through the layers before resorting to anything that would alarm the two that were sleeping.

_Just… a quick checkup wouldn't hurt. __*****_

"Akari, I-" Kurama shifted around as he sat up, blinking at her curiously.

_[And what, pray tell, were you going to tell her, hm?] _3

At the sound of her name, Akari froze, her eyelids sliding open and blinking once at Kurama in confusion. He'd been sleeping just a second ago, right?

"Uh, mornin'." she greeted, energy unwinding from around herself as she gave a small smile. "Sleep well, did you?" _*****_

_[Going somewhere is such a rush, pup?]_

Kurama could hear the purr Youko had in his tone, going ahead and ignoring the fox.

"You should probably take Nabu with you." Kurama pointed out, starting to stand up and smoothing his hands down his pants at his thighs, "I...have a prior engagement to get to." 3

Akari released a breath of relief. _Oh good. No awkward 'I wasn't running away I swear' explanation. _She nodded once and reached out to touch Nabu, patting his side twice. "Well then, until next time, hm?" She held up her hand in a wave and gave a smile. "Because you and I both have something to tend to."

Nabu shifted just as her energy swelled about. "_Where we goin'?"_

"Thanks again for the bracelet." _*****_

"Ah...yes. Until next time." He paused briefly, about to fold the layers around himself as he reached for the basket, and a faint smile played across his lips. "You're quite welcome."

As he turned, the layers accepted him into their embrace and his street clothes and red hair shimmered away into a silver glow, a tail of the same color disappearing from her sight as he dropped back down through the layers and ended up on the first. 3

Akari only lingered a second longer before her own energy enveloped her and Nabu, though she paused briefly in the odd realm and smiled at Nabu. "You're going home. I'm going to go check on something."

"_Okay. I'm going back to sleep."_

Akari gave a laugh and sent him on his way before she herself landed on another layer. It was the Seventh Layer, where she had last felt the connection to have lead to Isamu earlier this morning.

_He's an idiot. _

She hated this layer. The demons here were… often crude and liked to boast about their power. Fights everywhere and…

She gave a sigh.

_You're an idiot too._

She lifted her nose in the air and sniffed at the putrid air that was so thick with muck and such that she physically felt sluggish after each inhale. As if _she _were becoming a part of the swampish area. Her nose crinkled at the thought and she glanced down at the small patch of stable land she'd managed to land herself on, not happy that she'd have to move through the disgusting undergrowth and swampy water and/or mud to follow the trail she'd picked up.

_I hate this layer. _

And still, she began her trek, quickly sinking calf-deep into swampy waters that left her feeling utterly disgusted and defiled. _These clothes will be burned when I get out of here. __*****_

~!**!~

Kitoushi tried not to think about when the last time he'd held Shikiyoku in his arms had been, instead shoving such melancholy thoughts away and deciding his energy would be better spent reveling in the quiet room and the she-demon who had so readily pressed herself up against him.

He knew such a moment couldn't last, and he was absolutely spot-on with his feeling.

However, he _hadn't _quite expected that the interruption would not be at the hands of the _bird_.

Instead, he found himself nearly face-to-face with a demon he had not seen since _before _he had lost his pact with Shikiyoku. And even then their correspondences were limited to letters and the occasional "magic mirror" spell when they each could rustle it up.

Which wasn't often.

A pair of yellow eyes glittered mischievously from over the top of Shikiyoku's dark hair, the fox demon having shifted out of the layers to the place where he lay on the other side of Shikiyoku, elbow set into the pillow and that hand propping up his head.

"Youko." Kit didn't so much as move.

The kitsune let the word linger in the air before speaking up.

"Oh come _on_, cuz. All these years and that's all you have to say to me? '_Youko.'_" He did his best mocking-impression of the cat.

"What were you expecting, fox? Some sort of fanfare?"

If one had been able to observe the situation looking down from the ceiling, it would have been amusing to note just how strikingly _similar _the two demons appeared, as if a pair of twins, if one black and the other silver, with differences only being in their tails, the shape of their ears, and their eyes.

"I see you haven't changed your look." Youko's grin was toothy.

"And you'd do well to remember that it was mine in the first place."

"Something, something, imitation is the highest form of flattery, blah, blah." Youko waved his free hand about in the air nebulously.

"I don't even have to ask what you're doing here."

Youko's expression grew more wicked, "Good."

The most long-suffering of sighs rose from the body inbetween them.

"Don't you two _ever _shut up?" 3

~!**!~

_This. Is. disgusting._

Akari pulled her foot from the goo-like substance. "I'm going to _murder you_, so help me." Why was she curious in the first place? Why did it matter if the male was alive or not? She wasn't affiliated with the pack anymore, so why was she going through this trouble again?

_I have no idea. _

But perhaps it had something to do with her past relationship with the person. Perhaps she just wanted to make sure her previous pack didn't go without an alpha.

Whatever the reason, she was only half sure it was worth being _stuck _in the center of a swamp, up to her waist now almost. Her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes closed and her brows twitching. She hadn't gotten very far after that last step. In fact, she'd probably stuck herself in the worst hole in the whole dang layer.

She took a deep breath and looked up to the sky, earning the stare of an odd creature that had been watching her for some time.

"Go on. No one asked your opinion."

It made a sound at her before disappearing into the tree overhead. Her eyes turned down and due East again, almost able to _see _the scent trail she had been following. She was so _close_.

She began wading again, earning the most disgusting, sloshy noise of all as she moved little by little, suddenly very glad she'd pulled her hair up earlier. Because it was such a _pain _to get this gunk out of hair.

By the time she was able to pull herself out via a low-hanging branch, Akari was set on returning home. Except the scent she'd been following got stronger. As if..

Her eyes trained forward again and her feet began to move, kicking out of her bogged shoes and socks with relative ease. She opened her mouth to call the male's name, but hesitated, her instincts telling her to _shut up _and _listen. _So she did. _*****_

~!**!~

"Yo-ku." Youko purred the nickname for her into two syllables, slipping his hands underneath the covers to pull her away from Kit and towards him, not giving Kit a chance to resist.

Shikiyoku nearly growled as he managed to turn her around to face him in the process.

He leaned down and started to kiss her face, earning a slight shake of the head from Kit who watched in half-amusement as Shikiyoku buried her nose in Youko's chest to prevent his affections.

Undeterred, Youko simply pulled her closer and planted a kiss on top of her head, burying his face in her hair and drinking in her scent.

"Who are you and what have you done with Yo-chan?" Shikiyoku mumbled, still mostly asleep.

"Hadn't you heard?" Youko asked rhetorically, "I only act this way for _you_, seductress."

"If that's supposed to make me feel 'special,' it isn't working."

Youko laughed.

"What happened to cold and calculating purveyor of shiny objects?"

"Yoku-" This time the word was admonishing, and he pulled back from her hair, putting a hand underneath her chin as he also leaned away from her in general, getting her face to turn upwards. "As if you've forgotten how our interactions played out once you had me thoroughly enraptured."

Kit shook his head as he started to get up, knowing full-well that Youko was going to try and kiss her and she was going to deter him again, as if the fox leaning closer to her face and her moving away hadn't made that completely obvious.

When she started folding the layers around her, Youko only smiled down at her, moving along with her and enjoying the expression of consternation she donned as he did so.

Kitoushi promptly found himself able to ignore the situation as any cat is able to do at will, calmly making his way to the door and only pausing when he heard Shikiyoku call out his name from the distortion of the layers inbetween.

He struggled not to smile at her, knowing full well that if he had cared to intervene, his little cousin would have been able to do _little_ to prevent it.

He found her predicament rather amusing to be honest. Too amusing to foil.

Kit gave her only a passing, lofty glance.

"You're on your own..._seductress_." 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	81. Episode 165 - The Swamp and The Meadow

**A/N: **Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!

There will be normal postings next week, but NO postings the week after that as I will be out of town.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu in this chapter.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

As dawn breaks over the horizon, Kitoushi is able to regain his humanoid form,  
and he kisses Shikiyoku as she is sleeping next to him to change her back.

Hiei's eyes open to see Kit pulling away and Shikiyoku turning to face the cat demon in her sleep,  
and as he leaves, feeling his duty to be done,  
Kit informs him that he has never seen Shikiyoku smile at anyone like she smiles at the fire demon.

Failing to see how it matters, as he has been given to reason to believe he is a part of 'this whole Consort thing,'  
Hiei leaves.

~!**!~

After running around in the meadow for butterflies with Nabu,  
Kurama returns to Akari to sit next to her and enjoy the other dog's enthusiasm.

Kurama gifts Akari with a flower known as 'Hope' disguised as a bejeweled bracelet,  
telling her that when all else is lost she can eat a petal from the flower and it will restore her, mind, body, and soul.

Night falls and Nabu exclaims wildly about the blooming flowers in the meadow,  
returning to Akari and Kurama to lay down with them.

Eventually the three fall asleep, and in the morning Akari watches as Isamu's shadow mark disappears.  
Youko wakes Kurama to remind him that the fox has places to be, and Kurama, Akari, and Nabu part ways,  
Kurama shifting to Youko to find Shikiyoku, Akari leaving for the Seventh Layer in search of Isamu,  
and Nabu getting sent back to Akari's home on the First Layer so he can keep sleeping.

While Youko successfully encroaches on Kitoushi cuddling with a sleeping Shikiyoku-  
even going so far as to get the cat to leave the room as she wakes up-Akari is stuck slouching through a swamp looking for Isa...

* * *

Akari noted silence, which wasn't odd for this area. Except that here, it was near nightfall, and there were no… no _frogs_ beginning to croak. Overgrown, disgusting, wart-covered demon frogs, but frogs nonetheless. And they were absent.

She moved forward, entering a dense area of more trees and swamp that she really, _really _didn't want to wade through. So she looked up, and frowned at the trees. Trees that moved on no wind whatsoever. That swayed with their own pulsating energy. She'd begun to pull a shadow towards herself when one of those trees reacted, throwing a long branch in her direction and sweeping her from the ground, holding her up by her ankles in the air and causing the muck on her pants to roll towards her face.

It took everything in her power not to panic, especially when she saw just how _high _up in the air she was. "Hey uh, Isamu. I know you can hear my and all, so I'm curious. What in the name of sanity's sake are you _doing _on this layer?"

There was no reply for a while, until a demon dropped to the ground, looking up at her with shining grey eyes. "Me forest-"

"Yes, yes. Cut the crap. I know your lingo. You want a deal."

"Ah, the lady knows thy ways."

"And I also know that's not how you really talk." She pulled herself up, both hands holding onto the branch that held her so that the blood would stop rushing to her head. "What do you want?"

"For _you, _the dame_?"_

Akari gave a scoff. "No, for the pretty lady down the lane."

"Ah, a wise one, hm?" There was a pause. "Why are you here?"

Akari let herself fall again so that she may glare at the little winged creature below. His expression was stoic, his hair a tangled mess that was tied back, his skin taut as if he hadn't eaten enough as of late. "Answer my question first, _dear_, and we'll see about a deal."

"Ah, lingo of the dogs on the fourth." He shrugged and waved a hand. "You have nothing to offer me."

Akari's grin was wide. "I have _plenty_. All you do is ask. Of course, that also means I should be able to shake on it, yes?"

"And have ground control?"

"You're not so dumb as to think we move lands? Otherwise, how would I be here?"

"Through trickery and deceit. Is all your kind is."

"Poor little baby." Akari's energy slowly began to roil. "Too bad. I could've given you whatever you needed. But I suppose your swamp will die along with its fairy overseer." The shadows began to concave around her, and the creature shouted out a strangled sound, pausing her. She gave a raised brow. "Change your mind, Darling?"

"My people are in need of fresh water."

"And what happened to your working fairies who do that _for _you?"

"Killed."

Akari hummed. "I know of a land, but I'm quite sure being strung in a tree will do you no good."

The demon fidgeted, sharp teeth gnashing together in contemplation. He wrung his hands together.

"Tic, toc. I'm on a schedule."

"And all you want in return is to be let down?"

"Did I ever say that?"

"What else, dame?"

"Information. A demon passed by here. Another dog demon. Do you know why?"

"Of course. Trade down the river. He visits once every few cycles."

"Good. Release me." She dropped to the ground, landing on her bare feet easily in front of the demon.

"Now, our deal?"

Akari raised a brow and a grin grew on her features. "Silly thing." She sighed. "It's on the opposite side of this layer."

"Take me."

Akari held up a finger. "Uh-uh. Not part of our deal. And you're lucky I'm not the demon I used to be, because otherwise I wouldn't have even given you _that. _Now, excuse me, little swamp fairy." Akari disappeared into the shadow world, appearing again several miles away from the swamp. _*****_

~!**!~

Youko could feel the stiffness in the demon he held, in how she had her hands pressed against his chest between them, attempting to push him away even as he leaned closer, smiling when his lips were inches from her own.

"Oo," He murmured at the fire in her eyes, "Playing hard-to-get. How the tables have turned, seductress."

"I _don't _think I like it." She informed him readily.

"I don't believe you."

She arched an eyebrow at his immediate rebuttal.

"After all those years of you chasing _me_, I ought to know better than _anyone _that in truth you simply wish for someone to chase after _you_." He hadn't moved closer, but neither had he moved away, his words whispered and passing over her lips as so much warm breath. "_That _is what made it so exciting, was it not? Once you finally succeeded in enrapturing me completely, only to end up the _prey_ instead of the _predator_?"

"Took long enough." She grumbled.

He didn't miss how the edges of her lips twitched when she spoke, and neither did he miss that she did not have her hands pushing _quite _so hard at his chest to get him away anymore.

"Had I realized from the start that entangling myself with you only increased our powers, I assure you I would have let it happen sooner."

"Still calculating." Shikiyoku noted, looking into his eyes. "If not as..._cold_." This time she did give him a small smile.

Sometime in the middle of their exchange, they had ended up laying back on the First Layer in Shikiyoku's bed.

Youko turned so he could shoot a glance over his shoulder at the rest of the room.

"Is he gone?" The quick scan confirmed his question.

When he turned back to Shikiyoku, now laying on top of the covers with him since they had blurred between the layers and came back over the bed, he gathered her unceremoniously in his arms, pleased when she readily wrapped her own about him in return.

He rested his cheek on top of her head.

"I _missed _you." He gave her a brief squeeze.

Shikiyoku let out a scoff Youko knew she didn't mean given how her hold on him tightened just as much as his.

"You only _missed _me because now you might _have _me again." Shikiyoku pointed out.

"Is there anything at all wrong with that?"

She didn't answer.

"Yoku?" He tried to pull away to look at her, but she didn't let him and he started to grin.

"I'm thinking." 3

~!**!~

Akari traveled for a few hours before she came close to a spot where she could hear the bed of the river nearby, could hear voices growling in low tones at once another. She stood in the shadows, arms crossed as the sounds of fighting began- or maybe resumed?- and the growling grew louder, though the words uttered remained unheard even by her sharp hearing.

_Of course. _

She glanced over her shoulder and offered a smile to the other demon waiting in the darkness, who blinked once at her relaxed form. Unlike the other, Akari was leaning lazily against the bark of a tree, one ankle crossed over the other and her arms crossed over her stomach. HEr eyes flashed in the darkness of this area, earning a sound from the other demon.

He held weapons upon his person. Weapons of all kinds and all sizes. His eyes were serious, his lips pulled into a taut line as he gauged her from the few hundred feet between them. His hand twitched and she raised a brow, shaking her head once. 'I'm not here to fight', she mouthed at him, earning an even thinner-lipped scowl. She turned back to watch the fight happening in the opening by the river, Isamu throwing away a female who snarled at him.

"_Which party do you pertain?"_

Akari turned back to the other with a raised brow, quickly guarding her mind. _"My own,"_ she replied silently, to which he glared.

_"Do not get in my way."_

_"Do not get in mine, mercenary."_

The sounds in the clearing came to a sudden halt, and Isamu was suddenly standing to her right, blades in each hand and a warning glare. "You are to leave. Tell the family of this one I have died."

The other raised a brow, and Akari sighed.

"Isa, you're causing trouble again… why?"

"You'd know if you'd visit home."

"I think it's just you."

"_Why_ are you here, love?"

"Why are _you?" _

The demon who stood on the side seemed to deem the situation unfavorable, sheathing his own blade and turning to leave without a word.

Isamu turned to glare down at her, crossing his blades and hiding them in his sheaths below the furs. "You're aware that you wer-"

"conversing with a mercenary? Yes. Quite friendly, might I say."

"And you… trekked the swamps?"

"Yes, because you're a moron for being on this layer. You _know_ they have nothing to offer just as much as I do. Their money is coveted by some king or another on the opposite end of the layer. Their lands are dying, and their valuable resources are… useless to the pack. So, why are you _really_ here, hm?"

Isamu reached a hand out and pat her head twice. "I had an old score to settle."

"And killing her was the answer?"

"It's always the answer, yes?"

Akari waved a hand. "Shut up and get going. Nabu's waiting and probably hungry."

"Ah, so you _do _actually want me around?"

"No, I want to solve this stupid puzzle you seem to know about. So you're coming along to help."

"And if I refuse?"

"I'm sure you won't refuse for long. After all, deal making is my specialty." _*****_

~!**!~

"Is _this _what you do for fun nowadays, cuz?" Youko leaned with his arms up against the back of the couch, his eyes taking in the moving pictures on the TV screen in an almost bored manner.

Kit blinked, pulling himself out of his almost meditative state and coming into the awareness that the question had been aimed at him in an obviously too long amount of time for Youko not to send him a searching glance.

The accusing question in Youko's eyes was cut short by Shikiyoku coming down the stairs.

"I certainly hope wherever you had in mind to take me is worth it, Yo-chan."

Youko found himself casting one last suspicious glance in Kit's direction before turning away to watch her walking towards him.

"When have I _ever _steered you wrong, my seductress?"

"Are you wanting an exact number, or would you prefer I lay out each situation in detail?" She teased. 3

~!**!~

Akari and Isamu had both left the Seventh Layer, and were now within the walls of Akari's home. Nabu sat at Akari's feet as she poured batter into the pan, his eyes not on her, but on the form hunched over the coffee table in the next room.

"_How long is he staying?"_

Akari gave a shrug. "As long as necessary I suppose. He knows about the relics, as I'm sure you've gathered. And I'm at a standstill with them."

"_...Why didn't you just ask Kurama last night?"_

"Because he and Youko have their own agenda. Why would I waste their time when I have someone completely willing-"

"I don't exactly believe _willing_ is the word, love. It's not far, but not exactly right." Isamu's voice carried throughout the house easily, even at his low tone. "And if you don't hold up your end of the deal, just know I'll _make _you."

"Yes, I'm aware. Two days isn't near as bad. And it won't be a problem, because I won't be _welcomed _back."

"_You didn't?"_

"Nabu, it's just two days. And on that layer, it will go by so quick _you _won't even know I'm gone." She flipped the pancake over in the pan, the sound of the fresh batter hitting the heated surface filling the room for a moment. And in that moment she was turned inward, thinking on the odd feeling of the beginnings of the ties of energy within her that she'd begun to feel earlier. All because she'd gotten worried and tracked him down.

_Great. Another way for him to keep up with me. _

On the other hand, she didn't mind knowing he was okay. At least, in the time he was supposed to be within her company, she didn't mind it. But still, it was unnerving just how _quickly _the pack-like bond had formed.

"You're missing two relics, love."

"Only two? That'll be easy then."

"We can start looking today, if you wish."

Akari lifted the pancake and placed it on a plate, covered it in syrup, and turned to meander into the living area, extending the plate in Isamu's direction once she stood over him. "And where exactly would we start looking?"

"The places you _haven't _visited yet." He took the plate from her and set it on the coffee table, a curious brow raised. "You never told me how you found exactly where I was. It should've taken you much longer than that to hunt me down on foot since you went through the swamp."

"I ran into a little swamp fairy. With his request, I sent him South-West."

"Towards the kingdom? Why?"

"Fresh water. Apparently their worker fairies have been targeted recently."

"You realize the lands of the king wouldn't allow them within the proximity of their land."

"Yes, but that was never a question posed."

There was a moment where Isamu merely blinked at her. And then his lips grew into a wolfish grin and his eyes lit up. "There's the girl I know. Instead of killing him yourself, you sent him to his own death."

"Well, technically, there's no guarantee he'll die. I just needed to be able to get away without his tree stopping me again." She turned and sauntered back into the kitchen, a hand clasping around the handle of the pan while the other lifted the measuring cup to pour more batter into the cooking pan. "Plus, I didn't really _wish _for him to die. I'd simply forgotten the kingdom was there. It wasn't as expanded then."

"Love, it's been _huge_ for _centuries._"

"Yes, but the lake was never owned by the king when I was still working as a tradeswoman. When exactly did that come about?"

"The same year you disappeared."

"That explains why I wouldn't know."

"The first place we'll look, by the way, is actually just across town. I'm sure you've seen it, but the building only recently became littered with these markings. We'll have to be smart, because the owner of that pub isn't very nice about people snooping around."

"I see no reason to worry. We can handle a few low-class demons, I'm sure." _*****_

~!**!~

"So, was it worth it, seductress?" Youko shifted his eyes so that he might see the some of Shikiyoku's dark hair, able to make out part of her profile as well.

They lay on their backs in his meadow, his arms bent and his hands behind his head propping him up, and her head resting partially on his chest.

Her eyes slid open to watch the clouds go by for a moment.

"Ehhhh-" She intoned, her shoulders lifting as if to emphasize the indifferent noise, after which she rose up off of him to turn and lay down on her side a few feet away to hide her smile, her cheek brushing against the grass which almost felt like heather against her skin and her fingers in turn fiddling with what she knew was the closed bud of some flower or another.

Youko growled at her and immediately rolled over on his side facing her, making no hesitation in grabbing for and pulling her back, which she allowed, but did not give him the satisfaction of responding to.

"Why are you making this so difficult?" He grumbled good-naturedly into her hair.

"Because if it weren't a _challenge_, you would get terribly bored of the whole ordeal." Shikiyoku replied loftily, easily extricating herself from his arms and sitting up, plucking one of the buds from the meadow and twirling it curiously between her fingertips.

"You're no fun." He mumbled.

"On the contrary, Yo-chan, I'm too _much _fun. Which is why I'm going to continue to ignore you and you're going to continue to pursue me."

"And to think I'd forgotten how exceedingly _trying _you were."

"Are." She corrected. "And you always seemed to think it was part of my charm." 3

~!**!~

Silence filled the house for a moment as Akari slid her own pancake onto a plate, not bothering to add syrup, but instead finding the fruits in her refrigerator and using those to top her breakfast. Nabu blinked at her from where he sat on the floor, watching her walk to the next room with a fork in one hand and a plate in the other. "_No bacon this time?"_

"I don't have any, otherwise I would have cooked some for you."

"_Dang."_

Akari sat on the floor opposite of Isamu, her eyes watching him as he toyed with the bricks and rocks, moving them around and around in different orders by marking until he sat back and gave a frown, mouth full of pancake. He considered for a moment before making a sound and leaning forward again, switching two bricks in the circle he'd made.

Akari chewed on blueberries and blinked at the circle of markings, feeling a sort of buzzing energy seeping into the air. "Hey, I don't want _my _house to be on all the layers."

"Just an experiment, love." He again swapped a few bricks and rocks here and there, earning more of the buzzing energy and a small pulse of that sent even _more _of the energy into the room. By the time he sat back and took to only staring at the markings, each one was aglow and a broken, almost dotted line had formed in the circle. Occasionally, another pulse of energy moved through the air, but she felt no actual change in the atmosphere.

Isamu suddenly pulled one of the bricks out of the circle and set it aside, breaking the energy altogether.

"_That's what you're doing?"_

Isamu looked up at the dog with a curious stare. "Yep. Put the marks in the right order, and you can make any building exist on any layer you want. Even if that meant _every _layer simultaneously. It's all about how you order the enchanted pieces, though. Mix it in different ways, and you can control which layer to exist on. The reason nothing changed here is because it doesn't have enough energy like this to move the building to another layer. It's broken up, and a wonder that any of the buildings you two visited even existed on _this _layer, much less _all _of them."

"Then why scatter the different marks among different buildings?"

"Several reasons. I can't give you a _good _one, however, since you've already taken the bricks and such from their respective places. However," the demon shoved his fork in his mouth and chewed on his last bite, "When we go look a' other placesh," he swallowed, "I might be able to deduce what's going on in the other's head."

Akari raised a brow. "It's entirely likely they're trying to make a certain _area _exist on all layers."

"Yes, that could be one case. But why would they do that, exactly?"

"You're asking a simple dog demon who has her own agenda why _another_ would want to work on such a project?" She tilted her head at him, then gave a shrug. "If I knew the answer, I wouldn't need your help in finding the rest of the puzzle, because I'd know who's behind it."

"Fair enough, I suppose." Akari tossed a blueberry at him, which he easily caught and tossed into his mouth. "How do you plan, exactly, to use this tool you're procuring?"

"As I said, I have my own agenda. And you're not exactly qualified enough to be in on it."

"And yet you're asking my assistance. Demanding, really."

"You weren't exactly going to tell me _no. _Don't act like you hate it."

"Assuming, love, is a reckless thing to do and a horrible habit to break."

"It's not assuming if I know the subject I'm speaking of."

"_You guys give me a headache. I'm going to the park." __*****_

~!**!~

Youko made a noise of frustration at her, having not moved from where he lay on his side, though he did reach over with his free hand to where some of her long, dark hair rested on her leg, burying that hand most delightfully in its silkiness and absently winding the strands about his fingers.

"I have always absolutely _loathed _how intelligent you are."

"Do go on." Shikiyoku responded with mild amusement.

"_My _kind are supposed to be the masters of seduction, and yet you always seem to know _exactly _what to say to make me want you that much more. You don't play fair."

"I'll play 'fair' just as soon as you start playing fair..._**kitsune**_."

Youko made a face. 3

~!**!~

Akari turned to watch Nabu sling towards the door, which she'd left ajar for this purpose. It was a habit she'd gotten into some time ago, and it made things easier for the both of them. "If you want, I'll buy bacon for later."

"_Sounds good to me." _the dog replied before he was out of sight, his claws calmly clicking on the sidewalk outside.

"He's an interesting one. How'd you happen across him?"

"You know, I'm not really sure." Akari admitted with a shrug. "When he was a pup, he just started following me. It's a wonder, because I wasn't very kind to anyone around that time."

There was a pause as Akari continued eating and Isamu sat back, staring at her with an unreadable expression. He leaned back with both palms on the wooden floor, his eyes watching her with the gears behind them turning.

"What?" she finally grumbled at him. "You're staring."

"What exactly _did _happen, love? What made you suddenly decide to be a fighter? I mean, the scars say enough, but you never did actually _enjoy _the kill. What changed that?"

Akari raised a brow. "I don't _enjoy _the kill now, either."

"I don't exactly think that's the truth, love."

Akari swallowed and shrugged once. "I don't kill as readily as you seem to think I do. In fact…" she paused, a head tilted, "The only person I've killed in two years was going to die anyway." _I'm not very happy with that one either. How he'd brainwashed me into killing another human, I'll never know. _She paused. "Actually, I take it back. I've killed quite a few demons since then. Granted, one rather enjoyed throwing me into the wall and the other liked trying to smash me with his tail. Or was it hooves?" She made a sound, unable to remember. "It was a group of demons hiding in this world that were eating humans. Kurama and I dealt with them."

"And you enjoyed it?"

Akari made a small sound of consideration. "Perhaps. But keep in mind I was thrown around repeatedly, and backed into a corner. Also, he was without energy at the time and-"

"How did _that _come about? A fox without energy?"

"Long story short**: **a demon was extremely capable at hiding energies, or binding them within the person. Quite the handful, he and his partners in crime. Never did catch them, really."

"That's too bad."

Akari suddenly stood, both plates in hand. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Your slow behind to get going."

"It was _rhetorical _you moron."

"Ah yes, but I do enjoy seeing that expression of irritation. It makes you puff your cheeks out and you gain a little redness too. Like you did when you were a kid."

"Now you're sounding creepy."

"It isn't like I haven't known you since you were born."

"You know, every time you bring that up, I'm going to start hitting you."

"_Hitting, _or _hitting on_ me? I'd prefer the second, but I guess beggars can't be choosers."

"I am going to _murder _you one of these days."

"And yet, here I am." _*****_

~!**!~

"Besides," Shikiyoku pointed out, "You're mostly to blame for it anyway."

"Is that so?" Youko sounded as if he had a mixture of skepticism with pride.

Shikiyoku nodded, picking another bud and beginning to weave it with the first one.

"I've since realized that my capabilities as a demon were heavily influenced by my Champions, as was my personality."

Youko's expression turned thoughtful, "Malleable."

"A rather apt descriptor, yes. A gift and a curse that came with the need for protection. With the pact, as it were."

He turned onto his back, staring up at the sky, "From your first you acquired the ability to cast rituals. From your second, you excelled at interrogation." He paused, impish grin coloring his features, "But whatever did you gain from _me_?"

"I'm not saying it aloud. Your ego and I are _already _fighting for space in this field. If it expands any larger, there won't be room for all three of us and I'll have to leave."

"Your dazzling wit." Youko provided, earning a scoff from her. "Not to mention your skills in seduction."

"Something that was already being cultivated by your cousin."

"Which is why your pursuit of me already had a head start."

"You tried to resist for the longest time."

"I was afraid of being bewitched by whatever spell seemed to hover about you." Youko admitted. "I was there every single time we gathered intelligence from a victim. I knew that haunted look in a demon's eye when you had finished with them, the one that was only silenced when I had killed them. I didn't particularly want to walk around the base looking like _that_. Can you imagine what chaos that would have cause among my subordinates?" 3

~!**!~

Akari and Isamu walked around the building slowly, breaking apart and going separate directions as they used to do. Her hands were in the pockets of her jacket, her eyes looking into the window she paused in front of and seeing very few inside. She continued moving, looking for the symbols that _should _be standing out in the brickwork, and yet finding _no such thing. _She gave an inaudible sigh and continued around to the back of the building, where Isamu was already standing, shaking his head once at her in negatory.

She gave a nod and turned with purpose, circling back around the building until she was at the front door, to which she simply tossed open and marched inside, holding a hand up to point at Isamu as she addressed the bartender. "See to him, will you? He's getting on my last nerve." She gave a long-suffering sigh. "He's.. _special."_

Isamu made a loud sound of protest at her. "Don't be like that."

The bartender gave a gruff sound. "I am not a babysitter."

"And yet you tend to hundreds of demons a day. Of course, you'll be paid. Keep him occupied, with drinks, with games, I don't care."

"But _Aka, _I want to go _with_ you-"

"You're staying _here. _I have business."

Before the bartender could protest, Akari's energy slid throughout the room, an illusion hitting each denizen that's sole purpose was to make it appear as if she weren't there at all. She smiled to herself and turned a wink onto Isamu. _You know what to do. _

She turned and moved throughout the room, careful of the patrons and chairs and tables, knowing if she brought _any _attention to herself, the illusion would fall through.

"So… what'll it be?"

Akari glanced back to see Isamu give an uncertain expression, and then a shrug. "I don't know, a soda?"

Several laughs echoed in the room, and Akari could only grin.

"We don't _serve _mere sodas here, kid. Get a real drink, or get out."

"I thought soda _was _real?"

"Hey Iko, tell you what. I'll treat him the first drink, and the rest his keeper can pay for. Assuming she comes back. You know what I like." The demon pat the stool next to him. "Sit here, kid. I'll teach you a thing or two about this world."

Akari had to refuse a scoff as she turned away, her eyes taking to surveying the brickwork again, her feet moving carefully around the room, and even into the back room when no one was paying attention. It had to be here _somewhere_. She could feel the energy buzzing, could sense that this building existed on at least two layers.

"Why does it taste so _bad?!" _Isamu's voice rang from the other room, and for a moment even she wasn't sure if he was putting on a facade or not. She ignored him, however, and continued looking about. _*****_

~!**!~

"You were immune to all of that." Shikiyoku informed him.

"Not as thoroughly as you would have had me believe, trust me." Youko replied, "The more time I spent with you, the harder you were to resist."

"You were so concerned about the chaos accepting me might cause..." Shikiyoku finally flopped down next to him on her back with her hair streaming over the meadow behind her head, holding the chain of flowers up as she attached another, "And yet we turned right around and _caused _more than enough chaos just as soon as you relented."

Her eyes flickered over to him, gleaming mischievously, only to find that he met her gaze with an almost identical expression before he responded.

"Now _that_...was fun." 3

~!**!~

Akari paused in the center of the room, eyes again roving over each brick, each board that lined the floor, each object in the room. _Where is it? _She huffed to herself and took another look around, the search just as fruitless as before. She became frustrated and turned to exit the room, pausing when a floorboard creaked. Her entire body went still, knowing the demons in the next room could just as easily pick up the sound if-

"WHY am I getting another? It tastes AWFUL! I don't LIKE it!"

"The poor kid. You've sent him into a fit."

"I said I don't WANT it!"

The amount of _whining _in the male's tone made it very hard for Akari not to suddenly laugh, but he provided her the opportunity to release the board and turn a glare down at it accusingly. Only to realize it was the _only _unstable board in the whole facility. She blinked and crouched down to inspect it, her fingers carefully lifting it from its place with ease.

Her eyes widened and she gave a victorious little smile, her hand quickly reaching down to retrieve the object engraved with markings she had yet to see, leaving the rest where they lay and replacing the board firmly. In the next moment, she was standing in the bar again, hands in her jacket pockets and energy releasing the others of their illusion.

Each demon in the room turned to stare at her, even Isamu, who had a very pitiful expression on his face and mock tears in his eyes. He sniffled once, and Akari narrowed her eyes at the male next to her. "What's wrong with him?"

"He didn't like the drinks. He was entertained, though."

"They're _awful_, Aka. I don't wanna be here no more."

Akari turned a harsh glare onto the demons at the bar. "I was gone for half an hour and he's already upset?" Her energy seeped into the atmosphere, causing shadows to move. "You're all idiots."

"D-don't kill them, Aka. They were just playing!"

She turned to Isamu again, his lips moving with a silent question. She sighed and nodded her head, earning a smile. "Fine. We'll go, per your request. However, I'm _not _paying for the services. You'll have to see to that on your own."

Isamu stood and moved towards her, the facade dropped entirely now that none of the demons at the bar could see his expression.

"Pleasure doing business, boys."

Akari and Isamu dropped into the shadow realm and reappeared several miles from the pub, the male quickly releasing a laugh. "You've learned a few things, love!"

"As have you." Akari replied calmly, giving a calm smile. "Will this do?" She held up the object and Isamu quickly snatched it up for inspection, before giving a nod. "Yeah, it's sufficient enough. I'm surprised they used a _jewel _for this one. Usually you enchant useless objects that no one would suspect to be worth anything. Not your prized possessions."

"They're on the First Layer. What do you expect?"

"Too much, apparently." He returned the gem yo her and turned, walking calmly in the direction they'd been facing. "Next one is a warehouse. It would be easier to look at from the Fourth Layer, but this layer will do. Though, finding the item will be fun, considering it's a building made completely of concrete."

"I've learned that the person using this method likes to hide things in the dirt on cases like that. If he can't hide it within the floors or the walls, then he hides it under a rock, so to speak."

"Ah, yes. Digging up another demon's lawn. Should we change forms for that or-"

"You can. I, however, prefer this form. I rather enjoy being able to use by hands."

"Suit yourself." _*****_

~!**!~

Youko flipped over onto his stomach as a few of the butterflies from the night before fluttered over. He held out a hand and one of them came to rest on his finger.

"So, what's the story?" He broke the silence abruptly, his legs bending at the knees, coming up to cross at the ankles in the air behind him.

Shikiyoku had by this time turned around, seated cross-legged, to face him, hands still diligently working at the chain of flowers which were fast turning into something that would be a necklace when she finished.

"Since we parted?" She wanted to know.

"Oh, I know most of that." He tapped a finger to his head. "Courtesy of Red. Changed forms, locked away your energy, tricked shorty into being your Champion, yadda yadda." He lowered his hand until the elbow rested on the grass, moving to place his cheek against his fist and holding his head up as he watched the butterfly open and close its wings slowly. "What's the story with the marks? I've only been able to make guesses of my own up to this point." 3

~!**!~

"How is it that it takes me four months to fine _one _stupid little artifact, but it takes you just a few _hours _to know where the next one is?" Akari grumbled as she glared at the large dog that dug at the ground, whose head lifted to look at her momentarily.

"_I get around. Much the same as rumors do. Word travels fast on the Fourth Layer."_

Akari scowled and looked away, arms crossed and vein in her temple protruding, although her bangs hid it well. "So you knew about the demon going around and casting enchantments?"

"_Naturally. I was considering putting up a trading post that existed on every layer, to help with the difficulties in that prospect."_

"You're a pain."

"_Yes, but I __**am **__giving you the artifacts instead of taking them for myself. You should at __**least**_ _scratch my ear for that."_

"You're being serious?"

"_Naturally."_

Akari sighed and meandered away. "I'll consider it. However, I thought our deal was payment enough."

"_Just think about it. There's nothing so bad about giving a friend a good scratch."_

_Idiot. __*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku refrained from 'correcting' his summary of events, dwelling instead on the question he asked.

"How about starting with how you and Hiei broke up? That's something Red doesn't even know."

It took a lot more restraint this time not to smack him for his wording. And it was partially the unrelenting glint of his eyes that stayed her hand. She refused to give him the satisfaction.

"We just happened to be returning from Demon World the exact moment all portals between it and Human World were shut down by Spirit World." Shikiyoku raised and lowered a single shoulder as if it were the simplest thing in the world and not something that had quite literally driven her to the brink of madness. "He was on one side and I was on the other."

"You didn't try to see if there was anyway to get back over to him?"

"I knew there wasn't any point in trying."

"And how exactly did you 'know?'"

Shikiyoku took a deep breath as she remembered the feeling, the exact moment, when it hit her that she had 'outgrown' the Kekkai Barrier. That she was almost certain Hiei would be able to return through and she could not.

"The Kekkai." She said shortly, images flashing in her mind of when her fears had been confirmed and her touch had caused the Kekkai to flare up in front of her just before the portals shut down.

"Ah." Youko intoned after a second of pause, knowing precisely what she meant to imply in just those two words.

"So, the distance severed the pact?" He prodded further.

She let out a sigh, "It's a long story."

"My ears are all yours." Youko shifted until he lay on his side, facing her and keeping his head propped up with his hand. He went on before Shikiyoku could collect her thoughts. "Along with anything else you might suddenly decide you want."

"Be still my heart." 3

~!**!~

"_I wouldn't go too far, love."_

Akari scoffed. "Why, because you want me to _scratch you?" _She continued moving on, hands in her jacket pockets and eyes on the building she knew to be empty. It was one she'd visited a few times over the past couple of months, but it hadn't… it hadn't been one of the buildings that was affected by whatever the demon wanted until now. "I think I'll take my chances," She added as she continued on, not even sparing a glance back. She circled to the far side of the building, eyeing the windowless walls and the untouched, undisturbed soil around it.

Odd how the demon who created the enchantments left little to no trace of themselves.

"_Akari, I've got it. Ready when you are!"_

Akari turned to go back the way she came, no longer interested in the area. She circled around again, eyes on the ground as she walked, merely because she was bored with the building. "So, what gave you the idea to hunt the demon do-" When she glanced up, Isamu was nowhere in sight, his hole where he'd been digging still there, but the dog not within the immediate area. "You're being an idiot."

She shifted her weight, turning about where she stood and expanding her energy, searching for the demon. "Come on, Isa. I wanna get this over with. I have places to be with that!"

Nothing.

_I'm going to __**murder**_ _you, so help me._

She turned to walk away from the area, knowing she wasn't too far from town. She didn't bother using her energy, because she didn't feel like wasting it before she'd have to use it to get to Genkai's, and then Koenma. And _that_ took a lot of energy to pull off.

Moving from layer to layer was one thing.

Moving from layer to Spiritual places… was a whole other thing entirely. And she hadn't exactly been saving her energy for anything; she hadn't expected for the search to end so soon.

Of course, technically, _her _search wasn't done, because the damn dog-

"**Move**, Akari!"

She blinked and took a quick step backwards, eyes widening on the blur of a being that left the ground in front of her again. She took two more steps back, eyes quickly looking up in the direction the thing had disappeared. "Where'd it go?"

"I've got it, don't worry!"

"Wait, I-"

and then there was silence in the air, and she was _absolutely _sure both demons were gone.

_What the hell. __*****_

~!**!~

"And you were just going to let her _use _you?" Youko seemed a little incredulous. "For her personal vendetta or whatever? To bring about Sekaijuu?"

"I didn't exactly have a lot of options at the time." Shikiyoku replied dryly, "There was no way I would be able to return to my Champion in the foreseeable future, and any of you would have been trying _anything _you could to get back to me."

"So, you deciding getting yourself killed was the better option?"

"I...my mind had already started unraveling at that point. I had no hope of ever seeing him again, and I would have rathered died to the pain demon's ritual than throwing myself to a bunch of flesh-hungry low-levels and letting them kill me in _their _way. Don't you think that would have been more cruel to my Champion?"

Youko didn't answer.

"Renai had other plans for me, though." Shikiyoku went on. "He revealed that demons like he or I _could _unlock a method of attack within our energy that would render the ancient pact spell unuseable and sever such a pact if one was in place, but the process is grueling and difficult." Shikiyoku had her mouth open to say something more about the 'process,' but she could find no words to describe how time had seemed to stretch on into infinity for her as she lay there under Renai's unfailing hand.

"You've never been a fighter." Youko noted airily.

"I'm not." She huffed with wry amusement.

"...then what's the secret?"

Shikiyoku's hands faltered on the necklace for just a moment before she answered.

"Pain." 3

~!**!~

Akari gave a sigh, knowing even if she yelled for Isamu, he wouldn't answer because, apparently, _he's got this. _She glanced at the ground where the demon hand landed, frowning at the spot of dead grass that outlined the single foot that hand landed there.

Backwards.

_Oh great. They're not as rare as we used to think._

Akari turned and moved in the direction the two had gone, her nose following the trail of acid easily. _Please don't be an idiot and get yourself killed. _She growled to herself and pushed her feet to move faster. She turned inward to the odd 'bond' that had formed, and found she was moving a little faster than the male.

Before long, she was huffing and standing among the treeline of another clearing, where Isamu and the Aswang moved around and around, this one being much more capable than the one Akari had fought with Yusuke. She frowned as she mulled that thought over, her nose turning up as the smell of acid and sulfur filled the air more and more with each attack.

Akari moved to circle the creature from within the shadows, knowing that Isamu had its full attention.

That is, until Isamu himself glanced at her. She growled at him when the Aswang turned towards her, "Are you stupid?!"

"I told you I had it!"

Akari stumbled away from the acid that splattered on the ground a few inches from her feet, another snarl lifting her lips. "It wouldn't kill you to let someone lend you a hand, you know!"

"In this situation, it might!"

"oooh, fighting pack mates." the creature hissed, "so much better than simple energy."

Akari jumped away from the strike aimed at her stomach, which she tucked in as she threw her arms over her head. "I thought you guys were extinct," she growled.

Isamu appeared behind the creature, whose eyes turned to the corners and lips turned up in a wicked grin. She reacted just as the creature did, reaching out and grabbing at the aswang and pulling it towards herself, watching its claws elongate and just miss Isamu, who hadn't seen it coming. She stumbled and turned away, narrowly missing a strike herself. _I hate close quarters. __*****_

~!**!~

Youko let out a single bark of laughter.

"How exceedingly appropriate, seductress."

"Isn't it, though?"

"So, with the ability to fend off any would-be lovers, the pact was null."

She nodded. "I no longer needed the protection of a Champion and as such could not use the spell to even form another pact if I wanted."

"I wonder how shorty felt about that." Youko murmured to himself, speaking more to the avatar in his head who had been listening to the whole conversation with apt attention.

"Hm?" Shikiyoku hadn't heard him.

"And so, these markings..." Youko trailed off.

Shikiyoku picked up for him, "The catch is I cannot revert back to this form on my own."

"You defend yourself and then get stuck that way."

She nodded, "For a while it didn't matter. I didn't care. I was in pain form, free of any other ties, and I immediately sought employment in one of the guilds in a city."

"Back to the old work then?"

"Do what you know, right? My methods of torture this time were...much different, however."

"I would imagine so." 3

~!**!~

Akari stumbled again and isamu was reaching for her, though she didn't accept his offer and instead used her own stumbling to pull the Aswang away from Isamu, turning her person so that the creature fell past her. She slammed an elbow into the back of its head, ensuring it didn't twirl around on the spot, and then leapt away to let it fall to the ground.

"Are you stupid?" Akari repeated to Isamu as she continued jumping backwards, putting distance between herself and the creature, Isamu following her easily. "You don't approach an Aswang, you kill it from a distance! How could you, of all people, forget that?"

"I didn't _forget_, I chose to _ignore_ it!"

"Well, then you're going to be the first to be struck and poisoned, because I'm not going to try it." Akari stood back, waving a hand at him and eyeing his swords. "I hope those are impervious to acid."

"I'm not sure. Guess we'll see." He replied as he moved away, running forward to meet the creature head on. Akari's energy continued to swirl around her, creating a dark cloud about her feet as she watched Isamu unsuccessfully land any blows.

She could leave him to it… except he was dumb enough to allow a blow to hit if he thought he could kill it shortly after. And she wouldn't put it past him. She sighed and turned, eyes going wide when she came face to face with a creature starkly similar to the other. "Hello, little one."

Akari growled and dropped from his reach, into a shadow and then appearing again in the clearing when she was clear of the attack. "Hello." Akari replied with a strike to its face, jerking its face to the side before it could spit anything at her. "I don't appreciate your games." She avoided the swipe of claws narrowly and struck again, sending a brief glance over her shoulder at Isamu, who she noted tossed a sword hilt away.

_Idiot. _She moved, leapt, growled and snarled as the creature recovered and continued to strike again, and again, and again, each time sneering at her and striking faster and faster. _Where's the detective when he's useful?_

She took one more step backwards and found herself backed against Isamu, who made a sound of surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Trying not to die. What are _you _doing?" She replied pleasantly before grabbing him and disappearing into a shadow, lingering in the dimension for a few minutes. "Why are we wasting our time?"

"Because I don't think you're away that you're missing something valuable." He pointed at her jacket and sighed. "We need a plan."

"Yes. Distance. Close combat will kill us."

"And what can a couple of shadow demons do?"

"You're doubting our abilities? tsk tsk." She closed her eyes. "Can we get another one of those elsewhere? I'd rather _not _have my skin and such stripped from my bones."

"We can try, but there's no guarantee."

"I hate you." Akari sighed. "Just… don't die, got me?"

Akari and Isamu landed on the ground of the first layer again, not surprised to see the creatures waiting where they'd disappeared. Which, amusingly, was several feet away from where they were now. Akari grinned and let her energy swirl at their feet, the shadows quickly roving over their bodies and bringing the dull eyes of both Aswangs up to her, Isamu no longer near her. "I have a proposition, if you're up to listen." _*****_

~!**!~

"It was...amusing work to say the least. And by that I mean it amused my time if nothing else. The leader of the guild I sought out was the only one who knew who I had been, so it wasn't as if I had to worry about anyone trying to change me back. Years later a...a demon who had approached me and offered to be my mate while I was still bound to Hiei discovered my location and sought me out. He threatened to reveal my identity to the ruler of the nearby city unless I went with him."

"Who was that again...Rae, right? I remember Kit mentioning she was a pain in some of his correspondences with me."

"Hiei and I had a run in with her as well, within the past decade of time, and she very desperately wanted to know of my location."

"So she could try and control you."

She nodded.

Youko grinned, "Did you mate with him?"

"What?"

"The demon-"

"Kyonshi?" Shikiyoku provided.

"Yeah, sure. The one who wanted to take you as a mate. _Were_ you mates?"

"You've changed the question."

Youko only awaited her response.

"What does it matter?"

"Call it a morbid curiosity."

Shikiyoku sighed, "He never forced me into anything."

"Masterful attempt at avoiding the question. But if you _wanted_ to mate with him, it wouldn't be 'forcing.'"

"No, I have never had a mate, Youko Kurama." Shikiyoku said exasperatedly, "Feel better now?"

"Much."

"You're impossible."

"Much."3

~!**!~

"Proposition?"

Akari shifted her weight and planted a hand on her waist, her expression calm and colored only with a small, knowing smile. "Are you interested?"

"And what would the likes of _you_, earless, tailless dog, have to offer _us?"_

Akari's smile widened. "That's up to you." She shifted again and her energy around them tightened, making their eyes widen. "I have quite the influence, if I do say so myself. And if you don't believe, I know someone who could vouch on that."

"We need nothing you offer."

"You haven't heard my end of the deal yet. How could you know that?"

Isamu was standing behind the pair, calm eyes regarding her, his presence unnoticed thus far. Within a few seconds of silence, however, the two she addressed went still, their muscles no longer taut with preparation, but taut with weight. With control. Their skin darkened as shadows moved under their skin, resting below the surface before seeping into bones, into muscles. Isamu gave a brilliant smile. "I'd forgotten how easily you could distract someone."

"Actually, that's new."

"Is it? I hadn't noticed." He turned to the pair, his hands finding the pouch at a belt of the first, who made a strangled sound. "Thank you. I'll be sure to use this wisely."

"Now, I have what I want." Akari began, expression unreadable. "The thing is… you didn't take a deal beforehand. and I have nothing to offer you anymore, as what I needed is now within our possession. You're a little too slow, it seems."

"Mind if I do it, Akari?"

She raised a brow. "I'd planned on you doing it the whole time. However, I'd like to go home for a bit. May I?" She held a hand out for the pouch, which Isamu tossed in her direction. "I'll meet you at home, yes?"

"Which home?"

"Mine."

"Alright then."

Akari turned to leave, ignoring the strangled sounds from the demons who were stuck in place, accompanied with the sound of a blade being unsheathed. "You ruined my best sword." She heard the male's voice darken, but didn't remain to listen to anything else. She dropped through a shadow and reappeared at the house, her hands gathering the bricks and rocks on the coffee table before she dropped through a shadow again, this time landing at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to Genkai's place. _*****_

~!**!~

Youko fell silent, conversing with the avatar within himself over the various bits of information they had just acquired, and Shikiyoku did not interrupt them at first, though she had no way of knowing the conversation was actually going on.

She finished the necklace and was shifting it about in her hands, not having quite reached the portion of the story that she...that she had intended all along to seek Youko's help about.

Her thoughts lingered on their discussion. On Renai teaching her the way of pain. Of Horu, the white-haired leader of the guild she worked for, and the many demons she left scarred for life once she finished extracting information from them. And at the last of Kyonshi, and how he had..._activated _the disease already inside of her so that she may be more like him, so that she could feed on demonic energy to sustain herself without the need of food or drink.

That disease had greatly affected the energy of her pain form. So much so that when Kyonshi finally turned on her, she had at her fingertips the capability to end his life whereas before she had only been able to inflict pain.

Those strands of her energy that had at one time brought demons together in tribal brother and sisterhood, bound their souls in a flamboyant ritual, now all she could think about was how the dark energy of those strands could now sever limbs and extinguish lives.

All while feeding the disease within her. 3

~!**!~

Akari stared up at the steps, giving a weary sigh. It'd taken her _too _long to take care of this. _At least I'm not bringing a kid with me this time. _Shifting her hold on the bricks, rocks, and the little pouch with the jewel she could feel pulsating energy inside, she took the first few steps and paused to glance over her shoulder again. She took another sigh and turned to continue her way up to the top of the steps, a small smile on her lips.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she looked down at the objects in her hands again, imagining the formation Isamu had formed on her coffee table earlier today. And where the holes had been. _This one… _she plucked one from her pile, _had been at the northern position._

And with that, she began moving around and around the lands, spreading the relics out one by one. _*****_

Kita stood solemnly staring at the tree in front of him, having decided this one was _it_.

He put his hands together and bowed to it.

"I am sorry, but you will make good firewood." He shifted his stance to get one foot in front of the other and pulled his hands up towards his face, settling into the balls of his feet for a second before making very precise, rather powerful punches into the trunk of the tree, making quick progress into the bark.

A few minutes passed before he was able to break through to the other side enough to send the tree toppling over, and it only took a few minutes longer than that for the branches to be stripped from it and the trunk, larger around than Kita's head in places, to be divided into logs, some of which were as long as he was tall.

He made note of the position of the debris, thinking that he'd have to let the smaller ones know there were branches to be gathered, and as he hoisted up one of the larger logs onto his shoulder, he paused before heading back, frowning as he felt someone drawing closer.

Without much thought to the log over his shoulder, he moved off with relative ease in the direction of the energy he felt, curious that it didn't feel particularly _familiar_-it was certainly none of the other students-but it didn't feel entirely unfamiliar either.

~!**!~

"Red would like to know what happens next." Youko pulled himself from his inner thoughts and turned his yellow eyes onto Shikiyoku, whom he noticed absently toying with her finished necklace.

"Oh, he would, would he?" She arched an eyebrow at him, lifting her head to meet his gaze. "Has he been listening in this whole time?"

"Always."

Shikiyoku chuckled and leaned forward, adorning the necklace over Youko's silver head where it hung from his neck as she took her hands away.

His eyes never left her, waiting.

"Kyonshi...died."

In a mirrored gesture to the one she had given him, a single silver eyebrow rose further up on Youko's face.

"Died?" He echoed after a moment, hoping to prompt her. "How?"

"I...killed him." 3

~!**!~

Akari paused and crouched where she stood, pulling a brick from her arms and looking it over before unceremoniously dumping her armful of similar objects onto the ground. She began to dig in the ground, creating a hole deep and wide enough to rest the brick inside, etchings-side up, and then cover it with the soil she'd disturbed.

She looked to her pile and gathered it again, turning her eyes up and pausing when she saw a few kids run by, a small smile on her features as she pushed herself to stand again. She had another brick in her hand, not paying much attention to the energies around her as she continued to the next place, doing the same in this spot and covering the brick with dirt. This time, when she looked up, she didn't move.

The energy was so _pleasant _here. It was completely different than how the rest of her day had been. _*****_

It didn't take Kita long to make it back towards the differing energy signature, the trunk over his shoulder giving him little to no trouble.

When he caught sight of her, he easily slipped the log off his shoulder, solemn face brightening as he called her name and started running towards her.3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	82. Episode 166 - Crusnik, Relics

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Readers!

So, as some of you may know or might have realized by now, I like to borrow ideas from other fandoms as a sort of homage to them. You might recognize that I start borrowing directly from the anime Trinity Blood here, albeit adding my own twist.

Regular update Thursday, no updates next week!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As__ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Taking it upon herself to rescue Isamu, Akari has run-ins with various denizens of the layer before she finds him,  
fighting another demon, and tells him to come back to help her figure out how buildings are getting on multiple layers.

They discover that she is missing a few key pieces to the relics she has, and after breakfast decide to venture out to find them.

Completing the set she has is only a matter of time and after collecting them all Akari quickly leaves Isamu behind,  
heading for Genkai's with the collection so that the old lady can use them to more easily serve the children displaced by the layers.

The boy Kita, whom Akari rescued and helped get to Genkai's a while back, is near the point at which Akari drops onto Genkai's lands,  
and he runs up to meet her.

~!**!~

Youko and Shikiyoku's conversation in the meadow finally turns towards the story behind 'the marks,'  
Shikiyoku explaining to Youko everything that happened from when she and Hiei were separated  
all the way through Renai teaching her the ways of pain, being employed under Horu the guild leader,  
and being taken by Kyonshi the energy-feeder.

At the last, when prompted by Youko to continue, Shikiyoku reveals that she killed Kyonshi herself.

* * *

Youko said nothing, his astonishment at the admission well hidden behind his eyes, but he was taken aback for a moment as his astonishment was magnified by the same emotion Kurama had coursing to the forefront of their mind.

That this...demure demon whom he remembered flinching _without fail _every single time he had ended the life of her prey, going so far as to even turn away, hiding herself behind him...

For the longest time, he had ignored her tears, which she had-for the longest time-tried to keep at bay in his presence.

Later, though, once they had grown closer, he remembered actually drawing her into his arms and letting her weep against him...

...that she had _killed_?

He never would have expected a demon with a demeanor like that in regards to life being taken before her very eyes to be..._capable _of such an action.

Not to mention the fact that it was Youko's understand that she _couldn't _kill. That her energy wouldn't allow it, which is why she needed a Champion in the first place. Because she had no means of protecting herself, but-

"Have you heard of demons able to feed, not on souls, but on the energy of other demons?" Shikiyoku said quietly, going on before Youko could answer, "There are not many. I only know of Kyonshi, and Kyonshi only knew of the demon who taught _him_. It is not so much a power as it is a disease. There are these things inside you and they slowly eat away at your mind until the only thing one can hear is this voice that must see every demon in the three worlds killed-" Shikiyoku's voice had lowered and her words hitched for a moment, "He finally went insane with the hunger, attacked me-" She blinked, remembering vividly her first kill, his blood on her hands, her face, "Youko, I-"

He could see how disturbed the memory was making her and he interrupted, "You don't have to-"

"No, it's...I'm infected too."

The sentence, like the other, hung in the air, a million different realizations crashing into Kurama and Youko's minds simultaneously.

If this were a virus, and if Kyonshi passed it to her...

Youko doubted even Shikiyoku could remember all the demons she had been in contact with while she had been stuck in pain form. If she were in fact able to pass it along, who knew how many demons were walking, ticking timebombs and on how many layers since she had lost her mind.

How long did it take for the disease to take root?

_{But she doesn't hear the voice now.}_

Because somehow only her pain form had whatever it was she was going on about.

"You never planned on coming back, did you?" Out of all the things he could have said, that's what Youko landed on.

Shikiyoku looked up sharply, seeing that there was no point in saying otherwise and gave a sigh.

"I was...embarrassed. For anyone to see me in such a state. For...for _betraying _my Champion, even if it was the only option aside from death available to me. But also, my mind had been slowly coming apart at the seams for a very long time. Ever since Hiei and I were separated, really. So...you're right. If I had never seen any of you ever again, it would have been too soon. Because despite that voice, I still managed to keep a hold of my vanity. My pride." She gave a half-hearted huff of irritation before going on.

"The disease seems to burn through the body it inhabits at a rate equal to how often one feeds, and both disease and body are only sustained through feeding. But the longer the disease rages, the more often one needs to feed, and the more one feeds, the stronger the disease becomes and the faster it burns through the body." Shikiyoku spun her hands over one another at the next sentence before dropping them back in her lap, "It's this self-fulfilling cycle. I never realized the discipline Kyonshi had until recently when I could look at everything objectively, and I don't think I'll ever understand how he was able to feed on me and not kill me. He certainly never taught me any restraint. Feeding was soon all I could think about most days once he was dead. And I was already far too brittle mentally for this one little thing to not start making cracks in my sanity."

"You would have never sought out a Consort-" Youko said slowly, "But then, all of a sudden, you would have died without one." 3

~!**!~

Akari had turned down to gather her _supplies _again, and paused to look up only briefly before turning down again. Her hand enclosed another rock before the sound of her name echoed around her, and she looked up in mild confusion. She met the eyes of the boy who was now running at her, and a smile quickly formed on her lips. _Too bad Nabu isn't here too. He liked the kid._

She held a hand up in a wave and sat back on her heels, not sure if he was going to crash into her for a hug or stop just short of doing so. _*****_

Kita ran headlong for Akari, his feet leaving the ground at the last few paces as he sprung forward and launched himself in her direction, his arms wrapping about her neck as he tackled her in a hug.

"You're back!"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku nodded.

"Hiei's the one that ended up catching up to me. I kept needing more and more energy to sustain myself and I think that tipped off _someone_ and sent my most recent Champion on my trail." A smile played over her lips as she remembered just how much the fire demon had done for her, expecting nothing in return. It was actually the first time she had thought of him all day, but it sent her mind to wondering where she might be able to find him, and when she might see him next. "I didn't have the capacity to tell him exactly how I could be changed back, but I didn't know for sure myself anyway."

Youko made no comment during the pause she took, one in which he could _see _the faraway look in her eyes and the glimmer of happiness that colored her features. He had no doubts about of whom she thought.

"It doesn't matter." Shikiyoku shook her head, fully bringing herself into the present, "What I wanted...what I _hoped _you might be able to help me with is curing the disease itself." 3

~!**!~

Akari held her arms out after a moment when she noted he was about to jump, her arms closing around the boy as she fell back to her rear. She smiled and placed her chin on the boy's shoulder. "Man, you've gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw you," Akari praised with a small laugh. "You could probably crush me if you wanted to!"

She gave a laugh and pulled back just a little so she could look at the boy. "Sorry it's been so long, Kita." _*****_

Kita let go of her and took to standing in front of her a little shyly in comparison to his outburst.

"That's okay. Big Sis said you were real busy." His head tilted a little, "Why'dya come back?"

~!**!~

"_My _help?" Youko countered pleasantly, "Why not get the neko to do the dirty work for you?"

Shikiyoku gave him the blandest glare, to which Youko only raised an eyebrow and kept that same grin on his face.

"You know very well why I haven't said anything to Kit about it."

"You think he doesn't know?"

"Tch, unlikely. But if I _ask _him about it, he's just going to want to contract the disease for himself so he can analyze it like he always does and probably get himself killed before he can actually figure out a cure."

Youko gave her a look, "And when has a disease ever bested him in the past?"

"It's not the past I'm worried about, Yo-chan." The words didn't come out as so much of a whine, but he could see that she really did feel a great deal of concern about it. 3

~!**!~

Akari set her hands on the boy's shoulders, sizing him up with a quick glance up and down as she took in his energy as well, her smile widening. "Big sis is still here, hm?" She glanced towards the temple for a second before bringing her eyes back to Kita, her hands sliding away and landing in her lap.

"I went looking for a few magical objects." She said, nodding her head back to the bricks and stuff. "What does Genkai have you doing right now?" _*****_

Kita's wide eyes at her 'magical objects' were only staved off-he wanted to ask her about those for sure-by her own question.

He took a step back and pointed at the log he had set down some distance behind him.

Some of the littler kids were trying to lift it up, but they weren't able to get their arms all the way around it, much less budge it from its place.

"Getting firewood." Then he couldn't help himself, "What magical objects? What do they do?"

~!**!~

Youko made an affirming sort of noise, but he was already thinking about other things.

"Will you...help me?"

"For free? Unlikely."

Shikiyoku huffed with disdain, "What do you _want_, then?"

Youko didn't answer her, staring up at the clouds thoughtfully.

"Well?"

"I'm thinking."

Shikiyoku made the same sound as before, bringing her hand up to her cheek and leaning into it, her elbow on her thigh as she watched him, only able to guess at what exactly he would want in return. 3

~!**!~

Akari's eyes turned to the log Kita pointed to, her brows raising and her smile widening. _He's gotten very strong indeed. He could very easily become the next detective, if he and Koenma decided to make such an agreement. _

"Firewood, hm?" She echoed, staring at the large mass of twigless bark. She turned her eyes to Kita at his question, her smile widening and a finger raising to poise over her lips in a quiet 'sh' motion. "It's a secret. A surprise." She winked at the boy and stood, rubbing her hand in his sandy hair. "Why don't you finish up what you're doing now, and then I'll see about you helping me, hm? It's going to take some time." _*****_

Kita frowned at her.

"Genkai doesn't like surprises." He informed her in that direct manner all children had of doing. "She's says they're lu-" His face scrunched up, "Ludi-" His lips had trouble making the sounds and he gave up, turning his eyes back onto Akari, "She's says they're stupid."

~!**!~

"Yo-chan..."

The abrupt change in her tone caught Youko's attention, pulling it from the clouds overhead-which he wasn't _looking _at since he was thinking of how to word something-and in her direction as the grass beneath his head rustled quietly underneath him when he looked over at her. His eyebrows rose as he watched her slowly lean forward, her hands coming to settled down in the grass and she sort of crawled towards him, closing the small bit of distance between them.

He found himself unable to break contact with her green eyes, unable to so much as move from where he lay on his side, finding within her gaze everything he could ever think to ask for, and everything he couldn't.

Shikiyoku kept coming forward until she was inches away from his face, her hair falling down from over her shoulder and brushing up against his cheek where it felt like so much silk flowing as if from the softest waterfall imaginable.

He found his face lifting upwards so he could peer into her eyes, feeling her hand coming up and her fingers running down along the necklace she had placed over his head earlier.

"When was the last time I asked you for _anything_?" Shikiyoku murmured, her eyes watching her fingers wrap around the chain of unbloomed flowers around his neck.

Youko didn't answer, finding himself wanting her to look at him again, aware that her dark hair was blocking out the brightness of the day and creating a sort of bubble of privacy that was all their own. He didn't realize until that moment that his lips had actually parted, seeing that hers stayed open just a little after she spoke-_what did she say again?_

Her eyes finally, slowly started to rise up from the necklace back to meet his gaze.

"...you're good." Youko breathed appreciatively, feeling his core racing, "...very good." 3

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow and glanced at the place she'd just been digging, suddenly rethinking what she was doing and looking back over to Kita once more. She gave a sigh. "I suppose it is rather _ludicrous _of me to assume her intentions, yes?" She gave a smile. "Grab your log, I'll be along."

She disappeared from Kita for a moment, appearing again at the first place she'd been digging and digging up that brick first, quickly refilling the hole and appearing again at the spot she'd been at the spot where she'd been talking to the boy, her hands making quick enough work of the ground that she half suspected the boy didn't see her extricate this brick from the ground. Only that she was crouching one second, and the next standing with two bricks in her hand.

She gave a smile. "Don't keep her waiting on you. I don't want you to get into trouble." _*****_

Kita nodded, eyes still bright with curiosity, but he knew also that Genkai expected him back, if he wasn't already late.

He turned and trotted back to the log, ushering the littler ones out of the way so he could pick it up and heft it over his shoulder, breaking out in a jog again as he headed for the temple.

~!**!~

Her eyes only glittered at him, her smile amorous as her hand came up to his cheek.

The only reason he hadn't already closed the distance and stolen the kiss was partially because he was too enthralled to move and partially because he wanted to know what she would do, the calculative portion of his brain analyzing her features and trying to figure out _how _she was doing it, _how _she was able to practically freeze him in place.

It was different than anything he'd ever seen her do before.

He couldn't help himself though, "Is this the part where you ask me what I desire?"

"You-_ko_!" Shikiyoku exclaimed, pulling away from him with exasperation and sitting down, crossing her arms over her chest with a sigh.

"It was a valid question!" He argued, both disappointed and relieved to find his mind in one piece again as he propped himself up on his elbows.

"I should have made you _say _something if you weren't really enchanted." She grumbled, glaring at him.

"You almost had me."

"Stupid fox."

"Did you really think you were going to get anywhere without your energy?"

Her eyebrow quirked.

"I'm well-versed in that sort of thing, seductress: all of the little nuances one can do to oneself to draw someone in. There's a method," His head tilted a little, "A knack to it. A certain order about things. One which you have become more adept at of late, I might add." He grinned, "But since you're attempting to _seduce _a _**seducer**_, you were really only going to get so far without using that energy of yours."

"It was...worth a shot." Shikiyoku grumbled, lips fighting a smile.

"I can't say I didn't appreciate it," He reached up and held her chin in his fingers, his grin softening into one similar to what she had been lording over him moments before. 3

~!**!~

Akari watched Kita take off at a jog before she turned and began picking up the other objects from the ground- objects she had dropped before the boy had gotten close enough to run into them. She piled each rock, each brick into her arms before turning and making her way after the boy, following his tracks calmly and with a smile.

_Maybe I'll being Nabu by._

Her energy fluctuated just briefly, forming a small creature out of a shadow that disappeared after a moment, and then reappeared shortly after- before she'd even reached the temple- and giving her the dog's response.

"_The boy from the first few months? Yeah!"_

Akari smiled and her energy fluctuated again, the dog appearing at her side with his tongue lolling and tail wagging. He paused mid-step and looked at her even as she continued walking.

"_What is that disgusting smell? Smells like.."_

"A swamp?"

"_Yeah. I smelled it earlier but I thought it was the guy?"_

"Nope. I showered and burned those clothes, but I _still _have the very quiet smell of that layer. It's awful."

"_You're lucky only you and I can smell it. And the guy, but he smells like that too I guess. These kids would run from you in a heartbeat if they could smell you."_

"Hush hush, Nabu." Akari smiled. "You'll hurt my feelings." She continued into the temple, silencing so as to not disturb anything that might be going on behind the doors. _*****_

On socked feet, Shizuru padded quietly towards Akari and Nabu, smiling and holding a tray.

She offered the glass of iced lemonade to Akari, taking a homemade treat from off the tray and squatting down to give Nabu a pat and hold out the treat for him, the tray being held under her arm.

"Glad to have you back."

~!**!~

"But _really_," Youko continued, his voice dropping lower, eyes flashing, "You ought to know better."

Shikiyoku's expression shifted in kind, "Like I said," She leaned a little closer, "It was worth a shot."

"You know what I want?"

The question actually took her off-guard because the answer was _yes_ in every sense of the word, but she could feel his question did not stem from his desires, of which at that exact moment there were three or four very specific ones.

"Of course." She let him gently pull her closer.

"If I cure this disease for you," He brought his lips up to her ear once he got her close enough, "Make me your Consort."

She pulled back enough to be able to meet his gleaming yellow gaze with her green one.

"And if it's actually Kitoushi that does it?" She murmured back.

The both of them found themselves amused to no end that the other kept responding seductively, as if it was really going to accomplish anything between them.

Youko let out a low chuckle, "Then don't." 3

~!**!~

Akari shifted her bearings to her left arm easily, her right hand reaching out to accept the drink offered to her. She gave a thankful smile and a sip from the cold glass, having to refrain from giving a smacking noise of content at the flavor. "I'm glad to be back. Now that everything's wrapping up nicely, I plan on visiting a little more." She paused to take a drink, looking down at Nabu who graciously, carefully, pulled the treat from Shizuru's fingers and began chewing on it, balancing it between his front paws as he chewed at it. "That is, if I won't be getting in the way."

She shifted her weight and brought her eyes back to the woman. "Is Genkai currently occupied?" _*****_

"She's expecting you, so at the moment, no." Shizuru gestured in the direction Genkai lay as she stood up. "Make yourself at home. I'm off to take over the session Genkai didn't want to cancel."

She gave Nabu one last pat and headed in the opposite direction, giving Akari a wave.

~!**!~

"I'll hold you to that." Shikiyoku informed him, sultry smile on her face.

"See that you do."

There was a moment of silence between them in which neither moved nor spoke, only looking at one another with a sense of appreciation, another realization dawning upon the both of them in that span of time.

They had each...missed this, this interaction, this other demon who could without question hold their own, where others would simply crumble underneath what would usually be overbearing sensuousness.

Shikiyoku's smile softened again, turning more genuine as she could see in Youko's eyes the same thoughts were passing over his mind.

And she found that for the first time she didn't mind fulfilling one of the desires she felt passing over him, abruptly closing the distance between them to close her lips on his in a kiss. 3

~!**!~

Akari smiled at the woman that continued from the room, taking another sip of lemonade before she turned to the direction Genkai was. She hesitated only a mere moment before making her feet move, meandering silently over to the elder woman and lowering herself to sit crosslegged on the floor, carefully lowering each rock, each brick to the floor and setting them down silently.

"I apologize for how long it took, but I've figured it out." Akari gave an impish grin. "How to make a building reside on all layers, that is."

Nabu came to lay on his stomach beside her, treat gone and tail wagging happily in greeting of the old woman. _*****_

"You've been busy." The old lady spoke up, eyeing the implements Akari set before her. "How does it work?" She asked brusquely, picking up one of the bricks and testing its weight in her hand.

~!**!~

Before her eyes actually came open, Shikiyoku became aware of two things: Youko's arms around her and the fact that the sun had moved, several hours having passed.

Feeling her starting to shift into awakeness, Youko loosened his hold on her, watching with amusement the way her face scrunched up as if she didn't particularly _want _to wake up at that exact moment, and he felt her let go of a particularly huffy breath of air that seemed to confirm her expression.

He reached up with one hand to brush her hair behind her ear, at which she made an unhappy sort of noise since the hair had been further putting her in the shade, and she immediately buried her face in his chest, one of her hands coming up to block the light out of her eyes.

Youko's fingers found the flower he had given her earlier, he had tucked it over her ear, and he found himself smiling at it, the color accenting her dark hair just as he'd known it would.

"Sleep well?"

She felt the question rumble in his chest more so than heard it since her hand was at the side of her face and she hadn't really woken up yet.

"I'm not done yet."

She felt him laugh and it managed to pull her lips upwards at the edges. 3

~!**!~

Akari picked up the pouch she'd been holding near her crossed ankles and lifted it for inspection, feeling the pulsating energy inside of what she could only assume to be the strongest piece of the puzzle. "It's… an enchantment of sorts, really." Akari began, imagining the circular formation that would have to be made. "There is a sequence to it. A certain marking is placed at the North position, one at the South, and so on. The remaining ones are placed in the order specific to your needs. For a building to exist on _every _layer, the strongest piece will lay between the North and East positions, and the weakest will be at the SOuth and West positions."

Akari paused, lowering the pouch to the floor. "Some buildings can do it by using only a few of the marks, but it's more reliable, I've noticed, to use more of the etchings. Less holes in the enchantment, I guess." She gave a shrug. "What building do you want to have exist on the rest of the layers, if I may ask?" _*****_

Genkai frowned during Akari's explanation, turning the brick she picked up over and over in her hands and examining whatever etchings she could find.

The principle was sound, though she felt herself becoming concerned that someone was going around doing this sort of thing like a hobby.

Not that it particularly mattered to _her_.

She pursed her lips at Akari's question, "And I can only pick one?"

~!**!~

Youko bent over her a little, just enough to put his nose closer to the flower adorning her hair, and breathed in the scent.

Just as expected, the plant smelled of _her_, and strongly so.

He got comfortable again, Shikiyoku shifting against him to do the same once he settled.

Youko couldn't help the mischievous grin that he suddenly wore.

Whoever she decided to 'woo' next was going to have a _much _harder time of it. Resisting her, that is. The flower would only serve to _enhance _that delicious smell.

_Heh. _

"Whyever are you so _pleased _with yourself?"

Youko glanced down to see Shikiyoku blinking sleepily up at him.

"Whatever are you going on about?"

Her eyes narrowed, "You look like the cat who's gotten into the cream."

He stared at her and she relented.

"A _fox _who's gotten into the chicken-coop."

"I'm just _happy _you so like my gift is all."

Her expression did not change, "You're never 'happy,'" She said the word mockingly, "About anything for the sake of itself."

Youko had let her smell the flower before he placed it behind her ear, confirming his suspicions that one could never really smell one's own scent.

And this flower was the nearest thing he had ever found to _hers_.

"If you _must_ know," He pulled his arms a little tighter, "It's going to enhance your abilities."

Shikiyoku worked her jaw around a little, "How so? Exactly."

"Oh-" Youko started innocently, "It only _smells _like you."

She frowned. "I didn't smell anything."

"I know." He leaned back from her and kissed the tip of her nose. 3

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow and took a moment to think. "Well, I suppose if you wanted _all _of your territory-" she huffed, "All of your _land_ to exist on the layers, it's possible too. Unless you have a specific _group _of buildings. As long as it creates a complete circle, I can't imagine why it would matter."

"_But if she chooses buildings separate from one another, what will you do? Ask Isamu to help you find more?" _Nabu huffed at the thought. "_I don't like it."_

Akari ignored the dog. "Also, I figured burying the pieces would be best. To keep it from being knocked out of the formation and breaking the connection completely. I personally cannot create enchantments, because I'm not versed in anything to do with them, so…" _So if one breaks, I can't help. __*****_

Genkai considered the brick, reaching out to run a finger over the markings.

"And you have no idea who is doing this." She surmised.

She wasn't really sure _what _she expected to be allowing buildings to exist on all the layers, but what with the prospects of any demon being able to march across her lands willy-nilly as they pleased should she chose to place these in such a manner...she immediately dismissed the desire to have _all _of her lands accessible to each layer. It would do the children absolutely no good if she managed to get them _here _and then have no safe place for them to run should some S Class decide to go on a rampage across her territory.

She snorted with amusement, suddenly remembering the early days of human children shifting, when she hadn't particularly wanted to turn her dojo into an orphanage, and had them taken back to their own layer...only to have them shift again, unable to get back on their own and _stay _there.

She wondered how exactly _some _were able to move between the layers and others could not.

"Bah!" She dismissed her personal thoughts, starting to get up. "You can do this now, right?"

~!**!~

"You only switch if your life is threatened?" Youko wondered aloud.

Shikiyoku nodded.

Youko considered the information, immediately reaching a decision.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course not."

"Yoku..."

"What?"

He sighed, "You're just _asking _for me to throw you to a pack of wolves, aren't you?"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Don't tempt me."

She smirked.

"In all seriousness, I simply cannot analyze your sickness without you actually being _sick_."

"Mm-hm."

"Which means you need to switch."

"Mm-hm."

"And can you do that on your own?"

"Hm-mm."

"Right. So, do you trust me?"

"Of course not." She replied in the same manner as before, appearing a little confused, "What exactly was that course of logic supposed to accomplish?"

He made a noise of aggravation.

"Are you truly not _following _me?"

"I wouldn't 'follow' you anywhere."

"...you're purposefully making this difficult for me, aren't you?"

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you're implying."

"...of course you don't."

"You want me to switch."

"Right."

"So, you can cure my illness."

"Right again."

"But I _can't _switch on command."

"You're truly the paragon of stating the obvious, seductress."

"And so you ask me if I trust you? See, _that _is where you lose me."

"You know, actually," Youko started to pull away from her, "The fact that you _don't _trust me may make this that much easier."

"You've lost me again."

"It was intentional that time, Yoku." He primly kissed her cheek before standing up, causing Shikiyoku to sit up herself if only because she was confused about what had him leaving her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What it means is that I'm going to attack you in a moment," His eyes started glowing, "And if you don't manage to figure out some way of defending yourself, I _will _kill you." 3

~!**!~

Akari shrugged. "They haven't made it easy to track them. Trust me, I've tried. Not a single trace of the person creating these," she nodded to the bricks and such, "that I could find. Not a footprint, not a scent, not even an energy trace. I have a few suspicions, but that does me nothing if I can't explore it." She took a deep breath, ignoring the question Nabu aimed at her and glancing about the room.

She took a swig from the glass, and then another after Genkai's question. "I have nowhere else to be." She turned inward to the odd bond- no, that wasn't it. Kinship.

She inspected the odd feeling of the kinship that had bloomed again, noting that she could feel Isamu doing the same, likely in an attempt to hunt her down and rejoin. She sighed, not really wanting him to join her.

"_Akari?"_

She glanced at Nabu and gave a shrug before turning to Genkai, her thoughts still churning. "I came today with every intention to do what you ask. It isn't likely I'll have time after today to return for a while." Discreetly, a shadow behind her in the corner of the room disappeared, carrying a small message to Isamu. "Where do you want me?" _*****_

"I appreciate all your hard work, Akari." Genkai replied with an actual smile, "This will help me immensely."

She started to stand up, "Let's go see about where to place these, hm?"

~!**!~

"Youko Kurama! Stop this at once!" Shikiyoku dodged again, finding she had to just as quickly dodge back another direction, looking up to see that Youko was halfway across the grassy prairie from her now, having driven her off.

"Bastard." She growled at him, forced to leap out of the way even as a part of the encroaching plantlife managed to snag at her side, cutting through the material as if it were nothing and immediately drawing blood.

Youko stood where he had gotten up, arms crossed, watching the waves of the meadow swell about her like so many sharks circling their prey.

_Interesting. Simple verbal threats did nothing. And neither has physical threats either._

_{She can sense desires, silver-tail. You did not lace your words with the intention to kill, and even now you don't particularly want any harm to come to her.}_

_[I suppose that makes sense, but at least this way I have you to vouch for me that I __**did **__try it the easy way.]_

_{...be careful.}_

Youko's first thought was to close the distance and threaten her himself. Red was right, though, caution would be prudent, which is why he hadn't simply attempted to have the plants strangle her. Because he had absolutely no idea what was going to happen when she _did _switch.

He broke into a run, distracting her with another swell, one that he had reach out and entangle her leg to put her off-balance, speeding towards her with a thorn-covered vine-whip rising out of the meadow beneath him into his hand as he closed the distance.

Once close enough, he lashed out, snapping the tip across her cheek and seeing her eyes go wide when she looked up from the plant creeping up her leg to see the cold expression in Youko's eyes as she could do little to move out of the way, seeing in one second his free hand reaching for her throat, whip coming up to his ear and snapping out again to wrap around her neck as in the next second he slammed into her.

She fell onto her back, breath forced from her lungs and hands immediately coming up to pull at the whip even as he shoved her chin upwards with his free hand. 3

~!**!~

Akari nodded and moved to stand, Nabu following her and turning to leave. "_I want to watch the kids." _He looked at Akari, silently asking if she was okay with it. She shrugged at him.

"Don't be a distraction. Got me?"

"_I know, I know." _

Akari turned to Genkai, downing the rest of the lemonade Shizuru had kindly given her before she set her glass down and retrieved her items. She piled everything in one arm easily before rubbing at her neck a little. "Quite frankly, I enjoy having something to do. So, if there's anything you need done, don't hesitate to ask. I… am not a person who should be bored." She gave a lopsided, sheepish smile. "It isn't fruitful in the least." _*****_

"Idle hands and all." Genkai allowed, stepping back out into the cool of the closing day.

With her hands clasped about her back, she took a few steps forward, head rotating as she considered where exactly the haven should be.

"_The dojo itself, of course." _She began her inner dialogue as she moved towards that specific building, eyes scanning the area. "_And the children's quarters as well. With enough space to expand." _She thought ruefully.

She made her way as far North as she thought necessary to cover the area she wished, and marked the spot in the dirt with her toe before stepping back.

"It will make the entire area exist on all the layers, correct?"

~!**!~

It was...difficult to keep himself locked away, difficult not to relent when her eyes pleaded questioningly with him, gasping for air as she struggled fruitlessly to free herself, his weight at her stomach as he crouched over her holding her in place.

And every time he had even an _inkling _of stopping passing behind the cold façade, he tightened the whip.

_Just give __**in**_, the voice deep in his mind implored her silently.

It wasn't the choking, nor was it the tips of his nails that she could feel digging into the skin at the sides of her face.

It was his eyes.

Their yellow, which had been bright and teasing before, were flat and empty and her core faltered.

It was the same expression he had always donned just before loosing her prey's head from its neck.

_I'll just blackout, that's all he can do._

The thorns of the whip dug more poignantly into her skin as the whip tightened further, as if to emphasize that if she couldn't do something _soon_, he would without remorse do the same to her that he had down to others many times in the past.

As he stared blankly at her, Shikiyoku felt the burning sensation start at her hands, which suddenly darkened with energy as the change tore across her body, scars erupting over her quickly greying skin as her eyes dulled into a more muted green laced with darkness and her features sharpened fiercely.

Those blackened eyes flashed and Youko's lost their intense glare as he suddenly found himself releasing his hold on her to clutch at his own neck.

The weapon which had held her and the vines at her leg both loosened and she slipped out from underneath him to stand before him as he remained knelt, doubling over as his breath shortened.

"**How dare you." **The hoarse tone came icily from her lips, eyes starting to darken further as she could feel his energy fading away in the whip that lay near her feet.

Youko managed to glance up, seeing that hundreds of strands of yellowish-black energy had erupted from her back, her gaze telling them those strands were about to head for _him_, and he scrambled to his feet, vision closing in as he choked, one hand still at his throat, but finding himself unable to move further as the energy shot forward, pathing directly for his body. 3

~!**!~

Akari followed after Genkai quietly, having nothing more to say about the subject of her _idle hands_ as Genkai had said. She didn't even pause when another shadow flit up her arm and whispered a message to her before dissipating. She turned her eyes to the ground when she heard Genkai's foot disturbing the soil, her brow raising slightly.

"Every stick, every stone," she replied calmly, suddenly realizing she wasn't sure if it would make the _people _in the area exist on all layers. She paused mid-step and thought back to the buildings, to the first ones she'd found and when she'd tested everything she had thought of in that moment.

She remembered moving from layer to layer, looking at the objects in the building and-

The people were different every time.

She released a breath silently and crouched, beginning to dig in the ground silently, not saying anything more until she dropped the first brick into the hole and began to cover the brick. "The kids won't have a problem with appearing on every layer, just to ease that possible worry. Only if you have enough energy will one be able to traverse from one to another- through the layers anyway. There are some- very few I suppose- who do what I do and travel by other means. I'm otherwise convinced not many know about the _layers." __*****_

When she saw Akari about to finish, Genkai turned and marched off again to the East.

"Few in numbers or not," Genkai made another mark on the ground. "I am hoping it doesn't attracted anyone unsavory. We can only fight them off if they decide to meet us on _this_ layer. I would be rather put out if some demon comes along and destroys the buildings just for the fun of it."

~!**!~

Youko could only watch as the strands cut through the air, his mind too ravaged by the pain to summon any energy to defend himself.

Her power, however, never reached him.

The choking sensation stopped as suddenly as it started and Youko stared with wide eyes as Shikiyoku's lids fluttered closed and she collapsed backwards, the snakes of power dissipating into nothingness and leaving Youko free to make the dash to her side.

He immediately began examining her.

_{Fever. Heart-rate increased. Weakness of musculature. And did you see how her eyes darkened?}_

_[Unfortunately we have no idea of knowing what is the disease and what is the pain.]_

Was her hair supposed to be this lack-luster?

The flower almost looked comical in it now.

And these scars...

_{Surely they're only a part of what got her to this point.}_

_[She was not __**born **__a demon of pain, so I imagine she is only able to replicate any pain she has felt as opposed to any pain at all.]_

Youko reached up to his throat, swallowing.

_{I like how well your plan worked out.}_

_[Don't take that tone with me. I had everything under control.]_

_{You were going to blast her face with a powder intended to knock her out as soon as she switched. And how well did that work out for you?}_

_[She's unconscious, isn't she?]_

_{No thanks to you.}_

Youko pursed his lips.

_[I feel as if it was __**too **__quick.]_

_{She's been sick for an as of yet indeterminate amount of time.}_

_[Remind me to ask her about that.]_

Youko placed a seed between her lips, watching as it dissolved and then putting his hand to her forehead, noting that it did help her fever recede, if only a little. And her breath started coming slower.

Youko never took his eyes off of her, ready at any second to knock her out again if she came out of it.

_{That scar there...it looks older than the others.}_

Youko turned his attention to the area Kurama indicated, seeing a harsh marking underneath all the others on her forearm.

He produced a sort of paste by rubbing his fingers together over a leaf after licking at it with the tip of his tongue, and he reached over and carefully spread the stuff over a bit of the scar, watching as it did start to recede a little from her skin.

Shikiyoku shot up with a growl, eyes completely black, and Youko calmly flicked his hand in front of her face, puffing a cloud over her that had her falling back to the ground.

He went ahead and scraped the paste off.

_[You know something I __**didn't**_ _think about, Red?]_

_{Mm?}_

_[I never asked her how to change her back.]_ 3

~!**!~

Akari pushed herself to stand and moved after Genkai, arm still holding the other bricks in her arms. She eyed the old woman's back for a moment before turning her eyes to the side. "You know… when I was looking into those other buildings, the only bitter people I saw about it were the owners. I have a feeling whoever is bringing about these things is someone who wants no fights about it." She thought for another moment. "But, that doesn't mean another will see it as an advantage to them**; **they'd have several places to choose from before this one, however. I've seen plenty of empty buildings and-"

She paused, blinking. _Why would an empty building need to exist on the layers? _

She added that to her mental list of things to look into.

"You know, I have no idea where I was going with that. I can't predict myself, much less anyone else." She shrugged. "Disregard me, if you will." _*****_

"Remind me when we get back to the main house: I have something for you." Genkai said absent-mindedly, moving as far South as she needed the next brick and marking the ground again.

~!**!~

While Youko walked up the path to Shikiyoku's house, he eyed the setting sun with some passing incredulity.

_[I can't __**believe **__I didn't wait until after she had seen the flowers bloom.]_

His disgust with himself at the oversight was immense.

As much as he would have liked busting down the door, he carried Shikiyoku on his back, her arms hanging over either side of his neck, and both his hands were occupied with holding her up behind him.

So, he simply faded between the layers and stepped over the threshold, coming back onto the first as he stepped lightly in the direction of the couch, seeing Kitoushi's black hair and ears from over the back of it.

"Right where I left you." He murmured to himself before adopting a louder, announcing tone, "Hi cuz!"

Kitoushi blinked at the TV screen, not recognizing the show that now flickered past and wondering for a moment how much time had passed.

"What did you do?"

"Do?" Youko echoed, "What on earth makes you think I've done...anything?"

Kit took an irritated breath, "I can _smell _the sickness, fox."

"Oh. Well. Yes. So can I!" 3

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at Genkai curiously, but didn't say anything about the woman's request to remind her of… whatever it was she had for Akari. _Please don't be another puppy. I can hardly handle the two I'm looking after now. Nabu gets impatient, and Isamu… dear lord, Isamu…_

… …

Akari raised a brow at the map outstretched to her, but didn't hesitate in grasping the paper and retrieving it from the older woman. She thought for a moment before unraveling the map and glancing around it, eyes finding a few areas she _could _mark, but deciding she'd make for certain later.

"Sure thing." She looked up at the older woman and gave a small smile. "I'll work on it on my down time." _Which will be sometime after the next few days, as I'm sure Isa won't let me run off at random while I'm holding up __**my **__end of the deal. _

"_Oh, this will be fun! I want to know where they are too!"_

"I'll get it to you as soon as I'm sure I've found them all. But, I'm sure new ones will pop in since I've kinda… borrowed from previous ones." _*****_

"There's no rush." Genkai assured her, "Just something to...occupy your time should you find need of it. Not to say that I won't appreciate the answers. If new ones crop up, try and approximate a time frame, like a date when you discovered it and it hadn't been so before."

~!**!~

Kitoushi let out a sigh.

"You don't actually know how to change her back, do you?" He stood up and walked gracefully around the edge of the couch, seeing Shikiyoku's head resting over Youko's shoulder.

"I never said I didn't." Youko quipped, starting to follow after the cat who began walking up the stairs.

Kit didn't respond as he moved down the hallway once on the second floor and opened the door to one of the guest rooms, turning on a lamp by the door as Youko stepped past him and gently lay Shikiyoku down on her back, the bed in this particular room in the middle of the wall, leaving room to stand on the other three sides of it.

"Can I at least ask 'why' and get a straight answer?" Kitoushi crossed his arms over his chest, standing at the end of the bed.

"She thought I might be able to figure out a cure for her disease."

"And she didn't ask me-"

"Because she knows you're a fool who would just as soon 'cure' her by taking the disease on yourself." There was a pause as Youko continued positioning Shikiyoku into a more relaxed pose, moving her hair from her face. "Which I'm certain you've done already in some capacity or another, haven't you?"

Kitoushi stared down at Shikiyoku's scar-ridden body that lay with what little peacefulness could be afforded her considering he could practically _feel _the disease running through her veins.

"Of course. I was only able to get a little of it though."

"That much is obvious." Youko raised his eyes curiously, "How did you manage it?"

Kit shrugged, "I kissed her."

Youko blinked at him.

Nodding to indicate the female in the room, Kit extrapolated, "You have to kiss her switch her back." His eyes shifted to the left, "I...may or may not have realized that at the time and was just using it as an excuse to get close enough to try and draw the disease from her body."

Youko laughed openly, though Kit missed him eyeing Shikiyoku with thoughts of kissing her running through his mind, "You discovered anything yet?" 3

~!**!~

Akari nodded. "I might be able to track the demon behind it better this way too." She gave a smile. "This will be fun." She turned her eyes to Genkai again as she shifted her weight, readying to head for the door. "I enjoy puzzles."

"_Or anything that will keep you busy. Workaholic."_

"Also, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to witness your work sometime. Kita's grown quite a bit since the first time I saw him. I've seen what you can do with demons, and I'm curious what you can do with human kids." She gave a polite smile. "Keep me in mind if anything else crops up," Akari added as she turned to leave, Nabu on her heels as she tossed a wave over her shoulder. "Tell Shizuru I said the lemonade was great."

And she stepped into a shadow, disappearing from the temple and reappearing in her home, where Isamu lounged on her couch lazily, a plastic container of-

"_What_ do you think you're doing with my cherries?"

"That's what these are called?"

"_Put them away. _Those are _mine, _and I _don't _share_."_

The male chuckled and threw another in the air, mouth wide to catch it when it fell. "Relax, I found these on my lonesome. Yours are still in the cold-box thing." _*****_

~!**!~

"No." Kit frowned, looking at Shikiyoku again as he moved to the other side of the bed without paying any attention to Youko, "I didn't get very much of it at all before she switched forms, and I have yet to be able to actually activate what I believe is in fact a virus. It's dormant at the moment, despite my best efforts."

"A kiss, huh?" Youko murmured, expression on his face making it perfectly clear that he had every intention of kissing her, if the fact that he planted his hands on top of the covers and started to lean over her wasn't indication enough.

Kitoushi resisted a snort, seeing Youko's hair fall free over his shoulder and brush against Shikiyoku's cheek, causing her to stir.

Youko's eyes slid shut as he closed the final distance, and Kit said nothing, interested to see what might happen as Shikiyoku's eyes started to flutter open.

In the next split second, before Youko's mouth had a chance to close around hers, Shikiyoku snapped wide awake, gaze completely devoid of color, and her lips parted hungrily, energy snaking out from her mouth and diving into Youko's, freezing him in place where he hovered over her as his own energy slowly started swirling out into the space between them and down her throat.

Kit had every intention of stopping whatever he witnessed unfolding before his eyes, but like Youko he found himself frozen in place for a split second, if for completely different reasons.

His heterochromatic eyes flickered over to the window, seeing that night had fallen, and his core hitched in place, suddenly allowing him to move again.

He took a step forward and ripped himself painfully into cat-form in an instant instead of letting it slowly morph him, landing on the bed on all fours for only the moment it took to coil his lithe limbs for a leap, launching through the air into Youko's shoulder.

Just as he contacted, removing Youko far enough away that the spell between the fox and Shikiyoku broke, Youko came back to the present and his hand came up inbetween himself and the female, a puff of powder releasing into her face as she started to rise up, snarling viciously.

The force of Kitoushi's leap still knocked Youko to the ground, but on the rebound the cat twisted gracefully and landed back onto the bed, hissing angrily in Shikiyoku's direction as he arched his back, raising his hackles and causing his fur to stand on end.

Youko stood up almost immediately, breathing heavily as vines erupted from the carpet and lashed themselves around Shikiyoku's wrists and ankles, a thicker one going across her neck.

She barely had the wherewithal to strain against the vines, her lids already beginning to close under the heaviness of the powder, and her growl faded as she relaxed back on top of the covers.

"Energy-feeding." Youko finally managed to heave.

"_What?" _3

~!**!~

"Cold box?" Akari repeated, momentarily confused before glancing to the kitchen. "You mean the refrigerator? If mine aren't there-"

"You make too many threats. Just have some of these and show me this weird contraption."

"_What_ are you on about now?"

"That!" Akari turned to face him again, eyes noting the remote he held in his hands. He pressed a few buttons, and the next thing she knew she was covering her ears, the television screaming into life with music as loud as it could be. "_**Turn this god-awful sound off!**_"

"You're the one who turned it on!" She screamed at him over the song that was _literally _nothing but gruff screams and loud sounds. "Turn it _off!"_

"I don't know how!"

Akari growled and lunged forward, snapping the remote control from his grasp and mashing her thumb on the volume button until the number on the screen read a measly five. She took a deep breath and turned to Isamu again. "_Why_ would you turn it on when you _knew _it was loud?"

"Because I thought I could turn it off again, like before."

"And how did you manage that?"

"I honestly don't have a clue. How do _you _manage such sound?" The glare he sent to the screen was accusatory and nothing short of hatred. "_What_ is it anyway? That… that _thing? _What does it do, other than scream obscenities at us?"

"_Hopefully put you into a nice, long sleep so __**that**_ _won't happen again."_

"No one asked you, mutt."

"_Enough._ Both of you!"

"_He started it."_

Akari heaved a long sigh and sent a glare at Isamu, officially staying whatever it was he was about to say. "As I was about to say," she continued, "This is called a _television_. It provides mindless entertainment to humans and, occasionally, myself when I feel like laying around and doing nothing."

"What kind of entertainment? I bet it's nothing like-"

"You watch moving pictures, normally called _movies _or _shows. _The longer variations are usually about an hour and a half to three hours long. That is what a _movie _is. The shorter versions, _television shows_, can last from twenty to forty-five minutes. The most popular, I've found, is _action."_

"There's a word I understand. Action. I assume it's fighting?"

"...yes, but there's many other things. There's also romance-"

"Yet another word I'm familiar with. This gets easier to remember by Genre, eh?"

"Comedy, drama, thriller, horror, and many more."

"Show me a television show."

"What kind?"

"Any kind."

Akari turned to look at a nearby clock that ticked away on the wall, and a smile came to her face. "Okay then, sit up and scoot over so I can sit. And give me those." She moved, snatching the cherries from his grasp and plopping down on the couch when he was out of the way. She slid a single cherry onto her tongue and sat back, pointing the remote at the screen and clicking away through the guide. "You probably won't like this one, but I enjoy it, and you made the dumb decision to let _me _choose what to watch. So deal with it."

"I bet I can handle it." He leaned back in the cushions, moving so his arms were tossed over the back of the two-seater couch and his feet moving to prop up on the glass coffee table. He reached over and grabbed a handful of cherries before sitting back, every single one of them in his mouth and his arm resting behind her again.

Akari leaned away from the male, her elbow resting on the arm of the couch, one leg crossed over the other as she continued clicking through the guide, a smile coming to her face when she found what she wanted, just in time to hear the opening theme of the show. "We made good time." She paused and glanced at Isamu. "This one, by the way, is an hour long per episode."

"Episode?"

"This runs in a series. Episodes are the individual segments, one of which you'll be watching today. Now _hush. _It's starting."

"Whatever you say, love."

"_Shh." __*****_

~!**!~

"Energy-feeding." Youko repeated.

If Kitoushi had been in humanoid form one of his dark eyebrows would have lifted. As it was, he simply stared unblinkingly at the fox who was in turn watching Shikiyoku with a more wary eye.

"To activate the virusy-thingy." He let his gaze turn down to the cat who still stood at the edge of the bed, fur at the nape of his neck bristled even as he sat down, bushy tail twitching in vague agitation. "I think."

Youko waved a hand about dismissively in the air, referring to the subject the neko had been discussing with him before Shikiyoku had attacked. "She got the virus activated by an energy-feeder, a _vampire_ of sorts. Kyonshi. He went crazy from the virus and tried to kill her. He fed on the energy of other demons, and apparently taught her to do the same while she was stuck like this." The hand gestured to indicate Shikiyoku's ashen form, then he shrugged.

"Don't ask me why. Didn't get that part from her. I believe the capability to feed on energy like that is directly related to this virus being active."

Kitoushi let his heterochromatic eyes leave Youko and turn to look over Shikiyoku, taking in her scars, the strange peacefulness that Youko's powder had contorted her face into, one that looked much more severe than it normally would have when she slept.

"_Crusnik."_

"What?"

Youko had seen the wheels turning in the cat's head, and thought the conversation was going to take a different direction.

Kitoushi's tail curled about his front paws.

"_Not 'vampire.' Crusnik. We can feed upon humans, no? That really makes **us **the vampires, does it not?"_

As if the question didn't already sound rhetorical to the fox, the cat went on without allowing himself to be interrupted.

"_But who feeds upon us?"_

Youko raised an eyebrow, "These 'crusnik' apparently."

A single ear upon Kit's head flicked in a replication of a nod.

"_We are not the top of the food chain as we would like to think. There are these Crusnik, these super-empowered demons, just one of whom is capable of wiping out entire civilizations of demons at a time. But the same virus which empowers them also drains them, burns their bodies out quickly so that they only keep our population in check instead of rendering us extinct."_

"Shikiyoku said Kyonshi activated the virus within her, though."

Kitoushi gave the cat equivalent of a shrug.

"_I can't say I know everything there is to know about these Crusnik. I never came across one myself, so I gave up a long time ago on ever understanding the so-called 'virus.' According to some legends, in the old days demons ran wild across the first Earth, terrorizing the humans to the point of wiping them out completely, and when the Kamis finally heard the humans' desperate prayers, their answer was the first Crusnik, whose mind and body they twisted in order to create the ultimate predator. The stories say that whenever the number of demons becomes too great, too powerful, the line of Crusnik will rise once more."_

Youko frowned at Shikiyoku.

"So, in her 'pain form,' Shikiyoku is no longer a demon, but-"

"_Technically a Crusnik, yes."_

"Can any demon learn the ways of a Crusnik?"

"_I do not know. It is said that the original Crusnik was once a demon, so I do not think it would be farfetched to assume so. I have been unable to discover how to active the portion of the virus I siphoned from her, however. And as she seemed to indicate to you, that would appear to be the first step." _Kitoushi blinked slowly.

"Indeed." Youko's stare upon Shikiyoku lengthened, silence growing between himself and Kitoushi. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	83. Ep 167 - Annoying Guest, Down Once More

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Enthusiasts!

I _should _be packing. I _should _be preparing for my week and a half long trip I'm leaving for tomorrow. But I'm not. I'm preparing this chapter for all you lovely people. And I've even gone and made it a little longer than I should have. Truthfully, I got caught up in the re-reading of it and by the time I looked-up/stopped, I had a little more than I tend to shoot for and said 'Meh, close enough.'

As I've been mentioning, there will be no updates next week as I'm fairly certain where I am going I will have no service on my phone and therefore not even be able to post bare-bones chapters like I have in the past. I haven't even prepared any, so even if I do, don't expect to hear from me until the week after.

Happy reading!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shikiyoku asks Youko if he will help her cure her disease, maintaining that if she asked Kitoushi,  
the cat demon would insist on contracting the virus himself in order to analyze it,  
risking activating it and becoming a 'vampire' himself.

Youko agrees and gets her to switch forms by attacking her, though she collapses quickly  
before she is able to retaliate against him. Youko carries her back to her home on the First Layer,  
and Kitoushi assists Youko in getting Shikiyoku to one of the guest rooms upstairs.

In the conversation following, it is revealed that when Kitoushi kissed Shikiyoku upon reuniting with her,  
he siphoned some of the sickness away from her, only changing her forms as an accidental by-product of the intent of the kiss.

He has spent his time in front of the television attempting to analyze the virus,  
and with the information Youko provides, Kitoushi deduces that Shikiyoku has become a 'Crusnik,'  
at least while in her pain form.

Supposedly, the original Crusnik had the virus divinely implanted within him or her  
while the world was still young and demons were overpopulating and wiping out the human race.  
The disease burns through its host at a rapid pace to ensure that the super-empowered demon,  
who feeds upon the energy of a demon much like a vampire does upon blood,  
does not completely wipe out its former demonic brethren,  
and while up to this point Crusnik had been something of a myth to the cat demon,  
the legend insinuates that should demons become too many or too powerful,  
the line Crusnik will rise once more to maintain the balance between demons and humans.

Kitoushi has so far been unable to activate the portion of the virus he stole from Shikiyoku.

~!**!~

Having traveled to Genkai's lands with the means to place a portion of her grounds on multiple levels,  
Akari meets up with Kita, a boy whom she brought to Genkai several months back.

While Akari had originally been planning on surprising Genkai by going ahead and activating the spell,  
Kita informs her that Genkai believes surprises are 'stupid,' and Akari changes her mind,  
digging up the stone she had already buried and also summoning Nabu to her side,  
who had been with Akari when she 'rescued' Kita.

Expecting the pair, Shizuru greets them with lemonade and a treat,  
saying that Genkai is waiting for them before she excuses herself to teach the class the master would be missing.

After explaining to Genkai that she had no idea who was responsible for the spell,  
Akari and the old woman make the rounds to implant the bricks and activate them.

After they finish, Genkai gives Akari a map and asks her to mark buildings that exist on multiple layers,  
mentioning that she could put the date the buildings had been found as such.

When Akari returns to her home, she finds Isamu there once more,  
and gets roped into showing him television shows,  
specifically soap operas...

* * *

"And what in the hell does _that _mean?" Isamu's tone changed to one of mocking sarcasm. "_Like sand through the hourglass-"_

"Isamu, you haven't even been watching for more than five minutes, and you're already driving me insane."

"The scenes jump around, the people are ridiculous. The actors, as you said, can't even make me believe what they're saying. What's the point? It's almost as if it was made to-"

"Act as _mindless entertainment?" _

"Yes!"

Akari blinked once at Isamu and gave a smile before turning back to the television, the commercials ending and the show coming back on. "Just shut up and watch, okay? I happen to enjoy these."

"Then you're as mindless as the humans."

"If you wait, you might see _what_ I enjoy about these-"

"Good grief, there's already a murder. If humans were really like this, _they'd _be the ones hunting _us._"

"You're impossible." _*****_

~!**!~

"Do you _really _think she's going to teach you how to be a Crusnik?" Youko crossed his arms over his chest, the silence of the room going on long enough that it led him to catching the look in Kitoushi's eye and easily following the cat's thought-process.

Kitoushi didn't answer at first, his tail swaying up and down twice.

"'_Teach' isn't the word I would use. That might not even be a possibility." _Kit responded loftily. "_We won't know until she can tell us." _

"Tell _you_." Youko corrected, "I have no intention of getting caught up in any of this outside of _curing _her, if such a thing is even possible. And considering the fact that the virus _kills _whomever has it, what in the nine layers makes you think you'll be able to convince her to _teach _you?"

"_If she wishes to save her own life, she may __**have **__to figure out a way." _

Youko pursed his lips, muttering, "I doubt she would in any case." He spoke louder, "How much have you gotten to talk with her of late?"

Kit finally broke his stare upon Shikiyoku, eyes shifting to the side in an expression of slight embarrassment, "_...very little. Most of my time has been spent attempting to analyze the virus." _

Youko nodded as if confirming his suspicion, and repeated, "I doubt she will. She would sooner kill herself than be the cause of _your _death I am sure."

The two looked at one another, a frown settling over Kitoushi's features.

"_Really."_

Another nod from Youko.

"_...perhaps I __**should **__spare some time to speak with her." _His words took on an edge, eyes flashing.

Youko raised and lowered a shoulder, "It likely won't do any good. While she may not be willing to sacrifice others to save herself any longer, I highly doubt she would sacrifice _you _regardless of the situation."

Kit did not answer, both ears twitching this time as if in annoyance.

"You're not seriously going to try convincing her, are you?"

"_You think I won't?"_

"I think you'd be a fool to try."

"_Then it's a good thing we both know I'm not a fool."_

"Debateable."

At this last bit of exchange, Kit had gotten up and started slinking towards the immobile female on silent, padded paws, hesitating only once when he saw her eyes under her lids move briefly.

Walking up to her cheek, he stretched his neck out to sniff at her skin, the stench of death and sickness making his stomach blanch.

"_You should change her back. The less time she spends like this, the better." _He turned tail and hopped off the bed, disappearing into the darkness of the room, marking a mental note that he needed to make an effort to spend time with her. Soon. If for no other reason than to attempt to persuade her to share her knowledge of the Crusnik and her experience with the disease.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the kitsune leaning over the bed again.

...and for more reasons than just the virus itself.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stalked down the staircase.

_Three days. Three days with no word whatsoever._

She could feel a vein in her forehead pulsing with irritation, one that lessened a good deal when she reached the first floor and spotted a dark head and a silver head from over the back of the couch, both of whom appeared to be relatively enraptured with whatever ridiculous show was playing on the screen.

Her expression took on an amused air as she closed the distance and popped her face between the two of them, glancing from one to the other with no small amount of gleam in her eyes.

"I'm _so _glad the two of you are getting along."

"We're bonding, can't you tell?" Youko gestured towards the screen, "I've heard this is what lots of human families do in order to draw closer to one another."

"Sit in silence and pretend the other party isn't actually nearby? I'm not exactly sure I follow how that works."

"It works quite well." Kit piped up, "As you can see, we haven't argued with one another once today."

Shikiyoku frowned, "You haven't _said _anything to one another all day."

"Ah, yes, but we also have not _argued_, see?"

Neither Youko nor Kit's eyes had so much left the screen, though if one was looking closely, one might see that Kit's expression seemed more inwardly focused than actually on the TV itself.

"I give up." Shikiyoku shook her head, finding herself grinning in spite of the duo.

"Wise." Kitoushi's eyes cut to see her smile, his face mirroring her own.

The fact that he was able to express himself more of late had not gone unnoticed by Shikiyoku, and she felt glad to each day see more and more of the old Kitoushi shining through.

...even if he still seemed to be incapable of coming out of cat form at night.

Being stuck in his smaller form for over a decade had come with such side-effects.

Shikiyoku frowned, thoughts turning back to her previous mental complaints.

"Have either of you see Taka?"

Youko and Kit exchanged glances, Youko giving a shrug.

"No." Kitoushi shook his head, turning to see Shikiyoku's frown and giving her a toothy smile, "You're not...developing _feelings _for him after all this time, are you?"

Shikiyoku gave him a glare, "Don't even go there, _cat_."

"Go where, m'lady?" He asked innocently.

"I'm going to go look for him." Shikiyoku said after a moment of staring absently at the screen, standing up from where she had been leaning her elbows against the back of the couch.

"Then I'm going with you." Youko responded, leaving no room for argument in his tone.

He and Kit exchanged a similar glance as the one before, if a bit more unreadable from both of them, Kit finding that he _still _hadn't exactly made an effort to spend time with Shikiyoku. At least not like Youko had.

It was the damnable _virus_, which seemed to avoid his every effort to-

_Should have just cornered her and asked about it._ He clenched his teeth.

"Well?"

Kitoushi blinked at Youko, suddenly realizing that both the fox and Shikiyoku were staring at him.

Youko appeared amused when he saw Kit's eyes focus back in on his face.

"I _said_, you're a _cat _are you not? Shouldn't this be _your _area of expertise? Chasing down birds?" Youko stood up in one smooth motion and Kitoushi found himself following suit, though if with a bit of a bemused expression on his face.

Shikiyoku had already started walking towards the door and the pair followed after her.

"Care, _fox_." Kitoushi's eyes flashed, "Get on my bad side and not even _nine_ tails could save you, much less your measly _four_."

"Hmph." Youko stuck his nose up in the air and sashayed out the door and down the sidewalk after Shikiyoku. 3

Hiei stretched only slightly before settling into place again, one leg now hanging from the branch lazily, his arms still behind his head and eyes closed as if he had just come to awareness and wished nothing more than to slip back into sleep. His foot twitched, sending an odd feeling up his leg that he completely ignored. His foot twitched again and he gave a small sound as he pulled his leg back up to rest along the branch again, crossing one ankle over the other in a calm manner.

_It's not as comfortable anymore._

The wind rustled the leaves around him, carrying a few scents and sounds on the air that brought his eyelids open and his irises down to the sidewalk below. He couldn't _see _them yet, but he could _hear_ them. Their footsteps. Their voices.

When they did come into view, Hiei was watching with a blank stare, expression unreadable as he noted the trio meandering around the sidewalk, the amused smile on Shikiyoku's face.

It was good to actually _see_ she was well, rather than being nearby enough to feel her energy was _normal. _

~!**!~

"Why are we doing this again?"

"If you ask me that question one more time-"

"You'll murder me, I know."

"No, I will hang you by your tongue."

"That actually sounds fun. How would you pull that off?"

"Very thin wire that would ensure you would no longer have the tongue to speak with." Akari's eyes turned up to the building again, then quickly back down to the map in her hand. "Give me that marker."

Isamu passed the sharpie to her. "Well, that wasn't the form of 'pull it off' I meant, but it works too I suppose. WOuld you be the one setting it up?"

"Nope. That's the beauty of it. I can _convince _another to do it for me, so I don't have to touch that disgusting tongue of yours." She made an X on the map in blue. "Where's the next one?"

"Well, there's a few areas we can check."

"You go there."

"Are you… splitting with me?"

Akari's glare was harsh, a complete opposite of the smile on Isamu's face. "I can _split you in half_ if you wish."

"I'd like to see the little one try."

Akari's eye twitched. She stared at the male, the marker in her hand still poised over the map still as she considered several things and weighed her options. She took a deep breath. "Fine. We can look for a while longer. But, we _will _be going separate ways in a while. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Don't."

"Now I can't be respectful?"

"Just… _go to the next location." _

"You got it," he opened up his own shadow, dropping them both through and landing them in front of a building she'd seen just days ago. _*****_

~!**!~

Youko and Kit's banterings had not stopped since they left the house, every subsequent usage of 'cat' and 'fox' respectively, becoming more and more sardonic with each passing comment between them.

Even with her attention mainly focused on the marking she knew Taka wore-and attempting to locate him with it-Shikiyoku felt a presence from above the sidewalk that had her eyes lifting as they continued at their leisurely pace.

There was no mistaking the darker form mostly hidden by the leaves and branches above them. At least, not for her.

And neither was there any mistaking the sudden adjustment from amused half-listening to the conversation passing literally over her head between the parties on either side of her, to a particular brightness that lightened her eyes upon seeing him, her intention of not actually giving away his position clear in the way her chin stayed parallel with the ground, only her eyes moving to look at him.

After all, if he really wanted to join them, he would do so. And if he did not, she wasn't about to let the others know he was there.

"Hm?" She intoned absently, not even noticing the fact that her lips were pulling into a smile, aware on some level that she had just been addressed, but still removed from the conversation around her.

"See there, cat? I was _right_. Even she says so." Youko announced triumphantly, despite the fact that Shikiyoku's 'answer' had not given any indication in either way to the current topic. He pulled his hands up and clasped them together behind his head, chest bowing out pridefully.

Kit, on the other hand, being the one who asked the question, took the moment to look downwards at her, a puzzled expression passing over his face when he caught her look, and finding himself following her gaze quietly as Youko continued going on about something or another that neither demon with him paid the least bit of attention to.

When Kitoushi spotted the fire demon who appeared to be observing them, his face shifted from puzzled to a sudden understanding, giving Hiei a look as he let his eyes pass quickly from Shikiyoku next to him and back up to Hiei, as if to say with a certain silent poignancy, 'See?' 3

Hiei blinked once at Shikiyoku when her eyes turned up to his, his expression remaining unreadable even as he saw a shift in demeanor about the female. Or, perhaps not _demeanor_, but _expression._ Her lips turned up even more than before, her eyes flashed at him with a gleam of cheer. He refused the urge to raise a brow in curiosity, instead _observing _from his distance as she and the other two passed. His eyes trailed from the female to the two males, finding himself first half-surprised by Youko's appearance- yet he'd expected the fox's arrival- and the glance the cat sent to him.

A glance that read, very easily: "_I told you so."_

He refused to let his scoff leave his lips, instead turning his head away from the trio and resting back once more, eyelids closing.

"_I've never seen her smile at anyone like she smiles at you."_

He shifted just a little, his arms falling from behind his head to cross over his chest. _So what?_

His eyelids slid open again and glanced down at the trio one last second. _*****_

As a seemingly removed observer of the situation, and as someone who had known Shikiyoku the longest, Kitoushi did not miss the strange sort of _acceptance_ that settled over her features when Shikiyoku looked away, her mood...not precisely darkening, for that was too strong of a word, nor exactly _disappointed_, though he felt it to be a closer term...but simply, _moving on_, the way her shoulders set in a particular way giving him a feeling of 'not today.'

He blinked and she was pulled back into the conversation at hand which Kitoushi himself had lost track of, and while she appeared to be keeping in perfect stride with the obviously innuendo-laced statement of some kind or another that Youko had apparently made-firing back a similar phrase of double meaning-Kit noticed that the wry smile she and the silver-haired demon exchanged with one another held very little of the same...affection, as it were, as the look she had just given-likely without her direct intention-the fire demon above them.

Without letting the sigh that he wished to release pass out his lips, Kitoushi couldn't help but remind himself, once again, that he _needed _to find some way to catch up with her, to spend time with her.

Something he had, quite unintentionally, avoided of late.

This was not the same Shikiyoku he had once known. 3

Hiei let his eyelids close again, taking to ignoring the voices below and the topic of.. whatever it was that was passing. He didn't care enough to listen in, since he was well aware it had nothing to do with himself. How pointless it would be to listen into the conversation.

He did, however, decide to send a wordless greeting the only way he knew how. A wordless, telepathic greeting that enveloped both his 'hello' and his 'good to see you alive and well'. Neither of which he would normally say. No use in leaving his tree to convey the message when he could do the same _without _attracting the fox's attention as well.

As much as he respected the fox, he felt no reason to give the male a greeting, or anything of the sort. Nor did he feel it necessary to do the same for the cat. _*****_

It took a great deal of effort for Shikiyoku to not look up again as they passed underneath the tree Hiei sat in, for it was just about that moment she felt a brief warmth invading her mind which she recognized immediately, one that had her closing her eyes for the moment and passing back to him a similar word of hello and pleased to _see _him instead of simply knowing he was about.

They passed the overhanging foliage within the next few strides, stepping out from the shade into the sun, each letting their eyes fall half-closed to adjust back to the brighteness as they kept walking and talking.

It was at that _exact _moment Shikiyoku suddenly realized Taka was rather close, and within the next moment, in his arms, subjected to the vibrations of his chest as he laughed merrily, wings pumping once from what had been a silent soaring-dive while he swooped in, to an effort to increase their altitude.

Kitoushi knew immediately what had happened when Shikiyoku disappeared from between himself and Youko, his eyes following the noise of beating wings with a rather amused expression on his face, if he did scoff at the abrupt, and flashy, entrance and exit.

Youko's reaction came only a second after Kit's, since the cat guessed more quickly the reason, and even if Kitoushi did not respond with dismay, Youko still found himself annoyed that his company had been so unjustly stolen, and actually took off running after the flying shape which had not gotten terribly high away from the ground at that point.

When Youko brought his arm up across his body, a whip was already in his hand, an irritated look passing across his features as the whip snapped forward into the air.

Taka _easily _avoided the attack, catching Youko a little off-guard, though it only made the fox clench his teeth and bring his other hand back with the first, a whip forming there as well, which he brought up at the same time as the other, doubling the amount of times the whip might make contact, truly intending to snare his enemy. And if injury _accidentally _happened to occur, Youko wouldn't complain.

Once more, Taka gave the appearance that dodging the cracking whips was no difficult task at all, his hold on Shikiyoku remaining firm-she did give off a little sigh as he made a rather flamboyant and unnecessary turn meant only to exacerbate the fox, followed by another laugh as he turned and hovered in mid-air.

Youko's ears were already almost flattened against his head from the velocity of the run, but at Taka turning to _watch _of all things, they sat against his skull of their own accord, the edges of his eyes narrowing dangerously.

He brought the whip in his left hand up to snap at the bird, following with a gesture from the right that sent a plethora of flora shooting forward at Taka.

Taka barked another laugh, avoiding the whip and then flapping higher to escape the other vines that seemed unwilling to give up as they snaked through the air towards him even as he turned away and shot off faster than Youko was willing to chase.

As the fox slowed down, peeved at the occurrence and making mental notes that would ensure the _next _time Taka would not escape with her, he turned to Kitoushi, who was meandering at much the same pace as they had been walking, and put his hands on his hips, earning himself a questioning tilt of the head from Kitoushi as the other demon approached.

"_You're _the cat." He pointed with agitation at the disappearing dot that was Taka. "_You_ do something about it."

Kitoushi brushed past Youko, barely glancing upwards, "And what exactly do you propose I do?"

Youko turned to fall in step beside him, the pair making for quite the contrast in both appearance as well as mood.

"_Stop _him?" Youko provided as if it were obvious.

"I see you know very little about hunting birds." Kitoushi went on as he felt Youko opening his mouth and about to make another comment as to Kit's particular breed. "And even less about hunting _Taka_." 3

Hiei let the telepathic connection fade away after Shikiyoku's response, his eyes remaining closed even as he heard the _slightest _of sounds from above. A sound he at first ignored, brushing it away as the mere wind on the leaves. About the time he became more aware of the sound- and rather confused by it, admittedly- there was a laugh filling the air.

An annoying, irritating laugh that brought Hiei's eyes open again to glare in the direction the bird was going. He noted the firm grasp on Shikiyoku, and the way the bird made a game of the fox's ire.

Before the bird disappeared entirely, Hiei slid between the layers and moved, easily keeping up by running among the trees, following by the sound of the bird's wings rather than moving within the sight of anyone _else _who could move through the layers, just in case.

No use in bringing the attention to himself, yes?

_Ridiculous demon. _

He kept his distance for a bit, deciding to let the bird have _just _a bit of time with her before swooping in and disappearing. Because, really, what was more cruel than to slide her from his grasp when he felt comfortable? _*****_

Catching a bit of an updraft, Taka's wings settled into simply letting the warm air keep him aloft with his prize, the triumphant sparkle gleaming in his eyes not going unnoticed by Shikiyoku as she looked up at him just about the time he glanced down at her, and she found herself smiling at his unbound joy, if shaking her head a little with chagrin.

"What?" He asked teasingly. "Not having any fun? I could drop you if you'd rather."

"No fun? While around _you_, bird-brain? The very idea."

A rumbling chuckle moved through his chest as he took a breath of the higher air, enjoying how the forward motion sent his mess of brown hair dancing in the wind, adjusting a few feathers to keep their path relatively straight.

His grasp was warm and strong, and while it had been a very long time since Shikiyoku had been quite this high, it was an embrace she found herself easily slipping back into familiarity with.

"That's more like it." Taka murmured to her as he felt her settle down.

Shikiyoku glanced up at him again with an air of perplexity.

"What's more like it?"

"You being comfortable with me."

"Taka." Shikiyoku said his name as an admonishment, though he cut in before she got any further.

"Don't 'Taka' me." He gave an accurate approximation of her tone as he started to lower their altitude, aiming for one of the shopping districts. "And don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, either." He said as her expression shifted into one of feigned innocence.

Taka actually frowned, Shikiyoku finding the face so unlike him that it had her frowning back at him.

"I want you to take me seriously, Shikiyoku."

His tone of voice had her continuing to stare at him, his face just as 'serious' as his statement was meant to be taken.

"This...this Consort thing, I'm in the running for it just as much as those other two. And I _know _a part of it is a choice-thing. A choice that I make by _wanting _to be your Consort, and a choice by you to-"

"It's not that easy, Taka."

The way she said it, Taka let her stop him in mid-sentence, his mouth closed as he righted them to land softly onto the sidewalk, letting her down to stand in front of him with her hands on her hips as she looked up to regard his face.

Whatever she had been about to say flew from her mind as she craned her neck.

"When did you get so _tall_?"

Taka's laugh was soft, barely passing his lips, finding her consternation rather adorable.

"You're cute when you get your feathers all ruffled up like that." He reached out and grabbed her chin, tilting her face this way and that just a little.

She huffed at him and swatted his hand away, missing as he released her just in time.

"But you're not allowed to change the subject." He scolded, "Stop acting like I don't matter."

"Taka!"

"No, you listen." He frowned again and it had her taking in his face with a frown of her own. "They're not _better _than me anymore, they're not any _different _than me anymore." As he spoke, his pent-up frustration leaked out and he clenched his teeth together as he tried to reign it all in, but the appearance of her frowning face nearly had it bubbling over as he could just _sense _she wanted to argue, but he didn't let her. "We're **equals **now, can't you **see **that?"

He wasn't shouting at her, though he desperately wanted to and they both knew it, so it came out sounded more angry than he meant it.

"Um, excuse me?"

The voice from nearby had the pair of them blinking at one another, clearing their thoughts as they turned.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but does this mean anything to either of you?" The demon may have _said _it to both of them, but he was very clearly holding out the palm of his hand in Shikiyoku's direction.

A heart very clearly marked his skin.

Taka held back the exasperated noise he wished to make as Shikiyoku, who felt much in the same way in spite of herself, gave a smile and reached for the hand, planting her lips on the marking and releasing the demon from it as she could easily sense he wanted to be free from it.

The relief on his face was palatable as he nodded thanks, seemed to brighten, and moved along.

Unfortunately for Shikiyoku, as she turned back to make reassurances to Taka, another demon appeared, one right behind him, and another, leaving Taka just on the edge of either laughing at the situation entirely or picking her up to take her off so no one else could spend the time with her that he had coveted for so long.

He only grinned at Shikiyoku when he sensed her mild vexation, though he wasn't sure at what exactly she meant to aim it, and he crossed his arms over his chest to watch. 3

Hiei had landed on top of a building, almost seeming to hover over the concrete roofing from the inbetween layer as he looked down, expression void of any emotion as he noted the pair standing on the sidewalk. He remained where he was, not really caring for the conversation, but waiting until he saw the _precise _moment where it would be more irksome for the fire demon to drop in. Because he wanted nothing more than-

He raised a brow at the demon that he saw moving towards Shikiyoku and Taka, watching as more seemed to pop into his radar and form a sort of line for the female, who he could just _sense _wanted nothing to do with it at the moment. Just as he had the smallest of inklings that Taka was much less happy about it than she.

Except maybe that less marks _might _mean something better for the bird. And the others, if his suspicions were right.

_Too bad._

Hiei dropped, remaining in between the layers until his feet were mere inches from the ground. By the time he was on the layer and making a sound of amusement at the bird, his feet had touched the concrete sidewalk and he had a hand on Shikiyoku's shoulder. Within a second later, Hiei had Shikiyoku with him on the in between layer and was pulling her away, feeling _completely _satisfied with what he'd just done.

~!**!~

Another big X on the map and Akari was tossing the marker at Isamu. "Then _you _take care of it, mister 'big bad alpha'!" She growled.

"Gladly. _You _can handle this one then, miss _sweet talker._" The male reached forward and rapped her on the forehead once with his index finger before disappearing, taking the map from her hand before leaving.

"Have fun with that one." she grumbled and turned away, arms crossed and eye twitching. _Why am I putting up with this again? _She took a deep breath. _Maybe… _Another deep breath.

She hadn't heard from Kurama in a few days- not that she had expected to, really. It was a simple observation.

One she hadn't previously thought about. _Isa is driving me insane._

Akari's hands found her jean pockets, her eyes turning down to the right pocket in consideration. She battled over it before pulling her hand away from the temptation, deciding she'd leave the redhead to whatever it was he was doing for the time being. She could deal with…

Whatever she was left to deal with.

Her eyes turned up to the building again, rundown and ramshackle from what she could see of it, but inside… She could _smell _a disturbance, but could not _see _or _hear _one. Why was this her problem in the first place? Was it even really a problem?

"_Are you sure you want to go to the next one? They have nothing to offer." _He'd said. "_At least here, you might find some trinket or another. I know how much you enjoy the little things."_

That's when she'd gotten tired of his mouth.

_Idiot. _

_Why _would random trinkets pique her interest? What gave him that idea in the first place? _I could leave and go watch tv._

She sighed and moved forward anyway, curious of the inside of this little building and _why _it would exist on the layers. There had to be a _reason_ behind it. Demons never gave without taking, after all. _Most of the time. __*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's look of befuddlement at the back of Hiei's head cleared quickly when she recognized him, the abrupt blurring of the world around her taking her by surprise for the moment in which it took for her to realize what had happened, after which she allowed him to pull her along, unsure of where exactly he meant to go.

Or why, for that matter, though she could have guessed vaguely as to his reasons, even if she felt his motives might be a little misplaced.

"Problem, Hiei?" She asked calmly. 3

Hiei pulled Shikiyoku along in the inbetween layer, no initial destination in mind, not even when Shikiyoku spoke up. His lips twitched and his amusement doubled. He continued moving, glancing back after a moment with a blank expression. "Must there _be _a problem?"

Really, there wasn't a problem.

It was just.. _easier_ to deal with one bird rather than a fox and a feline. Especially after suddenly deciding he'd been bored for long enough. And in one tree for _much _too long.

"I can return you, if you wish."

~!**!~

Akari refrained from sighing in exasperation. In less than two weeks, she'd been hung upside down… how many times? If she'd been keeping track, this would be another tick mark on her tally. Except this time, she wasn't…

It was challenging.

"You're going to have to try harder than that. Come on, give me something _worth my while_."

"Rabies work for you?"

The grip on her ankles loosened, and Akari ground her teeth together as she scrambled to keep her shirt from falling over her face, a hand keeping it in place while the other struggled with her pockets. _Come __**on**__. _

There were no thorns on the rose, but the fact that she was _crushing it_ in her pocket and didn't have enough _concentration _on it to change it back was… irritating.

"You're cute, young one, but not cute enough. Act like your life is in danger."

"You mean it _isn't?_ The sludge below is fake?" Her eyes turned down again, noting the dark ooze that continued to slowly bubble underneath her, reminding her vaguely of a heated swamp. Or wax. Neither of which she had any good experiences with. "Huh."

The grip loosened, causing a small jolt throughout her body that caused her hold on the flower to slip, the rose falling from her pocket and to the ground, just barely missing the pool of disgust. _Well, at least that didn't mess up too bad. _

"You're pushing it."

She refused the retort this time and instead pulled herself up to look up at the pointy-eared, sharp-toothed demoness. "What exactly is it you want?"

"That's part of the game. _You _tell _me, _since you're so good at this." The amount of sarcasm had the dog demon snarling. "That's not very kind of you."

"I never was the nice kid on the playground." _*****_

Kurama blurred onto the layer a few feet to the side of Akari and her captor, his face set into nothing more than mild interest, his tone of voice mirroring it.

"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" He let his gaze pass back and forth between the two demons without betraying his feelings on the matter, settling one hand in the pocket of his pants and resting his weight on one leg as he regarded them, lifting his other hand to casually flick his hair behind his shoulder, using the motion to slip a seed into his fingers as the hand came back down to rest at his side.

~!**!~

"Well, you snatched me so quickly I thought it only right to inquire as to if there was a particular reason you had for doing so." She found herself giving him a sly smile even if he wasn't looking, "And would you _really_? I can't help but think you might not return me even if I wanted to go back. I appear to have had little choice in the matter to begin with." 3

Hiei paused for a moment, turning to look at Shikiyoku over his shoulder. "Right," came his lone response, his lips turning up into a sneer. He wouldn't return her even if she decided it was worth fighting over. As for the reason? He had several.

"I was bored. And I'd rather avoid the fox." She'd understand his reason for not joining them earlier and stealing her away before now.

He really, _really _didn't want to fight the fox.

~!**!~

"Tell you what, young one." The demon paused, clucking her tongue. "What's with the jewelry? It's quite colorful."

"You want it?" Akari replied quickly, momentarily ignoring the new voice. _Fun. A party._

"Well, not if you aren't going to fight for it."

_Exactly what I thought you'd say._

A lull passed between them, one where the demon standing atop the building glanced at Kurama, then over the roof again. "You're the one she summoned via rose?" Akari gave a huff. _Not purposely. You weren't part of the plan. _

The demon made a sound of approval as she looked up at him again. "You could do."

Akari's laugh was dry. "He could do many things, but he isn't for sale."

"Oh. A challenge. I _do _need a replacement for the one your other friend killed."

"Seriously? Which one?"

"Don't play _dumb." _Akari sighed. "Three days ago."

"_Oh!_ That one! ...you know, he didn't _look _like he would work in a brothel."

"Yes, well, he was my hardest worker." The female turned to stare at Kurama again. "You'll be the replacement, though that _hair _has to go." She gave a long sigh. "My company is rather diverse, but I have enough long-haired freaks to last the rest of my lifetime."

"Oh my _god._" Akari groaned. "I couldn't care less for your type of.. _business_. And I'm sure he wouldn't particularly enjoy parading around in womens clothing for your disgusting desires."

"You'd be surprised what demons will do." _*****_

Kurama took the exchange in stride, adopting a more _bored _expression as he appeared to consider what the demon offered, deciding he may not have to kill her off after all, instead manipulating the seed in his fingers in another direction before shifting his weight from his one foot to the other and letting the seed drop to the ground silently.

"I'm really rather afraid that you simply couldn't _afford _to hire me." He informed her almost in monotone. "Hair or no."

~!**!~

"Ah. Well...yes. I can't blame you for that."

Youko _had _put up a fight when Taka took her away, hadn't he? For good reason, she supposed, since she didn't think the two of them had actually been introduced. And it was no secret Youko Kurama did not take kindly to things being taken from _him_. That was only allowed in the reverse, with him taking things from others. 3

Hiei turned to face Shikiyoku, releasing the hold he had on her arm finally. He eyed her with a raised brow, as if saying he'd stated the most obvious thing in the nine layers mere moments ago. He continued to stare, searching her face for a moment as he recalled the smile she'd given him earlier. One Kit had pointed out rather quickly.

He crossed his arms. "Your turn to choose the destination. I chose last time."

~!**!~

Akari let one arm hand down past her head, the other still keeping her shirt in place as she considered kicking the demon, and then the wall. _Dammit. I hadn't meant for him to show up __**now**__. _Frustration gave way to a small growl at herself as she eyed the rose at the ground, wishing she could not only will it into seed form, but will it to _come back_, like a boomerang of sorts. How nice would _that _be?

"Love the confidence." The demoness above commented before turning away with a shrug. "That's too bad." There was another moment as the grip on her ankles tightened, as if Akari might be pulled up, before the demon hesitated again. "Trust me when I say, dog, that I'll find something worth my time. Mmmkay?"

"Ah, the old line of revenge. Cliche."

"Back to the sarcasm."

"And you're back to the sass."

There was a long pause before the demon released a sound of irritation. "Your _friend_ is causing trouble."

Akari laughed. "Good. I think you like _that _rather than causing your death, right?"

"I forget how sly a fox is."

"Hey Kurama, I dropped the, uh," she glanced down at the spot where the rose was now gone, "seed. Care to pull me up so I can retrieve it?"

Another energy joined the area, and Akari was looking down at Isamu, who had his arms crossed at her from below, unaware of the seed he stood on. "Nice to see you hangin' out, love."

"I swear, I'm sick of your remarks. Now, do yourself a favor and move three steps to the left."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm asking _nicely." __*****_

Without much pause, Kurama obliged, closing the distance between himself and Akari and making easy work of extricating her from the grasp of the demon who could no longer move thanks to the work of the seed which had permeated the ground by this time.

It took little effort to right her, though he made no motions to assist the demon who had been holding onto her, and Kurama cleared a part of Akari's disheveled hair from her face, peering at her underneath the veil of hair.

"Better?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave him a smile at both the slightly obstinate pose and the manner in which he stated her 'option.'

For just a second, she looked beyond him as if hearing something inside her mind, and when she came back to the present she couldn't decide whether she felt apologetic about being handed an answer, or glad to have an excuse to spend time with him.

"I...have some business to take care of on the Ninth Layer." She said carefully, trying to gauge his reaction, her lips wanting to smile as she explained further, "With the Northern Tribe. You're coming with me."

She left no room for argument as she started to shift herself further in the layers, watching him with amusement in her eyes. 3

Hiei raised a brow. The Ninth Layer? His first thought was of that palace, that queen. Rae, right? It sounded right. But when she didn't actually give him a choice to choose whether or not the idea was a viable one, he realized it didn't matter. He'd said he'd chosen last time, and she'd followed without hesitation.

So as soon as Shikiyoku was folding between the layers, he was following soon after, a calm expression of 'yeah, okay' on his face.

Because, really, he didn't mind it. He'd follow her wherever she wanted to go.

~!**!~

Akari blinked several times when she landed on her feet, somehow missing the actual transition from upside down to right side up. She gave a puff of air at the strands of hair that still blocked half of her vision of the world. She turned from Kurama and raised an arm to move every strand at once, flipping her hair back over her head to settle where it belonged before righting again, albeit a little unsteady, as the world swayed for a moment.

Another blink.

"Much," she finally answered, giving a delayed smile as her senses returned to normal. Her equilibrium, however…

She didn't move yet, not sure if it had adjusted too.

"Oh joy, the fox."

Akari turned to glare in the direction of the demon she couldn't see, giving a huff at the murmured words she'd caught. "No one asked _you _to be here. Don't like it? Leave."

"Actually… You know what, forget that thought. It wasn't nice."

Akari rolled her eyes and turned a small smile to Kurama, mouthing a silent thank you before actually speaking aloud. "And now you know how I've been spending my time. Bat style." She gave a shrug. "I can't say I'm a fan." _*****_

_[Her and Kuronue may not have gotten along then.]_

"There aren't many that are." Kurama replied, having eyes only for Akari and leaving the rest of the world to muddle about as it pleased. "Glad to see you aren't getting into any trouble, then."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku worked her way down until just before she would have landed on the Ninth Layer, moving faster between and covering a great deal of distance in a short amount of time.

It only dawned on her as she slowed that she wasn't actually sure what the reception would be for her now, and that the _main_ reason she felt tugged in this direction could actually be several little reasons. She had no way of knowing.

Instead of simply appearing in the midst of the campsite unannounced, Shikiyoku shifted onto the layer a few hundred feet out and approached in the normal manner.

When she could see the edge of the trees, she actually stopped in place, hesitating as the noises of a busy afternoon carried easily between the trees. 3

Hiei kept pace with Shikiyoku just as easily as he could, as if there were no efforts at all at keeping up. He even left the inbetween layer before she did, landing on the Ninth Layer and slowing to a jog, and then a walk when he noted that she'd stopped in hesitation. He only stopped when he was beside her, staring at the trees ahead and listening to the shouts, the laughs, and the various other sounds of life beyond his eyesight.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Why was she hesitating? What brought her here anyway?

"If you stand here, nothing will be accomplished." He commented calmly on her lack of motion, his hands in his cloak pockets even as he took a few steps forward. "This was your idea."

~!**!~

Akari's lips turned up in a wide smile. "Tell you what, if I end up in any trouble, I'll let you know, mkay?" She turned and moved by him, her first step cautionary but the ones following calm and confident in her ability to keep from falling face-first from the building. "By the way, I didn't… ask you to come here because I was hanging upside down. It just, happened like that."

A sound- a scoff, it seemed- reached her ears from below, and a second later Akari was dropping to the ground on the safest side of the building, landing on dry dirt rather than in some disgusting, tar-like liquid. She circled the building and approached Isamu, sticking her foot against his shin and pushing him out of her way. "I said _move. _You're in the way."

"Apologies." He held out the map and marker. "I'm going home."

Akari knelt to the ground, retrieving the seed and inspecting it, not surprised to find it intact and as if nothing had happened. "Take those with you. I don't need them right now, and I really don't want to keep them in my pockets."

"Yeah, yeah. Are you coming back this time?"

"I guess you'll have to see, won't you?"

She stood back up and turned her back to the male entirely, her hand sliding the seed back where it had been before she'd grabbed for it earlier. "So, I wanna do something different today. Is that okay?" _*****_

Kurama easily followed after Akari, remaining silent until she addressed him.

"I suppose that depends." Kurama allowed, "Are we going to be doing any hanging from our ankles?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes softened to regard Hiei with a certain fondness once he stepped passed her, once he couldn't see her expression change.

"Well I suppose," She began in a bit of a murmur, skipping a step to match up with his stride. "As long as _you're _here next to me, I really haven't a thing to concern myself about, have I?"

It may have been a question, but she didn't let it come across as one, the sentence ending more as a statement of fact as she let herself take the lead again.

Before he had any chance to respond, the Elder was already in view ahead of them, moving in their direction.

"Iro! It has been quite some time." Her smile was genuine, her hands held to either side of her in greeting.

While the emotion did not quite manage to pass over her face, Shikiyoku inwardly flinched at the name, "Yes. It has." 3

Hiei let amusement pass over his features when Shikiyoku passed him, and he made no move to catch up or pass her again. He merely followed in her shadow, only pausing an inch or so behind her when a demon moved to address Shikiyoku. Hiei himself fought his initial reaction to glance at the female beside him in curiosity of the slight change in air, instead keeping a steady gaze on the woman who had approached. The elder, if he remembered correctly.

And he hardly ever forgot such things.

Hiei's eyes looked past the elder and to the camp beyond her, watching busybodies move around in their routine. Odd how he remembered the camp being _filled _with demons, to the point where he'd felt suffocated at times. There was still a large number of demons here, but nothing like that night.

He turned his eyes to the elder again, still calm as ever.

Surely she wouldn't ask of it?

~!**!~

Akari opened her mouth, first armed with a sarcastic response before rethinking and, instead, giving a soft "ha, ha". She shook her head, her smile lopsided and sheepish. "No, I'd rather not." She waited until she felt the last of Isamu's energy dissipate with his departure. "I was thinking food first? If you're not busy, that is." _*****_

Kurama gave her an easy smile, "Not busy at all. What did you have in mind?"

He gave no outward sign of it, but Youko had analyzed the signature left behind by the other and fed Kurama the information of it, the both of them storing it away.

~!**!~

"And Hiei." If she was surprised, she did not show it, only giving him the same welcome she gave Shikiyoku. "Here of your own free will this time, no?" Her eyes glittered with cheer at the prospect. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the elder, for a moment considering her greeting and giving her a nod of his own greeting. His gaze remained steady, his lips remaining closed as he saw no need to actually reply verbally. After all, the first time they'd been here, it may not have been a _planned _occurrence, but he hadn't exactly been there _begrudgingly. _He'd, in truth, enjoyed it. He'd considered saying that, but decided against it.

Instead he merely stood there silently. Shikiyoku was here for a reason, and he wasn't going to be a distraction.

~!**!~

Akari hesitated for a moment before giving a small shrug, her entire being relaxing once she was sure the other party had left. It was a wonder Isamu hadn't decided to come along. To play the distraction at every turn. He'd gotten rather good at it.

"There's a place I haven't been in a while. How does ramen sound?" She flashed a smile at him. _*****_

Kurama took note of the way her shoulders released the tension they had been holding, but he said nothing of it, only maintaining the smile he had been giving her before answering, "Ramen sounds wonderful."

He made a gesture for her to lead the way.

~!**!~

"I would ask what brings you here, but I've already been given a notion on that front." The Elder said nothing as to _who _had given her a notion, "Seeing as it has been a while, you will be dancing for us tonight?"

Shikiyoku's answer was not hesitant, but the entire time the Elder had been speaking, her thoughts had consisted singularly of 'Please don't ask me to-'

"With all due respect, Elder, I don't think you want me to do that." She managed the sentence with an evenness that surprised even her considering how rapidly devolving her mental franticness at the mention of it had decayed into a spiral of distress.

The Elder's response came a second later than necessary, her head tilting a little as she appeared to be actually considering Shikiyoku _herself _for the first time.

Her searching look did result in a sort of light settling in her eyes, and though Shikiyoku was certain she could not explicitly understand the reason why Shikiyoku denied her, the elder most obviously took note of a certain difference in the demon before her.

"I'm fairly certain that I do." Came the delayed counter, her acceptance of whatever she gleaned in her moment of assessment rather obvious.

When Shikiyoku parted her lips, the Elder shook her head to stop her speaking up.

"But I see that it is _you _who are not sure." She took a step back and gestured in the direction Shikiyoku needed to proceed, a faint smile on her face, "Perhaps you will find yourself better served by waiting to give me an answer. There is still a little while before darkness falls. You have some time to decide."

It took everything within her not to stamp her foot and tell the Elder that she had already decided, thank you very much, and spending more time among the people she would be dancing for would do nothing to change her mind.

Instead, Shikiyoku only gave a curt nod that was borderline disrespectful in its dismissal of the demon, and swept past her, headed further inwards in the direction the Elder indicated. 3

Hiei wasn't surprised when the Elder made a request for a dance, nor was he surprised by the answer Shikiyoku gave. His hands found his pockets by the time the Elder was speaking again and he turned his eyes to the business beyond the woman. He felt as if the longer they stood here, chattering, the less Shikiyoku would get done before deciding she'd had enough.

Whatever it was she was evading.

He didn't notice right away when the female moved on, so he was more than a few steps behind before his eyes turned to the Elder to give another silent nod before he too turned to pass by her, eyes turning to set on Shikiyoku's back.

_What exactly are you up to?_

~!**!~

Akari pursed her lips for a moment in thought, giving a small hum before she flashed a smile at him again. "How about this," she began, taking a step away as if to turn. "I'll race you." Her smile widened to show her teeth. "For the sport of it."

Before the redhead could reply, she was dropping into a shadow, even waiting a moment in the weird time-space of the shadow world before she dropped to the first layer, sitting in a stool in Yusuke's little ramen place even before the last shadow slid away from her skin to reveal her profile.

"So, what's the house special today, hm?" _*****_

Kurama gave out a resigned sort of noise, not even bothering to respond to the pleasant, ringing laughter that echoed in his mind.

_{You've been in a rather good mood of late.}_

Kurama slipped between the layers and reached out to sense the seed in her pocket, following its signature to make his way..._wherever _she had disappeared to.

_[Want to ask why?]_

_{Not with you leering at me like that.}_

He didn't have to ask anyway, the reason was as plain as the expression he could just envision on the fox's face.

~!**!~

"Akari!" Yusuke exclaimed once she had actually appeared at the stand, "My second favorite doggie!" He leaned up against the counter with his typical foolish grin. "Where yah been lately? It's gotten a little boring around here without you running around!"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku tried not to make it terribly obvious that she was avoiding as many tribesdemons as possible, but even with her knack for turning and going around a tent just as another would pass by in the other direction, it seemed there were many demons actually _in _camp and wherever she went, up went cries of 'Iro!' followed by a general greeting to both her and 'Hiei,' whose presence seemed to generate nearly as much enthusiasm as her own.

It had her stopping to talk pleasantly with whomever had paused her, usually hindering her progress for more than a few minutes at a time as other demons would approach for the same reason.

As if there wasn't already a set tension at her neck and shoulders ever since speaking with the Elder, it seemed to twinge each time she heard the name, though her welcoming demeanor would not have indicated as such to these, and she patiently let the demons talk with her about this and the other, giving advice when asked and being told within every group that stopped her that they were excited or looked forward to seeing her dance tonight.

Apparently her arrival had not been _too _announced, despite what the Elder seemed to indicate, as there was no plans for a Great Feast such as the last time she made an appearance, but each demon that spoke with her seemed pleased to have her returning after 'all these years' and they all appeared to expect her to dance.

Shikiyoku did not turn down any of those 'requests,' only sidestepping the subject without actually giving them an answer, but it was obvious as she moved on through that the campsite had taken on a decidedly different air than the general grind, the usual day-to-day activities.

It was after one such encounter that Shikiyoku once again made her excuses and moved past the small group that had formed around them, leaving them behind to chatter amongst themselves before they too went off likely to spread the news before returning to whatever it is they had interrupted to meet her.

This time, however, she stepped in the shadow of one of the tents and let out a frustrated sigh, for the first time letting the tightness of her shoulders show on her face, though she covered her features with her hand and just sat there for a moment. 3

Hiei, through the entire time Shikiyoku was paused and chattered to, remained within a few inches of the female, scowling at any demon who came too close to either he or she. And when _he _was occasionally bombarded with a few questions and random greetings, hands outstretched to shake, he would stare at the demons for a moment before dismissing them, his own tension rising, mirroring Shikiyoku's rather quickly.

He did give his fair share of greetings, despite his quickly souring mood. When offered to join a hunt again later in the night, he gave a simple answer: "No, I'm with her." He had no plans on leaving her side unless she asked of it. Just in case.

By the time they broke away from _another_ group, the fire demon had a scowl etched into his features and a vein in his neck protruding each time he worked his jaw about.

He took a deep breath and turned about in place, hands at his sides and eyes making for certain they wouldn't be mobbed again.

When he knew the coast was clear, he turned back to the female, calmer now. He eyed her calmly, his expression a blank slate and gaze level as he watched her chest expand with the great intake of breath, her hand covering her face. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to.

~!**!~

Akari's grin turned wolfish. "Oh you know," she began, lifting one shoulder nonchalantly as she leaned forward and into the counter. "Saving the world and stuff. Helping children. The cliche 'superhero' stuff." She made a sound of amusement. "And making maps for fun. Anything but being bored." She shifted in her chair for a moment before settling in completely. "Enjoying your stand?" _*****_

"It's perfect." Yusuke replied once she asked, leaning back away from the counter and started to cook, talking as he prepared the food. "I love being able to do this sort of thing, plus it gives me the freedom to close up shop anytime I want since I'm my own boss. Lets me set my own schedule for training, and if I need to adjust to meet up with someone specific as they're passing through, I can do that too!"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku finally lowered her hand after a moment, turning her face up to the sky and keeping her eyes closed for another second before she said anything.

"I don't know which is worse," Her eyes came open and she looked at nothing, not actually speaking to anyone in particular, though the only one around to hear her was Hiei, "Having them all think I'm the same demon I was before, or not actually _being _the same demon I was before." 3

Hiei remained silent for a moment, choosing not to answer for the time being. He wasn't even sure she wanted to hear an answer, a rebuttal, an agreement… He had several thoughts, but none of them quite sufficed for him at the moment, so he continued to stare at her.

"Why are we here?"

His tone was even, if mildly curious. He gave no indication that he disliked where he was, that he wished to leave. Oddly, despite his irritation here and there, he actually _didn't _feel the urge to leave. He refused the sound that threatened to move up his throat and out his mouth.

"I assume there's a reason."

~!**!~

Akari gave a small smile. She was glad to see the detective using his abilities to stay out of trouble. He was almost an entirely different person than she'd met over a year ago. An entirely different person than who had worked for Koenma. Odd how that freedom brought about the relaxed air of the boy. "Glad to see you're being constructive."

_And staying out of trouble, unlike me. _

Then again, she didn't actually _mind _getting into tricky situations. Rather enjoyed it, despite the fact that she occasionally had to deal with another 'lending her a hand'.

"Oh, by the way, another will be joining me soon. Might as well make two this time, before you get too far ahead." She gave a smile. "And he's not allowed to pay." _*****_

"I beg to differ." A low voice said from next to her, "But I doubt you're going to allow me the pleasure."

"Kurama!" Yusuke let out an exclamation in much the same way as the one he had graced Akari with, following it up with a laugh, "If I haven't seen _her _in a while," He jabbed a thumb at Akari, "Then it's been _forever _since I've laid eyes on _you_!"

"A situation I intended to remedy, but never found the chance to."

Yusuke nodded in understanding, "It isn't like I've gotten a chance to seek anyone else out."

He paused in mid-preparation and looked thoughtful.

"It's so weird." He came upon the revelation with no small amount of surprise, "It seemed like we were around each other all the time less than a year ago, and now-" He shrugged, turning back down to his work.

"I think we've all done a little growing up." Kurama smiled.

Yusuke let out a chuckle, "Or something. You know about Kuwabara, right? Making it into high school? And here I thought _you'd _be the one to do that out of all of us."

Giving a slight nod, Kurama smiled, "I stay busy enough at my step-father's company."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stayed in her pose for a moment longer before shifting her feet and turning to face him, taking a moment to look to the side as if she didn't want to meet his gaze.

"There's..." She made a noise akin to a sigh, "There's at least _one _here, but the duty to clan is enough to dull my senses...or-" The word wasn't quite right, but she shrugged, unable to find a more precise term and went on, "-and I don't actually know if there's more than the one." She finally looked at him, giving him a small smile that did not hold one wit of teasing, "He's younger even than _you_, which is the only reason I can feel him in the first place. He isn't old enough to be tied more strongly with his kin." 3

Hiei raised a brow curiously, noting the delay in her eyes coming to meet his. Was he supposed to be of help? Was there a _way _for him to be of help, to quicken the process and create less stress for her? _Likely not. _Though, the fact that the demon was younger than _him_ did narrow it down a lot.

Because, in the world of demons, Hiei was pretty young.

He glanced to the side, as if he might have a thought or two about the matter.

In the end, he turned to look at her again with the same even, calm expression. "We're in no rush." He paused. "Unless you _want _to go back to the chaos on the First Layer. Personally, I would rather deal with this tribe than those mobs."

~!**!~

Akari glanced to the side at Kurama, flashing a smile that read 'of course not'. She continued to watch him, glad that she'd decided to visit Yusuke instead of Shyn. It would make lunch a little amusing, to say the least. And for the upteenth time since it had begun, Akari found herself glad to find random moments where she could spend her time with these people, despite the fact that she didn't usually _call upon them_ for such a simple thing.

At least they enjoyed it- or seemed to- right?

She turned from the redhead to face Yusuke again. She opened her mouth to say something, decided against it, and closed her mouth again, instead settling for a smile of amusement. _*****_

"The word is you've been seeking out anyone that can teach you anything Genkai couldn't. Or wouldn't." Kurama noted mildly as he continued to watch Yusuke prepare their food.

"Word is _you've _been skipping around the layers and making off with anything that isn't bolted down." Yusuke replied pointedly.

_[He's been making me give it back.]_

Kurama, for once, wished the others could hear the grumbling of the fox.

"They tend to get their things back." He replied loftily.

"Even if you usually send them on a treasure hunt to find it."

_[He can't stop me from __**everything**__.]_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's smile seemed more true than before as she let out a breathy little laugh of amusement.

"Leave it to you to put things into perspective," Her hand flinched, the desire to pat his cheek affectionately almost irresistible, but she moved her fingers up to rest them on her hip instead. "_This _is why I wish you were around more." 3

Hiei didn't smile, but his expression did soften just a little at her words. His eyes turned to the side, looking to the tent they were standing within the shadow of. If he'd known _that_, he wouldn't have hesitated to barge into the house the other day and demand sweet snow. Or strawberries. Or.. anything. If he'd known that she _wanted _him to come about more often, then he would've done so.

He'd have to remember that.

"Let's get moving. Get it over with."

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched up into the widest of grins at the turn of the conversation. She hadn't realized Yusuke had such an influence with the fox demon. Her curiosity on Yusuke's matter, however, had the smile lessening and her brows raising.

_And why would you want that? _He had a stand, was happy with it. Why seek more power if he was perfectly content where he was?

_Why cause trouble when __**you're **__perfectly content just meandering about? Why would __**you**_ _go on escapades with a demon that always brought trouble when you could just as easily find entertainment elsewhere?_

Idle hands, she supposed.

And laziness, on her part. But that didn't say much about Yusuke.

_Boredom. _

That sounded closer.

"Not enough fights for your liking?" Akari asked Yusuke, tone light with amusement. "I mean, _I've _found plenty if you wish to join in some day." _*****_

Kurama and Yusuke turned to her with similar expressions of amusement, leaving Kurama turning away again with a chuckle as Yusuke spoke up.

"I get a lot of complaints about a silver-haired demon taking off with things." He shrugged, "Not that I tend to _do _anything about it. I usually know who it is and tell them they just have to _look _for whatever it is they thought was stolen." He eyed Kurama with mock-suspicion, "Though the last one _still _hasn't found her chalice."

"Yusuke is apparently considered a sort of mediator nowadays." Kurama explained further, making easy work of side-stepping the chalice, which had been one thing too shiny to convince the covetous Youko to return. "He has humans and demons alike coming to this very stand, seeking him out for assistance in supernatural occurrences or otherwise. In the underground of demons, he's considered a sort of last resort." Kurama grinned, "They tend to come to him begrudgingly, if I remember correctly."

"They only respect me because I'm stronger than most of them." Yusuke gestured with the knife he held, "But I get all kinds around here, to tell you the truth." He turned back down to their bowls, "If binky-boy didn't exactly assign me 'detective' work, I'm certainly getting a lot of that now."

"It's been a while since you've called though." Kurama suddenly realized, mentioning to Akari that, "He's consulted me every so often when stumped via phone call."

Yusuke set the bowls in front of them, "There's a knack to it and I've picked it up of late. Certain patterns you can look for. If I wasn't so _good _at fighting, I might consider taking up a pipe like that one famous guy."

"Sherlock." Kurama provided.3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	84. Episode 168 - Douji, It's A Party

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Dear Reader!

Never fear, for I have returned and updates will continue on their usual Tuesday/Thursday schedule as previously!

****Symbols Guide:****

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ __a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
__Unless it's used in a sentence like __this__, which merely indicates emphasis.  
__[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
____{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
____"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."__

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

****Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!****

Isamu follows Akari around as she begins the task Genkai gave to her:  
noting the buildings that are existing on all the layers.

After three days of work, she begins to get fed up with him  
and they separate to make the work faster.

About two weeks after starting, Akari ends up getting caught by a she-demon,  
and subsequently rescued from the situation by Kurama.

The two of them head to Yusuke's ramen stand for food after a brief encounter with Isamu,  
ordering food and striking up a conversation with the former Spirit Detective,  
whom neither of them had seen in a good while.

~!**!~

Meanwhile, three days have passed for Shikiyoku and she announces to Kitoushi and Youko,  
both of whom are at the time in her home,  
that she is going out to look for Taka, whom she has not heard from in that time.

As the two accompany her, they come across Hiei lounging in a tree,  
though Shikiyoku is at first the only one who directly notices him,  
and after that an airborne Taka swoops in and steals Shikiyoku away.

Almost as soon as he lands deeper inside the city,  
a crowd of marked demons forms around them.

Instead of letting her remove the markings,  
it is Hiei's turn to appear and whisk Shikiyoku between the layers,  
the two of them eventually making their way down to the Ninth Layer  
and to the Northern Tribe, where they meet the Elder at the edge of the camp.

After rejecting the invitation to dance for the encampment that evening,  
Shikiyoku moves further into the camp and both she and Hiei continue to be stopped by members of the tribe.

Each member seems to be pleased that she is here, expecting her to dance for them,  
and after several such encounters, she ducks behind a tent to escape them for a moment,  
revealing to Hiei that she made the journey down here because there is a marked one among the tribe members.

Shikiyoku admits to Hiei that she wished he was around more,  
and while he internal regrets not having realized such a thing,  
he only tells her they should keep moving...

* * *

Shikiyoku made no comment to the wheels she could see turning behind those crimson eyes, only giving him a deft nod and moving back in the direction they had been heading, towards the Northeast corner of the camp.

The bustle of the site had been a consistent, low-key murmur around them, but as they approached this particular area, before they broke through the tents, there were more chirps and chitters at a pitch higher than the rest of camp.

When they stepped out from where the line of tents ended, they were accosted by the sight of too many lur'mogs to keep track of, and a young demon seated on a log in the midst of them with many of them scrambling over and around him, one or two clinging to bits of his hair, his shirt, his pant-leg. Others were all along the ground, interacting on various levels. There were two that appeared to be fighting over a place on his thigh, starting to roll over one another in a grapple, but he separated them good-naturedly and placed them in his palm, appearing to give them a semi-stern talking to.

"Lur'mog!" Shikiyoku exclaimed with a little more buoyancy than she had been expressing at that point.

She was specifically speaking to one particular creature larger than the others who had two or three smaller ones that he appeared to be entertaining in some manner or another, and he spotted her before she had spoke, zipping away from the others to appear at her shoulder, chatting joyfully into her ear.

However, her soft shout garnered the attention of the entire clearing, since in reality they were _all _lur'mogs and knew that's what they were called, and every single creature froze in place, turning their large eyes in her direction.

The abrupt silence had both Shikiyoku and the lur'mog at her neck, giving her a hug that included his tail trying to wrap across the back of her shoulders, also pausing in place, turning curiously to look at the others who were staring back at them, taking in with solemn eyes how the largest among them was affectionately speaking with her.

The lur'mog himself appeared to give an expression that said 'uh,'as he blinked twice at the crowd and disappeared from her just as the rest of the lur'mogs started giggling and chattering in excitement.

She seemed to just _know _what was about to happen in that calm before a proverbial storm and Shikiyoku took the extra couple of strides into the area and started to sit down, just as the lur'mogs before her disappeared and reappeared all around her, clinging to her clothing, her hair, her fingers and a few wrapping themselves around her arms and ankles as she began laughing and given them attentions, their scales dry and smooth against her skin.

The lur'mog who had first moved to her appeared on Hiei's far shoulder, nuzzling his face into the fire demon's ear with a good deal of affection before hunching over a little bit to watch, one tiny paw bracing himself upon Hiei's earlobe as he did so.

While his first murmurings to Hiei were of similar ilk to what he had given Shikiyoku, the following sounded much more like grumbles once he took the moment to watch her, the spines down his back raising and lowering in agitation as he resigned himself to having to wait to get her to himself.

He let out a little sigh. 3

Hiei remained standing the few feet from Shikiyoku that she'd established when she had moved towards the little creatures. The fire demon himself was impressed with the sheer numbers of them, having forgotten that such an amount of the lur'mog had resided here. By the time Shikiyoku was seated and covered in the little scaled creatures, Hiei had his eyes over at the one on his shoulder.

He raised a brow at the chattering the creature made, feeling the slight impatience in the air about it and giving a scoff, raising a finger to poke ever so lightly at its face. "Patience." he murmured. _I know. _He poked at its stomach next.

~!**!~

Akari listened to the back and forth banter between the pair with no small amount of amusement, her fingers grabbing at the chopsticks and twisting the utensils about in the steaming bowl, making no hesitation in closing her lips around the utensils, a few noodles hanging down her chin for the briefest of moments before she slurped them up.

She raised a brow**;** Sherlock?

_Oh, right._

She shrugged to herself and made a sound of amusement. "Good to know you're plenty entertained," she commented before stuffing her cheeks full with noodles again. _*****_

"Entertained is putting it mildly." Yusuke rolled his eyes, starting to clean up his station. "I could do with a great deal _less _entertainment in my life."

"So you can go train more?" Kurama picked up his own bowl and scooted it closer to himself.

"That among other things." Yusuke answered, putting his nose slightly in the air and giving his response an air of 'I'm not telling.'

~!**!~

Seeing the finger moving for his face, the lur'mog ducked a little and closed his eyes, the muscles near his nose-slits squinching in preparation for the contact.

His large eyes opened again once Hiei pulled his finger away.

He huffed upon seeing Shikiyoku start to pet and talk with the others, upset that he had little chance to do so himself.

Distracted by the scene, he didn't notice the finger aimed at his stomach and it warranted an unintentional squeak of surprise, eyes growing wider if possible as he batted his free hand too late to prevent the contact. 3

Hiei held back the sound of amusement he nearly warranted, his finger brushing against the belly of the lur'mog very briefly before his hand fell away again and his eyes turned to Shikiyoku. He too watched her interact with the creatures before he suddenly remembered another to be present, his eyes turning to the male who'd been sitting on the ground. Who still sat there, watching with a peculiar expression.

The fire demon eyed the male, a brow raised at the mark he could clearly see on the other's skin, creeping up from under the shirt that hid the main portion of the mark Hiei could just see. It curled and swirled up the demon's neck, ending just about an inch up the other's jugular, almost reaching the jawline of the younger demon. He noted the fact that most of it appeared to be hidden from immediate sight. It was something he hadn't considered as of yet.

_They aren't all obvious then._

It seemed there didn't even need to be any sort of connection to Shikiyoku to be marked other than… simply having met her? Very minimal requirement indeed.

"Comfortable?" Hiei mused, noting the very lack in movement from the other. As if he had forgotten how to work his muscles.

~!**!~

Akari's brows raised even higher at Yusuke's reply, but she didn't give into the bait and make a remark or voice her curiosity. His business was his business, after all. No matter how curious- or amused- she was on the topic, she wouldn't push it. Her smile, however, did hint at the thoughts behind her eyes.

She swallowed a mouthful of noodles again and poised her chopsticks for another round, pausing briefly to glance at both parties in turn. She opened her mouth to speak.

"_I knew I smelled you here."_

Akari glanced over her shoulder at the dog that padded his way into the shop. She gave Nabu a grin and fished a piece of meat from inside her bowl, lowering her hand to share with her friend. "Why are you on _this _side of town?"

Nabu chewed for a moment before answering. "_Because your…. friend paraded into the house again quite a bit ago. Raiding the fridge and making a mess."_

"He's cleaning it up."

"_I warned him of that. Just laughed and told me, in his words, 'get lost'."_

Akari made a displeased sound and turned to her bowl again, twisting noodles on her utensils and slowly raising them to her mouth.

It seemed that moment Nabu noticed Yusuke. "_Hey! Stripes!" _He turned to Kurama. "_And Flowers! It's a party!" __*****_

At the bark, Yusuke leaned as far over the counter as he could manage with a grin.

"Lookie! It's my favorite dog in the whole wide world! Come for a visit!" Yusuke ducked quickly back behind the counter and pulled out the plate full of scraps of the meat he had been working with earlier that day and coming around the outside of the stand to put the plate on the ground, squatting down to scratch at Nabu's ears.

~!**!~

Douji's eyes lifted quietly from Shikiyoku, a shyness that had been in place even when the three of them first met clear in his aura, indicating that it was likely a part of his personality and not attributed to being in any specific person's presence.

"More so than before." He admitted a bit timidly, ruefully passing his gaze over the mass of lur'mogs that were no longer clinging to him.

His apparently reserved nature was off-set a little by the youthful grin he gave as he scratched at his face, just above where the mark stopped, continuing on in an almost boyish manner, "They mean well, but some of them don't know exactly how to handle their sharp bits yet."

Shikiyoku held up a hand that had a small lur'mog dangling from the tip of her finger by its teeth.

"So I've noticed." She commented wryly. 3

Hiei continued to stare at the male, eyes occasionally drawn to the mark that the demon scratched at, that occasionally was hidden from view when the demon shifted too far to the side. Red eyes turned to Shikiyoku after another one of those moments, amusement flashing in his irises as he saw the lur'mog hanging from her finger.

The lur'mog on his own person chattered a little, bringing the fire demon's finger up to prod at it again, this being his form of attention to the creature. _Patience. Patience. _He turned back to the other demon. "Quite a large grouping. I assume you're the only one who tends to them?"

~!**!~

Nabu's tail moved furiously back and forth in excitement. "_I'm __**always**_ _the favorite."_

Akari rolled her eyes. "I can't win."

"Of course you can, love. Just have to smile more." A hand landed on the top of her head as another person slid into the seat on the other side of her. He turned his eyes to Yusuke. "Surprise me?"

Akari had to still her hand for a moment before directing the chopsticks to the bowl, instead of where she initially wished to put them.

"_Why do you keep showing up?"_

Akari had her mouth full before she couldn't resist the temptation to remark as well, her eyes turning to Kurama for the briefest of moments before down to her bowl. _This is getting old. __*****_

"Par for the course: my _least _favorite dog." Yusuke announced as he stood up from patting Nabu, leaving the plate for the dog to consume. "I suppose the day was going too well to expect it to not _somehow_ take a turn for the worse."

He dutifully moved back behind the counter and set to working again.

~!**!~

Douji nodded, "We didn't actually have any until I came along. And we only have so many _now _because of that one." He pointed at the one on Hiei's shoulder. "Some of the new ones are what he's scouted out, but most of them are his children."

Shikiyoku had lowered the lur'mog teething on her finger back to her lap, attempting to delicately remove it.

Finally fed up, the lur'mog at Hiei's shoulder hopped down and stomped over to the group, at first ignoring the others and crawling up over Shikiyoku's thigh and into her lap, chirping merrily at her, then a little more insistently when she did not first see him and giving a slight stamp of his foot, getting her attention.

Delighted, Shikiyoku scooped him up in her hands and brought him up to her face where she cooed something inaudible at him as she nuzzled her nose up against him, closing her eyes.

He reached up, clacking and purring the whole time, and resting a tiny clawed paw on her face for balance, tail wrapping gently around one of her wrists and pleased with himself for taking matters into his own hands.

When she pulled back and murmured something at him, the lur'mog blinked at her and answered, briefly glancing over her shoulder in the midst of the exchange at Hiei and blinking slowly at him one single time, perking up a little and then turning his attention back to Shikiyoku. 3

Hiei raised a brow when the lur'mog disappeared from his shoulder, then reappeared with Shikiyoku, chattering louder than the rest at the female. Without looking to the other male nearby, he replied with mild interest: "Interesting creatures." He blinked once at the creature that turned to look at him, a single brow raising. _I see what you've done here._

Hiei moved, turning to find a tree nearby and lowering himself to the ground, taking to lounging with his back against the base of the bark. _Interesting creatures indeed. _

~!**!~

Isamu's lips turned up in a grin. "I enjoy the flattery, Yusuke Urameshi." He shifted his weight, leaning forward and placing both arms on the counter. "How's the underground world treating you? Enjoy it yet?"

Akari's eyes cut to the male, her expression carefully unreadable. "I thought you said you were going back?"

"Well, actually, I remembered what today was. You have a deal to uphold, remember?"

"There was never a set date, and we agreed that I'd go when I finished the map."

"Which is why I finished it for you. Dates, times, locations, everything. I'll even return it for you if you want."

"I don't think you'd survive _that _encounter."

"I'm well aware of Genkai's power."

"_Of course you are."_

"I will deal with it later. Right now, I'm on a break." _*****_

Yusuke bit back the reply he wanted to give, exchanging a look with Kurama and surprised to find the darker red-head had much the same feeling of it as he himself did.

Kurama only let the eyecontact last long enough for Yusuke to acquire that realization before turning back to his bowl calmly, leaving Yusuke with a bit of a smile as the former Spirit Detective almost flopped the bowl down in front of Isamu, not spilling even so much as a drop despite his apparent inattention.

The thought passed over Kurama's mind to slid back from his chair and leave, once his food had been finished of course. But given that Akari had been the one to personally ask for his presence, he only ate in silence, holding back any biting witticism that he wanted to give voice to, in spite of the fact that Youko kept providing him with rather good ones.

~!**!~

Slowly at first, a few of the lur'mogs clinging to her clothing tumbled off into the dirt together, some play-fighting, others napping, but for the most part moving back in Douji's direction, spilling out into the area between himself and Shikiyoku.

Any time her attention wandered from the lur'mog in her hands, the creature would wait a beat, then pull her attention back to himself either with a chirp, or more often both a chirp and some sort of touch like a delicate tap of his foot on her palm or on several occasions sitting down and reaching over to nibble gently on her thumb.

Each time, she would respond exactly as the lur'mog intended, her eyes coming back him, and with a gentleness unafforded to the others of his kind nonetheless.

When two of his brood started climbing their way up her arms, peeking their heads up over the edge of her hands, he admonished them fiercely in a moment when Shikiyoku wasn't looking, sending them off as they deferred to his demand.

After the second or third time this happened, while another started scaling some of the hair that had fallen over her shoulder and pulled her attention away, the lur'mog got to his feet and unwrapped his tail from around her wrist, opening his mouth to reveal the double stacked rows of teeth and making a strange sound as if clearing his throat.

Each lur'mog on her person froze and turned to stare at him, causing Shikiyoku herself to follow their gazes and see that the lur'mog in her hand had his spines fluttering up to stand briefly on his head.

The showing appeared to amuse her, and more so when the other lur'mogs, still staring at the other, larger one, slowly started to remove themselves from her person.

The lur'mog huffed once and sat down again, his demeanor immediately changing to one of immense enjoyment when she reached forward and started petting him in an effort to placate his mood, the spines along his back relaxing under her touch.

Douji had become distracted himself with some of the others that had already moved themselves upon his person, so it wasn't until he realized all of them had gotten off of her that he finally looked back up at her. 3

Hiei crossed his arms over his chest and continued watching Shikiyoku and the single lur'mog that remained, demanding that he be the sole creature in her presence. Demanding her attention. He made a small sound that resembled a scoff of amusement at the display.

If he wanted to spend time with her, he was going to have to stop waiting for _her. _He'd simply have to make his own point.

He shifted just a little.

_Fine._

He'd remember that later.

~!**!~

Isamu looked to inspect his bowl before turning to inspect Akari's, something the female noted as she pulled her chopsticks from her mouth. "Hey, there's one of those things you don't like," he commented, reaching for her bowl with fingers twitching.

"Sorry, Yusuke." Akari grumbled.

She waited until Isamu was just touching her bowl before she slammed her chopsticks into his hand- through his hand, really- and pinned it to the table. His eyes lifted to her, darkening, but hers mirrored the expression. "That's quite enough, Isamu." There was a pause as the smell of blood filled her nostrils, the other demon crinkling his nose at her in ire. "There's a reason I'm here, trying to eat. You… are getting on my last nerves." She pulled her utensils from his hand with a jerk, eyes turning to Yusuke as she fished into her pocket, her lips twitching apologetically as she passed him enough money to pay for all three bowls.

"Come now, love-"

Akari's glare snapped over to him again, meeting the gaze that swam with energy. "Good luck with that one. Remember, it doesn't work on me. I'm not your omega." Without another word, she turned to leave, waving away the flags and ducking under them, turning and continuing down the sidewalk without pause.

Isamu sighed and looked at his already-healing hand. "Such a fuss."

Nabu huffed and moved towards Kurama, but not before turning and giving a sound to Yusuke that, if could be described, was nothing more than a small whine that could easily resemble a sound of apology. _*****_

Yusuke let Akari have her say, staying quiet and knowing that he needn't interfere.

Granted, it wouldn't be the first time the stand had been blown to smithereens around him, had it come to that.

As any good server-owner knows, there is a time to pay attention and there is a time to give the appearance that one has no idea whatsoever of anything that is going on in the near proximity. And what with the task of cleaning his station after making the bowl, such a thing wasn't all that difficult.

He only looked up with a neutral expression when Akari apologized, letting her words pass by with little interruption.

Kurama said nothing during the exchange, knowing first of all that nothing would happen given his and Yusuke presence, which would be enough to deter most, and secondly that he doubted it to be anything Akari could not handle herself.

By the time they finished and Akari walked off, Kurama just reached the end of his food and calmly pushed it in Yusuke's direction.

"Quite delicious, Yusuke." Kurama started to stand up.

"Always." He grinned back, silently passing him the money Akari had given him as he reached for the bowl, which Kurama took without a word, turning to give Nabu a pat.

"I would think an aspiring Alpha might have enough wisdom to discern a lost cause from an actually interested one."

"Seems they'll let just about anyone become Alpha nowadays." Yusuke's reply was just as shoot-the-breeze in tone as Kurama's as he set to washing out the bowl.

"Seems so." Kurama started to take his leave, heading in the same direction Akari had taken. 3

Isamu flexed his hand, a calm smile forming on his features even as the pair spoke, his eyes lifting to stare at the wall past the detective. His thoughts churned for a moment before he made a sound of amusement. He didn't share his thoughts, however. Instead, he waved his hand, as if there hadn't been a hole in it mere moments ago, and completely dismissed the pair while his other hand slid underneath the bowl he'd been passed. He lifted it to the chef. "I'll bring this back."

Then he disappeared, ramen in hand.

~!**!~

Akari twirled one of the chopsticks in her hand near her face, as if twirling a pen idly in a boring class. She had wiped away the blood on her utensils by this time, one stuck between her teeth to chew on and the other still twirling between her fingers in her left hand.

Her eyes found the bracelet Kurama had given her and the outline of a very faded mark beneath it. Weak, but there anyway.

He'd become more persistent since seeing the bracelet. Calling it a romantic gesture and declaring it inconsequential to himself, but a major object to her. Her lips twitched into a slight sneer. _A romantic gesture? _She twirled the chopstick again and turned her eyes forward. _Fun. _

Despite the sarcastic word, she found her stomach giving an odd sensation at the thought and her smile softening in severity. Her footsteps halted and she turned around, standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Waiting.

_I can't bel-_

_Actually, yes I can. But it doesn't matter. _She took a deep breath, spinning the wooden object faster between her fingers.

And then she began walking back the way she'd come.

_I'm not making him come to me, when I can go back to him. I walked away, after all. No use in making it difficult for him too. _

She pulled the chopstick from between her teeth and tossed it in a trashcan as she passed, the other following it soon after.

~!**!~

Nabu moved after Kurama, taking one extra step to walk beside the male as he took his leave, tail calmly swaying behind him as he looked up at the male. "_You know what baffles me?" _the dog suddenly piped up. "_That she left before finishing her food." _He swished his tail twice in amusement. "_No dog does that." __*****_

"Can you blame her?" Kurama replied easily, pulling one of his hands out of his pocket as he turned a opened a door to a small store along the sidewalk, making it obvious by the shift in his feet that Nabu was welcome inside, "But that's precisely why we're stopping here."

As soon as the door opened, the warm smell of sweets filled the air around them, the bell on the door ringing pleasantly, and Kurama walked up to the counter with familiarity, engaging the older lady behind it.

The older man walked around from behind the glass case to Nabu, setting down a plate that smelled nearly as sweet as the air around them and squatting behind it, winking at the dog.

"They're just for your kind." He told Nabu amiably, "Sweets that won't kill yah."

~!**!~

"Shikiyoku..." Douji hesitated, but his use of her _name _instead of what she expected him to call her had her blinking and looking up at him. "I know why you're here."

His gaze was on a lur'mog in his hands, tickling it at its cheek absently.

"Oh?" She prompted when he didn't continue, turning her attention to the boy, the lur'mog in her own palms content with her not _looking _at him as long as she didn't stop smoothing her fingertips along his scales.

"And I can't-" He let out a little breath of air, "I've thought about it a lot, and I want to-" He made a noise of frustration and let out an amused huff, "I had everything I was going to say all planned out and now that you're here, it all seems really silly."

Shikiyoku's expression softened a good deal as she regarded him, "Douji."

He looked up at her sheepishly.

"What do you desire?" The question was simple, and she said it as if it were the most obvious place to start in the world.

It appeared to take a great portion of his confusion from over his face and he relaxed, blinking at her and making a sound with his throat as if amused with himself for not just starting there.

"Above everything else," Shikiyoku continued, "Removing everything else from the equation," She could sense his uncertainty in relation to his age, among other things like his duty to the tribe and his inability to up and leave them for anything, "What do you desire?"

More relaxing as he looked at her and a true smile settled over his features.

"To try." 3

Hiei regarded the pair as a conversation stirred, his eyes calmly moving from one party to the other before he decided it was _none _of his business. His eyelids slid closed and his ears tuned out the conversation- mostly- and he found his thoughts turning to something he hadn't considered before now. Thinking over numerous things at once.

Such as the light smile Shikiyoku gave Douji in reassurance, which made his mind flash an image of her earlier smile aimed at him. The words Kitoushi had said just days ago. The way the cat had slowly calmed Shikiyoku.

But not near as quick as his own presence had.

Hiei's eyes came open to regard the female again, suddenly finding himself thinking over the question she'd aimed at the boy. A question he'd heard a million times himself.

"_What do you desire, fire-prince?"_

His eyelids slid shut again as a simple answer floated across his mind.

_To be involved._

That was it. He wanted to be involved in everything surrounding her. He wanted to have a reason to be around her that didn't consist merely of his own selfish wish to monopolize her time. And she'd granted him that earlier.

Until now, he hadn't realized that it wasn't enough to know she enjoyed his presence.

He had realized that… being involved was much more…

There was a word.

It wouldn't come to mind at the moment but-

_There it is again. _Hiei didn't react outwardly in any way, but he felt the oddest sensation across his skin, which had his eyes turning to Douji, landing on the small black mark he could just see. His eyes locked onto that little black line that curled and swirled, and for the first time…

He felt as if it were essential to keep his thoughts to himself. Give no indication of anything surrounding them. So he closed his eyelids and leaned back further again.

~!**!~

Nabu turned and followed Kurama inside, his nose twitching furiously when the smells hit him all at once. Breads, Sweets, Cherries and other fruits, Drinks, and a few other things he recognized pretty quickly. He paused when the older gentleman moved around the casing and towards him, kneeling and placing a plate in front of him. His tail moved slowly in respectful thanks and cheer, his tongue quickly falling from his mouth to taste the air.

"_I like people. They give me free food when I'm with someone." _He paused with his nose just shy of the treat. "_Before Akari, people saw me as a nuisance. A problem. Funny how company changes that." _He calmly began chewing on the treat, eyes moving up to the man with an unblinking stare and made a small sound.

~!**!~

Akari continued down the sidewalk, unaware she had moved so far so quickly. She took another deep breath, her thoughts very quickly turning away from her frustration and pushing it away for a later time. Her footsteps were sure and calm, her eyes roving the crowd just in case she missed the redhead, which she highly doubted she would.

She did pause here and there to glance within a shop or two, but only for a mere second before continuing on, pausing outside of another shop and staring at the door in consideration. _Don't tell me. _

She gave a sigh. _Why are you so good to me? _She waited a few moments before moving inside the shop, knowing Kurama was inside with Nabu. _*****_

"Come here with or without companion and you'll get free food every time." The older man spoke quietly, putting a finger to the side of his nose and winking at the dog.

He stood back up to go behind the glass and fill the order for the redhead at the counter, handing Kurama the small, brown paper bag with a smile as Kurama exchanged currency with his wife as well as pleasant words with the both of them and turned around to take a step, glancing down at the dog who still ate at the plate, and gave Akari a nod, gesturing over to a small table at the other side of the tiny shop.

"Join me?"

~!**!~

His eyes remained gratefully fixed upon her own, as if she had solved all his problems in one fatal swoop.

"But I-" Even as he protested, it didn't seem to matter to him as much anymore, "I must stay _here_. And- What would I offer to you? I-"

Shikiyoku had started shaking her head when he began to speak and he faded off, "I will not-I _cannot_-take away from you that with which you will not freely part. Your age, your so-called inexperience, your ties here with the tribe... These are not marks _against _you, Douji. They are what set you apart from any others who feel as you do."

_And they are also what set you apart for __**me**__. _She could easily see taking this particular demon under her wing and raising him up, in a fashion. He would respond easily to her and with little question.

Certainly with much less trouble than any of the others that passed over her mind at that moment.

The change was almost imperceptible, but Shikiyoku was looking for it as she felt it happening, and spotted the swirl that bloomed up the side of Douji's face, feeling a portion of what she had come to think of as her 'energy'-though it's relation to her was likely small, she did not rightly now-settling in the thin mark that now further decorated the side of his jaw.

Douji's eyes widened, feeling strangely different and unsure as to why.

Shikiyoku smiled again, pulling the hand with the lur'mog closer to her chest as she started to shift onto her knees and move forward, extending her other hand in Douji's direction.

She placed her palm over his chest on the right side and Douji's expression turned more awed as he felt for certain now that there was a warmth in a particular pattern spreading down to his stomach, over a part of his arm and back, and up his neck.

The dark markings just visible past his clothing started to glow a yellow color, though Douji himself couldn't see it, and the glow grew briefly more brilliant before the moment had passed and Shikiyoku sat back on her feet, lowering her hand, she and Douji's eyes still locked together. 3

Hiei's eyes remained closed, his arms still crossed over his chest despite the urge to uncross them and peel away his cloak. He crossed one ankle over the other and rested his head back against the tree, his hair sticking to the bark. He stilled completely, relaxing entirely as his mind settled from whatever thoughts threatened to stew again.

With one inaudible breath, his head was bowed slightly again.

If she needed him, he'd know.

For now, this was her business, no matter his suspicions.

~!**!~

Akari entered the building with the ding of the bell over the door, her eyes turning to Nabu only briefly before she turned to look at Kurama with an unreadable expression. When he made a gesture to another end of the shop, her eyes followed to stare at the tables, her lips twitching and giving away her feelings on the matter.

"Of course." She moved by him and towards the table, sliding into a seat calmly and resting both arms on the table. She kept her eyes down for a moment, thoughts churning and hesitation keeping her from looking up.

Because it was her fault the male had appeared in the first place. An eye twitched, which she quickly controlled before looking up again. Now she knew what he meant about her not knowing how to ask before. How was she supposed to ask him to forgive her for the display she'd shown?

A smile lifted a corner of her features. "You're amazing." _*****_

Kurama easily slid into the chair across from her, reclining a bit and intermittently reaching into the paper bag to calmly extract a treat from within to place into his mouth, taking to watching Akari with a neutral expression and he chewed almost thoughtfully.

"I know." Another treat. Another chew. He pulled another out of the bag and appeared to scrutinize it. "Certainly took you a while to admit it aloud, though."

~!**!~

The two of them simply looked at one another for a moment longer before the lur'mog in Shikiyoku's hand chattered curiously, for she had stopped petting him.

She looked down as he peered up at her, the crinkles at the edges of his eyes almost indicative of a humanoid smile.

A pair of the creatures starting fighting with each other again and Douji separated them, further breaking the brief moment.

"Are you going to dance for us tonight?"

The question came out of nowhere, the chittering of lur'mogs somehow louder than it had been while they were talking before and making the speech of the demon seem out of place.

Shikiyoku shook her head after a pause, "I...don't think so."

"You don't _think _so?" Douji echoed absently, "Is it because there's too many of us?" He lifted his head to give her a sharp grin, "If I ask you to dance for _me _tonight, would you do it?"

Shikiyoku actually had to look up at him in order to catch his slightly wicked expression, and he managed to pull a laugh from her, at which point his suggestive look faded, happy at the result.

She still didn't answer him at first, using the excuse of petting the lur'mog to give her time to form whatever she was willing to admit to the boy.

She sighed and decided there really wasn't a 'nice' way of putting it, not to her mind, and also did not want to give him anything less than the truth.

"You don't want me to dance for you." She mumbled, "Not really. I'm damaged goods at this point."

Douji strongly disapproved of the sudden darkening of her mood, and adopted his earlier face, "I _don't _want you to dance for me?"

Shikiyoku laughed again, shaking her head, "It's funnier because I'm fairly certain you don't mean it that way."

"I don't." He told her frankly, dropping the act and shrugging, "I'm not even a hundred years old yet." He paused, considering it, "I'm sure I would eventually mean it, but if it gets a smile out of you, why not employ it?"

"Smart boy." She arched an eyebrow at him approvingly.

That shyness from earlier cropped up again and Douji didn't answer, pretending that the lur'mogs needed more attention at the moment than she needed a direct response. 3

Hiei had his eyes staring at Shikiyoku when she spoke, her dismal words about herself rousing a desire to counter them. His mouth even opened, but Douji beat him to it, and his mouth fell shut again at the sound of her laughter. Unsatisfied, he gave a small scowl.

Perhaps the fire demon needed to consider ways to pull such a sound from her lips as well. He didn't hear it near as often as he wanted.

He could always-

"_Smart boy."_

Hiei raised a brow, the words strikingly similar to something he'd once been called by her. Maybe more than once. It didn't matter.

"_Clever demon."_

His scowl deepened, but he wrangled his expression into one of calm neutrality, as if he hadn't been listening at all. He scratched at his skin somewhere beneath his scarf, eyes moving down to the irritated skin as he pulled a small insect away after it had stung him.

He flicked it away calmly and adjusted his scarf back into place, effectively hiding what he'd just seen. And he gave no indication of it whatsoever on the outside.

On the inside, however, he felt a sudden influx of determination. His eyelids were closed again and he settled into place. _This demon.. among others… are in the way. _He brushed the thought away. It wasn't like he was going to _kill them_. It wouldn't be as fun, in the end.

And, shockingly enough, he didn't… _want _to. Not even the most annoying of them all.

"Call yourself those words again and I'll toss you back into that mob you hate so dearly."

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched. "Well, until now, I felt no need to tell you what you already knew." She considered him some more for a moment before turning her eyes to the side again. She considered telling him she was leaving for a few days. Considered telling him that she was going to go back with the person she'd just stabbed with eating utensils.

But, what then would she accomplish? Tossing his kindness into his face by thanking him, and then saying she was leaving anyway, even after the display.

_Tch. Who's the idiot now?_

But, she'd made a deal. _You could break it. _

A sound caught her attention and she was looking down at Nabu, who was standing on his hind legs, his front paws on her chair and eyes watching her. Had he spoken? She wasn't sure. She reached out and rubbed at his head with a smile.

_I… don't want to be like __**him **__in any way. _

"I'm going to be gone for a while," she finally admitted, not looking up. "I have a few things to take care of elsewhere. Just figured you should know." Nabu gave her a look before she turned back to face Kurama. "Are you going to share, or am I going to buy myself some too?" _*****_

Before giving her his response to the news that he had already guessed at, Kurama deliberately popped the next treat into his mouth, leveling an even gaze into her hazel eyes.

"I'll miss you."

He silently placed the bag on the table between them, nodding towards it for her to take if she wished.

~!**!~

Her inner amusement at Hiei's sudden interjection might have shown a little in her eyes as she cast a challenging glare over her shoulder in his direction, as if daring him to try.

She turned back to Douji, "Don't get me wrong," Shikiyoku looked at him in a strikingly similar manner to the face he had been making at her, "It's being 'funnier' because you aren't interested only goes so far. I'll be more amused the day you actually mean it."

"And by 'amused' you mean 'pleased.'"

"Naturally. You know me so well already."

Douji smiled down at the lur'mogs, "So, will you dance tonight?"

"I had thought we might have glossed over that part of the conversation."

"Glossed, certainly. And now I'm returning to clear it up."

"Couldn't we have just _left _it glossed?"

"No."

"You're exceedingly stubborn."

"I'm waiting." He turned to stare at her openly.

"I shouldn't." Shikiyoku said quickly, dropping her gaze, "I'm-" The phrase she had used before caught in her throat, Hiei's face flashing in her mind's eye. "Like I said, you don't want me to."

"That's what you keep telling me, and I've got to say I'm not particularly convinced."

Consternation with him plain on her features, Shikiyoku fought for the words she wished to say, coming up with nothing so quick that Douji did not himself find his gaze softening as he countered, in a small voice said with a mellowness she had afforded him earlier:

"What do _you _desire?"

_That _got her attention and her head almost snapped up from where it had dropped, staring at him. 3

Hiei's eyes remained on Shikiyoku even after she turned a look onto him. A look he almost considered acting upon, which brought the slightest of sneers on his features before it disappeared again. He remained silent, even when Shikiyoku seemed to almost repeat her earlier words, something he silently waited to hear. He wasn't surprised when she danced around it, having nothing similar to her earlier phrase to say and thus straying from it altogether.

He let his eyelids slide close again, listening but not watching. Not speaking. Not making a single sound to draw attention to himself again.

~!**!~

Akari reached inside the bag, grabbing one of the small bread balls from inside and holding it up for inspection. "I don't plan on staying. Not longer than a few days, anyway. Certainly not a week." She tossed the treat in her mouth and chewed, her other hand still ruffling Nabu's ears.

She swallowed and grabbed another of the treats, still looking at Kurama. "But… I.." _Why is it so hard to admit stuff to you? _"I can't say I won't miss you too, honestly. I mean, the only sanity I'll have is what I take with me. No escapes." She shrugged and gave a lopsided grin. "Where I'm going… is nothing like this. I'd hate to miss out on the fun." _*****_

"Well, I mean, I could say that I forbid you from going and you could pass along the excuse. There are few who would challenge the infamous kitsune thief at his word." Kurama shrugged, leaning forward onto the table with his elbows and reaching for another one himself.

He was only..._half _kidding.

~!**!~

Before that moment, she had been going to go with, "You have got to be just about the _worst _person that I've ever tried to have an argument with."

But instead she just sat there half-gaping at him and his question.

It took a few seconds for her to manage to get her mouth closed, and even then the question kept her rooted to the spot, giving him that same look of incredulousness that bordered on shock at the audacity.

At the-

...

"No one-" She began very quietly, finding _herself _unable to look away from another's eyes for the first time in her life. "No one's ever-" She frowned suddenly, wracking her brain and trying to come up with some time when someone had _surely_-

Nope. Not even, well, not even Kit, who, naturally, out of all of them, might have been the one to-

"No one's ever asked me that before." Her gaze had dropped again, this time to the side, completely confounded by this...this _child _who appeared to have, without prompting, without training, without _**knowing**__, _posed a question that left half of her wanting to laugh at it-the half who was still a Ward with a Champion-and half of her wondering why no one had ever asked it of her before now.

The pause went on too long, though Douji seemed unaffected by how mind-blowingly she sat there in silence, and he only urged her to actually consider it.

"Well?" 3

~!**!~

The look Akari gave as she chewed on this treat was one that read 'it isn't that easy'. She took in a deep breath and released it slowly through her nostrils. "I…" She paused and leaned back, Nabu now laying by her chair on the floor, chin on his paws and eyes roving the room. "I'm sure you can understand why I can't take you up on that offer. As much as I'd like to… I feel as if the only other way to get rid of my current problem is…"

_Killing him. _And as irritating as he was, she didn't want to kill a former pack mate.

_Speaking of… _She turned inward for a moment, her eyes closing briefly as she considered the complete and utter lack of the… the bond-like kinship that had been there just two days ago. Maybe she'd severed it after he'd let her be-

_Not now. _

She'd been fine for a while. Even enjoyed their peaceful moments.

"_This is how you keep busy?" _He'd asked, eyes on the map at the time.

"_Better than following in your footsteps and… 'settling old scores'."_

"_Hm. You may enjoy that, actually. If… you had any such thing. I have a feeling you don't." _He'd turned to look at her for a moment with a calm expression. "_You want to scope the building out, or just mark them down?"_

"_Just mark them. This one I'm going to add the date when I first found it."_

There had been a pause, and she could have _sworn _she had said something in that moment, but he'd merely laughed and turned away. "_Let's get started then. Keep you busy."_

And then _every time _they found trouble, he enjoyed watching her talk her way through it. Or not, and killing the demon she tangled with. Her patience after that had lessened, and little by little she'd decided that she didn't need him to get out of her situations. That she could talk herself out of them.

And he'd let her.

She blinked, suddenly remembering she'd been sitting in a shop, eating some sweet stuff and talking to Kurama. Her eyes focused on the redhead again and she wondered how long she'd been stuck in her thoughts.

What had he said again?

_Oh, right._

"Thank you for the offer, though." _*****_

Kurama shrugged, "Feel free to use it in the future if necessary."

He pulled another treat from the bag and shifted it around in his fingers.

"I'm not really sure if you particularly _want _to hear this, so that's why I'm going to say it anyway, but if you so _chose_, you could be an excellent leader. If you so _chose_, you'd make a wonderful follower. And one can be many things, and one can shift from one thing to another as one pleases." He stopped fiddling with the treat, only considering it with a slight tilt of his head, "The question within each moment to ask is, as a dear friend of mine is so fond of saying, 'What do you _desire_?'"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku was _fairly _certain she had come up with the answer to Douji's question in the same instant the demon had asked it of her, and she found that fact almost laughable, because _really_, there seemed to be few things of late that she actually _enjoyed_, and after all hadn't _dancing _at one time been one of them?

Even after her first Champion had forced her into it, hadn't he been wise enough to find something she was good at and something that he had known would take little effort to get her to enjoy so the ritual might be more effective?

Her eyes darted to the side again.

But that was it, wasn't it?

It wasn't that they wanted her to dance. When they asked _her _to dance, what they were asking was for the ritual. The Odori Iro.

Truth be told, she didn't exactly find herself wanting to simply _dance_, only to weave the ritual for them, to do as they wished, because she found it _fun_ to bind them all together.

_What do you desire?_

_I want to do this for them._

"Douji, I _can't_."

"Won't."

"What?"

"You _won't._" He repeated. "You're perfectly capable of it, assuming you haven't suddenly lost a leg while I wasn't paying any attention." His eyes dropped to her knees for a second before returning to her face. "And it was obvious as soon as I asked what your answer was."

She gave him a look that said 'Oh really?' though she found herself vastly interested in how he could have known.

"So, I suppose then I should be asking 'why not.'" Douji went on in a vaguely bored manner. "Though you seem to have made your personal reasons for it crystal clear, and I wouldn't want to risk inciting the fire demon's ire in having you repeat it." _It's so strange not to call him Champion. _"And, forgive me for indulging her for a moment-" He looked over her shoulder at Hiei for a second before turning back to her, "-But what does being damaged goods have to do with _anything_?"

"Would you like me to start listing things?" She went on with a raised eyebrow before he could answer her directly, "Or should I start saying it other ways? That I'm no longer pure? That I am corrupted? Contaminated? _Tainted? _Yes, that's probably the best one. I can't even say that the 'dance' as everyone keeps calling it, will even _work_, that it will _do _what everyone seems to be assuming it's going to do."

"Have you tried?"

"What?"

"You haven't tried."

"Why would I bother?"

"To see if it will work?"

"And risk a catastrophe if it doesn't? Been there, done that, _massacred_ the members of the Southern, Western, _and _Eastern tribes. I'd just as soon not do that again."

"Dance for me."

Shikiyoku's mouth came open as he shifted characters again and she let out something of a scoffed laugh, her frustration with him completely diffused as she didn't rightly know what to do with him.

"Seriously though," His face shifted appropriately, "Try it for me. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Did I _not _already explain that part?" She found herself rolling her eyes heavenward, something she had not done in over two centuries. 3

Hiei listened carefully to the conversation. Each rebuttal Shikiyoku gave, a thought passed by Hiei's mind. A single thought. Over, and over again. His eyes came open to stare at her back, noting her reasons carefully and, while they were valid, they were also… Not. From what he could see, she was referring to before she had eligible consorts around. Before she was back in her normal form. Her true self, as she had put it. That was before… before _now. _

And the urge to speak up was too much.

"While your worries are validated, you're also leaving out critical things." His voice was even, quiet enough to even be hardly carried to her without the wind. "Your energy? It's as pure as your thoughts. Your soul is as pure as you make it, and thus your energy is affected by such a thing." He shifted and pulled himself forward.

He remained quiet as he stood and moved to stand over her, looking down at her calmly. "Do you _desire _to harm them?" He didn't give her time to answer. "If you did, you wouldn't have second thoughts. They will not harm you, thus you have no reason to suddenly switch." He looked at Douji briefly. "And even if you _did_, you have your marked being."

He didn't specify, really, which he was referring to.

"If you have _any _whim to do them harm, then do not step up. However, if your intentions are true, your desire nothing more than to bring peace and happiness…"

He crossed his arms at her. "Isn't that what your _ritual _is all about? Feel free to clarify if it is not."

~!**!~

Akari leveled Kurama with a stare, unwavering and unrelenting. _What I desire? Not to be there the rest of my life. Not to leave here and never come back, to never see you or, hell, even Yusuke again. Don't badger me. I already know what I want. _

She could have said all that, but she didn't. She instead gave a sigh. "And if I so chose, I could also rid myself of the issue in the first place by killing the Alpha, which would in turn do me no good and plop me right where I _never _wanted to be." She flashed a smile. "What I desire, however…" She leaned back in her chair. "That's my little secret." _*****_

"Well," He leaned forward to counter her moving away, eyes gleaming, "While it was in fact merely a rhetorical question meant for your consideration, I do hope that someday you'll find yourself able to confide in me your..._desires_." He hadn't strictly meant it in the way he knew the question was often asked of another from what he had heard...not until _now_, when it amused him to do so.

~!**!~

"The ritual-" Shikiyoku held up a hand to Douji, whom she could just _sense _was going to say something about at least _one _person around here being reasonable, and then shifted around until able to see either Hiei or Douji by simply turning her face, "-is _binding_. It's a spell meant to weave their very _souls _together, and without getting into the logistics of such a feat, taking my energy into consideration is a very serious matter." She frowned.

"I may have what you see as _extremes_ in physical form, but in truth I am still _one _being, and my energy is no longer of the pure nature that I can only assume is required within the very intricacies of the spell itself." _Because that's how my damnable Champion worked_. _Exploiting everything to the Nth degree to weasel the highest level of efficiency. _3

Hiei's stare remained calm, his tone even. "Your energy." He paused, head tilting almost imperceptibly at her. "Access it." While he was _telling _her to do so, his tone was not _harsh_, was not _impatient_ by any means. "Gather your energy, and with every ounce of your being," he gave another pause, "aim for harm. And attack. Either me, or Douji, it does not matter. Attack with everything you have."

~!**!~

Akari raised and lowered a single shoulder, her head tilted to the side and eyes closing as her lips formed a lopsided smile. "You'll just have to wait and see." She crossed her ankles underneath the table, one foot bouncing as she opened her eyes to look at the redhead again. "I mean, assuming you're still around at that time, and that I haven't _bored _you." _*****_

"Ha!" He sat back in his chair, "Assuming you bother to come back and find me. Assuming you bother to come back at all."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku _almost _lifted her hand at Hiei's behest, but as soon as he went on, she leveled a blunt, slightly irritated glare at him.

"I. Can't." Her jaw clenched slightly, "And you _know _that. But me sitting here and luring you closer so I can _kiss _that smart mouth of yours when I meant to _punch _it is _vastly _different from using it in an attempt to bind the souls of demons together in camaraderie. Instead of ending up with the _peace _and _happiness _that you seem to associate with the ritual, it's quite possible that my energy would instead incur _pain _and _hatred_. Or perhaps it could _lure _them in the opposite direction and they would all turn on one another to torture each other. Simply put: I have _no way of knowing_. And I am not about to experiment on the likes of either of you, much _less _the entire populous of the Northern Tribe." 3

"And if you had a pure energy to conjoin with yours? To counteract your… _impurity_, as you continue to say?" Hiei turned away, not looking at either demon. "While you insist you simply _cannot_, I disagree. If you had the help of another pure soul, to aid your spell of binding, then there would be no worry, correct? You won't dance with impurity," the word was disgusting to him, though he could understand her outlook on it, "then why even _consider _the simple _desire _to do so? You would be dancing because you not only enjoy it, but because you know others enjoy it as well."

He finally turned to look at her again. "Now, if you could seek out a demon with 'pure' energy to _help _and _add _to your energy, would you be willing to try it? Obviously, upon us first."

~!**!~

Akari scowled for a moment. Hadn't she _just _told him she'd be coming back?

"If you're so unsure, we can make a deal." Her lips pulled up into a roguish grin as she crossed one knee over the other and linked her hands atop the joint. "Would that ease your mind, fox? As you have seen thus far, I don't run back on my word. Of course, if you fancy it, I wouldn't mind you coming up with your own 'insurance'." _*****_

"A pact with a pup?" There was an unmistakable gleam of yellow that glinted briefly in his eyes before faded away, making it impossible for Kurama to hide his interest in the proposal. "Intriguing. What did you have in mind?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku frowned, running the plausibility of what Hiei suggested through her mind.

"It has nothing to do with the purity of one's soul." She clarified, "Otherwise, I doubt I would have been able to do the ritual at all, no?" The wheels were still turning. "Purity of energy on the other hand..." She let out a pent-up breath, "I do not know." She finally allowed. "If _anyone _could do the ritual, then where would The Lover have been?"

She pursed her lips, obviously not entirely dismissing the notion.

"At the same time," She started to allow, then shook her head, "I truly cannot see a workaround." _Stop haunting me, Champion. I can just __**feel **__you leering at me with the answer. My mind could never work through this sort of thing as quickly as yours._

"My energy is what makes the ritual binding." She looked at Hiei, "While I could take _your_ energy and use it to supplement and spread my own farther, in the end, my energy still had to reach each and every member of the tribe, no matter how insignificant the amount may have ended up being." Her eyes grew faraway, "Taking another's energy and using it to mask the contamination of my own...?"

She trailed off, but her mind provided her with no immediate solution. Finally she rejoined the present and shook her head.

"It is beyond my means. My knowledge." She raised an eyebrow, "And testing it on the two of you is absolutely out of the question in any case." 3

Hiei continued to stand over her, his eyes looking about the area even when Shikiyoku declined again. "Don't do it then." He finally said. "No one is forcing you, though the ideas shared were entertaining enough." He let his arms fall as he turned, giving Douji a small, unreadable look before turning to Shikiyoku again. "You could always simply dance," he suggested, knowing full well it was _not _what she wanted to do. "Or you could simply leave and tell them you've retired it. Your decision."

~!**!~

Akari's brows raised; she hadn't expected him to jump on board so quickly. She'd thought he would wave her away. _Even better. _So, she gave a shrug. "I can promise you that I'll come back. I can even promise a meeting day, if you want it. But really, it's up to you. I.." she tilted her head in the opposite direction and gave a small smile, "I am interested in what _you _have in mind, should something happen and I not show. What is it that _you_, as you quoted a friend, _desire?" __*****_

Kurama actually had to _strain _to prevent Youko from simply taking over, and the fox fought so hard Kurama wasn't sure for a moment if he would win-out.

"How about this," Kurama began after appearing to consider it when in truth he fought Youko for control, "Each day that you're gone and you intend to return, shift your seed." His eyes flickered to the pocket he knew she kept it in. "If you fail to do it," He shrugged, "I'll assume you have no intentions of coming back, as it likely means you've forgotten about me."

~!**!~

Douji had remained quiet, feeling intimidated by the interactions of the older demons before him, also having the knowledge that these two demons had a past together.

So, when his first instinct was to argue with Hiei's final word-_but that isn't what she __**desires**__-_he held his tongue and said nothing, because truthfully wasn't what she desired to be pure again? Wasn't that what she was saying?

"Try it on the lur'mogs." He spoke up into the silence that followed, the one in which he felt strain from Shikiyoku at any of the decisions Hiei presented her with.

Shikiyoku turned and gave Douji a look, "What?"

He shrugged, "You said you hadn't even _tried _it. And they're just as much a tribe as what you used to bind. As far as I can see it anyway."

"You would be the one to know."

He conceded with a little nod. "Do you think it would kill them?"

"I can't say. I don't know."

"Have you ever killed anyone? Like, besides that other time you mentioned? There was someone else helping you then, right?"

"I have." Shikiyoku replied blankly. "And in a similar manner to what you consider my dancing."

Douji moved his tongue over his lips, refusing to suggest anything akin to the lur'mogs being _expendable_. Because they weren't. Not to him.

"I wouldn't risk it, anyway." She told him kindly, "But it was a nice thought."

She recognized the expression on his face to be the same obstinate one he had worn when she attempted arguing with him earlier.

All at once he was standing up, unfolding himself and taking the stride required to grab for her hand and drag her off the ground and onto her feet, turning and pulling her along behind him, leaving her looking up at the back of his head from behind as he stood a full head taller than she, if not two.

"You're not going to just let this go, are you?"

"You desire something, right?"

She opened her mouth.

"Don't lie." He didn't even look back at her, pulling her for the trees. "How often do you have _your _desires fulfilled? We'll figure out how to make it work."

"Before tonight?"

"Before tonight."

He considered it, "Well, at least, we'll figure out if we _can _make it work. You don't even know _that _yet."

They passed the edge of the encampment, diving further into the underbrush of the forest around them, the lur'mogs all chittering behind them and around their feet, some of them through the trees above their heads at what must have been little more than a leisurely stroll as they scampered along, though Douji was tromping at a fair pace.

He finally stopped in front of a tree whose leaves appeared to be rustling though there was no wind.

He still had her hand in his. And he pointed upwards with the other one.

The lur'mogs were suspiciously refusing to get anywhere closer to the tree than the two of them stood.

"This is a single tree, right? Like a tribe is a single tribe? And it's made up of leaves, like the members make up a tribe. Well, they're alive. In a way. And they absolutely hate each other. Not to mention the fact that there are a zillion more trees like this in the area."

"You want me to dance for a tree." Shikiyoku summarized deadpan. "You've _got _to be kidding me."

"I'll be watching if it makes it any better."

There was that same look again, one he graced her with as he looked down over his shoulder at her.

_Where on earth did he learn that at __**his **__age? Give it another hundred years and he would set __**my **__energy buzzing with a look like that._

"I dunno..." Shikiyoku debated, "Seems pretty ridiculous to me." 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	85. Episode 169 - Odori Iro, Eating

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Fellow FanFiction Fanatics!

Not much to say other than 'enjoy!'

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Nabu shows up to the ramen stand where Yusuke, Kurama, and Akari  
are enjoying one another's company.

Unfortunately, Isamu also shows up moments later.  
He has finished the map for Akari so that she may return to the pack with him.

He pushes Akari just a little too far  
and ends up with a chopstick sticking out of the top of his hand,  
after which she storms off.

Kurama and Nabu take their leave of Yusuke as well,  
heading to a nearby sweets shop in the direction Akari disappeared,  
Kurama buying a few things and sitting down,  
waiting for Akari to make her way inside.

After she admits to having to leave very soon,  
Kurama asks her to shift the seed he gifted her with  
at least once a day as a sign that she intends to return.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku and Hiei have arrived at the Northern Tribe down in the Ninth Layer,  
and it is revealed that Douji, the keeper of the lur'mog, is eligible for the position of Consort.

He eventually asks her if she will be dancing for the tribe that night,  
and while she at first refuses because of her 'tainted' energy,  
Douji counters by asking what she desires, which is of course to do the dance.

After a brief discussion of the logistics of why she can't do the dance any longer,  
Douji drags her off into the forest and insists she dances for a tree  
in a test of the ritual as to if it would still work...

* * *

Hiei waited for a moment before looking off in the direction Douji had taken Shikiyoku, sneer forming for a moment. Odd how, had anyone else done that, he would've attacked within milliseconds. Apparently, he didn't dislike most demons near as much as he used to tell himself he did.

Or maybe it was just that this one was younger and… held no past with the fire demon.

Very likely that. No reason to dislike him yet.

_Yet. _

He took off, following at a good distance behind the pair, even sliding between the layers to keep from disturbing what he would watch from a few yards away.

_Let's see what the demon comes up with._

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow. "A day on that layer is different from a day here. The consistency may be off, but…" She tilted her head in thought, considering the time difference in the layers. It was… very easily forgotten about when one stayed on a single layer within a certain amount of time. "I guess I'd do best not to lose track of time, hm?"

Her eyes focused on the redhead again, blinking slowly at him once as her lips formed the barest of smiles. _There is no way, I don't think, that I could forget about you. _As the thought passed, she ran a hand through her hair.

"_You have to come back anyway. I'll be here."_

She glanced down at the dog, who had been quiet up until this point. "Of course." When she turned back to Kurama, her hands were grabbing for the bag, taking the last treat from inside. She considered it for a moment before pulling it into halves, offering one half to the redhead. "But, when I get back… We're having milkshakes or sundaes or something." Her grin was wide. "How's that?" _*****_

"Should you decide to return, we can do or eat anything you like." Kurama told her.

His eyes flickered to Nabu, "As for you, I can't imagine _why_ you wouldn't want to go with her. Foxes may not be welcome, but you are not a fox."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku reached up and rubbed at the bridge of her nose with her free hand.

"This will quite possibly...no this _will _be the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever had me do."

She only dropped the head when she suddenly felt movement next to her, and found that Douji had dropped to one knee, holding her hand in both of his now and wearing the sincerest expression on his face that she had ever seen as he gazed up at her.

"Shikiyoku..."

She tried not to groan at how absolutely sappy he sounded, actually _smiling _in spite of herself.

"I _desire _for you to dance for this tree."

"You're impossible."

"I know."

"Don't do that."

"Do what?" His tone had never changed.

She finally laughed, which she had been holding in since he'd knelt beside her, and slipped her hand out from his.

He let her go, shifting until he actually sat down on the ground.

"_Fine_, youngling. Your desire is my command." She started to take a step away from him, pausing, "Just don't enjoy it too much."

"I'm going to try my hardest to do so." He told her seriously.

She had no response other than to shake her head and took another step forward.

"This will be...interesting." She mumbled to herself, peering up at the tree.

"I doubt you ever imagined in your wildest dreams that I would be using your ritual to dance for trees, eh Champion?" She grumbled again and couldn't decide if he would roll over in his grave or cackle with perverse glee.

Without music, her moves were set to the rhythm inside her head, her eyes closed. It did not matter much. She stepped as steadfastly as ever around the base of the tree, quickening the timing so that they would not be out here all evening as the darkness was already fast approaching.

As she got perhaps halfway around the trunk, her energy-appearing no less brilliantly yellow than ever-began to spiral outwards, though perhaps _upwards _would be the more accurate term.

Her face held a certain amount of peacefulness as she still remembered the steps, even with a decade in her most recent past where she hadn't _known _she could make such steps.

Douji watched her enraptured, looking up to see her energy looping about the countless leaves above them when she disappeared onto the other side of the trunk and he could no longer see her.

When she came close to finishing, the tree was lit brightly with her power.

As she moved flawlessly back to where she had started, there was a moment of pause where everything froze in place and there was a slight pulse of incandescent energy from her that radiated upwards to encompass the leaves, and as she moved again, stopping almost in front of Douji, the see-through bubble of yellow and the loops around the leaves both disappeared into thin air, leaving Shikiyoku to open her eyes and watch with apprehensiveness the leaves above them, which...after a moment...stopped rustling altogether.

There was another hitch in time similar to the freeze she had made, and then the many lur'mogs around them scampered up into the tree's branches, swarming them with their numbers, and Shikiyoku collapsed into a seated position next to Douji as they all started chattering and gurgling with one another delightedly. 3

Hiei stood high in a tree that was still, not a breeze whispering through its leaves even for a moment as he looked down upon the scene from the inbetween layer. He noticed each strand of energy that moved away from Shikiyoku, each tendril of power that slithered into the air and up into the leaves.

Leaves that slowed just a little if he watched carefully enough.

A satisfied smirk came to his features by the time Shikiyoku was seated on the ground, the lur'mogs in the branches and chattering with mirth. He dropped to the ground, appearing at Shikiyoku's other side on the Ninth Layer, eyes still up on the leaves. The general air about him was light, as if saying 'told you so'.

~!**!~

Nabu turned to Kurama. "_This is her business. I don't mind staying behind for a few days." _He glanced at Akari. "_No offense, but if everyone is like Isamu, I hope you don't come back covered in blood."_

Akari's laugh was barely contained. "I- I'm pretty confident not _everyone _is that way. Just the idiot."

He turned to Kurama again. "_She can handle herself. As fun as I think it would be, I think I'd rather let her handle it and come back. More.. incentive."_

Akari rolled her eyes. _*****_

"As you say." Kurama allowed, giving the dog a nod and about to offer that he could stay with him if he needed to when Youko piped up.

_[You mean stay with you at __**your **__place? You won't even be there yourself, __**remember?**__]_

"Nabu, have you ever been to...Toriko's home?"

~!**!~

Beads of sweat rolled down the back of her neck from her efforts, each breath coming in fast and heavy, and she stared up at the capricious tree, once rustling menacingly and now filled up with the calls of the lur'mogs in its branches.

When Hiei dropped beside her, she gave him a glance, looking over to see that Douji wore the exact same expression as the fire demon.

_They're impossible._

"I just want you both to know," She started, getting her breathing under control, "That this proves _nothing_, and if things go wrong and everyone dies, I'm coming after you two _first_." 3

Hiei looked down at Shikiyoku, brow raised and sneer evident on his features. "Ah yes, assuming you can catch one of us." He glanced at Douji. "You're on your own." He turned back to Shikiyoku. "And should anything go wrong in the first place," he backtracked with a nonchalant air, "then I'll interfere. You'd be coming after me anyway."

~!**!~

Nabu lowered his chin to his paws again, shifting his weight so that his back was no longer to the table. "_You mean Sparkles?" _He thought for a moment. "_Not that I remember. But, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. If I need something, I can always hunt you down." _He paused. "_Assuming you're on this layer."_

Akari rested her head back, making her hair fall down the back of the chair entirely and her bangs slide from her face as she closed her eyes. "Now that we've reached an agreement of sorts… Anything you want to do today? I only had dinner in mind. So ideas are appreciated." _*****_

"Remind me to at least point the direction out to you." Kurama told Nabu, "If I am not there, it is likely a cat demon will be lurking about the premises and he's a...cousin of mine. Of Youko's. He would help you out should you find yourself in need, I have no doubt of it."

Kurama considered Akari's question.

"Well, what is it about this layer that you'll miss doing the most?" He was just going to out and suggest they go to the park for a nap, but he thought he might feel out Akari's reaction first.

~!**!~

"Well, yes, that _would _solve the whole problem rather succinctly." Shikiyoku allowed, musing Hiei's proposal of interference. "If you interfered, you'd likely kill _me _instead of the entire tribe." She nodded a little. "It could work."

"Ah, I'd probably just _let _you catch me." Douji piped up, "Doing the chasing is more fun anyway." 3

Hiei didn't reply. He simply stood there, listening to the lur'mogs in the tree and watching the calm moving of the branches above. He considered them for the moment before looking down again, eyeing the pair who sat on the ground. _Lazy. _Of course, he was only amused at their lounging.

Hiei continued to stare at Shikiyoku unblinkingly, watching her for curiosity's sake. If she knew he was marked- and he had no doubt that she did- why hadn't she said anything? Sure, it would give him the upper hand later, but it would've been better if he'd known _sooner_, instead of leaving her all night with the cat curled up at her head and-

_Oh well._

His mind slowly became blank as he continued to stare at her.

_I'll have the upper hand._

~!**!~

Akari blinked a few times. _Something I'll miss doing… on this layer? _

Honestly… she hadn't spent much time doing much of _anything _on this layer. She'd kept herself busy elsewhere, except when she'd been bored and settled for television. She could live without _that_, no problem. She'd already had ramen- or enough of it to last her. She'd had a sweet treat… She'd visited Kita and Genkai and Shizuru just the other day…

Her eyes turned down to Nabu, who was watching her curiously. She could grab his play stuff if he felt up to it.

Except he didn't exactly look in the mood to play. He almost looked as if he'd eaten too much and needed a nap.

She turned to Kurama, blinking once at him. "I haven't spent much time on this layer as of late. Nothing comes to mind that I haven't already taken care of." _*****_

"Well, I mean I _could _just carry you off to the park for a nap, but I was at least going to give you a chance to think of something else." Kurama quipped, not moving from his chair yet.

~!**!~

"And let me tell you that I much prefer being _chased_." Shikiyoku informed Douji.

"Well, good. That works out well for us, then." Douji started to get up, extending a hand for Shikiyoku to take, which she did, and pulling her to her feet. "So, I'll ask again since I never really _did _get an answer: are you doing to dance for us tonight?"

He still had a hold of her hand and she tipped her head upwards so she could look into his eyes, finding his face looking rather solemn.

She turned her nose primly to the side and slipped her hand out from his, replying with a prissy, "No," before turning away, nose still in the air, and walking back towards the camp, leaving Douji staring after her for a moment with his mouth hanging open a little in disbelief.

He made a noise of protest and took off after her, "Shikiiiiii!"

At the sound of him starting to run towards her, she gave a quick glance over her shoulder and a laugh before dashing off herself. 3

Hiei made a small sound to himself at the display between the two, suddenly feeling as if he were babysitting a couple of children who enjoyed the game of _tag. _His hands found his cloak pockets as he turned to follow, only pausing to give a brief glance at the tree again before leaving the area entirely.

He meandered into the encampment, deciding he'd leave Shikiyoku and Douji to their game and take a look around, this time nodding calm hellos to the demons who passed by, even pausing to exchange a word with the hunters he'd associated with the last time he was here.

Around every turn, he was asked about 'Iro' and Shikiyoku, the names being flip flopped every so often when one got tired of continuously repeating the same sounds in curiosity. Many asked if he and Shikiyoku- how many times had he said her long name?- if they were here to give them another dance, to stay around for a while and enjoy themselves as well.

Several faces were familiar to him, in that he remembered hunting with them. Their names, however, escaped him for the most part. Even the leader, who he remembered being very watchful over them, he couldn't recall the name of. The demon who smiled and greeted him by handing him a knife, saying there was meat to be carved if he wanted to join. And another hunt later, if they were still around and he was interested.

"You've changed quite a bit, Hiei." He'd said before gesturing over his shoulder, only for another demon to come running up.

"Kiteki, one of our traps sprang loose."

_Kiteki! _It had almost driven the fire demon mad trying to remember. When asked to come along, Hiei handed the knife back in declination. "I have other priorities."

"As you wish." the male said before turning and taking off, yelling something or another about returning before the dance that was still being passed around as rumors between the tribesfolk.

Not that it was a rumor, by any means.

~!**!~

"Carrying me is a little over the top, yes?" Akari's lips pulled into a wolfish grin at her own ridiculous pun, imagining him tossing her over his shoulder. She slid from her chair, Nabu quickly moving to stand and out of the way. "Well, I've got no better ideas. I say let's go." _*****_

"But Akari," He stood up, giving her the most pitifully pleading look he could manage, "What if it's what I _desire_?"

~!**!~

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Douji asked for the umpteenth time.

"I'm positive." Shikiyoku reassured him, starting to usher him out of the Elder's Tent, which she'd once again been given permission to make use of.

"Really? I can get you anything you need." He wasn't resisting her a whole lot, but he was impeding her progress to get him out of the tent.

"If I need anything, you will be the first to know, I promise."

"...can I stay and watch you change?"

"Get out." Shikiyoku shoved him the last foot as he laughed at her and let her do so, pushing the tent flap out of his face and muting his merriment as it came back down to cover the entrance.

"You're going to be as bad as Youko some day, I can already see that." She murmured to herself, pleased, as she turned and started to slip out of her clothing, eyeing the outfit of the Northern Tribe that the Elder had placed there sometime much earlier in the day, Shikiyoku had no doubt. 3

Hiei wandered around the encampment until he was stopped by a few more demons here and there, preventing him from finding his way to the Elder's Tent, where he was more than certain Shikiyoku was. It had been where she prepared last time…

After he'd admitted that he'd wanted to be around her, that is. After they'd had their disagreement- or whatever that had been. Oddly, he couldn't rightly recall at the moment what had lead to him telling her he wanted _her. _He couldn't recall what had alarmed him after his tirade of tearing down tree after tree.

He couldn't even remember what had caused _that _tantrum either. Only that he'd been beside himself with too many emotions to care about sparing the wood for the bonfire at the time.

Hiei accepted some form of meat or another handed to him before brushing by, saying he had somewhere to be at the moment, and they had let him go.

Hiei approached the tent, about to toss the flap aside when warning bells went off in his head, bringing him to notice Douji standing a little ways away, as if waiting for her. _Meaning she didn't want anyone inside. _He paused with his fingers poised over the tent flap, and turned instead to call through it. "Food, before you go." He slid his hand through the space afforded to him, not entering as he offered the cooked meat kebab. "And don't tell me no."

~!**!~

Akari gave a shrug of her shoulders, her hands coming up to emphasize the gesture with her palms facing the ceiling as she moved by him. "Sadly, I'm not a demon of desire now, am I?" She released a sound of amusement. "I mean, unless you want to carry me on your back. I wouldn't hesitate if I thought I could convince you to do _that_."

She gave another sound of amusement. _As if he'd do it. __*****_

"Done." Kurama swept her up in his arms and easily maneuvered her until she was behind him, his arms underneath her knees at either side.

And as if to emphasize the point that he didn't particularly care one way or the other if anyone saw him like this, he calmly nodded goodbye to the shopkeepers who smiled and waved and made his way out the door, walking down the sidewalk at an easy pace.

~!**!~

A small hand grabbed Hiei's by the wrist and gave a tug, pulling him inside the tent towards her, where upon getting him beyond the threshold and out of sight, she stood much too close for it to have been accidental.

"When have I _ever _told you no?" She purred, inches from him, and looked him up and down once before releasing his wrist and plucking the food out of his grasp, turning away to walk a few feet before pulling off a piece of meat and chewing on it.

"Or should I do it more often?" She murmured to herself as if he wasn't there anymore, "Maybe _that's_ my problem." She reached up absently to lightly touch at the large flower Youko had given her and found that it still sat firmly above her ear where he placed it. 3

Hiei stumbled, having not anticipated being _pulled inside. _He caught his footing after a second and stood upright, eyes meeting her shining green irises that were much closer than he'd anticipated. He blinked once, realizing she'd taken him by surprise _twice _in less than a full minute. He raised his brows at her as he considered what she'd just said, and then his lips turned up very slightly in a small sneer that disappeared just as quickly.

He didn't answer her question, deciding to take it as rhetorical even if she hadn't meant it as such.

He stared at the back of her head as she moved away, his own irises flashing briefly in the dark even if she didn't see it before turning away.

"You've caused quite the commotion."

~!**!~

Akari reacted with the smallest of jolts when Kurama suddenly grabbed for her, her hands finding his shoulders within a few seconds when she found herself actually being carried on the redhead's back. She blinked once before giving a laugh. She'd been kidding, but she wasn't going to complain.

As he moved, she draped her arms lazily over his shoulders, one hand grabbing the wrist of the other, and rested her chin on his shoulder. Her eyes turned to watch his face.

Again, a single thought floated across her mind, questioning why he cared and why he was so… _good _to her, but she didn't voice it.

"Is this you repaying me for _me _carrying you on _my _back?" she suddenly asked, lips stretching into a wide, teasing grin. _*****_

"Not in the slightest." Kurama replied, paying little attention to anyone they walked past, though in truth they themselves had few actually pay attention to them either. "I plan on remaining indebted to you just so you keep coming back."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku turned to face him, teeth tearing off another bit of the meat he had offered her and she spoke while chewing, mildly interested.

"You don't say? And why would that be?" 3

Hiei took a moment to give the barest of sounds to himself in amusement. "Perhaps its that charming personality of yours." Whether he was being sarcastic or not, there was no way in knowing.

~!**!~

Akari huffed at him, though her smile remained unwavering. "I would say it's clever, but really…" She paused, giving the barest of shrugs as her eyes turned forward, "I don't think it would matter one way or the other." She poked his chest with her thumb. "I wouldn't _need _you to be indebted to decide to come back. I daresay you have me charmed, fox." _*****_

"No," Kurama said with mock-surprise, "_Me _charm _you_? Highly unlikely. I'll stick with what I know to be working, thank you very much."

~!**!~

"Ha." Shikiyoku gave the single dry bark of a laugh before sitting down cross-legged on top of the fur rugs in the middle of the tent. "You're very funny." She unceremoniously stuffed her face further. 3

Hiei watched her with amusement clear in his eyes, though the expression didn't touch his lips this time. He kept it contained, withholding it in the stare he continued to deliver. "Or perhaps its your radiance." He blinked slowly at her once, making for certain his neutral mask remained in place. "Perhaps both."

~!**!~

"So this isn't you _charming_ me? Simply.. _amusing _me?" She turned her head so that her cheek rested on his shoulder, her eyes on his face again. "I feel as if that's a lie." Her lips twitched again, refusing a small laugh. _*****_

"If I told you everytime I was meant to be _charming_, wouldn't that be missing the point? Aren't I _supposed _to keep you guessing? Or does the whole 'mysterious' thing not work well for you?" Kurama smiled, "You could have fooled me."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a breath of air something between a scoff and a laugh, peering up at him after a moment, "Are you feeling quite alright?" 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, remaining quiet for a moment. A thought or two passed at the forefront of his mind, and without directly noticing he did as such, he began scratching at his neck idly, as if it helped him think. Because, really, he'd just remembered that Shikiyoku _knew _about each mark, and hadn't _told him _about his own. One that, he realized, he wasn't sure where it began. How large it was.

A brow quirked slightly but he brushed those thoughts aside. She didn't need a distraction before the ritual she was going to give.

"If I weren't, someone would be dead."

~!**!~

"I don't think 'mysterious' is the right word," Akari mumbled, shrugging again. "Just… _complex _and absolutely _vexing _and oh so _irritatingly prudent." _She paused to take a small breath in, more words coming to mind. "Keen, sly, audacious-" she paused again, blinking. Her brows furrowed. "I actually have a list. Should I go on?"

"_I… wouldn't bait her. She could go on forever, if you let her." __*****_

"Please do." Kurama ignored Nabu's advice entirely, rather enjoying himself at the moment.

~!**!~

"Is that so? You're either 'doing well' or committing murder? I hadn't realized you had so many moods, Hiei." 3

"Occasionally I decide there's an inbetween and give sarcastic insight to irritating situations." The fire demon crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head to the side. "Napping within trees is another as well. Quite satisfying, might I add."

~!**!~

Akari drew in a deep breath, collecting her thoughts and ordering them by categories that she wouldn't be willing to share. "Frank, brazen," she paused, filtering out the synonyms to those words and going another route. "Ostentatious, often lofty- though usually within the right moments- keen." The faraway look in her eyes quickly diminished as she refocused on his expression again. "An absolute _pain." _Her lips twitched, "and while 'mysterious' isn't a word I'd use, you can be closed off on some subjects if you feel it unimportant, though this is usually when you feel you've messed up a certain situation. And yet you're forthcoming. Trustworthy. Responsible. Perhaps dutiful in the right situation." She tilted her head a little at him, another word falling from her lips without her direct notice. "Pulchritudinous." Her eyelids slid closed, mouth still moving without her notice, without her consent, the words nothing more than a murmur. "Inviting." _*****_

"Nabu, you should get her to list off _your _qualities sometime. I can only imagine they must be _twice _as good mine."

~!**!~

"Oh. Well. You're a demon of many talents, certainly. I haven't the faintest idea how you manage to stand lowering yourself into interactions with the likes of me." 3

The stare Hiei turned onto Shikiyoku held every thought that passed behind his eyes, showed every gear that turned at the words she'd spoken, joke or not. He kept the stare pointed at her, his mouth remaining closed because there were too many retorts he could give, and none of them would suffice. None of them would be _enough_.

So he kept staring at her unblinkingly, not a single muscle twitching to indicate that he had any intention of verbally responding.

~!**!~

"_I think you have me beat," _Nabu replied, giving a small huff through his nose in amusement. "_My fur may be soft, but I don't smell like flowers."_

Akari's eyes came open, a brow raised slightly. She'd missed the conversation for her own thoughts, but didn't ask. "You know, you're no fun. I can't pick on you, mister _perfect." _She huffed at Kurama again. "Other than the fact that you call yourself _selfish, _I have nothing filed under 'bad qualities'. Even your _hair _is perfect." She snorted. "One day, I'm going to catch you on a bad hair day." _*****_

"You're right. I'm such a bore. No fun whatsoever." Kurama told her, "That's why you stick around. To make my life interesting."

_[The pup's fur isn't __**half **__as soft as mine.]_

_{She wouldn't know about that, now would she?}_

_[And I have no intentions of letting her find out.]_

~!**!~

It took a few seconds, in which time she was nibbling again at the skewer, but at a strange prickling feeling at the base of her neck, Shikiyoku lifted her eyes from the food she brought up to her face and raised an eyebrow at him, lowering her arm back to her knee and chewing for another moment.

"Something _wrong_?" 3

There was a delay between Shikiyoku's question and Hiei's reaction, where the fire demon internally fought with the different responses he could give. But after a moment, his lips formed into a sneer, his irises darkening just a little despite the gleam of amusement. And at the forefront of his mind was the sole desire that she knew she was beneath _no one. _Because he held her in the highest regard.

~!**!~

Akari gave a hum. "Then again, that's exactly what makes you so vexing." She mulled the thought over before cutting her eyes to him, her expression turning mischievous. "I retract my earlier statement. You're not, in any way, 'no fun'. You're a challenge. An enjoyable one that, quite honestly, I have no intention of conquering. Because then, _you _will come back, flaunting it in my face to make sure _I _come back."

"_...Is that how it goes?" __*****_

"Ah, well. And here I was thinking that after all this time you might finally realize you're far beyond having already conquered me." He gave a little shrug, "I suppose you still have much to learn."

~!**!~

It was almost imperceptible, but Shikiyoku flinched as she quickly looked down at the half-eaten kebab in her hand, chewing slowing down a pace, color rising unbidden to her cheeks and flushing at her neck.

_And to think out of everyone else, here I had gone and thought he might be the one to understand._

What was she supposed to say to what she felt from him? Half of her wanted to argue with him, the other half just as soon would give it up as a lost cause.

Hiei's "watered-down" blood was likely the closest anyone was going to get to how she felt in regards to her own: no longer one thing or the other but this strange, perverse _defilement _of them both, twisted together in such a manner that had of late made her feel..._unclean_.

"I-" She let out a breath and fell silent, unable to put it to words. 3

Hiei didn't have to read Shikiyoku's mind to know her thoughts. It was in the say her muscles slumped, the way the gleam in her eyes dulled slightly. He'd caught the flinch despite how low-key she kept it, and it made his irises flash briefly. He understood perfectly, and had known for a while her feelings on her own energy, even before she'd voiced it.

Because he'd lived it.

_Still _lived it.

But for her, killing those who pointed it out wouldn't work. Throwing a tantrum and an attack at demons wouldn't lighten her darkening thoughts. In fact, he was sure she'd go down a path she'd never be able to return from.

She'd missed his reasoning altogether. But he wasn't about to hand over his thoughts about it so easily.

He shifted his weight. "And here I thought _you_ would be the one to understand by now."

~!**!~

Akari gave a grin. "Do tell, fox." _*****_

"And ruin all your fun? The very idea."

_[You mean ruin all of __**your**_ _fun.]_

_{Shush, you.}_

~!**!~

She hadn't taken another bite, hardly noticing that she absently held part of the meat in one side of her cheek.

"I don't think I can rightly say I understand much of anything anymore." She answered quietly, twisting the skewer back and forth between her fingers. 3

"Then I suppose you have something to look forward to." Hiei turned his eyes away finally, lips twitching as his mind focused on something else**: **the last time they'd been here. What he'd said. It still rang true. Every bit of it.

He still wanted to remain in her company, whether as Champion, a mere distraction, or even the possibility of Consort. It didn't matter.

Because she was _still, _to this day, the first demon he knew of who had defended him to another without knowing of his presence.

And he would likely never forget it.

~!**!~

"Is that so?" Akari shifted a little, pulling her arms up to cross over the male's collarbone. "And here I thought it was _you_ having all the fun, and _I _was just supplying the entertainment." *****

"I'm a bore, remember? I'm incapable of having fun. You're supposed to be teaching me how to do so." Kurama provided, "I suppose it could be that you aren't doing a very good job of it. I think it more likely that I'm just such a terrible student. You really shouldn't leave in that case. Not until I am doing much better."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku took in a large breath through her nose, letting it out silently from her mouth.

She could feel what he wished, what his desires were, in that moment and she was torn-_There's always two sides to everything with me anymore. Is that to become a permanent fixture in my existence? This...duality?-_between feeling wonderful that he wanted to be with her and wanting desperately for him to desire for something better for himself than _her_. It was truly a toss-up as to which one she _actually_ hoped for.

"You deserve something better." Shikiyoku mumbled under her breath, mostly to herself, "You _all _do." 3

Hiei turned to look at Shikiyoku, his thoughts tapering away as he focused again on the woman sitting on the ground. His expression remained calm, his eyes searching her face for anything she _wasn't _saying. He made a sound at her after a moment, but didn't say what he'd immediately thought about the matter. He also didn't go on about the second thought- that being of her not telling him about him being 'Marked'.

He stared a bit longer.

"And what, do you suppose, is considered 'better'?"

~!**!~

Akari let out a breathy laugh into the other's shoulder. "_Me _teach _you_?" She leaned back, hands on his shoulders to keep her from leaning _too _far away, and her legs extending in front of them. "You _really _should rethink that statement. The only thing _I _teach anyone is what _not _to do in order to avoid being hung upside down over some sort of threat or another." She gave another laugh and stretched her arms over her head. "And, apparently, how to properly ensure chopsticks go through a hand without puncturing the surface beneath."

"_That was fun to witness." __*****_

"Anything that gets you stay around longer," Kurama replied with a slightly confiding air, "Have you not yet realized that's the point?" He let his head turn slightly as if he was trying to look at her. "And here I was thinking I made it rather obvious."

_[Well, she isn't a_ _**fox**__, now is she?]_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stood up and smoothed her hands down the front of the regalia the Elder laid out for her, taking a step towards the exit and making as if to leave.

"Why, anything at all, really." 3

Hiei raised a brow. "I disagree," he stated calmly, eyes following her motions with a steady gaze. His hands found his cloak pockets calmly as he turned, allowing her to pass by him if she wished. He didn't say anything more on that particular subject.

"I'll be watching," he commented, deciding to at least let her know that he fully intended on being a helping hand if she needed it.

~!**!~

Akari gave a grin. "And then that would be _two _deals in one instance I would be breaking. And, quite frankly, I don't want to begin such a streak." When her arms came back over his shoulders, she held the rose in her right hand, twirling around in her grasp, eyes following the motions of the petals. _*****_

Kurama caught the slightest glimpse of the twirling rose, though he had felt it long before that moment. He turned his head back to the front.

"Thinking of me already? And here you haven't even left yet."

~!**!~

He really was the worst person to try and have an argument with, being utterly convinced he was absolutely right and all.

As she passed by him, she paused when he spoke up, and the expression she gave him held an immense amount of gratefulness at his statement, though she quickly gave a little huff of air out her nose haughtily and turned away to keep going out the tent flap and into the near-darkness.

"You'd better." 3

Hiei followed after Shikiyoku, lips briefly twitching into a smirk before it disappeared again into his neutral expression. "As if I'd miss it."

~!**!~

Akari hummed at him in light amusement, not looking away from the rose that she continued to toy with. She spun it three more cycles before lowering her wrist, letting it remain in this form as she turned to the redhead again. "You make quite the case." She gave a small sigh and lowered her chin to his shoulder again, eyes closing. "Very tempting." _*****_

"And yet we both know in the end you'll do the right thing." Kurama let out a little sigh.

_[Leaving it open-ended like that?]_

_{Shush.}_

~!**!~

There was already a bright bonfire going a few hundred feet away, and its light danced across the campsite merrily, the sounds of music and laughter carrying over on the wind.

Douji was standing a couple of feet in front of the Elder's tent with his back to Shikiyoku as she approached. It was easy to set in the set of his shoulders and how he had one hand clasping at the elbow of his other arm that he was nervous, if not uncomfortable.

"You look quite nice." Shikiyoku murmured as she came up next to him and stood, looking out in the same direction as he.

"I don't like it." He glanced at her, "I just want you to know."

He stood bare-chested with a pair of pants similar to what she wore, which had strips of fabric attached at the waist and hanging over the legs.

She took a step forward and looked up at him.

"You don't _have _to like it." She put a hand over the heart-shaped marking on the right side of his chest and the entire thing began to glow even as she pulled the layers around them.

Douji did look down to see that the swirls went down his right side to his stomach, and extended behind where he could feel the warmth spreading partially over his back.

"That's not the point." Shikiyoku grabbed for his hand and pulled him forward, the glow disappearing from his body, moving through tents and people as if it were nothing-which, while inbetween, it _was _nothing-and breaking out into the open area around which everyone had gathered.

There were dancers in the middle of the large circle and she stood there with Douji, waiting. 3

Hiei let Shikiyoku go to Douji, he himself turning and meandering his way through the camp grounds and around the tents, in the direction he could feel the bonfire, hear the music, smell the food. He moved through the crowd once he'd breached it, easily maneuvering himself through the demons who still allowed him passage.

He found a suitable place at the edge of the crowd, close to the front of the crowd. He remained slightly distanced from the rest, hands in his pockets and eyes on the demons he could see waiting in the inbetween layer. Amusement flitted across his being at the idea that he was the only one in the place who could see the pair.

~!**!~

Akari didn't reply. _RIght thing by them, or by me? _A small twitch of her lips had her making a small sound to herself in consideration. _Is there really such a thing as doing the right thing here? Is there really even an actual choice to be made? It isn't like they need me in any way. Only Isamu seems to believe I'm essential for…_

She frowned. She hadn't forgotten that she was still, by blood, Alpha material. Mentally, she couldn't give a crud. They weren't her responsibility. They had an alpha.

_A terrible one._

That thought had her groaning.

"You're awful by saying that, I hope you understand."

_It's not my business. I'm not staying. __*****_

"I never made any claims to being anything less than absolutely terrible. I hope you understand."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku waited until the drums picked up another beat before shifting herself and Douji back onto the Ninth Layer, letting go of his hand and beginning to dance.

As usual, no one noticed her at first, not even when her energy began snaking outwards.

Douji stood awkwardly before her for a solid minute, seeming both pleased to be so close to her-she danced as if he were the complete center of her attention-and embarrassed to be in the middle of everyone as he was.

During that minute though, her energy had looped about him twice and the markings on his body started to glow, a prominent feature in the midst of the dancers that soon had everyone's eyes turning to see what was going on, for the hue was different than the one the fire had flickering over their faces.

As if he could feel the eyes upon him, Douji shifted uncomfortably until he caught sight of Shikiyoku's countenance, realizing that she hadn't looked away from him the whole time. He ducked his head as she passed back behind him, coloring rising in his cheeks.

_You are my world._

_You are for whom I dance_.

He cut his eyes to the other side, watching as she stepped into his view again and seeing that the only time her sparkling gaze, her eyes glowing almost golden with her energy, left him was when she would make a turn. Her expression was inviting, open, kind. Excited.

_Dance with me_.

Without his direct notice, his body had started to relax as the glow settled in on his marking, lighting up the tattoo. His head started to lift to watch her, though he still did not move.

_I don't know how to dance_.

He thought he heard laughter echoing in his mind, but it was not mocking or belittling his statement, instead being the most pleasant laughter he had ever heard in his entire life that seemed to lift whatever concerns he had from his heart.

_Dance with me_.

For a split second, Shikiyoku stopped in front of him, coming to rest and staring up deeply into his eyes, her energy spiraling outwards from her body to encompass all of those gathered, still moving even when she herself paused.

Before he could even form the protest, she started moving again and he found himself unable to resist, a sudden smile brightening his features when he found that the movements required no effort on his part, his body appearing to naturally know what to do. They wove in and out of one another in perfect sync, as if they had been doing this their entire lives.

The dancers around them were so engrossed in their own movements that for a few more minutes everyone kept going, circling around the epicenter that was Douji and Shikiyoku.

And where once long ago there had been only her, dancing alone, this time another joined in with her, keeping in perfect step with her, a partner that was in every way her equal as her energy swirled out into the crowd.

At the moment when it reached Hiei, looping twice about him, Shikiyoku's eyes found him in the midst of the other demons, cutting through the darkness and staring directly at him-

_You are my world._

_You are for whom I dance._

-before closing again.

One by one the dancers realized she moved in the middle of them, and they would each in turn and sit down where they stopped around her to watch until only she and Douji were left.

The Elder watched with the other esteemed members of the tribe from where they gathered in their usual seats, and she took great care in noticing that, since Douji had taken up the dance, his mark had grown up the right side of his neck and face, so slowly that if one had not been looking for it, it was quite possible one would not have noticed the difference.

Douji knew the difference.

On some level or another, he could feel the warmth of the mark, could tell that it was growing.

Shikiyoku's eyes had closed some time before and he now did the same, finding that even without his sight he had no trouble continuing to dance with her.

She fought to maintain the serenity of her expression, but within herself, Shikiyoku could feel that something was going wrong. There was too much of her energy being expended much too fast, and as she let her dance continue to weave the spell into the very air, she could feel her core giving a little jolt as more power was drawn out of her and it skipped a few beats to catch up.

Had she not used energy earlier at Douji's behest, she was uncertain if she would have paid much attention, but with a portion of her power already spent, and more being drawn out of her each second by some outside force she could not prevent or even comprehend, every ounce was precious.

More unnerving perhaps than her inability to control the speed with which her energy left her was the fact that she felt a particular direction-meaning to her that there was some_one_ behind the whole thing-in which her energy kept disappearing-it would be there and then suddenly gone-forcing her to keep feeding the strands out of her body that looped around the denizens of the tribe in order to make up for what was no longer there.

At this rate, she would run out of energy before finishing the ritual. And in either case it would result in her death.

Shikiyoku felt no panic, felt no concern, her steps did not so much as falter.

And there was one single reason as to why. A reason that she now focused her mind upon, hoping he listened for her.

Because she knew that if he did not hear her, all of that panic and concern she did not feel would come crashing down on her and she would be at a loss at what to do.

"_Hiei."_ 3

The fire demon stood in the midst of demons, eyes transfixed on Shikiyoku the moment she began moving on _this _layer. The moment she began to dance, his red irises were focused on her, a sense of awe blossoming, just as it had the first time she had danced. This time, he noticed the energy that moved about, but did not watch it. He was aware of it moving about him, looping twice around his ankle, but he didn't even spare it a glance.

Why would he, when the _source_ of such radiance was moving so eloquently, so elegantly around and around in the space she seemed to demand on a lower level. A subconscious level that even the other dancers didn't seem to notice until they were already clear of her path, already adding their own accentuations to her fluid movements.

And while he was indeed very _entranced_ with her, very _enthralled_ with the way she moved and danced and seemed so utterly _happy_ in the moment, he was also very keen of any changes. He allowed half of his mind to revel in the wonder of her, in the complete contentedness that she exuded. Enthusiasm. The other half of his brain remained keen on her, searching for anything out of the norm, anything that screamed for him to jump in.

And it wasn't exactly a scream. At first, he didn't really actually _hear_ the calm calling of his name. He did, however, _feel _that his attentions were being tugged on. He blinked once, his mind clearing of the distractions, of the music and of the energy around him, and he focused again on her, his mind brushing hers calmly.

He didn't have to say the words for her to hear them.

_I'm here._

And he was very happily allowing his own energy to slide unseen through the crowd, warming the ground as his energy moved to the forefront of the party, eventually wrapping about Shikiyoku in a warmth that said all she needed was to accept its embrace, and she'd be assisted in any way necessary.

Because he wouldn't mind doing this for her. He _enjoyed_ it. And he'd do it every single time she asked.

It wasn't easy to miss it this time. The warmth of a mark on his skin. A hidden, unseen mark that even he himself hadn't seen yet. And at first, the warmth began over his heart, as if it were the epicenter of the entire thing. But the warmth spread, moving up and over his shoulder, up his neck a little, and even down to the crook in his left arm. The portion he felt slowly warming downwards seemed to feel as if it looped and curled and twisted in every which way, following veins, following muscles, creating shapes within shapes that he didn't dare look at yet.

And his skin tingled just a little in places, as if new warmth was spreading there, new marks taking over his skin.

_Is this what it feels like? _

He felt the warmth continuing to move behind his neck, down his shoulders, even down his abdomen to curl about his waist, as if unwilling to go any further, but needing room to grow.

_Incredible._

~!**!~

Akari groaned at the redhead again. "You're right, you're a terrible student. No fun whatsoever and you aren't learning it. You're even making your teacher a bore." She took a long, dramatic breath in through her lips. "What_ever_ will I do with you?" _*****_

"Endeavour to make me an acceptable student, I hope." Kurama gave her a sigh, "I might decide to delay improvement and make it a life-long project for you, though. It would be wise of you to take that into consideration."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a silent breath of air, the slight tension at her neck disappearing in the wake of the warmth she felt actively and willingly being presented for her.

There was hardly need for the words, as her gratefulness was readily apparent, but she passed them to him anyway.

"_Thank you." _

Her dance changed. Not abruptly, nor stepping out of time with the music, but Douji opened his eyes long enough to indicate to her that he felt the difference before they slid back closed again, finding that his steps did not falter, only adjust as needed.

She wove into the air with her body the necessary requirements for shifting the ritual into accepting Hiei's energy, hardly even able to spare a thought about the last time she had done this, but thankful that it came easily and that he was here _this _time so that she had no need for worry.

His energy was slowly absorbed into her body, and then spun out like threads around the strands she already had going.

There would be more than enough here to finish what had been started.

But still there was that...that _pull_, or _feeling _somewhere at the other end in the crowd where her energy was being actively drawn from her and then disappearing, and now Hiei's too.

"_Do you feel that?" _3

Hiei had just closed his eyes to mentally inspect the warmth growing on his skin, spreading even still, when a single, fleeting thought crossed his mind. _Wrong. _His eyes came open again, all mental inspections paused and turning to Shikiyoku, searching for anything he might see going wrong with _her_. But, from the looks of it, from the way his energy interwove with hers and how calmly she moved, he saw nothing that put her in immediate danger.

So he turned to feeling his own energy, tracking it, searching for whatever had stilled his own thoughts about things that he'd considered pretty damn important at the time. He could feel it moving, looping about demons and weaving through the crowd, swirling, mingling with Shikiyoku's. Perfectly fine.

_Do you feel that? _

Her question had him searching again.

**There**. His mental instincts called his attention to it, the abnormality. The sudden tug of, and then the disappearance of his energy, along with the tendril of _her _energy that it had been mingling with.

He sent a silent affirmation as his eyes turned to search the crowd, looking for suspicious movement, for eyes that didn't look at the female with the right gleam. For anything that was out of the current norm. Out of place in the energetic, and yet quaint ritual taking place.

~!**!~

"Don't be _difficult_. I just finished complimenting you, and now you're being like _this." _She gave another sigh, one that lasted too long to actually mean the way it came out. She shifted again, arms tightening around his neck as she leaned forward, burying her nose near his jawline, just below his ear. "Stupid fox." _*****_

"Sorry. Next time I'll try not to let you know what I'm actually doing."

_[You're doing it on purpose.]_

_{Your point?}_

_[...]_

_{That's what I thought.}_

~!**!~

"_Good. Just...remember that feeling for me."_

Her mind was too overtaken by the continuous adjustments she was having to make to counter whatever was going on to actually _do _anything about it. Not to mention the fact she wasn't about to interrupt or try and stop what she was doing anyway.

"_We'll talk about it later."_

There was a sheen of sweat over her skin from the exertions, and it took a great deal of discipline to force her lungs to intake air at a steady rate, but the ritual was nearly complete, and with the help of Hiei, it would finish without a hitch.

The moment came where everything bound together with her energy paused, her and Douji facing one another, and a pulse of energy filled the air around them, encompassing the tribe for a beat until everything came back together, the pulse receding back into her and the music giving one final chord.

Her arms lowered and she stood normally, Douji mirroring her actions as he stared down at her, himself breathing heavily and a soft smile on his face as she in turn looked up at him, less than a foot between them.

"You're amazing."

Her face scrunched up briefly with amusement at his breathy statement.

"How did you do that?"

She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by 'that,' but her answer wouldn't have been different in either case.

A finger came up and she winked at him.

"That...is a secret."

They didn't even seem to notice that the demons had erupted into cheers around them and started flowing forward.

Douji's markings were still glowing and most of the tribe were surrounding the two of them, chattering excitedly and clapping the boy on the back.

By the time anyone noticed she was missing, Shikiyoku had slipped inbetween the layers, leaving Douji to his tribe, and worked her way through them, releasing her hold on Hiei's energy before she left.

She reappeared next to Hiei, watching the crowd pegging Douji with questions, her sweat gleaming in the firelight on her bare arms.

_Without even telling him what I needed...he gave me what I asked._

She glanced up at Hiei from out of the corner of her eyes, finding that her lips turned up into a crooked smile before she slid them back to watch the crowd again. 3

Hiei had continued watching the crowd even when a streamline of energy moved through the demons and around, even up and over in a thin dome-like structure that just as quickly retreated, leaving him noting that he saw nothing out of place in that moment. And it left him mildly irritated.

But that irritation was wiped away before it had even actually registered, leaving him calm and watchful again as he turned to look at the crowd around the other boy, noting instantly that Shikiyoku was not beside him, as she had been before.

He glanced to his other side, raising a brow at her briefly before he turned forward again, not noticing that she turned to him as well.

"_You enjoyed yourself." _It wasn't a question. Merely an observation. One that had his hands finding his pockets and his eyes taking on a thoughtful gleam. "_I'm glad." _

~!**!~

Akari smiled, knowing he wouldn't be able to see it even if he turned to look at her. In this moment, she was glad she'd called upon him. Glad she'd told him she was leaving, because now… Now she was _certain _she wished to come back, no matter what she saw, no matter what happened while she was with the pack. And no matter how long she'd be gone, she was certain she wouldn't forget _this moment_ even for a second.

This time, her sigh was one of content.

"I hope you have no plans. Because _my _only plans for the day consist of monopolizing _your _time for once. Instead of _you _taking _mine." __*****_

"I remain ever your intrepid pupil," Kurama began, "So, I must, I feel, in this situation, allow you to take the lead, dear teacher. My time is yours for the taking."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes had fluttered shut, and she only barely managed to peel her lids apart when she thought she heard him say something.

"Mm?"

It took a moment for her to realize he hadn't spoken aloud.

"_I did no such thing." _She shifted her weight on her feet. Or possibly swayed in place. It could have easily been either one. "_However, if you hadn't been here, my non-enjoyment would have been rather short-lived. So, __**I'm **__glad...for you."_

_For your presence. For you being here._

A few shouts went up from the tribe, most of whom were still out in the middle of the circle with Douji, and trays of food were being passed to him.

A light amusement passed over Shikiyoku's features.

Of _course _the boy was hungry. 3

Hiei turned his eyes onto Shikiyoku for a moment, noting her expression that confirmed what he'd already guessed. He _nearly _raised a brow at her, but instead merely watched her, observing how her body slumped a little and her eyelids seemed to become heavier and heavier, her feet likely feeling the same to her.

He remembered the last time he'd stood in this exact spot after her dance. She'd come to him, knelt down and asked to spend the evening with him.

Shortly thereafter she'd fallen asleep. Not that he had minded**; **she'd already told him she would.

He turned forward again.

"_You don't have to hold back." _He didn't look at her again. "_I'm still here for a reason." _

_~!**!~_

Akari almost missed the last word in his second sentence, and her mouth had opened to say something against him calling her by the word 'dear'. But her lips came closed again when her brain registered the 'teacher' part, and she gave an amused hum. "Good. I'd hate to fight anyone over it." She gave a pause. "Actually, I consider that a lie. Today, your time is mine, and I won't be sharing."

…

"Except maybe with Nabu."

"_So I'm __**not **__forgotten about back here?" __*****_

Kurama let out a low chuckle and stopped in place for a moment, half-considering sliding Akari off his back.

They were in the park.

"Anywhere in particular I'm supposed to be headed?"

_~!**!~_

Shikiyoku stood a little taller, disguising it by pulling her shoulders back to stretch them, the muscles still warm with her previous efforts.

"_Hold what back?" _She squeezed her eyes together and forced them back open, watching Douji interacting with the crowd. "_I don't know what you're talking about." _3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	86. Episode 170 - Tracking, To The Park!

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Beloved Yu Yu Hakusho Fans!

I'll take an extra look at this chapter tomorrow when I get a chance. It was kind of posted in a rush because I took a nap today-I'm both recovering from a weekend trip and from being sick-(which is why the chapter is a little late as I only woke up about thirty minutes before it needed to be posted, oops!) and I hadn't gotten the chance to really reorient myself in the story, so a couple of things may not be accurate.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari reassures Kurama that even though she is leaving to join Isamu,  
she has every intention of returning.

In light of the fact that he will be on his own for a while,  
Kurama tells Nabu that he will take the dog by Toriko's home,  
as even if Youko is not there himself, there will likely be someone around who could help him.

Since she can't think of anything in particular she wants to do before she leaves,  
Kurama picks Akari up and gives her a piggy-back ride to the park,  
asking if there is any place within it she wants to go specifically.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku successfully dances the Odori Iro for the tree,  
much to the smug satisfaction of Hiei and Douji both.

They return to the camp and the rest of the afternoon passes peacefully,  
Shikiyoku staying within the Elder's tent so that she might prepare.

Once night arrives, she drags Douji into the middle of the dancers from between the layers,  
and when she pulls them out from inbetween, she begins to dance, Douji eventually joining her.

As with the last time she danced for the Northern Tribe, Shikiyoku has to call on Hiei for help,  
as her energy is being sucked away by some unseen demon,  
and what with having done the ritual earlier that day,  
she has less energy than she normally would have.

With Hiei's energy combined with her own, the rest of the ritual goes off without a hitch,  
and the tribe swarms the dancers, specifically Douji whose mark had been glowing brightly,  
and Shikiyoku makes her inbetween-escape to stand next to Hiei at the outer edge of the circle.

Exhausted, Shikiyoku manages to remain upright without leaning into Hiei,  
as always keenly aware of his aversion to physical contact,  
and when he points out he still stood there specifically for her to do such a thing,  
she attempts to shake herself back awake and insists she doesn't know what he's talking about...

* * *

The glance Hiei shot at Shikiyoku was an amused one. "_You're fooling anyone but me." _He continued to watch her from the corners of his eyes for a moment longer before turning his eyes to look about, searching for any watching eyes. He checked and double checked, just in case, before reaching out and grabbing Shikiyoku, pulling her between the layers to leave the crowd without being noticed.

He turned, pulling her into his firm hold to carry her away, moving for the treeline, deciding they wouldn't invade the Elder's tent again, but perhaps they'd stay nearby for the night, in case she wished to return.

When he let them fall onto the Ninth Layer again, they were several yards away from the treeline separating forestry from camp, in the branches of a tall, rather calm tree that he had decided some time ago would do for a nap, had he wanted one. He was comfortable quickly, Shiki still in his hold.

"_We aren't leaving, should you decide to visit in the morning." _

~!**!~

Akari lifted her chin, removing her nose from Kurama's skin to look out at the world again, blinking once as she took in the sight of the park. She gave a raised brow as she thought before she shrugged half-heartedly. "Not particularly. The park was _your _idea, after all." She shifted, readying to be let down if he decided to place her on her own two feet again. _*****_

Kurama made a sound that agreed with her statement, starting to move forward again, glancing over his shoulder at Nabu.

"Where's the best place to be in here?"

~!**!~

Her protest came only as a vague noise somewhere in her throat.

"Hiei, put me down." She murmured, glad to know he hadn't gone too far since her _actual _clothing was still in the Elders' tent. 3

Hiei released her, as he'd intended to do all along, and sat back against the branch. He wouldn't fight her if she wanted to go. He wouldn't be _happy _about it, but he wouldn't exactly restrain her and say no.

Though, he did note this was the first time she'd ever actually, in a way, said 'no' to him. It had him raising a brow, both curious and a bit put-out, but both he managed to conceal, control, and then repress completely. It wasn't like it mattered too much to him. She'd rest when she rested.

His eyes found the flower in her hair, bright red and vibrant, standing out against the dark locks of her hair. He'd seen it earlier, but hadn't looked twice at it. He considered it for a second before dismissing it.

He didn't speak, didn't respond verbally to Shikiyoku's request. He didn't really have anything to say to it, anyhow.

~!**!~

Nabu lifted his nose from the grass to see both Akari and Kurama looking to him, his best friend giving a small smile at him and the male only glancing back briefly. The dog made a small yip of cheer and bounded forward, taking the lead and taking elaborate, show-offish steps that had his paws coming higher than normal, his head occasionally tilting side to side. "_I'm surprised you don't remember! But, I'll show you the way!"_

Akari laughed. "You got him excited, just before I thought he was going to take a nap. Way to go."

"_I still plan on napping. I ate too much to run." _*****

"Sh," Kurama breathed to her, voice at a whisper, "He's adorable and it gives him something to do."

~!**!~

Too tired to make a grumbling noise at him, she realized that when he took his arms away, he hadn't actually set her on her feet, and her hands came down on either side of her to feel the bark of the branch beneath them.

"...dammit." She _could have _just shifted between layers and gone back to the tent, but...

She huffed a heavy breath out her nose, chin dropping lower half in defeat and half in sleep.

"Why are you so..." She made the same noise again, unable to come up with anything. 3

Hiei raised a brow, waiting for the word that didn't seem to be coming from her lips anytime soon. Amusement slowly filtered across his expression, lighting his eyes just a little as he rested his hands on the bark of the branch, watching her keenly.

"Fierce?" he said, providing the only word he could think of in that moment to finish her sentence. And it made his irises light up even more in amusement, though his expression didn't so much as twitch for it.

~!**!~

Akari breathed a laugh, eyes turning to the dog whose ear flicked back at them for a moment, but he otherwise made no indication he heard. "Out of all the time I've been around, I have never _once_ heard you use that word." Not that she could readily remember, anyway. "And it is very appropriate for the situation." She took in a deep breath, suddenly finding herself holding back on something else she'd been about to say. _*****_

"It isn't often that I feel something needs to actually be pointed out as adorable." Kurama allowed, setting his feet to following after the dog, "This just happened to be one of those times."

~!**!~

"Hmmm," It was a pleased sound that had her lips turning upwards into a smile. "I already know the answer to _that_."

She opened one eye to look at him for a second, then both came open and she was looking up, wondering why Hiei hadn't just taken her back the tent and debating, as she glanced down at the branch on which she sat, on whether it was worth the effort to find a different branch thick enough to lay out on or if she would just as soon go back to the tent where she _knew _she would be comfortable. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku curiously, taking in her expression with amusement as she seemed to consider… whatever it was she was considering. He wondered if she knew that all she had to do was say something, and he'd just as soon change their venue. He'd just as soon-

_Hm. _His lips twitched. _This is why she didn't give me the strawberry right away. Because I didn't __**voice**_ _my request. _He gave a small sound of amusement. _Interesting. _

So he waited, doing the same to her.

~!**!~

Akari's smile grew wider, showing her teeth as she continued watching Nabu's fancy little prance as he lead the way. She couldn't agree more about the choice of words. The adjective was very much perfect to describe her friend. Her companion.

Nabu's tail swished once as he took a turn, head high and paws lifting ever higher. "_The __**best**_ _tree in the whole park. It provides shade all day long, until the other trees take over the job and create enough shade to be comfortable and keep you undisturbed! It's also the largest in town, home to many birds that sometimes don't like dogs sitting beneath their branches."_

Akari huffed. "_Those_ days are never fun."

"_Whatever causes the attack however, is unknown." _The dog plopped his rear on the ground, eyes up on the branches to gauge the nests up in the trees, waiting for any reaction from the birds sitting in them. When they didn't immediately swoop down, he turned his head to Kurama, a dog-like smile stretching his features as he lowered himself to lay in the grass. "_Today is safe. Wednesdays, however… Never come on a Wednesday." __*****_

Kurama considered every word the dog said with a solemn seriousness.

"Are Wednesdays never safe?"

~!**!~

"Impossible." She finally finished, the word coming to her out of the blue.

She frowned, eyes closed again.

"Why did you...why were you _holding _me the other morning?" 3

Hiei raised a brow, curious as to how she had suddenly come up with the random topic. He considered her for a few more moments, thinking back on that morning as well- after having to sift through a few things here and there to recall- and slowly leaned back, arms crossing over his chest. He eyed her for a few more moments before his brows furrowed.

Well, there was no avoiding it any longer.

"Why didn't you tell me I was marked?"

~!**!~

Akari rapped Kurama's shoulder with a finger lightly, quietly saying he could let her down if he wanted to, all the while not interrupting the stare the dog was giving Kurama. There was a beat of silence that hung on the air. Finally, the dog lifted his head from his paws again, holding the same serious air as Kurama. "_No. Never safe on Wednesdays." _

Akari had to fight not to laugh. _*****_

Kurama shifted and started to slowly let Akari down.

"I'm thankful you passed this information along, Nabu. I may have some day found myself in a dire situation without such knowledge."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes came open and she woke up a little more, blinking.

"What?" 3

Hiei continued to stare at Shikiyoku, his question not being repeated. His arms remained crossed, his expression neutral as he stared at her, at first only curious. But his earlier irritation about it came bubbling back. It was absolutely befuddling as to why she wouldn't tell him, letting him instead go on believing he was a mere bystander. A curious onlooker who thwarted any-

He remembered stealing Shikiyoku away from demons she could have un-marked.

Well, that meant something entirely different now.

~!**!~

When Akari was on her own two feet, she placed her hands on Kurama's shoulders again and leaned into him, her mouth aimed towards his ear. "Also, on Wednesdays… we like to wear pink. If you _don't _wear pink, you can't sit with us." She pulled away, expression just as serious as his own as she moved to lay underneath the shade of the tree, a foot or so away from Nabu.

"_Luckily for you, it isn't Wednesday." _Though to which circumstance Nabu referred, He didn't specify. _*****_

"If I didn't know any better," Kurama waited until she pulled away to go lay down himself, "I would say that you've spent way too much time in Human World."

~!**!~

_Tell _him?

Why would she _tell_ him?

Why would she _have _to tell him?

She hadn't _told _Kit. Or Youko. Or Taka. Or...frankly anyone.

They all just...sort of..._knew_.

"Why didn't you know you were Marked?" She turned to look at him, confusion plain on her features. 3

Hiei's brow quirked slightly in irritation. "Because you didn't _tell me." _The fire demon gave a scowl. "Isn't that what I just said?" Was she suddenly deaf?

_Foolish woman._

~!**!~

Akari lay on her stomach, arms folding so that she may rest her head upon her forearms, a smile coming to her face. "Why," she batted her lashes, "_whatever _do you mean?" Her grin widened, another line coming to mind, from a different movie. "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." She paused. "I think that one actually sums up this layer pretty well." _*****_

"See, now what we've got here is failure to communicake." Kurama settled down on his back, one arm behind his head propping it up and the other over his stomach.

~!**!~

"No...I mean..." Shikiyoku shook her head a little, trying to make sense of it.

_How come you thought you __**weren't**__?_

Like that wasn't going to get her the same answer.

"When did you...figure it out?" She said carefully, realizing the question was treading dangerous waters should he think that she intentionally left him in the cold about it.

Which was _so_ not the case. 3

Hiei's brows pulled further down over his eyes, creating shadows of irritation at her question. He wasn't sure which way to take her new inquiry, so even though his expression twitched just slightly, he didn't rightly point out he didn't like the wording she'd used.

Instead, he answered.

"Earlier this evening." He didn't elaborate as to _how _he'd found out. He was still waiting on the answer to his question of _why_.

~!**!~

Akari heard Nabu shuffling a little, and after a moment the pressure of his head on her back was evident, his chin resting on her shoulder blades. "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" She gave a small snicker, turning her head away from the male to look at Nabu, whose eyes turned to her too. He gave an expression she knew meant to be a smiling one, his tongue momentarily hanging from his chops in amusement at her and Kurama. _*****_

Kurama chuckled, his eyes closing.

"Well, at least we both know you're getting your fill. Mapping buildings for Genkai. Hustling demons through portals. Is there anything you _can't _do?"

~!**!~

If she wasn't awake before, she was _now_.

"What?!" She shifted around to face him, disbelief widening her eyes, "Why?" She quickly shook her head, feeling the 'because you didn't tell me' response coming, "Don't answer that."

She frowned at him, incredulously, before opening her mouth, nothing she could think of to say actually managing to come out.

Shikiyoku lifted a hand up to her face, rubbing at the bridge of her nose and thinking back.

"Hiei, I-" She took a breath, "I'm _sorry_. I _guess_. But I never _had _to tell anyone. And I've never-" She dropped her hand, but wasn't looking at him, eyes shifted to the side, "It's not like I've ever done anything like this before."

She finally looked at him, eyes bright with the knowledge of something he likely hadn't thought of either, eager to share, interested in his reaction.

"...care to guess how _long _you've been marked?" 3

Hiei, irritated, made a sound akin to a scoff. She hadn't given him time to answer any of the questions she'd posed- not that he would have been able. So he remained quiet, until she posed the last question.

Yet _another _he didn't know the answer to. But, this question _did _interest him, and he turned inwards, as if he should know the answer. After a moment or two of silence, he made another sound. "Tch." He leveled her with a stare. "Several weeks." That was, really, his best guess. Though, he wasn't sure why he thought it had been so long.

Then again, a mark like his wouldn't exactly form overnight, he assumed.

~!**!~

"Teach _you _not to be a bore, apparently."

"_Whoop, there it is." _*****

"That, of course, can be blamed entirely upon my ineptitude at learning. Or...refusal to learn so you stick around, as the case may be. Whichever you prefer."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's expression softened a great deal and she scooted forward, reaching out to place her hand over his heart, and setting the tattoo glowing underneath her touch, feeling the warmth that she knew it spread over his skin.

"This Mark?" She began, "That day you found me at the house?"

She closed her eyes, smiling.

"It was _nearly _this size that day."

Her eyes came back open to stare into his.

"And that sort of thing doesn't happen overnight." She tilted her head a little. 3

Hiei looked down at the hand that rested on his chest, sending his skin tingling, warm where he now knew the mark to be. Every inch of it. He could actually almost _see _the pattern in his mind's eye, despite never having seen it to actually memorize the shapes and such.

His eyes came back up, looking to Shiki, calm for the moment as she spoke.

At her last line, however, he made a small sound and his eyes narrowed at her.

"I'm aware." _Don't treat me like a child. How can you read my thoughts like that? _

He remained quiet for a moment, eyes turned to the side as gears churned behind them. If Shikiyoku said anything, he didn't rightly hear it. Instead, his mind turned to the question _she _had asked of _him. _Feeling…

Generous wasn't exactly the word he was looking for here.

Feeling… rather _cooperative, _his lips moved. "You were too far away."

~!**!~

Akari tilted her head to look at Kurama again, brows raised and lips twitching ever so slightly at the corners. "Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't you forget it. You're going to get back on that horse, and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we're gonna go, go, _go_!"

"_What movie is that from?"_

Akari shrugged at Nabu. "Some movie Sensui had me watch."

"_...I like the quote." __*****_

"See, this is why you should stick around, if for no other reason. There are few demons in the layers who are actually going to be able to stand how much you know about the human's culture." Kurama said it with a rather bored tone, but his lips were turned upwards to smile.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku started to pull her hand away, the glow beginning to fade as she did so, appearing a little confused.

"What?" 3

Hiei took a moment to turn his eyes up to Shikiyoku again, expression blank and stare even, as if he _hadn't _just been irritated beyond compare. "That morning? You were too far. Uncomfortable." He stopped there, still staring at her evenly.

_Now we're even._

~!**!~

"It will be my weapon to ensure no one will miss me when I come back." Akari stuck her tongue out. "This way, Isamu won't feel the need to pop in again, because he will know my knowledge of the humans and their movies will drive him to the brink of jumping from a cliff."

"_Too bad you haven't driven him that far __**yet**__." __*****_

"I somehow get the feeling you haven't tried that tactic yet." Kurama replied, "Otherwise he would have been running for the hills long ago." He gave a little sniff of derision. "But now you know, so you have no excuses next time."

~!**!~

_What? _

Still confused.

Her hand lowered the rest of the way.

She blinked at him once, eyes slowly closing and coming back open to meet his gaze.

_Just now?_

No, wait, 'that morning,' right?

Through a tired mind, she finally made sense of his words and several things flashed through her brain at the same time.

_Do you mean __**you **__were uncomfortable, or did you somehow see that __**I **__was uncomfortable?_

All at once the memories from long ago of her pulling him closer and saying words very similar to that, him telling her she was too far away that night a few days ago which lead to her sleeping next to him, and then waking up in his arms coupled with what he had just said.

His stare was proving too much for her and she quickly averted her eyes, a warmth creeping up her neck.

_But I thought you didn't __**want **__me closer...That's why I've been staying so far away._

When had he _ever _felt comfortable with her close proximity? As a Ward, she had almost needed it from him, but she recalled later on trying her best to accommodate his obvious uncomfortableness with her.

She may have at this point _desired _or _wanted _physical affection of some sort from him, but Kit or Youko or, hell, even Taka would be more than happy to oblige on that front. And that outlet freed her to remain standoffish with Hiei. As a result-she realized-her acceptance of receiving no such thing from him left _her _feeling rather uncomfortable and confused when he offered or extended it of his own free will.

Recent memories, starting with that night where she intentionally kept a foot or so away from him on the bed, and all the time inbetween then where she resisted reaching out to touch him, up to earlier after she danced where she hadn't leaned into him, all because-

"But you...you _want_ me far away." She stated it factually, and remembered vividly how she had been tense that entire night he referred to, afraid even in her sleep that she might scoot closer or hang all over him and...and drive him off, only to wake up in his arms and nearly be driven off _herself_, worried that she had somehow forced him into it and that he might not forgive her for it this time.

As if to emphasize her point, and becoming aware that she had scooted closer to him when the whole time her plan had been to move further-a different branch, back to the tent-Shikiyoku leaned back away from him a little, trying to decide if she had enough motor-skills left to actually _scoot _back.3

Hiei refused to let his lips turn downwards as they so desired. He refused to let his own sudden confliction show on his expression. He _refused_ to admit that he was just as unsure about it as she. Because the truth was, he didn't _know _what he wanted. That morning, he hadn't thought much about it. He hadn't _considered_ pulling her closer. He hadn't _considered_ the proximity. All he'd seen was that she was uncomfortable, that he knew how to remedy it, and then he found he didn't actually _mind_ the closeness he'd created.

He'd just… _done it. _

He'd simply acted without thinking, and ended up _enjoying _the moment of peace.

And as he sat here, thinking about it, he wasn't sure how he felt about it in that moment. He wanted, on some level, to huff at Shikiyoku and pull her towards himself, her exhaustion showing through again even as she leaned away from him a little. He half thought she'd tumble from the tree here soon.

On the other hand, he wasn't sure about how to initiate it in such a way that she may not turn him down, as she had done earlier.

And, frankly, he knew that he didn't _want _her to be far away.

So why was he conflicted again?

Oh, right. _Other_ forms of being close. _That_… was a no go.

He realized in that moment that there were lines he was going to have to dissolve, if he wanted to be a part of her Consort… thing. He would have to branch out, test the waters, loosen up and… perhaps not be so distant about certain things.

_There were a lot of lines._

"If I wanted you far away, I would have _left_ you far away."

_That… suffices I suppose._

~!**!~

"Well, nobody's perfect." Akari's lips twitched at the fact that she'd gotten to quote _another_ movie. Several, actually, with that one line. She recovered a moment after, expression turning serious. "I mean, as fun as it would be to do that, I don't really think _Isamu_ would run from simple quotes and random facts. He couldn't care less, quite frankly." She gave a shrug, earning a small huff from the dog whose head still rested on her shoulder blades. "Think I can make him click his heels together and chant _there's no place like home_?" _*****_

"I'm hoping it's going to be _you _wearing the ruby slippers." Kurama commented, giving a little frown.

"When are you leaving?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku huffed.

"I...I _guess_."

_You...make no sense to me_.

"You're-"

_Impossible._

_Fierce._

"Confusing." 3

Hiei continued to stare at Shikiyoku, blinking only once as a moment of silence hung on the air. He was well aware that he was confusing, because he had even left _himself _confused and unsure. About a _lot _of things. He leaned back further into the bark of the tree and pulled his left leg up onto the branch, eyeing her a moment longer before speaking again.

"If you _want _to go elsewhere, you're the only person stopping you. Otherwise, you're going to fall off if you continue to sit there like that."

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched briefly before her expression became neutral again, his question staying the response she'd been about to give. She thought for a moment. Initially, she'd thought about leaving early in the morning. Now, she really didn't want to.

"Tomorrow." she replied anyway, eyes closing. _*****_

"Mm." The sound wasn't a pleased one, save for the fact that she hadn't said 'now.'

Kurama rolled over onto his side to face her, opening his eyes to look at her for a moment before closing them again.

"Just don't leave without telling me."

~!**!~

With a bit of a frown, Shikiyoku turned and stuck her tongue out at him, eyes still shut.

"Are what're _you _gonna go about it? At least if I fell off it'd solve _my_ problems." 3

Hiei's eyes narrowed at her, his initial thought that of _is this a challenge? _He stared for a moment before making a sound he hadn't made in a _long _time, consisting of a single syllable. "Hn."

And then he moved, reaching out and grabbing her, suddenly not caring if she told him no. Because he _wasn't _going to let her fall. He pulled her towards himself, leaning back again when she was close enough to lean into him if she wished, though he didn't _make _her do so.

At least here, he'd be able to grab her quicker if her stubbornness won out and she fell.

~!**!~

Akari frowned to herself. While the thought had crossed her mind some time this week, she'd decided leaving without informing the redhead _wasn't _what she wanted to do. No matter how much it _sucked. _

Her eyes came open again to stare at the redhead, searching his expression for… something or another. She shifted, removing one arm from under her head and reaching out to poke his cheek. "You felt you had to _tell me_ that? I thought it was understood." _*****_

"I wasn't terribly certain if the teacher would just up and leave the student without notice, so...yes, I did feel it needed to be said."

He didn't appear to react to her poking him, though it was rather difficult to ignore the silver-tailed voice in his head that loudly demanded he grab for her hand. And hold onto it.

~!**!~

_If I __**wanted **__you far away, I would have __**left **__you far away._

She was too tired to scoff, letting him pull her closer.

Her confliction about him in general was waning, unassisted of course by the fact that he had once again defied what she thought she knew in actually making her move closer, and where last time she had remained tense and far away, it just wasn't worth it anymore.

So, she went ahead and leaned into him, his warmth almost beckoning her nearer, and her legs coming up to spread out down the branch.

"I...don't understand you." She mumbled. 3

Hiei got comfortable soon after Shikiyoku did, his legs propped up on the branch on either side of her and his head resting back. He had both arms loosely about her to ensure she remained in place.

"Did I ever claim to be simple?"

~!**!~

Akari's hand fell to the grass, suddenly too lazy to tuck it underneath her cheek as she had earlier. She gave a very small breath of amusement. _Too keen. _"And that's the way it is."

Nabu shifted, his head moving away from her back as he curled into a ball next to her instead, every so often giving a soft snore. Akari shifted her weight, shuffling around until she was on her side as well, facing the redhead as her eyes came closed again. _*****_

_[Bah!]_

_{Do I even want to know?}_

_[Probably not. But you're too __**human **__for my tastes.]_

_{I can't imagine why.}_

_[At least this way you'll have no excuses when I keep pursuing Yoku. This one will be out of the way. And you've still got __**weeks **__left of your vacation.]_

_{Yes, yes, you'll get all the time in the world.}_

_[I won't need it. But yes. I will.]_

Kurama let his eyes come open just slightly, seeing that Akari still lay there, though he could just as easily feel the seed pulsing with life in her pocket, and he closed them again.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a half-hearted growl.

"We...need to go back in the morning."

She couldn't wake herself up enough to say why, though she _did _want to talk to him about what had happened tonight with her energy before they returned. 3

Hiei glanced down at Shikiyoku before his own eyes slid closed, the effects of her borrowing his energy finally beginning to riddle his mind and make him feel as if a nap were the most _blissful _thing in the world at the moment.

"Agreed."

~!**!~

Akari didn't go to sleep as she had originally thought she would. In fact, even though she was comfortable enough to do so, her mind simply wouldn't let her. So she lay there, letting her mind wander through thoughts at random and the occasional sudden desire to move around- specifically, closer to the redhead- in which she denied.

In the end, her eyes came open to watch him instead, her mind eventually going blank but sleep, as per usual these days, eluded her. _*****_

"If you took a picture it would last longer." Kurama murmured, fully aware of her looking at him. 3

Akari huffed. "Alas, I have no camera," she murmured back, lips twitching in amusement. _*****_

Kurama smiled, opening his eyes again.

_[I could puff her with some nemuri gas.]_

"Youko's offered to help you sleep." Kurama's smile turned a little more devious. 3

"How about not," came her reply, her tongue sticking out a little before disappearing again. "It's the middle of the day. I'll manage, I'm sure." _*****_

_[It's totally harmless.]_

"Probably wise. Knowing him, he might _accidentally _make for certain you don't wake up for two days."

_[Well, she wouldn't be able to leave as quickly that way. So, likely not.]_ 3

Akari's eyes closed. "Yes, because _that's _what I'm worried about." Her lips twitched again before settling into a taunting smile. "That would just waste the time I have _here_, yes?"

She resisted again moving forward, something Isamu had said popping into her mind.

"_He's marked for another, Akari. Don't you think that would affect the one __**you**_ _seem to-"_

She'd told him at the time it didn't matter, that she couldn't care less. And then the dang redhead had given her a bracelet, which the dog had, again, pointed out a few things about.

"_Romantic gestures are common among you two?"_

_Shut up._

"I rather like where I am, thank you very much." _*****_

"I'll make sure he doesn't disturb you in that case."

_[As if you could stop me if I wanted.]_

_{And do you?}_

_[No, of course not. But that isn't the point.]_

_{Naturally.}_ 3

Akari gave a sigh. "I'm not worried."

She pulled her knees up towards her chest and her chin down a little, a few bones cracking with the movement. And still, she wasn't comfortable.

_Dammit._

She released a huff.

_Stupid fox. _

When exactly had it become more comfortable to lay _with _him instead of _next to _him? _*****_

"Do I need to get you a pillow?"

Her tension was almost palatable, but he kept his eyes closed, only the faint promise of a smile fluttering over his lips. 3

Akari didn't reply, a frown on her face. _It's like you __**know**__. I hate that. _

"_He's marked for another, Akari."_

_Screw it._

Akari unfolded herself and scooted closer anyway, stopping just short of touching the male. "You're a pain." _*****_

"That's only because you seem to have a penchant for _thinking _I'm a pain." Kurama let his eyes come open and he reached out and pulled Akari up against him, letting his face lower and bury itself into her hair. "If you're uncomfortable, just _say _so next time instead of pouting like that."

He only shifted a little before saying, "Better?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had been thinking.

She wasn't sure for how long, exactly. Probably the entire time she'd been 'asleep,' but most definitely while drifting in-between sleeping and waking before morning arrived.

Because she had suspicions about how her energy had been disappearing last night, and her mind kept turning them over and over, but her body was forced to rest and rejuvenate from the ritual of the night before.

She would need all the strength she could get to enact any one of the plans stirring in her head.

...and quite possibly some of the strength of the one she quite comfortably rested upon. 3

Hiei didn't move. He'd been awake for some time now, eyes still closed so that he may appreciate the calm silence on the air before dawn. It was peaceful, quaint. It afforded him time to think, to sort through many things that he'd either ignored the night before, or hadn't even thought of until the moment came.

He made his mind up about several things, one of those things being that _this_, resting with Shikiyoku against him, wasn't so bad. In fact…

Well, whatever.

Also, he was now _much _more determined to covet his time with Shikiyoku. Keep her from the others as much as he could, since it was clear he was a little behind.

Or was he actually ahead?

…

He had no idea.

Likely behind.

~!**!~

"I can pout whenever I so please," Akari grumbled, her hands becoming pinned between herself and Kurama. "And… _no one_ asked your opinion, just so you know." She huffed at him indignantly, but deflated very soon after the sound left her and let her eyelids slide closed.

"And, for the record… _yes_. Much." _*****_

Kurama just chuckled, but did not actually give her an outright reply.

He was going to miss this.

More than he probably would have admitted out loud.

_[Too bad for you.]_

Thoughts of Shikiyoku were bouncing around in Youko's head with an unmistakably intentional air, including the intention to do with her what Kurama did with Akari now.

_[And all while your precious pup is gone.]_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku shifted a little.

"Did you get a chance to analyze what happened last night during the ritual?" 3

Hiei's eyes came open just slightly to glance down at Shikiyoku for a moment before they came closed again. _Obviously. Naturally. _He fought not to give the one-word answers, knowing it wouldn't do anything but have her prompt him on his thoughts on the matter.

And really, his first thoughts were of someone like her, who had learned to feed on the energy of demons.

Except, he'd imagined it to be a much more… notable thing. He'd imagined it to be draining and painful even.

"I have a thought or two." he finally said. "As to their worth…"

He didn't go on, waiting to see if she'd share her thoughts first.

~!**!~

With the sound of the redhead's chuckle, Akari moved her face closer, burying her nose into his shoulder. She didn't let thoughts pass by her mind**;** they'd likely be unwelcome anyway. Annoying. Stressful. And at this moment, she didn't _want_ to think about anything else.

The longer she lay still, the more comfortable she became, until her entire body was lax and her mind was blank enough that she was _just _beginning to fall into sleep when a thought passed by her mind.

_You're going to miss this._

_Shh. __*****_

Kurama gave the smallest of sighs that set Akari's hair quivering against his face as he relaxed.

Youko blessedly let him have the last few moments in peace, though if he had cared to listen, it was quite possible the fox was humming pleasantly, entertaining thoughts of Shikiyoku and the plans stirring in his mind.

~!**!~

"I'm concerned for the tribe." Shikiyoku admitted. "Assuming they don't know there is a demon in their midst feeding on energy. My intention was to return today and attempt to locate the individual should the Elder so wish it." 3

Hiei made a sound of affirmation. "Agreeable." He shifted just slightly, eyes coming open again to look about their surroundings. "How long do you suppose it's been happening?" He knew _nothing _about this type of thing, other than the fact that it could happen. That it could become uncontrollable if allowed to do so.

Really, he was just the backup, in case something happened.

~!**!~

Before she was actually aware of doing so, Akari was shifting, one arm moving to fall over Kurama and, in turn, bring her even _closer_ to the redhead, a sigh leaving her lips as her mind finally fell into sleep mode. Albeit, it was a iffy sleep, as if a single sound could bring her back to awareness, or even a single _thought _could stir her should one intrude the calm darkness behind her lids. _*****_

~!**!~

"There's really no way to know." Shikiyoku didn't think there could be an exact answer for that unless asking whoever was doing it. "It's...disquieting to consider. If demons are suddenly popping up with that power-" Shikiyoku sighed and opened her eyes, "I alone decimated _countless _numbers of demons while like that. Should too many beginning running around like I did, it could easily wipe out most of the demons in existence." 3

Hiei scowled**; **she was right. Entire civilizations could be wiped out. Especially if those demons couldn't run around the layers as he and Shikiyoku could, and were _stuck _in specific areas. Then… well..

It wasn't hard to imagine how quick certain layers could become more barren should a certain amount of demons like that crop up.

_Disquieting indeed._

"And if it's a member of the tribe?" _*****_

"It...It _is_. I know that much. The Elder needs to be told, and as I said before, I plan on offering to discover the demon should she not be aware." Shikiyoku pushed herself up and stretched before looking at him. "I'll need your help though." 3

Hiei didn't move from his lounging position, only crossing his arms over his chest when Shikiyoku gave him the necessary space. He eyed her for a good few minutes, expression neutral and thoughts hidden. And he remained like this for a little longer, not sure what to say first.

Instead, he simply agreed.

"Lead the way." _*****_

Shikiyoku smiled and turned, swinging her legs over the branch.

"_There _you are!"

Looking down, she caught sight of Douji, standing a few hundred yards away, a lur'mog at his shoulder. He was frowning at her.

She hopped down and walked towards him.

"You _left _me."

She paused in place, taken aback by the sudden venomous tone she'd never heard the boy use before.

"Uh-"

"Without _saying _anything. I think _that _was the worst part." He crossed his arms over his chest as she kept moving forward.

_Oops_.

She hadn't really _meant _to.

"I-" She stood in front of him, surprised when he grabbed her arms and leaned over to look into her face.

"Please, just-" He looked frustrated, "No excuses. _Don't _do it again."

She blinked at him, "I'm...I didn't mean to make you upset."

"Like hell you didn't." There were circles under his eyes. He had been looking for her quite possibly all night. He shut his eyes and shook his head. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku drop, hesitating for a moment as he shifted to do the same, though he himself moved between the layers to go unnoticed. And when he dropped, he waited an extra second, watching the demon with a quirked brow of slight irritation, and light amusement. By the time he appeared on the layer, however, his expression was stony.

"Get over it. I took her." His hands were in his cloak pockets, eyes on the boy without blinking. _*****_

Shikiyoku shot a look in Hiei's direction, but turned back to Douji, putting a hand over the mark on his chest softly, but making no glow this time.

"I was exhausted, and you were busy." She kept going as he opened his mouth, "But I could have at least said something to you. I apologize for worrying you."

As soon as her hand touched him, he appeared to soften around the edges and actually _hear _what she had to say.

"I was well taken care of."

Douji let her go and Shikiyoku also dropped her hand.

"Yeah, I'll bet." He grumbled, starting to turn away to head back to camp.

Shikiyoku trotted to catch up to him.

"Where might the Elder be about now?"

He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. 3

Hiei said nothing more after Shikiyoku had turned to him briefly, though he _had _been very tempted to remark about her having to go home at _some point_. Whether or not she had the chance to tell Douji… well, that depended on circumstances.

_Babysitting. _

Okay, so maybe not. Just a kid who knew little to nothing about Shikiyoku's energy and how it's spent in a ritual. And who so happened to be marked.

Oh well.

Hiei set off after the other two, keeping a good distance behind for a bit before he moved through the layers, catching up and reappearing at Shikiyoku's other side, eyes forward calmly, and he gave no input to the conversation whatsoever. _*****_

Instead of answering her directly, when she made no appearance to answer his unspoken question, Douji turned to the lur'mog on his shoulder-who had been the one to finally find _her_-and chattered instructions to it.

The lur'mog gave a single chirping response and disappeared from his shoulder.

As they drew closer to camp, Shikiyoku paused and put a hand on Douji's shoulder. The demon stopped, frowning down at her.

"You should rest."

He opened his mouth to protest, but she shook her head.

"I will come find you before I take my leave."

His mouth closed again, his expression still turned downwards, but before he could say anything else, the lur'mog reappeared and let out a single noise.

Douji nodded, to it and looked down at Shikiyoku, "She'll meet you on the way into camp. I'm-" He stared at her for a moment.

"Go." She grinned and gave him a little push, "Before you fall over."

He finally gave a low chuckle, "Alright fine. But if you leave again-"

"I made a promise, didn't I?"

It only seemed to ease his mind a little and he only shook his head and turned to walk towards camp from a different direction, leaving Shikiyoku to keep walking forwards. 3

Hiei remained silent as Douji moved away, leaving him alone with Shikiyoku again. He glanced at her from the corners of his eyes for a moment before turning forward again. Several thoughts passed by the forefront of his mind, none of which he voiced.

He wasn't sure what to expect in the upcoming minutes, in the rest of their day. So he remained quiet, silently planning for almost _any _situation he could imagine. _*****_

As Douji said, the Elder was approaching the edge of camp that the pair of them entered from.

"So, you didn't leave us unexpectedly."

"Not you too."

She laughed, "Did Douji already give you the lecture?"

"Do I need to answer that?"

"I suppose not." She still appeared amused, "For what did you need me?"

"I'd...like your permission to do something."

The Elder looked intrigued, and Shikiyoku went on before she could say anything.

"Might we speak further in the main tent?"

"Now you've _really _piqued my interest."

Shikiyoku gave a huff of a laugh as she gestured in the direction the tent lay, "Remember that feeling."

The demons of the tribe were much too engrossed in the duties of the morning to pay much attention to the three demons moving among them, though most would give Shikiyoku a grateful smile as she went past, which she would usually return.

The Elder pushed aside the tent flap and stepped inside, holding the fabric back so the other two might be free to enter as well.

She moved to sit among the pillows at the far end of the large space, in what seemed to be an area specifically for meeting like this, her place being in the center of the back wall with what was obviously room on either side of her for the other members of her station.

"Now." She began once Shikiyoku took a seated position across from her, "What bothers you, Iro?"

Shikiyoku _still _wasn't exactly comfortable with the nomenclature anymore, but she let the word pass as well as she could, setting her thoughts onto the matter at hand.

"Are you aware of a demon among your tribe capable of absorbing energy?"

The Elder's expression did not change from the neutrality she had adopted, and she blinked at her once in the silence of the moment before giving her answer.

"I am not." Her head shifted slightly, the edges of her eyes twitching in a desire to narrow at her, though the Elder restrained herself. "You must have a reason for throwing out such a dangerous accusation."

"I would not do so if I did not have concerns." Shikiyoku dipped her head slightly in deference to the other demon's leadership position.

"Last night-" Shikiyoku blinked, recalling the moment that could have easily led to her panic had Hiei not been willing or able to assist her. "You must know I was assisted last night."

The Elder's eyes flickered towards Hiei.

"Indeed."

Shikiyoku only stared at her, waiting for her to make the connection.

"Ah." Her eyes brightened with understanding only after a second or two. "Someone was eating away at your energy." She frowned, "There were no visitors among us last night."

"And there must not have been any other demons approaching you with such a claim before now."

A nod, "You are correct." Her eyes grew worried, "This...this is disconcerting."

"Has there ever been anyone in the tribe with this ability before now?"

The Elder shook her head, "No. None. I must admit I had thought the power restricted to those _born _with it."

Shikiyoku's gut wrenched slightly, "That is...most definitely not the case."

The other demon's eyes shot up from where they had drifted to the floor, and she did not have to say anything for Shikiyoku to know she picked up on what Shikiyoku had _not _said.

Shikiyoku _almost _said something about the disease, about being a carrier, but an alarm went off in her head that noted a difference in the Elder's eyes.

That was...not information which would be wise to share. It was already clear that the Elder could be considering Shikiyoku's presence the catalyst for such an event.

Shikiyoku blinked as the sudden realization that she might not be welcome to return here hit her.

"I would...like to find this demon for you, should you wish."

"And what would you propose we do then?" The Elder shot back, tone harsher than it had been up to this time, though not _quite _unkind. Not yet. "Kill the poor fool?"

Shikiyoku's eyes widened, and she almost stammered, but managed to retain her composure, "I simply wish to offer you the knowledge of identity."

The Elder grunted, neither an affirming or negating sound, staring at Shikiyoku who met her gaze for gaze.

The Elder sighed and broke the stare, "I know it is not your fault. Do not think so little of me. I...I have not been entirely truthful with you, I'm afraid."

Shikiyoku waited patiently for her to go on.

"I _have _heard of a case such as you propose happening here." She hesitated. "From Central Tribe. We received a messenger informing us that two or three of their own suddenly found themselves able to do this 'energy-siphoning' thing that you suggest occurred last night." Another hesitation. "They warned us because the demons had gone mad, managing to kill a handful of their own before the tribe subdued one, though the others managed to escape." 3

Hiei, after a very _slight_, likely unnoticeable hesitation, lowered himself to sit next to Shikiyoku, not really sure what to expect here. Half of him feared the elder would become defensive over her tribe, think Shikiyoku were being accusatory and intrusive. The other half of his mind wasn't sure whether to believe a person of her power would know of such a circumstance or not.

So, during the conversation, Hiei's gaze never once wavered from the Elder, watching each muscle twitch and each gear he could note turning behind her eyes- which wasn't many. She did well concealing herself, which didn't surprise him in the least. If anything, though, it left him… suspicious.

Not that he allowed it to show.

He didn't speak at all as time wore on. It was not his place. He knew nothing of such matters.

It was, however, tempting to say _something _about the revelation the Elder gave them. Admitting to withholding information- though he could definitely see why. Someone who watched over this many demons would certainly make sure no one would be harmed in his and Shikiyoku's search for…

Whoever it was.

Hiei's eyes slid to Shikiyoku for the barest of moments. He noted the stiffness in her shoulders, the straightness of her spine. It wasn't hard to guess her thoughts.

And his first thought was**: **if she was able to transition away from her sickness, so would the others?

_Not everyone has a 'true self' to go back to. _

If a demon's 'true self' was infected… would there be any way to stop the attacks without killing the demon infected?

His initial instinct left the fire demon's eyes closing for a moment. _This does not bode well. __*****_

Shikiyoku's first thoughts turned to Shubou, desperately hoping the leader of Central Tribe had been unaffected by this...epidemic?

The Elder sensed Shikiyoku's tension.

"I believe that so far the Elder of Central Tribe has been spared."

Shikiyoku gave an absent nod.

She let her eyes glanced briefly over at Hiei.

"_This is...unprecedented. I have __**never**_ _heard of demons suddenly being able to siphon energy away without, as the Elder said, being born with the ability. It would be like me suddenly finding myself able to wield fire, or you finding you could manipulate plantlife." _She frowned. 3

Hiei's eyes remained closed, expression unchanging as Shikiyoku spoke through the connection he'd forgotten he had enacted the night before. He considered her words, thoughts of another demon similar to the one she _must have_ gotten the sickness from roaming about, somehow giving it to other demons who suddenly found themselves likely _needing _to feed in this way.

If so… would that mean an army?

What for?

_To take over layers?_

Heh. Back to the normal trouble, huh?

"_Is there possibility of another spreading the disease on purpose? To your knowledge." __*****_

The Elder appeared to be lost in her own thoughts so Shikiyoku allowed herself to frown and consider it.

"_I would have bet my __**life **__on Kyonshi being the last of his kind. And he so desperately wished to teach me how to use-" _Shikiyoku suddenly cut herself off, blinking as thoughts rushed into her mind.

"_The timing." _She murmured to herself. "_I just don't know the __**timing**__." _3

Hiei refused to let his expression change, to falter and allow his slight confusion to riddle his features. And his eyes remained closed, to hide such thoughts from view should the Elder turn to look at him. He waited a moment longer before inquiring.

"_Timing of his death?" He wasn't really sure what she meant. __*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes had been darting back and forth, but she suddenly came to attention when she realized she had been speaking in a manner that Hiei could still hear.

"_No, I mean...the timing of me catching on. To Kyonshi's efforts bearing fruit. It sort of...happened all at once, and-" _She blinked, "_...if I had to guess? It was about the time Demon World was falling apart, connecting to Human World..." _3

Hiei didn't reply, taking her words into account and letting thoughts mill about in his mind, stirring a few thoughts here and there, a few ideas. His eyes came open, naturally blank of any thoughts and surveying the Elder for a moment.

If Shikiyoku had gone into such a state within such a short amount of time, then how long before the demon _here_ did the same? How long had it been before the demons at the Central Tribe had done the same? _*****_

"_The main issue is...I have no idea __**when **__Kyonshi contracted the disease. Or how. Or if he had it the whole time. Though I don't think that last one is the case." _She sorted through her thoughts, "_And to be honest, I don't know when I received it either. Or how long it took to really take over."_

The Elder gave a sigh that Shikiyoku had almost just released and she pulled away from Hiei's thoughts for a moment.

"It would behoove my tribe to know what member among us has acquired this ability. I would be remiss if I turned down your offer. What is it that needs to be done?"

"I simply ask the use of this tent. I do not wish to make a big production about it, as I'm sure you do not either."

The Elder shook her head, "You are right. There is no need in spreading panic."

"And since you have not gotten any complaints about energy being taken before, either the demon is clever in how he or she is going about it, which means their mind is still intact, or they only just found about about the power."

The Elder gave another deep sigh and stood up, "I will make sure you remain undisturbed." She padded silently across the floor to the front of the tent, pausing before exiting. "My thanks, Iro."

Her stomach flinched at the name, but she turned her thoughts to the next step, eyeing Hiei once they were left alone. 3

Hiei remained seated where he was, eyes following the Elder as she moved out of the tent, waiting until the flap was closed before he turned to look at Shikiyoku expectantly, curious as to what she had in mind. Another thought, however, crossed his mind and came to his tongue first.

He stayed it, instead asking telepathically.

"_Do you know how __**you**_ _got the disease?" _He couldn't rightly recall if he'd asked before now or not.

Perhaps he hadn't thought much of it of late.

~!**!~

Akari shifted a little, pulling her arm back up and over Kurama, fully aware of who she was with, but not very aware of much else. She wasn't even aware of what woke her yet, and she'd just been settling into sleep again when something disturbed her again, making her realize her hand had merely rested on Kurama's side rather than hiding from… whatever that was.

She batted at whatever was touching her, earning a sound she didn't rightly recognize before she dropped her hand between herself and Kurama.

"Nabu, qui'."

"_You quit."_

Akari huffed. "It's annoying."

"_I'm not doing anything." __*****_

He didn't even bother opening his eyes, though he heard every word and felt no concern whatsoever.

After all, Akari was still in _his _arms.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku shifted until she was sitting cross-legged and facing Hiei.

"_Well, I as much as said earlier that Kyonshi __**gave **__it to me, but...I could just have easily acquired it after his death somehow, I suppose. The time between-" _She blinked, stomach cringing a little, "_...his death and when you started to wake me up is all fuzzy and disoriented." _

Having never killed a single thing in her entire life, by her own hands at least, the incident took a rather large toll on her already fragmented psyche at the time. 3

Hiei nodded, accepting her answer without another thought to it. He supposed it would _help _to know how it spread, but at this point, it didn't really matter. It was spreading anyway, and they just had to figure out if it was _still _spreading in the tribe, or if it was just one demon.

He assumed, due to how little _he_ had felt siphoned from him, that there was merely one at the moment within the vicinity.

"_What is it you intend to do from here?"_

~!**!~

Silence fell over the area again, leaving Akari _almost _falling asleep, except that she realized Nabu's voice had come from behind _her_, and not Kurama. Her eyes came open, blinking twice to clear the blurriness as she shifted a little more, hand twitching slightly with that same feeling. _Seriously? _

She glanced at her hand, noring no particular change aside from the again darkened mark on her wrist.

_You just can't leave me be._

She settled in again, eyes closing and nose burying in Kurama's shirt a second time, not even caring to check the time of day. She even let her arm rest over the male again just as lazily as before.

Another poke.

_I'm going to murder yo-_

An odd feeling swept over her, bringing her eyes open again to stare at the shirt.

"_**You're not part of the pack."**_

There was a pause.

"_**You're.. not really associated with us."**_

She blinked. She hadn't felt such means of communication since she was a kid.

"_**And you're going to join us?"**_

Akari sat up just enough to look over Kurama's shoulder, seeing a child crouched behind the redhead, staring at her unblinkingly, whiskers twitching and ears standing at attention.

Isamu stood behind the child, his furs just stilling as if he'd just come to a standstill. His brows were raised.

She moved, settling next to Kurama again as if nothing happened. "Go away. I was napping." _*****_

Kurama fought with the Youko in himself _so very _hard.

He wanted nothing more than the send the intruders a glare over his shoulder, one that they should go away or _die..._

At Akari remaining unmoving from him, Kurama found himself more able to resist after a fashion, and did not himself so much as flinch or shift around, only smiling against her hair in both a silent approval of her brusque dismissal of the invaders and also to let her know that he was awake, should she have need of him.

_{Should have slept at the meadow.}_

~!**!~

"_I am going to do very much the same thing that I did last night." _

Shikiyoku stretched her arms above her head before settling back down again.

"_With a few key difference that shouldn't be all that difficult for me to implement."_

She held out her hands palms up between them meaningfully.

"_I will mix your energy with mine, render others incapable of sensing or seeing it, and send it out into the tribe. __**Your **__job will be to track your energy along the way, with the intention of catching the demon in the act of siphoning whatever gets close to them. I'll __**feel **__the energy disappearing, but I have no way myself of __**seeing **__it exactly." _Her eyes flickered up to his Jagan. 3

Hiei's eyes turned down to Shikiyoku's hands, recognizing the gesture as one meaning that he should place his within hers for this. He waited until she continued before moving to do so, pausing when he heard her pause. His eyes turned up to her in time to catch the glance she shot to his hidden eye. He made a sound of amusement.

He made easy work of untying the cloth from around his head, letting it fall to the floor as he turned to face Shikiyoku, placing his hands on hers and letting his eyes slide closed, only for the Jagan to slide open, staring at her, waiting.

And how good it felt to let it _breathe.*_

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	87. Episode 171 - Answers, Momentary Peace

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Denizens of FF!

Me love you long tiem.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei retreats from the Northern Tribe to a nearby tree with Shikiyoku in tow.  
Their conversation eventually turns to Hiei demanding to know why Shikiyoku had not informed him he was marked.  
She counters by telling him that she hadn't needed to inform anyone _else _of their marks,  
so she naturally thought he already knew.

In the morning, Douji finds the two of them together in the tree,  
after having spent the entire night searching for Shikiyoku,  
and she promises the young demon that she will come say goodbye before leaving.

Seeking out a private word with the Elder,  
Shikiyoku finds out that energy-feeders are beginning to pop up elsewhere on the level,  
Central Tribe having already been forced to eliminate some of their own people  
when those demons turned 'feral' and attacked the other demons in the tribe.

With the Elder's approval, Shikiyoku and Hiei join their energies together  
intended to seek out who among the Northern Tribe has become an energy-feeder.

~!**!~

Akari, Nabu, and Kurama all head for the park,  
Nabu leading the way to the best tree  
and all three of them engaging in movie-reference banter  
as they lay down together to rest.

Akari admits to having to leave tomorrow,  
and eventually the two of them fall silent,  
Akari in Kurama's arms.

Before she can truly fall asleep,  
a voice disturbs Akari's slumber,  
and she lifts her head long enough to see that it is a child,  
telling the kid to 'go away' and cuddling closer to Kurama.

Her actions cause the avatar to smile gently into her hair,  
pleased that she was as eager to arise as he...

* * *

Akari had known Kurama was awake even before she felt his lips move against her head. Her eyelids slid closed as the air moved around them calmly.

"_**Isa, why does she matter again?"**_

Isamu gave no response to the child in the odd communication that seemed open to any dog within the vicinity. Aside, maybe, from Nabu. "Apologies. She tracked you here without my consent."

"You should keep better reign of your pack."

The child stood, making little noise as she moved away. "_**With a fox, no less."**_

Akari's lips twitched downwards. "_**This fox will kill you if you don't leave."**_

Isamu released a huff that came off with a rather sarcastic air, as if he were about to speak.

"Is this how you teach the children?" she cut in.

He ignored her question, actually speaking aloud to the child. "Hiyamori, you've imposed. We're going back."

"_**I still don't see why she matters."**_

Akari gave a sigh of content. For once, the male was leaving without argument. "I'd say don't let the door hit you on the way out, but…"

"_We're outside." _

Akari smiled at Nabu's addition to the conversation. And when the pair were turning to leave, Akari relaxed tenfold, shifting closer to the male again in hopes to fall back into the nap she knew she'd no longer be able to resume.

Her lips moved, her tone mocking. "You've imposed." She gave a sound of irritation. "You _don't say." __*****_

Kurama let out the smallest of breaths that stirred Akari's hair around his nose.

He kept his tone low so that she in her proximity would be the only one to hear, "Not to appear gauche, but I certainly hope they _all _are unable to see why you matter."

~!**!~

As soon as his hands contacted hers, Shikiyoku was already starting to weave the spell between them, feeling her skin start to buzz as the air around her filled with her hazy, yellow power.

The most...interesting part was casting it without movements, though said movements incorporated a lot of the _binding _between clan members, and thankfully had little to do with how she released the energy from herself.

Her aura settled around her like a campfire might blaze, licking upwards, releasing tongues of itself here and there. Those tongues would occasionally take the shape of strands, more and more of them doing so as she readied to release it.

"_Alright. Now lend me yours."_

Swirls of energy started circling their hands, appearing to almost tentatively caress at Hiei's skin, prepared to combine their power with one another. 3

The Jagan focused on the energy in the room, following the motions it could see as if curious of it, letting Hiei too watch as it thickened around him. He toyed with his own energy, readying for her to ask of it, centralizing it for easy access.

He almost felt as if they were meditating.

When prompted, his energy moved, unseen but definitely _felt_, towards their hands, the warmth moving to intermingle within Shikiyoku's energy.

"_All yours."_

~!**!~

Had Akari had ears, they would have been twitching at the moment, listening for the pair that had imposed, invaded, and then took their leave when she'd shown no interest. She wasn't sure if they'd come back, or-

Hell, she didn't even know the child.

Which didn't matter, really.

"I bet you're right." She gave a small sound of amusement, her tone as low as Kurama's. "I'm not even actually sure why Isamu wants me to _stay _for longer than necessary."

Nabu gave a sigh behind her, his feet suddenly touching her back as she heard him stretch, settling into his sleeping state again, paws quickly beginning to twitch with dreams.

"I bet I can make them all hate me quick enough to come back before the time period I set up." _*****_

"Just-" Kurama chuckled before he could finish, "Just don't get into too much trouble..." He considered. "Or _do_. It's not like I couldn't come pull you between layers and leave them all without your esteemed presence."

~!**!~

It took a moment before Shikiyoku felt his energy move over their hands, and she continued the spell once it occurred, their energy intermingling purposefully, winding together until one was almost indistinguishable from the other.

It...it felt..._nice _really. Which was putting it mildly.

Shikiyoku was not sure if it was because they had done this before, but she was easily able to meld their power together, and her thoughts harkened all the way back to a memory long ago, perhaps the _first _time he lent her his power.

...standing in a tree, her forehead against his with his hands on her face, holding onto his wrists...

Shikiyoku had to force herself away from the memory and back to the task at hand, though she definitely toyed with _playing _with their energy as it mixed, stalling.

She dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it formed, starting to send strands of energy upwards where it permeated out of the tent fabric and began spreading throughout the camp. An easy task despite the size of the place.

She could _feel _the demons as the countless strands snaked their way through, sometimes briefly catching desires, but one was indistinguishable from another to her, or rather, they all ran together over each other, too intermixed to tell one apart from the next.

Settling into simply letting the power spread, Shikiyoku's eyes stared forward at nothing, glowing yellow, her breathing even and slow, enjoying in spite of herself, this _other _kind of closeness she was sharing with Hiei, sensing, perhaps _sharing_, the connection with his mind as well as his energy with a keenness afford her as the instigator of the spell.

"_There." _She suddenly voiced into the warmth she could sense waiting inside her mind, feeling _somewhere _that their demon had in fact reached out for the energy being made so readily available.

Her confusion was clear without her having to say anything though, because _this _time...the disappearance of their energy came from two _different_ directions. 3

Hiei concentrated, every ounce of his being focused on the strands of energy he followed, the Jagan spectating and observing, moving from one strand to another. For a while, he didn't notice anything out of the norm, and his mind churned over a couple of thoughts before going blank again, patiently waiting for-

He felt it, the disappearance of the energy. His mind sent the affirmative to Shikiyoku, ignoring her confusion as he worked to find the missing strands and where they'd gone, which direction they'd been going.

_There._

Another was gone, and this time, he had caught it simply vanishing, almost becoming wispy before dissipating. The Jagan followed the trail of this one, momentarily ignoring the second who still took from the supply.

When he had the visual of the male demon, one Hiei hadn't noticed at _all _in the time he'd spent here, he took stock of the features, sending Shikiyoku the image he saw of the strands quite literally disappearing _into _the demon's body. Even as the demon moved around a tent, seemingly unaffected, almost unaware of his own actions.

Once he was _sure _the Jagan had sent the image to Shikiyoku's mind, Hiei moved on, searching diligently, swiftly moving around in seeking of the-

_There. _

He locked in on the child that ran, laughing and giggling as he played, the same thing happening with this demon as the last. Energy strands seem to dissolve _into _the child, who was very _obviously _unaware of anything of the sort.

He sent the image he was seeing now to Shikiyoku, letting her see what he could.

"_Two demons. One child, one adult. One unaware, the other… not clarified." _

~!**!~

"Tell you what. The rose changes three times in one day, come get me. Any less, just smile and go about your business like I know you will."

Nabu kicked at Akari's back a little, making a sound akin to a snort in his sleep.

"But, I plan on at least having _fun _with it all. So, the more trouble, the better." _*****_

"Oh dear." Kurama buried his face further into her hair, "I can't honestly say I pity them for the wrath they bring down on their heads by having you in camp."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's heart sank at the image of the child she saw flickering into her mind's eye.

That was...unexpected. On so many levels.

And there was so much they didn't know. Would these _definitely _contract the disease? Was there a way to prevent that, or would they never get it at all? Was there any hope for a...for a _cure _if they got sick?

She knew from her own experience that if she went too long ignoring the hunger, her body started to rebel and almost...desiccate.

The sudden realization that it might be necessary to outright _kill _the child should he turn on his kin sent a sinking feeling in her stomach, but...

_What am __**I **__supposed to do about it, exactly? Tell the Elder and then leave like I planned? Let them handle it? _

They might not get sick. It was possible.

Maybe.

Shikiyoku began pulling their energy back in, amused once what was left had all returned that she had no small amount of difficulty in unweaving his energy from hers, like it didn't particularly _want_ to. Like it had a mind of its own.

_Ridiculous._

Having been frozen in place for so long, Shikiyoku finally let go of Hiei's hands and blinked, the power in her eyes fading as she mulled over what they had learned. 3

Hiei let the Jagan slide closed, his eyes coming open to stare at Shikiyoku as the energy about them began to pull back, retreating almost, before unwinding from one another and letting the glow in Shikiyoku's eyes diminish before disappearing altogether.

He knew what she was thinking.

Quite frankly, he didn't like the idea either. If there was no stopping the disease- assuming they ended up with it- the two demons would likely… be killed. The child wouldn't have even understood why either, likely.

It wasn't like anyone would readily explain such a thing to such a young demon.

Hiei's eyelids came closed as his hands tied the cloth about his head again, hiding the closed Jagan from view.

He didn't speak.

~!**!~

"Idle hands, Kurama." Akari's lips pulled up in a smirk. "They'd have nothing better for me to do, I imagine. And… I think you've seen what happens when I get bored."

_There was the time I threw the child over the overpass. That time I created an illusion that lead to the end of my life. The time I wandered town and got into trouble with the officer. The time I befriended the enemy- or whatever that was. The time I stopped Toriko- Shikiyoku?- from… something with a human. I still dunno what happened there._

_Lest we not forget the many times I've been hung upside down this week._

_Fun times. __*****_

"I'll do my best to ensure that whenever you are around you are kept quite away from 'boredom.'" He paused. "Mostly for my own sake, I think."

~!**!~

There was...nothing she could do.

Shikiyoku stared at her hands in her lap.

She knew no way of preventing this energy-siphoning ability from cropping up among seemingly random demons, no way of either stopping the disease from manifesting or curing it should it appear...

She finally let out a sigh.

She would have to let it go somehow. Have to convince herself that it wasn't her problem.

...since when had she started to care about anyone but herself? 3

Hiei remained quiet for a while, watching Shikiyoku, guessing her thoughts and knowing that there was nothing _he _could help her with on this one. And, he had a feeling she couldn't even crop up an answer either. So, he continued watching, wondering what she'd do next.

He wouldn't peel her away if she might have a chance at thinking of something.

_If she knew anything, she herself wouldn't have the disease. _

The thought swept across his mind, staying whatever he'd been about to say.

Because he noticed that, for the first time, his immediate answer was _not _to simply 'eliminate the problem'.

~!**!~

"Wise, I believe." She took a deep breath, then released it through her lips. "Though, I think you'd be fine. Mostly, my boredom stems from not _easily _finding things to keep me busy. You eliminate the problem by occupying me in the most unusual of ways." She tugged lightly at his shirt to indicate what she meant. "_You_, sir, have likely found the easiest way to keep me out of trouble. And you'd do well to remember it." She gave a little laugh. _*****_

"I _have_?" Kurama said with mock-incredulity, "What_ever _could you be referring to?"

_[As if you haven't the slightest idea.]_

~!**!~

_Not. My. Problem._

It didn't matter how many times she repeated it, she remained as of yet unconvinced.

_Can't fix it. Can't fix yourself. Do the second one first._

Unlikely.

_Hm_.

Her eyes suddenly narrowed at the thought that passed over her mind in that next moment, and it resolved her more than anything that the time to depart was nigh.

She stood up, blinking, and starting for the entrance to the tent, "We need to find the Elder. Obviously. Can I leave it up to you convey the ones we found?"

_And don't forget about Douji._

Unlikely.

She smiled a little. 3

Hiei looked up at Shikiyoku from where he sat, staying a moment longer before he too moved to stand, hands in his cloak pockets as he registered her change in demeanor. "Naturally," came his single-word reply to her question. He blinked once at her as she turned to go, his feet moving to follow a beat after.

When she wasn't looking, he rubbed his face with a hand, using this to brush away the effects of the Jagan being so fully accessed for the first time in a while.

He'd get over it.

~!**!~

"Ha, ha," Akari shifted, but made no move to leave the comfort she'd been given. "Cute. Mock ignorance." She stilled again. "Do me a favor and touch Nabu's feet. He's kicking me." _*****_

Kurama shifted just enough that his hand could reach near the ground behind Akari, finding the fluffy feet of the dreaming dog and smoothing his hand down them.

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku got back outside, she asked around for the Elder, as well as Douji.

The Elder was in the middle of something with other tribe members, but sensed Shikiyoku's eyes on her from a few yards away and looked up long enough to receive the images Hiei sent.

She masked her reaction so that Shikiyoku could not tell exactly what she thought upon gaining the knowledge, but Shikiyoku did let her own regret color her features just long enough to gain a slight nod from the other demon before the Elder turned back to her work.

With some semblance of a plan in mind, Shikiyoku turned with deliberate steps in the direction of the usual place the lur'mogs stayed, where she had been told Douji was working.

He sat as usual in the midst of the creatures, but stood up as soon as he saw Shikiyoku coming near.

She could tell he still hadn't slept yet, and instead of the terse goodbye that had been stirring behind her lips, she picked her way through the lur'mog and gave him a hug, leaving him a little taken aback at first, though he recovered after a second and wrapped his arms around her in return, actually going so far as to lean down and kiss the top of her head.

Her expression when she pulled back a little was pleased with him, a warm smile on her face.

"When will you be back?" He searched her eyes for an answer.

She pulled away further as his arms came up underneath her elbows to hold them, preventing her from going too much of anywhere and she in turn rested her hands over his arms.

Shikiyoku looked up at him, "Will you tell the Elder I'll be back as soon as I know anything?"

He frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She'll understand."

"But I don't." He insisted.

"And until she decides otherwise, it's going to stay that way." She replied primly, stretching up onto her toes to plant a light kiss on the tip of his nose.

He scrunched it up as she settled back down, "That's not fair."

Shikiyoku raised an eyebrow.

"And neither is you leaving me." His eyes darted off to the side, keenly aware that he could not follow her, even with her ritual binding the two of _them_ together instead of himself with the rest of the tribe. His ties with them were still too strong.

She had no answer for him, her eyes only softening at his protests.

Douji surprised her, then, when he leaned down and actually brushed his lips against her cheek.

"I have something for you." He murmured into her ear before pulling away and letting go of one of her arms.

She watched curiously as he fished a hand into his pocket.

"The lur'mogs shed their scales fairly regularly as they grow." He held out between them what looked like a line of the burnished red scales that matched the color of the lur'mogs scattered around them.

Oddly enough, Douji's cheeks were beginning to match that particular shade too as he let go of her other arm and lay the bracelet over her right wrist, attaching the two ends together.

He dropped his hands once he finished, looking very much like the awkward, lanky young demon that he was, standing over her.

"So you don't forget about me."

Shikiyoku was entranced by the gift, only after a second able to pull her eyes away to gaze up at him.

"Douji-" She said softly, "Why would I forget you?"

He shrugged gawkily, "'Cuz you'll be far away."

"That won't matter." She placed a hand on his arm and raised herself up on tip-toe again, unaware that his eyes closed as she did so, the red flower in her hair near his nose and filling it with her scent. "I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." She murmured into his ear.

He huffed a little at her, opening his eyes to look away from her, shifting them to the side as she moved back.

She gave him a searching glance, feeling something tug at her awareness. Not quite a desire, but...

"What is it?"

Douji looked at her from out the corner of his eye, "You're not...gonna kiss me?"

"I did." She replied, smiling and tapping his nose gently with a single finger.

"N-no, I mean..."

Shikiyoku held back her laughter.

He was so young the thought actually hadn't even occurred to her.

"Do you _want _me to kiss you?" She teased.

As if he wasn't pink enough already, the color deepened.

"Maybe."

Amusingly enough, the only thing he desired at that moment was for her to stay.

A desire she...could not fulfill this time.

"When you're older." She replied loftily, disappointed that there was nothing else he _did _desire from her, nothing she could fulfill for him in place of what he wanted.

He appeared to relax as he finally looked down at her again, even giving her a little grin which conveyed his relief in her response that much more.

The expression did not last, his momentary cheerfulness fading as his eyes dropped to the ground and he shuffled his feet.

"You'd better go...before I try and figure out some way to make you stay."

Shikiyoku nodded once silently, pulling the layers about herself while he wasn't looking and leaving him standing there sighing after her when he lifted his eyes and saw she had left.

She sat between the layers for a moment where he could not see her, staring up at him before finally turning away and moving up towards the First Layer.

Getting there, she actually went ahead and unwrapped herself several miles from her house and started meandering towards it lazily.

She had much to think about, and it would do well to attempt to gather those thoughts before she made it home. 3

Hiei had done as he'd said he would, and thereafter only became a silent patron in the background, not paying _any _sort of attention to the interactions between Shikiyoku and Douji. Because for now, it was not of his concern. Their business was theirs, no matter the fact that Hiei and the boy were both Marked, both 'competing' for the title of Consort.

Were they really actually _competing? _

_She isn't a trophy- not an object to be fought over. A being to be respected._

_And she __**will **__be treated as such._

Hiei stood between the layers, waiting for Shikiyoku in this spot since she found the boy, silent and uninterrupting of her conversation.

But when she too was in the inbetween layer, he turned his eyes to her finally, watching her calmly before he moved to the First Layer, staying close to the woman.

He stayed at her side, calmly leaving her to her thoughts and simply being a presence to soothe her, if she needed it.

~!**!~

The dog stilled, and for a minute nobody moved. Akari breathed in the scent of the redhead, her nose buried in his shirt enough that even if she _wanted_ to smell anything else, it would have been impossible in this moment.

And… the _strangest_ desire suddenly popped into her mind, causing her to move her head so that she may be able to look up at Kurama from under her bangs.

A beat later she had her nose buried in his shirt again, refusing the impulse. _*****_

Kurama let his hand stay rested on top of Nabu's paws, breathing steadily and simply _existing _in the peacefulness of the moment, his thoughts mostly stilled and uninterrupted.

Mostly.

_[You still blame yourself don't you?]_

It wasn't as if the two of them hadn't felt Akari shift, Youko momentarily questioning Kurama's reasonings behind not simply just gathering the girl up in his arms and kissing her soundly.

_[You do. __**That's **__why you haven't even attempted to do it again. Because for some stupid reason you're afraid what happened last time will happen again.]_

Kurama took a deeper breath than normal, and if it had not been so relaxed, it might have been a sigh.

~!**!~

_That dirty little sneak. Why, as soon as I __**see **__him I'm gonna-_

"Shikiyoku!"

The voice, her name rather, jerked her from her muttered, grumbling thoughts, and her eyes widened in surprise to see a slender, white-haired demon walking towards her out of nowhere, his blue eyes bright.

"H-Horu?"

He had materialized out of thin air, stepping from between the layers as if he had gone too far past her and had to turn around and come back.

Horu smiled at her as he approached, his roguish looks and jaunty gait just as she remembered it from what seemed like ages ago. He moved smoothly over the sidewalk, apparently unbothered by neither the pair of sheathed swords at his right nor the longer one on a second belt that hung down his left side.

Shikiyoku's eyes quickly found Horu's bare shoulders, where she saw swirls just starting to spread down his arms out from underneath his brown tunic, originating from a mark that she could feel centered between his shoulder blades, the black ink-like tattoo mixing with the lighter markings he already wore.

"You have no idea how lovely it is to see you looking like yourself, _seductress_-" He grinned, turning and giving a slight bow of his head to Hiei, "And it makes me feel all the better knowing you finally found her, to see you by her side, Champion." He blinked, "Uh, Hiei."

He gave another lopsided grin that was _almost _apologetic, "Habit."

"One I apparently did not yet entirely break you of." Shikiyoku replied wryly.

"Semantics, princess." Horu waved a hand dismissively. "He would likely choose again to be your Champion should circumstances be different." 3

Hiei pulled to a stop when Shikiyoku's name was called, his red eyes finding the source of the shout in record timing. And, just as quickly, he was noting the mark on the demon's shoulder, the swords at his sides, the grin on the other's face. An extra second later and he was placing this face with a time and a place, where he'd seen this one before.

And, of course, he'd been with Shiki at the time.

Funny how easy it was to recall situations where she was involved, no matter how long ago it had been.

He remained calm at the demon's word, his expression almost _bored_ that he'd been called the Champion for the first time in…

A year? Maybe a little less.

But internally, he flinched.

He didn't respond to the male, not even with a greeting, verbal or otherwise.

~!**!~

Akari remained still, not letting her muscles move as she felt the impulse becoming a little _less_ demanding. Her fingers played with his shirt absently, unaware of the motion as she breathed in a deep sigh. She considered checking what time of day- or night- it was, but decided against it.

_You're a pain._

Her eyes came open again and she moved, stretching out as much as she could before settling with her head on his shoulder, nose just touching the crook of his neck.

_Such a pain. __*****_

_[You really should just get over that.]_

...

_[It's in the past! And a good ways in the past, I might add.]_

...

_[Nothing like that has happened before or since! At least I doubt it. I don't really know about the 'before' thing.]_

_{Do you know __**why **__it hasn't happened since, oh fount of knowledge?}_

_[Well because-]_

_{Because I've __**refrained **__so there was no __**chance **__of it happening again.}_

_[...you're no fun whatsoever.]_

~!**!~

"I haven't much time, business is...much more lucrative nowadays what with this whole _layer _thing, so you'll forgive me for making this reunion quick." Horu's hand came down to rest on the hilt of his swords. "I only really came on Kafu's behalf anyway. To take whatever correspondence you might have back for him."

Shikiyoku blinked up at him, blank expression on her face.

Horu made an amused sort of snort.

"Aaaand that's what I told him."

She kept staring at him.

"The last time you were at the Niiro Kaga, Kafu gave you a letter, which you've apparently forgotten all about. Which I _told _him is what probably happened if you really had switched back like we all thought." Horu crossed his arms.

Shikiyoku shrugged, "A lot's happened."

"I'm sure. Well, he told me just about everything that was in it," Horu started ticking things off of his fingers, "Which included his awareness of your Consort-seeking status, his subsequent marking earlier in the encounter of that day, and an apology for being unable to tear himself away from his work to attend to or speak to you about it."

"That I can understand." Shikiyoku said amiably.

"As I thought you might." Horu allowed, "Consequently, you know where to find us if you have need of us, and if I happen to get a moment here in the next few days, I'll make sure to bring Kafu with me." He grinned, "The old demon apparently is incapable of traversing the layers himself, though he is also, apparently, fully aware of them.

"I must get going." He gave a slight bow to each of them and started to fold the layers around himself. "I have a timetable that needs keeping."

Shikiyoku gave him a small smile as he shimmered between the First and Second Layers and then disappeared entirely from her view. 3

Hiei remained silent throughout the time Horu was there, eyes steady on the male until he was out of sight. The fire demon stayed where he stood, hands in his pockets and eyes sliding over to Shiki. "Is there an end to them?" _Us? _…

It was so odd to suddenly be included.

~!**!~

Her eyes turned to watch the male, her lips twitching just slightly. She wasn't sure if it was early morning or late night, but she was quite content with the way the moon's light colored his features.

_A… Pain…_

"You know, I'd call _you _adorable too, but it just _doesn't _cover it." _*****_

"You're right it doesn't. Foxes aren't adorable." Kurama informed her bluntly, "We're many things, but adorable is not one of them."

_[Speak for yourself.]_

"Rather...we're fierce. Terribly fierce."

~!**!~

"Why? Suddenly worried you won't be able to take them all on at once?" Shikiyoku gave Hiei a grin, "Or...are you just having second thoughts?" She started walking down the sidewalk again towards home. 3

Hiei sneered. "_I_ will be _taking on_ none of them. I believe that will be _your_ problem, mainly." He slid his eyes forward again to follow after. "_I _have other methods, none of which I will be sharing."

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched and she leaned closer, touching her lips to the easiest-accessible place that required minimal movement**: **his cheek, just above the jawline. "Nope, doesn't work either. I don't like it." _*****_

"Well, I'm afraid _denying _it doesn't particularly make it any less true." He smiled a little, feeling her lips brush his skin. "But in that case you'll just have to come up with something yourself, I suppose."

~!**!~

"Good." Shikiyoku proclaimed, not bothering to cast a single glance at him over her shoulder. "Surprise me."

She stepped inbetween the layers, heading for the house. 3

Hiei didn't retort, his sneer twitching and widening only slightly as he followed her, slipping between the layers just as easily as she did.

"_Do _you know how many there are?" He suddenly asked, very genuinely curious over the matter.

~!**!~

"Suave." Akari made a sound of consideration. "Ambrosial." Her eyes came closed and she pulled a hand up to tap her hand against his opposite cheek good-naturedly. "I think I'll stop there." _*****_

Kurama finally opened his eyes and turned his head just enough that he could look into hers.

"That's probably wise." He murmured.

~!**!~

"How many there are _total_? Or how many _you_ should be concerned about?" Shikiyoku's lips twitched slightly, casting him a single glance from the corners of her eyes. "There's quite a difference." 3

The fire demon raised a brow and considered the options. He wasn't sure it would matter either way, since he was merely asking out of curiosity's sake.

_Okay, maybe not just that reason.._

"Both."

~!**!~

Akari held Kurama's gaze, several thoughts filtering through the forefront of her mind as her lips twitched. "I had a few more, but they're a bit… much." She gave a shrug, still not breaking eye contact. "Not for _you_, I'm sure, but _I _am not sure exactly just _what_ I'm willing to admit at this point." Her lips twitched again, this time the mischievous smile winning against her restraint. _*****_

"As I said, it's quite smart of you to keep me in the dark about that sort of thing. I'm not sure _what _I would resort to if I knew exactly how you felt about me." His gaze had leveled out, eyes bright, but face otherwise betraying none of this thoughts.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made a thoughtful sort of noise.

"There are seven others of whom I know that have so far given me no indication that they intend to back down. Those would be the ones _you _should be concerned about." She gave a little grin. "As to the other, I haven't bothered trying to figure it out. If I could even discover a way to do so. I haven't the slightest idea what I'm doing, after all." 3

Hiei refused the response he'd almost said. A retort that included the fact that _he _had no idea about what _he _was doing either. He was simply trying to figure it out as he went, because there was _no way_ he could figure out a plan ahead of time.

Was there even a way to plan ahead in this?

He scoffed.

"Amusing to know."

~!**!~

Akari's eyelids slid closed briefly, her smile twitching and turning into a smaller one. _Is this a type of stalemate?_ The thought had her releasing a breath of amusement. _Both knowing and neither saying or doing anything about it?_

"You're a pain." She huffed again. "Stupid fox." _*****_

"You know, I think I've heard something like that before." He commented mildly, shifting his head so that he might plant a brief kiss on her forehead. "And I'm somehow certain it won't be the last time." He eyes closed again as he pulled back.

~!**!~

_I should talk to Renai again at some point._

_First things first._

Shikiyoku stopped when she got inside the house, just on the other side of the front door.

Her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth, ready to _demand _answers from-

He wasn't there.

She blinked. Usually the dark head of the cat-demon was easily seen from over the back of the couch, but he was nowhere in sight.

Taking a couple of steps forward, she glanced around the room and looked up the staircase in time to see a dark streak scrambling down the steps.

Of all the things she expected to happen-the cat turning right before he crashed into her, jumping over her, circling her legs repeatedly-she did _not _expect Kitoushi to jump right for her face, and _neither _did she expect for his head to suddenly enlarge in mid-leap, giant paws slamming into her shoulders and knocking her to the ground where he promptly began licking at her face with a rough tongue.

Her mouth had been open, about to start drilling him, but it just as quickly shut again, a growling rumbling in her throat.

"Ow." Shikiyoku's eyes closed briefly after her head smacked the floor. She opened them again to see the huge cat licking at her cheek fervently. "You're lucky that didn't make me switch."

The cat, easily twice the size of and a similar color to a panther, ignored her, paws planted firmly on her shoulders, and started licking at her arm next.

"Kit, I'm not dirty."

The cat stopped what he was doing and turned his large head to stare down at her, unblinking, before going back to licking at her arm, actually going ahead and laying down on top of her, his chest starting to thrum against her body in a deep purr and his tail curling and uncurling behind him.

She knew that look. 'Says you.'

"No. This is _not _okay." Shikiyoku informed him, eyes narrowing, "Don't just _ignore_ me. I'm absolutely _infuriated _with you, I'll have you know."

He appeared to be paying her no mind.

"When were you going to tell me?"

That time, he did actually stop, turning to catch her mildly furious green eyes in his own blue and brown ones.

'Tell you what?'

"Don't look all innocent, and get off me!"

He just kept purring, Shikiyoku grinding her teeth together. 3

Hiei stepped onto the first layer again, though _he _actually walked through the front door like any normal person would. When it shut behind him, he was staring at the most bizarre scene he'd ever laid eyes upon. Kitoushi- as he assumed that's who this was- lay on Shikiyoku and his tongue continuously roved her skin, the sound strange to hear among the very brief silence.

Instead of spectating, the fire demon moved around the pair- after ensuring Shikiyoku was okay, that is. He moved to the kitchen and out of their sight, helping himself to the freezer, where he knew there to be a bit of the sweet snow left.

She could handle herself, he knew.

And, quite frankly…

He _didn't _want to create a problem for himself just yet.

Only if Shikiyoku called on him would he interfere. So, for the time being, he grabbed himself a spoon, removed the lid to the tub of strawberry ice cream, and helped himself.

He didn't even care enough to grab a bowl.

~!**!~

Akari hummed in amusement, eyes opening to watch the redhead even when his lips made contact with her skin. "You'll hear it often, I'm sure. It's an impulse now. Almost a habit. And, quite frankly, it's _your _fault."

_Just like it's your fault I suddenly can't sit still. _

Her fingers continued to toy with his shirt, her feet moving with the smallest of motions and her lips twitching as she considered something else to say, but thinking against it and instead pressing them together.

_Stop it. __*****_

"Quite frankly my dear canine, I don't give a damn." Kurama didn't even bother trying to resist _not _kissing her forehead again, keeping his lips against her skin and leaning into her with a smile.

...mostly so he didn't just up and do what Youko kept _suggesting _he do.

~!**!~

"Kit I-" Shikiyoku growled at him, any semblance of the serious tone she had adopted crumbling, "Stop it! I can't take you seriously when you're like this."

He had gone back to cleaning her, now working on the other arm.

"_Would you rather I shifted __**now**__?" _

She suddenly became rather aware of his weight on top of her and her eyes narrowed at him again. She left it alone.

"Alright, listen up, _cat_. I _know _you've already taken a sample of the virus from me, because you're much too clever for your own good to have not, and you're lucky I don't just strip your thoughts of everything but pain for the next three days for doing it. So, keeping in mind that I could decide to do so anyway at any moment, I suggest you spill whatever progress you've got on concocting a cure." 3

Hiei stood in the kitchen, leaning back against the counter with the cold tub in one hand and a spoon in the other, mouth closing over the utensil and eyes sliding closed as he both enjoyed the taste and listened to the side of the conversation he could hear in the next room. He resisted the urge to use his own telepathic abilities to listen in on what Kitoushi had to say.

He found his respect for the cat demon to be too much to allow himself to do such a thing, even if the conversation wasn't 'private'.

So he scooped his spoon into the light-red frozen deliciousness again.

~!**!~

Akari gave a laugh that transitioned into a groan. after a moment. He was making it so _difficult _to continue resisting the impulse to grab him by his stupid face and touch her lips to his. But, if she _did _such a thing, she knew it would make it just that much more difficult to keep her mind set on leaving tomorrow…

Evening.

Yeah. She could delay it until the evening, right?

_My terms. I never specified._

She made a small sound. "That list of yours just keeps growing and growing, doesn't it?" _*****_

"I haven't the faintest idea what you're referring to." Kurama spoke against her forehead. "Unless we're talking about _your _list on _me_. In which case, I _still _haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."

~!**!~

Kit raised his head taller, in a more regal, cat-like post, and crossed one paw over the other, looking down at her, still purring, and regarding her with a measured curiousness.

"_Why the sudden interest, my lady?"_

Shikiyoku huffed, shifting her gaze to the side so she wouldn't be taken in by his steady stare.

"_It is not within you while you are in this state, so there is nothing for you to be concerned for __**yourself **__about." _The edges of his eyes flickered as if he were about to narrowing them at her. "_What happened while you were away?" _

"There are..." She paused, "Demons suddenly acquiring the ability to siphon energy much like myself. Exactly like myself, I would say. It appears that most of them have contracted the disease shortly thereafter."

In cat form, it was even more difficult to tell Kitoushi's thoughts by looking at his face, though they immediately turned to the conversation between himself and Youko, in which the fox called him a fool for thinking of asking Shikiyoku to show him how to do exactly what she seemed to be indicating others somehow finding themselves able to do.

"_The virus is dormant." _He admitted. "_Likely because I am incapable of this feeding on energy of which you refer. If you would see about-" _

"No." She gave him a harsh glare. "I absolutely _refuse _to try and teach you how to do it. You're _not _getting sick, you hear me?"

Her steadfast expression faltered as he stared down at her, the child from the Northern Tribe flitting about her mind.

"_There's never been a sickness I have not been able to cure." _He reminded her.

"Yet." Shikiyoku said sternly. 3

~!**!~

Akari gave a grin. "Would you believe me if I said there _was _no list? Just fumbling along and doing whatever I pleased?" She gave a hum, a few thoughts coming to mind before she dismissed them entirely. _*****_

"I'm not sure." He pulled her a little closer. "Should I believe you?"

~!**!~

The pair locked gazes for a moment, fighting a silent battle.

Shikiyoku felt Kit give a little sigh and stand on all fours, stepping off of her and shifting forms, offering her a hand to help her get up.

"You are worried about others, yes? About them dying and such?"

It was strange admitting as much to a man with whom she had been a _very _different demon, but Shikiyoku gave a little nod once he had her on her feet, and neither let go of the other's hand.

"Then perhaps you should reconsider my offer to learn." He told her, starting to pull her towards the couch and the silent flickering images on the TV screen. "Because I believe the saying goes that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the _you_."

Shikiyoku scoffed, letting him pull her along.

"That's _not _how the saying goes."

He sent a challenging glance to her over his shoulder as he turned and sat down, Shikiyoku without hesitation seating herself next to him, actually cuddling up to him.

"So _that's _what you've been doing." She murmured.

"Hm?"

"All this time I thought you had developed a taste for human broadcasting when you were really sitting here analyzing the virus."

"You give me too much credit." His eyes gleamed.

"I'm fairly certain I don't give you _enough_."

"That's _your _error, not mine." 3

Hiei set the tub down, hearing Kitoushi's voice in the house and then the sound of two pairs of feet moving across the carpet silently. Having made up his mind to do this before, he went ahead and made a bowl of the sweet snow, grabbing a clean spoon and dropping it into the tub without thought and turning to move into the living room area, the spoon he'd been using stuck in the ice cream bowl he'd made.

He stood behind the couch briefly before extending the bowl to Shikiyoku from over her head, leaving the tub within his own hand so that he may finish off the rest of it.

~!**!~

Akari shrugged a little, lifting her head as he pulled her closer so that she could continue watching the male as best as she could. "That is up to you." Of course she had lists.

Probably not the same lists as he, but lists nonetheless.

She continued to stare at him, fidgeting just a bit more before her body relaxed and she went still again. She gave a small sigh. "I'm not just going to _give you_ the answers, after all. _I _have to have fun with it too, you know." _*****_

Kurama gave a good-natured chuckle, "Fair enough. I suppose it's only fitting. How do you know I don't already have all the answers, though?" He teased.

~!**!~

It took a second for Shikiyoku to notice the bowl that was suddenly peeking over her head, and she immediately sat up and took it in both hands with a smile, making no hesitation to beginning eating the stuff.

Kitoushi cast an amused glance in Hiei's direction. 3

Hiei gave no reaction to the glance Kitoushi shot him. He only turned to leave the room again, as if he had no intention of staying in the first place. With the spoon between his lips and the tub of sweet snow in his hand, he silently slid from the room, half tempted to go upstairs and take over her room for a nap.

Because he _still _felt the aftereffects of how he'd accessed his Jagan earlier.

~!**!~

"I am very sure you are very much aware of the contents of the list," Akari replied easily. "Just like right now, I'm sure you're completely aware that I _still _want to fidget and _still _can't sit still, but do not _want _to get up and leave because…"

_Because I don't __**want **__to leave. I don't want to move away. Because I don't want to chance the temptation to not come back, despite my determination to not stay with the pack._

"Because of reasons." _*****_

_[SEE? She's just __**begging **__for you to kiss her.]_

"Because of reasons?" Kurama frowned. "You know, you're making it very difficult for me."

~!**!~

Kitoushi watched with that same amusement as Shikiyoku seemed perfectly happy to consume the offer Hiei made to her.

His eyes caught sight now of the red-scale bracelet she wore as it lightly tapped against the bowl.

_That's new._

As was the blood-red flower, though he could already tell who she'd gotten _that _from.

Like it wasn't entirely too obvious.

_Eventually you're going to have to choose, Kit._

He turned back to stare blankly at the screen out of habit, his eyes seeing nothing of whatever show was on and instead searching inward for the virus he had been working with.

_Either keep going in this direction to save her and let the others sweep her away, or set it aside and hope she doesn't die first while you attempt to woo her. _3

Hiei stood in the kitchen for a moment, taking another bite before he decided that… a nap sounded rather _wonderful_. So he slid the spoon away from his lips and dropped it in the sink, replacing the lid on the little bit of sweet snow he'd left for his later consumption, and slid it into the freezer.

After a very slight moment of hesitation, Hiei left the kitchen and moved up the stairs, giving a fleeting glance at the pair on the couch before he continued on his way.

"_I'll be nearby should you need of me."_

And by 'nearby', he meant her room.

~!**!~

"It's only fair, because now you're getting a taste of your own medicine, so to speak." She poked his chest with her index finger. "But _you're _the only one verbally complaining." _*****_

Kurama slipped a hand up to Akari's chin as he leaned back a bit, looking into her eyes.

He made no move to _actually _kiss her, but he fully intended to make sure she knew what he was talking about.

"I meant," He did not so much as blink, "That you're making it very difficult for me not to just _kiss _you."

~!**!~

"_Mmmm-kay." _The first half she hadn't specifically meant to convey to him, though it is in fact what her thoughts mostly consisted of at that moment.

She almost made a jab at him, something along the lines of him asking her to join, but stayed quiet and attentive to her sweet snow. 3

Hiei considered saying something, which caused him to pause very briefly at the top of the steps before he turned and sauntered his way into her room, lips twitching slightly in amusement. "_Remember that should you get bored." _

He shut the door behind himself and moved to the bed, simply plopping down on top of the covers, deciding he was quite comfortable on his stomach, and letting his eyes close.

~!**!~

_As I said, a dose of your own medicine. _

Akari's lips twitched, but otherwise her expression remained neutral, her eyes staring into Kurama's just as unblinkingly as he stared at her. "I wasn't aware." She lifted her hand to brush his aside, never breaking eye contact. _*****_

"Of course you weren't." Kurama leaned back again, eyes going closed. "You're also not aware of the things Youko is suggesting I do."

~!**!~

Without thinking much about it, having induced a bit of 'brain freeze' that had her dropping the spoon back into the bowl and reaching up to pinch at the bridge of her nose as if it would help, Shikiyoku sent him back a similar, "_Mm-kay." _3

~!**!~

Akari continued to stare at Kurama as he leaned away, a brow raising just slightly. "I could make a few guesses, but quite frankly, I would rather not." She reached up with both hands this time and placed them on either side of his face. "If you're uncomfortable, _say so. _Don't just pout." Her lips twitched again, this time forming a very small smile- she wouldn't allow more than that. _*****_

Kurama let out a sigh.

"You're pushing your luck, pup. Though I'm fairly certain you're quite aware of that."

~!**!~

It wasn't terribly long after Hiei left the room that Taka came in the front door and immediately jumped over the back of the couch to plop down next to Shikiyoku, giving her a giant hug.

"You're back!"

Shikiyoku couldn't quite get her spoon into her mouth and Taka had nearly disrupted the bowl from her other hand, leading her to send a withering glare at what she could see of his face.

"Now you can spend the day with me!"

"I am NOT going anywhere until I finish my sweet snow." She wriggled around until she managed to get herself free of him. "I just got back anyway. Why would I want to leave?"

Taka gave a long-suffering sigh, leaving one arm over her shoulder as he leaned back into the couch. 3

~!**!~

Akari smiled and rolled away, turning her back onto the redhead. "Just checking." She watched Nabu twitch in his sleep, his nose wiggling around as if he were sniffing for something _very _important. She smiled at her friend, though really she was fighting the desire to look back over her shoulder.

_I'm still not going to get up and leave. Isamu can wait until later today. __**Much**_ _later. _*****

_[Impressive.]_

When Kurama's eyes came open to look at the back of Akari, they were gleaming _quite _golden and it took a great deal of effort for him to restrain both the color and what it meant, the usual green fading in after a moment.

"You're a pain."

~!**!~

"Ugh, this show is so _**boring**_. How can you two stand this inane, human drivel?" Taka dropped his head back until it rested against the top of the couch.

"Sh," Shikiyoku told him from where she had cuddled back up to Kit, his arm protectively over her.

The bowl from earlier sat on the coffee table with enough ice cream in it to have swayed Taka when she said she 'wasn't finished' when he proposed them leaving.

Taka gave a yawn, glancing at Shikiyoku as he sat back up.

Kit had _told _him she wasn't on the First Layer anymore, but it hadn't stopped the bird from flying without rest searching for any trace of her.

_Dammit, how come I'm the only one who can't do that whole shifty-layery-thingy?_

"I'm taking a nap." He announced brusquely, getting up.

"There's a tree outside." Shikiyoku informed him.

"And _your_ bed is upstairs." He grinned at her.

"You are not allowed anywhere _near _my room." Shikiyoku glared at him.

"Says who?"

"Says the person who _owns _the room."

"Pft," Taka scoffed, his arms over his chest.

She still glared at him.

"Alright, _fine_. I'll go in one of the other rooms." He started to walk off.

"You'd better!" Shikiyoku called after him.

"I'll be in the last one on the right."

"Uh huh." Shikiyoku murmured.

Taka paused as he got to the bottom of the stairs, his eyes flashing as he looked back at her.

"Remember that should you get bored."

Shikiyoku's eyes widened a little, her initial instinct at throwing a pillow at him vastly undermined by the voice in her head that had told her the exact same thing.

"_Remember that should you get bored." _

Was he...had Hiei meant...no way. Not possible. 3

~!**!~

Akari reached out to touch Nabu's head, stilling the furious flicking of his ears and setting him into a calmer, much more restful sleep. He gave a huff of a sigh through his nostrils, and Akari smiled.

That smile widened at Kurama's words. "I know." She replied calmly, still not looking back at him because there was _still _that pesky little impulse nagging at her. That pesky little urge tugging at her. "But, remember, I never claimed to be anything else." _*****_

It was like she was _trying _to test his patience. To see exactly how much he would take before he...snapped.

If it had been anyone else, he doubted they could have gotten under his skin quite so easily.

But it just had to be _her _didn't it?

He let his eyes consider the curls of her hair, but said nothing.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku squirmed a little in her seat, unsure how many hours had passed, unsure if it had only been minutes.

Kit finally glanced over at her. She had acted as if she were uncomfortable ever since Taka left the room.

Finally, Shikiyoku gave up and stood, Kit's eyes following her as she mumbled something to him about 'checking to make sure they hadn't killed each other,' though truthfully there were a couple of _other _reasons as to why she felt the need to go up there.

_I've got to think of something. _

Kit watched her disappear up the stairs.

_Sitting here too long __**will **__drive me crazy some time._

It was simple enough to move quietly up to her bedroom door and place her hand on the knob.

And as soon as she gently tried to turn it, she knew there was no way Taka accidentally went in the wrong room. It was locked.

...so why was she blending into the layers and stepping inside anyway to look? 3

Hiei shifted, half awake and half asleep, rolling until he was on his back. His hand moved to find the cloth around his head, scratching at it and forcing a few strands of hair away from the edges of it until his hand simply came to rest on the blanket. He gave a sleepy huff as _something _pulled his mind further from the sleeping realm, but he didn't readily open his eyes since he felt no immediate threat.

He'd locked the door anyhow.

He took in another deep breath, mind slowly turning back to the darkness of sleep even as he was aware of another in the room.

~!**!~

Akari left her hand atop Nabu's head for a moment longer, ensuring he remained still when she _did _pull away from the dog. And when he didn't so much as twitch a paw, she was satisfied and brought an arm up under her head, resting against the grass again in a lazy manner, fully aware of the male watching her.

It made her expression twitch just slightly.

_Stop that. _

"If I had a camera, I'd let you borrow it." _*****_

"A picture may be worth a thousand words, but I much prefer seeing how uncomfortable I can make you by simply looking at you." Kurama sounded almost cheerful as he said it, still letting his eyes follow the curves of her hair, finding it difficult not to grin while she couldn't see him.

~!**!~

Yup. There he was. Undisturbed. Well, by Taka at least.

_You can, uh, go now, you know. 'Cuz he's fine._

Shikiyoku stood there blinking absently as she found herself staring at him, unable to shake whatever it was that had settled over her as she watched him turn over.

_He brought me sweet snow._

That appeared to be the only coherent thought running through her mind at the moment. The rest of them apparently distracted with how absolutely..._fierce _he looked at the moment. 3

Hiei felt his awareness coming to fruition just a bit more as the presence remained, seemingly harmless, and yet not exactly… leaving him undisturbed, as he could feel eyes on him. It brought his own eyes open half-way, brows raising in curiosity very briefly before it registered that it was _Shiki_.

Soon after the realization passed, his eyes closed again and his breathing evened out entirely, his mind deciding he shouldn't worry enough to miss the nap he'd been taking.

Because, obviously, she was unharmed.

Otherwise… he would've woken up completely. And there would have been _hell._

~!**!~

Akari hummed in understanding, not moving an inch. "I see what you're up to." She paused. "Well, not _see_, per se, since my back is to you. But that's beside the point."

_Resist._

Akari gave a sigh.

_You're a __**pain**__. In every way possible._

She refused to move a little longer. Because… she'd started it, and she _didn't _want to lose. _*****_

Kurama let out another chuckle, "I have mentioned you are a pain. Have I also told you that you are quite amusing when you wish to be?"

~!**!~

The next coherent thought that passed through her mind was a rather crass series of words.

Because now that she was _in _the room, she found herself not particularly wanting to leave it.

She glanced at the locked door behind her, finding it funny that Hiei had gone to the trouble, but also realizing it had effectively prevented Taka from coming in here and messing things up with his machismo.

Shikiyoku reached up and rubbed at her forehead.

Either she should leave and let Hiei be or-

_Or what?_

_Sit here staring much longer and you'll probably wake him up again._

_Yeah, and laying down next to him won't do essentially the same thing?_

She let out an almost imperceptible sigh and started to move forward, climbing on top of the covers and laying down at the edge of the bed.

..._at least this way if he asks I have an answer for him_. _Telling him I was bored wouldn't be a complete lie._ 3

On some level or another, Hiei was aware of the shifting of the bed, of the addition of weight on the bed next to him. And, despite his sleeping state, he shifted just a little, seemingly deciding to give her just a little more room to prevent her laying on the edge of the bed.

This resulted in his side touching the wall, the arm on that side coming up to rest over his head before he settled once more, still on his back.

Other than that, he remained virtually undisturbed.

~!**!~

"...Not until now," Akari answered his rhetorical question with a haughty tone. "I was quite aware, actually." HAd she had a tail, it would have been swaying back and forth for the past few minutes, conveying the amusement she didn't let become apparent in her tone.

There was a pause.

"Think there's a hole in my back yet? From all that staring, I mean." _*****_

_[There's gonna be a hole in her __**clothes **__if she keeps this up for too much longer]_

Kurama very nearly burst out laughing at the audacity of Youko's observation, but he felt the fox give a little jolt as if to take over and Kurama quickly reigned in the attempt, though his eyes quite obviously flashed with yellow once more.

"There is not yet."

_[Yet.]_

"I'm still working on it."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku grew still, somewhere in the back of her mind wishing she would just close her eyes and nap like he appeared to blissfully be doing.

That...was likely part of the problem.

...since he looked so-_ugh_-fierce at the moment. All asleep and peaceful and stuff. Was this really what he looked like while away from the waking world and all the troubles therein? She half-wished he might appear like this some day when he _wasn't _asleep.

_Unlikely._

_...but it's nice to think about_. 3

~!**!~

Akari smiled. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came to mind immediately and she was left merely grinning like a moron. She'd just begun to give in to her urge to turn around and get closer to him again when her stubbornness kicked in, leaving her right where she was. _*****_

"Feel free to keep letting me try, though. I promise I'll try to remember to warn you before I move any plants around."

~!**!~

Watching him laying there so serenely soon had Shikiyoku's eyes growing heavier in spite of herself.

_Why...do I always end up feeling this way when I'm around you?_

The question went unanswered as she finally could no longer resist and her eyes fluttered shut, carrying her away into a dreamless sleep she had rather unintended to let happen. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	88. Episode 172 - Kiss and Hug

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Fellow Ningen!

Yes, yes, I know. The chapter was posted earlier than normal. That's because I'm exhausted and unsure if I'll actually be up at midnight and I'd rather post the chapter sooner than later. Hope you enjoy it!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shikiyoku and Hiei discover the identities of two members of the Northern Tribe  
who are energy-feeders and responsible for the loss of Shikiyoku's energy the night before.

They tell the Elder this as they leave the camp after Shikiyoku bids Douji goodbye,  
she and Hiei heading back up to the First Layer.

On the walk back to the house, Shikiyoku is confronted by Horu,  
the white-haired guild leader whom she worked for while stuck in her pain form,  
and the same three-sword wielding demon Hiei met protecting Shikiyoku in the first city on the Ninth Level.

Horu has shown up briefly to let Shikiyoku know that he and Kafu  
wish to strive to become her Consort, but he is forced to cut the reunion short.

Shikiyoku storms into her home upset at Kitoushi,  
whom she has by now realized likely stole a bit of her sickness despite her wishes.  
She demands that he tells her what he knows,  
thinking that perhaps she might be able to help the Northern Tribe.

The day draws to an end with Shikiyoku, Taka, and Kitoushi sitting on the couch,  
Taka eventually retiring to one of the guest rooms upstairs,  
and Shikiyoku following not long after.

She, however, goes to her own room where Hiei had earlier gone to rest,  
and falls asleep next to him.

~!**!~

Akari, Nabu, and Kurama's down time in the park  
is briefly interrupted by Isamu and an unnamed girl from his pack,  
though the two of them soon retreat once Akari makes it clear they are not welcome.

Akari and Kurama speak about Akari having to leave,  
how long she is to be gone, and what methods she should employ to let him know she is alright.

The two continue to banter back and forth,  
Akari quickly discovering that she is having to strongly resist kissing him,  
but taunting Kurama almost mercilessly as he is fighting to not do the same to her.

When she finally turns away, she can feel him staring at the back of her,  
asking if there was a hole in her back, to which he replies he is still trying.

He tells her that he'll try to warn her before he begins using any plants to speed up the process...

* * *

"That sounds rather akin to a threat," Akari voiced matter-of-factly. She made a sound of consideration as her eyelids peeled open, and she turned her head to glance over her shoulder at him briefly, puffing a breath of air out from her lips to move her hair from her eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were making an intentional threat." She smiled at him before turning back to face Nabu, settling again with her head on her arm. "Should I know better?" _*****_

"Me threaten you? I wouldn't dream of it." 3

Akari hummed at him in amusement as she shifted about in place.

_You're being difficult._

She gave a very small groan that died away into a huff. _Nope. Not doing it._

_Not turning around._

_Not gonna do it._

"Prefer a picture yet?" _*****_

_[Want me to list all the things he can't do with a photo?]_

Kurama's lips visibly twitched, and not in an upwards direction as his brows turned downwards and flinched, wishing not for the first time that he could take a swing at the stupid fox.

"No." Kurama replied evenly, stopping himself before he said anything _remotely _similar to what Youko quipped. 3

"One-word answers now?" Akari smiled to herself for a moment before gaining control of the expression. Once she was certain her expression held none of her amusement, none of her thoughts, she turned over to face the redhead, bringing her within inches of him once more. "That's no fun." _*****_

_[I could certainly suggest a few things that __**would**_ _be fun.]_

_{You. Are __**not**__. Helping.}_

_[I know.]_

Kurama only looked down at Akari, his face devoid of the turmoil Youko was causing inside their mind. 3

With no reply given, Akari gave a small smile at Kurama. "I think I've pushed my limits far enough for the day." She paused and looked up at the sky. "Uh, night?" _What time is it? _She looked at him again and settled into laying much the same way she had been earlier. "Whatever." _*****_

_[She can push __**my**__-]_

_{__**Shut. Up.**__}_

"Doesn't matter much, does it?" He wrapped his arm back over her. 3

"Not particularly," Akari replied as she moved closer again, closing the little space between them so that she could rest her free arm over him again too. _*****_

"Is this the entirety of your plans? Spending your last free day on the first layers in the arms of a fox?" 3

"You know, I hadn't thought very far ahead yet." she admitted. "So I'm perfectly fine here-" Akari stopped, image of Isamu and the kid floating across her mind. "Actually… moving around would probably be best…. So if you have any ideas, I'm all ears." _*****_

"Well, if laying around is what you wish-"

_{__**Don't.**__}_

"-then we could just as easily transplant ourselves to the meadow. We would remain undisturbed there." 3

Akari considered this for a moment, finding that she really _really _didn't want to get up and move. And that she was perfectly content being lazy _all day long_. A smile came to her lips. "I'm all for it."

Before he could answer, her energy shifted around them, pulling on and beckoning shadows to move around and over them, over Nabu as well. And this time, the change in venue was so quick that not even the dog seemed to stir from the shift.

"_Much_ better." _*****_

Kurama blinked.

"You mean I _don't _get the distinct pleasure of carrying you on my back again?" 3

Akari gave a dramatic sigh. "I mean, if you want, we could go _back_." _*****_

"Mm-no." He briefly tightened his arm around her before loosening his grip. "Too comfortable now. First layer grass is nothing compared to this." 3

Akari's smile was wide and she shifted her legs about a little and pulled her arm out from under her head to let her cheek rest on the grass. "Welp, opportunity missed. I'm not offering twice." She stared up at him for a moment, finding that same urge from before bubbling up again to the point that she had to bury her face in the crook of his neck. _*****_

_[...you two are just __**trying **__to drive me insane, aren't you?]_

_{You have absolutely NO room to talk.}_

"What's the first thing you want to do when you get back?" 3

The very first answer that came to Akari's mind was one she did not voice. One she pushed far away, because it made the moment harder to stay where she was.

After a beat, playing it off as consideration, she answered. "Eat something from the sweet shop. A sundae, preferably. With extra cherries." She made a sound. "And your presence is mandatory. Non-negotiable." _*****_

"Then I suppose it's a good thing I asked, hm? Would be a shame to have my presence required and then completely miss out on it because of my own neglect." 3

"I would seek you out, I'm sure." She took in a deep breath. "Remember, three changes from the rose in a day means your presence is required." _*****_

Kurama's eyebrows raised, "Oh, is that a universal signal now? I thought we were just putting that in place for when you were gone." 3

Akari gave a small laugh. "Well, technically, I'll still be 'gone'. Because I won't be in your immediate presence, yes?" She made a sound akin to a "ha!", though it never left her lips and came out more of a hum. "After that, anything goes." _*****_

Kurama let out a rather long-suffering sigh, "Yes, your highness." 3

"Such a faithful knight in shining armour I have." she intoned, moving her nose away just briefly as if to look up, but just as quickly deciding against it. "You're my favorite for a reason." _*****_

_[And you are quite possibly the most irritating female I have ever not had the pleasure of-]_

_{I will slit your throat with your own bare hands.}_

"Naturally. I'm _everyone's_ favorite." 3

"Well, there's also the fact that you're my _only _knight in shining armor," Akari pointed out. "Not much competition now, is there?" She paused. "Nabu is my right-hand. He doesn't count." _*****_

"I don't think he'd much care to walk around in something quite that heavy." 3

"You're right. He wouldn't be allowed to run freely." She made a small sound akin to 'tsk'. "It would make _fetch_ a terrible feat." She looked up at him now. "That's why you get the more difficult tasks. You handle them well."

_Probably a little __**too**_ _well. __*****_

"Well, you honor me by holding me in such high regard, I assure you." Kurama opened his eyes to look down at her, his other arm going up to curl underneath his head as a pillow. "I'll try not to abuse the privilege." 3

Akari smiled at the redhead, but didn't give a reply. She merely continued to watch him, finding that the light of the flowers here was _much _more satisfying than the light of the simple moon on the first layer. _And I'm right back where I started. __*****_

"Comfortable?" He smiled, a teasing air to his eyes. 3

Akari lifted her nose a little. "If I weren't, I wouldn't stay, would I?"

_Nope. Not gonna do it. __*****_

_[AUGH. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS FLORAL IN THIS WORLD WILL YOU JUST-]_

_{Shush.}_

"I didn't mean to imply you might leave," Kurama met her gaze for gaze, but did not move himself, "Only asking if there was something I could do to ease any discomfort you might find yourself in." 3

Akari's smile widened a little. _Mind reading now? Too smart, fox. _

_You know what? I'm gon-_

_No._

_Yes._

_Dammit._

Akari huffed and reached up, tapping the end of his nose with a single finger teasingly. "We'll see." _*****_

"As you wish." Kurama let his eyes slide closed again, enjoying the heather beneath him as well as the demon in his arms.

...one that he would miss greatly once she was gone. 3

Akari stayed quiet and her eyelids slid closed, hiding the internal battle.

_Yes?_

_No._

Ugh.

_Just… screw it._

Her eyes came open again and she was shifting, raising her arm so that she could wrap it about his neck and pull herself closer before she talked herself out of it. Before her internal conflict could stop her again, her lips touched Kurama's for the briefest of moments before she was pulling away and burying her nose in his neck again.

_Dammit, Akari. __*****_

_[Heheheh]_

"Comfortable _now_?" Kurama wanted to know, fighting a smile. 3

~!**!~

Even before Hiei was fully aware that he was waking, he knew what time of day it was. Just before dawn, just before the first rays of the sun would begin poking into the windows of the room. He turned his head, realizing he lay on his stomach again, and gave a small sigh of content.

That had been such a deep sleep…

But, it also told him a few things he hadn't even _considered_.

He pushed the thoughts away and let his eyelids slide open, viewing the person next to him who continued to breath softly in indication of undisturbed sleep.

His fingers twitched when he realized his arm rested over her midsection, almost as if she were a pillow he hadn't been willing to release during sleep.

After a moment, after recovering from her peaceful expression and gathering his thoughts again, he began to move his arm away slowly.

No need in waking her if all he was going to do was go find some beverage or another.

~!**!~

… …

Akari huffed at Kurama, not responding to him in any way, shape, or form except to settle into his embrace again. _*****_

"I'll take your silence as a yes." Kurama told her, opening one eye to see her settling closer.

"I'm going to miss you."

~!**!~

She didn't actually even wake up.

But that didn't mean Shikiyoku couldn't sense the nearest source of warmth beginning to pull away, and it had her arms drawing up to entangle around the one Hiei started to lift as she turned over from her back onto her side to face him, intertwining the fingers of one hand with his and making a frowning face at having been disturbed, huffing out an unhappy puff of air in her sleep. 3

Hiei froze the moment Shikiyoku stirred, knowing that a single motion could likely wake her due to the way he lay. And, truthfully, he didn't expect her to protest in _any _form, so when her arms wrapped about his and one of her hands tangled her fingers into his, he found himself staring in surprise.

He hardly even dared to _breathe_, even after she'd settled again.

After an extra moment, he gave a imperceptible sigh and shifted her hold on his hand until he was just a bit more comfortable, allowing his own fingers to curl about hers.

_This isn't… bad._

Actually..

Her hand was rather warm.

His eyelids slid shut again, resigning himself to wait until she awoke.

At least he'd be able to think through a few things for a minute or so.

~!**!~

Akari stilled, keeping her face hidden in his neck and her arm wrapped about him. A million responses flew by her mind.

_I know. _

_Me too._

_Come with me._

_Don't let me go then._

She gave a soft smile, her features softening despite the fact that they were hidden from him. "The time on that layer will be longer than the time on the first layer. So, really, your wait will be shorter than mine." She paused. "But…" Another pause. "...I'll miss you too." _*****_

"Even a single instant away from your presence is a thousand lifetimes of torture and pain." Kurama proclaimed dramatically as he pulled Akari as close to himself as he could, letting out a small chuckle after doing so.

~!**!~

After a second more, Shikiyoku let out a large, contented sigh, her brows relaxing and her lips pulling up into more of a smile.

Her mouth barely moved, but she appeared to be murmuring something in her sleep, which ended with her closing the last bit of distance between herself and Hiei, the final bit coming out louder that the rest.

"...fire-prince." 3

Hiei's eyes came open again when he noted the slightly terse air about Shiki had dissolved into a calm, peaceful aura of slumber once more, her lips moving but his ears catching only the tail end of her sentence. He stared at her for a moment after before his lips twitched in amusement, and then his thoughts drifted towards something he'd considered just before falling asleep the first time the night before.

His eyes remained on her as he recalled how they tracked the demons who had been siphoning off their energy supply. How much concentration it had taken to direct the Jagan one way or the other. How much _energy _he felt it had taken to even ask of it to lend its power for such a simple task.

It hadn't been a worrying amount of energy, but it had been more than usual.

Especially when directing where the Jagan should look. _That_ had likely been the main source of the events that had lead to this moment, where he lay on his stomach next to Shikiyoku.

_Why?_

It was meant for rage, with a mind all its own. Almost a separate being from himself that… that _strived_ on anger, that _lived_ on rage and blood-lust.

…

Was that it? Was that… what had made it so draining?

~!**!~

Akari let out a breath of amusement. "I'm sure you'll make it until my return, knight of mine." She heard Nabu move and paused, waiting until the dog settled again before she spoke up once more. "Have faith, and all will be well."

Of course, she was _totally _mocking some sort of show or another Sensui had once made fun of to her.

It simply seemed appropriate. _*****_

"All will be well once I have you back in my arms again." Kurama informed her. "And not a moment sooner."

~!**!~

For the first time in a very long time, there had been absolutely nothing overtaking her when she slept.

No nightmares, no thoughts of other matters, just...rest.

...well, perhaps a few thoughts that were starting to stir.

_What the __**hell **__am I supposed to be doing?_

There was no way to remove a Mark unless someone wanted it gone. At least, no way to remove it manually. She knew the others actually assisted her, as the larger their tattoos got the fewer there would be in the-

In the game? In the contest?

She wasn't even really sure. In the end, the choice would be a two-way street. She knew that much.

So, really...instead of _her _being the prize for the _winner_, they would technically _both _be winning and be the prize for...well for each other.

Another sigh. 3

Hiei's thoughts had come to a standstill, stuck on the mere prospect that he _might_ actually lose his reign on a power that existed as a negative force. A force that held the reins to the dragon imprinted on his arm at that moment. And all because..

Because _he _didn't have as much anger as he used to harbor? Didn't have such blood lust that he could just flip a switch whenever he pleased and deal with the situation in the most efficient way possible?

_Was this even actually what happened?_

The only way he knew was to test it out again.

So, for the time being, he pushed the troubling thought away and opened his eyes to stare at Shikiyoku, watching her expression almost curiously.

Had she just sighed again?

He wasn't sure.

~!**!~

"How charming," Akari commented in a murmur, lips in a small smile.

But suddenly, something was bothering her. Nagging at her, telling her to stay where she was and send Isamu back without her. To… avoid leaving.

_You're just talking yourself out of it, you idiot. Don't forget the deal you made._

She brushed the thought away and gave a small sigh of content into Kurama's neck. "I'll make it as brief as possible, if that helps you in any way." _*****_

"I would never do something as selfish as ask you to not go..." Kurama told her, "...but I want you to know that I'm thinking it _really_ hard."

~!**!~

The problem?

She had eight-_count 'em, EIGHT_-demons who appeared to have no desire to quit.

Perhaps worse than that was the fact that each of them brought something to the table so radically different from the others that it left her head spinning and incapable of trying to sort through their pros and cons, much less make any attempt to _decide _which among them would result in the best fit for the both of them.

...especially with Renai's words about 'teaching love' haunting her. It certainly didn't help matters in any case.

_No. Stop it. I just wanna...__**lay **__here. _

There was the smallest noise of protest from her throat and she shifted around again. 3

Hiei's lips twitched in the downward direction, forming the smallest of scowls on his face when he noted the tension between Shikiyoku's brows. He'd been so stuck in his own thoughts, his own personal assessment of things, that he hadn't noticed her tension immediately.

_How foolish._

He moved, tugging her arms closer to him just slightly to show that he was aware of her sudden stress and didn't find it acceptable.

_Rest._

~!**!~

Akari made a small sound. "I know," she replied calmly, ignoring the way his thoughts had mirrored her own so easily. But she gave no indication of it.

_Just begrudging about it. Get it over and done with so you can come back._

_But I wish you __**would. **_

_Stop that._

"I know." She gave another sigh. "I'll be fine. It's nothing I can't handle." Another pause. "Like I said, I could always make them hate me with my extensive knowledge of the first layer and all the things demons hate about it." _*****_

"Allow me to assure you that I have no doubts about your capabilities in handling these demons." He gave a little sigh, "I only worry that I might not be able to handle the mental strain of being away from you for so long."

_[What do those humans always say? Oy...]_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made a sleepy sort of noise when he moved, stretching her body a little, arms and hands and fingers included, reaching up with her free hand to rest it over his shoulder, fingers just slightly shifting a bit of the fabric there before coming to rest.

"_Renai, what will happen to me?"_

"_You are opening a pathway that will never become fully closed, my love. You will become both sides of this coin at the same time, losing the purity of yourself, but gaining the power you were never afforded."_

"_...do you regret it?"_

_He did not answer for a long time._ 3

Hiei's frown deepened just slightly before suddenly disappearing, his eyes moving to the hand at his shoulder with slight amusement. He shifted slowly, carefully, until he was on his side and facing Shikiyoku, his free hand grabbing for the one she had on his shoulder and resting it calmly on the bed between them.

He gave the slightest of tugs on her arm, giving the smallest invitation to come closer if she so desired.

~!**!~

AKari rolled her eyes. "Now you're being overdramatic."

_I think we passed that point long ago._

"Not that I particularly mind. I just thought I'd point it out." _*****_

"You should know that I am entirely incapable of being 'overdramatic.' You should always take everything I say at strictly face-value."

_[HE'S SUCH A LIAR, DON'T TRUST HIM, PUP, IT'S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE]_

_{She can't hear you, you know. No matter how loud you are.}_

_[I know. This isn't for __**her **__benefit.]_

_{...}_

~!**!~

"_Yes..."_

Shikiyoku didn't _want _to be thinking about this. Everything had been wonderful up until-

"_...and no." _

He'd gotten further away.

_Make it stop._

She frowned at the sudden disappearance of warmth and murmured something inaudible again, something lost in her sleep, finally shifting closer, searching for what had momentarily left her. 3

Hiei refused to let his sigh leave his lips at the grumbling that suddenly ensued. "_Woman,_" he grumbled aloud, "stop being _difficult." _It wasn't that difficult, after all. In the end, however, he pulled her closer, suddenly not really caring if she woke because, either way, he felt it a very real possibility at this point.

He only stopped tugging at her when the hand she held was pinned between them, and he could no longer pull her closer. He stilled, hoping she'd return to peaceful sleep.

"Now stop _complaining." _he murmured.

~!**!~

Akari's brows raised. "I somehow find that unbelievable, and very suspicious." Her eyelids slid closed again. "I'm not buying it." _*****_

_[Ha, HA!]_

"You've just made Youko very happy, I hope you know."

~!**!~

After being forcibly shifted closer, Shikiyoku relaxed again, though her hand grabbed for the fabric it found and her fingers curled around it.

"Mm-no." 3

Hiei blinked slowly at the female, glad to see her relax all around. She was… definitely something else, that was for sure. He wanted to reply, but really, didn't have anything to say to someone who was still very obviously asleep.

So he made a sound of amusement and let her settle in again, not moving a single inch.

"Go back to sleep then."

~!**!~

Akari frowned. "In that case, my answer is changed."

She hesitated.

"No, I take that back. It's too risky." _*****_

_[Finally something we agree on.]_

"You're not helping matters." In truth, he spoke to both of them, letting out a little sigh.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes came open of their own accord.

"I _can't_." She sighed, blinking a little. 3

Hiei's lips twitched in amusement, but he said nothing in response. He did, however, continue to stare at her, as if _that _would help anything in the world.

~!**!~

"Did I ever say I was here to _help_?" Akari tugged very slightly on his neck, nuzzling her nose into the crook of his neck with a smile on her face. "I don't believe I ever did. So…. meh." _*****_

Kurama smiled, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do when I've got _both _of you rallying against me."

_[You should do what I say. Then we wouldn't be having this little problems now would we?]_

~!**!~

Her entire body tensed slightly as if she was going to scoot away, but she stayed in place.

"...I hope you're comfortable at least." She grumbled. 3

There was a pause before Hiei let his eyelids slide closed. He considered her words for a moment before responding.

"Are _you?"_

~!**!~

"I would say you should listen more often, but I feel like that's what Youko would say, so I'm going to just smile and nod and act like I have no clue what you're talking about."

Akari lifted her head and did just that: Smile widely, and nod with an expression that was obviously meant to appear forced. _*****_

"Actually, he told me I should just do as he says." Kurama said truthfully. "And added that there wouldn't be these little problems if I did."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made a slight noise of protest.

"I asked you first." 3

Hiei's brows raised. "You did no such thing." He blinked once. "That was a statement that I felt no requirement to reply to."

He paused, amusement pilfering his expression for a moment.

"But, since you insist**:** _yes."_

~!**!~

Akari's nodding paused and her expression turned to one that was thoughtful, before she quickly began shaking her head back and forth. "I don't like the sound of that."

She gave a bright smile.

"Back to disagreeing."

And then she moved closer to the redhead again, burying her nose this time in his shoulder. _*****_

"I didn't think you would." Kurama said curtly, bringing up his arm over her waist to burying itself behind her back in her hair, leaving it there for the moment and trying to avoid dreading the moment she would be gone, instead attempting to enjoy the moment she was _here_.

~!**!~

_Oh. Right._

Well, she had _meant _it as a question.

_He said yes, did he not?_

...oh.

She wasn't sure why she had been so uptight about it in the first place.

_Yes, you are, stupid. Because when did he ever appeared to be __**comfortable **__with you?_

"What am I supposed to do with you?" Despite the fact that she actually meant the question very seriously, she relaxed into him, attempting to dismiss nay-saying thoughts and _enjoy_ the contact that she had at one time coveted from him. 3

Hiei's eyes remained closed, his body still as relaxed as before, his mind remaining just as blank. He felt nothing was as important as this moment, and thus he allowed no room for invading thoughts.

No matter how often they tried to penetrate his mental barrier.

He did, however, consider her question.

"...Who in the hell knows."

~!**!~

This time, when Nabu stirred, Akari wasn't aware of it. She was too absorbed in the silence, in the calm of the moment that she didn't want to break. A moment she knew she was going to have to break later, to get _it_ over with. The 'visit'.

She was considering another attempt at sleep when she felt her hair being disturbed by a force other than the hand within her locks, and she had to hold back the laugh.

Nabu had shifted, moving until he was laying parallel with her, against her back, and his nose was hidden in her hair as if he'd been trying to bury it in a blanket for warmth.

She stayed motionless for a moment, noting the muscle movements of the dog laying behind her until they stilled too, and she breathed out a laugh.

_How bizarre._

"I can't tell if he's awake or if he's just constantly uncomfortable." _*****_

"I can't imagine why he's uncomfortable." Kurama intoned thoughtfully, "Not when he's cuddling with _you_."

~!**!~

"Well," Shikiyoku's eyes took on a more mischievous gleam for the first time in what felt like a long time where he was concerned, moving her face towards his, "If _you _don't know." She pressed the tip of her nose against his nose, "And _I _don't know," She pulled away, watching him, "Then I'm afraid we're _both_ in trouble." 3

Hiei remained still, his eyelids coming open for the briefest of moments before he let them shut again. His lips twitched briefly before his expression became a simple calm one again. "We're at an impasse then, I suppose."

~!**!~

Nabu's paw moved, batting at Kurama's hand in an impatient fashion. "_I'm trying to __**sleep**_ _guys." _He whined, burying his nose further into Akari's hair, nose just brushing the hand he'd batted at a moment ago. "_Don't forget I can hear even the smallest sound."_

Akari laughed a little. _I feel really strange about this. __*****_

"Mm. I could take care of that." Kurama's form shimmered slightly and he pulled Akari into the layers with him, keeping inbetween them.

_[Oh good! Now you can be as loud as you like!]_

_{I __**will **__kill you someday.}_

_[I look forward to seeing you try.]_

~!**!~

"Not quite," Shikiyoku let her head shake just a little, "We haven't asked what _you're _supposed to do with _me_."

She was smiling at him now, watching him while his eyes were closed. 3

Hiei raised a brow slightly. "Humor me," he intoned in a low voice, "What _am_ I supposed to do with you?"

~!**!~

Akari's eyes came open just in time to feel the layers move around her, which she quickly shut her eyes against again when it made her feel lightheaded. She took in a breath through her lips slowly, before letting it out all at once.

"That… is the weirdest feeling. Shadows are _so _much better." she complained, but her lips turned up in a smile. "How can you stand it?" _*****_

Kurama gave a small shrug, "I hardly even notice it anymore. Though I must say that one can get used to _anything_. I'd likely say the same to _you _about moving through shadows, though."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku blinked at him, her smile turning more into a barely restrained laugh because she found herself unsure if he was being serious or not.

There were _several _things she would have blurted out to any number of the others, even Douji if only to see how he might react.

"That...depends entirely upon you." 3

Hiei gave the smallest of scoffs at Shikiyoku. "If this is you _humoring me_, Shiki, then we have a problem."

~!**!~

"The most you'd probably notice about moving around the way I do is that it starts out cold, like you're in a cold pond, then it's dark for a second, and then you're fine." She shrugged. "Kind of like moving through a tunnel, I suppose." _*****_

"Maybe I'm uncomfortable alone in tight spaces." Kurama gave Akari a little squeeze. "You'd have to make sure to protect me."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku turned a little pink, but managed not to look away, "I think it's rather fitting, don't you? When was the last time you humored me without making it difficult?" 3

Hiei refused to let his lips move for a moment, a couple of thoughts passing before he let his lips twitch up into a smirk. "I humor myself on those occasions. Rather amusing, you should know."

~!**!~

Akari gave a little laugh. "Anything for my knight." _*****_

Kurama nuzzled his face down into her hair.

"And what if I want _you _to be _my _knight?"

~!**!~

She gave a little huff, "Well. First thing you can do is more of this. You're entirely too comfortable for your own good."

As if to emphasize her point, she buried her face in his chest and gave a contented little sigh. 3

Hiei gave a small smirk, his eyes still closed and fingers twitching just slightly around hers. It prevented him from resting that arm over her, but frankly, he didn't mind it. He ducked his head a little, letting his nose just brush the top of her head before he settled again.

"As you wish."

~!**!~

Akari blinked and lifted her head to stare up at Kurama, a brow raised. Her lips twitched as she imagined herself in bulky armour and a large sword.

"I guess I better get used to heavy gear then, huh?" She gave a small sound of consideration. "And find a blacksmith." _*****_

"I know someone." Kurama replied quickly. "He's quite skilled. And he's masterful enough that it wouldn't be heavy by any stretch of the imagination."

~!**!~

_Uh..._

Well, _first _of all, she hadn't expected him to answer, waiting for him to just scoff at her or at the very _least_ make some snarky comment, possibly even make some form of protest or another.

Secondly, it wasn't until she felt his hand move that she realized her fingers were interlocked in his and she had to force herself not to immediately remove it from his grasp.

...Because she didn't really _want _to, now that she noticed-though the realization did send her core pumping and had her cheeks turning redder than before-and she couldn't help but draw the conclusion that if it bothered _him_, he would have done something about it by now.

Possibly.

Probably.

She dropped her gaze from his face, unsure why she suddenly felt so uncomfortable.

_Ah, what the hell do I know anyway?_ 3

Hiei kept his mind blank, devoid of any and all thoughts, devoid of anything that he could feel beginning to nag at him, such as the fact that he'd never done this before. He'd never allowed himself to lay even remotely _near _a person, much less _next to_ another.

So how had _she_ somehow convinced him- no, how had she somehow _lead him to being comfortable _with doing this?

Well, was he exactly 100% comfortable?

He pushed the thought away, not letting his personal limits suddenly barge in and-

Hold on.

His eyes came open to stare at Shikiyoku, feeling the odd air around her and realizing she hadn't replied.

His lips twitched into a sneer as he noted the color on her cheeks.

"No retort?"

~!**!~

Akari looked up at Kurama with a smile. "And who might this _someone_ be? I might request his services at some point, if I'm _actually _going to become your knight." She gave a hum at him. "Assuming you're serious." _*****_

"I _never_ kid." Kurama said it as if to imply 'the very idea' of him doing such a thing. "Remind me when we get back. I'll introduce you. Or possibly have the suit ready for you, I haven't rightly decided."

~!**!~

_Uh..._

She gave no reply for another moment, before adopting a rather intellectual tone that contradicted the blush of her neck and cheeks entirely.

"You know, it appears my primary brain functions have decided to shut down for some reason or another."

_You know, the one that regulates whether I get up and start running for my life or scoot closer and start trying other things?_

_...that's why I have yet to move_. 3

The amount of amusement that formed as a gleam in Hiei's eyes managed to make his lips twitch and even tilt upwards at a single corner, creating a lopsided sneer of amusement. He let out the smallest breath of amusement, his lips spreading even further.

"That's too bad." he remarked, completely and utterly _humored._

~!**!~

Akari gave a huff. "I won't forget. And, frankly, I'd rather _watch _the armor be made too. I'm curious, and have never had the pleasure of observing such a craft." _*****_

"And you would deprive me the honor of surprising you with it as a gift?" He huffed, "Fine. I'll see to it that he's aware of your wishes."

~!**!~

"Yes. Yes it _is_. A shame, really."

_...because it's rendering me incapable of deciding what exactly I'm supposed to do here._

_...sometimes I wish you were more like __**Taka**__. Then I would know __**exactly **__what you desire._ 3

Hiei felt his lips twitch some more as he assessed the air about her and the response he'd been given. For a moment, he thought she was being serious about it.

So he waited, wondering if she'd say anything else on the matter.

~!**!~

Akari fought the grin as hard as she could as she lifted her head so that he may see the raised brow and the disapproving gleam in her eye.

"The princess is not responsible for the knight's means of protection. You're getting the roles backwards." _*****_

"Can we not each be both at the same time? Or perhaps interchangeably as we so desire?" Kurama countered, "And does not a princess bestow upon a champion gifts to further their cause?"

~!**!~

And as if to top it all off, her skin had started buzzing almost as if in protest to the frozen aspect of her brain that wasn't allowing for much of anything.

_Is it supposed to do that?_

She almost wanted to demand of him how he was doing this to her. Not that she had particularly given anyone else the chance as of late-_Hm. Something to consider_-but still...

Shikiyoku finally lifted her eyes back up, keenly aware that her core had still not calmed down, and knowing that while her energy may not have been rolling off of her skin, it definitely set her eyes glittering.

"A shame because I know how much _fun _I could be having." She paused. "However, it appears I find myself unable to move." _Caught in your trap. _3

Hiei met her gaze evenly, taking keen note of the shine in her irises and the delay in her reply. A reply that had him feeling rather… _triumphant. _Smug. He wasn't going to _let _her leave without a fight.

Even if she so _desired _to get up and leave.

"What a waste." His eyes closed. "Such a pity."

~!**!~

Akari shrugged. "Okay, fine. But for now, _you _are the princess, and I, the knight, will do my best not to make you wait for me too long when I leave for my… _adventure_." _*****_

"I can accept that ruling. With the implied clause that the moment you call for me, _I _am to become the knight." He paused. "You're welcome to not view yourself as a princess in need of rescue, you know. I could just be coming along to fight by your side." He made a thoughtful sound, "You know, we could both just be warrior-princesses. That might make this whole thing a lot easier to handle."

~!**!~

"_That_." She emphasized quickly. "You can do more of _that_...that...not letting me leave without a fight thing. All of that."

She would have kissed him had she been able to gather the brain capacity to do so. 3

Hiei's eyes came open, gleaming with mirth at her as he stared at her calmly for a few minutes. His only response was to move the arm that her hand had taken over, pulling their intertwined hands up and over himself, effectively pulling her closer as he rolled to his back.

His shoulder had fallen asleep, but he'd resisted long enough on rolling over.

"As you wish."

~!**!~

Akari opened her mouth to respond, found no words, and closed it again as she eyed the male with a narrowed gaze. _You and your stupid… __**everything**__. _She opened her mouth again, paused, and gave a sigh.

"Does this mean we both get a crown too?" _*****_

"If you want a crown, I will get you a crown." Kurama shifted a little, stretching his back. "...I get to be Gabrielle, though."

~!**!~

_Stop that._

She scowled a little, more than willing to move closer to him, but feeling her ears go pink again when they had just started to fade in color.

So, really, she wasn't sure if she was talking to him-and his inability to be anything other than incredibly _fierce_ at the moment-or herself for acting like...like Douji. Like a demon who hadn't even hit their hundred years yet, but was just about at the point where they started to become interested in that sort of thing.

"If you get any _more _fierce, I might just up and die of a heart attack, I hope you know." She had pressed herself up against his side, laying her head over where she knew the center of the Mark sat on his chest, and could feel how frantically her core was pounding, accented by the blush over her features and the buzzing of her skin. 3

Hiei's eyes closed as he relaxed, the morning rays of the sun poking through the window and warming his face a little. His lips twitched before his expression became calmly devoid of his thoughts and emotions. "I'll keep that in mind," he retorted half-heartedly, finding that he rather enjoyed what he had discovered he could do.

It helped immensely, he noted.

"Though, I hardly doubt your heart would stop from my fierceness. I haven't even _tried_."

~!**!~

Akari had been about to bury her face in his shoulder again when he spoke up, making her go still again and her eyes searching his features. _You're being impossible, fox. _Her lips twitched, only stilling when her bottom lip jutted out just a little further than normal. "But she's my _favourite…_" she whined, puffing her cheeks a little as she huffed through her nostrils. "If you're claiming her, you better get me a fantastic crown." _*****_

"You will receive a crown to end all crowns for the simple fact that you would never get anything _less _from me for you deserve nothing less than the most extravagant crown of all." Kurama so informed her. "So, your attempt at a trade is rather moot."

~!**!~

_Shit._

Shikiyoku's eyes widened for a second as she realize how true the words were that he had just spoke.

She repeated the word again inside her head.

He was apparently also capable of rendering her rather speechless.

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm completely immune to your ferocity, isn't it?"

As if to emphasize her dry wit, she felt the buzz of her energy reach her scalp and begin slowly interacting with and releasing the pheremones in her hair, filtering it out just enough that it would start to fill the air around her.

It took a great deal of effort to make it stop, and she sent the energy instead to her eyes, closing them. 3

Hiei took a slow breath in, held it for a moment, then slowly released the air through his nostrils, making his body sink into the mattress even more once he'd completely deflated again. "You've got quite the way to go," he commented, tone even and calm, but his lips giving the smallest of twitch. "You have a bit of time to make an attempt, however. At least until someone decide to crash through the door and lose a head."

~!**!~

Akari's reply, or attempt at one, was delayed for a few moments as her eyes gave the smallest of indication of narrowing, her lips pressing together briefly. "You and… that stupid mouth of yours." She huffed at him. "Fine. I _guess_ I will be Xena. But I _will _come up with something for the 'trade', I hope you know." _*****_

"Something that _I _haven't enough thought of? This I cannot wait to hear, stupid dog." Kurama gave her a little squeeze, smiling.

~!**!~

_You're telling me._ _I'll be hard-pressed to figure out how to reign this in considering it's __**never happened before.**_ _To ME of all people. In MY line of work!_

"Aw, you'd kill someone for me? How sweet." 3

"...well, I suppose it would be for you as well." His eyes opened to look at her, brow raised. "I simply don't enjoy disturbances, especially when I'm enjoying myself."

He paused.

"Though, I _suppose_ it would indirectly be _for _you as well. As I recall telling you numerous times, I do not enjoy sharing my company."

~!**!~

"Hey! _That_ is my line. You can't have it, _and _Gabrielle. That's not how this works." _*****_

"No? And you think you can stop me? I'd _love _to see you try."

~!**!~

"You're sharing it _now_." It was the closest she'd come to purring at him in a long time. 3

"With _you._" he retorted. "_You _are the company I do not enjoy _sharing._"

~!**!~

"You can't have my line because it's actually _cute _when I say it. You make it seem harsh." Akari stuck her tongue out at him. "So, _Gabrielle_, that line is mine." _*****_

"It isn't _my _fault that foxes are naturally cuter than dogs, _Xena_, making 'stupid fox' sound better than 'stupid dog' as a result. It has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with who is saying it, I might add." Kurama playfully narrowed his eyes at her, "And you might put that tongue away before you lose it."

~!**!~

"Ah," Shikiyoku intoned, "You should make that sort of thing more _clear_, fire-prince. I'm notorious for being rather forgetful in such matters." 3

"Yes, but if I told you _constantly_, it would lose its meaning, would it not?" He turned his head to face her, resting his cheek on the pillow and staring at her for a moment. "You should improve the memory just a little then."

~!**!~

"Lies," Akari stated quickly. "Dogs are _cute. _Foxes are... " she hesitated, staring at him and becoming very aware that Youko could be listening. She pulled her lips into her mouth for a moment in consideration.

_That won't do._

"_You_ are not _cute. You _ are _pretty." _

She stuck her tongue out again. _*****_

Kurama gave out the lowest of growls that reflected the playfulness of his narrowed eyes as he drew closer to her, letting the end of his nose press lightly into hers.

"You're just _asking _for it, you know."

_[I __**told **__you that.]_

~!**!~

Feeling the energy still shimmering over her eyes, Shikiyoku kept her lids shut even as she heard him shift and likely face her, her brow coming together for a frown just for an instant.

"How about _you_ decide that, then? Whenever it appears I've forgotten." She almost smiled, "Tell me. Show me. There are many different ways, really." 3

Hiei considered her for a moment, and the fact that she was _here_, without him having to actually _bring _her into the room the night before. She'd come of her own accord, and that had his lips twitching. "You remember on your own at times," he pointed out in a quiet voice.

There was a pause.

"Fine, I'll remind you when I see no hope of you remembering on your own."

~!**!~

Akari's tongue slid back to hide behind her lips again as Kurama drew closer, her pout dissolving by the time his nose touched hers. And she _refused _to acknowledge the warmth that began at the base of her neck and threatened to creep towards her cheeks and ears.

She blinked once at him before simply taking to staring at him, very much aware of the tip of her nose against his and his breath just brushing against her skin.

And even if her brain had supplied a retort for her, she was pretty sure her lips wouldn't have allowed it to leave her mouth. _*****_

"I don't think I need to say it now," Kurama breathed, "But you _do _test my limits, my _patience_, in the most exasperatingly difficult ways possible, in case it has up until this point been unclear."

~!**!~

"I haven't the faintest idea to what you are referring." Shikiyoku's eyes slid open of their own accord as she replied airily, "I was simply _bored_." 3

Hiei raised his brows at Shikiyoku, his lips stretching into a sneer a second after. He wanted so badly to give a comment that was snide, a remark that would either amuse her or irritate her, but nothing came to mind immediately.

He found himself staring into her eyes, sneer softening into a smirk of amusement.

~!**!~

Akari released a small breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding, her eyelids closing briefly before she opened them again to stare at the redhead. Her lips formed a smile as she recalled something he'd once said.

_Rely on impulse, and not even your thoughts can betray you._

"An in case it's been unclear thus far," she repeated his phrase in the same whisper that he used, "_you _are just as trying." Her eyelids slid closed again, this time remaining that way. "It's…"

_Frustrating._

_Amusing._

_Confusing._

_Astounding._

…_.baffling._

"No word fits." _*****_

"Indeed." He could find no fault in that, his eyes closing and for once allowing the rush of emotions to scatter his thoughts in every direction without protest.

...after all, she would soon be gone.

~!**!~

The sight of his crimson-colored eyes began to send her mind in a direction that Shikiyoku was unwilling at that moment to pursue, for it led away from _this _moment, where he appeared to have no other desires, where his gaze showed her no potent discomfort at her proximity stirring just below the surface.

Of course, the blush across her cheeks made her _own _appearance seem disconcerted at the predicament, but on the contrary she was rather enjoying herself. At least, somewhere below the core-pounding and skin-buzzing, she was enjoying herself.

She shifted the fingers in his hand around a little, unsure of how _that _had happened exactly, and wondered when it had come about that she found herself unable to look away from _his _eyes, which made her own glimmer more while under his penetrating gaze.

_Wasn't that supposed to be the other way around? _3

Hiei continued to stare at Shikiyoku unblinkingly, not a single thought passing in the forefront of his mind for even a moment. His expression had shifted from amusement to calm staring, to calm relaxation that was reflected in how lax the rest of his body was upon the mattress.

~!**!~

Akari removed her arm from around Kurama's neck, where it had remained curled up until this point. "You're impossible." she mumbled to the redhead as her hand rested on his cheek, eyes still closed. "In _every _way." _*****_

"I could just as easily say the same about you." Kurama replied, still unmoving, blocking out now anything at all Youko was trying to interject with. Because none of it was helpful.

...even if he _did _want to do most of what was being said.

~!**!~

Something stirred behind all of the chaos Hiei had agitated within the last... however long it had been.

Without any specific intention to do so, the buzzing of her skin started giving way to a faint pearlescent glow that could have easily beckoned one to test its smoothness, the prickling that she had earlier dissuaded from her scalp starting once again to stir her scent into the air.

And she...she _couldn't _look away.

A loud pounding at the door of the bedroom hit her body with a jolt and she blinked, all semblance of energy sucked away at once, and she actually _felt _her core nearly jerked the wrong direction, the momentary sense of _threat _almost too real for her to not pull under her control the desire to switch forms.

"Yoku!"

It was Taka.

Shikiyoku wasn't sure if she wanted to kill him or kiss him for interrupting.

The thought that she couldn't control herself was at the forefront of her mind.

"We've gotta problem!" 3

Hiei had just thought of something to say when he became aware of a presence pulling at his attention. He ignored it, until that presence began hitting the door, presumably with a fist.

Hiei blinked, and his eyes were on the door, narrowed and angry. Dangerous.

"I can agree." the fire demon growled. "The problem is on the other side of the door." He paused. "I'm half curious as to whether or not the dogs on this layer will eat roasted bird."

~!**!~

Akari let her hand fall after a moment, her lips twitching just a little in contemplation. Impulse control. She honestly _tried _telling her muscles to move, to shift away and release the both of them from the moment that seemed to continue hanging on the air, leaving both of them in this odd state of being. But, she merely continued to lay there with her nose touching his and breath leaving her lips slowly.

It was almost as if she'd forgotten _how _to move.

"When's my crown coming in, Gabrielle?" _*****_

Kurama had not so much as moved a single inch.

"As soon as wish." Kurama replied, "Perhaps sooner."

~!**!~

Had she not just been pulled from whatever the last moment had contained, she probably would have placed a hand on Hiei's cheek to get him to look at her again, to curb his ire.

"Oo, so fierce." She quipped girlishly, having thus far made no attempt to move away from him.

"Yoku," Taka called again, a bit more put-out. "They're invading the bloody _house_. Would you rather _I_ knocked down the door, or them?" 3

_I could knock the head from your shoulders. _

Hiei continued to glare at the door, expression twitching, and the only thing keeping him where he lay was the fact that Shikiyoku had made no room to move.

_I'd just as readily knock __**their**_ _heads from their shoulders as well, should they decide to test me._

He considered shifting between the layers, but recalled the last time he'd done so. How many he had left still marked.

A number he now had to consider since he too was… _involved. _

_Dammit._

Hiei's hold on Shikiyoku's hand lessened.

"Such a bother."

~!**!~

There was a moment where Akari didn't say anything, her mind too scattered to come up with anything else than that one quip. Again, she tried persuading her muscles to move, but she remained just as unmoving as Kurama did.

_Why are we making this harder?_

Perhaps on some level, they… enjoyed it?

_Who knows._

But what she _did _know was that she wasn't very good at restraint.

Her hand found Kurama's cheek again, and after giving a small breath at the redhead, she touched her lips to his for the second time, this time without the abrupt retreat. _*****_

_[You know, really, the least you could do is kiss her ba-...oh.]_

Kurama ignoring the fox didn't mean Youko refrained from making comments, though Akari's second kiss did seem to quiet him for a blessed moment and leave Kurama almost to himself to enjoy it.

There wasn't really any way to bring the arm he had propping his head up out and around to pull her closer, but the hand he had kept buried in her hair did react slightly as he allowed himself to kiss her back, his fingers rustling through the soft curls until coming to rest at the base of her neck.

It took a great deal of restraint on Youko's part not to ruin the moment, though anyone actually listening would have heard him give a little sigh at the effort it took.

~!**!~

Another bang on the door. More words said that Shikiyoku didn't care to pay any attention to other than giving a low growl, her lip curling at having been interrupted.

"Not for _you_." Shikiyoku rejoined, starting to rise up, "_I'm _the one that has to get up while you can just lay here like nothing's happened." 3

Hiei shifted a little as well, momentarily tossing his arm over his eyes in silent protest before he gave a sound and moved again, sitting up.

"Now _why _would I lay here when there's sweet snow downstairs?"

_And a bird to roast outside the door._

Hiei released Shikiyoku's hand before he moved away from her and towards the door, glancing back only briefly before unlocking the door and pulling it open to glare at the bird. Who stood in his way.

He wanted _so _bad to quip about roasted bird, about open campfires and sticks impaled through the breast of the bird. But he decided against it.

"You're in the way."

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched a little against Kurama's as she became aware of the twitching hand in her hair, the reciprocation she received releasing a great deal of worry and stress. And she remained there for just a moment before pulling away, and touching her lips to the tip of his nose with a smile.

"Better?" _*****_

Kurama kept his eyes closed for a moment when she pulled away before opening them.

"You have no idea." He reassured her.

~!**!~

Taka took a sweeping step back with one foot that led into a mocking bow as he gestured for the fire demon to pass.

"Your highness." 3

Hiei stared unblinkingly at Taka, eyes narrowing slightly. He stayed in place for a moment before turning to pass the male.

He didn't dignify the moron with a retort, deciding he didn't even _want _to bother with it.

~!**!~

Akari buried her nose in Kurama's shirt again, this time giving a small sigh of content.

"You're a pain." _*****_

"If I agree, will it get you to kiss me again?" He didn't _exactly _pout at her, but his eyes gleamed with mock-plea.

~!**!~

Taka only gave the fire demon a fleeting grin to the back as he stepped into the room, seeing Shikiyoku seated on one hip, her legs folded together beside her as she smoothed out her hair, her eyes following Hiei as he disappeared from sight.

"Don't you dare close that door." Her eyes narrowed at him and he stopped, though he made as if that hadn't been his intention in the slightest. "And you're not allowed in here."

"Oh?"

"Don't 'oh' me and give me that look. I know your tricks, bird-brain. We worked Court together for so long, there's no way I could miss them."

"Oh?" He had come up to the bed and sat himself down on the edge of it, turning himself so that he could face her, one hand lazily holding himself up from behind.

"You in one breath took a jab at what I call him _and_ his height. It was low, Taka."

"See what you did there?"

She glared at him as he gave her a dazzling grin.

After a moment, Taka sighed, "How can you _stand _that infernal little beast?"

"You're difficult at times, I do confess." She went back to smoothing her hair in place.

His mouth snapped shut after opening it to give another response.

"Ah. Ah ha. Well. I've been with _you _long enough to know you don't really mean half of what you say."

"And the other half?" She lifted an eyebrow in a scathing expression.

"Should never been taken entirely seriously either." He leaned forward and planted a brief kiss on her cheek, which appeared to unruffle a few of the feathers he had upset.

Her glare softened, if only a trifle.

"I don't _want _to go down there, Taka." She said in a quieter tone.

"I know." He replied swiftly, his own voice calmer now in reflection of hers, holding none of the teasing it had previously. However, his eyes lit back up after a moment, "But I'll drag you there myself if it ends this whole ridiculous business faster."

She didn't quite laugh, but her lips did unexpectedly break into a smile as she watched her hands move through her long hair, a puff of amused air sneaking out of her nose.

Taka stood up when he knew she was only stalling, giving her a more formal bow than the one Hiei had gotten, and held out his hand to her.

"Your public awaits."

Shikiyoku took the hand and accepted his help in standing, giving a sigh of compliance to what she knew needed to happen and accepting his arm as he lead her out the door.

At the top of the stairs, Taka's eyes widened to see that there was only one of the demons that had invaded.

"I was always better at working a crowd than you." Kitoushi said calmly, looking up to see them.

"Ha!" Came Taka's bark of a laugh. 3

Hiei went on his way down the stairs, completely ignoring the ruckus he was now able to hear. He didn't even spare a glance in the direction of any other in the house, turning and making his way to the kitchen without so much as even a beat of hesitation.

He sauntered to the fridge, pulling it open in one swift, slightly jerkier-than-normal motion that had the contents inside the door rattling.

_I __**will **__roast the bird. After that…_

_No, it wouldn't be a worthy sacrifice to the dragon. _

Red eyes scoured the contents of the refrigerator, but didn't really see it for what it was worth. All he saw was shapes and colors, his mind too occupied with pushing aside his utmost desire to turn around and _end it. _

….

He was valuable to Shikiyoku, for some reason.

"_I've never seen her smile at anyone the way she smiles at you."_

Hiei gave a scoff.

_Damn right._

This was going to start becoming rather… _interesting._

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	89. Episode 173 - Separated, Assembled

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Dearest Readers!

A little bit early cuz I am a sleepy panda tonight!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei wakes up to having his hand entangled with Shikiyoku's,  
and he discovers he still isn't sure how he feels about physical contact,  
but once he realizes this contact makes Shikiyoku extremely uncomfortable,  
he decides the look on her face is worth ignoring his own unsurety on the matter.

At some point in their banter, Shikiyoku emphatically informs Hiei  
that he should definitely "not let her go without a fight,"  
a desire she felt from him during their conversation.

For her part, Shikiyoku isn't entirely sure why being so close to him  
makes her energy buzz along her skin like she was barely a hundred years old,  
but nonetheless she tells him he should express to her how much he enjoys having her around  
when he feels as if she has forgotten.

Their quiet moment together is interrupted by Taka,  
who bangs on the door and informs her that more marked demons have shown up on her doorstep,  
practically overrunning the place.

She follows Taka downstairs to find only a single demon of the mob remains,  
Kitoushi looking smug and commenting that he always was "better at working a crowd" than Taka. "

~!**!~

As Kurama continues to dally around lazily with Akari,  
Youko continues to make it increasingly difficult for Kurama to ignore him,  
and the comments of the kitsune to his human counterpart  
become more and more crass as time goes on.

Akari finally kisses Kurama,  
who has made it clear to Youko that he has been refraining from kissing her  
for the irrational reason that he is afraid what happened the first and last time might happen again,  
where she went without sleep for days because of her nightmares and nearly got herself killed doing so.

Akari continues to delay her return to the pack  
and Kurama does nothing to send her off any faster,  
indulging her wishes to continue to lay around.

The two establish that Kurama is Gabrielle and Akari is Xena,  
as well as the fact that dogs are the cute ones, not foxes.  
Finally, Akari kisses Kurama once more,  
and without the quick retreat,  
leaving them both feeling at least more satisfied than previous.

Akari, as usual, states that Kurama is a pain,  
to which Kurama wants to know that if he agrees will he get another kiss...?

* * *

Akari hummed, as if giving it some thought.

_Just say the word…_

"I'll think on it."

_I'd do just about anything if you only ask. __*****_

"In that case, you're absolutely right, I'm a terrible pain and I don't regret it." He appeared thoughtful, "Unless by _not _being a pain you'd-" He blinked, "I suppose it really doesn't matter, does it?"

~!**!~

"As if that were true." Taka told him as he came down the stairs with Shikiyoku. "_Your _definition of working a crowd has nothing to do with _actually _working a crowd. Which I am in fact _much _better at doing that you are."

"Is that so?" Kitoushi crossed his arms over his chest and gave him a bland look.

"Of course that's so." Taka replied arrogantly, "What all did you get?"

Kit blinked at him, then uncrossed his arms and gave the bird demon a sour look.

"See? _Not _working a crowd."

"I'm good at distracting them." Kit grumbled, watching Shikiyoku as she released Taka's arm and flowed across the room to the awaiting demon, beginning to speak to him in a low tone.

"_Distracting_, yes. And in the meantime, _I _would actually _work_ them."

"Naturally." 3

Hiei's eyes finally focused on the contents of the refrigerator, landing on a few little boxes that he pulled out and opened, his eyes inspecting the contents before he closed them again and slid the small containers back onto the shelves where they had been previously.

_None _of it looked appetizing.

And while he could just as contentedly eat Sweet Snow, he found he had a certain craving for… _something _or another.

Something he couldn't put a name to, or even an image.

He shut the refrigerator door and moved to look through the pantry, eyeing each item once before just as quickly closing that door too.

_Damn._

What _was _it that he was craving?

~!**!~

"Semantics," Akari mumbled, giving a shrug. She pulled her face from his shirt and turned up to look at him again, considering him for a moment before leaning up and touching her lips to his cheek.

"Satisfied?" _*****_

He wore a slightly wicked grin as she spoke, "_Never_, if you must know."

~!**!~

"You were never as good at distracting as I, Kit." Shikiyoku announced as the demon she spoke with turned to go, a slightly yellow wisp of air dissipating in his wake.

"_No one _was as good at distracting as you, my lady." Kitoushi told her, frowning at the back of the demon who seemed to disappear into thin air just before reaching the door.

"You know," He pursed his lips thoughtfully, "I have half a mind to sweep you away."

"Is that so?" Shikiyoku appeared amused as she turned to regard him.

He nodded.

"Afraid to it'll be your only chance to spend time with her, cat?" Taka teased.

"Not in the slightest." Kitoushi replied, "It's just that each Mark she removes from another is a marking that _I _won't receive to elaborate _mine_." He held out his hand with a flourish, palm down, and it wasn't difficult to notice that his had already climbed nearly to his shoulder.

It was Taka's turn to blink, confused.

"What?"

"Didn't you know?" Kitoushi asked airily, "All the embellishments you have are taken from another, but if she removes it manually, it's lost forever."

The look Taka adopted was akin to the gleam in Kit's eyes as they both turned to stare at her.

"Is this true?" Taka asked dangerously.

"Mm," Shikiyoku shrugged noncommittally. 3

Hiei turned to the refrigerator again, despite already knowing what was inside, and retrieved the container he had put back earlier, deciding the rice would do until he was able to figure out what it was he _really _wanted.

He closed the refrigerator door and moved through the kitchen, to a drawer to retrieve eating utensils, and was turning to step into the living room when his energy flared, very quickly heating the rice as if he'd cooked it himself.

By the time he was actually in the room with the other three, the rice was steaming and he had already had a bite, his expression very briefly shifting to one of mild disappointment before it was carefully returned to a blank look.

He didn't speak, deciding he'd observe the group for a moment, listening to what was being said.

_Good to know._

~!**!~

"Then I guess you'll have to just live with it," Akari retorted calmly, resting her head on his elbow and closing her eyes. "Because 'showering people with kisses' is not my thing." _*****_

Kurama raised an eyebrow, "I certainly hope you won't take to 'showering people with kisses.' I might get jealous."

~!**!~

"Yoku." Taka said in the same tone, moving across the room towards her.

She put her nose defiantly in the air in his direction as he came up to her, matching him glare for glare as he stood towering over her.

"Is there anything _else _we ought to know?" He said it through clenched teeth.

She didn't appear intimidated in the slightest.

"Like what?"

"Like what exactly is going to happen when there's only two of us left who are marked?" He suggested, "I suppose we're just going to keep taking them back and forth from one another?" His voice lowered, "Like _**when**_ _you're going to choose_?"

Shikiyoku narrowed her eyes at him, "Any information I have for you is on a need-to-know basis, bird-brain. And guess what? You-"

"_Don't need to know_." He said it at the same time as she did and his expression mirrored her own.

The tension between them practically crackled as if alive.

"Now if you'll _excuse me," _She seethed, "I have some demons to attend to." As she turned she flipped her hair over her shoulder at him, moving for the door. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the palpable tension in the air, _almost _amused at the situation as he slid more rice into his mouth. He had another bite at the ready when Shikiyoku turned away from Taka, and a thought came to mind, causing him to lower his chopsticks to the small takeout container.

His lips released a small scoff and his eyes took on a gleam of amusement.

"I suppose you're not one of the eight who matter."

He shifted his weight slightly, eyes on Shikiyoku as she took her leave and rice raising to his lips again.

"Only a slave to the queen."

He let the rice settle on his tongue.

~!**!~

Akari hummed. "In that case…"

She paused.

"Yeah, not even then. My luck, you'd _still _have to come free a fellow warrior-princess from the turmoil she'd created all her own." _*****_

"I mean if you _want _to go around kissing everyone under the sun, there isn't much I can do about it. But I won't promise that I will resist turning around and doing the same should you." He smirked.

~!**!~

"Eight?" Taka snapped his head towards Hiei, then back and opening his mouth at Shikiyoku who was no longer in sight.

Even Kitoushi did shoot a glance at the fire demon.

Taka turned back to Kitoushi, "What _eight?_ ...you and me..."

Kitoushi raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you really going to do this?"

"Yes." He frowned, "Aren't you?"

"Not out loud."

"Kiiiit," Taka gave a protesting expression before his eyes darted to the side. "I...don't know anyone else."

The look he received from Kitoushi was quite cat-like in nature, revealing absolutely nothing of the thoughts behind his eyes.

Kit gave a little sigh, "Kafu is one."

Taka looked up at him with a slightly surprised expression, seeing that Kit had shut his face down again.

"Other than that you're on your own."

_Myself and Taka. Kafu. Hiei and Youko. _

Kit couldn't come up with any others.

_That leaves three unknowns. _3

Hiei kept his expression calm and neutral when the pair in the room turned to look at him, every ounce of his amusement reined in and hidden from the others. And while the pair began to banter back and forth, Hiei himself began counting.

_Youko, Kitoushi, Kafu, Horu, Myself. Douji. Taka. _

_One other, unaccounted for._

He gave a small scoff as he turned, moving around the couch to sit on the edge, his feet propping up on the nearby coffee table.

"Don't harm yourself." He paused. "Better yet, go ahead."

~!**!~

Akari gave a huff. "I _just_ said it wasn't worth it. I'm fully capable of seeing a lost fight before it ensues." She looked up at him with an innocent smile. "Plus, _I _would get nothing out of it except frustration, because _you_ play the game much better than I." _*****_

"Game? What _game_? When have I ever played a _game_ with you?"

~!**!~

It took everything within Taka to only take a breath and not shoot a reply back in Hiei's direction.

_He's not your concern. Let it slide. He can gripe all he wants and it still won't matter. Because in the end-_

The last thought had Taka giving a wide smile to no one in particular, one that Kitoushi caught and easily followed the train of thought the bird had just connected.

"Well since you all are absolutely of no help whatsoever-mostly," Taka gave Kit a look, "I'll just go ask her myself." He moved for the front door. 3

Hiei eyed the screen of moving pictures for a moment before his eyelids slid closed calmly.

"What makes you think she'll answer _those_ questions if she wasn't willing to answer your other _simple _one." Without another word, he let the layers fall over him, though he _did _remain in the in-between layer, not moving from his spot.

Merely to be out of the bird's eyeview.

Shiki probably wouldn't enjoy him antagonizing the bird _too _much.

For now, he'd relent.

~!**!~

She grinned at him. "Well, you're doing a pretty bang-up job of it right now, ke-"

Akari paused and turned to glance over her shoulder, blinking at the dog who'd sat up and called for her on the layer they'd left him slumbering on.

"_This isn't funny, you know." _

_Goofy dog, I wouldn't leave without telling you. __*****_

Kurama lifted his head to see the dog.

"...we should probably get back to him."

~!**!~

Taka paused and looked back at the place where Hiei had been a moment ago, same self-assured grin on his face as always as he turned the doorknob.

"Because, _Champion_, this time I'll be asking her without either of _you _around." He flung open the door and stepped out. 3

Hiei sneered at the rice in his hand.

_Child._

~!**!~

Akari moved away from Kurama, albeit a little reluctantly, and was sitting up on the inbetween layer, a hand still on the redhead's arm as she reached for Nabu.

"You're the one keeping us here. I can't do this, remember?"

She waited, a mischievous smile coming to her face.

"_Akariiiii…" __*****_

"It's true. I am. And I'm asking you if you'd like to go back now or not. All you have to do is say the word."

~!**!~

The area outside Shikiyoku's home was absolutely flooded with more than just what Taka had been accosted with inside the house, and all he could think about now were all the lovely markings that were going to go to waste.

He sighed, wading his way through, tempted to just take to the sky to spot her, if he really thought it would help.

Thankfully, most of the demons all appeared to be facing a certain direction and he pushed his way through, reaching the edge of the circle that stood a respectful two feet from her as she kissed the wrist of a demon and turned to another.

Rolling his eyes at the 'respectful' distance, Taka stepped in, garnering looks he ignored from the others.

"You are _not _taking me away from this right now."

"No. You're right. I'm not." Taka allowed as she put up a hand as if to stop him from doing so. He folded his arms over his chest. "I _am _however, planning on remaining here until you're finished. So we can talk."

Another kiss, another demon turning to leave.

_If I never have to kiss another __**ever **__again it'll be too soon_.

She gave a sigh as she turned to the next.

_It'd be nice to be __**kissed **__for once instead of being the one doing the kissing._ 3

~!**!~

Akari smiled at the dog that stretched just an inch or so away from her fingers, his ears back and mouth open in a wide yawn.

"Just a second," Akari replied to Kurama, watching Nabu carefully as the dog continued stretching, bowing to stretch his front legs out, the toes of his front paws spreading a little before he moved to stand, looking around in confusion.

"Okay, go ahead."

When she felt the sensation of being dropped onto the layer, her smile widened and she moved for the dog, wrapping her arms around him in a motion too quick for him to catch.

Nabu gave a sound akin to a yelp, making an attempt to jump away from her before he registered her laughter.

"_I nearly had a heart attack!"_

"I would _never_ leave you without saying something first!"

"_...You scared me."_

"That was the point." _*****_

Kurama let out a chuckle at the two, though he stayed quiet and only watched, knowing that in the many days to come he would take to recalling each moment of these past few hours with her. Including this one. 3

Nabu huffed out a breath and turned his eyes to Kurama. "_You helped her," _he accused, though his tone was very much contradicted with the swish of his tail in the grass. "_I thought we were friends, Flowers."_

Akari laughed a little louder this time and rubbed at his head briefly before kissing him between the ears and sitting back, glancing at Kurama.

_I was so comfortable, but… I can handle it. __*****_

Kurama's glances went back and forth from the dog and Akari, and he gave Akari a smile meant to convey to her he felt the same way as she.

_There will be time later. All the time in the world._

"I count you as a very dear friend indeed, Nabu." Kurama told him, "However...unfortunately, I must admit to being a willing participant in her mischief." 3

"_Shame on you." _

Akari turned to stare at the dog as he moved around her, tail moving in amusement as he passed. He sauntered to the redhead and stood over him for a second before simply plopping to the ground near him, turning to lay on his side and moving a paw as if to use it to hold his head up.

"_We're twins."_

Akari blinked and gave a sigh. "You two…" _*****_

Kurama gave her a look meant to mirror Nabu's, "We two are...wonderful? That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?" 3

"You're going to be the death of me."

"_Don't lie. We make you feel alive."_

Akari crossed her legs, propped her elbows on her knees, and took to holding her face in her hands to hide the smile she wore. "Brats." _*****_

"Nabu!" Kurama said with mock-astonishment, "Did you hear what she just called us? I think she was trying to be insulting!" 3

Nabu rolled onto his back, paws tucked close to his chest as he turned his head to look at Kurama. "_Pet me like one of those french poodles." _

She tried to keep the laughter silent.

She really, truly did. _*****_

Kurama's eyebrows lifted, though he managed a better poker face than Akari.

"Well...you're not on a couch, but I suppose I can make an exception." Kurama reached over and gave Nabu a good scratching at his stomach, smiling after a moment. 3

It took a moment before Akari gathered herself enough to silence her laughter, and then another moment before she was done laughing altogether, at which point she had to wipe at her face. "W-Who taught you that one?"

"_Some movie or another. You fell asleep and I was bored. There was a movie on." _The dog gave almost a smile at Kurama. "_I thought I'd try it out. But __**one**_ _of you is harder to crack than the other."_

Akari's grin widened as she looked at Kurama. "He's talking about _you_, fox." _*****_

Kurama laughed at the dog, "Well, I didn't exactly think it would be appropriate at the time. Perhaps 'in-character' is the better response," He teased. "After all, it was a good joke." 3

Akari had remained perfectly content with staying in the meadow, making small talk and occasional ruckus with the other two. And for a while, she'd forgotten the actual reason she was still sitting around, playing with the closed-up flower buds and watching Nabu roll around in the grass happily a few feet away.

She opened her mouth to say something inconsequential, something that was nothing more than a small quip about something or another, but her mouth fell closed and she shifted her weight, extending her left arm under her head to peer at the mark on her wrist.

Another pulse. Another silent calling.

_Oh… right._

She pulled her arm under her head again, settling on her stomach and turning so that she rested her chin atop her forearm, eyes closing.

What had she been about to say?

"_Akari, you should try this! The grass is soft enough that it won't stain your shirt!"_

Her eyes opened to stare at the jumping dog who, when he noted she was watching, dove into the grass and rolled several times.

"_It's like rolling in down feathers!"_

She gave a small sound of amusement. "Are you not tired yet?"

"_Nope!" __*****_

Kurama lay in the grass nearby on his back, one arm behind his head and the other twirling a flower from the meadow back and forth.

He sent a brief glance in Akari's direction, knowing that her time with them must surely be drawing to a close, and yet refusing to mention it, selfishly agreeing with her decision to draw it out as long as possible.

He did let out a large sigh though.

~!**!~

"Wake up, bird-brain."

He opened a single eye, "I _wasn't _asleep."

"Uh huh." Shikiyoku had her arms crossed over her chest, giving him a look of disbelief.

"Are they all gone?" He leaned to the side from where he had sat down up against the stone wall that marked the edge of the front yard of her house, his arms on either knee.

Shikiyoku said nothing at first, only stepping slightly to the side so that he could see past her.

"Not a single one left."

Taka let out a small sigh, "I'm torn?"

"Oh?" Shikiyoku moved to sit down on the sidewalk next to him, but as soon as she leaned back against the wall, he reached over and gathered her into his lap, resting her inbetween his raised knees before putting his arms back down on them and leaning back again, this time his head going back as well.

She made no protest, feeling a little worn-out from the constant interactions of the _entire day_, and only settled in to the space he made for her that was just small enough to be quite comfortable as she curled her legs underneath her and leaned on her side into him, closing her eyes.

He had nodded, though Shikiyoku did not see it.

"The fire twerp said there were eight demons to worry about."

"Worry is such a strong word." Shikiyoku murmured.

Taka made a strangled sort of noise in his throat that conveyed how unsure he felt on the matter quite clearly.

"Who are they?"

"You already know _two_." She replied with a murmur, cuddling closer to his chest.

Taka lifted his head to watch her, faint smile on his face for just a second before he shook it off and pushed her again.

"Who are they?"

"You..." She was quickly falling asleep, her voice lowering, "And Kit..."

He could feel her relaxing into him and he made a face about their being on the sidewalk, but didn't move.

"...and Kafu...and...Douji...and..."

She murmured another name that Taka couldn't make out, but the demon was too taken in by how adorable she looked curled up against him like that and he barely noticed, especially when she gave out that little sigh he remembered instantly, the one that always got him to smile down at her as it indicated she had relaxed enough to drift away.

Taka huffed a breath out of his nose and leaned his head back again, unable to remember any longer any other reason as to why he had waited all day for her except for the fact that maybe it was because he had hoped _this _would happen.

Another huff and his head came up from the wall, his eyes closing nearly enough that anyone walking by who might happen to notice would think he too was asleep, when really he was quite aware of the immediate area...as well as the seductress asleep against him.

_Dammit. All these years and you're __**still **__really good at making me forget things. _3

~!**!~

Another pulse, another twitch of her wrist.

Akari's eyes came closed again, hearing the sigh that came from the person nearby. _Stop that. You're not allowed. _

Her eyes came open when Nabu's cold nose touched her forehead lightly. He didn't say anything, only giving a doggish smile and laying in front of her.

"Yes, you're cute."

"_I'm aware."_

Another pulse, and Akari was moving, pushing herself to sit up. She shifted until she was extending her legs out on either side of NAbu, her arms stretching over her head. Her ribcage was a little sensitive, but that was expected after laying on her stomach for so long.

Her arms dropped and her eyes turned to Kurama.

It took all of her strength to not stutter, to not let her reluctance filter into her speech.

"I have to go. I'm sure he's been patient just about as long as possible." _*****_

Kurama's eyes flickered to her wrist where he knew the mark lay, under the bracelet she still wore.

His eyes returning to hers, his face completely serious, he asked, "Want me to kiss it and make it better?" 3

Akari mustered up a small smile and held her wrist out. "If it will make _you _feel better, be my guest."

"_This is dumb. You should just stay here and plaaaayyy with us!" __*****_

Kurama slowly sat up, keeping eye-contact with her as he set down the flower on his other side and reached with his other hand to take a hold of her wrist, only then taking his eyes down to her skin and moving the petals of the flowered-bracelet out of the way until he could see the damnable marking she wore.

Without hesitation, Kurama leaned over and pressed his lips against it, pausing there for a second before pulling back and scowling at it, dropping the expression as he sat back up and looked up at her, still holding her wrist, melancholy face and all, and adopting a pitiable expression.

"It didn't go away." His lower lip may not have been trembling, but it might as well have. 3

Akari fought really hard not to frown at the initial expression she caught on Kurama's features. _Trust me, I know. It's a pain, sometimes quite literally. _She stared at the stupid thing a moment longer before bringing her eyes up to Kurama's.

"I can see that." she replied blandly.

She stayed quiet for a moment before giving another sigh, this time of irritation. Her eyelids slid closed.

"_So dramatic. I like it."_

Akari laughed and opened her eyes again, this time sticking her tongue out at the dog before turning to Kurama again. "What an expression that is. Make sure it isn't on your face when I see you next. It might ruin my homecoming." Her smile widened, her tone actually teasing. _*****_

"This expression will stay right where it is up until the exact moment I see you again." Kurama thought about it. "Unless you've still got this wretched thing on your wrist when you return." His face grew a little darker, "If that's the case then there will be a certain unwise Alpha with whom I will be having words." 3

Akari's smile widened and she turned her wrist over, wrapping her fingers about his wrist and pulling him closer for a moment, her voice going quieter.

"If it's still there when I decide to return, there will be no Alpha for you to speak with."

_Of course, __**my**_ _hands won't be doing the deed, since it would only prolong my time there. _

"But, you're welcome to think on it for a bit." Her free hand came up to tap gently at his cheek. _*****_

Kurama's fiercer expression fell away as she touched him, instead growing wistful, wanting desperately to say that he wished she didn't have to go and at the same time feeling it quite likely that she felt the same way.

"You know, now that I think about it, I'm fairly certain I lied earlier...if you _are _gone longer than a week, I'm coming to get you myself." He reached up with his other hand to tuck part of the hair hanging at the side of her face behind her ear, leaning close enough to rest his forehead against hers. 3

Akari gave a smile of amusement. "Be my I'm not out of there by then, I'll probably be on the verge of ripping my hair out and running away anyway." She kept her eyes on him, very adamantly ignoring the fifth pulse of energy in her wrist.

She tapped his face again with her hand, this time lighter, as if unsure about the action. And after a beat, she twitched her nose a little and gave a sigh.

"While I enjoy the stalling, the longer I'm here, the longer it will be before I come back…" _*****_

"You're right." Kurama allowed, "But don't expect me to be happy about it." He smiled a little, gave an aggravated sigh and leaned back again, blinking once at her. "If you don't get going, I'm likely to not _let _you go." 3

Akari gave the smallest of smiles at the redhead, refusing the urge to lean forward and touch her nose to his. "See you on the flipside then, hm?" She turned and gave Nabu a pat on the head, who responded with a huff. "If I come back and you've torn up the house, your bed will be outside."

"_Liar."_

She dropped through a shadow, her feet hitting grass on the third layer, her eyes landing on Isamu and the girl from before, who both were sitting criss-cross on the ground, waiting. The first to open their eyes and look up at her was the girl, whose head lifted, causing her short hair to bounce. "Took you long enough."

Akari raised a brow at the girl before turning to Isamu, who had stood. "Let's go before I change my mind."

"Akari, meet Hiyori. Hiyori, meet your older sister, Akari."

… _Seriously? _

"I already know who she is." Hiyori mumbled before turning away, moving much too graceful for her age.

"_That's _why you brought her along? Because she's another family member?"

"I just thought you'd be interested in knowing that."

~!**!~

Nabu sat on the grass of the meadow, huffing at the space where Akari had been sitting moments ago. "_She wouldn't really make me sleep outside…" _He turned his head to Kurama with a curious air. He blinked once at the other before moving to stand.

"_You said something about another place I could find you, if I had to?"_ _*****_

Kurama tried not to stare at the place Akari disappeared for too long, feeling Youko tugging at him, reminding him that the other had places to be.

Or rather, a _place _to be.

"Yes."

Nabu's question pulled Kurama from his thoughts and Kurama held out his arms, "Ready to go now?" 3

Nabu tilted his head at Kurama, eyeing his outstretched arms for a moment before giving a little sigh and moving forward, placing his front paws on the other's thighs and lifting his head to look up at him. "_Might as well, right?"_

_~!**!~_

The silence had been awkward for some time now.

"So… which… uh…"

"Father. We share the same father. You should have known that by looking at me."

Akari scowled at the child who walked beside her. "Excuse me for not wanting to imagine him as a young female."

"I suppose that reveals a lot about your character."

Isamu gave a laugh from Akari's other side. "You two already sound like siblings."

"Shut up," they intoned together, earning another laugh.

"Remember where the camp is, Aka?"

"How could I forget? Even a thousand lifetimes couldn't erase the mental map of this layer. I did, after all, run around it every day."

"Just checking."

"You aren't going to make me do that again, are you?"

He gave no answer and they moved on in silence. _*****_

~!**!~

Kurama scooped up the dog in his arms and stood up easily, taking one last look around the layer and sighing, stepping between that one and the next and starting to move, his face growing more reserved with each step.

Sometime before landing on the first layer, Youko emerged and Kurama disappeared, the kitsune diligently carrying Nabu until he landed on the First Layer and set the dog down.

He took two sweeping steps forward, having appeared just in front of Taka and Shikiyoku, and reached out to pick her up.

"Touch her and _die_, fox." Taka didn't even bother looking up.

Youko stood straight, giving Taka a lofty look that was lost on him since Taka hadn't moved.

"You'd kill your best friend's own kin?"

"Kin or not, I don't think your cousin would care much if I messed up that pretty face of yours." Taka finally lifted his head just enough to be looking out from under the red bandana tied around his forehead at the unimpressed fox's face.

"You guys are so _loud_." Shikiyoku murmured.

"Nabu, should you have need of me, _this _is most likely the residence at which I will be for the foreseeable future." Youko turned to the dog, "I would introduce you to my cousin so you know his scent, if you like." 3

Nabu padded a few short steps after the fox, taking note of the very subtle changes he saw. _Is this what they meant? Youko?_

_Odd._

He leaned forward a little, sniffing at the demons on the ground, finding that he recognized one of them and not the other. _Sparkles. She's a little different than when I met her._

He leaned away, tail dipped low in caution as he eyed the male he didn't know, whose air was very unkind at the moment. _Bird. Hawk, actually. _

There was a pause in which Nabu blinked and looked up at Youko. Then back to the other he didn't know. _This is strange. _He turned to look at Youko again.

"_That would… probably serve well later." _He moved away from the bird and Sparkles, claws clicking on the concrete as he moved to stand behind Youko. "_At your pace, however. I'm patient."_

~!**!~

Eyes. _Lots _of eyes followed her.

_Get out. _

Akari glanced at Isamu, narrowing slightly. "You mean my presence is _unannounced?" _she hissed.

"...I haven't been here to let them know. Just relax, and stop looking so guilty."

"I'm not _guilty_, idiot. I'm _nervous. _Packs are not kind to unwanted visitors."

"You are not a visitor, love."

Akari growled low and turned her eyes forward again, but her gaze skittered from demon to demon, meeting gaze after gaze.

And suddenly, things looked normal. Demons began moving about, continuing their duties, their daily routines, only giving passing glances as they brushed by.

Even.. a few smiles?

"Aka!"

Akari halted in place and looked over her shoulder, eyes finding a demoness who stared at her, smile wide. Her eyes sparkled, both with cheer and tears, and her ears twitched every which way in excessive amounts of excitement. Akari raised a brow.

"You're back!" The demon made two good leaps before slamming into her, causing Akari to stumble a little. "I _knew _you didn't run away! ...Hey, where's your tail?" The girl pulled back, hands on Akari's shoulders and eyes to her head. "And your ears? Oh my _gosh_, your hair is long! Who is it? Who-"

"...Manami." There was a pause. "Slow down. You're doing it again."

The girl's face brightened even more, her mouth opening to release a slew of questions. "Where were you? Why didn't you come back? What have you been doing? Did you miss me? Did you learn something cool to bring back and show us?"

"_Manami!"_ Akari whined, sighing."I _just _got here. I can't answer a thousand questions a minute, and…"

"Right, right! Go visit family first. Then find me!"

"...Will do." _*****_

~!**!~

Youko's tail swished once in the air at Nabu's response, "See?" He turned to Taka, "Now, why can't you be polite like _that_?"

"To you?" Taka replied, "Because the adorable little dog is welcome. _You_ on the other hand-"

"Taka, be nice." Shikiyoku murmured starting to sit up.

Taka's expression softened as Shikiyoku pushed herself up away from him, using a hand on his knee as leverage and stretching her arms above her head, catching sight of Nabu.

She blinked at him, brain processing through where she knew the dog from and her eyes brightened.

"You've grown!" 3

Nabu huffed at the bird, though merely because he wasn't sure how to regard the being. Or, really, any one being he could _smell _on the premises. As if there'd been _too many _here at one point.

His ears had just begun to turn back when Shikiyoku spoke up, quickly gaining his attention and the swishing of his tail in greeting. He sidled forward, extending his nose in her direction.

"_You're different too! More sparkly." _He gave an amused huff. "_Sparkles fits too well." _*****

Taka gave the dog a funny look before joining Youko in laughing, leaving Shikiyoku with her hand extended towards the dog's nose and giving the pair of them a confused look.

"What?" 3

Nabu turned his eyes to the bird curiously, though his nose remained stretched to Shikiyoku before he lifted his head and took the last few steps forward to give an approving lick at her hand.

"_Am I the only one who can see it?" _he asked, mainly to himself. Because when he looked up at Sparkles, the very aura around her glimmered, her eyes shining and her hair seeming to move of its own accord, by an unseen force that shone like…

Well, glitter, he supposed.

"_I'm willing to bet Grump is here too." _*****

Shikiyoku moved forward so that she sat with her legs underneath her once Nabu licked her hand, and she took his head inbetween her palms and ruffled at his ears, her expression slightly put-out with the other two demons around her who were still chuckling.

"I don't think I've ever actually _heard _him call you that. Red seems to think _he _has."

"Aw, did he call me Sparkles?" Shikiyoku wanted to know, grinning at the dog as she curled her hands around his ears and scratched at the back of them.

"We can't see it right _now_, Nabu," Taka spoke up, his own lips upturned with a smile, "But I can definitely assure you we know _exactly _what you're talking about." Taka frowned a little, glancing up at Youko, "I doubt _you're_ 'Grump.' Who's Grump?"

"That's privileged information." Youko stuck his nose in the air, ears standing tall. 3

Nabu's head lowered a little at the very _wonderful _scratching he was receiving, his tail moving faster when Sparkles repeated what he'd called her. "_Good, you haven't forgotten." _He sat on his rump, turning his head a little here and there to direct Shikiyoku's fingers a certain way, until she hit the spot that made his back leg twitch a little.

"_Grump is no one." _Nabu replied after a delay."_At least, no one here, that I can tell." _He looked to Youko briefly before turning his eyes to Shikiyoku again, his tongue falling from his lips and paws doing a little dance. "_Right there! That's the spot." __*****_

"I think you might be cuter than before." Shikiyoku noted wryly with that same grin.

Taka had leaned forward to watch over Shikiyoku's shoulder, his cheek almost brushing up against hers as she hadn't left her spot inbetween his knees.

Youko had made a slight huffing sound and turned his nose into the air. 3

Nabu's movements paused at the sound he heard from Youko, his eyes turning to the taller demon for a moment in consideration before he turned to Sparkles again, making a small sound at her that meant nothing for the other two, but conveyed his message all the same.

_Hold on._

He pulled away and moved to sit at Youko's feet, tail moving slightly against the pavement.

"_Hey." _he called, ears twitching a little. "_Can I make a request?" __*****_

Youko's ears twitched and turned down towards the dog before the fox himself actually looked, curious expression coloring his features.

"And what might a dog ask of a fox?" 3

Nabu tilted his head a little, easily containing his amusement and putting on a calm mask. "_Well…" _he began, ear turning back a little as he considered the being who looked down at him. Slowly, he lowered himself to lay down, chin on his paws and eyes up at Youko. "_How should I put it…?"_

There was a pause, and then the dog moved, rolling onto his back quickly and barking once. "_Pet me like one of those French Poodles." __*****_

All Shikiyoku saw was the dog leaving her and sitting near Youko, the one-sided conversation not particularly lending itself to her guessing at what the dog wanted, especially once the animal had turned belly-up and barked at him. Though it certainly made _her _want to rush over and rub the exposed stomach.

Taka for his part _first _sneaked a kiss onto Shikiyoku's cheek that he was fairly certain he got away with since she said nothing, but then his head was tilting rather severely to the side, unsure of what either 'French' or 'Poodle' meant exactly.

Youko's façade did not so much as crack as he eyed the wriggling dog with a single silver eyebrow raised, the joke going completely over his head until Kurama actually explained what was going on, which included having to show Youko what exactly a 'French Poodle' was.

Needless to say, the reaction was a little delayed, but the edges of Youko's eyes twitched at just about the same time as he smirked, a single ear flicking backwards as he lowered himself until his chin was hanging over his knees and he was perched on his toes, one arm circling his legs to hold himself in place.

He reached a hand out towards Nabu's furry belly, but with a single finger raised.

"French Poodles," Youko began, "I would not pet. But you-" He lowered his hand and scratched his long-nailed fingers across Nabu's chest, "-are much cuter than they." 3

Nabu's paws twitched in anticipation when Youko lowered a hand, but paused above his belly. The amount of satisfaction he felt at receiving the reaction the fox had gave lead to his tongue falling over the side of his chops and his tail moving furiously against the sidewalk, making a _swish _sound as it did so.

So by the time Youko's fingers began scratching, the dog was wiggling back and forth happily, making the smallest of sound here and there in utter joy.

"_Nobody likes French Poodles anyway. They're too stuck-up." _He gave a small bark. "_I'm the cutest." __*****_

Youko nodded sagely, "Of course. The cutest dog in existence most likely."

Youko paused in mid-scratch and blinked.

"I've been told you're only the _second _cutest. Care to protest?" 3

Nabu's movements stopped when Youko did, his eyes curiously turning to the fox demon. And a moment after the fox finished his question, he huffed and rolled over onto his feet.

"_I am __**the **__cutest, and will give my presence to the one who knows it." _He sidled over to Shikiyoku and plopped down, rolling to his back and lolling his tongue out at her merrily. "_Sparkles knows I'm the cutest." _*****

Shikiyoku propped an elbow up on Taka's knee, put her face in that hand, and looked down at the belly-offering dog with a grin.

"And what _exactly _am I supposed to do with you, hm?"

"This." Taka provided, reaching over her shoulder and scratching at the dog. 3

Nabu lay there for a moment, feeling the hand of the demon he _still _didn't know the name of scratching at his stomach, a sense of fulfillment welling up. He lay there a few moments longer before giving a satisfied huff and rolling onto his side, resting his chin on Shikiyoku's knee and turning his eyes onto Youko.

"_See?" _He huffed once. "_Now everyone's relaxed and no one is making threats. Happy people means happy dog." _His tail swished twice. "_I'm assuming your cousin is inside?" __*****_

Taka kept his arm hanging over Shikiyoku's shoulder and she leaned back into him, the both of them watching Nabu with amusement, though for entirely different reasons.

Taka's eyes flicked up to Youko, "Clever. Did you raise him yourself?"

"I did not." Youko replied, "And yes. We should get _that _introduction over with." Youko turned tail and sashayed his way towards the front door. "Care to join me inside, seductress?"

Shikiyoku unfolded herself from the ground to start after him, and without missing a beat rejoined, "I don't think it works like that."

Taka groaned, but went ahead and commented, "This outta be interesting," about the dog meeting the cat. 3

Nabu was standing even before Youko moved towards the house, his head swiveling to look at the bird for a moment, considering giving the right answer, but deciding against it. It wasn't the bird's business anyway. So, he gave a happy swish of his tail at the compliment and turned to follow after Youko, staying pretty close to the male until the door was opened.

Nabu ducked around Youko, his first thought being that maybe he could find a comfortable spot to sit, if he was welcomed to stay.

Granted, he wouldn't stay long.

There were _creatures _by the house that he needed to run off later. Lizards, to be exact. And they were _annoying _when he was trying to sleep.

The dog circled the couch, pausing briefly to look up at Hiei and giving a considerate tilt of his head at the demon who merely stared down at him.

_Not so much a grump anymore, as I thought. _The dog stepped forward for a moment as if to greet the male, but he had turned his head to look at the others entering the house.

Nabu moved on, sniffing at the leg of the next person.

Very quickly, he tensed, his nose lifting very slowly to stare up at this one.

_Cat._

He hardly moved. _*****_

Kitoushi blinked, pulled from his work by several new scents that he only now became aware of, the newest one-and the most foreign-originating from-

His head turned slowly, blue and brown eyes locking onto the dog at his knee.

"What. Is this." 3

Nabu continued to lift his head just a little more, his nose twitching a little as the hairs on his back began to stand on end. "_I am not a 'what'. I am a 'who'." _Nabu said slowly, staring at the different-shaded eyes that had locked onto him.

Every muscle remained locked, not even twitching.

"_I am Nabu, thank you."_ _*****_

Kit continued to stare unblinkingly down at the dog who had just provided his own name.

One of the tall black ears at the top of Kitoushi's head twitched back once, flicking forward to stand at attention, pointed directly at the dog just like the other.

"And what, praytell, is Nabu's business here?" 3

Nabu didn't so much as hesitate.

"_Kurama invited me." __*****_

"Do you by any chance mean _Youko_ Kurama?" 3

"_Both of them." _Nabu's ears slowly began to lay down on his head, feeling exceedingly cautious at the moment. "_So, in a way, yes." __*****_

Kitoushi's gaze had not left Nabu, though one of his ears turned loosely as Youko silently gave a little nod of his head, the long, slender black tail curled out from behind the neko and on the couch starting to lift and lower in a slow, thoughtful rhythm.

Kit's nose flared a little after a moment, and his core trembled.

He didn't even have to look up to know that night had fallen, and in the amount of time it took for him to blink, he had shifted forms into a small, willowy black cat seated on his haunches with his tail in a similar position as before, slowly curling up and down beside him.

In a rather intentional manner, Kit's right, front paw started to lift from the couch cushion, giving ample time for anyone to see that his claws were retracted, and placed it upon Nabu's nose, resting it there.

"_Tag." _3

Nabu hadn't so much as moved, even when the demon who had been sitting there milliseconds ago moved, somehow becoming the small cat sitting on the edge of the couch, staring down at him. The dog released a slow breath of anticipation, a hind leg moving just slightly, in case he needed the traction on the carpet.

Cats of this form he knew _nothing _about.

His brown eyes followed the motion of the cat's paw, eyeing the lack of claws warily, but refusing to move away as the paw rested on his nose.

And the single word he heard confused him for a second. _What?_

He stared for a moment before the word registered, along with its normal meaning, and his muscles drew tighter, if possible.

He said nothing.

He only sat up on his hind legs and, after a brief glance at Sparkles, batted a paw at the cat on the couch almost tentatively. _*****_

Kitoushi pulled his paw back just as Nabu began to move, placing it down next to the other and eyeing the dog with a neutral expression as his tail continued its movement.

When Nabu batted at him, Kitoushi calmly stood up stepped to the side to avoid it, giving him a single, slow blink and maintaining an all-around dignified air.

"_You're It." _

Kit dropped down onto his front paws, his rear end wriggling in the air and his tail lashing back and forth behind him, his ears flattening against his head.

He lifted his chin just a little to huff out a noisy puff of air in Nabu's direction, then took off running for the stairs, clamoring over the arm of the couch and disappearing over the side. 3

Nabu had dropped to all fours when the cat evaded his cautious swat, his eyes remaining unblinking at the cat even after he spoke.

The moment the small dark furball bowed, however, Nabu's ears perked and his small huffs became silent, his mouth closing and his nose twitching at the feline.

And then the cat was moving out of sight, bounding over the side of the couch.

Nabu gave no hesitation in turning tail and tearing across the carpet after the other, running under the legs of Hiei and around the couch before loudly running up the stairs, the only sound from him being his pounding paws on the carpeted floor.

Hiei's eyes slid shut as the dog and cat tore off, his expression neutral, contradicting the slightly irritated air around him.

_Fools._

~!**!~

Terse silence filled the room, Akari unblinkingly staring at the man who stood across from her, their poses very similar**: **crossed arms, feet shoulder-width apart, and shoulders tense. It had been like this for _hours_. Ever since she'd entered the room.

"You _left." _

Akari refused the twitch her expression nearly gave. She didn't reply.

"You _abandoned _your family. Your pack. Your _duty._"

Still, no reply.

"And you have the _nerve_ to return?"

The air between them thickened. The silence stretched on.

"That look suits you." he commented darkly, eyes flickering up to her head, where she was _well aware_ of the lack in ears. "Signifies how cowardly you were. Are. It's a wonder I even-"

"You have no power here." Akari's voice was even despite her pose, her tension. "Only the Alpha decides who is punishable for their actions, and who isn't."

"_I_ was the alpha when you left." the demon seethed. "And _you_ were in line. Now we have-"

"_We_?"

"Yes, the _pack." _

Akari raised a brow. "I was never interested. You were made aware very early on."

"I never raised a coward."

"You're right." Akari quipped, "you didn't raise me. Isamu did. Mother did, while you kept to your business. I understand, but quite frankly, I don't care for the reasons in which you seek out multiple mates. Multiple child-givers. That's your business, and I always left it that way. Now, _my _business is my own, and you will leave it as such."

A snarl and the man's arms dropped, pulling him to his full height over her. "You will not disrespect the former Alpha."

Akari smiled. "As you say." She turned to leave, only to be stopped.

"You _will not_ disrupt the flow of our pack. You will finish your business, and then go back to whatever hole you were hiding in. Understand?"

"If I didn't, I'd stay and debate." Akari continued moving away. "Now, I still have people to visit."

"Your mother-"

"Don't. I'm not here for a nice _family reunion. _I'm here because I couldn't get out of it. And I suggest you let me do what I'm here to do so I may leave quicker.." She pushed the wooden door open, not stopping to debate any longer. The door slammed shut, drawing the attention of a few passersby who smiled awfully-fake smiles and continued on.

_I can't believe I did this to myself._

"That was pleasant," Isamu remarked as he took to walking beside her. "Family reunions are always fun."

Akari shot him a glare.

"I've got some stuff to keep you busy, if you're interested. One of which will place you with Manami."

"I'm all for it, with or without company." _*****_

~!**!~

As _soon _as Kit shifted forms, Taka moved off towards the kitchen area and Shikiyoku trailed after him curiously, unaware that Youko followed them both until she leaned up against the side of the counter that separated the living room from the kitchen itself and found Youko had come up behind her and let his arms slide over her shoulders, clasping together at about her chest-level as he elbows rested on either side of her neck.

Taka kept making disapproving noises with his tongue as he first opened the freezer and then the refrigerator, running his eyes over the contents within and shaking his head.

"Nothing from Demon World in here? It's like you weren't expecting me." He stood up and walked over to the cabinets, beginning to open the ones over the counter across from her.

"Perhaps you should let _her _cook." Youko commented.

Taka tossed caustic glance over his shoulder at the fox demon, seeing his tail swish once behind him.

"Are you kidding me? Have you _tried _her cooking?" He went back to rummaging through the cabinets.

Youko opened his mouth with the intention of saying something to the effect of 'yes,' since Kurama had indeed eaten with Shikiyoku-_Toriko?_-before, but Shikiyoku leaned into him, causing him to look down at her, and he noticed her shake her head just a little, so he frowned and looked back up, staying quiet.

"It's atrocious." Taka went on, moving past the oven in the middle of those cabinets and checking the ones on the other side of it. He gave a little sigh and stood up, arms crossed over his chest, "Granted, with _this _junk, I don't even know if _I _can make a decent meal."

"Which is why I suggested you let the homeowner fix something."

"_She's not __**that **__bad anymore, Taka." _Kitoushi's voice was projected on the air throughout the house. "_She's had a lot of practice." _

Taka leveled an even stare onto Shikiyoku, who only met him gaze for gaze.

"Not _bad_ is still not _good_." Taka replied with a frown, casting his eyes in the direction of the stairs where he could feel Kit still running around like an idiot. "And what would _you _know anyway? You're as terrible as she is, if not, dare I say, _worse_."

Taka gave a sigh and uncrossed his arms, one hand going to rest on his hip.

"You've got _nothing _from Demon World?"

"Not a thing."

Taka gave a large sigh at her answer, his mind turning over what he had found.

"And _you're_ supposed to be better than Yoku?" Youko wanted to know.

"Not _supposed _to be better at cooking," Taka corrected, "_Am _better."

"_He __**is **__actually a decent cook, fox." _Kit admitted truthfully.

"Decent? Ha!" Taka squatted down and began rummaging through the lower cabinets, beginning to pull out pans, "You could give me more credit than _that_, Kit."

"_If I gave you any __**more**_ _credit, there wouldn't be room for anyone in the house other than you and your oversized ego."_ 3

~!**!~

Isamu walked with Akari with his chin a little higher than normal, a grin on his face as he greeted demons who passed by, exchanging brief words with a couple who asked how he'd been, even pausing for idle chit-chat, forcing Akari to stand there and communicate with a few she didn't even recognize.

"Riki's daughter?"

Akari nodded and gave a faint smile. "One of them, yes."

"Well now, how nice it must be to have returned to the people you ran with, no?"

Isamu gave a wide grin in Akari's direction. "You wouldn't believe how difficult she is for her age."

Akari shot a glare. "I am as I was raised."

"My heart!"

"Welcome home, miss Hanase," a passing demon greeted, patting her shoulder as she continued on. "Manami's been worried about you."

Akari waved at the woman and turned to Isamu again. "What is it you have her doing this time?"

"The simple scoping."

"You're letting _her_ scope the area for threats? You _do _realize her name literally means 'love', and that she couldn't fight even if she wanted to."

"Precisely."

Akari sighed and turned, giving a wave at the little group who had begun chattering around her and Isa. "Come on, she's not going to be patient forever."

~!**!~

"_So…._ you never did answer any of my questions."

Akari looked to the female who had calmed down immensely, her ears turning this way and that while her eyes turned to Akari, they remained dilated. The redhead only shrugged. "There's… not much to say about it."

"I'm not exactly convinced you ran away, like people think you did. What actually happened?" the dark haired girl asked, tilting her head a little.

"How about another question?"

"_Akariiii_…. You're being evasive."

"Quite obviously so. Next question." To be honest, it was hard for Akari not to smile.

Manami gave a groan. "Okay then. Where have you been?"

"The first layer, more commonly known as Human World." The pair of them continued walking around the perimeter of the little village of dog demons, listening to their surroundings and occasionally pausing for a moment to talk.

"That's… interesting." The girl turned her eyes to the side, as if imagining Akari in a strange place that she'd never seen before. Then, she made a face.

Akari laughed. "It's not as bad as you've been made to think. You're hardly noticed. And the humans aren't so bad, though there are a good few who are… _disgusting_ in their own ways."

"Isn't that boring? Lonely?" Manami frowned. "That's no way to live, Aka."

"Nope. I keep busy, have good company."

"..._Have?" _Akari nodded, and after a pause, Manami spoke up again. "Good company is hard to keep on that layer… Won't you outlive them all?" Another pause. "You're not staying here long, are you?"

"I have other priorities, Manami." AKari shifted her weight, eyes turning away. "As much as I missed you and Mother, I can't. I have other things to take care of."

Manami didn't miss a beat. "Isamu doesn't fit, you know. He used to be a great candidate for Alpha, but now that he _is _Alpha… he's become careless. He leaves us for weeks on end and then reappears with no explanation at all. And the trouble is, he does a good job in making sure no one questions him."

"He's the Alpha. He has to get things done, even if it's by other means unlike the previous Alphas."

There was silence for a moment. "It's… strange, Aka. I'm the only one who seems to think he's acting different."

"Manami, I hope you're not saying this to convince me to stay." She took a deep breath. "Plus, I'm sure you aren't the only one to notice his behaviour."

"I'm telling you because you should know. And you should watch. If you wanted, you could at least appoint a new Alpha."

Akari sighed. "I know I can."

More silence.

"So, who's the lucky one?"

Akari turned a curious gaze onto the other. "Hm?"

"I know you never cared for the hair thing, that you probably grew it long for your own preference, but Akari… you _smell."_

Akari's eyes widened and she blinked twice, "Excuse you?"

Manami fidgeted. "Like… like… _Flowers. Ferns_. You _smell_ like… you've been rolling around in meadows for your entire life. And that kind of smell doesn't stick as long if it were simply the case of back-scratching on the ground." She finally met Akari's gaze, shining, curious and yet almost… knowing.

Akari's lips released a loud laugh. "Is that so?"

"Is there a _person_ who is your priority?" Her voice was small, no louder than a whisper as if she might gain the attention of unwanted ears.

Akari shrugged.

"Akariiii."

The redhead gave a smile.

"What question _will _you answer?"

"Not sure yet." _*****_

* * *

_I am trying to decide whether or not I should break the RP off into a new FF story sometime soon. If you have any thoughts about doing that, feel free to PM me your opinion!_

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	90. Episode 174 - Sharing, Family

**A/N: **Hello once again, FanFiction Dot Net Users and Anonymous Readers alike!

I think come chapter 101 I'm going to make a second "story," so this is a heads-up to all of you who are following!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Kurama and Akari part ways, Kurama relinquishing control to Youko,  
who carries Nabu to Toriko's, or rather, Shikiyoku's home on the First Level.

Akari heads to the Third Layer to meet up with Isamu and a younger sister of hers, Hiyori.  
The pack seems indifferent to her presence, though an old friend,  
Manami, welcomes her back joyously.

Akari's reunion with her father is quite the opposite,  
and the two do not part ways on friendly terms.

A few other members of the pack start to warm up to her,  
and Isamu assigns Akari to some scouting duties with Manami.

~!**!~

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that there are eight eligible Consorts  
who have disclosed intentions of pursuing said place at Shikiyoku's side.

Nabu and Kitoushi meet, and while the initial introduction is terse,  
Kitoushi changes form with the coming of night and the two set to playing a game of Tag.

As this occurs, Taka insists on cooking,  
maintaining that Shikiyoku was always terrible at it,  
as was Kitoushi, and it had been up to him to keep the three of them fed.

* * *

There was light banter passed back and forth between the three in the kitchen with the occasional interjection from the cat upstairs who was apparently still tearing around and keeping the visiting dog entertained.

The conversation was backgrounded by the banging of pots and pans, the boiling of water, and-eventually-the smell of food in the air, which actually was reminiscent of the scent of Demon World cuisine and seemed rather out of place in the very human looking house.

Eventually, there were plates passed around, and even Kit wandered in from the upstairs, his tail held high with a curve at the end of it to indicate his curious interest.

Taka gave him a plate on the counter which he hopped up to and began eating with no further complaints besides the single 'miau' to get the bird's attention in the first place.

Youko and Taka stood leaned up against the counters, talking and laughing with one another as if they had been friends for a long time-while they had not actually met in person, they knew of one another from Kit's on-going correspondences with the fox during the period of time in which Kitoushi was bonded with Shikiyoku-with Kit joining in their conversation intermittently while he also ate his fill.

For her part, once Shikiyoku had a plate she quietly stepped away from the kitchen as she began eating, leaving the other three to themselves, and came to sit down right next to Hiei on the couch, silently holding the plate between them and looking at him questioningly with the unspoken offer to share. 3

Hiei hadn't even so much as moved a muscle, his arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed and feet propped up on the coffee table. The only thing indicating that he was not asleep was the fact that his breaths weren't slow enough to indicate as such, though it was pretty close.

He was aware of the sounds in the house, ranging from Nabu and Kit running around like idiots, to the idle chatter between the patrons in the kitchen.

So when Shikiyoku moved by him, he'd been aware of her approach even before she'd actually come near. When the couch cushion moved with her added weight, he slid an eye open to look over at her calmly. Then down at the silent offer she extended. He raised a brow at her for a moment before he uncrossed his arms and helped himself, eyes closing as he chewed on.. whatever he'd just grabbed.

He sent a silent thanks to her through telepathy.

Nabu came down the stairs slowly, lazily, his paws making no sound against the carpet as he touched the landing and looked about the house. He noted where each person was before turning and moving towards the couch, stopping beside it and taking another look around. When he was satisfied in knowing he would not be in the way of anyone walking about, and could see all around himself, he turned three circles and promptly stretched himself out, completely content.

Now would be a good time for a nap.

~!**!~

Silence stretched on as Akari and Manami meandered around the foliage, ears listening for unusual sounds and eyes searching for anything out of the norm. Oddly, she didn't feel uncomfortable walking along with the other, who occasionally turned a brief glance at Akari before turning forward again. The silence wasn't overbearing. It wasn't awkward. In fact, it was just like old times.

It was almost as if Akari hadn't ever been gone.

"Aka," the female suddenly spoke, tone quiet, "I missed you. I was worried for a long time, you know. You were family." There was a pause. "You _are_ family."

"I know, Manami." Akari lowered her head, her eyes turning to the ground. "For a long time, I thought about this place. The people."

"So what kept you away?"

Akari sighed. "I got mixed in to something dumb. Didn't think anything through. Caused some trouble."

"I feel as if 'some' is an understatement?" The smile aimed at Akari was teasing.

Akari released a breath. "Well, yeah. I'm not proud of it."

Manami turned serious, realizing Akari wasn't kidding, "So why did you do it?"

"I put my loyalties in the wrong place."

"Past tense?"

"Yeah, that was…" she paused. "In the Human World, that ended a year ago." She lifted her head and gave a small smile to her friend. "Here… I'm not sure how long it would have been. Time on the layers is a tricky thing."

"So Isamu says."

Another pause.

"You were gone." The girl's face became guarded, eyes turned away. "It was brief, but…"

"Yeah. That's when I got out of that mess and into another mess."

"I couldn't track you either. After that, I couldn't find you anymore."

"That's probably because Spirit World wouldn't let you."

"...The Spirit Detective?" When Akari didn't answer, Manami sighed. "You are in cahoots with the Spirit Detective?"

"Well, only on occasion."

Disbelief colored Manami's irises. "Is he your _priority?"_

This time, Akari's laugh was loud and she tossed her head back. "No, no. Not Yusuke." She gave another laugh. "Don't look at me like that!"

"He's dangerous from what I hear."

"You don't know him," Akari pointed out. "He's nothing but a teddy bear with a mask."

"But he _kills _demons."

"Well… only those that attacked first without relenting. Self defense."

"...So he _isn't _a ruthless killer?"

"Where exactly are _you _getting your information? The underground?"

"Isa."

"So, yes, the underground."

No reply.

"I can assure you, Manami, that I am not going to let my loyalties be to anyone who would do needless harm. Not again."

"...I trust your judgement…" Another pause. "You look good, you know. For not having ears and all that. For dying."

"Technically, I didn't actually die. Just had a close call."

"That's _very _reassuring." Manami rolled her eyes.

"I appreciate the compliments, Manami." Akari reached out and grabbed the girl's sleeve of her robes, tugging her in one direction. "Let's go this way, hm?"

"What for?"

"I want to visit that old cave."

"You mean the one that we used to hide in when we got into trouble?"

Akari grinned. "That's the one."

"It's party central now. It's used for stories and bonfires and general celebrations"

"Even better." _*****_

~!**!~

"You're welcome." Shikiyoku murmured, reaching with her free hand to grab for more of the food, silently turning her eyes to watch the television screen as it flashed pictures she did not care to make any sense of, instead only looking in that direction and quite enjoying the general atmosphere: the murmurings from the kitchen and being _here_, next to Hiei.

She found herself without exactly meaning to, looking over at him, watching him, a small smile on her face. 3

Hiei silently moved to pluck something else from the plate, calmly lifting it to his lips and pausing just shy of dropping it in his waiting mouth. After the moment of pause, he resumed what he was doing, not opening his eyes to look over at Shikiyoku, no matter how tempted he was to do so.

"_Something amuse you?" _

~!**!~

Akari and Manami stepped into the small cave, eyes adjusting to the abrupt darkness that was only deterred by a small campfire that a ring of demons sat around, laughing and talking in low tones. The pair slid silently into the circle, Manami sitting on the ground and Akari on a rather large boulder beside her.

"And the rat- get this- tried to strike a deal!" The demons in the circle laughed at whatever story was being told. "Needless to say, we get to learn if he grows another tail!"

Akari lifted a knee, propping that foot against the side of the boulder so she could rest her elbow on her kneecap, arm hanging lazily over it. She only looked up from her closed hand when a demon next to her nudged at her.

"Hey Hanase, you going to join the crew again?"

Akari's lips twitched. "You mean the tradesmen?"

"Obviously. You pulled your weight enough! We _still _don't know how you sweet talked that snake on the second level so long ago!"

"Sweet talk has _nothing _to do with it." Her grin was wicked at the recollection.

"No, but I bet you could master it just as well. How about it? We need to pay him a visit tomorrow."

"Why isn't Isamu taking care of it?"

"He has other things on another layer tomorrow."

Akari sighed and turned her eyes down to the rose in her hand. "I have a feeling you're not going to let me out of it."

A few chuckles from the listening demons. "You're right! And while you're at it, we should visit the wolves on the fourth tomorrow! They've got something of ours."

"I bet it helps having someone who can move through shadows, huh?"

"You've finally mastered it?"

Akari's grin widened and she looked up at the group. "Of course. I didn't sit around and twiddle my thumbs for a decade."

"Who knew you'd left to better yourself!"

Akari made a small sound. "Sure, let's go with that one." _*****_

~!**!~

"_Maybe." _She replied, still looking at him for a moment longer before settling back into the couch, pulling her legs to curl up behind her and reaching for more food. "_Though I don't know if amused is the right word for it." _3

"_Hn." _Hiei lowered his feet from her coffee table, letting them rest on the floor and sending the oddest sensation up his left leg that he could only describe as _white noise_. He leaned back further into the couch, ignoring the sensation as he rested an elbow on the armrest, propping his chin on the knuckles of his hand lazily.

~!**!~

"Now you're just messin' with us!"

Akari's lips turned upwards just a little at the edges. "Me?"

"Manami, make her stop!"

"I have no control over another."

"I thought I was just joining a calm conversation." Akari piped, tone even. "I'm not sure what you're referring to."

"_You_ joined up with _a human? _And we're supposed to believe that?"

"Well, I mean, you might have approved at the time. He was rather cunning. Charming." Her lips pulled up even more, her irises sparking to life. "Stronger than the entire pack combined."

"Now she's admitting to being _power hungry! _Complete and utter Alpha blood shining through!"

"As _if _a human could do all that."

"You're forgetting about the Detective of Spirit World." Akari piped. "If _he _can become bedtime stories, why can't another?"

Silence.

"You know, I don't think I get the joke."

Manami gave a laugh from beside Akari. "That's what I said!"

"Where's the human? I want to see this for myself!"

"Dead," Akari replied calmly, raised brows.

"Killed the master, did you?"

"Nope. I didn't have to."

"You should know Akari has _never_ had to do the killing," the demon across from her spoke, eyeing her warily. "She's _always_ found ways to have another do it for her."

"One of my many talents, I must say."

"So, technically, she's innocent," Manami spoke, head high and smile wide.

"Now, _that_ is a lie." Akari pointed out. "I've killed just like any other demon."

Manami pouted at her, lip jutting out. "I haven't."

"There's a reason you were named _Manami_," Akari pointed out. "Very much signifies who you are."

"So, the deal maker has tossed away her normal guidelines and a few lives! What a change!"

Akari turned to the one who'd spoken, whose name she couldn't remember. Her lips spread into a wide, mischievous grin. "What guidelines? I don't recall having any of those."

"Right, it was just a personal preference!"

"Keeping her own hands clean, I suppose." _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku quietly nibbled at more of the food on the plate, knowing the instant a pair of arms appeared on either side of her that she had been apparently entirely too content at the moment.

One of the hands hung down the front of her, the other reaching for her plate which she held out further away to prevent it.

"Nn, come _on_, seductress. Why won't you _share_?" Youko put his head on her left shoulder, on the side away from Hiei, the arm not reaching for the plate moving up to cross over her collarbone in a sort of hug that ended with his hand resting on her opposite shoulder. He was pouting gloriously at her, even as he reached again.

"I _don't _share, Yo-chan. You know this." She butted the side of her face into his.

"I _do_." He purred into her ear, taking the top of it in his teeth and getting no reaction from her as she only reached for more food herself and put it in her mouth. "I think that's why we worked so _well _together. We're much too _selfish _to share."

"I remember several demons left disappointed because of that."

"Hm." 3

Hiei's eyes slid over to stare blankly at Youko for a mere moment before he turned them forward again, his eyelids coming closed once more. He remained where he was, only moving to pick something from the plate again, expression giving way none of the smugness he felt at the thought of it.

Because she seemed to only share with _him. _

_Perfect._

~!**!~

"How about those illusions of yours? Anything new?"

Akari raised a brow. "I don't exactly remember what they were like _before_, Seiji. I don't keep track of it much anymore."

"Can you affect an entire room now?"

Akari's brows settled into place again, watching as the eyes of the demon a few feet away glossed over, along with the others in the room. She herself didn't let her mind become consumed with her own made up vision, only watching as expressions lit up with wonder and cheer.

"What is this?"

A few huffed at her, rubbing their hands together as if cold. "Snow."

Manami released a breath. "It's wonderful."

"We don't see this on this layer…"

Akari shook her head, then remembered they could not see her do so. "No, you don't. This layer is too warm for it. Like a constant Summer."

"Okay, I've had enough," another piped, hands rubbing at his face. "I can't feel my nose."

Akari laughed, her energy dissolving around the cave and leaving many pairs of eyes on her.

"So, now you can make them _feel _the sensations in the illusions too. And even _smell _it." Seiji turned his head at her curiously. "What about pain?"

"Would you like to find out?"

"...I suppose not."

Akari grinned. "Smart. Maybe you'll see it on the snake."

"I bet he's got a trick or two ready for us, but I'm more than willing to bet my life that he isn't expecting to see _you _again."

"He's a snake. I'm sure he's been keeping tabs on his targets."

"Akari," Manami mumbled under her breath, earning the hazel eyes of said female, "Isa's back. Looking for you."

Akari rolled her eyes. "He'll find us eventually. Thank you for the forewarning, however."

There was silence in the cave for a moment, and when Akari realized the air had become thick, she turned to look at each demon in turn. She raised a brow.

"A lot's changed since you left, Hanase." the demon across from her spoke, using the same even tone as before. "I'd pay attention."

Akari narrowed her eyes for a moment. "What's your name?"

"That… is not important right now. You have an Alpha to run to."

"He doesn't like it when we gather here," Manami mumbled. "He calls it 'slacking off'."

Akari huffed. "Fine, I'll handle him. Don't bury your heads in the sand in the meantime."

She earned several confused stares as she turned to leave.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"I think it's a first layer thing." _*****_

~!**!~

Youko had started to murmur something else on a lower register into Shikiyoku's ear, getting her eyes cutting in his direction as the plate started to lower, an impish smile on her lips.

She may not have noticed Hiei deliberately removing more food, but it did not happen without Youko seeing, his own mouth curving into a wicked smile.

_So, she shares with you, mm?_

His arm around her shoulders shifted slightly.

_Amusing little gesture, kid. But that is __**not **__what we were referring to. _3

Hiei's eyelids stayed closed even as he felt the air of amusement from the fox, who seemed unphased. Not that the fire demon had expected much of anything. He repeated the gesture, this time _not _because Youko was nearby, but because he actually _was _hungry.

He resumed ignoring the other in the room.

~!**!~

Akari stepped into the village, smoothing her hands along her shirt after breaking from the trees, her eyes looking up to see Isamu moving her way. "You called?" she stood upright again and crossed her arms over her chest. "Manami has gotten more skilled with that kind of thing."

"She's grown a lot. Just like you."

"What do you want?"

"Always the keen one."

"You never give compliments without something to follow."

Isamu chuckled. "We're visiting the seventh layer again. Hiyori will be joi-"

"No."

"-ning us."

She gave him a withering look. "I will not be held responsible for her. If something were to happen and we got back, you _know-"_

"Akari. There's a reason she's coming with us. And a reason I'm requesting you to come along."

"_Not_ if she comes along."

"Riki has already agreed."

"On what terms?"

Isamu's lips twitched into a lopsided grin this time. "No terms."

"No. She's not my responsibility."

"She won't be. Think of it as you're taking the lead, and I'll watch over her."

"...Why the seventh layer?"

"She needs experience."

"Can she even use shadows or illusions?"

"Of course not. She needs to learn the way of striking deals the way _you _do it."

Akari barked out a laugh. "I will not be teaching a child ways to put herself in danger."

"Is that what you do?"

"Find me when you have something better in mind." Akari turned to leave, not catching the withering glare sent to her back. _*****_

~!**!~

"You left a mess in the kitchen, didn't you, Taka?"

The bird came up next to Youko, arms crossed, with a lithe black cat laying across his shoulders.

He only sent a grin down to Shikiyoku, "I'll clean it. But the party moved in here."

"There is _no _party." She responded, slightly irked.

"Looks like a party to me." He swung himself over the back of the couch and sat down next to her, Kitoushi climbing off and stepping lightly down to where the small dog had curled up for sleep, giving a yawn himself and curling up next to Nabu.

Youko stared at him for a moment.

"Something on my face, fox?" Taka asked mildly, not bothering to look away from the TV.

"There could be here in a minute."

"_Take it outside." _Kitoushi said into the air, "_Or shut __**up**__."_

"Mm." Youko smirked, turning back to Shikiyoku and putting his lips up to her ear again. "You want to take it outside?"

"That depends on what you're giving me." 3

~!**!~

Akari lay out under a tree, night having fallen faster than she'd really thought it would. She lay on her side, an arm under her head and her other hand resting on the grass.

_Nothing like the sixth layer. Nothing like the meadow._

Her eyes watched the waving ferns a few feet away, the same breeze that moved the plants making her hair fall into her face. She swept it to the side in irritation, only momentarily unaware of the demon who had approached and sat behind her.

"So what made you come back?"

"Isamu."

"I figured. Did he _persuade_ you, or did you just come along?"

Akari gave a sigh. "Persuasion, I suppose." Her eyelids fell shut.

"That's interesting to know."

"Not surprising?"

"No."

Silence fell over the pair, and Akari became aware of the sound of a sharp object on wood. Carving a spear, she knew. Manami's favorite pastime was wood-work, and often made weapons for the hunters. The warriors. She could _see_ the work without having to actually _look_. "How long will you be here?"

"Equivalent to three days on the first layer." Akari replied calmly.

"Which means…?"

"A little under a week here."

"Just… don't leave without telling me."

Akari's eyelids slid open and she looked over her shoulder, blinking at Manami. "What?"

"I said 'don't leave without telling me'."

The smallest of smile stretched Akari's lips. "Sure." _You sound like him. Both of you worry too much._

"That's not very convincing." Manami glanced up from her work and over at Akari for a moment before turning back to her spear again.

"I promise, Manami." Akari settled her cheek on her arm again, eyes staring blankly ahead. "You know, you haven't changed at all."

Manami didn't respond, only carving away at what she'd been working on. Another stroke of the knife, another puff of air to clear the spot, another stroke.

"Why do they gather in the cave, Manami?"

"Because they can."

Akari made a disapproving sound. "You know what I mean."

"...Because Isamu can't get in. Can't hear what's being said."

"Why is it necessary?"

"Because there's rumor of a coming union. Our pack merging with another. And the hunters, the warriors, and a few others don't like it. When Isamu found out they thought it a bad idea, he threw a fit. Said it was the Alpha's decision and that it would benefit us all."

"...and?"

There was a pause, even the breeze halting for a brief moment in time. "I believe he's lying."

Akari sighed. "That's how it goes, Manami."

"It's not how it's _supposed _to be. He's supposed to consult the pack first, ask for a consensus. Like Riki and the Alpha before him."

"Why _did _my father give up the title?"

"He's tired, I guess. He's been Alpha for as long as _I _can remember. That kind of thing is… exhausting." Another pause as the girl inspected her work. "Which is why you didn't want it."

"Yes." Akari sighed.

"Which is why I didn't push you about it. You're smart, you know what is best even if you don't want to admit it."

"Manami, I was only looking out for myself."

"Every time you say that, I begin to think that you're trying to convince yourself of that, not me."

Akari huffed.

"Do yourself a favor. Look into it. Watch the pack, and pay attention to the way they act. It will reveal a lot about the Alpha."

"When did you become the one who looked for conspiracies?"

"...when it took the compassion from the pack."

Akari made a small sound. "Go with me and Isa through the layers tomorrow."

Manami's hand stilled. "What?"

"He's bringing Hiyori. I can't watch both of them on my own."

"Akari, that's not my thing."

"I'm not asking for a fighter. I'm asking for someone to be my eyes. Someone to watch my back. That's all."

"I…"

"I can handle the rest."

"...I'll think about it."

The sound of the knife cutting into wood resumed, that being the only sound in the area for the longest time. _*****_

~!**!~

"Well, I _could _give it to you right here-"

"-then there's no need to take it outside now is there?"

"-and I suppose I do have to get it inside first anyway-"

"-in front of the children?"

"No, you're right, I don't like an audience."

Taka let out a groan, though it appeared Kitoushi had already fallen asleep.

"Do you two _ever_ shut up?"

They both looked over at him in one accord, unblinking, and then turned back to one another, picking up right where they left off.

"It requires one to share-"

"-which we've already established-"

"-neither of us are willing to do."

"I thought I would at least suggest it."

"You know how we _both_ feel on the matter."

"I wanted to make sure we were still on the same page."

Again, they stopped and turned to the television, Youko's tail swishing once behind him.

Taka had his fingers up to the bridge of his nose and was rubbing there, elbow resting on the arm of the couch.

"Were they always like this?" He leaned over and looked at Kit, who opened one eye.

"_I wouldn't know. They never met until after I was out of the picture."_ 3

~!**!~

Akari had just been falling asleep when a sound caught her attention and she opened her eyes. Sleepily, her eyelids slid closed again, unregistering the demon nearby. She was almost asleep again when something touched her nose, at which point her eyelids flew open and she snarled, reaching out and slamming her hand into Isamu's nose.

The male made a grunt and leaned further away, hand covering his nose. "Where'd you learn that?"

Akari growled and sat up. "You should know better than to sneak up on a dog. We get defensive."

"You looked right at me!"

Akari shifted and stood, looking over at the girl who had fallen asleep with a spear in one hand and knife in the other, leaning against the tree and head bowed. She turned to Isamu again. "Do that again and I won't refrain from breaking that nose. Or the finger that touched me."

"I get it, I get it."

"Akari, you're being loud," came Manami's voice, nothing more than a mumble.

She glared at Isamu, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Don't you have something to do?"

"Well, I was checking to make sure you hadn't run off."

"Now that you've checked, get a move on. I'm not going anywhere today."

"Isa, leave her alone. She's been busy. Let her sleep."

"Manami is even against me!" Isamu's expression shifted to one of mock hurt, his hand moving from his nose to his chest. "Woe be my soul!"

"Isaaa…." Manami shifted, her brown eyes suddenly locked on the male. "If she's going to make deals tomorrow, she will need her brain. Meaning rest."

"Right, right. I'm leaving."

Akari watched the demon disappear into a shadow before lowering herself to the grass again, this time lounging with her shoulder blades against the bark of the tree, her head rested back. "Sorry to wake you."

"I was awake before he even _thought _about appearing here. So don't worry about it." Her eyelids slid shut again. "I'll go with you in the morning. You need the extra eyes."

"Thanks."

"..Akari?"

The copperheaded female looked over at the other, "Hm?"

"I really missed you…"

"...I missed you too, Manami." _*****_

~!**!~

Taka had made some excuse or another and left the house, leaving Youko to take his place beside Shikiyoku.

She made especially sure to counter any physical advances the fox made on her, most of them subtle and ones she remembered from days gone by. It was almost as if he was _intentionally _attempting to jog her memory, and she especially felt this to be the case on one such attempt where she gave him a little glare, earning a sly grin back and seeing his eyes flashing at her.

Eventually the fox desisted, though it was in part attributed to the fact that he fell into a mostly asleep state where he leaned into his hand with his elbow propped up against the arm of the couch.

When Shikiyoku silently stood up and started to step over his legs towards the stairs, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, his eyes coming open to half-mast, glittering yellow at her.

She only gave him a withering stare.

"You owe me." He mumbled after a tense moment, his fingers sliding away from her wrist as his eyes closed again and she went past him, heading up the stairs.

The door to her bedroom had gotten closed earlier that day when she went downstairs with Taka, and she opened it now, stepping inside and moving over to collapse on the bed without bothering to shut it.

She turned over onto her side to stare at the wall for a moment, back facing the door, and her own eyes started to shut, though not in sleep, for her mind whirred endlessly with the events of the day. 3

Hiei had, somehow, become the main possessor of the plate, which he occasionally still ate from as he ignored the people in the room, eyes closed and mind blank. He wasn't tired**; **he hadn't done a single thing all day. And, even if he _was _tired, he wasn't comfortable enough for sleep.

He slowly stood, suddenly tired of holding the plate, and moved off to the kitchen, sliding it lazily into the refrigerator, as there was still a little left. He stuck his index finger in his mouth to rid it of the leftover food residue, and proceeded to turn and silently move for the stairs.

She'd either allow him in, or he'd take over another room. Whatever worked.

Either way, he wasn't comfortable on the couch, where he couldn't stretch out as he so desired.

~!**!~

"_Seriously_, Isamu?"

"I said _you_, not _you and Manami._" he hissed back at her. "She's not a fighter, so if something happens, she-"

"Will be in my care. Shut up, get over it. Stop whining." She glared at him from the corners of her eyes. "We're already here anyway."

"Speaking of," Manami piped, suddenly stepping up with Hiyori at her side, who had been silent up to this point, "Where _is _the person we're meeting?"

Akari looked around the small tavern, crossing one leg over the other as she swiveled her stool around to face the rest of the building. "Not here yet." she deduced, leaning her back into the bar. "He likes being late. Or, did when I was around."

"That's kind of disrespectful, isn't it?"

"Well, when _you _have something to offer, the person waiting doesn't have much a choice." Akari pointed out, glancing at the girl who stood to her left. "Business. If you aren't patient enough to wait for it, then you don't necessarily need it."

"Right, but still."

Akari smiled. "You have too much faith in people for a demon."

"So I've been told."

"Akari," the small child suddenly spoke, unwavering stare locked on her. "What's the point in this?"

"Ask Isamu. You're here because _he _wants you to be. I don't matter, remember?"

The girl huffed.

"Why is she asking _me_, Isamu?"

"Because you're still older than she is. Still the actual 'heir'. She is showing you respect."

Akari looked down at the girl, who merely stared. Then she looked up at Isamu. "Sure. Whatever you say."

"Aka."

Akari turned to face the entrance of the tavern, eyes alighting on a tall, slender demon who immediately locked eyes with her, his thin lips stretching into a sneer. "It'sss my _favorite_ dog." He hissed, eyes gleaming with mischief. "What a pleassssure."

Akari huffed, noting that the other three had moved away, their energies disappearing as they dropped through one of Isamu's shadows. "I'm sorry, I forget. What's your name again?"

"Cute."

"I know." Akari's smile was just as mischievous as the sneer she received. "Tell me, what is it you have for me today?"

"That dependsss on what _you _have for _me."_

"Save the game. I'll offer what I can for what you have, and you know that."

"Sssuch impatience."

The demon sat two seats away from her, one arm leaning on the bar, still facing her as she turned to meet him eye to eye. "So, what is it I can do for you?"

"I find myssself in need of sssome… sssuppliess.."

Akari's brows raised. "This is new, you asking me. What kind of supplies?"

"Weaponsss."

"Fighting a war, are we?"

"Indeed…" His eyes glittered, pupils narrowing into smaller slits. "Againssst the neighboring Rumba."

Akari sat back. "And you believe we can supply you of something better than simple venom?"

"Indeed."

"No medicines?"

"I have already found my fill of such."

She let a breath move through her nostrils. "And what, if I may ask so early, do _you _have to offer _me?" __*****_

~!**!~

There was no way she could put up with this for much longer. She remembered the old days when she would find herself constantly around others, basking in the glory of the ballroom splendor and the admiration of many. It seemed then that she thrived in the presence of others, wished to be around them, to interact with them.

Sure she enjoyed the moments alone with Kitoushi, but she felt the most rejuvenated while around the demons of the City and she recalled becoming agitated when left alone for too long.

She felt almost the opposite now. One on one with any of them was perfectly fine-though upon reflection she might eventually come to want time alone as well. But all four of them at once today?

_Uuuugh. _

Part of the groan sneaked out of her lips at recalling it. She felt wiped out, as if they had been sucking life energy from her body. Or any energy.

Too much. All at once they were _way _too much. 3

Hiei moved up the stairs, pausing at the open door when he heard the groan, easily guessing what the female inside was thinking. He hesitated only a moment longer before stepping inside, shutting the door and locking it, but not moving closer.

Unsure, as he found it hard to read her when he couldn't see her expression, he decided to ask instead of assuming. "_Do you wish to be alone?"_

~!**!~

"What is it you need, missss?" the snake retorted, staring at her meaningfully. "I have no limitsss. All you need is asssssk, and it will be yoursss."

Akari raised both brows, taking a moment to think. _Weapons for… anything? Anything at all? _Several thoughts passed before her mind's eye, and she leaned her chin into her hand, watching the snake demon. "Anything?"

"You need only ask, missss."

_Information. _

She stared at the snake, giving a very meaningful stare. "Will you deliver as soon as I ask of it?"

"Of coursssse."

"Fine. I will get you…"

"Sssspearsss and arrowssss. Hundred of them."

"I will get you a hundred spears and arrows." His eyes widened. "However, what I need… will wait until our next meeting." He blinked again. "It is a time-sensitive matter, and must be perfectly timed."

"Of courssse."

"Should you fail to deliver, just know… I will hunt you down." The stare Akari gave was even and held a severity that she hadn't ever used on this demon before. "Understand?"

He nodded.

"Good. I will meet you in two days. This spot."

"What of my end?"

"It will be passed along." She moved from her seat to stand. "Until then, wait for my instruction." She dropped into a shadow, stopping in the darkened realm to stare at Isamu, lips pulling up. "Done. Manami and I, along with a warrior or two, will be busy today and tomorrow. So, let's get the next over with."

"Actually, he's cancelled." Manami informed. "So we can return now and get started."

"What did he offer?"

"He needs weapons. So I made a deal."

"Sounds fine to me. Let's get back." _*****_

~!**!~

She already knew the answer, but she did lift her head up to look back at him over her shoulder, as if to reassure herself that it was him and him alone before laying it back down on the pillow.

"_Not if __**you're **__offering to keep my company." _3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku calmly as she looked back at him, then settled again into the mattress and pillow. He waited a moment after she spoke before he moved forward silently, stopping at the edge of the bed and standing there for a moment longer.

"_of course."_

He glanced at the space between her and the wall, before deciding he'd give her some room, as the fox _had _just been practically hanging all over her. He retrieved the chair from near the desk and brought it close, sitting perpendicular to the edge of the bed and bringing his feet up to prop up on the mattress as he got comfortable.

"_You're tense. I could remedy that."_

~!**!~

Akari and Manami, accompanied by two other 'crafters', sat in the cave, knives sliding along wood and the shavings falling to the ground. The two men both leaned forward simultaneously, setting down their newly-carved spears and knives before standing. "We will resume patrol for an hour, then return. Have to keep the Alpha happy."

"Mmmkay," Akari and Manami replied at the same time, not looking up from their individual work.

A few minutes ticked by.

"What are we getting for this work?"

Akari wrapped some string around the tip of the arrow, securing the sharp rock in place easily. "Information."

"Information?"

"M-hm."

"On what?"

Akari didn't reply.

"You… asked for information on Isa?" Manami asked, her knife paused over her work and eyes turning up to stare at Akari.

"Naturally."

There was silence. "Anything yet?" She went back to her work.

"No. But I figured getting information about someone nearby from someone who deals with him away from the place he has power over... "

"It's smart. Isa has no reason to have a facade with simple trade partners."

"Tell me," Akari suddenly said, looking up from her inspection of the arrow. "Who does Isamu trade with on the seventh layer?"

Manami paused, knife poised at the tip of the in-progress spear. "There's a clan on that layer, I know, who often helps us with our valuables. Trading goods for other goods. Nothing too major. Why?"

"...Just curious." Akari flipped the arrow over in her hand and began working on the back end, creating notches for the feathers.

"Aka."

"I'm just trying to figure out why he'd kill someone on that layer. Because I know he does everything for a reason."

"Then, my question to you is**: **why was he adamant to bring you back here?"

Not even a hesitation. "I don't know."

Both girls sighed.

"But, I do know that I don't like it, whatever it is."

Manami resumed her work, knife sliding along the bark of the small twig. "...will you tell me, when information comes?"

"Naturally."

"How will you be receiving it?"

"The normal way. Shadow messengers."

"What if it's something you don't like?"

"Then… I'll handle it, I suppose."

"...You sure you aren't an Alpha?"

Akari made a sound somewhere between a scoff and a huff. "Shut up."

"I'm not joking this time, Aka. You're acting like an upcoming candidate for Alpha. A good one, might I say."

"Manami, I'm not staying."

"So you've said."

Akari sighed. "I'm just…"

"You're worried. I know." Manami set down her finished spear and grabbed another stick, setting to work on it.

Akari set down her own finished arrow and stretched her arms over her head. "So, I see _your _hair is still short. No one of interest yet?"

Manami laughed. "You know me. Ever the difficult one."

"Who needs 'em anyway?" _*****_

~!**!~

_You're too far away, flame-boy._

Her first instinct fell away when he spoke up next, and though her eyes had closed once more, she found it strange how sly the smile on her lips became, thankful he could not see it. And thankful that none of the others could see it either. Heaven knows _they _would take it the wrong way...or, rather, the way she meant it.

...and some part of her wanted _Hiei _to take it that way, but she beat that part away as she formed her response to him.

"_Is that another offer?" _3

Hiei made a sound into the quiet room as he considered her for a moment, eyes boring into the back of her head as he thought. He took her answer as means of agreement, or.. consent. He moved his feet off the bed and stood again, sliding the chair away and deciding he'd get over it, as would she.

He reached out and pulled her a little closer to the edge of the bed, then promptly stepped over her and took the space between her and the wall, laying on his side so his back touched the wall, leaving very little space between them.

"_Obviously, woman."_

~!**!~

A few more hours had passed, and Akari sat back against the boulder, looking at her splintered and tired fingers, the others still working away diligently. "I forgot how much _effort _went into this stuff."

"That's because you had no reason to use this until now, right?" one of the crafters spoke, glancing up at her. "You're almost forgotten how to hold the blade correctly as well. It's a wonder you didn't cut yourself in the process of making that last spear."

Akari huffed. "No one asked you, furball."

He chuckled at her and turned down to his own spear again, inspecting the sharpened tip. "Quite the mouth you have there."

"I utilize my resources proudly."

Whatever had been said back to her, she didn't hear. A small shadow, in the shape of a mouse skittered from the other side of the boulder and up her arm, resting on her shoulder to relay the message it had gathered. Her eyes turned to stare at it, her mind taking in everything it even so much as uttered with apt attention.

Some of it made no sense to her, as it held words or actions she knew no meaning of. The rest, however, had her frowning.

She whispered something in a very low tone to it before the shadow dissipated, leaving her with eyes closed and thoughts a whirlwind.

"Akari?"

"Hm?"

"I offered," came the voice of the second male, "to bring along a snack. Are you interested?"

Akari's eyes lifted to see the two men standing, staring at her in curiosity. "I'm fine, thank you."

"As you wish." The pair turned and made their leave, tails swishing in amusement as they continued small talk.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Manami spoke. "What did it have to say?"

"Nothing… good, I'm afraid."

"Am I… allowed to know?"

"It wouldn't be wise." Akari carefully kept her eyes on her hands as she picked splinters. "For your safety."

"I trust your judgement, Aka. I won't push you about it. Just.. don't do anything stupid."

"No promises, Manami." _*****_

~!**!~

When he didn't answer at first, Shikiyoku couldn't help but find her curiosity piqued, though he did actually move-_had he put his feet on the bed?-_and she frowned when he started to pull her away from the wall and then suddenly stopped, her eyes coming open.

The bed gave way to more weight and by the time Shikiyoku decided she would look, she could see Hiei's dark form pass over her and, without ceremony, fit himself in the space between her and the wall. Which hadn't been all that much space to begin with.

When he ended up that close, Shikiyoku slammed her eyes shut again while he settled down as her core had taken to faltering-in the good way-and tried to send a shimmer into her eyes.

She wrestled with it for just a moment before getting it under control and opening her eyes to look at him, one eyebrow raising.

"_Have anything else in mind?" _3

"_Naturally." _Hiei replied without pause, though for the moment, he didn't act on anything. He sifted through thoughts, through memories, picking and choosing, trying to decide what was best.

And then his lips twitched in amusement.

The image he sent was of outfits that had been laid out on an extravagant bed, atrocious and in every single way irritating. Outfits he promptly set aflame in disgust before looking through the large closet that had been nearby.

"_I never did burn everything in sight. Apologies for the slight upon your person." __*****_

Even as she kept her thoughts free of any predisposed guesses as to what exactly this fire demon could be up to, things would flicker across her awareness and she was unable to entirely keep herself from doing so.

That being said, she found herself surprised and, in truth, delighted with the 'else' Hiei had in mind.

If there had been no one in the house besides them, her laughter would have filled the room. As it was, when she caught the memory from him, she pulled her lips into her mouth and her hand flew up to cover them, eyes closing as she stifled herself, midsection shaking with the barely contained humor.

She cleared her throat and looked him in the eyes again, all semblances of humor gone-except for the fact that her lips kept twitching around.

"_You __**should **__be sorry. I can't believe you. __**Not **__burning everything. Hmph." _She lifted her chin a little with a sophisticated air. "_Maybe I __**shouldn't**_ _forgive you." _3

"_I mean, I could leave if you wish." _Hiei stared at Shikiyoku with a calm mask that easily hid his own amusement, his eyes seeing the twitching of her lips. "_But then you'd have to be creative in finding me, should you decide you actually enjoyed my company after casting me away." _He paused. "_Or you could forgive me and I won't move an inch." __*****_

"_And why on earth should you leaving and me not forgiving you have anything at all to do with one another? Who decided that?" _3

"_Why would one remain around someone incapable of forgiveness?" _Here, his lips twitched just slightly. _*****_

"_Incapable?" _Shikiyoku echoed incredulously, "_Do you even __**know **__me?" _3

"_A little, I like to think." _He gave a pause. "_Perhaps it isn't that you're incapable… just… refusing to do so." _His tone had become thoughtful, his eyes taking on that gleam to reflect his words. _*****_

Shikiyoku let out a dramatic sigh, eyes flickering upwards as if in thought, "_Well...I don't want you to leave, certainly. That would be a pity." _

She leveled her gaze back to him, "_I can see not forgiving you being a grave mistake. But. Next time I ask you to burn things, you really should take better care in remembering the request, flame-boy." _3

"_My defense, you were top priority. And Uryo wasn't exactly patient." _

Hiei began sifting through other memories, suddenly thinking of another and pulling it forward.

He sat with Shikiyoku between his knees, leaning against him and an arm around her waist, a single leg being directed to the water. She'd fought him a little, to which he'd responded to by jumping in the water himself.

_I loathe water…_

And holding his arms out for her.

~!**!~

"It's a pleasssssure doing busssinessssss, as alwayssss." The snake demon gathered the last of the spears and arrows on the table, flanked by a few of his own troops, and stuck his free hand out to shake. Akari obliged, smiling a small smile.

"As always, if you need anything, the pack will always be around."

Manami stepped forward to shake as well, nodding once to the snake before the male took his leave. The two girls stayed where they were for a while, side by side in the center of the empty pub. Silence remained for a long while before the pair shifted and moved in sync towards the bar, taking their seats on the stools and turning to face the bartender that had been dutifully wiping down his bar.

"How about the usual," Manami said to the male with a kind smile. "She'll have water."

Akari smiled at Manami. "You know me too well."

The girls sat there for a while, staring at the wall as if it held some sort of significance.

"You go home soon, don't you?" Manami suddenly asked, turning to look at Akari with an ear swiveling back and tail tucked against her thighs. "To the first layer?"

AKari sighed. "Yeah."

"To get back to your Priority."

Akari's smile widened a little at the thought, her hand snaking out to grab the glass that was set in front of her. Oh how she wanted to get back, lay in the sun with Nabu and spend a day with Kurama. _I miss them already. _

"I'm glad you're happy, Aka. You weren't ever really happy here. Not like this, anyway."

"Maybe you can come visit some day, Manami, when things slow down."

"Or, you know, you could bring that priority of yours with you. I want to know who can bring that smile to your face." The dark haired girl turned in her stool to face Akari, glass to her lips and a smile spreading on her features. A sip, and she lowered the glass to look at the redhead over the rim of the glass. "You look less of a kid than you are when you smile like that, and more like a goofy, happy pup."

Akari let out a breath of amusement, her smile widening as she turned to look at Manami. "I'll remember that. I think you'd like them."

"They must be good friends to have your loyalty."

Akari turned forward again, raising her glass a little higher, but pausing. "As close to me as you are."

"Well then, I look forward to meeting them." _*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes took on that far-away look they adopted when seeing something being shown to her mind, any other response she had for him falling to the way-side.

"_I remember it feeling a lot more like you were shoving me in the water, sink-or-swim, than that." _Shikiyoku reflected, vision focusing back in on Hiei's face with a small smile.

And with an injured arm and a useless leg, the chances of the 'swim' choice being a valid one were slim. 3

Hiei's lips twitched. "_I might have changed that before showing you." _He paused, amusement sparkling in his eyes. "_I'm the fire-prince, and I have a reputation to uphold as such." __*****_

She narrowed her eyes playfully at him, "_You want a reputation for being lame? Because altering memories is lame, __**flame-boy**__." _3

"_I admit it was for personal amusement." _He didn't rebut the statement, instead deciding it made him even _more _amused. _*****_

Shikiyoku blinked at him, unanswering.

"_I'm torn." _3

"_Odd. I see a whole person laying right in front of me." __*****_

"_See, __**this **__is why you're a __**boy**_ _and not a __**prince**__." _She stuck her tongue out at him. 3

"_Wish to lose that tongue? It would easily be detached. I wouldn't even need my sword." __*****_

Shikiyoku opened her mouth as if to answer him aloud before closing it again, giving him an unreadable look.

_Only to you._

He'd been half-asleep the last time she gave him that response. She doubted he even remembered asking her the question.

"_Should I even ask exactly how that would be possible?" _3

Hiei scoffed and let his eyelids close. He considered her question for a moment before his lips twitched. "_Likely not." __*****_

She looked at him a moment longer, and did the only thing she could really think of, which was stick her tongue out at him again while he wasn't looking. 3

"_Just because I can't _see _it, that doesn't mean I can't _hear _it." __*****_

"_And this is the part where I ask you what you're gonna do about it." _There was no mistaking her tone. 3

Hiei waited a single beat before reacting.

The same instant his eyes came open, he reached up and grabbed her tongue between his thumb and index finger, staring at her unblinkingly. _*****_

She appeared unimpressed, "_That doesn't seemed to have solved anything." _3

He pulled just a little on her tongue, blinking only once at her. "_Demon got your tongue?" __*****_

Shikiyoku felt, uh, thankful for probably the first time she'd bothered to note it that they were still talking telepathically. Otherwise this wouldn't have worked.

_Otherwise I probably wouldn't have done it in the first place._

"_I see no demon." _She replied evenly. 3

Hiei narrowed his eyes at her. And then suddenly, he was quite literally pushing her tongue back into her mouth with his index finger.

"_Foolish woman." __*****_

Shikiyoku made no attempt to disguise her 'surprise' at his answer, though it was partially in effort to ignore what he was doing, which for some reason set her already seemingly unstable core sending a flurry of energy skating across her skin.

"_And why would that be the case __**this time**__, Hiei?" _3

Hiei pulled his hand away and let his eyes close, as if he hadn't just jammed his finger in her mouth, along with her tongue. "_I suppose I can leave you to wonder." __*****_

"_And what fun is there in that?" _3

"_For whom are you asking? Because for you, none. Me… That's another story." __*****_

"_No fun for me?" _She adopted an almost pitiful expression, "_Why not?" _3

"_And yet another thing to ponder." __*****_

"_Should I stop asking questions? Is that the only answer I'm going to get?" _She almost stuck her face in his, but given their close proximity it wouldn't really have had much emphasis. 3

"_And another." _he repeated, his lips twitching with no small amount of amusement. _*****_

"Tch."

Shikiyoku didn't even bother, having to resist rolling her eyes, and started to turn away from him seeing as how she had so many things upon which to 'ponder.'

_Ass._ 3

The moment Shikiyoku began to move, Hiei's lips turned down and his eyes came open. He hesitated only a moment.

'_That. All of that. The not letting me go without a fight. More of that.'_

He reached over and grabbed her arm, halting her movement and pulling her closer. _*****_

If she managed somehow to _not _freeze in place earlier, the ability escaped her now, leading to her giving in to whatever had possessed Hiei in that moment to reach out for her and bring her closer.

_Uh..._

"_...something wrong?" _3

"_Hn." _Hiei settled with his arm over her and his eyes closed, his body going still again. _*****_

_I'll...take that as a no?_

She gave a sigh, though contented or resigned, she wasn't quite sure.

"_Hiei...y-you..." _Another sigh. "_You don't have to do this, you know." _3

Hiei's eyes came open again, giving a blank stare. "_Do what?" __*****_

"_This..." _She replied a bit nebulously, eyes looking to the side and cast down. "_Any of this." _3

A single dark brow raised just a fraction, and he studied her expression for a moment.

"_And if I want to?" __*****_

_Why the __**hell **__would you want to?_

She was fairly certain that was a disparaging comment aimed at herself.

Shikiyoku took a breath in quietly through her mouth as if she intended to answer.

"_Just...don't do it if you __**don't **__want to, okay?" _3

Hiei stared at Shikiyoku for a moment, thoughts stirring around and trying to think of _something _to say. Anything, really. Because it was quite clear she still seemed to think he honestly didn't wish to be there. Or, perhaps, that she thought she was not worth having around.

Likely no matter _who _it was.

He scowled.

"_Just so you know…" _He began, but paused as he realized he'd spoken without actually planning anything to actually say. _Think. "You're one of the very few people I don't think about strangling to death before I go to sleep." __*****_

That certainly brought Shikiyoku's eyes back up to his face, a slightly perplexed expression coloring her features.

"_B-but...but what about burning? Or cutting into pieces?" _Her eyes were a little larger than normal, perhaps not on the verge of tears, but piteous nonetheless. 3

"_Not even." _Hiei let his eyelids slide close again. _*****_

"_Well, that's a relief. I'm always been afraid of burning to death." _3

Hiei made the barest of sounds in amusement. He shifted a little bit, unconsciously moving a little closer and pausing when his forehead touched hers. But, he didn't move away. _*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes looked up as if she would be able to actually _see _where his forehead touched her.

Ever since the blasted fire demon had laid down so close her core had been struggling to set a blaze running along her skin, and she felt a blush start to creep up her neck in response to him initiating this new contact, her energy immediately fizzing down her skin.

She stared at him, trying to not be so tense and failing miserably.

_How do you __**do **__that?!_ 3

"_You're disrupting the peace." _Hiei suddenly piped, though his tone did not indicate the taunting he was issuing. "_You're tense again." __*****_

"_Yeah...well...wasn't relaxing me supposed to be __**your **__job? I'm all tense again. What're ya gonna do about it?" 3_

Hiei didn't respond. Instead he began rifling through memory after memory again, searching for something calm and quaint and… relaxing.

Not that he didn't enjoy the reason she had become tense.

Yes, he was very aware that _he _was the reason.

And for a while, he couldn't think of one. So he settled for one that consisted of a campfire and a clearing, where they had simply stopped during a trek in Demon World so long ago for nothing more than rest. Where the only sounds had been that of the crackling fire and the night creatures moving around them. _*****_

Shikiyoku closed her eyes as the warmth of Hiei's mind overtook hers again, receiving another memory.

It...actually...helped.

_Tch._

And she could feel the blush settling down, even if her skin still buzzed merrily.

The remembrance became tinged with her melancholy though, which did more to 'relax' her than anything else at that moment.

...after all, they'd still been _bonded _then. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	91. Episode 175 - Deception and Death

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!

This particular chapter may have some grammatical-type errors in it as I just copy-pasta'd it right from our Google Doc and didn't go through to edit it at all. I am actually leaving for a weekend trip tonight and will be posting this chapter from my phone since I didn't prepare this ahead of time like I have in the past. Hence why there is no "Previously" section or title for your viewing pleasure either. You still love me though, right? Tee hee.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

As Youko, Kitoushi, and Taka get along like they've known one another all their lives,  
Shikiyoku sits with Hiei to eat, though she is joined shortly by the others.

Kitoushi settles down with Nabu to sleep  
as Youko and Shikiyoku begin exchanging wit,  
and after a while Taka leaves the house.

Youko eventually slips off to sleep  
and Shikiyoku goes to her bedroom to lay down,  
Hiei following her.

Sensing her tenseness, Hiei offers to remedy it,  
climbing over her to slide between her and the wall and face her.

He begins sharing memories with her via the Jagan,  
distracting her from her previous discomfort.

When she turns away from him in a moment of faux-annoyance,  
he grabs her back and turns her around to face him, pulling her close.

When Shikiyoku maintains that he doesn't have to do that sort of thing,  
Hiei realizes that she still doesn't take him as a serious contended for Consort.

~!**!~

Akari sits around with Manami and a few members of the pack,  
exchanging stories until Isamu wants to talk to her.

He says she and Hiyori will be going with him to make a deal on the Seventh Layer,  
though Akari refuses and walks away from him.

Later, Akari asks Manami to go with her to help keep tabs on Isamu and Hiyori.

The next day the four of them travel around  
and Akari makes a deal for information in exchange for weapons,  
which she, Manami and two other pack members work on the next day.

Manami finds out that Akari asked for information on Isamu,  
and later that day she receives the information for which she asked,  
though it appears to be nothing good.

* * *

The past few days had been nothing but Akari keeping busy with random tasks for and around the pack, some of her own accord and others for the pack specifically. She'd gotten what she needed, and had been very distant with most of the pack up until today.

Where she was supposed to be leaving.

But instead..

_I will leave after this._

Akari pulled to a stop mid-stride, creating a little groove in the dirt where her shoe had dug in as she rounded on Isamu. "Why are we here?"

"Because you know how to handle these creatures, and I do not."

"They're _demons_." Akari huffed. "You handle them just like any other demon."

"But I do not have the… _charm_."

Akari's eyes narrowed.

"We're wasting time," Hiyori piped, standing a few meters away from them. "It will be morning soon."

"And _why _is she here again?"

"Because Riki had to leave and didn't want her alone in the camp."

"She wouldn't have been _alone_. Manami was there. Seiji. The _warriors. _Come on, Isamu! You're getting ridiculously lousy with that lying crap."

His eyes narrowed at her. "You know perfectly well what I mean by 'alone'."

"Actually, I don't. Inform me. Educate me."

He opened his mouth.

"_Guys_…" Akari turned to Hiyori, staring at the girl who had a foot tapping impatiently. "By the time you two give it up, I'll have a mate and three pups."

"You're too young to be thinking that way."

"I'm also a dog. Part of my nature."

Akari scowled.

"Can we _get this over with?"_

"I see him now. In you." Akari seethed at the child. "Father."

"You should. You hated him long enough to recognize him." she countered.

Akari threw her hands up in the air. "I can't _win _with you! I tried being nice, I was insulted. I tried being distant, you looked for me. I tried being crude, and-"

"There is no _winning. _Only you getting out of here. You don't belong anymore." The girl took a step forward. "Your lack of ears, tail, and claws proves that!"

Isamu huffed. "We're wasting time."

Akari turned a glare at the male. _I disapprove of your tactics. Your leadership role. You. I disapprove of you. _"Lead the way," she said through gritted teeth.

Isamu turned and took off again, Akari in tow and Hiyori at his side. _Pesky brat. Idiot male. _

They ran through the seventh layer, silence ensuing again as Akari continued to monitor the male. _You didn't answer my actual question… Evasive little shit. __*****_

~!**!~

The next few days Shikiyoku managed at a much better pace than the overwhelming suffocation and drainage she felt at being around four different demons at the same time who were all vying for her attention at once in their own way.

There was still one other encounter with a mob of demons needing their marks removed, but Taka had afterwards taken her on a lovely late afternoon flight and they had napped together in a tree, after which he provided her with a picnic in the branches, prepared by himself. He presented her with a pendant that had a pink star diamond set in, with three small brown feathers grouped together to one side of it, the necklace itself the color of the deepest-brown earth like his hair.

Youko took her on a midnight run at one point, and neither of them would talk about exactly what happened, but their expressions were so mischievous as they stalked together back into the closet where Shikiyoku still kept various treasures locked away that it wasn't difficult to guess they were likely adding new shinies to the old.

Kitoushi, much to his chagrin, found his duty to curing the disease taking up more of his time than he wished, ruefully observing the others as they would spirit her away, though noticing that she very carefully made sure to spend time with each of them separately instead of all at once.

However, no matter how long she stayed away, or who she had been with that day, each night Shikiyoku would retire to her bedroom and lock the door behind her. 3

Over the past few days, Hiei had made a point in remaining in the house, occasionally sitting on the couch near Kitoushi- which he found he didn't mind too much- or laying around Shikiyoku's room. And on the rare occasion he left, it was usually with him returning and hiding a new stash of Sweet Snow or something else he'd eat at a later time.

Which, at one point, he'd hopped in before Taka and stolen Shikiyoku away- just as amusing as the first time, he might add- and he'd made a point to visit the most random of places, where he'd quite contentedly shared half a tub of Sweet Snow with her.

Aside from that, he hadn't bothered much in stepping in the way of the others. Not when her nights were very consistently _his. _He allowed them to each have their fun, only to make a point to be in her room and on her bed before she returned and lay with him. He'd learned that it was much easier to test his own limitations when it caused embarrassment for the woman, which he took full advantage of whenever it came to mind, and he'd actually found several things… enjoyable. Such as keeping an arm over her when he actually fell asleep. A hand in hers occasionally when she stirred due to dreams. Things like that weren't so bad.

He'd also come to realize that it was only _him _who could bring out such a reaction. Nothing the others did seemed to phase her.

Which made it all the more fun to simply stare at her.

Especially when the others didn't seem to notice he was doing as such when in the exact same room as them.

~!**!~

Several more hours of running, and Akari was thinking back to a conversation she'd had with Manami. One that very deeply entailed that the girl would take over as Alpha once Akari had decided to undermine the one who had been…

_Selfish. Arrogant. Reckless. _

The day before, he'd put three members of the pack in danger when he went on a trek on this layer. And she'd stayed quiet about it, but the warriors and the others hadn't.

It had revealed _much _about this demon.

Thankfully, Manami had agreed.

"Akari," Isamu suddenly called, making her blink and realize she'd sped right by him and Hiyori, who had stopped a few meters back.

She pulled to a stop and turned to face him.

"Lost, love?"

"Just a little."

"You had to have the brainless one come along."

"Enough, Hiyori."

_As if it couldn't get worse. _

Akari calmly made her way back to the pair, looking around her surroundings and realizing it wasn't a very open area. In fact, large, drooping trees hung over their heads, shielding everything from her immediate eyesight.

Alarms rang in her head.

"You're seriously meeting a _client _here?"

"His terms, not mine."

"You're terrible at negotiating."

"Which is why you're here."

Akari continued to look about. "This is dangerous. Especially since you brought Hiyori with us."

"You'll be fine. Why so nervous?"

Akari shot a glare at him. "If you don't have alarms ringing in that thick skull of yours, then you aren't fit for the status of Alpha."

He blinked. "Are you revoking it?"

"No."

He released a breath. "Don't scare me like that."

"I don't have enough energy to revoke it, Isamu. I'm not old enough to do so. Not without killing you, which would effectively place me as Alpha."

"Is that how it is?" His tone was amused.

"Yep."

"Well, since you're uncomfortable, let's move on. There's a clearing nearby."

"What's this deal of yours for?"

"The pack needs new hunting grounds. This layer is abundant with game."

"That's because the demons here don't give a crud about the game. And you'll likely kill the pack here." She paused. "There's a reason you aren't on this layer _naturally._"

"Aka!"

Akari turned, frowning at the voice. She stared in the direction she could hear Manami running from, a brow raised.

"How'd you get on this layer?" Isamu had stopped to turn and stare at the other, miffed at the surprise.

"I brought her. She asked." Akari glanced to Isamu.

Manami came into view, huffing as she pulled to a stop at Akari's side, bending over to rest her hands on her knees. "Is this the spot?"

"Well, I'm not meeting anyone here. I'm going further North, where I am certain I can see my surroundings."

Akari turned, Manami following without a word, Isamu and Hiyori hesitating before doing the same. "The client isn't very kind to sudden changes."

"The client can get over it." _*****_

~!**!~

Kitoushi blinked at the television, and he never blinked at the television unless a thought had occurred strong enough to pull him from his analysis of the virus within him.

Youko and Taka and Shikiyoku were all gone, Youko on 'business' and Shikiyoku with Taka to search for more Marked demons. It seemed he had elected to be in charge of that sort of mess and as far as Kitoushi knew, the bird handled it quite well.

Glancing over at the fire demon who had adopted his customary position at the other end of the couch, Kit frowned and took a breath.

"Hiei, you're the one that was closest to her before all of this. Is she now acting any differently than she did while you were her Champion? Anything drastically is of course my main concern, but when you are with her do you sense anything of her other side?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku sighed and collapsed forward into Taka's outstretched arms, the bird extending his wings as he shifted her around until he had one arm under her knees and the other at her back and she cuddled closer to his chest.

She had just finished clearing another giant queue of demons from their Marks, which she noticed left her feeling quite weary each time she did so, and she felt grateful at this point to just be flying home, letting Taka take the lead as he always did when it was required of him.

"Look at that sunset, sweetheart."

Shikiyoku lifted her cheek from where it had been resting against him and looked out from where he held her safely against his warm skin, feeling his wings beating steadily in the air behind them.

He had come to a pause, admiring the colors.

"Mm." She agreed, her eyes coming back closed as she leaned back against him.

Taka let out a quiet chuckle and kept flying, reaching the house in no time at all and hovering just outside the window of her room, shifting her just enough that he could open it-they had taken to leaving it unlocked for this express reason-and maneuvering himself inside with a practiced ease that had come from many previous encounters, his wings disappearing at just the right time.

He glanced over at the bedroom door, closed as always and locked he assumed as well, but kept moving around the end of the bed to set Shikiyoku down in it.

As he leaned back and took his arms out from under her, she reached up and grabbed at the inside edge of his coat, her small fingers wrapping at the fabric there and pulling him closer.

she leaned up with half-closed eyes and planted a kiss on his cheek as he came back down in deference to her unspoken request and smiled as her lips contacted his skin.

He reached over and untangled her fingers out from his clothes, laying the hand at her side.

"Thank you, Taka." She blinked sleepily at him.

He relented and leaned back down over her, kissing her forehead and murmuring, "You're welcome, sweetheart."

Without protesting, as he knew she did not like for anyone to stay in her room for any length of time, Taka turned and went back to the window, starting to duck out.

"Leave it open?" She muttered at him, turning onto her side towards the wall, watching Taka pause and look at her. She gave him a sleepy smile, "It smells nice."

"Weirdo."

"Bird-brain."

"I'll leave it open."

"You better." She buried her face into the pillow as he laughed and launched himself back into the air. 3

~!**!~

Hiei lifted his head from his hand and turned his chin just a little to look at the cat in curiosity. Until now, moments with Kitoushi had been rather silent, and they'd left the other be for… whatever they were doing. Hiei himself usually toyed with his energy on the down-low, while he assumed Kitoushi had other things he was concentrated on.

Which was proven correct when the cat spoke.

The fire demon considered this for a moment. He thought about every time he'd used telepathy.

After a minute, he made a negatory sound that was meant to answer both questions at once. "No, I cannot sense her other form. No, she is not the same." He shifted his weight as he continued thinking on it, trying to put words to it.

And failing.

"She's different in all three aspects."

~!**!~

Akari stood in the center of the clearing, playing with the rose in her hand and tapping a foot impatiently. An hour, and nothing.

Manami stood off to the side, leaning a shoulder into a tree. Hiyori was taking a small nap at Manami's feet. Isamu... had left to go find the demon they were supposed to be meeting. And he'd been gone for half an hour.

Akari looked at the bracelet on her wrist, noting keenly the lack of marking underneath it before focusing again on it, her thoughts on the gifter. She smiled a little at it, thinking she'd rather enjoy hunting him down and demanding a sundae. Extra cherries. No hot fudge.

Or maybe ramen.

"Akari?"

"Hm?"

"What is that, exactly?"

Akari looked up at Manami, then at the rose.

"I mean, I know it's a flower, but where did you get it? Where do you hide it?"

Akari gave a smile. "It was a gift from a long time ago. I usually hide it as a seed, in my pocket."

"How?"

Akari lifted the rose, stared at it, and then watched as it changed into nothing more than a seed between her forefinger and her thumb. "I simply picture it in either form, and it changes on its own."

"It's… pretty. Sentimental?"

'_Only sentimental?'_

She almost laughed at the question she heard in her head, said by the redhead a few weeks ago. "Very much so."

"Is it your Priority?"

"M-hm."

A pause. "I like it."

"I do too."

Both females smiled as she shifted the rose again, spinning it around and around in her fingers. When she heard movement, footsteps approaching, she turned it again into the seed and stuffed it in her pocket, aware that Manami had seen where she placed it. She smiled and winked at her best friend before looking in the direction the steps were coming from..

Akari shifted her weight. "Anything, Isamu?"

No reply.

Her eyes narrowed. "Isamu."

Nothing.

Alarms began to ring again and she turned to look at Manami. 'Get Hiyori out' she mouthed to the girl, who nodded and reached down.

The girl wasn't there.

"Like I said, _sis_, you don't belong." Akari turned around slowly to look down at the child, whose grin was wide. "You're not issuing the trade today. I am."

Akari's eyes narrowed and she took a step away carefully, energy beginning to move. "Hiyori, you're being stupid."

"Actually, she's quite smart for her age."

Akari felt a hand drop onto her shoulder, and she rounded to give an attack.

An attack that was brushed away very easily. "That wasn't very smart." The large, bulky demon grinned down at her, noting the hand that fled to her pocket, which he batted away. "Miss Hiyori, it was a pleasure. Tell your Alpha that he'll get his due."

"Gladly."

Akari growled, but before she knew it, she was out, her world darkened. _*****_

~!**!~

It was almost as if a very thin shadow cast itself over the windowsill, growing longer and then coming into the room to stand warily at the end of the bed.

Shikiyoku had just started to dream when she felt on some level the bed shifting as if someone was crawling up from the bottom, and without even considering otherwise, she assumed it was Hiei and waited expectantly in her semi-awareness for him to settle down beside her and gather her into his arms as she had come to expect from him.

Her sleepy smile widened a little as she was not disappointed and she took a deep breath.

Her eyes snapped open when it did not smell of Hiei.

"You."

~!**!~

"Hm." Kitoushi knew Hiei meant all of 'mind, body, spirit.' "I cannot sense the virus taking root in her just yet, but-" Kitoushi made a sound of impatience, "I sincerely hope it stays that way." He glanced over at Hiei again, "Not that I doubt your having already done so, but I would appreciate it if you might continue to monitor her condition." 3

Hiei stared at Kitoushi, who provided the smallest of explanations, and yet just enough of one to stay any curiosity the fire demon had. "Naturally," Hiei replied calmly, turning his eyes forward again. On some level, he'd become aware of the presence upstairs, of Shikiyoku having returned. She he pushed himself to stand and moved towards the stairs.

He paused briefly.

"Should you find anything new, I'd ask of you to inform me."

He continued on his way.

~!**!~

She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, or really how long she'd been awake, but Akari found herself sitting at a long table, at one end of it, and a demon at the other. A demon whose eyes were closed and lips were tilted up in the slightest of smiles.

A knowing smile, if she could describe it.

She rubbed at her temple, where she could feel the bruise forming, but not healing as quickly as it should.

And she felt… sluggish. As if-

_My energy._

She blinked and turned inward, finding her energy barricaded within her, rather similar to how it had felt when she had been grabbed by Otento so many months ago.

The silence remained heavy on the air until Akari spoke, despite her reluctance to do so.

"Might I ask where I am, and why?"

"This, miss Hanase, is my castle. You are the guest of honor."

Akari paused mid-rub and dropped her hand, staring at the demon. She opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and closed her mouth again. It was only at that moment that she realized that she couldn't sense this demon's power level.

Meaning he wasn't one to trifle with by any means.

"To what… and whom… do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself yet." She felt as if those words were biting, with a hidden meaning behind them. "My name is Yomi, and I am one of the kings on this layer."

Akari's breath left her in one small whoosh.

_King?_

She sat back in her chair.

"You, miss Hanase, will be very involved in the upcoming war."

_**War?!**_

"And you will be training here with my specialized personnel to move beyond the Ninth Layer, and to the veil. As it stands, I have been made aware you are not even capable of layer traversing at this exact moment, but have in the past."

_No way…_

"That will be fixed." _*****_

~!**!~

A pair of amethyst eyes peered down at her, though they did not gleam. Blonde hair that was near-white streamed out on the pillow next to her, but did not shine. The jawbones were too gaunt to be attractive any longer, the skin dull and pale and withdrawn...

Shikiyoku was almost surprised she could have even for an instant mistaken the thin, cool arms around her for the strong warmth of the fire demon with whom she had chastely shared her bed for over a week now.

And the smell...it was so sharp, but so smooth, reminding her somehow of one of the edges of the jewel in the pendant around her neck.

All of this she gleaned in an instant, and along with it came the knowledge that all he desired at that moment was to simply hold her. Nothing more.

She did not think it was possible to look upon this one with kind eyes, but she did. Kind eyes for his state, for the brokenness which she saw and felt and...more than that...kindness for the dark, heart-shaped Mark that was tattooed over half of his lips and curving along his chin, the swirls spreading up the side of his face and just under his jawline.

He blinked at her, but said nothing.

...she wasn't even sure if he _could have _said anything, but she remained quiet nonetheless. 3

Hiei reached for the door, touching the handle just briefly to ensure it was still locked, as always, and then phased through the layers, head down as he moved through the door and landed on the carpet of Shikiyoku's bedroom, every intention being to move to the bed, crawl over Shikiyoku, and lay beside her as was customary now.

Except, when he lifted his head, he blinked.

Only once, he blinked. But within that millisecond, such a strong force of shock went through him that he froze.

Next, pure rage took over, making his muscles shake and his hand twitch for his blade.

Except… She was too close to the danger.

_I will burn you alive._

~!**!~

"But first," Yomi spoke up, not moving as a demon stepped up beside him and set down a small cup. "A drink." She looked down to the cup placed near her, eyeing it warily. "You must be parched, after such happenings. Drink. Rejuvenate."

Akari looked up slowly, hearing in the tone of the other that she had no choice in the matter. So, her hand encircled the cup, just a little smaller than most, and lifted it to her lips, smelling the distortion of the contents before she even had her lips to the rim. In one swift motion, she downed the awful taste, refusing to make a face as she set the cup down.

Another demon entered the room. "You beckoned for me, sir?"

Akari didn't look at the demon heavily clad in armor, even when Yomi gestured to her with a nod. "She is your project for the day."

The newcomer moved towards her, offering a polite hand to help her stand. "May I?"

Akari hesitated.

"He will be making your armor, to ensure that you are not mistaken for a trespasser in my castle. He will see to it."

Akari nodded and turned to the demon, not taking his hand as she stood.

"I'll have this done by the end of the day."

"I look forward to your work." _*****_

~!**!~

The instant Hiei appeared in the room, Shikiyoku moved, before he even landed on the layer, extricating herself from Otento's arms and standing right up in front of Hiei, putting her hands over his elbows calmly, firmly, feeling rage like _fire _burning through his bones in the form of his single, utmost desire.

"Hiei." She said, looking into his eyes, immediately pleading with him. "Fire-prince. Don't. I know what you want to do. Please. His spirit is broken. It would do no good. He would not understand. Look at him. You'll see it. There's nothing there anymore. Please." 3

Hiei's hand twitched again, eyes on the lounging demon for a moment longer, until Shikiyoku touched him. Spoke, her tone pleading. He ground his teeth together and turned dark eyes onto her, narrowing before they turned up again. Another twitch of his hand.

_She's out of harm's way._

Now would be the _perfect time._

"_Fire-Prince"._

Hiei's eyes closed, the muscles in his jaw flexing just as much as they could, his entire body rigid with the _desire_, the pure _need_ to kill this one.

He didn't even breathe.

"_Broken Spirit excuses nothing." __*****_

Shikiyoku rested her head into Hiei's chest, still holding his arms, her entire body ready for him to act against her wishes and unsure how exactly she would respond.

"Hiei..." She kept her head against him, her voice quiet, "Look again. He...he's _marked_." 3

When her head touched his chest, the fire demon's eyes came open to stare down at her in disbelief. Both hands twitched this time, tempted to move her aside, so he could end it. For _months_ he had wanted nothing more than to kill this being.

But now the one he'd attacked was standing in the fire demon's way.

He let a breath out through his nostrils.

"_All the more reason." __*****_

The demon on the bed was entirely aware of the fact that these two were talking about him, talking about whether or not he might live to breathe for the next few moments.

And it was with that cautious thought in mind that the demon slowly started to move, deliberately bringing himself to the edge of the bed and swinging his legs slowly over so he could stand up, his eyes wary, haunted, the look of an animal who had been hunted for too long and trusted no one.

Until his gaze fell upon Shikiyoku, upon her long hair hanging down her back. His eyes softened, grew calmer.

She could feel what the demon wished to do, what he _desired _to do, and she did not move, only repeating in her mind that she did not wish for Hiei to kill him, did not wish for the fire demon to have the blood of a Marked-One on his hands.

As soon she knew Otento would take his first step, moving for the pair, her grip on Hiei's arms tightened.

"_Please." _Her core was rushing faster than it had in a long time, and she barely even noticed how it set her skin shimmering now, felt it moving along her scalp to activate pheromones and release them into the air.

His long legs afforded him the need for only another step before he stood directly behind her, and much like Youko had done to her over the back of the couch several days ago, his arms slipped over her shoulders and had her standing back up with her head raised, his chin coming to rest on one shoulder and looking up at Hiei from it with blank purple eyes. 3

Hiei stared down at Shikiyoku, very aware of her energy in the room, moving around her body as she continued to plead with him in every way he could sense possible. His ears picked up on the sound of the other demon in the room moving, and his body became aware of the intense silent plea that seemed to scream on the air from the one leaning into him.

He drew in a long breath, releasing it.

The moment Otento touched Shikiyoku, he moved her from his reach, dark glare in the other's direction. And while his hand again twitched for his sword, he did not reach for it.

_Anything for her if she asked…_

He remembered that thought from a few days ago.

And it set his jaw in place again.

"Do that again and there will be no plea from her that will save your life." _*****_

Otento only blinked and stood back up as Shikiyoku was slipped away from him. She appeared to make no protest to it, looking up at Hiei's eyes and simultaneously wanting _desperately _for him to look at hers.

The demon stood there and tilted his head as his eyes followed the trail of her hair down her back, the faintest of smiles pulling at his thin lips, but his eyes remaining as unemotional and empty as ever.

"...Marked?"

His voice was...almost painful for Shikiyoku to hear and she did not dare look away or move an inch from Hiei, but she nodded slowly.

"Yes. You both are."

Otento's eyes lifted from her to look at Hiei, his emaciated figure staying in place as he hollowly took in Hiei's death-filled glare. He blinked once at him, and then his eyes flickered for the door behind them.

"There is food down there." Shikiyoku responded to his sudden hunger, his desire to eat. She still did not let go of Hiei.

Otento took a careful step forward, eyes wide with what would have been fear as he looked at Hiei and then towards the door again.

When he took another step, several things happened all at once.

Shikiyoku's attention faltered for a second from Hiei's face, her eyes widening with shock as she looked down to see a razor-thin blade had pierced through from her back, her core, and out the other side. Otento had his arm around her throat and his head next to hers as she let go of Hiei's arms, the buzzing of her skin leaving her completely as she felt a dark coldness take its place over her core.

_...I didn't feel his desire to stab me until just as he pierced my back..._

In the next instant, her skin was erupting into an insatiable burn as her eyes narrowed and scars appeared all along her body. She blurred in-between the layers with the demon who held her as blood started pouring down from the wound, hearing his hoarse whisper in her ear, "If I can't have you, no one can have you," as she turned, grabbing his arm and ripping it away from herself, black eyes glaring at him.

Her other hand came up and jabbed over where his core lay, as she twisted his arm, fingers digging through his shirt into his skin, her breath ragged and labored.

His eyes had somehow come alive and he grasped at the wrist lodged around his core with his free hand, a clearly insane grin on his face, "Don't want to kiss it and make it go away?" He leaned in closer with the Mark towards her.

Her own voice rippled into the air like the edge of a blade, "I wouldn't give you the pleasure."

Her entire hand blackened and then the energy streamed off into his core from down her fingers, peeling away to reveal her scarred, ashen skin as it entered him and a second later erupted from his legs, his arms, his neck, blasting off his extremities and his head before the power disappeared in the next instant and blood started pouring from what was left of his torso, which slipped off Shikiyoku's fingers and dropped to the ground inbetween, spreading blood in every direction.

She had gotten splatters of his blood on her hands and part of her face, left standing by herself for only a moment before she started to follow after Otento's remains towards the ground.

Shikiyoku's vision wavered and her knees buckled, finding that she did not even have the strength to figure out how to unfold the layers from around herself and step back into the first layer away from the blood, her fever setting in and almost immediately putting her in a cold, shivering sweat as she dropped to the ground.

In less than five seconds, Otento lay in pieces between the layers with his blood pooling strangely and Shikiyoku was unconscious, trembling with fever.

If one happened to be listening, there was a single, distant cry, a dragon's call, that went silent and would not be heard again for a long while.

~!**!~

Kitoushi had made some sort of affirmative noise to Hiei as the fire demon left the room, but he had suddenly been struck with another idea with which to manipulate the virus and he turned back inwards, taking the thing in his metaphorical hands and starting to work his energy with it.

As always, he was still subconsciously aware of the area around him, his brain feeding him information through smell, through hearing, through feel.

He usually did not react to it, for usually there was little worth reacting to...

However, as soon as Shikiyoku's energy disappeared off of his radar from the room he knew she and Hiei were in, Kitoushi snapped back to reality and started moving for the stairs.

_No...no, not now...please...not him..._

~!**!~

Taka had gotten several miles above the house, looking down at the terrain below him, calculating which portions he and Shikiyoku had visited already and which areas they could still wander into and see about other Marked.

He gave a smile and a sort of quick, happy sigh that faded away as he became aware of something that was _no longer there_.

Shikiyoku.

Her energy had been stable below him and he tended to keep tabs on her whenever he was able, which had turned into this habit of constant checking to make sure he could always feel her nearby.

Kit _had _warned him about her switch, and while Taka wished for nothing more than for her to _never _have to switch, he was grateful to the cat for giving him a heads up.

Taka zeroed in to the last place he felt her and immediately took a head-dive, the absence of her energy sending his thoughts down another path he had not considered since Shikiyoku left the Ninth Level as the wind began rushing in his ears and the house below grew larger.

_Shit. _3

It took a great deal of effort not to make a sound in protest to Shikiyoku's offer to Otento. He didn't trust this demon, and would much rather see the blonde bag of vile disgust tossed out the window. In bits. Without the ability to live from such a drop, other than to feel the impact before losing his last breath.

The mental image was almost satisfying, except that he wasn't acting on it.

He considered it very strongly when the demon looked to the door, took a step forward, then looked to Hiei again. He didn't like it. The demon _shouldn't _be allowed to stay. He wouldn't have it.

He'd just reached for his sword when the smell of blood filled the air and Otento was much too close. By the time Hiei had his sword drawn, Shikiyoku had her fingers buried in the demon's skin, her eyes darkened and her energy taking a drastic change.

A change that had the fire demon sitting back on his heels, watching with no small amount of amusement.

This would do, watching the demon die by the hand of the woman he'd tormented.

_This would do._

He kept his eyes on Shikiyoku now, watching her wound and her body, waiting for a moment to step in. And, quite honestly, he was tempted to step in and see to her first, ensure her life was not in danger. But, he also knew that her life would remain in danger the longer this demon lived.

So he waited, sword in hand, just in case.

He waited, expression blank despite his personal satisfaction.

And then when he realized Shikiyoku was falling, he moved to the inbetween layer and made a very quick grab at her, moving her away from the pooling blood of the other she'd done away with when realizing he couldn't move from one layer to the next.

Which left him very confused for only a moment before directing his thoughts to the female in his arms, his eyes taking in the ashen color of her scarred skin.

He frowned, remembering that to switch her back, he would have to kiss her. Something he had yet to consider.

But, if it changed her back, stopped whatever virus made her fever set in for just a little longer, then he'd do it.

Hiei lowered himself and Shikiyoku to the floor of the in-between layer, holding her against his chest with one hand over the part of the wound her could reach in hopes of staunching the blood flow.

After just a split second's hesitation, he cast all thoughts away, all doubts and worries, and lowered his lips to hers.

_Come back to me. _*****

The ashen color of her skin peeled back slowly at first, starting from her lips and moving faster as it passed over her face, shimmering down her hair and the rest of her body, ridding her skin of scars and replacing it with the healthy glow from before.

Unlike the last time, however, when the trail of the switch glimmered as it went, her entire body grew much smaller and as her consciousness returned, she could feel a darkness enveloping her core.

When her eyes blinked open, she looked very...normal. More like a human than even Toriko as the green of her eyes did not have their natural sparkle, and she felt strangely weak, her clothing baggy.

Kitoushi reached the door and didn't bother seeing if it was locked, quickly shifting forms and slipping through as any good cat knows how.

His nose twitched at the smell of blood as soon as he got through the door and he stared at what was left of Otento, tail lashing behind him and knowing that Shikiyoku's blood was on the air as well.

"_Hiei, can you get her back to the layer?"_

Taka landed back in the open window breathing heavily and, seeing nothing in the room, not daring to hope that Kit and Shikiyoku's first contract hadn't come back to get her.

"Kit?" He called, climbing into the room, knowing the cat could hear him if he was within earshot. 3

Hiei waited until he could feel no more of the hostile energy, the forming fever, or the cold skin of Shikiyoku's pain form before he pulled away, eyes remaining closed for the barest of moments after. He released a small breath and let his eyelids slide open, expecting to see Shikiyoku as she had been before Otento's strike.

He made dull note of the lack in energy he felt from her, knowing what it meant.

But he was in for quite the shock when he found himself staring at a child who has easily big enough to sit in his lap the way she was, her whole being gathered up in his grasp.

_Hiei, can you get her back to the layer?_

The fire demon just barely registered the question as he blinked once down at the girl in his arms. A second later, he remembered that the air still smelled of blood, and that the sticky liquid coated his hand that was applying pressure to the wound above her core.

Recovering from his surprise, the fire demon tried to move himself and Shikiyoku to the first layer again, and was quite relieved to find himself sitting on the carpet of her bedroom floor a moment later.

He couldn't even bring himself to make some sort of reply to the cat. He simply sat there, suddenly very unsure of what in the hell to do, and what in the hell was happening. _*****_

"What the hell?"

Taka blinked and sudden there were three-no wait, two?-demons in the room and a...

"Is that-"

Kitoushi had bent himself out of the layers and changed back into human form, moving quickly over and to his knees on the other side of Hiei.

Taka's eyes narrowed, "Where's the blasted-"

"Dead." Kit replied quickly, putting his hand at Shikiyoku's back as she started to cough up blood, her eyes blanking out.

"Don't believe it. Show me the-"

"Taka, shut **up**."

Taka's eyebrow twitched as Kitoushi's eyes began to glow white and energy began pouring from his hands, one over either side of the wound.

Taka didn't appear convinced, eyes darting around darkly, and the energy he had gathered in his hand as soon as he landed in the window still glowing, the muscles in his arm just _daring _something to jump out so he could blast it.

"No, you can't go." Kitoushi could feel Shikiyoku's body start to relax. "You've got to concentrate. You go out now and even I might not be able to get you back."

Her eyes blinked as Kitoushi struggled with the blood-flow, with the blade stuck through her. He stared at it through the whiteness of the energy, unable to sense any poison or disease on the blade, tentatively thankful the wound might not be infected by that damn-

_No. On her. He's dead. He doesn't matter anymore._ 3

All over again, Hiei's emotions returned and shifted to anger. White-hot, boiling, dangerous anger that used to lead to countless deaths.

Except this time it was because he himself was stuck holding the girl up, unable to help her in any way other than keep her angled just right for Kitoushi and-

Taka spoke, and Hiei's head shifted, dark eyes landing on the bird.

"If the vile creature were alive, I would not be here, fool." The words were heavy and dark as the glare he sent, a glare that remained a moment longer before he turned away again and his eyes fell on the female who began relaxing.

More anger, this time accompanied with…

Was that panic?

His eyelids slid closed as Kitoushi spoke to her, the fire demon working very hard at pushing away his anger before his mind invaded hers, swift and deliberate.

"_You are not allowed to leave. Understand? You will stay __**here**__." __*****_

The room seemed to be spinning, though Shikiyoku knew she was being held still.

...it looked a lot dimmer than usual too.

It was a struggle to keep her eyes open and her head felt light enough that she knew it would be a relief to just pass out.

Each pumping of her heart released more blood, but Kitoushi could not do anything to prevent that until the blade was out.

_Just a little wider._

"Taka, come here."

There was no hesitation and as soon as Taka had knelt at Shikiyoku's head, Kit nodded at the blade.

"I'm going to have to widen the wound to be able to remove that without any further damage. It's serrated and if we pull it out now it'll do more internal damage than leaving it." His eyes flickered briefly at Hiei, "I don't think I have to tell you to not move."

"Just tell me when." The glow around Taka's hand settled on the underside of it, making the skin appear even darker brown than normal as the glow disappeared and he flexed it once briefly, grabbing for the blade and taking hold of it without disturbing its placement.

"Make sure it's a straight pull." Kit released a quick breath through his nose and the white energy at his hands thickened as he simultaneously staunched the blood and widened the wound.

Taka kept his dry remark to himself as Kit's eyes flashed, and the bird could feel the blade wanting to drop out the other side.

"Do it now."

In one swift motion, Taka had it free and Kit's hands shifted to cover the openings, his eyes closing as he both assessed the damage and began knitting muscles and vessels back together.

Taka pulled back with the blade and dropped it with disgust where it clattered angrily on the ground, and he shook his hand a little.

"I _hate _that guy."

"You never even met him."

"I didn't _have _to."

"We were stupid, her and I, for doing it in the first place." Kit's eyes were closed, but he gave another little nod in Shikiyoku's direction. "We shouldn't have made our first target one of the strongest demons on the level, and we didn't figure out until _after _that killing the targets was the only way to-"

"...it...hurts." Shikiyoku cringed visibly, coughing again.

"Good. You won't go unconscious that way." Kit told her. 3

Hiei remained seated as stiff as could be, his mind slowly retreating from Shikiyoku's as he let his eyelids slide close all over again. Even after Taka had removed the blade, he didn't move an inch.

He didn't want to.

In his mind's eye, he saw the moment where just before Otento had struck, where Hiei had wanted to attack him the most. A moment he'd let pass because _she _had asked it of him. _She _had pleaded, saying he held no semblance of a whole soul, and that it would not have been worth it.

Oh, how _worth it_ it would have been.

And while the mental image of Shikiyoku taking the demon's life in her own hands was certainly amusing, satisfying even on some level, he found that the anger at himself for not killing the demon was greater than that.

Because she'd nearly died due to his lack in action.

Still had that threat, too.

He forced his mind blank, instead concentrating on the sounds in the room. _*****_

"...I wish I'd gotten to kill him myself." Taka grumbled.

"Even at his weakest, _Otento_," Kitoushi said the name with contempt, "At the time was stronger than the three of us _combined_, you idiot. Why do you think we had to leave him alive even _after _we found out targets she entranced tended to come back?"

"Taka..." Shikiyoku's eyes flinched and Kitoushi mumbled an apology.

"Mm?" The bird looked up as if he had retreated somewhere in his mind.

She opened them back up and looked over at Hiei, staring at him, concentrating on his face.

"...he was _marked_."

Taka managed to reign in his initial instinct, which was to yell the word 'what,' instead managing a more restrained, if darker, "What?"

Shikiyoku blinked and made a small grunt which had Kitoushi opening his eyes to look at her apologetically.

Taka's eyes shifted to the side, his jaw flexing fiercely as he clenched his teeth together.

Kit briefly tossed a passing glance between Shikiyoku, who still stared at Hiei, and Taka, who refused to look at anybody.

Not that Kit didn't feel the same amount of irritation at the thought that _Otento _was one of the Marked, but...the sudden shift in Taka's emotions indicated something else to the cat as well.

"What happened?" He turned his attention back down, closing his eyes again to filter energy through the strands of muscle, beginning to knit them back together.

Taka didn't answer at first, huffing air out his nose that seemed to take with it some of the tension at his shoulders.

"We-" He glanced over at Shikiyoku, and sighed, "A couple of weaker demons who were marked got into a fight today over her." One of Taka's hands went up to his neck and he rubbed it self-consciously. "We didn't really pay any attention. Didn't think it mattered much. They weren't hurting anyone but themselves." He paused and sucked in another breath, "The one that..._lived_, uh, dropped dead about five seconds later after his Mark disappeared _without _Shikiyoku's help." 3

Hiei had just released a breath and begun to force himself to relax when Shikiyoku repeated to Taka that Otento had been Marked. And for the first time, he became wary of what that actually meant. Any form of relaxing halted and his muscles stilled again as Taka began speaking, giving a very informative story that left the fire demon sitting in surprise.

It certainly… explained things.

_**She **__was protecting __**me.**_

Hiei's eyes came open and he dipped his chin a little, meeting the gaze on him very easily.

And for the first time in a long while, _she'd _left _him _without the ability to think, without the ability to consider anything but the mere thought that she'd known he would die if he killed Otento, and had done all in her power to stop such a thing.

Even risked her own life in the process.

_What a foolish woman._

His eyelids slid closed again and the fire demon lowered his head, pressing his forehead to hers and remaining there, unmoving.

_Foolish, foolish woman. __*****_

Shikiyoku would have closed her eyes when Hiei began to lower his face towards hers if she didn't think she might pass out from the darkness that would place her in.

When his forehead met her, she sat still for a moment before nudging at him softly with her nose, wishing she had the strength to say anything, tell him what she wanted to, or at very least take him in her arms.

"Well," Kitoushi began philosophically, "I suppose that puts a damper on the battle royale I imagined." His lips twitched, and if he hadn't been so concerned about Shikiyoku's life hanging in the balance still, he might have actually smiled.

"Ha!" Taka gave a single dry laugh, lifting his eyes to see the cat almost _smiling_, and the fire demon resting his forehead against Shikiyoku's, thinking little about it. "You were gonna challenge me, huh?"

"It's a good thing we all have a decent head on our shoulders. One accidental beheading here or there and it would have been the end for us as well." An amused puff of air exited Kitoushi's nose as he continued to move inward-out from Shikiyoku's wound, carefully weaving his energy through the injury.

"You had yet to piss me off too bad, cat." Taka sneered.

"I must admit you've been quite annoying at times yourself."

"Though I doubt none of us have _not _envisioned removing that pretty little head from that confounded kitsune."

Kitoushi only grunted, grumbling, "I was more likely to relieve him of his precious voice box than anything." 3

Hiei didn't open his eyes again, remaining the way he was even as she nudged her nose against his briefly before stilling again. He let out a silent, slow breath from his nostrils, akin to a silent sigh, and pulled away after another moment, deciding that staying in such a position likely wasn't wise.

After all, she needed to be _awake_. And he was well aware how comfortable she could become with such contact, deciding not to take anything for chance.

His eyes came open when he was sitting upright again, turning to Kitoushi's work almost curiously, watching the energy that wove around and around. _*****_

"Taka...I hate to ask, but will you grab the blade again?"

Taka gave out an irritated sigh, but complied, energy coming to his palm and the skin darkening again before he even bothered reaching over to grab for it.

He dutifully held it out beside Shikiyoku's head so that Kit only had to open his eyes and glance over to catch sight of it. Taka slowly turned it without Kitoushi saying anything as if they had done something similar to this before and after a moment Kit nodded and Taka lowered his arm until it rested on his leg, giving the stupid blade a silent snarl.

Kit wove his energy through the wound in the pattern of the blade, finally relaxed a little and shifted in place at the result he felt.

"It's not infected." He glanced over at Hiei.

"I'm never doing anything she says ever again." Taka grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It makes it my fault that-"

"No." Shikiyoku said with more strength than she had before.

Taka gave her a look and her eyes had narrowed up at the ceiling.

"_I _asked you to keep the window open. _You _complied. Not your fault."

Taka frowned and growled at her, "I'm never doing anything you say ever again."

That seemed to amuse her.

"We'll see."

Kit's eyes came shut again and he grimaced, his core starting to falter.

He'd prolonged his body's nightly shift, and while he had up to this point been attempting to do so anyway, and needing less and less time in cat-form, he was reaching his outer limit of tested self-control.

And if he went any faster healing her, he could leave serious damage in his wake.

One of his tall, dark ears flicked in agitation and he clenched his jaw together, tail lashing angrily behind him once as very briefly the white energy at his hands flickered before he could steady it again.

_Not good. _3

Hiei, on some level of his consciousness, began to feel the slightest need to pull his eyes away from the energy that wove in and out of Shikiyoku's wounds. And, after a minute, he managed to do that, turning his eyes to the side and glancing at the nearest window, easily hiding his thoughts behind a calm mask.

_Night?_

He hadn't realized it was dark out.

He turned his eyes to the cat again, this time to inspect Kitoushi's expression, very quickly noting the flick of his ear and the flop of his tail.

_Not good._

He caught the flicker in the demon's energy from his peripherals, and within the same second spoke telepathically.

"_How can I help?" __*****_

Kitoushi barely gave Hiei a glance, his arms tensing up as another skip in his core struggled against him.

"_If I shift...__**when**_ _I shift," _He clenched his jaw together as he resisted again. "_...put your hand where mine is at the back. ...you might have to...sear her flesh together again." _

His ears were flat against his skull, and his tension brought Taka's eyes up, and the bird said very softly, "Oh."

"Uh," He blinked, "That's not good."

"Taka, come-"

The demon immediately shifted forward and grabbed Kit's shoulder, squeezing it, grinning, "You're not allowed to shift."

Kit nodded thanks, tail flicking again, managing to say, "It's...a matter of time."

Taka's eyes shifted to the cat's glowing hands and he blinked, "Are you...working both sides at once?"

The dark-haired demon's eyebrows turned downwards as he concentrated.

"Yes."

"You- Stupid-" Taka looked exasperated, "Stop doing two things at once, _idiot_."

Kit blinked as if the thought hadn't occurred.

"Hold the back where it is," He tipped his nose at her chest, "And close that one first."

_Idiot, indeed._

Kitoushi's hand over her core glowed brighter, work going faster.

_I'm still not going to finish._

"Hiei-"

Sending the fire demon an image, Kit indicated he would need mere seconds in cat form to finish the front, Hiei's hand preventing the blood from the open wound at the back. As soon as Kit's cat-form jumped off of her, he pictured Hiei shifting her up against him, Kit standing on Hiei's knee with his front paws on her back to finish.

The timing was going to be...quick. 3

Hiei's chin dipped just a little for a brief moment, indicating a nod at Kitoushi's first reply, one that he honestly should have expected, as he'd had to do it before. His eyes left the cat demon and shifted to Shikiyoku again, staring at her for another moment until his vision became clouded, overtaken with an image the dark-haired cat demon was envisioning.

He took careful note of everything being shown to him, taking extra care in recognizing the cues of each motion, the exact moment when Hiei himself would need to move and storing that knowledge at the forefront of his mind.

He sent an affirmative sound in Kitoushi's direction, eyes focusing again on Shikiyoku before he turned his gaze up to the other demon again, waiting. _*****_

_This is __**so **__not fair._

"Taka-"

"I got it." Taka released Kitoushi's shoulder and leaned back as the energy at the cat apparition's hands winked out and Kit shifted into the small, lean black cat who used to go by Maneshi.

Kit immediately leapt up onto Shikiyoku's tiny frame, landing softly and dipping his head down to the opening in her now-baggy tanktop, sticking his nose through it and beginning to lick at the wound, straddling it with his front paws, a much more muted glow returning to her skin as he made quick work of encouraging her cells to heal and reform.

Without bothering to admire his work, Kit jumped off again to the floor. 3

Hiei's hand quickly moved to replace Kitoushi's when the demon shifted, the fire demon's hand pressing firmly to the wound at Shikiyoku's back to at least slow the blood flow that continued to run over his fingers. At least his cloak would keep the blood from getting into her carpet.

_Heh._

Hiei watched the cat, waiting for the precise moment when Kitoushi's feet hit the carpet before he pulled Shikiyoku up to his chest and moved his hand out of the way, eyes shifting to Shikiyoku for the briefest of moments in apology for discomfort and/or pain. _*****_

Kitoushi immediately hopped back up onto Hiei's knee and stretched himself out to place his paws on either side of the wound again, this time at her back. He stuck his head in the hole of her shirt and had to push his way up to the wound before he was able to get his little pink nose anywhere near it to begin licking at it again, his tail moving calmly from side to side in the air behind him.

A rush of air left Shikiyoku's lungs when Hiei shifted her around and she leaned her head heavily into his neck, muttering 'very' threateningly, "You're lucky I _like you_, flame-boy." 3

Hiei made the barest of sounds, though it was only meant to tell the girl that he'd heard her. But he gave no reply, only watching the cat in silence, not allowing his thoughts to stray, to wander to other things as they so wished to do. Because right now, she was the priority. _*****_

Taka appeared to almost be holding his breath, the room silent and tense. One of his pointed ears flicked a little as he picked up on the rusty scent of blood and heard the strange scratch-like noise of Kitoushi's rough tongue moving over the open wound.

The thought of it had Taka scrunching his nose as it sent shivers down his back with the thought of how painful that must be.

This side took longer, but Kitoushi did not back off until the work was done, and he pulled his head out from the hole, pausing for a moment with one paw against her and one held off closer to his chest, looking at Hiei and blinking slowly before leaning his weight back and twisting to get back to the ground.

Kit blinked a couple of more times and swayed in place, going ahead and hunching over, pulling his paws underneath him. He looked weary.

Taka gave the cat a crooked smile and reached over to pick him up around the middle, Kit's body elongated out for a moment before Taka arranged him over his other arm up against his torso and started to stand up, pausing for a moment as if he'd forgotten.

"Uh," He flashed Hiei much the same smile, "You don't mind seeing to her, right?"

Kit leaned heavily into Taka's chest and had begun purring, his eyes half-lidded and his tail hanging down limply in the air. 3

Hiei watched the cat sway until he was pulled from the fire demon's sight, at which point crimson eyes lifted to look at Taka briefly before turning to Shikiyoku again, sending a silent thanks to the feline in the bird's grasp.

With the first syllable leaving Taka's lips, Hiei looked up again with a neutral expression.

"Naturally," he responded simply. "Lock the door on your way."

And Hiei realized just how _useful _it was that Taka didn't know of the mark on his own skin.

The mark that he'd felt growing earlier. The mark that he'd easily hidden under his scarf with a simple adjustment of his shoulder position, because it had begin to climb up and over the material, and he'd very smoothly hid it when he'd touched his forehead to Shiki's.

Hiei slowly slid his other arm under Shikiyoku's knees, finding the difference in her frame now to how it had been the last time he'd held her a bit… unsettling. He moved to stand slowly, turning his back on the door and moving towards the bed to lower her onto the mattress carefully.*

* * *

_Since I didn't get to reread the chapter (and only remember the basics of what's going on), I'm not sure if it is adequately explained here (and it might be explained in the next chapter and I'm just jumping the gun, ha) why Shikiyoku's body reverts to a childlike form, so I'm just going to throw the reason out there (because I always have reasons for everything, tee hee)._

_A demon of desire's abilities/energy are/is nonexistent until a certain age. While they don't go through the exact same type of puberty as other demons (in our AU, demons hit puberty at age one hundred and go through said puberty for their next one hundred years of their life), their powers don't manifest until they hit puberty, or at least their version of puberty._

_By locking away her energy, Otento recreated the circumstances of Shikiyoku's childhood, so her body, confused by the absence of energy, reverted to that state once she returned to her "true form."_

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	92. Episode 176 - Training and Teasing

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Denizens of this FanFiction Realm!

The chapter is a little bit shorter than usual today, and I also apologize for the really long recap of the last chapter, but as I was going through it I realized there was a TON that happens and there wasn't much I could really take out and still feel as if I did that chapter justice.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Two of the four potential Consorts gathered at the house on the First Layer begin courting Shikiyoku in their own way, though Kitoushi finds himself chagrined at the fact that he continues to attempt to find a cure for her disease and lacks the time to do anything special with her. Kit is forced to watch Youko and Taka dote on her, Taka gifting Shikiyoku with a pendant he made by hand.

As for Hiei, besides occasionally subverting Taka's plans, each night is spent next to Shikiyoku in her bedroom, and he finds that he can more easily test the limits of his uncomfortableness with physical contact given that she seems so unnerved by it and none of the others phase her in the slightest.

On one such day where Taka took Shikiyoku out, Hiei and Kitoushi talk on Shikiyoku's changes, the cat demon hoping for any information that might help him in the analysis of the virus. As they talk, Taka flies Shikiyoku into her room so she can go to sleep, leaving the window open as per her request. Thinking it is Hiei climbing into bed with her, Shikiyoku stirs from her sleep as another presence enters the room.

It is Otento.

His spirit is broken, he looks more like a hunted animal than the flamboyant demon he had once been, and he also carries the Mark of an eligible Consort.

As Hiei enters the room, only Shikiyoku's closeness to the demon stays his hand and he freezes in place just inside the door. Shikiyoku immediately gets up and pleads with Hiei to spare the broken demon, and it is only her words that keeps him from striking Otento down.

In a sudden act of ferocity, Otento stabs Shikiyoku through the heart with one of his slender blades, and she in turn destroys him as she shifts into her pain form, taking the both of them inbetween the layers and ripping his limbs from his body with her energy, saving Hiei the trouble, though before he dies Otento manages to lock her energy away.

Taka and Kitoushi rush to the room as Hiei realizes he is unable to bring Shikiyoku out from inbetween, and Hiei kisses her to change her form. As her body shifts back, she takes on the appearance of a small child, albeit one with a gaping wound in her chest. This time when he is able to successfully bring her to the First Layer just as Kit and Taka make it there.

As Hiei holds the tiny body of Shikiyoku in his arms, Kitoushi immediately sets to healing the wound, Hiei forcing himself into her mind when it feels as if she is slipping from the living world.

Hiei begins to blame himself for not striking the instant he saw Otento, but at Shikiyoku's behest, for she can sense Hiei's downward spiral, Taka explains how earlier that day two Marked demons began fighting over her, and while one did kill the other, the challenger died seconds later, his own mark disappearing moments before he dropped.

Nightime has fallen as Kitoushi bends over Shikiyoku's body, and the cat demon is struggling not to shift forms, employing the assistance of Hiei in finishing the healing her body requires.

The process has taken a lot out of him, and after giving Hiei a few instructions, Taka carries the exhausted cat demon out of the room and Hiei places Shikiyoku on her bed.

~!**!~

Akari, Hiyori, and Isamu head down to the Seventh Layer for more deal-making, Manami joining them as they arrive at the location at which the client asked them to meet.

After an hour and a half, Isamu having left to find the client who had thusfar not shown up, their client finally shows themselves: Hiyori. She has made a deal with another demon to kidnap Akari and take her away and Akari blacks out from an attack she is unable to prevent.

When she wakes up, Akari finds herself in front of Yomi, one of the three would-be Kings of Demon World, and inside his compound. Yomi informs Akari that she will be working to regain her ability to traverse through the layers to further his cause in the coming war.

After she is presented with food and drink, Akari is told she will be outfitted in armor and is whisked away.

* * *

Akari wiped at her jawline for the third time, her breath coming faster and her eyes narrowed at the demon in front of her. "I _can't."_

"Can't, or _won't?"_

If she'd had the strength, she would have growled at the demon.

"Answer me this**: **how long have you been here, dog?"

Akari wiped again at the wetness that continued to trail over her jawline and down her neck, eyes never leaving the only other person in the expanse of the room. She gulped a breath down her dry throat before shrugging. "How am _I _supposed to know? I've been _here_, in this room, and in one other room the _entire _time. Not a single window to look out of."

"Humor me with a guess."

She straightened her knees, not allowing them to buckle underneath her. "A month."

He made the loudest, most obnoxious buzzing sound. "Wrong." His lips turned into a sour scowl. "Longer. And yet, you've made no improvement whatsoever. I'm beginning to think King Yomi will have better luck killing you."

She didn't respond, not even with wiping at her face nervously again.

"You lack incentive. Clearly, your life isn't worth the ability to traverse layers." To make his point, his hand lifted, showing her a blade just before it disappeared, whizzing by her face at a speed she couldn't even see. She didn't move, hearing it miss her ear by mere centimeters. "No value for your own self."

When she didn't reply, he recalled the weapon. "Try _again._ And this time, if there's no improvement, I'll _make _incentive."

The sound of her armor was slight as she shifted, leather sliding against leather, the piece at her arm just lightly rubbing against the bodice as she prepared for whatever he was about to throw at her. She drew in a deep breath, concentrating hard on his muscles, his movements, and most of all, herself. _Move, dammit. _

And yet, no matter how much she willed herself to move from this layer to another, there was no change, even as a ball of energy slammed into her chest, knocking her backwards and causing the metal of her armor burn.

She didn't have the strength to remove it.

"Fine. You leave me no choice." He turned and beckoned to a camera in the corner, waving a finger in a 'come here' motion. "Just remember, you did this."

_I hope it's not a kid. __*****_

~!**!~

_Lock the door, huh? _Taka watched with amusement as Hiei stood up.

"_Leave it be." _The very tip of Kitoushi's tail curled upwards before hanging limp again. He caught Hiei's thanks and gathered his thoughts to give an answer.

"_She's...lost a lot of blood for how tiny she is." _Kitoushi gently pressed a paw into Taka's arm as the bird demon started to move off and Taka stopped, looking down at Kit and waiting patiently, assuming the cat was passing instructions to Hiei.

Shikiyoku's skin was clammy and pallor, her breath coming quickly.

"_And she's going to be weak. Possibly confused. You can thank me by keeping her warm and making sure her legs are lifted with a pillow or something." _Kitoushi blinked slowly and reached into Shikiyoku's mind.

"_You need to stay awake, my lady." _

"But I'm tired. I wanna sleep." Shikiyoku's voice sounded particularly whiny given her child-like form and she frowned.

"_I know. But you need some time to recover before you do that." _

She gave out a feeble growl that had Kitoushi's eyes smiling.

Kit glanced up at Taka and the bird moved again for the door, locking it and stepping into the hallway, closing it behind him. 3

Hiei did as instructed, pulling a pillow underneath Shikiyoku before resting her upon it even as he heard the door close with a final click. His next movement was to the window, where he very deliberately slid it closed and locked it firmly, glancing at the other to ensure it too was locked before he turned and made his way to the bed again, calmly and carefully shifting himself about until he was laying next to her, his energy blanketing the room.

He made a point to be as close to her as allowed without touching her, half afraid that he'd jostle her and cause more pain. He did, however, compensate by centering the warmth of his energy to her small, childlike frame.

Which he stared at for a moment in confusion.

_How exactly had that happened?_

~!**!~

Akari had just managed to pull herself to stand when the large door across the room from her slid open, Sachi stepping in and pushing a demon alongside him.

A demon she recognized and took to staring at with a blank gaze.

"Come on, this isn't necessary!"

Akari raised her brows at the plea, her emotions on the matter hidden very easily.

"Now, Hanase," the demon who'd been striking at her for days on end turned to her again, lips wide in a self-satisfied grin. "Tell me, how much do you value another's life?"

Akari peeled her stare from the demon who scrambled to his feet and up to the one who'd spoken, blinking once, but giving no answer.

"I compensated!"

Akari's chin lifted higher as her eyes turned to the other demon, the first sign of life flickering behind her gaze as a spark. The demon who had been brought into the room finally looked over at her, his eyes widening in recognition and his mouth opening to speak, but seeing her expression, he didn't say a word.

"Oh, was that a touch of anger within those eyes, dog?"

Akari turned her chin up just a little more.

"Well, I hadn't realized. Perhaps _you_ would like the honor?"

"No," came her hoarse reply, tone low.

"Then, you still care for this one?"

_Of course not. _"Yes."

"Ah, love, I knew you'd see it for how I meant it! I knew you'd understand. No hard feelings, right?"

Akari's facade remained in place as a calm, cool mask.

"Well then, let's see how valuable this one is to you, shall we?" There was a pause, the only sound being that of Sachi's weight shifting. "Try again."

Akari's eyelids slid closed, and she willed herself to shift from one layer to the other.

And after a few minutes of no results, the sound of Isamu's agonized howl filled the room, the smell of his blood hitting her nose. She didn't have to open her eyes to see he no longer breathed.

And despite the fact that she'd loathed the demon, she found herself giving a moment of silence for the demon's death, head bowed.

And when she lifted her head again, her eyes were devoid of any emotion, of any sort of light, and she blinked slowly at the two men standing over the corpse.

"I'll go let him know."

"Sachi," the other stopped the king's right-hand man. "Tell him that I'm done for the day."

Sachi took his leave while the other remained. "You, dog, are quite the project."

Akari only wiped at her jawline again and stared as the other grinned and took his leave, leaving her alone with the demon she'd once actually considered killing.

_Good riddance. __*****_

~!**!~

Even without demonic senses, it wasn't difficult for Shikiyoku to feel as if someone's eyes were staring at her.

"Something amuse you?" Her ears twitched slightly, barely recognizing the sound of her own voice. It was higher...and smaller. 3

"That depends on your definition of 'amuse'." Hiei said slowly, continuing to watch her. He thought for a moment before making a small sound. He opened his mouth to say something, but slowly closed it again. _*****_

It was strange having everything seem so dull.

Shikiyoku frowned, her entire face scrunching together and her lips pursing and after a second she opened her eyes and looked over at Hiei, closing her eyes and then opening them again and frowning, the expression less comically and tinged more in melancholy.

Her eyes shifted to the side.

"It-" Her face faltered, "I can't feel you at all." No energy, no presence. "It's...like you're not even there."

_I don't like it. _3

Hiei raised a brow just a little when she repeatedly opened and closed her eyes. It wasn't hard to guess what she was doing, as he himself was fighting not to do the same.

"I could say the same to you." _*****_

She turned her gaze back up to the ceiling, eyes closing.

After a second, she huffed an impatient breath out of her nose, and the hand that was laying on the bed between them lifted to hit the mattress once.

"You're too far _away_, flame-boy." 3

Amusement sparked in Hiei's eyes, mirroring the lifting of a single corner of his lips as he noted the hand that lifted and then hit the mattress. Almost demandingly, just… without the actual energy behind it. And without much of a response, he slid closer, moving the arm that she'd used to gesture for him and resting it upon her stomach. He lay on his side, carefully resting his arm over hers to keep it in place.

"Hn." *****

"Hm." She gave a smile, leaning her head towards him, "See, now it doesn't _matter _that I can't sense you." She yawned and ended it with a tiny noise of protest.

"...Kit's a meanie-head." 3

Hiei let his eyelids slide close for a moment as he relaxed again, settling into the mattress. It was… odd to be so close to someone so…. so _small_. So _frail. _And the diction she just used…

Well, let's just say he was nothing shy of utmost amusement.

"And you're a child." His lips twitched. _*****_

Shikiyoku's eyebrows lowered into a frown and she pouted a little.

"So're _you_, mister hybrid." 3

Hiei's lips turned up into a smirk as his eyelids opened again so he could peer at her. "I never claimed to be otherwise." _Perhaps humoring her will make it easier for her. __*****_

"Hmph." She still frowned, muttering, "Stupid fire demon." 3

"Hn." He let his eyes close again, carefully moving his head to rest near hers on the pillow, deciding he was much more _comfortable _in this way, where he was absolutely certain no other demon could suddenly swoop in and grab at her, as Otento had done earlier.

…_**.**_

He pushed the thought away.

"Is that all?" _*****_

She didn't answer for a second, feeling for just a moment rather vulnerable and...scared.

"D-don't...don't leave me, okay? Please?" 3

Hiei blinked, having expected something completely different than such a question. A question that had his expression going softer, the edges of his eyes crinkling with the _barest_ of smiles. "Whatever you say, Shiki." _*****_

Her frown hadn't gone away, "And..." Her voice lowered, "Don't... make me go away either." Her eyes barely came open. "Mother...made me go away." 3

Hiei's frown suddenly mirrored hers, and he slowly, carefully, pulled her a little closer. "_Shh." _His eyes closed as he pressed his forehead to the side of her head. "_I'm not going anywhere, and the only reason you'd leave is if you actually wanted to. I can't promise an easy release, however." __*****_

"_I __**don't**_ _want to." _The severity of her frown lessened a little, "_Why would you sorta say that I would?" _She nudged her head into him a little. 3

Hiei made a small sound, though its meaning wasn't exactly clear. "_Then we have no problem." __*****_

"_Mm. I guess not." _She reached over with her other hand and poked at his shoulder. "_Not that it's gonna happen, but you better not ever just let me leave, flame-boy." _3

Hiei gave the quietest of scoffs at her. "_As if it would be so easy." _Because, really, he couldn't imagine _not _fighting for her. _*****_

"_Good. 'Cuz...'cuz I like you! You're..." _She gave a little shrug. "_I dunno. Hiei, I guess." _3

Hiei's eyes came open again to stare at Shikiyoku in amusement. _At a loss for words, are we? _

"_I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not." __*****_

Shikiyoku turned her head a little to consider him.

"_Why not? It wouldn't be a compliment to call you anything but what you are." _She blinked, and while she didn't realize her eyes had lost their demonic gleam, they were still large and _almost _innocent. 3

Hiei thought for a moment.

"_It will do, for now." __*****_

Her lips formed a thin line, her brow furrowing a little as she thought really hard.

"_Warm!" _She exclaimed, eyes lighting up a little. "_And... comfortable." _She nudged her forehead against him a little, "_Like what home should feel like." _3

Something within Hiei stirred, and as he stared at her, he became aware that his lips had parted just slightly in surprise and…

What exactly _was _this?

_Home._

His lips pressed together for a moment and his eyelids slid closed.

And instead of responding, he shifted his head around just a little, pulling himself as close as he dared to hide the little nudge he gave with his forehead. _*****_

_Mm. Yup._

She was smiling widely.

_Home is here. Right here. No matter where else we are, as long as you're here, I'm home._

"_Oh! And you're fierce. Terribly fierce." _Her frowning expression was terribly cute in an attempting-to-look-fierce sort of way. 3

Hiei's eyes came open to stare at Shikiyoku for a moment, noting her smile as she took a moment to mull over something or another. It wasn't terribly hard to guess, though.

So, when she spoke up again, he made a sound in amusement and continued to stare at the expression she made, lips twitching up at the edges. "_Is __**that **__what I look like?" __*****_

"_Uhm..." _She looked thoughtful, eyes looking upwards, trying to remember. Her eyes flickered towards his lips and then back into his eyes.

The hand that had poked at his shoulder reached over and booped his nose.

"_If I say 'yes' will you it get you to finish that smile for me?" _3

Hiei's brows raised at her and he considered the female next to him for a moment, considered his different retorts. Different reactions.

His lips suddenly turned downwards, though his eyes didn't reflect the frown. "_I don't smile." _*****

"_Is that challenge?" _Her eyes narrowed at him, "_Because I am the bestest smile-maker-happener." _3

Hiei continued to scowl at Shikiyoku, not replying with anything more than a single twitch of his brow. _*****_

It was completely unintentional this time, but her expression defaulted into her fierce one from earlier as she looked at him and his scowl.

"_I don't like your frowny face." _She informed him bluntly. "_It makes me wanna...I dunno."_

_Kill things._

_To make it go away._

She didn't actually think that would work.

"_It's no fun." _She decided. 3

"_Is that so?" _Hiei intoned, expression unchanging as he blinked at her once. "_Whoever said __**I**_ _was fun?" _*****

"_I did! 'Cuz you are! Warm and...fun! To be with! ...I like being with you." _Her own frown faded away, lightening the area around her eyes. 3

"_Is that so?" _he repeated, still staring at her evenly. "_And what has you convinced of such things? Is it my frown?" __*****_

"_Yes, it's so. 'Cuz I know so. And your frowny face is no-fun!" _A giggle actually sneaked out of her lips and the arm underneath his twitched as if to move up to cover her mouth. "_Except for right now. It's a little fun. Maybe." _3

Hiei had to actually fight this time not to let his expression falter, as amused as he was. "_Is that so?" _he repeated again, wondering how many times he'd get away with the one phrase. _*****_

"_Uh-huh." _She gave the barest of nods, "_I mean no! Not at all! Maybe a little. Make it go away!" _She huffed through her nose and turned to stick her tongue out at him. 3

Hiei's eyes turned to look at her tongue, his first instinct being to reach out and grab it, but refraining. "_Is this you trying to make me smile?" __*****_

She blinked at him, face unsure.

"_What?" _3

"_I thought your goal was to make me smile?" _He paraphrased, gaze steady on her. "_Or did you forget?" __*****_

Her eyes shifted to the side, still frowning, "_What?" _3

"_I suppose if you've already forgotten, then it's not important." __*****_

This time she looked directly at him, face blank though her eyes looked mischievous, "_What?" _3

Hiei suddenly realized what she was doing, and his eyes narrowed at her a little. "_Is that so?" __*****_

Shikiyoku only held her expression for another second, then laughed with delight and turned, throwing her arm around his neck and squeezing him.

"_You're my very favorite." _3

Hiei blinked with the sound that echoed in the silence, breaking it effectively as she suddenly turned, closing the very last vestiges of distance between them in one quick motion. With his arm that was still wrapped about her, her tightened his hold on her, giving the barest of smiles when she wasn't looking.

"_I could say the same to you." __*****_

She made an amused noise.

"_You __**coooould**__. But you haven't. That's not the same thing. It doesn't count." _She didn't move from where she held him, still smiling. 3

Hiei didn't reply right away, too busy reining in his amusement just in case she pulled away to look at him. And after a moment, the sound he'd been wanting to make had been successfully stifled, his eyes were closed, and his smile turned into a smirk.

"_Fine. You're my absolute favorite." __*****_

She pulled away from him to look at him with a bit of a frown.

"_I guess that's close enough." _She stuck her tongue out at him, "_But you're toein' the line, flame-boy!" _3

"_I rather enjoy the dangerous lifestyle." _*****

She frowned at him.

"_You're not funny." _3

Hiei's eyes opened to view the frown she issued, and his brows raised. "_Is that so?" __*****_

She growled at him, part of her lip raising as her eyes narrowed.

"_Do you __**want **__to cross that line? You probably won't like what's on the other side." _3

Hiei's brows raised higher in curiosity and amusement. He considered her for a moment, his lips turning further into the smirk he'd been giving. "_Well, Toeing the line gets boring. I'm trying to decide if crossing is worth it, or if I like where I'm at." __*****_

"_Take too long and I'll make the decision for you." _One of her eyebrows raised as she lowered herself back down on the pillow beside him, still facing him. 3

Hiei continued to stare unblinkingly at her before he gave the smallest of sighs and closed his eyes. "_I believe I'll stay where I am." _He blinked once at her. "_I rather enjoy where I am." __*****_

Her frown started to fade away and one side of her lips turned up in a crooked half-smile.

"_Is that so?"_ 3

Hiei's lips twitched. "_It appears the tables have turned. However will I recover?" __*****_

"_You should definitely fold before you lose anymore." _She nodded sagely. 3

"_I do believe it a wise choice." _Hiei bobbed his head a little to mirror her motion, eyes closing briefly before reopening again. "_And just so you know, I __**never**_ _lose twice." __*****_

"_That's funny." _Shikiyoku said primly, eyes closing and her chin lifting a little, "_Because I don't think I've __**ever **__lost." _3

"_I wouldn't say __**never**__. You might regret it later." __*****_

Shikiyoku opened her eyes again, pausing before she spoke up.

"_**You**_ _said never. Not me." _She blinked, "_But I don't think I would mind terribly. Losing to you." _3

"_I'll remember that." _He blinked at her once in thought before his eyelids slid closed, this time remaining that way for a good while. "_It's not bad losing to you either." __*****_

Her green eyes gleamed triumphantly.

"_So, what did I win?" _3

Hiei didn't reply right away, instead taking a moment to think it over. He hadn't considered _anything_, really. He'd felt no reason to, honestly.

Now that he was posed with the question…

"_I'll get back to you on that." __*****_

"_Hmph." _She wasn't sure if she much cared for that answer and she poked him in the side. 3

Hiei's eyes came open at the prod, staring at her with a raised brow. "_Impatient are we?" __*****_

"_No, I just like it when you look at me." _Her eyes closed as she smiled at him. 3

Hiei released a breath of amusement and let his eyelids close again. "_Strange demon." __*****_

"_I never claimed otherwise." _She imitated his voice as best she could manage, looking demure. 3

The air released from Hiei's lips this time sounded remarkably similar to '_tch.' _And it took a great deal of effort to not actually let his lips twitch upwards at her, which surprised him a little. "_Child." __*****_

She made a noise of impertinence at him and, finding she had nothing to retort, resorted to tickling him. 3

Hiei's eyes immediately shot open, his entire body going rigid for an instant before he took to scooting away from her, eyes narrowed but lips twitching and an odd desire to make _some _sort of sound taking over his airways.

"_**What**_ _are you __**doing**__?" __*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes narrowed as he backed away, completely off-setting the rather wicked grin at his reaction, and instead of giving a verbal answer, she dove towards him again to tickle him with little hesitation. 3

His muscles seized up and twitched violently at the odd feeling of Shiki's fingers skittering around, poking and prodding and… whatever they were doing. His lips pressed into a thin line and he scooted away some more, this time in a much more jerky fashion, and his hands shot out to grab her wrists, stilling them just an inch from his person.

And, despite all efforts, she'd managed to get the smallest sound from him that even he didn't know what to call.

Though, the amount of restraint he'd had to use to _not _make the sound had his breathing just a little off-kilter. _*****_

When he halted her hands, she tugged at his grip a little as if threatening to get away, trying to poke at him some more, and she looked up at him, still grinning if breathing hard herself. 3

"_I see you're feeling better." _Hiei remarked as he continued to hold her hands away from himself, eyes narrowed at her. "_Quite the energy you have." __*****_

"_Quite the grip you have." _She managed to say, as if even thoughts were becoming a little difficult. Her smile faltered a little as she realized she couldn't catch her breath and where Hiei held onto her hands started feeling clammy again.

She blinked at him at little, her vision doing weird things.

_Maybe, uh, that wasn't such a great idea._ 3

Hiei quickly noted the change and pulled Shikiyoku to the bed again, laying her next to him while he lay on his back, pulling one of her arms over his stomach so that she would be close to the source of heat. "_Perhaps you should think before acting. Might help." __*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes were heavy as she let Hiei move her about without protest, snuggling her face up against him.

"_One doesn't...think...about having fun." _Her eyes closed in spite of herself, though she could feel how quickly her heart was beating and how her hand and feet were cold, feeling dizzy. "_You have fun without thinking. Most times. Sometimes." _She frowned, her head pounding. 3

Hiei made a small sound in amusement at her, simultaneously wondering what exactly about the experience was _fun. _He didn't ask, however, and instead made sure that his energy blanketed the room again- some point, it had returned to him without his notice- and he made extra sure that the warmth blanketed the girl laying on him now. He felt his energy circulating around her, and carefully he grabbed the blankets from the far side of the bed and pulled them over her, holding them in place with his other hand.

"_Better?" __*****_

Shikiyoku nodded her head where she'd buried it against him, breathing through her nose at a rapid pace that she couldn't seem to settle, though she felt overly tired at the same time and started to relax. 3

Hiei reached up and with a single finger, poked at her cheek to keep her aware. "_No sleep yet." _Quite frankly, he wasn't sure when it _would _be okay for her, since she was so small and had lost so much blood. He couldn't quite judge the timing on her recovery, since he never had to do so on such a small being.

"_Tell me a random fact. About anything." __*****_

"_Ummm..." _It was kind of hard to think at the moment. Her eyes actually came open and she stared forward. Her fingers rustled with the fabric of his cloak, which somehow got her thinking about his Mark, which nebulously worked its way around to, "_Your eyes are...the same as Yukina's. And-" _She grimaced, feeling her heart fluttering in her chest. 3

Hiei's muscles suddenly stiffened at the direction she'd taken. _Well… _He hadn't expected _that_ by any means.

He forced himself to relax, but didn't respond. His eyes turned to stare at the ceiling briefly before he closed them, still finding no way to reply. _*****_

Shikiyoku's hand that Hiei had put over his stomach shifted up towards his neck-though it only got as far as his sternum-where she knew somewhere lay a Koorime's tear on a simple necklace. The tear Yukina had gotten from their mother and given to him to give to 'her brother.' Her twin.

The Ice Maiden had already known.

Shikiyoku fingers scratched briefly at his cloak where they ended up.

"_-and that's how I knew. When I first saw her. As soon as I saw her. And, she already knows who you are even without you saying it. But I've said nothing to anyone until here! Until you. Until now! And I won't... And...you and I are...a lot alike. Because..." _Images of her banishment seemed fresher for some reason, the emotions more raw, and coupled with the duality of her nature now…

_Pain and Pleasure. Fire and Ice._

_Cast out. Alone._

She shivered, warm but also cold, her heart still pounding and her head still spinning.

"_...and...I like you." _3

Hiei's lips turned downward in a scowl as Shikiyoku continued on, images of his interactions with Yukina passing before his mind's eye. Sure, he'd considered she might have already known, but had quickly decided that she _shouldn't _have known, because how could she have guessed? He hadn't thought she'd even been _told _of the story until she'd asked him to help her.

His scowl lessened.

At least if she still didn't mind his presence, he knew she didn't see him as… he thought she would.

He banished the thoughts quickly and his frown lessened.

It took a moment for Shiki's last few lines to register with him. And when they did, he released a small breath.

They.. _were _a lot alike, weren't they? Very similar in some aspects now.

He wasn't sure how he felt about such a thought.

"_...I don't mind you either." __*****_

She had been trying not to think about it ever since the other had left, but-

...

_He was __**Marked**__._

Shikiyoku cringed, the remembrance of how strong Hiei's desire to kill Otento had been washing over again.

...and if she had said that her heart _wasn't _aching terribly at that moment, it would have been a lie.

And for two reasons, it seemed, neither related to her loss of blood: _killing _someone who had been marked and the fact that Hiei had nearly _died_. 3

Hiei remained silent after that, staring up at the ceiling with blank eyes and whirring thoughts. Thoughts that were never the same one after the other, but each had a similar topic. A similar theme.

And she was laying next to him. _*****_

She didn't actually have any idea if the fact that _she _killed someone marked would have any lasting ramifications, but the truth was she could honestly say she wouldn't have done anything differently.

It wasn't as if she could have stabbed Otento in the face as soon as he showed up. And really, shouldn't she be _thanking _him for stabbing _her_? For his selfish response which was the only reason she was laying here with Hiei and not by herself?

_...then why does it hurt so bad?_

Her eyes closed and she shifted as if uncomfortable, as if burying her face farther into Hiei would make a difference. 3

Hiei's eyes turned to Shikiyoku, his thoughts pausing for the moment as she buried her face into his chest, hiding her expression from him entirely. And while he was unable to read her _expression_, he found that he learned all he needed to know from the general air around her.

His brows furrowed just a little.

Next, he was giving her the mental image of the first time they'd shared sweet snow together, on the floor of the kitchen so long ago.

Perhaps _that_ would… lessen the cloud around her.

~!**!~

It was there, just beyond her metaphorical fingertips, but Akari _still _couldn't access it. Not even as she reached up and threw away the arm that had come at her in attack, or blocked the kick that sent pain skittering up her arm.

It was _there_. So why couldn't she _use it? _Her energy was humming dully in her core, but it felt as if it took _too much _effort to pull at it, as if reaching for an attack would ultimately _worsen _her situation.

She sidestepped, swallowed hard, and reached again.

The strike that hit her this time sent her to the floor, back against the wall and legs sprawled out in front of her. Her head pounded like a hammer was continuously being thrown against it, and the taste of the coppery liquid falling over her lips was almost missed, as it had become _quite _normal these days.

She didn't even have the heart to growl when Takeo crouched in front of her, his large, oversized hand grabbing for her chin and turning it this way and that. "How is it you've managed to learn to block _my _attacks so quickly, but _not _to fall through a layer?"

She fought the cough, swallowing it back.

"Don't think me an idiot. I know you're trying for your energy, and I know you're aware of what it could do once you pull it free. Are you truly so desperate for escape? What lies beyond this castle, if not simple running from the guards who will hunt you for sport?"

Akari's lips twitched for the first time in weeks. "Wouldn't _you… _like to know."

His sneer disappeared all at once, and his hand released her chin, only if to allow him the ability to trace the mark along her jawline. His eyes followed it, head tilting a little as if it were the most magnificent thing in the world. "Such a shame. I really didn't _want _to put a scar there, you know." His eyes turned up to hers, expression peculiar to her. "You leave me no choice about a lot of things. Why not just give in?"

Akari batted his hand away with a shaking arm. She didn't reply.

His finger returned, starting the trace all over again, trailing from just under her ear to under her chin, stopping where the scar ended. "Such a shame." he repeated. His head tilted the other direction, eyes following his finger back up the way it came.

And then his hand moved, large, strong fingers closing around her throat, his eyes moving to stare at her widening ones, his stare unreadable as she gasped for air and made an attempt to pull his fingers from her neck.

They only tightened., and she squeezed her eyes shut, willing like hell to move, to grab at her energy, to do _something. _Because there was still someone she needed to see.

If he didn't already think she'd tossed him aside.

Her body suddenly went slack, her hand at the other's wrist stilling.

_Move._

And then the grip was gone, and she felt like she was floating on air.

Her eyes came open as she gasped, staring at a blurred demon with wild eyes.

If she'd been listening, she would have heard Takeo's victorious chuckle. *****

~!**!~

_-because I really don't know what I would do without him, and I can't believe I-_

_..._

_...flung a spoon at him?_

Shikiyoku blinked, mind enveloped in the memory that she had nearly forgotten. She'd been upset-_at Hiei?_-and by the look of it, Hiei wasn't exactly pleased with her either, though she could tell _now _that her choosing to toss a spoon in his direction took him off-guard. But he _had _joined her.

She let out a weak chuckle, shaking her head a little.

_Stupid girl._ 3

Was it safe for her to sleep yet?

He really, _really _wanted it to be. Even glanced at the window as if it would tell him how much time had passed. How long until she _could _rest? How long until she could escape this world for a few hours and go without worry? He stared at the window, mind still transferring the memory to the girl next to him even as he himself turned to other thoughts.

If _he _would have died for killing Otento, what would it do to _her_? Anything? Nothing?

How would she end up reconnecting with her sealed energy again? Was that the cause for her change in appearance?

Would that change too, later?

How long would it be before she could very possibly end up _stuck_ in such a state? Was that even something to consider?

_Everything is worth considering._

He noted the first indication of change in the time of day, the sky lightening just a little if he looked long enough. He turned his head to Shikiyoku, staring for a moment.

Surely it had been long enough.

_And if it hasn't?_

He scowled and turned his head away again.

"_How do you feel?" __*****_

Shikiyoku had just yawned when she felt Hiei's voice speaking across her mind.

"_Really...tired. Like-" _She smiled a little, "_Like I've been dancing for three days straight." _3

Hiei nearly, _nearly, _made a sound of amusement at her. "_Are you in pain?" __*****_

Her eyes shifted until she was staring down at the fabric of his cloak.

"_That depends on what we're talking about, I guess." _She tried to smile as if she meant it light-heartedly, but the edges of her lips only twitched a little. 3

Hiei rolled over and pulled her towards his chest, making sure the blanket over her came with before he settled, eyes closing. "_Go to sleep. I'll be here." _

_I'll watch over you. __*****_

Shikiyoku closed her eyes as Hiei's arms enveloped her and she took a deep breath, his scent washing over her mind and taking with it all the thoughts she found vying for her attention.

_Sleep won't make everything go away._

Her eyes fluttered open a little, but there was only darkness there too now.

She shifted.

_It will for a little while._

. . .

Dreamless.

A blessing, really, considering all that had happened. It would not have come as a surprise to her had she relived the last few hours in some sort of nightmare, but as she heaved a waking sigh, her eyes twitching, she almost thought the darkness she sensed around was wrong.

_It's gotta be afternoon._

And she felt warm too.

_Oh right._

As her awareness trickled in, she noted Hiei near her still, felt the bagginess of her clothing-which almost earned itself a laugh-and the blankets still wrapping her up against him.

When she finally blinked, she felt the smoothness of his cloak against her face and squeezed her eyes shut again as if to somehow return to the blissful ignorance of the sleep.

_My heart hurts. _3

Hiei's eyes shifted from the window- where he'd been checking how long it had been since she'd fallen asleep- to the girl who released a small sound against him and stirred just the slightest amount. He kept it hidden, but relief washed over him.

She was awake.

His eyes finally slid close and he drew in the smallest of breaths.

He'd wait for her to make it obvious she wanted him to know she was awake. Because, really…

She deserved a moment to gather herself. _*****_

Ached? Was ache a good word for it?

She was fairly certain she recognized this feeling. It was the same sort of pain she had wandered the Ninth Level with when she thought Kit had died, when their bond had broken. Not the listless, _dead _wandering when Hiei had been torn from her...

...but the kind that kept you aware of every little thing, like Hiei's smell and his arms around her and how the air felt light as if it were mid-afternoon, and how silent the rest of the room was save for the two of them.

She finally shifted her face up, wondering if Hiei had fallen asleep himself. It didn't seem like he had hardly moved, but she couldn't tell.

...Man, she was tiny...3

Hiei remained still, eyes closed and chest moving with his breathing as he took in her scent. He could feel the air around her was not as it should be, but he didn't exactly know what to make of it, other than it was… _wrong. _That he didn't want it there, didn't want her to feel its heaviness.

He felt her shift and was immediately aware of her eyes on his face, and for a moment he didn't move an inch.

After a few silent moments, his eyes came open to look down at her. And as he looked at her, he realized just how _small _she really was- something he hadn't let himself think about before now. Before his other, higher-prioritized thoughts.

Odd.

He noted that color had returned to her cheeks, bringing life back to her skin and to her face, whereas several hours before she'd been rather pale from blood loss.

He couldn't think of anything to say, his mind slowing in his normal thought processes. So he didn't say anything. *****

Shikiyoku started to wriggle around a little, moving up a briefly and planting a chaste kiss on Hiei's lips before pulling back down and staring at him again.

"I'm hungry." 3

Hiei's gaze softened just a little at her, too tired to give a reaction to the gesture she'd given. His eyelids slid close for a moment as he mentally shook himself, and then slid open again to stare at her a little longer.

His brow quirked upward just a little. "Then I suppose it's time to eat."

Honestly.. food didn't sound so bad either. _*****_

She blinked at him as if waiting for something.

"Do _you _have any food?" Her head tilted a little to the side, and it was clear she meant to question truthfully. 3

Hiei blinked once slowly at Shikiyoku as he considered her question. He made a small sound before replying, in a bit of a curious tone, "No?"

He paused again, as if he thought he _might _have something. He considered the contents of the fridge downstairs, of the cabinets. He knew nothing about any of it.

"Though… _you_ might have some stuff… _downstairs." __*****_

"Oh."

Right.

Her stomach growled and she started to sit up.

_Shush you._ 3

Hiei let Shikiyoku shift around, even releasing her and using a hand to help her sit upright, just in case. He himself, however, remained where he was for the smallest of moments before he too shifted and was sitting up, eyes still on the girl as if afraid she'd keelhaul at any moment. _*****_

Shikiyoku put a finger on Hiei's shoulder and gave a little push.

"You should sleep." She told him bluntly, child-like face serious and almost frowning. 3

Hiei let his shoulder moved in the direction her finger pushed, his brow raising curiously at her before settling into place again when she spoke. He moved, sliding away from the bed and meandering towards the door with the single sound, "Hn." _*****_

_Not that I expected you to listen to me._

Her eyes softened and she looked more like Shikiyoku than a five year old in that moment as she watched his back.

After a pause, she crawled backwards off the bed and carefully slid herself over the side to the floor, making a noise of disgust after landing and seeing the state her clothing was in.

Her shoes and socks had fallen off some time between Kit healing her and getting onto the bed and as she looked down at herself, it was easy to see the gaping hole in what had been a sleek, black tanktop, of which one strap fell off her shoulder. Not to mention the fact that a good deal of it was soaked in her own blood, and some of Otento's.

...and she wouldn't really be able to walk properly without having to hold onto a few belt loops.

..._I mean, I've been small since taking on a human form, but this is ridiculous. _

She just felt thankful that her hair had shrunk with her and only hung down to her knees.

Her eyes quickly cast about the room, bothered by how _big _everything looked when one stood barely two feet tall. Even getting back onto the bed would take a few awkward moments that she did not plan on letting anyone witness.

The strangest thing of all was feeling so very human. _Actually _human instead of a demon suppressing her powers. Frail, weak, and small.

_What a wonderful combination. _

She glanced down at the bloodied mess of her shirt and tried to pull up the renegade strap, stepping out of the black pants that were about to fall around her ankles anyway and moving to the dresser, opening the second drawer and shuffling around in it. 3

Hiei paused at the door with his hand around the knob, his eyes suddenly trailing down at his cloak. His bloodied, dry, crusty cloak. A cloak that he didn't wish to remove in front of the others, but did not wish to wear around all day either.

_Damn._

His hand fell from the doorknob and pulled his cloak just a little away, to inspect the mess some more. _What a pain. _He lifted his head to look around the room, as if he'd find something there to replace.

Preferably something with long sleeves.

He moved lazily across the room, approaching the door he only assumed lead to a closet and pulled it open, careful not to let it slam into the nearby desk. His hand remained on the handle as his eyes roved inside, looking at each shirt, each colored material carefully before passing over it and to the next for inspection.

_Preferably something she doesn't wear often._

His eyes alighted on a material that wasn't particularly worn, wasn't particularly favored it seemed. He pulled it from the hanger and took to inspecting it carefully, eyeing the long sleeves and the neckline in consideration.

HE'd have to wear the scarf still but..

_It will do._

Hiei had no hesitation in pulling his cloak from his person, his eyes momentarily looking to the mark on his skin. He realized this was the first time he'd actually _looked _at it, rather than figured out how large it was by where it spread.

His eyes followed the curls, the swirls, from the heart over the left side of his chest to up and over his shoulder, and even down that arm, ending just after the crook in his arm. It decorated his neck too, he knew, but he _hadn't _known it had grown to cover a majority of the left side of his torso as well, the shapes and swirls beginning to seem to stretch towards his right side, seeming to avoid his back for the meantime.

_Heh._

He pulled the red long-sleeved shirt over his head with ease, his scarf in one hand and his cloak hanging on the doorknob of the closet as he adjusted the shirt around until it was comfortable. And soon after, he made quick work of the scarf around his neck, easily positioning it to hide the bits of the mark that had begun to creep up underneath it the night before.

Once satisfied, he turned and grabbed for his cloak, pausing as he again inspected the material of his favorite article of clothing. _*****_

It was funny how she couldn't remember much of what was in any of these drawers.

She had managed to open the top one a little, standing on tip-toe to look in, but it was all socks and such, the second drawer having been pants, jeans, even after she practically tore the thing apart with her rummaging.

She sat down to look through the bottom one, giving a huff of impatience. There were a couple of folded up sun-dresses that weren't going to work, most of the things in here bed-time clothing, pajamas, night gowns-

_Ugh._

Sliding the drawer back into place, she didn't take particular notice of whatever Hiei was doing, but she did step up beside him, tilting her head back to look up at what was in the closet and pulling at the front of her tank-top, a strap off her shoulder again, where it felt like the blood had stuck to her skin

_Icky_. 3

Hiei saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and glanced down at Shikiyoku, watching her for a moment in amusement as she pulled at the shirt she wore. He turned his eyes to the clothing in the closet again, suddenly realizing how much of a challenge this would be to her for her to grab _anything_. His eyes roved again over the materials, deciding anything with long sleeves was a no-go, as was anything _without _sleeves.

His hand snaked out to pull a little at a hanger, then replaced it once he decided it wouldn't do.

He glanced at her again before his hand pulled yet another hanger from the bunch, this time actually removing it from the rack to stare at it unblinkingly before nodding to himself once, removing the t-shirt from the hanger- which he replaced- and lowering the shirt in front of her.

"Here." _*****_

Shikiyoku blinked for a second at the offer before taking it from him.

It would...hang down to her ankles, but it wasn't likely to be better than anything else she could see.

And she couldn't reach anything on her own anyway.

As she was looking at it, she tugged at the back of the tank-top where the hole, or rather the bloody mess around the hole,had dried together to peel it from her skin.

Without much more than a shrug as if to say 'it'll work,' she pushed the other strap off her shoulder and as the remains of the tank-top dropped, began pulling the other shirt on over her head.

Her eyes glanced ruefully at her shoulder once she got it on, sticking out of the too-large collar and no matter how much she tried to center the thing, it always ended up back off-kilter.

_Whatever. I'm hungry._

The shirt rustled around her ankles as she moved for the door, standing on tip-toe again and grabbing at the knob with both hands in order to turn it and letting go once it started to swing inward, peering out into the hallway. 3

Hiei had turned to walk away when Shikiyoku gave a small shrug, which seemed out of place on her tiny shoulders, and was hanging his cloak over the end of the bed when he heard her padding her way across the carpet. He smoothed out the material begrudgingly before he turned and sauntered across the room, standing over Shikiyoku as she managed to pull the door open and look out into the hallway.

Had he _not _been as tired as he was, he likely would have remarked about her slow pace. But today..

Today, he found he rather _preferred_ the slowness. The complete lack in fast movements and quick quips.

Because he was only half sure he-

_Damn._

Taka was going to be hell today. _*****_

Shikiyoku hesitated.

_What are they gonna think?_

_They've already seen you like this, stupid._

It didn't make it any easier.

She had no idea if there even _was _anyone else in the house.

Still moving with a caution that did not seem to suit her small size, Shikiyoku stepped out into the hall and moved to the right for the stairs, putting a hand up against the wall as she made her way down the steps that seemed a whole bunch bigger than she ever remembered them.

The house was...quiet, and from her vantage point as she paused about half-way down she could see an arm thrown up over the nearest couch arm. Taka's.

Curiosity over-taking her, when she reached the first floor, she padded on quiet bare feet over around the side of the couch to see the bird demon stretched out, his body so long-or perhaps the couch so short-that the leg that wasn't bent at the knee and resting on the ground hung over the other end.

His face was turned away for the most part, his right hand resting on the body of a black cat that was stretched out along the length of his torso.

Shikiyoku stepped up to the side of the couch and poked Taka's cheek.

He stirred very little, and Shikiyoku poked him harder, earning a noise of discontent and him shifting around until his face was in her direction.

"Taka, I'm _hungry_." Shikiyoku demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Taka grunted and opened an eye, "Then why don't you-" Both eyes came open and he blinked.

_Oh yeah..._

"Can't reach the stove?" He started to sit up and the cat stirred, blinking at him with irritation.

Shikiyoku only frowned at him.

"Oh, come on, don't look at me like that, sweetheart." _Wow, that's kind of weird calling her that when she looks like this._

Kitoushi slid off of Taka as the demon sat up, and moved to curl up on the cushion next to him.

As Taka stood, Shikiyoku moved and grabbed for the cat, earning a huff of unhappiness as she dragged him off the couch and held him just under his front legs, moving to follow after Taka.

Taka paused in mid-step and glanced down at her. She stopped just short of him and looked up at him, green eyes wide with a strange sort of innocence that seemed misplaced.

He sighed, "Sweetheart, put the cat down."

Shikiyoku, still frowning, shook her head.

"He's tired. He doesn't even have the strength to change back yet."

She shook her head again, and Taka noted the cat's half-lidded gaze, though otherwise he didn't seem to be fighting her attention.

Shikiyoku turned her eyes up to Taka again and blinked.

"Ugh. Those eyes." Taka turned away, and kept going, Shikiyoku falling in step right behind him again, "And here I thought they couldn't _get _any worse." 3

Hiei remained at the top of the stairs for a moment longer, pulling the door shut behind himself before he very slowly began taking the steps to the living room area. By the time he joined the proverbial party, Taka was up and moving to the kitchen, and Kitoushi was in Shikiyoku's grasp.

The fire demon's eyes followed the girl's trail, listening to Taka make an attempt at convincing her to put the cat down, and failing.

Rather miserably, he would add.

Hiei moved to stand behind Shikiyoku, not moving after her when she continued to follow Taka.

"Shikiyoku," Hiei called, tone flat and leaving no room for arguments, "Give me the cat." _*****_

She had only taken a couple of steps when she stopped and turned, her face serious.

She shook her head at him.

_Nu-uh. _3

Hiei's eyes stared at Shikiyoku, unblinking as he raised an expectant brow at her. "_Shikiyoku_," his tone was a little heavier, as if he found no capacity for arguing, "Kitoushi needs sleep. You are not helping him achieve it. _Hand me. The cat." __*****_

"No, he's mine." Shikiyoku informed him defiantly.

Kitoushi gave a little sigh, the tip of his tail curling and uncurling in the air. 3

Hiei took a single step to close the distance between them before he crouched in front of her, remaining on his toes as his gaze remained locked with hers, flashing a little. Part of him was _very _amused, but the other part of him was _so _not in the mood to argue.

He did know, however, that carrying around Kitoushi would only prolong the demon's ability to recover.

"_Shiki." _He held his arms out patiently.

Or, as patiently as he could.

"He can't play with you if you don't let him sleep first." _*****_

Shikiyoku's frown deepened and she leaned back a little from Hiei at first when he squatted in front of her, staring at his hands suspiciously.

She turned her gaze back up to him, appearing to consider him and his offered arms.

Letting out a forceful breath, she held the cat out, turning her head to the side and refusing to look at him as she muttered, "Only 'cuz you called me Shiki. 'Cuz I wasn't gonna _play _with him anyway." 3

Hiei slowly reached out and slid the cat from Shikiyoku's grasp, moving Kitoushi to one arm so he could use his other hand to reach out and pat at Shikiyoku's head once.

"I'll remember that."

He turned and moved for the couch, where he lowered the cat to the cushion before taking a seat on the next one, resting his elbow on the armrest and turning his eyes to the kitchen briefly before looking to Kitoushi. After a moment, his eyes returned to the kitchen area again.

He _refused _to sleep. He still wanted to eat, anyway. _*****_

As soon as Hiei took Kitoushi from her, Shikiyoku flipped her hair over her shoulder as she stalked back to the kitchen where Taka was yawning and pulling things out of cabinets.

She stared at him for a little bit, one hand moving over to her other arm and rubbing at it.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He kept searching for things, casting her a brief glance.

He noted her gaze had fallen.

_I hurt. _

She gave a tiny shrug and Taka put down whatever he had in his hand, moving over to pick her up-_I don't think I'd ever get used to her being this small_-and setting her on the counter near where he put things out to work on.

Once being placed on the couch, Kitoushi stood there awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do next before he decided Hiei was too far away to move towards and hunched over, eyes closing as he curled his tail up next to him, a certain amount of tension at his shoulders. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	93. Episode 177 - Battle at the Rift

****A/N:**** Hello once again, Audience!

So, I apologize ahead of time for the shortness of today's chapter, as well as the lack of recap for the last chapter, but I wanted to at least get SOMETHING posted, and posted relatively on time, today.

I am currently nursing a very sick little kitten that my mom just got a couple of weeks ago. He had a bad reaction to his first set of shots last weekend and after spending all day today at the vet, I've been waking him up every hour from sleeping on my lap to force-feed him some food since he isn't eating or drinking on his own.

As far as we know, he has a virus whose name I can't remember (not pan luc) that proves fatal in all cases of kittens that get it and it's only a matter of time.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

Hiei's ears listened to the next room for a minute longer before his attention turned elsewhere- exactly where, he wasn't even sure. His ears tuned in to the sound of the rain steadily falling outside, and his eyes took to staring forward at the dark, blank screen of the television that wasn't on.

His chin dipped a little lower against his hand and his eyes slid closed about halfway, still staring forward, but not seeing the screen for its worth.

He became aware of movement, from the cat nearby he realized. His eyelids came open and his gaze turned to stare at the tense feline. At first, he dismissed it and turned his eyes forward.

But after a few moments, he made a small sound of dissatisfaction.

_Dammit._

Hiei reached for the cat again with a silent sense of apology being sent in the cat's direction, and he slid a hand beneath Kitoushi's body before pulling the cat over to himself, pausing in hesitation as he hadn't thought this far, and then simply acted.

With both hands carefully guiding the long, slender body of the cat, he stretched Kitoushi over his own shoulders, giving a small huff as his hands slid away from the furball to allow him to get comfortable as he so pleased. _*****_

One of Kitoushi's eyes came open at Hiei's message before he felt himself lifted from the couch, and once Hiei had the cat over his shoulders, there was really little else Kit wanted to do besides collapse.

Well, that and start purring profusely.

Shikiyoku sat with her fingers curled around the edge of the counter, leaning forward a little and just sort of staring at the floor.

Taka kept glancing over at her on occasion, but mostly kept at his task. 3

Hiei felt his lips twitch just a little when Kitoushi's purr began to reverberate against his shoulders, but otherwise he gave no reaction to the cat's presence. He propped his elbow on the armrest again, rested his chin on his hand, crossed one leg over the other, and quickly became comfortable right where he was.

Before he knew it, his eyelids were halfway closed and he was staring at the television again, fighting the urge to let his eyelids slide close and let his mind give into sleep. _*****_

Given the rain outside, Youko didn't so much as set a foot on the First Layer until he was certain he stood in Shikiyoku's home, and he unfolded himself from inbetween to enter the main room, standing a few feet from the front door.

_Hiei on the couch with...Kit. Taka in the kitchen._

Youko moved for the kitchen gracefully, "Hey bird, have you seen-"

Taka didn't appear to take much notice of the fox entering the kitchen, but if he had bothered to look up, he would have caught Youko staring blatantly at Shikiyoku, his head tilting a little.

_{That's...new.}_

_[I can't even __**feel **__her presence, it's like she's-]_

_{Otento.}_

Kurama didn't even have to growl the demon's name for Youko's lip to curl.

_[She looks so serious.]_

_{I would be too.}_

_[...I feel weird about calling her seductress.]_

_{You probably shouldn't.}_

Before Youko had a chance to say anything else, Shikiyoku was looking up at him with large, solemn eyes and distracted him from anything he had planned to do.

When she held her arms out to him, Youko moved immediately and picked her up, feeling as if with one wrong move he might break her as she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He wanted to ask her what was wrong, because clearly something was bothering her, but he stayed silent for another second until she leaned back again and looked into his eyes.

"You know, humans have this candy type they refer to as 'fun-sized.'"

Shikiyoku's face did not so much as falter, "I am _not _fun-sized."

Taka sent a curious expression Youko's direction, "What's...'fun-sized?'"

Youko had Shikiyoku sitting on one arm and he lifted the other, spreading his fingers to indicate the size, "Means it's this big."

Taka scoffed and turned back to his work, "What's _fun _about less candy?" 3

Hiei was fully aware of the fox's appearance, but he didn't so much as move from his spot, didn't even bother glancing at the fox in greeting. He instead put all of his effort into being comfortable, but _not _sleeping. To listening to his surroundings, ranging from the rain and occasional thunder outside to the conversation that brewed in the next room, to the purring of the cat on his shoulders.

He wasn't even aware his eyelids had slid closed until he opened them to glance to the side.

Even then, his eyelids slid closed again and he found himself leaning further back into the couch, very mindful of the cat, if anything.

_Perhaps a small nap wouldn't hurt. I'll wake when I smell food. __*****_

Youko stood still in the middle of the kitchen, he and Shikiyoku staring at one another and his tail swishing behind him.

"You look so _serious_. Was she like this as a kid, cuz?"

"_I wouldn't know." _From his place around Hiei's shoulders, Kitoushi opened a single eye, but it quickly fell closed again as he continued, "_I think her first Champion is the one who raised her. I do know her kind don't have powers at a young age. She said that much at least."_

"Understandable." Youko studied her face again and Shikiyoku reached out and grabbed a fistful of his hand, tugging it as her frown deepened.

"I don't _like _foxes." She informed him.

"Well-"

Taka laughed and Youko shot him a glare.

"-it's a good thing I'm not strictly a fox."

"_I assume that's why she reverted." _Kitoushi told him, continuing, "_Or that bastard Otento discovered how to do it himself. It wouldn't particularly surprise me." _

Shikiyoku's tug grew stronger and Youko gave into her pull with amusement as she lowered his head until she finally let go of his hair and grabbed for his ear.

"Yes, you are."

"Tch-" Youko flicked his ear free of her grasp, turning his head a little so she couldn't immediately get a hold of it again.

She did, however, lean into him again and wrap her arms about his neck.

"You can put me down now."

Youko gave her a little smile and obliged, and Shikiyoku wandered off into the other room, heading up the stairs.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stood just shy of the window in one of the extra bedrooms, staring out at the rain as it pelted against the glass, feeling as if she could hear each drop as it landed. One hand was clutching at the pendant that still hung around her neck, though it fell down almost to her stomach now instead of sitting at her chest.

She had found the bracelet Douji made her had slipped off of her wrist, but Taka had earlier assured her he placed it on the desk in her own bedroom.

And in her reflection in the window, she could see that Youko's flower was smaller now, more suited to her size. She didn't have the strength to wonder at it.

She reached up to scratch at the edge of her lip absently, thinking how appropriately melancholy the storm was outside.

As she turned away, she heard something from the room and she stopped, eyes darting around.

_There it was again._

She turned as if maybe it came from outside, but the third time she looked up, and as if from a great distance a shape wheeled in from the air above her, making the strange call again, something that tugged at her aching heart and left her standing there staring.

As the shape dove towards her, it was like a grey mist in the air that slowly started to form a more coherent shape and then began circling her.

It was...a small dragon. Looking ghostly and forlorn until it landed on her shoulder and turned its eyes to her, folding its wings to its back and letting its tail hang down her front.

She could feel no weight as she stared at it, blinking for a moment until it opened its jaws and called again.

"...Ryou?" Her heart jumped a little as the dragon bent over and nuzzled at her cheek, and Shikiyoku was suddenly looking around her.

Her voice on the air sounded wobbly and distant, and the room around her was fuzzy, like it was only half-there.

Ryou lifted from her shoulder and circled her again, moving off across the hallway into her bedroom and leaving a trailing mist behind him that disappeared.

Entranced, Shikiyoku followed after him, moving through the closed door.

Her core immediately shook and she let out a strangled sort of noise as her hand flew up to her mouth, eyes stinging with tears.

What was left of Otento still lay on the ground in this inbetween place, the blood appearing to have stained the entire bedroom in some form or another, either with splatters or the pools that had grown in size.

_I'm sorry._

Ryou made another sad sound as he slowly circled the room and then flew out the window.

_It hurts._

Her other hand clutched at her heart and it was all she could do to stare.

As her eyes flickered from one piece of the demon to the next, she started to notice that the blood on the ground was...moving.

She followed the flow from the pools to the window Otento had crawled in from, and the one out of which Ryou had just disappeared, seeing that neither the blood nor the dragon seemed to not care about the wall, moving beyond it as if it was not even there.

Shikiyoku stepped closer, not caring whether she avoided the red liquid, her eyes watching the tiny rivers moving silently away as she walked up to the window and looked out.

The blood kept moving further out and even though on the First Layer there were trees and houses and buildings, it was as if she could see through them all into the middle of the city, but there were no people.

As her vision kept lifting, her eyes grew wide.

There was a giant hole, as if Kuwabara himself had sliced through the dimensions just above the main street in the center of town, but this one was a mile high. And pouring from it in countless numbers...were the dead. Or...were demons who should have been dead.

She recognized a few of the faces at the front of their line, faces that she had at one time seduced, demons that had been killed after, but there were scores more she did not know running, filling the street like a giant wave and rushing down to follow the road...to follow the blood.

Shikiyoku tore her eyes from the sight and found that she had landed back in her room, and that the rain had cleared, the sun shining through clouds that were quickly dissipating in number, and that the blood on the floor was no longer visible.

Without hesitation she turned and snatched up her bloody tanktop, grabbing the pants she had let fall by the bedside, and ran for the door.

~!**!~

It had taken about thirty minutes for Taka to finish and set the food out and he made everyone serve themselves as he prepared a plate for Shikiyoku after eating a plate himself.

By the time the smells of the meal penetrated into the living room, Kitoushi clambered off of Hiei and shifted forms as he made for the kitchen.

Once everyone else appeared to have what they needed, Taka picked up the plate for Shikiyoku and moved out into the living room and, not seeing her, headed for the stairs only to have her practically slam into him as she came tearing out of her room and down the stairs like a bat out of hell.

She skidded to a stop just short of him breathing heavily and he looked surprised at her with her bundle of clothing in her arms and her wide-eyed look of near terror.

"We've-" She heaved a breath, "Got a problem." 3

Hiei hadn't meant to, but he'd fallen asleep right where he'd sat, chin on the knuckles of his hand and one knee crossed over the other. It was a dreamless, dark sleep that had taken over his whole being, making his shoulders slump and his lips part just a little to release small puffs of air here and there.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he'd been aware of the smell of food, and the sound of people gathering in the kitchen. He'd even been aware of Kitoushi leaving him, but it hadn't stirred the fire demon for even a moment.

What _did_ stir him, however, was the odd sense of _wrongness_ in the air. Something he couldn't pinpoint until his eyelids came open and he glanced towards the stairs, Shikiyoku saying words he didn't catch.

He turned his head forward again, eyes coming closed once more as he began to fall close to the sleep realm again. Though, he didn't really reach it. Instead, he stayed in an in-between state, half aware of his surroundings, half not.

~!**!~

A finger traced the mark along her jaw, her back touching the wall again. For the third time today. Akari threw a hand up and batted Takeo away, turning a dark glare to the much taller demon. He only brought his hand up again, his index digit resuming where she'd batted it away. "You know, I rather like this scent on you. The scent of blood."

Akari released a defiant sound through her nostrils.

"It makes it so much _easier_ to hide your presence. I hardly have to send the drink with the maids anymore. But, I figured you'd noticed that." His finger reversed directions, tracing again up her jawline and pausing under her left ear. His expression seemed to… soften, but that wasn't exactly how she would have said it. "Tell me, would you rather the drink, or the daily… _training?_"

She didn't dignify him with an answer.

"Such defiance in those eyes. Where _did _you suddenly find the energy?" His head tilted to the side as he brought his earth-colored gaze up to her own hazel one. "It certainly wasn't the body of the other dog. You've ignored it since he was killed." He blinked once. "It's a shame, really. He was here to _save _you, and you merely stepped over his corpse as if he were nothing but trash on the side of the road."

She still didn't reply.

"You didn't know that story?" He pulled away, though maintained the little space between them, toe to toe. "Hm. I thought I'd told you."

"It wouldn't change anything."

There was a pause before the demon gave a delighted laugh. "There's that gruff voice! The first words spoken in _weeks_, and they're dripping with the same venom in that glare. I absolutely _adore _it."

She worked her jaw around, biting the edges of her tongue to keep from saying something that would likely lead to… well, just about anything shy of actual death. She did, however, manage to create herself a bubble of space by striking at his chest, forcing him a step back.

And where she'd hit him, her own chest stung. She fought the flinch.

"Your temper has returned full blaze, I see. Along with your forgetful memory." His lips turned up in a crooked sneer. "Have you forgotten that we're _bound?"_

"Not in the least."

"Then you… enjoy harming yourself?" When she didn't answer, he sighed long-sufferingly. "I remember the first time you actually landed a near-fatal blow. The look on your face when _you_ felt the effects too was priceless, might I add." He paused, his eyes turning to a nearby camera in the corner as if he'd been signaled to do so. He turned back to her. "Have you figured out why you can't reach your energy yet? Why you can still see, hear, move, and smell like a demon, but you cannot _attack_ like one? With energy, I mean."

Akari's eyes narrowed at the edges. "I may be young, but I'm not stupid. Not entirely, anyway."

He went on as if she hadn't spoken. "That's because when you drink your morning drink, you take in a bit of my blood. Remember that smell you hated the first day? That was my doing. My idea. It keeps you off of Spirit World's radar, and thus, in here. It puts up a wall between yourself and your energy, and allows _me _the ability to use it as I see fit. Which, coincidentally, means we are also bound at the soul."

He made a small sound of amusement.

"So if _I _die, so too will you. Hence, the pain of your own attacks."

Akari blinked once, expression bored. She'd already known that.

"And since _I _have taken in none of _you_ life essence, _I _am not bound to _you. _My life does not depend on yours."

"Is there a reason for this lesson?"

He hummed in thought, a hand stroking at his chin. "Just to remind you of your own limitations, and my obvious lack of such."

_Ass._

"I know, I try."

_Tch._

"Now, little warrior dog, which would you prefer: another go in duel, or a feast with the king?"

Akari's brows raised. "Excuse you?"

"Dinner with Yomi, or more _training_ with yours truly?" When her lips stayed sealed, he shook his head. "Time's wasting, little one."

_King, or beating? Dinner, or exhaustion?_

"Tick, tock."

…_._

She shifted, moving away from the wall and pulling her fists up to her face. "I think I'll skip dinner. The sooner I get by that stupid veil, the sooner I'm released."

"Good girl." _*****_

~!**!~

Taka raised an eyebrow at her, "Problem?"

He made as if to hand her the plate in his hand and she shook her head, obviously still out of breath.

Youko wandered out of the kitchen, Kitoushi not far behind.

Shikiyoku looked to Youko first and she pointed to the East, through part of the kitchen, which the fox obliged her by glancing in that direction, though there was little to see that he had not just experienced.

He looked back and gave her a stare, chewing at the food he'd just forked into his mouth from the plate he held.

"Through the layers." She managed to tell him, wondering if her weakness came from yesterday's encounter or the one she'd had just now with Ryou.

Youko's eyebrows lifted as if to say 'ah,' and when he turned his head again, he mostly disappeared from her sight as he folded himself inbetween, becoming mostly insubstantial and his form wavering in and out of view.

The fox immediately stepped out from the layers, swallowing his food in a hurry, his mouth open and his expression unsure as he looked back at her.

"A. Problem?" He held up a finger from around the fork in his hand, "I believe. That constitutes. As more than. A _single_ problem."

"What. Is going on." Taka demanded.

Shikiyoku let out an exasperated huff, grabbed Taka's hand and dragged him towards the front door, throwing it open and jerking him outside behind her, pointing East, to her right.

When she let go of Taka's hand, he didn't seem to notice, transfixed on the giant rift that had opened maybe five miles from her home as he walked down the sidewalk to the street with her close behind, gaping further when he saw the rush of demons heading in their direction.

His face took on the same air as Youko's had and he pursed his lips together.

By this time the others had gathered around him, Kitoushi stretching his arms calmly above his head which garnered a look from Taka that the cat returned as if bored.

"I don't know about _you_," He lowered his arms and moved his head back and forth over his shoulders, "But it's been awhile since I've gotten to _spread my wings_." Kitoushi started off at a jog towards the on-coming swarm.

Taka's expression grew slightly irritated, his pointed ears flicking as he started after Kit, wings appearing behind him.

"I suppose I could use a good excuse to _stretch my legs_, eh?" Taka retorted.

Kitoushi grinned wickedly at him and shifted forms in mid-run, his sleek, furry back nearly at the height of Taka's chest.

"And what _exactly _is the plan here?" Youko wanted to know, joining them.

Taka cracked his knuckles, "Kill things."

"_Drive them back."_ Kitoushi replied evenly, nodding his large head to the rift.

"How?" Youko interjected

"By force." Taka provided with a smile.

"You're _so _subtle." 3

Again, Hiei's eyelids slid open to view the room, noting the terse exchange between the demons before his hand covered his eyes, rubbing at them in irritation. Why hadn't he just stayed upstairs and gone undisturbed? Why hadn't he just stayed on the bed and slept _peacefully?_

When he opened his eyes again, the room was dead silent, not a single being inside.

_Better._

…

_No it's not._

To wake himself, Hiei turned inward and pulled his energy, making it run through his body faster and faster until his eyes came open again and he was between the layers, moving with concise, very measured steps, Jagan locked on Shikiyoku as he stepped outside.

It took only a mere second for him to come up beside her just outside the house, his red eyes turning up to regard…

"What the _hell…. _is that?"

His hand held his katana within the time it took him to voice the question, eyes watching the demons making a run for the…

For the…

_What the hell? __*****_

"Your guess is as good as mine." Shikiyoku shrugged, "But..." She was at a loss for words, remembering the faces she recognized, the faces that were long dead. "Whatever it is, it's definitely coming this way."

~!**!~

"_Should we keep a body count?" _Kitoushi glanced at Taka.

"You really think you're going to get more of them than me?"

"_Of course."_

"Cheeky." Youko observed as Taka lifted into the air and Kitoushi's size grew until he outdistanced Youko in only a couple of strides and dove into the midst of the demons, now standing taller at stomach than any of those around him.

Youko scoffed as he called two vine whips into his hand and lowered himself as he ran, noting the ground to his right start to heave as if in a wave moving to crash with the one in front of them and glancing up only for a moment to see Taka's hands glowing as the bird made a beeline for the approaching demons.

_Show-offs. _3

Hiei dashed forward, leaving Shikiyoku behind and running headlong towards the chaos he'd woken up to join. Chaos he didn't know how had started. Chaos he knew- likely the others too- absolutely nothing about. With his speed and the help of his delayed appearance to the scene, he found it very easy to dive into a group of the creatures and begin moving, spinning from foot to foot and throwing his sword through one demon after another, not even pausing mid-step when one would break from the form and make a lash at him.

And with the help of his Jagan, he was easily able to predict the moves of the demons around him, easily able to see a new threat moving in from the crowd and cut it down before it had a chance to strike.

_They wouldn't even be worthy of the dragon. __*****_

~!**!~

He felt as if they were forgetting something, but...

It was hard from his vantage point to _not _get excited as Taka manipulated the very earth these demons were walking on.

There were so _many_.

_This is going to be __**way **__too much fun. _

As he entombed, squished really, more demons under another wave of earth, he spotted a trio appearing from what he could only assume were the other layers and as he focused in on them he realized he recognized one-_no, __**two**__-_of them: Kafu the bartender and Horu the guild leader.

The three only paused for a moment, likely assessing the situation, before Taka watched Horu draw his three swords, twirling the short ones in one hand as he brandished the longer in his left, and Kafu charging after him, the incandescent hands behind his head shooting forward as he dashed into the fray, six or eight demons in his way being lifted into the air and torn to pieces.

As for the third...well, Taka _saw _him draw his sword, and then the demon disappeared from his sight for a second until he spotted large circles of demons falling in an advancing pattern that seemed to be working its way to the middle.

Taka had to blink a couple of times before his vision caught up, and even then he could only barely track the movements of this other demon who seemed to barely move and take down countless demons in his wake.

_OH. Duh. Uryo._

Taka didn't know of another demon with speed like that.

With one swipe of a giant paw, Taka would watch as Kitoushi toppled twenty of his own aggressors, turning and leaping and pouncing through others even as Taka murmured a trigger word and formed earthen spears around himself and shot the spell down towards the relentless attackers.

Another dot of movement caught Taka's eyes and he slapped one hand against his forehead.

_You._

It wasn't hard to zero into the small shape dashing forward and Taka snorted and shook his head, starting to wheel about in a turn, though he was in no hurry and in truth felt amusement.

As he dove, spiraling downwards, the figure shifted forms as the very first of the front of the wave met her and quickly fell, strands of yellowish-black energy shooting from her body.

Luckily for her, there weren't any to follow for she dropped to a knee, bent over and coughing up blood as Taka landed in front of her.

"You're not a fighter, you know." He had his hands on his hips.

Shikiyoku wiped the back of her hand across her lips and looked up at him, eyes black and narrowed with annoyance.

Taka frowned at the deep, craggy, heart-shaped scar that was outlined over half her lips, a few other swirls he found oddly familiar etched up her cheek and down under her jaw.

When she stood up and made as if to pass him, he put out an arm.

"I. Don't think so, sweetheart." He stopped her in place and she gave him that same look of annoyance, making to duck under his arm.

He half-meant to let her stay in that form, but as his arm brushed up against the front of her, he could almost _feel _her heart falter and as she stumbled he scooped her up and lifted into the air again, holding her close against his body as she tried to struggle.

Weakly, he would have added.

Without further hesitation he promptly kissed her and ended up with bright green eyes glaring back at him as he laughed and pulled away, taking them higher into the air.

"Put me down, Taka." She demanded, tiny voice matching her small, child-like body.

"No."

Her eyes gleamed as she reached inwards to access her power, finding that the black sphere surrounding her core gave easily to her aggressive wrenching of it and suddenly her shape morphed as she grew larger in his arms.

"Put. Me. Down."

While she may have felt relief in that moment at having met no resistance from Otento's energy-block, her irritation at being kept from the fight overtook said relief.

"No!" He grinned.

She looked away from him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hmph."

"Oh, don't be like that, sweetheart." It was much easier to call her that when she was bigger.

He frowned at her clothing though, at the hole over her heart and the bloody mess of the tank top and dark pants she wore.

After a second she looked back at him, eyes shimmering.

"Put me down, Taka."

"Nope!" He replied cheerily, looking away.

"_Taka_." She purred at him. "Put me down."

He sighed, "Fine." And made no move to do any such thing. 3

~!**!~

Hiei became aware of the newcomers, but only after one of them moved by him, taking with him the demons he'd very much been meaning to kill. His eyes shot in the direction the demon had gone, narrowing for a moment as his Jagan locked on the demon

_Uryo._

Hiei made a sound and turned back to what he'd been doing, finding demons crawling over one another, running at him in mobs. Swarms.

_I've warmed up enough._

Hiei's fingers flexed around the hilt of his sword, and in the next moment, flames were moving around him as he spun, stepped around demons, the inferno growing and growing around him until he had a good twenty-foot radius clear about him of any demon moving at him.

The spark in Hiei's eyes was one that he'd long since saved for another, whose death he himself didn't get to deliver.

_This will have to do._

All of his previous anger, no- _rage- _boiled, lighting his eyes into a fire that rivaled the flames about him, his teeth gnashing together as he pictured the same face over and over coming at him.

Faces that became unrecognizable within mere seconds of his eyes landing on them.

It was going to have to do.

_This is going to __**have **__to do._

He made his way towards… whatever that thing was, where the creatures originated, avoiding the others as much as possible, his inferno following in his stead and leaving a stream of angry flames.

Flames that came alive and soon began moving of their own accord, taking anything they wished because here, they were _allowed_ to destroy everything in sight. No human would be harmed, and the Jagan knew of which presences to stay clear of.

The Jagan glowed angrily, burning away the cloth at his forehead as he neared the riff, the tear in the layers he supposed, and he dropped his blade mid-stride, hand flexing and moving up, palm towards the newest swarm of demons- creatures, whatever- that dared to come through.

And if he yelled for the dragon's appearance, he wasn't consciously aware of it. _*****_

~!**!~

"I'm sorry, but you're _not _fighting."

"Well, that's too bad because I already started."

"Sweetheart, I'm not about to let you switch again."

"Let me, Taka?" Shikiyoku's eyes narrowed at him.

He grinned, "I may or may not have intentionally let you do it so I could steal a kiss."

Shikiyoku let out a heavy sigh.

"But seriously, you need to not do that again." He frowned as Shikiyoku turned a more questioning gaze onto him. "Your core...it...I could feel it giving out."

"Mm." Shikiyoku didn't reply.

Taka shifted his hold on her a little as he swept out a hand and called another wave of earth to envelop another score of the advancing demons and he glanced at the rift.

There didn't appear to be any sign of them slowing in how quickly they poured out. And neither did there appear to be a way to close the dang thing.

Not that Taka particularly minded at that moment.

"Well _that's _intere-" Taka did a double take, not because of the flames of darkness he could see pouring from the fire apparition, but because his keen eyesight spotted the markings-

_Those markings..._

_...godsdammitall._

Taka let out an irritated sigh from between his teeth, lowering his and Shikiyoku's height in the air.

"_Why _didn't you _tell _me?"

Shikiyoku couldn't help the smug smile on her face, "Because it was more fun seeing you make an idiot of yourself."

"Naturally. Why am I not surprised on that front."

She stuck her tongue out at him and he raised an eyebrow, his agitation still apparent.

"You want to lose that tongue?"

It disappeared and she narrowed her eyes at him.

Taka had drawn closer to the mass of demons, and only realized as he hovered in place that there was a certain point at which the demons were very specifically avoiding.

Setting his eyesight on the circle flowing around something or another and narrowing in on it, Taka's head tilted.

"You know him?" He jerked his nose in the direction he looked, "Because he seems to be pretty taken with you."

Shikiyoku turned and scanned the area Taka indicated, her eyes widened just as Taka remembered exactly _who _had a purple gaze and platinum-blonde hair.

"Oh shi-"

As Taka's free hand glowed, a coffin of earth beginning to form around the purple-eyed demon and a dark pulse of black energy shot for him. Taka spun away in an attempt to maneuver out of its path, but the attack followed him and struck, disappearing into his core and locking away his energy before the earth had actually closed around the attacking demon.

Taka stopped in mid-air and shook his head, sending a shiver down the rest of his body.

The blonde seemed to be surprised that Taka didn't just fall out of the sky and, feeling impetuous, Taka turned and stuck his tongue out at him.

"You aiming to lose that tongue?" Shikiyoku asked wryly, noticing that whatever twisted reanimation of Otento this was, his surprise was quickly turning to anger.

"I don't think I've ever been more thankful to have been a cast-out from my clan."

"I didn't think you ever _were _thankful for that." Shikiyoku noted as Taka took off again, heading in the direction of the park.

"What, you mean being born of the earth in a tribe devoted entirely to the wind? _No_, I've _never _wished _any _different _ever_." Taka's sarcasm was not missed.

He flapped his wings and turned, thankful for the first time that his wings and his flight capabilities were not powered directly by his energy as they were for the rest of his clan. These wings had been painstakingly hand-crafted by him long ago, and imbued with their own self-sustaining power that was separate from his own, though they were just as attached to him as any other bird or demon born with wings.

"Taka, where are you going?" Shikiyoku ignored him, curiously watching the landscape changing.

"To put you down." He grinned.

She huffed, "_Taka!" _3

~!**!~

The dragon roared to life, rearing its head and making a streamline forward even as Hiei continued moving, reaching for the last push of energy that would complete the dragon that gave another roar into the wind. He turned and moved a different direction, allowing the dragon to swallow creature after creature, swirling around and around the riff as the fire demon went the opposite direction, not even bothering to grab for his sword.

He could create _much _more damage without it anyway. It left both hands free to do as they could, to throw fire this way and that, to direct the flames that continued to whir by, taking countless with it.

Hiei made a circle around the other fighters, eyes suddenly going to the sky when he picked up Shikiyoku's voice. He searched for a brief moment before finding the retreating bird.

_What the hell does he think he's doing?_

Surely the demon wasn't so dumb?

…

He turned his eyes away from the skies, searching for the reason the bird had taken off. Because there _had _to be a reason, otherwise he'd hover in the air and attack as he had been, Shikiyoku safely in his grasp.

He became distracted again as the dragon released another roar and he became aware of more demons coming at him, to which he quickly did away with bu more swirling, white-hot flames. His eyes darted to the side as he passed a rock formation, presumably made by the bird, and he continued moving.

Only to freeze in place.

He slowly turned around, fingers twitching as his eyes searched for what he'd thought he'd seen.

And he wasn't disappointed.

With all of the speed he had, Hiei made another round, hand dipping to the ground to retrieve his sword as he passed, flames erupting to engulf it in the same blackish-purple color of the dragon.

The dragon that suddenly reared its head to look at him, before streamlining through the crowd to follow, just missing a few of the 'friendlies' as it left chars in its wake.

_You're mine this time._

And if he'd been enraged before, this was a whole new level of such an emotion as he approached the rock from behind, the Jagan locked and searching for whatever attack might be thrown his way. _*****_

~!**!~

"Taka!"

"What? You _told _me to put you down." Taka gently let Shikiyoku onto the ground, only to have her growl at him as he flapped his wings in preparation to take-off again.

He had flown them to the middle of the nearby park, close enough that the sounds of battle were vivid on the air, but there were no others in immediate sight.

"And if I so much as see your pretty little face trying to get out of here, I'll sic Youko on you and make him put you in a viney-prison, you here?" He threatened her, waggling a finger and then pointing to the sky. "I'm watching you."

"Augh!" Shikiyoku shouted at him as he lifted into the air, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping a foot into the ground, staring up after him.

She watched for a few minutes as he rose into the air and positioned himself in such a way that he might with his hawk-like vision keep an eye on her where she stood.

Distracted by thoughts of how she might join the fight anyway, Shikiyoku took no notice of the demon who approached until she heard her name being called.

"I-ro."

Shikiyoku's blood froze in her veins at the voice that separated the word into two syllables and she found she couldn't move, fear overtaking her so completely that it was only with a great deal of effort that she lowered her head back down to spy the source of her horror.

There was energy slowly building up from the feet of this demon from Shikiyoku's nightmares, and even though she _knew _what would come of such a display, she found herself unable to move, unable to convince her feet to _run_.

"Who do you love?"

The swirl of power was moving faster now as Shikiyoku's mouth opened, and the energy shot up his body to his throat as his lips parted and a shriek of energy shot through the air towards her. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	94. Episode 178 - A Great Loss

****A/N:**** Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction World!

Still dealing with a very sick kitten, hence the bit of early posting, but no recap for you all, sorry. This chapter is, however, the proper length.

Hope you like it!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

Taka stretched his wings a bit, glancing at the carnage in front of the rift.

_What the hell is this thing anyway?_

He had his arms crossed over his chest, surveying the damage they had done and unsure if Kit's 'plan' was really to drive them back or simply kill them all.

Taka snorted, finding the lack of cunning in the cat's straight-forward approach to be uncharacteristic of the apparition.

Giving a sigh, Taka glanced one last time down at-

His heart jumped up into his throat.

_Who is __**that**__?_

Without even the pause to consider the answer, Taka dropped out of the air, tugging at the dark sphere over his core desperately as he watched the energy swirl higher on the demon standing not fifty feet from Shikiyoku, his hands coming up as if he could still brandish the very earth to save her.

Time seemed to slow for him as he dove closer, moving faster, straining as if to outrun the energy that shot from the demon's mouth and he knew there would be little time for...anything.

It was all he could do to drop onto his feet in front of Shikiyoku and block her body with his, pulling her into his arms as he brought up his wings to embrace her in them, ducking his head over hers just as the shriek of power ripped into him, tearing through his wings and into his body.

As the pain seemed to dull in lieu of the monstrousness of the attack-his brain too overloaded to make sense of it-he considered with mild amusement how easily this attack had ripped through his feathers. To tear apart the earth, to shred it to pieces and cause it to bleed was no simple task. And he knew from personal experience that they were not as weak or easily injured as those of his clan.

He considered this as he felt his body dropping to the ground, vaguely aware of some voice screaming his name, and then another's-_Did she say Kit? Or Youko? I guess it doesn't really matter_-and then he had hit the grass, momentarily wondering where all the blood was coming from, because _man _was that a lot of the stuff staining the lovely grass, and surely it wasn't _his_, though now that he considered it, his heart _was _beating rather fiercely and didn't that flow kind of match the rhythm pounding in his head?

Only when he felt a drop of something hitting his cheek did Taka find his attention gathering from the scattered thoughts he had been having to the awareness that his head was being lifted slightly.

"I would have switched and killed him, bird-brain."

Taka blinked, trying to clear his sight which had kind of gotten fuzzier as the moments passed, and he realized it was Shikiyoku leaning over him, her face splattered with blood-_his blood?_-and tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Is he dead?"

He saw her shake her head, and he glanced over as far as he could, seeing that the demon appeared to be frozen in place.

"That's weird."

"The Himei Banshi technique renders him immobile." Shikiyoku meant to go on, but her breath caught in her throat and Taka thought she was finished.

"Mm." He turned back to look at her, "How do I look?"

"Terrible."

"Ha! Ow." Laughing hurt pretty much everywhere.

…

"Seriously?"

She nodded.

Another pause.

"You know, it doesn't _feel _that bad."

Shikiyoku didn't take her eyes from his, refusing to acknowledge the brokenness of what was left of him.

"You let me switch earlier-" She choked out.

"Yeah, so I could finally get to kiss you back."

The memory of her kissing him all those years ago, the catalyst that led to her and Kitoushi leaving the city, flashed through Shikiyoku's mind, for she knew it was _that _kiss, the nigh-accidental one, to which he referred.

"And I didn't know you were _that _sick, or I wouldn't have risked it in the first place."

She tried to say something else, but as she blinked in the midst of her crying, nothing coherent formed in her mind.

Taka reached up with his right arm, the only one he found able to respond, and cupped her cheek in his hand. She reached up to place her own over it.

"I never wanted you to _have_ to switch." His stare grew suddenly more sharp in that moment. "I always wanted it to be a choice."

And Shikiyoku knew there was no single other desire he had that held as much purity as his admittance, feeling the salty water from her eyes dripping over their hands.

"...Taka..."

He closed his eyelids for a moment, struggling to open them, "...Shikiyoku...will you do me the honor of removing your Mark?"

Her grief softened if only slightly and after a second he grinned.

"I don't want anyone else to get it."

_That _managed to pull a weak chuckle from her, and he felt pleased.

He turned his head to reveal the marking, but as she leaned down over him, her lips met with his lips instead and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"What was that for?" He asked when she finally pulled away.

"Because I love you, you stupid bird."

"I...never loved you back." He replied sadly. "I never knew how."

"I would have taught you."

"Really?"

She nodded.

His gaze shifted to the side, "You wouldn't have picked me."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah." His eyes closed. "I do. I think I always knew."

Shikiyoku shook her head as he looked back at her, but her throat had tightened and she found she could not speak.

Taka turned his face away again, the heart on his neck in plain sight and after another few seconds Shikiyoku bent over and placed her lips on it this time, the both of them closing their eyes as it shimmered in place, then lifted, swirls and all, from his skin to dissipate into the air.

Her eyes came open first in time to see the last of it disappearing, and as he felt the absence of it entirely, he turned and tried to focus back in on her face again.

"You know..." _Is she still there? _"I think..." His eyes started to wince, "I could have loved you...sweetheart."

The light in his eyes went out, leaving Shikiyoku to sob silently alone over his body. 3

~!**!~

Hiei's feet moved with a speed he hadn't accomplished in too long, driven purely by the tunnel vision that was locked onto the demon ahead, markless. Defenseless. And completely unaware of the threat until the fire demon was within a step's radius of the other.

"This," he hissed, images suddenly flashing across his mind as his very core began to tremble, his blood boiling to a new degree, a new level of rage that was almost _blinding_, "is for," his sword swung, striking too many times for even he to count, the flames around it suddenly taking on a lighter hue as he felt the most subtle of change in his mark- one he didn't mull over, "_her." _

On some level or another, he became aware of the glow beginning at the center of his mark, aware of the shift in his own attack that caused an odd energy to swirl about the blade, around and around the fire that continuously reigned down on Otento.

With each blow came another image, came more anger, came more power. With each blow he issued, the energy around his blade began to brighten, turning from a light, pearlescent yellow-ish glow to a bright, vibrant gold that began to mingle with the fire of his own energy, turning it a much lighter shade of orange as the flames moved away from his blade and began to strike on their own, moving through the demon that hadn't even made a single sound before the eyes that had widened at him were no longer seeing him.

Hiei suddenly stilled, sword paused in the air as the very atmosphere around him shook with the dragon's loudest screech yet, before the creature dove for the demon who fell apart into the smallest of bits that Hiei had _ever _achieved in his lifetime.

And he stared with no small amount of satisfaction, breathing heavy, as the dragon swooped within mere centimeters of his own body, swallowing whatever remains had been falling through the air.

_Burn in hell._

He remained the way he stood for a few extra moments, staring at the spot now devoid of another as the dragon gave another loud call and took to the skies, swooping over an approaching horde of demons.

_Filthy, vile scum._

His eyes focused on his blade after another moment, alighting on the glow mingling with his own energy and he found the widest smirk coloring his features before he turned and dropped to the ground, deciding to utilize the power before it left him.

Because he knew Shikiyoku was too far away to have lent her personal store of energy.

This… This was _all _his. The energy he used now had been lent to him _long _ago.

And he wouldn't waste it.

Instead, he used it to tear his way through the creatures from the riff again, eyes aglow with her energy as he moved towards the opening, dragon in tow and ready to strike at the opening itself. _*****_

~!**!~

"I-ro." The unfreezing started at the top of his head, slowly working its way down, steadily freeing his movement until he began walking towards her. "Iii-ro."

Her tears still fell over to kiss the face of the bird-demon on her lap and she did not even look up.

"Who do you love?" The question passed tauntingly over the air between them.

The whisper pulled from Shikiyoku's mouth was strained, her lips moving as if she were compelled to respond.

"You."

"What was that?"

She did not answer him, her shoulders no longer shaking.

"I didn't quite catch that." He was closer now, putting a hand to his ear, "What did you say?"

Shikiyoku started to lay Taka's head down on the grass. "You."

"Louder, Iro. For old-time's sake. For _me_."

She rose up from the ground.

"I-"

Her skin grew ashen, pale scars, deep or craggy or wicked or faded, began appearing on her skin.

"Love-"

Her head snapped up, locking him in her cold, black gaze, her voice haunting and hollow, raspy and other-worldly.

"You."

A blast of dark energy shot towards him, paralyzing him in place with pain and she followed right after in a dash between the layers.

As soon as she made the rush for him, in near-flight, thousands of strands of energy erupted seemingly from nowhere from her back, streamlining behind her until she wrenched herself out from the layers and grasped at the front of his shirt with both hands right where his shoulders met his chest, slamming him flat on his back into the ground underneath her, still holding his shirt as she squatted over him with her toes firmly planted in his stomach and her knees resting against the outside of her elbows.

The strands of energy filled the air about her then, writhing as if alive, and every single one of them twisting so that the tip pointed in his direction.

Her eyes were wide, completely devoid of color as she leered into his face, head tilting almost grotesquely to either side as she considered him.

"Do you want to know something, Champion?" Her lips were parted to reveal wicked fangs as she asked him the question with a raspy tone settling into her voice.

With the air knocked out of him, pain ravaging his mind, it was all he could do to stare at her.

"I can't _hear you_." She hissed.

He nodded.

"Answer me." Her head tilted the other direction, "For _old-time's sake." _

"Y-es."

"Sometimes," She stuck her face in his, her nose nearly touching his own, "Love _hurts_."

She pulled back about a foot from him, head tilting back the other way before she straightened it and started to close the distance between their faces once more.

"And I _love _you," She almost made as if to kiss him, getting her lips centimeters from his, close enough that he could feel the breath from her mouth which sent a chill down his spine like nothing he had ever felt before as she dipped her head to the lift, leaving a breathy trail from her parted lips over his cheek to his ear, where she whispered, "A lot."

He cut his eyes over to see her staring right at him and the strands of energy paused in place for a single moment as they locked gazes before diving into his very pores from every direction, piercing deep into his body like so many needles from all sides, and then ripping him apart, turning him inside out underneath her and cutting the scream of anguish he had just started to release into the air.

Before their work was even finished, Shikiyoku had mercilessly released his shirt and planted her feet on the ground on either side of his body as it shredded below her.

His blood splattered upon her, coating a pant leg here and soaking her back there before she could take so much as one step away from him. It was impossible to tell if the blood dripping out of the side of her mouth was his or her own, or if the tear-stained cheeks that had wept for Taka were beginning to have their paths cut anew with blood that leaked from the corners of her eyes or if that was her former Champions blood starting to trickle down her face.

Because there was no distinguishing one red hue from the other.

As she calmly walked back towards the fighting, the mass of tendrils at her back doubled in number, creating a sort of yellowish-black aura extending for yards in any direction that appeared to hover like a cloud unless one stopped to take note that the cloud was writhing insanely in the air.

There was no hesitation from her as she pierced through the ranks of the demons, the tendrils tearing her a path of bodies as she stalked meticulously for the rift itself, the absolutely mind-consuming rage clear even in her deadened expression as she marched solemnly onwards for a few steps more until she finally let out a scream of anger and dashed forward, ripping through the demons like an unholy terror come to life. 3

Hiei tore through creature after creature, the dragon moving ahead of him and taking out countless more without making a single sound. He directed it towards the rift, the tear in the dimensions, and felt immense satisfaction in seeing a path cleared towards the hole, the dragon turning away from it mere seconds before diving inside and instead taking to swirling around the opening, no longer allowing many to get by.

And the few groups it missed, Hiei aimed scorches at, ridding the world of the entities before they even knew there was a second threat.

But the air seemed to freeze and Hiei paused, eyes turning to look over his shoulder as an ear-piercing screech unlike any he'd heard before ripped through the other sounds in the area.

His eyes alighted on Shikiyoku, and he wasted no time in moving out of her way, though he did not let up his dragon or his own attacks. He waited until she was closer, looking to see what she'd do.

Because he had no idea what had caused the scream, the anger, and the…

Tear streaks. Blood. Dirt.

He looked to the skies, searching for the demon who _had _been keeping her safe, out of harm's way. The demon who was _supposed _to keep her from the center of trouble and-

His expression changed and the fire demon stood back, eyes turning to Shikiyoku again. Moments after, the dragon left the rift and took to consuming creatures elsewhere, while the glow around him dimmed, settling into a very less noticeable color to the marking on his skin before it melted into its usual swirls, as if he'd never utilized it. _*****_

Each Marked demon slowly came to a halt as the air around them grew cold, feeling as if they were rooted in place, and the demons they fought suddenly began turning, swarming back towards the rift, back towards...something there.

Uryo stood up from his fighting stance, sword lowering towards the ground as he looked off over his shoulders where his eyes could make out a dark yellow cloud.

He took note of two sets of approaching feet, specifically that they seemed to be in no rush whatsoever.

"Who wants to kiss 'er?"

Sending a brief glance to his left as he shifted to face the rift, Uryo saw that Horu held his two shorter blades at a standstill, remembering that the guild leader had an interesting method of twirling the blades in that hand as he attacked simultaneously with the longer sword in the other. The white-haired demon sheathed them as he came to a standstill.

Kafu walked up to flank Uryo's other side.

"Uryo's the fastest."

Horu nodded as Uryo barked out a laugh.

"Ha!...hic. You're the one with twelve handsh. _You _do it."

Raising his eyebrows, Kafu's expression became a rather mild one considering the situation before them.

"Yes, but I have to get close enough. The range is limited."

Uryo gave Kafu a dry stare.

After a few seconds of continuing to watch the haze of energy advancing on the rift, Kafu blinked and returned Uryo's stare.

"Hm?"

"And I _don't _have to get closhe enough?"

Kafu was grinning at the two of them from Uryo's other side and Uryo shot him a jesting glare, causing Kafu to raise his hands in surrender.

"Don't look at me." His grin remained in place, "This is between the two of you."

Uryo turned back to Kafu with a lofty expression.

"I shay we make _him _distract her."

"Hey!"

"Fine by me." Kafu dashed forward as Uryo gave Horu a teasing smirk.

"You're up, shmart-aleck." Uryo disappeared back into the crowd of attacking undead demons.

Horu heaved a sighed and drew his swords again as he followed the other two into the fray, "If you honestly think I'm going anywhere _near _that, you're gravely mistaken."

Shikiyoku made it mere feet from the opening, the only thing on her mind to '_go in there and get him back' _as Uryo reached in through the maddening cloud of her power and grabbed the back of her shirt, almost throwing her backwards into Kit, who had sprinted after him, passing Kafu and Horu, and changed forms just as Shikiyoku came into his arms, her power blipping out of existence as she appeared to faint.

A few of the demons near Uryo began fighting back just as Kafu and Horu made it through the swarm and the three of them started to hold the line while Kitoushi began backing away, Uryo circling around behind and cutting him a path.

They only stopped moving just as Youko joined them, Kitoushi suddenly dropping to one knee, Shikiyoku's body convulsing in his arms.

"I-I don't have the cure yet." His words to the fox were not exactly _frantic_, but his eyes were wide with something akin to it. "My body- I can't-"

Youko couldn't tell where her blood stopped and her enemy's blood began, but he reached out to her anyway, "I can help stop the bleeding, but-"

He concentrated for a moment, passing his hands over her eyes, nose, and ears, Kitoushi's own hands glowing where he held her.

Youko leaned over and kissed her after a moment, but nothing happened and he pulled back, confusion clear on his face.

"I _tried _that." Kitoushi insisted, Youko only giving a shrug in response.

"_Get. Moving." _Uryo ordered, his sword continuing to flash from his side, the smell of alcohol from his breath much less than it had been moments before.

The demons were streaming around them now, not bothering to stop and fight, though Horu and Kafu and Uryo all took pot-shots at them as they passed. The demons appeared desperate to retreat back into the rift.

And once anyone bothered to look, it was easy to see why.

The rift was closing. 3

Hiei remained standing for a moment longer before his eyes narrowed and he turned to the dragon, Jagan glowing brightly again as he transposed his message to the creature before his blade shifted and he moved, flanking Uryo's side and covering the few who tried clamoring over one another, the dragon quickly taking up where Hiei left off so the fire demon could turn and join the others.

The dragon released its normal screech as it tore through the demons in massive numbers, circling overhead before diving down and snatching up more.

Hiei himself took to standing near Youko, jaw flexing as his eyes stared at Shikiyoku when she didn't shift at Youko's lips touching hers.

_No._

The fire demon's eyes flashed as he watched, nose twitching as he began thinking, watching the demons carefully. He looked up briefly, but down to Shikiyoku's writhing form again.

_What… can we do?_

_What can __**I **__do, if anything?_

He ground his teeth together again and his hand shoved his sword into its sheath.

It wouldn't hurt anything.

He moved forward with deliberate steps, centering himself as he moved, concentrating on the markings on his body and hoping like mad they would glow, and somehow it might _help. _His lips moved to issue a single word: "_Move." _

_Glow, change, do something. _

_Come back. You can't leave._

Hiei stepped up to the female and pressed his lips to hers, his eyelids shut tight as he willed something, _anything_ to happen to change her back. _*****_

Kitoushi _almost _said something sharp to the fire demon who _insisted _on pushing his way through them.

_What can __**you **__try to rid her of the disease that __**I **__cannot do myself?_

As Hiei bent over Shikiyoku's body, the last of the invading demons disappeared through the rift that snapped shut, leaving no trace of itself in the air or that it had ever existed, save for the legions of incapacitated bodies that did not disappear from the ground where they fell.

The change in Shikiyoku happened haltingly, but it was a change nonetheless that peeled away at the scars on her face and stilled her body as the shift crawled along.

By this time, the others had turned to see her stop moving, to feel the dark aura of her presence transform into the one most of them knew better.

Her eyes slowly came open, and though they were no longer pitch black, the green within them was dark with grief and for a moment she did not move. 3

Hiei waited and waited it felt like, but the moment she began to shift, he knew. His muscles relaxed just a little and his eyes came open to watch the color return to her grey skin, to peel away the scars agonizingly slow. And he didn't remove himself until he was _certain _she'd completed the transition, at which point he pulled away and placed a hand at her head.

He could not only _see _the grief, but he could _feel _it, palpable in the air, and it made his lips turn down and his gaze soften before his eyelids slid close.

He wanted to say something.

But, what was there to say?

So he remained where he stood, a silent pillar. _*****_

"Shikiyoku...where is he? Where is Taka?"

She didn't seem to particularly _see _anything, not even the fire demon who had just pulled away from her, but she blinked as if processing the question, and her eyes finally moved to look over at Kitoushi who still knelt near her, and as soon as she saw him, his black ears pivoted back with worry, his heterochromatic eyes wide and glassy, Shikiyoku glanced beyond him, eyes looking towards the park from which she had emerged.

When Kitoushi's head jerked slightly as if to follow her gaze, suddenly Shikiyoku was upon on, her arms around his neck and her weight leaning heavily against him.

In the moment before she collided with him, Kitoushi saw feathers clutched tightly in her hand, and his eyes searched around her neck for the strip of leather that had once held the pendant the bird demon crafted for her, but he did not see it as she slammed into him.

He could feel her almost shaking as if to cry, but he heard nothing from her as she let him take her up in his arms. He began moving for the park with the others trailing silently behind him.

It did not take them long to find what was left of the bird, and with Shikiyoku's arms wrapped around Kit's neck and her face buried in it she did not see how Kitoushi completely missed the bloodied bits and remains of her first Champion, only stepping passed it to crouch next to Taka.

One wing was intact, which had been the one on the other side of Shikiyoku, but the rest of him appeared to have been shattered in some manner, unexplained lines cutting across his entire body, which appeared broken.

Without words, Kitoushi shifted Shikiyoku around in his arms and reached out to close Taka's empty eyes.

"We should...get him back to his people." Uryo finally said.

Kitoushi shook his head, finding he could not speak.

"They wouldn't take him." Youko spoke up. "Or they'd dump him somewhere."

Uryo didn't understand and opened his mouth to say as much.

"He was an earth demon born of an air clan who worshipped the wind." Kafu replied calmly before Uryo could speak. "He has had no people since his birth. They cast him out."

There was no way of missing the abrupt change in Uryo's face at that information, as if the knowledge struck him to his core, and he fell silent.

She made no sound, but Kitoushi could feel Shikiyoku's tears running down his neck and she reached up to rest her fingers near her lips just where Kit remembered seeing a heart-shaped scar earlier. A new one. Too reminiscent of the markings he had along his skin for him to not think her scar likely came from her being the one originally responsible for Otento's death.

Horu and Kafu exchange glances.

The two of them had made the journey to the First Layer with the intent to ask Shikiyoku to remove their markings, for neither of them felt as if they could offer her a worthy life, and they both recalled the conversation they had engaged in earlier.

"_As honored as I count myself for being among her chosen, I would not wish for her to be forced to remain cooped up in a ridiculous bar for the rest of her life."_

"_Aye. I don't think I could honestly feel comfortable having her work for me. It just doesn't seem like what she was meant to do." _

Kafu slowly blinked at Horu and they both knew it would be unlikely for them to be asking anything of her in the near future. 3

Hiei had followed silently after the group, his eyes never leaving Shikiyoku as they moved in a silent group. Still, he felt as if there was something he should say, something he should do, but he honestly had _nothing. _Absolutely _nothing._

When he realized the dragon had been trailing along above him, he paused and turned his eyes to the oddly silent creature, calling for it, his arm raising to accept its form over his skin where the bandages had earlier hid it. Without another thought, he continued, arriving to the scene a little late, and taking a moment to look at his surroundings.

Taka, still and battered on the ground. He'd already known as such.

But what surprised him- rather, _interested _him- was the body of a demon he thought he might vaguely recognize. From… somewhere.

An image flashed in his mind, and his eyelids slid shut. _The first one._

He turned his eyes away and to Shikiyoku again, frown deepening as the others picked up conversation, information about the deceased bird demon.

The first words that caught his attention were 'they would dump him'. It brought the fire demon's gaze to the fox, who continued on, the next words being 'cast out'.

His eyelids slid shut again, this time remaining that way.

It certainly explained a few things… Shed a new light on the bird he'd loathed. And yet, it left him with unanswered questions.

Questions he wouldn't explore.

And, oddly, he found the death of another like him to take a toll on his core, an unexpected solemnness falling over him.

He never would have so much as guessed at it. _*****_

Kitoushi barely heard Shikiyoku whisper, "Iro...take me home."

He stood up, eyes still trained on what was left of Taka's body.

He glanced at Uryo, "Would you...burn him? He shouldn't be left laying around like the others." His eyes flashed viciously. "They don't _deserve_ to share in his death."

For the first time, Uryo hesitated, even as Kitoushi started to walk off, and Uryo closed his eyes.

_I...I can't...he's like..._

He clenched his jaw together and looked down at the bird apparition, aware of Horu and Kafu turning to Youko and murmuring something at the fox.

As Kitoushi kept his steady pace in the direction of Shikiyoku's house, he glanced down at her, searching more thoroughly for the necklace.

_It...must have shattered. Linked directly to his life force. _

_...stupid bird._

His search did yield the confirmation that the hand balled up in a fist at his shoulder held three feathers, the same three that had been a part of the necklace.

Closing his eyes, Kitoushi felt Shikiyoku's heartache as if it were his own, and it was his as well, in a way.

He would have never wished _this _on that stupid bird. Never in a million years.

Youko heaved out a sigh, arms crossed over his chest as he flicked his gaze once to watch Kitoushi and Shikiyoku's retreating forms.

"You...understand the concern." Horu said, drawing Youko's attention back to him.

"Of course." Youko replied easily.

"We are..." Horu's eyes also followed Kitoushi for a moment, "Returning now, I think. If you would care to join us and find out for yourself."

Horu and Kafu looked at one another and Kafu nodded.

"We both have worked to get back to." Kafu explained, "And...well, our original intentions for coming can wait."

"Should wait." Youko's tail swished behind him. "This makes the second rather _major _one she's lost in less than a day."

"Second?"

"Major?" Kafu raised an eyebrow.

"You know Rae's brother..."

The other two demons exchanged glances again.

"He hasn't been heard from in...over a decade?"

Horu nodded at Kafu's guess.

"Well, there's no need to be concerned about hearing from him any longer."

Kitoushi and Shikiyoku had disappeared from sight, but Youko's eyes trailed after them anyway as he continued, "She took care of him. Has the scar to prove it. Ah, you might be careful about any _killing _you do from here on out as well."

"Oh?" Horu appeared amused.

Youko nodded, "If they're marked, you'll die."

"Fair enough." Horu said after a moment.

"You all go on ahead." Youko started to move in the direction Kit had gone, "I'll meet you there."

Horu gave the fox a nod and put a hand on Kafu's shoulder, pulling them down through the layers.

Uryo still stared down at the body of Taka, appearing to have few thoughts going through his mind.

He finally sighed.

_Only because...it is likely the cat __**was **__his family._

Before he could change his mind, Uryo waved a hand and Taka erupted into white-hot flames that quickly consumed his flesh and left nothing but ashes.

When a breeze blew by, it did not so much as stir the remains, which instead began sinking into the earth itself, leaving Uryo to watch with a half-smile on his face that did not reach his eyes.

He looked back at where he knew Shikiyoku's house to lie and hesitated, instead pulling the layers around himself and disappearing from sight.

~!**!~

This time when Kitoushi sat on the couch, the television was not on, and yet he still stared forward blankly as if the pictures were moving across the screen, Shikiyoku in his arms where he did not have any intention of letting go of her for a long while.

Youko stepped out from the layers to see his cousin holding Shikiyoku and moved gracefully around the edge of the couch before seating himself on Kitoushi's left, the side where Shikiyoku had buried her face into the cat demon's neck, pulling one of his legs up onto the couch and laying it down bent at the knee with his foot near his thigh so that he might better face them.

"Yoku...there are a few things I need to see to-"

She started shifting around.

"-but if you want me to stay here, I will." He finished quietly as Kitoushi's grip on her loosened and she turned to face him, holding out her arms and climbing into his lap as he turned his hands palms up to invite her in.

Similarly to how she had embraced Kitoushi moments ago, her arms went around his neck and he found her hug tighter than normal, though he returned it in kind.

After several seconds she pulled away and looked him in the eyes, leaving him bereft at how so very _dark _her stare appeared.

Entranced by her gaze, he was not prepared for her kiss, which lasted long enough to set him blinking just as she ended it and removed her lips from his.

"...just..." She shifted and put her hand on his ankle that had been underneath her moments before, on the heart marking there, which started to glow, sending a brightness and warmth up his leg, "...come back to me..."

Her voice was quiet and difficult to hear but for the absolute silence of the room.

Youko put a hand up to her cheek, sliding it back into her hair and leaning forward to plant a kiss on her forehead as she stared down.

"I promise."

Shikiyoku gave the barest of nods and released her arms down to her lap as he started to stand up, scooting her gently onto the couch.

He watched for a second as neither moved until Kitoushi blinked and looked up at him.

Youko...could think of nothing to say and only gave a small nod in goodbye and wove himself in-between the layers, blurring out of sight.

Kitoushi didn't think he had the strength to move, so when Shikiyoku's arms encircled his neck and started to pull gently at him, he gave in and followed her down as she lay them on the couch together, facing one another.

It was only then that his arms wrapped around her and pulled her away from the edge of the couch and closer to him, and he did not know how long he lay there until he finally fell asleep.

~!**!~

Youko materialized on the couch next to Kitoushi, who had taken up staring at the television screen again.

The kitsune threw his arms around Kit's neck, the cat only appearing mildly annoyed at the silver-haired demon.

"Did you miss me?"

"Not hardly."

"Hmph. Well, I'm only back for a little while, so you better enjoy it while it lasts."

"Enjoy the noise? I dunno. It's been blessedly quiet around here since you left."

"What a pity! I should have returned sooner."

It had been three days since the rift had opened and Taka had died protecting Shikiyoku.

Kitoushi could not honestly say that he remembered much about that time, other than the fact that he and Shikiyoku had hardly been apart, had hardly _moved _if he was truthful.

"I suppose there is _one _good thing about you being here now..."

"And what is that?" Youko tore his eyes from whatever bland programming he hadn't really been watching to look over at Kit.

"I have a question for you to answer."

Youko waited.

"What...what were you thinking about when you kissed Shikiyoku? In front of the rift?"

Youko blinked, then shrugged, "Nothing, I suppose."

Kitoushi grunted and it was Youko's turn to ask.

"Why?" He teased, "What were _you _thinking about, dear cousin of mine?"

Kit did not answer for a second.

"I-" He made a small sigh of resignation, "I was trying to remove more of her sickness, so I was thinking about _that_."

Youko appeared amused, "Is that so? Did you succeed at all?"

"Perhaps."

"Oh, come _on, _you can tell _me_."

"I doubt it."

"And why _not_?"

"Because you'll go blabbing your mouth about it and get me in trouble."

"How much did you get?" Youko's eyes gleamed.

"I didn't say I got any."

"You just as much admitted to it."

"Well, I'm not confirming or denying it."

"I'll tell her that I have my suspicions." Youko threatened.

Kitoushi clenched his jaw, "You'll tell her either way."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But I _will _tell her if you don't tell me. How much?"

"Over half." Kitoushi grumbled.

"Impressive!" Youko praised mockingly.

"Shut up. It went dormant as soon as I got it."

"So, couldn't you just take it all from her? Would that not be, in a way, curing it?"

"Why do you think I stopped kissing her?"

Youko blinked at him.

"The rest of it was too ingrained in her system. Wouldn't budge."

"There goes that plan." Youko fell back into the couch and the room grew quieter.

"Where _is _she, anyway?" Youko piped up again after a moment, looking around as if he might have missed her.

"Out." Kitoushi told him. "For fresh air."

"Alone?" Youko raised an eyebrow.

Kitoushi shrugged, "Do you really think I could stop her?"

"Mm. Likely not."

~!**!~

"_You're not Iro."_

"_My good sir, I beg to differ."_

"_**She's **__Iro."_

_Kitoushi blinked at Taka, then glanced down at Shikiyoku standing by his side, their arms linked. Her eyes glittered with amusement at this bird-demon who had approached them in the middle of negotiations with others at the extravagant ball and dragged them away._

_Taka crossed his arms over his chest, "Though, if you __**want **__to continue the masquerade, I won't stop you. I'll even keep calling __**you **__Iro, if you like." He grinned wickedly, "But you should know that I know."_

"_And what good exactly was it to tell __**us **__that?"_

_The music in the air swelled, the rustle of dresses on the dance floor behind them growing quicker._

"_Why are you pretending to be the Iro in the first place?"_

Shikiyoku sighed, staring up at the clear, blue sky above her from where she leaned against the light-pole.

Humans passed her by on the busy street, none of them appearing to take any notice of her, or those that did only giving her a brief glance before going along their merry way.

It had been like this all day, really: wandering aimlessly, finding herself lost in memories of Taka, being brought back to the real world...

Kitoushi hadn't complained when she left this morning, though she knew the both of them could likely stay stretched out on the couch together for a week if they so chose, given the circumstances.

He had been the only person-the only marked demon-she had seen for these past three days, but the truth of the matter was she had hardly given any of the others a passing thought.

"I'm not...hic...inchur...rupting anything, am I lady?"

Shikiyoku blinked and realized that someone had taken to leaning up against the pole on the opposite side that she claimed.

She closed her eyes, her head lowering until her chin was nearly at her chest and a small smile covered her lips.

"Not particularly, Uryo."

"I feel ash if you should already know, but my deepesht condolenshes on reshent eventsh...hic."

"I did know. But it means a great deal to me that you should seek me out to say them."

"Mm." He nodded.

The pause in the conversation between them was not awkward, merely a pleasant enjoyment of the other's company.

"I don't know how qualified I am for thish. For attempting to take my place by your side as your conshort."

Shikiyoku noted that he seemed to have sobered up a little even within the last minute or so, and though she could smell the alcohol on him, she could also feel his desire to be as cognizant as possible for...whatever he felt the need to share.

"I don't really think...hic...that my sort of life would shuit you."

"And what sort of life _would _suit me, do you think?"

He appeared to consider it, "Not the short where you're forced to follow a drunken old fool around for the rest of his life."

"That really sounds rather exciting."

"Ha."

"Do you really think I might be better suited working in a bar? Or a guild? Or even as a thief's accomplice?"

"I think that'sh up to you, lady." Uryo replied carefully.

"Then so should deciding whether or not I want a drunken old fool chasing me the rest of my days."

Uryo did not reply, taking very deliberate note of the way she had _him _chasing her instead of following him.

"The bracelet is nice." He noted after a second. "And I assume the flower is from Youko Kurama?"

His question had her thinking briefly to the three brown feathers she had stowed away in the drawer of her desk in her bedroom, but she turned her thoughts away from them.

"What did you really seek me out for?" She asked kindly.

She felt him lift away from the pole and he turned, taking a few steps to stand in front of her, though a good six feet away from her, one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other buried in the opening of his coat where she assumed he coveted some flask or another.

He wouldn't look at her as she raised her chin and opened her eyes, questioning expression on her features.

The hand in his coat came out and was thrust in her direction and it took a second for her to catch sight of something round and shiny dangling at the end of a dark piece of string or leather.

It was blue, the jewel. A deep blue that Shikiyoku immediately recognized.

She lifted her attention back to him, the necklace still swinging a little from the force of his presentation.

"Uryo," She started, just as kindly as before, "I'm not sure if I feel that way about you just yet. It's such a deep sign of affection and...well..."

"What?" That got his attention and he peered at her from slightly glazed-over eyes, "No! Oh! Eheh." His hand lowered a little and the other one came up to scratch at his face self-consciously, a little bit of blush unrelated to the one across the mask of his face creeping up his neck, "Not yet, indeed. This isn't exactly _mine_. I was hoping to give it to you!" He held it out sharply again, casting his gaze to the side, "So you might get it back to whom it belongs."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." She said seriously with a frown.

"It, uh. Well, you see, I, um. How do I put this?" He muttered under his breath. "It came into my possession entirely by accident, if rather ironically in hindsight." His hand had come back closer to his side again and he appeared to be staring at the jewel with a bit of nostalgic tenderness, his voice lowering. "It actually got me through the trial of flamesh. The one where we either go crazy and incinerate ourselves or make it out stronger on the other side. Fire demons, I mean. I wouldn't have survived without it."

He appeared to snap back to the present, "But, it's high time that this trinket return to its rightful owner."

"I am not the owner, Uryo." Shikiyoku told him wisely.

"Well...no. But you're rather closely associated with the owner." His eyes grew far away again and he murmured, "His mother would want him to have it. His sister too. And honestly, I would like him to get it back as well. It's _his _after all."

Shikiyoku's eyes took in the white mark in the midst of his dark hair a few inches behind the black hairline at his forehead that, if his hair stood straight up, would form a sort of star, and she gazed into his crimson eyes, eyes she had recognized from the very beginning, back in the Niiro Kaga all those years ago, for they also belonged to a certain Koorime and her ferocious twin brother.

In the pause of the conversation, a light wind picked up and moved the loose strands of hair about their heads, and also carried a faint scent of cinnamon to Shikiyoku's nose, originating from the demon across from her.

Uryo's gaze focused back in on Shikiyoku and he held out the necklace again.

"So, if you don't mind..."

"I _do _mind, actually." Shikiyoku reached out and put her hand on his, pushing it and the necklace back towards him and shaking her head at his look of consternation. "It's not my place to give this to him. For many reasons. It is _your _responsibility to see that it is returned to its rightful owner. Not mine."

Uryo appeared to consider her and then gave a sigh of resignation, lifting the necklace a little to inspect it and reaching into the gap at the front of his clothing to pull out a flask.

He took a long swig from it before putting it away, and a bit of glaze returned to his expression.

"I shupposhe you're right...hic." He gave her a look. "It'sh not gonna be eashy."

"You think it would have been easier for _me?_"

"What am I shupposhe to say? I'm no good at thish short of thing."

"Tell him he's terribly fierce." Shikiyoku replied with a straight face after a moment.

Uryo raised an eyebrow at her, "I don't think that'sh going to help." He stuck his hand back in his coat and gave another sigh, "Thanksh anyway, I guessh."

Shikiyoku reached over and put a hand on his arm, "Everything'll turn out alright in the end."

"If you shay sho." He shrugged, "I guessh I'm gonna go think about thish shome more."

"Sometimes you have to stop _thinking _and start _acting_." Shikiyoku advised.

Uryo nodded, "Well, if you shee him...hic...tell him I'm looking for him."

She gave him a nod in turn and he swirled out of sight, inbetween the layers and then too far away from her to follow. 3

~!**!~

Hiei stared down at his left arm, lips turning down into a frown as he saw a definite lack in what he'd been trying to do. A definite lack in yellow energy among the swirls. A lack of Shikiyoku's power coming forth to him. And it had been like this for three days now, which made his frown deepen further into his features.

_How _had that happened?

It was almost infuriating that he could replicate the events that had lead to yellow energy mixing with his own.

The image flashed in his mind, recalling the exact moment he'd become aware of the tendrils of energy that had swirled around and around the flames on his sword as he'd attacked. How those tendrils had practically melted into the flames and conjoined with his own energy to create an attack like no other he'd issued before.

Or since.

His hand fell to his side and he looked up at the sky, frown lessening.

Perhaps…

_Perhaps it was the motivation._

It wasn't that he lacked it here. He simply.. had no _threat_. No demon on the third layer challenged him, but he didn't wish to go any higher, any further from the layer that he knew Shikiyoku to be on.

Grieving.

The memory of Taka's beaten and battered body flashed briefly across his mind's eye, accompanied by the words the bird had said to Shikiyoku about him, and then Youko's words of the bird.

He _still _didn't understand why Taka-

_It doesn't matter. _

The bird was gone, and Hiei..

'_I'm going to roast a bird'_

His own thoughts from that day resurfaced, creating a type of guilt as the image of Uryo putting Taka aflame flashed along his mind's eye.

_The fool._

He pushed the thoughts away, his eyes coming down to the area he'd destroyed in his quest to figure out something, _anything_ about the glow of the mark. About the power he'd borrowed. And the only thing he'd accomplished was mass-destruction of a bundle of trees.

Good thing he'd been… _hired_ to clear the area.

It made for the perfect excuse, really, to destroy all he wanted. Without being stopped.

Without holding back.

He stepped between the layers, only unfolding himself from between when his feet landed in the middle of the encampment, the demon he approached smiling gratefully.

"Thank you, fire demon." The female bowed her head in respect before coming upright again, extending a hand and dropping a small bag within his. "Your payment for your hard work."

Hiei stared at the bag before dropping it back into her hand, the coins hitting one another and causing a slight ruckus. "No need."

He disappeared from her sight, landing in a tree of the first layer, where he'd spent each night to rest, a good mile or two from Shikiyoku's home.

She needed space, after all. And he'd given it to her.

He leaned back against the bark and crossed his arms over his chest, not even bothering to lower himself to sit as his eyelids came closed, mind whirring with more thoughts and suspicions.

_There has to be a motivation… But what kind?_

_From where?_

Apparently, no simple minor threat would do. Neither would simply concentrating on the mark.

He'd have to keep trying. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku leaned back up against the light-pole once Uryo disappeared, thoughts stirring in her head and a smile doing the same on her lips as she considered just how awkwardly the exchange between father and son might go.

She doubted she would be present for it.

She doubted _anyone _would be present for it.

And she half-wondered if Uryo would actually even _tell _Hiei about his demonic parentage. It would be just as simple to hand off the tear with little explanation, but then how would Uryo know to whom the necklace belonged?

As Shikiyoku lifted herself from where she leaned on the pole and started to slip between the layers, she couldn't actually imagine the interaction that might soon occur, wondering how long Uryo would put it off, and snorting as she considered the length of time it had taken for him to even get up the courage to approach _her _about it.

Shikiyoku pulled the hood of her red cloak up over her head as she started to move forward, descending lower between.

As _if _she was going to let that old demon get off so easy.

...as if she would want to face the fire demon's possible wrath at her having possession of the thing.

..at least _Uryo_ was fireproof. She did not have such a luxury. 3

~!**!~

Hiei leaned against the tree, both shoulder blades digging into the bark as he lowered his chin a little, eyes still closed as thoughts spun around and around in his mind. None of them even viable for even the simplest of attempts, since the more complex attempts he'd made hadn't worked in the least.

Also, curiosity bubbled.

Why had she changed back for _him, _but not Youko or Kitoushi? Not that he was complaining, but he wondered if there had to be specific motives _there _too.

He thought back, recalling the only thing on his mind being purely of Shikiyoku, of her switching back, returning to who he knew her to be.

_Was that it?_

His eyelids came open and his lips twitched.

_Has to be._

He brushed that thought away too, eyes lifting to look in the direction of Shiki's home. Where he knew she wasn't, at the moment, stationed.

Maybe he'd return today.

He glanced down at the shirt he'd grabbed before he'd taken his leave three days ago. Simple white, and left his arms free of sleeves.

Okay… so he'd _torn _the sleeves away. It wasn't like Shikiyoku would use this shirt. It had still had tags in it from…

Some time ago, he assumed.

It hadn't even been touched.

She wouldn't miss it.

He moved suddenly, dropping to the ground almost lazily and sliding his hands into the pockets of his pants.

_Yes….I'll go back. __*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku clutched at the bundle in her hands and waited for a moment inbetween, knowing that the next step would determine her proceeding course of action.

She let herself free to land on the last layer of the world and self-consciously swallowed as if to drive back her rising anxiety, then took a single step forward, seemingly only a step towards the crimson tree in front of her that looked like all the others surrounding her at the moment.

Freezing in place, she hardly dared to even breathe as her cloak rustled about her ankles, but there came no sudden warning of her trespassing, no emergency lights or loud shout.

She took another step and crossed over the invisible boundary line, eyes lifting to the spires of the castle of her former home that from this close she was able to make rising out of the trees above her.

If they knew she was here, they did not appear to be driving her back.

With that semi-comforting thought in mind, Shikiyoku stalked forward through the trees and underbrush as if still afraid to be seen, reaching up to pull a little at the hood of the cloak which threatened to slid off her head, getting it far enough to keep her face in shadows.

After two whole days of laying next to Kitoushi a bloody mess-both physically and mentally-she had finally gotten herself clean, which had been a trying process as it involved not only removing the blood of the demons she had slaughtered, her first Champion among them, but also removing the blood of Taka from her skin.

...

Needless to say, the rest of the day had been spent in Kitoushi's arms once more.

Shikiyoku out a huge breath of air and slipped between the layers again.

If they were here, they knew she approached and she would not take them by surprise.

She had no difficulty in traversing quickly across the palace lands, making her way to where the ground was clear of the trees, up the stairs, and finally into the castle itself, searching for an energy signature she felt she knew almost as well as her own.

Mostly because it felt exactly _like _her own.

At least, exactly like hers _now_.

He was not in the Grand Hall, where he usually like to lay about on the throne, but it made little difference, for Shikiyoku located him in one of the many rooms and cautiously unfolded the layers about herself to stand behind him a few feet away, self-consciously shifting her weight back and forth and feeling awkward as she kept her gaze on the smooth, red-marbled floor beneath her toes.

Renai turned his brilliant blue eyes upon her and a smile broke over his lips, "My love!"

He immediately closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, her own arms still clutching at the bundle and now stuck between them against his chest.

"She's not here is she?"

He could feel the apprehension in her shoulders and he pulled away a little to try and look into her face.

"If she was, don't you think you would have been attacked as soon as you set foot on these lands? She's still rather put out with you, you know. No longer only a demon of pleasure."

Shikiyoku supposed that was likely true, but, "It's _your _fault."

"Mm." He rested his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes, tone lamenting his next statement, "And don't you think she's already seen to it to pay me back ten-fold for my dabbling?"

Shikiyoku could practically _feel _his grin and she refrained from asking him exactly _how _his mate had seen to paying him back.

Renai released her and held her shoulders, putting her at arms-length as he inspected her, throwing back her hood after a moment.

"That's better." He gave her a crooked smile and nodded at what she held. "Something for me?"

"No." Shikiyoku replied hastily, fingers wrapping more firmly around the material. "I-" Her eyes shifted to the side. "I haven't the means to clean it myself."

He held out his hands and she reluctantly passed it to him.

"Not properly anyway." She added.

He made a grunting noise that didn't particularly mean anything as his fingers expertly found the source of the stiffness in the sleeve.

"Rare thing, this."

Shikiyoku nodded as Renai eyed her for a moment, but she appeared to be unwilling to say anything else about it.

After a moment longer of his inspection, she finally spoke up again.

"So, will you let me-"

"Of course you can." Renai assured her, throwing the dark fabric over one arm and wrapping his other over her shoulders, starting to lead her away. "As long as you tell me everything that's happened in the meantime." 3

~!**!~

Hiei meandered along, not particularly in any rush to get to where he was going. In fact, half of him _really _didn't want to walk into the house and make himself at home in her room when Youko could very well-

No, _was _there. Kitoushi too.

Likely Uryo, who… Hiei hadn't seen since the rift's closing and Taka's death.

Again, he pushed the thought away.

And instead of going inside the house as he approached, he flitted up to the highest branches of the trees outside her windows, deciding he'd stay there until her return.

Where he'd likely go undisturbed if he decided to nap.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	95. Episode 179

****A/N:**** Hello once again, Dearest Yu Yu Hakusho Lovers!

Seriously got this up within like five minutes. Time got away from me, been super busy. My apologies for any bad grammar or misspellings.

For those that are concerned: the kitten is still alive, though he isn't out of the woods yet and he needs at least another week of treatment.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

For the first time since she'd arrived, Akari was waking on her own, eyes pulling open to stare at the door of the chambers blearily. She pulled the pillow further under her head and wrapped her left arm up and over her head, the bracelet catching on her hair briefly before she jangled it free.

A deep sigh.

It was… _blissful _being able to actually sleep in.

Even if she feared the motives behind it.

She shifted some more and her eyes came open again, staring at the door that was cracked open, voices outside floating around.

The maids, she knew.

"Should we wake her?"

"Lord Yomi didn't specify."

"Maybe he thinks we should know the answer."

"Sir Takeo didn't request anything either."

"Do you think she'll attack if we wake her?"

"Surely not."

Akari sighed. "HAven't you two _ever_ heard of closing the _goddamn_ door?" She rolled over onto her other side, pillow being jerked over her head. _There goes __**that**_ _restful sleep. Probably won't happen again._

_Ever._

She heard the door creak open.

"Where's Takeo?" she suddenly piped.

"In a meeting with Lord Yomi and the council."

Akari hummed to herself.

"You weren't asked to be woken."

"That's fine." She pulled the pillow away and pushed herself to sit up, glancing at the two women who stood at the edge of the bed, one holding a glass and the other holding a bowl. "_That_," she nodded to the bowl, "can go. I'm not hungry." She reached for the offered drink and, in one very quick motion, downed it all. She made a face, now actually tasting the blood component Takeo had reminded her of last week. She passed the empty glass back. "I assume Sachi is in the meeting as well?"

"Yes."

"Good." She tossed the covers to the side and grabbed at the leather armor she'd tossed aside the night before. "The armor-smith?"

"In his office, as usual."

"Good." Akari ran a hand through her hair before turning and padding to the door, not even bothering to change from her night clothes and into something decent. "Do me a favor," she said, pausing at the door and looking back at the two maids, "close the door on your way out, hm? And _don't_ touch the dresser. I have it organized the way _I _like it. Capiche?"

They nodded in unison and she moved out the room, shutting the door behind her. She tossed her hair around a bit as she moved down the corridor, eyes turning down to her left wrist, appearing to anyone else that she inspected the rips in her armor when she took to staring at the petals linked around.

Not a single one was missing, as she'd made a point not to use them. She wriggled her wrist, causing it to shift around against her skin as she sighed.

_I haven't forgotten. I promise. _Her eyes came up, staring blankly ahead as she rounded a corner. _Even if I had the seed, I wouldn't call you here. It isn't worth us both being stuck._

Her lips twitched, turning up very briefly.

_You're not allowed to come for me this time. I'll handle myself. __*****_

~!**!~

The gentle, steady hum of the cloak drying had set Shikiyoku into a relaxed, half-awake state. Though, having been gathered into Renai's arms where they lounged on a big fluffy chair nearby helped immensely. He had taken to stroking her hair where it fell down her back, occasionally lowering his face to nuzzle at her affectionately where her head had come to rest against his chest, his free arm wrapped around her front and keeping her from falling out.

One of his legs was propped up behind her, the other hanging off the edge and he rested his foot on the floor.

"Well, they're very pretty." He noted, enjoying the rich, red color of both the bracelet around her wrist-both her hands were tucked up under her chain-and the large flower in her hair.

"Mm. Thank you." She replied sleepily with a smile.

"I _am _sorry to hear about your losses, my love." He pulled her closer and put his cheek against the top of her head, his sympathy clear on his face. "I can't even imagine..."

Renai gave out a little sigh, at a loss for words.

Shikiyoku buried her nose into his shirt and he resumed playing with her long hair.

"What of the others though?"

"Hm?"

"You're going to have to make a choice eventually, should they not back down. It would behoove you to consider their strengths and weaknesses."

She didn't answer him at first and he shifted underneath her a little before going still.

"Tell me of this Douji."

Her eyes opened, "He's...well, he's young."

"Age is of little consequence."

"I know." She shut them again. "He is inexperienced."

"He can be taught, you mean."

Shikiyoku let out a huff before going on, "He has strong ties to his tribe."

"Being that he is so 'young' and 'inexperienced,' I do not think you would be forced to stay among his people for long should the both of you decide you are each other's best option."

"True." Shikiyoku allowed.

"He would give you the freedom to follow your own pursuits when you finally leave them."

"Mm. And likely have his own ideas." Shikiyoku added wryly.

Renai said nothing more on it, "What of the kitsune? What are his motives?"

"I...don't know." Shikiyoku answered truthfully. "I'm not exactly sure why he hasn't given up yet."

"He's a kitsune." Renai pointed out dryly.

"Fair enough."

"If he thinks you are a worthy prize, you are indeed a worthy prize."

"He...I know him so well. He and the cat both. Either would be a fine choice, if for different reasons."

"The fox would certainly be a challenge." Renai grinned. "He is hard-headed and stubborn and it would take a great deal of patience to turn his thoughts of _lust _to thoughts of _love_."

Shikiyoku smirked.

As if she didn't already know that.

And she knew she could easily teach Kitoushi of love, even if it would only take _time_.

"What of...Kafu? And Horu?" These were two names Renai knew well.

"I-" Shikiyoku's eyes shifted to the side, and she sighed. "I know they have not asked me directly yet, but I am fairly certain they wish to no longer be considered."

"Pity."

"Agreed."

"Though it _does _narrow down your choices."

"I had planned on dropping by and speaking with them while down here."

Renai grew silent, sifting through the names she had provided him with earlier. The entire affair interested him on some level or another, since he had not so much as experienced it in the slightest.

"You said Uryo?"

She nodded.

"And Hiei?"

"They are the others, yes."

"Tell me of them." 3

~!**!~

Akari winced as the demon pulled the strings tighter around her midsection, her breath leaving in a small hiss.

"Apologies."

She nodded at the demon who had fastened the torn armor over her for inspection. His dark eyes roved over every inch, lips pulling downward with every new section he noted being torn, ripped, or even simply stained. "He's pushing it," the demon said to himself, crouching before her seated person and poking at a slash at her side. "I think he _enjoys_ making me do this over and over."

Akari shrugged. "I think he just enjoys the torture."

"Very likely both."

She crossed one leg over the other, eyes following the demon who poked and prodded at the bodice, finding the weakened places here and there and pausing when she occasionally winced again.

"I'm going to start making _him _pay for my services."

"Or… you could make better armor."

The demon shot an unamused look up at her. "Not happening."

"I know."

"Yomi had specifications about this."

"Yes, I'm aware."

There was a silence that hovered on the air as he began pulling the strings of the armor away, loosening the outfit before pulling it up and over her head, earning a hiss through clenched teeth and her arms moving over her abdomen. His gaze softened. "Any progress?"

"None."

He made a discontented sound as he turned away and lay the leather garments over his workstation, his hands beginning to glow as he pulled it apart bit by bit. "Any new ideas?"

"A few, but none really worth trying at this point. I can't even stay between the layers for longer than ten minutes."

"Well then, I guess you better get to work."

"It's not easy without my energy, you know."

There was a pause. "You know… you're quite the fighter when you wish to be."

"Except when I'm in a place where everyone _else_ is also a fighter. I've got nothing compared to any of these demons."

"No, but you're learning."

"Not fast enough. It's been _months_."

Another moment of silence as the demon turned to stare at her, glow at his hands disappearing. He regarded her with an unreadable gaze before he spoke. "Was the boy really someone you knew?" The question seemed out of the blue, but she'd been expecting it for some time.

She didn't respond.

"I had hoped that wasn't actually the case."

"He's… or, he _was _the alpha of the pack I was born to. I had planned on undermining that and giving it to another more… _worthy_ demon." Her eyes shifted to the ground. "He'd done a lot of wrong to the pack. He'd done a lot of wrong all around."

"You were close?"

"We were, yes. Before he took over the position of Alpha, and before I was stowed away to the human world." She took in a deep breath. "At least, I had thought so." She paused, wincing. "He.. had orchestrated that." The silence on the air became heavy, and she released another sigh. "He'd arranged for me to be sold to the highest bidder. He and… the alpha _then _had decided my attitude towards my duties was questionable at best, damnable at worst. So, they went with damning me."

"Did you know this all along?"

Akari's eyelids slid closed. "No. Not until the day I was supposed to leave."

"Then you must know, it was no coincidence he was here that day."

"I never took it as such."

"He came for _you. _He traipsed through the front door and demanded the guard to let him pass. Killed a good many of them on his way. He wasn't here for _trade_. He was here to _redeem _himself. He risked his life and _lost it_ for you." The demon turned around. "Must have been pretty torn up to have given up his former friend."

Akari slid her gaze up to the demon who had begun to work. "Takeo ripped his heart out. And I-"

"You don't have to talk about it."

"I was _satisfied. Happy_. I'd even considered doing it _myself_, but I couldn't. Because he was a part of my pack. He _raised_ me."

"And then threw you to the wolves."

"I…" She hung her head. "I deserved it, honestly. I was awful to him. I basically slapped him in the face with my bloodright and said it wasn't… wasn't _good enough_ for me, when he'd been vying for it his whole life. I deserved to be thrown away, to be put in my place."

A heavy sigh left the other in the room. "Did you… miss him?"

"I did. I told myself that if I'd lived to get back to him, I'd apologize profusely. I'd tell him he could have it, because I didn't _deserve_ to be Alpha. I didn't _deserve_ the loyalty of the demons who had watched me traipse around flaunting the blood-right around, doing whatever I pleased. But when I got there, I was tossed away. Isamu didn't even get to _see_ me before my father… before I was thrown away again. He'd given me the name of a human who would have better use of me than the pack ever would, and it just so happened that human was the one who killed the ones who'd taken my ears and tail. The same human who killed the ones that had stripped me of every ounce of dignity, of strength, of pride I ever had"

"And no one else knows who was behind _your_ particular case?"

"...no."

"Do you regret it? Not saving the boy?"

Akari lowered her head, imagining the corpse that still lay in the fighting room, her designated training area. "No."

The demon didn't reply, only moving to sit on a stool, his back facing her as he sunk into his concentration further. From here on, she wouldn't get much from him, she knew.

So, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began trying to move between the layers again.

_I want out of here. and I'm going to __**get **__out of here if it's the last thing I do. __*****_

~!**!~

"And that drunken old fool is Hiei's _father_?" Renai laughed as if it were the funniest thing he had heard in a long time.

Shikiyoku couldn't help but smile as his chest rumbled with his mirth beneath her, her amusement magnified by Renai using the same vernacular to describe Uryo as Uryo had used himself.

When Renai's laughter died down to intermittent chuckles, Shikiyoku spoke up again, closing her eyes.

"He seems to think I wouldn't be content with him. With his lifestyle or some such nonsense."

Giving her wording, Renai didn't bother to ask how she felt about his lifestyle.

"And would you? Be content?"

Shikiyoku hesitated, "I...out of everyone I feel as if it is Uryo that I know the least. He was not around while I was here all those centuries ago. I had not even known of him when Hiei and I _did _arrive at the Niiro."

"Having him as Consort would definitely give you that opportunity." Renai noted wisely.

"I suppose." She mumbled.

"So, he would be the largest 'unknown' so to speak. Which could have great benefits or equally as great drawbacks."

"I suppose." She murmured again.

The room fell to silence save for the background humming of the cloak coming clean.

Renai looked down at what he could see of Shikiyoku's face.

"And what of Hiei? What of the most recent Champion?"

Shikiyoku had known the question was coming and even though she had attempted to gather her thoughts on the matter, she found herself still rather scattered about it.

"I-" She took a breath and still came up with nothing.

Renai settled down a little bit further into the chair, Shikiyoku moving even closer to him if possible before either of them found themselves comfortable.

"He has not asked you to remove the Mark." Renai commented, knowing at the least that much.

"I'm not really sure _why_." Shikiyoku muttered under her breath.

"Well, why not? Why wouldn't he ask?"

"I-" She let out a noise of discomfort, "I don't know." She sighed, feeling as if perhaps starting from the beginning might help. "I had originally been led to believe that he did not want to be my Champion either, and had acted accordingly on several occasions, but he has continuously left me baffled by his actions and-"

Shikiyoku felt her skin starting to buzz a little as she recalled even now waking up in his arms as had been-until the last several nights-the ritual between them.

Renai did not miss the activation of her energy, as he knew the feeling quite intimately himself, and he raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her.

"Seems he has quite the effect on you."

Shikiyoku cheeks reddened with embarrassment at having once again lost any semblance of self-control, and when only _thinking _about him at that.

"Little creep does it on purpose." She grumbled.

"Does he?" Renai said with no small amount of interest.

"Yes." Shikiyoku replied, even just the single word a tad vehement. "He asked me to stay with him, so I did, and I stayed at the edge of the bed too, because I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable because he always gets so _uptight _anytime I get near him, and then I wake up and he's got his arms around me and giving me that absolutely _infuriating _little smirk he always wears when he thinks he's done something-"

Renai let her continue to rant without interruption, but his own amused expression became harder and harder to withhold until she finally ran out of breath, giving a last little huff of vexation-she had just finished talking about how he'd suddenly decided holding her _hand _was a brilliant idea-and he started laughing silently at her, feeling the flurry of her energy start to release a scent into the air around his nose.

She could feel his abdomen shaking underneath her, but when she suddenly lifted her head from his chest to glare at him, his face appeared neutral, though she could feel the tightening at his stomach where he was having difficulty not starting the laughter up again.

"I can't believe the nerve of such a demon." Renai told her compliantly.

Her eyes narrowed, skeptical of his sudden assent, though she nodded her head, "He's being confusing. I don't like it." _Lies. Utter lies._

"How dare he _take you in his arms_-"

Her nod grew more assertive, "Why the sudden change? Why suddenly be okay with it?" _Why do you wish he would do more?_

Renai lifted one of her hands from underneath her chin and wove their fingers together, holding them up for him to consider, "-and _hold your hand_."

"He's even _kissed _me! Did I tell you that?"

"No!" Renai appeared shocked, lowering their hands so that they rested against his shoulder.

"Yes!" She emphasized it with a curt nod.

"The very idea." Renai huffed indignantly.

Her eyes shifted to the side, "Well...he's only done that to change me back, though. I don't even know if he could _handle _kissing me for romantic reasons. I doubt he even knows what a kiss is for really. Probably is just views it as a chore. Just like everything else!" Though the sudden renewed buzzing of her skin at the idea betrayed her true thoughts about such an occurrence.

"Still! That's no excuse!"

"He's an impetuous little devil." She complained.

"To think you were even _considering _him as Consort material."

"Right? I-" Wait. No. That's not right.

She frowned at him, finally assessing the genuine humor dancing in Renai's eyes, though the rest of his face disclosed none of it.

"You're awful."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're a terrible person."

"Me? How so?" He was the picture of innocence.

"I hate you."

"You don't mean that." Renai winked at her.

She didn't answer him directly, only settling her cheek up against him again with a good deal more force than was necessary.

Renai finally released some of the tension across his ribs in a light laugh as the room grew quieter.

"You want know what I think?" He asked, holding their hands up to inspect them again.

"Not particularly." Shikiyoku growled, still half-mad at him and knowing he would likely tell her in any case.

"I think allying yourself with someone who can challenge even _you _in matters you were practically _born _to fulfill might be the greatest asset of them all." 3

~!**!~

Nabu's claws clicked along the sidewalk, head low and nose to the concrete as he continued at his steady trot. For the past couple of days, he'd been restless, anxious, and unable to concentrate on any one thing. Today, it seemed even worse, and he'd managed to drive out every pest, every rodent in the area of the house before trying for a nap.

In the end, he'd ended up going for a run, visiting the shop where he _always _was awarded food for visiting, and then walking by the shop he knew Yusuke owned.

He hadn't stopped, though.

He'd circled around town twice, and in the end he'd ended up going in a single direction. The direction he'd been avoiding merely because he didn't want to intrude into another's home. Another's territory.

The demon _had_ promised, though.

Nabu slowly moved up the steps, finding the air around the premises to be heavy.

Or was it just him?

He approached the door and took to sitting in front of it, eyes up at the doorknob as he hesitated, an ear twitching and his tail flattening against the porch.

Maybe he'd go home.

Maybe he'd stay.

_I dunno what to do. __*****_

Almost as if of one accord, the right ears of both Youko and Kit alike flicked towards the front door as if they waited for some sound that had not as of yet happened.

They sent each other glances.

"How long do you think he's just going to sit there?"

"Quite possibly as long as we let him." Kitoushi guessed.

"Wanna bet?"

"Make a bet with you? No."

~!**!~

Renai let out a contented sigh, hand moving through Shikiyoku's hair methodically and soothingly, feeling that her breath against him was steady and slow.

He couldn't help but feel some sort of affection for this demon laying upon him. After all, he had gone to great lengths to ensure that they were the last of their kind.

_Or rather, your mate did._

He let his eyes flicker towards her, pulling his other hand, which still held hers, over to her face and drawing a single finger across her cheek, smiling lightly.

_Though you didn't hardly think it mattered much._

When she last visited there had been no time for them to simply lounge about, for his mission had required as quick a change of her as possible. He thought it amusing how much he _enjoyed _simply sitting here, how much he had _wanted _to hold her, and how willing she had been to oblige.

The physical contact was something of their nature, and while his _mate _may have thought something of it, he certainly didn't view it as anything more than the face value: a comfort for them both.

Renai leaned his head back a little as the low humming in the room came to a stop and he looked back at Shikiyoku, wondering when the last time she had gotten to sleep soundly was.

With just the slightest hint of a sigh, he smoothly extricated himself from her without disturbing her in the slightest, and walked over to retrieve the dark cloak.

It had turned out quite nicely, smooth and without blemish once more, and he folded it into a neat square.

Shikiyoku's eyes were partially open as Renai walked back and held out the cloak which she took without hesitation and held in her arms, curling around it and appearing to fall back asleep, her mouth open slightly to breathe.

Renai made a noise of amusement and scooped her up into his arms, starting to blend himself into the layers around them. 3

~!**!~

Nabu sat underneath the door handle for a while longer, silently debating, silently unsure about what to do. He stood and even walked parallel to the door, nose to the ground and sniffing idly as he battled silently over it. He even turned to go down the steps before huffing a sigh and coming back, sitting right where he had been minutes before.

He took a deep breath, ears flattening against his skull, and he released the smallest of whines at the door. He lowered himself to lay in front of the wooden structure, his chin resting on his paws and his nose just touching the door.

_I'm already here. Might as well…_

He reached a paw forward and lightly scratched at it. "_I uh… I ran out of lizards to chase. And rabbits…" __*****_

Kitoushi and Youko's ears flicked again at the sound of the whine and the two of them once again exchanged glances, though this time they were of an uncannily similar expression filled with both amusement and mischief.

Of one mind, they got to their feet without passing a word between them, and within the next moment they were on all fours and blurring between the layers to stalk unnoticed out the front door, silver-furred fox and sleek, black, panther-sized cat side-by-side.

They circled around behind the Shiba and looked at one another again before sitting down, Kitoushi's tail curling around his feet as they unfolded the layers from around themselves.

"_Ran out, hm?" _Kitoushi asked calmly, tail moving up and down steadily.

"_I think he might be feeling a little lonely, cousin. Look at his poor little ears." _Youko tilted his head to the side, yellow eyes gleaming. 3

Nabu jumped as if he'd been scolded, the voices of the others causing him to abruptly stand and turn to face the two behind him now, momentarily defensive before his muscles relaxed and he was sitting again.

"_I.. ran them off."_ He admitted, eyes taking in the large cat. "_Weren't you smaller?" _He couldn't think of anything to say to the fox, his ears turning further down for a moment before they swiveled forward to lock on the pair attentitively. _*****_

Kitoushi stepped forward silently and he shifted forms to the much smaller house-cat, moving to rub his body along Nabu's side.

"_I can be." _

Youko only watched with amusement. 3

Uncertainty blossomed, making the dog's tail move just a little when the cat moved forward to show affections. He lifted a front paw, as if it were in the cat's way, and turned his head to watch the cat with confusion in his eyes.

He gave a sigh and shook his head a little, eyes moving to the fox.

_Why haven't you looked for Akari?_

"_Do __**you**_ _have a mega size too?" __*****_

Youko lowered his head in a rather humanoid nod for a fox, "_My, ahem, __**mega **__size is a little too large for the street." _

His eyes flicked to Kitoushi who had circled around and rubbed at Nabu in the other direction before almost melting back down the steps and changing size before coming to sit next to Youko again.

"_As is __**his, **__for that matter." _Youko added. 3

Nabu's head tilted to the side a little, his eyes turning to the cat again as he moved away, growing with each step before he stilled again.

"_I think it suits you better." _

_Akari is still gone and you're sitting around. Comforting._

"_Do you have a __**super mega**_ _size?" __*****_

The fox lifted his head to start a yawn, though he stopped in the middle of it and appeared amused.

"_I seem to be unsure, now, of what you mean precisely."_

"_Perhaps we should just show him and he can decide for himself." _Kitoushi suggested.

Youko turned his gaze from the cat back to the dog.

"_Does that seem acceptable to you?" _3

Nabu's head tilted in curiosity. He'd only been joking, but.. okay.

"_But you can't do that here, right?" __*****_

The cat and fox exchanged a glance.

"_Well, no." _Kitoushi's tail lifted and lowered once. "_We would take you to Youko's meadow." _3

Nabu blinked once. "_The meadow?" _His tail moved slightly behind him as he recalled the butterflies he'd chased so long ago.

Or, had it really been _that _long?

"_Yeah, okay!" __*****_

Youko gave the dog a foxy-grin as Kitoushi stood and bent his head down, reaching behind the dog to carefully grab him by the scruff of the neck, both Kit and Youko turning and starting to blur between the layers, lengthening their strides until they stood paws-deep in heather and flower-buds.

Kitoushi gently put Nabu down and Youko ran ahead of them, letting out a bark and morphing until he stood over the tops of even the trees that surrounded his fortress, letting out a second bark that resonated much lower than the first, turning and giving the pair he left behind a bow, four tails swishing in the air.

Kitoushi huffed and turned his head to the side.

"_Show-off." _3

Nabu's entire body tensed, curling up a little when Kitoushi's jaw closed around the fur scruff behind his head. His paws tucked up to his chest, staying there until Kitoushi lowered him to his feet, where the dog quickly shook himself loose.

He hadn't been carried like that in a _long _time.

He lifted his head when he heard Youko's second bark, his eyes turning up and up-

And up, and _up, _and _**up. **_

Nabu's maw fell open and he had to sit on his rear to keep from falling over.

"_You're…"_

He couldn't think of anything.

Suddenly, "_You're super duper __**ultra **__mega sized!" _His feet gave a little dance of excitement. _That's so cool! Can you hear me up there?!" __*****_

As soon as it was apparently that Nabu was impressed, Youko sat down, his tails swishing a few times behind him as he looked to the side, appearing much too pleased with himself.

When Nabu spoke, Youko turned back and got to his belly, starting to crawl forward until his very gently nudged at Nabu with his nose, which alone stood taller than even Kitoushi.

He let out a short huff of air from between his teeth, the ears atop his head twitching.

"_Of __**course **__he can hear you." _Kitoushi commented, "_You aren't so unimportant as for him to miss your words." _3

Nabu's ears quickly swiveled back as Youko lowered his nose to the ground, a puff of air making the dog wince, eyes closing and head moving back just a little. He recovered after a moment and resumed his awe-filled staring, mouth open and tongue lolling, tail swishing in the grass.

He almost didn't catch Kitoushi's words.

"_So cool…"_

He swiveled to Kitoushi. "_Can __**you**_ _get that big too?" _At first, he was excited, the thought of seeing two creatures playing at a size like that, where trees were actual toys.

But then he realized the chaos that would ensue, and his ears lay back.

"_Please say no, I don't wanna be the only little one." __*****_

Kitoushi gave a silent cat-laugh at Nabu's last-minute addition, sending Youko an amused glance.

"_Our grandfather was even larger than __**that**__." _

Youko scooted back and sat up, an ear flicking with annoyance.

"_Don't go there, cat." _He leered down at Kitoushi. "_Besides. Why don't you show him __**your**_ _super duper ultra mega size?"_

Kit's ears rotated back in slight agitation and he closed his eyes, speaking to Nabu, "_I...do not get nearly that large. And neither do I particularly __**enjoy **__it as some seem to do." _

Youko shrugged, "_It's usually such a bother. Impractical for my more subtle go-to methods."_ Youko lay down in front of them.

Letting out a little sigh, Kitoushi stood and backed up a little.

"_I did say I would show you, though." _He gave his head a shake and the ripple went down his body as he enlarged, ending up standing perhaps ten feet tall at the shoulder, though next to the giant fox, he hardly seemed comparable.

He paced back and forth in front of Nabu a few times, dropping down after a second and wriggling his hindquarters in the air as if to pounce on him.

~!**!~

"You are quite the swordsman, fire warrior." Uryo had settled into a branch a foot or so above Hiei, his legs stretched forward, ankles crossed over one another, and his eyes closed, head tilted slightly forward as if asleep. 3

Hiei's eyes came open for the briefest of moments, turning up to look at the demon lounging in the branches over him before he lowered his chin and closed his eyes again. His arms remained crossed and his legs one over the other.

Where did the random compliment come from?

"I'd say the same, except I can't _see_ yours without the Jagan."

~!**!~

Nabu's head tilted with the exchange between the pair, blinking once. _They're related?_

Well, _duh. _Everyone knew a fox was kin to a cat _somewhere_ along the line, right?

_This is more direct._

His tail swished in amusement as the pair bantered back and forth, the dog's eyes roving back and forth, and then _up _again when Kitoushi shifted. He followed the cat's movements with wide eyes, tail swishing faster and disturbing the grass behind him, sending a few blades out of their roots and sticking in the fur of his tail.

And all movement stopped when Kitoushi bowed, his backside moving, wriggling.

Panic.

"_Ni! No, no, no, no! I'll be crushed! I don't wanna be flattened!" _*****

Youko's laughter rang out clearly over the trees as he threw his head back at the dog's reaction and Kitoushi grinned at him after lowering his body the rest of the way to the ground.

He raised a paw up over the dog as if he was considering batting at him, but his ears were erect and his tail calmly raising and lowering behind him, and he only lightly touched the dog at the very top of his head.

~!**!~

Uryo let out a low chuckle.

"For all you know, my technique could be atrocious." 3

Hiei scoffed. "It's not atrocious if it gets the job done." He shifted his weight a little, allowing one leg to fall from and hang over the side of the branch, sitting up a little straighter. _What brings you?_

~!**!~

Nabu's ears turned back at the loud, echoing sound of Youko's laugh, staying that way even as the sound died away. He eyed the cat, wary eyes watching the paw that lifted. The closer the paw came, the lower he dipped his head until the contact was made, where Nabu's eyes blinked closed for a moment before opening again.

He relaxed, tongue quickly flopping over his bottom jaw.

"_So graceful for such a large body. Is it weird, the differences?" __*****_

Kitoushi's eyes crinkled as he lowered the paw next to Nabu, which was at least twice the size of the dog himself.

"_We perceive time differently." _Youko commented. "_Like how one stride for us takes you many steps. What may be a month for you could be mere days for us."_

"_For you." _Kitoushi corrected. "_I am not so big as to notice a difference." _He turned his brown and blue eyes onto Nabu. "_There was a time in the past when we were all large." _

~!**!~

Uryo huffed another laugh, and for a few seconds the silence grew between them until a small blue jewel dropped in front of Hiei's face, spinning lightly in the air from the necklace on which it hung from Uryo's sudden movement even as his hand stilled a few feet above Hiei's head.

"It has come to my attention that this belongs to you." 3

Hiei felt something on the air change, and his eyes slowly slid open even before Uryo spoke. His eyes were drawn upwards, alighting on the little gem that glinted in the sunlight of the day. His eyes widened a little, a hand twitching as he fought the urge to simply snatch it from the air, instead calmly regarding it before turning his eyes to the demon above him.

"And _how_, exactly, did it come into your possession?" Here, he finally reached up, hand open to accept it should it fall.

There was _no _doubt in his mind that it was his. The energy around it was all too familiar, seeming to _sing _to his very soul.

~!**!~

Nabu's head tilted even further to the side, an ear flopping a little as he continued to regard the pair with both amusement and awe. "_Kind of like the layers have different times too?" _His tail moved in amusement. "_Akari always tries to remember the differences, but doesn't do a very good job of it. She isn't very good at keeping up with the time on any __**one**_ _layer, much less __**all **__of them. Makes sense, I guess."_

He stood slowly and placed his front paws on Kitoushi's paw, the dog's nose twitching as he leaned forward to memorize the scent. He moved away after a moment and looked up at the pair again. "_I never knew that this was a thing. It's kinda cool. I wonder if Akari can do this too?" _

~!**!~

"Come _on_, Hanase! You're not even _trying!"_

Akari gave a growl, but otherwise didn't answer.

"Yomi's expecting results by the end of _this_ month. You're slacking!"

Another growl.

"You're lacking motiv-"

"**No**," her voice came out heavy, dark, and when she opened her eyes to glare, they reflected the same darkness, "_You_ are my problem. _You_ won't shut your mouth for longer than a minute to I can _think_!"

"It shouldn't be a thinking matter! You're just _not doing it!"_

"Sachi!" Takeo's voice rang out, loud and clear throughout the room. "That is enough! Return to your sanction!"

"_I _am second in command. _You_ don't have a single word over me."

Akari's growl was low, not even heard by the others in the room. Even when she moved beyond the layers, she could hear their bickering, their yelling. Her eyes came open to watch the hazy figures, her lip curling up in disgust and anger.

She held her breath and began counting backwards from ten. By the time she was at _one_, her eyes were open and she was very strongly considering delving from one layer to another, making an escape while the pair were oblivious to her absence.

It would be an easy thing, to get away. They couldn't shift layers like she now could.

She could dive from this layer to the first, even take a nap before…

_Before what? _Waiting for Yomi to find leverage on the layer and hunt her down? Spend the next few centuries running, assuming they didn't catch her first?

She gave a sigh.

_Patience. _

There was no need to create extra trouble for herself.

"Akari."

The voice cut through even the in-between layer, piercing her brain and bringing her eyes open to stare at the blurred beings in the room.

Many of them.

_How long…?_

"I do believe it's time you joined me for dinner."

Akari's eyes widened. _Dinner? _But, she'd _just_ had breakfast about ten minutes ago!

"Akari."

"Lord Yomi, I think she's-"

"Hush, Yoda"

"Yes sir."

Akari took a deep breath and, after swallowing once, allowed herself to fall from inbetween the layers to the eighth layer, then pushed herself to stand. "I apologize," she bowed her head forward in respect, in deep apology, "I lost track of time. I hadn't realized-"

"No need. You hadn't tried to disappear for such a lengthy amount of time." He turned to leave the room. "Come, miss Hanase. Dinner awaits."

Akari avoided eyes with the others as she hustled to keep up, very surprisingly hiding the nervous shake of her muscles. _*****_

~!**!~

Kit looked up at Youko and the fox spoke up again.

"_It used to be that the lower one went in Demon World, the larger time expanded. A month at the First Level was only a day for the Ninth." _

"_It seems the combination of Demon and Human World has done a number on those...numbers." _Kitoushi commented. "_There is very little rhyme or reason to them as far as I can tell." _

Youko nodded in agreement and lay his head down, eyes closing to half-mast.

Kitoushi looked over at Nabu and said very softly, "_We should dog-pile on him."_

~!**!~

Uryo let the necklace slip from his fingers with absolutely no hint of hesitation into Hiei's awaiting palm.

"I found it." He replied simply. "Or...perhaps...it found me."

His head raised to lean back against the tree trunk and he appeared to be considering the sky thoughtfully.

"I was tearing through the level at a tremendous speed when the thing smacked into my forehead. I believe I literally ran into it as it fell from somewhere above me. Hurt. By the time I had skidded to a stop, I had no idea where it came from since I was in the flatlands and sensed no one in the immediate area."

_Amusing that I immediately knew it was __**her **__tear._

_That's probably why I kept it all these years._

Uryo shifted again and raised his arms to put them behind his head, his eyes closing again.

"I have that little bauble to thank my being here, though. Without it I likely would have incinerated myself all those years ago. Either that or ran myself quite literally to death. I was, shall we say, 'going through a rough patch.'"3

Hiei's hand closed around the gem as it landed in his palm, his eyes staring at it for a moment before turning up to look at the demon with a slightly raised brow. He easily knew where the demon had been when the gem had fallen, because Hiei had tracked its movement as far as his two eyes would let him.

He remembered standing at the cliff's edge.

Odd how that happened.

His eyes lowered to the gem again, and after a moment, he slipped the necklace over his head and hid it underneath his scarf.

He didn't say anything. He wasn't very good at saying 'thanks'.

~!**!~

Nabu's head tilted to the side a little as he regarded Youko, giving no indication he heard Kitoushi. The dog reached a paw forward and rested it on Youko's nose, tapping once before resting again. His head straightened up and he sat back again, tail moving.

Whatever he'd been about to say, he didn't. _*****_

"_He's tired." _Kitoushi murmured when Youko did not appear to have either heard Kitoushi or felt Nabu's tap. "_I doubt he's slept much the past few days. Some old friends of ours gave him some information or another, on what I didn't bother to ask at the time, that likely had him traipsing around all the layers for whatever reason. He just got back before you showed up."_

Kitoushi dropped to his belly and started to creep forward.

"_Which means-" _More creeping, "-_h__e won't be-" _Creep, creep. "_Expecting it..."_

His hindquarters wriggled behind him a little, his front paws dancing back and forth, testing the ground beneath him as he calculated the distance.

~!**!~

Uryo released a giant mental sigh of relief once the jewel was no longer in his hands.

He didn't particularly have _need _of it any longer, though it was a bit of a tragedy to let the only memento he had of his lover go.

In the end, the thing didn't belong to him, and Uryo wasn't the type to begrudge or covet an item that was not his own in the first place.

"I have found no traces of other openings on this layer," Uryo began, completely disregarding the fact that he had said nothing of Hiei's heritage. On purpose, mind. "But I plan on scouring the others. Seeing the dead come to life, having to take them down again is...disconcerting. I hope it was only a fluke."

Uryo dropped to the ground from the tree, pausing, and sending a brief grin in Hiei's direction.

"You'll look after her, won't you?" 3

With the feeling of his rightful tear gem against his skin, the fire demon was satisfied, a sense of… relief suddenly falling over him and brushing away some amount of stress he hadn't realized he'd been holding. When Uryo spoke up and broke the silence, Hiei lifted his eyes upward again, eyeing the other as he mentioned the rift that had formed.

"I've come to learn there's no such thing as a fluke on this layer." came his level reply, neutral expression hiding his feelings on the matter. But, for their sake and Shiki's, he too hoped that was indeed the case.

His eyes followed Uryo's descent. When the other paused and glanced in his direction, Hiei raised a brow.

Was… Uryo giving up his position? Or simply asking to protect her while he was away?

"Naturally," he replied after a moment, eyes sliding shut.

~!**!~

Nabu's eyes shifted to Kitoushi curiously as the cat spoke, earning a quick turn of his head back to the fox demon. _Was it Akari?_ He gave a very subtle dog-like frown before Kitoushi was speaking again, bringing big, round, brown eyes back to the cat demon to see him very slowly creeping up to the fox.

Thoughts suddenly pushed aside, Nabu mirrored Kitoushi's stance and his tail began to swish back and forth in the air, his excitement steadily growing.

He looked to the cat, waiting for him to say 'when'. _*****_

Kitoushi glanced at the dog, "_Ready?"_

He didn't even really have to ask and he turned his attention back to Youko, aiming for the fox's side and wriggling a little before he grew very still and...

...jumped!

"_Dog pile!"_

The cat landed gleefully in the midst of Youko's side near the kitsune's ribcage, and while at first his plan had been to extend his claws and dig them in, he momentarily forgot himself and stared down at the fur in surprise.

It came up to his shoulders, which wasn't particularly out of the ordinary, but it was so _soft _that it had Kitoushi turning in a circle, beginning to purr.

Youko lifted his head to regard the cat with amusement.

"_And here I was expecting to get __**clawed**__."_

Kitoushi paused in mid-turn and gave a haughty sniff as he started to knead his paws into Youko's side.

"_If I __**clawed **__you, you might kick me off."_

"_I could kick you off anyway."_

Kitoushi looked at Youko with mournful eyes, continuing to knead in place.

Youko's side heaved underneath him in a sigh and the fox lowered his head to the ground near his front paws.

Kitoushi stopped for a second, front leg lifted as he looked about curiously.

"_Nabu? Where'd you go?"_

~!**!~

_Naturally. _

Uryo nodded approval and shifted the layers about himself.

"It shouldn't take terribly long." His voice sounded wavery from inbetween. "I'll find you when I've finished. I'm sure I'll have news of some sort."

Uryo landed on the Second Layer and took off, finally feeling the pent-up tension at his shoulders from staying in one place for too long releasing as the wind howled in his ears from the pace he set.

He'd been sober for two days.

~!**!~

Renai landed silently on the First Layer in the middle of Shikiyoku's bedroom, finding that he gave the sleeping demon in his arms a small smile as he moved over to her bed and gently placed her down on it.

She shifted only enough to turn on her side away from him, the cloak still clutched in her arms as she curled up about it again.

He did not stay to see her move, only lowering himself back through the layers as soon as she was out of his arms. 3

Hiei nodded at Uryo before the demon was gone. And the next moment, he was aware of a new energy signature that was there and gone in a moment, and his red eyes turned to the window of Shikiyoku's bedroom to see her curled up on the mattress, clutching at something dark in her hands.

He stared for a moment, searching for the energy that had appeared and then disappeared, quickly ruling it as non-threatening before he pushed himself to stand. He folded between the layers just long enough to slide into her room.

This time, he gave a slight hesitation, not moving as his eyes alighted on the material in her grasp- or, what little he could make of it. His eyes darted for the end of the bed, noting that his cloak was gone.

Okay, not gone. He knew exactly where it was.

And that was all the prompting he needed before he crawled onto the bed and lay himself next to her, laying so he could face her. A frown briefly- just briefly- colored his features before his expression became neutral and his energy warmed the space around her, inviting her closer as he rested an arm over her shoulders.

~!**!~

Nabu pounced as soon as Kitoushi did, his paws leaving the grass and was soon enveloped in the fur at the very top of Youko's head. Seconds after, the dog himself found his entire body enveloped in the white fur. He couldn't even see anything but the white fur around him.

Soft, fluffy white fur at that.

He heard his name, and the dog tried his hardest to stand up and over the fur, though he was only half sure his ears made it past the long hairs.

"_I'm here!" __*****_

Kitoushi _heard _the voice, muffled though it was, but as he looked around, ears perked up to the front in the direction he thought he made out, he could see nothing.

"_Here." _Youko said as one of his large ears flicked backwards, opening his eyes and looking up as if he could just see the dog on the top of his head.

Kit focused in on the fox apparition's head, but let out a 'mrow' of confusion as he saw nothing himself.

Youko made sure to stay very still otherwise, amusement clear in his gleaming yellow eyes, "_You are like a flea, little one."_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a breath that could be taken as little other than a sigh, though a likely candidate for expressing 'contentment' more than anything, was seeing as how the wrinkle between her eyebrows smoothed out as she released it.

She pulled far enough from her slumber that her eyes came open about halfway, giving a sleepy smile at the white shirt she spied and turning her face upwards as her eyes closed again to make sure the wearer of the white shirt could see said smile as she shifted closer to him.

"Mm...Hiei..." It appeared as if she meant to say something else besides just mumble his name, but nothing more made it past her lips. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku as she began to shift around, her face coming up so he could see the smile on her lips as she came closer. His own expression seemed to thaw from the carefully neutral stare to the very soft light in his eyes as he pulled her towards him.

He waited for her to continue speaking, but when she did not, he released an air of amusement.

"It can wait," he said in a low tone as he shifted a little, getting comfortable as well.

~!**!~

Nabu lowered himself to his all fours again, looking down when he felt the skin of Youko's head shift with the movement of the fox's ear. He gave a little sound of amusement through his teeth at Youko's comparison. "_So this is what it's like for a flea?" _He shook himself a little, then began to move away from the direction he'd landed, using his nose to find the way towards Kitoushi.

"_This is so weird. And your fur is really soft." _He continued on, moving until he lost his footing and tumbled a little ways, coming to a stop where silver met black. "_Found you!" __*****_

Kitoushi blinked and looked down, unable to see his own paws, and he lowered himself through the fur onto his stomach, shifting his paws back and forth with quick, measured movements as if looking for the dog he felt touch him _somewhere._

He went ahead and got himself comfortable.

"_I still don't see you." _

"_You're right next to each other."_

"_I know __**that**__." _Kit's ear flicked in annoyance, the tip of his tail twitching as he put his head down, curling one leg underneath his chin.

~!**!~

"Mm-mm." Shikiyoku shook her head and closed her eyes tightly, bringing them open again and making more sense of what she could see of Hiei's face.

While her first instinct had been to tell him that Uryo was looking for him, she found herself blinking sleepily, the tiniest blush sneaking up her neck as he pulled her closer, which set her skin buzzing pleasantly, if a little erratically.

And instead of managing to say anything else, her cheeks now slightly pink, Shikiyoku stretched herself up without much thought, planting a quick kiss on the underside of Hiei's jaw and then burying her face down in the cloak as if she immediately regretted it, the top of her head against his chest. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the negatory sound he's received, but the lack of anything following. He became aware of her energy next, and that brought his lips up very slightly in a lopsided smirk of amusement, which very quickly turned to surprise at the moment he felt her lips touch his skin.

He didn't move for a moment. Even when she'd settled, he hadn't moved other than the occasional blink of his eyes.

And then he huffed a breath through his nostrils and shifted his head so that his nose just touched Shikiyoku's head, his eyes falling close.

And he realized how much he'd _missed_ this moment.

So he didn't dare speak a word to interrupt it.

~!**!~

Nabu stilled when he heard Kitoushi move, the dog's tail beginning to swish back and forth at an even faster rate as an idea struck him. He crouched low against Youko's skin, his nose twitching against the large hairs that moved around him.

When he was certain he'd heard Kitoushi still, the dog moved slowly towards the cat, crawling along Youko's skin for a few minutes. And then the dog leapt from the fox's fur just long enough to land on Kit's head and jump away again, hiding within the white fur before yelling_, "You're it! Hide and seek, go!" __*****_

Kit felt his head being jostled and he raised it, looking about and seeing nothing, though his tail began twitching again in amusement.

"_Now... This is hardly fair, Nabu." _

~!**!~

"Mm...Uryo's looking for you." Shikiyoku finally managed to say, not bothering in the slightest to even _try _and mask her energy. What good would it do anyway?

For a second her fingers shifted towards her neck, searching for the necklace that was no longer there.

_That _calmed her energy rather quickly, her shoulders loosening their tension.

She hadn't realized until after it was gone that she had made a habit of running her fingers along the thing until getting to the pendant itself and holding onto it.

...and now each time she reached for it she was reminded how _he _was no longer there either. 3

Hiei raised a brow. "I spoke with him earlier," he murmured back, his eyelids remaining closed as he let out a little breath that rustled a few strands of her hair. A few tickled at his nose, but he didn't mind it. He took a deep breath, mind turning to the necklace that now hung near the one Yukina had given him, side by side. He'd have to remember to return hers to the ice maiden later.

Hiei quickly noticed the change in Shikiyoku's energy, the quick retreat of it. His brows furrowed and he took the moment to actually bury his nose in her hair, touching her head lightly as he held her a little tighter.

~!**!~

"_I never said I played fair!" _The dog's voice floated on the breeze as he moved away, and he said nothing more. He didn't want to give away his position as he scrambled along Youko's side. _*****_

"_Fair enough." _Kitoushi allowed, rising up to stand on all fours.

He took an experimental sniff of the air, but just as he had thought, he could smell little else besides Youko, though the lifting and lowering of the ribs beneath him appeared to indicate that the kitsune had fallen asleep regardless of the disturbance on his side.

Kitoushi stalked forward, belly low to the ground, in the direction he thought Nabu's trajectory from his head must have landed the dog.

As he moved, he lessened his size, becoming as a house-cat and snorting a little to himself at the enormousness of the furry forest around him.

On silent feet, he padded onwards, barely catching the smell of the dog on the air, and even then having to struggle to make sense of it, forced to pause every few feet to make sure he was on the right track.

~!**!~

Her arms never left the cloak they were wrapped about, but her fingers clutched tighter at the fabric as the sorrow, which still felt too _personal_, too _real_, started to make her eyes sting. The ache she had almost gotten _used _to at this point-a realization which almost scared her-went from the dull, constant pain she had carried with her the past few days, into a more insistent wrenching of her emotions, one that managed to pull a single sob from her throat that shook her shoulders even as the tears started falling freely, silently, down her face.

When she sensed Hiei almost enveloping her, she drew as close to him as possible, trying to take comfort in his embrace, in his warmth and how completely his energy surrounded her, in how strong his arms felt holding her, the safety, the protection of his tightening muscles, in the soft fabric of the shirt he wore as she rested her cheek against it and started to feel it dampen with her tears...

...the softness of the material drew a strange sort of chuckle from her in the midst of her noiseless crying. 3

Hiei withheld the breath he wanted to release as the smell of salt became a subtle scent on the air between them. He didn't know what to do, what to say. There wasn't anything he _could_ do or say. Nothing that he knew of, that is. He wasn't exactly the best role model for… _dealing. _

His form of such a thing usually meant mass destruction until he didn't _feel_ anymore.

He had a feeling that it wouldn't help here.

So he hesitated, unsure, feeling awkward at the place he'd put himself in.

"What…" He paused, tone very light, voice nothing more than a low murmur, "what do I do?" _What do I do to end this, if anything?_

~!**!~

Nabu scampered away from the direction where Kitoushi had been, nose high in the air as he made attempt after attempt to figure out where exactly he was. In the end, he found himself lost among the fur. Happily so, and his mind wasn't afforded the ability to wander away to… other things. _*****_

Grumbling quietly to himself, Kitoushi paused and lowered his nose to just barely brush against Youko's warm skin, amused briefly that the skin twitched under the attention of Kitoushi's whiskers.

At least he was able to catch part of the smell here. It didn't hardly lift beyond where Kit sniffed, and he felt reassured in his decision to change forms in this case, given that much taller and he doubted he would be able to distinguish anything apart from Youko's musk in how heavily he was surrounded by it down here.

The warm skin under his padded paws allowed him to move silently along, barely swishing the strands of fur around him as he stepped through, nose low to the ground though his eyes were up, surveying the area with a cat's watchfulness.

It was darker down here too, in a strange way, but Kitoushi hardly noticed.

~!**!~

It was...difficult to think. Difficult to pull herself away from the ache and the sorrow to latch onto Hiei's words, spoken aloud into the silence of the room, her tears falling silently as they always did.

What was she to tell him?

There was this darkness keeping her mind overcast, a heavy cloud she found she did not have the strength on her own to draw away from.

She knew this feeling.

Knew it well. Intimately, even.

Last time it had led to her severing the bond between herself and her Champion.

_What do I do?_

..._I don't know._

Besides holding her? Besides making sure she wasn't alone for now, even if she drew away-though she did not have the strength.

_Distract me_.

She drew her face up, closer to the torn collar of the shirt and placed her nose against the skin she found just below his neck, the contact sufficient enough for her draw a shaky breath and gather her thoughts.

"This is..." Her words caught in her throat. _Enough. Fine._

He was uncomfortable. And if he hadn't already had his arms as tightly around her as he did, she probably would have drawn away. In any case, she tried to shove past the haze. For him.

She wasn't about to voice any of the number of things that happened to pass over her mind's eye when he asked. Because in the end she would never ask more of him than she felt him capable. Willing. Even if there were things she doubted he would even think of.

_That's part of the...problem._

She finally managed to finish her sentence, "...good." 3

Hiei's lips pulled downwards just a little against Shikiyoku's hair, his eyelids never even twitching open. He could tell there were things she wouldn't say, perhaps couldn't, but he didn't press her on them. He took a small breath through his nostrils and released it a moment later, sending a few strands of her hair fluttering, brushing his nose and making it itch.

_No it's not._

"Okay."

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star


	96. Episode 180

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!

Well, here we are again. A little late too! This one took longer to edit than I thought. I also went back and check the last chapter now, so it should be better.

For followers of the kitten story, he has the rest of this week on medicine and since he is now in his breeder's care I can't exactly give you a blow-by-blow update.

In other news, I will be going out of town at the end of the month and have TONS of preparation to do for this trip.

It's funny to me how much time it actually takes for me to go back through the previous chapter and do a sum-up (sometimes longer than looking over a chapter to post!), and since I need to spend that time doing other things, the lack of said summary will continue to be a feature in the chapters the rest of this month. If anyone actually misses them, I apologize for that but it currently can't be helped.

Happy reading!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

Nabu stopped after a few more minutes to scratch at his ear, only moving again when he decided he didn't _want _to sit around. He wanted to run, to play. And while this demon was not the person with whom he _wished_ to do things like this with, it would have to do.

So he was moving again, this time back the way he'd come, hopping and running, ears at attention. He wasn't even trying to hide at this point. _*****_

The rustling of the fur caught Kitoushi's attention before the smell did and his ears twitched as he determined the exact direction from which the sounds were approaching. He trotted off to the side, trying to remember the size of the dog coming in his direction, and increasing his own form accordingly. As close as he could manage.

Pulling his limbs inward, Kitoushi came to a stop, paws pressing back and forth underneath him as he tested how much strength he would need to exert to spring on the pup when Nabu came into view.

Kitoushi grew very still, hind end slightly raised so that he might uncoil faster when the time came, and he did not so much as blink, waiting for the dog silently, patiently, a cat-grin cover his features.

~!**!~

It took another few moments for Shikiyoku to be able to steady her breathing out again, her efforts at rendering her mind blank, for the moment, working.

The result meant her entire body lost its tension, but to say that she had _relaxed _would be too mild. And too kind. It was more like _everything _had gone out of her, creating this foreign stillness in which she only breathed, internally struggling against the emotions and the ache that threatened to crack the little peace she managed to gather. 3

~!**!~

Hiei awoke to the warmth of the sunlight on his face and a particularly odd feeling. Even before his eyes opened, he was aware that he was alone in the room, alone on the bed. And by the time his eyes _did _open to view the room, he was well aware of the fact that no one had come in or out during the night, meaning he'd slept alone.

Which was rare these days.

….Odd.

He rolled over, turning so that his eyes saw the door instead of the window above the bed. It was still locked, as it always was these days.

She must've stayed out. Kept busy all night. It wouldn't surprise him. Shikiyoku had been out of sorts lately.

Rightly so, he thought.

He sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, planted his feet on the floor, and was pulling his cloak over himself as he moved for the door. In a swift motion, he had the door unlocked, open, and locked again as he stepped out into the hall, hearing nothing throughout the house. No quiet conversation. No television.

Nothing.

It would be a perfect opportunity to grab a snack before anyone decided to pop in.

So he moved down the stairs, eyes down for a majority of the descent. When his feet touched the last three stairs, he slowly lifted his eyes up, his body coming to a standstill at the bottom of the steps when he saw Shikiyoku's sleeping form on the couch, her hair resting on the arm of it, her head on a basic couch pillow.

A frown came to his features.

_...Odd. __*****_

If Shikiyoku had the wherewithal to even consider the sense of déjà vu from the last couple of days, she would have known her attempts to block the emotions that threatened to spill over into her mind left her in a very similar state to all those years ago when Demon World was still a separate dimension and she had wandered listlessly throughout the Ninth Level.

Depression.

That was...the most accurate word to describe it.

No feelings, no desires, no...no anything.

Except for a sharp sense of never wishing to place Hiei in such an uncomfortable position again.

Which was why, even when she felt him returning to her room each night, she did not herself venture upstairs.

Youko had been missing.

Kitoushi too, though the cat had at least come to her and explained his absence before he left.

And the strange sense of being alone-even if she went out of the house and walked among the denizens of the First Layer-lost somewhere in the ache she tried to ignore and the blankness of her mind, overwhelmed her senses.

...though it would be lying to say that she had not woken up each morning with her arms around a couch pillow that was wet with tears she never remembered shedding.

This one had been no exception, but she hadn't found the strength to move yet, instead staring out at the wall, mind devoid of thoughts and barely conscious of her own existence even, rarely managing to take a breath, and even rarer still were the times she actually blinked.

She didn't even find she had the strength to sigh. 3

He… didn't like it. The fire demon's brows furrowed and his lips pulled downward, his feet unable to move from the spot they'd planted. She'd slept down here, instead of up there in her own bed.

His frown deepened before he took control of his expression, forcing it blank.

_I don't like it. At all._

He turned and moved for the kitchen, as he'd originally been doing before he'd caught sight of her on the couch. He wouldn't bother her. Clearly, she needed space.

That didn't mean he was exactly quiet when he pulled open the refrigerator door to look inside, nor was he discreet about his rummaging. There really was no _quiet_ way of rummaging anyway. _*****_

How long had she been laying there? Minutes? Days?

At the very least all night, but she couldn't remember sleeping.

Couldn't remember much of anything, really.

Couldn't care enough to do so.

The noises in the room had her blinking at the wall, but she only took note of them on some level that simply told her they were occurring, finding that she...well that she didn't care.

Blink.

_That _time the little breath she heaved could have been a sigh were it not completely silent.

_Should I do anything today?_

_Did you do anything yesterday?_

Another, slower blink.

For all she knew, she could have been laying here forever and likely not known the difference. 3

Hiei's hand rummaged, moving containers around and shuffling bowls to the sides as he eyed the contents of the fridge, his mind almost entirely elsewhere as his red eyes scrutinized another bowl. He slid the covered bowl back onto a shelf and stood upright, letting that door close as he opened the freezer door. There wasn't even any sweet snow.

_I don't like it._

At this point, he wasn't exactly sure _what_ it was he was referring to: Shikiyoku sleeping on the couch, his odd feeling on the matter, the lack of interesting food, or…

There was too much.

_I don't like it._

He shut the freezer door before turning to look in the cabinets, finding absolutely _nothing _of interest there as well.

Perhaps he only wanted sweet snow.

Perhaps he only wanted the room to stop being so damn _quiet. _

He shut the pantry door and moved towards the living room again, arms crossing over his chest.

Did he dare demand her to stand and go with him?

She could always just tell him "no". She hadn't said it very often to him before, right? Not for things so simple and mundane. Surely…

His brows furrowed as he concentrated on the thought of wanting to go out, to find something to do.

Better yet, to go get some sweet snow. Perhaps… _take _some, if she was up for it. He remembered how amusing it had been.

_Yes. _That's what he'd concentrate on. Going to obtain sweet snow. _*****_

Blink.

...

Blink, blink.

_When was the last time you had something to eat?_

The answer didn't particularly matter. Because she didn't feel particularly hungry.

...didn't feel much of anything, really.

Except, perhaps, being a little cold.

_Was it worth getting up to grab a blanket?_

No idea.

Probably not.

Shikiyoku heaved another silent sigh from her nose and somehow managed to muster up enough strength to get up all at once, eyes staring blankly at nothing as she moved around the side of the couch towards the door to the closet near the stairs, opening it lifelessly, barely taking a step in to grab for a blanket on a shelf right near the door, and turning back to lay down again, appearing to notice nothing in the room, not so much as flinching when something fell off the shelf as the blanket got dragged off of it, and apparently not remembering to close the door either, sort of grabbing at the knob and pulling it behind her, but not managing to get it shut.

And not caring, either. 3

Hiei felt a sense of relief when Shikiyoku suddenly moved, pushing away from the couch and moving around it. However, when she didn't look at him, didn't even seem to know he was even in the room, all the tension returned in his shoulders, magnified tenfold.

_I don't like it._

He watched her as she moved away from the closet, the door moving only an inch or so before stilling, something hitting the floor as she dragged the blanket away. He didn't know what this was or what to do with it. She seemed an empty shell, incapable of even seeing her current surroundings unless it had something to do with something she wanted in that exact moment.

And even then, he'd noted the lack of light in her eyes. The lack of acknowledgement of her surroundings.

Her lack of glance in his direction. Her lack of attentiveness all around.

By the time she was settled on the couch again, his eyelids were closed, his thoughts no longer moving around.

What should he do? He didn't want to leave her, but clearly he was incapable of helping in any way.

She hadn't even come to him the night before.

….

Perhaps she _wanted_ to be alone?

He couldn't tell. _*****_

Curled up, she took up maybe a cushion and a half of the couch. Stretched out, the blanket tucked under her feet at one end and under her eyes at the other, her legs reached the third cushion.

She didn't notice any of this, however.

She didn't notice being any warmer either.

"_Yoku? Yoku, I think I'm going to need you."_

...

"_Yoku?" _The voice sounded more confused this time, as the owner realized once touching her awareness that he...wasn't actually for certain he had touched her awareness. He was only getting this..._grey _color for a lack of better term. A haze, or a cloud maybe, through which he could feel no emotions, or even an acknowledgement that she felt his call. "_What-"_

The presence in her head was most obviously frowning, but he also was in the middle of something that he could not drop and leave immediately.

"_...my lady, what's wrong?" _

Still nothing.

Kitoushi ground his teeth together, unable to quicken the process at his fingertips without endangering both himself and the demon in his care.

A process which could quite possibly take _days_.

An aggravated sound washed over her mind, accompanied by a wave of emotions that were also unable to penetrate the blank recesses of her mind.

"_I...I'll come to you as soon as I'm able." _

And then the presence was gone. 3

He was torn. Unsure. He didn't like that she was laying there, doing nothing, seemingly unaware of everything except.. whatever was going on within her mind. And it was even likely that she wasn't even aware of _that_. He could easily grab her by the wrist and pull her from the blanket she'd tucked around herself. He could easily pull her from where she lay and drag her out of the house, to the store for sweet snow or to another layer for… _something. _

But…

She hadn't.. she hadn't come to him the night before. She hadn't returned to her room, hadn't even come up the stairs, he was willing to bet. And she didn't acknowledge his presence now. Which could very much be intentional. She could very much be telling him to go, indirectly saying she didn't want him around, that she didn't want to be bothered.

But he was _torn. _

Unsure. Hesitant.

A thought suddenly occurred**: **She didn't… _need_ him. He couldn't _do _anything for her. He'd proven as much the day before. She didn't need _him. _He wasn't even sure if she _wanted_ him around at this point.

His lips twitched downwards.

He was… less than useless here.

He turned and moved between the layers, leaving her alone on the couch.

_I don't like it…._

_But I am not…. adequate. __*****_

~!**!~

"_Is that so? And what exactly am I going to get in return?"_

Kitoushi's teeth clenched together and he struggled not to let that tension creep up his hands, taking a deep breath and forcing it out from his lips.

"_What you're going to __**get**__,_ _fox, is me not finding your ass and beating it to a pulp."_

"_Touchy."_

Kit sighed.

"_Look, I can't exactly up and leave what I'm doing, and you know I would if I could. So, I'm being nice and giving you the __**opportunity **__to go when I cannot."_

"_I must admit I rather enjoy your current helplessness to assist her."_

"_**Get. Moving." **_

"_I'm already on the way, cuz. Let your little mind rest knowing I'll have everything under control."_

"_And how quickly are you going to be able to get there?"_

"_Mm...eventually."_

Kitoushi growled at him.

"_Don't raise your hackles at me. I've been...busy."_

"_With what, exactly?"_

"_Haven't you heard? There's a war brewing." _3

~!**!~

Hiei spent the whole day doing absolutely _nothing_, as his mind had been otherwise occupied and he hadn't been sure what to do about it. So he'd camped out in a tree, let his mind mull over things aimlessly, feeling the sun on his face until he realized it had dipped below the horizon.

He waited a few minutes longer before his eyelids came open to view the lit streets of the city nearby and the darkened skies, the only light being provided by the buzzing electricity in the lamps along the sidewalks.

Hiei moved away from where he had been parked the whole day, eyes set forward as he moved towards Shikiyoku's home.

He didn't hesitate to pull the front door open and step inside, eyes landing very quickly on the girl still curled up on the couch, staring forward.

She hadn't moved.

Without saying a word, he turned and made his way up the stairs, not really expecting her to follow when she didn't even seem to acknowledge his presence.

This time, he didn't lock the door behind himself.

There was no need. _*****_

She drifted the entire day on absolutely nothing, being neither asleep nor awake, hardly moving or thinking.

When night fell and the house was covered in darkness, she found that she had stood up, though she didn't know why, and without prompting, her legs took her up the stairs towards her bedroom.

The door swung inward quietly, her feet moving silently across the floor to the desk at her left. She stared at it for a moment, eyes moving over the drawers, on the surface unaware of why she had gone to the trouble of moving and unsure what the next step was supposed to be.

The lowest drawer on the right slid open without noise, the hand that had curled around the knob of it lifting to move things aside as she searched through it. 3

Hiei was comfortable. Or, as comfortable as he could be considering he felt… off kilter. Strange. He'd just rolled over when he became aware of the quietest of sounds. He stilled, laying on his side now, and peered with one open eye at the open door.

He turned both eyes to Shikiyoku now, momentarily glad to see her up and about.

Until he noted that she still had yet to even _look _at him. Going about her business as if he weren't there.

A frown colored his features, and even though a very large part of him wanted to speak out, to point out such a thing, he did not.

He let his eyelids slide close again and simply took to listening to her rummaging. She'd either acknowledge him, or not. _*****_

Standing up again, leaving the drawer open as if she forgot she even reached into it, Shikiyoku paused another moment and it took a great deal of power to start moving again.

When she actually _saw _Hiei laying on the bed, she stopped as she passed the edge of it and blinked at him, apparently asleep on top of the covers.

Her hand lifted from her side, moving towards him before her eyebrows knotted together over her face and she quickly turned away to leave the room. 3

Hiei heard her slowly moving away from him, and he only opened one eye to glance briefly at her back before he shut it again, not allowing his expression to change, to show his emotions. He simply lay there, one hand curling around the blanket underneath him momentarily before he forced himself to relax again.

_I… hate it. __*****_

...because...she didn't _want _him to feel uncomfortable.

It was probably the first actual thought she had in days. And the one that originally led to her not bothering him, to her sleeping downstairs instead.

"_What do I do?" _His question echoed in her mind.

...nothing. You do nothing because I would never _ask _you to do anything.

She almost floated back down the staircase, her other hand clutching at the three, brown feathers she had retrieved from the desk.

_Not for me._

Why?

You can't say you don't want him to.

And he doesn't know.

_So, why can't you just tell him?_

...

"_I think allying yourself with someone who can challenge even __**you**_ _in matters you were practically __**born**_ _to fulfill might be the greatest asset of them all."_

..._but I'm so tired. I'm exhausted. Teaching takes __**time**__. And effort. And-_

As she lay back down, her lips almost twitched.

_And he's so stubborn._

~!**!~

If there had been wind inbetween the layers, it would have been rushing in Youko's ears.

As it was, the silence was eerie, and Kitoushi's words kept running through his mind.

"_It was nothing, fox. Literally __**nothing**__. Like I wasn't even there."_

He couldn't help the smirk across his lips. Had the great and mighty cousin never dealt with her depression before? It was nothing new for _him_ in any case.

_Yes, but __**he **__likely didn't have to be separated from her for any great length of time. _

And Youko had. More than once.

Only to come back each time to _exactly _what Kitoushi described.

_It's only fitting. She hasn't seen me in...what, a week?_

The thought that he might once again be the source of her despondent mood only further encouraged the smirk on his face.

_Like old times._

_I'll be her Consort yet._

When Youko slipped out into the living room of Shikiyoku's home, his eyes first flashed over to the couch, the glance telling him that she had in fact been sleeping there if the pillow and blanket were any indication-_just like old times indeed_-but she was not there now.

The second pass of his eyes to the other side of the room revealed the woman sitting at the table with a box of...something that Youko could tell came from the freezer, though as he moved to sit in the chair next to her, he realized there was only one of the things open and sitting on the table and she was staring at it as if she had forgotten she opened the treat, it having already started to melt in the wrapper.

"Yoku..." He called softly as he slid into the seat near her, pulling his chair closer so that his knee touched the edge of hers.

He didn't expect a verbal response, though she blinked. He slowly reached over with one hand to take a hold of her chin, resting his other arm on the table.

As she sat there, her eyes starting to waver, Youko caught sight of the one hand she had resting on the table, clutching at the feathers she had in her grasp. There was no mistaking exactly _who _the feathers had at one time belonged to.

With difficulty, Youko let go of the irritation of the source of her sorrow, only caring that it was not _him_, but as he _felt _her tears start to roll down the side of her face, his eyes drew back up to hers, noticing the redness, the puffiness, the dark circles under her eyes.

He could not know, could not empathize with how she felt, remembering with startling clarity the deep the etching of the heart-shaped scar was around her mouth and the few swirls across the lower part of her face and thinking after that of how she lost _two _Marked beings in a shocking manner within hours of one another.

She didn't have a chance to mourn the first before the second fell.

"Yoku..." Her name came out more murmured this time as he leaned forward to began kissing at her tears.

He had never once told her to stop crying, and he did not intend to start now, instead reverting as he always did to slowly smothering her with affection.

And, as always, it took several minutes of him gently pressing his lips around her cheeks and forehead, having turned her face to him, before she reached up with the hand that held the feathers to rub the bottom of her palm into an eye.

He drew back from her when she did this, reaching up with his other hand to catch a tear he missed, and she finally blinked, aware of him as her eyes finally focused in on his face.

The difference in the sadness that Youko was used to seeing when she met his gaze had his own core jolting once in sympathy, somehow knowing that this was no _normal _heartbreak he could see in her still-shining green eyes.

When she did not pull away from the fingers he still hand at her chin, Youko's eyes flickered towards her lips.

As if that wasn't obvious enough for her, Shikiyoku found she could _feel _what he desired even as he lowered his face down to hers to kiss her.

...she couldn't remember the last time she _wasn't _the one doing the kissing.

Not that she didn't kiss him back, but considering how most of her interactions lately had involved removing Markings, there was a pleasant strangeness to the gesture for her that she did take a moment to enjoy before he pulled away.

Much sooner than he _desired _to, she noticed.

The thought had her eyebrows flickering upwards on her face a little.

Youko almost made a little noise of protest at her, though he hadn't honestly expected something so simple to completely rid her eyes of that heartache he could still see shimmering just below the surface.

"What?"

Her question came out quietly, murmured into the air between them.

"You can hide nothing from me, Yoku." He gave her a small smile.

"Is that so?"

He gave her a little nod even as one of her eyebrows shot up with curiosity.

"Have you forgotten even that much, seductress? Surely it hasn't been so long."

The amusement in her eyes did not reach as deeply as he wished.

The hand at her chin dropped smoothly to her side, where he rested it at the small of her back as the other hand which had wiped tears from her left cheek moved to her neck as he leaned down to her ear with a crooked grin.

"I don't like it when you get this way." He informed her. "In case you've forgotten."

"And what if I have?" Her eyes narrowed a little at what she could see of his face. "What on earth do you think you're going to do about it?"

"The same thing I do every time, you silly demon."

It was the first time since he had sat next to her that her expression faltered, because she could not recall what it was he did 'every time.' In fact, she couldn't remember what he was talking about in the first place.

_I suppose it really __**has **__been 'so long_.'

Her eyes were still cut as far to the side as possible, though with one hand at her neck and his face near her ear, she couldn't exactly move her head to watch whatever he planned, or even get an inkling of his intentions from his face.

For that matter, she felt nothing from him at all.

And it was in _that _moment her core froze in place, suddenly aware of how disconcerting _not _knowing could be.

After all...surely _masking _one's desires was more difficult.

Unprepared for anything the fox had planned, the sudden squeak of sound he pulled from her lips when his fingers began prodding at her ribs immediately sent Shikiyoku squirming in her seat when he did not stop, instead stealing a kiss on her neck before letting out a laugh as she tried wriggling away.

Her hands came up in an attempt to defend herself, pushing at his arms, which had shifted her around to face him, and losing most mental faculties, incapable of doing much else besides shoving at what she could reach of him and beginning to giggle in the midst of trying to tell him to stop.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" He turned his head slightly so that one ear was pointed even more directly at her, unrelenting in tickling her even as he felt her lungs underneath his hands starting to desperately heave in air.

"Yo-" She couldn't even finish his name as she started laughing again, leaning back as far as possible and only succeeding in getting Youko to move forward as she tried to get away.

In the next second, her chair had slammed against the floor and she was scooting back as quickly as possible as Youko crawled over the piece of furniture in her direction, having allowed himself to be pulled down with her.

She scrambled back, face red and breathing heavily as snippets of laughter still snuck out of her lips as she tried to keep her feet out of his reach until she found her back pressed up against the counter, at which point her eyes widened as she felt Youko's intention to lunge forward and she spun to the side, clambering to her feet as his hand just missed her ankle.

Undeterred, Youko smoothly rose and started after her, earning himself another nervous laugh as she glanced over her shoulder at him that quickly turned to a more delighted one as she dodged around the outside of the couch only to see that he dashed after her.

She made it around the other side of it, laughing again as he reached for her and missed, making the small leap to get on top of the table to slide over the surface of it on her hip into the kitchen and run for the other of the tiled room, letting out an 'eep' when Youko appeared in front of her with a grin, having gone around to cut her off.

Making no hesitation in changing directions, Shikiyoku managed to lead the chase around the living room and through the kitchen twice more before Youko snatched her into his arms just as she had turned to dash up the stairs, her now-squeals of laughter echoing in the house as he wrapped an arm around her stomach from behind her and leaned his head over her shoulder to plant a kiss on her cheek while she attempted to break free, part of his silky hair falling over her shoulder and her struggles only egging on his tickling and actually pulling laughter of his own from his lips at the unsuccessful roughhousing she was attempting to get herself free. 3

He'd been drifting in and out of sleep, dozing off only to be awoken by some dream or another, or sometimes even a troubling thought that would pass and ruining the peaceful darkness of slumber. At one point, he'd even been having a decent dream that didn't seem to take away any rest from his sleep.

And that dream had even begun to fade into peaceful slumber when something… something pulled at his consciousness. Something grabbed his attention, pulling the fire demon from his sleep with a small sense of alarm.

When Hiei's eyes came open, he was already standing, moving for the door, pausing with a hand on the doorknob.

He wasn't sure what had woken him, but he was very sure of sounds downstairs now. Laughter, loud footsteps. He was very tempted to turn around and leave, go find sleep somewhere else.

But for whatever reason- perhaps out of grumpiness at having been disturbed, or curiosity at the source- he pulled the door open and let it shut on its own, moving for the top of the stairs and turning his eyes down with irritation shining.

He'd seen Youko and Shikiyoku pass by once, and an eye twitched.

_Too much noise._

_I don't like it._

He blinked only once, but didn't move from where he was, watching the pair as they came into view again. Another twitch of his eye, more irritation. He didn't so much as make a single sound.

Why was he standing here again?

Oh right, they woke him. _*****_

Shikiyoku's laughter started fading into spurts and her struggles grew weaker as Youko stopped, freezing a look onto the fire demon at the top of the stairs that made it plainly obvious the fox had not intended for there to be _witnesses _to his techniques.

_How long has he been standing there?_

Long enough to appear overly irritated.

_If I had done this on purpose, I might find it amusing._

When her giggles had slowed enough to see how heavily her breath came, her cheeks flushed and her ears pink from the exertions, Shikiyoku's eyes opened, the tears leaking out from the sides the very opposite of the ones that she had been shedding previously, and she raised her face to look up at Youko, who had ended up with his chin almost resting on the top of her head, silver hair cascading over either of her shoulders.

Her eyes closed again, giving a half-smile as she nudged her nose against his jaw, thankful for the reprieve, but equally as thankful for _him_. 3

Hiei's eyes caught those of the fox's, and his chin lifted just a fraction, to showcase the fact that he acknowledged the expression on the other's face. An expression that read he hadn't been aware of the fire demon's presence.

_I don't like it._

His expression gave a small twitch, but he regained control very quickly. He wasn't stupid**;** he knew what the fox was doing. Making her laugh.

He didn't like it. It reminded the fire demon of just how incapable he was around this woman.

He made a small sound of disdain.

"You're too loud."

With that, he turned and began moving towards the bedroom again. He wouldn't, however, stay there. He had no intention of staying.

_I hate it. All of it. __*****_

"Yo-chan?" Shikiyoku's eyes had opened, feeling that Youko still had not moved, and she looked up the stairs but saw nothing, thinking perhaps the voice-and whatever it had said-had only been Youko murmuring something at her.

For his part, Youko narrowed his eyes at the retreating fire demon.

_Dammit._

"What-"

As if to make himself feel better, Youko stopped whatever question Shikiyoku was about to air by turning her just enough so that he could kiss her again, pulling them inbetween the layers before she was able to protest.

He picked her up and dashed off as her arms wrapped around his neck, though she did not miss the look of irritation coloring his features and this time it was _her _planting a kiss on _his _cheek, noticing immediately that his severe expression softened into a short smile.

Youko dropped them back into the world once they arrived at the meadow, setting Shikiyoku onto her feet.

As she turned to face him and frowned up at him, noting the distractedness in his eyes, Youko leaned forward menacingly.

"Do you _want _me to start chasing you around the meadow?" He growled playfully.

"Maybe."

"Then keep frowning."

She did. At least until he took a step towards her, at which point she held up her hands and let out a laugh in defeat.

"Okay, okay. I don't really mean it."

"Lies." Youko reached for her wrists and pulled her down as he lay on the heather, keeping a hold on one of her hands as he settled onto his back, one hand underneath his head to prop it up.

Shikiyoku only grinned back at him and let him move her, laying down over part of his chest with her free hand under her chin as she watched him move their hands back and forth as if he inspected them.

"I didn't mean to be gone so long." Youko admitted. "Things are getting...difficult."

She said nothing, only waiting for him to continue.

Youko let out a sigh, "I got a letter from Yomi. He wants me to join him. Help him win the war."

Several thoughts turned over in Shikiyoku's head.

"The same Yomi that you-"

"Yup."

She made a noncommittal sound.

"He thinks he's strong enough to challenge Mukuro? And Raizen both?"

"Apparently."

"I think he's finally become more arrogant than you. The other two have well-established claims in the Eighth, uh, Layer?"

Youko nodded.

"Things haven't changed much down there, except for the fact that he's managed to get a good foothold in the territory. Went after land that was stretching the other two too thin. Did them a favor, really, but it also let him stake his claim. Be in the running."

He paused, voice quieter this time when he went on, "Come with me?"

Shikiyoku only blinked at him and Youko finally tore his eyes away from their intertwined hands to look into her face.

"Youko, you know I can't-"

"Make me your Consort."

She blinked at him again, "What?"

"Make me your Consort." He repeated. "You're going to anyway. Get it over with and we can go down there together."

"Youko- I-" Her protests faltered, her mind still reeling with how _serious _the fox appeared to be.

"I have to go." He said with a little shrug. "I don't see any reason why you can't come with me."

"You haven't cured my disease yet, kitsune." Shikiyoku finally pulled herself together enough to give the demon a mischievous look.

"And you think Yomi doesn't have the facilities to instigate curing you? You come with me and you'll be rid of it within twenty-four hours."

"Correction. Yomi could _never _be as arrogant as you."

"I'm glad you've seen the light."

Shikiyoku quieted for a moment, and Youko let her think, seeing the wheels turning in her mind.

She sighed.

"You know very well the reasons why I can't go with you." She told him.

"_Won't_." He corrected. "It isn't that you _can't._"

"Won't, then." She allowed. "If Yomi figured out what I am-"

"He wouldn't."

She gave him a look.

"He's not stupid, Youko. Arrogant, maybe. But never stupid."

"Arrogance often lends itself to stupidity." He replied airily.

"Is that so?"

Youko gave her a little growl when she looked at him pointedly.

"Ruling the Ninth Layer means nothing, Yo-chan." Shikiyoku finally said, "You know that."

He gave a little shrug, "Try convincing the three kings of that."

"I'm not going to bother." Shikiyoku rolled her eyes, "But if any of them knew I held the birthright to claiming the throne, do you have any idea what they might do to me?"

"Use you in every way possible to secure their own desires?"

"Or kill me and hope to inherit it."

"It doesn't work like that."

"Try convincing the three kings of that."

He gave her another look at having his own words turned against him.

She let out another sigh, "If you leave, fox, you leave without me."

He made a face, "But I could be gone for a _long time_." He whined.

"And?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"And I want to be your Consort _now._"

"So sure of yourself, aren't you?"

He gave her an impish grin, "You'll wait for me."

"Really."

"You have no better choice."

Shikiyoku could think of one in particular. One deep within the layers that she planned on visiting soon if time allowed.

"I believe I have several." She responded loftily.

"None as good as me." He pulled at her hand to draw her closer to his face, reaching out with his other arm to wrap it around her as she braced herself against his shoulder, peering down into his yellow eyes with a slightly irked expression.

"Cheeky little fox."

"If I'm wrong, correct me."

"I've _tried_."

He only laughed at her.

"And you're sure you won't let me remove the marking before you go?" She purred at him.

"Why on earth would I do something as ridiculous as that?" He appeared truly curious.

Shikiyoku let out a long-suffering sigh, "Because I'm not likely to wait for you, Youko."

His eyes almost narrowed.

"Something could happen while you're gone. You don't know." She informed him, "It would make it easier on you if you let me remove it now."

"I will not give up my rights on such a whim." Youko replied with just as much straightforwardness as her last words.

"Suit yourself-"

"I will."

"-but I promise nothing, Youko."

"You don't have to." He gave her a knowing grin.

She let out a sigh of resignation.

~!**!~

Youko had left, Kitoushi still hadn't come back yet, and it wasn't long before Shikiyoku felt her previous melancholy beginning to return.

Without a distraction, she found herself smoothing her fingers at the place where Otento's mark scarred her face in pain form, her thoughts turning over to Taka, half-wishing the bird scarred her and not the _other _demon.

...that would mean having had to kill him.

...she wasn't sure if that wouldn't haunt her twice as much as Otento's death did.

She fell asleep two nights in a row with the television on as she sat on the couch, attempting to use the moving pictures as a distraction.

On the third day though, she felt restless, knowing the cloud that had slowly been building up in her mind would only get worse, and while she had the good senses to do so, she needed to move.

It was with these thoughts in mind that she found herself slipping between the layers and walking over the threshold into the Niiro Kaga just as the last of the night crowd was leaving, putting her in the bar at closing time, the waitresses cleaning the tables and floor as Kafu stood behind the bar cleaning mugs.

"It is good to see you in one piece, lady."

Kafu didn't have to look up to know who slid into the barstool across from him.

Without her asking, a clean glass was filled with Demon's Fire and set beside her.

"Service after hours?" Shikiyoku gave a little grin as she reached for it and took a large gulp.

"Only for customers as prestigious as yourself."

The waitress snorted as she passed a handful of trays up into what looked like empty air.

"So _you're _what's been on his mind, seductress." She stood for a moment in place, a smile colored with chagrin on her features.

"I never said that."

"You never _had _to." She replied to the old demon, giving a little laugh and a wave as she moved on.

"I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to get down here." Shikiyoku mumbled after taking another large gulp that had the glass sitting with only a fourth of the drink left in the bottom.

Maybe it was her heavier mood, but the alcohol set in to her system much faster than she remembered it doing, her skin starting to buzz pleasantly.

"I'm sorry I appear incapable of visiting you." Kafu replied with a blithe tone.

He pulled a snort from Shikiyoku's lips, "Doesn't sound like you're sorry."

"Perhaps you should look again." He set the mug down and she looked up at him, seeing that he meant it.

The last of her drink disappeared and without hesitation Kafu poured her more, going back to drying off the awaiting mugs.

_This is a bad idea._

The thought didn't seem to make much of a difference as she downed another half of it.

"What I don't understand-" Shikiyoku started, struggling to make for certain that her words did not slur together, "Is why exactly you want your Mark removed, hm?"

Kafu only paused for a moment as he cleaned, though Shikiyoku was beyond noticing it.

"You deserve...more."

"You were gonna say 'better.'" Shikiyoku leaned forward, trying to look up into his face. "That's...stupid."

Kafu looked up at her, suddenly sensing the haze that had settled over her, the gleam of her skin, and the scent of the flower tucked behind her ear, which only seemed to enhance what he knew to be drifting his direction from her scalp.

Before he could gather enough awareness to stop her, Shikiyoku had gotten rid of the rest of her drink, though this time Kafu did not fill it again.

"I...would not wish this lifestyle upon you, lady." He said quietly, still looking at her.

She blinked at him in a manner that broadcasted a warning across his mind, and he stiffened, feeling idiotic for offering her the second glass without first talking to her, feeling her state of mind.

"And why not?" She leaned heavily onto the bar. "What's so wrong with it?"

"Because you deserve-" He stopped when she interrupted him by raising a finger and glaring at him, her eyes shimmering.

"No." She stated. "You don't know. None of you can know. Just...no. I'm allowed to think like that. _You're _not."

Kafu's expression lightened, "And why have _you _been thinking that way?"

"Because I'm-" Her eyes shifted to the side, remembering something someone had told her and not repeating the phrase. _Damaged goods. _"All messed up now."

"Oh?" Knowing he wasn't going to get anymore work done for the moment, Kafu leaned forward and rested an elbow on the bar, putting his cheek in that hand as his other arm came up to lay down across the red wood. "And who told you that?"

"I did."

"And what if you're not allowed to think like that either?"

She blinked slowly at him, "That doesn't count."

"And why not?"

"Because I said so."

"And why does it work that way?"

"Because I said it does."

"That's not exactly fair."

"I get to make the rules." She stuck her tongue out at him, causing Kafu's eyebrows to raise.

"And what if we want to make a few rules ourselves?"

"Nu-uh. Don't get to." She shook a finger at him.

Kafu let out a single chuckle, "You're drunk."

"And you're...adorable."

His eyes shifted to the side, "That's hardly comparable."

"**I **make the rules." She stuck her face in his, scrunching her nose up at him.

"Of course you do, lady." He shook his head a little as he looked back at her, unable to pull his eyes away from hers for the next moment, forcing himself to shift, looking over at his arm where swirls of her mark had extended down from the heart on the outside of his shoulder.

Shikiyoku reached over and placed her hand over the Mark, immediately setting the black ink-like tattoo aglow, and Kafu could feel where it stopped just short of his neckline, going instead to move down his shoulder blade.

Just as Kafu turned his head to look at Shikiyoku again, he found that she closed the last bit of distance between them and kissed him, freezing him in place as her eyes closed once her lips found his.

_Really, really drunk._

The thought passed over his mind the instant she got a hold of him, but he lingered in the position when he realized something strange that he had never considered about her before, and as she kissed him, he almost found himself regretting his decision, finding in her kiss that she had the oddest power he had ever come across...

The ability to make another feel..._loved_.

As Kafu slowly pulled away, gently putting his own hands on Shikiyoku's shoulders to set her back down on the stool, he regarded her with a look she had never seen on his face, one that she found she had no name for.

As she struggled with his reaction, he reached over to where the Mark was hidden beneath the rolled up sleeve of his shirt and pulled the fabric farther, turning the arm towards her as Shikiyoku slowly reached out to take his arm in her hands.

She hesitated once the marking was before her, eyes flickering up to Kafu.

He shook his head, "I am not the one who needs you the most, lady. And even if I spend my entire life regretting that I let you go, I don't think it is the wrong choice."

She stared at him a moment longer.

"You should at least know that I don't think it's the right one." She murmured as she lowered her face down and pressed her lips against the heart, causing the marking to glow again before the swirls dissipated into thin air.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku hadn't let Kafu stop her from leaving.

He had offered her a room, actually nearly pleading with her to stay as if realizing how drunk she was, but once the mark was gone, it was that much easier to ignore him anyway.

She didn't _exactly _stumble down the streets of the city, but it was dark and the few lights around didn't betray her features to any of the night-crowd passing by her, and neither did it betray the scent of drink on her lips.

However, it was quite likely that the truth was _she _didn't realize demons were passing by, though any of them within arms length became aware of her, her energy untraceable but definitely noticeable to anyone that happened to step near the haze of power she could feel around herself. It had many of them continuing to look back at her even after they passed. Especially once she entered the guild district.

She managed to find her way to a particular guild building, a newer one that had not been in this city when she and Hiei first arrived on their mission from Koenma, and storming through the entrance.

"Horu!" She announced as she made her way through the main room towards the door of his office, bursting through that door as well to stand there defiantly with her hands on her hips, "Horu, your guards are _terrible_."

Horu let out a laugh as he took his feet off of his desk and stood up, placing down the papers in his hands he had been examining and pulling her farther into the room as he closed the door behind her.

"Is that so?" He asked as he shut it.

She took a few more steps into his office before leaning a hand on one of the chairs in front of his desk and speaking up.

"Yes."

If he hadn't already sensed her slight drunkenness, the manner in which she said the word would have given it away.

He turned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"They let me waltz right in here!" She gestured with her arm to the room around her.

Horu frowned, his eyes glimmering with mirth, "Really. That's terrible!"

"It is! You should...hire better ones."

"I should."

"Or punish the ones you have!"

"Probably that one."

"_Definitely _that one." Shikiyoku told him after a second of consideration, "I like that one guy. He's nice."

Horu finally laughed again, and even a little harder when she pouted at him.

"You're delightful, did you know that?"

"No. Yes." She blinked. "Then why do you want me to take off the mark?"

"Oh, princess," He made a noise of admonishment and scooped her up from where she wavered in place, going to sit in his chair and placing her across his lap as he put his feet up on his desk again, tapping her nose with a finger, "It has absolutely _nothing _to do with _you_ and everything to do with m-"

"No." She didn't let him finish, "I don't wanna hear it. You all keep saying this stuff and it's not true. I don't like it."

Horu raised an eyebrow, "Well, I assumed you had visited Kafu, given the...smell."

"I did." She told him, frowning. "You guys are...stupid."

"All the more reason then, hm?" He moved his face closer to hers, narrowing his eyes playfully.

She didn't answer for a moment and he pulled back, studying her features.

"...am I _really _why you want to?" Her eyes were glassy when she looked at him, but before he could speak up, she went on, "Don't you _like _me?"

"Did Kafu say he didn't like you?" Horu raised an eyebrow, "Because I'll go beat him up right now if he-"

Shikiyoku let out a laugh as Horu moved his feet off his desk and made as if to stand, and she put a hand on his chest as if to stop him.

"Noooo," She giggled, "Don't do it. He's not _that _bad."

"Just sorta bad, huh?"

She nodded, "For wanting to mark off. I almost changed his mind."

"Oh?"

Another nod.

"Dare I ask how you managed that?"

When she turned her eyes onto him, Horu suddenly realized that perhaps he _shouldn't _have asked as he found himself staring back into her shimmering gaze unblinkingly, her scent washing over him all at once.

"I retract my question." He told her quickly.

She tried to laugh, but it came out as a huff and she turned away.

Before she really _could _change his mind, Horu lifted Shikiyoku up until he could sit her on the desk, where she rested with her hands on either side of her, looking at her feet as she kicked them back and forth.

He stood up and reached behind his shoulders to pull off his tunic, revealing more of the light-colored tattoos he had that decorated his torso, as well as where they mixed in with the black of _her _mark starting around the upper portion of his arms.

Horu made a brief glance over his shoulder at the mirror behind him, seeing in it that the mark spread like wings along either side of the upper portion of his back, and when he heard Shikiyoku shifting around, he quickly looked at her, seeing that she started to stand up.

He took the step towards her to help steady her as she wavered in place, smiling a little as he realized what she was doing.

Her hands had come up over his shoulders to catch herself, and she nudged him a little with one of them to get him to turn, which after a moment to make sure she wasn't going to immediately fall, he did.

When her strangely cool lips touched his skin, Horu found his eyes closing as a warmth spread, tingling, over the markings for a single moment before he could feel them almost peeling away, the yellow glow dissipating into the air. 3

Hiei slipped into the bedroom window, having left it unlocked for this very reason. He'd been sleeping out in the tree as of late, observing, thinking a few things over. He'd noted Shikiyoku sleeping on the couch, in front of the television, but hadn't acted.

He'd also noted that she left earlier today, and Kitoushi had returned. Youko hadn't.

Meaning he could slip into the kitchen without being bothered, because he was more than certain that the cat was too exhausted to be awake at this time. It's just what he'd noted upon the other's return.

So he shut the window behind him, locked it, and moved through the layers to phase through the door and down the stairs, landing on the first layer again to pull open the freezer, sights set on the sweet snow.

~!**!~

Blissful, wonderful sleep. No dreams, except one much earlier in the night, but even now she couldn't remember it. She didn't have to worry about the soreness in her muscles, about the occasional thought that sometimes berated her mind, telling her things she didn't want to consider.

But she wasn't exactly surprised to feel the covers ripped away from her, light suddenly shining in her face and a voice yelling, loud and obnoxious, its words lost on her as she rolled away, grumbling something along the lines of "shut up".

She was just getting comfortable again, just releasing a sigh, when something very cold, and very, very unpleasant jolted her awake. She was sitting up, snarling, spitting water away from her lips and nose as the ice slid down her head.

This was possibly the nicest way she'd been awoken as of late, but that didn't make it any more pleasant.

"You're walking a fine line." she growled out as a hand wiped at her face, her teeth chattering just a little as she opened her eyes to see that the light in her face was not sunlight, but artificial light. From a flashlight. "Seriously?"

"I told you I'd make up for lost time. Get up."

Akari ground her teeth to keep them from chattering, breath coming fast through her nostrils as she gave a very pointed, very defiant glare towards Takeo. She wanted so badly to tell him to _shove it. _To stick it where the sun couldn't shine and roll back under the covers.

Covers that were now soaked, no doubt.

The demon turned, not waiting as he made for the door. "Ten minutes. If you're not there, I'll make sure you get no sleep, in the very least, for a week."

_I want you dead._

"Yes, but you can't do that now, can you?"

_Oh, but I will._

"Until then, you'll be in the training quarters. You have yet to move to the Ninth Layer, and Yomi's getting impatient." He slammed the door behind himself, but she knew he didn't go further than the next corridor.

He never went further than that.

She looked about the darkened room as she drew in a deep breath, a hand rubbing at her face. What time was it? How long had she slept? _Not long enough. _It didn't matter. She didn't have time to think on it, or to even grab a quick shower, or even a towel for her hair.

Another deep breath as she pulled drawers open, finding many, many outfits she _hated_ to even look at, and completely refused to wear- even if the armor would hide it.

She settled for the usual black pants and black shirt to go under the armor, and was pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she stepped into the hall outside her room, eyes turning to the guard standing nearby. Her eyes narrowed at him before she turned and went the opposite direction**; **she didn't trust that one for….

What was she saying? She didn't trust a single person here.

Sometimes, she wasn't even sure she trusted herself, and it took a lot of restraint not to act on impulse here. BEcause every single fiber of her being screamed at her to strike in any way possible, to take down every demon she could before she herself was more than likely killed.

_Patience. _

She took a deep, calming breath.

_You are calm. You are patient. You are not going to give in to it today._

A small scoff.

_No promises for tomorrow, though. __*****_

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku's eyes opened, it was to the darkness of a room she did not recognize, and the only reason she did not panic was because of the alcohol still coursing heavily through her veins.

She sat up, blinking through the blurriness and remembering someone saying something about 'Ogre Killer,' which had her briefly cursing Kafu inside her mind.

"Mm, are you still drunk, seductress?"

She hadn't noticed until she heard the sleepy voice, but the bed underneath her shifted as the shape laying next to her turned to face her.

Horu reached up and pulled Shikiyoku back down beside him, knowing the instant she got close that her breath still smelled of the stuff Kafu had somehow managed to slip past her. Not to mention the fact that the very air around her buzzed with her energy, uncontrolled.

_Probably got her drunk thinking it would make removing the mark easier._

Horu huffed and fell back further into slumber.

Blinking in the pitch-black of the room, Shikiyoku realized the demon next to her hand no shirt on and she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it until the arms that had encouraged her to lay back down started to gather her up in their strength-Horu meant for her to stick around until she was coherent enough to get home on her own-and she found herself pressed up to Horu's chest, her hands pinned between them, flattened against his skin.

The energy already buzzing over her entire body was easy to slip in to as he kissed the top of her head.

"-and don't even think about shifting between the layers. I can do that too you know." He muttered, half-asleep.

She had missed the first part of whatever he had been saying, but she was fairly certain it was a threat about leaving.

She had no intention of that now.

Her hands easily slid up over his collarbone to find the back of his neck, going further until her fingers were buried part-way in his white hair and her lips began planting kisses up over his collarbone until she reached his jaw.

Horu made some noise or another, taking a deep breath of her scent before his eyes flew open at the reminder of her energy in the air as it started to encircle him and his hands found her wrists and gently removed them.

"Ah-huh. Sorry, princess." He mumbled, still mostly sleeping as he eyes closed again, thinking of the kiss he'd given the top of her head as he shifted her around, weaving his arms about as he turned her to face away from him, ending up with his hands crossed over one another firmly over her chest and pulling her up against him so she couldn't escape. Or move much, really. "Not used to...having to restrain myself with bedmates." He hadn't considered kissing her on the top of the head a bad idea, only meaning it as reassurance.

She did not let him turn her quietly, making a sound of protest, though his strength at the moment overpowered her even as she struggled against him and he shifted his arms so that she could not reach them with her lips.

"Mm, just _sleep_ would you? Trust me: if our situations were reverse it'd be just as hard for me." He let out a sigh too tired to be aggravated with her and buried his face in her hair. "S'hard enough as it is anyway." He grumbled, drinking in her smell and finding _this _direction made it more difficult for _him _not to start kissing at her neck in very much the same way she had just been doing to him.

Being sleepy helped a little at least, as he forced himself back under the tide of slumber and away from the rather willing seductress in his arms. 3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!


	97. Episode 181

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Readers!

Whoops. Totally lost track of time/forgot what day it was, and I had so much editing to do on the chapter that it took over an hour to get it where I wanted/needed it to be. Since CM and I had just talked outside of the RP as to various events that took place, the beginning of this chapter would have skipped quite a few things that are important as a reader to know in regards to the plot.

In other news, a good deal of this chapter (the parts involving Kurama anyway) is lifted directly from Episode 101: "Reunion of the Bandits" (Demon Realm Thieves-A Thousand-Year Reunion) of the anime YuYu Hakusho. No copyright infringement is intended, of course, all rights belong to blah, blah, and I'm not making any money off of this anyway, heh.

As you may have noticed, CM and I's story is finally circling around back to the Three Kings Saga just as we always intended for it to do since very early on in our RP. There will be a lot of similarities between the plotlines, but many, many differences as well.

There will be several "time skip" moments at the start of this chapter where if you watched the episode, I skip forward so that we can only touch on the important bits of time and dialogue (with "corrections" sprinkled in the midst of them) before moving on.

I made it a little longer for you to make up for how late it got posted.

Happy reading!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

"...I told you, mother, you needn't worry about me. Stay on your trip as long as you want, you deserve it. And don't worry about the house, it's in good hands."

Kurama rested on a rock on the Eighth Layer, cell phone held up to his ear. Thanks to a clever patch he made before leaving, his mother still thinks he's at the house.

As Kurama hung up and slipped the phone into the bag he slung over his shoulder, he briefly thought of his goodbye to Yusuke a month or so back as the teenager himself left for Raizen and for Demon World, having discovered, or rather been told by Raizen's lackey's, that he was a blood descendant of Raizen and therefore a prime candidate to assist the would-be King in his campaign to invade the Ninth Layer and place the rightful ruler on the throne.

Youko had of course received a 'spirit of words' from someone he thought he would never hear from again: Yomi. A long-ago acquaintance recently risen to power on the Eighth Layer to contest Raizen and Mukuro for claim of the throne.

The belief was that whoever controlled the throne controlled the others levels, or rather _layers _at this point. Where Raizen wished the blood-ruler to be put in place, Yomi wished to claim the throne for himself. And Mukuro? Likely wanted to destroy the throne and let anarchy be the true ruler of Demon World.

Kurama's thoughts drifted back towards his mother as he began moving towards Yomi's lands.

He had gifted his mother and step-father with an all-expenses paid trip to Europe, promising to watch the house in their absence. Since Yomi did not think the coming war would be over any time soon, Kurama had timed and coordinated an opportunity in the United States to open up for him just before the pair returned home, an entire scheme set-up so that they would think he was off on an internship overseas that was intended to further his step-father's company upon his return.

The internship would be for an indefinite amount of time, insuring that no matter how long the trip to Demon World, and Yomi, took him, Kurama would still supposedly be gone. He had been very thorough in the masquerade, and for all intents and purposes he was actually going to be where he said.

He had only one condition with Yomi: that he come to him as Kurama the human instead of Youko the fox. The spirit of words had been addressed to Youko, and there was little in the way of charading that the fox was perhaps trapped within him still, or slumbering, or unable to be called out at will, because it was likely Yomi's information told him that Youko was free to walk when he pleased.

Perhaps not, but Yomi agreed to the condition in any case.

For some reason Youko had not wanted to confront his former comrade.

~!**!~

"Yomi. Was it necessary to have your men attack me?"

"Hello to you too, Kurama. It's been far too long since I've seen you. You dispatched them with ease, did you not?" Yomi stepped out from the shadows of the trees just outside of his base. "

"I don't appreciate the pun. And what sort of welcome is that? I came all this way to help you, not to be attacked."

"Don't be cross. I wasn't entirely sure it _was_ you. After all, I originally intended for it to be Youko here, if you remember. And your energy feels so much different than it did before. I have to be sure I'm not advised by the wrong man."

"So you sent them to identify me. That's playing it very cautious, Yomi, a trait you never had when I knew you."

"You're not the only one who's gone through changes, especially if you and Youko are becoming more and more of one as you seem to imply. But I can't afford to be reckless now. Mukuro and Raizen have had centuries to gain their foothold, to research ways to invade the Ninth Layer. With the discovery of the layer-walkers, things are moving much more quickly. And now that I have an equal share, they'll take any chance to dethrone me."

"A thousand years is a long time."

"For some things it's not."

~!**!~

"I've charted how many layer-walkers there are of each of the three territories in Demon World. Now, the numbers are relative, they don't mean anything material. And here are the numbers as they will be a year from now."

"Raizen's numbers haven't moved at all!"

"That's wishful thinking!"

Yuda shook his head, giving a smirk, "These projections are simply following the patterns already in place. That fool has not so much as recruited a single layer-walker to his side since their discovery when the worlds shifted together. This comes from highly dependable sources."

"Your tactics are by the books, Yuda." Yomi praised mildly. "Kurama, I'd like to hear your opinion now."

The other four members present chimed in their desires to hear Kurama's words and how resourceful he might be.

"I'm confused. The power of each territory simply mirrors its ruler. I'd like to see individual stats of the first and second strongest in each land."

"Strength of the leader is strength of the team." Yuda quipped, "But if you need proof, I can show you stats of every single warrior."

"No, the first and second will suffice."

"I see." Yuda laughed, "All that information would be too much for your brain to handle."

Yuda continued talking as he pulled up the three rulers, their stats, and the second-highest readings they had compiled: Hokushin for Raizen. Kirin for Mukuro. Shachi for Raizen.

The differences in strength between the King and their next strongest were vast.

"Well, that confirms it for me: the right-hand man of two-thirds of the lords has not been present long enough to be collected into your database. Let's assume for a moment that your data _is _complete, and that Raizen will continue to not recruit layer-walkers. Does this not place him out of the foot race? The instant either Mukuro or Yomi make their move and descend to the Ninth Layer, the other will follow, will they not? But according to your information, Mukuro and Yomi are evenly matched, which means the deciding factor would normally be the number twos of either King. But in this case, they're all too weak to make any difference. And if they're the second best, logic follows that all warriors besides the lords are useless.

Now, to tie this in with Yuda's intelligence, in the end what will it matter _how many _layer-walkers each King has if the only fighters who matter are the two Kings themselves? Would they not each only need one that would take them through the layers, bypassing altogether their former inability to cross the barrier between the Ninth Level and the Eighth since they were not born within the Ninth itself? Yuda's information is useless. It will only take a single layer-walker to transport a King and their right-hand man, but even then the number twos' strength must match their King's in order to make any difference whatsoever."

"So our only tactic is no tactic? Sounds like you've been wasting Lord Yomi's time." Shachi crossed his arms over his chest.

"Not at all. Because the whole balance is about to change."

"What?!" Shachi growled.

"As I've explained, it is not the number of layer-walkers that will make a difference. Instead, it will matter _who _those layer-walkers are." Kurama glanced back up to the screen where the six faces of the demons he asked to be displayed still looked out. "Yuda, of the six you show here, how many can walk the layers?"

"What kind of question is that?" Yuda demanded, "None of them! Everyone knows that!"

"Exactly. What good is a right-hand man if they cannot transport their lord at a moment's notice? The second in command is who will determine who prevails here. In half a year's time, the faces of the number twos here will change-"

"You damned fool! Watch your tongue!" Shachi pounded on the table. "These hierarchies of power have survived here for five hundred years, unchallenged by any demon, and only a sword will make them change!"

~!**!~

"...there it is. 'Course, I long suspected it, but I didn't want to believe. I should tell you right now that I bear no grudge against you, old friend. In the enterprise of power, you made a business decision. Thinking back, I was a liability. Rash. Disobedient. I lost countless men. I would have tried to kill me too."

"What do you want from me?"

"Precisely as my spirit of words told you: I want you to assist me in any way you can. Just as I assisted you in the past, despite my mistakes of immiturity. I learned much from you, Kurama. I tried to model myself after you. I only brought up the past so we can move beyond it."

"And yet...if I say no..."

There was a long pause.

When Yomi spoke, his voice was much quieter.

"Your human mother is on a plane right now."

"No, Yomi."

"At least according to the schedule my agents have supplied. That was nice of you by the way to give them that trip."

Kurama could no longer hold back his distaste for the situation, letting out a brief, low growl.

"I just hope it doesn't crash. Middle-aged newlyweds dying on their second vacation together is a bland topic for even your lousy, human T.V. shows."

"You bastard."

"Quite a life you had after my hit was botched-"

Yomi went on for a moment, but Kurama's mind, while part of it listened to the recapitulation his former bandit partner gave of Youko's subsequent invasion of Shuichi, was instead turning over everything Yomi was revealing to him, things he could not have known the aspiring King of Demon World kept track of.

"-which in turn led you to facing off against the dog demon Akari, henchman of Sensui. And it is her disappearance which in turn led you to me. Don't like that I know of her too? How about this, then: you appear to hold rather high regards of her. Almost as high as mommy dearest."

The edges of Kurama's eyes twitched and he let them narrow at the blind demon who had by this time turned to face him.

"Collecting information. Another lesson you taught me. It showed me how much they meant to you. Of course, I knew I couldn't get away with capturing your mother. No, it would be better to have her free, on her own. Under careful watch. But the dog demon? ...well, let's just say she's here as collateral. _Your _collateral."

"Earlier today you said you didn't recognize me. A smart lie to disguise how much you knew."

Yomi chuckled, "I've angered you greatly, and yet your mind's already considering our every encounter calmly, trying to sniff out an advantage. While others would be overcome with _real_ emotions, blinded by their rage, you're methodically planning how to save your mom. And the girl. And no one can say if that's because you actually love either of them, or because you don't want anything to handicap your control of the situation."

It was all Kurama could do to stay his hands, to keep from striking out at the demon. If only because perhaps the blind fool _wouldn't _see it coming.

Yomi wasn't wrong; Kurama's mind was already tumbling through the multitude of answers to the dilemma put before him. When he and Youko had agreed to come down here, and in the red-head's form no less, he did not think either of them suspected what truly lay in store for them.

Youko's icy, seething anger easily seeped out of Kurama's green eyes, for there was no denying how the fox felt about their mother now, regardless of how strongly Kurama felt about the news of Akari as well.

"That's cold and very threatening." Yomi spoke into the silence that had grown between the two of them.

The brief thought that Yomi knew for certain Youko was free to walk the world again, and yet hadn't brought the fact up to the red-head in person, kept Kurama on edge, as if the unspoken knowledge between them hung over their heads to be used and abused by Yomi whenever the demon saw fit.

"Very soon every single layer of the combined worlds will fall into chaos, and that's when I'll need your calm and cruelty, your ability to think without emotion. Join me, Kurama." Yomi started to walk out of the room. "Help me to unify them all under my command, under the _new _royal order." 3

~!**!~

Hiei had eaten a little from the ice cream tub before putting it back, finding he wasn't near as hungry as he'd thought he was. So he'd slid it back into the very cold box that kept it from becoming a disgusting slosh, and then he'd turned and meandered back up the stairs before Kitoushi had even had a chance to wake up and see the fire demon.

He lingered by the bed for a moment, considering simply falling onto it and making an attempt at a nap. But…

He made a sound to himself and moved for the window, unlocking it and quickly slipping into the branches of the nearest tree. He climbed high up, until he could see nothing more than the bed underneath the window, and then he got comfortable. It was the very same thing he'd done for the past couple of days and nights.

He'd continue to observe. Even if, in the back of his mind, he wasn't happy with just sitting around. However, it was clear he wasn't near as high in the ranks as he'd originally thought.

The only thing he could do now was see just how _behind_ he was.

And then he'd make his comeback.

For now, however, he crossed his arms over his chest, rested his head back against the bark, and let his eyelids close, ignoring the image of Youko and Shikiyoku at the bottom of the stairs, disappearing from view.

~!**!~

"I said _**again**_!"

Akari huffed through her nostrils in defiance, taking another step away from the other as he swung again, missing. She'd learned his tell-tale signs by now. His torso always gave him away.

"Your little game of keep away won't last forever."

Her back touched the wall, just as she'd known it would. But at the moment, her mind was elsewhere, unregistering the words that were dripping from Takeo's lips like venom. Yes, the air about them registered, but their meaning did not. Because…

_Too soon, Kurama. _She growled, eyelids sliding closed. _You're not supposed to be here. _

Her stomach did a flip and her core churned. To say she was unhappy was much more than a simple understatement. In fact, she could almost be sick at the thought.

Because there was no way Yomi wasn't aware of their…

Was 'relationship' really the right word?

Her stomach did another roll, and her eyelids slide open to stare at the demon whose breath washed over her face, his nose inches from hers. "You're too _distracted._"

Akari didn't reply, not even with a twitch of her expression.

"Why?" When she gave no answer, his lips twitched down, his brows furrowing further and creating shadows over his eyes. "I've been very lenient with you, dog." His finger was already tracing her jawline, eyes following the motion. "Perhaps… _too _lenient?"

"Probably. I mean, I'm still alive, which means your patience matches that of Yomi."

"You are not to address him in such a way."

"I haven't been stopped yet." Her eyes stared daggers at his face, though he didn't grace her with his own gaze aside from the trail his finger made. "I'm hoping that your lack of progress with me will end in your demise."

"I am well aware of that." His left hand came up, grabbing her elbow and pulling her from the wall, shoving her a few feet away from himself and out into the open floor. "I would claim that you're forgetting a few things, but I've come to learn that your own life means nothing to you. Should I arrange for another visitor? The girl… Manami?"

Akari's brows raised and she gave a wide smile. "Do it. I didn't care for the first, why would I care for the next?"

"It's a matter of finding your loyalties. Every dog has a few."

"You're looking in all the wrong places, I'm afraid." It took a lot not to react to him. A lot of restraint that she didn't much have anymore. "I can give you a hint or two, if you're willing to listen." Because she could certainly guide him to his death in this way.

"I think I'd rather continue my own digging. After all, we do have a new guest today, and I'm curious of your reaction. I've been informed that the two of you are _lovers._"

Akari's laugh was loud and it bounced off the walls of the empty room. "You've been misinformed." Irritated, she turned and moved for the door. "I'm done. I've been in here long enough. After all, I'm allowed just enough sleep to stay sane, yes?"

Surprisingly, she wasn't stopped from leaving. _*****_

~!**!~

_[It seems this time, Yomi is the one three steps ahead.]_

_{Indeed.}_

Anyone that knew Kurama would have recognized his walk through the dark hallway was as close as he would ever get to _stalking _off because of a bad mood. His eyes faced forward, seeing nothing and everything at the same time, his hands thrust deep in the pockets of the clothing Yomi provided.

_[You're not going to the meeting?]_

Kurama gave the fox a silent sigh.

_{Not this one.}_

_[Are you sure that's wise?]_

_{There are a few more important things that need to be taken care of first. And surely Yomi can understand my own information collection before joining him at his table.}_

_[You'd better hope so.]_

~!**!~

"Princess...I'm not _letting _you leave like this."

Shikiyoku had made it out of Horu's bedroom door, getting far enough down the hallway before pausing that when the demon followed after, stopping at the open portal, he couldn't reach out and grab for her arm.

"You're _so _mistaken about that." Shikiyoku reeled around, unsteady on her feet even this morning after.

Horu made a sound of impatience and moved towards her, his feet and chest still bare since he had scrambled out of the bed after her once he realized after a sluggish awakening that she wasn't quite...sober yet.

She stepped back out of his reach again, giving him a glazed sort of glare that did get him to pause in place for a moment.

"How much of that stuff did Kafu _give _you?" Horu asked incredulously.

He could see the wheels in her head were difficult to get moving at best, but he gave her the extra moment to consider it.

"Like...two glasses...full?"

Horu scoffed with irritation at the old bartender, knowing how big those glasses were.

"You're lucky he stopped with two, I think." Horu made a grab for her arm and managed to get his fingers around it this time. He knew why Kafu had done it, given her reaction to Horu wanting the Mark removed. Less troublesome this way probably.

Maybe.

"He...cheated." Shikiyoku told him, blinking slowly, but not letting Horu pull her back towards his room.

"Of course he did, princess." Horu tried giving another gentle tug at her arm, but this time Shikiyoku frowned and slid herself from his grasp, turning to waltz back down the hall.

"Shiki-ugh." Horu didn't even finish her name, taking the two strides to catch up with her, knowing that, while nighttime was not a fantastic time for her to be walking about, it was likely daylight would be worse.

When he made a grab at her this time, she phased between the layers and left him reaching through her.

He made another noise of impatience, blinking at her fuzzier form and starting to shift himself.

"Uh, Horu?"

The white-haired demon paused in place, turning to see that Shikiyoku had led him far enough down the hallway to reach the intersection, and in the path of two of his guild members who looked as if they had been coming to get him.

They refrained from commenting on his state of attire, though he could tell what they wished to say by the looks they gave him.

By the time he glanced back at the direction Shikiyoku had been going, she was already out of sight and Horu stood back up, slightly put-out at her stubbornness and hoping nothing _too _terrible happened to her. It wasn't as if he could go after her.

_Hopefully she'll just phase back home._

The two members started briefing him on the current situation and Horu found his eyes wandering off to where she disappeared.

_...right._ 3

~!**!~

The door behind her slammed, echoing down the otherwise quiet corridor. It was light outside, though what time of day, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that one, Kurama was here. She'd known the very instant his presence had moved through the main doors of the main building. Two, she was tired. Three, she was very irritated, very _cranky_.

Four, Kurama was here.

Wait…

_I already said that one._

She rubbed at her face, the tension in her shoulders from Takeo's presence suddenly dissolving, her body slumping forward just a little. It was so much _work_ to keep from acting on impulse, to keep from looking for the very best opportunity to knock the guy's head off.

_Coming closer._

Akari paused in the middle of the hallway, head coming up and eyes looking forward for the briefest of moments before dropping to the tile again. She really, _really_ didn't want to go the long way around to the room she'd been thrown into.

A hand came up and over her head, fingers curling about the material of the cape she'd almost forgotten today. She pulled it up and over her head, deciding that while he may not be able to smell her or sense her presence, she was almost certain Kurama would know it was her passing by. _Hopefully he'll understand._

She continued moving again, slowly moving down a flight of stairs to the next floor below.

_Maybe he won't actually come by me today. _

_You're not supposed to be here, dammit. __*****_

_[You're really just going to pass her by, Red?]_

Kurama kept his eyes steady on the end of the hallway.

_[It isn't like Yomi doesn't already know about you two.]_

_{Yes, but there __**is **__the chance that some of the others do not.}_

_[...a very, very slim chance, you do realize.]_

_{It would likely create more trouble for her in this particular case should we actually confirm any suspicions other demons here might have in regards to the two of us.}_

_[Fair enough.]_

Kurama kept walking, not so much as slowing down or glancing to either side.

_[Looks like she doesn't really want to talk to you either.]_

~!**!~

If her senses hadn't already been so fuzzy, Shikiyoku _knew _the light outside would have bothered her.

She actually had trouble not stumbling down the pathway, and more than once she grumbled at the ground to stop _spinning _so much and making it hard to walk.

It was in the middle of one such utterance that Shikiyoku, struggling to stay on her feet, paid no attention to where she was going whatsoever and slammed right into another demon.

"Hey, watch where you're goin-" The demon cut herself off, eyes bulging out of her head as Shikiyoku swung her face up drunkenly to look up at the tall, pink-haired demon.

"_You!_" The demon exclaimed, quickly grabbing a hold of Shikiyoku's arm with more force than was really necessary.

Shikiyoku frowned for a second.

"Me?"

The demon's lips spread into a wicked, self-satisfied smile.

"The Queen will be ever so _happy _to see you alive and well, _seductress_."

"The who to what now?" Shikiyoku closed her eyes for a second before opening them again.

"Hey, I know you!" She said after a moment, lifting a hand to point up at the female. "You're..." Another frown, though this one was more indicative of difficulty of thought.

The demon's eyes narrowed, and she started to pull Shikiyoku away, leaving whatever group she had been interrogating staring after the pair.

"Taikou!" Shikiyoku landed on the name, her mind turning to another thought more quickly, "Whadd're yah doin' out here in the guild district?"

"None of your business." Taikou growled, still dragging Shikiyoku along, her other hand's fingers wrapped around a dagger at her back and her eyes scanning the crowd as if she expected an attack from any one of them at any moment.

Shikiyoku finally made a noise of protest when she tripped over her own feet and tried to jerk her arm out of Taikou's grasp.

The only thing it did was to get a growl from Taikou's lips and a tightening of the hand around her arm.

"That'sh not a very nice way to treat a lady."

Taikou's grip on the hilt of her knife tightened as she froze in place.

Uryo's black hair in the ponytail at the base of his neck lifted a little in a breeze that passed by, other demons shuffling around him, giving him a wide berth where he had stopped a few feet in front of Taikou and Shikiyoku.

One of his hands was in the fold of his tunic, just over his waistband, the other hanging at his side.

...it was 'the other' hand that had Taikou concerned. The one that only had to reach over less than a foot to reach his sword.

"This one is mine, fire demon." Taikou growled threateningly.

"That'sh funny." Uryo took a step forward. "She doeshn't look like she wantsh to be yoursh."

"I don't." Shikiyoku proclaimed loudly and clearly, trying again to remove her arm from Taikou's grasp.

"You're going to...hic...give her to me, pinky." Uryo informed Taikou.

"Oh?" Taikou's eyes narrowed and her hand gave a little tug at her dagger, pulling it up just enough that it would slide the rest of the way from the sheath at a moment's notice.

"You don't really want to fight me...hic." Uryo took another step, "I can't promishe a quick death at the moment. It would probably hurt."

Taikou clenched her teeth together, her eyes glancing up over the city buildings to see the Palace, where Queen Rae resided.

"You can't make it there before I take her anyway, but you're welcome to try." Uryo threw his hands out to either side of his body as if to shrug before taking an unsteady step to the side and gesturing with both hands at the place Taikou calculated the distance to.

She tentatively took a single step, still keeping Shikiyoku at her side.

"Uryooo," Shikiyoku complained.

Taikou took off at a run, dashing to the right through the passing crowd of demons and dragging Shikiyoku after her, practically carrying the smaller female so that she would not slow them down.

Uryo disappeared from view, sliding himself between the layers and taking a couple of steps before catching up to the pink-haired Lieutenant, calmly placing a hand on Shikiyoku's shoulder and pulling her inbetween with him.

Taikou continued moving as if she didn't notice, but truthfully she was not positive Uryo was going to let her get away with her own life.

Once he had Shikiyoku with him, he took another couple of steps, getting halfway through the city before dropping them back into the Ninth Layer.

Shikiyoku let out a sigh of relief and turned her face up to the other demon, holding up a finger.

"You..." She gave a pause before going on, "Are good." 3

~!**!~

Akari had to pull on her self restraint to keep from turning her head in Kurama's direction, to keep her feet moving and her head down. And when she was sure she was past him and the urge to say something passed by, she lifted her head and dropped the hood, not caring if he turned back to look at her.

Satchi was down this hall. Moving away, but still in this direction anyway. If he saw her hiding her face…

_No good._

That's what would come of it.

Her fingers twitched and she rounded the corner, going down another flight of stairs before turning around one last corner and moving to the middle of the hall, not even glancing at the guard at her door as she slipped into the room designated as hers.

She stared at the bed, void of any covers whatsoever. _The maids still haven't returned? _She glanced to a clock and frowned. She hadn't been in that room near as long as she'd thought. It was simply too _taxing_ to stay within Takeo's presence now.

Because she couldn't even get to the Ninth Layer, much less the tenth. The most difficult one to traverse to. She hadn't even known there _was_ a tenth before Yomi had snatched her up.

With a sigh, she locked the door and tossed her cloak to the side, kicking her shoes off and pulling her hair down.

_Might as well sleep while I'm given the opportunity. _She had a feeling things were about to start picking up around here. _*****_

~!**!~

The Kings still sought control of the Ninth Layer. Because they thought it would give them power over the rest.

The fact that Yomi had latched on to the archaic belief that whoever ruled the Ninth Level would rule them all had Youko practically laughing.

_{The only trouble is, we don't know if it's actually true or not.}_

_[Yoku said as much herself: that it's a ridiculous notion. And untrue.]_

_{And when has __**she **__ruled the Ninth Layer?}_

Youko didn't have a retort for that.

~!**!~

"And you-" Uryo gave that same pause as he peered down at her, "Are drunk."

Shikiyoku gave him a smile that only served to confirm his statement.

"How...are you _sho_ drunk?" He started moving through the crowd at a slow pace, Shikiyoku walking beside him.

"It's Kafu's fault." Shikiyoku pouted, reaching up to itch her nose with the side of her finger. "He made me this way."

"He _made_ you this way?" Uryo couldn't believe that much. "That doeshn't sheem like him."

"He's a sneaky little bastard."

Uryo's laughter rang too loudly in the crowd.

"Really now?"

"Uh huh." Shikiyoku nodded, almost putting herself off-balance by doing so.

"What would make him do shomething sho shneaky, hm?"

"He doesn't like me."

"Aw, come on now, lady. That'sh not true."

"Yes it is!"

"Did he shay that? Do I need to beat him up?"

"He did. And yes."

Uryo laughed again, "I don't believe you! What'sh not to like about you?"

Shikiyoku pouted, "Lots of things."

"Name one."

She tried. She really did. But at the moment her mind wanted to turn to other things...to the other reasons Kafu _rejected _her, which is how she started viewing it in her own mind.

"...Uryo, am I not pretty enough?"

Her question had the fire demon stopping dead in his tracks and turning to give her a strange look.

"Who told you that you weren't pretty?"

Shikiyoku didn't answer him at first, thinking about how _badly _she wished she could change into her demonic form.

...no one had rejected her _then_.

She shrugged, "I did."

Uryo raised an eyebrow at her, "Well, then you should lishten to yourshelf in that ca'she."

"Everyone..." Her eyes shifted to the side, "Everyone's _leaving _me though."

"Everyone?"

"Horu. And Kafu. And Taka. ...and you." She lifted her eyes up to look at him. "You're leaving me too, aren't you?"

Uryo opened his mouth to answer her, but the only answer he had for her off the top of his head was 'yes.'

"Don't...don't group Taka in with the resht of ush, lady." Uryo said, his voice growing lower.

"But..." Her gaze dropped, "...he left me too."

Uryo had a hard time not releasing the sigh he wanted to let go of.

"Everyone 'leaving' you has nothing to do with _you_. Not...not _personally _anyway." Did that come out right? It was hard to explain.

"...what else could it mean?"

"That you're getting closer to finding the right one?"

Shikiyoku frowned almost immediately, "But you're _all _the right one. It's just that...none of you see that."

_...except maybe Youko. ...I hate it when he's right though._

"And it's...maybe it's _me _who's the wrong one."

That time Uryo did let out an impatient sound and he squatted down to her level, tipping the hilt of his sword so that the end of it wouldn't catch in the dirt and putting his other hand on her shoulder.

"You are...a rather singular demon, lady. And if Kafu is right about just exactly what it is you are capable of doing...then I can tell you that it is not myself who is the one for you, because I have already experienced what it is that you can share." His eyes shifted to the side, "Not that I would mind-" He cut himself off and changed the direction of his words, moving his hand to her chin and getting her to look at him.

"There's _nothing wrong with you_, Shikiyoku. Not in this form. Not in your other form."

"Feels like it." She grumbled.

He let out a huff of amused air from his nose, "Well, until you find the right one, you might have to get used to that feeling. It'll all go away though."

"You sound so sure of yourself."

"I'm not...hic!" He sounded much too cheery in his reply as he lowered his hand.

_That _managed to get a small laugh from her and Uryo grinned.

Shikiyoku was quick to let out a sigh.

_I guess...I guess I might as well look for Youko._

She felt rather rueful at the thought that she would be giving in to what she knew the fox had intended all along, but...she wasn't really sure if she could wait much longer. It was all getting harder and...more painful.

"-was looking for you." Uryo reached into his tunic and took a drink from his flask.

Shikiyoku blinked, unaware that Uryo had gone on talking.

"He was headed back to your house. Seemed concerned about your well-being. Thought you might be with Kafu, so he asked if I would check."

Uryo was smiling at her.

"I told him I'd send you his way if I found you."

Shikiyoku blinked at him again as Uryo shifted around hesitantly, lifting his sleeve to reveal the black marking on his forearm and almost regretfully extending it in her direction.

_I'm...not good enough._

Though he could not read her mind, Uryo could _see _the thought passing over her downcast expression as she took his arm in her hands, bent down, and pressed her lips against it. 3

~!**!~

"_Are you sure this is what you want, young one? It's yours by right, and the only one stopping you is yourself." _

The voice floated through the darkness of her sleep, and a moment later the image of the very old and wrinkled demon came to view, her milky eyes reflecting the only light in the tent.

"_I wouldn't have come to you if I didn't want it this way."_

"_Child.. you have much to learn."_

_Akari's laugh was very short and quiet. "So I've been told."_

"_The pack will be disorganized. Unsure. They will think you had a hand in his death. Are you sure you want your friends, your family, to think so low of you?"_

_Akari blinked slowly at the older woman who stared ahead, unseeing eyes somehow still boring into Akari's own gaze. A frown pulled at her lips briefly. "I only wish for Manami to be the Alpha. Everything else is unimportant. She's capable."_

"_You could be as well, with the proper teachings." There was a pause as the elder scowled at Akari, her hands moving away from her lap and down to the fur rug, running her hands over it as if in thought. "But you have other things. It is understandable__**;**_ _your priorities are that much greater than those of the pack?"_

"_I'm still here. The pack's priorities, at this moment, are being taken care of. It's why I am here. I do not want to be Alpha, and neither does Isamu deserve to hold the title. Not anymore."_

"_I suppose you are doing as you must." The other leaned away, turning to the side and grabbing a few jars and bowls. "I will do this, but it would be nice to see you again sometime before my passing, child."_

_Akari almost commented on the play of words. "I will do what I can," she said instead, offering a small smile. "But I don't see you going anywhere any time soon. Just as strong as ever."_

"_Do not take the next few days lightly, young one. You have a new journey coming ahead, and you would do well to be patient and weary." The demon's grey ears turned just a little atop her head. "In the mean time, I will make sure Manami is set to take over. You're being called away."_

_Akari bowed her head in respect to the older woman before pushing herself to stand. "Thank you."_

"_Akari."_

_She paused at the flap of the small tent and glanced over her shoulder. _

"_Listen to your instincts. They are serving you well, if only you heed their warnings."_

_A small smile and Akari left the woman to her work, moving away from the tent and towards camp again, eyes searching for Isamu and a pit in her stomach._

~!**!~

Every instinct in her being told her to strike, to roll over and throw the intruder's head against the wall repeatedly. Instead, she took a deep breath and let her eyelids slide open, glad to see that instead of someone standing over her, it was a demon sitting in a chair by the window, her armor in his hands.

"How long have you been there?"

The demon looked up briefly from his work, hands stilling over the leather. "Do you always talk in your sleep?"

"Not usually, I don't think."

"Hm. Bad habit, if I do say so."

Akari huffed and rolled over, turning her back to the other. "You make house calls now? Room service?"

"Takeo's request. Yomi's orders."

"Oh, joy."

There was a long pause that hung on the air, the only sound being of leather moving around and the occasional sigh from the other.

"Still no way I can get better coverage?"

"Not from me."

"You're no fun."

"I'm not here for pleasure purposes. Only business."

"So you keep saying."

"Takeo is going to start pushing you around. Holding off won't do much for you anymore."

Akari sighed. "I know." She pulled the pillow up and over her head. "But I don't particularly want to form into what he wants me to be either. While Yomi only wants me for the stupid layers, Takeo's trying my patience. He _wants_ me to take that attempt on his life." There was a pause. "And while it would be pleasing, I don't particularly wish to follow him to the afterlife. Nor do I want to fall back into that mindframe again."

"And you're telling me this… why?"

"Because I can. And you woke me up, so you get to hear my babbling."

"There's another person here who'd likely not mind hearing your babbl-"

"Don't."

The demon let out a puff of amusement. "As if it matters either way." _*****_

~!**!~

_[I don't remember ever having this many boring meetings when I was leader.]_

Kurama couldn't agree more.

All this talk of strategy and placement and personnel, and even though Kurama had debunked it all, maintaining that the second-in-command would need to be a layer-walker with strength equal to their king, it appeared that Yuba took personal pleasure in torturing the rest of them with numbers and charts.

_[Uuuuuugh.]_

~!**!~

_Not for him._

_Not for the others._

_...not for any of them._

"_You deserve...more."_

They meant 'better.' All of them did. And they were wrong. They were all better. What right did they have of feeling worthless?

None. Absolutely none.

Because at that moment, the phrase was haunting her, leering at her, twisting itself until _they _were the ones deserving better than _her_, better than her ugly human form and her broken heart and her stupid energy and her-

_Damaged goods._

She stumbled through the inbetween place, mind having taken another dive, though this time she had nearly determined her only course of action to be removing _all _the markings, sending them _all _away.

_And then what?_

Crawling in hole.

And staying there for a very long time.

_Until you're good enough?_

Eternity, then? Seems fitting.

...finding Youko was going to be a pain, though.

There was bound to be at least one of them at the house, though.

She appeared in the middle of the downstairs from inbetween the layers, the dryness of her eyes very quickly becoming tinged with tears, her vision blurring for a different reason this time.

As if her subsequent sniff was the only thing that pulled him from his slumber, Kitoushi sat up in the couch and turned to see her over the back of it, her shoulders slumped and her-

He didn't wait a moment longer, getting up and going over to her before her legs collapsed underneath her, dropping to his knees to be at her level and grabbing the outside of her shoulders to hold her up as he watched tears begin streaming out the corners of her eyes.

"Yoku-"

She tried to reach up for his hand, the one that held her mark, but he peered into her face and she shut her eyes as if she didn't want him to see her, her own hands dropping back to her sides and her head lowering.

It didn't matter what was wrong.

It didn't matter if she didn't want to be held, or touched.

Kitoushi didn't ask her about the first, and he neither did he pay attention to her when he pulled her forward to lean into him and hugged her, only to have her trying to push him away.

"I'm not going anywhere." He murmured to her. "So you can stop thinking you can make me."

She still hadn't made a single sound, though he could feel where his shoulder was growing a bit damp, but her hands stopped pushing at him, instead resting in place against him.

"Shikiyoku..." This time when he said her name, it was only meant for comfort, said low into her ear as he felt her chest shaking against him while she intermittently breathed and cried. One of his hands had almost automatically taken to gently pulling down through her hair, weaving his fingers in and out before finding her scalp and starting over again.

Kitoushi pressed his lips affectionately onto the cheek he could reach before picking Shikiyoku up and patiently walking over to the couch, thinking how the last time he did this had been when Taka died.

His recent excursions into the other layers with the express purpose of _pursuing _the disease had left him tired enough that he went ahead and laid back down on the couch, back to back with it, and gathering Shikiyoku into his embrace as he closed his eyes, one hand under his head and the other calmly moving through her hair in a motion that had her breathing more evenly overall until he felt her finally relax, exhaustion setting in and pulling her into sleep.

He made no hesitation to follow after her. 3

Hiei had seen Shikiyoku stumble about into the house from inbetween the layers. Despite how much he _wanted_ to go to her, how much he struggled against that wish, he didn't move from his branch, eyes following her until she was out of his sight, at which point he'd only taken to listening.

Because he could hear her perfectly from here.

He wasn't afforded much by the brief one-sided conversation he heard. His eyelids slid closed after a few moments of silence, and it wasn't hard to guess that both patrons in the house were now asleep. On the couch, he was more than certain.

_I don't like it._

But he'd learn a few things here and there, he supposed, if he didn't interfere. Such as Youko tickling her, _forcing_ her from the mood she'd been in that day. Stealing her away.

Hiei himself hadn't seen reason to steal her away. Because she'd always come to him at the end of the day.

Now he would have to become more creative, because that clearly wasn't much of anything.

Especially not when she'd rather sleep on the couch than next to him.

_Hn._

Perhaps she didn't _want_ him around?

…

An eyebrow twitched.

He wasn't sure how to feel about that thought.

~!**!~

Akari was just beginning to drift back into sleep when the chair the other sat in moved, making a very small sound against the wood floor. She felt the weight of the leather bodice fall over her back and her hands lifted the pillow a little to allow her the ability to look at the back of the retreating demon. "Takeo's on his way. You'd better get up."

She groaned. She hadn't even slept that long!

"I at least gave you time. He won't."

The door clicked shut and Akari groaned again. _I should've showered first._

~!**!~

This time when her back hit the wall, panic pulled at Akari's thoughts, trying to scatter them and keep her from assessing the way the blades moved through the air- as if it wasn't hard enough already. "Are you a master at _every_ weapon on this flippin' planet?!" Her voice was higher in pitch, wavering when she ducked away from the very small and shiny things she could only describe as darts flying at her.

"Pretty much."

A couple whistled by her ears, lodging in the concrete wall and staying there. _Those could easily go through an eyeball or… or… hell I don't even know right now. _"Well, let me tell you, I _hate_ it." she growled, voice cracking as more whistled through the air.

"Then go to the next layer to avoid them!"

"I _can't!_ You _know_ I haven't-"

"Not sleeping enough is an excuse and nothing more! **Do it**!" He threw more, and these were aimed perfectly, moving much faster than the rest and catching the thin threads at the cuff around her right wrist, pinning it effectively to the wall. She growled, her jaw working around as he came closer. "I'm losing my patience."

Akari's hand twitched at her side as she tugged at the thin thing keeping her wrist there. _How can such a tiny thing do so much? _She pulled again, but all efforts were stopped when Takeo's hand grabbed hold of her chin, forcing her eyes to his.

_Darkness._

_I don't like this. This isn't good._

"Your excuses are getting old, dog. This isn't a game you want to play."

Her lips moved before her brain's filter kicked on. "I was actually having fun with this game. I thought you were too?"

His hand came up and slammed a good amount of the darts through her already pinned one, earning nothing more than the grinding of her teeth and the extreme amount of breath intake she currently held back. After a moment, she hissed out the air.

"Did that hurt?"

"Not as much as you wanted it to."

His sneer disappeared, the hand at her chin tightening its grip before his fingers uncurled. For a moment, he stepped away. When he came back, however, it was with a brightly-colored glow around the fist that hit her, making her head jerk to the side where he kept it with a palm against her cheek. "You're a pain."

Akari could have laughed. "So I've been told."

His hand added pressure to the side of her face, making her cheek press harder into the wall. "I've noticed something new about you, Akari."

_He's never actually used my name…._

_I don't like this._

"While your life holds no meaning, you don't seem to like close quarters. You fidget, probably without your direct notice. Like now, your hand is twitching and you are curling your toes for a quick escape." He came closer, his breath beginning to rove over her jawline. "It's easy to guess why, though I don't particularly see why a fox demon would care for someone like you."

Her eyelids squeezed shut as he dragged his lips along the scar. Her right hand came up with every intention to push him away, and he barred it just as easily as he had with her other hand.

"Don't like it? _Move layers." _The words were spoken against her neck, and suddenly, her entire body relaxed. He paused, eyes looking up at her.

She felt.. calm. A sneer formed over her face after a moment, and that calm became a sudden torrent of anger. Her right hand jerked free of his, and before she'd even had a single thought, before _he'd_ even been able to see what she was doing, she had struck, her hand wrist-deep into his chest and the room around them blurring as her feet landed on the inbetween layer, leaving her left hand free of its earlier restraints.

"No one," she began, tone dark as her lips came close to Takeo's, "has the right, except one. _Only _one_._ And you are not he." Her hand twisted in the male's chest, and just as suddenly as her strike, a black curtain fell over her sight.

For a moment, she wasn't sure what had happened. Only that it was dark, and she still had a hold of something. Did she pass out? It wouldn't be surprising considering how tired she was.

She flexed her fingers on whatever she had a hold of, and suddenly she saw a bright light flashing, as if someone held up a spotlight to her face after she'd sat in darkness for too long. She blinked several times, a hand in front of her eyes as if it would help.

And after a moment, her eyes adjusted to the brightness. She became aware of the energy around her, as if it was all from one being, enveloping herself and Takeo, who she now noticed stood beside her. His eyes were forward, but her eyes did not follow his gaze yet.

Everything was so… bright? Warm?

She wasn't really sure what to think.

Except that this energy was _massive_ and rather… intriguing. She was almost in _awe_ of it and it's huge capacity.

Her eyes continued to wander, until they landed on a being who sat on a rather large chair, his head turned away for the time being. He was- she? it was hard to know- rather… large. Tall, muscular, obviously a person of power. She found herself staring.

_Who is this person, and where are we?_

And then the person's head began to turn in her's and Takeo's direction, and something within her screamed. Alarms began pounding in her head, and she felt her breath hitch.

_Don't be seen._

She pulled away with all the strength she could muster, and suddenly she found her vision wavering, the light giving way to an almost completely dark room. A room that was only in focus for a moment before stars lit up her vision.

She was sure that she was falling, but whether or not she actually hit the ground, she didn't know. _*****_

~!**!~

_[Blah-blah blah. Blah-blee-blah-blah.]_

_{I take it you're not amused?}_

_[This demon has talked in circles for three hours and we've established no new ground about __**anything**__.]_

_{You mean to tell me you're not interested?}_

_[Don't sound so shocked, Red.]_

The sound of a demon slipping into the room perked Kurama's ears up, however, though he struggled not to immediately turn his face in the direction of the intruder, who stepped quietly over to Yomi at the head of the table.

Yomi nodded to the demon giving the presentation to go on, even as he leaned down to listen to what the demon had to say.

"You think I didn't _hear_ it?" The blind demon almost growled at the other, who cringed as if Yomi might hit him. "Why do you tell me this?"

"Should we send someone to clean up?"

"_That _is what you came in here to ask?"

Kurama heard none of the conversation that passed between the two, though he did note the cringe of the second demon, sensed a few more words being exchanged, and then heard the demon slip away almost as quietly as he had come, if not a little more hurriedly.

_[Now __**that**__, I am interested in.]_

_{Agreed.}_

~!**!~

Kitoushi had woken back up as soon as he felt Shikiyoku sliding away from him to silently get up from the couch, and he only waited a beat until he was certain she had taken the few steps around the furniture before rising like a ghost himself, making even less noise than she.

Night had not yet fallen, though it was evening, and if she turned around for any reason she would see him, but...well...

It wasn't difficult to smell the remnants of alcohol that left a trail behind her as she almost stumbled towards the stairs, Kitoushi following after, feeling confident her mind was one-track for now.

Her hand turned the doorknob and she practically fell into her bedroom, releasing her hold and moving for the desk to her left, the bracelet around her wrist making the barest noise as the scales brushed against one another.

Shikiyoku collapsed almost into a heap at the bottom drawer, sliding it open and reaching inside, fingers finding the feathers they sought as if they might give her some comfort.

She didn't even pull her hand out, her head drooping and tears starting to drip down onto her thighs.

Kitoushi only watched her long enough to see her make no indication she planned to get up before he swept over to her and lowered himself behind her.

This time she leaned into him without his prompting, though he did pull her the rest of the way into his lap, and he rested his chin on the top of her head, one hand gently taking hold of her wrist and bringing her hand out of the drawer as her fingers clutched at the feathers, the other almost petting her hair, moving over the strands near her ear as he planted a kiss in the midst of it at the top and let his mouth and nose rest against her.

When her tears began to fade again, Kitoushi picked her up, though it appeared that as soon as he stopped his attentions she drew a shaky breath.

The cat demon didn't think much about laying her out on the bed, although he gave a little huff of amusement when, because of how he had picked her up, he suddenly realized that her head ended up at the end of the bed instead of the top where the pillows where.

Not that she appeared capable of caring.

_More light comes in from the window down here though. _Kitoushi noted.

She was on her side facing away from it, so Kitoushi didn't bothering moving her around, only climbing in next to her, facing her-and as a result the window-himself and pulling her close.

Much like when he had put her on the couch, as soon as he stretched out, Kitoushi reached over her shoulder and buried his right hand in her hair, starting to both rub at her scalp at the back of her head with his fingertips and occasionally moving that hand through the rest of her hair.

This time he slipped the other arm underneath her neck though, his own head resting against a portion of the blanket that bunched up underneath his head, letting her use his arm as a pillow, and passed it up behind her shoulders, beneath most of her hair, to let his fingers gently rest on the outside of her shoulder, which allowed him to have her as close as possible.

Her hands were pinned against his chest, her chin tucked behind them where she stared for a little while at the feathers she held until her breathing evened out again, the flow of tears slowing, and her eyes fluttered shut, lulled back into sleep as Kitoushi continued to play absently with her hair and move his slender fingers around on her scalp.

Kit smiled, his eyes having long since been closed, as he felt her relaxing into him.

_Works every time. _3

Hiei hadn't slept a wink while in the tree, his eyes open and continuously looking about for some form of entertainment. So when there was movement in the house, he was fully aware of it and was listening, eyes moving down to the part of the window he could see through.

After a few moments, he wasn't very surprised to see Shikiyoku and Kitoushi move to the bed. With a raised brow of curiosity, he noted the movements of the cat's fingers in Shiki's hair. He turned his eyes to the side as a passing vehicle earned his attention with a loud sound, and after a moment his eyelids came closed.

The other Champions kept providing him with interesting bits of knowledge.

_And yet another._

~!**!~

She was only barely awake enough to know she was cold, and that there was a very uncomfortable feeling on her face and the disgusting taste of something thick in her mouth. Oh, and she was… swaying? Or was she spinning?

Yoroi had entered the room at just the right time. He'd come in unnoticed, and he'd seen the strike the girl had been preparing to give. And with that look in her eye, he didn't see any reason to stop her. She was beyond reason at this moment.

He wasn't prepared, however, for the disappearance of both her and Takeo. He blinked twice at the blood that continued to run down the wall where her hand had been pinned, confused. Perhaps she thought she could get away from Yomi by moving from one layer to the next?

And then she was in his view again, standing a few feet away from the wall, staring at him, but not seeing him. His keen eyes saw her muscles give out before her body had even begun to fall, and he made no hesitation in catching the girl and pulling her up into an easy grasp.

She was breathing, if only barely. And her skin was… not its natural shade. The scar along her jaw stood out much more prominently, and the sweat that had formed over her face became mingled with the blood that began bubbling from her parted lips and running from her nose.

The ties she had to Takeo were broken, he knew, but the energy she had within her likely wouldn't do much for this. It wouldn't be enough.

He moved for the door, not even pausing when a demon moved by him and stopped at the door. "She'll need attention. Attention I cannot give her."

When the other demon didn't respond, Yoroi gave a growl. "Yomi has her here for a reason. If she dies, it's on your head."

"Y-yes!" The other took a quick exit and Yoroi continued on his way to her room, eyes up as wheels began to turn.

_I'm not sure what's worse__**: **__Yomi putting her here, or her doing it to herself._

He gave a small breath of amusement.

_The fox won't be happy. __*****_

_This _time Kurama stalked down the hallways and didn't give a care who or what saw him do so.

It had not taken him long to catch wind of what exactly had occurred to send a demon scurrying to Yomi's side-once the meeting was over of course-and while it was just as much in his own curious interests, it was also clear Youko wasn't going to leave him alone until they found out.

...Youko was in fact leaving him alone now.

There were a few stray glances that demons gave him as he turned the hallways, cursing how far away the meeting room was from where he had learned shortly after arriving that Akari was being kept, but for the most part his reputation preceded him and he was not bothered.

_Yes, I __**know **__you can hear the direction I'm going, Yomi. And no, I don't particularly give a damn at the moment._

~!**!~

This time Kitoushi did not wake to Shikiyoku leaving him, but to the afternoon light that brightened the room.

He hadn't exactly intended to sleep that long, but given what he'd been through up until the last couple of days, he didn't find himself particularly surprised.

The feeling of Shikiyoku up against him, warm and relaxed, was a sensation he only just realized he had missed dearly, and as he felt her stirring against him, he realized he had gone the entire night without changing forms.

_Heh._

He stroked his hand through her smooth hair as he mused on the thought, wondering if the next night would be the same.

A sound from downstairs had his ear flicking towards the open door of the bedroom and he glanced down at Shikiyoku to see that despite his attentions she was blinking sleepily, waking up.

"I believe you have a letter, my lady." He murmured, scooting himself closer to her so that he could bury his face in her hair.

"Mm letter?" She managed to mutter back at him.

He nodded, "Landed on the table a moment ago."

"Who's't from?"

"I haven't the slightest idea." He paused. "Would you like me to go check."

"No." She replied hastily, shifting closer to him.

Another pause.

"'Cuz you're warm."

"Mm. And that's the only reason."

She nodded, smiling, and he let out a little laugh.

"Well, one of us should see what it is. Someone went to a lot of trouble to deliver it like that."

She repeated his last few words mockingly and grabbed part of his shirt in her hands as if to keep him in place.

Kitoushi gave a long-suffering sigh and wrapped his arms around her, only to start to move around so that he could get up, still holding onto her.

When he actually stood up, her pinned against him, the laugh she had been trying to hold back snuck out of her mouth.

"Kit! Put me down!"

"But I'm warm."

"Kiiiit."

Moving down the stairs was _slightly_ more difficult, but she wasn't very large and he was rather tall.

He had her laughing harder by the time he got downstairs and she began slipping out of his embrace.

Bending over her after she wriggled free, Kitoushi tipped her face towards his, grinning down at her.

"_This _mood I like much more."

Shikiyoku's eyes sparkled a little and he closed the last bit of distance and kissed her, only managing a few seconds of her warm lips against his before she slipped away with a sultry smile and moved for the table with the letter, leaving him narrowing his eyes playfully after her and contemplating tackling her to finish what he'd started.

Half-heartedly reaching for her, he wasn't surprised to find she felt it coming and shifted forward just enough with her next step that he didn't even brush her skin.

"If you got what you wanted all the time, where would the fun be for me?" She voiced without turning to face him, closing the distance between herself and the table, where there had most obviously appeared a letter, closed with a seal that she couldn't make out from where she was.

For a split second, Kitoushi contemplated letting her get the letter, his mind rationalizing that it was probably important, and yet he immediately dismissed the thought because after all _he _had gotten nothing from her in a _very _long time.

This led to a bit of a growl sneaking out of his lips, and _this _time when he reached for her, he made certain she wouldn't be able to avoid it, catching her shoulder in one hand and forcing her to turn back to face him, seeing only the barest hint of surprise in her expression, which was coupled with the surety that he _was _going to do what they both really wanted him to do in any case.

Which was kiss her again.

He made for certain she couldn't simply pull away from him, smoothing his other hand down her jawline to the back of her neck and tipping her face upwards into his.

Shikiyoku could feel that her energy would fizzle along her skin in a heartbeat if she wanted it to encourage his touch, would encircle him in little tendrils to keep him with her longer, and could release particles of her energy from her scalp that he would smell and be drawn towards.

None of it she actually did though, instead only reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck as if she could pull him closer, grinning through the kiss as a portion of his hair fell against her cheek and tickled it.

Kitoushi's eyes opened briefly at her grin, he deepened the kiss as he closed them again and her grin disappeared, as did most extraneous thoughts in her mind as her fingers started to tangle into the hair at the base of his neck.

She made a little noise of..._discomfort _as her core lurched strangely, but when it felt as if Kitoushi was going to pull away to question her, it was her turn to keep him there, to turn other thoughts out of his mind.

The second time it happened, she jerked a little, ending up unintentionally breaking the kiss, though the two of them breathed heavily over one another's lips, the warm air mingling over their skin.

"Ooww," Shikiyoku cringed just as she jerked, glancing into Kitoushi's eyes and very quickly adding, "Not you," when she saw the concern there that it was something _he _did.

The one side of her lips pulled up into a smirk, expression growing more seductive as her eyes glimmered and she intended to say something about 'never you,' but the next jolt of her core had her saying 'ow' again instead, though this time one of her hands made a fast retreat from Kitoushi's neck to press against her ribcage.

Pain stinging in her eyes, this one took longer to recover from, and it was easy to see both her and Kitoushi's growing concern when the cat could tell she had no explanation for him even if he were to ask.

It felt…

Well, honestly, it felt as if the heartache she had been feeling for the past few days was finally becoming more substantial, manifesting not only in her mind thinking her core ached, but instead _actually _aching.

_No._

Her eyes darted to the letter on the table and she made a lunge for it, Kitoushi letting her go as she snatched it up.

The seal was of the Northern Tribe.

_No. Please no._

Practically ripping the seal upwards, Kitoushi now looking over her shoulder.

What _he _saw first was that the letter had a date more than three days ago from the current date of the first layer, for all the numbers mattered anymore. The letter had only just appeared on the table that morning, though. He was certain of that.

What _she _saw was the steady hand, the single line of text.

**_Your presence is requested._**

Shikiyoku flipped the letter so that the seal would fall back over her thumb.

The Elder's seal.

For some reason that didn't make her feel any better.

She dropped the letter back onto the table as if it were on fire, standing frozen in place for a moment and leaving Kit about to open his mouth and say something before she turned to him and his question went unaired at the sight of her expression, her lips set into a grim line and her eyebrows tensed together over her eyes as she reached for his hand and wove their fingers together, bending the layers around them and dropping until she stood inbetween the Eighth and Ninth before dashing off with Kit close behind.3

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!


	98. Episode 182

****A/N: ****Hello once again, FanFiction Enthusiasts!

The next chapter awaiteth!

Happy Reading!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

There was absolutely _no _mistaking the chaos in the air when Shikiyoku landed just outside the Northern Tribe with her hand still in Kitoushi's.

Blood. Sweat. Smoke.

Tears.

There was still the sound of fire from somewhere in the encampment as Shikiyoku steeled herself and moved forward, hardly having to pull at Kitoushi's hand before he was at her side, his eyes and ears alert, his instincts telling him first of all that there was much healing to be done here, and second of all that he wanted to get himself and Shikiyoku _out_.

Demons were running in every direction, and Kitoushi and Shikiyoku walked seemingly invisible among them, the sounds of screams and sorrow thick on the air.

There were at least three fires whose smoke she could see curling up into the red sky, but it did not appear like any demons were running in that direction. Or really running in any particular direction at all.

Shikiyoku's core lurched again and she moved to the right, breaking into a new path that lead to the Northeastern corner of the camp and moving as if in a daze.

Kitoushi's eyes caught sight of the bodies, or what was left of them.

They all appeared as if they had been torn into and then left to bleed out. Though he could tell by the number of clawings that the latter had not taken long.

His head never stilled, continuously looking about, ears twisting this way and that as every sense strained to inform him of impending danger.

...there was a lot of that. But he sought out any that might immediately turn on the two of _them_, letting Shikiyoku lead the way through the tents.

The air smelled sharply of death and dying and-

Kitoushi almost stopped mid-stride, only continuing to move when Shikiyoku's hand pulled him forward.

He did not know what had killed these demons-he could tell all the wounds were very similar, and were claw-marks or scratchings-but he knew without a doubt they were better off dead.

And that the rest of the tribe were better off _with _them dead.

The air smelled of disease.

Of one specific kind, really.

His heterochromatic eyes flickered down to Shikiyoku's head.

He still had no cure, no way of cleansing or removing the sickness that did not result in the death of whatever demon he attempted to heal.

Kit had learned that much while he had been away, moving through the layers and tracking down new Crusniks. The disease was already intimately entwined with what he had come to think of as the Crusnik Condition any time he found a demon that could siphon energy. And that entwining was extended to the demon him or herself, all three portions-Crusnik, disease, demon-so interlaced together that if you removed one, the other two would seize up and cause death.

Not that Kitoushi had the means to remove the Crusnik portion. It was not something he thought anyone could do. The results of attempting to do so spoke for themselves.

In the midst of his musing, Kitoushi's eyes rose from the back of Shikiyoku's head and his height afforded him a glance at what lay ahead before her, though her eyes were so far away and following the stumbling of her core that she did not strictly notice the direction she and Kit were pathing.

Kitoushi dropped to a crouch and pulled at Shikiyoku's hand, turning her to face him and staring into her eyes, where he saw now that faraway look that he had sensed from her.

She blinked as he stared at her and he saw her rejoining the present world, noted the twitching of her face as she smelled and heard, probably for the first time, the panic and disorder around them.

"Shikiyoku. It is not safe here."

Her head tilted forward in a motion that indicated she _heard _him at least.

"We should leave."

_She isn't going to want to_. He had seen what exactly it was that had pulled her down here, the reason her core had jolted so painfully, and the hand she wasn't holding grasping at the outside of her shoulder, preventing her from turning around without fighting him.

This time her head shook slightly to the side, as he expected it to, and he spoke up again.

"There's nothing-"

"Sh-Shiki?"

Kit's eyes slammed shut.

_Shit._

The voice that called out her name was ragged, pained, and when Kitoushi opened his eyes to look at her again, he could see everything he heard in that single word reflected in her face.

But she hadn't moved.

It took everything in him not to take her away, to just twist them between the layers and run.

His teeth clenched together, his jaw flexing as she stared blankly at him, but he knew her heart had already passed the edge of the tent line and was standing over the demon who had called her name. 3

~!**!~

Hiei's eyelids came open, and the first thing he was aware of was the silence in the area. At some point during his short nap, he had become aware of movement inside the house, had heard voices and noted the atmosphere around the people inside. But now that he was awake, he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to go inside. He was feeling particularly _lazy. _

He shifted, a hand scratching at the back of his head as he stared down at the empty house. He really tried to ignore the sound his stomach made, but seeing as he'd only _snacked_ here and there over the past few days, it probably wasn't a good thing to ignore anymore.

With a small sound to himself, he dropped from the tree onto the windowsill, using the layers to his advantage and slipping into the bedroom and through the house, all the way down the stairs before he let his feet touch the first layer again.

He could smell the place the pair had been before they'd disappeared.

_I don't… like it._

He passed by the table, not giving the little envelope and paper a second glance as he grabbed the first thing he saw from the refrigerator. He took a chunk from the apple and moved towards the living room, his curiosity growing until he was stilled a few feet from the kitchen table.

He made a small sound of irritation and turned around, deciding he was curious enough to see what had called her away. His fingers turned the letter over with ease, his eyes reading the words upside down without a problem.

_**Your presence is requested. **_

He scowled at the paper even as he took another chunk from the apple, his free hand grabbing the envelope and turning it over to look at the seal. His frown deepened and suddenly, he wasn't hungry anymore.

"Tch." He flicked the letter away from himself, not caring that it slid from the table and to the floor on the opposite side.

Apparently he wasn't enough for her dance anymore.

_Too bad. _

He slid between the layers and let his feet carry him with his utmost speed until he was sure he'd land somewhere outside the area of the Northern Tribe. And when he landed on the proper layer, he felt that the atmosphere was _wrong_, even from this distance.

He took to the trees, leaping from one branch to the next without hesitation, all earlier irritation forgotten and replaced with _worry. _He could see smoke from fires rising in the air in the distance, was beginning to hear the chaos in the distance.

An image flashed in his mind and he growled, forcing his feet to move faster.

He came to a standstill once he was able to see the chaos of the Northern Tribe. Demons running in every direction, screams and cries layered over the sounds of the fires and the pounding of the feet on the ground. He skimmed the moving crowd until his eyes landed on the person he'd been originally looking for, and he took off in that direction, remaining in the trees.

Kitoushi was with her, which… he supposed it was a good thing.

But at least from here, he'd be able to see a threat moving a mile away should she come under fire.

He'd leave ground control to the cat.

~!**!~

"_...Sweetheart."_

_I hurt._

"_...Open your eyes, sweetheart. You had a close call."_

She knew that voice. _But I don't want to._

"_It was too close this time. Wake up, kid. You can't lay around forever."_

_But I hurt._

"_That's the reason you need to open your eyes. Look at me. __**Look**_ _at me," _the voice urged her on, earning a very small huff from her. "_I didn't have someone to go back to. You do. Now open your eyes."_

_No… just a little longer._

"_You don't need to sleep anymore. If you do, you'll end up like her. You won't wake up."_

_Yeah right. _

A growl echoed, and this time Akari tried to shift away from the source of it. Except… she became aware of just how _comfortable_ she was. Despite the ache in her muscles and the jolting pain in her joints, she was _comfortable. _The pillow she lay against was much better than the lack of one she'd had the night before.

_Wait, what?_

Wasn't she in the meadow?

_I can't remember._

She could _smell _the meadow. The flowers, the heather. But the surface beneath her was most definitely _not_ the grass of the meadow.

Her eyes came open for the barest of seconds before she cringed against the light in the room and forced them shut again.

_I want to go back to sleep now._

"_That's not an option, sweetheart."_

Akari's fingers curled around the fabric of the pillow, but otherwise she couldn't find the strength to move any further. _And why not, Kyu? Why are you here anyway?_

She wasn't given a response, so she settled for taking a deep breath an-

_Nope, that hurts too. __*****_

Kurama...didn't really care how long it had been.

Days. Weeks.

He knew if he wanted to he could have pinpointed the exact time even without Youko's helpful input, but it...well it didn't really matter.

_Deal with it, Yomi._

As for the rest of them, there were few he would not intimidate by reputation alone, and fewer still that would dare challenge him.

Those fewer he filed away as the 'stupider' ones.

He stretched his free arm behind his head before lifting his neck just enough to slip his fist underneath it, affording him an easier angle with which to glance over at the demon that occupied his other arm's attention.

After ordering anyone else in the room _out_, and threatening those who wanted to get _in_, there had really been little to interrupt them as he worked diligently, coaxing her back from the dead.

He wouldn't envy her for how sore she was going to feel for the next couple of days.

_And if it just so happens that it means staying right here longer, I may or may not have decided it would be better that way._

~!**!~

Her eyes were glassy and large, and while they were looking up into his, Kitoushi knew she wasn't seeing _him_.

She was seeing the _other one_. The one behind her. The one whose vest made of hide was ripped and torn just like every other demon Kitoushi had seen so far, skin so bloody there was no way to tell exactly how many attacks there had been, though Kit could even from this distance that tell his legs had been clawed first, likely what brought him down, incapacitated and unable to escape the next attack.

There were only splotches of blood on his face, and there was no mistaking for Kit the dark swirls that extended up the right side of his neck from somewhere underneath the blood below, the markings covering over half of his face.

The markings strikingly similar to the ones going up Kitoushi's arm, the ones that were just starting to glow as Shikiyoku held his hand.

He couldn't...he couldn't see a way of holding her _here _and going to help the kid-demon. But was getting her closer _wise _at this point?

Kitoushi searched her face as she started to slowly turn away from him, the sound of this demon's nickname for her proving too much for her to ignore.

"Shiki..."

The last look he saw as she let go of him froze Kitoushi in place, even though he could feel her body start to shake underneath his hands.

_First blondey. Then Taka. And now __**this**__. _

How on earth she hadn't gone insane yet was truly beyond him, because her eyes told him the cracks in her core, in her heart, were growing deeper.

And who knew how much longer she could go without it shattering apart.

His eyes came shut and his face darkened as his eyebrows drew together almost painfully.

_This is not something that can be healed by conventional means._

As Kit thought of all these things, Shikiyoku shuffled forward as if in a daze, barely noticing the chatterings of the multitude of lur'mog who sat in the area, only moving if they were in danger of being in her path, but otherwise hunched over, none of them sitting together, instead appearing positioned a few inches apart from one another outwards from where Douji lay. They were all hunched over, their large eyes darting in every direction.

When Shikiyoku reached the demon's side, she collapsed onto the bloodstained ground next to him, not caring that the warm, salty water that leaked out of the corners of her eyes were dropping onto his skin.

His eyes were barely open, though the edges of them lifted as he managed to smile for a second when she came into view.

She found she could think of nothing to say, only managing to sit there and let the tears stream down her face.

She tried not to look at the rest of him, her mind a flood of grey-blankness.

Suddenly, the lur'mog around Douji hissed angrily, the spines down their heads and bodies standing straight up at attention.

Shikiyoku did not react, but Douji's eyes opened further and he looked beyond her, making out a fuzzy shape that had stood and moved to come closer.

Douji could just see a glow about the newcomers hands.

When Kit rose up, there was no hesitation in gathering his energy into his palms.

Against his better judgement, he strode forward past the line of tents, eyes already calculating the injuries of the demon Shikiyoku hunched near.

She had changed, caring for others in some capacity. Why could he not do the same? If perhaps for completely selfish reasons. Maybe he wasn't changing at all.

As soon as he called his demonic energy to his fingers, he froze in place as he felt hundreds of eyes suddenly glaring up at him and _heard _the hissing threat.

He blinked once or twice, eyes glancing around and seeing nothing until his vision focused in one of the little creatures behind Shikiyoku, and then focused in on the _hundreds _of others that he stood in the middle of, every single one of them with their hackles raised and teeth bared.

...and every single one of them caked with blood.

Blood between their claws, blood around their multiple rows of teeth.

Kitoushi's eyes flickered over to what he could see of the fallen demon by Shikiyoku, and the images of the others they had passed by in the camp all folded in on top of one another.

Cautiously, Kitoushi drew his energy back into his hands and the lur'mog each slowly turned away from him, but he did not move otherwise, muscles coiled for the moment when Shikiyoku might need to be snatched up and whisked away.

He tried sliding his body between the layers, the ninth one blurring around him, using the method he had learned while stuck all those years as a cat, which was quite _different _than how Shikiyoku had got them here, and yet would in the end have the same result.

The lur'mog did not look away as if they still saw him, and a few of them grew clearer and he knew they could follow. Would follow, should he choose to step closer again to heal the young demon.

Dropping himself back to the Ninth Layer, Kitoushi restrained a growl, his hands clenching into fists.

If she needed him...he would go. But not a moment sooner.

"...I'm older now."

Shikiyoku sniffed and reached up to try and wipe away at the tears under one of her eyes.

"...what?" She blinked and tried to focus in on him, seeing that his eyes had finally come back to look at her, and he had the strangest expression on his face that she couldn't at first place.

Shikiyoku reached down and put her hand over where she knew the center of the mark lay at the right side of his chest, setting the entire thing aglow.

As if the sudden sight of the long rips in his skin set her mind moving again, Shikiyoku lifted her hand and whipped around to reach towards Kitoushi, whom she saw had stepped closer.

Her expression tore at _his _heart this time.

_Why do you not heal him?_

He lifted his hands towards her as if to respond, starting to take a step, but a low growl from the lur'mog kept him in place.

He would not sacrifice his own life to try and save another. Not unless it was to save her.

And Shikiyoku would never ask him to.

"He can't."

Douji's statement drew Shikiyoku back to him and his eyes had closed, staying that way for a while before he managed to open them again.

"They won't let him. They won't let anyone. They-" Blood caught in his throat and he coughed, unable to finish.

He opened his eyes more, leveling an even stare onto Shikiyoku as she reached up and wiped at her face again, wondering if it would ever stop. The pain.

Douji did not say anything for half a minute, only staring at her with that same strange expression as before.

When she finally met his gaze, feeling his eyes on her, her eyes flickered towards his lips, which were turned up into the impish smirk she had come in such a short time to cherish.

She blinked at him, only just able to catch his unspoken meaning.

"Douji..." She trailed off, a little speechless, a lot sad.

"I'm older now." He repeated with more confidence, smile widening just a bit. "You said you would when I was older."

In spite of herself, Shikiyoku let out the closest thing to a laugh that she could rightly come to in the situation.

"A few days, weeks-"

"Is still older." Douji finished matter-of-factly for her, his arm twitching as he meant to reach up towards her face but found it would not respond.

She shook her head, "You're terrible."

"I know."

Another huff of air escaped her nose, even just a little amused.

"You promised." He said after her silence.

"I did, didn't I." She replied wistfully.

Now that she followed his train of thought, there was no mistaking his stare, the desire she could feel stemming from it.

"...please."

"Oh those _eyes_." Shikiyoku intoned, almost rolling her own as he pouted at her, her expression faltering as felt her core doing the same.

He didn't say anything, only staring at her calmly.

Without a word, she leaned over him, her eyes sliding closed, and gave him a kiss, surprised when she intended it to be short that she felt him shift his head up as she tried to pull away, Douji _wanting _it to last longer.

...with her eyes closed, she didn't see his darkening irises, had no idea that between their parting lips, her energy had begun snaking out from her throat and into his mouth.

All she could feel before her mind went blank was that he did not want the kiss to end.

Kitoushi turned his face away when she leaned over the young demon, every muscle in his body screaming at him to _heal _the damn thing and stop just _standing _there to save his own blasted skin.

Several things happened all at once.

The hissing started again, but when Kitoushi whipped his head back to look at the ground, the lur'mog were glaring in the direction of the other two.

At least until Kit started to move, at which point the ones around him sent their threats in _his _direction.

As for the rest of the creatures, they swarmed over Douji's body, the demon giving a cry of pain as he released Shikiyoku, who jolted back away from him, sitting up with her eyes wide and staring at the red-scaled bodies, unable to block out the sounds of ripping and tearing happening before her, though unable to see it through the countless lur'mog bodies covering Douji's.

When they streamed off of him again, there was no light in his eyes and everything about the circumstances of the tribe crashed in on Shikiyoku.

She let out a sob as her hand flew up to her mouth, knowing that the demon was gone and yet-

...

Tentatively, with her other hand, she reached out and placed her palm over the place where his mark would have been could she see it through the newly-streaming rivers of blood.

... ...

No glow. Nothing.

As if finally giving up, Shikiyoku collapsed on top of Douji's body in a fit of sobs, taking to planting kisses on his cheeks and putting one over the heart-shaped mark she knew was on his chest, pulling back just for a second after that, just long enough to see that nothing happened and the mark did not disappear.

Kit took a tentative step forward.

The lur'mog did not appear to take any heed of him any longer and he was in an instant behind Shikiyoku, dropping to his knees and staying close, and yet...he let her be. Didn't pull her away, only sitting there almost against her, thinking ruefully of the blood she didn't appear to notice and how getting _that _off was going to be a trial later.

His ears twitched in every direction, keenly aware of the beasts still around him as well as the panic of the rest of the encampment. 3

Hiei's eyes continuously roved over and over the encampment, not even pausing over the lifeless bodies of the demons on the ground. He had already noted their gashes and such. The fire demon scowled as his eyes scoured, searching for the threat. In the end, however, his eyes turned to watch Shikiyoku and Douji, a sinking feeling vaguely pushing at his senses.

_She's losing another._

He couldn't really tell _why_ he was still watching her break, but he felt a bit of anger stirring. At what, he wasn't sure.

He turned away for a moment, and by the time he looked back at the scene he could see from afar, Shikiyoku was laying on Douji and Kitoushi moving closer. He scowled and suddenly turned away, letting the layers fall over him as he made his slow walk back to the house.

~!**!~

She tried to go back to sleep. She really, _really _tried. But she found that the comfort of this pillow was too great to let herself roam away from. Because if she fell asleep, she would very likely wake up _without_ this pillow that smelled very nice and calming and-

….

_I know that smell._

_Now_ her brain was wide awake and her eyelids peeled open again, this time blinking twice before she shifted her gaze up to look at-

She gave a groan.

_I can't believe this. _

_Actually.. yes I can… _

It took every ounce of concentration she had to move her arms and place her hands firmly- or maybe not so firmly- against Kurama and give a little push in hopes to roll away. And yet she only managed to simply _rest_ those hands against him

She gave another groan. _*****_

Kurama's eyes gleamed with amusement, already prepared for this moment and finding himself unsurprised by her reaction.

Though her hands felt nice.

"Something wrong, beautiful?"

~!**!~

A scream from somewhere beyond them had Kitoushi's ears briefly flattening against his skull.

_There's nothing I can do._

He kept having to repeat it to himself even as he cautiously lifted his ears again.

The smell of death was stronger, but perhaps stronger still was the knowledge that there were other injured demons out there and maybe if he could save one of _them _she would-

There were no more lur'mog near them.

And Kit didn't know which direction they had disappeared in.

He let out a little breath from his lips that didn't particularly mean much.

_Tear-stained and blood-stained and heartbroken._

His eyes moved to look at her, still laying over Douji and crying, and he finally reached out to start stroking at her hair, tentatively at first as he did not know how she would react to the touch, and then with more confidence as he leaned back to put his other hand on the ground and gently moved his hand through the silky locks, watching her calmly.

They didn't seem to be in any immediate danger.

He could wait a while longer. 3

Hiei was in no particular hurry to leave the scene and return to the house. His walk was nothing more than a slow meander, and his eyes looked forward but didn't see ahead. How many had she lost in the past week or so? Three, he was sure.

But, honestly… the only death that mattered to _him _was Otento's. The other two had been closer to Shikiyoku, and nothing more than another demon to him.

Demons died every second of the day, usually in mass numbers. So to him, it meant nothing.

To her, however…

_How much more can she take?_

He scowled.

_She's forgotten. _

That thought wasn't important right now.

Or was it?

He couldn't decide.

His hands found the pockets of his cloak and he stopped walking, finding himself on a random layer. He wasn't even sure _which _layer he was on.

_I don't like it. …..I hate it. _

_And I'm tired of it._

He continued moving, folding the layers over himself again.

~!**!~

Akari took a breath in as if to reply, only to release it as another groan as she tried pushing away again.

_I hurt._

_This hurts._

_You're a pain._

_Yomi is listening._

Another groan and another small attempt ending in vain. "I don't like you." She wasn't even sure the words came from her mouth, and if they did, they were probably pretty quiet. _*****_

"Is that so?" Kurama raised an eyebrow, "Are you really going to give a fox free-reign to attempt to change your mind? Or will you admit to the truth and save yourself the trouble?"

~!**!~

Kitoushi let her grow exhausted, let her cry until there were no more tears.

It was easier to pick her up when she no longer had the strength to resist.

He did notice that she did not curl against him however, once he had her in his arms.

Unfortunately, there was only one place he could think of to take her, and it was the one place he really didn't want to go back to at the moment.

That house...had too many memories in it.

_But where else are you going to go?_

Kitoushi frowned as he slid them between the layers and started moving.

As he walked, something irked at the corner of his mind, but he dismissed it, filing it away for later when Shikiyoku was...

_What exactly are you hoping for her?_

_It isn't as if you've ever known how to cure a broken heart._

_Never had to._

Honestly, the thought seemed ridiculous. And would be ridiculous if not for the demon in his arms.

Can't go back to their old hideout. It had been taken over by others. Didn't want to risk staying anywhere near _here_.

Kitoushi let out a silent sigh and let his feet land them on the First Layer, though he didn't at first recognize their position, only letting his inner navigation kick in and point him in the direction of the house.

He was in no hurry.

Maybe he would think of somewhere to go before he actually got there. 3

~!**!~

Akari scowled up a Kurama for a moment before her eyes turned down to her hands, silently cursing her lack of mobility. _I hurt… Why?_ She gave up on trying to get away, instead settling for simply laying there. How'd she get in here? Why did she hurt so much?

"_Don't think too hard sweetheart. You'll hurt yourself."_

Akari's eyes moved away from her hands and up to look at the side of the bed, as if expecting to see someone standing there, watching. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end**;** she'd been sure someone had been there.

_What's __**wrong**_ _with me?_

Her eyelids slid closed. "You're a pain," she grumbled to Kurama after a moment.

She thought back to the last thing she was doing.

Yoroi had been in the room, mending the tears in the armor that she'd thrown aside before her nap. He'd worked for a while, probably, before she'd woken up. And then he'd left and she'd met Takeo outside her door.

And then…

_And then what?_

Pain stung at her hand, causing it to twitch. _Right, that. He cornered me._

An image flashed before her mind's eye**: **her hand through the demon's chest, the feeling of her fingers around what she was completely sure to be his heart. She'd wanted to rip it out, to put him down because he'd crossed the last line. Her eyelids came open to stare at that hand, as if she could see the blood that should have been there.

It was only at that moment that she became aware of her energy pumping through her veins, albeit sluggishly, but it was there. She was able to manipulate it, even if it did take an extra second to respond.

_How the hell did I-_

Another image and she cringed, the fear returning as she remembered the giant being turning, the panic she'd felt at the mere prospect of those eyes turning to her. She'd ripped away, jerked her hand free of Takeo's chest.

_How did I live?_

Ice seemed to trickle in her veins, and for a few minutes she forgot who was there with her as she stared at her hand, flexing it as much as her soreness afforded her- which wasn't much. She could hardly even curl her fingers at the moment without cringing.

She swallowed hard. _If Takeo had lived, my energy would still be out of my reach._

A pause.

_Was that… death? _

The image of the creature seemed to burn itself into her mind's eye, remaining there and making the ice in her veins thicken. _I hope I don't see it again in the near future. _

She was suddenly burying her face in Kurama's shirt, wishing to banish the image from her mind and not being very successful. _*****_

Kurama had learned of Akari's...situation. Of her standing in Yomi's ranks. Of Takeo.

_[Bastard.]_

Even Youko would have been willing to land the killing blow on that particular demon, had the circumstances of his relationship with Akari not been such that she would have died from the interference.

_[She should have died anyway.]_

_{She was as close as one could possibly get.}_

Kurama's eyes flickered down to regard Akari calmly as she moved against him, and as smoothly as possible he shifted around until he faced her, the arm underneath her still curled and resting at her waist to keep her nearby, the other coming up to gently remove the stray bits of hair that had caught at her lips and cheeks and lay them down with the rest of the lighter red strands.

He planted a kiss near her forehead, settling down further on top of the covers.

~!**!~

"_But...how do you heal what you cannot see?"_

_Kitoushi's master did not so much as look up from the body laid out on his table, his hands glowing softly in the dimly lit room, the demon under his care breathing raggedly._

"_What you cannot see, you must __**feel**__, young one." The Master's deep voice reverberated calmly in the hut._

"_But..." The kitten's little face scrunched up in consternation, lips pursing together and one of his ears flicking backwards with irritation at the answer he had been given._

_After a moment his master's eyes opened, catching sight of the strange blue and brown gaze of the latter, which was staring unhappily at the body of the demon, with his little pink lips drawn tightly together, glaring at a body which outwardly showed no signs of damage._

Kitoushi closed his eyes for a moment as he shifted on silent feet through the mostly human crowd that did not appear to notice him nor the demon he carried.

He could _feel _it alright. Reverberated in his skull almost.

She hadn't so much as moved in his arms.

The most disheartening thing about the 'feeling' though was the surety he had that no matter how much energy he tried to pump into her body, he would not be able to 'heal' her in the way he knew most intimately.

This sort of healing would take time.

Time he wasn't sure she would be afforded.

He glanced down at her eyes, devoid of light and staring blandly forward.

Kitoushi didn't know how this whole Consort thing worked, but he wished she would just _choose _somebody already. Maybe there would be a bond like before and he would be able to sense what he could actually do to help her.

_Think it would solve all your problems, huh?_

Well it certainly couldn't hurt anything, now could it? 3

~!**!~

Kurama's shifting had Akari holding a breath, the hiss she wanted to issue withheld until he settled again, effectively reminding her of his presence. She found herself staring at his shirt, the image of what she'd seen slowly but surely sliding away from the forefront of her mind.

_I was stupid._

_And how is it you don't seem to mind my trouble-making tendencies?_

"Don't move too much, please." _Rather, don't leave. _"I hurt." _I missed you. __*****_

"Sorry." Kurama murmured into her hair, not sounding particularly sorry about anything as from here he could hold her closer.

The most amusing thing was probably by the time he lay down next to her, after cleaning up the mess tending to her had made, she had wasted little time in scooting as close as possible in the midst of her semi-consciousness, leaving him stretched out on his back not _wanting _to move for several reasons.

Though to be fair, one of the reasons _had _in fact been that she needed rest, and uninterrupted rest at that.

_I don't plan on leaving anytime soon._

~!**!~

_He's...gone._

Shikiyoku blinked, three faces flashing past her mind's eye, somewhere thankful at the three other faces who passed through her thoughts, who had gotten out while they were still _alive_.

_I'm killing them._

The ones who wanted to stay.

Blink. Blink.

_They're all going to die._

...

_And it'll be my fault._

Did she really not know how to 'choose?' Or was she just kidding herself? Drawing out the process because, really, it felt nice to be so _wanted_ by so _many_. She hadn't felt like that since her time with Kit.

And this time it was even _better_, wasn't it?

Her eyes squeezed shut, trying to silence that terrible little voice in her head.

Because this time they actually sort of _know _you and still _want _you. They aren't just strangers on the street unable to look away when you pass by.

Isn't it wonderful?

_They're all going to die._

Shikiyoku became vaguely aware that she was surrounded by four walls and had a roof over her head. Became aware that her skin smelled clean, her clothes felt new, and that the cat demon had one arm around her, breathing evenly as if asleep.

Her hair was still a little damp.

He was holding her hand.

At the realization, a faint glow started in the room and Shikiyoku found herself staring at the heart-shaped mark, her hand actually resting against Kit's chest and his folded over hers as if keeping it where it sat.

The color bloomed further, bathing her face in a soft, yellow glow as it cascaded up the swirls on his arm and she could feel it had grown over his shoulder, spreading out over his chest just enough that she could see a muted glow coming from under where his yukata gapped open before her.

_It's worth a shot._

Hesitating for only a moment, Shikiyoku leaned forward as quietly as she was able and pressed her lips up against the heart the decorated the back of Kitoushi's hand, waiting, almost _hoping _that something would happen.

It didn't.

She pulled away, eyes glancing up at the cat demon's jaw above her.

She couldn't decide whether to feel happy about it, or whether it should send her further into despair.

Shikiyoku shifted up and put a light kiss on what she could reach of his face, seeing him settle again after a moment, a smile lighting his expression as the glow from her touch faded.

She felt restless.

Needed to move.

_Need to do something productive._

Well, escaping would be a start.

Her eyes wandered up and around, seeing that he had put her on the bed in one of the guest rooms.

_Probably didn't want to get my bed wet._

The thought had her giving him a soft smile.

...he wouldn't be happy if he woke up and she wasn't there.

_I need to move around._

_Wander some of this sorrow away._

He had done so much for her lately.

Left to try and discover more information on the sickness that plagued her.

...probably nearly burned himself out in the process.

She knew how he worked.

Gently, Shikiyoku began extracting herself from his embrace, and just as she expected, Kitoushi's eyes opened just enough for her to know she wasn't going to get away from him scotch-free.

He tightened his hold around her, pinning her arms to her side, and buried his face in her chest.

"_...dun' wan' you t' go."_

That had her expression softening.

He wasn't even really awake if he was speaking to her like _that_.

She huffed out a breath and it set one of his ears twitching, sending an amused expression flittering over her face

Leaning down as best she could, Shikiyoku nuzzled her nose near his cheek, trying to decide if she should stay or go.

...she doubted she would get back to sleep.

Which meant she would be laying there with only her thoughts as company.

Kitoushi responded to her by raising his face up and managing to find her lips, giving her a sleepy kiss before his head relaxed back down on the pillow.

"_...l' down."_

It was about as close to whining as he was going to get.

"_Kit...I'm gonna...go for a walk." _Or something. Anything.

She felt him stir against her, knew he was trying to pull himself out of his slumber.

Shikiyoku sent him a negatory impression.

"_And you're going to stay here."_

"_...dun wanna." _He shifted around again, his hold on her loosening as he stretched his legs and squeezed his eyes shut.

"_Yes, you do."_

"_Dun' tell m' what t' do." _He opened a single blue eye to look at her for a moment before he rolled over onto his back, one arm still around her waist. His dark hair cascaded over the covers underneath him, his tail raising and lowering once, the tip of it twitching a little.

"_I'll come back." _She assured him.

The brown eye looked at her this time before slowly closing again.

As she started to sit up, Kitoushi slid her closer to him until she was pulled right up next to his waist, watching him with mild amusement.

"_Yes?"_

He didn't answer for a moment, though she could feel he meant to once he gathered the thought.

"_Kis' me."_

The face he made next was probably the most adorable one she had ever seen the cat demon use, pursing his lips together and leaning up off the bed a little.

Shikiyoku actually grinned enough to turn the edges of her lips upwards and she put a hand on his chest and she moved closer as if to oblige him.

"_Don't tell me what to do." _

His lips went from the adorable face to a frown and he tugged with the hand behind her waist as if to push her farther, his intention for her clear.

"_...'Yokuuu." _That near-whine came out again as he pressed his hand into her back. His eyes opened briefly to see how far she had come before shutting.

"_I'll le' you go." _He offered, pushing at her again when she resisted.

"_Doubtful."_

"_...won' know 'nless you do it." _

Fine.

Shikiyoku bent farther over across his chest and kissed him, though the first time she tried to pull away she found that Kitoushi's hand had slid further up her back and kept her in place for longer than she meant to allow.

When she was finally able to sit back up, there was no mistaking the sleepy smile he was giving her, eyes open half-mast.

"_You tas' good."_

"_Kiiiit." _Shikiyoku shook her head at him, though he did pull a huff of laughter from her mouth. "_You said you'd let me go."_

He pouted, taking a breath and then let it out in a quick sigh.

"_I did. ...I dun' wan' you t' go. You be'r come back." _He rolled over and curled himself around her lap, his tail steadily raising and lowering silently against the covers behind him.

"_Didn't I say I would?"_

"_You'r' liar."_

"_Kit! I am not."_

"_Mostly." _

She could tell at this point he was just being grumpy about it and she slipped away from him, one of his hands reaching up too late to actually get a hold of her, though his blue eye came open to stare mournfully at her once she stood up.

Feeling a _little _sorry for him, she leaned back over to peck a quick kiss on his cheek, getting away before he could catch hold of her, the slightest giggle escaping her lips when he missed and huffed out an irritated breath of air, his arm plopping down empty-handed onto the bed.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"_You wan' lose tha' tongue?" _His eyes finally closing again after opening at the sound of her little laugh.

"_Maybe." _She told him as she started moving for the door, opening it and heading down the stairs.

"_Heh." _3

Hiei meandered in the direction of the house, only just now landing on the first layer. A strong part of him wanted to walk in, snatch her up and take off. Demand answers to his suspicions and perhaps find ways to prove she was wrong. Or that he was wrong. He didn't know what.

The other part of him knew she'd just lost another, and that she very likely would need space.

_She's had space for days now._

The thought had him pausing outside the house, staring at the front door. It took another moment before his feet were moving again, carrying him up to the porch and into the house without a single thought about it.

He'd given her space, thinking she needed it.

And look where he'd ended up.

_Tch._

~!**!~

If she'd had the ability to command her muscles to move, she would've moved an arm up and over the redhead. But she couldn't move, and was resigned to leaving her hands pinned between them, palms still pressed to him. Her eyelids slid open and she looked up at Kurama, lips twitching upwards in the very slightest motion.

"...I didn't forget, you know." She wasn't sure what pulled the words from her lips, but her mouth moved again. "I… thought you might assume I did." _*****_

"Mm." Kurama didn't bother opening his eyes this time. "All I have to say is that you're _exceedingly _difficult to track down when there are others that do not want you found."

_[I never thought I'd actually come to hate Yomi. ...he's treading a thin line.]_

~!**!~

_Can't remove the heart unless they want it removed._

Shikiyoku frowned as she moved down the stairs, the darkness of the house accented by night having fallen deeply outside.

_...and why do I feeling convincing them of their impending death isn't going to do it either?_

Keeping her mind busy with _this _sort of predicament prevented her thoughts from going down...other...paths.

At this point she was ready to forget the whole thing.

_Can I take it back? Is that a thing I can do?_

She briefly had the idea of visiting Renai again.

_What on earth is he going to know that I don't already know?_

Little.

Her head down, thoughts centered-desperately almost-around the last three markings she felt necessary to worry about, Shikiyoku got into the kitchen absently, paying little attention to where she was going.

The mellow light from the moon caught her attention as it streamed through the window over the sink. She moved for it as if drawn there, leaning both her elbows on the counter, one arm hanging off while the other bent upwards so she could put her face in her hand, staring off out the glass at nothing in particular as her mind sifted through answers to _any _of the questions she found herself pondering. 3

Hiei sauntered into the living room, staying on the inbetween layer simply out of laziness. He moved for the couch, noting keenly that Kitoushi was not inhabiting it, nor was Shikiyoku. He paused, however, when he heard movement in the kitchen, which drew his gaze to said room as he glanced around the corner.

He'd been _sure_ she would be with the cat.

His feet landed on the First Layer and he took to standing there, staring at the back of her head with keen observations. She wasn't crying, he could tell. Simply standing there, it seemed. Though, he couldn't see her face to know what thoughts were churning in her head**;** he didn't care to use his telepathic abilities against her. Not now, when she likely needed that privacy.

_Tch._

His hands found his cloak pockets again, his eyes narrowing a little at her. Still, he didn't say anything.

He was testing something.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small sigh. "Really, I wouldn't know." Her lips twitched and she gave a very weak attempt at a shrug. A thought crossed her mind, and the very slight smile she'd almost made disappeared entirely. She almost asked, except Yomi was _bound_ to be listening, and asking about someone she cared about wasn't smart.

She didn't want anyone else dragged into this storm that she'd ended up thrown into.

She almost said something about losing the seed too, but that was also something she didn't want the king to hear.

_Some king __**he**_ _is._

A realization hit her as she again recalled the being she'd almost come face to face with a while ago.

She made a sound before regaining control of her thoughts and her expression. _Not now. _

"How long have you been in here anyway?" _*****_

"In here?" Kurama echoed. "Does it really matter?"

He was just about at the point where he would throw his proverbial arms in the arm and start drilling Akari with all the questions he was holding back about just because that damn demon who pulled her here was likely listening.

Supposedly he could hear everything being said within his own territory.

That was the rumor going around anyway.

Kurama didn't particularly feel up to testing it.

~!**!~

_Well, no, because then it-_

Shikiyoku shifted a little bit, raising her head off of her hand and blinking at the window, shifting her head just enough to look to either side before frowning and resting her hand down again.

_Strange. _

Her momentary break from the reverie last no longer than a second, thoughts delving further into what she could do, if anything, about the current situation.

_But if they-_ 3

Irritation struck Hiei almost like a blow to the gut, almost uncontrollable. It took a moment to bite his tongue and not make some remark he'd likely berate himself for later. _At least she noticed a __**disturbance**__. _His expression slowly shifted to a neutral gaze as he moved forward, taking to standing near the table, eyes never leaving her.

_She's forgotten._

"Going to stare at the window all night?"

~!**!~

Akari gave a groan at Kurama's non-answer. _Yes, because I wanna know how long I've been out. _She didn't press him, however. She did move a little, pulling her head back so that she may look up at him with an even stare, assessing his expression.

_I see those wheels turning. Those questions you can't ask. _

She was suddenly glad she was laying on the cheek that the scar was on. No use in giving another point for him to think on at the moment.

_If he wasn't already. _

Akari's lips suddenly twitched as she remembered the last thing she'd said to Takeo, and as she stared up at Kurama she really, really found that it was a good thing her body wasn't exactly responding as it should have. Otherwise, she could only imagine the color her face would have turned.

"Sorry I put us here," she suddenly intoned, "I should've stayed in the meadow." _*****_

Kurama _also _knew of the dead dog demon. And the rumors circulating _that _particular matter.

_Information gathering indeed, Yomi._

"Oh, I can't say I'm not _enjoying _myself at the moment." He responded lightly.

_I just wish we __**were **__back in the meadow instead of stuck here._

"And I somehow think we would have ended up in this position regardless of past choices."

_In fact, I'm sure of it. Yomi had things in place long before I knew there were things __**to **__place._

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's core jolted, and not in the _nice _way, the startling bringing her to turn around suddenly shifting her feet back and only then able to make out Hiei's dark shape at the other side of the kitchen.

At least it relieved the pounding of her heart to see it was just him and not whatever danger her body almost assumed she was in.

_...so it was you._

She realized now that she could remember hearing his soft footfalls on the tile, the rustling of the cloak around his body, and she could only assume he had been _staring _at her, which is what pulled her from her thoughts in the first place.

"I guess I could." She replied without so much as glancing in the direction of the glass. "The view isn't all that bad."

_...you don't even know what's on the other side._

Shh. 3

_I see._

"Hn." His eyes turned to the side, hands still in the pockets of his cloak and tugging just a little at the material, simply to give his hands something to do. When he turned his gaze back to her, his eyes flashed a little and he took a few steps forward, pausing with a couple of feet between them, but not saying anything. Only watching her, observing every reaction she had to his approach.

~!**!~

Akari let out a long sigh, ignoring the throbbing in her chest as she did so. She was slowly becoming able to _ignore_ the aches and sore spots, though she still couldn't really move much. _I'll remedy that soon, though. This hurts nothing like those days._

"I met that armorsmith you talked about," she suddenly said, lips twitching. "Kind of a pain for the both of us, considering leather is all I was granted. I don't think he liked me coming in and out two or three times a day." _*****_

Kurama passed over the first few responses that came over his mind, silently sending a few curses in Yomi's direction and wondering if there would come a point where he really would find himself uncaring.

_Likely not._

"It sounds like you were hard at work, then." Kurama said cautiously, well aware of the implications of her armor wearing out at such a fast pace.

_[I would have liked to kill that demon myself.]_

_{I know.}_

~!**!~

_What other plans did you have again?_

Seemed harder to think with him looking at her like that, and his expression had her eyebrows just barely twitching downward, though they didn't stay there as he moved closer.

She _tried _to think of something to say to him, she really did.

But what little there was left of her mind that wasn't centered around _why are you staring at me like that_ consisted of how to get him to let her remove the mark he wore over his core, and she was at just as much of a loss of words in that department as she was in the manner of small talk.

_Funny. I always thought myself rather good at making small talk. _3

When she didn't seem to _not_ want him to come closer, Hiei continued moving in her direction, closing the distance after a moment and standing over her, neutral expression staring down at her. He leaned forward a little, his voice low.

"You've forgotten a few things."

He didn't move away, choosing to keep the few inches between their noses stable.

"And that's unacceptable."

~!**!~

"Perhaps not as hard as I make it seem," Akari replied after a moment, eyelids sliding close as she gave a small sigh. _I hate that you're listening, Yomi. _However, she didn't mind admitting she didn't put her all into the man's cause. Why would she, especially now that she _feared_ the being she would no doubt have to encounter for the king?

_Definitely not worth it._

Oh, how bad she wanted to say something about it to Kurama.

_Might as well stick to idle chatter and complaints._

"The showers are nice. Great pressure and such." _*****_

_You know, this is really quite amusing, really. I certainly hope our conversation is __**titillating **__your sensibilities, Yomi._

At the last little drivel of information Akari fed him, Kurama barely managed to restrain the laugh he wanted desperately to release, though his torso tightened around his stomach and he found himself drawing his lips into his mouth for a moment before he spoke.

He pulled a noisy breath through his teeth in disagreement, though if she happened to look at him she would see his lips pulled into a smile.

"I don't know. The one I have must not be very good. It's always so cold."

~!**!~

_Forgotten?_

Her first instinct was to shift her eyes to the side in thought, but it was the weirdest thing. She tried, but...she didn't seem to be able to pull her gaze away from his.

_I'm sure I've forgotten a good many things in my time. _

The expression on her face never changed, and she didn't even seem aware of the fact that power had started shimmering over her eyes.

_...you're taller than before._

She only blinked at him for a moment.

_What the __**hell **__am I supposed to have forgotten?_

Not that you aren't having trouble remember anything right now anyway.

_...shut up._ 3

Hiei continued to stare down at Shikiyoku, noting the lack in change of her expression, but the shimmer that began to glitter in her eyes. He also saw the wheels turning, though not very much. Perhaps she was stuck on a singular thought or two.

That would be amusing.

"The fact that you don't even know where to _begin_ to try and remember is just as unacceptable," came his next words, just as low as the others.

And then he reached forward, grabbing her wrist and pausing for only a second before he turned and began moving out of the kitchen.

He almost paused, almost voiced a thought he'd considered for the past few days, but he didn't. His feet kept moving even as he pulled the layers around them, and he glanced back at her briefly with a spark flying in his eyes.*

* * *

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!


	99. Episode 183

****A/N: ****Hello once again, Beloved Yu Yu Hakusho Fans!

Yes, the chapter is late, but there was a family emergency.

Given that, along with other issues, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put this story on hiatus until the third week of June. Unfortunate timing really, because I was planning on starting a "part two" once this story reached 100 chapters, and this chapter is number 99. No worries about whether or not I'll be back; CM and I are STILL writing on the RP and we enjoy sharing the story will all you lovely Readers!

I made this chapter intentionally longer than the others as a way of making up for not being able to post it earlier.

Happy reading!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

Akari felt the tension of the other she was pressed against, and her own lips curled upwards. She didn't have to look up at him to know the smile on his face. His negatory sound didn't thwart her in the least.

His response, however, was met with an unfiltered one of her own. "Well, you could always use _mine. _The door next to the closet leads to the bathroom, in case you hadn't noticed." She paused, lips curling inward just a bit, "It's always hot."

_I blame this on so many things._

"Open to your convenience." _*****_

_[Oo, is Yomi still as uncomfortable with anything voyeur-like as he always was?]_

Akari's comment, while getting Kurama to shake his head just slightly and release a silent chuckle, almost immediately sent Youko off the deep end in paths that, while _would _likely get the blind demon to stop listening in _real _quick, were also things Kurama wasn't about to try.

_{She's still __**injured**__, fool.}_

_[So?]_

It took a good deal of restrained not to let the strangled groan voice itself.

"Well, it's a good thing you _don't _mind. Since I'd already discovered as much for myself." His eyes actually came open and he stuck his forehead against hers, nudging it slightly as he teased, "How do you think you got so clean?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's mouth came open as if she finally had a response for him, an answer regarding what she forgot, or what _he _seemed to think she forgot.

But all she could manage to think about was the fiery look in his crimson gaze, the one that had her moments before rooted to the spot with little to no coherent thoughts passing over her mind.

_How does he do that?_

She felt the shimmer cascading away from her eyes, only now realizing that her energy had cropped up there in the first place.

There was no hiding the mixture of chagrin and amusement that fought across her features as he looked back at her, unable to truly land on one or the other.

_How the __**hell **__does he __**do **__that? _3

Hiei felt the utmost amount of amusement at the confliction on Shikiyoku's face before he turned forward again, suddenly realizing he didn't think the Ninth Layer a good idea, no matter _where_ on that layer they were. So when the layers unwrapped about him, he was dead set on the last location they'd been to: the cliff, where they had leapt and met the phoenix.

The same place he'd lost his jewel, and Uryo had literally run into it.

The thought had more amusement passing through him as he pulled to a stop in the small circle that was once his campsite. He turned to Shikiyoku, not yet releasing his hold on her.

"Think of anything yet?"

~!**!~

Akari's eyes remained closed as the pressure of Kurama's forehead against hers was added, and a wide smile formed on her features. _I missed you so much, you stupid fox. _"Well, to be fair, I hadn't had much time to think about it." She paused, lips parting slightly as she thought, and then released a huff. "Though, any alternative is certainly unacceptable." _*****_

"See, I _thought _you might say that." Kurama told her. "Otherwise I would have just _let _Yoroi go through with what he had planned."

He still smiled down at her, "And let me tell you, it wasn't very nice at all."

~!**!~

_Anything? You're kidding, right?_

There was this slight dip in her countenance right before he turned to her as she became aware rather keenly of the bracelet at her wrist. The one he hadn't grabbed. The scales had only just settled when they stopped moving, and though they made no sound, she could _feel _them and struggled not to look at them.

_Too soon._

"You know, I might have forgotten to turn the oven off." 3

Hiei's brows quirked downwards at her. _Nope, not it. _"It was certainly off." he retorted calmly, head tilting at her a little. He reached out with both hands and took her face in his grasp, eyes staring at her as if his stare would do any help.

Which, he'd become aware of it by now, was certainly _not _the case. Not in letting her think, anyway.

Which was, really, half the point.

"You," he began, giving a pause as he blinked once at her, "forgot _me." _His tone remained even, giving away none of his thoughts. "And I don't much appreciate that." His lips twitched, threatening a sneer as he pulled away. _Which is why we're here._

~!**!~

"Well, I mean, once I woke I wouldn't have any qualms with my hand through _his_ chest either." Her lips pursed, becoming a thin line for a moment before she flashed a smile. "I haven't been particularly nice myself." _It isn't like Yomi doesn't already know. Yoroi would have told him everything, as would have the guard who'd been watching from the door._

"You know, the gardens are nice too!"

_Nice subject change, moron. __*****_

"I hear Yomi tends to them himself."

_[Hee hee hee.]_

~!**!~

_What the f-_

She didn't even manage to _finish _the sentence, which started once Hiei's hand moved up to her face, because about the time he was peering down into her eyes and speaking to her everything just...stopped. Including, she would have sworn, her _heart_.

Unfortunately for her, the thing made up for it in the next second as it dropped somewhere near her stomach.

_Well. _The rational part of her mind managed to keep it together. _Now how in the nine layers did I manage __**that**__?_

Forgetting him, that was.

Because at the moment, his presence was invading her every thought.

_Heh. The real question is if he knows it yet._

_...Taka figured it out pretty quick._

It was why he had pulled her away from the others so often. He discovered her thoughts couldn't _help _but center around whomever she was with at the time. And he'd exploited it as often as possible. To his definite advantage. 3

Hiei stared at Shikiyoku, watching the thoughts pass behind her gaze. His lips turned upwards just a little, a thought or two passing before his mind's eye. He waited for anything she might have to say, but when she didn't speak up, he didn't seem to mind.

His irises gleamed a little in sudden amusement before they darkened. He regarded her with a look from her head to her toes before he let his arms fall to his side, his muscles tensing just a little.

"As I said, I don't appreciate it. So, I'll give you a head start." His lips thinned out a little as he suppressed the sneer. "I suggest you take it and run."

~!**!~

Akari knew _exactly_ where this conversation was going, and she opened her mouth, closed it again, and repeated the action once more before she came up with something to say that wouldn't be interrupted by a laugh.

"Well, I said they were _nice_, not color coordinated. No organization whatsoever. It is better than inside these four walls, however. Hence the word _nice._" _*****_

Kurama cleared his throat before answering, biting at his lip for a moment as the fox howled with laughter and added a few choice comments of his own that Kurama had no plans of repeating.

"He hired an interior decorator."

~!**!~

_Run...what?_

There was no mistaking the confusion that suddenly washed over her features as Shikiyoku stared at Hiei, her mouth falling open a little.

"What are you...talking about?" 3

"I am giving you the chance to get ahead." Hiei said slowly, in a low tone. "_Run_."

He nodded at her to go, expression devoid of emotions.

On the inside, however, he was _extremely _amused at her confusion.

~!**!~

Akari's breath stopped and she struggled not to make a sound, swallowing hard to keep the sound down, but it didn't really seem to help. _Don't. Laugh._

Her lips quivered and she took a long moment to release the air she had withheld.

"Some decorator he had there." She had to clamp her lips together again, not even able to go on to what she wanted to say next. She moved her head so that she could hide her face in the crook of his neck, breath occasionally hitching.

_Don't you dare laugh._

_Not a single sound. __*****_

"I didn't get to see her myself, but I heard Yomi looked several of them over before spotting one he really liked."

Kurama wasn't exactly sure how he had managed to make his response sound as matter-of-fact as the rest of them had been, because he wasn't entirely sure he could make another sound without his amusement boiling over.

~!**!~

_I...I don't..._

It was still dark here. She didn't know the area in the slightest. And she wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to be running from.

_I don't understand._

Her confusion bubbled up into, "Um...oh...kay?"

As she managed to speak, Shikiyoku took a hesitant step back, her eyes glancing around for a moment before she ducked her head a little and turned away, having not the slightest idea what was going on and not sure somewhere in the back of her mind why she wasn't protesting. Or just going back home.

_I...I don't..._

The trees around her were dark as she moved around them, moving at just below the speed of a jog, her mind still rife with her bewilderment at her current predicament. 3

You know, the fire demon hadn't really thought he would be amused with this game, but so far, he rather enjoyed it. He wasn't one for games, but perhaps he'd make an exception for this one. It seemed to amuse him enough so far.

A brow raised as she slowly turned and began moving away, uncertainty in every single step she made until she was out of his sight.

In his head, he counted down from ten.

And then he took off, wasting no time in appearing in Shikiyoku's path, lips tilted just a little. "You're not trying very hard to get away." he commented, arms over his chest.

~!**!~

She couldn't help it. the words tumbled from her mouth, wavering and at a higher pitch as she struggled against her giggles. "I hear he really liked the way a few of them looked together, and he just couldn't resist putting them side by side! They looked _wonderful_, from what I hear!"

This time, she had to press her lips and nose to Kurama's skin to keep the sound from escaping, as her lips no longer wanted to stay together and restrain the sound.

_Not gonna laugh today. Nope! __*****_

Feeling how hard she struggled not to laugh, Kurama clenched his teeth together when she pressed her face against his neck.

He managed a restrained, "That's...not helping," through his teeth, voice as low as he could get it without letting go and having to laugh.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku dug her feet into the ground to step her forward motion when Hiei appeared out of nowhere in front of her, and before he had even finished speaking she already had a few steps of backpedaling between them, eyes wide with surprise and blinking at him as something in her head snapped into place.

This time...she turned and _ran_. 3

Hiei waited a few seconds, feeling rather smug that she seemed to get the point and take off at a decent speed. His eyes watched the direction she'd taken off in, but really, the Jagan told him exactly where she was, following her every move.

This time, he counted down from twenty, simply because he could.

And when he grumbled the last number, he took off, Using a good three-fourths of his speed to catch up, and then moving between the layers to appear in front of her again, irises sparking at her mischievously.

~!**!~

Akari's chest shook with the silent laughter, and after a moment she began taking in broken-up puffs of air, hoping to steady herself but only managing to make it that much harder not to laugh. "S-sorry, but I'm n-n-not really s-sorry." Another broken breath taken in. "Y-you started it!"

_This is bad. If he's listening, we're in so much trouble. __*****_

He nearly leaned farther down and kissed her, with the fox loudly deciding such a thought should most definitely be followed through, but instead shifted and pressed his lips into the midst of her hair, feeling his torso shaking up against her as if it accented what he already knew.

After a second he took in a larger breath of air and heaved it out, attempting to compose himself.

~!**!~

_You do __**not **__play fair, do you?_

At Hiei's reappearance, Shikiyoku shifted her weight so that she could easily push off the ground with her outside foot and dash to the right instead of careening into him, speeding up until her hair began streaming behind her. 3

Hiei hadn't meant to, but he heard the thought that crossed her mind, and a smug sneer formed on his features. What was the fun in playing _fair_ when he had a fully-functional Jagan at his disposal? _None whatsoever. _

He watched her switch gears and go another direction, and amusement finally made it to his features, his lips retaining the sneer and his eyes glittering as he turned and took off after Shikiyoku.

He let her get some space between them, but for the most part, he kept her within his immediate sights.

~!**!~

Akari took a moment to try and rein in her fit of silent giggles, taking in a small breath through her lips and letting it out slowly. She repeated this twice more before her eyelids came open and she was staring at Kurama's shirt, listening to him do the same and gather himself.

And then the stupid thought passed by her mind again and she was fighting against the giggles all over again, her fingers curling around Kurama's shirt as if it would help.

Another deep breath.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." _*****_

"Are you quite sure?" Kurama only paused for half a second before going on, "Because it doesn't _look _like you're okay."

_[Eheheh. That's never gonna get old.]_

~!**!~

She could feel the instant he took off after her once she changed directions again, and she managed to weave her way through the dark underbrush, only skidding to a slower speed just long enough to dash off to the left, having reached the edge of the cliff and starting to run parallel with it, her body crouched lower to the ground and the wind whistling in her ears.

Something about the way in which he chased her had the hairs at the back of her neck standing on end and she glanced behind her once to see his eyes gleaming in the darkness, letting out a nervous sound that did reveal her uncertainty _still _on what exactly was going on. 3

Hiei let the distance stay between them, catching the glance Shikiyoku passed back to him and noticing the slight confusion behind her gaze still remained. As if she wasn't exactly sure she had guessed his intentions right.

_Good._

He slipped between the layers for a split moment, giving himself the ability to appear in front of her again, his expression remaining the same as it had been a moment ago: fully amused.

~!**!~

Akari took another breath in through her nostrils. "Shh! I'm okay!" She held her breath this time, and after a few seconds she let it go, not opening her eyes until she was absolutely sure she wasn't going to laugh again.

Except when she opened her eyes, the colors between Kurama's shirt, skin, and hair all seemed to be swirling together, and her head suddenly felt as if it were floating. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and swallowed a little.

She suddenly didn't feel so well.

_Maybe I held my breath too long._

She kept her breathing calm and steady and forced herself to relax. _How about no more of that? __*****_

"I...don't think I would ever forgive myself if you died of laughter." Kurama told her quite seriously. "So, don't even try it."

~!**!~

_This _time he managed to pull a completely unintentional sound of surprise from her lips when he appeared in front of her.

After all, she had _just _seen him a few paces back.

It was rather disconcerting.

Aware of the cliff to her right, she chose left this time and took off into the trees again, glancing up and after a few paces leaping into the branches, dashing from one to the next at a much faster rate unhindered by the undergrowth below. 3

Hiei didn't allow her time to create space this time. He took off just as quickly as she did, though he remained on the ground, Jagan focused on her as his eyes looked ahead at the obstacles beneath the branches. He was suddenly reminded of the days when he'd baited demons into chasing him for his jewel, and he blinked for a moment.

_How things change…._

~!**!~

Akari gave a small huffed out laugh, her lips quickly pressing together to staunch any other sound. Now she could _feel_ the room moving. "I'd take you seriously if it were a possibility," she replied after a moment, though she didn't open her eyes to look up at him. _*****_

Kurama frowned.

"If it gets too bad, I _suppose _I could give you something to help." He definitely didn't sound as if that would be his first choice, however.

~!**!~

The trees ended abruptly, forcing Shikiyoku back to the ground only to realize the trees had _ended _because a mountain _began_.

And by 'mountain,' she actually meant 'cliff.' One that rose up almost like a solid wall in front of her, with a few bits of rock jutting out in strategic places along the face of it.

There was little to no hesitation in her footsteps, even as her eyes calculated the fastest way to scale the side, and as soon as she was within range, she made the jump for the first outcropping that looked steady enough to hold her, only landing briefly before continuing to appear as if she hopped up the face of the rocks. 3

The fire demon's feet carried him at a pace that matched Shikiyoku's, merely because he knew this area like the back of his hand. Like the blade of his sword. Whatever worked. He knew the cliff coming ahead, and knew she'd have to leave the trees soon.

And she did, only to take him by slight surprise and leap up the cliff anyway. He blinked once, though his steps never faltered except for the stutter-step he took to increase his speed. And then he too leapt, following close behind Shikiyoku until he thought he'd let her run enough.

At this point, he used the layers again to get closer, and he looked up for a moment, knowing the creature atop _this_ cliff was one that usually didn't stir unless someone came too close.

Hiei swooped in from over her head and made an attempt to grab her about the waist, or in the very least force her to change directions. He didn't feel particularly keen on her getting in the territory of that creature.

~!**!~

Akari huffed at him and slowly opened her eyes, finding that the spinning had slowed _way_ down, and she didn't actually mind it at the moment. "Don't sound so eager, fox." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm perfectly fine, thank you." _*****_

"Good." He leaned down and put his lips as close to her ear as he could get to murmur, "Because I plan on staying _here _as long as possible." He only slightly tightened his hold on her, just enough to indicate what he meant by 'here' exactly.

~!**!~

In mid-leap, Shikiyoku's eyes widened as Hiei suddenly appeared and in the seconds before he grabbed her, she managed to get out, "Ack! _**Cheater.**_"

The second word was overly accusatory, and she phased between the layers long enough for him to pass her by, literally pass _through _her, as well as get her to her next foothold as her upward motion was not interrupted.

Giving him only a passing glance as she hopped from this particular rock to one lower, back on the layer once more, Shikiyoku took off along the cliff-face, speeding along the side as if it were the ground and going at such a fast pace that her hair still streamed behind her as if gravity had no say in the matter. 3

Hiei sneered as he passed through Shikiyoku, finding himself not particularly surprised by her quick adjustment. He'd been waiting on her to resort to it, really. And at her accusation, his eyes flashed as he took hold of a jutting rock and pushed himself after her, easily following her lead and running along the cliff.

"_Cheating_ is leading you through the various traps in the area." he replied after a moment, tone filled with amusement. And he couldn't help but silently admit that he was actually having _fun_. Like… a kid…

~!**!~

Akari gave a small smile. "Good. I was worried you would run away in a minute and find better entertainment." She shifted and, in a very dog-like manner, nuzzled her face into the space just under Kurama's ear, unable to resist because _I'd missed you so fricken much you… you... __**person**__! __*****_

"Mm." The sound escaped his lips before he could help it, _very _aware of her affection, though he went on, "Better entertainment? It isn't as if Yomi schedules daily _Kabuki_."

Youko erupted into laughter again at the thought.

"If that were the case, you might very well be out of luck."

~!**!~

"Really." She sounded bored, her reply coming across as if they were sitting across from one another enjoying _tea _instead of running along the side of a cliff.

There was no need for her to hide her smile what with him behind her and all.

"Well, you're kinder than _I_, I must admit. I can't say for sure if I would do the same were we to drop to _my _territory." 3

"I'll remember that." Not that Hiei _really_ wanted to go to the Ninth Layer anytime soon. Too many things were happening around the layers for him to feel it safe for her there. Or, really, even himself, though that part didn't much matter. He had enough of an advantage with the layers all on their lonesome.

The thought, however, was slightly amusing.

…..Maybe he _should_ lead her to traps.

He kicked up his speed and caught up with ease, his own hair laying flat on his head as he ran along the side of the cliff.

~!**!~

"I'm willing to bet you'd be too comfortable to get up and move," she whispered to him with a smile. She shifted herself a little, finding it a bit easier to move, and slid her arm up and over his neck almost lazily, quickly coming to rest as if she'd run out of energy at that precise moment.

_And quite frankly, I wouldn't let you. __*****_

"Oh, I don't know. I supposed I really could just get up and leave at any time." He started to shift around as if he was going to rise up and leave her there.

~!**!~

If Shikiyoku had been a cat, her ears would have twitched at the sound of Hiei picking up speed, coming up on her left from below.

Without hesitation, she spun the layers around her, moving up high enough in them that when she took the next step, she was able to turn herself and fall the hundreds of feet to the ground in an instant, unwinding herself from inbetween at a moment where her trajectory let her take the last few steps from the cliff-side to the dirt, the accumulated speed setting her off faster even than before as she tore back into the forest they had earlier left. 3

Hiei's eyes widened as Shikiyoku blurred from view, her fuzzy form dropping from the cliff and down to the ground they'd been running through earlier. He recovered a second later and followed, the Jagan locked on her as he used the same method she had, landing a second later on the soil and tearing off after her, feet actually kicking up dirt as he moved.

To say he was impressed would be an understatement. He'd completely forgotten about how long it had taken him to catch up to her the first time due to her methods of escape. And with the reminder, he no longer held back on his speed.

At his fastest, he was catching up pretty quick, sights dead set on her as he found himself sneering. He folded himself into the inbetween again, feeling his speed almost triple without even trying, and he actually had to force himself to slow down when he came to running at her right.

He didn't reach out. He actually wanted to see how she'd react.

~!**!~

"Nope," Akari retorted quickly, keeping her arm hooked around his neck so that she moved with him. "Uh-uh." _Not allowed. Not happening. Nope, nope, nope. _"If you leave, shower privileges are revoked permanently." Not that she could put up much a fight at the moment… _*****_

Youko's ears perked up at _that._

_[Aw, come on, Red. __**Permanently.**__]_

Kurama managed not to laugh at the both of them.

He huffed out a little sigh, pausing in place as if to consider it.

"Permanently is such a long time..."

~!**!~

She could tell he no longer ran on the Fourth Layer when she could no longer hear him tearing after her, but there was still the feeling of cat and mouse, chaser and chased, that told her he had not given up.

...and actually, he was gaining.

It seemed like such a long time since she had laughed, a good, free laugh, one that would have echoed in the air had she not been shooting along the ground, dodging and ducking through the bushes and trees and roots.

A laugh of...delight.

And just before it faded completely, she spoke up, "You want a chase, flame-boy? I'll give you a _chase_."

She stopped dead in her tracks as if it were the easiest thing in the world, and in the next second was dropping through this layer to the next, and then into the one below it, which actually had her dropping out of the sky, picking up speed in the air.

Just before she would have hit the ground, she folded back up to the third, and the ground below her became sloped as she slipped out from inbetween, setting her feet at a pace that didn't even give the rocks beneath her shoes a chance to be sent skittering across the dirt as she flew by.

The slope gave way to water, but her feet almost didn't even touch the stuff and after a few lengthened strides, she was wrapping inbetween again, never staying longer than it took to cap out her natural speed before she would drop onto more terrain to exceed it, shifting back and forth between a vast majority of the layers to exploit each slope and each fall with an ease she remembered from the decade she had spent running with a broken mind. 3

_Ah. The nickname._

_It has been a while._

Hiei paused when Shikiyoku did, momentarily watching her with the Jagan before he realized what she was doing, and remember that he never really did make any attempt to _catch_ her in those days. He hadn't tried to catch up and grab her then, hadn't even considered it an option. He'd only tracked her down.

Now he remembered why she'd gone without being caught. _Ever._

And why Yusuke and Jin had asked _him _to hunt down the demon that had eluded everyone else. He hadn't ever really _seen_ her do it, and now that he did, he found himself absolutely astounded.

He'd never once considered it.

It took him a moment to get moving, and by that time, she was long gone from his sight- aside from the Jagan, obviously. He ran, moving to the inbetween first and pushing himself to his absolute limit there. It helped, but at her speed, he wasn't quite able to keep up yet, much less _catch up_. So he tried it.

He moved from layer to layer, feet kicking off of the slopes in the same way she had, trying to figure out how exactly she did what she did.

And before too long, he began to feel his feet moving faster, faster even than the moment when Uryo had set him and Shikiyoku moving away from Rae the day they'd gotten away.

And it was the most _wonderful_ thing in the nine layers. Were it not for his Jagan, he likely wouldn't have seen the trees around him or the bushes he had to avoid. He likely wouldn't have missed the creature that jumped in his way out of fear for the disturbance it couldn't see.

It was exhilarating.

While he was fast, he noted that occasionally his foot wouldn't take to the ground and he would seem to almost slide forward here and there, instead of kicking off on the other layers before disappearing again. Something Shikiyoku had perfected long ago, he knew.

It wasn't as easy as she made it look.

Which made it all the more satisfying when he kicked forward and earned enough speed to gain on the female, eyes finally seeing her form ahead of him.

He spun through the layers again, completely taken with the feeling.

~!**!~

"And you know perfectly well how my stubbornness works too, fox." Akari took the moment to pull herself closer to him again, both arms now hooked around his neck as she quite effectively slid herself to lay on him. Not that her weight would stop him, being a demon and all. "How can I convince you _not _to leave?" she suddenly asked, expression completely serious even as she closed her eyes again.

She didn't want him to leave so soon. _*****_

_{No. You are __**not **__allowed to answer that question.}_

_[But Reeeeeeed!]_

_{Shush.}_

"_Not _revoking shower privileges would certainly be a start." Kurama replied thoughtfully.

_[BOR-ing.]_

~!**!~

Her mind...was absolutely still.

There were no thoughts, no emotions, just a calm sea of glass as she closed her eyes and let the nine layers play with her while she danced among them from inbetween without a single faltering footstep.

She could feel the lay of the land shift beneath her, the subtle queue that led to her swirling either up or down depending on where exactly she was in the layers themselves.

There would be another moment of acceptance, her mind open to every single possibility, as she would just _know _which layer would best suit her current speed, would give her the edge she needed to dash along faster. And so she would let herself curl fluidly out from the middle-ground to catch herself along whatever proper terrain had been provided for her.

If she had not used this manner of travel at the consistent rate in which she exploited it, her speed would have constantly slowed, for her own personal cap, while slightly above average for a demon, was nowhere near this or even the cap of someone like Hiei or Uryo, who were naturally more predisposed for swiftness.

It was no longer simply _running _for her, but more like intricate steps, each just as thoughtfully placed as the last, but all occurring within tenths of seconds of one another.

The fleeting thought passed over her mind that suddenly understood how she was so easily able to lose herself in the ten years she still couldn't quite remember.

...because to dance with the nine layers was to have the perfect partner. 3

He was struggling, to be honest, to keep his steps as precise as Shikiyoku's were. To place his foot in the same vicinity as she had placed hers. It took every ounce of his concentration to follow her lead, to try and one-up someone who had clearly found something like this as easy as…

As her own rituals. Her own dances.

She'd done it long enough that it was likely similar to her.

Not that that helped _him_ in any way. It only served as a distraction, causing his footing to falter for the briefest of moments that he had to take three extra steps to recover with before he could even _consider_ placement that would allow him to surge forward again.

In fact… this was actually pretty tiring once he got side-tracked.

Too bad he couldn't teleport.

_That would be cheating most definitely._

As the fire demon moved through the layers repeatedly, returning to his concentration and the feeling of the wind whipping by him much faster than ever before, he realized that he was _sweating_. He shifted through the layers again and again, but he was well aware of his lack in expertise at this.

The thought had him smirking in amusement as he settled for the inbetween layer, his eyes forward as Shikiyoku's form disappeared from his view again and his own speed slowed without the extra push of the other layers.

He was tempted to call for her, but decided he'd let her have her fun. He'd simply follow after her and watch from afar, occasionally shifting through the layers.

~!**!~

Akari huffed. "That's a given, don't you think?" Her lips twitched and she took a deep breath, releasing it as a sigh. For a minute, she forgot where they were and the recent events. _Such an easy distraction. A blissful distraction. _She let her eyelids open halfway, gaze sliding towards the window of the room and staring at it. For once, she saw the shadows underneath the windowsill pause, as if waiting on a command, before it continued moving as it should when the curtains occasionally lifted from the air moving in the room.

Her eyelids became heavy and closed again.

"Don't leave, please." The words were nothing more than a mumble, but she didn't want to be afforded the ability of her mind to wander to things she didn't want to think about yet.

She didn't want to see that _thing _behind her lids just yet. _*****_

"The only thing that could tear me away is the very thing asking me to stay." Kurama told her, shifting around until he could face her again, which afford him the luxury of planting a kiss in the middle of her forehead, one that he wished would banish each and every sorrow in her mind.

~!**!~

_No._

Shikiyoku's eyes blinked open and she turned around with two easy steps and looked around for Hiei's form, feeling the distance between them even as she continued to practically fly backwards.

_I want you __**here**__. With me. By my side._

Equals.

She faced forward again, curving her path just so, in order that she might join up with him again.

Their strides matched up for a second and Shikiyoku glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

_Stop thinking._

_Let them speak to you._

His mind would be tired afterwards if he gave in, and truthfully, her own speed had lessened.

It had been some time since she moved like this.

Shikiyoku reached over and grabbed for Hiei's hand, her eyes closing again as she adjusted her mind into nothingness once more.

It was...different, trying to accommodate the two of them together, but she tried to let him _feel _how this was done, how she let the layers lead her, weaving her in and out of them even as she in turn led him through their intricate steps. 3

Hiei hadn't expected the sudden thoughts he'd heard from Shikiyoku, and really, he tried his best to act like he couldn't hear them. His expression remained neutral, with a tinge of amusement, as he noted she was making a small path around.

By the time she was at his side, his eyes were on her the same way her eyes watched him, curious. And with her telling him to stop thinking altogether, his brows furrowed a little. It took concentration to do this, especially if one had never done so before. Right?

He didn't protest when she grabbed his hand, and while he turned forward to see his surroundings, the Jagan stayed locked on her, watching the fact that she had her eyes closed and there was a blank nothingness in the air around her.

…._Alright then._

After a few moments of her guiding him through the layers, he found it easy to clear his mind and watch the path ahead without any concerns. And when she continued to pull him along, he found it easy to follow her lead in this way. Found it much easier to let his feet fall where they did when he wasn't _calculating_ each step.

It was even more exhilarating this way than it had been when he'd tried calculating his every move.

It was a process for sure, but… perhaps an easier one when he didn't have to think about it.

~!**!~

Her lips moved with a silent thank you to Kurama, no sound actually managing to be produced at the moment. Dully, she was aware of a few strands of the other's hair falling into her face, brushing her cheek, and a small smile tugged at her lips as the smell of roses wafted over her.

She almost said it, that she missed him. Except.. she suddenly found she wasn't much up for chatter.

She was perfectly fine with _laying there_ and doing absolutely nothing. _*****_

_Screw you, Yomi._

_[Yeah! Screw you, you bastard!]_

Kurama smiled against Akari's skin.

_{I can only imagine what you would be doing if it were __**you **__walking around and not I.}_

_[...probably not much, Red. Though this little rebellion you have going here is pretty bold. ...he still has __**her **__exactly where he wants her.]_

~!**!~

...

Peace. Serenity.

And perhaps the slightest of smiles when she felt Hiei starting to understand.

_I am the follower, they lead the dance._

Shikiyoku let the layer around her tell her when she needed to shift between.

_I am the blank page, they are the pen and the writer._

She shot up the layers from the seventh, passing the sixth, the fifth...

_I am the sword, they are the wielder._

...until while between the second and third that she felt the next move coming before it arrived, and she stepped lightly onto the third, opening her eyes to look over at Hiei.

Shikiyoku gave the slightest of tugs to his hand to get his attention and notched her pace one step slower, then another until she was even with him again, though her eyes flicked forward and she nodded a little in front of them.

The thought didn't completely form in her mind, but her intention was meant to ask if _he_ wanted to lead _her. _3

After a while, Hiei began to notice the subtle changes just before Shikiyoku would drop them to another layer. And when the Jagan picked up her thoughts, it was very easy to see what she meant. He'd never considered looking at things from the point of view she did**; **he'd always done what he wanted, when he wanted. Leading his own personal agenda.

And when holding a blade, he'd learned long ago that to be able to control the sword, one would have to understand it. Know its weak points and the way it balanced, the way it would move through the air so that he may adjust it for the best possible blow.

And this was rather similar, in its own way.

The small tug on his hand drew his eyes to the side again, to look at Shikiyoku curiously as she slowed to meet him stride for stride. For a moment, he expected her to say she'd had enough.

That didn't mean he was surprised when she nodded forward. His eyes turned to look ahead once more, and without a single thought in his mind, without a single hesitation, he began letting himself feel the layers around him, feeling out when the next transition would be and-

He adjusted after a moment, feeling himself slide from one layer to another without resistance. And then again. And again. While he was not as proficient at it as Shikiyoku, he did find that he enjoyed it. It reminded him of learning how to move a blade, how to swing a katana properly so that it may not be resisted by the wind or any other outside factors.

There was a moment where he almost missed a transition or two, but he always adjusted accordingly, letting his senses guide him and the layers pull him through.

He wasn't even sure when his eyes closed.

And it was so _pleasing_ to have such an experience.

~!**!~

For the first time in a long time it felt like, Akari's relaxation wasn't forced. Her mind didn't wander away, and while she did feel tired, she didn't feel that sleep was necessary- nor did she particularly _want_ sleep at the moment. She was aware of her surroundings- the parts that mattered anyway- and she calmly let her senses analyze everything before filing it away. The sound of Kurama's breathing and the scent of flowers and ferns. The slight flutter of the hair that had fallen near her face when _she_ breathed. The smile against her forehead and the warmth that she'd almost forgotten.

All of things made it easier to lay there and not think. To only _be_, even if she didn't want to _be_ where she was location wise. Those things made it easier to forget, even if for a bit, everything that had been previously pulling, fighting for her attention.

It made it easier to _breathe. _

Even if she knew that later, she'd be smothered again. _*****_

_[...you know what he thinks we'll do, Red.]_

_{I do.}_

_[You betrayed __**his**_ _friendship, and now he thinks you'll betray your other friends.]_

Being a part of the most intimate of the circle of Yomi afforded Kurama coveted knowledge that only those closest to him were allowed to know.

Yomi was not the only would-be King recruiting followers from the outside. Mukuro had nearly as many as Yomi, if not more at this point.

Where Yomi had recruited Kurama, Raizen had already recruited Yusuke, though it seemed as if Raizen had no other plans of amassing more layer-walkers. And Mukuro?

...They had just intercepted the carrier of Mukuro's invitation within the last twelve hours, and it was unlikely Mukuro even knew of the capture yet.

It was addressed to Shikiyoku.

~!**!~

The imagery of a swordsman walking through his steps stuck with Shikiyoku, how he in battle did not have to even consider the next motion, instead letting it wash over him, and how the two of them were the sword, the extension of the wielder, meant to be malleable and bend to the will of that which held it, while at the same time remaining sharp and stable in the hand.

Shikiyoku's eyes came open, and as if her offering to follow the follower were not enough of an indication of how fully trusting the position put her behind him, she placed her steps exactly where Hiei's foot left off, feeling the ebb and flow of his reactions.

_Strange_.

_This is neither less nor more difficult when together than when alone._

_..._

_It is simply...different._ 3

Step after step, Hiei found it getting easier and easier to adjust his footing, to find where the layers wanted him to go, all the way down to the seventh and then back up all over again. Back and forth, his speed increasing each time his feet left the ground.

By the time he realized they occasionally passed through a city here and there, he noted that no one gave them a glance. As if they'd never appeared on the layer in the first place. Not even the air seemed disturbed, or the dirt, or even water when they were brought over that as well. And still, he could feel his feet moving faster, never really actually seeming to touch the ground anymore.

He looked ahead, his lips twitching into a lopsided smirk of amusement.

How long had they been at this? He wasn't sure. He slowed just a little, deciding that they couldn't run around like this forever. And as fun as it was, he was beginning to feel the exertion. It was only at this moment that he realized the Jagan had closed, unneeded, not necessary for this.

He continued to slow, little by little, but not in a way that would leave Shikiyoku off guard.

"_Intriguing experience. And you've perfected it." _There was no mistaking the tone that hinted at how impressive he found it. HE'd definitely have to try it on his own sometime.

For now, however…

He raised a hand to wipe at his face.

He couldn't remember the last time _running_ had him sweating.

~!**!~

She didn't mean to fall asleep. She hadn't intended to fall asleep at all. She'd been contentedly taking in everything she'd missed for the past few months, and then she found herself dreaming that she was standing over the bed she and Kurama lay on.

It was odd, really.

She regarded the scene with a tilted head. Was that really what she looked like when she curled up with him?

_It's odd, seeing it like this. _Then again, she was dreaming.

She laughed**;** she looked so small when tucked against him like that. She turned to look around the room, as if seeing it for the first time. The shadows all stopped in place, no longer moving with the light in the room as they should. She could feel their eyes on her, and it made the hairs on her arms stand on end.

She turned around and moved for the door, reaching for the knob and finding that her hand passed through it. She gave an odd laugh of amusement. "I'm a ghost then?" These dreams could be fun.

She moved through the door then, and turned down the hallway, finding no reason to look about her surroundings. She only let her feet carry her where they felt she needed to be. _*****_

Kurama felt her relax into him, and he didn't think much of the extra pressure, chalking it up to the near-death experience she had been through only a few days previously.

He did let his eyes close, though his time was not spent entirely asleep as he and Youko made plans for the future.

~!**!~

Funny how she had expressed to them from the beginning that she wished to avoid anything below the seventh layer.

Funnier still how even without her in the lead, they still obliged.

She didn't answer him at first, pleased if a little amused at how he worded it.

"_Well. I only resorted to it because you cheat." _She told him loftily. 3

Hiei sneered as his feet slowed to a walk after a little longer. He even scoffed a little at Shikiyoku's reply. "_Perhaps I should cheat __**more**__, if it gets something like this out of it." _He had completely and utterly enjoyed the experience, and he filed the information away for a later time, where he might be able to give it a go on his own.

For amusement's sake, perhaps.

It wasn't often he found himself in need of more speed.

~!**!~

Akari's feet made no sound against the tile floor, and no one she passed seemed to give her a single glance. It made her lips pull up in a smile. _Why can't it be like this all the time? _It would be so much better if none of Yomi's men could acknowledge her presence.

_I like this dream already._

She even found herself humming a tune from some television show she'd once watched before it grew boring. And she rounded a corner, pausing as she realized where she'd been going.

She didn't want to go in there.

She continued walking, fully intending to pass it by, except the person standing outside the door _watched_ her pass. She scowled and turned her eyes to him at the corners, only to freeze in place. She blinked at the orange gaze that stared at her.

"Kyu?"

He smiled, though it didn't reach those eyes. "Hello, sweetheart. Good to see you're… well."

Her brows furrowed at him. She hadn't dreamed of Kyu since the week she went without sleep. _Then again, I hadn't dreamed then. I'd hallucinated._

_...Don't tell me I'm doing it again._

"You don't want in here." He suddenly said, tone calm as he gestured with his head to the room where she and Takeo had met each and every day. Where she'd killed the demon and-

"No, I don't."

"Good. I didn't want to stop you, kid. Be smart. Turn around, and go back. Don't come in here. Don't let your friend in."

Akari frowned. _...definitely a hallucinatory dream._

"Get _going_, kid. There's a reason I'm here, and I don't want you to be here."

She huffed at him and turned to leave, noticing vaguely that a demon paused at the door, Kyu turning a glare at him, and then the demon moved the other direction as if he'd forgotten what he was doing.

"This dream _sucks._" she grumbled as she stalked away, shadows moving to follow her along the walls. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made a sound of disapproval.

"_That's __**not **__how that works, flame-boy."_

As if he needed _encouragement _to go around cheating.

"_Not for __**me**__, and certainly not for anyone else." _She frowned at him. 3

Hiei sneered and let out a breath of amusement. He'd only been half serious about it. He rather enjoyed the challenge anyway.

...A challenge he wouldn't have if she left.

The thought had him scoffing again. He banished it, deciding he didn't feel like ruining his current mood, or Shiki's for that matter, with his thoughts on other things. Unimportant things at the very moment.

"_No need. I wasn't fully serious." _He wasn't sure where he was going, but he didn't mind the aimless wandering.

~!**!~

Akari wandered the building, passing by and even through demons and laughing when they seemed to pause and turn to look for whatever had grabbed their attention, whatever had raised their neck hairs in warning. Other than Kyu, the dream wasn't so bad. Aimless wandering, harmless fun. She could _skip _down the halls if she really wanted to, and no one would know!

...not that she enjoyed skipping or anything.

With her hands over her head, she felt extremely carefree. She could probably go back to the room and let her mind fall into the dark, dreamless sleep if she willed it so. But what fun was that when she could meander into Yomi's offices, when she could toy with things she'd otherwise never see in her lifetime?

Endless fun!

Except the further from her room she went, the less fun it seemed. More demons, but less to do. So she turned around and went back the way she came yet _again_, making sure to pass her hands through demons as she walked and humming a little tune to herself.

_Stop following me_, she thought towards the moving shadows, and obediently they scattered, returning to their respective locations.

She was passing by Kyu and the fighting area again when she stalled, turning her head in that direction again. Kyu was gone, and demons entered and left as they pleased. She continued on, all the way up to the room she was in and through the door, taking to sitting in the chair Yoroi had previously occupied. She crossed one leg over the other and let out a small breath, a shadow moving over the chair and up her arm so that she may let it run over and over her fingers idly.

She'd much rather keep this dream than chance dreaming about _other _things. At least this one was peaceful. _*****_

~!**!~

"_It's the fact that you were still 'partially' serious that worries me." _She cast an amused glance in his direction as she let him pull her along a moment longer before trotting the step or two needed to walk next to him.

"_Cheater." _She narrowed her eyes up at him. 3

Hiei turned his eyes forward, amused at the repetition of the word she continued to call him. He found it funnier than she likely realized. "_And what has you calling me that __**now**__?" _He still didn't glance at her.

~!**!~

When Akari's eyelids slid open, she didn't feel rested. In fact, she felt.. icky. Her muscles were tight and sore still, her bones aching. And while she didn't exactly want to _get up_, she felt as if she _needed_ to do so, even if to just stretch, maybe go take a shower.

Assuming she had the capability to carry herself that far.

She rubbed at her face with the heel of her hand, making it easier to clear her blurry vision before she began to shift around, bones cracking almost immediately. And boy did it take a lot of restraint not to wince. _*****_

Kurama's eyes slid open and he frowned.

_{Anything?}_

_[She __**looks **__fine. Mostly.]_

_{Yes, but she should be getting __**better**__, not __**worse.**__}_

_[True.]_

Saying nothing, Kurama continued to look her over.

_[She smells funny.]_

_{Well, she doesn't smell 'right,' if that's what you mean.}_

_[...you guys should take a shower.]_

_{Youko.}_

_[What!? It isn't like I would __**watch **__or anything. I've got Yoku to occupy my mind should I have need.]_

_{I...don't want to hear about that.}_

~!**!~

"_Because I was perfectly willing to run around the Fourth Layer and __**you**__," _Here she turned her nose up, "_Had to go and ruin it by moving inbetween. So, you're a cheating little cheater, Cheater." _3

_...She's aware of my amusement it seems._

His lips twitched, curling up even further. "_You can still run around the layer, if you want. I'm not stopping you." _He paused, going over her words again. "_Your use of the word 'little' means nothing, as I'm taller than you."_

~!**!~

Akari managed to pull herself into a seated position before pausing and blinking at the far wall a few times, her hands moving to rub at her face again. _I feel gross. _She knew she had no reason to feel gross, except that she had lay there for a few days and hadn't gotten up and around.

Not that she'd been able to.

_I'm getting up today, dammit._

Wait.

_Tonight._

Day?

Her inner clock was all out of whack, and she didn't bother looking for a clock or the window. It would sidetrack her. So, determined, she slid to the opposite side of the bed and, after a deep breath, pushed herself to stand.

Shakily, but standing nonetheless.

_Shower time! _Robotically almost, she found her feet moving to the bathroom. _*****_

"Does the offer still stand?" Kurama called after her, face completely devoid of emotion.

Amusingly enough, both he and Youko had voiced the question at roughly the same time.

~!**!~

"_You-" _She turned her head, having to tilt it back a little to look up at his face. She just as quickly faced forward again, consternation clear in the little pouting face she adopted.

_Dammit, that's right. He __**is **__taller than me now. I forgot._

One of her eyebrows twitched for a moment.

She closed her eyes and took a little breath, "_I am __**not **__going to run about willy-nilly like some sort of fool, flame-boy." _3

Hiei lifted his chin a little, brows raising as his eyes cut down to her from the corners, irises bright with expectation, waiting for the rest of that sentence. His shoulders moved a little when she quickly turned away, his silent laugh otherwise not indicated to have ever existed.

And at her next words, his brows rose higher, almost disappearing into his hair as he turned to look at her again with amusement clear in his expression. "_Isn't that what we just did?"_

~!**!~

It took a second, but Akari's feet paused mid-stride and she glanced over her shoulder at Kurama, both brows raised and lips pursing slightly. _What?_

Another pause.

_Oh, right. Shower privileges._

Her lips twitched and she made a small sound akin to a snort. "That depends on your _intentions_, fox." She continued forward, a hand turning the knob on the door and pulling it open, but she didn't step inside just yet.

….Curiosity was probably going to get her into more trouble, but oh well. _*****_

"My intentions?" Kurama echoed as if it should have been obvious, "I thought we had well-established that my intentions are always of the utmost in innocence and virtue."

His expression did not so much as flinch.

~!**!~

"_We?" _Shikiyoku turned to give him a plain look in deadpan fashion, "_**We**_ _do not run about like fools."_

She turned back to face forward again with an almost noble air about her. 3

Hiei let out a breath of amusement as he kept his gaze forward, deciding he would agree with her statement. ...Despite the display they'd had.

Then again, the only person he could see being able to even _notice_ their tirade would likely be Uryo.

The thought made it even _more _amusing.

"_I guess we can't look like fools if no one sees us." _

~!**!~

Akari rolled his response over and over in her head, back to him for the moment as she considered those words the best her half-awake mind would let her. She wasn't sure. Wasn't able to think clearly enough to assess him. She shook her head and spared a small glance back before shutting the door behind her, fingers touching the lock, but not really turning it.

She took a deep breath and looked at the towel rack by the shower, glad to see a few folded up neatly. Without further hesitation, she moved towards the shower, peeling clothes away as she did so, a shaky hand turning the water on. _*****_

_[I'd like to invoke those privileges now! ...hey, you didn't say it.]_

_{That's because while __**I **__am the paragon of virtue, __**you**_ _are the slut of corruption.}_

_[If you don't go in there and-]_

_{I'm ignore you, just so you know.}_

_[You can try, but you're not very good at it.]_

_{Just wait.}_

_[Mm?]_

_{It'll be funnier if she slips and falls.}_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku shook her head, "_No, you see, the key point there was __**we**__. __**We**__, you and I, have never done a single foolish thing in our entire lives." _

_Together. That's the important bit._

She went on sagely, adopting a strangely lecture-like tone. "_One cannot feel ashamed unless one allows others to convince them they have done something shameful." _3

A loud scoff left Hiei's lips. "_Who here is ashamed of anything?" _He cast a gleaming stare in her direction. "_I am ashamed of nothing." _His nose lifted higher in the air. "_I have no reason to be."_

Though, he did rather enjoy her little… speech.

~!**!~

It took a bit to get herself clean due to the tightness in her muscles, but really, Akari didn't notice it. In fact, she shampooed her hair three times, instead of using the conditioner. And even after she was clean, feeling much better than before, she stayed under the water, letting it fall over her head at its hottest, the steam fogging up the opaque glass doors that separated the shower from the rest of the room.

It was nice to stand there, and she likely would have reveled in the way her muscles began to relax, if it weren't for the fact that she stared blankly ahead, mind completely blank and a hand occasionally rubbing at her eyes.

_Maybe I should go back to sleep after this._

She rested her forehead against the shower wall and stayed there a while longer, before her body suddenly began moving, on instinct, as if on a clock, and was shutting the water off, grabbing a towel and wrapping it about herself.

She'd almost turned the knob on the door when she remembered Kurama on the other side, at which point her hand quickly jerked away.

_Right. Clothes. __*****_

Youko began grumbling once the shower turned off.

_[Should have tossed a fail-safe in there just to make sure...]_

He brought up several plants that they had on themselves that would have made a slippery surface even slicker.

Kurama let out a single chuckle, eyes flicking over to the doorknob from where he had propped himself up with a pillow against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other where they were stretched out down the bed.

~!**!~

"_Are you kidding?" _Shikiyoku's raised in mock-disbelief. "_Walking around openly with a Tainted One? And holding her hand no less. Why, that's absolutely scandalous, fire-prince." _3

Hiei's reaction remained rather controlled, his muscles remaining lax and his eyes cutting to look at Shikiyoku. He'd forgotten that he had her hand, but it was easily dismissed. He instead gave a loud scoff. "_You think they'll look twice at you when the cursed child is near you? I think we both remember how that one goes." _

It took a lot not to comment on her words of being tainted. He couldn't tell her she was wrong, since, really… they both were.

Actually… that title worked well for both of them.

At least she didn't call herself cursed. _Then_ he'd have a problem.

~!**!~

Akari rummaged through a few drawers in a dresser that was oddly placed, suddenly glad that the maids had decided to place it in here for her sake. It was her luck Takeo would have barged in while she had been searching for clothes at one point, and-

_Doesn't matter, he's dead. _

The thought brought a sneer to her features as she pulled the long tunic over her head, shortly thereafter pulling up a loose pair of pants. It felt remarkably like pyjamas and really, it made her feel that much more tired. So she simply placed a dry towel over her head and wrapped it around her hair, letting it fall over her shoulder so it wouldn't come undone and the water wouldn't drip over the shirt.

…_. Back to bed._

She wasted no time in leaving the bathroom, not even caring to pick up her scattered clothes at the moment before shutting the door behind her and sauntering her way to the bed, crawling up to lay on her stomach next to Kurama.

_...at least I don't hurt? __*****_

Kurama's eyes scanned Akari as she walked back across the room.

"I think just the towel would have suited you better."

...saying things at the same time as Youko was apparently becoming habit.

~!**!~

"_Pft." _Shikiyoku scoffed. "_Well, first of all," _She took a moment to look him up and down as if to confirm something, giving a sharp nod to herself, before looking towards his face, "_You aren't cursed, so you can stop with that ridiculous nonsense right here and now. And secondly, they __**always **__look twice at me." _She reached her free hand up and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "_Tainted Ones are always lookers, after all." _3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, mind scrambling for which part to respond to first. There was just so much he could say, so much that he usually _would_ have said. And yet none of those things seemed… right. True. Whatever. In the end, he gave another scoff of amusement and turned his eyes forward.

While he could definitely argue the first, he decided not to. With her, he wouldn't get anywhere.

~!**!~

Akari settled with both arms under a pillow, her cheek resting so that if she opened her eyes, she'd see the door, not Kurama or the window. And after a moment, she turned her head to rest the other cheek on the cool surface, looking up at Kurama with a raised brow. _It's like you know…_

"I have a feeling you're testing me in some way." She frowned. "I'm not sure I like it." _*****_

"Why on earth would I be _testing _you?" Kurama wanted to know, an eyebrow raising.

_[I can think of a few reasons.]_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave a self-important little sniff.

"_That's right. Don't argue with me. I __**know **__I'm right, and trying to convince me otherwise will get you nowhere fast." _Her nose was raised just a little as if to emphasize her arrogant manner, "_I __**will **__say that I have met and interacted with demons who __**are **__cursed, I'll have you know, and I can assure you," _She appraised him with another up and down glance before turning away, "_You look nothing like them."_

_You're much too attractive to be cursed. _3

Hiei's amusement grew, and at this point he found himself almost entirely focused on the warmth at his hand. It was odd, because he remembered her latching onto his hand one morning when he'd moved around a little. Amusing, more like.

His eyes remained forward, and still he didn't reply to Shikiyoku with more than a sneer of amusement and a slight lift of his nose in the air when she looked him up and down.

~!**!~

Akari frowned at Kurama a little bit. "Because you're you." She blinked once at him before she let her eyelids slide close again. _I dunno. Maybe I'm not thinking right. _She took in a breath through her nostrils and opened her mouth to say something else, only to decide against it.

At least her filter was working a little. She didn't exactly _want_ to share that she'd almost done exactly what he'd said.

…_.Stupid know-it-all fox._

Her lips twitched upwards at the thought. _*****_

Kurama slid down until he was laying next to her, turning on his side to face her.

"Something _amuse _you, beautiful? Don't you want to share it with the rest of the class?"

~!**!~

"_Hm." _Shikiyoku grew more thoughtful, even reaching up and placing her forefinger over her lips as if it would help.

_Forbidden, though. I might be okay with that one. It makes my position seem that much more...what was the word? _

_Scandalous?_

_Absolutely delicious, morelike. _

_Forbidden. Ha. Isn't something forbidden seen as that much more desirable? Don't we always want what we are told we cannot have? How come no one else has thought of this? _3

Hiei let the silence stretch on, eyes forward and mind carefully away from Shikiyoku's thoughts. It was an easy task, not listening in to a certain person's thoughts. He could direct his interests elsewhere for the time being, until she spoke up again.

Because he didn't mind the silence.

Not when she was actually _with_ him.

He had to admit though, he was curious about the expression she wore.

~!**!~

"Yes, I'm amused. And no, I don't want to share. Not really," Akari replied easily, tone light and smile almost teasing as she shifted a little, bringing herself a little closer to Kurama, but not rolling onto her side. She was actually pretty comfortable the way she lay, _and_ the towel on her head didn't bother her. She took another deep breath, and sleep was practically yelling for her.

"Anything else, fox?" _*****_

"Not if you're going to rest." Kurama replied lightly, leaning closer to her and then stopping as if he changed his mind about something.

_[Assuming that she's actually resting.]_

~!**!~

"_How do you feel about forbidden?" _Shikiyoku asked suddenly, scrutinizing Hiei's face for even the slightest of flinches from behind his crimson eyes. 3

Hiei raised a brow, the word bouncing around his head. Truthfully, it didn't matter to him. It would probably be a relief, since the word 'cursed' was very overused in his dictionary.

He scoffed.

"I couldn't care less."

~!**!~

"Mmm," Akari hummed out, lips twitching up a little more before the smile slowly faded. The brief thought of him staying there made her lips twitch again very briefly. _Probably not a good idea, but… whatever._

_I sleep better with him here anyway._

"Just… so you know…" A small yawn made her pause. And whatever she'd been about to say never came from her lips, because this time, she actually fell into the darkness of sleep. No dreams, no thoughts. Simple… rest. _*****_

~!**!~

"Honestly, I mean the only reason I would be okay with it is if I thought you were okay with it,"

"_And to be fair, they're only talking about-"_

_-Well, I guess they could be talking about __**any **__interaction with you in general, but when they call you Forbidden Child, they're really just talking about mating, which is absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. Damn some demons and their 'pure blood' mentality. 'Oh no, his blood is all mixed and crap and if he has kids it'll just water down my power.' Mixed isn't even the right term for it._

"...I swear I'll burn them all."

Shikiyoku didn't appear to even _notice _how she slipped from speaking aloud to talking through the connect to the thoughts that rambled into her own head only. And the last bit came out almost growled and her eyes flashed as if she dared some demon to step out of the shadows and say _one _little thing, because that one thing was _sure _to set her off. 3

Hiei's brows raised in curiosity at the complete lack in full sentences, Shikiyoku not finishing the first two he'd heard. He shook his head back and forth a bit, amused with her and the fixation she had about what others deemed him to be.

It wasn't like she could change the minds of every demon in the Nine Layers anyway.

And it wasn't like _she'd_ ever called him by any of those terms.

He made a sound of amusement, the sound dying out just as Shikiyoku spoke again.

_Burn them, hm? As if that actually worked. _

"Hn."

~!**!~

Akari slept for who knew how long, but boy did it feel wonderful to have a dreamless sleep, unlike the last time. Her body hadn't moved a single inch, so when she began to approach the waking world, she was very aware of that fact, hinted by the tightness in her shoulder muscles and the tingling feeling in her cheek that said it had rested on her arm a little too long. The pillow hadn't been enough to keep the pressure from creating that feeling, but at the moment, she didn't care.

Because she felt _good. _The soreness she could definitely deal with. Having her mind functional again when her eyes opened? That was good. Much better than the first time she'd- no, second time she'd woken up.

She shifted a little, eyes turning up to look at Kurama as she blinked twice. "...hey." She would've said 'good morning' or 'good evening', except she wasn't sure what time of day it was, and the light coming in through the window never helped much. _*****_

"Hey yourself." Kurama smiled down at her, finding it harder this time than the last to resist just up and kissing that still sleepy face.

_[Looks like she stayed with us this time.]_

Kurama almost frowned, unsure how much longer he could delay rejoining Yomi completely if she actually _were _better. The demon had so far been more than generous in allowing Kurama to tend to her, though...Kurama might have had to promise a few things in return.

_Everything has a price._

~!**!~

"The burning is purely for your benefit, by the way." Shikiyoku added lightly, glancing at him and giving him a wicked grin. "I know how you _adore _the smell of seared flesh in the morning." 3

Hiei made a sound purely of amusement, his eyes turning to the corners so that he may send such a glance in her direction. To be fair, he enjoyed the smell of just about _anything _burning, but yes, that particular one was a favorite. Especially when it was accompanied with the sound of an enemy's pain.

_My favorite song, if I could consider it as such._

"Morning. Afternoon. Night." He turned his eyes forward again, lips twitching. "Any time, really."

~!**!~

AKari eyed Kurama for a moment before giving a sleepy smile and letting her eyes close again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you never slept." She tugged on the pillow, bringing it closer to herself as she shifted a little, stretching her body to its full length before turning onto her side and curling up a bit. _How long are you able to stay? _"It's a good thing I don't spook easily. Waking up to someone watching you every time is disconcerting to some people." _*****_

"Well, I have to make sure you aren't going anywhere, don't I?"

_[And some people __**enjoy **__waking up with a fox.]_

_{I don't think it was that she didn't enjoy it.}_

_[Well, she has no idea how much she could enjoy-]_

_{Shush.}_

~!**!~

_Funny how many humans feel much the same way._

Shikiyoku's grin lessened as she turned away from him.

_They have this habit when they cook of grilling __**everything**__._

She tensed for a second, fighting back thoughts of Taka, which were closely tied to 'cooking' for her, and managed to pull her mind to the present.

So far, she had managed to keep all of the extraneous sorrow under wraps, to lock it away while here next to _him_.

She could...mourn later. 3

Hiei let the silence drag on, thoughts slowly circling back to what he'd been thinking much earlier in the day. His sneer of amusement slowly faded until his expression was unreadable. It took a few minutes to push the thoughts away, but really, they stayed right on the edge of his immediate thought processes, sitting, waiting to invade again.

His eyebrows twitched just a fraction.

He didn't know what to do next. Really, he'd just been doing whatever popped into mind, whatever he could think of. And now that they were calmly walking along, he wasn't sure he wanted to actually _do_ anything else.

~!**!~

A small breath of amusement left her. "I don' sleepwalk." She opened her eyes to look up at Kurama again. "I may talk in my sleep, but I don' walk in m' sleep." _I hardly want to get up and walk _now_, when awake. __*****_

_[Sleepwalking isn't what we were worried about, pup.]_

"You certainly _do _talk in your sleep. I can attest to first hand knowledge of _that_." His eyes glittered, teasing.

~!**!~

...with Kitoushi most likely.

_It doesn't matter with __**whom**__, idiot. Just so long as it isn't __**now**__._

Doing her best to turn her thoughts away from such things, Shikiyoku turned her attention to the Mark she knew she could _feel_ hidden underneath the dark cloak Hiei wore.

In some sort of twisted moment of dark humor, she noted how his was the most embellished out of the three now that D-

_Don't._

The problem would be convincing the three of them to let her take them _off_.

_Youko's a lost cause._

That's why _he _would be last. 3

Hiei's left hand twitched as his mind suddenly turned to the mark that had begun to scale that arm. He could see it, without even having to look over at the appendage. It was there because _apparently_ he met a few requirements to be in the running for this whole mess.

He wasn't very good at it. Often times he didn't have a clue what he was doing.

Like now.

A frown briefly pulled his lips downwards. His previous thoughts nearly slid from his lips in accusation.

Because even now, he felt as if she didn't take him seriously. Even as they walked, he felt that he was nothing more than an old Champion.

Not a part of the Consort crap he didn't fully understand.

He let out a breath of mild amusement.

"_What next?"_

~!**!~

"Well, considering you're so quiet when I sleep, I'm more than certain I haven't had to tell you to shut up in my sleep before." Her smile widened, and Akari shifted just a little more, curling up a fraction more so her knees would touch her arms, if she had them on the mattress and not around the pillow under her head. "I've been told I can be mean in my sleep." _*****_

"Mean?" Kurama sounded unbelieving. "I can assure you that you've been nothing but the utmost in _kindness _to me."

_[Oh come __**on**__. You're not going to add anything to that? You could at least try and convince her that she tried things with you.]_

_{I think the only thing I might get away with on that front would be to tell her she was especially clingy.}_

_[Go with that then.]_

~!**!~

There was this moment when he said 'what next' that the thought of broaching the subject about removing his Mark flashed full-force across the front of her mind.

_What next? We let each other go so you don't __**die**__._

Instead, she let out a thoughtful noise that hummed against her lips.

_You don't even have your __**own **__thoughts gathered about that whole mess, so best to leave it alone for now._

Shikiyoku raised and lowered the shoulder of the arm whose hand he wasn't still holding, looking off to the side.

_I guess...it's the truth anyway:_

"_I don't know."_

_On so many levels. _3

Hiei glanced over at Shikiyoku, expression unreadable as he looked her over. _You're usually the one with ideas. _His amusement returned briefly at the thought before it fizzled away. _She's not distracted enough._ He turned his eyes forward again, and he changed directions, pulling Shikiyoku onto another path through the treeline.

_Might as well go with it then._

He'd think of something, eventually…

* * *

_The story will pick back up again with posts the third week in June! Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	100. Episode 184

**A/N: **Hello once again for the first time in a rather long time, Audience!

First of all, shout out to Emzybubble for PMing me. You're the best and also this chapter is dedicated to you.~

I apologize for the long-quiet absence. Things are actually going just fine with the family AND, surprise of surprises, the little Siamese kitten Ramses is alive and well and no worse for the wear other than discovering that he likely has the cat-version of herpes, which is genetic in the feline strain, and having to give him lysine twice a day to ensure that he can continue fighting it off (it weakens the immune system). He still sometimes sneezes and has some congestion issues, but he's a maniac and a bundle of joy all rolled up into one so that we can hardly imagine how wild he would be if he were completely well.

Suffice it to say the thought is actually a little unnerving.

In other news, CM had gotten a new job within the time frame of my chapter posts stopping and so we had not written on the RP in a very long time, only just now sort of starting to pull things together and begin writing again.

I am not willing to set up a new posting schedule as of right now, and just so you know, I did not actually go through and "edit" anything about this chapter. I wanted to get back into the groove of posting it instead of just putting it off because I feel as if I don't have the time to devote to it. So, what you'll see here (and possibly in the future) is exactly what was written in the doc the day that CM and I wrote it.

I vaguely remember mentioning wanting to go back and put in the translations for the Japanese words we were using in the fic (for like names and stuff) and I can not-so-vaguely admit that's probably a project that won't ever get done.

I'll also admit that I haven't at this point gone back and reread the fic in a long time, so honestly if you see any inconsistencies of any nature from this chapter on out (or feel that there are holes in the plot which you would like to see filled), please feel free to PM me or post it in a review to gives me a heads-up about it as, for the moment, I can't really see myself having the time to check such things in as much detail as before AND not to mention the fact that CM and I are SO far ahead in our writing than where this chapter is that these chapters almost seem out of place to my brain.

The length of the "previously" is partially so long so that anyone coming back to read won't necessarily have to go back in order to catch themselves up.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Still in mourning over Taka's death, Hiei catches Shikiyoku unawares after days of her not paying the least bit of attention to him, stuck in a cycle of sadness with Kitoushi.

He asks her if she knows what she forgot, but captivated by the look on his face, Shikiyoku can think of little to say.

Grabbing her by the hand and twisting them between the layers, Hiei ends up with the two of them near his old childhood hideout, where that had in the past leapt from the side of the cliff to meet with the phoenix.

After all but admitting she has no idea what she forgot, Hiei insists that she had forgotten _him_, something he did not appreciate, and then allows her a head-start, which at first she does not understand.

Shikiyoku catches on quickly as she backs away and Hiei begins to give chase, taking a page from Youko's book, never intentionally capturing her, but reminding her very clearly that he could catch her at any moment he wished.

That is, until she began running between the layers.

Using the method she had perfected long ago when she had been infected with the Crusnik virus, Shikiyoku is easily able to outdistance Hiei, reminding him of how hard he had to work to catch her originally, and surprising him with how fluidly she was able to execute the most efficient passage into and out of layers to set her along at the highest rate of speed possible.

Attempting to get the hang of the skill, Hiei finds it to be more difficult that he first thought, and when he finally drops back to allow her to run as she wishes, Shikiyoku circles around and joins him, taking him by the hand and leading him through her dance by example with a clear mind and a sure step, showing him that one did not _think _about the process, but simply let it occur.

After a while, she drops back to let _him _lead _her_ and he does, perhaps not quite as completely successfully as Shikiyoku herself, but with enough surety to make the experience one he wasn't likely soon to forget.

He eventually slows them down, sweating for the first time ever during a run and admiring her for having perfected the skill.

She insists she only reverted to it because he was cheating.

They exchange friendly, amusing banter, though Shikiyoku is eventually reminded of her sorrow, though she attempts to distract herself from it. Hiei senses it and prompts her with an inquiry about 'what next,' and Shikiyoku claims that she 'doesn't know,' still thinking of how she might approach him about removing the marking swirls growing over his skin.

Still attempting to distract her from her mourning, Hiei takes off again with Shikiyoku in tow, trying to think of something that might keep her thoughts from being so dark and gloomy.

~!**!~

After a near-death experience while attempting to relearn how to walk between the layers of New Human World and Demon World, Kurama and Akari are laying together on Akari's bed at Yomi's complex after Kurama worked to heal Akari of her injuries. Their conversation is stiff and formal at first, given the likelihood that Yomi himself is listening in. Granted, this doesn't stop them from poking fun at him, treading dangerous water as they both throw a bit of caution to the wind. They do manage to withhold their laughter at what they attempt to make appear like a very serious conversation.

On the threat of revoking his use-of-the-shower-in-her-room-privileges, Kurama promises to stay with her as long as he can, to distract her from the experience that lead them both to laying in bed.

Within his own thoughts, Kurama reveals that Raizen has now recruited Yusuke and Mukuro has sent an invitation to none other than Shikiyoku for the she-demon to join Mukuro's side.

Believing that she's dreaming, after Akari and Kurama fall asleep, Akari finds herself wandering the halls of Yomi's complex. When she wakes from the dream, she feels more tired and sore than before and decides to attempt a shower to ease her pain. While Kurama at first wishes to invoke his shower-privileges, he manages to resist the temptation-despite Youko's voice in his head-to follow up on his semi-threat to join her. She comes back, clothed, to lay next to him when she is finished.

The next time she awakens, an indeterminate amount of time later, Kurama is still there, and it appears as if she has had a _dreamless _sleep. After her telling him that she is typically mean in her sleep, Kurama insists she had nothing but kindness for him as she slept...

* * *

Akari gave a small hum at Kurama, otherwise not giving a reply to his _reassurances_. Half of her expected more to be added to that, what with his commentary-

_I'd forgotten about that._

Her eyes narrowed slightly at him, though she wasn't exactly sure what to _say_ about his commentary consisting of coming from the shower in only a towel. And the question about shower privileges that-

_**Why**_ _did I even say it in the first place?_

She huffed at Kurama. _I guess I earned that one. __*****_

Youko began laughing.

_[I think she suddenly remembered me, Red!]_

_{However she managed to forget about you is completely beyond me.}_

_[It's true, I am rather memorable after all. I suppose I should be insulted.]_

_{It __**has **__been a long time.}_

_[I suppose it can't be helped.]_

...

_[I wonder what she would say if she knew most of what you've said this time around has been all you?]_

_{I think it would be just about the same as what she would say if she knew we had been speaking in tandem more lately.}_

_[We should really take some time to study this phenomenon.]_

_{I think I can tell you the reason without going to all the trouble.}_

_[Hmph. Fine. Take all the fun out of it.]_

~!**!~

As Hiei pulled Shikiyoku in a different direction, she found herself sneaking a brief glance at him.

_How are you __**not **__tired yet?_

Even _she _could feel the effects of running with the layers, and there was no doubt in her mind that her stamina would outlast Hiei's by more than a thousand leagues even still.

The thought, the remembrance really, that he was so young had the smallest smile playing across her lips.

_If he learns how to keep up __**now**__, just imagine how terrible he'll be at __**your **__age._

He has to live that long first.

...which brought Shikiyoku back around to ensuring he lived that long in the first place. Which meant getting rid of that stupid Mark. 3

Even as Hiei pulled Shikiyoku along, his mind made another cycle back to irritating, bothersome thoughts. And when he realized it was getting harder to push them away, he noticed for the first time that his _relaxation_ was actually his own _laziness_, stemmed from feeling _drained_ and as if he needed a nice, long nap.

His feet suddenly stopped moving and he turned inward, assessing himself from the inside out until he realized that it was probably due to their little _fun_ between the layers. Through the layers and even around them.

...No wonder he'd been sweating.

Which, now that he remembered _that_ too, his lips twitched downward a fraction.

It had been such a subtle deprivation of energy at the time that he hadn't even noticed. And now that he noticed, he realized the grumpiness that was beginning to bloom was not because of _Shikiyoku_\- not really- but because he'd spent so much energy being guided through odd forces.

_Hn._

He glanced at Shikiyoku, curious about her own dexterity towards the layer-traversing.

And not for the first time, he found himself thinking how _impressive_ it was that she'd not only figured it out, but mastered it.

~!**!~

"You're a pain," Akari suddenly grumbled, scrunching her nose at the redhead next to her. She couldn't rightly say anything in regards to the remarks, because really, he'd brought them on herself. Given him the opportunity.

She wasn't sure if she should be embarrassed or irritated with herself.

_Now I know. __*****_

"Oh, come now, grumpy." Kurama scrunched his nose right back at her. "You can't say you weren't having any _fun_."

He leaned forward and gently teased her nose with his own, smiling a little at her.

"Because I was _there_. And you _were_."

~!**!~

When Hiei stopped moving, Shikiyoku found herself peering up at him, blinking questioningly.

He gave her a glance, but said nothing and she let aimless thoughts turn over in her mind as she tried to assess his well-being.

_What time is it?_

It was still dark.

_Who knows how long we spent running. I know I lost __**months **__that way._

It hasn't been quite that long.

Because Kit hasn't come looking for you yet, that's why.

_Should take him to-_

_But he doesn't like-_

_Heh._

"What layer are we on?" Shikiyoku piped up absently, turning inwards to feel out their location. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku's sudden question, his train of thought completely careening away from the running and the fun they'd had, and even away from the slow drain in his body that left him progressively more tired.

He didn't even have to glance around to answer her.

"The fourth." His lips twitched**;** he'd go wherever she wanted to go.

~!**!~

If the redhead hadn't come so close, Akari would have stuck her tongue out at him. But with the close proximity, she really, _really_ didn't think it a good idea. Which, actually, made her lips twitch and a small sound threaten to bubble from her mouth.

Okay, so she _had_ had a bit of fun. Making fun of Yomi and-

_Dear lord I hope he wasn't listening._

She nudged her nose against his as she let out a breath. "I can't get away with _anything_ when you're around." _*****_

"Slight correction: you can get away with _anything_ when I'm around." Kurama's light smile grew more mischievous.

_I just have to pull a few strings is all._

_[Which we're very adept at.]_

~!**!~

_Fourth._

_...and that means we need to go..._

_This way._

Shikiyoku blended the two of them inbetween the layers and started walking again, pulling Hiei after her and dropping them deeper.

"_You _had an idea." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze at 'you,' her eyes momentarily pleased as she glanced back at him, "And now it's _my _turn." 3

Hiei's eyes remained on Shikiyoku as she pulled him along and through the layers, a gleam of amusement just barely concealed. _He_ had had the idea of a game. _She _had taken that idea and turned it into layer traversing in the most amusing of ways. The most _exhilarating _of ways. And she was coming up with another idea.

Not that he'd argue. It did well to keep her mind wandering away from _other_ matters.

Perhaps his own too.

"Hn."

~!**!~

"Better not spoil me _too_ much. I might start taking advantage of it."

Akari's lips turned into a lopsided grin that disappeared a moment after it had appeared. What strings did he have to pull to keep her from trouble this time around? After all, she _had_ killed one of Yomi's men- not that Takeo was anything special. Still.

_I can think about that later. Not now._

Her smile suddenly reappeared and she spoke up again. "You work way too much for me."

_And I don't understand why. __*****_

_[Having been on the frontlines for the initial breach of the nine layers helped immensely.]_

_{Mm.}_

"I think I would find myself more pleased if you _did _start taking advantage of it."

_[She might stay out of trouble more that way.]_

~!**!~

_Not that I expect him to do with mine what I did with his, but fair's fair even still._

It took a moment as she moved between the sixth and seventh layers to remember precisely which direction she meant for them to go, because she hadn't been to this place since…

_Well, it's been ages, hasn't it?_

When she finally unfolded them onto the seventh layer, they were on a staircase, walking down towards a street lined on either side with brightly decorated merchant-houses and stores.

Evening had just fallen and the road was brightly lit, apparitions moving along either side, some going in and out of the shops, others strolling along either in the same direction of or opposite Hiei and Shikiyoku.

None of them seemed to take any particular notice of the two newcomers in their midst, hardly giving them a second glance after the first, if the pair got a first glance to begin with.

The murmur of activity was at a low hum, and everything felt rather calm and unobtrusive. No one appeared to be in a hurry, there was no fighting among citizens or arguments breaking out between merchant and buyer.

There were stands for sitting and eating, or drinking, and there were more than a few demons sitting around in those, their talk never growing louder than the gentle rumble of the atmosphere.

Shikiyoku seemed to take in the sights as if she had seen it all before, and her steps were steady along the path, for she had remembered the way. 3

Hiei's eyes peeled away from Shikiyoku when he landed on the seventh layer. The quiet buzz on the atmosphere was calm and quaint, and the lights in the city seemed to match, if not create, the very warm atmosphere.

It was probably the quietest place he'd been where the streets were lined with merchants and shops. And, surprisingly, it didn't seem a single demon in the area gave a care in the world about him and Shikiyoku, as if they'd always been there and were a part of the background.

He'd never been in such a crowded place and gone unnoticed.

_Intriguing._

_And too quiet, almost._

He wasn't sure what he thought of it at first, but for the time being, he found the quiet rumble of small talk between demons who couldn't care any less about him was… almost a relief.

It was a good thing he hadn't known of this place when he was younger. It would've been seen as a challenge.

~!**!~

_But that means more burdens for you, stupid fox._

Though, there were a few things Akari suddenly thought of that she wouldn't _mind_ getting away with. And when another thought crossed her mind, she was smiling. "Whatever happened to-"

_Wait!_

…_.Yomi._

Her lips suddenly pressed together in a thin line.

_But I wanna taunt Gabrielle._

_but __**Yomi….**_

This was going to become more and more difficult.

She let out her air in a long sigh, her lips still keeping a small smile despite her irritation. She couldn't even come up with something _else_ to steer to. _It's so stupidly frustrating. __*****_

Kurama shifted around a little before pulling his arms free and moving them between them.

He reached out and took a hold of Akari's wrist with one hand, opening her palm and taking the fore-finger of his other and starting to slowly trace letters onto her skin, watching his work intently.

_I. AM. GLAD. YOU. ARE. SAFE._

He pulled the hand up to his lips and planted a kiss where he had been drawing the letters.

~!**!~

As they slowly wove their way forward, Shikiyoku felt her invisibleness _keenly _as after the first couple of demons around them barely took notice of their entrance it appeared no others seemed to care.

_This isn't how I do things._

Of course, given who she was _with _the last time she came down here, it made things that much more difficult.

Funny. Since the demon she had been with at the time was, in truth, _known _for his stealth and his calculating persona.

...he also enjoying making a big production about things. But it was always as a distraction for what was _really _going on.

Looming out of the dark sky before them, a large building with cheery and welcoming lights stood waiting at the end of the lane, a wooden bridge extending out from where the lane stopped and leading over what was likely water to the enormous architecture standing aglow on the other side.

There was a steady flow of demons heading _across _the bridge, and Shikiyoku knew the place had only just opened its doors.

She took note of a few demons materializing out from between the layers and moving over the wooden beams as well. Perhaps only a handful, but since it was rare when she didn't _know _a demon capable of the feat, she definitely did a double take each and every time it happened.

When they reached the other end of the bridge, Shikiyoku pulled Hiei off to the right, away from the entering crowd that were slowly being led inside the main doors.

Here there was a much smaller door, though it appeared more elaborately decorated, and Shikiyoku reached out with her free hand to knock smartly on the portal in a particular pattern before taking a step back and waiting. 3

Hiei's eyes continued to roam, flashing briefly from demon to demon, positively certain that someone would make a remark sooner or later. And he found himself sneering when no one seemed to look their way. It didn't take long to guess, though as to _how_ she had achieved something like this, he didn't know.

He didn't ask, either. He decided to let her do what she wanted, whether it be lead him through a crowd unseen or pull him away from it.

He did note the demons dropping onto the layer, eyeing each one he saw in turn, just in case. Not that they'd be able to keep up if something happened. _Heh._

Though, it _was_ a curious thought**;** he hadn't ever met another who could willingly traverse the layers like the people he already knew could. It made him want to find out _how_ people were given such a capability.

And it was this thought that he remained on even as Shikiyoku pulled him to the side to a smaller door. He stared forward at it, several thoughts churning over and over, but his curiosity bringing his gaze to the side, to peer at Shikiyoku.

_What is the purpose of this trip?_

~!**!~

Akari didn't protest when Kurama grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from the pillow. In fact, she gave a small sigh before she focused on what he was doing, eyes following the motion of his finger against her palm until he pulled her hand to his lips.

The image of the creature she'd seen passed before her mind's eye, and whatever smile she'd had was long gone. She swallowed hard and uncurled herself so that she could slide the rest of the way to him and rest her chin on his shoulder so he couldn't easily see her expression.

She could only imagine the lack in color of her cheeks at the moment, because every vein in her body felt frozen.

_It's terrifying. __*****_

Kurama slipped his right arm underneath her and went ahead and pulled Akari closer.

As he swept his other arm over her side, the comforter that he pulled with him rustled softly and the material became a flurry of plantlife, soft and warm. When that arm finally came to rest behind her, the edge of the now-green and leafy blanket clutched in his fingers to keep it around her, he let that hand find her back to hug her tightly and took a deep breath of the flowers that bloomed on the outside of the covers.

~!**!~

It only took a moment before they could hear the sound of someone approaching the door and it slid open, a medium-sized demon of a roundish sort of shape standing in the way and giving the pair before him a disapproving sort of look.

"What do you want?" He _tried _not to be abrasive, after all it had been the right knock, but he didn't _recognize _either of these. And he knew _everyone _that would dare to try the side entrance.

"Meijin." Shikiyoku lifted her chin a little higher. "Is that any way to treat your _guests_."

Meijin's eyes narrowed, "How do you know my name?"

"The same way I know every name of importance around here." There was no mistaking her haughtiness, her abrupt arrogance. "Because I'm _me_." She leveled an aloof glare in his direction.

The demon's lips pursed together, and if he had any scathing retort to make, he did not.

Proprietors of the special entrance meant _money_. Lots of it. And he wasn't about to turn them away.

"Really, Meijin." Shikiyoku said when the demon did not fill the next couple of seconds with words, sounded exasperated. "To think after all these years you could forget."

The demon opened his mouth and started to step back, just about to the point where he was going to pretend that he knew who they were when in truth he hadn't the faintest idea, when Shikiyoku's eyes suddenly gleamed and her expression shifted, catching Meijin's attention.

Edges of his eyes flinching in thought, Meijin paused, his lips parting further.

"Don't you _want _to let me in, Master?"

The lowered voice, the sensuous eyes-

Meijin blinked and all at once the thought struck him, though there was still that moment of hesitance about his answer.

Shikiyoku said nothing, though she stepped closer to Hiei until their arms brushed one another.

"Seductress!" Meijin exclaimed, his face brightening mightily. _This was money __**indeed**__. _He made no delay this time in stepping back to allow them room to enter, starting to bow with apologies coming out from his mouth. "You must understand that I really had no way of knowing, seductress."

"Of course not." Shikiyoku answered, sounding bored as she moved through the doorway with Hiei in tow.

"You look so different now!" After the second or third bow, Meijin stood up, his own face turning from the apologetic-excitement to a more keen and shrewd glance.

They were not more than a foot or two away from him-the door had slid shut behind them-and Meijin reached out to take Shikiyoku's chin in his hand, turning her face this way and that.

"Yes, much different." He noted as her eyes flashed and she barely repressed a smile. "That jawline I might have recognized."

He let her go and took a step back, still appraising her with a sweeping up and down look.

"And you used to be much taller, no?" He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head back a little as if looking up at where her face used to be in relation to his own.

"So I've been told." Shikiyoku replied dryly.

"Ah, well. It doesn't matter." Meijin gave a slight shake of his shoulders, putting his hands together in front of him and assuming his hosting pose. "No fox today? Or is this from him?"

It was the second time Meijin had so much as looked at Hiei, the first being only long enough to know it hadn't been _he _who knocked and dismissing him for the time being. And even now he only gave the demon a passing glance, long enough to indicate that he knew Hiei stood there, and was with Shikiyoku, the one his eyes went back to regarding. 3

Hiei glanced down at Shikiyoku as she began speaking, expression unreadable as he regarded her, and then the other demon at the door. He had a feeling this had been something she did before he had come across her, and very likely long before she'd ended up in the human world. The thought was an amusing one, and he found himself curious as to what she wanted to show him, what she wanted him to do. His gaze flickered back to her briefly when she stepped closer, though it didn't linger long.

He didn't trust the one at the door. _Not like I have a choice. _

He didn't particularly care for the look sent his way**;** assessing, calculating. The fire demon's expression remained neutral, however.

Even when they stepped by him and the demon grabbed for Shikiyoku. There was no missing the coiling of his muscles, however, though whether to attack or simply disappear, he wasn't sure.

The tension only grew a fraction more at the mention of the fox, who he had come to figure being Youko.

He couldn't say he was all too surprised.

Red eyes remained on the other demon, watchful. He didn't give a reply**;** he hadn't been directly addressed.

And quite frankly, he didn't care enough to answer.

~!**!~

Akari heard the rustle of the blanket that formed, smelled the flowers that bloomed on it, but for a moment it didn't seem to help her nerves. She took a deep breath through her nostrils, concentrating solely on the scents all around her in hopes that the mental image would go _away_. Her arms wrapped up and over Kurama's shoulders and brought her as close as she could be.

_I'm __**not**_ _going back to that place. Not even if threatens to Yomi kill me._

She could almost _feel_ the energy she had felt then, as if it were as real as the room around her, pressing down on her like the blanket that rested over her in that moment. When she squeezed her eyes closed, she could see the creature again, sitting in a chair that she only just realized he could have been a _part_ of, as if he'd melted into it over time.

So she forced her eyes open, forced herself to stare at the wall behind Kurama. Her stomach did a churn and she almost thought she was going to be sick, but after a few moments the feeling evaporated, leaving her staring ahead blankly and taking measured breaths.

_If I refuse, he'll use __**this**_ _against me. This moment._

Akari frowned.

_No, he needs Kurama. Yomi wouldn't bring the fox here simply for leverage against me. He has his own agenda for the fox._

_Meaning my life will be the one at stake, not his. _

_...I can deal with that, if it means not going to the tenth. I absolutely refuse._

She took another long breath in, suddenly feeling very, _very_ calm. She turned her head after another moment and planted her lips against Kurama's cheek. A part of her felt sad at her sudden resolve, but in the light of how massive the being was, she found it easier to not consider anything but that resolve. _*****_

_[And how exactly are you planning on fulfilling your promise to Yomi?]_

Kurama's eyes did not actually narrow, but the _feeling _was there, and Youko knew it.

_{By whatever means necessary.}_

Strange how the statement rang so true within Youko's spirit.

_[How like me you've become, Red.]_

_Whatever it takes._

~!**!~

There was this split second of Shikiyoku's eyes coming closed and the barest hint of tension gathering behind those eyes, though the fact that she was fighting against a smile negated any ill-will that the expression might have conveyed.

"No." Her eyes came back open. "And no."

...she had completely forgotten about Youko's playthings. About him smuggling her here on more than one occasion. And on the other times when she was here to work a contact for him.

If Meijin had any thoughts about the knowledge, he kept them well hidden.

"Do I need to draw up the usual contracts? I'm sure I still have them around somewhere." He reached into the sleeve of the large, green kimono he wore, face turning momentarily absent as he appeared to search for something.

"Ah, no." Shikiyoku said, stopping him. "That's quite alright. This is neither business nor pleasure."

Meijin seemed to take the information in stride, pulling the hand out and switching to the other sleeve, "Simply..."

He appeared to wait for her prompting as he pulled out a sheet of parchment and feathered pen from the sleeve and began scratching on it.

Shikiyoku looked as if she thought it over.

"Perhaps relaxation would be the best description." A slight pause. "Something enough to...distract the mind."

"That's what we do best, if you remember." He glanced over the top of the parchment at her as he continued writing.

"Indeed. So you say." She only waited a second before continuing, the brief silence filled with Meijin's furious writing, "Honestly, I can tell you exactly where to place us."

He stopped, eyes raising again.

"The Jade Hall."

Meijin made a clucking sound with his tongue as his eyes lifted to the ceiling while thinking. "If I'm not mistaken, we already have a visitor residing there." He looked back to her. "He should be finishing up," Meijin made it sound like a question, "If that's what you desire?"

"Tch." Shikiyoku acted as if the news meant something to her, "I _suppose _The Crimson Pools are the same thing."

Meijin gave her a little nod of agreement, going back to writing.

_Strange. _Shikiyoku's eyebrows lowered slightly. _They almost never get any-_ For an instant her eyes flickered up to Hiei before turning back to Meijin, deciding it didn't matter.

"-just a name."

Shikiyoku didn't catch all of what Meijin said, only the last of it, but she imagined it was some drivel about how the facilities were equal save for the title of the area.

"Would I be correct in adding a visit the Crimson Pool's fire room?" This time when Meijin looked up, it was to Hiei. 3

Hiei listened to the continuous exchange with mild, _very_ mild, interest. His curiosity was a little stronger, but really, if one looked at him they wouldn't know. His expression remained unreadable, his eyes devoid of any thoughts that might be stirring behind them.

Though, he did find himself rather amused at the names of the rooms and such.

He'd been on that thought when the other demon looked up at him, and the fire demon raised a brow as if the question shouldn't have even been asked. _Fire_ room, thus, _yes. _

~!**!~

Akari's lips stayed against Kurama's cheek for a few seconds before she pulled away and rested her head on his shoulder again, eyes still staring ahead. She slid an arm away from his neck, though, and with her index finger she began to spell out words of her own against his chest under the blanket, slowly tracing out the letters.

I. MISSED. YOU.

She let her hand rest on his chest after another moment, deciding that would be enough of a message. Simple, and to the point.

Because she wasn't about to tell him what she'd seen. She wouldn't even know _how_. *****

As Kurama felt Akari shift around, he only glanced down long enough to feel her beginning to draw out letters against him before he closed his eyes and took note of the shapes.

He took in a deep breath once she finished, feeling it expand underneath her palm.

"And I you." He murmured into her hair as he lowered his face to the top of her head.

~!**!~

Meijin continued writing after the look he got from the crimson-eyed demon, his eyes bouncing from Hiei to the parchment and then over to Shikiyoku where this time it was him raising an eyebrow at her.

"Will it be two?"

If Shikiyoku hadn't slipped into days gone by, recalling how the ways had been with Youko, she probably would have let out a sniggering-snort of a laugh, but she didn't let the urge make it past her throat, able to see in Meijin's eyes the unspoken portion of his question and knowing that he was trying not to send a grin in her direction.

"I don't think so." Shikiyoku didn't even look Hiei's way, but there was that same split-second pause and tension and fight against a smile as when Meijin had asked if Hiei was with her via the kitsune. "Not quite ready for that."

"Not proficient enough?" Meijin commented mildly, though he went back to watching his writing on the paper.

"Never tried it." Shikiyoku found herself responding amiably.

"This would be the best place." His tone took on a little bit of that good-old-salesmen lilt. "It isn't as if we don't have the means to take care of a few burns here and there. I could add in the clause."

"He's never experienced a fire room. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Ah, first time." Meijin gave a more accepting nod. "I suppose that makes sense." His writing paused and he stared at Shikiyoku, who returned the gaze equally.

The pen started moving again and his eyes lowered.

"You let me know if you decide differently." 3

Hiei fought against the tension that bloomed a little when Shikiyoku refused the offer. His expression returned to that same unreadable stare and he quickly expelled all tension just as quick. In fact, he felt a twinge of amusement at his _own _reaction, and he decided that he'd just have to go with it. Deal with it.

Trying something new would be quite refreshing, since he hadn't done much of anything as of late.

_Hn._

~!**!~

She could lay there forever, and truthfully, Akari really, _really_ wanted to stay right where she was. But with however long she'd been laying in the room, she felt the beginnings of restlessness, which she hadn't felt in _months_. Hadn't had the _chance_ to feel restless.

She supposed it was because Yomi would eventually send someone for either herself or Kurama, if not both. Part of her really, _really_ didn't want Yomi to _send_ someone after her or Kurama. She hadn't been fond of Takeo fetching her, and she doubted she'd be fond of anyone _else_ coming after them.

_But I don't want to move._

She took a deep breath and let it out through barely-parted lips.

…_.Just a while longer. __*****_

_[What do you think Yomi knows about Shikiyoku?]_

_{I...can't say for sure. You know better than I how well of a secret she was kept from the rest of the bandits.}_

_[Fair enough.]_

_{And I doubt Yomi knew her full name, given the one your cousin had floating around.}_

_[As if he's dumb enough not to connect 'Yoku' with 'Shikiyoku.']_

_{There's always the possibility he hasn't. But I wouldn't be on it.}_

Youko's thoughts turned darker for a moment and Kurama remained quiet.

The fox was _not _going to let anything happen to her. No matter what Kurama had to tell Yomi.

~!**!~

"Sign?" Meijin lifted his pen from the parchment and Shikiyoku absently waved her hand in his direction, sending a brief puff of her energy at the paper which glowed yellow for a moment before absorbing it and turning yellow itself.

When the reaction had finished, Meijin placed a final flourish at the bottom and the pen and parchment were put away into the opposite sleeve they had been pulled from.

His hands disappeared into the sleeves as he folded his arms in front of him, gave a bow, and said, "If you'll follow me."

Shikiyoku did not reply, only moving forward as the demon turned.

They took a quick right out of the small foyer where they had been standing, which lead away from the noise of the main entrance and deeper into the facility itself, the hallway quiet as their feet made little noise on the wooden floor.

After a few yards, they turned left again and the hall extended way out in front of them, solid walls to their left and the occasional sliding door to their right, most of which were open and led down other dimly lit hallways themselves towards the heart of the building.

Meijin led them on steadily with surefootedness, never glancing left or right, but leading them straight onwards.

As they neared the end of the hall, a demon appeared from the left as if out of nowhere and turned to walk in their direction, paying little attention to anything in particular it seemed, one hand at the white towel hanging over his head and shadowing his face, his fingers rubbing back and forth as if drying his hair, another similar towel wrapped around his waist and leaving his chest bear.

An influx of heat had Meijin briefly glancing in the patron's direction, bowing to the demon as he grew closer.

The demon didn't appear to notice Meijin, but the wetness that had been dripping down his skin disappeared, evaporated, and as he passed them by there was no mistaking the bright blue jewel that hung around his neck, the only adornment on his person. 3

Hiei eyed the parchment that glowed when Shikiyoku's energy touched it, momentarily amused with her method of _signing_ things. His eyes followed the paper as Meijin slid it out of sight, before his calm stare lifted so that he may glance at his surroundings as he and Shikiyoku were gestured to follow.

His eyes roamed the darkened hall, occasionally looking into the open doorways and down those halls as well, merely out of curiosity. It was rather silent save for the very quiet sounds the three in the hall made, which wasn't much more than breathing and the rustling of clothing here and there.

But when Hiei felt an influx of heat ahead, his eyes turned forward, acknowledging the demon that stepped into the hall in nothing more than a couple of towels and-

His eyes locked on the jewel for the barest of seconds before he turned his eyes forward again, mildly amused.

Funny how he'd never met another person from the _exact_ same lineage as he**:** child of ice maiden and such. Banished.

_Forbidden?_

The word amused him more so now than it had before.

And then the thought passed and he was glancing around himself again.

~!**!~

As Akari lay there, a thought occurred to her**:**

She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. And while she wasn't hungry, really, she decided it would probably do well for her to do just that. Might even help with the soreness and getting her energy moving a little better through her body.

She blinked slowly.

_And Yomi won't be kind forever about this._

She shifted, pushing herself into a sitting position, but not really moving any further. Her eyes turned to the door, almost as if she was _waiting_ on someone to barge in. And a second later she turned her eyes to Kurama, flashing a small, reluctant smile.

"Been to the kitchens yet?" _They suck. __*****_

Kurama's eyes gleamed with amusement.

"I have." He moved very little, only propping his head up with a hand as he leaned his cheek into a fist, resting the elbow on the bed beneath him. "Hungry?"

~!**!~

The demon's hand came down from the towel after the pulse of heat and he kept walking down the hall, staring straight ahead most likely, his footsteps no longer leaving a wet trail behind him, but the towel shadowed most of his face save for his nose and even though Shikiyoku sent him a momentary glance in the two strides it took for his tall form to pass them, she made out nothing of his features, her eyes only catching sight of the jewel around his neck.

When a few paces were between them, the demon already several yards behind them, there was a second influx of energy exactly the same as the first, but this one was bitterly cold.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Meijin turned to the right, away from the direction the cursed 'child' must have come, and the lights here started to take on a slightly more reddish glow.

Shikiyoku didn't have to look to the left to know the lights in that direction were a green color.

After about a hundred more steps they reached a dead-end and one of Meijin's hands came out of his sleeve to slide the door open.

The room they entered was lined with a strangely marbled red stone, though the texture felt much the same as the wood floor they left behind when they stepped inside. The ceiling above them was only a few feet higher than the hallway. To the right was a wall maybe twenty feet long that looked similar to the walls of the hall, if colored a deep red, but the left side of the room had the same smoothness of the floor under their feet.

Meijin stepped into the middle of the room to face them, gesturing to his right.

"To your left is the room of fire, behind me is the hot spring itself." His hand came back into his sleeve and he bowed to them again. "But you already knew that, seductress."

"We should not have need of anything." Shikiyoku informed him in that same aristocratic manner she had used when they first entered the building.

Another bow and nod, "As you say."

He slipped past them, stepped out into the hallway and slid the door shut behind him, his steps padding off into the distance. 3

Hiei had felt the cold energy, but otherwise completely ignored it as he moved on, not really caring much. He'd followed along just as silently as he'd done since Shikiyoku had taken the lead, his eyes still roaming here and there and occasionally glancing down at the female walking next to him.

He took in the colors along this hall, amused at the method for naming the different areas by the color of their lights. _Heh. _

When he and Shikiyoku were standing in the room Meijin had lead them to, his eyes continued to roam, looking over every nook and cranny of the space even as the other male took his leave, sliding the door shut behind him.

_Hot springs_, he noted as his eyes passed over a couple of doors. _Fire room, _his eyes landed on that door and without any further hesitation, he turned and moved for that door, genuinely curious about this 'fire room'.

When he had the door open and was peering inside, he found himself staring at the colors of the room, half amused, half pleased with the look.

Though, he had no idea what to do.

It _looked_ interesting though.

~!**!~

_Not really. _

She turned to look at the door again, contemplating the walk. _Two flights of stairs, and one long hallway. Not too bad, hm?_ She pursed her lips a little. Was it worth it?

It would do well in stretching her muscles. Probably help with the soreness too. _Or make it worse. _She almost groaned at the thought. _But you're getting restless. _

And yet somehow she found she could _almost_ lay down and attempt sleep again.

…._not going to happen. _

She slid across the bed and planted her feet on the floor, and before she could talk herself out of it, she moved for the door, not even bothering to find shoes or even pull the towel from her head. _Who cares, right?_

She paused with the door open and glanced over her shoulder briefly, flashing a small smile.

_Gotta eat sometime, right? __*****_

Kurama raised an eyebrow at her as she moved, eyes flicking to the towel over her head as he started to slide out of the bed himself, starting to get up to walk towards her.

"I still think you'd look better with just the towel."

~!**!~

"Luckily for me, it doesn't just turn on when you walk into the room like this." Shikiyoku said with mild amusement when she stopped next to Hiei as he looked around the room. "Otherwise you'd have a very dead demon standing next to you at this point."

He had pulled her in with him, and while she hadn't protested, she _had _forgotten his hand still held hers.

With Meijin gone, as well as her previous 'mood,' she could feel the trickle of energy at the back of her neck, the one that wasn't sure what to make of the contact with the fire demon. 3

Hiei's eyes turned to Shikiyoku when she spoke up, making him realize she'd come with him. He raised a brow at her, and after a second he realized _why_ she'd come with him. That was _twice_ he'd forgotten he had hold of her hand. _She has hold of mine? Both? _It didn't matter.

He made a small sound of amusement and slowly let go of her hand.

"Guess that's why they're like this," he commented mildly, still not moving away from where he stood.

~!**!~

Akari had lifted a foot to move, only to pause when Kurama spoke up. She huffed and turned to face him, the towel now in her hand as she crossed her arms over her chest. She _still_ didn't know how to react.

So she tossed the towel at him and turned, moving out the door. "You're a _pain_." _*****_

Kurama caught the towel as it arced in his direction and swung his arm back to release it and get it to land in a heap on the bed he had just left.

He went ahead and moved for her and the door, stopping just short of her and peering down into her face. "Why _else _would you keep me around?"

~!**!~

_As if I would have come along if it was going to kill me._

"I guess so." She agreed, only looking around the dark walls briefly before turning away and stepping back out into the other room.

She slid one of the paneled doors along the opposite wall open.

There were shallow shelves here, and while she ignored most of what the shelves contained, she did reach for a towel that was marbled and colored in the very same way as the rest of the room.

About half the towels looked this way, the other half the pure white the demon they passed in the hall had been using.

"You're gonna need this." She called, tossing the towel over her shoulder in the direction of the still-open door of the fire room and grabbing a white one for herself. 3

Hiei's eyes followed Shikiyoku as she turned away, his feet moving so that he stood at the threshold of the room he'd been inspecting a minute ago. He raised an eyebrow at the shelves she revealed, glancing over the various things that had been concealed before now.

As the towel moved through the air, the fire demon lazily grabbed it from the air and looked it over, half intrigued with the way the coloring of this towel matched that of the rooms around them.

He lifted his eyes to her again, a raised brow as if to ask 'what for'.

He was pretty sure they'd had a conversation about his distaste for water before now. And if it was fire he was about to deal with, his entire outfit was made for such circumstances.

~!**!~

She ran a hand through the still-damp locks as she looked up at Kurama-

_Have I shrunk, or did you grow an inch?_

Maybe it's just been a while and she's forgotten? Sounded probable.

She opened her mouth to respond, but the words didn't make it to her tongue before she thought better of it and shrugged at him. "Heck if I know." She moved around him and out into the hallway, ignoring any demons that glanced in her direction.

And also ignoring the protests her muscles tried to make, instead lengthening her stride and stretching her arms over her head. _*****_

Kurama would have let out a chuckle, but as he reached for the grey coat of his uniform laying on a chair near the doorway, he stepped up behind her and slipped it over his shoulders, settling into her stride a little behind and to the left of her, his eyes were already scanning the immediate area after he closed the door.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku caught his look as she turned around, the white towel resting over her arm.

She gave a little shrug, "Perhaps _need _is a strong word. You'll decide that for yourself. It _is _fireproof, though."

Flicking her eyes behind him to indicate the room, she spoke again, "It'll turn on when you've got the door closed behind you, as long as you haven't any clothes on." She glanced at the towel he held as she started to move for the other set of doors Meijin had indicated. "Though you can wear that if want."

She gestured absently at the floor before reaching to slide one side of the doors in front of her open just wide enough to step beyond it. A giant wave of hot, thick steam rolled out the opening she made in the doorway, obscuring her from vision as she stepped through. "No one'll disturb us, so you can leave your outfit anywhere in the room." Her voice raised a little bit as she slipped the door closed behind her, "I'll be out here if you have need of me." A pause, then an off-handed addition, "Though you're welcome to join me if you want, I guess. Your call." 3

Hiei's brow settled into place again as Shikiyoku spoke up, and even before she was done talking, he had a hand pulling at the scarf around his neck. When the door was shut behind Shikiyoku, the fire demon turned his back to it and moved into the fire room, his hand carefully folding up the material simply because he _hated_ wrinkles in his clothing.

He paused at Shikiyoku's last comment, cloak in hand as he glanced back at the door she'd gone through, and his lips twitched. Into a frown or a sneer of amusement, he wasn't sure, though he definitely considered voicing his general dislike for water.

Not that she didn't already know.

After a few moments, his cloak, scarf, and such were all folded neatly in a pile and he had the towel wrapped around his waist, a hand slowly pulling the door shut behind him.

Once it gave a small click, his ears twitched at the subtle beginnings of a whirring sound, which momentarily had him standing in place. By the time he recognized the sound to be that of flames and the temperature in the room had risen, he was seated calmly in the corner, eyes looking about the room.

The very _instant_ flames erupted around him, roaring loudly in his ears and swirling in an uncontrollable fashion, his eyes widened and he found himself _amused_. Because for some reason, he hadn't exactly expected _this. _

It didn't take long for him to relax in the very loud, very hot inferno that blazed around him.

~!**!~

Akari took a deep breath through her nostrils and let her arms fall to her sides, the motion jolting the sore tendons at her shoulders and her back. She walked a few yards with her eyes roving the halls, taking in each passing demon in turn. And after a few more strides that lead her to the first flight of stairs, she found herself humming the tune she'd dreamed about.

Why, she didn't know.

She took each step one at a time, making sure each foot was properly placed before going to the next step, her eyes carefully on her feet.

_What were the words to that song again?_

She hummed a little quieter now as she looked up from her feet, noticing how quiet the area was aside from a single demon coming from the bottom, his head down for a moment.

_I don't remember._

the other demon glanced up, and Akari went quiet, a frown forming on her features. She blinked twice, and Takeo was gone. No other demon was on the stairwell, aside from the person behind her.

Where was she going again? She paused very briefly before her feet continued moving again. _Right, kitchen. Food. __*****_

Youko was entertaining the idea of how Kurama would be forced to bring Shikiyoku in, effectively enacting the original plan Youko had, which was to take her with him anyway.

Neither he nor Kurama knew what exactly Yomi would plan for her if, or rather _when, _the demon discovered that Kurama had previously had associations with her, or rather 'Toriko.' And they had even less guesses as to Yomi's reaction should he connect together the persons of 'Toriko' to 'Shikiyoku' and then with 'Yoku' or 'Seductress.'

_[And here I was thinking we would be entirely too __**bored**_ _stuck with Yomi.]_

Kurama meant to give a reply, but paused absently behind Akari when she stopped and blinked, moving with her as she continued.

_Gotta get the room covered. I __**need **__to know exactly what happened in there._

~!**!~

As soon as Shikiyoku stepped out onto the marbled-red floor out here, she took in a deep breath.

The air was mixed with the scents of open air as well as the heaviness of the steam that rolled off of the hot spring about fifty steps in front of her.

For a few moments, her eyes watched the flames that danced along the top of the water and occasionally licked at the dark rocks that lined the pool, the steam mixed in along the surface of the relatively still spring thinning and thickening at various intervals as it filled the private, fenced-off area.

Somewhere off to the left she could hear the water that was being pumped into the spring, noting the ripples coming from that direction and moving outwards in gentle waves across the rest of the water.

She turned and slipped off her clothing as well as removed the band that held her hair up in a ponytail, placing all of it on a bench-like shelf that extended out from the wall next to her with the towel on top, after that stepping alongside the bench towards a short stool with spigots and knobs in front of her, stuck in a section of the wall that bent out from the wall with the bench next to her.

She sat and washed the water over her, using the extending shower-head to get it along her back.

The water was extremely warm, hot after the first few moments, and she knew she would need the help to better acclimate to the shallow pool waiting to her left.

It also got rid of any grime she accumulated during the run her and Hiei took earlier.

Once finished, she stepped away, grabbing for the towel she left, hair plastered down against her back all the way to her waist, and lowered herself into the hot spring, leaving the towel near the edge of the pool.

The flames were _real_, but had been enchanted to not cause injury, so the whole area hummed with that spell, as well as one that placed the thing in a bubble of privacy. Soundproof. It was peaceful once you got used to the heaviness of the air from the heat.

Shikiyoku half-swam, half-pushed herself through the water to the far side of the rocks before turning and slipping down until she sat against the bottom of the pool, the water coming up to her neck. The doors she had come through were visible through the fog, if only barely because of the thickness. The pool was only fifty feet long afterall.

She released this long sigh of contentment as the hot water penetrated and relaxed her muscles, letting her head rest back against the rocks and closing her eyes, her hair floating around her shoulders. 3

Hiei's eyelids slid closed and he leaned back a little more, allowing his bare back to come into contact with the now hot wall. Not that it mattered to him**;** it merely served as _another_ way for his muscles to release any tension that had built up over the past few days, possibly weeks. He listened to the roaring flames, and even without the Jagan or opening his eyes, he could see the motions of the fire, could feel where the flames were going to go next.

He could feel the current on which the flames swirled, and he could taste the heat as he pulled in a breath through his lips. If it were possible, he relaxed more as his legs stretched out in front of him, heels resting on the smooth flooring, and he loosely crossed his arms over his chest.

_Best. Decision._

He took another slow breath in, and after a few moments, the _only_ thing on his mind was the motions of the fire around him that seemed to lull him into a half-asleep state.

~!**!~

Akari moved across the hall and around a corner, then down one more flight of stairs in utter silence. She couldn't even remember the tune she'd been humming, but she wished she could. It would have been useful in keeping her mind from wandering.

She took a sharp left and pushed through a pair of swinging doors, eyes looking around the empty room and helping her make a better guess at the time of day.

_No cooks, meaning not near lunch or dinner. Likely in between._

She glanced around at the large, fully-equipped kitchen and was momentarily reminded of a restaurant. Her eyes landed on the oversized fridge and she made no hesitation in moving for it, a hand pulling the door open so that she may peer inside with a curious gaze.

Nothing looked… good.

_I'm not hungry, which is why none of it looks sufficient. _

She pursed her lips at the many, many things to choose from. She could even cook if she wanted to, for crying out loud! _Just pick something. __*****_

It was...overly tempting to fix the lock of the doors behind them so that no one else could enter.

Would likely end up being more trouble than it was worth.

Kurama only stepped forward into the room far enough that he would not get hit should someone else enter unexpectedly, turning with his back to one of the walls and watching Akari move around with amusement.

Of course he _could _offer to cook her something, but the look on her face was just too amusing to pass up.

~!**!~

The hot water drained away Shikiyoku's thoughts, leaving her with a warm blanket of _nothing _for a while that reminded her strangely of what it felt like when Hiei spoke to her telepathically.

After sitting for a while, breathing deep and slow as she smoothly drifted between waking and sleeping, the smells of the hot spring snuck into the edges of her awareness.

Wet. Of the water. Heavy and thick. Of the steamy fog. The enchantment had not removed the _smell _of the fire, and that too was separated from the others and noted. The rocks behind her head. The damp, marbled floor. The outside air, distant now what with how much the fog hung over the water.

Unfettered by the low, almost autopilot-like setting of her mind, she wandered through images and remembrances almost as if she dreamed. 3

Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, Hiei was fully aware that he had indeed drifted off into sleep, the fire around him making it virtually impossible _not_ to. He didn't dream. At least, if he did, he wasn't aware of it. In fact, the only thing he _was_ aware of was the flames licking at his skin.

Here and there, he did wake up enough to look around the room, but never did he _fully_ wake.

And after a while, he didn't even wake up for such a simple task as checking his surroundings.

~!**!~

A small sound was made in the back of Akari's throat as she continued to find more and more things in the fridge, and that was _without_ moving anything around. She huffed a little and reached inside, grabbing the first thing she saw and standing upright, letting the door swing shut on its own as she turned and moved further from Kurama and the doors they'd entered, pulling a very specific drawer open and finding a knife.

She placed the orange on the counter and deftly sliced through the center of the orange, cutting it in half before she continued cutting it into smaller portions, suddenly finding herself humming all over again, merely out of habit.

It made her miss Nabu, who would have been sitting at her feet, waiting for her to toss him something. She smiled at the orange after a moment of inspecting the slices, then set the knife down and turned around, leaning back against the counter and peeling a small portion away from the skin of the fruit.

By the time she had the slice in her mouth, she was watching Kurama with a passive stare. _*****_

Kurama's eyebrows lifted for a moment when she looked at him, lowering back to neutral as he gazed back at her.

"See something of interest, beautiful?"

~!**!~

_Screams. Blood. Hatred._

She felt almost as if an impassive observer of the event. The ritual that went wrong.

_Her first champion dying next to her._

The memories did not seem to affect her, viewing them from above, as if an outsider.

_Kitoushi. At the last forced to kill one of the first she had used her power on because the demon pursued her relentlessly and almost to the point of taking her life._

_...and then watching him forced to kill all the others, save one who was too mighty even for them._

_The cat falling to the ground, supposedly dead behind her, just at the instant that the shot which had been fired spiraled off from him and hit her as well, the effect lessened but still near-fatal._

_And then Youko. Without hesitation murdering every single one of those he had her glean information from, he too appearing to have died when Spirit World finally came for them._

_So much death..._

The thought was sad, if somewhere in the back of her mind the emotion was even allowed. Sad from the third person. Sad as though none of it had happened to _her_.

_The fire demon. Even he had felled a few in her name. To save her._

The memories continued moving forward in time, and even if she had wanted to stop them, she did not think it was possible.

_The energy-stealer. _

_Her own first kill._

_The nameless, the faceless. All falling beneath her as she stole their very lives from them to feed her own._

_..._

_First there were eight._

She had Otento's scar.

_Taka was killed saving you._

Then she ripped through her first champion, killing him again.

_Then there were four._

The image of hundreds, maybe thousands of lur'mog ripping through the young demon's flesh, leaving Douji's once bright eyes dull and lifeless.

_Three are left._

They needed to get _out_. Before they too went the way of all the others.

_Douji died by the disease, killed by lur'mog for having it. But he would have lost his mind and killed many himself._

The image of Kitoushi materialized behind her closed eyes.

_He has it too._

His heterochromatic gaze, turned in her direction, darkened, his features sharpening as he lunged forward, changing into cat-form in mid-leap.

_Perhaps the others do already._

He was running towards her, all four paws moving as if in slow motion in her mind, and no matter what she said to him, nothing stirred in his hungry glare.

_They'll all end up like this._

She pleaded with him to stop, to change back, to let her take away the mark, to turn back time. ...anything.

_You know what you'll have to do_. _To save yourself._

At her real body, the one sitting in the pool, her eyes clenched though they were still closed, her face darkening as her eyebrows frowned over them.

Kitoushi had reached her, had taken the final jump at her and even as she reached out with a hand as if to push him back, to stop him, her skin burned and ached, awash with scars and unclean-yellow power...but she could not do it and in the image her eyes shut as his teeth closed around her throat, her hand coming in contact with his black, furry chest and the vision faded.

_But what if I don't __**want **__to save myself?_

The heat of the water around her was nothing compared to the burning of her skin under the threat of Kitoushi's attack, and as he leaped for her in the strange semi-dreamy vision, the burning spread all along her, leaving in its wake sickly, ashen-colored skin and a myriad of scars, the deepest one, the newest one, a wicked, heart-shaped outline, half of which passed through the middle of her lips, a few swirls extending all around it in every direction up and across her face and down the underside of her jaw.

Her energy spread outward as if it too were a part of the haze and fog in the air, and her core faltered as the disease set in once more.

Shikiyoku's eyes came open for a moment, black and colorless, but she did not move for the energy she could feel in the other room, the countless life forces even beyond that in the building to her front, and her eyes slowly closed again.

The water felt...nice. 3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	101. Episode 185

**A/N: **Hello once again, Audience!

As mentioned previously, updates will be rather erratic.

At the moment, CM and I are, interestingly enough, currently writing on sort of alternate universe to our alternate universe. Ha. We had done this a while back, though what we worked on at that time was more of an OOC sort of set-up, which actually takes place several chapters back, before Shikiyoku had a pain form and while Hiei was still her Champion. I had planned on posting it, though the "scene" has so far never actually been completed. Really, we've moved so far passed where it took place in the story that the characters are all so different where we are now, so the chances of us going back and finishing the scene is a rather slim one.

If I do end up posting it, I'll be sure to let everyone here reading this story know (probably by putting it in an author's notes of a yet-to-come chapter).

I remember wanting to post a "part two" sort of thing with a new story and all when this story reached a hundred chapters because I didn't want to turn anyone away that might be intimidated by how many chapters there are (I know sometimes I skip on reading a ff that has a ton of chapters), but kudos to you (yes, you!) for making it this far! In any case, since I'm not posting on the story regularly anymore, I won't start a new one.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Still recovering from her near-death experience, Akari and Kurama continue to exchange banter,  
Kurama having been taking care of her for an indeterminate amount of time since.

Kurama admits to having pulled some strings to make sure he was the one caring for her,  
but the two still strive to keep their relationship a secret from Yomi,  
which leads to Kurama spelling things into her palm,  
a method that meant Yomi would not be able to hear.

Akari comes to realize she has not eaten in a long while,  
and Kurama accompanies her to the kitchens.

She cuts herself an orange,  
and finds herself staring at Kurama,  
an action which has him asking if she sees anything of interest.

~!**!~

Both Shikiyoku and Hiei needing a bit of recovery from their run through the layers,  
and with her hand still in his, Shikiyoku leads the two of them to the Seventh Layer,  
and a bath house located there ((that is totally heavily based upon the bath house in Spirited Away))

Upon arrival, Hiei notes that not a single resident of either the town or bath house  
appears to give him, The Cursed Child, a second glance.  
And he finds himself somewhat relieved.

Going to a side door, Shikiyoku manages to get herself and Hiei inside,  
via a demon named Meijin, revealing in the process that she had been here on many occasions,  
at the behest of Youko Kurama and usually for a job which he assigned her.

The demon escorts the two of them to a set of rooms called The Crimson Pools,  
the three of them silently passing another Cursed Child,  
also of ice and fire blood, though much older than Hiei,  
on the way there.

When they reach The Crimson Pools,  
Hiei is introduced to what is called a "fire room,"  
and while Shikiyoku heads out to the hot springs,  
Hiei experiences for the first time a room into which actual fire is pumped.

Meanwhile outside in the hot springs,  
thoughts which seem too real as a result of the enchantments on the area  
result in Shikiyoku's form changing,  
though such a change does not go completely unnoticed...

* * *

The roaring in the room seemed to suddenly grow louder, as if more fire was added to the already-swirling vortex of flame all around the small space. It intruded, accompanied with the smallest twinge that pulled at his awareness. The smallest feeling that tugged for his consciousness. He didn't open his eyes right away**;** Hiei was much too comfortable to move. He did, however, take stock of his surroundings.

Beginning in the room he resided in at that exact moment. It was just as it had been before. No one else in the room, no more or less flame dancing on the air. On to the next room, and he felt nothing out of sorts there either. There wasn't even an energy in that room to assess. To the direction of the halls, and he found the same thing as he found with the room next to this one. On to the opposite direction, and for a moment, he didn't register the energy.

But when he did, crimson eyes were open and he was up, pulling his energy closer to himself as he moved to the door, sliding it open and finding himself relieved when the flames disappeared behind him, like a candle blown out by an open window.

He paid no mind to the feeling of the heat on his body slowly rising, seeping into the air that he moved through and distorting the area around his frame just a little. He made no hesitation in heading for the hot springs he could hear, could _smell_ beyond the sliding doors that he moved out of his way. He didn't even bother closing the door, his hand falling from it as he moved to circle the springs, ignoring the flames hovering over the water.

When he was finally able to to see her features in detail, Hiei wasn't surprised to see the scars on her face, the mark from Otento over her lips. The discoloration of her skin that he _hated_ to see.

But he _was_ surprised to see the condition of her skin. Tight over her cheekbones, distorting even the already grotesque scar that covered her features. Her eyes were closed, but he knew she wasn't asleep. He also didn't see any clear reason for the switch, the change from her usual shining self to this odd form meant to keep her safe from harm.

And he knew the power she earned in this form did a pretty dang good job of that too.

So he approached from the rocks, not entering the water. He crouched a foot or so away from her, eyes watching her, hesitant to reach out to her when he remembered the flames he'd just left the comfort of. The air was heavy, but not from the springs. It seemed to cling to his skin, making him feel…

Whatever he felt, he didn't like it. And he didn't want her to feel it either.

But still, he didn't reach to her, too wary of his own body temperature at the moment since he was aware that the air around him actually felt _cold_ to him.

"_Shikiyoku."_

~!**!~

_You._

Akari shrugged as she bit down on the slice of the fruit in her mouth, slowly chewing and savoring the taste. She didn't even so much as blink at Kurama as she reached back for a second slice. "Wan' shome?" she suddenly asked, speaking around the slice in her mouth. "I won' ea' i' all." As if to emphasize her point, she held out the slice she'd just grabbed and extended her hand in his direction. _*****_

Kurama only blinked once at her when she asked him if he wanted some, having crossed his arms loosely over his chest in the meantime as he leaned back against the wall.

He looked at the orange slice, then back to her, and finally lifted one of his arms to give a dismissive sort of wave.

"Too far." The hand lowered back to cross over the other again.

~!**!~

At her name, Shikiyoku's eyes opened, but her head had since entering the water tilted forward away from the rocks behind her just enough so that when she opened them, she only saw the hot spring.

The lids closed again.

"_Fire-prince." _3

Hiei felt _some_ form of relief when Shikiyoku's response came, calling him by a name she hadn't used lately. It told him she was able to think clearly and recognize where she was, who was with her. It made him feel a little less pressed about the issue, especially since she didn't spring from the water for an attack.

He waited a moment before speaking again.

"_Look at me."_

He was still very aware of his own body temperature, but he didn't want her in this form for too long.

~!**!~

"Lazy." Akari swallowed and turned her eyes down to the slice she began to peel, fingers methodically working until she had a perfect slice in her palm, the juice running down to her wrist before dripping to the floor as her free hand grabbed for another slice and repeated the same work of peeling orange from its outer skin. "It's really good." She placed the two peels on the counter behind herself before she pushed herself to stand upright, internally cringing as bones cracked and muscles twitched. She slid one of the two slices in her mouth as she sauntered towards the redhead, not looking up at him until she was standing a foot from him, hand outstretched to offer the slice. "Jus' take i'. I don' wanna washte any." _*****_

Kurama watched her steadily as she moved towards him, eyes unblinking.

This time when his eyes flickered down to the offer they only retreated to her face for a second as she spoke, moving back down to regard the fruit.

With seemingly no hesitation, Kurama leaned forward, only bending from the waist, and took the slice directly from her palm into his mouth, shifting it just enough that he could snake his tongue out and lick the place where it had sat before leaning back up against the wall again, chewing and watching her intently.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes came open again, only halfway this time, and her head shifted just a _fraction _of an inch in the opposite direction Hiei requested of her.

_Don't look at me._

_Just leave me be._

_I don't want anyone to see me like this._

_Least of all you._

It was entirely beside the fact that even moving a single finger took a great deal of effort.

Her response was rather delayed.

"_...do I have to?" _3

Hiei was keenly aware of the way she deliberately turned her head away, instead of towards him. It didn't bother him much, though, which was surprising even to him. Perhaps it was because of his brief nap.

He really, _really_ didn't want to reach out and make an attempt to pull her from the water. Not even when her very late response slid across his mind. His lips turned downward a little. "_It's preferable."_

_Preferable to jumping in and grabbing you, risking an attack. _

The thought made his frown deepen.

~!**!~

Akari went stock still at the contact, not even her fingers twitching. Her eyes followed the redhead as he stood upright again, a look of shock keeping her lips parted as if she might say something. And for a moment, she wasn't sure how to recover.

And then her lips pressed together and she narrowed her eyes at him, taking a step forward and deliberately raising her hand to wipe it across his cheek.

And if that didn't work, she'd be perfectly content wiping it on his shirt.

_Stupid fox._

_You're a pain._

_I dunno why I offered._

She scrunched her nose at him. _*****_

Before Akari could get the hand she wiped across his cheek very far, Kurama reached up and grabbed for her wrist, holding it tightly enough that she could not get away, but aware of her pained and measured movements which told him she felt a soreness that had not lifted from her muscles yet.

He kept his eyes on her, stare even and neutral.

~!**!~

"_..."_

_Don't...don't come any closer._

"_...I..." _Her head twitched the other direction, as if she fought _not _to look at him. "_I do not wish you to see me." _3

Hiei let out a scoff. "_You don't want me to see what I've already seen. That seems pointless."_

He shifted just a little, but didn't come closer nor did he move further away. "_You have no reason to hide from me." _

_You need to take me seriously._

~!**!~

Akari leveled Kurama with a stare as he grabbed her wrist, much as she'd figured he would do. _Don't you do it. _Her fingers curled into a fist after a moment and her scowl lessened a little. She continued chewing the slice she still had in her mouth, swallowing after a moment before huffing at the redhead.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" _*****_

His expression did not change, his eyes did not move from her, but neither did he so much as twitch either his hand around her wrist or any other part of his body.

"Is there some other manner in which I should be staring at you?"

~!**!~

There was this strange sort of moment where as the last of Hiei's words filled her mind, Shikiyoku's lips parted to take in a shallow breath as she stared at the rippling water and every bit of skin above the surface of it tensed and she did not understand why.

Her lips came farther apart as the breath deepened as if she might speak aloud, and her head moved again in his direction to where it almost face him, though not quite, but did not lift at all.

_No reason to hide?_

_...is this deviant form not reason enough?_

"_Perhaps..." _She paused, her eyes closing, "_...I do not wish to __**see **__you see me."_

_These eyes are...so different. _3

Hiei continued to watch Shikiyoku as she turned her head little by little, and while he normally would have been frustrated by now at her behavior, he found that his patience about it had grown exponentially, that he didn't mind the insecurity she voiced, that he almost _felt_ the emotion he could see on her face now.

He took a moment to think, watching her carefully.

"_Are you afraid I will turn you away, Shiki?"_

~!**!~

Akari opened her mouth to respond rather quickly, but no words formed on her tongue, and her mind came up with no real answer. No retort. So, she released a sound in the back of her throat as her lips came together again and she _forced_ herself not to look to the side.

She didn't know why, but the stare was… nerve wracking, in its own way.

Her lips twitched as she tried to think of a response.

When she came up empty yet again, she made the same sound in the back of her throat for the second time. _*****_

Gently, Kurama began to pull her closer, moving the wrist he had backwards towards the wall until she would be forced to follow it or otherwise lose her footing.

His face was not guarded. Not in the slightest. He looked neither concerned nor amused.

He simply...looked. At her.

~!**!~

That same shallow breath, that same split-second of tension, though this time her eyes came open again as well, still half-lidded, still only staring at the water. This time she took note that her core had lurched too, unrelated to the sickness and...strange.

Inwardly, she fought again with her energy, the stuff floating about on the air. It challenged her, tugged at her, wishing to expel more of itself from her body and buffet against the nearby demon in a wave of power. Not with the intent to kill, nor harm him. Only to drive him away. To send him to safety...somewhere else.

As if she could not catch her breath, Shikiyoku's lips stayed parted and she breathed through them.

"_These...eyes are different. I do not..." _She corrected herself, "_I __**cannot **__see you the same as I did before." _There was a hitch, a break in her response, "_Do you not in turn look at me differently too?" _3

The response flew across Hiei's mind, and for a moment even he didn't move. His lips parted as if to say the words, and then came closed again as he continued to stare at her unblinkingly.

_Of course I do._

"_I see a demon in pain."_

_And rightly so. _

He knew pain. Not the same pain she showed now, but he knew it, had channeled it into anger for so long that he hadn't ever really _known_ he'd done so.

"_And I'm not leaving."_

~!**!~

The fingers of the wrist Kurama had hold of twitched as he pulled at her. She refused to move for a few seconds, until not moving would mean falling into him. She took one step forward, eyes still glued to his stare, and then her lips parted.

"Is there a hole yet? You're staring hard enough."

_Finally! A coherent thought!_

"I'll be surprised if there isn't." _*****_

Youko _almost _broke his silence in the moment, _almost _let the thought 'not the hole I want' shimmer across his attention. But his eyes were just as concentrated on Akari as Kurama's were, and the mutual stillness between them did not rupture.

"There's not." He reassured her, now pulling at her arm so that if she did not give in, did not take the step that would place her up against him, or at the very least standing in the space between his knees, she would fall against him anyway.

~!**!~

Her eyes closed once more, but this time her head leaned back against the rocks behind her, and while the thought did not directly form in the bond between them, there was a definite 'hm' in response to his words.

One tinged with amusement. One that lightened and lifted the eyebrows which had until that moment been drawn over her eyes, and while the circles beneath that had not disappeared, her lips flattened out from the frown they had been in. Which was about as close to a smile in that moment as she was going to get.

"_You likely should." _Leave that is. "_Foolish demon." _3

Hiei continued to stare, his eyes roving over the change in Shikiyoku's expression as she leaned her head back against the rocks and the tension alleviated just a little. He felt the slight amusement pass from her to him, and he felt a bit more relief at it.

He scooted a little closer, watching her a bit more keenly as he lowered himself to a calm crouch, one knee against the rock and the other just a few inches from the same surface.

He knew what she meant.

"_No."_

He wasn't going to leave, no matter what she said.

He drew in a long breath, and then he drew closer, watching her reaction carefully, but not closing the distance yet.

~!**!~

"I was so sure," Akari grumbled as he continued to pull at her arm, which she huffed at. The more she talked, the more she hoped her brain would start working and come up with something clever, with something witty to say. Of course, she didn't have much faith in that method.

Because that stare was so….

_I can't even think of a word for __**that**__._

She took the last step forward, deciding she'd rather _not_ fall forward, and she found herself up against him. It had been unavoidable, she realized, but still.

"Whaat?" she complained, that being the only thing her mind came up with. _*****_

He didn't let go of her wrist, and it stayed up near his shoulder, though a sense of satisfaction passed over both he and Youko briefly as she finally complied.

As she stepped forward, before coming against him, Kurama's other arm moved out of the way and circled it behind her, his hand finding the small of her back and resting there, keeping her in place.

One of his eyebrows gave the slightest questioning quirk when her mouth opened the second time.

"You were too far away." Was his simple answer.

For the first time, Kurama noticed that it was almost as if Youko was speaking _through _him, though they said the sentence at precisely the same time.

~!**!~

The darkness did not return, but her face grew tenser and she struggled against a wave of energy that wished to be released, wished to _push_ at him. To keep him safe.

"_Don't..." _She said quickly. "_I..." _Another moment of strain. "_...do not wish to harm you." _3

Hiei's lips pulled down into a scowl as he paused, his eyes still watching her and noting the tenseness that returned to her features. He knew it wasn't as easy as to tell her 'then dont'. but he was at a loss for what to do at the moment.

If he drew nearer, she would likely attack.

If he didn't-

The image of the last time she'd changed flashed across his mind's eye, and while he noted she was not in that same state, he also didn't feel like waiting to see if it came about.

His lips twitched again.

He assessed her very minimal movement.

_She's not as sick._

The thought had a brow twitching. How?

He turned his mind again to her lack of movement, and an idea crept to the forefront of his mind. He blinked once, and then was assessing the distance between himself and Shikiyoku. Measuring the distance he would need to close even with the Jagan, just in case.

And in the next moment, he was on a completely different layer, eyes closed as he focused on the Jagan, picturing the space he needed to cross and very carefully moving forward before he moved through the layers again, the Jagan closing again as his lips touched Shikiyoku's, just as he'd been planning.

Because he didn't want her in that form if she didn't have to be.

~!**!~

Akari blinked slowly up at Kurama. _Seriously? _Another blink, and then she was staring up at him again. Not a thought in her head. She only stood there, watching him the way he'd watched her, as if she'd only just realized something.

Her lips pressed together briefly before parting, and she drew in a small breath.

"You're a pain."

_But dear __**lord**_ _I missed you. __*****_

_[Do it.]_

Kurama's gut wrenched as those two words became repeated over and over by the voice in his head, a voice that was strangely mixed in with and had become his own thoughts.

They both knew what he wanted to do.

...what they both wanted him to do.

Aware of Yomi's ears, Kurama refused the growl that threatened to seethe past his lips, but as it would have voiced across the air, he tipped his face slightly and moved forward, his cheek brushing lightly up against Akari's as he pressed his lips at the back of her jaw, just below her ear.

It almost could not even be considered a kiss, for he pulled back just as soon as his lips hit her skin, back far enough away that she would not feel the snarl his mouth twisted into, but still close enough that she would not _see _it either, his teeth clenched together tightly as he still made no sound.

~!**!~

She knew immediately when Hiei left the hot spring, her senses, which had been so very focused on him, informing her that he no longer crouched nearby.

He was not gone long enough for any sigh of relief or sadness to make it past her lips, for those same senses also told her that he was already moving back at a ridiculous speed.

In the instant before his lips touched hers, Shikiyoku's eyes flew open, their black, abyssal-nothingness realizing what he was doing, but her energy not aware enough to stop it.

_No!_

And then he kissed her.

Any coherent thoughts were crumbled at this oh-so-willing _sacrifice _to her hunger, and her eyes widened briefly as if that would make the process faster.

His energy began pouring out of his mouth and into hers, the dry husk of her skin starting to fill back out as if rehydrated.

But at the same time, the ashen color also started to peel back slowly like a newspaper set on fire, beginning at her lips and restoring them to fullness, ridding her face of the heart-shaped scar, and all the others too, as it spread outwards.

_**No! **_

This time the word was harsher, and with her dexterity already partially restored, Shikiyoku's right arm shot up out of the water and her hand found and clutched at the back of Hiei's neck, trying to pull him closer as if it would increase how quickly his energy poured into her.

As soon the last of her grey skin shimmered away, the feeding stopped immediately, that same hand's hold became less harsh, instead resting where it lay against him, and Shikiyoku's mind went black, forced into a restart. 3

Hiei felt his entire body go stock still, held in place by the pulling of his energy away from his core, up his throat and out his mouth into Shikiyoku's. His eyelids remained closed, and for the most part, he contained his emotions on the matter, not letting his expression change despite the _pain_ of his energy being ripped away.

He could only wait, a hand just barely resting against the stone beneath him when her hand pulled at him a little more, surprisingly not pulling him into the water.

And time seemed to drag, until he was suddenly aware of the lack of force on the back of his neck and the dulling pain, his energy now free to move about his body again as it had before.

Albeit a little sluggishly.

He didn't move, even though he was aware of the ability to do so. His expression remained calm and though his muscles were tense, he kept his surprise and such completely concealed. And as he took stock of himself from the inside out, began to regather himself mentally, he became aware of the mark growing, moving up higher on his neck instead of further down his arm this time.

_It's going to be harder to conceal._

He almost scoffed at that thought. He'd just had his energy siphoned and he still hurt, and the only thought he had was about hiding the mark on his neck?

_Well, I don't actually have to. What's the point in it now?_

His eyes slid open to stare calmly at Shikiyoku as she didn't seem to move either, waiting for her to release him.

~!**!~

_You know, this sucks. _

So many thoughts suddenly passed by Akari's mind as Kurama moved closer, breaking the eye contact as his cheek brushed hers, to which her eyelids slid closed. She knew she'd been doing something before this moment, but she couldn't rightly recall.

Because she couldn't tell what exactly to think of _this_ moment. Where she'd been sure Kurama's lips had touched her skin, but it had been so brief that she could have simply imagined it. And he didn't move away again, which made her wonder if there was something he was preparing to say.

Not that it would go unheard.

_Ugh._

Her eyelids came open again and she took to staring at what she _could_ see of Kurama's face, curious and yet perfectly fine standing like that.

Except she really, _really_ wanted to turn her head and give another kiss on his cheek.

Or, actually-

_Yomi._

_Crap._

And for a moment, she realized she'd begun to fidget.

_Don't move. Stop that. __*****_

It took a good five seconds for Kurama to gather himself. For the snarl to go away.

He didn't move an inch in the meantime.

Once his thoughts were rightly in place, his lips moved the inch they need to in order to get positioned directly in front of her ear, and he started speaking.

"You know..." His voice was low-most definitely not for Yomi's sake-and as he continued, he slowly moved his mouth until it was over the new scar along her jawline and he pressed his lips against the end of it.

"That this..." Another movement up the marking. Another kiss. "Will definitely..."

With each pause he repeated the movement and kiss, "Be getting... taken off...your skin...as soon...as I...can get...the chance." He paused at the other end of the mark, feeling his breath wash warmly over her skin as it also warmed the little distance of air between his lips and the scar.

~!**!~

Her awareness filtering back in as her mind rebooted, Shikiyoku's eyebrows flinched.

There was this pain around her core that she couldn't rightly describe.

Never felt it before.

She did however feel her energy skitter over her skin, over her left arm in fact-the arm that was not circled back behind Hiei's neck. This one must have at some point exited the water and lay on top of the rocks, helping prop her up so as to better kiss him. Or rather, better steal his energy-this time not on the inside, as if her veins buzzed, but along the top of it, sending a shimmer of power down her shoulder and dancing from there to the tips her fingers before winking out of existence.

The arm behind Hiei's neck was still holding her up out of the water just a bit, the hot steam in the air moving across her wet collarbone making her aware of it, and she wasn't sure how he had not as of yet fallen in.

She didn't not move her hand from the back of his neck, but she did relax it, effectively lowering herself back the inch into the water that flexing her arm had pulled herself up out of it.

When she finally found herself with enough sense of mind, she took her lips away from his, but only _just_, so that they were not actually kissing any longer.

Her eyes were still closed, and her eyebrows dipped lower with an expression of deep concern, but she tipped her head so that their foreheads touched.

"_You could have __**died**__," _The words were barely a whisper in the midst of the connection between them, "_Foolish, __**foolish **__man." _3

Hiei still didn't move, a hand braced against the rocks so that he wouldn't fall forward, his knees still placed on the rocks. His stare remained unwavering, fixated on her expression even as her forehead touched his. The Jagan stirred just a little, but otherwise gave no reaction to the contact, or the events that had just occurred.

At Shikiyoku's words, the faintest twitch of his lips almost had him smirking at her. He remembered thinking something extremely similar not too long ago.

His lips settled into the neutral expression again. He didn't have anything to say to her. He could just as easily tell her that he didn't want _her_ dying, he didn't want _her_ to remain in that form long enough for the sickness to ravage at her and push her back to how she'd been before.

But he had a feeling it wouldn't really matter one way or the other.

"_I know." _Slowly, Hiei pulled away, shifting his balance so that he could get his feet underneath himself. Before he stood, he reached out and just touched the top of her head, and then he was standing upright. "_So could you, if the sickness gets worse." _

~!**!~

The first contact of Kurama's lips against her jawline had her eyes widening, and then squeezing shut as her hand twitched out of reflex. And as he continued, his voice very easily distracting her from the thought that had briefly passed, she felt her jaw set and her muscles tense- for a completely different reason than the first.

By the time his lips only hovered over the end of the scar, just over her chin, she had her breath held. _You don't play fair._

And then she realized what each word had meant, what he'd actually been saying, and she released the breath in a small puff of air. A few seconds later and she twitched her head just a little, turning a fraction closer so when she opened her eyes, she could meet his gaze with a smile.

She kept a little under an inch of space between her lips and his, her eyes still fixated on his.

"No." _*****_

Kurama's green gaze had shifted up to her as soon as he sensed her movement, and at her single word, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You seem to think you have a choice in the matter." His voice remained just as low as previously, and he did not otherwise move. "Allow me to make it perfectly clear that you do not get the luxury of 'choice' this time."

~!**!~

As Hiei pulled away, the hand at the back of his neck slipped back into the water, but Shikiyoku didn't otherwise move, the other arm still resting out on the rocks and her cheek laying against the one behind her head.

She had felt relatively fine in the other form. In regards to the sickness.

In fact, as far as that went, she felt better than she ever remembered being. Less...sick.

_Damn you, Kit._

If he was right, and the disease did not kick in until activate by what she heard him call the Crusnik...then she hoped desperately that he never acquired the ability.

The vision of his darkened eyes, his lunge for her throat, sent a shiver down her entire body, one that finally had her head moving, her cheek turning until she had her face towards the water.

And then it was Youko.

...then it was Hiei.

And she knew that it really didn't matter which one of them it was, because at each image, her core wavered inside of her and she could almost _feel _where the pieces of it that were already cracked threatened to come apart.

If one of _them _went, if any single one of them went...she would go too.

That much she felt with certainty. 3

Hiei stood over Shikiyoku for a moment before he turned and slowly began moving towards the other rooms again, his brain no longer seemingly capable of forming any one complete thought. His energy moved slowly through his body, his core feeling extremely _slow_ in the process of pushing the energy around and restoring more.

He glanced back at the fire that swirled over the water, and for the briefest of moments he considered staying here, moving into the water and-

Except.. _water. _

He almost made a face at the surface before turning and continuing on. The fire room would do just as well.

"_You know where I'll be."_

~!**!

Akari's smile disappeared at the look the redhead sent her, and she too narrowed her eyes at him. And like he, she didn't move a single muscle, except for the ones it took to speak.

"And I said _no._" She paused and blinked once at him, a hand reaching up to pat his cheek. "Because I _earned _this one." _*****_

Kurama gave the barest shrug of his shoulder and actually leaned back into the wall a little.

"Say no all you like." He paused to stare at her for a second, "It is not one you get to _keep_."

_Yomi will __**not **__leave a mark on you._

~!**!~

Shikiyoku said nothing, eyes open and staring at the ripples of the surface as they came into her view.

She didn't want him to go...didn't want him to stay either.

But she didn't think he would understand those thoughts, as she hardly understood them herself.

The only thing that _mattered _was that they not die because of _her_.

The screams and chaos of the Northern Tribe moved through her ears, and she could see the fire and the blood.

_She _was the one with the disease.

_She _was the one that had brought the destruction upon them.

And it had cost her...

Douji's broken body lay before her, the marking he wore barely visible through his own blood.

_...It nearly cost me my soul. _3

Hiei shut the door behind himself and kept moving, one slow step at a time. Each step became slower as he felt an inner confliction. And after a moment, he realized he had stopped in the center of the room, eyes closed and ears listening to his surroundings.

_I see a demon in pain._

Right, he'd said that. And as the thought moved across his mind again, a scowl set on his face.

Before he even realized he had backtracked, he was already sliding the door shut behind himself again and was moving for the water, ignoring his apprehension about the substance as he slowly waded in. His eyes watched the flames above the water for a moment before piercing through the haze to look over at the form of the woman across the way.

He moved to the side, deciding he didn't want his back to the door, but he didn't exactly think Shiki would want him next to her either. So when he settled with the water moving around his collarbone, he was a good ways away from her still.

He let his eyelids close.

_Not… too terrible._

~!**!~

Akari knew that if Kurama meant it- and it was clear he did- she really _wouldn't_ get much say in the matter. If he _wanted_ to, he could overpower her in every single way possible.

Except maybe her stubbornness.

Which is what caused the smile to form on her lips again and the step backwards. "Cute." She only just remembered the orange across the room, but really, she didn't want it anymore.

_...someone will eat it. Hopefully. _*****

Kurama loosened his hold on her without completely letting go, even though he had both arms around her waist at this point.

He raised an eyebrow at her, thoughts concealed behind the neutral expression on his face.

"Me?"

~!**!~

He...he came back.

_Are you afraid I will turn you away, Shiki?_

..._yes_.

The question still made her core lurched as if it wanted to drop in her stomach, but at least this time she managed to assess the question instead of just glossing over it because it made her feel too strange to consider.

A desire flitted over her mind, and as she had not found herself with one of those lately, she went on autopilot before she realized she moved and first slowly swam-crawled over to the opposite end of the hot spring, cutting her way through the heavy fog, her head down a little so that it appeared she was just staring down at the water.

When she reached the edge, she stopped directly in front of where she had set down her towel, and slipped one dripping hand up out of the water as if to grab for it, but she hesitated, back to Hiei.

"Hiei..." The thickness of the air made her voice sound even quieter than she made it. Her fingers twitched. "Can I...sit next to you?"

_With you? _3

The heavy air around him was calming, accompanied by the sound of the flames that flowed in the air, moving over the water and actually making him feel as if he might _enjoy_ sitting here. His back touched the rocks, which were almost hot enough to create the feeling of the wall from the fire room against his skin.

Behind his eyelids, he was watching the flames he could smell, hear, and even feel dancing nearby. Yes, he was aware of Shikiyoku moving across the water, but he didn't look to see where she was going or what she was doing.

Not even when he heard his name did he open his eyes.

When had she _ever_ asked? That was new.

With the use of the mental bond that was still intact, he sent a silent nod in her direction- or rather, the impression of one.

~!**!~

Akari's smile widened just a little and she let out a small, breathy laugh. "You? Cute?" She shook her head. "No, _I'm_ cute. And that's why I get away with stuff." By this time, her grin was wide enough to show her teeth. "you're.."

…_.What word would work best?_

Her eyes shifted to the side as she took a second to think. _You're… _

"Too many things to name just _one_ adjective." _*****_

"And cute _isn't _one of them?" The eyebrow came back down and his head tilted just slightly to the side. He didn't _exactly _pout, but he did frown just a little, and it came out to be very nearly the same thing.

~!**!~

_He could have said no._

She went ahead and reached for the towel, passing it over her shoulders so that when she stood up, knee-deep in the hot spring, it hung down her back and she was able to tuck the one end into the other at the front.

_But he didn't._

_And he came back._

Slipping back down into the water and moving in Hiei's direction, she ruefully thought of Meijin's reaction when he found out they had been wearing the towels into the water.

It was untraditional.

_Hiei started it._

When she reached Hiei, she moved in front of and around him and sat back down a few inches to his right, staring into the water as she fiddled with the edge of the towel that hung down over her stomach.

_I'm...sorry. _3

Hiei listened idly to Shikiyoku's movements through the water, his eyes remaining closed and mind still refusing to create a single, complete thought. He felt as if he'd just left some large battle after calling the dragon two or three times. It made his breaths slowly even out, though he didn't fall into sleep. He'd already had a nap in the fire room, so really, while his energy was drained and his mind was blank, his _body_ didn't need the rest near as much.

So he sat there, lowering himself a little further in the water until it was up to his neck, and he went still again. He didn't know what made him do it, but after another beat he felt his mind pass the feeling of reassurance through the bond and to Shikiyoku.

~!**!~

The only answer given to Kurama was the smile on Akari's lips. And then she moved her hands away from his chest and to his arms, patting both briefly in a silent request to be released.

...Not that she didn't _like_ it, but she could feel that her muscles weren't exactly happy with the amount of movement from the day, and she really, _really_ didn't want to stand still long enough for her body to decide she'd had enough. _*****_

Kurama did shift, but it wasn't to let Akari go, and he instead lifted one foot from the floor and bent his knee to place the sole of his shoe on the wall behind him, just for a second pulling Akari closer again so that when he leaned forward to his right, his lips would be near her ear again.

"You're going to wake up one morning...and that scar is going to be gone."

It was at that precise moment the swinging doors flew inward as a demon stepped into the room.

~!**!~

The reassuring warmth Shikiyoku felt flooding her mind did not in fact make things worse. However, it did release this tide of emotions she so far had kept at bay, but as if through the reassurance they had been given permission, she found she could not longer hold them back. And that had her very quickly pulling away from the connection to wrap herself in her own thoughts.

Her arms came up across her chest, each hand beginning to idly finger the places below her shoulders where there had only minutes before been scars, and unbidden tears fell silently in little streams down her cheeks, pooling only for a second at the bottom of her jaw before sending the tiniest droplets into the water beneath her chin. 3

Hiei felt the retreat, and let the connection tether away so that she may have the privacy she desired. A second later, he could smell the salty tears that began to fall, and he let his eyes come open and turn to her briefly before turning forward again, closing once more.

He wanted to ask, but he didn't.

_Why are you crying?_

He only sat there, his entire being aware of her without even needing his direction to be as such.

~!**!~

Akari made a small sound of protest when she was pulled closer again, her hands bracing against his chest all over again as she retained her footing. She let her eyes turn to look at the fox's face as he came closer, and she frowned as he began speaking.

She opened her mouth to reply, but the sound of the doors nearby opening had her entire body going still and her eyelids closing. _Oh joy._

She sighed a long-suffering sigh and let her eyes open again, cutting to the demon who'd entered the room with a blank stare.

The demon, on the other hand, made a sound of annoyance. "As enjoyable as a change of scenery is, the kitchen is about to be full. Get a better room." _*****_

Kurama's expression as he slowly leaned away from Akari, not letting her go in the slightest, gave the distinct impression as he stared at the newcomer of 'do I look like I care?'

"Enjoyable for you? Or for us? Because if it's the first, you're welcome; why _should_ we go anywhere? And if it's the second, I agree, and my most recent question still stands."

~!**!~

Why reassure?

_Nothing is going to be okay._

_I almost __**killed **__you._

And so she cried because...because...

_Because I am tired. Because I am weary, and angry, and-_

And a thousand other forlorn, dejected emotions that left her feeling very alone. And very small, as they started to swallow her up into their darkness.

Her fingers clutched at each opposing arm that they had been up to that point twitching over.

-_and because you nearly __**died**__._

_I can't take it._

_This feeling of helplessness, of a lack of control, of being so fragile..._

She couldn't remember the last time she had actually felt _strong. Powerful. _It had been more than a decade. Since being torn away from Hiei when the portals between worlds were closed.

_...feeling, __**knowing**__, that any moment I could fall apart. And there will be no one left._

As if to emphasize the brokenness, her core gave out a single pulse, a weak one, that set what felt like the pieces of itself shaking, held together only by strands that quavered, threatened to shatter and scatter to the winds like little shards of dusty glass. 3

Hiei listened to the silently crying girl next to him, finding himself, not for the first time, unsure of what to do. He really didn't think reaching out and prodding her would work, since neither of them would really get up and run the way she had with Youko. She was too deep in the mood she'd sunk into, and he wasn't really sure he _could_ get up and move if he wanted.

He shifted a little, sitting up straighter and bringing his shoulders up and out of the water as he did so. He reached a hand out and let his eyes open so he made sure to grab at her arm and tug her towards himself.

_I'm not going anywhere, foolish woman._

~!**!~

_I can't believe this._

Akari fought back the urge to open her mouth, knowing she had _nothing_ to say, and she struggled with the creeping feeling of embarrassment that was trying to pull itself to her features. And at the same time, she felt as if _their_ banter was wearing _her_ out.

_You know what, I can, actually._

It wasn't like he hadn't been displaying a lack of Youko-like comments by _accident_, she assumed.

Which made her make a small noise in the back of her throat.

The demon at the door gave a shrug and moved further into the room, passing by her and Kurama without a second glance. "At _least_ stay out of the way." And as if they'd been called, a few more demons passed through the doors, glancing briefly at Akari, then Kurama, and continuing on without a word.

She prodded at Kurama's chest and pursed her lips at him. _I was ready to leave, you stupid fox. _

Though, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't at least a _little _amused with his intimidation processes. _*****_

Kurama's eyes watched the first demon pass behind Akari, his head following the action until he faced her again, and then his gaze rested on her and those green eyes flashed.

_You're mine._

His ribcage expanded in a silent, resigned sigh.

"Tch." He stayed where he was for a second, as if he had every intention of keeping the two of them right where they were.

_[{I don't share well with others.}]_

_At least, I do not feel like doing so today._

_Not...where she is concerned._

Without saying a word, Kurama picked Akari up in his arms and used her feet to push the doors open to take them out and back into the hallway.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku blinked back at the tears that were falling, letting herself be shifted by the demon, but the sudden realization-remembrance?-that she was not alone, that it was _Hiei _here with her, sent a proverbial steel-door slamming shut on every single thought passing through her mind.

_Not now...not here._

Not next to him. 3

As the fire demon pulled Shikiyoku towards himself, he could positively _feel_ the mental shut-down that stopped the tears so abruptly. His lips turned downward just a little before his expression became neutral again, letting her rest next to him with their shoulders touching.

_You don't have to __**hide.**_

He settled again as well, still watching her briefly before his eyes turned forward once more, watching the fire that danced over the water.

"Were you a fire demon, you would have burned the vicinity by now." _Because holding back is dangerous._

~!**!~

The edges of Akari's eyes twitched, narrowing just slightly at the redhead when he released the single sound. And she made a slight attempt to move away before he scooped her up, but she didn't really get more than an inch away, and her left arm reflexively moved up and over his shoulder, her right hand grabbing his shirt as he carried her from the room.

She watched him with that same stare, and when she spoke it was in a low tone. "What are you _doing?" _

_As __**if**_ _Yomi needs another reason to come up with ideas about manipulating things like this. _

_Are you __**crazy**__? __*****_

"Your knees had grown weak. You are still not entirely well." Kurama made no adjustment to his voice, speaking normally, though it was most assuredly a deliberate intention. "Seeing as how your well-being has been assigned to _my _care, I thought it wiser that we make no hesitation in returning you to your quarters."

His eyes stared straight ahead down the hallway.

"Your recovery is to be as quick as possible, and I will not allow petty interferences."

~!**!~

When their shoulders touched, _where _they touched, a spark as if of static-electricity-though without the jolt that accompanied such a thing-blinked for a moment before skittering down the rest of her arm, under the water and disappearing at the tips of her fingers.

_Were I a fire demon I would not be in this mess in the first place. _

Shikiyoku's eyes slid shut.

_What can I say to make you remove the mark and leave?_

"I could try it." She said as mildly as she could manage. "But I'm fairly certain all I would accomplish is bringing every single demon in the bathhouse upon us." 3

Hiei raised a brow even as his eyelids slid closed again. _Where's the fun if there's no danger?_

Then again, it wouldn't be fun if he wasn't sure he could get her away from the danger.

The thought made his lips twitch and a small sound hum in the back of his throat, slightly amused. She was probably the _only_ demon he'd do what he'd done for.

...And he wasn't really sure _why_ in the first place.

Perhaps it was because he enjoyed her company. Because he'd spent so much of his time _with_ her before the separation. And then he'd spent so much time searching for her that he'd forgotten much of what it felt like _before_ he'd ended up her Champion.

He couldn't imagine running the layers would be the same if she was gone and he was alone again.

Funny how he'd never cared before now.

"It wouldn't do much good."

~!**!~

A sigh left Akari's lips and she shook her head a little. "I can _walk_ just fine." Even if she didn't like the idea of the two flights of stairs, she suddenly felt odd about being carried too. But, knowing he likely wouldn't let her down, she simply let her head rest on his shoulder and her eyes close.

"But you're not going to listen, so I'll deal with it."

_I don't even think I'd make it halfway up the stairs anyway. _

_Not that you'll let me try._

Her lips twitched**;** she had her own personal bodyguard for the time being. And boy did it make a difference. _*****_

Kurama gave Akari a pointed look that said much more than the words he actually spoke.

"It would do neither of us any favors should you hurt yourself trying."

_Yomi listens. _

~!**!~

"What, them coming all the way down here?" She spoke with the same mild tone as before, keeping in careful check the iron cage in her mind behind which her emotions threatened to spill out once more.

She shifted a little until her back rested against the wall of the hot spring behind her, leaning her head just enough that the bottom of her skull found the rocks to rest on as she closed her eyes and continued with, "You're probably right." 3

Hiei didn't respond, his mind wandering away from the little conversation that had begun and to other things. He pictured Shikiyoku how she'd been a few minute ago: covered in scars, skin an ash color, and her head turned away from him. He'd known that she didn't want him there, but really, he hadn't cared.

He remembered how still he'd become once his lips had touched hers, as if he'd been tethered there, like a trap awaiting the simplest of prey. It was a disconcerting thing, to say the least, that one couldn't get away from it of their own accord.

Not that he'd wanted to. He didn't know if his lips had to remain in contact with hers until the change was complete, and he wasn't really willing to test it out.

He pulled his arms from the water and stretched them up and over the rocks, the water running down his arms and to the smooth, warm surface beneath. He let his head fall forward just a little, a deep breath being pulled in through his nostrils.

"You don't have to hide."

He didn't know what pulled the words from his mouth, but that was all he said.

~!**!~

"Yeah, yeah." Akari grumbled, knowing perfectly well what he was saying. She opened her eyes again and peeled her arm away from his shoulder, resting it on her stomach as she watched the demons he carried her by, giving a stare of her own when she was stared at.

_I haven't even done much, and I feel drained. This is stupid. _

She tried to think about what had happened, to pick apart the reason behind her own ability to become tired so easily. But, really, every time she thought about _anything_ that had happened in that room, the image of that thing flashed across her mind's eye, and she'd retreat from the thoughts just as quickly as before. _*****_

Kurama could just _feel _Yomi's ears turned in their direction, and unfortunately it led to him taking a longer route than the one that went straight back to her room...and had him stopping in front of the room that had been reserved for her and Takeo.

He said nothing, giving Akari a look that meant she was to stay quiet as he very carefully put her down against the wall next to the door.

_Wait here._

He slipped through the door and into the room, opening it only wide enough for him to enter and closing it behind him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stayed very still, waiting. Patient.

It was easy to give him an answer.

"I don't think it would do me much good. At that point, they'd likely all be able to spot me without even trying." 3

Hiei didn't reply, because he was sure she wasn't going to let whatever was on her mind be free. Not with him, it seemed. Because she cried around the others, but since that first day, she had been refusing to do so with him.

It was…

He didn't know what to think about it. He didn't know what to think about a lot.

Then again, his thinking capabilities were at a standstill at the moment anyway.

He let it go.

~!**!~

When Kurama rounded the corner, she knew _exactly_ where he was going, and she clenched her jaw together. _No. No, no, nope, no. _When he stopped at the door and set her down, she took a step away from him, just in case he wanted to pull her inside anyway. _I refuse._

When he slipped inside, not urging her to come with, however, her muscles relaxed just a fraction, her eyes taking to looking around the area.

She'd dreamed of Kyu being here. Telling her not to be here. Telling her he didn't _want_ her to go inside, that she _shouldn't_. And really, she knew that it was just her subconscious telling her what she'd already known**: **going in there wasn't something she wanted to do. Something she didn't plan on doing.

She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped closer to the wall, leaning against it. _I hope he understands I'm not going in there without a fight. _

Because with the fox, there was _always_ a reason behind what he did. And she had a feeling this one involved her.

_Not. Happening. __*****_

If Kurama had nothing to show for the extraneous time spent with Akari, there would be trouble.

Luckily, it appeared as though the plants he had set to take over the room were doing their job.

He had told Yomi they would need a few days before he could really do anything with them.

As he walked forward into the near-jungle he was reminded of the contest in the mansion what seemed like many, many _years _ago at this point. The one in which he gambled for everyone's souls. This was rather similar to that.

The blooms at his feet lit up as he moved, the petaled flowers lining either side of the pathway unfurling to release light as he stepped silently through the foliage below, only to curl back up again and grow dark once he passed.

_The ones by the door did not bloom when I entered._

_It will still need another day._

Kurama stopped and reached out to his left, a plant shifting until it rested on his fingers as he watched it.

He tapped the underside of it and the thing appeared to shiver with delight.

Releasing energy into it, he tested the creation.

"Hm. One more day. Then we can begin."

Kurama's lips quirked a little, almost smiling.

The plant sounded _exactly _like him.

He turned to leave.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku only just realized his shoulder had moved, but she did not turn her head to search for it, unaware of when it left her.

She closed her eyes, taking stock of the hot water that lapped gently at the exposed skin around her shoulders and the heavy air that move sluggishly around them.

"I guess..." She murmured, "This wasn't a terrible idea after all." 3

Hiei didn't move aside from the motions of his chest each breath made, his eyelids still closed and chin still lowered just a little. With the way his head was tilted, he could smell the water, the steam and such rising from it, overpowering the very slight smell of the fire he could feel and hear moving over the calm surface a good ways away.

And he didn't mind it, oddly. In fact, he felt just as relaxed as he had when in the fire room.

So, when Shikiyoku spoke up, he gave a small sound of agreement.

~!**!~

Akari considered the distance from this spot to her room, eyes pointed down the hall as if she could see a string leading her in the right direction. She considered moving for it, considered beginning the rest of the walk back, but he'd asked her to wait.

So she continued to wait, despite the crawling of her skin and the pit in her stomach.

She considered sitting, but decided against that too. It would mean an extra second standing there when Kurama got back, and the less time she spent here, the better she would feel about it. _*****_

When Kurama exited the room, he pulled the door shut behind him and stood for a moment with his hand on the knob still, eyes closing as he listened.

No rustling of the plant life within, no indication that there was any growth occurring whatsoever.

Yomi would attribute it to Kurama's steady hand and silent work.

Kurama knew there were plants seeping roots just far enough into the walls to make the area soundproof.

_Except for what is told to go through._

_Namely the Speakers' noise._

Satisfied, Kurama turned to Akari and gave her what was likely the first _actual _smile he let show on his lips since she left him, moving slower this time to give her more warning as he went to pick her up.

~!**!~

"I _am _sorry, by the way." Shikiyoku gave a little sigh of impertinence, giving Hiei the slightest of side-ways glances to indicate his current state of being. "...but I _did _warn you not to come any closer." At that she went ahead and looked at him, wry smirk on her face. 3

Hiei's eyes came open and he lifted his head just a little to look over at Shikiyoku, expression blank but eyes glinting with amusement. "And I ignored you." He saw no reason for her apology. In fact, it had put him _here_, actually enjoying the substance he generally hated.

The thought had his eyes turning to look at the water, a bit of distaste forming just a little as he became aware of its touch on his skin, of the way the towel around his waist moved just slightly.

He focused on the flames nearby, and his eyes turned to Shikiyoku again. The feeling of the water moving against him was ignored all over again and he became more aware of the temperature of the area.

_Meant for fire demons._

"Not bad." he said, his lips twitching before he turned his head away again and let his eyes close.*

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	102. Episode 186

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Things have been pretty hectic for me lately, doing lots of auditioning, as well as CM, who is working her butt off at her job. We always try and write when we find the time, though currently such times are infrequent in nature. I make no promises about reaching any sort of consistent posting schedule, but I might actually attempt to post a new chapter once a week now that I've finished with the busier of my existence for the moment, likely around the time this one is going up. We'll see.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

In the midst of his first experience in a fire room at the bath house on the Seventh Layer of Demon World,  
Hiei comes to himself to realize that out in the hot springs of their private space,  
Shikiyoku has switched forms in reaction to her nightmares.

Approaching her cautiously,  
he finds that she is rather coherent in spite of her form,  
one that typically sent her into a feeding frenzy.

When he asks her to look towards him,  
his intention to change her back, afraid of her losing her mind,  
she is hesitant, keenly aware of each scar and how marring they are of her appearance.

Patiently, Hiei comes to realize she is afraid he will leave her.

When he attempts to come close enough to kiss her,  
she struggles to resist feeding upon him,  
thankful that she is weakened from not having fed in a long time.

Using the Jagan, Hiei shifts between the layers and back,  
kissing her before she could have a chance to react.

Almost immediately, she begins to draw energy from him,  
steadily growing stronger even as his desire to change her to normal sweeps over her.

As she switches forms beneath his lips,  
Hiei's Consort mark extends over his arm  
in direct response to his actions in regards to her.

Admonishing him that he could have died as soon as she awoke,  
Hiei's only reply is that she could as well should she stay in that form too long.

Now in her right mind, Shikiyoku realizes Kitoushi must have drawn some of the disease from her,  
and she is overcome by guilt, thoughts turning to Douji and the destruction she brought upon his tribe.

While at first he moved to leave her and return to the fire room,  
Hiei senses her inner turmoil and slips into the hot springs nearby,  
Shikiyoku asking if she could move closer.

While Hiei attempts to reassure her telepathically,  
that his move to change her back had been of his own volition,  
Shikiyoku begins to silently weep out of weariness and dejection at her situation.

Unsure what to do, Hiei pulls her closer to his side,  
and in response Shikiyoku manages to pull her thoughts back together,  
not wanting to burden Hiei with her troubled mind.

As they begin a distracted banter,  
Hiei reflects upon how much he has changed,  
and how much he has come to care for the she-demon at his side.

He knows she is hiding her emotions from him,  
but has had too much of his energy drained to push the subject.

He admits to her that the water is "not bad."

~!**!~

In one of the kitchen's at Yomi's compound,  
Kurama takes a slice of orange Akari was eating  
directly from her hand.

While she meant to "wipe off" onto him the place where his lips had touched her palm in the gesture,  
Kurama simply grasps her wrist and when she struggles to release herself, he pulls her closer.

Unbeknownst to Akari, it is not only Kurama staring at her,  
but Youko is simultaneously joined in the effort as well,  
drawing her up against the avatar and holding her closely.

Resisting both himself and the kitsune within,  
Kurama only brushes his lips against Akari's cheek at first,  
beginning to kiss the new scar she sported on her cheek from her training,  
and telling her it would be going away as soon as he got the chance to remove it.

Their intimate moment is interrupted by another demon entering the kitchen,  
and though said demon informs them the area is about to fill,  
Kurama insists he does not care,  
though he picks Akari up and carries her out anyway.

He makes a stop by the room in which Akari had killed Takeo, her trainer,  
and the plants within it will need one more day before they are ready.

It is one of the plants itself that speaks of it, however, and in Kurama's own voice.

* * *

Akari nearly jumped when the door opened, her eyes shifting to Kurama as he shut it behind himself and stood there for a moment. She raised a brow, curious, but not daring to ask in case he decided to drag her inside anyway. By the time he had opened his eyes to look at her, her expression was void of anything but calm waiting.

She did eye the smile he gave, though, and her muscles relaxed all at once. _Not dragging me in there. Good._

When he moved forward to pick her up this time, she didn't hesitate to wrap her arm behind his neck, her left hand resting on his opposite shoulder. She didn't protest, because she was just _relieved_ he didn't want her in the room.

Not yet.

_Shut up!_

She figured Yomi was still listening, so she let the sigh she gave drag on a little longer than it would have normally been. She let her eyelids close after a moment, deciding not to actually say anything. _*****_

"What do you wish to do with your last free day to yourself? We have until tomorrow evening. Or thereabouts." Kurama glanced down at Akari as he continued walking.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku scoffed as if he'd said the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, of _course _it's not bad." She resisted letting out a long 'duuuuh,' though it was heavily implied. "It was _meant _for fire demons, after all."

She let the elbow near his side nudge into him to emphasize the statement, this out-of-place playfulness briefly scattering the frown over her brow. 3

Hiei let out a breath of amusement at the air around Shikiyoku, one that heavily implied a sarcastic remark that she didn't verbally give. Or, something similar, at least. His eyes remained closed and his head fell a little further down as he relaxed even _more_.

He _thought_ he opened his mouth to say something, but really his lips didn't even twitch.

It was getting a little harder to stay awake.

~!**!~

Akari frowned up at Kurama, her eyelids opening quickly at his words so she could turn a stare up at him. _Tomorrow? _The frown deepened into a scowl, her lips pressing together in a thin line. And for a few moments, that was the only answer she gave him.

And then she turned her eyes to the side and actually began _thinking_ of things to do. She didn't want to go to the gardens. She didn't have the energy to simply meander about, and she didn't want Kurama carrying her around aimlessly.

Her eyes closed again and she took a deep breath.

"Nothing in particular." _*****_

"Then I might suggest rest?" He paused in place, then shifted his feet in another direction, one that might lead them back more quickly to her room.

~!**!~

She had turned back to the front, shifting a little in such a way that brought more of her up out of the water, her back flattening against the rocks as she adopted a position with less slouch.

Her ear twitched at Hiei's lethargic movement.

"Sleep, fire-prince." Shikiyoku murmured quietly as her own eyelids closed, her voice only barely spanning the space between them.

"_You will not drown with me." _Her words were simple, calm. "_I would not let you." _3

The smallest breath left Hiei's nostrils in both acknowledgement of her words, and amusement at the prospect. And even as he did begin to drift into sleep, his entire being remained aware of where he was. At least, in regards to the hot spring.

That didn't mean that he was aware of the way his head tilted to the side, towards Shikiyoku until it rested atop her head.

And he let out the smallest breath in satisfaction.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small shrug. "Probably better than running around." _Not that I could do running of any sort. _She almost felt a smile lift the corners of her lips at the thought. Almost.

_You know, a bath might help the muscles._

She pursed her lips together a little in consideration. _And if you can't move after?_

_Best not to try. __*****_

Kurama turned the last corner and made his way down towards her room.

"Any other complaints besides the stiff muscles?" He let them into her door, but did not put her down, pulling the door shut behind them with the toe of his foot.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku hadn't particularly been expecting his head to press into her own, suddenly growing heavier as he drifted off into sleep.

Even less so her own reaction to it, the sudden longing to gather him into _her _arms for once, and let him rest against _her_.

She let out a little breath as the contact between them sent more sparkles of energy skittering this time down her wet hair.

She could live with this, for however long he needed. It was her fault he felt this way after all.

The only 'protest' she had was the way her veins started buzzing, warming her skin in ways that the hot spring never could. 3

As darkness washed over Hiei, some part of him seemed to feel as if he was moving, gently swaying back and forth even if there was no reason for him to feel he was doing as such. It didn't seem to bother him, didn't seem to stir his consciousness in the least bit.

And while he slept, that was the only thing he became aware of. No dreams, nothing.

~!**!~

"Hm?" She hadn't been paying attention. "Oh," Akari's eyes came open and she glanced up. "Not really. Sore muscles, lethargy." _Weird dreams. Hallucinations. _She shrugged. "Nothing I haven't dealt with before, and nothing that won't pass after another day." _Like I'm going to tell you I see dead people wandering the halls and in my dreams. __*****_

Kurama made his way over to her bed as she talked, gently putting her down.

"Those are fairly easily remedied." As he turned and walked towards the bathroom, slipping the coat off of his shoulders and resting it over the back of a chair he passed, he went on, "I will draw you up a bath."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku did not actually voice the noise of consternation she wanted to release from her throat, but it mentally echoed across the recesses of her own mind.

The longer she sat there, the more her energy buzzed along her skin, practically setting it aglow, and the portion of her hair out of the water had long-since dried, her scalp tingling as it sent free into the air more of that same energy, but as a scent and invisible to all but the highest of trained eyes.

_He's not even awake! Bloody hell._

She knew Hiei was the source of whatever was going on, but she hadn't the faintest idea as to why, but she did not want to move and wake him, so she stayed very still, only blowing a puff of air upwards when a strand of hair fell into her face.

Where in pain-form her energy had filled the private hot springs with a mucky, sickening, almost sticky haze, this time her power mixed in with the fog to give it a soft yellow glow almost imperceptible from the light cast by the flames that swirled and licked along the surface of the water. And where before the haze would have driven any demon in their right mind in the other direction, this time it would have beckoned them closer to her, and even _she _could feel how inviting the area around her had become.

Shikiyoku's eyes flicked upwards briefly as if she would be able to see him, feeling more silent sparks of energy flit between where his head contacted hers.

_Dammit. _3

Blissful darkness. The occasional sway. And, after a few moments, an odd color seemed to fill his mind, replacing the darkness with a calm, peaceful glow of yellow. Serene, inviting him deeper into sleep.

Hiei's lips parted to release a very small breath of content, and after they remained open so that he may breathe from his mouth instead of his nose, which stirred a few strands of Shikiyoku's hair here and there.

~!**!~

Once she was set down, Akari shifted so that her back was against the wall where a headboard would normally be, her eyes following Kurama as he promptly turned to move away. She raised a brow as he spoke, noting the direction he was going.

She didn't protest, but she did purse her lips at him. _Why can't you just sit down and stop worrying? __*****_

Kurama had his sleeves rolled up, was crouched down near the floor and had left the bathroom door behind him opened. He absently swirled the tips of his fingers around in the water that was just beginning to crawl up the edge of the tub from the faucet, as his other hand rested near his bent knee.

_[Mm.]_

Youko didn't have to say anything. Kurama knew exactly how long it had been since the fox had taken a bath, seeing as how Youko was broadcasting the information for him.

_{You are __**not **__taking a bath with her.}_

_[I never said it had to be __**me**__.]_

_{It was heavily implied.}_

_[Well, I mean, look, it's not like there wouldn't be room enough for both of us.]_

_{We're __**not **__taking a bath with her.}_

_[You're no fun.]_

Kurama managed to stifle a laugh, only smiling a little as he stared at the water, bits of steam beginning to rise from it here and there.

He reached up and over the edge with the hand not keeping track of the temperature and as he passed his hand in front of him, over the water, powder scattered onto the rippling surface.

Youko was pouting.

_[You didn't put any Byunine in there.]_

_{That's because Byunine is a potent aphrodisiac.}_

_[And?]_

_{And that has nothing to do with what this bath is for. We're trying to __**cure **__her.}_

_[That would cure plenty of things. Would make her feel better too.]_

_{You're hopeless.}_

_[No, actually I would say I'm fairly hope__**ful**_ _given the circumstances.]_

~!**!~

_It's hopeless. _Shikiyoku decided, working her jaw around a little.

Ever since the fire demon had fallen asleep, she had been sitting there-for who knows how long at this point-trying to figure out what _exactly _was going on.

She considered herself to have a fairly tight reign on her powers at this point. Ever since breaking her mother's mesmer, it had been as if her capacity, her skill for micro-managing every filament of her power, had steadily increased.

And once Kitoushi changed her back, it was as if perhaps in spite of her dual capabilities she found she could adjust each nuance, fine-tune her control to the utmost of efficiency.

...except where _he _was concerned.

And she hadn't the faintest idea as to _why._

Everything _felt _normal upon inspection, save for the fact that her core was swirling madly around in her chest and her cheeks and ears were flushed with a heat unrelated to the Crimson Pool.

_Hopeless. _She repeated, as if that were going to make anything better. She might have been referring to herself at that point, however. She wasn't precisely sure. 3

The golden glow seemed to brighten a little, cheery and inviting. Curious. It swirled calmly in and around the darkness of the sleeping world, calmly coiling around and around, swirling in intricate patterns that seemed to leave an impression wherever they went. And for a while, the patterns were simple swirls and curls, dancing around and around. But occasionally, a heart would form, and from it the curls would grow until it overtook the heart entirely, turning it into a mass image of swirling decorations that were easily recognizable.

And the weirdest feeling registered in the back of Hiei's mind, pulling at his consciousness. The color began to dim like a candle slowly going out, or perhaps slowly moving away from him, until he was left with the darkness behind his lids and the sound of fire dancing in the air, of water moving around him gently.

His nose twitched just a little as something tickled at it, and he was moving away from it, lifting his head from the odd position and a hand lifting, peeling away from the rock it had been resting on to rub at his nose.

His eyes opened and he realized he was staring down at Shikiyoku's hair, and the air around her was… odd. Amusing, when he realized she was brooding over something or another.

~!**!~

Akari stared at the open door to the bathroom, listening to the sound of the running water. Even from here, she could feel the air in that room thickening with the steam that was being produced, that was rolling from the water.

Now that the water was actually running, she wondered why she hadn't decided to take a bath sooner. Or why she waited until she didn't have much of a choice before agreeing to it. It wasn't like she'd had the chance to have one since she'd arrived**;** Takeo had hardly given her time to have even the shortest of showers when necessary.

And the enticing thought of the hot water had her up and moving for the dresser, pulling a random drawer open and rifling through the different articles of clothing. Most of it she wouldn't wear, simply because of the long sleeves or the thin material.

By the time she had pulled out a couple of materials, the drawer was a mess.

Which meant she _had_ to fix it again. So she did, neatly folding each shirt, each pair of pants, each article in a neat, wrinkle-less pile divided as it had been. And then she slid the drawer shut, pleased to meet no resistance for out-standing materials. _*****_

Kurama walked out of the bathroom, both sleeves rolled up above his elbows, and paused for a moment to watch Akari, folding his arms over his chest with a gleam of amusement in his eyes when he realized what she was doing.

Bits of steam were playing along the air behind him, coming from the surface of the bath, and he hadn't turned off the water yet so the splashing and filing of the tub still made a great deal of noise.

The back of his hair was sticking to his neck though.

"All better?" He asked when she shut the drawer.

~!**!~

_Oh thank the Kamis._

Shikiyoku almost accented her relief with a sigh, but at the very least the pent-up tension across her shoulders faded.

Needless to say, she was immediately aware of the moment that Hiei lifted from her, and she pulled at her energy, drawing it inwards and after a moment starting to shift around as if to move away. 3

Hiei noted the instant Shikiyoku relaxed and his eyes gleamed for a moment in amusement. He drew further away just as she shifted around, a hand still rubbing at his face a little where he could feel a spot on his temple that was a little sensitive. _Probably from resting like that._

He let her shift away, even shifted away himself as he pulled his other arm away from the rocks as well.

"Uncomfortable?" He grumbled, still sleepy, as he shifted to move towards the way he'd waded in.

He was getting tired of the water.

~!**!~

Akari hadn't heard him move from the bathroom, so when Kurama spoke up, she gave a little jolt of surprise and glanced over her shoulder at him, blinking twice before releasing a breath. "About the drawer? Yes." She turned to face him, pausing for a moment as she eyed him.

Standing there, watching her with amusement.

…

She shrugged at him and moved for the bathroom, turning so she could pass by him. "You're in the way." _*****_

"Ah," He took a slight step so that she could more easily get by, "My pardons." He gestured a hand in the direction she was already headed, "The bath awaits whenever you are ready, your majesty."

~!**!~

As soon as he spoke, Shikiyoku froze in place, still trying to reel her energy back in, her stomach clenching.

She hadn't thought he was _awake_.

"No." She said quickly, turning to look at him. _Not physically anyway. That part was fine. _Her eyes scanned the fog around him, which parted as he moved through it.

...maybe he...didn't notice how extensively her energy had filled the area. 3

"Hn."

Hiei kept moving, not glancing back at her as he waded out of the hot spring. And the moment his feet touched the rock, his energy fluctuated, pulsating around him in three short bursts until even the towel was dry.

Another short scratch at his face and he was continuing on, sliding the door open to the front room.

"Neither was I."

~!**!~

Akari paused just before passing by him entirely and turned a stare onto Kurama, frowning. "None of that." _I don't like that. _Her eyes narrowed a fraction before she continued, brushing by him and into the bathroom. She turned, a hand on the handle of the door and pushing it closed.

"Stupid fox." _*****_

"Whatever you say, beautiful." Kurama replied mildly, calling through the door. "You're not allowed to drown, by the way. Yomi wouldn't be happy about that."

Kurama moved towards her bed and lay back down on top of it, leaning his head against the wall and putting his hands behind his neck to help prop it up.

~!**!~

Still staring after him, still sort of halfway to standing in the water, Shikiyoku froze again.

_Anything _else she had been going to say shot out of her mind, and if Hiei hadn't noticed her energy on the air up to that point, there was little in the way of missing the fluxuation that rolled through what was already on the air.

Had she been Kit, her ears would have laid back flat against her skull in an expression of almost fearful expectancy as she blinked, trying very hard not to even _breathe _too loudly. 3

Hiei didn't so much as even pause when the pulse went through the air, causing a scent to fly past his nostrils and thicken around him. A scent he'd already noted on the air. His lips turned up in a sneer as he slid the door shut behind himself, completely amused by the reaction he'd received from the woman.

_Hn. _

He stood at the door for a whole minute before moving for his clothes.

He was done with the fire room and the hot spring for now.

~!**!~

Akari shut the door calmly and huffed at it when she heard Kurama's response, not even giving a reply of her own as she turned away and tossed the new outfit on the counter near the sink, where she'd be able to reach it later.

With a wince of discomfort here and there, she peeled her clothes away and set her eyes on the still-running water, watching the ripples for a second before very carefully lifting one leg over the sides, then the other, and lowering herself in the hot water.

And as she lowered herself until the water touched her chin, she let out the longest sigh of relief she'd issued in a while. She didn't even care if her hair swirled around her in the water.

She lazily turned the faucet off with a foot and sunk just a little further in the water, eyes closing.

_This feels absolutely wonderful. __*****_

Kurama let his eyes close when Akari did not say anything else, starting to go through the list of things in his mind.

_No word on Shikiyoku yet._

_I wonder what Yomi will have in store for me if he discovers she was Toriko, and is the same Shikiyoku he knew Youko was Champion for._

_[You think he has not already made that connection?]_

_{I think for now we could still consider it a possibility.}_

_[And how many demons by the name of Shikiyoku do you know?]_

_{The same number as you.}_

_[Even if he doesn't scheme some way to fold Shikiyoku into his plans, he is not likely to let someone __**else **__have her.]_

_{Funny. Sounds a lot like you.}_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a quick breath from her lips when Hiei did not pause and stood the rest of the way up, a hand reaching for where the ends of the towel were tucked together at the middle of her chest.

In another breath, she had her energy unwoven from the fog and steam and was moving in much the same direction as Hiei, the yellow glow getting pulled back into her as she stepped up out of the pool and for the sliding door in front of her.

While any fire demon could _dry _themselves, there were a few reckless souls that might accompany them and could _not_, and might not wish for the demon to dry them off by the end of the visit, either via energy or otherwise.

_Heh._

Paying little attention to the room they had first entered-truthfully Shikiyoku expected Hiei to have gone back into the room of fire-she dripped across the floor just past where the closet stood open still with the shelves of towels, pressed her palm against the blackish red-marbled wall, and was rewarded with the wall sliding to the right so that she could step into the little room beyond it, the wall sliding closed behind her. 3

Hiei had already dressed halfway before he heard the door slide open, his hand pausing only briefly in its reach for his cloak as he listened to the sounds of wet footsteps moving across the room. Undeterred and, quite frankly, uncaring, he let his fingers grab at the cloak, pausing again when his eyes saw the mark on his arm was longer than earlier.

He stood upright, cloak in hand, and took to eyeing the marking that was almost to his wrist- a rather large addition compared to before. His eyes moved from the swirls on his arm to the markings on his torso, which had spread further even there as well. It disappeared below the waistline of his pants and curled towards the right, taking over more than half of his torso now.

_I don't remember it growing like this._

When was the last time he'd looked at it though?

….

Just that once, he supposed.

_Hm._

His eyes moved to his left shoulder, and he blinked when he realized the same dark swirls disappeared over the joint there too.

He was suddenly glancing around the room, noting the closing portion of the wall but dismissing it entirely as he searched for a mirror.

~!**!~

Another long, deep breath sent the water near her lips quivering and rippling away from her face. Every muscle seemed to expand and relax within the heat of the water, every pain and ache dissolving after a few minutes.

It took a lot for Akari to open her eyes and pull herself up to rest her back against the tub and rest her arms along the sides of it. She let her head rest back as well, eyes staring at the ceiling for a few moments before they slid close again.

The air seemed to grow thicker, heavier, and her with each breath she found herself relaxing more and more until the darkness behind her lids became that of light sleep.

She floated in that darkness for a minute or two before it dissolved and gave way to another dream, just like the last. Except even as she stood by the door of the bathroom, she found she didn't really want to leave the room. It was so warm and quiet and peaceful.

Her head turned towards the wall to her left, catching the lack of reflection in the mirror that hung there and making her smile a wry, twisted smile. _Still ghost like. Same dream, different circumstances._

Despite her earlier reluctance to leave the room, she moved through the door and into the bedroom, glanced briefly at Kurama, and then moved out the bedroom door, turning and moving the same way she'd gone the first time. _*****_

Kurama's thoughts had lulled, his internal timer set to pull him back to the present to retrieve Akari if necessary.

It wasn't wise to stay _too _long in the bath he had drawn for her.

But she still had a few minutes left.

Even in the peacefulness of his mind, he still turned over situation after situation, answer after answer to the circumstances he found himself in, and they all ended up revolving back to the same phrase.

_Yomi expects you to betray them._

~!**!~

When the door slid silently back open a few moments later and Shikiyoku stepped back out into the room, she appeared entirely dry, even the towel that she had repositioned about herself.

She caught Hiei looking around for something and stopped right outside the drying room as the wall closed behind her, a single hand on her hip and all her weight resting on that same leg.

She pointed a finger of her other hand up at the ceiling.

"But I don't think it's going to help you much." 3

Hiei heard the sliding door, but didn't think anything of it, didn't look in Shikiyoku's direction until she spoke. And when he did turn to face her, he noted the finger pointing directly up, and his eyes followed. He blinked at the large overhead mirror**;** how ridiculous it was to be on the ceiling.

He stared at his reflection for a minute, eyes following the markings he saw moving over his shoulder and to his shoulder blades, but he couldn't tell how _far_ it spanned from such a ridiculous angle.

_Lay on the floor?_

And look like a total fool, trying to crane his head around so he'd be able to see up and over his own back.

_Jagan._

What a waste of energy, though. It wouldn't be happy with the simple thirty-second usage of its power.

….He'd just have to wait.

~!**!~

Akari moved through the halls, passing the room where she'd previously seen Kyu and continuing down a few flights of stairs. Demons moved in every which way, some with papers in their hands, some with weapons at their sides, and some clad in noisy armor. Satchi was among them, moving by with his eyes ahead and shoulders back, chest out.

"Idiot." she grumbled at him as she passed, continuing down one more flight of stairs and into the large dining hall.

She wasn't surprised to see Yomi at the table, plate in front of him and a maid to the side, a waiter moving by her for something he'd requested. Or ordered. Whatever.

She moved around to the far side of the table and turned to face him, noting the small pause he gave and tilting her head as if she thought he'd look at her. He instead turned to the demon who entered the room and gave a scowl.

"This better be important."

She left the room before the demon went on, going through another set of doors and into the busy kitchen filled with demons cleaning up their messes, plates scattered along one counter for their own meals. The smells were wonderful, but only for a moment before she felt her stomach drop and her nose wrinkle.

It was almost sickening now.

She left that room rather quickly as well and went back up another flight of stairs, roaming the fourth floor aimlessly, even humming a little to distract herself from the twisted knot in her stomach the kitchen had created. _*****_

Kurama eyes slid open and his feet hit the floor as he stood up.

_Time's up._

Granted, he hadn't told her that part.

He made his way over to the door and knocked.

"Akari? You should get out now. It's best not to soak in there for too long."

He waited a beat, not even hearing so much as a slosh of water.

"Akari, if you make me come in, Youko's going to be overly excited about it."

_[Hey!]_

When there was no answer _that _time, Kurama slipped his fingers over the doorknob and turned, letting himself inside and calmly reaching for a towel.

_She __**would **__fall asleep._

_[She was already fairly tired.]_

_{Defending her?}_

_[Of course not.]_

_Hmph._

His sleeves still rolled up, Kurama made no hesitation in kneeling next to the tub and attempting to peer into Akari's face, reaching up to brush a few strands of her hair that had plastered down her cheeks back with the rest of their brethren.

"Akari..." Kurama called to her quietly, towel in the other hand as he waited for another moment, watching his fingers peel back the bits of hair.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku almost let out a puff of amusement as she lowered her hand once he glanced up.

The fire demon likely had no concept of _why _the entire ceiling was a mirror, and neither, as she had said, was it going to serve _his _immediate purpose for it.

She started walking towards him, left hand dropping from her waist to swing at her side as half-presented the other hand in his direction.

"I could...give you an image. In a manner of speaking." She stopped just short of him. "If you like." 3

Hiei frowned up at the mirror and turned his gaze away from it, turning his eyes to Shikiyoku as he heard her begin to move towards him. When she held her hand out in his direction, he raised a brow curiously at her and gave a small considering glance at her hand again.

When his eyes flickered back up to hers, he nodded once, genuinely curious.

~!**!~

"_Akari…."_

She paused in the middle of the hallway and looked around, searching for the person who'd called to her. There was more being said, she knew, but she couldn't quite catch it, the words nothing more than a mumble in her ears, as if she had cotton in them.

Then it stopped, and she frowned. She continued walking, this time moving in the direction she'd come and towards where she knew she'd been sleeping.

"_Akari…"_

Her brows furrowed and she began moving faster, confused. It was definitely Kurama's voice, now that she had been listening for it. "I'm comin', I'm comin'."

_Wha-at?_

She slowed her pace as she hit the last staircase, slowing from a jog to a walk halfway up and calmly following the direction her feet seemed desperate for her to move in.

"_Akari."_

"Be patient, fox."

"Dog."

She kept moving, undeterred by the different voice, by the different addressing of her. "What? I'm busy."

"Not going to look at the one you killed?"

Akari shrugged as she kept moving, the being following her up the stairs. "I've killed a few, why would you matter?"

"Because you should've followed me."

That had her pausing a few feet from the door, turning to look at Takeo with wide eyes. His lips were in a wide, sardonic grin and his dim eyes flashed at her. Where she knew there should have been a gaping hole in his chest, there was only the outfit he'd been wearing the day he died.

It took an extra second to gather herself and close her eyes. _Just dreaming._

And when her eyes came open this time, she was in the bathroom, a finger just touching her cheek and her hair moving. She reacted, hand closest to the person who'd intruded quickly slapping the other's away, her knees coming up and sending water in every which way while her other arm took to covering her.

"Get _out!_" she growled as her eyes landed on Kurama. "_Now._" Every single nerve was shot, and this definitely didn't help. _*****_

His eyes had not once left her face, though he doubted she would even bother to notice, and it should have been commended, really, considering the kitsune leering at him in his own head.

"No." He said simply, staring into her eyes. "Not until you tell me where you've been. You were barely pulling enough air in to be considered _sleeping_, much less _alive,_ and your heart rate had, for lack of better term, stopped. And this is not the first time. So, unless you've suddenly gone to the trouble of learning a meditation deep enough to make yourself appear _dead _in the time since we were last together, I suggest you tell me _where you've been_." The last three words were much harsher, stone cold and icy, than the rest of it which up until that point could have been considered statements of fact.

And he _still _did not look away from her face.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stepped up to him once he nodded, wondering momentarily when he'd gotten so _tall_ because weren't they the same height not all that long ago?

_It's been over a decade for you, Shiki. Isn't he allowed to grow? He's still young after all._

Shiki? When had she started calling herself that?

Her hand lifted from where she offered it, turning so she could place her palm at the heart-shaped mark etched in thin, black ink directly over his core.

When she completely the gesture, pressing her hand against his warm, smooth skin, she could feel the steady beating of his core under her palm, the source of his power, and she found herself standing there with the barest hint of a smile on her features.

It only took a second before the tattoo beneath her hand started to glow a golden-yellow color, somehow brilliant and yet soft at the same time.

The lighting spiraled outwards from there, setting his entire left side aglow, and while Shikiyoku had always been able to tell the size of the marking, she noted how much _longer _it took to get the entire thing lit up this time, even if the whole process took nothing more than a second.

In her mind's eye, she could see exactly where each spiral lay across his skin, but now those swirls were yellow instead of black.

The smile from before grew a little.

_It __**is**_ _a rather handsome Marking. _3

Hiei's eyes followed her hand until it touched his skin, where he felt the warmth of the glow begin underneath her palm and spread in every which direction. Up to his shoulder, down his arm and torso, right towards his opposite arm and even left around his side.

For a brief second, the glow reminded him of his dream earlier, and his lips twitched.

The warmth continued over his shoulder and across his left shoulder blade, spreading to follow his spine in some areas. It moved around his waist and over his left hip, only a few inches down his thigh.

By the time the glow was stilled, having covered every inch of the marking, his eyelids were closed and his lips had a small twitch upwards. It was much, _much_ larger than he'd thought, and it was a very satisfying thought.

~!**!~

At the very first word Kurama's lips issued, Akari's eyes narrowed and she leaned away from him, her hands shaking as she curled them around her arms. She opened her mouth to repeat the demand in a much higher pitch, likely a higher volume as well, but he continued and her eyes narrowed further.

Amidst his words, she did become aware of his steady stare meeting her glare, never wavering away, and a part of her found relief in that. The rest of her, however, was still shaken, still envisioning Takeo and Kyu and the creature. The rest of her was realizing what he was telling her and what it meant, that even though she'd been _here_, sleeping, she hadn't actually been _dreaming._

And that probably shook her even more and her brows lowered further over her narrowed eyes, making more shadows over her glare.

There was a beat of silence where she tried to gather her thoughts, separate the images from the words she would have to say, and dimly she felt as if the water around her was too hot, her skin cold.

"I," she began, voice low and glare still meeting his, "have been _here." _The word came out heavy and harsh, not shake in her voice despite the shake in her muscles. She would've said more, but she found it harder to speak when her stomach rolled and pitched. _*****_

Kurama searched her face, his expression never shifted, even as Youko attempted to show him what he _wasn't _looking at and forced the redhead to ignore him even further.

_[She has nothing to be ashamed of.]_

When Akari finally spoke, Kurama blinked at her once.

_[She's lying.]_

_{I know that. I think that's...what makes it hurt worse.}_

He didn't even _have _to call her a liar, to tell her that he knew she wasn't being truthful. And he didn't think it would do any good to tell her that Yomi already knows anything she thinks she might be hiding.

If Youko and _Kurama _had pulled together that her spirit was leaving her body, in a sort of 'astral projection' as Youko put it, because she was supposed to die with Takeo and her soul had been torn so far apart from her body that it could roam free...

It would be expecting too much to not think Yomi could hear even _spirits _walking the hallways. That he wouldn't exploit them in any manner possible should he discover a use for them.

Kurama's stare on her only lasted a moment longer before he abruptly stood and tossed the towel at the floor next to the tub as he turned away.

"You should rest." He moved for the door. "You'll be expected at the _room _in the morning."

~!**!~

The smile faded.

_One that needs to go away._

There was going to be no 'easy' way of saying it.

"Hiei...I..." That storm she had been fettering away sent a morose cloud to settle over her eyes, darkening the usual bright green. "You've got to let me take it off." 3

Hiei's expression quickly went from one of quiet amazement to a frown at the shift in mood over Shikiyoku. His eyes turned to her with a sharp keenness as she began speaking, searching her face for whatever she was about to say.

And he'd be lying if he'd said he completely understood this woman.

His brows furrowed a little and he watched her silently, staring. Not responding right away.

After a moment, his lips finally formed the words in a fashion that didn't sound harsh. "And why would I do that?"

~!**!~

She felt it.

Akari could _feel _the unspoken accusation that hung on the air, and she set her jaw. _I am not. _She kept her narrowed stare steady on him, even when he suddenly stood, the towel hitting the floor as he turned to leave. She didn't move, her lips twitching every which way as she struggled not to speak over him.

Because she _really _didn't like the idea of interrupting the fox demon.

But the instant he was done talking, Akari's voice cut through the air, a pitch higher as she spoke around the twisting stomach and the grossness she could feel building up. _You can't be sick now. _

"It isn't like I have anywhere to go, _Kurama!" _His name had been said half a pitch higher from the rest of her words, though from anger, fear, or desperation, she didn't know. "This stupid building is the _only_ place I can be! Otherwise, I'd be long gone by now, putting that stupid room and this stupid _kingdom_ or whatever behind me!" She drew in a shaky breath. "If I had any other option, I wouldn't _be _here. And you know at this moment what my only other option _is." Death, with Takeo. __*****_

Kurama let himself be stopped short when Akari started speaking, stood with his back to her with his hands curled into fists and resting against his thighs.

He was also pulling his lips into his mouth, trying not to interrupt the girl's building frenzy with the laugh of relief he wanted to release.

_[You're terrible. I knew I didn't like this from the beginning for a reason.]_

_{It's working, isn't it?}_

When she finished, Kurama turned back, shifting enough so that they could look into one another's eyes again, facial features in his resting neutral.

He started to raise a single hand up towards his lips.

"Perhaps you should have _gone _with that option." His words _sounded _as if he barely contained some sort of icy fury.

His hand held a single finger up, one that he put gently against his own lips just as he finished before winking at her and sending her a silent grin before moving that finger over to tap at his ear meaningfully.

_If Yomi thinks we are upset with one another, we will both be better off._

"Be at the room in the morning. Do _not _make me come get you."

In the most completely opposite manner of his tone possible, Kurama moved his hand over to cover his mouth, giving Akari a rather ridiculous lovey-dovey face, winking and all, and silently kissed his hand, acting as if he blew the kiss across his palm in her direction.

He slammed the door abruptly, not waiting for her to say something and possibly ruin the plan, snatching his coat from the chair and stalking out of the room, also slamming the door to her bedroom behind him.

_[Think he was listening?]_

_{Most certainly.}_

~!**!~

Saying that a million reasons passed over Shikiyoku's mind would be overstating things.

Trying to explain why Kitoushi and Youko were both _easier _choices wouldn't have been fair.

_Even if any desire to teach went the way of Douji._

The thought of _having _to teach made her feel weary.

She felt too tired to tell someone about how or why she just wanted them to run their hand through her hair, brush their fingers along her skin, gather her into their arms, kiss her, or, hell, even make love to her, which was _not _something she had so much as thought of in ages.

_Youko might kill me himself if he knew that last little tidbit._

None of the reasons she thought of were relevant to why she brought it up _now_, though, and they were dismissed as soon as Hiei asked.

Her eyes shut as if in pain, a crease forming between her brows as she landed on the actual reason, the real reason why she had even said it in the first place.

"...because I can't take any more of this." She answered softly. _This heartache. This fragility. Am I selfish that I do not wish to break? _3

BEfore today, Hiei would have thought she was speaking about _him. _About being tired of _him. _But after a few days of keeping his distance, of watching from afar and even being forgotten, he knew better. It wasn't just _him. _He wasn't a top contender, no matter what any stupid markings had to say. He wasn't a first pick, not even a second.

And when she said she couldn't take it, he saw images flashing before his eyes, of Otanto, Taka. Of Douji. It was easy to follow her train of thought, and suddenly his lips pulled into a very thin line and his eyes darkened just a little.

"Nothing ends just because you leave it behind." His tone was even, his eyes watching her. "It will all still be there, no matter what marks you remove, no matter where you go." _Because you're not coping. You're running. _

_And I've done that._

~!**!~

Akari's breathing was heavy, but she tried to maintain it, tried to control it so that maybe she wouldn't have to get up and find a trash can, which was significantly closer than both the sink and the toilet. She stared at Kurama as he turned around to meet her gaze again, noting the movement of his hand and the absolute lack of emotion on his face.

And she flinched at his words, her eyes coming open again to see the finger in front of his lips, the wink he gave and the grin that formed. Her breath left her in a moment of complete and utter confusion, and she deflated completely, all anger gone.

_What?_

And then he moved his finger to his ear and she was releasing a small whoosh of air, the only breath she'd taken between the wink and the tap of his ear.

She wasn't sure whether to be _angrier_, or relieved. Her expression didn't seem to know either, as she found herself only staring at the redhead, barely hearing his next words before the door slammed behind him.

…_.What?_

For a few minutes, she only sat there, staring after him with thoughts churning and her muscles shaking.

_You're…_

_Ugh._

Still not sure how to feel, she forced herself to move, to lean over the edge of the bath tub and grab the towel, to stand and wrap it around her body, to reach down and pull the plug from the drain so the water wouldn't still be there later.

And even then she didn't go far, only moving to sit on the floor, eyes closed and trash can nearby, just in case. _*****_

Kurama stalked down the hallway away from her room, his eyes cold, but his mind cringing.

_Ugh._

It was almost painful not to be there to _help_ her.

And it was going to be just as painful not sleeping next to her tonight.

_Can't risk it._

"Lover's quarrel, Kurama?"

Yomi had fallen in step with him, though Kurama knew of no reason why the demon would be walking down this corridor at this time of day.

"You know I do not associate with people who lie to me."

"And lie she did. I wonder why she didn't want you to know about her little trips around our place."

Kurama cut his eyes over to look at Yomi, but said nothing.

"Ah, but I'm sure you already knew about her spirit roaming around."

Another step or two of no answer.

"She was supposed to die when Takeo did." Yomi added almost absently, "He's the one that came up with the idea, but honestly I thought it wasn't all that bad."

Another pause.

"I guess you more than anyone are thankful she did not cross over." Yomi made as if to turn to the left down another hallway, they had reached the end of this one, and Kurama had taken a step to go right, but they both stopped.

"I do not think _thankful _is the correct word."

Yomi only raised an eyebrow.

"If she died, she wouldn't have had a chance to lie to me." Kurama told him coldly, moving off in the direction he had started to go, leaving Yomi standing and listening after him. "I think she was better off dead."

One of Yomi's ears twitched.

_If memory serves, you've said that exact same thing before, Youko Kurama._

Yomi turned to walk the opposite direction.

_Of course, the last time you said it to a colleague, you set me up for death._

_I wonder what you'll do this time._

~!**!~

Tears stung at her eyes, but Shikiyoku refused to let them fall.

When she spoke, her voice had gotten no louder than it had been.

"...if I lose anymore of you, I'll break." Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at where her palm was still setting Hiei's tattoo aglow. "You're all..." _So very dear to me. _"You all need to go away. These _all _need to go. So you don't die. So I don't..." The words caught in her throat, and then came out hoarsely, "...kill you." 3

Hiei's expression remained unchanging, but internally he felt the small effect of those words. He knew she'd been grieving, knew she'd been struggling to keep her head above water. He knew she'd very likely blamed herself, but hearing her say it was…

It was different than simply knowing.

Thinking back to earlier, he had known that he was taking a chance, that it would push her a little more.

And still, he shook his head. "I'm not going _anywhere_." Whether it be death, or simply to the next layer. "I didn't hunt you down just to be thrown to the side." _I didn't stick around to be forgotten, to be underestimated. I didn't take you away from the house to be expelled. _

"I did _not_ come here today because I had to. Or that I felt I had no choice. I did not lay next to you on a bed because I was forced, and neither did the others. I did not fight hundreds of the dead because _you_ told me to."

_And I certainly won't be thrown away by you because you're afraid._

~!**!~

She wasn't sure how long she sat there or how many times she ended up being sick before she had nothing but dry heaves- which was odd since she'd eaten very little in the past week or so, if at all. But she did get up and brush her teeth, put on the outfit she'd chosen and work at drying her hair.

Her thoughts had all slowed and she was carefully assessing everything since she'd woken up the first time. The comments, the way he acted when they were in the kitchen earlier. The way he didn't push her when she'd been confused about his words of her going somewhere- not that she had known at the time.

_Clever, stupid, jackass._

Then again, if he'd told her, it probably wouldn't have worked.

And that was probably the most embarrassing part, was her reaction.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid._

She kept a hand on the towel at her head as she moved from the bathroom and to the bedroom, knees shaking and muscles weak.

At least she knew why she felt so cruddy now. Walking around as a spirit wasn't so fun when she knew of the drawbacks. _Not that it was fun seeing dead people._

Which… was odd too.

She plopped onto her stomach on the bed, face in the pillow.

_I still don't want to go in that room, no matter what he says._

And even though she knew Kurama hadn't meant what he'd said, his second to last words still made her cringe. Two people in three minutes telling her the same thing wasn't fun. _*****_

There was no mistaking the sigh Youko let out as Kurama's ears perked in hearing Yomi start to move the other way.

_[You know what he expects us to do.]_

_{It's not my fault your reputation precedes you.}_

_[Ha! Very funny.]_

Kurama made the way to his rooms, entering into the suite and throwing the coat he had been carrying in his arm on one of the chairs, moving for the bathroom as he pulled the uniform's shirt off over his head.

He leaned into the shower, turned it on and went back out to plop down into the chair his coat hung over, his shirt in one hand and his other going up to rub down his face.

Shower and attempt at rest.

Sleeping alone was going to be difficult.

~!**!~

Finally able to blink back the tears, to dry them out as the storm lessened from its roar to being once again shuttered away, Shikiyoku's hand lifted from Hiei's chest, creating enough space that the tattoo stopped glowing.

She already knew she couldn't just 'kiss it and make it go away.' It hadn't worked for Kit, so why would it work here? And Hiei had even gotten to _voice _how unwilling he was.

Was she throwing him aside?

If she was throwing him aside, she was at least being fair and intending to do so to all of them.

It appeared perhaps that convincing this one was a lost cause for the moment.

_He'll see. He'll have to see. Otherwise-_

..._am I selfish for not wanting to break?_ 3

Hiei continued to watch Shikiyoku, his expression calm as he assessed her, half expecting her to demand _why_ he hadn't already left, since she'd asked that before. So when she didn't ask, his head tilted to the side a little.

And for a moment, he wasn't sure if even he knew the answer to a question he'd expected her to pose.

But his eyelids slid closed, and he was hearing something she'd said shortly after he'd caught up to her, after he'd taken to being with her despite her attack that very day.

And he also remembered laying in the Elder's tent, having a sleepy conversation before falling into the darkness.

_Rae's guestroom._

_...The Niiro._

A warm feeling crept up his spine and his core gave an odd jolt.

_Dancing for tribes._

_Running with the layers._

Crimson eyes were staring down at her again.

_The sour fruit._

_Sweet Snow._

_Stawberries._

Things he never would have associated with a person, things he never would have _tried_ until her. Things he wouldn't have _shared_ with another person.

_Energy sharing._

_Phoenix hatchlings._

…..

He could go on, and on, and on.

But he stared at her, expression not guarded, irises flashing with each new thought, each new addition to the list that continued to grow.

_Hair pins._

Even the most ridiculous things.

"I won't leave." he suddenly said, tone low, voice matter-of-fact. _Not unless you choose another. _"I still have an entire building for you to see burn." _Rae's palace. _

~!**!~

As she lay there, Akari realized how warm the bed had been when Kurama had been there. _This sucks. _She rolled onto her side and pulled her knees towards her stomach, eyes watching the shadows that danced around and around on the walls of the room, almost as if for her own personal entertainment.

She wouldn't sleep, because she didn't want to roam the halls again. She didn't want to see Takeo waiting by her door, or Kyu by the door of the training facilities. Only the heavens knew who else she'd see roaming the place.

_Why?_

She blinked.

_Why are they here?_

Takeo, she understood. Kyu…

_That's a million miles from here._

She pursed her lips. _Still possible to be hallucinations. Wouldn't be the first time._

The shadow on the wall darted around quickly, earning her attention before it went back to its slow, circular movements, keeping her eyes fixated on it. At least it would distract her until morning. _*****_

Kurama pressed a hand into the tile of the shower wall and leaned forward, letting the cold water fall over his shoulders into rivulets down his back and legs.

Reaching over and turning the knob, the water stopped and he reached up and ran a hand down his face, clearing his eyes before giving a little flick of his wrist and letting the water he removed sprinkle against the tile.

Standing up he stepped out and grabbed for the nearby towel to wrap around his waist, picking the second one up and tossing it over his head, giving an absent rub over the material as water from his wet hair still streamed down the sides of his face.

As he did so, he meandered out into the main room, walking over to the half-fridge in the wall and opening it, reaching inside for a drink and twisting the lid off of the glass bottle as the door closed.

The lid got tossed in the trash nearby and as Kurama lifted the drink to his lips he walked towards another door to his left, getting back into the bedroom and flopping down on the soft bed.

He leaned up against the headboard, one arm going up to prop his neck, and after a second he took another drink.

...if he didn't let himself think about anything, he wouldn't remember how badly he wanted to go back to that room.

_Her _room.

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku felt him staring, she found herself lifting her head just so she could gaze back at him.

She did not notice at first how his blazing eyes had also set hers ablaze, her energy filtering in and shimmering over her eyes as he looked at her.

When he spoke, her eyes flickered to the side, and it was the moment she stopped looking at him that she noted that her energy made them gleam.

"You likely should. Leave that is." _Haven't I said that already? _"Foolish demon. You can just forget about that, you know." 3

Hiei stepped closer at her response, his eyes flashing again. "Forget?" _Impossible. _

Many, many responses flew across his mind's eye, and it took a moment before he settled for one, though he did take a breath in before speaking, just in case something better came to mind.

"Forget it like I could forget you?" He paused, watching her keenly, unblinkingly. "Like I could forget your feet moving across the floor as you walk? Your hair brushing against your back?" Suddenly, he found himself channeling what she'd said that day, and his lips twitched. "Your eyelashes brushing together when you blink?"

_Not even if I tried. _

"For you, it was a decade. I didn't forget a single one of those things." _You did. You forgot your smile. You forgot your capabilities. Your determination. You forgot your will to fight. _

_Things I never forgot, and can't see ever forgetting._

_Foolish woman._

~!**!~

Sometime in the middle of the night, Akari had woken to the darkness and realized she'd accidentally let her eyelids close for too long. And even though she realized she hadn't _gone anywhere_, she didn't let her eyelids close again.

So even before the sun rose, she was up and dressed, twisting her hair in a ponytail and glancing down at the armor she'd remembered to grab. _It had been nice not wearing it. _She even paced about her room for a while before leaving, the beginnings of the sun's rays just beginning to shine through her window and sending shadows scurrying for new places to be.

She stepped into the hall to find a guard, as before, and she scowled at him before turning and going the opposite direction, moving down the stairs and towards the kitchen. _Have to eat, or I won't be able to think. _

She was in and out before anyone knew she'd been there, a chunk of bread in one hand and water in the other as she walked back up the stairs.

_At least I don't hurt. And my muscles seem to be holding out. _

_Probably because of the fox. _

…_..stupid fox. __*****_

Before the morning had broken, before there was a hint of light outside the main building, Kurama was already leaning next to the door, arms crossed over his chest, head slightly lowered and his eyes closed.

He had one knee bent and his foot braced up against the wall behind him as if holding it up.

There may not have been circles under his eyes...but that did not mean it was a long night. And an even longer morning already.

~!**!~

There wasn't much space between them in the first place, but when Shikiyoku felt Hiei shift to close the distance further, the hand that had still been poised inches above his core dropped to her side hurriedly, and then both arms were behind her back, hands clutching at one another almost nervously, fingers laced together in a haphazard manner against the soft fabric of the towel.

She even probably leaned back a little at his proximity, her eyes still looking off to her left as he kept speaking.

And she could _feel _the change, feel her core lurch in that funny way he seemed able to make her do whenever he felt like, feel the blood rushing to her cheeks and turning what must have been everything from her neck to the tops of her ears pink. Her scalp tingled, her veins buzzed, everything _just _starting to go out of her control.

_I...I can't..._

She couldn't form a single coherent thought. 3

Hiei remained quiet for a moment, watching her as the color began to form in her cheeks, the heat rushing up her neck and to her ears. He could feel it just as much as he could see it, and he made sure to take keen note of it happening.

Because he couldn't remember ever seeing it happen before. If it had, he must not have noticed. ...But he noticed now.

"Countless demons have tried killing me in countless different ways. I've even had my own dragon thrown back at me." He paused, irises darkening a little more. "I'm not easy to kill, and your fear of that is making you forget your own capabilities. Your own reason for what you do." He shifted his weight just a little. "Makes you forget everything except your desperation."

And while he understood it, he also thought her running away would do nothing but cause her more harm.

~!**!~

Akari had just tossed the last bit of bread in her mouth when she stepped onto the right floor, half expecting- hoping?- Kurama not to be at the door to the training room. And she forced herself to keep moving when she _did _see him.

Because that room was _not_ where she wanted to be.

She stopped a good ten feet away, water bottle in one hand and the other planted on her hip, eyes watching him warily, occasionally flickering to the door and back to his face. "Not happening, just so you know." _*****_

Kurama didn't move, but he did speak.

"Defying a direct order from Yomi? Bold."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes shot back up to catch Hiei's, more fire stirring behind them than had in a long time, even if she couldn't at the moment control how they shimmered with power, nor how her veins were buzzing madly now.

"You mean my desperation for you to _live_?" She almost snapped the words at him, but there was something in her tone that lended itself to be a step back from that point, "For your death _not _to be my fault, or by my hands, like all the others? Yeah. Kind of hard to forget that, I'll admit." 3

Hiei didn't even so much as blink. Not a single muscle moved in his body except to breathe, and hardly even then. Because now, he was getting irritated. He shoved the emotion away, kept calm despite his normal temper.

"The only death that might even be _considered_ your fault is Otento's, but that was in defense of your own life." He paused and drew a breath. He hadn't wanted to draw this conversation. So he steered away from what he'd been about to say.

"_You_ are not responsible for _us. _We are. _You_ are responsible for _you_. And you blaming yourself for _our_ decisions is nothing short of blaming me for your decision to fall into a pit in my stead. It's no different, and I couldn't control what you did. You can't control what others do, whether it be with, for, against, or around you."

He paused, continuing to stare at her evenly. "And I can assure you none of us are willing to part until you decide who is to stay."*

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	103. Episode 187

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here, with another chapter for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Exhausted by the amount of energy he lost to Shikiyoku's other form's hunger,  
Hiei falls asleep next to her in the hot spring,  
his head coming to rest atop hers and setting her energy buzzing at the contact.

It is only after a short nap he awakens and begins to move from the water,  
starting to clothe himself, but becoming interesting in the state of his mark,  
and realizing he had not particularly examined it before now.

Shikiyoku offers to give him an image of it,  
and when he agrees, she places her palm over the hypocenter at his core.

The mark lights up with her energy, spiraling over much of his left side,  
even extending down his waist to his thigh.

Slightly melancholy, Shikiyoku remembers she wishes it removed,  
if only to protect him, fearful he might die because of association with her,  
and feeling her heartache for the others who already passed away.

She reveals to him that she wants to remove _all _the markings,  
in the hopes that no more would have to perish on her behalf.

Hiei affirms that he has no intention of leaving,  
whatever she might wish or think,  
and renders her speechless as he steps close,  
her energy buzzing around her at his proximity.

Even as she tries to convince him otherwise,  
he informs her that none of the prospective Consorts  
will leave until she decides who is to stay.

~!**!~

Leaving the room where Akari killed Takeo behind,  
Kurama carries the female demon back to her room,  
and upon arriving, draws her up a bath.

While she is lounging in said bath,  
Kurama ponders on whether or not Yomi has realized  
that Shikiyoku is the same demon of which Youko had been Champion  
even while Yomi was still part of Youko's gang.

Meanwhile, Akari slips out of her body again,  
her soul wandering the hallways,  
even as Kurama enters the bathroom to retrieve her.

She meets Takeo and pulls herself away as if in a dream,  
threatening Kurama as she "awakens" to leave,  
and informing him that she had not been anywhere.

Kurama has by this time pieced together the fact that  
her soul is not entirely tethered to her body,  
but he finds that her lying to him stings more,  
and he leaves her to her own devices in the bath.

When she attempts to placate him,  
he acts as if he is upset with her,  
angry, though he makes motions to her that he is not,  
attempting to fool Yomi into thinking she does not mean anything to her,  
and thus protecting her from being used as a pawn.

He encounters Yomi as he leaves her room,  
solidifying his "feelings" towards Akari by acting as if he were over her.

He and Akari sleep in separate rooms that night,  
but he is awaiting her at the training room in the morning,  
where she informs him in no uncertain terms that she will **not **be entering that room again...

* * *

_Yomi is nothing compared to that thing. He doesn't scare me._

With the thought, her chin lifted just a little higher in the air in a show of defiance, of stubborn denial of going inside. She didn't reply verbally. She didn't have to.

_Yomi is __**nothing**_ _to that thing. And if there's a chance that anyone thinks they'll get me there again…._

_I'll prove them wrong. __*****_

He hadn't even bothered to look up at her, but he thought he would give her one last chance.

"You're positive you won't go in willingly? On your own two feet?"

~!**!~

It wasn't just Otento.

Shikiyoku looked away from the fire demon.

Taka had died saving her. Douji had died because of her. They all three had been just as unwilling to part.

_Just like the last three are unwilling to part._

"It's not just me that-" _...that decides who is to stay. _Her mouth closed after she cut herself off.

_It doesn't matter._

_You can't convince him._

That much was clear.

_All you can do is hope he __**gets**_ _convinced before-_

Shikiyoku's teeth bit into the skin behind her bottom lip, trying to vanquish the thought.

All at once Shikiyoku had thrown her arms around to encircle Hiei's midsection, bracing them against his back, her cheek against his chest as a couple of tears leaked out from her eyes before she could stop them as she slammed her lids shut.

The emotion caught in her throat and made her next words croak out of her lips in a harsh whisper.

"...but I don't _want _you to die." 3

Hiei saw the motion before she'd moved, her muscles coiling for the movement, and he let his arms open for her, wrapping around her shoulders when she slammed into him, causing the slightest rock backwards before he caught his balance again. One hand moved to rest on the side of her head, holding it against his chest as he lowered his head towards hers, nose just brushing a few hairs atop her cranium as his eyelids slid shut.

"Then I won't." he mumbled into her hair, sending the strands fluttering with his breath. "I never planned to in the first place."

~!**!~

Akari's whole body tensed, making the bottle in her hand crinkle a little as her grip tightened and she set her weight heavier on her feet, bracing herself.

"No." The word was just as defiant as the lift of her chin, her eyes flashing at him.

_You'll have to drag me. __*****_

_Can't say I didn't offer._

Kurama gave a little shrug as if he didn't care, or like he knew her answer before she gave it to him.

Moving swiftly enough that she wouldn't be able to react, he had her by the waist and quite literally threw her atop his shoulder, her legs hanging down over his chest and her torso going back next to his ear.

Giving a long-suffering sigh as he moved for the door, he reached out with the arm not encircling the waist of the demon he carried and twisted the knob.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku clutched at him tighter for a moment, though she let out this huffy breath that might have been a laugh if it hadn't gotten strangled by all the tightness in her throat and come out more like a sob.

"You don't-" Her chest heaved and broke the sentence, "_Plan _to die, Jaganshi. It doesn't- ...work like that." 3

"Precisely. You couldn't have planned for their deaths any more than I could plan for my own."

He kept his arms wrapped around her, not giving her the chance to step away even if she wanted to. He gave a small sound akin to a sigh.

~!**!~

The barest of sounds left Akari's lips as she was tossed over Kurama's shoulder, her eyes widening and her hands quickly bracing against his back, one still holding the water bottle, the other flat against his back. She heard the door open, and she could have sworn she felt her core stop, the image of the creature flashing across her mind and causing both arms to suddenly fly out, grabbing at the wall with the best grip she could manage.

"_No_." she hissed, bound and determined to try everything she could think of.

Because the air in that room made her skin form goosebumps, and she almost thought she could _feel _the energy she'd felt that day. _*****_

Kurama only stopped because he felt the slight resistance from behind him that threatened to slip her out of his grip.

"Really? Are we going to be this way about it? You try my patience, pup." He gave an experimental tug.

She...wasn't going in without a fight.

And really, that just made the show of it all the better.

He supposed he felt bad about it...somewhere. But there was this other part of him _enjoying _it way too much.

"You're only making it harder on yourself." He gave a sigh that appeared to reflect his tolerance growing thin and stepped as far into the room as possible, which was hardly even one 'step' in the frame.

Had this been anywhere else, he would have just started tickling her.

As it was, he had a reputation to maintain.

The bulbs around the inside of the doorframe had lit up when he stepped in, and just as the last of them did so, a handful of vines snaked silently down from the overhanging canopy and wrapped around Akari's legs up just past her knees.

It wouldn't have mattered if she struggled against them.

This allowed Kurama to step out from under her, leaving the vines taunt enough that it was clear they would pull her into the air as soon as he commanded.

"Last chance." He turned to face her, watching with deadened, unamused eyes.

~!**!~

She wanted to say something about _patterns_. About _predictions. _The others all died that way and...

About how she meant he didn't get the priviledge to plan to die because he didn't _get_ to die.

Or something.

_There's no convincing him._

She held her breath for a moment, then let out an exasperated sigh.

Shikiyoku gave the slightest pull as if to look up at his face, but feeling his hands and arms, she instead settled further into his embrace.

"You have _got _to be the _worst _person to try and have an argument with." The sentence came out mumbled, and had he not kept his arms around her there would have been a half-hearted glare into his eyes before saying as much. 3

"Hn." Hiei's lips twitched just a little, amused at her observation. He wasn't one for letting others win arguments often. Though, he wasn't even sure he considered this an argument. Slight disagreement, maybe.

_Heh. Slight._

"I thought you knew that already."

~!**!~

Akari tried to come up with something witty to rebut his comment about her trying his patience, but really she couldn't think of anything _worth _voicing. Nothing that wouldn't make her sound like a moron- she already _looked_ like one. No need to complete the image.

Her grip did tighten a little when Kurama gave a tug and another sigh. She was so close to being-

She felt the vines snake their way around her legs, and her eyes widened with the silent threat of being suspended high in the air, likely upside down. She wouldn't be able to talk her way out of it with _this _one.

She gave a growl.

_I don't…_

_Room. I don't like it._

_Heights…_

_I.._

She made a sound of consternation and squeezed her eyes shut. "You and your stupid whips." she grumbled, followed shortly after with a hard swallow. _Heights. Room._

_Crap._

_I don't __**want **__to__**. **_

…

Either way, it seemed, she was going in that room. She released a groan and let her grip loosen, fingers unfurling from the doorframe slowly.

_I hate you. __*****_

"I guess I'm doing it for you, then." Kurama noted, waving a hand in the direction of the arms that were stretched out to the frame of the door.

Seemingly out of nowhere, long strands of sweet-smelling grass appeared wrapped around her forearms, forcing them together and ensuring that she let go.

The taut vines shot upwards like a sling with Akari in tow and Kurama calmly turned his back to shut the door behind them.

~!**!~

"Well, I feel like I've said it before." Shikiyoku admitted in a grumble. "Apparently I've forgotten." 3

Hiei opened his eyes to peer down at Shikiyoku, his head raising so that his breath no longer disturbed the strands of hair atop her head. He kept his eyes on her, studying what he could see of her face.

He almost taunted her about what all she'd forgotten, but for some reason, he didn't really feel as if he _wanted_ to taunt her.

Perhaps it was because she'd forgotten _him_, and he didn't want to think about it.

He didn't reply.

~!**!~

She heard him speak, and her hands released the doorframe, only for her arms to be bound together and her body to be jerked upwards. Her breath caught in her throat, catching the sound that nearly left her as her eyelids slammed shut against the upward force.

She heard her water bottle hit the floor, and in the back of her mind wished she'd held on to it, for a projectile weapon.

"I was _letting go_ you _**ass**_!" Akari suddenly screamed, finding herself swaying as she hung upside down, arms hanging over- below?- her head. She opened her eyes for a split second, only to close them again as her stomach fluttered at the height.

_I __**hate**_ _you right now. So much. _*****

Once the door had been shut, Kurama paid no attention to her for a moment, slipping off his coat to hang it on the knob and walking over to the Speakers plant and tapping at it with a finger.

The low murmurings that started coming from it sounded exactly like he and Akari, the sounds of fighting, an argument.

_Perfect._

They would be projected as if coming from inside the room, but were actually being fed into the wall.

Kurama calmly took his time to walk over to where Akari hung and looked up at her, arms folded over his chest.

"I know." His eyes finally glittered, "But I thought you could do with some more _green_."

~!**!~

_Just act as if everything is fine. Like he's fixed it. Like it'll all be okay now._

_...what would you say if that were really the case?_

"Thanks for reminding me," Shikiyoku started, her lips fighting a smile as she added, "About how _fierce _you are, flame-boy." 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, eyes searching her face for a moment as she spoke. His lips even twitched a little, but his expression settled into a calm one again.

_Hn._

He suddenly leaned down, eyes still on her.

"You should take me more seriously." His tone was calm, but his volume low, as if he didn't want anyone else in the area to hear. And this time, when his lips twitched, it was to pull them up in a sidelong smirk. "I'm not here simply to be _fierce._" _Though it seems to help._

~!**!~

The gentle swaying back and forth was unnerving, and the feeling of her hair touching her arms was even more so as she hung upside-down. Akari swallowed again, slowly bringing her eyes open as a sound or two caught her attention.

Voices.

_My voice? _

Her eyes landed on Kurama, looking small from this height and-

Her eyes closed tightly again.

"I get it, let me down!" There was no mistaking the edge in her voice that hinted the beginnings of a shrill. "You've had your fun!" _*****_

"Learned your lesson, then?" Kurama asked as the vines slowly lowered her down in his direction where he stood in the middle of the path, along either side of it blooming flowers lining the way with their soft light.

The rest of the room was rather dark, but there was a liveness to it: rustlings of plantlife, whispers of leaves.

He stopped her when she still swayed in the air two or three feet above his head.

~!**!~

There had been, since he made her blush, the same buzzing feeling happening underneath her skin, and she had turned to look up at Hiei just before he started speaking, becoming much too aware all at once that she stood there in only a _towel _pressed up against a warm, _shirtless _fire demon.

And the fact that he leaned closer made it...worse. Much worse.

_Better?_

_No, definitely worse._

_Because all of that so-called control you thought you had?_

_...out the window._

She just said the first thing that popped into her head as she looked up at him, thoughts scattered as the tingling at her scalp increased, shifting her arms a little almost as if she wanted to let him go, suddenly aware-like everything else-of the smooth strength of his back.

"I don't even know what that means." She grumbled, feeling herself turn more red the closer he got, head leaning slightly away from him. As well as she could manage, anyway. 3

Hiei let amusement glisten in his eyes as he watched Shikiyoku's face brighten in color and warm with the blood that rushed to her face. He also noted that she didn't look away from him, even though she did lean away from him.

Which made it even better.

"Hn."

He merely continued to stare in the same way he always did.

~!**!~

Akari could _feel _herself being lowered, but she didn't dare open her eyes to look. She knew he wouldn't just drop her, but there was still that strong part of her that feared the fall anyway. _Dogs are not meant for heights. _

"If that lesson is that I don't like greenery as much, then yes." She paused, voice lowering as she began to feel a bit more relaxed, no longer feeling as if she had to watch her words. "But you almost _saw_ some green." Her stomach gave a little flop again, as if to emphasize her point.

She swallowed and let her eyelids come open to stare at Kurama when she was stilled, the only motion being that of the slight sway. Her head was beginning to pound with the blood that was rushing downward.

"I've also learned you're not a fun challenge. Let me down now, please?" _*****_

"Not a fan?" He pursed his lips together, "And you know, it's a pity, because I think you'd look absolutely _ravishing _in only greenery."

He let her down farther, until her face was even with his own and he could look into her eyes, giving her the slightest grin.

~!**!~

_You-_

_I-_

She blinked once, finding it strange to be mesmerized by his eyes, unable to look away or think or _anything_, and wondering if _this _was how it felt from the other side.

Shikiyoku almost wanted to tell him to stop it, but she wasn't even sure herself what exactly she meant for him to stop.

Forcing her gaze to lower, her chin following suit just enough to tear her gaze away, to look to the side, she let out an uncertain breath.

"Why are you...looking at me like that?"

_Shouldn't you ask him what it __**means **__first? _3

Hiei waited, watching her reaction calmly even as she dipped her head and turned her eyes so that he could not see them. The gleam in his own gaze brightened in amusement when he was sure she wouldn't look.

Oh how he _enjoyed_ being able to do this when he'd noticed none of the others could.

_Why is that?_

Her question almost flew right over his head, unheard. But he reigned himself from his thoughts and raised a brow.

"Should I be looking at you in a different way?"

~!**!~

Akari frowned slightly, thinking hard. _All greenery. Why does that ring a bell? _

And then she huffed at him, eyes suddenly flashing at him. "You and your remarks." _I don't know how to respond to them. _"No, I'm not a fan of being upside down, of hanging in the air, of anything of that sort. Heights are _not_ for dogs."

_Poison Ivy? Was that it?_

"You know, with that hair of yours, _you_ would look better in only greenery." Her lips suddenly twisted into a grin of mischief. _*****_

"While that may be true," Kurama began, "...while that _is _true, I'm fairly certain our dear Master Yomi wouldn't approve in the change of uniform."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku blinked as she kept her gaze to the side, unsure if it was _his _eyes keeping her mesmerized or somehow her own.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, then quickly shifted back away again, her head turning even just a little further. 3

_No answer? _

Hiei sneered at the prospect and had to swallow a little sound that might have bloomed into a scoff. Or a chuckle. He didn't know, and since he didn't often make the second noise, he didn't want to find out.

Not that he didn't like the noise, he just…

_Not many people have heard it._

None, actually.

He shoved the thought away and stood upright again, lips holding that sneer as he continued to stare, wondering what she'd do next.

~!**!~

Akari's mouth opened, then closed, and opened again when Kurama's lips let out the words _Master Yomi_. And then she was smiling again at the rest of what he'd said. "Hm. Too bad."

She turned her head to look up at the vines still holding her. "Is there any particular reason why you're letting every drop of blood in my system run to my brain?" She dropped her head again to meet Kurama's gaze once more, feeling the color in her face growing brighter and brighter, the pounding getting louder and louder. _*****_

Kurama stepped up to Akari, taking a hold of her wrists and pushing them over her head until they came to rest in front of her lap, and holding them there.

"Quite possibly." He replied amiably as he moved even closer, reaching out with his free hand to bury it in her hair near the back of her neck, holding her face steady. "Maybe it's part of your training. You wouldn't know. Perhaps Yomi is quite specific in how you are to be handled."

He let his cheek brush down hers until he got far enough to nuzzle his nose near her ear.

"I missed you last night," He murmured unhappily, almost a complaint. "I hated it."

~!**!~

She _still _didn't have an answer for his earlier question.

_If you don't stop it, I'm gonna do...something._

Not that she had the slightest notion as to _what_.

...not that she _wanted _him to stop.

That thought was new. Did she find this attention of his pleasing, if just a little?

"Do you..._enjoy _torturing me?" She didn't look up at him, _feeling _his piercing, fiery gaze locked on her face and unsure what would happen if she met with those eyes again.

The little sparks that had earlier been sent skittering across her head when he slept against her were now dancing visibly over her wherever the two of them touched, be it her shoulders where his arms were, across the towel smooshed between them where neither could see, or even on her arms where she still had them pressed up along either side of the spine of his back. 3

Hiei _had _noticed the odd feeling of something touching his skin, making the hairs on his arms stand up and his skin to tingle here and there. But he hadn't _seen_ the source until a little sparkle flew where he could see his arm touching her shoulder, his hand still lightly touching her hair- not to hold her in place, but simply because he _could_.

By the time she had voiced her question, he'd become aware of each little flash of energy, though his eyes never left her face. He moved his hand away from her head after a moment, taking a lock of her hair between his fingers and rolling the strands between his forefinger and thumb. And a second or two later he released the strand to let it fall where it had previously been resting.

"Torture?" he echoed, raising a brow briefly before it too settled back into the neutral zone. "I wasn't aware."

~!**!~

Akari made a small sound in the back of her throat, not fighting Kurama as he moved her arms. She eyed the look on his face as he spoke, until she no longer _could_ see his face when his cheek rubbed against hers, his hand keeping her steady.

_You're having too much fun._

She hummed at the redhead after a moment of silence, her lips twitching just a little. Her eyelids closed and she sighed a little. "Makes two of us, hm?" Had she been able to do so, she would have turned her head and planted her lips to his cheek.

But, honestly, she didn't want to remove the contact already in place.

….Even _if _her head was hurting. _*****_

Kurama slowly had the vines lower her further until he had her in his arms, then they unwound themselves from around her legs, the restraints at her arms pulling apart and then disappearing. He took a moment just standing there, looking into her face, then he leaned forward and planted a kiss near the top of her forehead.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku didn't feel him playing with her hair, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel a strange spark in the midst of her hair that sat for a moment-_in his fingers?_-and then separated into two, one going up towards her scalp the other flying in the opposite direction to the end.

He didn't really _have _to answer the question directly. It was answer enough that he hadn't pulled away yet.

...it was also answer enough that she hadn't tried to pull away herself.

Granted, she wasn't all that sure she _could_.

And while that irked her, at the same time she couldn't help but..._enjoy _it herself.

The irksome portion of her did shift though, her arms moving down towards his waist to hold onto one another while around him and sending more flashes up to her shoulders with each movement.

She narrowed her eyes up at him and tried to look as unamused as possible.

"Not. Fair." 3

Hiei became aware of every single little flash, every single little spark that both visibly and invisibly shot between their persons, up her arms when she moved, along her hair when he'd touched it, even where his arm wrapped around her, the sensation moving through the towel.

..Which he'd forgotten about until that moment.

When she spoke, though, it pulled his attention away from the thought and brought amusement full-force to the forefront of his mind again. _Fair?_

The stare she issued up at him made him scoff just a little and his sneer turning into an amused smirk.

"I don't…" he began, voice lowering into a murmur after a moment, "have a reputation for _fairness._"

~!**!~

_Oh thank the lord and all that is good!_

She felt instant relief when she was lowered into Kurama's grasp, the blood that had been rushing to her head now rushing back the way it had come, making her squeeze her eyelids together against the dots that danced in her vision.

"You're a pain," she grumbled as she slid her arms up and over his shoulders, pausing when his lips touched her forehead before moving her chin to his shoulder, lips touching the space below his ear. "Stupid fox." _*****_

Kurama let out a good-natured laugh and pressed his cheek against her nearest one as best he could.

"I'm always a pain. And I'm always, apparently, stupid. You really should try and find some other adjectives. I'm much more than just those two things, as I'm certain you know." He paused. "Or do you?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's mouth opened as she took a breath, appeared to consider something and let her mouth close.

It opened against with that same look and she worked her jaw around.

"Reputation aside, I can't rightly decide if it's good or bad for me." Her lips pursed together as her scalp tingled and released energy into the air over which she had no control. 3

Hiei waited for a response, half thinking he wouldn't get one. He did, however, find that her initial speechlessness was absolutely _priceless. _It was another one of those things he'd noticed _none_ of the others seemed able to do.

At least, not when around him. _Separate means something else entirely._

When she did speak up, he raised both brows at her for a moment, and slowly leaned forward again.

"_Do you want me to let you go?"_

~!**!~

"Of course I know," Akari replied calmly, smiling. "I have a list, if you didn't remember that part." _Too many to list at this very moment. _"Those two just happen to be the ones I use verbally."

She paused, pulling her face away so she could peer into his, eyeing him calmly. "And just so you know, that list is _always_ growing."

_Sometimes not in the nicest of ways, but those never stay. Not long, anyway._

Her eyes suddenly roved the room, searching for anything that would be out of the norm. She couldn't exactly _see_ every nook and cranny of the room, but that didn't mean she wasn't able to _check_ those darkened corners, those hidden walls. And while she found nothing- rather, no_body_\- she still didn't like the room she stood in.

Or.. was held in.

_Whatever._

"Those talking plants of yours are rather disconcerting." She suddenly said, though her lips gave a smile. "How'd you do that anyway?" Her eyes turned back to him. _*****_

Kurama's smile grew further, though his lips didn't part enough to see his teeth.

If he had been able to reach a finger out and touch the tip of her nose, he would have, but seeing as how both arms were otherwise occupied at that exact moment, he instead leaned forward and briefly brush his nose to hers in a similar manner as to how he intended to do with a hand.

"Trade secret. A rather good creation, I might humbly add. We can speak freely here."

~!**!~

Every muscle in Shikiyoku's body froze up when he grew closer and she only blinked at him as a flutter of energy sparkled through her eyes.

_I..._

_I don't..._

_...know? Or...no?_

Her lips came apart again, and there was the slightest hint of a smirk at the edges of them. When she spoke, her voice was low and the corners of the room would not have been able to hear her.

"Do you..._enjoy..._life on the edge, fire-prince?"

_Taking your life into your own hands?_

"_Because I certainly have no control here."_

_As if you didn't already know. _3

Throughout the pause in the room, Hiei continued to stare, only blinking very quickly once when one of his eyes had gotten an itch. And by the time that itch passed, his stare had locked again and Shikiyoku was speaking, asking a question that he figured she _should_ have known the answer to.

_Of course_ he did. Otherwise he wouldn't be where he was today.

"I occasionally like a nap too."

_Yes, I'm aware._

His grip on her loosened, silently giving her the chance to step away if she wanted to.

~!**!~

"I'd already guessed that much, considering the Poison Ivy topic." Akari's lips spread further, showing her teeth as she gave a quiet little laugh. _I'm glad. I hated not being able to say whatever I wanted. _"Love what you did with the place, might I add. Very… _floral_, mister _Flowers_." _*****_

Kurama let his eyes rove over what they could see of the place from where he stood.

"Mm. It's not terrible." He allowed, at last landing on the word, "Functional. It serves the purpose it needs."

This time when he looked at her, it was with a more concerned glance.

"There are...plenty of places to sit. Or lay down. But I...hadn't moved because..." He took a breath, "You don't _have _to tell me exactly what happened, because I know just about as much as everyone else in the facility but..." He let out a sigh.

~!**!~

_You know I could...__**live **__with __**this **__sort of feeling of helplessness. It's much, __**much **__nicer than what I've been feeling lately._

Shikiyoku's gaze lost the dismay and perplexity at her situation, letting herself be taken in by Hiei's stare, which seemed to make the room around her disappear, as well as all of her other concerns and apprehensions about what the future might hold, until all she could see was the fire blazing in his red eyes, and for the first time since her energy had started going out of control, she relaxed.

"...thank you."

Her grip had loosened as well, but her appreciation was most certainly _not _for the opportunity to step away, if it wasn't obvious by how she _didn't _take it. 3

Hiei felt her muscles loosen and the tautness in her body release, her arms around his midsection also loosening their grip, but her feet didn't even take a step as if to take his offer. Which made him tilt his head to the side a little and quirk a brow in amusement.

When he spoke, his voice was as low as hers had been earlier, only heard by the one who it was aimed to. "Don't forget this time, woman."

~!**!~

Akari kept her internal reaction contained, her expression carefully holding that small smile and a curious raise of her brow when he spoke. Inside, she flinched a little out of nervousness, almost afraid that if she thought about it, then what she knew wasn't in the room would suddenly _be_ in the room.

Though, the rational part of her brain knew better. Knew that it wasn't really the _room_ she didn't like, but the fact that she'd been _in _it when she'd thrown her hand through Takeo's chest and-

…

_Wait._

Takeo had been there too. She'd pulled away from him, pulled her hand and almost his heart from his chest in her panic.

She blinked, and her eyes focused on Kurama again.

"And what do the people in the facility say?" she asked, suddenly curious of what they knew, and what they didn't know. Of what might have been falsified, and what might have been stretched. At least then, she might be able to start somewhere instead of fumbling for where to begin. _*****_

"Considering all the trouble we had closing the portal? Quite a lot." Kurama told her. "None of them know _you're _responsible for it, though. Except Yomi. And me." He paused, "And Youko."

~!**!~

"...I..."

The blush had lessened, but bloomed all over again at his words and her eyes flicked away briefly before rejoining his, and in that instant she found all the things he had been holding at bay crashing into her mind.

_Why won't you listen to me? And just go away? _

She knew that wasn't really what she wanted. But was that what it was going to take?

_What do I have to do? Push you to it?_

She let the hint of the smirk from before return, changing whatever it had been she was going to say, "Maybe I _enjoy _being reminded?"

_If I want him to go, to let me take the mark away...then why do I keep saying stupid stuff like that? _3

There was a moment where Hiei could feel the change, the shift in the way Shikiyoku held herself, the way she looked to the side and the gleam that had been there taking a different shine than before. And when she turned that gaze back, accompanied with a smirk and a teasing string of words, he could still see it, that change, behind her gaze. Churning the wheels, but in the opposite direction than previously. Backtracking.

His stare remained unwavering, unchanging, and he didn't reply.

_Stop that._

He did, however, tighten his hold on her again, keeping her in place since she didn't seem willing to step away.

~!**!~

"Portal?" Akari's lips pursed, not liking the sound of that word. _That still doesn't help me on where to start, since I have no idea what that means. _

Again, she thought about Takeo being with her when she'd fled from the thing. And after a moment, her eyes closed. _Of course. Death._

_I ran from death._

That thought pulled the most strangled, choked little laugh.

_I ran from __**death**__! And I can roam the building as a fricken __**spirit**_ _because of it! And a portal. And-_

_What __**else**_ _have I not put together yet?_

_Takeo walking the halls. I never would have thought a fricken __**ghost**_ _would actually exists on these planes. Of all things, demons and monsters and things the humans feared, and I didn't consider __**ghosts**__? Walking the streets and stuff. _

There was a moment where all thoughts stopped and her eyes opened.

And she released another laugh, similar to the one before.

_I sound like a middle-school girl who's been tossed into a new world of monsters. Stupid. _*****

Kurama studied Akari's face, but said nothing about whatever she was thinking, instead letting his expression brighten, "Ah! Yes. Portal. You wouldn't know anything about that would you? I'm not surprised you haven't heard the others talking about it. Everyone is fairly shook up."

He started to walk, the path he took still lined on either side with the flowers that glowed when he stepped forward, but went dark once he had gone by.

"Yomi..." Kurama began as if he were going to go into exposition and suddenly frowned.

As far as Kurama knew, _everyone _and their siblings on the eighth layer knew about the giant portal that had opened up on the first layer. Knew about the fight Youko and Hiei and Kafu and all the others had gotten into. Perhaps not quite knowing the details. Like about how Youko believed it was the death of Otento by Shikiyoku that opened the thing.

Another thought passed over his mind and his momentary distraction lessened.

He had briefly been concerned Yomi had hidden his knowledge of Shikiyoku from Kurama, leaving the fox in the dark and watching each and every reaction he had to Mukuro's letter.

But no one actually _knew _that was Shikiyoku. She was completely different now, in looks if not in name. And unless someone was close enough for her to engage her powers upon, they never would have guessed.

And especially not since she spent the portion of the battle that had caught the public's eye in pain form, ripping her way through the undead masses trying to get to the portal to...to fetch Taka back.

If that were even possible.

Didn't matter.

All that mattered is somehow _Mukuro _had figured out Shikiyoku was the name of the demon with the darkened-yellow energy, and it didn't appear as if Yomi had put two and two together yet. Or...two and _four_, in regards to Youko knowing her.

And none of them should know the fact that Shikiyoku was responsible anyway. Just like no one knew of Akari's connection to the much smaller one that had opened in the room.

That thought brought him back around, realizing he had taken several steps in silence.

"Sorry." He apologized, repeating, "The portal," and gathering his thoughts back to the conversation at hand, "I was at ground zero when the very first one opened. Let me tell you what I know, and you can take from it what you don't know.

"It seems that stepping inbetween is actually what is starting to be referred to as stepping into the Tenth Layer, and is in fact The Veil, which is all that is left separating the living from the dead at this point, given that whatever job Spirit World held in that venture is being dissolved as quickly as Spirit World itself. That which keeps the living and the dead apart is very quickly crumbling down around us, and this entire ordeal is in direct relation to the union of the three worlds.

"Shikiyoku murdered Otento, tore him to pieces really, and if my guess is correct, his blood was the finishing touch for a ritual _someone _was trying to complete to tear an opening in the Veil and allow the dead to invade Earth. A portal opened a mile high in the city as a result of his death and Youko and Hiei and several others drove them back."

Here he frowned, "No, that isn't exactly right. The portal began closing, and any dead left able to stand began retreating into it. I haven't the slightest idea why the portal started to close, but neither do I know the ritual involved in _opening _it. It's something I've never come across before.

He looked at Akari for a moment before turning his eyes back to the path, "As you might have gleaned at this point, Takeo's blood opened a small portal _here_. In this room. No one actually knows that you killed him except Yomi, who is the only person I told when I examined Takeo's body. He realizes it is not strictly because of _you _that the portal opened, otherwise you would have had a much harder time of it when you woke, but he _has _been trying to recreate the circumstances by gathering lesser demons and killing them in cold blood.

"Anyway, the portal stayed open an even shorter amount of time than the one in the city, and was only as tall as the ceiling in the room, but there were quite a few demons lost on either side, both among the invaders as well as the defenders. The battle is partly how the room came to be so full of plant-life as I was one of the ones nearest and covering the hole actually did prevent many more demons from coming through."

Kurama gave a little shrug, "Yomi let me keep it this way since he considers it my element and I convinced him to let me take Takeo's place. Yomi doesn't realize, and neither have I told him, that the death has to not only take place _inbetween_, but be the finishing touch to a ritual that Youko has never heard of or encountered before. It means there is someone _else _involved with the openings."

He glanced down at her again, "Yomi does want to make sure you can actually move through the Tenth Layer, though. It is rather essential to the reason you're here in the first place."

~!**!~

When he didn't answer, only staring at her as he had been, Shikiyoku felt this space around her stomach tighten and she blinked up at him, unable to tell what he thought, if anything, about her attempt to...

_To what? Lighten the mood?_

Her core felt as if it fluttered, sending another shimmering wave of energy into her veins that now set her skin with that strange, pearlescent appearance that beckoned to be touched.

While her own arms remained more slack than his became, the sparks that continued to occasionally flit across the top of them did not lessen, and while her lips had parted just a little it was not because she had anything to say, or rather, not because she could _think _of anything to say. 3

Hiei stared for a few more moments before his eyes turned up and away from her, looking around the room briefly before turning that same stare back down to Shikiyoku again. This time, when he stared, the gleam in his eyes was a little dimmer, his thoughts churning a little.

"I prefer the Crimson." he suddenly said, his lips twitching in mild amusement as he recalled the _Jade Hall_. The walls lined with green. And he knew from the conversation with the other demon that the only difference in the rooms and such was the color and the name. He simply preferred the color of fire to the color of grass or leaves.

...That was Kurama's thing.

~!**!~

Akari's thoughts had been put on pause when Kurama spoke up, her eyes focusing on him instead of the images in her head. And when he didn't go on, she momentarily delved into her thoughts again, frowning to herself.

_I literally ran from __**Death**__. The dead. I __**was**_ _dead, for a little while. And then I jerked myself back, tore myself away and away from the in-between. Away from that thing. _

_...No wonder I hurt so bad when I woke up. And why I am capable of wandering the halls as only a spirit._

Kurama spoke up again, and Akari was quick to listen, her thoughts staying at the edge of her consciousness, at the edge of her tongue even, as he began explaining. Telling her things she hadn't been told of. Informing her of things that were likely _purposely_ kept from her. And as he went on to say that the _inbetween _was the Tenth layer, her frown deepened.

_A lot to take in._

A portal that opened by ritual, completed by the death of someone in the inbetween. Which she'd supplied.

But that also means someone was paying very close attention to everything in the inbetween, of every person going in and out of it.

And she was expected to go _back_.

To the inbetween. Possibly to death if something happened. And likely back to the thing she'd run from and refused to go back to in the first place.

_It would be death._

She suddenly felt very, very calm.

"Yomi, just so you know, doesn't scare me."

She didn't _mean _to say the words. They just sort of tumbled out, her thoughts all jumbled despite her calmness. Too many things to keep track of at once.

Which caused the sudden change in topic.

"When you showed up that day, was I breathing? Was I _alive?_" _Because I'm not sure what happened after fleeing. __*****_

Kurama appeared amused by her declaration about Youko's former right-hand man, but he didn't respond to it.

"You were in very much the same state you have been when I presume you've been taking a stroll around the halls without your body." He didn't actually have to come out and _say _that he had been worried beyond belief at finding her that way in the room, because the emotions that he had at that time kept locked away were now free to dance over his features, to turn his brow down and cause him to frown at the remembrance.

He quickly changed the subject, "My personal reservations about Yomi being unable to replicate the process also include the _timing_.

"While he does not know the death must occur _inbetween_, as both your body and Takeo's were found outside the Tenth Layer for whatever reason, neither have there been any reports of other portals being opened, and while I don't think it's terribly often someone is murdered in the Veil, that seems to indicate to me that this third party, the one preparing the ritual itself, hasn't the faintest idea _why _the rituals worked when they did, doesn't know that they need the blood of a fallen demon to complete the thing."

This time his frown was in relation to the prospect that he voiced, "And I am actually more concerned what will happen when they figure that part out."

~!**!~

_And Youko preferred the Jade._

The thought flitted across her awareness containing no small amount of amusement at Hiei's proclamation.

"I know." She managed to say, a little bit of the attitude she had taken with Meijin sneaking onto her face, "Rule number two of diplomacy: never ask for what you actually want _first_. You always offer something more extravagant so that when you are turned down, you can offer what appears to be the less optimal choice, but what was in fact the thing you were after from the beginning." By the time she had finished, she appeared to have accepted the gleam in her eyes for just a moment, looking almost like it belonged there until she blinked and that moment was gone. 3

Hiei sneered at Shikiyoku as she began speaking, listening to each word she enunciated and finding himself more and more amused with her. He'd never cared for politics or anything of the sort. He usually just took what he wanted and dealt with what followed.

"I never cared for politics." he voiced before pulling his arms away, his fingers tightening around the cloak he'd forgotten he was holding in the hand behind her. He heard the material rustle as he pulled it from behind her, eyes still on her as he pulled it over his arms first.

~!**!~

Akari eyed the way his brows created crinkles and his lips turned down. And even as he changed the subject just as quickly as she had, she found her thoughts stuck. Circling a single image in her head and the thought of the portal opening. Of Takeo walking the halls and Kyu, who she hadn't seen since that first walk through the halls. Did that mean they were walking through the halls in the _inbetween_ layer, instead of on this plane? Did that mean she visited the inbetween when her soul separated from her body and took a walk?

"I don't want it to happen." She voiced, tone small and eyes down to her hands when they came to rest on her stomach. "I don't want-"

_That thing. _

She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"It's not.. going to be pretty…" The thought of that thing, of _Death_ coming here- was that even right, to call it as such?- and doing what it pleased.. It made fear creep up again, crack the calm that had settled for a minute or two. Who knew what it could do, what it would do. She'd been completely enveloped in energy that even now she felt could suffocate her if she thought about it too long. At first, she'd been awed by it and the expanse of it, how the energy had completely enveloped everything.

But she had a feeling that if she could feel Yomi's energy, it would be _nothing_ to that. Not even a drop in an ocean of energy brought by that _thing_.

_It can't come here. __*****_

Kurama glanced down at Akari and then looked away, jostling her in his arms a little to get her attention back to him.

"You're not telling me things again." He murmured, speaking a little louder next, "And here I've gone and told you every nuance I've gathered so far." His expression became more mournful, pouting...even, playful, "If you don't _tell _me, how am I supposed to _help _you? I'm not Hiei, you know. I can't just read your mind."

~!**!~

When she started speaking, it almost appeared as if she didn't notice he had let go of her.

"Really? Well, everyone else can breathe a sigh of relief in that case, since you aren't keen to join in. You've already _mastered _the first rule, believe it or not." Her eyes shifted to the side and she grumbled almost inaudibly, "At least in regards to _me_." 3

Hiei pulled the cloak around himself and let it settle over his shoulders, the fabric making the barest of noise as it settled around his ankles with the lack of movement from him. His sneer widened to show his teeth, pointed canines that seemed to accentuate the mischievous gleam in his eyes. "I don't often have use for politics." He paused. "But it's amusing to see your display."

~!**!~

_This isn't funny, fox._

Akari took a deep breath. She didn't know where to begin, or even if she _could_ go into it all, but she let her eyes close and that breath leave her in a long sigh of preparation, of apprehension. And then she started where she figured he'd want her to.

"He made me mad, and I was cornered. Stuck, and without my energy I couldn't just fall into a shadow and get away. So I reacted in the only way I knew how." Her hand twitched as she recalled _hearing_ her hand pierce the skin. "For that second, I'd forgotten that I would follow him. And by the time I remembered, my hand was around his heart." She paused, eyes opening a little. "It was kind of like passing out at first. Dark, and you couldn't feel anything."

She let her eyelids close again, and her lips simply moved on their own. She'd actually forgotten she was talking to someone, because in her mind she'd gone over and over it in the past few hours.

"And then everything was light, kind of like floating on air, and bright. There was this energy that enveloped everything, almost as if it _was_ everything. As if that energy was a part of every single thing I could see. It was calm, inviting. Warm. Kind of like an outstretched hand. And there was this… thing. Sitting on a chair that it seemed to have melted into, or as if the chair was actually a _part_ of him. It."

The image of the thing turning its head in her direction made her pause, words caught in her throat.

"It was huge, the thing sitting in the chair. There hadn't been anyone else there, except myself and Takeo, but it acted as if it had been looking at someone else. At first, I thought it was a statue, unmoving and... " _How can I put its size into words? _"Larger than life itself. So when it moved, I-"

She took a deep breath.

"I didn't want it to see me. I didn't want to see its face, even though everything around me said it was a calm thing. I didn't… I ran. I didn't want it to come near me, because that energy was suffocating, crushing."

Another pause and she realized she was shaking.

"I didn't want to know what it could do to me." _*****_

Kurama went ahead and held her closer as he walked smoothly through the room, his path actually an aimless one never intended to _get _them anywhere, but instead to keep them moving.

Youko had absolutely _no _reference for what power she could have felt, or what the being might actually be.

Before answering Yomi's call, Kurama had paid a visit to Koenma, after the opening of the portal in the city. There was no precedent for something like that, though the former Prince of the Spirit World knew more acutely than anyone that the barriers between the living and the dead were much weaker now than they had ever been in the past.

And given the preparation he was having to do to make sure every denizen of his kingdom made the safe passage to the new world, there wasn't hardly time at all to devote to making sure the new world was safe. Their realm was dissolving into nothingness around their ears. It didn't even seem to be _affecting _the new world in any way, not in any physical way at least, not like Demon World, which had merged and created the layers.

Maybe Spirit World's disappearance affected things from the _other _side.

The problem with that would be the fact that no one, not even Koenma, had any idea what that meant.

After all, Spirit World was only a momentary resting place for those passing on, and even they didn't know what happened to a soul when it moved through their gates.

As Akari finished talking, Kurama leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead again, staying there long enough to feel the warm of her skin against them.

_The portals are not opening from __**its **__side. They are opening from this side. _

_[The question is, who on this side has teamed up with the dead?]_

_{I have a feeling the three would-be kings haven't the slightest idea what they're getting themselves into.}_

_[I find myself strangely okay with that.]_

~!**!~

Something clicked inside Shikiyoku's mind and her arms shot back from around Hiei to fall to her sides, feeling slightly irked that she hadn't noticed sooner that he released her.

"Don't often?" Shikiyoku repeated as she looked back up at him, her incredulous plain on her face. "Pff, what a liar you are, flame-boy. You use them all the _time_. You're using it right _now_." More grumbling, "Much to my conflicted-chagrin."

_You like it. Don't be a liar too. _

_That's why I said __**conflicted. **_

_You're not as conflicted as you'd like to pretend to be. _3

Hiei continued to sneer at Shikiyoku, eyes watching her as she voiced her disagreement. And really, he found it more and more amusing with each word she said. It was even more amusing to him that she continued to rotate between calling him _fire prince_ and _flame boy_.

He gave a scoff and relieved her of his stare, turning his eyes up to the mirror that hung over them as if it had caught his attention.

"I've found it rather useful here and there. Amusing."

~!**!~

When Kurama's lips touched her forehead, her eyes came open to stare up at him, having actually forgotten he was there, that she'd been telling him what she'd been wanting to avoid telling _anyone_ about. She took a moment to _feel _the contact on her forehead, to calm down, before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Yomi wouldn't even stand a chance. And I have no intention of helping it come here." She took a small breath, hands linking together to hide their shaking. "And if someone's trying to get it here, they're in over their heads too." _*****_

Kurama took her first comment to respond to.

"Yomi's intentions with you are that you become adept at moving inbetween without the use of shadows. Nothing more. It is why you were recruited, it is part of the reason why _I _was recruited. He and the other two have been snatching up demons capable of doing so like they were going out of style. His goal has remained unchanged, and I would bet both Mukuro and Raizen still aim for it as well. They all believed that holding the throne in the Ninth Level of Demon World would give them power over the other levels, and they still think that same position is available even now.

"Until the merging, only residents of the Ninth Level were capable of freely traversing the other levels, and they coveted that knowledge so no one else would know. The rest of us were stopped at the Eighth and could not go further down. And when Mukuro and Raizen took over, it became the Seventh, because few dared to tread on their territory. Now that it is possible to slip _between _the layers, one can bypass whatever barrier it is that used to keep others out of the bottom-most layer, and move freely through all of them without having been _born _down there. That's why the three 'kings' started to gather everyone they could get their hands on. They still plan on invading the bottom layer, but now that they have a work around, it's become a standoff between them, each one waiting for the other to move, to mess up."

Kurama was...trying to distract her from her experience, which obvious still shook her up even just remembering about it.

~!**!~

Without the direct contact, the sparks of energy along the outside of her skin came to a halt.

She hadn't taken a single step back, but her arms did come up to fold over her chest and she gave him a half-hearted glare when he looked up.

_Rule Number One: Always have the upper hand._

..._dammit. _3

Hiei's eyes remained on the mirror overhead, eyeing the space he could see just between himself and Shikiyoku from such an angle. It was amusing still that she didn't step away, despite their lack of contact now. And he found he almost didn't recognize the expression he himself wore.

It wasn't the same expression he'd worn before this. Before being Marked.

Before becoming her Champion.

Odd how that worked. He hadn't even noticed until this moment.

"You sure you're not a fire demon?"

~!**!~

Akari pursed her lips a little at Kurama's explanation. What he was saying that if she succeeded and became _useful_ to Yomi, she'd be expected to, in the very least, take the blind demon _with her_ to another layer, and likely an army.

Not a single person could do that.

Could they?

_That's a lot of work._

Her brows furrowed and she turned her head away, eyes looking around the room for a moment as she tried pushing images away.

Images she knew Kurama too was trying to distract her from.

"Aren't you tired of walking around yet?" she suddenly asked, not looking at him. "You don't have to, you know." _*****_

"You're right." Kurama replied mischievously. "I don't have to, do I?"

He didn't stop.

~!**!~

At his question, Shikiyoku's confused colored her face plainly and even her arms, which had been tightly crossed together, shifted slightly relaxed.

_Huh?_

She blinked at him a couple of times.

"Why-" _Huh? _"...what makes you ask?" 3

Hiei's eyes turned down to Shikiyoku when she didn't answer, his eyes staring at her the same way he'd been staring before: unguarded, but unreadable. "Nothing."

He suddenly turned and moved for the scarf that lay on the floor still, expression neutral as if he hadn't said a word.

~!**!~

Akari let out a small sigh. "You're-"

_The last time I said that he gave a stupid retort. ...Might as well try something different._

"-absolutely ridiculous."

_And absolutely maddening. __*****_

"You do realize if you said those words to anyone else in the _world_, much less this very _building, _they would look at you as if you had lost your mind."

Kurama ducked a little as he passed by some lower overhanging foliage, turning his upper body a little that Akari would not get hit in the face as they went.

~!**!~

When he gave her that-_stupid_-stare, he sent her veins buzzing all over again with a sudden influx of power, but when he turned away, she actually latched onto it this time and sent a puff of energy outwards that only stayed long enough to act as if it was only a second of invisible, blowing breeze, albeit one that contained the smell of her energy within it.

"Not good enough. And a lie. Why did you ask it?" She watched him as he picked up his things, her arms still crossed over her chest and her weight shifting until she had it all on her right foot. 3

He felt the energy pass over him, smelled it as it enveloped him, but he didn't pause as his fingers gathered the scarf and pulled it from the floor. He stood upright, a hand lazily throwing the scarf up and over his shoulders, wrapping it around his neck but not concealing every bit of the marking that had grown up and over where the material could cover.

He turned the stare onto her with a raised brow.

"Why?" he echoed, expression unchanging. "Your fierceness. Determination." He let his brows settle back into place. "Your will to fight."

He stood there, unmoving, no longer speaking, but still staring.

~!**!~

"Whoever said I had a whole mind to begin with?" She countered, hands unlinking so one could grab at his shirt as he ducked over her. "Also, might I add, I wouldn't say it to anyone else. Not in the way I say it to you." _*****_

"I am not quite certain as to whether I should be insulted or pleased." Though the smile that played on his lips certainly said otherwise.

He continued moving deeper into the room and the foliage around them was closing in and growing thicker, but it was not so that it was claustrophobic by any means, only accepting them into a living embrace that seemed to create this air of privacy around them the farther they went.3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	104. Episode 188

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here, with another chapter for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari resists Kurama's request to enter the room on her own,  
and as a result she is pulled in via thick vines coming from inside,  
suspended from the ceiling.

Kurama activates nearby plants that give off sound as if they are fighting,  
and lowers her down into his arms,  
confessing that he missed her the night before.

Kurama questions Akari about her ghostly jaunts,  
explaining that "stepping inbetween" is actually using a "tenth layer,"  
otherwise known as the Veil, which separates the living and the dead.

Since Spirit World began dissolving when the three worlds started to merge,  
it appears as if the Veil is weakening as well,  
culminating in a portal being opened due to a ritual finished by Otento's blood,  
one that allows the previously dead to pour through,  
though it appears their only interest is attacking the realm of the living.

He reveals that Takeo's blood opened a portal in the room,  
and that he convinced Yomi to let him keep the plants he had used during the battle there,  
as well as taking Takeo's place in reawakening the ability to walk inbetween within Akari.

Akari realizes that she all but died when facing Takeo,  
and somehow managed to run from her fate.

Kurama mentions a third party involved in the ritual required to open the portals,  
though it seems likely the party does not know blood falling inbetween is needed to finish it.

Akari remains shook up by the entity she saw while she was dead,  
Kurama musing on the effect the dissolution of Spirit World might be having everywhere else.

Unsure who might have teamed up with "the dead" on this side of things,  
Kurama continues comforting Akari,  
talking about how all three would-be Kings are gathering up layer-walkers  
and that things have reached a stalemate between them,  
now that whatever barrier between the eighth and ninth now-layers  
can be by-passed by simply walking inbetween.

Continuing to walk around the room to distract Akari,  
she calls him "absolutely ridiculous,"  
and Kurama informs her that he isn't sure whether to be insulted or pleased...

~!**!~

Embracing Hiei and admitting she does not wish him to die,  
if only he would let her remove his marking so that he would not,  
Shikiyoku continues to crumple under Hiei's stare,  
her energy unwieldy as he manages to without fail call it out from her.

Taking advantage of the ability to do so,  
when none of the other marked demons appeared to be able to,  
Hiei does not let her go and her energy fills the room around them  
until finally Shikiyoku finds that under his fiery gaze  
all her other worries seem to slip away,  
and even when he loosens his grip,  
she does not step away, only relaxing into his arms.

Eventually he lets her go,  
but they remaining standing in front of each other,  
Hiei gazing up at the mirrored ceiling above them,  
and finding that he almost did not recognize the expression on his face.

"Are you sure you're not a fire demon?" He asks her,  
and when he doesn't tell her why he asked,  
she unintentionally flexes her energy in the air around them,  
and pressing him as to why he asked.

"Your fierceness. Determination... Your will to fight."

* * *

"Hm." One of her brows lifted a little, her lips pulling up on that same side at the compliment. "I was unfortunately not given the pleasure of being born an elementalist like yourself. I'm really a rather untalented apparition. The only thing _I_ can do is change how everyone sees me." Her smile widened.

The glimmering eyes, the almost shining skin, the gleam of her hair. All of it. Not _quite _an illusion, but a manipulation of herself intended to draw the eye, to gain the attention.

She understood that clearer now. 3

Hiei kept staring at her with a blank stare, expression giving no reaction to her words, to her reply of being boring in power. His head did twitch a little as if to tip to the side, eyes on the widening smile she gave, but otherwise he gave no visible indication that he particularly heard all of what she said. Not until he spoke.

"Boring isn't the word I'd use." he said simply, still not moving. He continued to eye the smile with a steady gaze before his eyes slid back up to meet her gaze calmly. He remembered what Kitoushi had said, about that smile of hers.

"People see you as you. Not for your power- though it does get you where you need to go, should you need it." His eyes flickered to the smile again. "That's what people notice." _What I notice. _"The smile."

~!**!~

AKari's eyes searched Kurama's smiling face, the last thought of what she'd been explaining earlier dissipating entirely, leaving her eyeing the smile he issued. "I wouldn't insult you in _that_ way." Her lips twitched. "I might curse you from time to time, but never would I intentionally insult my fellow warrior princess." _*****_

There was this brief internal moment where Youko expressed confusion about what Akari was saying.

"Well, that _is _most certainly a relief." Kurama admitted. "I don't know what I would do if my partner suddenly decided to take to insulting me." He gave a long-suffering sigh, "Probably think she was being serious and be terribly hurt by it all."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave him a bit of a grin, "I _do _tend to make it as dazzling as possible when the cause arises."

_Even if I miss how much finer the expression looked when I had a demonic form._ 3

Hiei's stare locked on Shikiyoku's gaze as she spoke, holding her eyes with his own as they flashed a little with an unreadable thought. He held the stare for a few moments, picking his words carefully, making sure he had that gaze locked before he did so.

"it's never as dazzling for anyone else as it is for me." He went quiet again, holding that stare indefinitely, not even daring to blink.

Because that was the most ridiculous- no matter how true it was- thing he'd ever said.

...But he really, _really_ needed her to take him seriously, because it was clear he still wasn't there. And he had already told himself he'd do whatever it took to make her see it.

Because he wasn't going to let her walk away without a fight.

~!**!~

Akari's smile widened and she tugged on his shirt a little with the hand that had curled around the fabric. She didn't say anything yet, only wanting to get his attention first. _*****_

Kurama made an amused noise and turned to look at her, his expression, eyebrows raised and all, saying a very clear 'what?'

~!**!~

_Just when you think you have the upper hand..._

_...he goes and pulls the rug out from under you again._

She couldn't help herself, the smile widened at his words even if she didn't really understand them, lips spreading far enough to give her what felt like a stupid sort of grin where if she had her old fangs, one of them would have been seen.

And her teeth parted like she was going to say something. Like she had something to say about it.

But her hair rustled a little as a more powerful surge of energy sent it moving, a rustle that couldn't be completely accredited to how she shifted her weight over to the other foot.

She took in a breath, stopped with nothing to say, and breathed further, more audibly this time, before she came up with anything.

"Maybe I do it on purpose." It was supposed to come out loftily, as if she really did mean to imply that her intent was to draw him closer, to get his attention, but she blurted out the next part, "Maybe I think you don't _look _at me enough," and at least the last portion was meant teasingly, because under that stare she found herself unable to move much anymore, though if he didn't stop soon there was going to be a thicker haze around her that would give her this golden glow she didn't think would be particularly inviting to anyone. Just terribly strange. 3

Hiei raised a brow just a little at her words, as if he'd already guessed she'd say that. And, really, he supposed he _had_ guessed she'd say something along those lines. And At her second 'maybe', his stare seemed to become heavier, focusing on her much more than before, intensifying in color and the gleam dancing in his eyes as he did so.

"I'm looking at you _now." _

Was she still not taking him seriously? And was that all she really meant?

_If that's what it will take, then so be it._

_At least now I know where to begin._

~!**!~

"What's on your mind?" she suddenly intoned, smile never wavering as she reached up and tapped his cheek with the hand that had tugged at his shirt. _*****_

"Lots of things." He admitted, looking back at their path, which he still occasionally would have to turn a little in order to pass through, though really it seemed almost as if the plants were parting to let him by at this point.

~!**!~

Her first couple of thoughts fluttered by like butterflies caught in a windstorm as her arms dropped to her sides and her entire body froze in place, rendered incapable of movement under his smoldering gaze.

_If Youko saw that look..._

_But Youko's not..._

All at once her core gave out what felt like a contented sigh, tightening all at once and then releasing, and her body flooded with energy, wiping away anything else in her mind but a fleeting thought that had something to do with Hiei living on the edge or taking his life into his own hands or maybe something else entirely that got snatched out of her head as it filled with power.

_What do you desire?_

Her skin buzzed merrily, her scalp tingling and setting her hair nearly shining, her eyes cascading a brilliant green that coalesced with the previous, more muted sparkle and then...

And then she took a single step forward, the rest of her body relaxing, her bare foot making no noise on the shining, marbled floor, a strange haze of yellow almost setting her aglow as if some otherworldly being made of gold.

_What do you desire?_

There was only one thing she could think of, and that one thought echoed continuously in the empty corridors of her mind as he stared at her and as she took another step towards him.

_What do you desire?_

"Is that all you desire to do? Look at me?" Even her voice had changed, lighter as if to match the aura around her, but the question was low in tone, and simple.

_What do you desire?_ 3

She was all he could see as Hiei's stared became just a little more intense, encouraged by the haze that filled the room, that colored the air around her as she took a single step forward, an unspoken string of words dancing in her eyes. Words he couldn't remember the last time she'd said. But they were there, and even if he wanted to he couldn't bring his eyes away from her.

And she took another step, he saw the flash in her eyes as the glow around her brightened, spreading around her further, the scent filling the room thicker than before.

And his stare remained locked on her, watching her every move as the rest of his senses kept track of the energy in the room, amused and completely entranced. Rooted where he stood.

And at her question, his lips gave a twitch, two different answers conflicting in his mind. _Yes_, because he was enjoying it oh so much. _No_, because he wanted to make her take him seriously, to not throw him away, to not toss him over the cliff.

To stay.

He couldn't decide which was stronger.

Which was more important in that very moment.

So his lips twitched a little more, stare never wavering.

~!**!~

"Hm," Akari hummed, hand coiling around his shirt again as she considered asking if he had anything he intended to share. But in the end, she didn't ask, deciding that they had plenty of time, and she knew no one would come in the room with Youko Kurama inside.

Yomi had probably ordered all to stay clear anyway, and the only demon she could see being dumb enough to barge in with or without orders was Satchi.

"You gonna walk forever?" _*****_

He half-expected her to press him on it, and truthfully several of the thoughts revolved around _her_, but he let it be.

"Do you wish for me to walk forever?"

~!**!~

_What do you desire?_

His answer was too convoluted for her to sort through without concentrating. And she meant for him to answer aloud in any case.

She had not stopped moving, but her steps were measured until she was close enough to have to tilt her head back a little to look up into his face, close enough that the energy rolling off of her was pushed back to create a negative zone between them, like it refused to envelop him without his permission. Close enough to feel his breath on her face.

_What do you desire?_

"Hiei Jaganshi." As if she didn't already have his full attention and needed to say his name to get it. Her hand came up to hover over where the heart-shaped mark was underneath his cloak, but she did not touch him. "What do you _desire?_" 3

Hiei followed her every move, not even blinking when her lips said his name when he didn't give her an answer. He allowed the space she put between them, not leaning closer nor leaning away as she stopped before him, her breath rolling across his skin and her hand just hovering over the place he knew to be the epicenter of the mark he had been adorned.

The question she posed was different than the last, and yet just the same. It did, however, suddenly make it easier for him to answer, and he leaned closer, moving to the right a little so he could speak into her ear, but not so far as to be able and break the stare.

"You to _stay. _And for you to let _me_ stay."

~!**!~

Akari shrugged a little. "Personally, I think it would be pointless to walk around with me in your arms for no reason other than to do so." She finally let her head rest against him, eyes closing. "And while I'm aware you likely got about as much sleep as I did, if I keep rocking back and forth, there's no guarantee I won't be wandering the room." She let out a small breath. "And frankly, I don't much enjoy that anymore." _*****_

"Pointless? Isn't having the honor of holding you in my arms point enough?" He paused. "We are actually going somewhere _specific_ now. Though I hadn't planned on letting you down until...until I was sure nothing was going to happen once you were in here. Have to plan for every possibility after all." He glanced at her. "It did confirm a few things when nothing happened, though."

~!**!~

Her eyes followed his motion, her core giggling in her chest under his stare.

If she had not been so free as this, his answer would have made her shudder, would have made her sad.

Because her desires were in direct conflict with his.

Assuming his led to his own death by association with _her_.

As it was, nothing about her changed, not her calm, open expression, nor her steady energy that filled the room and filled her.

The energy, however, did remain stopped in the space between them, almost appearing to be held back by the hand she had lifted, the one that had yet to come down over the mark. It started to circle around him like a permeable wall, leaving him free of its touch, but surrounding him with it.

"Stay?" She echoed, watching him, "Is there nothing more?"

_I would give you anything you asked. _3

Hiei didn't move from where he stood, eyes on her still even as she spoke, even as her energy moved between them and in front of his eyes, around his shoulders, behind his back and around his arms. Around his ankles. Never touching, he knew, but still there, hovering.

He finally gave one blink at her before he let out a small breath. _Of course there's more. _

He didn't speak for an entire minute, watching her, lips twitching a little.

"To be your Consort."

He couldn't bring himself not to say it, much less say _no._

~!**!~

_Honor? I don't really think-_

She sighed and peeled her eyelids open to look up at him curiously. "Confirm?" She was curious now. "And what exactly would that be?" _*****_

"Why, everything I've told you up to this point." Kurama finally came to a stop and looked down at her. "Having only one portal of data to go off of doesn't particularly mean another won't act in a different way."

~!**!~

She blinked at him, but his admission seemed to make the soft smile on her lips grow, pleased.

"Really?" The look in her eyes meant the question rhetorically as her energy bloomed around her once at his words, knowing the truth of them. "What on earth would that gain you?"

This question was...more curious than the others. She did not even know herself what he would gain, what would make the union _equal _since she would get a demon capable of transitioning her, and Renai had made it explicitly clear that a Consort, as opposed to a Champion, made for an even playing field. 3

Hiei didn't answer the first question she asked, the one-worded question that he saw no reason to reply to. She knew the answer- if the question _really_ wasn't rhetorical as he suspected it to be. The second, however, had him pausing.

He hadn't thought about it very much. Only that he didn't want to leave her, or her leave him.

And yet, that seemed to answer his own question just as easily. Seemed to give him the answer as if he'd already known.

"A companion."

Because somewhere in his lifetime, he'd been told that waking up in the mornings was easier when there was someone to wake up for. He hadn't understood it at the time, sitting in that little campsite with the girl who'd decided to attach herself to him.

Perhaps… this one would let him grow to understand it more.

Because he knew no one else would. Especially when no one else deemed him _worthy _of anything in the nine layers.

~!**!~

Akari's brows came together briefly as she thought about it, but quickly lifted again into a calm expression and she gave a little hum that said she understood. She wouldn't have really thought about it before he'd said it.

Not that he'd been letting her think of much of anything that would trouble her, or bring her back to the earlier topic.

Which she was _very_ grateful for.

"Good point." _*****_

Kurama glanced around for a moment.

"The ground is very soft here now. But if you'd prefer a bed of roses, or any other flower for that matter, it could be arranged." He gave her an unreadable look, still standing in place.

~!**!~

For the hybrid demon before her, his answer seemed to almost suffocate her with how _right_ it was, how _true _it was, and it was all she could do to just stand there, looking up into his face with one hand poised over his core.

Funny how she never even thought to ask any of the others.

_What do you desire?_

This time the question was aimed at herself and she appeared taken aback, blinking a couple of times, suddenly becoming unsure.

_What do you desire?_

She didn't know...she...no one ever asked her that question, she never really got to _think _about it.

The idea left her dumbstruck, but the voice in her head changed and the next time it sounded like Douji.

_What do you desire?_

Her energy continued to flow around in the air in a foggy sort of haze that held nothing of the heaviness or thickness of the steam on the other side of the door behind her.

Hiei's answer echoed back to her, bringing her back to what she had been doing, and this time, though she didn't know it, her smile was that one she only ever gave _him_, the one only _he _got to see. 3

Hiei had moved just a little, pulling back from her enough that his cheek wasn't next to hers anymore, but so that he could stare directly down at Shikiyoku, watching her, waiting for a reply or even another question. And He found himself amused at the way she blinked a few times, at the way she seemed to turn inward with her own thoughts, yet simultaneously still watching him.

And then that _smile_ formed, and he found himself unable to move, hardly even _breathe. _It was the smile he hadn't seen in so long, the smile that had been smothered by grief and fear and desperation that it hadn't _had_ the chance to even twitch at her lips the same way.

"_That's the smile."_

His hand twitched at his side, and then his arm slowly lifted, his fingers wrapping around the wrist that was closest to him, the wrist of the hand that was inches from his chest, from the mark. And while he wanted to tug on it, wanted to feel the warmth of the mark, he didn't force it.

He merely stood there, staring at her, waiting for… something. He didn't know what.

~!**!~

Akari made a small sound as she stifled a laugh. "The soft ground will do fine." Though, at the thought of roses, she suddenly remembered she'd lost the seed so long ago. The thought was brief, however, and replaced with the thought of how _comfortable_ a bed of flowers would be.

And how much easier it would be to fall asleep on such bed, and more than likely roam the room.

Which she'd learned made her feel icky, and was a no go. So she gave a little nudge at Kurama's chest with her knuckles, silently saying he could put her down here, and she really didn't want anything else but to be there. _*****_

Kurama gave out a little chuckle and set her down.

"Before you decide that's what you really want, I have a couple of things for you. One that belongs to you, and...a gift." He reached into the pocket of the grey pants of Yomi's uniform and held out a seed for her.

A rose seed.

~!**!~

At Hiei's statement, Shikiyoku lowered her face a little, her cheeks blushing the barest pink as she let out a small laugh, but...the smile didn't go away either.

Her attention moved to Hiei's hand just as it wrapped around her wrist, and his touch sent several of those little sparks up her hand and down her arm.

The contact brought her eyes back up to his.

"_Is that...what you desire?" _The question held the image of them standing there as they were now, and the two of them moving her hand forward, where it would light his markings aglow. 3

Hiei stared at the mental image she provided for a few moments before he decided that _yes_, in that very moment, it was what he wanted. A small desire that still stemmed from the major one. So after another moment, he tugged on her hand and pressed it over the place he knew the heart to be, quickly feeling the warmth begin to move along each section of the mark, each swirl, each curl starting from the heart and spreading in many different directions.

His eyes remained on Shikiyoku as he kept track of the warmth spreading, his own skin seeming to even _tingle_ where the warmth moved. And as the glow moved along his skin, he became aware of her energy moving, enveloping him in its scent, in its warm, cheerful glow as it moved around him, encasing both himself and her in its color.

And for the second time since he'd known her, Hiei turned her own question onto her. "_What do __**you**_ _desire, Shiki?"_

He went quiet again as he noted the glow coming to the ends of each mark, where it had stopped earlier, but now was… continuing, inching along his skin even slower as the mark continued to move along his body. He felt the warmth spread further up his neck, up to and behind his left ear and even to follow his jawline. It also grew down his arm, reaching his wrist and curling around it, not yet moving further than the joint and creating an odd bracelet-like ring around his skin.

It even moved further down his back, spreading to cover his shoulderblade and follow his spine to the center of his back.

And even as he felt it crawl to an end, his stare gleamed in amusement as he never let his eyes move from her face.

"_What do you desire, Shikiyoku?"_

~!**!~

Akari kept hold of Kurama's shirt until she was sure she had her balance, at which point she smoothed out the wrinkles on his chest before letting her hand fall, her eyes turning up to him curiously. Both things confused her, made her curious, so her eyes followed the motion of his hand with a raised brow.

When his fingers uncurled to reveal a seed- _the rose seed_\- sitting on his palm, her smile returned and she paused, eyes flickering up to him.

"I hope you don't expect me to do the same thing you did. I'd rather not have a seed in my mouth." She reached forward, carefully grabbing the small thing between her forefinger and thumb as she gave a breath of relief. _You visited Manami, I'm sure. _"Thank you." _*****_

"Manami gives you her regards." Kurama told her as she took it from him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes had gained a faraway look to them as she watched in her mind's eye the swirling patterns of the mark the demon before her bore. And her eyes widened as she _watched _it, felt it, bloom further, the energy almost encouraging the growth.

She blinked a few times, brought back to the present by a question she only barely heard flowing over her mind the second time.

In the openness between them, there was no mistaking how impressed she was, the recognition bordering on admiration for what she had just witness.

For some reason...she had not really taken note of just how _much _there was to the mark. Not until now.

Her energy swirled around them like the glowing lines on Hiei's skin, enveloping them both in the haze and leaving them standing there together in it.

When his question hit her, still hanging in the air between them, she blushed again. 3

Hiei didn't move a single inch, his fingers still curled around her wrist, his eyes still locked on hers, the energy around them glowing as if they were in a whole other world of their own. And it was probably the most surreal, the most serene and most calming thing in the nine layers. To feel the glow on his skin and the energy around him, mixing.

And when she didn't answer, he sent the question silently, a mere impression of curiousness as they stood there amidst the soft pearlescent glow of her energy.

~!**!~

Akari let the seed fall into her palm, her fingers curling around it as she brought her eyes up to smile at Kurama. _She makes a good Alpha, knows what to do and how to handle the pack. ...glad she's doing well. _

And aside from the soft smile of fondness, for both the girl he spoke of and Kurama, she didn't have a reply. _*****_

"The second is...still in a rather experimental stage." Kurama looked up and the vines above him dropped down with something he took from them before they disappeared back towards the ceiling. "But it's hard to see what will work without _you_." He held in his hands what could have been a necklace made of daisies and started to place them over her head.

~!**!~

There were many things she desired, she found. Almost too many to rightly register them all, so her mind had instead twisted the question to be more specific, to give an answer for what she desired right _now_.

That provided her with two things. Two immediate, relatively easy answers that proved...harder to admit than to think up.

And she didn't know if it would be easier to admit them out loud or into the awaiting warmth in her mind that patiently expected her response.

"_I..." _Her eyes lowered to his neck, if only to escape the stare for a second. The fingers of her left hand fiddled with the soft material of the towel.

She went with the one that came to mind second.

"_...want you to call me Shiki." _She wasn't sure if she meant to add 'again,' but she _did _nearly say 'and,' but managed to stop herself short, the thought quickly pulled back from the connection out of embarrassment. 3

Hiei didn't mind that her gaze shifted away from his. It amused him, actually, that in order to form an answer to give him- very likely out of a few- she had to break the holding stare they'd created for one another. And he waited patiently for an answer.

When she did provide him with one, his lips twitched. It was a simple little thing, a simple and easy request to fill. One he'd already taken to filling without actually directly meaning to do so.

"_Is that all you desire, Shiki?"_

~!**!~

Akari's head tilted to the side a little at Kurama's admittance, her eyes following his upwards, but not sure what she was looking for other than the vines that slid downwards and then disappeared in the darkness of the ceiling again.

So she brought her eyes back to his face, smiling curiously as he continued. She would have made a curious sound, but her eyes moved to the string of flowers in his hands as he lifted the colorful ring up and over her head, to which she responded by ducking just a little, to make it easier.

"You're absolutely adorable, you know that?" she said without looking up, smile twitching up a little more. _*****_

"Am I?" Kurama asked, "I hadn't the _faintest _idea."

He finished placing the necklace over her head and took to adjusting it a little, eyes intent on the blooms.

~!**!~

At his actually _doing _it, she pulled her lips into her mouth and bit down on them a little, trying not to smile.

But at recognizing his question, at being asked again, the energy around them bubbled happily, though Shikiyoku shot it the closest thing she was going to get to an irritated look when she felt so very _wonderful_.

"I-" Her eyes shifted the other direction, "No?"

It was a long shot. 3

The buzz of the energy around him seemed to encourage the fire demon in listening intently, waiting for her answer this time as if he could feel it coming. And even when she gave a 'no', his lips twitched into a smirk and he stood up a little more, spine straight and shoulders relaxed.

"_Was that question tacked onto that 'no 'for me or yourself?"_

~!**!~

"Oh, but I think you do." Akari lifted her eyes to look at Kurama again, her smile turning mischievous. "And you use it to your advantage every time. I'd say it isn't fair, but not once have I ever heard you say you _were_ fair." She glanced down at the blooms around her neck now, eyeing the flowers. "There's another adjective for you, by the way." _*****_

"It's because I'm not." He told her, one hand dropping from the necklace. "Fair, that is." He gave her a smile, the other hand coming up to brush the top of her nose briefly.

~!**!~

She found herself with a pleasant smile on her face in spite of herself as she looked back up at him.

Shikiyoku didn't answer except with a coquettish shrug, the fingers at his cloak just slightly shifting in the fabric beneath them. 3

Hiei stared at her, noting the shrug she gave and the smile she offered. One that said she wasn't going to answer right away. He figured she was playing a game, seeing how many times he'd repeat himself, so he remained silent, waiting. Watching.

Smirking in amusement.

~!**!~

"I'm aware of it." Akari replied calmly, eyes closing briefly when his finger touched her nose. She took a deep breath through her nostrils, taking in all the scents around her and noting the way Kurama's scent almost seemed to vanish amongst the aroma of the flowers and ferns and other foliage around him.

When her eyes came open again, she took the step that would close the space between them, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug and resting her chin on his shoulder.

"I'm not going to want to leave this room, I hope you know."

_And how did he achieve making me want to be inside instead of fearing it? _*****

Kurama let his arms slide around her body to her back as she hugged him, holding her close.

"And you think I'm going to want to leave it myself?" He didn't wait for her to answer, since he felt it rather obvious, but he did pull far enough away from her chin to look at her and to be able to reach up with that same hand and tap the tip of her nose again. "It is, however, time for some sleep, I think. That's what the necklace is for. We're trying to keep that spirit of yours from wandering around unchecked. It's only a prototype. The real thing ought to be much smaller. Able to hide it under your clothing."

~!**!~

Her energy thrilled around them.

_Answer him._

But it was...too _weird_.

_Answer him._

It was as if the hazy glow itself were talking to her, dancing merrily, encouraging her to tell him what he had asked.

And what if he says no?

_Answer him._

Stop that.

His eyes certainly weren't helping matters, because she could still see the question behind them, even if he hadn't asked her again.

The energy seemed to hold this sort of calm joy at having the two of them in its midst, and for a moment Shikiyoku was reminded of the true fire.

_Answer him, _the energy sang, delighted to have the question turned.

_But he doesn't have to fulfill it! _And she felt she always had too. It wasn't fair. Because what if he didn't? That would be embarrassing. And he wouldn't want to anyway. And if he didn't desire it, she didn't _want _to desire it.

_Answer him._

Stop it.

Shikiyoku found herself giving a little laugh and leaning forward to put her face up against Hiei's chest.

Was this how everyone else felt when _she _asked? 3

Hiei's fingers unfurled from around Shikiyoku's wrist, moving so that he could wrap that arm around her bare shoulders as she moved forward, the laugh she issued ringing in his ears just as merrily as the energy around him danced.

He raised a brow, still amused at her refusal to answer. But he was a patient demon these days, and frankly, he felt they had all the time they wanted to have. He could stand there as long as it took.

_This is the Shiki I want to be around. _

The thought caught him off guard, made him blink once, and then he released a sound through his lips that was nothing more than a breath of amusement.

And he had the most bizarre feeling to say _I told you mind, now you tell me yours._

~!**!~

_Think, or know?_

She almost voiced the rhetorical question, but instead her eyes drew downwards, to the flowers around her neck almost curiously. She trusted him, trusted that it would work. And even if it didn't, she knew he'd do what he could to fix it, to _make_ it work.

After a moment she pulled away from Kurama and lowered herself to the grass, sitting first and looking around herself. _Daily rendezvous for sleep? I can deal with that. _

The thought made her give a small laugh. "I've got another adjective for you." She suddenly voiced, watching him with sparkling eyes,, but not going on. _*****_

He was about to warn her that it might not work and-

"Oh?" He stopped himself and drew his gaze to her eyes, "With that look, I'm not sure I want to know, do I?" His smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

~!**!~

_Answer him!_

_Answer him, answer him, answer him!_

It was insistent, though not demanding or harsh or...it was everything _but _all those things, all the negative ones. Encouraging and delighted still at having been asked.

Her energy continued to dance around them jubilantly, continuing to drag her resolve down.

"I-" _Augh, I can't. _3

"Don't hurt yourself, woman." Hiei said after a moment, amusement clear in his tone, in his gaze, in the way his stomach tightened with a silent sound he didn't release. She didn't have to say it if she didn't want to, though he was _extremely_ curious at this point.

She'd get to it.

Maybe not now, but she'd get to it.

And as he noted before, he was a patient demon where she was concerned.

_Mostly_ where she was concerned.

~!**!~

Akari continued shifting when he paused, turning so that she lay on her stomach on the soft grass, arms near her head and cheek resting on the greenery. Her smile widened and her eyes found Kurama again.

"Well, it doesn't matter if you _want_ to know." Her eyelids slid closed. "I was only _informing_ you that I had another adjective at my disposal. I never said I was going to _use_ it." _*****_

Kurama sat down and stretched his legs out in front of himself, crossing them at the ankles and leaning back into his hands that propped him up from behind.

"Hm." He intoned with amusement, going back to what he had been meaning to say earlier. "You should know that I'm not for certain that will work." He glanced at the necklace. "It's hard to know without being able to test it."

~!**!~

"Oh, didn't you know?" Shikiyoku pulled back so she could look up at his face again, grinning a little, "What's hurting is _not _telling you. Is it always this bad? When I ask you?" 3

Hiei raised a brow even higher at Shikiyoku, his smirk growing to show a pointed canine on one side. He watched her for a moment, considering her as the energy in the room bounced and played in the air, the soft glow moving around and around.

"No, because I don't _fight it._" he admitted. "Not anymore." Before, he hadn't known what was happening. And then by the time he'd come to realize, he hadn't cared enough to fight it, to argue with an energy that was _meant_ to pull answers from people. To reel them in without a fight. "Also, I pick my battles better."

~!**!~

Akari's eyelids slid close. "I know what the word 'prototype' means, fox." She felt her smile twitch wider. "I'd already thought of it." She shifted a little, pulling an arm to rest under her cheek and she glanced through one open eye at Kurama. "You're not allowed to sit there and not sleep. Because I know better than to believe you slept." _*****_

"And how on earth am I supposed to know if the necklace is working if I'm not awake?" Kurama asked her. "I got plenty of rest. I did not have to worry about my soul wandering off."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave another lingering laugh at his answer, her eyes closing as the laugh ended with a sigh.

...and then she mumbled something into his cloak. 3

Hiei's brows furrowed a little as his ears caught the smallest of sounds from Shikiyoku. He stared at her in silence for a moment, wondering if he'd just not been listening hard enough.

_As if._

"_Shiki._" he chided. "I didn't catch that."

~!**!~

"Because I'll tell you." Akari said calmly, both eyes open now as she looked up at him with a frown. _Liar. _"I mean, you could always _pretend_ to sleep, since you're a fantastic actor, but I'm not fooled by your words, fox." _*****_

"I'll know the instant your spirit leaves your body if I'm awake." Kurama said, "And while I may not play _fair_, name one time that I've ever lied to you."

~!**!~

The energy around them bubbled again, reflecting the moment when she heard him call her 'Shiki.'

She gave a sigh into his cloak and pulled away, actually frowning a little that she was having to _say _it or be tormented forever.

_Answer him._

_I'm __**trying**__._

There was no hiding her reluctance. She didn't even look at him, though she was far enough away that she could have easily met his gaze again. One of her fingers started making absent circles against the black fabric under her hand that was still making his marking glow.

"I...want you to...kiss me." It was said so low that she may as well have mumbled it into his chest again, but without her face buried in it, the words were clear enough to fight past her lips and into the air.

As _soon _as they did though, she was blushing madly, a deep red going across her nose and cheeks. 3

Hiei raised a brow, his first thought on the words he heard, of the admittance being that she hadn't switched. He stared at her for a moment, looking over her face curiously, the energy around him thrilling through the air, as if it were humming happily in his ears and waiting for his reply.

_Well…_

_She asked._

And instead of asking questions, he decided he'd just… _do it_. Because even though she'd been reluctant, she'd still said it.

_Not hiding from me._

So he leaned down and paused for a moment, watching her before he moved closer, lips gently touching hers just as they had earlier. And after a few beats, he pulled away, eyes suddenly moving to the side as his core gave a funny little motion.

"_Happy?"_

~!**!~

Akari let out a sigh. "Did I say you'd ever lied to me?" _Obviously I'm not getting anywhere. _"I was just-"

_Never mind. _

She gave another sigh and slowly scooted closer, a hand reaching out to him. "At least come _here._" _You pain in the ass. __*****_

"I am 'here.'" He replied cheekily, grin widening as he did go ahead and scoot closer to her, taking a hold of the hand she stretched out to him.

~!**!~

There was this part of her, a rather large part in fact, that honest-to-goodness assumed he would scoff or call her foolish or-

Well, it didn't really matter now did it?

When he started to lean towards her, it had been an almost automatic response to look up at him, blinking through the darkening blush across the mask of her face, and she was certain she was holding her breath.

_He can't...he won't..._

When his lips first touched hers, her eyes widened in surprised, then just as quickly closed, appreciating this for what seemed like the first time, given that she hardly remembered any other kiss or they had been interrupted for her with spaces of blackness separating one form from the other.

Of course, when he kissed her, sparks were sent flying from her lips in several different directions around her face, and she couldn't see them, but she could feel the prickles of energy scatter about.

Not to mention the fact that being 'awake' for the whole thing made her core jolt, the hairs at the back of her neck standing on end, and left her breathless when he pulled away.

Almost as if it were a delayed reaction, the instant Hiei asked if she was happy, her energy swirled around them madly as if they were in the eye of a maelstrom, and the soft yellow glow intensified in thickness, actually making the air heavy like it had not been before.

Still blushing, still unsure if that had actually happened, Shikiyoku blinked and her eyes shifted back and forth to the wild energy that whipped around them as if a great wind.

She looked back at him, one eyebrow slightly raised and a barely restrained smile trying to belie her next words.

"_Maybe?" _3

Hiei stood upright now, his eyes intently watching the energy around him thicken and swirl, billow and blow around as if stirred by strong winds. He found his eyes following it as best as they could, not turning to Shikiyoku even when she gave an answer.

He didn't know why, either.

_Never done it before._

Oh, right.

"_Hn." _was his only reply.

~!**!~

Akari made a small sound of irritation. "Ha ha. Very funny." _Using my own explanation from yesterday. _She continued to scoot closer, though she shifted herself around and instead of laying next to him, she gave a huff and lay perpendicular to him, resting her head on his thighs and staring up at him with a frown. She pulled her knees up, planting her feet on the grass below, and twined her fingers together over her stomach, her elbows resting on the grass.

"Since you refuse." She shifted a little, turning her face away so that her cheek rest on his thigh. "Stubborn." _*****_

"Almost as stubborn as you." Kurama calmly replied, reaching out with his closer hand to idly pull his fingers through her hair.

Once she was settled, a wave of foliage rose from the ground behind him and he leaned back into it.

~!**!~

It took a good deal of concentration, and intense staring at the scarf around Hiei's neck, for Shikiyoku to pull the energy back inwards before she really _did _bring the entire customer base of the bathhouse down on them.

And when she did, the haze lessened and the rushing around them stopped, settling back down to the shimmering, warm glow that circled them before.

She was...breathing hard, but from the combined effort of reigning in her power and the previous kiss both. 3

Hiei felt… odd, standing there, watching the energy for entertainment purposes and… other purposes he didn't quite understand at that time. It had him frowning a little when the glow dimmed and the swirling stopped, though he waited an extra moment before turning to look at Shikiyoku, expression neutral.

And the longer he stared, the quicker those odd emotions fled, leaving him with a calm stare and amusement filling his gaze all over again, as if nothing happened.

_What now?_

~!**!~

"I would argue, but that would only prove your point." Akari pointed out, still giving a small pout. "Since you're supposed to be _training_ me, don't let me forget to tear up the armor. Might as well make it believable, hm? Because everyone knows you can heal wounds for the heck of it."

She turned her head so she would be looking up at the ceiling, though she couldn't see much of what was up there. "Also, as much as I hate that you're _stuck _here, I'm rather glad you're here." _*****_

Kurama continued stroking at her hair, his ankles crossed again.

"I don't think causing our favorite blacksmith any more trouble will be necessary. It would be believable enough that I was not keen to strike at it, don't you think?"

When she turned her face upwards, he leaned down, moving a bit of hair away from her forehead, and planting a kiss there again.

"I am glad too."

~!**!~

The blush across Shikiyoku's face had not decreased as she stared forward, and especially not with Hiei looking at her again.

In fact, the energy around them had lessened in power as she was endeavouring to forget the...what had just happened...so she could go put her clothes on or something, but when he turned her way again, she lost a little control and it flared up a bit more.

She gave a little sigh, but it wasn't an unhappy one, exactly.

"I can't do _anything _with you looking at me like that." 3

Hiei's smirk widened as he noted the slight influx of energy again, it still moving around him, touching him here and there, encasing them both. And when she spoke, it made it that much more amusing. "_You're the one who said to look at you more." _he pointed out almost loftily, but he turned his eyes away anyway.

~!**!~

"Whatever you want to do. You're the 'trainer'." She gave a shrug, her eyes closing as he bent over her and his lips touched her forehead. And after a few moments, she gave a deep breath and relaxed even more. "If I don't end up wandering around as soon as I'm asleep, will you at least _try _taking a short nap?" Akari asked, expression only a little bemused. _You deserve some too, y'know. _

_I just hope I __**do**_ _only sleep. _*****

"It doesn't always happen the instant you fall asleep." Kurama commented, "Or at least, any time I've witnessed it, you don't leave yourself immediately. But...we'll see."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku closed her eyes and smiled when he looked away, starting to reel in more of her energy and unaware that she still had her hand over his core.

"I suppose I did say that, didn't I?" She gave a little hum, "It's not that I don't _like_ it. It's just that you tend to stop me in my tracks when you _do_ it." 3

Hiei took keen note of what she enlightened him of, and he kept his eyes pointed to the side despite wanting to glance for a moment. It would make a fun game, glancing just long enough to make her pause, then looking away. Repeatedly.

_Later_.

His hands found his cloak pockets.

"_Amusing."_

~!**!~

AKari mouthed the last two words with a hint of a mocking air, though her lips twitched upwards in good humor. "Fine. I can't convince you otherwise." She went quiet again, stifling a yawn as she began to feel how tired she was all over again.

That bread hadn't lasted long, after all.

_Not that I'm hungry enough to eat more than that. _

Almost immediately following that thought, she gave a small sigh and began feeling the edges of sleep begin to creep in. _*****_

Kurama sat patiently, stroking his hand through Akari's hair and, simply, waiting.

~!**!~

"Oh, like you didn't know." Shikiyoku said, managing to get control and dissipate the energy in the air as she finally pulled her hand away from him and took a step back, giving him that smile before bringing a hand up to where her towel was still blessedly tucked together and turning away.

She left her clothes out near the hot spring, though she only just remembered them, and as she walked off she reached up to tuck part of her black hair behind her ear. 3

Hiei waited until Shikiyoku and managed to reign in her energy and turn a smile at him. Still, he didn't look at her, not even when she passed. He listened to each step she took, waiting a few moments before he turned his head to look over his shoulder, his body following a moment later and turning towards his pile of clothes, his eyes still staring at Shikiyoku's back as she adjusted her hair.

That calm, even, unguarded stare at the back of her head.

And should she turn to look at him, he would be sure to be facing away and doing something else.

~!**!~

Each stroke of Kurama's hand through her hair had Akari's mind numbing quicker and quicker, the darkness creeping in from the edges of her mind until it was the only thing she knew. Her lips parted to give a small sigh, head turning a little towards Kurama's abdomen, and then she settled into the darkness of sleep. _*****_

~!**!~

Her mind was already on her clothing outside the door, on the payment for Meijin, and she had just gotten her hand behind her ear when her stomach froze up and her core lurched in place, sending a buzzing through her veins as she blinked at the floor for a second where her vision had fallen, feeling the energy start to lick into the area around her.

Her shoulders slouched as if in defeat and she groaned.

"Hi-ei..." She lengthened the last syllable. 3

Hiei noted her pause with an immense amount of satisfaction, his eyes turning away just before she complained at him about it. He already had a boot in one hand and his other hand on the wall, making quick work of sliding it over his foot before planting it firmly on the floor.

"Hn."

He continued what he was doing with the other shoe, and then the necklaces he had hidden beneath the pile, tucking them under his cloak and scarf.

~!**!~

It felt like forever Akari was floating through that restful darkness, no dreams to disturb her. It was blissful while it lasted, though.

She became aware of the tiniest feeling inching over her consciousness, of the slightest tug at her awareness, and then her eyes were open and she was standing to Kurama's left, frowning and looking down at him and herself.

"Well, there's your answer, fox." she grumbled, knowing he wouldn't hear her. She continued to stare for a minute, watching as her own breathing seemed to slow, almost until she wasn't even sure if she _was_ breathing, and her own core's beating mirroring that with a slower pace.

_That is so __**weird**__._

She looked up and around the room, lips twitching a little in unhappiness. _Why did this happen? _Surely there was a reason, right?

She took a few long strides forward, and suddenly found her feet becoming heavy, and she wasn't able to move any further. With a frown, she tried moving further by going another direction, and only ended up going in a straight line for a few feet in _that_ direction.

She frowned and glanced back.

_The necklace. _

She sighed and moved towards Kurama, taking to crouching a foot or so away from him, close to where she'd found herself standing when her eyes had opened. And she watched. _*****_

The wall behind Kurama rustled quietly as he shifted a little and let out the slightest sigh, watching his hand moving through Akari's hair.

_[There.]_

The motion of his fingers stopped and his hand came to rest on his thigh.

Her breathing had slowed, her core nearly stopping.

Kurama waited a beat, then let out a heavier sigh, though he did look around himself as if he might be able to see her.

"Akari..." He leaned over so that he could see her face better, smoothing the back of his hand down her cheek gently, lifting it to see if there was a reaction.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku shook her head, a breathy laugh sneaking past her lips as she kept moving forward, sucking her energy back into her core where it rightly belonged as she reached for the sliding door and stepped back out into the steam, closing the door behind her.

It only took a few seconds for her clothing to be in place, dark crimson pants that looked black unless you examined them for a moment and same colored tank-top both tight so that they wouldn't snag while running. That and the color were both things she had picked up as a habit during her decade or so of time in Demon World, and habits that stuck with her even when her only thoughts were to _feed_. The shoes were dark as well, made of cloth, and slipped over the bottoms of the pants, which actually wrapped around her feet through her first and second toes.

It made her look...more like a fighter in some ways. Certainly more like one that she really felt.

Reaching for the band her hair had been up in, she placed it in her teeth as she gathered the strands together and put them in a ponytail.

The towel was left on the bench as Shikiyoku put one hand on her hip and stuck her other up in the air by her ear.

The hand in the air blurred and Shikiyoku's faced shifted a little as if she were looking for something that she couldn't actually see.

Her expression brightened after a moment and when the hand came out from inbetween in her palm was a nondescript brownish sack tied at the top and the coins in it clinked together. It spilled over the edges of her palm a little, and grabbing it by the top, she went back into the other room and moved with purpose for the closet door that had gone unopened, sliding it back, counting shelves and tapping at a hidden drawer which opened so she could put the sack inside before closing it, and the closet and turning away. 3

By the time Shikiyoku had entered the room again, Hiei was completely dressed and was calmly looking up at the mirror overhead, eyeing the mark that now decorated his neck and jawline, even curling behind his left ear. His eyes gleamed with amusement at the thought for not being able to hide it, as he had wanted to do when he first found out. Not out of shame, or even anything _bad_, but simply to be the one no one expected to be in the running, to be the one who would crop up unexpected and be uninterrupted because _it doesn't matter, he isn't involved_.

He released a breath of a scoff. _That advantage is over._

Then again, he remembered running around in the inbetween, slicing up demonic souls every which way, shirtless, after the rift had opened up. They'd all seen the mark then, likely. The 'charade' had been put to rest then.

_The mark wasn't near this widespread at that time. _

Perhaps that was why he was so amused. He had disappeared for a while, and when he would return for one of the others to see, he'd suddenly be adorned with markings _on his face_, when there hadn't been any mark seen before his leave of absence.

And, truth be told, he didn't see a reason why those who were left wouldn't have already known he was marked, since it seemed her previous Champions were _all_ included. Which made it almost _embarrassing_ that he hadn't thought of that before finding out he was marked.

_Hn._

He heard the closet door close and turned his eyes down to Shikiyoku calmly, waiting to know where she wanted to go next. _Likely home_.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small sigh when Kurama looked up and around, even right through her before looking back down again. "You know, I don't know how to go back. It just happened the other times." she admitted, though mostly to herself since she knew the redhead wouldn't hear her. "I just thought I was dreaming, and now that I know I'm not, I don't know what to do."

_I can try a few things, though._

She gave another sigh, this one heavier.

Akari closed her eyes and began to imagine herself waking up with her head in Kurama's lap, with a hand reaching up and grabbing his so that he might stop worrying so dang much. She even imagined her soul sliding back into her body, as if absorbed by her skin.

And when she opened her eyes, she was disappointed to see she was still crouched nearby, a hand outstretched to her own body and even touching her own skin, but no progress had been made. Her face hadn't even twitched from Kurama's touch- one she almost thought she could feel in _this _state of being too.

_Just great._

"You realize how vulnerable you are like that, don't you dog?" It was a very matter-of-fact question, almost not meant to be answered.

Akari turned her head to look at the demon standing at least ten feet away, arms crossed over his chest and lips pulling up little by little. She stared at him, expression unchanging, not even moving away from where she crouched.

"I wonder how Yomi would react if he was enlightened of this scene." His tone this time reflected the brief flash of mischief in the demon's eyes.

"You wouldn't have the chance, Takeo." He shifted his weight, moving noiselessly closer until he stopped right where Akari knew she wouldn't be able to reach him even if she tried. "...You've been watching."

"For a while, yes.."

"Why are you here? The portal closed."

"Because when I got by your friend the first time, he didn't see me. Before I could get back, there were too few to keep him distracted. So I stayed. I'd rather wander as a spirit than become nonexistent." Takeo's eyes flashed over to Kurama. "That's what happens when you attack a spirit in their realm."

She stood and moved closer to him, leaving two feet between them. "You have no power here, just like I can't manipulate my own energy." She moved to step between his line of sight of Kurama, earning a darkening stare.

And for a while, that's all they did. Stand and glare at one another, Akari watching his every move and Takeo seeming to assess every little thing he could about the situation. And then his lips stretched into a calm smile and he stepped backwards once. "I'll see you around, _wanderer."_

Akari growled as the demon disappeared through some heavy foliage. And after a few minutes of that sound slowly dying away, she turned and returned to where she'd been, this time sitting crosslegged on the grass and eyeing the place where she should have had a shadow, even in the dim lighting.

Her smile reappeared, bitter and sarcastic.

_I can't control them, but that doesn't mean they are unaware of any threat to me. _

_I wish you the __**best **__of luck, Takeo. __*****_

He had hoped she might simply wake up from a gentle brush of his hand.

"Akari..." He called for her again, a little louder this time, running his fingers along the other side of her face. "Akari, I know you're around. And can hear me. You-"

Kurama blinked, then his gaze shifted to the left, watching her shadow disappear from underneath her and slink away.

"Akari-" The hairs at the back of Kurama's neck stood on end.

He shifted a little to watch it, seeing it stop for a moment as if waiting, then shooting off into the distance.

_Really?_

He felt for sure the necklace would prevent her from out and out _leaving, _even if he wasn't sure if it would keep her spirit in her body completely.

_Dammit._

He turned back to the girl still mostly in his lap.

_I know she can hear me._

Kurama leaned down and started kissing at Akari's face, over her cheekbones, on her forehead, avoiding her lips, and stopping for a moment to murmur quietly into her ear.

"If you don't come back _soon_, I'll let Youko out..."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku blinked at Hiei, her head tilting a little to the side as her gaze fell on the swirls that were new, the ones she could see, the ones that came up beyond the white fabric around his neck.

And for an instant, her eyes met with his, narrowed just a little as the edges of her lips tugged into a possessive smirk, an expression she had never worn before, accompanied by a single thought shooting across her mind:

_Mine._

The expression passed in a split second as if it had never happened, though her head was still tilted.

"Where do you wish to be?" 3

There was a change in Shikiyoku's expression that Hiei saw, but it was so quick he wasn't even sure he _had_ seen it, much less decode what it meant. And in reaction to that slight momentary confusion, his brow raised, remaining there even when he let go of his curiosity and only took to considering Shikiyoku's question.

_Where?_

_Doesn't matter, really._

He didn't know of places such as this, places that would be extravagant like the place they stood in now. He only knew of places he'd been, some entertaining, some simply detached from the rest of the world it seemed, some packed with merchants and things that would look interesting simply due to their _shine_.

_Heh._

It wasn't like he was going to take her to the icy cliff he'd been thrown over and say _look where I began my journey._

Thought that thought certainly _was_ entertaining.

He blinked, realizing he'd been entertaining himself instead of thinking of places to go.

He blinked at her calmly, silently saying 'I don't care where we go'.

~!**!~

Akari frowned at Kurama as he leaned over her face again, the slightest sound catching her ear with each touch of his lips. _Not fair. I can't enjoy it when I'm not in my body, jerk. _She blinked once at herself in slight surprise before giving a huff. _Just gonna go with it, I guess._

She reached her hand towards him, pausing when he issued a threat she didn't enjoy.

An eye twitched. "That's not funny. I'm defenseless, you jerk." She passed a hand through his shoulder, as if it might get his attention. "Don't you _even_."

Another huff. "It isn't like I'm not _trying_ anyway!" She acted as if she hit him again. _*****_

Kurama stopped for a second, small smile on his lips as he looked at her.

"Oh, don't like that thought, hm? Then I suppose you ought to figure _something _out. I'm not even sure myself what Youko will do once he gets his hands on you."

Gently, Kurama took her chin in his hand and shifted her face away from himself and when he leaned down again, instead of saying anything into her ear, he started nibbling at the edge of it.

"But I can _assure _you he won't be as _nice _about it as I."3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	105. Episode 189

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here, with another chapter for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Kurama walks about the room with Akari in his arms,  
making sure nothing out of the ordinary would happen  
with her being back in the same room in which she accidentally helped open the portal.

He comes to a place where they could lay down and rest,  
returning to her the rose seed he gifted her with long ago,  
as well as giving her a necklace of daises,  
intended to assist in keeping her soul anchored into her body.

Watching over her as she sleeps,  
Kurama notices when her shadow dashes off,  
Akari having encountered Takeo in her out of body experience.

She cannot wander very far and ends up back next to Kurama,  
who threatens her with allowing Youko to attempt to awaken her  
and begins nibbling at her ear.

~!**!~

Desperate for Shikiyoku to take him seriously as a prospective Consort,  
Hiei points out to her that her smile is never as dazzling for others as it is for him,  
and his subsequent stare has her giving into the energy within herself,  
a single thought beginning to echo in her head:

_What do you desire?_

He answers that he wants to stay with her,  
and that he wants to be her Consort.

Surprised and curious, Shikiyoku presses him as to why,  
as to what it would gain him,  
and he answers that he would get a companion.

Knowing the truth in his response,  
Shikiyoku gives him the smile he'd been missing,  
and as they stand there together,  
her hand over his core and his markings glowing,  
Hiei turns the question back onto _her_,  
even as he feels his mark growing over his body.

Compelled to answer by the nature of her own energy,  
Shikiyoku replies that she wants him to keep calling her 'Shiki,'  
but finds that she doesn't want to admit to her other current desire.

Through the combined efforts of her energy and Hiei,  
she finally says she wants him to kiss her,  
and though he doesn't particularly understand the request,  
Hiei obliges in light of her confession.

They continue to ready themselves to leave,  
Hiei testing his ability to stop her with his gaze,  
and when she asks him where he would like to go,  
he indicates that he does not care...

* * *

"Anywhere, hm?" Shikiyoku asked lightly. "Are you certain about that?" 3

Hiei wasn't really sure about the question she issued, half considering she was saying it as a warning and half thinking she simply wanted to toy with him. His lips turned downwards at the edges, the corners of his eyes twitching just a little as if to narrow, but not really completing the whole action.

_No?_

_Yes?_

_Hn._

_I trust you._

"Quite."

~!**!~

Relief passed through Akari when Kurama paused, and she sat back again and promptly crossed her arms over her chest in a slight pout. "You're a pain." She wasn't sure whether that was meant to herself or the fox demon sitting nearby. Her eyelids closed even as Kurama continued, making her tense even more.

"_Why_ do you do this to me?" she complained, "I've _tried!" _

When she opened her eyes and saw what he was doing _now, _everything came to a halt, including her thoughts and her movements.

And when she opened her lips, it was to release the breath she'd been holding, though not quite that alone.

"_Stop that!" _She surged forward, hand passing through his cranium. "That isn't for _you_!" She turned to her body and continued the loud protest. "Wake up you frickin' idiot! GET _UP_!" She made as if to grab her own arms and shake, and she suddenly found she couldn't move.

_Wake up, dammit._

Within the next seconds, she found herself surrounded by darkness, as if she'd never left her body in the first place. And it took a _lot_ to force herself to wake up, to pull her arms up and plant her hands on Kurama's chest, eyes still squeezed shut. "Get offa' me," she grumbled. "I'm _awake." __*****_

As soon as he felt her returning, Kurama pulled away, though her pushing at him had him leaning away a little faster than he probably would have, settling back into the wall of vines behind him and watching her stir on his lap with more concern than anything.

"When you...are ready...awake... I'll take the necklace." He folded his arms over his chest, a bit of a darker cloud settling over his eyebrows as he exchanged notes with Youko. "It obviously needs some tweaking."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku actually let out a laugh, "Quite..._uncertain_, I think you mean. Nowhere in the world you want to be? It isn't as if anything can stop us." 3

Hiei turned his eyes to look around the room, as if it would give him any ideas that might be _worth_ sharing. There were a few places he did consider visiting with her again, such as the Ninth Layer where she'd taken him so long ago, where the fruits bloomed and there were no disturbances. He also considered going back to the cliff and finding the phoenix.

But both would be redundant if they kept returning over and over again so often.

A thought hit him, and his eyes brightened in amusement. He knew just where to go.

He moved forward, taking the few long strides necessary to close the distance between himself and Shikiyoku, a hand reaching out and grabbing her upper arm. He flashed a quick smirk at her before folding them both between the layers, moving all the way up to the first, using each layer to drag Shikiyoku in the direction they needed to so that by the time they _did _land on the first layer, they were in the center of a silent, crumbling, very much destroyed and empty stadium.

The same stadium he and the others of the team had been in for the tournament. The same stadium where he'd mastered the dragon technique.

He let go of Shiki's arm, not looking at her as he pulled his right arm from his cloak pocket and held it palm-up in the air, a dark flame forming over his palm as he began to call on the dragon, knowing it needed to be loose every so often.

Even _if_ it had just recently been released to obliterate hundreds of demonic souls.

And before long, the dragon's roar shook the crumbling stadium.

~!**!~

Akari moved a hand to wipe at her ear, now actually able to _feel_ the sensation that sent a small tremor up her spine, her eyes opening to turn an accusing glare at the fox, only to see the expression _he_ wore and for the glare to completely melt away. Her stern expression melted, leaving nothing more than the redness on her face that had actually had _nothing_ to do with the anger she'd feigned.

She continued to rub at her ear subconsciously, eyes turning away and to the opposite direction.

"I couldn't go very far, if that helps any," she grumbled at him, shifting around a bit so that she may sit up. She didn't want to try it again. "Only a few feet." And with Kurama already in this mood, she decided not to mention Takeo.

Because her shadow was already on it.

She blinked at herself and turned inward, searching for the shadow that she had seen zoom by her, and she felt an immense amount of satisfaction in knowing that it had stopped in a corner of the room, and was working on swallowing the soul. _Thank the heavens. __*****_

Kurama's head bent down just a little, his eyes going closed, though he did hear the information she passed to him and gave a little nod and a hum to indicate he heard her.

There were...a couple of things they could try, a couple of adjustments they could make. He hadn't expected it to be _harder _for her to come back though. And he wondered if in attempting to keep the spirit _in_, they were also blocking it _out_.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku didn't bothering saying 'ow,' though he could have just told her to follow him instead of grabbing at her like she wasn't going to come with him if he didn't.

She took a step to the side when she felt the sudden accessing of so much power, eyes starting to wander around the ruins once she realized what Hiei meant to do.

"Taking the old girl for a walk?" She commented off-hand, starting to walk around, stepping over broken bits of the walls and former stadium seats with her hands clasped together behind her back. 3

Hiei's eyes followed the dragon as its head reared and began to snake higher into the air, moving away from him and into the open skies. He heard Shikiyoku, but for a moment didn't answer, fighting with the urge to say something sarcastic when they'd been on such a good streak so far. So, he settled for a mild, "She needs to roam occasionally."

After a few more minutes, the dragon was flowing in circular patterns above their heads, roaring and occasionally ramming into the crumbling walls, sending debris over the already broken seats and, occasionally, the ring itself that no longer really existed. "This is where she first emerged, after all. Rather destroy this place than any other."

~!**!~

Akari's eyes opened and she sighed, now sitting upright with her back to Kurama. _He needs to know, I suppose. Just in case. _But she really didn't want to darken his mood. And she _really_ didn't want to keep it from him.

_But it's handled._

_That isn't the point._

"You might… watch Yomi the next few days," Akari finally said, voice quiet enough that he'd only hear if he was listening. "Takeo was around." _Was. __*****_

Kurama gave another hum.

_As if this wasn't trying enough already._

He finally opened his eyes, "The necklace?"

He held a hand out for it.

~!**!~

"Oh?" Shikiyoku's interest grew a little at the knowledge.

She still found it amusing that Hiei had been the one to relieve the Ninth Level of Demon World from one of its most dangerous creatures.

_So this is the place, huh?_

Shikiyoku watched it for a second as it flew overhead.

_And to think I missed it._

Whether witnessing it leaving the Level or witnessing it emerging _here_. In either case, she wished she had seen it happen.

She kept moving after a moment, wandering a little more aimlessly up into the seats, where she could feel the stone almost wishing to give way under her feet and knew the plant life of the island was eating away at the foundation of the structure, reclaiming the space as its own. 3

Hiei's eyes remained on the dragon for a few more minutes, remembering how he'd called it here what felt like _ages_ ago. It felt as if a millennia had passed from that day to this one, because so much had happened, so much had _changed_ in that time. The group hadn't had much time between the ending of the tournament and Sensui to even revel in the end of such a trying, tiring time.

And then even after that, they hadn't had much time to relax.

It was almost _odd_ to have the free time they had now. To be able to roam as he wished, with no reason or rhyme to what he did. To whom he spent his time with.

Well, okay, there was a _reason_ he spent his time with who he did, but that was beside the point. It wasn't _forced_. It wasn't _a mission. _It wasn't because _human world needs you. _

Not that he'd cared for Human World in those cases anyway.

Suddenly, he was turning, eyes finding Shikiyoku and staring at her, watching her silently.

Because he'd found a new game earlier, and he had every intention to play it when it crossed his mind..

~!**!~

"Oh, right." Akari's hands pulled the necklace up and over her head, gathering it carefully into the hand nearest the fox before passing it to him, still not looking at him. She hadn't wanted to darken his mood, to build to the cloud that hung over him, but she didn't want him to be mad about it later, if he found out from another source.

Aka, Yomi.

And in that moment, she felt small. Or rather, she wished she _was_ smaller. Perhaps small enough to scurry away.

If she could change into her canine form, she probably would have done so, just to slink next to him and show she didn't like being the source of his worry, the reason he continued to sigh.

_But I can't do that. So, I'll just sit here. __*****_

For a moment all Kurama could see was the necklace, and when he took it from her his hands began glowing, adjusting it, tinkering with it.

He absently reached over beyond his right leg and gently brushed his fingers against the ground, a handful of small mounds starting to form as he went back to turning the necklace over, morphing its shape, the color, the size.

After a second he blinked and looked up over at Akari, the necklace lowering into his lap.

Leaning forward, he murmured a soft, "Hey," and reached out with his nearest hand to lightly set his fingers under her chin, encouraging her to look his direction.

~!**!~

Already having climbed up a portion of the broken wall and making it to the seating, Shikiyoku continued to make her way through the debris, snorting to herself when she would spot blackened sections where she could just imagine weaker demons having perished and left only their shadows behind.

She froze in place for a second as she reached out to pull herself up the next ledge, and then her head shifted to the left, snapping over to the right, and then staring forward.

_What the..._

...

She blinked, tilting her head upwards and her skin tingling as she searched for..._something _that was watching her.

_...I was sure we were alone. _3

Hiei fought not to scoff in amusement as Shikiyoku suddenly paused and took to glancing around, though he didn't deny the smirk of amusement that crossed his features. And he noticed that she looked in every direction except for _his_.

Which made it all the better.

His stare remained on her, watching her back for a few more moments before turning his back to her and his eyes up to the dragon, as if he'd never been watching in the first place.

_This will be… amusing._

~!**!~

_I'm tired of this. Why can't we just go home?_

Akari heard the shift, her ears feeling as if they twitched at the sudden sound and the small word that was whispered to her. And for a moment, she felt amusement. _If you can be upset, so can I. _

The thought passed and she turned to look at Kurama, a small, twitching smile on her face. "Hey yourself." she murmured back. _*****_

Kurama gave her a soul-searching look before saying anything else, the tips of his fingers still softly touching the underside of her chin.

"I'm sorry."

~!**!~

The tingle that had spread across the back of her shoulders faded and Shikiyoku shook herself, going ahead and pulling up onto the next ledge.

_Must have moved on. Not seen anything of interest._

She almost laughed to herself.

Or whatever it was had seen the dragon and thought better of its plans. 3

Hiei waited a few minutes, listening to Shikiyoku as she climbed and meandered, his eyes on the dragon for that span of time until he decided he hadn't bothered her enough.

So he turned his stare over his shoulder again, boring it into her back with more intensity than before, no thoughts able to project any desires to her, as he simply did this for the heck of it.

~!**!~

Akari gave a frown now. "You have no reason to be." She gave a shrug at him and grabbed at his hand that was under her chin, pulling it away. _I do. _"And stop looking at me like that. It's disconcerting." And she wasn't lying about that. His searching gaze almost left her feeling like an open book for him to read. _*****_

Kurama only blinked at her calmly, turning his eyes back down to the necklace and beginning to work at it again, moving it around just as dextrously in five fingers as he had been in ten, not pulling his hand away from hers.

~!**!~

She half-wondered if it might-

The muscles at the back of her neck tensed, and from shoulder to shoulder she shivered, stopping in place again.

_What the hell?_ 3

The fire demon's lips twitched into a wider smirk, watching the tension roll over the female again as she paused, even giving a little tremor across her shoulders, and it was even harder this time to restrain the sound he almost made. And even though he wasn't exactly reading her mind, he had a good idea of what her dominant thought was at that moment.

So he held the stare just a little longer.

~!**!~

The slow blink she saw had her almost shaking her head a little at him. Hazel eyes turned down to watch Kurama's hand work at the flowers, a very small smile forming on her lips and a breath leaving her nostrils in a small sound of amusement, letting the hand holding his rest on the grass.

She watched his expression for a minute, that same long puff of air leaving her nostrils again. _How can one person be so __**handsome**__? _She turned her eyes away and took to staring at a nearby plant as it moved gently around, silently. _*****_

A sound Kurama thought to be the most gentle and calming noise in the world pricked his ears and he turned his head to the right, watching with a serene expression as the seeds he had scattered near his thigh broke through the earth and started growing, faster now that they were free of their confines, until they bloomed into two bright yellow blossoms and three dark purple ones.

Reaching his hand over, he cupped his hand over one of the yellows and as he twisted his wrist to take the stem between two fingers, the flower came up out of the ground, the roots melting into one another and making for a long single stem that Kurama set to weaving into the already manipulated necklace in his lap.

Instead of looking like a daisy-chain, there were only six of these white flowers left, the rest just looking like a green strand of material into which Kurama coaxed the end of the new yellow flower in his hand.

~!**!~

Unbidden, energy began swaying into the air from around her shoulders and Shikiyoku blinked, her shoulder suddenly dropping their tension as she whipped around to glare at Hiei.

"Wha-at?" She called, slightly irked that he didn't just _say _something instead of staring up at her like that. He was a telepath for crying out loud. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, his expression completely neutral by the time she had whipped around to glare at him. He held that stare for a moment before coming up with something to say, simply as an excuse. "Don't fall." Without another word, he turned away again, using his back to her as a means of hiding his amused smirk and gleam in his eyes.

The dragon roared again, and he almost felt as if it could be responding to the situation, if it weren't for the fact that such a being wouldn't _care_.

~!**!~

Akari stared ahead, blinking only when her eyes began to burn and listening to her surroundings. The sound of Kurama's hand at work, the sounds of the plants that always seemed to be rustling nearby, the sound of the absolutely calm air in the room.

She was aware of the approaching shadow even as it zoomed by her, then circled back and came to a stop in front of her, taking shape as her personal shadow as it should have. Its energy whispered to her briefly, and she gave a small breath through her nose again, this time a sigh.

At least _she_ wouldn't have to be monitoring the energy it took to keep a being inside the shadow realm. Apparently if a spirit became _trapped_ in that realm, the only way it could get out was if it was released by the shadow that had trapped it.

And that was probably one of the most encouraging things she'd experienced today. _*****_

Kurama worked steadily in the near-silence, one hand weaving the other four flowers that had grown next to him into the seven that were in the necklace already, setting the differences in the spell of the talisman as his lithe fingers maneuvered through it.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made a huff of irritation and turned away, grumbled to herself, "You could have just _said _that, flame-boy. Hell, you could have just _thought _that."

_Damn hybrid and his damn stare. _3

This time the scoff left Hiei's lips unbidden, and he kept his eyes up on the dragon that continued to occasionally ram into things, occasionally roaring and sending various debris falling in every direction. HE'd even had to step to the side to avoid a large cluster of concrete from hitting him, the wind from its impact sending his cloak fluttering and his hair rustling a bit before it all settled again.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd let the dragon free simply for this purpose.

Definitely before Otento and the Youko impersonator, that was for sure.

Another mighty screech from the dragon and Hiei was flitting away from the area he'd been standing _again_, making a small sound of displeasure.

_I forgot how much you __**enjoyed**_ _doing that._

~!**!~

Akari's eyes shifted to her hand in Kurama's, then up at Kurama, a small smile playing on her features. "Would you rather use both hands?" she suddenly asked, realizing it might take him longer if she occupied one of his two appendages. _*****_

"At this very moment? No." Kurama replied, deftly twisting another knot into the necklace and merging the stem with the others.

He briefly considered slowing _down_, truthfully.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku reached the top floor of the stadium and turning around, the wind at this height whipping the end of her ponytail across her back, took a look at the landscape surrounding the stadium.

She was fairly certain she hadn't been to Hanging Neck Island before, though she knew the name well enough. Anything she might have done on the first level would have been with...Youko. Yeah, that's right.

She blinked at the velocity of the air, and stepped back to seek a little refuge nearer to the wall. What little there was left of it at least.

There _was _still a gaping tunnel to her left though, and after leaning on the wall for only a half second, she bent forward and looked down it, contemplating going inside simply for curiosity's sake. 3

For a few minutes, all Hiei did was flit around, feet stirring up dirt as he continuously dodged falling debris from the air above. He would stop for a moment, move in another direction when he saw something else falling, and then pause again to look up at the dragon that he knew was having its fun.

It had done this before, too. Throwing debris at him in its own way.

_Even she needs to do something other than attack, I guess._

There were still things he didn't understand about the magnificent creature above. Things he didn't know how to begin speculating when he couldn't rightly create situations to test his theories.

He-

He had to move again, causing all train of thought to disappear and slight irritation to swell. _Not even a moment. Hn._

He turned and dashed away, up the stands of the stadium until he stood at Shikiyoku's side, noticing where her gaze was pointed.

"With the dragon out, I wouldn't. She enjoys making things fall around people."

~!**!~

Akari hummed at him and let her eyes fall to watch his work curiously, noting the efficiency even with the one hand he used. _Good. _She hadn't wanted to let go anyway.

And, truth be told, she didn't want him to finish the necklace either, because she didn't want to make another attempt at sleep. Because no matter how tired she was, she could always sleep when _away_ from him and wake up only to _reconvene_.

Which would probably make this whole thing easier.

_Probably?_

_Definitely. __*****_

After a few moments more, Kurama sat up shifting his shoulders and neck around, and placed the necklace in his lap to his right. He tugged at the hand Akari held to pull her closer, or to get her to come closer. Whichever.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku passed a look from Hiei and up to the dragon.

"I'm fairly certain it likes making things fall around _you_." A smiled played on her lips as she turned and walked towards the tunnel, stopping at the entrance to it to at least look and see if there might be anything of interest. 3

Hiei couldn't deny what she said. He did watch her though, as she leaned into the tunnel that he knew would lead to the bottom floor, and to the exit of the whole arena. He noted her curiosity with amusement, arms crossing over his chest as he turned to look in the direction of the dragon again.

He hadn't really been tracking it, so when he saw it ram its jaw into the ceiling above him, he gave a sound of impatience and turned, taking the few quick strides to Shikiyoku so that he could wrap his fingers around her wrist, causing a spark of energy to fly between their skin, and pull her between the layers, only dropping to the first layer again when they were both out of harm's way.

This time when the dragon turned to face them, it hovered for a minute, silent.

_That was unnecessary. _

~!**!~

Three was this small amount of disappointment when Akari watched the necklace be lowered to Kurama's lap, her eyes moving up to his face and watching his expression. She gave no indication of her disappointment, her lips even giving a soft smile when he looked up and tugged on her hand.

She obliged and shifted around, crawling the short distance on her knees until she was sitting at his side, almost exactly where she'd been sitting when she'd ventured as merely a spirit. She gave him a curious look as she eyed him some more. _*****_

Kurama shifted Akari around until she had her back against the left side of his chest, weaving his arm over her as he did so without letting go of her hand and one he had her nestled against him, he brought his other arm around to meet the first, settling a little further into the plants behind him and lowering his nose until her could bury it in her hair.

"I missed you."

~!**!~

Confused, Shikiyoku looked about when they reappeared on the first layer, almost unaware she had been taken away until she felt Hiei's hand at her wrist.

_At least he didn't clutch at my arm again._

It all happened so fast.

She looked from Hiei next to her and then up at the dragon, and realized what had happened.

_I told you._ 3

Hiei scowled up at the dragon, ignoring the air around Shikiyoku that told him of her thoughts without the use of his telepathy. And the dragon seemed to stare right back for a few moments. He could feel the sparks still running along his fingers the longer he held Shikiyoku's wrist, but really, he was ready to disappear again.

Until the dragon resumed its little spins in the air, deciding it wouldn't strike anything just yet.

He released Shiki and turned to move a little further away, just in case.

The moment he turned his back, however, the dragon let out a loud screech and dove, moving fast enough that Hiei wasn't sure what it was doing until it had already grabbed Shiki and spun back into the air.

For a moment, he blinked up at it.

And then he snarled. "Put her _down._" For the first time in a _long_ time, he felt fear for another, and anger for not having paid enough attention. "_Now." _Because if he had no idea what to do other than give harsh commands and pull at his energy that bound it to him.

~!**!~

Akari let herself be shifted about until she was contently leaning back against Kurama, her fingers still linked with his and his arms about her. She did a little shifting of her own, pulling her knees up so that her feet were planted on the grass below, keeping her from sliding or shifting unwillingly.

Her eyelids slid close as Kurama's nose rustled her hair, his breath sending a few strands fluttering a little when he spoke up. A small sigh left her lips and she gave a little squeeze of his hand, silently saying she had missed him too. Her eyes came open again to stare ahead, smile still tugging at her lips. _*****_

Kurama squeezed his arms tighter around Akari for a second before releasing her, afterwards letting out a sound somewhere between a groan and a growl and letting his cheek rest against her hair, closing his eyes.

_There is absolutely no point in being here._

_[Try to convince Yomi of that.]_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku caught...an inkling of something as the dragon stared down at the two of them, intently watching them as they in turned kept an eye on it.

It was obvious to her that the fire simply enjoyed having a bit of _fun_, causing its master consternation while at the same time trying to get him to pick up on its little game.

He dodged. She supposed that was enough to keep its interest.

But then the flames turned away, flickering about in a manner Shikiyoku could recall having seen before, though certainly not at this close of a distance, and whatever had been tugging at the edges of her awareness faded, Hiei letting go of her and moving away as if he feared the thing would try to start up its game once more.

She almost snorted when she heard the darkness flame screech, watching how the flaming of its body seemed to say-

...to say...

Shiny?

Her eyes narrowed a little, catching bits and pieces of impressions of the dancing fire that were _just _different enough from the true flame to have her concentration focusing in for a moment, brow drawing together as she watched it dive closer.

_No wait, not shiny..._

Faced with the maw of the beast, Shikiyoku's eyes widened drastically as the word finally clicked just as the jaws were about to snap shut.

"_Sparkles!"_

_...shit._ 3

There was an inner panic Hiei couldn't recall ever feeling before this moment, and it left him standing there with an expression of shock. He wasn't sure _why_ Shikiyoku hadn't moved out of the way, only letting her energy free, but it wasn't important at the moment because _the dragon __**ate **__her. _He didn't look for a shadow or charred remains, because he just couldn't _think right._

All at once his worry and fear turned into stone-cold anger and his muscles began to shake just a little, his expression turning to that ice cold glare that reflected the fire of rage in his crimson orbs.

"_Release her," _he demanded, giving a mighty tug at the energy that bound the creature to him. "_I will not repeat myself."_

And as a factor to his sudden rage, Hiei could feel the temperature around him rise, no flames yet seen, but threatening for form as if it would help at all.

~!**!~

Akari gave a tug at Kurama's hand when she heard his sound, moving her head a little so that she _might_ get to look at him from the corners of her eyes. "I know," she grumbled. "Trust me, I do." _I've been here for an eternity it feels like. _

She let her eyelids slide close again, this time leaving them closed. "Take a nap, you stubborn fox." _*****_

"Hm-mm." He shook his head just a little, his lips closed as he made the sound, blinking slowly. "I can rest when I'm _not _with you."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku blinked at first seeing only _yellow_, enveloped in her own energy, and then realizing that she saw absolutely nothing beyond that until her vision clicked in and she realized she was completely surrounded by _flames_. Black flames. Black...purpley...flames.

"_Sparkley!~"_

Trilling again in the air around her, the word had changed a little, and amusingly enough it was only because of her energy that she could even see the fire talking as it danced around her.

She couldn't even tell _where _in the thing she was.

The dragon had shot up into the air, body waving back and forth as it wove its way around, and it was the strangest thing, but Shikiyoku would have _sworn _it was humming this happy little nonsensical tune to itself that matched the snake-like whippings of its body.

Funny too that she had released her energy like it was going to do any good. There was absolutely _no _chance of harm from this creature's excitement, which was so...weird considering she had survived its rampages in Demon World and knew what kind of damage it could do.

At Hiei's tug, the dragon stopped short in another pass, flamey body wriggling around even while it was still.

"_Nuuuuu!~ Want look pretty laaaadyyyyy!~" _The flames protested, Hiei only a dot on the ground below. 3

When Hiei reached out telepathically, the first thing he received was the impression of excitement, which in and of itself had the fire demon's eyes narrowing further. That was a first, to say the least. But he shifted his weight a little, arms falling to his sides as he glared up at the dark flames of the dragon that had paused to turn its head in his direction.

"_Drop. Her." _Another tug of energy, though he wouldn't dare call it back entirely since he wasn't sure what would happen to Shikiyoku should he do such a thing. "_This. Very. Instant."_

~!**!~

There was a small moment of silence, and then Akari's shoulders were shaking a little, her head turning so that he could press his cheek into her hair again as she pulled her lips into her mouth. And as she heard his hummed response echo in her head, it became a little harder to stifle the little giggles that were trying to bubble up and out of her lips, her jaw giving a little quiver from the struggle. _*****_

"Whadd're you...laughing at...hm?" Kurama stayed right where he was, fighting a smile.

~!**!~

_You taste like Master!~_

...what?

Shikiyoku blinked at the flames around her.

_Fire!~ You good fire.~ Taste like fire.~ True fire!~_

_I...I don't..._

There was no dying the manner in which the flames started to roll around her...as if...chewing on her, attempting to...consume her.

_Yummy!~ Better than fire!~_

It left Shikiyoku staring, her mouth open in confusion.

Meanwhile, Hiei's tug had the dragon shimmering closer through the air, though only a little farther before it stopped short.

"_B-but~ But I dun' wanna!~" _If it were possible for fire to look mournful, it did just that. It wavered in place for a second before inching a little closer. "_Want to...understaaand!~ And pretty lady taste good!~" _3

Hiei watched it come closer, expression unchanging in its stern, angry glare as it paused again, wavering in place. And this time when it responded, he was given the impression of reluctance, and at the same time he heard a snippet of actual _words_, which caught him by surprise enough that he blinked once. And he briefly recalled the flame Shikiyoku had shown him, which had him just as quickly concentrating on the dragon that waved in the air a little.

The fire demon found himself _very_ surprised when he was able to hear two full sentences. Never before now had it ever used words- not to his knowledge, anyway. He'd always only gotten impressions, sometimes the occasional image if it felt chatty.

So for a full sixty seconds, he felt his expression had become that of surprise, blinking twice up at the dark flames before he recovered and his glare returned full-force, flashing.

_Understand?_

"_Don't you dare swallow her." She's still alive. Likely switched forms from the sudden attack. "Release her, or you will be called back and never given free reign to roam." _

~!**!~

_I should've known we would have thought the same thing. _

That didn't stop Akari's little fit of giggles, however. Neither did it help that Kurama spoke up in that same tone as before. It made it just that much harder to keep her little fit a silent one.

_How can one person be handsome, adorable, sly, and completely ferocious all in one day? _

_It's not really fair._

A few giggles left her lips and she bowed her head further forward in hopes to gain control over them. _*****_

"If you don't stop laughing for absolutely no logical reason at all, I'm sure I can find something that would _give _you a reason." It was easy now to feel the way his smile pressed up against the top of her head, trying not to chuckle himself.

~!**!~

The dragon wriggled forward some more as if conflicted.

_Hnnnnnng.~_

"_But she ish yummy!~" _3

Hiei's glare darkened, and had this been another situation, he likely would have given a dangerous sneer to his opponent. Here, however, he did not issue such a thing.

"_Three seconds."_

He paused, lifting his hand in a deliberate manner.

"_Two seconds."_

~!**!~

Kurama's threat only seemed to egg her on, earning a little giggle that was a touch louder than the rest as he only seemed to confirm her thoughts. Though, she did squeeze his hand in protest, since she couldn't quite reign in her little fit just yet.

No matter how many times she paused to suck in a breath, it only seemed to make it _harder_.

_I can't, you're just so-_

A giggle.

_-Fricken-_

Another.

_-cute! __*****_

"Alright. Fine." He gave a little shrug, then slipped his right arm out from around her and started tickling her side.

~!**!~

The dragon huffed, weaving itself closer and starting to slowly open its dark jaws.

They snapped shut all at once and the dragon scurried away higher into the air.

"_Nuuu!~ Shinyyy!~ I found eet!~ You can't has it!~ Miiiine!~" _

The dragon stopped in mid-air and started wriggling around more than usual, beginning to turn circles this way and that almost as if it were trying to chase its own tail.

"_Hee!~ Stahp!~" _It let out a series of squirming flames that seemed to indicate giggling as bright yellow tendrils of power started to become visible from somewhere inside it, threading in and out all along the sides of it. "_Tickles!~" _3

Hiei had paused his little countdown when the dragon came closer, maw slowly opening. He'd been prepared to reach inside, until the jaws snapped closed and it took off higher into the air than before, protesting in a way he only thought a child would do.

And he wasn't rightly sure how to react.

_Especially_ when it suddenly began moving in circles, at which point he simply took to staring at it, anger seeming to have melted away as his eye twitched and his lips opened a little, eyes wide as he followed its motions as it squee'd in what he could only describe as delight. And giggles.

He blinked multiple times before he realized he could see yellow tendrils of energy snaking into the air through the flames. A cheery yellow color that indicated she hadn't switched, and that she was not harmed.

Which did make it easier on him to only stand there and stare in bewilderment.

Here he'd thought the dragon was a mighty beast, and yet it was squealing in happiness and _laughing_.

~!**!~

Akari's body was very quick to lurch away from the hand at her side, though with the other arm around her neck she couldn't go very far. Her giggles got a little louder and a little more insistent in taking her air, and the occasional 'no' skittered out her lips in protest as she made more attempts to wriggle away.

_I'm trying!_

She squeezed her eyelids together and made another attempt at sucking in air, which wasn't very successful and only seemed to accomplish little tears of laughter. "Stop! Stoppit!" _*****_

"Why should I?" Kurama asked as if they were only sitting there talking about the weather. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

Of course he didn't stop.

~!**!~

"_Stahp!~ No want spit out!~ No understand yet!~"_

In the midst of its protests, the dragon kept weaving around in the air, finally letting out a roaring that would have sounded fiercer to anyone that couldn't read the flames shimmering down its back, the ones that indicated laughter, joy even.

The dragon turned and took a nosedive for the ground, quickly becoming more golden in color, and pulled up at the last second, shooting across the ground of the ruined stadium heading directly for Hiei.

It pulled up a second time, arching its back to turn a wide circle that led to it coming back around before Hiei, the tendrils of energy gone now as it wavered silently in the air before him, remnants of the laughter from before shivering down its body.

With one heave, it spat Shikiyoku out onto the ground, where she rolled once before getting to her feet, making a few more steps with the forward momentum and slamming into Hiei, wrapping her arms around him and ducking her head as if trying to hide.

"_Hee!~ You try!~" _3

Hiei wasn't sure what the dragon was talking about, but his eyes continued to follow its every move, confusion riddling his features more than he ever remembered feeling before. _Mighty beast? Only in battle, it seems. _Though, truth be told, he still rather admired the being- no matter how childish it was.

It was in the middle of that thought that he saw it turn and swoop towards the ground, leveling out to charge along it in his direction. His expression changed to mild amusement and he crossed his arms over his chest, watching it as it swooped up into the air in front of him, scattering dirt and making his hair and clothes whip about madly.

And then he was aware of Shikiyoku moving in his direction, appearing out of seemingly nowhere, and he quickly adjusted his stance, digging his heels into the ground and unfolding his arms just in time for her to slam into him, making him take a single step backwards to keep from falling onto his behind. His arms quickly took hold of her to keep her steady on her feet as well, eyes down on her in amusement before he turned the stare up to the dragon that said something more to him.

_Try what? _

"That's enough for today," he said almost to himself, holding out his right arm and pulling on his energy, calling it back to him. _You've caused enough trouble for a good while._

~!**!~

As a last resort, Akari's body began sliding down and away, her legs pulling her to the ground until her shoulder blades and neck were pressed to Kurama and she could go no further than she'd already slid. Her hand that wasn't held by his frantically searched for the one that continued to poke and prod at her tightening muscles that twitched with each contact point made, and she managed to find his fingers and wrap her whole hand around them, breathing heavily and still giving little giggles.

"I-"

_I can't breathe!_

Her lips issued a string of words, but with her breathlessness and the remaining giggles, they made no sense whatsoever. Fragmented and useless for communication purposes. _*****_

Kurama just took to watching her as she settled back down, enjoying the momentary distraction from what lay back beyond the door of the room, and truly it lifted his mood as well, to have her _here_, alive and well, able to...laugh.

_I missed you._

~!**!~

The dragon very obviously deflated as it snaked back towards Hiei's arm, no longer able to resist his call.

"_Awweh~ But...pretty lady!~"_

Shikiyoku waited until the dragon was put away before pulling away from Hiei to look up at him.

"Did you know...that your dragon..._consumes _things in order to understand them?" She kept her arms tightly around him, unsure if she would be able to stand on her own two feet. 3

Hiei watched as the dragon disappeared underneath the sleeve of his cloak, settling as it normally did on his skin where he couldn't rightly see it without pulling the cloth away. And he kept the other arm wrapped firmly around Shikiyoku's shoulders, holding her up and only turning his eyes down to her when she spoke up with a question.

He blinked at her once. "I hadn't had the chance to explore it, no." _Makes sense, considering what it said earlier. _He took to searching her face, silently looking for any signs of harm that may have come to her.

~!**!~

Akari's lips still held a laughing smile, her eyes closed and her chest moving with her berated breaths as she struggled a little longer. And even without looking up, she knew Kurama was watching her, could feel his gaze on her, which made her eyes open. She began to slide herself upright again, slowly struggling to turn so that her side was against his so she could stare at him squarely.

"You're…" She couldn't rightly get the word out with her heavy breathing. And as she stared, she blinked only once before a mischievous smile came to her face. _My turn. Payback for earlier. _

She released both of his hands and quickly grabbed his face, pulling him forward until his lips touched hers. _Jerk. __*****_

As soon as she was letting go of his hands, he was circling them around her torso and getting pulled forward.

"I'm what?" He said against her lips, smiling a little and making sure she was as close to him as she could possibly be in that moment.

~!**!~

She wasn't 'out of breath,' or breathing heavily, but she still blinked a little slowly, feeling light-headed and clutching at him a little tighter.

"Don't...let go yet...I..." She gave a little laugh, feeling her stomach tense against him, "It liked how I tasted." 3

_Perhaps it takes energy?_

Hiei wrapped his other arm around her again, tightening his grip on her a little so that she wouldn't fall or even have the chance to _think_ about falling.

"So I heard," he replied calmly, expression conflicted between slight amusement and slight concern. "It also said you were sparkly."

~!**!~

_Handsome. Adorable. Ferocious. Amazing. A jerk. Sly. Adorable._

_Did I already say that last one?_

"A pain," she finally whispered, lips stretching into a wide smile against his. _*****_

He closed his lips again, but voiced a definite 'ha' behind them at her descriptor.

_[Does this not qualify as kissing her?]_

_{She started it.}_

_[Uh huh.]_

~!**!~

"Mm." She intoned in agreement, "I gathered." Her eyes finally closed for a few seconds before coming open again. "You know, I don't think I could so much as coerce an insect right now."

She tried to get her feet underneath her at least, but Hiei was still holding up the majority of her weight.

"I don't think I've ever..." _Lost this much before. _

_Not all at once. _3

Hiei continued to watch Shiki, taking in every muscle that so much as twitched, every reaction her body gave when he slightly shifted or when _she_ shifted, and it was all he needed to confirm his earlier theory. _Energy. _He blinked once at her before moving, making quick work of sliding one arm from around her and turning her, that arm moving under her knees so he could carry her in his arms.

He paused to look at the stadium, still hearing bits and pieces of it crumbling and crashing to the earth.

Deciding they'd likely caused enough trouble- or, rather, _he'd _caused enough trouble- he folded the layers over himself and her, moving in the direction of her home at a slow and leisurely pace. He knew Kitoushi would be inside, very likely still on her bed.

And if that was the case, then the couch would have to suffice for now.

And later, they could cause more problems in the world and do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

~!**!~

_You have to breathe, stupid._

Akari's hands moved away from Kurama's face as she turned to face him fully now, her arms moving to loop around his neck just sa she broke away and simply took to leaning against him, resting her cheek on his shoulder so she could still watch him.

"Also," she began with a teasing air, pausing to take another breath, "a jerk." _*****_

"Is _that _why you keep kissing me? I feel as if that's a terrible requirement. You should probably reevaluate your standards." Kurama's head leaned slightly as he looked over at her. "Jerks and pains aren't _really _worth kissing."

~!**!~

For each measured breath she took, it felt to Shikiyoku like her core only gave half a beat, barely able to pump enough energy through her veins to keep her conscious, and she was grateful to the fire demon when he scooped her up, unsure how much longer before she just collapsed into him anyway.

She didn't even have the strength to reach up and wrap her arms around his neck, just leaning into him and feeling keenly as if she deserved it for having done the same to Hiei earlier. 3

Hiei occasionally glanced down at Shikiyoku as he moved through the layer, noticing each time that she was still awake, but likely barely so. So when he reached the house, his first instinct was to expand his energy and search for a person inside.

He wasn't surprised to find Kitoushi exactly where he thought the cat demon would be.

So as he'd planned, he moved into the house through the front door, only unwrapping the layers from himself when he was in the living room, circling around the couch. He considered the furniture for a moment before turning and slowly sliding himself onto it, stretching his body along it and propping his back against the armrest, shifting Shikiyoku so that she lay against him and the back cushions.

~!**!~

Akari let out a breathy laugh and shrugged a little. "I would agree, but really it's only _you." Only you I'd want to be like this with. Anyone else gets this close and it's a threat to their life._

She gave another small huff of a laugh.

_From both of us, as I've noticed._

"So really, it doesn't matter." _*****_

"You only kiss me because I'm a pain and a jerk?" Kurama hummed, "I don't know whether to continue so you'll kiss me more or be insulted for those being the only reasons you've given as to _why_."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku didn't really feel any pain about the circumstances, so she made no noise when jostled around and shifted and finally coming to rest against Hiei.

Something bothered her though, or _was _bothering her, or maybe _had been _bothering her-she couldn't rightly say.

Ever since...ever since they left the bathhouse, actually. Something that tickled at the back of her head that she couldn't actually place because-

She gave a contented sigh and a tired smile once they stopped moving, relaxing into the demon holding her now that they were back at the-

Her eyebrows drew together.

_What was it exactly?_

She almost felt as if Hiei was staring at her again, but it wasn't _him_.

"Nn." She buried her face into Hiei's cloak. 3

Hiei kept one arm over Shikiyoku while the other was moved behind his head, helping him stretch his torso a little more so that she may have just that much more room between himself and the back of the couch, if she so desired. His eyes wandered the room for a few moments until he heard her give a small noise and shift around, burying her nose against him.

His eyes turned down to her and remained there, calmly watching her with an occasional blink. "_Just rest." _His eyelids closed halfway, allowing him to still watch her but to also relax just that much more. "_I'm not going anywhere."_

~!**!~

"Hmm, no. There are most definitely other reasons." Akari replied with a smile of mischief. She thought briefly on the night before she'd left, where they had laid in the meadow with arms around one another until she'd pulled away, earning a stare that bore into her back at the time and a tense air.

She had rolled right back after a while and done the same thing she'd just done.

The thought made her huff through her nostrils.

"Most definitely other reasons. Reasons why it's _you_ and no one else." _Because…_

Hm. That part she hadn't rightly decoded yet.

And it made her core give a funny little jolt.

_Because..?_

She made a little sound to herself. Why did she do it _now_?

_...because I missed him. Duh. __*****_

Kurama let out a large sigh, "I guess I'll just never be good enough to _know _those reasons."

_[She's smarter than she looks, fox.]_

_{What did you just say?}_

_[If she gave you all the secrets, you'd exploit them even worse than you already are.]_

_{...say that again and I __**will **__figure out a way to expel you from this body.}_

_[Would you like me to show you how much I-]_

_{__**No.**__}_

~!**!~

"S' not you." Shikiyoku mumbled, turning so that her cheek rested against him, "Som'fing's wrong. Been wrong. Dunno what." 3

Hiei raised a brow, finding himself staring at her with that blank stare he'd issued earlier. It wasn't actually on _purpose_ this time, but he didn't relinquish it either. He would have said it wasn't important, but he wasn't sure that that wouldn't spur her on to figure it out. And he didn't want her mood turning back to how it had been much earlier.

So he stared as if he waited for her to continue.

~!**!~

Akari let out a little sigh at Kurama's words, a small smile playing at her lips. "It would take too long to tell you all of them." She paused, giving a small yawn and scratching at her face.

"I will admit, however, that one of them includes that you're completely _ridiculous._ How you can _sound _completely infuriated and _look _completely… adorable, all at once." She frowned, realizing she'd just given away several things in that one explanation. "All within a single minute or two. And I'm not really sure if you came up with it on the fly or planned it out and waited for the right moment."

Her frown deepened, and then suddenly became a smile. "Does that stay your curiosity enough?" *****

"It'll do. For now." Kurama allowed, ignoring the other parts of her monologue where he might be able to shed some light. "I can't say I don't enjoy hearing you talking about me, though." His expression was neutral. "Not when it's like that anyway."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wasn't sure exactly when her eyes had closed, but she opened one of them and shifted her face upwards to look at him.

"Mm-yeah. Like that. Som'fin' starin' at me." She let her head drop again. "At the back of my head. Botherin' me. Someone...tryin' tah get my attention." She gave a yawn that ended up with this little noise that was likely more adorable than she even knew as she smacked her lips together a little. She added, in a grumble, "Smells funny too." 3

Hiei blinked once at Shikiyoku, waiting until she wasn't looking to let his brows furrow and his eyes to move up and look around the room cautiously. For the most part, he _saw_ nothing that stood out, nothing that wasn't where it was supposed to be. Perhaps that was what worried him more, was that _she_ felt it, and he wasn't exactly sensing much of any-

_Smells funny?_

Discreetly, he took a small sniff of the air around him, and as she said, something didn't smell _right. _That drew his brows further together over his eyes and he shifted his hold on her a little so he could take another sweeping glance around the room. And the Jagan was open, sweeping the upper rooms for threats, for anything that might explain the scent, and the feeling Shikiyoku had described.

Kitoushi was on her bed, as he'd already known. Other than that, there was nothing else in the house to explain anything out of the norm.

To create the scent.

Nothing he could find, anyway.

He lowered himself back to the couch, settling again.

"_Go to sleep." _

He'd be watching every single thing in the room. And if anything happened, he was fully prepared to wrap them up in the layers, pick her up, and make a run for it.

Because fighting with her in this state wasn't something he was willing to risk.

~!**!~

Akari smiled and shifted a little bit. "Well, that's all you get. Everything else is my little secret." She nestled her face into his neck contentedly. "Plus, didn't you know that actions speak louder than words?" _This should give you plenty of __**hints**__. __*****_

Kurama gave out a little chuckle and settled back against the plants behind him, wrapping his arms around Akari once more.

They were...going to have to leave the haven at some point. Too long and Yomi would suspect...things.

Acting upset with her was not something Kurama particularly _wanted _to do. Especially since afterwards he found himself wanting to sneak into her room to make up for it.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku mumbled something that didn't quite make it past her lips.

_Stupid...smells funny...can't smell Hiei...s'dumb._

_All I'm getting is-_

"_Yoku..."_

"Nn. Stop it."

_Tired. _3

Hiei's eyes had been wandering the room again, but the moment Shiki spoke up his eyes were on her again. _I'm not doing anything. _

The thought had his unease growing, almost forming tension in his body despite all his efforts to remain lax for her. To let her fall into sleep.

Except something wasn't letting her.

He continued to watch her, letting his telepathy listen in for once, and hearing a single word that he wasn't surprised to hear, except it seemed a reason for wanting to be left alone by something.

Or someone.

His lips pulled downward.

~!**!~

Akari could almost, _almost_ just let herself fall into sleep again if she wanted to. Which reminded her of the necklace. "Do you wan' me to take tha' with me?" She suddenly asked, eyes opening to glance at the necklace on the other side of his lap. "Or wai' until tomorrow?" _Either works, I suppose._

Then again, keeping such a colorful thing from view wouldn't be easy.

...Whatever he said. _*****_

Kurama hesitated.

If there was any chance of her falling asleep...of her spirit wandering away and never getting back to her body...of him _losing _her...

"There is no reason to risk it. Not until we know for sure that it works. Then I'll refine it into something that _can _be kept fairly hidden."

~!**!~

"_Yoku..."_

_Nn._

"_Yoku..."_

Shikiyoku's eyes flew open and she sat up, blinking, scenting the air.

A rush of adrenaline into her veins had her core waking up again and without waiting for Hiei to move she phased through the layers until she was behind the couch and headed towards the stairs.

She stopped short, turned back to him with an expression of apology, "Hold that thought." She smiled a little, "You're rather comfortable." And then she was getting up the stairs and opened the door to her room. 3

Hiei nearly jumped when Shikiyoku bolted upright, blinking and sniffing at the air. He didn't move, watching her even as she blurred away from him and to the stairs, only pausing to turn back and give a small smile.

"_Hold that thought...You're rather comfortable."_

Which meant to stay right where he was.

Which he didn't know if he wanted to do. So he sat upright, watching her over the back of the couch until she disappeared from sight, listening to the door upstairs opening and listening to her breathing, her core.

~!**!~

"Mm-kay," Akari hummed out. "Whatever you say, boss." Maybe when she went to sleep in her room, she'd be tired enough _not_ to wander. That would be _wonderful_. And even if she _did _wander, at least Takeo wasn't around. _Anymore. _

The thought made her give a breath that was meant to be a snicker.

And she was pulling away, sitting upright with legs crossed and her hands rubbing at her face. "You're comfortable, and I don't wanna sleep yet," she admitted, still running her hands down her cheeks roughly. "Auughh." _*****_

"We should lay down, then." Because that was going to be completely helpful in regards to the last part of her comment.

It took a great deal of effort to remain appearing perfectly serious.

~!**!~

"_Yoku..."_

"I'm here. Kit, I'm here." The bedroom door swung closed behind her out of habit, though it didn't shut all the way, and Shikiyoku was moving across the room to the bed, the scent making her nose crinkle. "Kit, what did you do?"

The cat demon shifted his long body over a little as he opened a brown eye to look at her.

"I didn't do anything." He mumbled, his eyes partially concealed by his hair.

She climbed up and knelt next to him, reaching out to touch his back, for he was laying on his stomach.

"Kitoushi." She said more sternly this time. A sudden thought had her freezing in place, almost lifting her hand from his back. "Y-...you didn't..."

Every muscle in her body seized up and both of Kit's eyes came open as he reached out to grab the wrist of the hand propping her up and drag her closer.

"It's a _cold_. Not-"

"Kit." Her eyebrows raised accusatory, shifting her balance and refusing to comply as he tugged at her. "Are you lying to me?"

"Do I look like I'm lying to you?"

"You're a _cat_."

"Yoku, you said you'd come back to me."

That whine. The same one he always adopted when he had taken on too much and had gotten bedridden.

"Didn't I?"

"Yoku, it's been three days."

Shikiyoku blinked at him.

_What?_

It was dark outside. Almost exactly like it had been when Hiei took off with her. The only difference here being Kit no longer lay out in the guest room.

Her eyes narrowed, "How long have you been sick?"

"I dunno." He grumbled.

"Kit, yes, you do. You never _don't _know."

He mumbled something into the pillows.

"Kit." She demanded, harsher this time, worry beginning to itch at the back of her mind.

He wouldn't meet her gaze and she glared harder.

"...three days."

_The entire time I've been gone?_

She thought back to the last time she had seen him, when she had left. Was he really only tired then? Responding to her sleepily? Or had...what did he say, a cold?...had it already set in at that point? 3

Hiei listened to Shikiyoku's core mainly, but his senses were well aware of everything else too. Of the conversation, of the sound of the sink dripping here and there in the kitchen, hell, even of the people outside who walked by on the _other_ side of the street. And he could hear her core's beating quicken just a little as time wore on, which brought his feet to the floor.

But he didn't stand.

He didn't know what to do.

So he sat there some more, listening, waiting. Prepared to act on almost anything.*

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	106. Episode 190

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here, with another chapter for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shikiyoku and Hiei leave the bath house,  
Hiei taking her to the old, destroyed stadium  
that had been the location of the Dark Tournament,  
and he promptly releases the Dragon of the Darkness Flame  
into the air whereupon it begins thrashing around the place it had first been called.

Meandering around the broken seating,  
Shikiyoku feels herself being watched,  
her energy beginning to tingle,  
and is initially unaware that Hiei is the one staring.

The Dragon begins ramming off pieces of the structure,  
forcing Hiei to dodge about the grounds to avoid the debris,  
until the very moment in which it turns and swallows Shikiyoku whole.

Hiei learns that the Dragon has a sort of sentience,  
the manner in which it speaks akin to how the True Fire talks,  
and that it consumes things in order to understand them.

The result being Shikiyoku's energy is greatly depleted  
and after it spits her back out,  
Hiei finally returns with her to her home.

Feeling Kitoushi calling for her,  
Shikiyoku goes upstairs to find him sick,  
and that it had been three days since she left with Hiei.

~!**!~

Managing to return to her own body,  
Akari tells Kurama how Takeo had still been around,  
though her shadow moved to take care of it,  
and Kurama wonders if perhaps the manner in which  
he had been attempting to keep her soul in place,  
also made it more difficult for her to return.

The two rest in near-silence as Kurama adjusts the necklace,  
until finally Kurama gathers her into his arms,  
attempting to distract her from their circumstances beyond the room.

Akari ends up kissing him,  
having missed being around him for so long,  
and when she admits to being tired and not wanting to fall asleep,  
Kurama suggests they lay down...

* * *

Akari made a sound at Kurama. "I'm trying to stay _awake_. Laying down isn't the answer." _No matter how much I want to. _

Again she thought about how they had lay in the meadow, her arms around his neck and his arms around her, one toying with her hair as they bantered back and fort-

_You're making it more difficult. _

Another groan.

_It's so __**tempting**__._

If she knew how much longer they were going to be in there, it might have helped her situation.

Except if she came _in _the room tired and _left_ the room rested…

_Yomi would notice. _

She crossed her arms over her her chest and huffed loudly. "I've decided that is a terrible idea and that I don't want to sleep." She gave a smile, her tone suddenly taking on one that mocked a TV game show host she'd seen before leaving for the third layer. "Thanks for trying though! Come back and play again sometime!" _*****_

"And if not sleep, then what exactly do you propose doing, beautiful?"

~!**!~

"Kit-" Shikiyoku let out an exasperated noise and sat back on her heels, feeling the cat demon still trying to pull her forward and while she rocked back and forth, she didn't let him move her down.

"Lay down." He whined, turning onto his side to face her and reaching for her.

She fended him off gently, "Kit, we _can't _lay down we need to-"

"I know what I need." He said grumpily, "And it's you to-"

"Kit."

He gave out a sigh that knew she was right and she echoed him with one that had thought of another problem.

"Kit, somebody's probably already taken over the place."

"Nu-uh." He argued, "It was a really good hideout."

"That's the _point_. Someone's got to have already found it by now."

He pouted at her a little, "But my stuff's in there."

"I _know_."

The 'stuff' he needed was well-hidden and even if the entire place was sweeped, it would likely not be found.

Shikiyoku started to scoot back off the bed and Kitoushi's grip on her arm tightened suddenly and she stopped to look at him through his dark hair.

"I'll be right back." She mumbled, trying to get herself free.

"Kiss me first."

She let out a huff.

"Yoku..."

"Will you let me go if I do?"

He nodded, leading her to let out another huff as she leaned back forward and reached over to move aside the curtain of his hair.

Kitoushi shifted his head a little and she pressed her lips against his, but was pulling back fairly quickly only to find that he followed after and her eyes came open, pushing him back down onto the bed and easily slipping out of his grasp.

This time _he _gave out a huff and watched her as she left the room, moving back down the stairs. 3

Hiei had remained sitting that way until he heard the door close and footsteps at the top of the stairs, telling him Shiki was coming back. He released his tension and shifted, lazily stretching himself along the couch again, just as he had been when she left.

Even _if_ the scent on the air still struck him as off. He didn't like it, but Shikiyoku wasn't in danger at the moment, so he left it be for his senses to follow at the edges of his awareness.

His eyelids slid closed and his arm propped his head up again, one ankle crossed over the other by the time she would reach the bottom step.

~!**!~

"I dunno," she admitted, refusing the yawn that built up in the back of her throat. "Talk about the weather?" Of course, she was joking. She let her head tilt to the side a little as she watched him, thinking.

"We could play tic-tac-toe with plants and shadows." she suggested, her smile suddenly wide and eyes sparkling with mirth as she tried not to laugh. _*****_

Kurama blinked at her once before answering, "You're..."

...

_Adorable._

_[Aw, that's so cute.]_

_{Shut up.}_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a little breath when she reached the first floor, mind still whirling with Kitoushi's circumstances and the sudden need to return to their hideout after all these years.

When she rounded the couch, she stopped, taking a moment to just _look _at him, unaware of the calm smile that had settled over her features.

_I wish I could join you._

She stepped forward quietly, wondering if he had actually fallen asleep, and gently sat down on the edge of the couch near his waist. 3

Hiei listened to her footsteps with interest, noting she was coming in his direction. He didn't move, only listening to her calmly until she paused by the couch, and he could feel her calm eyes on his face. He wasn't particularly surprised when she sat next to him, but didn't move to actually lay where she had been before.

He knew she had to go somewhere. It was clear in the way she hesitated around him, as if she didn't exactly _want _to go.

His eyes came open slowly. "Where are we going this time?"

"_Because you're not going alone."_

_~!**!~_

Akari's smile remained, wide and showing off her teeth and even the tip of her tongue as it rested between her front teeth to hold back a laugh. She waited for him to continue, but was very much satisfied with the simple blink he gave her.

Because she hadn't achieved it until this point.

"I'm what, _hmm_?" she intoned, her voice wavering a little with her withheld laugh as she sat a little straighter, moving her shoulders around in a little happy jig. "_Hmmmmmm_?" _*****_

"You're _kidding_, right? Plants versus shadows? Since _when _is that fair?" Kurama picked up right where he left off, completely unaffected by her display.

Or at least making a decent case for it.

~!**!~

"_We're _not going anywhere." Shikiyoku informed him playfully, scooting back into him a little and then making to lay down next to him on the outside of the couch. "_You're _staying here."

"_I'm not going alone, silly." _3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, scowling just a little. "_If something were to happen, would he be able to fight, or will you be carrying him?" _

He really, _really_ didn't want to stay behind if there was any chance of trouble. After all, she'd had her energy drained, and the cat was sick. He at least had had time to recover. A nap and all.

And he made sure to pin her with a stare.

~!**!~

Akari's smile only seemed to widen, her eyes flashing even brighter. "What part of that would be unfair? It isn't like shadows can read your mind." And a sudden thought occurred to her. "And I promise I won't drop you into a random shadow if I get upset, if you promise not to have me dragged into the air!"

At this point, she was completely and utterly jubious, like a kid who'd just found a new friend on the playground. "Or," she suddenly gave a laugh, "we could play hangman." This time, she couldn't hold back the snort that turned into a giggle. _*****_

"Not dragging you into the air?" Kurama asked, eyes flashing, but his lips not so much as twitching, "What about pinning you to the ground?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made a little noise of unhappiness when Hiei didn't scoot over to let her lay down next to him, his stare setting a blush across her nose that she tried to hide by physically pushing him towards the back of the couch before she cuddled closer to him.

"He's _fine._ He's just a big baby. It isn't nearly as bad as he's making it out to be." She had an elbow propped up on the couch, head in that hand as she looked at him. Her voice lowered, "We won't be gone long." 3

Hiei let her move him, and even scooted a little more while she moved to lay next to him, allowing her just enough room to lay there without falling. He continued to stare at her, taking in her features as she spoke, looking for anything that would make him want to go even _more_.

And he knew at this moment that one of the main reasons he didn't want to wait around is because he'd _already done that_ and hadn't gotten anywhere. But when he'd stolen her away, he'd gained some of that advantage back.

He didn't want to lose what little he had earned.

At her last words, her reassurance, the fire demon gave a small impression through their mental bond of unhappiness. He hesitated for a moment before releasing a small breath, stare still locked on her gaze. "_I'll be right here." _He'd keep his telepathy open, just in case she needed him and yelled for him.

~!**!~

Akari raised a brow at him, an expression of 'oh _really?' _coloring her features. And for a moment she didn't answer, only smiling that wide smile at him. "Well, I mean if you _want_ to play dirty, I can't guarantee a fair game at _all_." _*****_

_[Uh, she __**does **__know she's talking to the avatar of a kitsune, right?]_

_{I do believe she's come to realize that somewhere down the line, yes.}_

"I don't think I'd care for being trapped in one of your shadows, if I'm being honest."

_[I mean, seriously, when do we __**not **__want to play dirty?]_

_{I somehow feel as if your definitions of 'dirty' are somewhat different.}_

~!**!~

For just a moment, Shikiyoku relaxed into the couch and just looked back at him.

_What would I do without you?_

She smiled a little, "Why are you so sweet to me?" 3

Hiei's brow raised a little higher, and his head twitched a little as if to tilt but not really able to do so the way he lay. _Why? _He continued to stare, lips pulling up into a smirk. "_Just come back before I go looking for you."_

~!**!~

Akari's smile was showing her teeth again, the tip of her tongue resting between her front teeth as she denied another little laugh. "No one really likes shadows except those who can call upon them." Her head tilted a little and her brow quirked in thought. "We could play any other game you can come up with, if you wanted. I just blurted the first that came to mind."

_Hangman would be more fun if Takeo were the 'man' part. _

The thought had her pursing her lips together briefly before her smile returned.

"I'd love to hear _your_ ideas." _*****_

"Is that so?" Kurama leaned closer to her, eyes gleaming, "Are you certain you want to know what a fox considers a game?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku laughed pleasantly, "That wasn't an answer at all, fire-prince." 3

Hiei's smirk grew wider, his eyes flashing and gleaming with more amusement and mischief than before, and he rolled onto his side to face her, propping his elbow on the couch and resting his cheek on his hand. He considered her for a moment, and the many responses he could give.

And he decided to choose the most honest one of them all.

"_Because I happen to find your presence a likeable one."_

~!**!~

"You know, I'm not as narrow-minded as I like people to believe." She still smiled, but her lips were closed and a majority of that smile was sparkling in her eyes, contained in her irises. "I may not be the smartest and I may not exactly think before I act, but I do know _enough_, mister." Akari stuck her tongue at him. _*****_

"Was that a yes, then?" Kurama asked, his eyes gleaming at her.

~!**!~

_You are __**so **__distracted right now._

It felt as if the half-smile were stuck on her face. Even more so when he turned to face her, which while allowing her more room to breathe also put his countenance right in front of her own.

The blush wasn't going anywhere either.

_Kit's upstairs and needs your help and all you can do is sit and stare at this one._

"I...I need to go." Shikiyoku lowered her eyes to stare down at the couch cushions beneath them. 3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku, half expecting a retort of some kind, but not really surprised when he didn't receive anything more than the smile she offered. He knew he was distracting her, knew she felt she needed to go, even if he really didn't want her to.

But the moment she said aloud what he already knew was going to be said, he made a small sound of confirmation. "_Take care of the cat's business." _He shifted some more, letting his eyes close as he rested his head atop his arm that acted as a pillow. "_Before I change my mind." And not let you leave._

_~!**!~_

Akari's tongue hid behind her lips again as she took to considering the redhead unblinkingly, watching him almost warily despite the smile she still wore. _You need to stop that… that charm of yours. _"Quite honestly, if you _really _wanted me to know, there wouldn't be much _I _could do about now, would there?" _*****_

"It's very true." Kurama said seriously. "Maybe I'm questioning whether you know if you're really prepared to know or not. Or maybe I just don't want to tell you."

~!**!~

The tension around her ribcage immediately relaxed when Hiei's eyes closed, and Shikiyoku hadn't even _known _those muscles had tightened, as if in anticipation for something.

Her first instinct was about Hiei changing his mind about finding her presence a likeable one if she didn't leave soon, and surprisingly enough the connection had her giving a little laugh at herself inside her own head.

As she started shifting her limbs around in preparation to get up, she looked at him and had a sudden urge to kiss him while he wasn't looking. While he appeared so...well _pleasant_ was a good way of putting it.

_He'll be here when you get back._

Or at least if not in the couch, nearby.

...he looked rather adorable though.

Shikiyoku shook herself and started to get up. 3

Hiei shifted a little bit as Shikiyoku moved around to leave, bringing himself further down on the couch so that his head didn't touch the armrest anymore. And when he settled again he did bring his eyes open to watch her calmly, though not exactly staring in the way he had taken to doing. SImply observing.

It took a lot to close his eyes again and not protest.

Because he'd had _fun_ those three days with her.

_Had it really been so long? _It certainly hadn't felt like it.

~!**!~

Akari's head tilted to the side a little, blinking once at Kurama as she considered his words with a serious expression. She slowly leaned away, the smile returning to her features as she continued to stare at him almost searchingly. "Tic tac toe it is then!" _*****_

Kurama gave an acquiescing nod of his nod, "As you say. Would you like to go first?"

~!**!~

With one last look back at Hiei and a minor sigh of discontent, Shikiyoku wrapped herself inbetween and took a step towards her bedroom, ending up in it and unwinding herself back into the first layer.

Upon feeling her in the room, Kitoushi started to shift towards the edge of the bed while she approached, and as she bent down, he shifted forms as she scooped him up in her arms, moving him for her shoulders at which point he gained purchase and climbed over the back of them, resting his torso behind her neck with his lithe legs hanging on either side.

And then she left.

Thoughts ran through her mind even as she ran through the layers.

Of course things weren't _fine_. When was the last time Kitoushi had actually gotten sick? She could count the times in the past it had occurred on one hand.

But Hiei really did need to stay here. Going with them would probably just get him killed, given how they had the hideout set up. And of course, in order to get to the things Kit needed, it required the both of _them _to deactivate the locks. As harsh as it may have sounded, Hiei would have only been getting in the way. The area was...out of his league.

Now, as to whether or not someone had taken over the main portion, that would remain to be seen once they arrived. 3

Half of the night, Hiei had been awake and listening to the silence of the house. He had strongly considered going up to Shikiyoku's room and taking over the bed as he had awhile back, but that had required _moving_, which, honestly, he was too lazy to do.

So he'd stayed right where he was until he had fallen asleep, laying on his back with an arm over his eyes and his ankles crossed at the other end of the couch, his free hand resting over the gems that rested under his cloak.

~!**!~

Now she was _really_ curious. So for a moment, Akari only stared at Kurama unblinkingly, considering backtracking. But half of her was certain it was _tickling_ he was considering, and she really was powerless against that too. Funny how that worked.

She recovered after a moment and blinked. "Do we want the grid made from vines and the shadows and… whatever you use as the place markers? Probably be easiest that way. And I don't mind going first." _*****_

"This was _your _idea." Kurama insisted. "We will do it any way you like."

_[Heh.]_

_{Really?}_

~!**!~

When they arrived back at the first layer, Kitoushi _insisted _they landed on the other side of the city so they would have to walk through it to get to Shikiyoku's house on the other side.

He also insisted they hold hands the whole time.

"Oo!"

He let go of her hand for what was probably only the third time and dashed back a few steps to stare into the window of one of the shops they had gone by.

This had been happening the entire time. Mostly he would pull her back with him, but there were occasions like this one where he out and out let go of her to scramble back down the way they just came.

Needless to say, he hadn't done much exploring of the first layer, even as a cat. Nor had he garnered any interest in 'human things' before now, so he was seeing these things with new eyes.

Since he didn't motion for her to 'come and see' this time, Shikiyoku only turned, watching him fondly and cross her arms over her chest, thinking.

She had gleaned a little bit more from him on the disease that apparently continued to crop up all around the layers, though only demons were affected it seemed.

He discovered that almost every single demon he studied-among those who were ill, those who had the ability to energy-absorb but had not fallen ill, and other demons who had yet to acquire the ability-there were a handful or so who did not _already _have the disease, himself being one of them before he gleaned a portion of it from Shikiyoku.

Almost every single demon in the layers, he made the conjecture according to the data he gathered, already had the disease laying dormant inside of them, and many of those likely went their whole lives without knowing. The virus only _activated _if those demons were infected with Crusnik, which Kitoushi continuously insisted was almost like a separate virus in and of itself.

Anytime he went into greater detail than 'virus,' Shikiyoku would feel her eyes glazing over. It was all _his _expertise, not hers.

A whiff of his scent on the air brought Shikiyoku back to the present, seeing that Kit almost appeared to be _stalking _down the side of the window to the one before it, popping up with his ears raised high of his head and his nose nearly in contact with the glass.

He still didn't smell _right._

It was the only way she could describe it, even after all these years. Anytime he got _sick_, there was no way an outsider had of knowing unless they were used to his normal scent, because that's the only thing that outwardly changed.

Except for his whininess, perhaps. And the penchant for wallowing about in bed and making Shikiyoku wait on him hand and foot.

Their journey to the hideout had actually borne fruit, though she was right in thinking it would after centuries have new residents, a new band of bandits. Rather easily gotten by for the two of them, but a new band nonetheless.

These bandits had not gotten _into _the secret room, but someone else had. Several someones in fact. Someones that had Kitoushi's tail growing bushier and Shikiyoku's body tensing with the power whoever it was had left behind. They couldn't even tell how _long _it had been, though they certainly didn't think it had happened _yesterday_ considering the way the room had been ransacked and the rest of the hideout was relatively well-kept. Not to mention _this _kind of power would have likely just blasted through the front door of the hideout-instead of sneaking in like Kit and Shikiyoku did-and destroyed every single demon inside.

Regardless, after sifting through the pieces, they finally came across a single dosage of Kitoushi's secret stash left, likely inadvertently left behind by whoever stripped the place, and Shikiyoku stood there and _watched _as Kit injected himself with it, unwilling to let him go a moment longer without the concoction he invented all that time ago-after the _first _time he had gotten sick-that was intended to give his body the necessary boost it needed to combat whatever infected it.

He was a walking disease _machine_ since he insisted on acquiring every new one they came across. And usually his body was able to combat it, lock it away, allow him to study it, or whatever he wished to do with it. The occasions in which it couldn't resulted in Shikiyoku fulfilling his every need until she would remember the injections. _That's _how few and far between the instances had been. She would forget, and Kitoushi certainly wasn't going to _remind _her about it. Not when it meant she had all the more reason to be with him for every moment of the day.

She watched as his tail slowly stroked the air back and forth as his eyes and head darted about the window and grinned a little, starting to back up to join the moving crowd of people that were unaware of the two demons in their midst, though they gave them enough berth to breathe in at the very least.

Shikiyoku turned and melted in with them, ears perked for the moment in which Kitoushi would notice.

Last time he had called her name in such a despondent manner with his ears and tail lowering-and she hadn't even been out of sight yet-that she had actually felt bad.

And here she was doing it again anyway.

Right before he pounced, Shikiyoku felt his desire to do so but that didn't mean her entire body didn't seize up when he landed.

Practically swallowing her in a giant hug from behind, Kit had moved through the layers, stalking her when he noticed she had sneaked out of sight.

For a second, Shikiyoku felt her body go rigid as Kitoushi had his face near her neck. He nuzzled her face with his and planted several kisses along the bottom of her jaw.

"Why you do this?" He pouted a little, Shikiyoku's chuckle releasing the moment of startle his pounce had created.

"Because it's _fun_." She informed him. Her nose crinkled after a second. "You smell awful. How is it going?"

Kitoushi released her and they started walking forward again, though his ears were perked and he kept glancing into the each window they passed.

"It'll take some time." He replied easily, giving Shikiyoku no outwards signs that she could read to tell if he was lying or not.

She shrugged and kept moving.

How was he supposed to tell her that the dosage hadn't worked, that it had lost its potency over the years, or quite possibly was a placebo that whoever had been there left behind or something? Or that no matter how many times he reassured her it was a _cold_-the definition of which was, to be fair, nebulous and could apply for a lot of sicknesses-that it wasn't in fact a cold at all?

Blinking, Kitoushi caught sight of another shiny product in the window, letting out another 'Oo!' and letting Shikiyoku laugh and keep walking even as he pressed through the crowd and stuck his nose near the glass again.

_What is that smell? _

He sniffed, blinking again and peering further into the shop.

This was a...shiny store. Not a food-y store. He passed enough of both to know the difference by now.

_Hm._

Tail curling and uncurling, Kitoushi took another soft sniff, nose twitching as he realized he was _terribly _hungry.

He hadn't eaten in four? five days now? Since he brought Shikiyoku back from the Northern Tribe.

They passed by a bunch of-_what were those called again?_-**bakeries**, but he hadn't particularly noticed being quite so hungry then, and what _is _it that smelled so good?

Staring at the glass, no longer seeing the items beyond it, Kitoushi tried placing the scent.

Shikiyoku meanwhile had kept going for a ways, stopping when she could only just see the top of Kit's ears as she glanced back, and stepping out of the crowd to lean up against the wall of another shop to her left, watching Kitoushi with a smile for a moment before turning and looking through the crowd to the other side of the street, finding that there were two or three demons over there who seemed to be doing much the same as she and Kit were, wandering aimless along the sidewalk through the humans that hardly gave them a first glance.

_Ugh, that __**smell**__._ _Shouldn't it have at least gotten better by now?_

When Shikiyoku turned to look over at Kitoushi, she very slowly found her arms dropping and her back coming off of the wall behind her.

His face turned, just as slowly as she shifted, from the glass in front of him to stare at her, head tilting just slightly to the side, and eyes unblinking.

And pitch black.

Shikiyoku's core froze in place.

...

_No._

Kitoushi took a step for her and everything around Shikiyoku felt like it had gone into slow-motion as the vision she conjured while sitting in the hot spring tunneled her sight, leaving only her and Kitoushi as she pushed off from the wall and dashed through the crowd towards the street, her eyes never leaving the cat demon.

_No. No, no, no-_

He took off after her, and when he cleared the crowd heading in her direction his form had shifted, and she found herself staring with wide-eyes and an unaccepting mind at the large black cat, the size of the small cars parked a block or so away.

"_Kit!" Can he even hear me? "Kit, please!"_

His strides were longer than hers, and by the time he was leaping at her from halfway across the street, she was only a foot from his paws' reach.

Shikiyoku started to turn in the next stride when she saw his jaws parting and his head tilting to the side, his giant paws passing either of her shoulders as he went for the kill, stretching towards her neck.

_No..._

Her body reacted without her permission, her core jolting in panic and pulling aside her true form to reveal the grey, scarred skin and the dark green eyes, and without so much as a chance to think, her hand snapped up between Kitoushi before his mouth could reach her face, sending a life-ending pulse of energy blasting directly into his core from where her hand came in contact with his chest.

The slow-motion stopped as in the next instant everything seemed to snap back into place, Kit's head thrown back as the blow rocked his neck and his giant body smashed into Shikiyoku and took her to the ground.

She lay breathing hard in the embrace of his front legs where he had fallen, half of him on the sidewalk, half of him on the street and her stretched up against his furry chest and belly as if he hugged her.

And from that position she got to _feel _the life go out of him as his body shuddered and did not move again.

She barely even cringed as a deep etching drew itself as if by a knife-point through her skin, leaving a deep, heart-shaped scar that spanned all the way across the back of her hand, more scarring appearing over the old ones already there as the mark creeped halfway up her forearm, only leaving a small echo of the mark the cat demon had worn, just like Otento's had done.

For a second she could only stare at the black fur in her face, finding she couldn't cry, finding she couldn't...feel anything really.

Slowly, agonizingly, she started to sit up, his paw heavy on top of her as she scooted back and watched that same paw drop with deadened weight to the ground.

All thoughts had stilled as she scooted until she touched him no longer, only staring at what was left of him even as she stood up, silent, stared a moment longer, then wrapped herself inbetween, fleeing down to the Ninth Layer. 3

Hiei shifted a little, mouth twitching in displeasure as he felt the sun's rays filtering heat into the house. He hadn't meant to sleep so long. He let his arm slide away from his face and he rolled onto his side, listening to the utter silence of the house. He could feel the Jagan had taken to watching a specific area instead of the place it had been originally keeping watch, but at the moment he didn't pay much attention to it.

He sat on the edge of the couch and rubbed at his eyes a little, trying to rid his vision of the bleariness before making any attempt at getting up to investigate anything.

And then he felt it. That surge of energy that lasted no longer than a second.

His eyelids shot open and his vision was consumed with the image of Shikiyoku blurring away on a street somewhere downtown. He was up and moving before the image even vanished, using the inbetween so that it might become _easier_ to track her, which wasn't an easy feat when she'd disappeared so quickly.

It didn't even take him a whole minute to find himself staring down at the large body of the cat demon. If he'd had the time, he would have done something about it instead of leaving Kitoushi where he lay.

But he didn't.

And now that the Jagan had easier access of Shikiyoku's energy, the fire demon folded between the layers at a dead run, his vision completely engrossed in the image of Shikiyoku dashing through the layers at a speed he'd only recently come to know how to manipulate.

And he did just that, keeping his vision swamped with her and his mind blank, his feet making the necessary adjustments when the layers instructed him to do so. He didn't know if his movements were fluid or not, but he only hoped he'd be able to catch up to her before something happened.

~!**!~

Akari gave a little hum in thought. "I think vines- or even tall grass really- would be best for the grid. Shadows versus flowers, hm?" Her smile returned as she looked to Kurama. "Care to do the honors, sir?" _*****_

"You know," Kurama appeared to look thoughtful about it, "We could make the grass really tall, and then suspend ourselves from the ceiling above it so we could see-"

_[__**Shuichi**__]_

Kurama's heart clamored once in his chest, feeling Youko give a sudden, demanding pull that sent Kurama's thoughts scattering as he defensively refused Youko's sudden desire to change places.

He blinked, and realized the fox had called him by his human name. Something Youko had never done before.

Youko let the urgency feed between them, the need to leave.

_[__**Now**__]_

_{What's going on? We can't leave.}_

_[__**We're leaving. NOW.**__]_

Kurama's feet shifted as if he were meant to obey the command, and Youko hadn't even taken over yet.

The thought had him momentarily stunned.

_[She's __**dying. **__Or worse. And I'm not about to sit around here while you-]_

_{If we leave Yomi __**kills**_ _Akari. He said that much to our face.}_

_[I don't __**care**__, Red. Something is __**wrong**__.]_

_{If we leave now, Yomi kills __**mother**__.}_

The fox and the human had been struggling against one another for control of the body, and Kurama's last comment had the kitsune pausing for long enough that Kurama could stand to his feet, bringing Akari up with him.

"Akari, you need to leave."

~!**!~

_Hide me._

The layers seemed to accept her into their embrace, sending her speeding off without purpose, leaving her mind blank, though this time not with serenity or peace, but simply with nothingness.

Almost as if knowing she needed the distance, she was not taken in a direct route to the only place she had anywhere in her mind, instead her pace increasing by exponential amounts as she tore headlong through them.

There was no telling for her how much time passed before she was dashing through the red forest of the Ninth Layer, out somewhere in the Northeastern most territory, in an area she had not been in since she was a little child.

When she twisted out from inbetween, her energy was pulsing outwards from her body and left dead things in its wake, a trail of blackened foliage, a hunting party of bandits falling noiselessly, the energy that followed her streaming outwards and then starting to trickle farther even once she moved on, creating a dark, sickening haze that turned away creatures not caught in the middle of it.

At the last, she stumbled, reaching a clearing, unable to go on any longer, and collapsed to her knees onto the ground, arms hanging by her sides and brushing the blackened forest floor, her head lowered so that she stared at her thighs, and as soon as she stopped, her energy began permeating the air around her and seeping into trees beyond where she stopped. 3

Hiei could feel his speed picking up, could feel the way his muscles continued to relax even further than should have been possible given his complete and utter state of swirling panic inside his core. Because he could feel it, that she would run, and run, and run as long as possible. And he could hear nothing from her thoughts, nothing that meant she had a definitive direction to go, no specific place to be.

And as she went, he could see things in her path wilting, demons dying, the ground darkening further than it already had, turning into crunchy, dead blades of grass and leaves that fell from trees all at once. He could feel her energy taking from everything around her, killing as much in her path as it could.

And he was almost _certain _it was doing the same to her.

He didn't know why he thought that. Perhaps it was because of the sickness, and how he knew it progressed the more, the longer she was in this form. The more she took from the life forces around her.

And it drove him faster, drove him further with every inch of his being screaming to catch up.

They could've run for years and he wouldn't have even noticed.

He didn't slow even when the Jagan watched her fall to the ground, giving up, unable to run any further. He took keen notice of the image it sent him from some time ago, something she'd shown him at some other time that wasn't important at the moment. And then the image passed and he knew where she had stopped.

It made him try harder.

He only slowed when he was within a certain distance of her, but he didn't land on the Ninth Layer until he was within fifty feet, his pace slowing dramatically once the transition had set in, until he was walking the last few feet to her.

His body fought his every step, his core giving a jolt that told him it wasn't safe. His blood seemed to freeze in his veins with the sickening aura that had thickened the air, and his hands instinctively twitched for his sword, for an attack against what was attacking _him_, but he kept his pace steady until he was dropping before her, reaching for her.

"Shikiyoku," he said her name in a voice much too calm in amidst the whirlwind of emotions inside him. Fear, worry, desperation, even _sadness_ that she had been put in such a situation. His hand extended towards hers, not even pausing before he grabbed hold of her right hand with his left. "_Shiki, look at me." _

~!**!~

"_**No**_. _No_ heights, you freak. I refuse everything you just said." Akari hadn't waited for him to finish, piping up and cutting him off as she sat back, eyes closing in irritation. "And there's nothing you can say that will convince me otherwise."

She waited for a chuckle, for a wise remark, for something to rebut what she'd said, and found herself surprised with silence.

_Tense silence?_

Her eyelids came open after she heard him shift a little and she blinked at Kurama, whose eyes were not seeing the room, but glazed as if he were in another universe altogether. It made her uneasy. "Kurama?"

And then he was moving, grabbing her and pulling her to stand with him, which made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. His voice was even and he appeared… calm enough. But she didn't like the air that surrounded him.

_Leave? Where? The room? The building?_

_I'm confused, and you're making me nervous._

"What?" She couldn't really do more than blink at him. When her lips opened, she meant to ask her questions that would actually likely get her better answers, but all that came out was the same, nervous word, "What?" _*****_

"I'm sorry." Kurama still had a hold of her arms and he smiled down at her a little. "I don't mean to cause you concern, but there's something that I have to take care of and you shouldn't be here for it."

Youko had taken up the fight again and it took everything in Kurama not to clutch at Akari's arms, not to even just grab her and start pulling her after him to shove her out the door.

...maybe that would have been better anyway.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's hand twitched when he grab it, trying to get away from him, but the only reaction she had to his words was for her head giving an almost imperceptible shake.

"...go away." 3

Hiei's grip tightened a little around her hand and his stare darkened a little at her quiet demand. "No." he responded, tone still even despite his lack of patience at the moment. His other hand reached up to grab her chin, knowing the longer she sat in this state, the more likely it was that she would become sicker.

..And that he could very easily fall victim to her energy's rampage as well.

~!**!~

Akari's frown deepened and she stared at the smile he gave her. She clenched her teeth together for a minute to stay her protest, no matter how much she wanted to. He was making her nervous, and had she had hackles they would have been raised in alarm.

But, she knew a losing battle when she saw one, even if she didn't often decide to stop the fight before it began. And she couldn't remember him ever flat out telling her to _leave_.

She gave a sound that even she didn't know how to describe. Frustration, concern, nervousness all mixing together in that one little grumble of sound

She couldn't even muster up the small threat she had before she nodded and turned to leave. _I trust you._

And even harder still was it not to stop and turn back.

_But you had better come back when it's fixed. __*****_

Kurama waited.

He waited until she was no longer in the room.

He waited until the door was shut, the plant life that filled up the space crawling over even the door itself this time, completing the haven in which no eyes would be able to see, and no ears would be able to hear.

As soon as she left, the plants that were murmuring into the walls the sounds of arguments, the sounds of a pair of voices, went silent.

And almost as if Youko _knew _Kurama would start fighting harder, the fox grabbed for control while Kurama stood listening for the tell-tale click of the shutting door, even through the foliage around them.

Their body blurred and Kurama slammed Youko away, repeating everything he had said before, and getting in return that something had happened with _Yoku_, that she was _breaking_, if not already broken, and they needed to _be there_.

Images of Yomi slaughtering his mother, Akari, Kurama fed these to the fox even as the two of them locked together, Youko pushing to gain the body and Kurama holding him back.

~!**!~

She resisted his hand at her chin, knowing he likely meant to kiss her, to change her back.

"No..." This time a bit of emotion sneaked past what had previously sounded like a flat, monotonous response. "Please..."

"_If I can feel...I __**will **__die." _

Of a broken heart. Of a shattered one, at the least.

The hand he held twitched again, aware of how cold and clammy her skin felt against his, and of how painful the new scar on her hand and arm would be should their place on her skin appear in her core. 3

Hiei gave a small sound at her protest, her words making him pause only momentarily before he pulled on her, not giving her the chance to protest his arms wrapping around her. "_And if you sit here, you will die." _Of the sickness, from her energy. And he would too, because he wasn't going to turn around and go back. He wasn't going to take back what he'd said, and what he was about to say again. "_I'm not going __**anywhere**__. Not without __**you.**_" He took a breath. "_You are not going to sit here and waste away. You are not going to break apart and disappear. I won't __**let**_ _you. You don't get the privilege to choose here."_

~!**!~

Akari had gotten halfway to the door before she felt the need to turn around grow stronger. And when she thought she was about to, she broke into a jog, knowing that if he wanted her to go, it was for a good reason. And she only slowed when she had to pull the door open.

When the door clicked loudly behind her, she took a deep breath and released the doorknob, head bowed as she gathered herself.

When she stood upright again, her expression held irritation and her shoulders were slumped with exhaustion. She swallowed and turned, moving down the hall.

_Yomi can't know._

As she turned a corner, she passed the very demon she'd just thought about, and she kept her eyes ahead and passed him without even a glance.

He didn't stop her, and a demon scurried to him with something or another, so she continued to her room as she knew he would want of her. Because no one could get stuck in a room with an angry fox and continue about their business as usual afterwards. _*****_

~!**!~

A shudder ran up Shikiyoku's body when he grabbed her, cringing at his touch but otherwise remaining unreactive.

As long as he didn't try to change her back, what did she care? Being resistant to pain also translated to the pain she knew would await her on the other side of things, where she knew the instant she reverted back, the pieces of her core would fall apart.

_And why not?_

_Suddenly don't want to die?_

She would die anyway if she sat here long enough, he had that much right. Her energy was seeping out of her in such large amounts that eventually she would be burning through her _life _energy, and she knew she wouldn't have any desire to stop it at that point.

Hiei's words struck her and her eyes came open from when they had shut as he grabbed for her, staring forward blankly.

"_...why not? Why don't I get to choose?" _3

"_Because I need you __**here**__, Shiki." _The response had come so swiftly that even he hadn't registered what he'd said. He was painfully aware of the energy around him, of it moving from her body at alarming rates and even taking his own energy at an alarming rate as well.

So he pulled away again, grabbed her face so she couldn't pull away without giving a tremendous resistance, and pulled her face forward for the second time. _*****_

_No...please..._

Shikiyoku didn't even _feel _like fighting, didn't think she _could _fight him, but-

Her hand came up inbetween them as he pulled her forward, her fingers gently covering his lips as she stared into his eyes.

"_**Why? **__Why do you need me here?"_

Something flitted across her eyes.

"_What do you desire?"_ 3

Hiei stopped moving when her fingers touched his lips, finding the gentle protest likely more surprising than if she _had _mustered up the energy to jerk away. And he didn't release her, only staring back at her with a scowl.

And her questions had him conflicted. Because he wanted her to _live_.

'_If I can feel….I __**will**_ _die...'_

He felt his expression shift, though to what, he wasn't sure. He didn't know what he was feeling in that moment, because all he'd wanted at the moment was to switch her back, to not let the sickness take her from him.

But she was certain she wouldn't live the other way either.

"_You." _he replied simply. "_And if you won't let me change you, then you have to at least fight in this form. Fight your energy, the sickness." _He paused, eyelids going close briefly. "_Live. I desire for you to __**live**__." __*****_

Shikiyoku stared at him a moment longer with her fingers still over his mouth, eyes darker replicas of what they usually were.

Something was beginning to trickle into her awareness, something that kept her pressing him, asking him things she couldn't rightly say _she _was thinking of.

She blinked once, "_Why do you need me here? Why should I live?" _3

He wanted to see the color in those eyes again. Their normal color. Their shine with the smile she'd worn just the day before. And it made the fire demon realize that he was fumbling because he didn't know how it felt to _lose_ someone. He'd never really had the opportunity to even _have_ someone to lose.

So when she asked her question, he blinked slowly at her, the thought processing.

"_Because you are my companion, and I do not want to lose you." _He blinked again slowly. "_Because you never called me cursed." _He remembered that night in the Niiro when Taka had said it, and she'd refuted, not once repeating the word in regards to him.

"_You… are the first." The first to get through my defenses unnoticed. The first to make me care other than not wanting you to die. The first for a lot of things. __*****_

When he mentioned 'cursed,' she blinked at first, then her expression lightened, the frown on her face flattening out into the ghostlike remnants of what could be a smile, her severe features looking...not as sharp as they had moments before.

_You...are not cursed._

_You are much more than the label they have put you in._

_You just need the chance to paint outside the frame._

She didn't know why she hadn't conveyed all of that to him directly. Perhaps because she felt he hadn't yet _accepted _being more than the name they gave him from birth.

"_...do you wish to stay?" _Her eyes almost gleamed, hand unmoving from his face. 3

Hiei let his eyelids come open, his eyes staring into hers and catching the slightest change in those darkened irises. Shikiyoku's question had him blinking slowly at her, not really sure where her train of thought had gone. His first instinct was that she was asking if he wanted to stay with _her_.

But he wasn't entirely sure.

So he conveyed that with a sense of confusion through the bond. _*****_

She leaned a little closer to him, "_Is there nothing more?"_

_I would give you anything you asked. _3

Hiei blinked again, and the words she had just asked echoed in his head from another time. Not quite so long ago as it felt, but it wasn't from this moment. And he understood what she was asking.

His gaze met hers, sparking a little with recognition.

And he repeated what he'd said then, one step at a time.

"_I want you to stay. To let __**me**_ _stay." _He paused and let his expression show a very small change from the concern and confusion to a very slight twitch of his lips before going to an openly neutral expression. "_I want to be your Consort. Your companion." __*****_

_Let him._

_You will be safe._

Shikiyoku looked at Hiei for a moment longer and started to slowly lower her fingers.

"_**That**_ _is your desire." _She let her hand fall into her lap. 3

Hiei didn't blink when her fingers slid away from his lips and fell to her lap. He knew her words were not phrased to be a question, just a simple fact, but he nodded anyway. And he took her release of his lips as permission.

He pulled her forward slowly, eyes closing as his own words echoed in his ears when his lips touched hers. _*****_

_(...divide your griefs...)_

Shikiyoku's eyes closed as Hiei neared her, and never before had she _felt _a desire while in this form until that moment, until Hiei kissed her, wishing to be her Consort.

Without her touch, she felt the marking on him begin to glow, could feel it moving to encase her entire body through the connection of the hands on her face and the lips pressed up against her own.

The energy flowing into the area around them stopped, the course cut off from the outside, and where earlier she felt the ripping burn of the transition into pain form, now she experienced once more the tingling sensation, the shimmering, as her grey skin peeled back, the scars disappearing, until each and every inch of her had been recovered.

And she could feel the broken pieces of her core, the shattered remains of herself, which had crumpled apart when Kitoushi died...

...but they did not fall out of her.

She blinked and sat there for a moment, glowing yellow. 3

Hiei didn't have to look to know when she'd shifted back. He didn't have to open his eyes to see every scar gone, her skin smooth and colored as it should be. He didn't have to gaze at her to know that she was still in pain, but also still there.

But when he did open his eyes and slowly pull away, he became aware of the glow around her, encasing her in a wonderful color that he'd began to look for when he'd gotten under her skin enough to cause such a reaction. Except this time, he was also aware that the warmth all over his body was not from energy coming from _her_, as her hand was not over his mark, but it was just… _glowing. _Warm, as if she _had_ pressed her palm to the little heart underneath his cloak.

He eyed her for a few more minutes before his hands moved to her shoulders and pulled her forward, rocking back so he could sit on the ground and pull her into his arms. He knew she wasn't falling apart, but he also knew she was in pain. And this was one of the ways he'd noticed helped. _*****_

Shikiyoku made no protests, feeling herself _breathe _for the first time in what seemed like ages as he gathered her up.

After a couple of moments of breath, she checked herself, and realized something was _missing_...it wasn't..._done? _3

Hiei held her in silence for a few moments, feeling relief flood him now that he felt the air lighten and that there was no longer a dire threat to either of them. And he had to admit, he hadn't noticed how much it was taking from him until he felt slight muscle cramps here and there, his core still managing to produce enough energy to keep him from completely going lax and simply falling back on the dirt.

He released a breath.

He could feel the confusion in the air, the Jagan still watching and tipping him to that.

"What's missing?" His voice was low and quiet, hardly above a simple murmur. _*****_

Shikiyoku slowly sat up, pulling away from Hiei and looking around as if the clearing itself might have the answer.

She still _glowed_.

Having not exactly _registered _that earlier, she looked down at her hands, turning them over, then looked over at Hiei, eyeing the place on his neck where the marking still glowed there too. 3

Hiei let Shikiyoku pull away, his arms falling away from her so that she could move freely, his eyes watching her as she glanced at her hands. His lips pulled up in quiet amusement, finding that he glow made her look like an ethereal being.

It was a thought he hadn't had before now, and it made his amusement become a small scoff that left his lips, eyes closing as he was suddenly aware of the warmth on his arm growing, moving from beneath his sleeve and over the back of his hand in intricate swirls.

The Jagan also seemed to be interested in the movement of the mark at his jawline, showing him that it grew there too, crawling along his skin until it came to rest on his cheekbones and covering about half of his chin, the rest curling until it framed the outside of his left eye, the end of the smallest swirl just missing his eyebrow.

His eyes came open to stare at Shikiyoku, amusement still creating a very slight smirk on his features and making the markings on his cheek move just a little. He considered making a remark about it tickling, but decided he didn't mind sitting in the silence for a minute or two.

Then he repeated his question. "What's missing, Shiki?" _*****_

Shikiyoku had glanced away after eyeing the glow that still sat on his neck, mind whirling, but when Hiei asked again, she turned to look up at him and her eyes widened briefly, for the marking had grown in those few seconds.

The answer crashed across her consciousness as the edge of her lips tugged upwards in a half-smile and she found herself with the same look of _possessiveness _that she gave him in the bathhouse.

_Mine._

"Heh." Shikiyoku reached forward and grabbed for Hiei's cloak near the marking, leaning towards him and pulling him closer, kissing him back. 3

Hiei blinked at the expression that bloomed over Shikiyoku's face, and blinked again with the sound she made before she was grabbing for his cloak and pulling at him, to which he complied by coming closer and letting her lips touch his.

He released a breath of amusement at her, but made no move to pull away. _*****_

_(You will divide your griefs...)_

Shikiyoku's eyes closed as she kissed him, and the glow across her skin disappeared _into_ her skin and she could feel it pulling inwards until it encircled the pieces of her core, but it stopped again and she pulled away, blinking at him, just enough to see that his markings were still glowing.

...3

The fire demon waited until Shikiyoku pulled away before he met her gaze, watching her blink once at him. He raised a brow at her, wondering what it was _now_ that was missing. And he could feel the warmth of the glowing mark on his skin, despite the lack of glow around her now.

It left him confused.

What _else_ could be missing?

He kept his brow raised at her, blinking and being distracted by the glow around his eye before he was staring at her again. _*****_

Shikiyoku sat for a second, then her gaze dropped to her hand, still clutching at the fabric of his cloak.

_...oh._

When she met Hiei's gaze again, she wore a wicked smile she had not made use of in a _very _long time, and she tugged down a little with her hand.

"Take it off, flame-boy." 3

Hiei blinked at Shikiyoku when the smile formed on her features and she tugged at his cloak. He made a curious sound just as she spoke, and he briefly remembered the last time she'd said that. A sneer formed on his features and he unwound the scarf from his neck with one hand, the other tugging at her hand to release the material so he could pull the cloak from his body.

"Hn." _*****_

Shikiyoku's grin didn't leave, though it lessened somewhat, and she leaned down towards his chest, one hand coming up to lay gently on his skin. As she drew her face over the glowing mark on Hiei's chest, to the epicenter of it, her smirk faded, closing her eyes as she kissed it.

As her lips touched his skin, pressed into the middle of the heart-shaped mark she knew outlined his core, she could feel the glow around her own contract suddenly, pulling together the pieces, filling in the cracks, making her...whole again.

_(You will divide your griefs and multiply your joys.)_

To say that every concern, every bit of heartache, was completely lifted from her in that moment would be overstating her situation. But it was clear that as soon as the connection was made, everything...softened. Lessened. None of it dulled, because it was all still there in some form or another, some of it still too recent and difficult to approach in any mental capacity whatsoever, but...it somehow became more..._manageable_, as both the glow around Hiei and her own core began to start to fade.

Everything from Kitoushi dying by her hand, Douji's last breath, Taka's mark dissipating into the air around her, the killing of Otento...even her petty self-deprecating thoughts about not being _good _enough, or pretty enough, or _pure _enough because of Horu and Kafu and Uryo leaving her... The weight of everything that had happened in the last few months grew lighter, even going as far back as when she had turned and attempted to decimate a mountain to get back to her Champion, falling into a depression and wandering alone and listless through the Ninth Level.

All of it...

No longer as sharp or keen as it had been before.

It was in that moment she realized what exactly _divide _meant, as she could feel every bit of those previous realizations being passed to Hiei, passed to her Consort in some strange manner she couldn't quite comprehend, so that he might _understand_ and take on some of the weight himself to spare her dealing with it all on her own. 3

Hiei didn't dare move, his eyelids closing as he forced his muscles lax with the _new_ contact. But he didn't have to think on it long, because the moment her lips touched his skin, he felt as if someone had opened up a different type of telepathic connection and had filed through Shikiyoku's mind, rifling through everything that had been plaguing her and sliding it in his direction.

He saw images flashing one after another, beginning with her energy moving to Kitoushi and attacking, the large body of the cat falling atop her and the lungs giving out the last breath Kitoushi ever made. And from there, the images seemed to go back in time, showing him random things such as her taking his energy, Douji's death by the Lur'Mogs, removing the marks of the other demons he hadn't seen in a while, Taka's death from a being that she dealt away with before taking her rampage. Then Otento's death, and so many other things that he almost couldn't keep track.

And the emotions that accompanied those images had him feeling heavier, making his lips pull down into a scowl as more and more was added, all the way back to _their_ separation.

And he became aware that what he was feeling was not _all_ of it, but only a portion. Only a half, it seemed. He realized that he hadn't known the entire burden she had carried for so long, and in that instant, came to understand the way she had wanted to give up. The reasoning behind her thoughts and actions. The heaviness in her heart.

And he couldn't _imagine_ how it all had been at once.

He'd never had to deal with most of the things she'd had to deal with. He hadn't ever been _burdened _by killing another. He hadn't ever lost someone close to him. He hadn't ever had to deal with half of what she did.

But he understood now, her wanting to give in. _*****_

Amusingly enough, the feelings she had harbored previously about being _tired _in regards to Hiei's capacity for affection also 'lessened,' though she felt each hesitation, the weariness and concern...passing...over...to him.

_...dammit._

The fact that she didn't want him to know was passed over too. The fact that she never would have told him in a million years she wished he would kiss her on his own, without the need to change her back. ...and would never admit it because she would never ask him to do something he wasn't willing to do.

_Stop dividing, dammit._

Stop _giving_. Is this what it takes to put us on equal ground, she wondered. Is this what Renai meant?

She only pulled herself from his chest to sit up again when she felt the pieces of herself stitched back together again, seamless, as if never broken, and both the glow within her and the glow on Hiei's mark was completely gone.

She stared at the heart for a moment, eyes following the swirls.

And then her vision blurred as she felt a different sort of lifting from her mind.

And each moment in the past where she had found absolute _joy _in a memory with Hiei felt as though it _multiplied _in delight, things flashing through her mind so quickly that she couldn't even keep up with them all, some of them little things, little gestures or moments, like how he had just earlier pulled her into his arms after switching her back, others of them larger, older, like when they had been dancing at Rae's Palace and he had leaned down to whisper something in her ear which set her energy buzzing all over her body.

Her human side throwing a spoon at him, introducing him to sweet snow.

Getting _introduced _to sweet snow herself.

Merging their energy together so she could dance for the Northern Tribe.

...and a thousand other things that set her vision reeling and after a second or two sent her laughing at how absolutely _happy _she finally felt after all this time. 3

Hiei wasn't particularly surprised with the new things that flashed over to him, his mind picking apart what it could little by little. He'd known he wasn't in the top of the running, known he hadn't been anywhere _near_ top pick. So he wasn't surprised by the new feeling, though he wasn't happy about it either. It explained why she'd forgotten about him, though. Why she hadn't seemed to notice his leave of absence. But before he could assess that too much, something else was calling for his attention.

The image of them standing in the bath house passed briefly as he remembered standing there after she'd asked for a kiss, the memory triggered by the new reluctant emotion that accompanied her want for him to kiss her more often, her confliction about his own wants and desires righting that odd emotion.

And it confused him briefly before the image there passed too.

And he felt that weight he'd just gained become overshadowed, memories popping up from random times and magnifying in the joy he'd felt then. Content turning to happiness and happiness turning to absolute joy. The bath house, when he'd discovered the stare affected her in an odd way. The running- no dancing- through the layers and learning that with her guiding him through the steps.

Laying on the couch the day before and watching her bury her nose in his cloak.

Sitting in the tree on the Ninth Layer after he'd finally caught up to her.

Standing on Hanging Neck Island and telling her about the dragon. Later that same day, her having the general air of 'I told you so' when the dragon had come for him again.

Running across the levels with her before they'd been separated.

Conjoining energies so that she may dance worry-free for tribes they passed through.

Smiling sleepily at her before drifting away.

_Flame-Boy._

_Fire Prince._

And so, so many more that even the Jagan couldn't keep up. His lips twitched into a smirk of amusement at the prospect, the gesture twitching even more when he heard Shikiyoku's laugh nearby.

_(Incredible.) __*****_

Shikiyoku couldn't contain herself any longer, throwing her arms around Hiei's neck and tackling him to the ground as she kept laughing for a moment, hugging him before pulling away just enough to look into his eyes, grinning.

"_You _were the one staring at me in the ruins? You're terrible." 3

Hiei blinked his eyes open as he felt the arms encircling his neck and his back hit the dirt below, taken by surprise. He watched Shikiyoku's joyous laughter, and for the first time, instead of smirking, his lips pulled upwards in a _smile_.

...Which quickly turned to a smirk at her enlightenment. Mischief gleamed in his eyes for a moment, and he realized that sometime when he'd been falling backwards, he'd grabbed her out of instinct.

"Hn." _You weren't supposed to __**find out**__, woman. __*****_

"Is that all you have to say for yourself? 'Hn?'" She mocked him, sticking her face a little closer to him and narrowing her eyes, making a poor attempt at hiding her smile. 3

"Well," he began, giving a nonchalant shrug despite his smirk and the gleaming amusement in his eyes. "I don't _regret it, _if that's what you want." _*****_

"Sneaky little demon." She scrunched her nose up at him.

...though really, if he had been the one doing it that last time, why hadn't she just assumed it was him the _whole _time.

...she had a feeling she was going to regret _telling _him about that stupid stare of his.

Her vision focused back in on his face and her grin receded into a sly smile.

"I hope you know you're stuck with me, flame-boy." 3

Hiei's smirk very quickly turned into a sneer, his irises flashing at Shikiyoku. "That also means you're stuck with me." And his eyes searched her face for a moment before settling into a stare, catching her gaze very deliberately. "Shiki." _*****_

Shikiyoku gave a snorting laugh as she quickly averted her eyes from his face, fighting a stupid smile as a blush settled across the mask of her face. 3

Hiei gave a single snicker through his teeth as she turned away, his eyes doing the same after a moment in a way of saying that he conceded for the time being. He let his eyelids close and he let out a breath through his lips. A breath of content. _*****_

"Hmph." Shikiyoku let her eyes slide back to him when she felt her awkwardness fade, following the swirls and curves of the marking on his skin and realizing for the first time that it was, as far as she knew, a permanent addition to his features.

She shifted one of her arms from behind his neck and placed her hand over his heart, setting the mark aglow.

"...I just hope you don't come to regret it." While her tone may have been a little rueful, her lips had turned up into a half-smile. 3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	107. Episode 191

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here. The sum-up on this one is extra long, but the last chapter is pretty lengthy and a lot happens that, in my opinion, can't really be left out of even a recap.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei  
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama  
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.  
_Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.  
_[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]  
__{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}  
__"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."  
_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).  
The above rule also applies to Akari's old friend Isamu when he is in his dog-form.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari fears falling asleep and leaving her body again,  
and begins to suggest games she and Kurama might play instead.  
When the two both admit they wouldn't play fair,  
Akari asks for a game Kurama might want to play,  
and when she isn't given a satisfactory answer,  
she decides they will play Tic-Tac-Toe.

Before they can even set up their game,  
Youko demands "Shuichi's" attention,  
and attempts to wrest control of their body from him,  
informing the human that they were leaving immediately,  
as Youko's bond with Shikiyoku is informing him of her dying.

An internal battle begins as Kurama counters leaving will kill,  
not only Akari, but their mother as well,  
but it appears as if Youko is of a single-minded determination,  
and Kurama insists Akari leaves the room  
as he isn't sure what tactics the fox will use to be set free.

Stunned, confused, and a little scared at Kurama's demand,  
Akari allows herself to be dragged off towards the door,  
leaving behind a devastating mental battle  
between human and kitsune.

~!**!~

Knowing Kitoushi kept emergency tinctures in the old days,  
Shikiyoku realizes Kit's need is dire,  
and that the two of them will need to journey  
all the way down to the Ninth Layer to an old hideout  
to retrieve what he needs to cure himself.

Managing to convince a reluctant Hiei  
that the journey will be best if only she and Kit do it,  
Shikiyoku takes off with Kitoushi,  
returning successful on their venture by the next morning,  
her and Kitoushi roaming the streets of the city at his behest,  
taking their time together in returning to her home.

However, their moment of joy is quickly shattered,  
as Shikiyoku finds herself face-to-face with an Infected Kitoushi,  
he having drawn a portion of her sickness into himself via kiss,  
and the dose retrieved from their former hideout having done no good.

Kitoushi turns on her, and Shikiyoku shifts to her other form,  
sending a life-ending blast of energy directly into his core as he pounces on her,  
and dropping to the ground underneath him as he collapses.

Unable to cope with the death of her oldest comrade,  
Shikiyoku dips below the layers and tears her way to the Ninth one.

The surge of energy stirs the Jagan into rousing Hiei,  
who immediately chases after her,  
finding the body of Kitoushi and sensing Shikiyoku's despair  
as he follows her to the Ninth and fights through her toxic energy  
to her side, taking her hand in his even as his own life force begins to drain away.

When he moves to kiss her, to revert her to her normal form,  
she resists him, knowing that if she were to change back  
that the pieces of her heart would shatter and she would break.

Despite her pleas that he leave, and live,  
Hiei refuses, finally admitting that he needs her to survive,  
wants her as a companion, desires for her to be with him.

She prompts him further,  
and he finally repeats what he said in the bath house,  
that he desires to be her Consort,  
and she finally allows him to kiss her with that desire on his mind.

The pact between them is formed,  
that they would divide their griefs and multiply their joys,  
and so a great deal of Shikiyoku's burden is lifted from her  
and passed to Hiei, so that she might be relieved of it.

They quickly begin the "multiplying their joys"  
portion of the pact, previous encounters with one another  
flashing through the new, shared space between them,  
and Shikiyoku voices her 'concern' that he might regret being stuck with her...

* * *

Hiei only looked over at Shikiyoku with one eye open, his brow raising and bringing his awareness to the dark marking that hadn't been there long enough for him to become accustomed to. It distracted him for a moment, bringing his gaze down to the little bit of glowing swirl he could see underneath and around his eye.

_That's going to take some getting used to._

He released a scoff a second later and let his eye close again. "If I didn't regret being your Champion, why would I regret this?" It was different, he knew, but at the same time so similar. _*****_

"I wouldn't know. I'm just guessing that it could happen down the line somewhere." She tapped her fingers along the Mark once and then grinned again, sliding over until she lay on her side next to him, propping herself up by putting her face in a hand with the elbow stuck in the dirt and looking at him. "I suppose it's too late now. You're _mine_." 3

The fire demon didn't reply, deeming his lips twitching into a smirk of amusement as reply enough. (_Hn.) _Being honest, it had been what he wanted from the beginning. It had been something he'd wanted since they'd been separated, to be bound to her again and be able to watch over her.

Now, not only was that accomplished, but he'd earned a companion too, something he hadn't realized until recently that he'd _actually_ wanted the entire time.

And she'd been the first to prove it was _worth_ searching for.

Well, to this extent. Kurama and the others were good company on occasion, but if he had it his way, he'd rather be with _this one_ than the others, any day.

He released another scoff.

It took another moment, but he realized they were still laying in the open, on the dirt of the Ninth Layer, where he had no idea where they were and if anyone was coming to find the source of the energy that had stormed through here.

His eyes turned to Shikiyoku in consideration before he tilted his head at her a little. If she knew no one would come this way, they'd stay. If she wasn't certain, they'd leave. Simple as that. Neither of them were really in the best shape to fight anyway, if it came to it. _*****_

When she shifted over, Shikiyoku's other hand had come to rest on Hiei's chest, and from this side she was given her first _real _look at the tattoo, its thin swirls and larger curves and everything inbetween that all spiraled outwards from the heart-shaped marking over his core.

She rather enjoyed the fact that it had spread over his face, finding it amusing that he now had a visual representation of their union that _everyone _would be able to see.

And slightly more humorous was the knowledge that he had never gotten to do the same to her.

By the time Hiei looked at her, however, her gaze had lowered to his side and without actually _meaning _to, started tracing the lines of the tattoo with her finger in an effort to memorize what they looked like outside of her head. 3

Hiei felt odd about the finger tracing the markings on his skin, and it completely distracted him from what he'd been originally looking to her for. So he stared at Shikiyoku for a few minutes, watching the finger follow swirl after swirl.

And after a few more minutes he remembered what he'd been doing and his eyes lifted, watching the area calmly, almost curiously.

Because he saw no way that a demon within a certain distance wouldn't have felt the energy appear, and then slowly dissipate. _*****_

"What troubles you, fire-prince?" Shikiyoku murmured, not even looking up from his side. 3

Hiei didn't look down at her. "Nothing, at this moment." There was no threat nearby, no demon within the area. He was simply being cautious. He didn't know the area.

Though, his lips did twitch at her after a minute, and he did glance at her out of the corner of his eye. "Just precaution, Shiki." *****

The blush from earlier had long faded, but at hearing him _say _the name aloud once more, her eyes glimmered for a moment and the barest of smiles played across her lips and she continued watching her finger lightly follow the lines on his skin.

"No one comes this far Northeast." She murmured again. 3

"Hn," there was no denying the instant relaxing of a few of his muscles, his head actually lowering to the ground and resting so that his eyes saw the skies above, through the leafless trees that hung overhead. He found it odd that it seemed to _fit_ in the darkened area. It looked… _burned_. Which made it fit in with the red of the skies that made him think of fire.

He remembered the question he'd asked her at the bath house about being a fire demon, and this time amusement flooded him enough to earn a puff of air through his nostrils. "_Are you __**certain**_ _you're not a fire demon?" _As he repeated the question, he sent the mental image of what he was staring at, and all the amusement that he felt about it. _*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes grew faraway for a moment as she pictured what Hiei sent her, her smile growing a little wider so that she stopped what she was doing, letting her hand rest on his ribs as she looked up to the overhanging, dead, trees.

_Oops._

Of course, there was no blackened smell coming from the area around them, the one that indicated fire had been in the area, and really if one looked everything just appeared to have dried up from the inside-out.

"I am not fierce enough to be a fire demon." She replied as she continued scanning the sky. "Neither am I hot enough." 3

Hiei raised a brow, though his eyes remained pointed up at the skies and the trees and such. His first reaction was to sneer about the 'fierce' comment, because someone who _wasn't _fierce wouldn't have been able to do what she'd done. At least, if they could, not _near_ the way she could.

And about being 'hot enough'... Well…

"Your personal temperature has nothing to do with it. Anyone can play with fire." _Not all are immune to its effects, however._

After a few moments, he became aware of her eyes on him, and he lifted his head to look at her. "What?" _*****_

"You're cute." 3

Hiei's brow quirked a little as he realized what was happening. "Not cute," he said, frowning a little. "_Fierce." __*****_

Shikiyoku's eyebrows lifted a little, the rest of her expression unchanging, and she only stared at him again, wondering if he'd make the connection. 3

Hiei matched her stare with his own, frown pulling his lips downwards a little before his expression became blank again.

And then he realized.

..._oh._

His lips turned into a smirk and he turned away. _I knew that. __*****_

Deciding she would leave him with the half he had figured out and not touch the other side of it, which he obviously missed, Shikiyoku let out a low chuckle and went back to tracing her finger along his side.

Her mind found its way back to the only other time in her life she had been into this far corner of the Ninth...well, layer now.

It had been when her mother banished her.

Shikiyoku paused her tracing and looked around.

_I knew I recognized this clearing._

She'd collapsed here, as a young demon barely old enough to walk and talk, and exhausted beyond running any longer. 3

Hiei let his head rest back again, eyes closing and letting his ears do all the work. He could hear creatures moving around a good ways away, moving further. He could hear the wind blowing by and causing the dead trees to creak with the movement. He could hear Shikiyoku's breathing, even the sound of her finger along his skin before she paused.

It was so calm here, despite the damage that had been done. Or, perhaps _because_ of it. He wasn't sure.

Suddenly, he remembered Kitoushi's body, laying on the sidewalk on the first layer. Quickly after that mental image, he found himself remembering the cat, known as Maneshi then, tearing around the house in the middle of the night, which ended up with tears in his cloak and water all over him.

And while earlier he hadn't felt anything about the death of the cat- hadn't had the time to- he now felt a heaviness that hadn't been there before.

_Shikiyoku's. _

It gave him something to ponder over, exploring all the things he suddenly felt as hers, shared with him through their new kinship. _*****_

The remembrance led her down pathways she had long forgotten existed, of barely _surviving _at her age with a background at the Palace that really had yet to even _start_ before being tossed away.

And then being found by the demon who would eventually become her first Champion, a demon who raised her on his own, and for a while had been like a father to her.

Before she really knew him. Really saw what he was like. How he had manipulated her from the beginning, molding her into the demon he could use to serve his own purposes.

She had thought him kind and caring...but he was cruel. And adept at fooling and hiding it from others. 3

Hiei's mind wandered back to the day he'd been separated from Shikiyoku by the portals, how she'd pushed him through and ended up stuck within Demon World. He remembered feeling angry, even lost and confused because he wouldn't be able to protect someone he couldn't get to.

But he never would have imagined that she'd torn into the mountainside as long as she possibly could before she'd given in and collapsed out of exhaustion, only to drag herself to her feet and leave the spot to find a way to sever the bond.

And how she felt about it _after_. About severing the bond and 'letting her champion down'.

He remembered sitting in Kurama's window that night, not saying a word, and feeling the bond suddenly taper away, leaving him in stunned silence.

That had been when he'd begun searching for other portals, before ending up sidetracked when they'd found Otento, who'd gotten away.

And the whole time Shikiyoku was doing so many other things. A decade had been so long for her.

But he'd only had time to try and prevent the demon responsible from the beginning from getting away. And the instant the worlds had begun to crumble together, he'd taken up searching for her, only to be approached by Yusuke with a favor from Jin. He'd initially ignored it, saying he had other things to do. But that had been before running into her at the first layer.

Hiei let out a small breath, his body relaxing more and his eyes coming open to stare up at the sky again.

There was so much he hadn't realized about this person, simply because he'd never gone through anything she'd been thrown into. And he didn't want it to ever happen again, if he could help it. _*****_

"Tch."

Shikiyoku rolled over onto her back, putting her hands behind her head to prop it up, staring at nothing and too wrapped up in her own thoughts to care. She didn't even realize she scoffed aloud, though the emotion was certainly there.

_Bastard._

He was dead now, though.

And for a second time no less.

...and by her own hand.

Well, directly anyway.

It was no small amount of satisfaction to remember tearing through him, even though at remembering _why _she had done it had the momentarily vicious gleam in her eye fading.

Funny how she could look more objectively at the feeling of missing him now that she wasn't blinded about it when she so much as thought of the bird demon. 3

The sound caught Hiei's ears, but the fire demon didn't turn to look at Shikiyoku as his own thoughts slowly drifted away, his mind becoming nothing but a blank slate as he stared up at the sky. Clouds rolled by, a lighter red than the sky itself was, and it made the visual of flames even more convincing as he continued to spectate the heavens.

He noticed that Shikiyoku also pulled away, but he left her to her thoughts.

….he almost felt too tired to move.

_Oh yeah. _He'd forgotten, almost, that it had taken so much energy to not only _get _here, but to convince Shikiyoku to let him change her back, to become her Consort. It made him give a small breath through his nostrils and close his eyes again.

_How is __**she**_ _still conscious? _She was the one who used most of her energy anyway. _*****_

Shikiyoku reached up and scratched at her face absently, her thoughts rolling past Otento and all the trouble he caused over the years.

Strange to think he could have been her Consort. And that the desire was strong enough that his mark had been decent sized.

_...and yet another reason why I should avoid Rae's palace for the next hundred years._

Though that did mean not going to the Niiro Kaga.

_...Kafu._

And Horu. And Uryo.

Still alive. Still well.

The thought of visiting Kafu led Shikiyoku's thoughts to what he might say upon seeing Hiei with the tattoo marks on his face.

_Aren't they a little...fierce for a fire demon?_

For that matter, _facial _markings were new for him too. She was the only one who had seen them yet.

_...this could be interesting. _3

Hiei let out another long breath. …_.woman._

He wasn't even sure what the beginning of that thought was. It had almost been like he'd been talking aloud, and the only part heard was the last word of the complaint. Except this time, it had been just the thought, not even finding its way to his lips.

_How_ was she still awake?

Because he was beginning to struggle.

_Hn._

His hands were suddenly moving, pulling his cloak back over himself out of instinct- the wind was beginning to stir the dirt a little and he really didn't like the feeling of it moving across his body. And then he tossed his right arm over his eyes, just as he had the night before.

…_.Tch._

_Sleeping again so soon. __*****_

She missed Taka.

And for that matter Douji and-

_Oh Kit._

The newer memory was _just _recent enough to have her closing her eyes, a frown making her brows come together.

_And his body is still laying out on the street._

She inwardly made a noise of disgust with herself, thinking through the logistics of moving his giant cat body.

_But where would I-_

The meadow.

He told her he had been there before, right? With Youko and...Nabu? Yeah.

_I bet Youko wouldn't mind if-_

Shikiyoku actually cringed.

...

_He...might not want to talk to me for a while._

To be fair though, neither had he cured her sickness. And that was their condition after all. 3

_Not yet._

Hiei mentally shook himself awake, though the rest of his body didn't so much as move. He could rest without sleeping, so there was no need. If he just lay here until she needed him to get up, he'd be able to do anything she needed him to do.

….Because eventually, she was going to want to do something about Kitoushi.

And since he didn't know the cat very well, it was not his place to make suggestions, even if he _did _have any. _*****_

After thinking about him, Shikiyoku's mind kept returning to the cat demon.

Giving the differences in time, there was no telling how long he had _actually _been laying there.

Unlikely any humans could see him. And more unlikely that any demons would touch him.

Add on the fact that she had actually ran _with _the layers earlier and any sense of the time or day she might have had was lost to them.

She gave a little sigh, but still didn't move, as if dreading the thought of even _seeing _the cat's corpse again. 3

Hiei heard the little sound that passed Shiki's lips, and it wasn't hard to know where her thoughts had gone. His had been there, after all. And he could also feel her reluctance, the dreading of going.

His lips pulled downwards at the corners for just a moment before flattening out again. "We will have to go at some point," he said after a moment, giving a small breath himself. _*****_

_We..._

_That's right. I won't have to go alone, will I?_

She turned her head to look at him, a little noise accompanying the small smile she found herself wearing as she looked at him.

_Mine._

This time the thought was coupled with the greatest sense of contentment.

_...I wonder how long it'll take for you to figure out I'm __**yours**__. _3

He could feel her eyes on him. He didn't move right away, but Hiei could definitely feel the stare that had landed on him. He acted as if he couldn't feel it, as if he wouldn't noticed if she only sat there and looked for a while.

But after a moment or two, he decided to let his arm slide away from his face and to turn his head in her direction, looking at her through bleary eyes from the pressure of his forearm. Waiting for her to say something, anything, whether it be about Kitoushi or anything else. _*****_

In spite of herself, the smile grew larger when he finally shifted around to look at her, but she couldn't really think of anything that needed to be said in that moment and she just looked back.

"...thank you."

_(For everything.) _3

Hiei couldn't quite see her clearly yet, but he offered a small raise of his brow before giving a small smirk. He almost said it, the line that came to mind, but for some reason it just didn't form on his tongue, and he couldn't bring himself to say it telepathically either.

_I'd do anything you need._

So he gave a little nod at her instead. _*****_

She let out a breathy little laugh.

"You don't even know what for, do you?" Her eyes gleamed teasingly. 3

Hiei turned his head to look up at the sky as his vision began to clear.

He didn't answer her, because really, with her, there was no telling what she would bring up. So he merely smirked up at the sky. _*****_

Shikiyoku closed her eyes after a moment, taking a deep, cleansing breath.

"_We should..." _Subject change. Pause. Breath releasing. Serenity in the next thought. "_I want to go take care of Kit." _The statement was accompanied by a questionness that was asking him to go with her, please, and, "_He should not be left out in such a way." _3

Hiei felt her sobering up and knew what she was about to say. So, ever so slowly, he began shifting around, putting a hand on the ground and pushing himself into a sitting position even as she spoke. And for the first time, he realized she was _asking_ him.

Not that he wouldn't have gone with her in the first place.

He slowly pushed himself to stand before turning and offering her his hand for the same. Momentarily, he remembered the first time he'd offered her his hand, back when they'd been in the tunnel with Sensui. He blinked and the image was gone.

"_It's why I'm here." _

_To be with you when you need me._

~!**!~

If one was looking on from the outside, Akari could be seen laying under her covers with one hand clutching at the blankets and the other at her chest, her knees pulled to her stomach and her face hidden. They wouldn't have been able to see it, but her eyes were sporadically moving behind her lids and her lips were twitching.

In the dream realm, she was standing, fidgeting, watching the being at the large chair she now considered a throne. Isamu stood to her side and Takeo a foot behind her, keeping her from turning and running even if she'd had the ability to move her muscles. And the being, the creature sitting in the chair was only just realizing she'd been there, turning to her slowly, as if she wasn't important enough for his entire attention.

And yet, apparently she was important enough to have guards, keeping her where she stand, where she fidgeted in fear. Guards who laughed when she backpedaled far enough to back into Takeo.

"_You got away." _

The voice seemed to come from everywhere, resonating around her like the energy that pressed down on her shoulders, filling her senses with the knowledge that she was nothing more than an insect to this one. An insect who was held underneath a magnifying glass on a hot summer day.

"_Not again."_

Her eyes suddenly came open and Akari found herself breathing hard, and she was sure that the clamminess from her body was from more than the hot covers that she quickly threw away. She curled tighter into that little ball, her forehead resting against her knees and her arms tucked to her chest.

HAd she been aware of her surroundings, she would've noticed the maid in her room before the girl had even piped up, and she wouldn't have nearly attacked the poor unsuspecting female.

She had to repeat what had already been said.

"Master Yomi requires your presence at breakfast. He advises you not be late."

It took a few minutes of standing with shaking legs and staring at the door before she could gather herself together, remind herself it was just a dream, and move for the shower. _*****_

There were no words to describe the internal battle between fox demon and avatar that took place over an indeterminate amount of time, and had the avatar still been more human than demon, there would have been no denying that the kitsune spirit within him would have overtaken the body of Minamino in a matter of minutes.

But many years had passed in which the two resided together, and in that time the strength of Youko, the guile, the power, had been shared between human and demon so that the boy with red hair could attribute his heritage more to his demonic infestation than the mother who birthed him.

And so the fight waged on.

And on.

And on.

But Youko was relentless in his onslaught, and though the teen had only to defend, to stand firm, the passion of the kitsune slowly wore him down, the tide tug-of-war having never been even and the advantage of centuries of life gaining, overruling his counterpart.

They were, in the end, unmatched. For Youko was still stronger, still wiser, still had more stamina and toughness than the boy he inhabited.

And then, all at once, Youko stopped.

Kurama did not lower his defenses, and could _feel _the kitsune had chipped away steadily, pinpointing Kurama's weakness as if they were his own, for the two knew each other well enough that only the age of the demon would give him the upper hand.

The redhead many have _gained _the knowledge of countless years of experience...but he had not lived it.

Stockstill, the avatar checked himself, standing as firm as he was able within his own mind, feeling the instability in his stance that he knew the fox could not have missed.

Minutes, perhaps seconds more and Youko would have prevailed.

There was no way the silver-haired fox couldn't have known.

Blinking in the plane of his thoughts, battered and worn and metaphorically breathing heavily, Kurama no longer sensed the presence of the fox.

This had happened before, in an attempted trick to _slip _by, a tactic the fox used well enough, but such shadowy and indirect things were fruitless as they each knew the others thoughts and intentions and only a frontal wearing down would succeed.

Kurama said nothing, only standing there barely able to keep his proverbial feet, watching, feeling for the next move.

He did not know how long he waited, only that at some point he was able to sense the fox demon was...gone.

Maybe not quite that completely. He was still _there _after all, still inhabiting the body they shared, but there was no reading in him the intention to continue, not even a hint that this was another ploy, a change of tactics.

Simply...

...nothing.

Without words, Kurama reached out to the kitsune in a cautious examination of Youko's state and found, as he felt, that same impression of nothingness.

Unwilling to accept that Youko had given up, Kurama spent the rest of the night in the room gathering his strength, expecting an attack that never came.

~!**!~

In the very early hours of the next morning, Kurama emerged from the training room, before any others had a chance to awaken, and made his way back to his rooms.

There were no others to watch him stagger briefly in the middle of the hall, no one to see him stop and lean up against the wall as if the mental effort needed to lift his feet and walk proved too much for him.

He mindlessly walked back, closing the door behind him, fearful yet of even sleep when the fox might overtake him while unconscious, and went to stand in the shower, only starting to peel his soaked clothing to throw it to the tiled floor after standing there under the water for a while as he braced himself against the wall of the shower itself, too exhausted to do anything but be prepared to step between the fox and what had been Youko's goal with whatever mental capacity he had left.

He did not leave the shower for a long while.

~!**!~

A sense of relief passed through her to him as if somewhere she thought he might not go with her, an impression of gratefulness that he might once again lend her his strength, his presence, as she sat up herself and took his hand to receive his help in standing.

Even after she rose, she did not at first move, only looking at him with the calmest expression and a small imitation of that smile no one else but him got to see. 3

Hiei pulled Shikiyoku to her feet, watching her even as she watched him, offering a small twitch of her lips as she eyed him. To be quite honest, he felt reluctant to go as well, though he wasn't sure if that was _his_ reluctance, or hers that he was feeling.

Since he'd become very much aware that he could feel a little of what she was feeling at the moment.

It was… odd, to say the least.

He didn't release her hand as he turned and began walking from the area, folding the layers over them as he did so.

Anymore waiting and they'd end up dreading it more than they already did.

~!**!~

Akari had showered and dressed in a slow. sluggish fashion that made it feel as if the day was going to be too long, even though her inner clock said she'd been moving at her normal speed and had gotten dressed just about as fast as she normally did. And she didn't even bother putting her hair up- she was going to sit at a table, not run around like a maniac. She wouldn't need her hair to be out of her face.

In fact, she found she probably would use her hair to _hide_ herself. She wasn't exactly feeling up to confrontation today anyway.

She didn't have time to think about much on the walk down the few flights of stairs to the main hall, but that didn't mean she didn't find herself wanting to hunt down Kurama and see what was going on.

And had it not been for Yomi calling on her, she likely would have done just that.

Instead, she pushed the door open to the dining hall, unsurprised to see the blind demon sitting at the head of the table and a waiter to his left. He'd even been watching the door with a small, almost pleasant smile that had her hesitating.

She never liked that smile.

"Have a seat, Akari."

And she never liked it when he used her name, either.

She calmly stepped up to the chair that another demon was pulling out, taking a seat and adjusting as necessary so that she could hide her hands under the table, her eyes watching the demon carefully. No plate was set before her, not even a glass of water.

"It has been brought to my attention that you've been wandering my halls." He paused, seeming to look for a reaction, and when he earned none he continued. "It's not an easy thing to miss when my men are complaining about cold spots and static in areas where no electricity is being conducted."

Again, she gave him no reaction, not surprised nor worried about the topic.

"It has also been brought to my attention that you've been convening with our good friend, Takeo."

Now _that_ had her mind beginning to work. She'd forgotten about that.

"I am just wondering if there's anything I should know."

_Not like you don't already know._

Akari shifted, straightening her spine a little and speaking for the first time. "Takeo took his leave a while ago. He's not roaming any longer."

Yomi's lips pulled up just a little as he raised a glass to his lips and took a sip.

She knew he was waiting for more details. "He made the mistake of attempting to keep me from my own body. And as I'm sure you know, shadow demon's usually have a personal shadow that acts as a guard in those circumstances. My personal guard acted when it sensed the threat."

The small slick of Yomi's glass touching the table again seemed to echo in the new silence, and she found herself glad that Sensui had taught her the art of passing lie detection tests. It made this moment so much easier- but to say she wasn't still worried would be a lie.

That silence seemed to stretch on, Yomi watching her in his unique way and Akari merely staring, as if she could meet his gaze square on.

Another few minutes ticked by before he turned his head away. "You are dismissed."

Slowly, Akari slid her chair back and stood, turning to the door and taking two steps before the demon called to her again, pausing her.

"I expect results soon."

She didn't reply as she left the dining hall, every hair on her neck standing on end. _*****_

It took a great deal of time before Kurama allowed himself the luxury of rest, and even then he only sat on the floor, stripped to the waist wearing a set of pants he pulled from the dresser, to meditate.

His breathing slowed, his mind open and expanding until he could feel every bit of both himself and Youko where they resided together, spirits intertwined in the most intimate of manners, hardly distinguishable from one another.

He would have no fear of Youko attempting to take over here, for he knew he would sense every motive of the kitsune this way.

An emotion of confusion passed along the outside of his thoughts, bouncing away, for he once again, as before, sensed nothing from Youko.

The presence was there as always, but even when in time past when the fox had slumbered within him, Kurama would feel the life of the being, the deep breathing that Kurama tapped into on occasion when he felt his own calm of spirit becoming disturbed. It was not so now.

Kurama sent once more his presence into the midst of the fox, further melding their souls together, searching for any signs that the fox could feel him, sense him, acknowledge his intrusion.

Nothing.

...and that is likely what frightened the redhead the most.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku was also grateful to him for taking the lead, for making that first step in the direction they needed to process.

_(For being my strength.)_

Even though that last thought was not _directly, _word-for-word, spoken between them through the warmth of Hiei's mind she could still feel connecting them, Shikiyoku could sense it flowing through the new kinship they shared, a sort of semipermeable membrane where while her existence was still her own, while she still had a sort of privacy separate from him, there was this...this _space _between them where things would get through and mingle together.

She felt fairly certain that if she had known before now this would be part of the package of things that came along with having a Consort, she would have felt extremely hesitant, unwilling even, to take one on, perhaps scared to be so open to another.

...but _experiencing _it without previous assumptions or expectations was perhaps a blessing.

_(This...isn't so bad.) _3

Hiei continued to lead Shikiyoku through one layer at a time, his mind working over the heaviness he could feel, along with the occasional new little thought or impression that suddenly alighted in his mind. The only way he knew to describe it was that he'd lost control of telepathy and had to figure out what he was sensing and what was his own.

To be quite honest, it was a bit of an amusing thing, and yet he could see it becoming a problem later if he wasn't able to think clearly about a situation. So he nitpicked every little thing in his head and filed it away little by little until he was left with nothing else to observe except for the new flashes of feelings or random words that he could hear.

_(Intriguing.)_

And as he thought the word, even felt his own amusement and curiosity that accompanied it, he also became aware that it seemed to slide away from the forefront of his mind and traverse the bond he could sense between them, sending her the word that had come to mind.

And it made him realize that she was fully capable of feeling what he was feeling too, whether he directly meant for her to or not.

And that made it all the more intriguing.

~!**!~

"_I expect results soon."_

If that hadn't been a passive threat, then Akari wouldn't know what was. And yet even still, he didn't really scare her. What only scared her was what she might face if he did decide she was useless. The thing that had taken to haunting her dreams.

A frown colored her lips and she gave a small sigh. It had been so much easier to sleep when Kur-

_Don't do that._

She felt herself pause in the middle of the hallway, her eyes lifting and looking around herself as if she might see the source of her thoughts. She hadn't seen the redhead since she'd left the room, and it took everything in her power not to turn around and go on a hunt.

_Yomi's listening._

She gave a look to the only other demon in the corridor, who had paused to watch her curiously, before she continued on her way. She didn't really have a specific place she was going, since she didn't want to go back to her room or even to the training room.

But in the end, she wound up right back in her room, sitting crosslegged on her bed and staring at the window.

_...Might as well see if I can do it._

She closed her eyes, and within a matter of seconds she found herself sitting in the inbetween.

The only thing was, when she opened her eyes, she could still see _herself_ sitting on the bed on the Eighth Layer.

She groaned and closed her eyes, only opening them again when she felt herself sitting on the bed.

_This is a pain. __*****_

~!**!~

The entire way up to the first layer, there wasn't a word spoken between the two of them.

Of course, _spoken _words would mean they said something aloud, and Shikiyoku was fairly certain that never happened.

Plenty passed _between _them, though, and Shikiyoku tried to make sure that her sense of contentment, of happiness, in the choice they had made _together _to be this way was properly expressed.

Funny how she had not known how very _alone _she felt until now.

It was hard to feel alone like this.

And she hoped she never had to be alone ever again. 3

Hiei slowed when their feet hit the first layer, his thoughts turning away from his own curiosity about what he and Shikiyoku had enacted and turning to thoughts of Kitoushi, of being near Shikiyoku so that she knew she wasn't alone and that he wouldn't let her fall apart if she even _considered_ doing so.

Because now that he could feel the sadness surrounding the cat's death, feel how _close_ the pair had been, he found that even if he _had_ wanted to go another direction, he wouldn't have been able to muster up the energy to turn and leave her to whatever she was going to do.

He could think about other things when this was over with.

And the closer down the street they got to the place he knew Kitoushi's body to be, the heavier he actually felt, and the more _lost_ he felt. He didn't know what to do. He'd never had to do this.

~!**!~

So long had passed since Akari had tried moving layers that it had even grown dark outside, leaving her room swamped with shadows that each watched her curiously as she slid between the layers, met an odd barrier before the Ninth Layer, and ended up right back on the Eighth. And at one point, she'd thought she had slipped through, she'd even saw a flash of red, and then she'd found herself sitting on the bed again with a headache.

_Why can't I just use the shadows? It's so much __**easier**__._

Her stomach growled, and she heard herself echo the sound in annoyance. _This is stupid. _

She _could _try again.

But that didn't necessarily meant she _should_, much less _would _try again.

So she let herself fall backwards, eyes on the ceiling as the shadows slithered into view, watching her as she watched them.

Her stomach growled again.

With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself from the bed and dragged herself from her room, silently clicking the door shut behind her so that the guard leaning against the wall wouldn't wake up from her exit. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stopped abruptly before Kitoushi's body even came into view and tugged at the hand Hiei still held, turning him to face her and grabbing his other hand, searching his eyes with her own.

_(What can I do?)_

_(How can I bring you comfort?)_

Her pain was nothing new. She had long lived with pain. But keenly aware that Hiei now experienced what she knew, her expression grew concerned, peering up into his countenance with worry. 3

Hiei pulled to a stop when he heard Shikiyoku's steps pause, turning to look at her with an expression even he wasn't sure he knew. He turned to face her when she pulled at him, his expression softening just a little with a very, very small tug of his lips upwards.

_Right. Pain._

_Sadness._

He couldn't ever remembering feeling these emotions in the way he did now.

Then again, he'd always channeled them to pure, unadulterated rage and usually took off on a rampage that left entire villages up in smoke depending on the situation.

His expression flattened out into a calm mask again as he in turn watched Shikiyoku. What exactly was he supposed to tell her? He wasn't even sure what to think of _himself_.

So he gave a little nod of his head that said he'd be fine and tugged on her hands a little, silently saying they needed to get going again.

~!**!~

Akari had rummaged through the countless cabinets and pantries, had ransacked the refrigerator, had even looked through the places she knew the spices and such were kept before she'd found the bread box that was so often moved to a new location, solely for this reason.

The staff didn't much like her siphoning from their stock.

That didn't stop her from grabbing a good amount and shimmying from the room, though. She had bread in her mouth the whole walk back up to her room, and was even still munching as she changed from her usual outfit into something comfortable enough to sleep in.

She considered going back to how she used to sleep, in only a large shirt and underwear, but she quickly remembered the last time she'd done that here, and decided against it, instead finding a comfortable shirt and pair of pants before crawling into bed, finishing off the last roll, and found herself falling asleep much quicker than the night before.

And thankfully, it was a dreamless night. _*****_

As if nothing had happened, nothing changed, as if he had not stayed in his room for an entire day, at the established time Kurama appeared leaned up against the wall next to the training room, arms folded over his chest, his head slightly tilted down and his eyes closed.

And when that time passed, he lifted himself from the wall, walked with an air of patient arrogance down the hallway and all but pounded on the door to Akari's room, waiting for a moment for an answer with a narrowed glare at the closed portal.

~!**!~

A smile scattered over Shikiyoku's lips as she still looked up at him.

_(Denying it?)_

_(I can sense it now, you know.)_

But...at the same time...

She let go of one of his hands, this time leading the walk down the street.

_(I only know myself still. I only know what comforts me.)_

_(And I don't know if that's what you want or need.)_

_(And I'd only try it if you asked. If you thought it might help.)_

Kitoushi's body was still there, laying on its side like it hadn't so much as been moved or touched, appearing almost as if the giant cat were asleep, though his side did not lift with breath, his dark eyes open and staring at absolutely nothing.

Shikiyoku stopped within a foot or two of him and heaved the biggest sigh of her life. 3

Hiei had to fight not to turn his eyes away from hers, because he knew she could feel it too. He knew she was aware that he was feeling the same as she was, and that she wanted to help. He simply… didn't know what to do. Didn't know how to handle the situation, so he remained quiet and followed after her, coming to a stop when she did.

It was almost as if he was seeing the demon's lifeless form for the first time, and it struck him in a way that had him staring for a few moments, taking in the sight of the lack of breaths being drawn in, the lack of life in the cat's eyes, until the fire demon had his own eyes sliding closed.

He wasn't directly aware of it, but he echoed the sound Shikiyoku had made, the heaviness in his chest and on his shoulders seeming to multiply, as if he'd only just begun to feel it.

This emotion was almost as taxing and exhausting as it was to be constantly angry. Except with this emotion, he didn't know how to handle himself.

So he stood there, waiting for a cue, for something to do.

~!**!~

Akari shifted around a little, her sleep disturbed by an outside force that she didn't quite pay attention to except for the grumble of 'go away' that she issued in her sleep. She pulled the covers tighter around herself, tucking them under her chin before settling again and giving a small sigh.

It was such a wonderful, peaceful sleep.

No use in giving it up for the maids, right? _*****_

Ears keened on any sound that might come from inside, when he heard only the rustle of her body, Kurama let the impatience his persona would feel flare within him and he reached for the knob without knocking a second time.

Plants grew from around his wrist when the initial turn proved what he already knew: that the door was locked.

The plants retracting once the situation was remedied, he wasted no time in throwing the door inward and stalking across the room to Akari's bed, stripping the covers from her body, grabbing her arm and lifting her out forcefully, then turning for the door with her in tow, half dragging, mostly carrying her out into the hallway and towards the training room.

"When I said don't make me come get you, I meant **don't make me come get you**." He seethed icily through his teeth, not even bothering to get her reaction, listen to anything she might have to say, or allow her to get away from him, barging into the training room and slamming the door behind him before standing a moment as the plants behind them grew back over the door and the Speakers began a tirade of noise.

_Then _he let go of her arm to gather her into his embrace.

~!**!~

Warning him she meant to move again with a gentle squeeze of his hand, Shikiyoku did not let go of Hiei as she started forward, _needing _to be in contact with him for this moment.

Her steps soft against the pavement, Shikiyoku approached Kitoushi from behind and squatted down, her eyes scanning his body for a moment before she reached out, hesitated, and then laid a hand in the midst of his fur.

His body was cold, lifeless, the fur no longer holding the warmth she remembered as images of being carried across his strong back away from the horrors of the ritual gone wrong flashed over her mind.

She fought back a brief hitch that could have sent her crying, inhaling a steady breath, warning Hiei not to let go of her, and closed her eyes.

_Please._

_Please take us to safety._

_To where we may bury him in peace._

Shikiyoku wrapped the three of them inbetween the layers and felt them shift around her as if she moved through the inbetween place, though it instead moved around _her_, around the three of them, until the Youko's meadow blurred around them and then cleared, leaving all three of them in the middle of it.

Suddenly the heather, the grass around them started to heave up in giant waves and Shikiyoku stood abruptly, holding Hiei's hand tighter and throwing her other hand up as if to halt the wave that undulated towards them.

"No!" She ordered it sternly, "He's with _me_."

There was a second where the wave did not seem like it was going to listen, and Shikiyoku shifted until she stood between it and Hiei, keeping hold of him and glaring at it.

The wave grew smaller, rolling back down into the earth, and Shikiyoku waited only for a pause before turning back and looking at Kit once more. 3

Hiei's eyes came open with the small tug on his hand, and the fire demon took to watching Shikiyoku, not even considering letting go of her hand as she moved closer, his silent steps following hers. He could sense the lack of heat in the cat's body now that he was closer, and it seemed to only make the heaviness grow more crushing.

His eyes had closed again when he felt the hitch that had hit Shikiyoku's throat, and he found himself swallowing a little. By the time he reopened his eyes to look at her again, there was a new scent around him, telling him of the change in venue just before he felt the threat that swelled nearby.

He watched the wave with eyes that were almost too calm, noting that it could only be the fox's doing even as Shikiyoku's voice rang out in the meadow, and when she stepped in front of him, he looked down at her with a raised brow.

He knew how Youko worked. No permission, no entry.

And yet she seemed to be able to dissuade the tide, sending it back into its calm, harmless state that had him staring at the heather around him. He understood now where Youko had taken her those times he'd run off with her.

His eyes turned to Shikiyoku again, finding himself unable to look at Kitoushi any longer.

~!**!~

Somewhere in her mind, Akari had been aware of an intruder. But, she hadn't been given enough time to process it, to pull herself from sleep before she was _dragged_ out of sleep, yanked to awareness and even to her feet, which earned a loud snarl from her lips as her mind automatically associated the action with a demon who she'd forgotten was actually dead now.

So the icy voice had her snarl tapering off, and her eyes focused on the back of Kurama's head.

Which only seemed to lead to another growl.

"It isn't like you gave me any specific orders, _fox_." She hissed through her teeth, brain still completely out of it and her feet struggling to keep herself upright and following the demon that she tried to tug herself from. "You only said you needed time to _prepare_."

Even in her tired state she was aware of listening ears of those passing.

She'd almost said a curse as she was pulled into the room, the door slamming behind her and more noise starting up, leaving her even more disoriented as she suddenly felt the redhead turn to her and wrap her in a rather tight hug.

She gave an irritable sigh, but she didn't try to get away.

"I was sleeping so _good_." she grumbled, irritation still coating her voice. "I'm unhappy with you."

Of course, she knew he hadn't had a choice. She was simply too tired to reason through her irritation. So, she was being blunt about it instead. _*****_

"I'm sorry." It took everything within him to _not _make it seem like she was the only thing holding him up at the moment and he very quickly lifted her into his arms and started off at a smooth pace, "We can sleep here."

~!**!~

As if waiting for a moment in which to overtake the three of them, smaller waves still crested around them, circling like sharks were known to do.

Shikiyoku knelt down and pressed her hand to the warm earth just shy of Kit's body, nestling her palm between the soft grasses.

"I know you know him." She murmured. "I know you can feel he is your kin. Was your kin."

_Please accept him._

Feeling the earth beneath her give something of a sigh, Shikiyoku stood up and took a step back as the waves around them disappeared for a moment before a single medium-sized one rolled by just in front of her feet, near-silent rustling the only noise it made as it engulfed Kitoushi's body, hiding him from view, and when it passed the cat was no longer there.

Staring at the place where the cat demon lay moments ago, Shikiyoku reached up with her free hand to press a palm into one of her eyes to wipe away the tear that threatened to spill over, and her shoulders finally slumped. 3

When Shikiyoku had begun speaking to the blades of grass at their feet, he found his eyes turning to the large, black body of the panther-sized cat demon, staring as he suddenly remembered how Kitoushi had helped Shikiyoku mourn over Taka. And for a very brief moment, he wondered who was going to help her mourn _him_, before the fire demon remembered that it was his own job to do that for her.

And, really, he found the idea of laying around for a while a very appealing one.

So when he realized he'd been staring at the ground where Kitoushi had been swallowed up, he tugged on Shikiyoku's hand and pulled her towards himself, tucking her against his chest and wrapping that arm about her shoulders, not even loosening his grip on that hand he held in the process.

He waited a few minutes before his eyes closed again, his lips giving a heavy sound and his shoulders slouching over her a little.

And then he wrapped the layers around them.

~!**!~

Akari gave a haughty sigh at the redhead when he lifted her from the ground, and her head rolled to rest on his chest and a hand grasping at his shirt. Her eyes closed and she repeated the sound as she remembered him telling her to leave.

"Didjya take care of wha'ever you nee'ed to?" she suddenly asked in a sleepy voice, her brain providing just enough power to create full, coherent thoughts here and there. _*****_

"Yes." Kurama's reply came readily, even as his mind mulled over the question.

Youko still had not responded to anything Kurama did, but for _her _question the answer was not a lie.

He had not let Youko leave the compound.

The redhead did not go quite as far as he had the first time they came in the room, finding he didn't want to waste the strength to get there and after a few more paces he stopped, lowering himself to the ground and shifting the way he held Akari so that when he was stretched out on his side he had her in his arms, the grass beneath his head thickening and raising under his neck until it had poofed up into a soft pillow.

_Then _he closed his eyes and released a deep breath.

~!**!~

_Have you ever had to mourn someone?_

It was the thought that passed over her mind as Shikiyoku most readily let Hiei pull her close, the hand he didn't have a hold of coming up to grab onto his cloak, clutching at the fabric as she leaned into him, feeling the warmth of his body radiating through his clothing and onto her cheek as the side of her face met with his chest.

More than her sorrow for Kitoushi, in that moment her worry for Hiei superseded other thoughts and for the first time in a long time it left her wondering.

_(What do I do?)_

Comforting another might have been simple. But 'others' were not 'Hiei,' and of him she was not sure. 3

Hiei could feel her concern through the connection in his mind, could feel her insecurity with what to do with him, and it left him feeling slightly amused, which lifted away some of that weight that had cropped up. And as the layers continued to fold around them until he was sure they'd land on the first, he realized that maybe laying around shouldn't be the first thing that happened.

His eyes opened and he unwound his arm from around Shiki when his feet touched the concrete sidewalk on the first layer, and he glanced down at her with an image passing through the bond to her, asking her if she remembered if there were strawberries and sweet snow at the house.

Because if not, he was getting some.

~!**!~

"Mmm," Akari had tried to get the word 'good' to pass out of her lips, but it had only come out as a small hum of approval and relief at the one-word answer she received, and she decided that was all she needed to know. It was almost all she _wanted_ to know, considering how he'd scared her with his calm smile and urgent air.

She didn't know how long he walked, but the moment he lay on the grass and wrapped his arms around her, Akari was wrapping an arm up and over his midsection, and she buried her nose against his chest, taking a deep breath of his scent and letting it out in a long, content sigh as she relaxed into him.

She grumbled out a few words, but they all slurred together and held no distinction between syllables before she was slowly drifting back into sleep again. _*****_

Kurama let go of the tiniest breath he had been holding, the one where he expected her to ask him about wearing the necklace, the one with his rebuttal where he would dismiss it as 'work,' which he very much did not want to think about right now.

And for the first time in many days, Kurama relaxed, listening to Akari's breathing slow and letting it carry him off into a dreamless sleep.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes glittered for a second.

_(There's one left.)_

Strawberry, that is.

She reached up as if into his hair and produced one of the red fruits for him, holding it out near his jaw and fighting back a smile.

Sleight-of-hand was likely her favorite trick.

"_Want it?" _

_No sweet snow though. _3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku as she produced a strawberry in the same way he'd been baffled by her doing once before. And in this moment, he let out a breath through his nose in amusement at her. He eyed the little red fruit for a moment, until he heard her voice fill his head with an almost teasing question that left him turning his gaze to her unblinkingly.

"_Very much so," _he replied after a second, his lips twitching just a little, though he was a little disappointed at the lack of sweet snow.

He briefly mulled over the effort it would take to actually procure some. While it would have been amusing on another day, he found himself deciding he could get some tomorrow.

And the strawberry would do.

Hiei reached for the strawberry, but kept his eyes on Shiki with slight amusement at her.

~!**!~

Akari wasn't sure how long she had slept this time, but when she woke, it was to the sounds of the talking plants in the corner of the room and the sound of Kurama's steady breathing as he slept. She shifted very little, stretching out her back and quickly going still again, hoping not to wake him as her eyes slowly lifted so she could gaze at the sleeping demon.

And she realized _she'd_ never had the chance to observe him like this, when he'd had plenty of opportunities to watch over her in similar situations of exhaustion. And for a moment, she found herself smiling up at him.

And then she realized that watching him could also stir his awareness, so she closed her eyes and rested her head down again, simply listening. _*****_

~!**!~

_(You've eaten it all.)_

_(Not a speck left in the house.)_

Her hand twitched as if she wanted to pull it away, but she kept it in place to let him take it.

"_What? Not going to just eat it out of my hand?"_

_Heh._ 3

At the information passed to him, Hiei remembered tossing away the empty tub one day after she'd taken her leave with one of the others and he'd sneaked into the house and finished it off. _Right. _He'd meant to get more that day too, but he'd forgotten after a nap.

_..Right._

Her question brought him back to the matter at hand, his fingers pausing just shy of the little fruit as he raised a brow at her.

"_Do you want me to?" _he asked after a moment, genuinely curious.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	108. Episode 192

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter!

You might notice that I've adjusted the appearance of the Symbols Guide that follows. There are a few additions and adjustments at this point in the story!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Shikiyoku finally has a Consort:  
Hiei.  
Sharing the burdens of her grief between themselves,  
they return together to Kitoushi's body,  
and see to it that he is buried in Youko's meadow.

Meanwhile, Kurama's internal battle with Youko  
came to a complete stop and the fox  
appears to have disappeared completely,  
leaving Kurama to his own devices.

Shikiyoku and Hiei return to the First Layer,  
their hearts equally heavy,  
and when sweet snow and strawberries are mentioned,  
Shikiyoku produces a single strawberry,  
holding it out for Hiei and teasing him about eating from her hand,  
to which he asks her if she wants him to.

The next time Kurama and Akari meet for "training,"  
Akari is late, and Kurama storms into her room  
and quite literally drags her out by the arm,  
immediately embracing her as soon as they are out of sight,  
only moving far enough into the forestry to lay down with her.

* * *

As she lay there, listening to Kurama's calm breathing, a small smile resting on her features the more time wore on. She'd thought over a few things, such as how long they'd be here- in Yomi's palace- and what would come in the next few weeks. She thought about Nabu, who she could just picture meandering around town with his head low and tail dragging on the concrete.

She thought about the layers, and how she was expected to go from this layer to the Ninth, and each time she tried she was knocked back.

She thought about the necklace that she hadn't had the heart to ask Kurama about earlier. She thought about her spirit, her soul randomly separating from her body and letting her wander around unnoticed by almost everyone.

And then the topic Yomi had called her to the table about the day before.

….

He hadn't called her lie about Takeo attempting to hijack her body, and at that realization she gave a small frown.

But that thought passed, replaced with other thoughts that became completely and utterly circling the one still asleep next to her. _*****_

The dreams started simple, almost as if they were passing thoughts: concerns about his mother, her husband, the company, had he been keeping track of time properly or did he need to contact them again?

They grew more complex: Akari mixing in with Shikiyoku and both of them, or either of them, getting trapped and unable to escape, himself coming to get them and finding himself caught as well.

He passed memories with faces he didn't know, dreams about the past he never lived, about the bandits and Yomi, and rescuing Shikiyoku, and Kitoushi's letters delivered by runners.

So, when his eyes opened of their own accord, sleep leaving him, he felt disoriented, still haunted by the images that swirled nebulously about in his mind's eye until he blinked, and then blinked again, and they were gone, lost in the mix somewhere in his brain that knew the dreams had happened but could not recall any details of their occurrence.

~!**!~

_(Well, I wouldn't have said it if the thought bothered me.)_

But as far as _wanting _him to-

"_I half-thought you were going to." _Her eyes still gleamed at him. "_But that's really up to you." _3

_(….woman.)_

Hiei's eyes lit up a little more and he half considered her words a challenge as he stared at her for a few more moments. His fingers, still outstretched to the strawberry, twitched a little as he thought.

He could _smell _it, and it smelled so wonderful.

His hand moved forward, but instead of grabbing for the fruit itself, his hand grabbed her wrist and held it in place so he could turn his head and take it from her fingers with his teeth.

_(….foolish woman.)_

Though, to say the words weren't tinged with amusement would be a flat-out lie.

He released her wrist as he crunched through the little fruit, his hand coming up to grab it before it fell from his lips, simultaneously tugging on the hand he still held within hers and turning to continue walking for the house.

~!**!~

So many thoughts seemed to swirl around in Akari's mind, some about how she wished she and Kurama were in the meadow, some about how she wished he didn't have to be here with her, and yet being so very glad he was. Some thoughts turned to the past few days and how she'd realized she didn't sleep as easily without him, just as she had when she'd first been tossed into that room.

And then all thoughts seemed to stop with one, leaving her almost opening her eyes to look up at him.

_He makes me feel warm and secure._

That thought seemed to be locked in place at the forefront of her mind, until she shifted a little and pressed her nose gently into his chest again.

_...He's warm. __*****_

A third blink and the room fell into place around him, the semi-darkness that the plants growing all around afford the place, their presence, their life, their _energy_ which he could sense without thought, whispering to him, telling him they were well.

And finally his arms, specifically the _demon _in his arms.

He leaned his head down so his lips would be in her hair.

"...sleep well?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku smirked and lowered her hand, falling into step as Hiei started walking again.

She tugged back a little at his hand, wondering what was stopping him from taking them to get sweet snow.

Not that she would mind either way, but if they weren't getting it _now_, they were getting it _later _for sure.

She couldn't remember the last time she had any. 3

Hiei paused again when she tugged at his hand, turning to glance over his shoulder at her and blinking once. He didn't miss the slight impression he felt about wanting… something. And it didn't take long to deduce what she wanted, considering their recent topic.

He couldn't help the smirk this time, one that said he should've known.

And since it was _her_ wanting it, instead of just him, he shifted directions.

_(Might as well.)_

~!**!~

Akari felt Kurama shift and was brought to the awareness that he'd actually woken up and she'd been too wrapped up in thoughts to notice immediately. A few other thoughts passed before she realized he'd spoken, and she gave a small smile into his chest.

"...you're warm…" she mumbled, not moving away from where she'd shifted. "And yes." _*****_

"Thank you." He said, as if her admitting he was warm had been a compliment. He smiled. "I'm glad you think so. And I'm also glad you got some rest."

His smile flattened out, "I hope I didn't cause you any trouble by not being around yesterday."

~!**!~

When he changed their path, Shikiyoku at first wasn't sure what he was doing, but after a moment she smiled at him.

"_It's your fault." _She told him loftily. "_You thought of it." _3

Hiei let his amusement at her be filtered through the connection, but otherwise he didn't say anything as he lead her through the crowd of passing humans, taking his time even as he meandered into the large store, eyes going up to see the little screen displaying the camera that caught them walking inside.

He smirked at it suddenly, and pulled himself and Shikiyoku through the layers, deciding to cause a little bit of mischief for the humans who would see them vanish from the screen later. His eyes came down again, looking around until he found the path that would take him to the freezer section of the store, and when they stopped in front of the many selections, he glanced at Shiki, seeing if any certain one caught her eye.

Personally, he'd found he liked the one named 'vanilla', especially when it was adorned with fresh strawberries- which he made mental note to find as well.

~!**!~

"Mm-mm." Akari hummed out the negative response to his last words. _Nothing from your side, anyway. _"You seemed t' have go' a goo' amoun' of sleep too." she mumbled against him. "How d'you feel?"

She shifted a little more, but not in any specific direction, simply to stretch her legs a little. _I don't wanna move. __*****_

"I believe I have you to thank for that." Kurama commented. "And I feel much better than I have been."

...

"And I also don't want to leave the room. No matter what time it is. Or, really, get _up_."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wasn't sure what had Hiei wrapping them inbetween, but when he stopped in front of the selection of sweet snow, the labels blurry and unreadable, she pulled them back onto the first layer and stepped forward, eyeing the rows.

They would need strawberry for sure-

She blinked, gaze turning to the glass door next to them and leaning back to a stand again, frowning a little at what looked like _cups _of ice cream, her curiosity leading her so far as to let go of Hiei's hand and draw closer.

All the labels around the cups were the same, the flavors advertised on the rim of the lid that covered them, which she discovered as she opened the door to get a better look, her nose scrunching up a little as frost from the machine wafted over her for a moment.

_Heh._

She reached up for one of the cups and slipped it between her upper arm and her side, then at a speed that any passing human would not be able to follow, she started switching the lids on the cups until all of the ones in reach had different labels than what was actually inside.

She admired her handiwork for a second, placing the one under her arm which now sported a new lid itself back, before stepping away to let the door swing shut. 3

Hiei let her pull him to the first layer and took to observing each and every label he could see, considering each flavor in turn even if he didn't understand them, such as _Pistachio_ or _Rocky Road_. He pulled one of the doors open, not allowing himself to cringe at the waft of air that passed over his face before he continued his inspection, standing there with the door wide open.

And something tugged at him, had him pulling his red stare over to Shikiyoku, who was moving, quickly shifting… something around in the freezer she was looking in, a general air of mischief around her.

_(What are you doing?)_

And then he blinked, realizing what she had in her hands were _lids_, and what she was doing was _swapping them_.

He continued to blink some more at her, his amusement very slowly bubbling up until his expression shifted, his lips pulling up in a wide sneer and his irises sparking a flame.

"_Fun?"_

He turned back to what he'd been looking at, shut that freezer door and moved to the next, eyes quickly landing on a flavor he recognized from a while ago. A flavor Shikiyoku had… liked? It was green, and seemed to have little dark specks of chocolate inside.

He wasted no time in pulling one of those down and holding it in his hand as the glass door swung shut on its own.

~!**!~

AKari heaved out a breath of amusement. "Then don't." she mumbled into him. "Takeo and I spent a whole week in here once and went unbothered."

_Because I don't want to get up either._

_Not if I don't have to. __*****_

"Takeo's loyalties to Yomi were relentless, and unmatched. Mine are still in question even if Yomi has my mother under his guard. Perhaps because of that." Kurama gave out a little sigh. "I'm expected to report to him each day. And there are the meetings besides."

_I swear that demon never sleeps._

~!**!~

"_Fun?" _Shikiyoku turned to him, raising an eyebrow before lifting her nose slightly into the air. "_I don't know the meaning of the word." _

She sniffed pompously before getting up on her tip-toes to pull down a tub of strawberry flavor, letting the door shut and presenting it to Hiei for his approval. 3

Hiei turned to watch Shikiyoku as she reached into another freezer door, her fingers just curling around the tub she wanted and she quickly turned, stretching it out to him. He eyed the container for a moment before deciding that would likely do better than-

_Why not both?_

He nodded at her and looked back to the freezer, deciding they could get all they wanted, and he found the one he'd originally been looking for. He pulled the appropriate freezer door open, pausing to pass Shikiyoku the tub of Sweet Snow he'd already been holding with a silent message of _Hold this. _

He didn't want it melting against him, since he just realized his own elevated skin temperature would not serve well for carrying this stuff for too long.

He reached for the tub he'd set his sights on, and suddenly found himself sniffing in irritation as his fingers _just_ missed the one labeled "vanilla". He stood back on flat feet for a moment before going to his toes, finding he could _touch _it, but he couldn't _grab _it.

Which made him take a step back in irritation and send a silent "Fix it" to Shiki.

Because he was getting it, somehow. And there was no way he was going to _jump for it_.

~!**!~

Akari pulled her face away from Kurama's chest to stare up at the redhead. She hadn't known his mother was involved too.

And she didn't have a clue of anything to say other than to give him a sigh. She again slid herself closer to him, burying her nose in his chest just as she had a minute before. "I think he fears you're going to one-up him. Pull the rug out from under his feet." _Boy would that be amusing to see. _"Which is why he's utilizing all he can."

She paused, suddenly remembering Isamu. "He didn't try that with me a second time when it didn't work after the first." _*****_

Kurama stayed quiet for a moment, toying with how much he wanted to tell her and finally deciding the less she knew, the less she could tell should something happen.

For some reason, he was suddenly struck by Youko's silence, feeling as if the fox would have said something about withholding information from this demon being 'cold' or how he was as 'calculating' as always by even considering it.

"That's because _I'm _worth something to him." Kurama teased, briefly sliding a hand along her ribs as if to tickle her, but not actually wriggling his fingers.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku took the tub from Hiei and watched as he reached for the other, not an ounce of amusement so much as skipping past her mind when he couldn't reach it, only absolute disgust at herself for being unable to change forms to 'fix it,' as her demonic form was taller.

Before she set down the tubs, she sent to him, "_My way or your way?"_

'Your way' consisted of him lifting her up to get it, while 'my way' seemed fairly self-explanatory.

It just depended on whether he felt it beneath him to have to strain to get something and a lesser being-human in this case-would better suit the situation. 3

Hiei frowned up at the tub for an extra moment after Shiki's reply. He considered both options carefully, and after a moment realized which would be quickest- and likely easiest- and he turned away from the freezer, taking the step it took to close the distance between them and lifting her from the floor, strategically placing her so she sat on his shoulder.

_(My way.) _He responded calmly as he set her down and approached the freezer again, pulling the glass door open before wrapping his arm up and over her thighs to keep her in place. _(Vanilla, if you will.)_

~!**!~

Akari's body tensed at Kurama's action, her arms tightening around him and drawing herself as close to him as she could be in anticipation. "Lemme guess, you're the reason I'm not dead yet, hm?" she said after a minute, the realization only having just crept to the forefront of her mind. _Because he views me as your weakness, like your mother. _

"Makes sense, since I can't go to the stupid Ninth Layer. Get booted back every time." _Plus, why would he keep someone who killed one of his men? __**Twice**__. __*****_

Kurama slipped his hand back around her as if he never intended to tickle her in the first place.

"He wants to control me." Kurama replied simply. "He's found rather good incentive for it, and having you _here _means you aren't out _there _stopping his men from getting to my mother. It's just one big game and he moves all the pieces as he pleases."

He gave a little sigh, "While I would never actually suggest you do it, pretending you send people to the Ninth Layer while in reality taking them to the Seventh would certainly put a damper on his ploys. Maybe even wipe that ridiculous grin off his face. Assuming the demons you plop there ever manage to make their way back. But then _you _would get in trouble when they did return and I'd never forgive you for it."

~!**!~

Once she set the tub he passed to her, and the one she grabbed, down, Shikiyoku wasn't particularly surprised to find Hiei lifting her up, though she chuckled a little as she planted her hands firmly on his shoulder on either side of her hips to keep herself in place.

Of course, when he wrapped his arms over her legs, she let go without hesitation and reached up for the sweet snow he desired, slight frown on her face as she pulled it into her lap and said, "_Got it." _3

Hiei waited until Shikiyoku confirmed having grabbed the tub before he stepped back, used his free hand to shut the freezer door loudly, and then turn to crouch closer to the floor so he could grab the other two tubs of ice cream from the floor. "_Don't fall." _he said briefly as his arm that held her slid away for a brief moment, snaking out and gathering both tubs securely in one arm so he could wrap the other around her thighs again.

He glanced around, saw no one watching, and folded between the layers to make the trip across the large store quicker, only coming from the layers long enough to grab a plastic container of strawberries, pass it up to Shikiyoku and curl his arm around her legs again.

"_Anything else?"_

~!**!~

_I don't like being a game piece. I was one of those for too long, and here I am again._

Akar's entire body went still, all little fidgety motions pausing, her fingers stopping the slight toying of his shirt they'd been working around. Her feet stopped giving little back-and-forth motions.

_Toss them in other layers?_

She hadn't thought of that one. Why, she didn't know**;** it was such a wonderful idea. And it would definitely solve a problem or two for a good while. And ridding Yomi of that smile would be so very satisfying.

It took an extra moment for Kurama's 'threat' to be registered with her, and she pursed her lips at him.

_You're the one who said it…_

She opened her mouth to say something, decided against it and let her lips come together again.

_It's such a wonderful idea though… __*****_

"And the whole point, after all, is for you to make it through this entire ordeal unscathed."

_You and mother both._

He finally kissed the top of her head, "So, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

~!**!~

Reading his intentions as he moved for the tubs she put down, Shikiyoku held onto the one in her lap with one hand, the other hand planting itself near the bottom curve of his neck for leverage as she easily shifted her weight with his movements as he bent over so he wouldn't be hindered by her or distracted by the possibility of her falling.

Only shifting her hand off of him when he passed the container of strawberries in her direction, she considered his question briefly.

_(Just you.)_

"_No, I have what I want." _She answered mildly, the impression that she specifically meant _him _impossible to miss. 3

Hiei turned his eyes up to Shikiyoku with the momentary pause, easily picking up on the thought that passed through her mind, which brought a smirk to his face. He glanced at the two things she held, then down at the two he held.

Satisfied, he folded the layers over them and turned to head towards the house, the trip much quicker this way without him actually having to pick up his own pace. And he only stopped to let his feet land on the first layer again when they were in the kitchen, where he crouched to let her slide from his shoulder so they could both have a bowl of sweet snow.

~!**!~

Akari frowned. _I haven't exactly gone unscathed now, have I? Also, why would you suggest something that you would do and then tell me not to do it, only to turn around and-_

_You're complicating things._

…_.You came up with it, and you would definitely do it. _

_...So I'm gonna do it._

Akari gave a small huff at Kurama, but otherwise didn't reply. _*****_

"..."

"Am I going to have to make you _promise _me you won't do anything stupid?"

Her huff was _not _reassuring.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku hopped down and slid what she held onto the counter, gathering a knife and bowls and spoons.

And as she did so, she asked, "What would you like?" 3

Hiei stood upright when Shikiyoku's weight no longer pressed into his shoulder- not that she'd been heavy- and he took to looking over the three flavors they'd procured and the strawberries. He definitely didn't want the sickly-green one, but that was specifically for her anyway.

It was an internal battle between strictly strawberry ice cream and vanilla with strawberry dices.

In the end, the second option won out and he approached Shikiyoku's side, taking the knife from her and the plastic container of strawberries, telling her they'd both do it.

"_Vanilla." _

~!**!~

Akari's lips pulled into a smile. _It's not stupid. It's rather brilliant, really._

_Ehe. Loophole._

"Will it make you feel better if I do?" She asked, her hand resuming the way it had been tugging at his shirt here and there and her feet continuing the little back and forth motion they'd been doing before. _*****_

Kurama didn't like that tone.

He reached up to her chin, taking it gently in his hand and turning her face up to his, eyes on hers.

"Only if you mean it, beautiful."

~!**!~

As Shikiyoku compliantly took the lid off the tub of ice cream next to her-momentarily struck by the memory of not knowing how to do so in the past-she felt so very _content_.

Happy, even.

Happy to be here, next to Hiei, other worries feeling so far away as she approached the task at hand, scooping servings of vanilla into the bowls she set out in front of her and aware of the soft sound of Hiei cutting the strawberries.

_He's never helped before._

She glanced over at him for a second, pleased to work next to him.

And then she leaned into his shoulder just long enough to get his attention, going back to scooping.

"_Cut me some too?" _3

Hiei had pulled the little green leafy bits away from the strawberries before he'd even grabbed a single one to begin dicing. And each slice was measured, as if he'd done this before, and each little chunk came out just about the same size as the other, only pausing briefly when Shikiyoku's shoulder touched his. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at her and nodded, continuing what he was doing.

It didn't take him long to have two strawberries cut up for each bowl, and he even ran his finger along the side of the blade to lick away the fruit's juices before he set the knife on the counter calmly, grabbing each little chunk of the fruits and sliding them into the bowls in even amounts.

"_Will that do?"_

~!**!~

Akari wasn't surprised when Kurama's hand was at her chin, making her look up and into his keen gaze. Her lips twitched into a smile as she watched him, smile widening at his words.

"I promise I won't do anything stupid, okay?" _*****_

He frowned at her, "Why don't I believe you?"

~!**!~

When Hiei went to put the strawberries into the bowls, Shikiyoku would lift her elbow to let him reach under her, nodding to him, and the second time he did it, she found herself struggling not to steal a kiss from him while he did it, while he was distracted.

...she wasn't sure why, but he felt even _more _adorable than usual. And it made it harder for her to _not_.

She forced herself to instead scoop out another serving from the tub and wait until he pulled away to put it in the bowl on the left, intending for him to have that one.

Nodding again at his question, she leaned towards the sink to put the scoop in it and then clicked the lid back on the tub. 3

Hiei pulled away and snapped the plastic container of the leftover strawberries closed, and continued to reach around her for the tubs of ice cream that they _hadn't_ opened, hand curling under the lid of the green one before he paused, suddenly remembering something from earlier, from when the connection between their minds had just opened up.

He pulled the tub away from her and set it on the counter close to the refrigerator, and then promptly reached across her again for the strawberry sweet snow container, and this time when his fingers curled around the lid of the container, he turned his head and pressed his lips to her cheek before pulling away, gathering each sweet snow container and moving for the freezer.

_(I'll try to remember…)_

_Even if I don't completely know why._

~!**!~

Akari's smile lessened a little and she blinked once at Kurama. "I don't break my promises, fox. Remember?" _*****_

_I remember._

_But somehow that doesn't make me feel any better about it._

He stared at her for a moment before saying anything.

"I would have you shake on it, but how about kissing me instead?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku would have _sworn _that last time he was doing it on purp-

When his lips touched her cheek, her eyes widened and energy glimmered across them as she blushed and looked away, eyes dropping for a second to the counter next to her.

_Did he just..._

She blinked a couple of times, feeling the place where he kissed her buzzing, and she slowly reached for the spoons to put them inside the bowls. 3

Hiei felt the oddest sensation as he slid the tubs one after another into the freezer, stacking a couple and sliding the last in front of the other two before letting it shut and grabbing the strawberries. As he opened the refrigerator door he speculated the tingling feeling on his cheek, realizing it had to be what Shiki was feeling in that moment with her energy.

By the time the door shut he was quietly amused, acting as if he hadn't felt the warmth of the buzz on his skin as he moved by her, grabbing a bowl as he passed and moved for the table. He used a foot to slide out one of the chairs, sitting so that he could watch her if she went back to the counter for more when they were done.

~!**!~

Akari's smile suddenly returned full-force, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Oh, you're issuing it this time?" It took a lot not to giggle at him. "Is that what you want, for me to _kiss on it_?" She paused, head tilting to the side as she thought of one word in her head before brushing the thought away. "If that's what it takes to make you feel better." _*****_

He let a smile sneak onto his lips, "It would make me feel better for more than just the excuse of sealing the deal." He paused, "Which may or may not be just an excuse."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku felt that Hiei _had _to have caught the impression of what she wanted to do in those last few moments. There was really no other explanation for it.

Granted, he turned the desire on its head, using it _against _her in a way.

_I wonder if he realizes that. _

The glimmer on her eyes faded as she turned with her own bowl in hand and sat in the chair next to him, amused by the thought. 3

Hiei slid his spoon through a particularly large scoop, parting it into halves and dipping his spoon again for a couple of strawberry chunks before he slid that bite slowly into his mouth. The sweet flavor seemed to burst, and his eyelids slid closed as he savored the flavor, crunching on the little bits of strawberry before swallowing.

Okay, so it had been _so_ worth it to take the time to procure all of this, even if he had wanted nothing more than to lay around at the moment. And, honestly, he'd enjoyed watching Shikiyoku swap the lids on each little container she could reach at the time. It had proven to lift some of the heaviness he still felt.

Having someone nearby who knew how to handle such things was helpful too. It seemed to provide an odd sense of comfort, which he never would have known before today.

It also made it easier to not think about what he was feeling, to ignore the emotions that were so new and raw to him that he didn't know how to handle them.

He slid the spoon into his mouth again, and all thoughts of such a subject scattered, now on the tasty treat before him and the person at his side.

And for the first time, it seemed, he realized he didn't have to worry about losing this person, that she was now to be at his side and he at her side. And that drew his eyes over to her for a moment, expression softening a little as the spoon dragged across his bottom lip and deposited more ice cream and strawberries.

He wouldn't have to worry about someone else stealing her away, or trying to keep him from her. Because he was her Consort.

He turned forward again, feeling an immense amount of satisfaction at the thought, creating a lightness in his mind that alleviated the weight a bit more.

~!**!~

Akari's smile widened a little more and she gave a shrug. "Whatever you say." Without another moment's hesitation, she leaned up and pressed her lips to his, smiling into the kiss.

Again, the single word passed by her mind's eye, but it was quickly replaced by another thought.

_Make an excuse any time, fox, but eventually I'm gonna get tired of doing the work about this. __*****_

As if in an effort to eradicate his own momentary worries, and to rid himself of other invading thoughts, Kurama let the hand at Akari's chin slip down until it was behind her neck, pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss between them and did in fact find himself forgetting whatever had made him concerned.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku tried to keep her mind fairly empty, concentrating on the task at hand, which was no longer scooping _out _the sweet snow, but scooping it _in. _Into her mouth.

After the first few bites, she put the spoon in her mouth and reached over to grab the bottom of Hiei's chair, pulled until the edge of it nearly touched hers, and then let it go, going back to eating as if nothing had happened. 3

Hiei felt his chair being tugged and his body sway a little at the motion, his hand calmly grabbing his bowl and sliding it closer once he'd settled again. He glanced once more over at Shikiyoku before turning his eyes to his bowl and going about his business.

Which consisted of nothing other than eating this wonderful, sweet treat.

~!**!~

The second Kurama's hand moved away from her chin, Akari's eyes closed and she brought her arms up and around the redhead's neck, making all thoughts suddenly scatter and a little warm feeling stir in her core. A hand ended up- completely by accident- twitching through his hair until it was free and she could pull herself even closer, giving a small hum of happiness as her smile melded to his lips. _*****_

For the time in which he lay there kissing her, Kurama could almost forget what building they were in, what layer they were on and why they were there.

The soft heather underneath his shoulder could have been the meadow, a gentle breeze could at any moment pick up and caress over them, and with the smell and feel of the plant life around him, he almost found himself able to place them back outside, free of their confines, free to do anything they wanted with all nine layers at their fingertips.

...and he wasn't going to stop kissing her until she pulled away.

~!**!~

_Does this taste better because we stole it?_

Shikiyoku stared at the wall opposite them, spoon pausing in her mouth for a second before she dropped her gaze and ate another bite.

_Or does it taste better because we're drowning our sorrows in it? _

Could have easily been either one in her opinion.

...

_I think it's because he helped me do it this time._

Yeah. That's what made it sweeter. 3

Hiei slid another spoonful to his mouth. And then another. And then another.

One bite after another, eyes watching the slowly melting substance with every bite he took, with every scoop from the bowl he made. And after a while, he realized the only thing left was a few chunks of the strawberries he'd diced.

And he did consider getting more.

But he also decided that he'd rather have some for later too.

So when he scooped the last bits of strawberry in his mouth, he let the spoon hang there for a few moments, letting the chunks simply sit on his tongue for a bit before slowly removing the spoon and letting it slink against the bowl he rested it in.

~!**!~

For a minute, Akari forgot where she was and what she'd been doing before this, before touching her lips against Kurama's. She forgot the reason she'd done so in the first place for a short while, the only thing on her mind was the warmth from this person she was wrapped up in in so many different ways.

And she didn't want to pull away. She didn't want to pull away from him and end up thrown back into the real world, where she was sure this amazing person wasn't actually there, watching over her in his own ways.

But she pulled away, only to press her lips against his again briefly before once more pulling away and giving a small sigh as everything came crashing in at once again.

Never before had she hated being stuck here like she did now. Where they couldn't just lay where they were for as long as they wanted, where an outside force had a hand in almost everything around them.

She touched her lips to his cheek this time before tightening her hold around his neck and resting her cheek on his shoulder.

_It's why we need an advantage of some kind. _

_And now I have a place to start. __*****_

He didn't make a sound when she finally broke the kiss, but Kurama struggled for a moment not to just gather her closer and kiss her again, stopped only by the memory of the _days _in which she went without sleep.

_You're a fool, Red. That was long ago. You won't make that mistake again._

The voice sounded like Youko, for the fox had said as much the same to him in the past, but he was only talking to himself. And he had an answer.

_You're right. I won't._

And he let out a little sigh, opening his eyes and letting his head rest up against her.

~!**!~

It had been so long since she ate sweet snow, Shikiyoku almost forgot what it tasted like in the first place, and she actually emptied the bowl entirely of the stuff, resisting the temptation to lift it up and start licking at what remained along the sides.

Not that she really wanted any more.

She slide her chair back and glanced over to see Hiei's spoon in his bowl, reaching to pick his bowl up while sending him both 'are you finished,' as well as, 'want some more?'

_Her _bowl was going in the sink, though. 3

Hiei turned his eyes to Shikiyoku when her hand slid into his view, grabbing for his bowl. He registered both questions, answering them in turn with a 'yes' followed by a 'no'. He waited until she was around his chair before he slid it away from the table, giving himself enough room to slide away from the wooden surface and stand, stretching a little as his eyes followed Shiki.

He figured she wasn't going to get more either, so he waited, deciding that the couch was much closer than the bed upstairs and if they wanted, the television could be background noise if they felt it too quiet.

...because he hadn't heard such silence in the house since the first week he'd found Shikiyoku again.

He turned to move towards the living room, and for some reason he expected to see a little black body curled on the couch, asleep in the filtered sun's rays from the curtained window nearby.

Which brought him to the realization that the house was not only quiet, but.. _empty_.

~!**!~

"You're warm," Akari suddenly mumbled, voicing the thought this time about the weird feeling that had bubbled in her core out of nowhere. And she realized that it had been there every time she'd found herself just the way she was, in Kurama's arms. She just hadn't realized it until that moment.

It made her dread the moment they'd have to get up again and part ways, acting as if they couldn't care less about the other. It made her hate that he'd only done it to keep her out of Yomi's line of fire, to scoot her out from under his spotlight for a bit.

She let out a small sigh that echoed Kurama's.

_If it didn't mean running for the rest of my life, I'd suggest leaving through the layers. _*****

"Am I?" Kurama murmured back, shifting in place a little, "And here I was thinking it was _you _who was the warm one."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku moved towards the sink, putting both bowls with spoons inside and huffing out a little sigh, a feeling of 'what now' settling over her.

Turning back, she noted Hiei moving off and started in his direction, coming up behind him and slipping her hands underneath his arms, circling them around his waist and leaning her body into his back, perhaps a little heavier than she meant to...

...but she felt rather heavy at that moment. 3

Hiei had felt the intentions of Shikiyoku as she stepped up behind him, and he hadn't moved aside from his eyelids sliding closed. It was hard to push away the image of Kitoushi sitting next to him, the both of them staring at the television until Hiei had let his eyes close and he'd fallen asleep.

Even more so was it hard to push away the memory of relinquishing the exhausted cat from Shikiyoku's small grasp and letting him sleep across his shoulders even as he too slept.

It was such a heavy feeling, such a… crushing feeling. But he grabbed at Shikiyoku's wrists and pulled her arms from around his torso, turning and wrapping his arms instead around her midsection, picking her up and carrying her awkwardly to the couch until he could fall back on it and shift around.

He only stopped moving when they were laying just as they had been before she had said she'd had to go. And it was hard, but his feet had gotten too heavy to take him anywhere else. And he kept his arms around her midsection, his head resting back against the couch pillow that had been there from his nap… however long ago that had been. And he let his eyes close.

They could lay there for a while. He felt almost as if they _needed _to lay there for a while.

~!**!~

Akari's lips gave a small laugh into the crook of his neck. She was so comfortable. So warm. So happy. She wanted to lay like this forever.

"When this is over," she began in a mumble, "the first thing I'm doing is finding Nabu. And then I'll go to that little bread shop on the corner, because they make my favorite _and_ Nabu gets a treat out of it." There was a pause. "And we're going to lay in that meadow whenever we want. Because this building is stupid and makes me wish I had the ability to swallow it all up in a shadow." _*****_

Kurama actually laughed at her, or rather at what she said.

"Now you understand why the meadow exists. And why even this room has been taken over. There just isn't anything better."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku waited until Hiei settled before reaching up and placing her hand over his core, feeling not only _his _warmth, but also the warmth of the glow that began spreading underneath her touch.

Strange how his footsteps had seemed heavier in those last few movements than she had ever known them to be.

She didn't like seeing him this way. And if she could have taken it all onto herself again, she would have.

_(What do I do?)_ 3

Hiei felt the warmth of the glow as it spread, all the way to his fingers, down his back, and even to his cheek. It made him release a small breath that had his muscles relaxing a little, and again he felt the uncertainty from the person near him.

He let his eyelids come open again and his expression softened a little.

_(Nothing.)_

_Except what you're doing right now._

~!**!~

"If I had a shadow big enough, this entire building would be swallowed." Akari gave another sigh. "Not even Uraotoga could do that, sadly." She shifted a little, pressing her lips to his cheek again. _*****_

"It would definitely take so long we would both be in trouble long before the Uraotoga finished." Kurama smiled, closing his eyes as she kissed him. "We would help, of course. Blast apart the building. Tear it up from the inside out. Even with our help though...too long. Next idea. Go."

~!**!~

"_Nothing?" _Shikiyoku tried to look at him seriously, then shrugged and started to get up as if to leave him there by himself. "_Okay." _3

Hiei's eyes narrowed a little at Shikiyoku in suspicion before he rolled onto his side and tugged her back down. "_That's not 'nothing', woman. That's moving." _His eyelids closed and he lowered his head so that his nose was near her hair.

"_...Stay."_

~!**!~

Akari gave a small laugh. "If he'd let me get close enough, Yomi would be in a shadow all his lonesome and then the rest would really be handled." She sighed. "Direct attacks aren't smart…" _Not for me anyway. _"And he'd smell anything wrong in his food…" _Too bad. _

She made a small groaning sound.

"Too bad we can't convince him to a _friendly _game of hangman." _*****_

"Oh, I imagine his men would just start yelling out letters and save him."

~!**!~

"_But you said I was to do nothing!" _Shikiyoku exclaimed in mock-protest. "_Doing nothing would be exactly that: leaving you alone." _3

Hiei actually gave a scoff into her hair, his lips giving the briefest twitch into the ghost of a sneer before the expression slowly slid away. "_I lied. I want you to stay right where you are and rest." _

Because she'd been through all of it too. Most of it on her own, and perhaps that was the heaviest thought on his mind at the moment.

~!**!~

"Outside sources don't count." Akari suddenly let out a laugh. "We could even be nice and draw the eyes on his face for him when he got that far wrong." It was a cruel joke, but really, she felt she deserved to make jokes when she'd been man-handled since she'd arrived. Thrown around, used as a pawn when necessary and in other times been simply a nuisance that he hadn't wanted to let loose into the world because of what she _might have _known at the time.

_You won't get anywhere with bitter thoughts, child._

The voice that echoed in her mind was from times past, from long, long ago when she still lived happily with the pack. The remembrance almost had her smiling.

"I'm out of ideas." she finally admitted with a small sigh. "I'm not able to come up with anything against an opponent like him. Too smart, powerful, aware. I don't like it." _*****_

"Would you like to know about how he has the upper hand on myself as well? Would that make you feel any better?" He nuzzled his face into her hair.

~!**!~

"_You shouldn't lie, fire-prince." _Shikiyoku informed him, "_Especially with someone who can tell when you're lying." _3

Hiei gave another breath through his lips, partially amused that he hadn't considered that part and partially… Hm. He didn't know how to explain that one.

"_Won't happen again," _he responded after a moment, his amusement just touching the words he sent to her.

~!**!~

"No, because you're the stronger of the two of us and I don't wanna think about it." Akari admitted. She suddenly remembered that he'd mentioned his mother a moment ago, and gave a little cringe. That was likely a very big variable in _anything_ he did. ...Okay, so she _knew_ it was a large variable. Probably the biggest variable he had to consider before each step he took in the day.

She suddenly snorted. "I'd say it's too bad he doesn't have someone to care for, but then I realized that's probably the reason he is doing all of this in the first place. Nothing to hinder him in his endeavors." _Power-happy freak. __*****_

"He cares for himself." Kurama told her.

_In more ways than one considering that __**clone **__he has down in the labs._

"After all, what person who cared for themselves _wouldn't _want to rule all demons everywhere?"

~!**!~

"_I'll hold you to that." _Shikiyoku told him, tilting her head up until her nose was tucked under his chin and finally letting the gleam of humor into her eyes as she smiled. "_...but for the record, I wouldn't leave you right now for anything in the nine layers. Unless you asked me to. And probably not even then." _3

Hiei took in a deep breath as she spoke, his eyelids remaining closed as he stretched out a little more, shifting his shoulder so it wouldn't be sore for laying a certain way for any length amount of time. He settled into the cushions all over again, going still and sending the feeling of gratitude through the connection without intentionally meaning to do so.

~!**!~

Akari felt her lips stretch into a bitter smile. Perhaps she understood that a little too well, considering how she'd acted before Isamu had sold her to the humans. At the time, she hadn't wanted the actual _power_ of the Alpha status over the pack, but the _effect_ it had on the demons. How people would look at her and say 'there is the next Alpha. The next in line'.

And then, just as she'd started growing tired of the idea, she'd ended up in a situation she hadn't _ever_ been prepared for. No fighting skills, she had hardly even been able to _speak_ to a shadow, much less use one for an attack.

She hadn't wanted the _responsibilities _of the Alpha. She'd wanted the _power_. The _status. _The _right. _Because it had been ready to be given to her on a silver platter.

_Heh. _

"Someone needs to feed him to the Black Black club. Energyless and unable to fight." _Too bad they're dead. They would have a hayday torturing someone like him._

_Then again, if Sensui hadn't killed them all, I would have once I'd found them._ _*****_

"Do you really think _anyone _deserves to be put at the mercy of a group like the Black Black Club? Even a demon like Yomi?"

~!**!~

_I'm fairly certain you'd do the same for me, fire-prince._

Shikiyoku closed her eyes, nose still touching the edge of his jaw.

A sense of relief washed over her all of a sudden. No more of that Consort-finding mess to deal with, no more demons randomly showing up out of nowhere. No more _having _to kiss anyone unless she wanted to.

The relief was tinged with a sort of _fault_, though. In the midst of it she lost two demons she had been very close with, that she knew quite well and for a large portion of her life, and a third, a young one, whom she could have easily encouraged to let her remove his marking.

Without realizing it, she let out a sigh through her nose. 3

Hiei could feel the slight tension building, even if he couldn't exactly tell what she was thinking at the time. It made him realize that the two of them still had two separate minds, and that not _everything_ would be shared between them, which was… very likely a good thing. Having another in your head all day every day, completely in your head, would probably wear one or the other down.

Unless you were Kurama, whose human counterpart had grown up with the demon one.

And even then he figured the pair got sick of one another here and there.

Hiei's thoughts were put on pause when he heard, even felt the sigh Shikiyoku gave, and he tightened his arms around her briefly before releasing the pressure.

~!**!~

_He's right._

…_.That was terrible. I shouldn't have said it._

Akari drew in a long breath before releasing it in an equally long sigh. "...no." _No one deserves that. Not even the most vile of creatures on the planet. _"No, I don't." _*****_

"You shouldn't let your anger about a situation blind your thoughts," Kurama turned and planted a kiss on her cheek, "Otherwise you'll never be able to see the way out of it."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out a breathy chuckle once Hiei relaxed his arms again.

_I distract you when you think of the grief, and you turn around and do the same for me when __**I **__do._

Had they always done this give and take? This back and forth?

She didn't think so. Definitely not when he had been her Champion.

Instead of being alone, of falling into despair and staying there, there was suddenly this other presence right there with you to pick you up when you didn't have the strength do it yourself. And you walk beside _them_, _with _them, get them back on their feet when they need it, maybe even holding each other up sometimes, but never having to face any of it by yourself...

Weren't two always supposed to be better than one?

_(...thank you.) _3

Before today, Hiei hadn't seen reason to let himself become pulled into another's life. He'd always just done what he wanted, always just roaming with various endeavors to keep himself occupied, and when that didn't work or he ran out of actual plans, he would _create_ something.

To the point where he'd decided the Human World would be his hunting ground.

And even after that, even after deciding he didn't mind the dysfunctional team of Spirit Detectives, he hadn't really _cared_ about their personal life. He hadn't cared what happened to them at the end of the day, so long as they didn't wind up _dead_, because they would become _useful_ at some point in time.

And then _this one_ had appeared, and he hadn't given a second look at her at first. Not until he'd realized her energy drew him in.

He almost scoffed at that thought.

He never would've cared had it not been for his _curiosity _of her power, which had lead to that Champion bond. And for a while then too, he hadn't cared.

He wasn't exactly sure when it had changed. He couldn't tell if it had been the night in the Niiro, or something that simply happened over time.

And then at some point, he'd found himself _wanting_ to be around this one, because she'd provided him with something he'd never had. Or, maybe she'd made him realize what he'd never had, and it had caused that _need_ to explore that.

_Heh. _

It had taken him a long time to figure it out, but eventually he had realized that he'd needed someone like her for a long while. Someone who made him sit and think about what was next to come, not only for himself but for her as well, and how to avoid any issues that would put _another_ at risk, instead of seeing it as a challenge for himself.

Yes, she was a challenge all her own, but it was that way because he didn't _understand. _

...And he found that he _wanted_ to.

Which had landed him right here. Not wanting to move, and not particularly minding that they were so close, when in the past he wouldn't have let anyone within two feet of him without it being for battle purposes. And hardly even then.

_Hn._

And he realized he didn't know what was to come from here. He didn't know what to predict for the next day, much less the next month or even longer.

And… he was okay with that.

_So long as she's here._

~!**!~

Akari repeated that same long sigh, deflating all over again. "I know, I know." _It's habit. A habit I need to break. __*****_

Kurama chuckled, "Been told that before, have you?"

~!**!~

'_Doesn't everyone need someone to worry about? And someone to worry about them?'_

Shikiyoku hadn't realized at the time just how true those words her human disguise had spoken were, though ideally she wanted to _not _worry.

_Easy enough when you're laying in his arms and he isn't mulling over the pain you shared with him._

She thought it was a little unfair, that. Here she had all of this brokenness that she got to shove off onto him and what did she do in return?

_Try and distract him from it._

Which wouldn't be necessary if she hadn't shoved it on him in the first place.

_Nothing you can do about it now._

Had he ever even lost anyone before? All these emotions piled on top of him at once, and so densely that he likely couldn't make sense of them all.

_No wonder I feel like such a terrible person. _3

Hiei's mind had just begun to go blank when he began to feel it. Again. And for a moment he realized it was this odd tug-of-war between them, and his lips twitched. Of course, there was nothing funny about the emotions they were feeling, but just the thought of their back and forth between one feeling heavy, the other being a momentary distraction before needing that distraction as well.

A breath snaked from his nostrils in a little puff of air.

"_...Woman…"_

It was a quiet complaint, and he even gave a small sigh to accompany it. And another small tug of his arms around her before relaxing again.

And suddenly he remembered complaining like that to her during their time in the demon world, when he'd been trying to sleep and she'd kept shifting around until he'd complained enough to make her go still. _That_ brought amusement at the memory.

And it was quickly followed with the memory of her complaining of him being 'too far away' one morning. Here, actually, in this house. And his amusement was multiplying, because he'd been amused then too, no matter how much he scoffed in annoyance at her.

~!**!~

"Similar words, yes." Akari replied after a moment, her eyes coming open so she could look up at Kurama. "I never did hear it enough though. Probably why my instincts kick in so fast in some situations." She gave a shrug. "Sometimes I wonder how you haven't run out of patience with me yet." _*****_

Kurama didn't let his neutral expression so much as flinch, "You know, I often sit around wondering about that too."

~!**!~

This time when Hiei released her, Shikiyoku shifted around, scooting up further until she could slip her arms around his neck and look directly at his face, her lips frowning but her eyes laughing.

"_...Man..." _3

Hiei felt a smirk form on his lips, this time more genuine than it had all day long, and he helped Shikiyoku scoot closer until she settled. He saw the sparkle in her eyes and it seemed to lift his spirits too, creating a gleam in his eyes before they were hidden behind his lids.

And he found himself exploring more of those happy little memories, letting them pass between himself and Shikiyoku because now he knew how to distract the both of them at once.

~!**!~

_I just hope I don't test your patience too far this time. I guess we'll see._

Akari's lips gave a small huff at him. "Granted, I don't usually do it on purpose. I do try my own patience sometimes too. Those are the worst days." She gave a shrug. "It's a wonder I haven't run you off yet." _*****_

"That's because you're holding onto me so tightly." Kurama teased, squeezing his arms around her for a second with a smile.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku felt as if the two of them had started playing a game called 'Do you remember when…?'

She thought about the Niiro Kaga, where they sat with Taka, met Uryo, and Hiei when had been introduced to Kafu.

When she didn't know her own mother had used a mesmer on her to banish her, and she stood in a tree and with Hiei's help had overcome it.

Of dancing with him at Rae's ball. Of escaping with him after Uryo set her dress on fire. Or Uryo defending them when Rae took chase.

Finding Shubou after all those years, standing, or floating rather, in that healing water with an orb of fire near her heat to warm her.

(..._so many things. They all seem even more pleasant now.) _3

Hiei let out an amused air through his nostrils.

He remembered the two of them being swallowed by Fire Worms, only to be spit back up and Shikiyoku be nuzzled into while the fire demon had scrambled to keep from being snatched up again. Which had ended him in a tree, batted aside by one of the tails. And her coming to his rescue.

He remembered standing on the rooftop in the middle of a city, watching each and every demon turn to look at him and Shikiyoku because of her energy, and declaring he hated cities on that layer. Which had ended them up with Shubou.

He remembered taking a sword from that very same city when no one was looking but the merchant, who had silenced when the blade had been pressed to the demon's neck. HIei had ended up storing that little treasure in her closet in this very house, where she hid her own items.

Shikiyoku telling Taka that Hiei wasn't cursed.

Hiei realizing he was marked, and Shikiyoku looking at him as if he were the craziest demon in the world for not having known.

….pulling the pins from her hair when he'd gotten sick of her 'hiding'. And her pinning him to the door that day.

...There were so many. And it was so easy to get lost in them.

~!**!~

"I wouldn't want my prey getting away." Akari suddenly retorted, her expression completely serious. "I worked hard to get you here, you know." _*****_

"Oh, did you?" Kurama raised an eyebrow, "I imagine you probably sneaked into Yomi's room every night and whispered to him about how he needed to get me here faster, hm?"

~!**!~

Him watching her while she danced, and then follow her because her energy looped about him twice and she hadn't even known.

And then the next time, when she _had _known, when she came to him and asked him to spend the night with her...and then promptly felt exhausted and needed to sleep.

'_I desire you. Your presence.'_

Scooting closer to a sleepy Hiei who tell her she 'wasn't all that bad.'

Having him finally catch up to her after all those years of running, seeing his face again and at the time only know he had been in her dreams.

Being pulled from slumber by his wonderful laughter and watching through half-lidded, drowsy eyes as he entertained himself by tickling the lur'mog.

_...oops. Hadn't exactly meant for him to find out about that last one. _3

Hiei blinked at the new one she'd pondered over, showing him, and he realized he hadn't known she'd been awake that night. Purposely so, might he add. And yet she'd woken up to the chittering of the little Lur'Mog and watched him poke and prod at it with amusement.

It suddenly had him remembering the Lur'Mog doing the same to him, skittering up his sleeve and running around his body before tumbling out onto the bar in the Niiro Kaga, which lead to the little red creature playing with Ryuu and Uryo popping in.

Which made the fire demon scoff. _Loud demon._

Her showing him sweet snow for the first time, and his reaction. Her telling him she'd eat it for him, but his refusal because even though it had surprised him, he'd enjoyed it.

….him being intrigued by her strawberry trick.

The first time he'd thought strawberries were in her hair and how he'd resisted looking.

….Her playing against Game Master in Tennis and having had enough, throwing away her glasses, her bobby pins, her hair clip.

~!**!~

"No, actually. Happy accident." AKari said coyly, lips spreading wide. "I wouldn't go that close to Yomi even if my life depended on it." For such words, her smile was extremely pleasant. "He disgusts me." And her tone was even more pleasant. _*****_

"Really? One would never guess. You always act so amiably when around him that it makes me wonder sometimes."

For a moment he also wondered if she had any idea about _how _exactly Yomi knew about him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes glittered mischievously.

_(You're welcome to look for strawberries in my hair anytime you like, fire-prince.)_

_Not that you'll find any._

His thoughts of Ryuu tinged her with a little sadness, and the next memory she recalled was of the tiny dragon's spirit calling her attention to Otento's remains, and the blood that poured out of them towards the giant portal that had opened.

_(He's dead.)_

_(I wonder if Uryo even knows.) _3

Hiei blinked. He'd forgotten that Uryo had been looking for the little black creature. Much less had he known that Ryuu had died. And for a few minutes, he found himself pondering the same thing Shikiyoku was**: **if Uryo knew or not. There wasn't a way to know without asking the demon if he'd found his companion yet.

….which would lead to them telling him Ryuu's spirit had been wandering… the inbetween?

He pushed the thoughts away quickly. He didn't want his mind circling back to other matters.

Such as watching Shikiyoku try to scale the largest tree on the Ninth Layer, and only getting about halfway up before Hiei had scaled it and caught her before she could fall, where they'd remained until she woke.*

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	109. Episode 193

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter! Took a _little _longer to get out today than usual. I had somehow missed a chapter completely while moving things over from our GoogleDoc, and only realized it just as I finished up the "previously" portion, meaning I had to go back and find what I left out and make a new doc on fanfic for it. Sigh. Anyway, here it is!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

After eating the strawberry from Shikiyoku's hand,  
she and Hiei head to a store with the intention of getting 'sweet snow,'  
after which they return to Toriko's home  
and prepare themselves bowls of it,  
working together until they finish,  
sitting down and enjoying their treat in a shared peaceful moment.

Feeling the weight of the silence of the house,  
of the absence of Kitoushi and all the others she lost,  
the two lay on the couch together,  
each becoming distracted by their own thoughts,  
before finally distracting each other with previous memories,  
finding that their emotions tied to those memories,  
were now shared between them in a newly discovered way...

~!**!~

Once they both awaken from their slumber,  
Kurama and Akari both admit to wishing they could stay right where they were,  
Akari learning that Yomi has Kurama's mother under watch,  
partially because Kurama's loyalties are still in question.

Akari also comes to the realization that  
she is as well being used in part as a bargaining chip,  
making sure Kurama continues to do as Yomi wants.

When Kurama mentions tossing people into the Seventh Layer,  
instead of the Ninth, when the time comes,  
Kurama insists Akari promise him she wouldn't do such a thing,  
and she replies that she promises not to do anything stupid.

Kurama asks her to seal it with a kiss,  
which she does,  
but he does not let her pull so quickly away  
He reflects on the fact that he has not actually kissed her,  
not since the incident that resulted in her not sleeping for days.

They begin plotting ways to get out of their situation,  
none of them serious or plausible,  
but some making them feel better just by hashing them out,  
using the banter to make them forget where they are.

As they talk, Kurama wonders to himself if Akari actually realizes  
just exactly from _where _Yomi knows Kurama...

* * *

Akari opened her mouth to speak, tone still pleasant. "You know, I-"

_Wait._

She blinked and suddenly remembered what Yomi had said.

She remembered him entering this very room one day, calling to Takeo and making him stop mid-strike, ordering the demon to go to another station. Akari hadn't even been in the room an hour before he'd come to fetch her, telling her to follow after him.

He'd chattered a good amount of the way, telling her about how he'd been blinded by a demon that had attacked him, 'stealing his light', as the demon had put it. How he'd been ambushed at a seemingly abandoned place he'd been about to raid, and left to die.

He'd told her about his rise to power, all the way until he stopped at a sealed door and lead her inside, where steam had filtered out and around her feet. Where she'd seen a demon nailed to the wall, no hands, no feet, and barely alive.

"This is the one who took my light from me," Yomi had said. And she remembered feeling horrified, the smell being so foul she hadn't known whether she was going to gag or simply pass out. The demon's voice when it had begged for water had left _her_ feeling the pain of such intense dehydration and malnutrition that she was certain she'd been back with the Black Black Club for a minute.

And then Yomi had pleasantly told her of a new guest that would be arriving, the one who had _hired_ the demon to slaughter him. That that very demon had once been a very close friend before that friend had hired his assassination.

Akari hadn't really put two and two together then, but now that she remembered, it wasn't hard to put the puzzle together. After all, Kurama had shown up about a week later.

..._Right. Youko. Youko was that 'friend'. _

It certainly did explain a lot about the demon's attitude towards Kurama. And it sent that chill down her spine as if she had seen the tortured demon for the first time all over again.

_I somehow feel that isn't the whole story._

How could she have forgotten such a thing? How pleasant Yomi had been about the tortured creature. And how pleasantly he'd shut the door behind them and said the demon's last day would be when the guest arrived.

And then he had dismissed her, saying something about trusting she'd get the job done when the moment came.

She couldn't recall every little subtle threat he made, but if she could, she'd probably be able to sense when one was coming by now.

Which had her realizing that she feared the creature of _death_, which if she wanted to avoid, she'd have to follow Yomi's every little whim of her to a t. Otherwise, he'd send her to that being himself.

_Heh. _

Technically, would that pin her as afraid of Yomi?

_No. Just the being he would be throwing me to._ _*****_

Kurama pulled his head away from Akari for a beat when she tapered off and did not continue to speak, seeing the look in her eyes that told him she had gotten lost in some remembrance or another.

He only shifted a little, resting his head back down and nuzzling his face against hers.

"Remember something important, beautiful?"

~!**!~

Hiei introducing _her _to sweet snow.

Hiding behind him the entire walk through the offices when Koenma called her to Spirit World.

The complete relief when he appeared and ripped Otento off of her, sneezing when his hair later made her nose itch.

Having the true flame push the two of them together.

That whole encounter, really: the being accepting Hiei, the first fire-oriented demon it had ever met. In the flesh at least. It had called him too reserved, telling him to open up to _her_, as well as informing them they were perfect _mates_, and his still-emerging strength and her stamina would produce powerful _male children_ that it wished to meet and bless when they came about. 3

Hiei paused to mull over what Shikiyoku had pulled up, thinking back to meeting the flame that first time and how amused he'd been. How it had seemed to encourage them to stick to one another, how it had pushed them until they were touching, how it had praised him for his power and simultaneously pointed out things that he needed to fix. How it had suggested he open up to someone, as Shikiyoku remembered.

How it had called him 'child-of-self'.

How he _still_ didn't understand what it meant by the singular word of 'Littles'.

How it had said they were a perfect partnership.

Those thoughts had him smirking in amusement, even releasing a breath that could have easily been deemed a chuckle if one listened.

He remembered how that flame had tasted after offering a bit of itself to him.

Suddenly his eyes were open and watching Shikiyoku, finding himself perfectly content with laying there the way they were currently. How much he _enjoyed_ having her nearby and how lost he'd felt when he'd realized she could have run off with another and left him just as he was before her**:** alone. How he knew nothing of what to do next, but that for once he didn't care because he didn't have anything to worry about in that exact moment.

Except to lay there.

~!**!~

Akari blinked slowly as she felt her cheek nuzzled and the scent of flowers, of grass, of ferns stirred around her, bringing her right back to where she'd been before she'd gotten lost in thought. She blinked a second time, and realized Kurama had spoken, had even asked her a question.

It took a few moments, but she was able to figure out what he'd wanted to know.

And it made her give a smile.

_Does Yomi expect Kurama to do the same to me as Youko did to him? _

She ran her nose along his jaw as a small sound left her lips, somewhere between a little laugh and a sigh.

"Nothing you don't already know about," she answered back, eyes closing as she ran her nose along his jawline again. "And if I forgot it in the first place, would it really be deemed as _important_?" *****

"Mm, maybe." Kurama responded. "Perhaps it was so important that you needed to forget it for a while so you would remember how important it really was."

~!**!~

Contentment.

That likely best described her feelings in that moment, in _those _moments.

Things were not perfect. She was still infected with whatever virus it was. She still had no capacity to return to her demonic form.

But really, were those things she absolutely needed in order to enjoy how far she had come? How far they had both come?

Her eyes opened, green and bright with liveliness.

_I never knew how incomplete I really was until I became whole again._

_Again?_

_...perhaps...for the first time._

She blinked at Hiei, lips pulling up into a crooked smile.

_(You're alright, kid.) _3

Hiei watched Shikiyoku calmly, his eyes taking in every plane of her features, every shadow cast by her hair, every muscle that twitched when she slowly formed a sidelong smile. He raised a brow at her in response to her… 'praise'.

"Hn."

He let his eyes close again.

_(Same to you, woman.)_

~!**!~

A small laugh broke past Akari's lips. "You got me." _Not that it had the effect Yomi probably wanted it to. __*****_

Kurama stretched out his neck and shoulders, feeling his internal clock going off, warning him that if he did not leave soon he would likely incite Yomi's ire.

They had a meeting of some importance or another today.

Not that he had forgotten what the meeting was about, mind. But in all honesty it was the next steps in the war that really needed to be hammered out instead of batting ideas back and forth, chewing the same knowledge over and over again as if it were going to produce some new revelation. And he was getting bored with it all.

All three kings had within their ranks demons able to traverse the layers, to use the inbetween as transport in order to scout out the Ninth Layer, and the throne.

But all three seemed to have come to a tentative stand-off, each waiting for the other to slip up or to make the first move.

And whoever did would likely have the other two turning on _them _first.

Kurama felt as if they were all bunkering down for a siege, each waiting for something clever to strike them that would turn the odds in their favor.

He let out a sigh.

~!**!~

For once, Shikiyoku could let her eyes close and relax into the arms of the one who held her without need for worry or concern about what lie ahead, free to let her mind wander off and not feel guilty, not needing to address _any _issues whatsoever other than the current one that consisted of falling asleep right here.

And sleep she did, dreaming only of the one beside her. 3

Hiei shifted a little before he relaxed again, listening to the soft breathing of the girl next to him as she fell into slumber. It was calming, laying there with no thoughts to mull over, no threat that they had to deal with or even a possibility of such at the moment, and no threat of being even remotely disturbed except by the other- which he didn't qualify as a disturbance of any kind.

And the longer he listened to Shikiyoku's breathing, the easier it became for his own breathing to match hers, and before too long he too was asleep, dreamless for the first time in a long time.

~!**!~

_Do I have to get up?_

Akari could feel Kurama stretching, lengthening his body out a little, and the thought just happened to run across her mind to check what time of day it was. She'd gotten so lost in time for a while, and when she realized it was likely after dinner time, she blinked.

_I don't want to._

Akari slowly shifted around too, even pulling a little away from Kurama so when she huffed out a breath at the cracking bones, she wouldn't be blowing the puff of air right in his face. And when she relaxed again, it wasn't near as close to him as she had been, because that would only make it that much harder for the both of them.

And that thought issued a groan from her.

"Early in the morning again?" she asked, lips twitching into a sly smile.. "I'd rather not be yanked from bed again." _*****_

Kurama narrowed his eyes at her playfully, loosening his hold and then finally releasing her to pull one arm under his head and lay the other along his side.

"You _don't _want me to fetch you. I do believe I have said that before." 3

"I take that as a yes." Akari rolled so she lay on her stomach, arms under her head as she considered the other. "You're probably the only person who could actually _sneak_ into my room without actually _sneaking_. I didn't even know you were there until you had me out the door." _That's kind of scary. I knew Takeo was there every time. _

_Or does that mean your presence has no reason to alarm me?_

"I almost decided to drop you through a shadow, had it not been that bright red hair of yours that is so eye-catching." _*****_

"Remind me to never _dye _my hair in that case." Kurama rolled over onto his back. "I'd much rather be stuck with red hair than stuck in a shadow."

After a second he sat up.

"I think just before dawn ought to be good. But there are meetings every afternoon for the next three days, so we will have to cut our time short." 3

Akari's smile turned sly. "I'd know it had been you… eventually." She moved her arms out from under her head and placed her hands firmly on the grass, pushing herself up until she was standing before she responded to Kurama's information. "I hope you enjoy sitting in a boring room. I'll be napping in my warm, cozy bed. Probably."

She stuck her tongue out at him and moved away, towards the direction she knew the door to be. "...meetings suck." _*****_

Kurama stood, staring after her but not moving to follow.

"Don't forget to look like I said something particularly scathing when you leave." He called after her. "Unless you need motivation, in which case I'm sure I could come up with something." 3

Akari didn't even pause, her smile widening briefly before disappearing.

"Nope. All I have to do is think about that stupid smile on Yomi's face."

And even as she spoke the words and the image came to mind, Akari's own expression began to reflect the instant irritation that welled.

"And the idiots in the halls."

_And Takeo._

She paused now, turning to look at Kurama with narrowed eyes and a scowl to match the glare. "Happy?"

And as another thought passed, she found it even the more easier to feign anger, which she could feel reaching her eyes.

Satisfied and not waiting for an answer, she turned and continued moving for the door. _*****_

Kurama managed to resist the laugh he wanted to cast in her direction, instead turning and heading toward the Speakers plants to make some adjustments on them and wait for Akari to actually leave the room.

_Yomi won't care for your tardiness._

Then it was a good thing he set his internal clock early enough to make time. Kurama still had a few minutes, and the room was not that far. 3

As she walked, Akari released a large sigh of irritation. It really had almost been _too_ easy to fall into it, the anger that had built up during her stay here. And she knew Takeo had very specifically aimed for her to get mad enough to break the barrier she kept being thrown back from.

She'd done well in not losing that tempter….

Until she'd ended up killing the demon.

Akari's hand grasped at the door and pulled it open, and when she was in the hall, she made sure to actually slam it shut behind her before turning and moving towards her room, glaring ahead at the path of demons who looked on.

_Yes, I'm in night clothes. Yes, I know you saw me dragged from my room this morning._

_No, I do not care._

And those stares only made it fuel the anger more.

_The only part of it that's a charade is who I'm supposed to be angry at. __*****_

Kurama timed his exit to occur within the next five minutes, calmly leaving the room and turning down the hall to where Yomi and the others would be expecting him.

There were no guards at the door this time, which Kurama only took note of in passing until he entered the room and let the door shut behind him only to see that Yomi sat on the other side of the long table...and that there was no one else in the room.

Kurama paused after getting a few steps in the door.

"Was I mistaken in believing we had a general war meeting this evening?" Kurama asked lightly, not moving from where he had come to a standstill.

"You were not." Yomi replied, "However the personnel required to attend the meeting changed. You were not told because your presence was still required. Feel free to have a seat, Kurama."

_This...could be very bad._

And Kurama expected the worst.

After only a moment of silence, of internal debate, Kurama sat down in the chair nearest him, the one at the foot of the table opposite Yomi.

"We have received news that Mukuro sent out another message to this 'Shikiyoku.' We decided to let it go through so we could find out more about who the letter was meant for."

Kurama did not answer.

"It appears I should have asked you sooner about the demon, Kurama. According to my sources, you know Shikiyoku quite well. As does Youko. Has he been informed that she has finally taken a mate?"

A pause. Kurama said nothing.

"Oh, I am sorry. Mate is not quite the word I mean. I believe the correct term is 'Consort.'" 3

Akari stalked all the way up to her room, even locking the door behind her as had become custom. She ran a hand through the disgusting tangles in her hair while the other hand pulled the large t=shirt away from her skin as if it burned her.

_It's a wonder I didn't scare anyone away._

She grabbed clothes from the drawers nearby and then moved for the bathroom, even locking _that_ door as she peeled one article of clothing away after another, letting them drop to the floor in her small trek, a hand sliding into the shower to turn the knob.

And while she waited for the water to warm up, she closed her eyes and decided to test the layers again.

And again she was booted right back to this one. _*****_

"I must say, Kurama, I never expected to run across her again. I thought she was long gone, a distant memory, taken by the same Spirit World goons that hunted down Youko all those years ago." Yomi leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and interlacing his fingers. "But you've known her all along, haven't you? Or at least long _enough_."

"What are your plans, Yomi?"

"I was about to ask _you _that, Kurama. I think your expertise here could prove quite useful given that you already have a standing rapport with her. And I can only imagine Youko would be interested in having a hand in stealing her away from her new Consort. From what I hear, his election into the position was fairly assured, especially with the deaths of Douji and Kitoushi."

Kurama blinked.

He hadn't known about that part. He remember who those two were, even if he had never met them directly himself. The demon boy of the Northern Tribe and Youko's very own cousin.

_Dead?_

"It doesn't matter. What _does _is that there are now _two _Kuraku, one on the throne and one to challenge it. I think that's an angle we can shoot for, don't you? It might just turn the tide of the war in our favor."

"And what do you plan to do, Yomi?"

"What do you think we should do, Kurama?"

"You wish to challenge the current Ruler under the ploy of instating Shikiyoku as the new one."

Yomi gave a little nod.

"To my knowledge, she knows nothing of the throne and nothing of how to rule. She was banished from those lands only just able to walk and talk."

"Setting aside the fact that the knowledge is in her very _blood_, how do you think she might feel of issuing the challenge and, upon winning, abdicate the throne?"

"To you?"

"Naturally."

Kurama considered Yomi from across the table.

"She is not a fighter."

"Neither is the first Kuraku."

"The current ruler has much more experience than her. It would not be an easy challenge for her to win."

"Ah, but she is the rightful heir, the prodigal daughter, the true monarch. The man who sits there now stole the position dishonestly."

"Much like you plan to?"

"I would do no such thing. A throne taken by force? She will _hand _it to me, willingly forfeit her title."

"And what makes you think she would fight the King for it in the first place?"

"That's where you come in, Kurama."

"Me?"

"I plan on sending you and the lieutenant commander to retrieve Shikiyoku from the address that my spies will provide. It is _your _job to make sure she returns with you, or at the very least never makes it within the walls of Mukuro's fortress."

"You believe Mukuro has the same plan in mind as yourself?"

"No, I am certain Mukuro will insist on _not _taking that path. That's why he wants her in the first place. Don't you agree?"

"If he gets Shikiyoku, he prevents either yourself from using her to raise yourself to the throne and he stops Raizen from putting her on the throne himself."

"Exactly. Anarchy. That's always been Mukuro's goal. And it is the angle he will take to persuade her to join his cause."

"It will not be so easy, I think. She expressed in no uncertain terms that she would refrain from participating in the war in any capacity. Youko attempted to have her chose him as Consort before we came here in part to have her on your side, or at the very least on no one elses."

Yomi gave a little hum to indicate he had heard what Kurama said. "She may wish to claim neutrality, but the truth is she has the strongest stance of us all."

~!**!~

The smallest of sounds in the house perked Shikiyoku's attention even in her sleep, as it had been so quiet up until that moment.

At least, any noise-her and Hiei's breathing and occasional shifting-was either steady or the source was well known enough that it never cause her to do anything more than barely note it somewhere in her head that quickly filed it away as unimportant.

The air of the room, the sense of the temperature, and weight of the day outside told her it was in fact still morning, and given that there had only been the one alien discord to interrupt the harmony of slumber it did not at first register as much within her subconscious. Especially since there was no accompanying presence or alarm.

Her ears twitched though. Once. Right as whatever it was had hit the table. Tapped it really. Landed, perhaps.

As vague awareness trickled into her thoughts, she drew the top of one foot back to scratch at the calf of the other leg, then let it rest there on top. Somehow she ended scooted up even farther than she started out: when she fell asleep she had the distinct remembrance of being eye-level with Hiei, one arm slipped under his neck and the other resting over it. At some point, though, her whole body moved upwards until the bridge of her nose rested in the middle of the white star of hair above his forehead, the tip of it just touching his hair line and the rest of her face tilted down, her chin tucked towards her chest, in careful consideration of the bandana for the Jagan. Instead of her forearms being up against his neck, they were instead partially resting against the back of his head, her hands unintentionally buried in his hair, the tips of her fingers brushing against his scalp.

Her eyes darted around underneath her eyelids, in the middle of some dream she felt herself slowly being pulled away from, called by the faint 'plop' that had happened moments before.

She made the tiniest noise of unhappiness and frowned. 3

There was the tiniest of sounds that hummed in the back of Hiei's throat as he shifted just a little, the darkness of sleep lightening just a little. He hadn't taken the precaution to have the Jagan constantly sweeping the area during his nap, because he hadn't seen the need to do as such. And even in his sleep, when something just _touched_ the edge of his awareness, his brain filed it away as something that was not necessary for the Jagan to investigate. There was no need afterall, since there was no sign of a threat.

So while he _had_ slipped back towards that dreamless state of sleeping, the fire demon found himself being pulled back into awareness again with the shifting of the person he felt his arms encircling, one hand having gathered a good grip on the shirt of the person as if they'd been moving _too _much at some point, the other arm pinned between that body and the couch.

And there was this _itch. _Every time he shifted his head a little, whether it be to rub his nose against the material nearby for a small itch _there_, or simply because it was time to move a little more, there was the oddest sensation of something _stuck _in his hair.

Which had him sleepily releasing the material he had been holding and removing his arm from the warmth of the other person so that he may rub at the spot that itched.

When he found fingers instead of… whatever he'd been expecting, his hand retreated and his arm again looped over the midsection of Shikiyoku, who he even shifted closer to as if he thought she might leave.

He was teetering on the edge of awareness when she made a sound, which became the deciding factor and ended up pulling his eyes open to see the skin of her neck and the collar of her shirt. He let his eyes close again, satisfied in knowing she hadn't moved away.

~!**!~

As Akari's hand slid away from the knob of the shower, the last drops from the showerhead dripping quietly to the tile floor, she rubbed the towel over her head and reached for a second, pausing and letting the towel atop her cranium rest for a moment as she wrapped the second about herself and gathered the dirty clothing from the floor.

_Layers?_

She really didn't feel like trying to figure out the layers at the moment. In fact, the hot water had almost put her to sleep, and really, it had her considering another option.

_If I fall asleep and wake as a spirit, I could use the opportunity to figure out how to get back on my own. _

Yes… that was a much more interesting and pressing matter to deal with at that moment. Yomi's men could be sent elsewhere when Yomi decided his men _were to be sent. _She had time, even if she did want to continue to figure out the layers beforehand.

And she wasn't quite so sure that he'd believe her the first time she said she could go to the Ninth Layer. Not after all of the trouble it had been.

So, that would take up more time.

..._Perhaps I'll learn to control it instead of simply wandering?_

Each thought that passed was brief, and by the time she was sitting on the bed, completely dressed, she had already deduced what she knew wouldn't work when she wore the necklace- which she assumed would soon be a prominent thing for a good while.

So when she did curl up underneath the covers, it took a good deal to quiet her brain before she could fall asleep, which put her right where she'd wanted to be.

Standing at the side of her bed, staring at her own body. _*****_

As if of one mind, Yomi and Kurama sat back in their seats, Kurama crossing his arms over his chest and Yomi letting his wrists sit on either thigh.

They had a plan.

And a damn good one at that, Kurama had to admit.

Yomi was much more rational now, a demon Kurama could find equal grounding with.

He also noticed how carefully Yomi took into consideration every little thing Kurama had to say, the two of them weaving together something Kurama could legitimately say might actually work.

Of course, it all centered around Shikiyoku's willingness to join them, and neither he nor Yomi had any way of controlling her or her actions, but they both hoped that perhaps by sitting her down and presenting her with their plan she mind concede it was sound and agree to assist them.

First thing first: to retrieve her.

Kurama warned Yomi that it would be likely he would not only be receiving Shikiyoku, but her new Consort as well, which Yomi's sources had informed him was the Cursed Child, Hiei Jaganshi.

It could...prove to be a wild card thrown into the deck that might unhinge their plans, but should Shikiyoku chose to come of her own accord, to at least _listen _to Yomi, Kurama could not see Hiei actually protesting.

At least he hoped Hiei would not protest.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's mouth opened in a small yawn, a little noise escaping her lips as she did it.

Her eyes fluttered open before releasing again, finding a strangeness in how bright the room felt but how her immediate sight had been of a darkness she could not place.

At least, she could not place it until she shifted again and her hands smoothed themselves down the back of Hiei's head to rest on either side of his neck.

_Oops._

Somewhere, she supposed if he minded her position he would have moved her himself.

She pulled in a deep breath through her nose and her eyes opened again, blinking once before staying that way. 3

More shifting from the person against him, the rustling of his hair and that itching sensation again, and Hiei's eyes came open for the second time. He found it almost impossible not to give a small yawn and shift again, moving his shoulder so that his arm may not be so deadened here in a few moments.

He knew it was morning, but truth be told, he wasn't even sure if it was the _same_ morning and they'd only slept a little while, or if it was a new day entirely. And his vision was bleary.

Nonetheless, he felt well rested and completely relaxed. He could still feel the residual heaviness from before he'd fallen asleep, but really, it was only at the back of his mind, as if he didn't exactly have to feel it if he didn't really want to address it at the moment.

So he left it there and gave a sound of content.

And the brilliant thing about the connection he could feel in his mind linking him to Shikiyoku? He didn't have to put his question of how she slept into actual words.

~!**!~

To test her earlier deductions, Akari had decided to close her eyes and will her spiritual self back into the physical body on the bed, had tried touching the arm and even laying in place of herself and found each result to be just as null and void as the first attempts she'd made a few days ago.

And for a while, it left her sitting on the opposite side of the bed, arms crossed and brows furrowed in thought.

There had to be a trick to it. Except she was beginning to feel restless, as if she _needed_ to get up and move around, to wander.

She wasn't so sure that was a good idea, considering Yomi's listening ears. _If_ he was listening.

She slipped her feet up onto the bed and fluidly moved to stand on the mattress, eyes staring down at herself and arms still crossed. She grumbled a few choice words as if there was anyone else around to hear them.

And again, since it was the only thing she could think of, she closed her eyes and willed herself to become one whole being. She concentrated _hard_ on that thought, and after a while she found herself actually relaxing, her restlessness dripping away and an odd sense of calm falling over her.

She took a deep breath as she lowered herself to sitting crosslegged on top of the covers, fingers locked in her lap and eyes still closed.

_Not so bad._

Another long, deep breath, and even the shadows in the room stilled as if they were going to sleep. A small smile formed on her lips. Slowly, she peeled her eyes open and lifted her head, vision blurred and the only thing registering in that vision was a dark form in front of her.

She blinked and that form came into focus, causing her to lurch back and fall from the bed, away from the nose that nearly touched her own and the eyes that stared at her and at the same time through her, pulling the covers with her and creating noise as her own voice filled the room, but not from her current state of self.

"We're playing with a _dangerous _thing."

She stared up at the edge of the bed she'd fallen from, watching herself standing on the edge and looking down where no one should have been able to see the spiritual form of herself.

"We're not _meant _to be here."

And then Akari was sitting upright in bed, the covers around her waist and the image of her own body standing in front of her with the most twisted, darkened expression ingrained into her brain. And the timbre of her voice…

And as she looked around the room and saw the shadows in the room each moving as they should be, none reacting to a threat, she realized she had been dreaming the whole time. _*****_

~!**!~

She didn't really...feel like moving, though she had to admit her curiosity for whatever _thing _had been placed on the table.

Letting out the large breath she took in, Shikiyoku considered the impression Hiei sent her.

_(I haven't slept like that since…)_

Well. That was strange.

She wracked her mind for an instance, a frame of time, in which to compare her sleep.

And came up with nothing.

_(...ever.)_

The realization had her eyes closing as she smiled, sending Hiei her answer coupled with the pleased notion that _he _was the source of how well-rested she felt.

_(And you?) _3

Hiei considered Shikiyoku's answer for a moment before he drew in a breath and shifted his shoulder around, feeling the odd sensation tingling through the arm that had previously been numbed. He relaxed again with a sense of satisfaction.

At the return of his silent question being aimed at him, Hiei's answer was quick in the form of pleasant metaphorical nod of affirmation, accompanied with the feeling of complete and utter satisfaction and the feeling of being worry-free.

And then curiosity.

_(What stirred you?) __*****_

While she did not actually do so, there was this definite impression of her flicking her eyes at the table all the way on the other side of the room near the kitchen, seeing it from the top as if she stood over it.

And in the middle?

A letter.

Probably. She didn't really _know _what had fallen, but the noise her brain provided her with simply placed the sound as something more letter-ish than perhaps a package or something heavier.

She wryly mirrored his own curiosity, bending hers at whatever object actually came to rest on the table.

...which she had yet to rise to investigate. 3

_(Ah.) _

He supposed that explained the very first time he'd began to lean towards awareness. But it also meant that whoever had come in and out was powerful enough to hide themselves from both of their sensibilities, getting in and out without being noticed until whatever had touched the table had made some sort of noise or another.

He considered getting up to investigate.

...He could.

But did that mean he wanted to?

Absolutely not.

His eyelids came closed and he shifted down, slinking down further into the couch cushion.

And yet that curiosity grew.

_(We should look.)_

But he didn't move either. _*****_

It's _**probably **_important.

It _probably _should be looked at.

_Who the hell would send you anything?_

_(And employ a layer-runner at that?)_

Kafu. Horu. Uryo.

_(It isn't as if you are entirely without contacts.) It could be from Rae-don't care-or even Renai-eeh-or quite possibly..._

Youko?

He _had _left to join the war, didn't he? Could it be news of that?

...if she had to guess, he knew she had not picked him, as his mark would have disappeared just like any other stray ones she missed along the way.

_(It could be some sort of complaint about that fact.)_

If it was a complaint, it was likely more of a tirade, since the fox had assumed his place at her side was a sure-thing.

_(Probably expected me to come crawling to him and beg him to-)_

...

_(Ass.) _3

Hiei didn't get everything she was thinking about, only certain little snippets here and there of some possibility or another, and each one made his lips turn into a wider smirk of amusement than the other. And while he was completely amused, it also made that curiosity grow.

Because while she didn't exactly give _him _the name of the one who would be complaining, he did have a general idea.

There were only so many, after all.

And the thought of someone complaining via letter was…

_Entertaining._

He let out a scoff and was suddenly moving, his arms releasing Shikiyoku so that if she did not wish to get up, she did not have to.

He'd bring it to her if that was the case.

Because while he was her Consort, he'd only read if she wanted him to.

So he slid away from the couch and meandered towards the kitchen table.

_(Might as well.) __*****_

There was only a small sense of unhappiness as Hiei left her, and not only for the fact that the couch was all the colder without him, and when he rose, she slipped her left shoulder out from underneath her and slid onto her back, her left side catching the last vestiges of warmth Hiei left behind as she stretched her arms above her head and lengthened her legs down the couch, ending up with her left knee bent and leaning against the back of it and forgoing lowering her arms, wrapping them around the arm of the couch and closing her eyes, half wishing she might fall asleep again.

_(If it's Youko, I'm going to slap him so hard…)_ 3

Hiei had to resist the scoff that time, but he didn't resist the widening of his sneer at the thought, at the image that crossed his mind's eye very briefly. Amusing, to say the least. While he hadn't caught the whole thought, there had been just enough of the impression passing through to create the image. He dismissed it, however.

_(If you're staying, I'm returning. Leave me room or I'll sit on you instead.)_

He paused and leaned into one of the kitchen chairs, stretching his back as he simultaneously looked at the blank envelope. A frown quickly replaced the smirk he had been wearing, because he was more than certain Youko would have stamped it with the smell of a flower or another, if not an actual flower itself.

No matter his emotions on the matter.

He slid the paper away from the center of the table and turned it over, finding just as many markings on the other side as the first**: **none.

_(Nothing.)_

He turned and moved for the living room again, letter at his side and eyes on the couch.

He wouldn't mind curling up again. _*****_

Shikiyoku only expressed a half-hearted protest at being forced to move, and only since the position she obtained felt rather comfortable.

The other half of her wanted him to come back and she shifted again, bringing her right shoulder underneath her this time and backing up against the back of the couch with her left hand catching her weight when she threatened to roll forward.

_(Nothing?)_

She frowned.

_(Any one of the people I might expect correspondence from would leave some sort of calling card or another. A mark I would associate with them. Something.)_

_(Strange.) _3

Hiei gave the impression of a nod as he circled the couch and extended the paper envelope to her. (_I thought so.) _He lowered himself to the edge of the couch, stretching out his body the full length it could go before relaxing again, watching her curiously. _*****_

She took it from him with her left hand, shifting a little so she would lean back into the couch.

The paper seemed...thick. More like parchment.

Shikiyoku flipped it over, half-expecting a seal with a ribbon underneath it, like one of the invitations for some high-end ball or party back in her seductress days.

A sniff of the air gave her nothing but Hiei's scent, which while her eyes were still on the letter, did curl her lips upwards a little, though the frown still sat across her brow while she considered the thing.

_(Seamless too.)_

_(Folded?)_

Shifting more so that her other shoulder would come out from under her, trapping her pleasantly between Hiei and the couch, Shikiyoku reached up and ran a finger along the shorter edge, feeling that there _should _be a part that allowed her to slip her finger between the folded-over page, but finding none.

The other side was the same.

_(Ah.)_

Remembering something from a long time ago, Shikiyoku ran a finger from short-edge, across the parchment, to the other side, her touch leaving behind a small trail of yellow energy.

Another frown and she flipped the letter over in her hands to the backside, doing the same.

Her eyes lit up when this time she was rewarded with her energy staying on the paper for a second before gathering together right in the middle and making a glowing yellow heart-shape before the glow disappeared and a seal came into view.

And at the sight of the seal her fingers twitched as if she wanted to drop it, distaste for whatever was likely inside quite evident. 3

Hiei's eyes had slid away from Shikiyoku's face and to the letter, watching her fingers search methodically for a way to open it. Here and there he got slight impressions or another from her that were laced with a twinge of consternation, but otherwise he couldn't exactly read her fully.

And for some reason, his amusement about the thing disappeared as he noticed how many different tactics she had to try in order for it to finally accept her energy and bloom a seal he couldn't see.

_(Someone didn't want it opened by another.)_

And he could feel her distaste, her silent protest of some sort that drew his eyes up to her face again.

Someone important, it seemed.

And he sent her the impression of patience, reminding her he was there.

_(Might as well get it over with.) __*****_

Not out of a need of reassurance that he was in fact beside her, for she already could sense this steady sort of contentment that she felt a little surprised she had begun to associate with him being this close, but more of a habit really, her eyes flickered in his direction as she gave a little smile before looking back at the letter.

And letting out a sigh.

_(...do I have to?)_

She felt she already knew what the letter would contain.

Though there was a bit of...surprise? perhaps? in the fact that this seal with neither Yomi's nor Raizen's.

_(This...is from Mukuro.) _3

Hiei hadn't replied to her first silent inquiry, sensing another thought slowly traversing his way as she reluctantly informed him of who it was from.

And for a moment he didn't give her a response of any kind aside from a blink. Couldn't even _formulate_ a response.

Yes, he knew who Mukuro was. For a long while, he'd avoided the Eighth Layer simply because he didn't care for the war that had been brewing for as long as he could remember. He didn't care for the beings who fought to rule over one another, because he hadn't been involved.

And from what he understood, this one was the strongest, cruelest of them all.

Which had him blinking again.

If it was from such a being, did that mean the war was advancing faster than before?

She _could_ toss it aside, but he had a feeling it wasn't something one did with a letter from one of the three kings.

_(...open it.) _

He was reluctant too, but he knew there was a reason for it. And he also already knew that he didn't _like_ that reason for the letter. _*****_

Shikiyoku gave out a little groan.

_(But I don't __**want **__to go to war.)_

_(And who knows what Mukuro has planned for me.)_

_(If she knows who I am, then Raizen and Yomi do too and I-)_

Another groan.

_(I'm probably better off dead.) _3

Hiei sighed internally and reached for the letter, deciding if she wasn't going to open it, then he was. She'd already brought the seal forth, after all.

And it was highly likely they were being watched, to ensure she got the letter anyway. _*****_

Shikiyoku narrowed her eyes playfully at him and twitched the letter away from his reach.

_(__**My **__letter.)_

Watching him, she broke the seal and slipped her fingers underneath the fold, giving out a heavy sigh and bending back the top page just enough to see the introduction, noting that there was a second page under the first.

_(To: The Second Kuraku, Shikiyoku, Demon of Duality, Daughter of Omoni-Demon of Desire, Former Ruler of The Ninth Level-and Heir Apparent of what is now the Ninth Layer of the Joined Dimensions; _

_From: What is now the Eighth Layer of the Joined Dimensions, and from myself, Mukuro, Demon of Rage, Ruler of the Southern Sector of the Eighth Layer: greetings.)_

_(...you've __**got **__to be kidding me.) _3

Hiei… hadn't been expecting such an introduction.

And it had him giving the _loudest_ scoff he'd ever made. Even if the entire demon populace knew who this demon was- and he was pretty sure every demon alive knew who Mukuro was- then that intro would have either done the job for them…

Or set them into laughing at the amount of ego behind the words.

_(Chatty.) _

_(I don't like him.)_

_(Useless information that everyone already knows.)_

_(….)_

_(Next.) __*****_

Shikiyoku glanced over at him.

First of all:

_(Her. Mukuro is a woman.) _3

Now _that_ was new.

_(Hn.)_

Everyone had always referred to Mukuro as a king, simply because of how he- she?- hid behind the mask-like bindings around her head and hi-her- reputation for cruelty matched- no, _surpassed _that of the other kings.

_(...Okay.) _

_(Next.) __*****_

_('King,' is only a title, a job. Genderless. 'Queen' of Demon World is another occupation entirely.)_

_(...she prefers that people do not know, however.)_

The next impression was...confliction about the introduction.

While Shikiyoku had not 'grown up in court' at the Palace, her years as the seductress had taught her much about the formalities one might expect.

...and it was perhaps her _own _title that bothered her more than Mukuro's.

...okay, it _was _her own title that bothered her _much _more than Mukuro's.

_Second Kuraku...Demon of Duality...Daughter of..._

Omoni.

She had not thought about her mother's name in a very long time. And being no longer considered a 'Demon of Desire' herself had never been made so painfully clear before, bringing up thoughts that had her jaw flexing as her teeth clenched together in her mouth, thoughts whirling around a loss of identity, her tainted energy...

Coupled with, (_I don't __**want **__to be the Heir.) _3

Hiei's scowl deepened as moments ticked by, seconds turning to minutes and Shikiyoku's thoughts spiraling downward, her emotions getting darker. He continued to watch her for a moment before he broke in with a feeling of content with who she was.

Followed briefly by: (_what do you desire?)_

He reached out and wrapped his fingers around the wrist that held the letter and tugged her hand down to rest on the couch, attempting to draw her eyes to his.

_(Look at me.)_

_(...what do you desire?) __*****_

_(To have nothing to do with it.)_

She readily met his gaze.

_(To spend each moment with __**you**__.) _

But that's not what this letter was about, was it?

The long lost, the _last_, of her line. The kings probably expect her to take the throne back, or at the very least assist _them _in obtaining it.

...likely on the threat of her own life if she did not. 3

Hiei raised a brow.

He had already known _that_.

He gave a small frown, guessing very easily what she was thinking in regards to the letter, after her repeating the titles addressed to her. He remembered her showing him of the day she'd been banished, and how she'd overcome that mesmer with his own help. And how she'd walked away, wanting nothing to do with the title that people saw as hers.

And he knew she wanted _nothing_ to do with anything to do with any of it. At all.

So it was easy to guess how she thought Mukuro, like the other kings, would likely want her to take the throne.

Except..

_(Mukuro is the one who does not wish for things to change, yes?) _If that was so, wouldn't that mean he- no, she wouldn't want _that_ to change as well?

_(Keep reading.) __*****_

Shikiyoku only paused a moment longer, resolved to read on, but-

_(Mukuro wishes to __**destroy **__the throne. To be rid of any ruling powers.)_

Her eyes went to the letter as she unfolded it further.

_(And that likely means being/getting rid of __**me**__.)_

Scanning the page before reading it, she snorted.

_(If you thought the introduction was eloquent, you're going to __**love **__the rest of this stuff.)_

_..._

_(And as well, a word of congratulations to Cursed Child, Gouka, Hiei of the Evil Eye, Master of the Darkness Flame, for his recent elevation as Consort to Kuraku.)_

_(Kuraku,_

_Your recent exploits in the battle against the invading dead have not gone unnoticed by my people, and it is because of your prowess that I investigated further and am now extending the invitation to have you join me in my cause._

_It has come to my attention via these investigations that the conflict between myself and my enemies is no secret to you, and neither is it a secret to me that you have thus far expressed no intentions of overthrowing the current Ruling Family and claiming your birthright. _

_Know that my summons for your presence is not borne out of a desire to place you on the throne as Raizen might wish, nor do I intend to see you challenge the throne only to abdicate it to myself as I am sure Yomi is planning. Instead, I would offer you haven from either of them, protection at my fortress, with the understanding that whatever knowledge you have of the recent events is yours to do with as you please._

_However, since the sudden revealing of the existence of the Tenth Layer, the Veil, that which has been come to be called 'inbetween' among the public, my enemies have begun to rally powerful demons to their side who can traverse the layers as we all believe it is through harnessing this power we shall gain the upper hand and succeed in the impending invasion of the Ninth Layer, and, at the last, the Palace._

_It is now no longer a fight for control of the entryways into the Ninth Level-which has for decades placed us at a stalemate since the denizens below covet the knowledge of passage and have forever denied us-but instead we race to obtain a way between, and have found that way through those demons capable of moving between and circumventing the need for those entryways._

_We each strive to increase the number of those in our ranks who can do so._

_And that is where we circle back to you._

_Should you freely choose to accept my invitation and find me in the Mobile Fortress, I will spare no expense at the endeavour to cure you of the disease I am told you have been plagued with. There is a lab here fully equipped and assigned to you, as well as a staff intended to be at your disposal should you decide to you have need of them._

_But know this, Kuraku: Should you decide to reject me, I will not hesitate to kill, to hunt you and Gouka down myself. I will not allow either Raizen or Yomi the opportunity to use you as they see fit._

_I look forward to seeing you._

_-Mukuro) _3

Hiei felt as if he was actually reading the letter over her shoulder, each word coming to mind as if his own eyes scanned the heavy parchment. And at the very first paragraph, he'd given a small sound of amusement- _I worked hard for it, thank you- _and promptly continued concentrating, listening as it were, to the words that his mind picked from the bond between them, reading at almost the same rate as the person reading it first hand.

He'd been quickly intrigued with the passage concerning her disease being cured. It seemed to grab his attention in a vice-like grip and refuse to let his mind register the rest, the Jagan coming open to reread that one passage all over again to make sure he'd understood it correctly.

It would be…

Having that sickness alleviated from her would be wonderful. It would lift a bit of the weight at the back of his mind, would help him to know that even if they ended up separated by some means or another, she'd be safe should she switch. Because he now felt it critical to plan everything out one step at a time, to plan for the event of a separation, just in case.

And now that Mukuro had entered the picture, it seemed to add to that, making the gears in his head turn.

...But if the disease was eliminated…

He blinked and cleared his mind in time to hear the last passage, and displeasure set in clear on his features.

All three kings knew of her by this point, that much was evident. And all three had their own uses for her. And all three would very likely offer the same thing Mukuro had, if not in so many words.

A chance to cure her own disease. A shot at the throne.

A throne she didn't want.

Which is what seemed to make this demon top contender, if they didn't have a say at all.

Which, he felt they didn't.

Because while he'd be agreeing for Shikiyoku's sake, to keep her from being hunted, he knew she'd be agreeing for his sake, to keep _him _from being hunted.

His scowl deepened and he let his eyes close.

….At least she wouldn't be thrown to the throne… _*****_

Shikiyoku did _not _want to do it.

Did not want to get involved, did not want to so much as set _foot _on the Eighth Layer.

Not ever.

And not now especially, since apparently everyone and their demon sibling knew of her existence. Of her stupid bloodline, her legacy.

_(And that damn throne has __**nothing **__to do with ruling __**anything**__.)_

Not that she would know, exactly, having never _held _the position.

But was Renai really doing all that bad of a job?

...at least _he _was leaving her alone. And he had known the whole _time _of her background.

Raizen would put her _on_ the throne. Yomi would have her challenge Renai and then pass the position to _him_. And Mukuro?

_(...there's no way I can be left alive and at the same time fulfill Mukuro's wishes.)_

Shikiyoku didn't even care about the blasted offer to help find a cure.

_(Why cure me when you're just going to kill me anyway?)_

Shikiyoku made a noise of unhappiness and nestled up against Hiei, her thoughts reflecting the noise she just made until-

_(Gouka, huh?) _

_(...it suits you.) _3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	110. Episode 194

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari realizes that Yomi and Youko  
were part of the same gang a long time ago,  
and wonders to herself if Yomi expects Kurama  
to do the same thing to her that Youko did to Yomi.

Eventually she leaves the training room,  
and Kurama soon follows after,  
heading to meet Yomi for the scheduled war meeting.

Upon arrival, only Yomi is there,  
and as Kurama sits down, Yomi reveals  
that Mukuro sent a letter to a "Shikiyoku,"  
and that Yomi has discovered the relationship  
between both Kurama, and Youko in the distant past,  
stating that he does remember her,  
though he thought those that took down Youko  
had also disposed of Shikiyoku as well.

Kurama discovers that both Kitoushi and Douji are dead,  
and that Shikiyoku has taken Hiei as her Consort.  
Yomi's plan is to have Shikiyoku challenge the throne,  
and her then immediately abdicate it to Yomi.

He plans to have Kurama fetch her,  
convince her that the plan is sound,  
and bring her back to the Eighth to join them.

Meanwhile, as soon as Akari falls asleep,  
she finds her spirit once more out side of her body,  
eventually being scared back into herself by a voice she does not know...

~!**!~

Having slept soundly next to Hiei on the couch in Toriko's home,  
Shikiyoku is awakened by a letter delivered onto the table.  
It is from Mukuro, informing Shikiyoku that all Three Kings  
know of her and her connection to the throne of the Ninth Layer.  
Apparently, Raizen wishes to return her to that throne,  
Yomi wants her to obtain the throne and pass it to him,  
but Mukuro offers Shikiyoku sanctuary  
and all of the science at her disposal  
to research a means to rid Shikiyoku of her disease.  
And Mukuro promises to hunt down and kill  
both Shikiyoku and Hiei  
should the offer be refused...

* * *

Hiei refrained from answering, the wheels in his mind turning over and over. He'd already considered what Shikiyoku had pointed out, about Mukuro killing her at the end of it all. And he had tried not to think about it. Yes, he wanted the answer to her illness, the one that threatened her life every time she was put in a dangerous situation….

Which could become much more frequent if they didn't respond accordingly to Mukuro's letter.

But he knew without a doubt that if they _didn't_ go, Mukuro would hunt her to the end of the line, and the fire demon knew his own limits. He wouldn't do much against someone of that standing, even with the Jagan and in his full demonic form.

Mukuro would very likely simply bat the dragon aside as if it were a fly.

...They _could _go to the Ninth Layer, sit in the spot she'd called home for so very long. The place where the fire resides and the trees harvested fruits of all kind. It would be easy to take sanctuary there.

...but even then he knew it wouldn't keep them concealed forever.

And quite frankly, Hiei was not one to simply sit around because a demon posed a challenge, a threat.

_(…..It's different this time.)_

He made an unhappy sound.

He didn't…

_(You are not going to be hunted for the next few millennia.)_

But again, he wasn't certain it wouldn't come to that at the very end of it all.

_(...is that all it says?) __*****_

Shikiyoku nodded into his chest, holding the two pages up for a moment in case he wished to take them and read for himself.

She sighed.

_(At least with Yomi or Raizen, I would be assured of my purpose.)_

No matter how...strongly she felt against that purpose.

In fact, as soon as she mentioned it, her stomach clenched as she felt sick.

_(With Mukuro, I would have my freedom. __**We **__would have our freedom.)_

Because who the hell knew what might happen to Hiei if she somehow took the throne.

Renai _stole _it. His circumstances were different.

She paused.

_(...we could...always run to Renai.) _3

Hiei felt himself tense a little. He didn't know this Renai, except what he'd done. He didn't trust that demon.

Then again, he didn't trust any of the three kings either.

(…)

_(And be on the receiving end of the wrath from all three kings at once, along with the fox and the fool?) __*****_

_(Alright. Fine.)_

_(He's really not all that bad though.)_

There was a certain fondness associated with the demon, a kinship for a being, for the _only _being, in the nine layers who had been through _exactly _what she had been through, all the way from Demon of Desire to Demon of Duality.

She conceded that _her _idea wasn't likely any better than the other two, however.

_(Should Renai fall, we would likely be facing whatever of the three had triumphed over the other two anyway, no?_)

Shikiyoku let out a nonsensical, grumbling sigh. 3

They were making circles, it felt like. He found himself right back where he'd been. He considered their ability to run through the layers, and how easy it would be to lose track of another using such tactics. But again, he found himself faced with the idea of _not wanting to hide_. Not wanting to sit around because Shikiyoku's life was counting on it.

Not that it wouldn't be easy to draw certain amounts of demons in certain directions.

It was likely the true fire would help in such a situation, now that he considered it.

...which almost had him convinced such a tactic would work.

_(I'd rather deal with fewer than all that are available at the beginning.)_

In the very least, if it came down to it, when everything was over everyone would have worn themselves thin in some way or another. And they could use the layers _then_ if necessary.

The ranks would be fewer too.

Less of a hassle to deal with so many at once.

Many would die in this war.

…

He repeated that same unhappy sound.

_(We aren't running from today on. Neither of us would be up for it for very long before we'd get sick of it.) __*****_

It wasn't that the thought of running particularly bothered her, or rather, the thought of being on the run, since she knew for every step of the way the demon next to her would _stay _next to her, but at the same time-

_(Yomi may not be very old, but both Mukuro and Raizen __**are**__.) _

And being on Mukuro's bad side was...a terrifying thought.

Because there was no doubt in her mind that the two who had been would-be Kings the longest were much, _much _more powerful than she.

Much faster. Much stronger.

_(...I am no fighter.)_

She knew nothing of war.

_(...but I do not wish to become a runner either.)_

_(...and I do not wish for __**you **__to have to run.) _3

Hiei finally let his eyelids come open again to stare at Shikiyoku, watching her unblinkingly as he pulled the paper from her grasp and tossed it over himself, letting it fall onto the floor. He hadn't liked it in the beginning, and he sure as hell didn't like it now.

_(We will go.) _He sent the impression of the long-suffering sigh he almost gave. (_You will utilize the labs for a cure to your sickness. I will…)_

Hm.

He would what?

_(Do whatever is necessary.)_

_(At the end, we will see how things go. If it comes to it, the layers are our best opportunity to get away. But __**only**_ _if it comes to it. )_

_(You will not be harmed if I am near.) _

_.(..I won't let them.) __*****_

Masking her discomfort at the reminder that he would be subjected to whatever Mukuro had for him, and she obviously had plans or she would not have mentioned him, as Shikiyoku frowned, she slid her hand up until it reached the mark over Hiei's core, setting it aglow and feeling its yellow warmth spread all across his skin.

_(...She will use you.)_

And Shikiyoku didn't like that thought. 3

The fire demon had been well aware of that thought. He'd known from the beginning, as soon as he had been mentioned, that he would not be left alone to watch over her. In fact, he fully expected them to be separated for certain lengths amount of time.

His eyes traveled to look at her hand, an odd sense of… gentleness seeming to cross his mind for a moment. Of calm. As if her touch brought the eye of the storm so he may gather himself before the rest hit.

And boy was it going to hit, he knew.

_(I will always come back to you.) __*****_

_(As if there was ever any doubt.)_

It was the parting that bothered her, nearly as much as it bothered her to have him at someone _else's _beck and call.

She let out a chuckle.

_(I don't like __**sharing**__.) _3

Hiei reveled in the little sound that came from her mouth, feeling his muscles relax a little from the tension that had unknowingly grown.

He didn't like it either. Nothing about this he liked, except the possibility of figuring out how to cure her damn sickness. That blasted, bloody, loathsome illness that had him on edge every time she shifted, had him borderline panicking in certain situations where her life was clearly hanging by a thread.

So the thought that she wouldn't have to deal with it for much longer seemed to soften the blow of being taken from her, even if it was only a little bit of a cushion.

One that likely wouldn't last long once he was out doing… whatever he would be doing.

_(It won't last as long as it will seem. And I don't plan on leaving you alone long.) __*****_

_(Oh, I doubt I'll be alone.)_

The thought came archly, accompanied by the thought of whatever demons Mukuro would see fit to put in her 'employ' as they worked for a cure. 3

Hiei scoffed.

_(You know what I meant, woman.)_

He shifted a little, bringing himself closer. (_It will be… __**interesting**_ _for a while…)_

Considering Yusuke and Kurama were involved as well.

_Interesting indeed. __*****_

_(I suppose it was foolish of me to think I might get a chance to __**enjoy**_ _my new Consort.)_

Laying around. Not having anything in particular to do.

Shikiyoku frowned.

_(I guess this is what I get for wishful thinking.) _3

Hiei resonated his own feelings on the matter, sending his own emotion of consternation that went along with her thought. He'd very much been looking forward to doing absolutely nothing except laying around, only getting up for sweet snow when the thought occurred to him or when either of them _needed_ to get up and stretch their muscles.

He'd even considered turning on that blasted television too, despite his own distaste for such things as _daytime tv _and _infomercials. _Whatever that meant.

…

_(We will… have time.) _

Eventually.

_(We are demons, after all.)_

And if they both lived through this- which he was bound and determined to achieve by any means necessary- then the first thing they'd do is resume what had been interrupted.

A nice, long, _vacation _that consisted of absolutely nothing but _naps _and _snacks_. *****

The little laugh she gave didn't make it past her lips, rumbling in her throat.

_(That sounds like a lovely vacation.)_

Shikiyoku sighed, readying herself to at least make an attempt at getting up, and then suddenly grumbled again.

_(If we don't have a comfortable bed, Mukuro and I are gonna have words.) _3

_(Hn.)_

He watched Shikiyoku as she began shifting a little, and his own reluctance grew exponentially. He didn't want to go, didn't even want to get up. If he knew it would do any good, he'd burn the letter to make it seem like they'd never received it, but he knew better.

He was well aware that Shikiyoku's opening it had probably sent some sensor off in Mukuro's place about it.

He grumbled intangibly as he too shifted around, moving until he was sitting up, but not quite moving to stand yet.

_(And I can guarantee that any who disturb our slumber will leave with third degree burns.) _Because he had a feeling he was going to be exhausted when he returned from whatever endeavor he'd be sent on. (_I have no qualms with sending her men to hell.) __*****_

Shikiyoku reached over and hugged him, though whether with pleasure at the thought of someone running screaming from their room while wreathed in flames or whether from a sudden need for the gesture as form of comfort, she wasn't really sure herself.

_(I don't think she has many useless positions around such as 'waking distempered demons.' Her policy tends to err on the side of punishment, should you not do your duties, even waking yourself up, on your own. She does not waste time with pettiness. And neither does she suffer fools.) _3

He'd only been half serious on that matter.

It was a good thing Hiei was well equipped with adaptivity, hm?

_(That's too bad.)_

He would have enjoyed sending one of her crew screaming.

He took a deep breath and grabbed one of the hands that had come around him, tugging it in a silent _let's go._

Because he really found it tempting to just lay back down and say they could show up later. And while there had been no specific time or date to show up, he knew it was heavily implied to be _asap_.

_(Get it over with.) __*****_

_(Yeah…)_

And rather sooner than later.

She would be expecting them after all.

Shikiyoku stood, wanting just as badly as he to 'ignore' the summons and lay back down as if nothing happened.

...for some reason she felt like they would not have the freedom to do what they wanted for a very long time.

As if called by an unseen invocation, there was a presence waiting outside the front door.

_(An escort. To make sure no one snatches us up along the way.)_

_(...and to make sure we arrive.) _3

Hiei stood in one fluid motion, his cloak moving with him to flutter around his ankles as he turned to the door, not surprised by the sudden presence outside the door. He had already assumed someone was waiting around for them, watching to ensure they didn't make a run for it or acting as if they hadn't received the letter in the first place.

_(Yomi and Raizen may be sending someone here too. I'd prefer to avoid that, so the quicker, the better.)_

He didn't even pause as he moved for the door, releasing his hold on Shikiyoku's hand simply so he would have both hands should something happen. _*****_

_(Because it would be just like Raizen to send Yusuke to fetch us for kicks and giggles. And knowing Yomi, he __**will **__send Kurama.)_

Opening the front door, Shikiyoku blinked and looked up at the demon who awaited patiently for them.

Clothing lay loosely hanging down, a short, burlap-colored poncho reaching the thighs while the rest of a robe extended downwards to hide even the hint of feet, face covered by a gas mask with the hood of the robe pulled up to frame it, all features that might indicate a gender completely hidden, only the tips of fingers peeking through the hem of the long sleeves, and even those were gloved in some sort of black material.

Where on a human poloshirt there might have been a left breast pocket, the seal of Mukuro sat blazoned in plain view.

There was no scent to this one, no aura, no hint of demonic energy, absolutely nothing that might confirm the being actually stood there in the doorway except by sight of eyes.

Even when the mask turned down to look at her-Shikiyoku could feel that much, feel that there were eyes of some kind hidden behind that mask-the movement made no sound.

Strange, then, how she knew this entity was male.

_Not so strange. _She reminded herself. _It's what I've done for centuries._

The mask regarded her for only a moment longer, and without a word, noiselessly, turned and began blurring through the layers.

His meaning could have been no clearer if he shouted the order for them to follow.

And without even having to look to see if Hiei joined her, Shikiyoku did just that.

They were lead downwards, and while Shikiyoku could feel a sense of anxiety floating somewhere along the edges of her connection with Hiei, his closeness kept it at bay, kept her mind sharp for any treachery that might be in store, for she did not know what to expect.

At some point when they were between the seventh and eighth layers, their leader pulled himself into the eighth layer and started down at a freefall for the expansive ground below.

Without much of a thought, Shikiyoku followed suit, feeling the increasing velocity whipping her ponytail in the air behind her, but still not catching any sound from the demon a good twenty feet underneath her, even though she could see the way his robe flapped around him with the drop.

When the muddled green of the area beneath them started to clear as they plunged closer, it became easier to spot the Mobile Fortress moving along the forestry, and there was no mistaking the timing of their descent was so accurate that they would meet with it.

Shikiyoku did not spend much time wondering why they had not just run along the surface of the eighth layer via being between it and the seventh, after all each would-be King must monitor that 'Tenth Layer' and such movement was likely dangerous.

Their landing atop the fortress slammed them somewhere in the middle of it, each side extending a monstrous amount in either direction. From up here the wind still whipped by them from the movement of the giant beast-like mecha-entity below.

Their escort turned and walked back to them, reaching out to put a hand on Shikiyoku's shoulder and one on Hiei's and pulling them inbetween, maneuvering the three of them down into the fortress until they stood in a large dark room, empty save for the demon standing on the other side of it.

Shikiyoku made note of how _weird _the inbetween had felt just then, and how if the escort had not placed a hand on her she would not have been able to make the journey down into the fortress.

_(That is...disconcerting. Nobody in or out unless they have leave to do so.)_

A noise at the other end of the room pulled Shikiyoku's attention back to the present.

Mukuro.

She was just as obscured physically as their guard, face bandaged and lined with seals, her hands chained, handcuffed, together and hanging down in front of her.

The noise had been a shifting of her feet, and around her ankles were other manacles-_Restraints_, Shikiyoku thought-whose chains appeared to be larger than the demon's feet, attaching the limbs to one another.

"Ah. Our esteemed guests." Her voice was manipulated in some way behind those bandages, obscuring how she might actually sound, and Shikiyoku could not rightly tell if the woman was actually speaking out into the air, or planting the words directly into her mind and making her _think _they had been spoken.

"Thank you, lieutenant. If you would wait for a moment."

Their escort removed his hands from them.

Shikiyoku's blood ran cold as the awareness that _Mukuro _was even _less _there than the lieutenant settled in.

There was this negative space at that side of the room, where Mukuro herself stood, as if the female were too powerful to even comprehend and so negated the area around her, making her feel less than real.

"Kuraku. Gouka." Mukuro gave them each a little nod of her head in turn. "I am pleased to see you accepted my invitation."

_(Ha. As if we really had a choice.)_

"You should know that there is only one rule in my service: that everything you do is done to make you stronger than you were before."

It took everything within Shikiyoku not to shiver as Mukuro considered the two of them standing there, as the demon's gaze felt colder than ice.

"Lieutenant, if you'll take Gouka."

As Mukuro spoke to Shikiyoku next, the lieutenant placed his hand on Hiei's shoulder and shifted them inbetween again.

"Kuraku, you are expected in the lab and if you have need of anything, my men there will do whatever they can to assist you."

Shikiyoku strained not to look at Hiei as he left, feeling him being slipped between the layers of the fortress and only having a moment to express all the things they had spoken of back at the house: reluctance, unhappiness, (_I miss you.)_

She became distracted for a moment as she realized a map of the entire fortress had been lifted into her mind somehow, and the heaviness she had felt of the oppression of the fortress lifted. She suddenly realized that heaviness had stemmed from an inability to feel the inbetween here, and even now it still felt _locked _away from her somehow.

"You must feel that I have given you permission to traverse a portion of the halls using the Tenth Layer. Of course there are some places you likely should not go, but I will not forbid any one of them from you as I imagine you will be busy enough. Should you wish to visit those places, you will simply have to _walk_."

Without Hiei next to her, Shikiyoku _did _shiver that time, the power of this demon unsettling without him.

"There will be a technician waiting in the lab to show you around. Do not hesitate to ask him for anything you may need."

There was a sense of dismissal in her presence and Shikiyoku gave the slightest nod and pulled the layers around herself, feeling most assuredly that the inbetween here was confined to the walls of the fortress, and even more so that her _own _movement was confined further still.

Unhappiness starting to stir dark clouds in her mind, she made her way via the map in her mind to the lab she had been assigned to use. 3

During their little trip to the Eighth Layer, Hiei had taken in everything he could from the lack of presence of their escort to the feeling of the layers around him, even the disconcerting lack of sound from the being that whipped through the air ahead of them, to the emotions he could feel sliding over the connection between him and Shikiyoku.

And really, even if he _had_ wanted to speak, he hadn't been given the time before they were standing in a room that was silent and seemingly empty, aside from the eyes he had known to be on them. Eyes that were cold, calculating, scrutinizing. Eyes that Hiei couldn't see even when his own stare was on the masked being. (_Must be a trend.) _

Yes, he was aware of the lack of energy he could feel from the demons.

Yes, he was aware that the only hint of Mukuro's presence was her stare and the occasional movement that would rustle the chains.

Yes, he was unnerved.

But his expression remained calm, watchful as he listened to the greeting. And while he'd stood next to Shikiyoku, he found he couldn't rightly think of anything that might ease both of their tensions. He couldn't come up with anything to send to her that wouldn't add to her unease, just as he was certain she was feeling her own inability to come up with something other than such an emotion.

It didn't help when Mukuro told the lieutenant to wait, which told him that the separation of himself and Shikiyoku would be swift and likely last a good while before remedied for even a moment.

And before Hiei could really register much more of anything else, he was being pulled between the layers, the hand on his shoulder remaining there as he was tugged in a different direction than he'd wanted to be. He was guided through hallways, up a few floors, and the only sound he registered within the area was that of the occasional demon checking in with another.

He'd never seen such a populated area be so silent, especially not when those demons all seemed to rush from one place to another, trading information, trading paperwork before going back to wherever they'd come from.

And then he was dropped back onto the layer, standing in the center of a darkened room that was… decorated?... with spindly trees that grew from the cracks in the floor, rock structures that jutted from the floor as if formed by an elementalist. He couldn't quite gauge how large the room was, but he had a feeling that he'd be here a good while.

The demon's hand slid away from Hiei's shoulder, but the hand didn't go far. It remained stretched to him, palm upward in a silent message. The fire demon stared at it for a moment before feeling the stare of the other moving down a little, pausing at the cloth around his neck before roving to the material at his chest and rising to his face again.

Hiei did as instructed, removing the loose clothing materials and passing them over.

And then he was alone in the room. _*****_

"And if you need use of the-"

The tech had only just started 'walking' Shikiyoku through the lab that she could already feel was going to be a pain in the neck and the place where she spent most of her time.

There was a growing tension settling at the back of her neck and being led around was putting her in a foul mood, her jaw flexing and her shoulders unable to relax.

It did not help that the members of the lab themselves, likely demons assigned there by Mukuro herself, were following _closely _behind her and the tech, and she could _feel _their desires rolling off of them.

These demons _knew _her, or had at least been told of her. They knew who she was, knew what she had done, and obviously knew what she had become.

Their desires ranged from mild curiosity in regards to the tales they had been told of her and her involvement in the battle at the first portal to ones centered around the _seductress_ side of things and the more obscene stories surrounding that.

And if she had the power she would have blasted each and every one of their heads from their bodies.

The desire, both hers and those of the others, only got worse the longer the 'tour' took and Shikiyoku had barely even _heard _anything of what the tech had told her they could, and did, plan to do to assist her.

_This facility isn't even that __**big**__, what the hell is he yammering on about?_

Pulled from rather delicious thoughts of ripping limbs from bodies, Shikiyoku realized they had stopped moving and the tech was looking mildly in her direction.

She played back the last few moments and heard her mind feed her the question one of the demons behind her had asked.

Her lips pulled back into a silent snarl as she ran her tongue over the front of her teeth, making a slight sucking noise as she turned around, giving a look that might kill across the gathered group now in front of her.

"All of you..._**get. Out.**_"

The demons stared at her for a moment as if they didn't believe her.

"Did I...stutter?" She seethed at them.

As if that broke the spell, they started to look at one another, murmuring quietly, but when she spoke up again she grabbed their attention.

"If you are not out of here in the next five seconds, I promise that you will spend the _rest of your life _entertaining _wet dreams _of Mukuro that you will _strive _to make a reality. **Get. Out.**"

It only took another second of the demons blinking at her, and after that she was releasing her energy to start it snaking among them, inciting general panic as they scrambled to retreat from it.

Two of the demons near the front appeared to be regarding the entire showing unimpressed, and it was these two she turned to after casting a withering glare at the tech behind her before he too stammered an excuse and disappeared.

"You, and you." She could see by the emblems on their coats that the first demon was the highest ranked scientist at her disposal, the second his assistant. She had picked them out early. She felt no desires from them at all.

They turned to her, having only just started to walk calmly off.

"You will stay and help me."

The head scientist tilted his head a little, glancing at his assistant, and gave a slight nod to Shikiyoku as the mayhem around them escalated to a climax before every other demon was gone.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku paced the floor of the main room to which she and Hiei had been assigned for the duration of their stay.

This room was no longer or wider than fifty feet, a perfect square, with the door that lead out into the hallway in the Western wall and a rather plain couch backed up against the Northern one. A drab coffee table stretched the length of the couch and on it sat Hiei's cloak and scarf.

It was at those articles Shikiyoku would occasionally stop to stare at as she paced back and forth in the middle of the room.

The rest of the space was bare, as if the decorator had put the furniture in it and then forgot to do anything else.

The walls were dark, the room's light rather dim-and appearing to come from nowhere at all-and the floor could have been some sort of concrete at some point that had only been coated with some substance or another to relieve it of its harshness under the feet and color it the same as the walls.

A turn away from the main door after staring at it for a beat and Shikiyoku stalked in the other direction.

The Eastern wall had one door in it as well, maybe five or six feet from the Southern wall and Shikiyoku felt as if she had every blood corner of the room unintentionally memorized as she turned back to pace in the other direction.

She did not know how much time had passed as within the fortress there was no way of knowing, but after terrorizing the demons of the lab, she had attempted to help the two that were left-they had ideas of where to begin and she felt grateful for not having to think of any-but her mind could not stay focused on the tasks and after a good while she dismissed herself, unable to _think _about her sickness much less start analyzing it in any way.

That wasn't _her _area of expertise anyway, it was Kit's.

Shikiyoku let out a little groan and stopped in place, lifted a hand to rub her fingers over her forehead.

When she first found the room, she had hoped perhaps Hiei was already inside-despite the fact she could _feel _he was not there-and went from this main room to the next through the other door.

Roughly the same size of room, this one had a large, half-circle shaped bed against the wall opposite the door that she immediately ignored as it did not have Hiei laying within it.

A rug was spread out on the ground between the end of the bed and the wall with the door, and if Shikiyoku had decided to lay down on _it _for some reason, even if she stretched her arms out over her head or to either side she could not have touched its edges.

And while it looked incredibly soft and fluffy, some demon hide or another with fur that would be up to her ankles if she stepped on it, she took no further notice of it either.

She had, however, stomp her way over to the left, a box-like device that came up to her waist and gave off the appearance of a fridge sitting silent in the corner.

Upon opening it, she blinked at the two loaves of bread inside, circular and larger at the bottom than her palm, and could feel the very light sense of coolness that washed over her knees from the open door. One was reddish, the other purple.

She slammed the door shut and turned away, not even bothering with the other door she could see in the wall across from her now, far to her left and almost in the corner.

She knew Hiei was not in there either.

Shikiyoku pulled her hand down from her forehead and tried to take a deep breath.

Attempting sleep hadn't occurred to her yet, because she was not _tired_, simply feeling anxious and overly short tempered and not really understanding _why_.

Letting out a growl into the silence of the main room, Shikiyoku turned and paced back in the other direction. 3

For what felt like a _very_ long while, Hiei had stood in that room, waiting for something, anything to happen. And when nothing had jumped from the shadows- though he was very much aware of eyes on him- he began to slowly make his way around the room, feeling out its size and looking over every shadow he could see.

The room smelled clean- too clean, really- and looked just as spotless. There was no indication of another being inside except for its cleanliness, and as he walked the perimeter first, he found himself frowning. He knew he was being observed just as much as he was observing the room, roving each nook and cranny with a keen gaze.

It was a room with vast expanse of space, enough so that if he wanted to run at full speed from one end to another, it would actually take a few full seconds. Add that to the cleanliness of the room and the eyes watching him, and he was easily able to figure out what the purpose of him being here was.

After all, _everything you do is to make you stronger_, right?

The thought had him quickly growing angry.

He'd been pulled from Shikiyoku without even knowing where she'd be. He'd been tossed into a room without any explanation and had his cloak and scarf removed, leaving the jewels out in the open. He'd tucked them under his shirt, but not before another had already seen them both.

Which made him uneasy.

Uncertain.

The hilt of his sword bounced once against his leg as he pulled to a stop, ears twitching with the slightest of sound he could hear at the other end of the room. His eyes watched the path that lead towards the door, the silence ensuing once more.

Briefly, his eyes narrowed and tension formed between his brows.

"_Gouka."_

The word seemed to echo around the room from a source he couldn't pinpoint. But he knew where to go.

And it only took a few milliseconds before he was standing where he'd been left hours ago, guarded and eyeing the lieutenant.

He made a gesture at him before turning and moving for the open door, the message crystal clear.

He was walked through the building, the demon showing him the way to another floor, passing door after door until he became faintly aware of a new sort of tension filling his mind.

A tension that was not his own.

_Shikiyoku._

The demon in front of him came to a halt outside a heavy door, turning to give a cloaked glare at the fire demon.

"_Those gems will not serve you there." _Again, Hiei had the faint impression that the voice had no identifiable source, only reaching his ears as if he were the only one to hear them, but he knew it not to be a telepathic communication. "_You will do well to leave them behind before this evening." _

The demon disappeared and Hiei wasted no time moving into the room that he'd been lead to, his hand pulling the gems from hiding only when the door was firmly shut behind him. _*****_

If Shikiyoku even knew why she had started pacing back and forth in the first place, she had certainly forgotten it by this point, stopping to glare at the front door just as she reached it, crossing her arms over her chest for a few seconds-minutes? She still wasn't sure-before scowling again and dropping her arms to tread quietly back in the direction of the opposite wall.

As if the state of the other room might have changed without her watchful eye, she kept striding this time, opening the door and letting it slam with ceremony against the wall to her right, moving just far enough inside to be able to see every other corner and note that absolutely nothing had changed, and that everything continued to _not _change even as she glowered at each item in the otherwise plain room, feeling as if the sable color of the walls themselves were darkening her temper. 3

Hiei had both gems in his hand as he took to looking around the room, his ears picking up the sounds of angry footsteps back and forth across the flooring of the area. He felt his tension suddenly melt away despite the thickening tension in the room, aware of the angry pacing of the woman who was silent, and had likely been doing this for a good while.

Hiei's eyes moved to watch Shikiyoku, his stare heavy on her as his hand fell to his side, the strings from the necklaces brushing the fabric of his pants.

_(Shiki.)_

His lips twitched, turning down into the frown he had been keeping carefully under wraps for a good while. And he crossed the room with silent steps, coming to a stop in front of Shikiyoku. _*****_

When Shikiyoku turned and tromped with annoyance out of the bedroom, her eyes were on the floor, a low growl of ire resonating deep in her chest until both she and the growl stopped short suddenly, blinking at a pair of feet that were not her own and lifting her eyes to catch sight of Hiei standing before her.

Another blink as if she didn't believe it was actually _him_, and then a sudden flood of relief washed over her, leaving her only able to stand there staring at him, unable to form enough of a coherent thought to do anything else. 3

Hiei's lips flattened into a calm line when the tension in Shikiyoku's entire body suddenly melted away and her gaze had met his. Whatever had been left of his own tension slowly left as well, as if her state of being had directly affected his own without his direct notice.

After a brief moment of simply standing there, he closed the space between them and pulled her into a hug, knowing it usually helped her regain her footing, whether it be metaphorical or literal. _*****_

Wrapping her arms around him, Shikiyoku let out a noise of protest, though it was aimed at having been kept from him.

_(This is __**not **__going to work.)_

Being away from him.

_(I can't...I can't even think.)_

There was a moment where all her previous emotions of irritation and short temperedness shuffled past her awareness.

Anger. Resentment. Annoyance.

The recalling of how ticked off she'd gotten with the demons down in the lab, something she knew rarely happened. She considered herself a patient female as far as demons go and it was uncharacteristic.

_(What did you do to me?)_

Her eyes narrowed playfully even up against him like this. 3

Hiei gave a small sneer of amusement at her question, but he didn't answer her. He was no stranger to anger, and was able to manage it on most occasions, which made him think of how they'd been laying on the couch earlier that day, her determination to help him get through the heaviness that he'd never felt before.

...Odd how the tables had turned so quickly.

He blinked and glanced over her shoulder at his hand that held the gems against the small of her back. He hadn't liked the idea of leaving them in the room unsupervised. And he knew wearing them into the _other_ room wouldn't do much of anything for him either.

Which meant he had only one option.

He pulled away from her suddenly and held that hand out to her, letting the strings slide through his hand until the gems were gleaming in the low lighting and he had hold of the strings only.

_(I will not be wearing these for my tasks. They would be in the way.) __*****_

Her initial reaction had been 'so what will you do with them,' but even _she _did not think they should be left in the room, and like himself she followed the answer to the problem to its conclusion and only came up with one path.

She still hesitated.

Like when Uryo had first offered what ended up being the jewel that belonged to Hiei, there was a part of her which _knew _the meaning behind offering her his tear, but now the other part of her rationalized it away as simply the solution to his problem to save his sister's.

All of that flowed into the connection between them.

Those two sides fought for a second and even as she reached out towards the necklaces she paused and looked up at him.

_(Are you...certain?) _3

Hiei took everything in stride, and while he was reluctant to not keep these jewels on his person, he felt Shikiyoku capable of keeping them hidden well enough until he could fetch them. Until they would no longer be a target for anyone who would know of them being on his person.

And a part of him would not put it past Mukuro to take them should she find a reason.

...Which he would readily fight tooth and nail for.

_(It is unavoidable.) _He moved them closer to her hand, urging her to take them. (_You will have less trouble keeping them hidden than I.) _Because without his cloak, they wouldn't be easily concealed. The black shirt he wore was too thin, meant to fit him enough to not be a hindrance when a thick cloak would be. _*****_

Shikiyoku nodded in agreement. She knew that much.

She took them from him carefully, staring down at the wintry depths of the jewels and seeing within them the reason a "Cursed Child" might have for living when they felt too desperate or lost to continue.

Her grip on the strings tightened and she looked up at him.

_(You know such a gift can also be a promise, right?) _

_(A promise that you will find your way back to it, will come back for it.) _3

Hiei released the strings when Shikiyoku's fingers were wrapped around them, his eyes remaining on the jewels for a moment longer before moving up to Shikiyoku's face, watching her. He considered her for a few moments with a calm stare before his brow raised a little.

_(Naturally.) _

Because there was no way he'd leave _her _behind either. _*****_

Shikiyoku lowered her hand to her side, matching his crimson stare with her own and starting to smile.

_(Good.)_

_(Then I will keep them for that.)_

She frowned a little, still unhappy that they meant to keep the two of them apart.

And noting briefly that they had not exchanged two words out loud with one another since the day before they arrived, finding the realization amusing while also feeling thankful that they had the luxury afforded them to not _have _to.

Walls usually have ears. 3

Hiei's lips twitched briefly, turning up into a smirk of amusement at her declaration. And truthfully, he found he rather preferred her holding onto them than for the jewels to be anywhere else aside from his person. It would also make it easier for him to locate her without calling upon the Jagan, should he have need of it.

His eyes suddenly lifted from hers to look around the room, actually seeing it for the first time and taking in his surroundings, memorizing everything in the room and the path that had brought him here before his eyes came down again.

He couldn't tell what time of day it was when there were no windows to the outside world.

_(I assume you've looked in the scientific laboratories. And I expect you to be working hard on that while I am doing other means of work.) __*****_

The feelings associated with the 'lab' were that they were irksome and terrible. Not to mention the fact that she didn't have any idea what exactly was expected of her because 'science wasn't really her thing.'

Which sounded a little stupid when she actually let the thought form.

The science of _herself_, how her own body worked, she felt well-enough acquainted with. Even now with the subtle differences having another side gave her.

The problem was the other side itself. She did not know much about it, nor did she have any expertise in isolating viruses or discovering cures. That was all...

She could feel a sigh resonating between their connection.

That was all Kitoushi's realm of understanding. 3

Hiei gave a small scoff.

She had an entire lab at her hands and an immeasurable amount of time to figure it out. And demons ready for her every beck and call, he was sure. Even if it wasn't _her_ expertise, there would be people around who would, in the very least, explain to her what was going on.

Because they both knew Hiei had no skills there either. Only the basic cleaning and wrapping of wounds.

_(You have time.)_

Too much time, he thought. They were going to be here for a good while, and he wasn't sure what all was in store for _him. _At least he knew she would be in a lab, working towards something that would benefit her. Hiei would-

He'd be gaining power.

That would make up for his stay, he supposed. It would open up new options in case something happened when the war went into full swing and-

He cut the thoughts off and blinked once before pulling away from her. There was a little bell going off in his head, and his eyes wandered the room for a moment before decoding its meaning.

_Time to go._

He brought his eyes back to Shikiyoku's, watching her expression for a moment.

_(You'll figure it out.) __*****_

Shikiyoku tensed for a second as if she'd actually be able to do anything about the fact that he had to leave, and she let it go, eyes glancing off to the side.

_(I don't want to figure it out.)_

But that was really only because-

_(I don't want to __**be **__here.)_ 3

Hiei let out a breath from his nostrils.

_(But we __**are**_ _here. And it was the best option of the ones we had.)_

He paused, eyes closing as the bell continued to ring in his head.

_(We will make due.) _

Another pause and he was stepping away, half-turning, stopping for a moment, and continuing on his way.

_(Keep those with you. I'll be coming back.) __*****_

Shikiyoku let out a sigh and watched him go, fingers still clutching at the necklaces in her grasp.

There was no way she would be getting any sleep, so even when she gave the door behind her, still open from earlier, a passing glance over her shoulder, she knew she wasn't staying here.

She would go crazy.

Even if a little of the irritation with the labs was already creeping back into her mind.

She held up the twin necklaces in front of her face for a moment and then pulled one of them over her head, feeling a resounding sense of-

_Yukina._

-coming from it as it settled against her sternum. With the second-

_Hiei._

-and then the two were nestled closely next to one another, Shikiyoku looking down at them until she took them in her fingers and slipped them underneath her tanktop, letting them rest against her skin.

Strangely enough, _this _time when she thought of returning to the lab it didn't hold quite so much contempt in the place in her mind.

Another heavy sigh and she wrapped the layers of the fortress around her, moving through the structure back to the lab itself. 3

Hiei shut the door behind him and turned away from it, making his way back the direction he'd come earlier. No demon to escort him this time, no guide. He was rather thankful for that, since he'd grown rather irritable with the being every time that hand had come to rest on his shoulder.

The trek back had been just as it had been the way to the room: quick, quiet, and irritating. Demons bustled by on silent feet with papers in their hands or objects in their arms, each giving him a glance, pausing briefly, and then continuing on.

So perhaps it was with relief that he moved into the room, standing in place for a moment as the door slid shut of its own accord and a string of words echoed around the room.

"_Try not to die."_

~!**!~

It was early. Way too early.

Yet a presence had woken her and a fist hit her door once.

_Wha-at?_

"Get up, dog. We have limited time!"

_Great._

She didn't know this voice, didn't know the presence on the outside of her door, but she got up and dressed anyway, sliding her armor over her head and pulling her hair up into a messy bun before unlocking and swinging the door open. "What?"

"Yomi needs results. We're getting them."

_Great. _

"You'll be with me for the next few days."

_Is that so?_

"And you'll be wishing it was the fox."

_I can already tell you that that is much more true than you will ever know. __*****_

~!**!~

Allowing the runner to get by them wasn't really all that difficult this time since they didn't actually get a lock on the letter until it was already in Shikiyoku's house.

Yomi told Kurama 'it was time,' by sending his second lieutenant to fetch him and the pair left promptly.

But apparently arrived too late.

To make sure no one recognized him on the first layer, Kurama waited until he stood in the middle of Shikiyoku's house before stepping out from the Veil.

Not a soul.

He scouted out the room, the lieutenant going upstairs to make sure, and found the letter they tracked tossed aside and laying askance underneath the coffee table.

_I thought as much._

He scanned the contents, affirming both the authenticity of Mukuro's seal as well as his own reservations about Mukuro knowing Raizen and Yomi's possible plans for Shikiyoku.

_And if Mukuro knows, Raizen knows._

Somewhere in the back of his mind he felt thankful to Mukuro being the one to pick Shikiyoku up.

A sniff of the air told him Hiei had been with her.

And had left with her.

He was thankful for probably the first time that Youko was still hibernating.

_But how did they get there?_

Kurama looked up to see the lieutenant coming back down the stairs shaking his head.

"We will catch up to her, then." Kurama said mildly, folding himself back up in the Veil and taking off, following the faint trail Shikiyoku's scent had left behind.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku leaned her elbow onto the counter beside her, shifting her legs to cross one knee over the other as she propped her cheek up with her fist.

Staring at the pad of paper he had in his hand, Shikiyoku had been trying not to look anywhere else.

Iketeru didn't seem to notice as he asked her another question and Shikiyoku answer to the best of her ability.

His hair was brown.

And wasn't like it was even anywhere _near _the color of brown that Taka's had been. Plus Taka's was always messy, sticking up in every direction. Iketeru's hair seemed smoother, more feathery. Shorter too.

_Feathery._

Shikiyoku restrained a groan, but Iketeru looked up at her and blinked as if sensing something.

The lack of desire from him was refreshing and instead of questioning how or why Shikiyoku just accepted it as a small blessing.

"And you're positive you feel nothing while in this form?" He turned his green eyes back down to his notes.

"Yes." Shikiyoku replied as if she had answered this question too often for Iketeru to not already know her response. "I'm positive. Absolutely nothing."

A noise from somewhere behind him had her eyes flicking away from the clipboard Iketeru held as he scratched on it some more.

His assistant's name was Rikei, and he was moving about in the background probably preparing something or another that the pair of them thought up while she had been absent.

Luckily, Rikei's dark purple hair reminded her of _no one_, though she did find it a bit strange to see a demon wearing glasses, even if he looked fairly attractive with them.

As if aware of her stare, Rikei glanced over at her, his amber gaze mesmerizing and unearthly for a second as a portion of his bangs fell over his eyes and then he blinked and turned back to whatever he was working on. 3

Hiei had lost count.

Of the minutes. Of the hours. Of the demons. Of the number of times the dragon had screeched to life. Of the number of trees that had been annihilated with the flames he called forth. Of the number of times a new wave had begun.

He'd even lost count of the number of times he'd lost his temper and thought of the tear gems.

Hiei had lost count of just about everything, and he was sure he hadn't even been in the room as long as it felt. His sword had returned to his sheath and he took a step back, hearing the lack of movement in the room and only hoping it meant a moment to breathe, but not daring to believe it would be as such.

His guard remained, his feet digging into the concrete-like flooring and his Jagan searching for new threats.

Nothing.

So far, each and every demon had been just a little above his standing in power. And each and every demon had been a challenge all their own, with different abilities than the one before. And each and every demon had fallen, even if it had been because of the dragon or his loss of temper.

He'd forgotten what that felt like, to lose his temper and engulf a large group of living beings into a flame that took over an entire area, or in this case the entire room. And each time it happened, there would be a break between that wave and the next, as if he had been rewarded for his extreme use of his energy.

He'd forgotten what it felt like to send an inferno simply to save his own hide. Or to wrap his sword about in a flame purely of anger and hatred.

But with each new wave, he was remembering quicker, recalling his older way of fighting that consisted of kill first investigate later. Kill or be killed.

And even when he lowered himself to the floor with his sword in an easily accessible place and rested his chin on his arms, his senses were open and ready for any new attack. Even as his mind cautiously drifted off for a brief moment of rest, the Jagan was searching, aware of every shadow in the room, ready to wake him in an instant.

And even in his deepest of sleep, if a single sound was heard, his hand would be around his sword's hilt and he'd be on his feet, ready with fire blazing in his eyes and rage in his stomach.

Because he was already sick and tired of being in this room.

~!**!~

Akari stood in a room with a demon she did not recognize, who had been waiting for her earlier that morning when the other had woken her. This demon sat crosslegged in the air, hands on his knees and ears twitching, grin showing a single sharpened tooth as his spiky red hair waved about in a wind all his own.

And again, he repeated what he'd said, this time giving a loud laugh.

And she _still _didn't understand. He spoke too fast, and his accent was one she hadn't heard before.

She only stared at him.

And for the fourth time, he spoke the same amount of words, looked to her in amusement and then nodded his head encouragingly.

"It's hard to work with ya if ya aren' goin' to talk, lass."

_Oh._

She frowned.

He gave a wiggle of his ears and lowered himself to the floor, this time speaking a little slower, a little clearer. "Since ya won' tell me how far you've go'en, we'll star' from the basics. Sit like this, lass."

_No fighting?_

"You don't want me to do that," she finally said, speaking for the first time since she'd woken up.

"Well of course I do!"

_You're hard to follow._

And then he was off on some explanation or another, sitting up straighter and waving his hands a little in his speech, none of which she understood.

So she sighed and complied, lowering herself to the floor to sit crosslegged in front of him.

"There ya go, lass! Now we're gettin' somewhere!"

_This is annoying and stupid. I've already tried this an-_

"_You shouldn't let your anger about a situation cloud your thoughts."_

_Yeah, yeah._

"Ready lass?"

"Say that again, but slower. You're a little different than everyone I've been tossed to, I hope you understand."

"Sure thing, lassie!"

But he never did slow down. _*****_

The trail was none too difficult to follow.

The problem being that once they reached the end of it, or at least as far as they were willing to go, Kurama knew Shikiyoku was lost to the Mobile Fortress.

_Thank the kamis._

He stared for a second off in the distance where he knew Shikiyoku disappeared, then turned and began moving back through the layers.

Shikiyoku had not been the only thing Kurama was sent out for. And they had wasted enough time on this wild goose chase.

~!**!~

Rikei had taken Iketeru's spot next to her and the two of them were leaning over sheets and sheets of paper with scribbled notes and half-finished formulas, their feet propping themselves forward on the bars of the stools so they could get further over the counter as their eyes scanned the work and they argued over the contents.

Shikiyoku was catching on to this stuff rather quickly.

And it was severely affecting her mood.

Because each time she found herself able to nod or counter something Rikei said, it was because she finally _understood _a word or phrase or meaning Kitoushi once spoke with her about in all the years they had known one another.

She told them everything the cat demon had known about the Crusnik, the virus that affected those who acquired the ability, and all of the conjectures Kitoushi had made about the situation.

Including the piece of knowledge that nearly every demon _had _the infection already, but it stayed dormant until the Crusnik came in and activated it.

That's what Iketeru was doing at the moment. Drawing a sample of his own blood and running tests on it against Shikiyoku and Rikei's, seeing if he could spot any differences or find the virus itself as well as piping up with his own two cents as the other two talked.

Iketeru knew they were avoiding the inevitable for as long as possible. Because eventually, Shikiyoku was going to have to switch forms in order to actually spur their research in the right direction. There would be a point where they would have to stop only _talking _about it.

There came a moment where the conversation between Rikei and Shikiyoku went silent, their eyes scanning around the different pages and Shikiyoku tapping her leg with the pencil she held.

She closed her eyes, a small frown forming between her brows.

Iketeru may have had Taka's hair, but Rikei...Rikei _smelled _like Douji. Like the forests of the Ninth Level and-

And that's likely what depressed her the most.

Where before there had been irritation and short temperedness, now she just felt worn out, and any time she paused or looked around she was reminded of the ones she lost.

But any time she spoke, came up with another answer, she was reminded of a certain cat-eared loss too.

_I miss Hiei. _3

Hiei dreamt, and most of the time he wished he hadn't. And really, _dream_ wasn't the right term for what he saw. _Memory_ was more accurate.

He dreamed of the ice world, of the woman who had first called him a curse, an abomination. Being held by a woman named Rei who had murmured to him words about their destruction by his hands, who had tucked the tear gem in the bindings that had sealed away any power he might've had at such a young, uncontrollable age. And he could swear that another voice in the background was yelling, asking him to be spared.

And then he remembered very clearly being released over the cliff's edge, left to fall through the air to his demise, and only living because of his sheer willpower to survive.

He could recall every demon he'd ever lead to their demise over his gem. Every demon who had even _glanced_ at it, because at the time it had been all that mattered. The jewel, and finding his way back to that frozen hell.

He recalled losing that gem, and promptly searching for the demon surgeon who was famous for his Jagan implant.

He dreamed of his return to the ice world, only to find his mother had died and he had a sister. How-

Hiei was up and standing, sword in hand and pointed in the direction of the demons he'd heard marching in. It was apparent immediately that these were stronger than any he'd faced yet, and that he would not be getting rest again any time soon.

~!**!~

_Son of a-_

"You alrigh' there lass?"

Akari gave a growl. "I told you you didn't want me doing that."

The redheaded, one-horned demon leaned towards her, his expression shifting to concern and his ear twitching when he leaned it towards her chest. And when he leaned away, he was blinking at her sitting form.

"Tha's no' how you do it."

"You _don't say_?"

"I can feel ya on me wind, missy."

This time, it was Akari's turn to blink as a gust of wind moved through the air, through her spiritual form, and then took to circling her.

He'd been about to speak again when the door behind him opened and a new demon entered, slamming the door behind him and tromping forward before collapsing to his rear next to the wind demon. "Hey, that's the Sheila we're supposed to be workin' with?" There was a pause. "She's got quite a problem there. I can't recognize tha drink she's been havin'!"

Jin responded in a quick flourish of words before his eyes came back to the spot where his wind was circling.

"You mean to tell me she drank herself out o' her own body? Where can I find _that_?"

Another flourish of words. Akari could only cross her arms at the pair and stare. _Why am I stuck with crazies?_

"_You shouldn't harbor such bitterness, young one."_

_Yeah yeah._

Akari began to move, walking around to stand behind her body and stare down at it, the whirlwind following and whipping her hair about. She let her eyes close and tried concentrating on what she wanted to have happen.

Except the newcomer was rather… loud.

And she couldn't concentrate on _anything_ when he continued to refer to her as 'Shiela' every time he spoke to or about her.

_Kuramaaa…. Help mee… __*****_

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	111. Episode 195

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter! The last one had a LOT of what is going on with Shikiyoku and Hiei at the moment, so the recap on their side of things is, naturally, a rather long one.

At this point in the story, we are beginning to circle back around to the anime itself, and the Three Kings Saga. There are, of course, major differences, but there will be moments of cross-over, where this Alternate Reality weaves back into the Canon, like in the last chapter where Hiei is in the training room and has visions of his past.

And, _yes_, I will be the first to admit that the name "Crusnik" is drawn directly from Trinity Blood. Tee hee~

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari is woken from her slumber for her training  
by a demon that is not Kurama.

Meanwhile, Kurama has been sent with a lieutenant  
to retrieve Shikiyoku from her home on the First Layer,  
but they arrive well after her and her Consort were taken away.  
Kurama finds the discarded letter from Mukuro,  
and privately is thankful that Mukuro is the one to have taken Shikiyoku.

On another day, Akari 'enjoys' training with Jin,  
hardly able to understand him as he speaks too fast.  
By this time, Kurama has tracked Shikiyoku's trail,  
knowing her to be lost to the Mobile Fortress,  
and returns to Yomi's land.

Jin is attempting to help Akari regain her ability  
to move inbetween,  
though all she manages to do  
is separate her spirit from her body again,  
at which point Chu arrives,  
and Akari finds herself desperately wishing for Kurama's company.

~!**!~

With a little debate between the two of them,  
Hiei and Shikiyoku finally decide that they will go to Mukuro,  
and as they stand, an escort arrives at the front door.

He takes them to Mukuro's Mobile Fortress,  
and into an audience with the would-be King herself.  
Hiei is almost immediately taken away,  
sent to a training room,  
while Shikiyoku is after a few words sent to the labs.

Shikiyoku is shown around by a tech,  
with a veritable army of scientists following behind.  
When confronted with the inappropriate desires,  
harbored by a vast majority of those in the room,  
Shikiyoku dismisses them all with a threat,  
save for two of which she feels no desires at all from,  
the head scientist and his assistant,  
telling them they will be the ones to help her.

Some time later, she is pacing in a room  
and it is there Hiei finds her,  
the two of them feeling their tension fall away  
as Hiei pulls her into an embrace.

Having been informed that his Koorime tear-gems  
would likely be in danger were he to wear them,  
Hiei decides to bequeath them to Shikiyoku for safe-keeping.  
She tells him that such a gesture could be seen as a promise,  
that he would return for them, and her.

They part ways, Hiei returning to his training room,  
Shikiyoku to the labs.

Unfortunately for her, the choice of head scientist  
brought to mind Taka, in Iketeru's brown feathery hair,  
though his assistant, Rikei  
with his purple hair, glasses, and amber colored eyes,  
thankful at first reminds her of no one.  
She feels relatively refreshed at being unable to send their desires,  
and does not question it.

Hiei's training meanwhile is in full-force.

Finding herself unhappy with the fact that she is  
beginning to understand some of what Kitoushi  
had in some time past tried to tell her,  
with Iketeru and Rikei's help, the three of them  
are hard at work researching into the Crusnik,  
though without Shikiyoku in her Crusnik form  
there is only so much they can do.

In fitting with her constant reminders of Taka  
by Iketeru's hair, and Kitoushi by way of the work before her,  
Shikiyoku finds that Rikei smells somewhat of Douji,  
and becomes worn out by the associations.

In the midst of a quiet moment,  
Hiei is reminded of his past,  
of the loss of his tear gem,  
but his reflections are quickly interrupted  
and his fight begins again.

We return, then, to Shikiyoku,  
who we find in the science labs with Rikei and Iketeru...

* * *

As Shikiyoku ran over the treadmill, her blood pounded in her ears, acutely aware of the wires and devices she was hooked up to, both Rikei and Iketeru nearby, watching the monitors.

They had injected her with a serum that reduced her capabilities, rendering her nearly human for the duration of the testing and she had sweat rolling down her bare shoulders and collecting at the nape of her neck. Her muscles were screaming at this point, but refreshingly her mind was unable to wander.

Her normal clothing had been whisked away while the pair had her changing into what they considered clothing better suited for running tests where a lot of her skin would be needed to attach her to their machines and she ran in a sports bra that came up on her chest just high enough that the necklaces she wore were tucked safely down against her sternum so they wouldn't bounce everywhere, and the shorts only went down to her mid-thigh and clung to her skin.

She could feel her ponytail almost jogging along behind her as she continued to run, each step forced under her feet by the moving platform beneath her.

There was finally a blessed clicking noise and she felt the whirring of the treadmill beneath her start to slow until she walked and then finally came to a standstill.

Both arms shot out to grab for the railings on either side of her and she slumped forward a little, any further movement hindered by the patches that were set almost everywhere on her skin.

She reached down into the sports bra herself and ripped off the two that were positioned over her core, letting them hang as Rikei moved closer and began removing the others along her spine and waist.

Iketeru finished writing down the results, only glancing up briefly to see Shikiyoku slump a little further.

"The serum ought to wear off in the next few minutes." He informed her.

She didn't even have the strength to answer.

"But after that we'll need you to go ahead and switch over to your other form."

Shikiyoku forced her eyes open and gave Iketeru a look that he likely felt though he did not glance up again.

He raised a single brown eyebrow, "We're going to have to do all of this over again with you infected. Did you not think of that?"

That wasn't what her look had been meant to convey, but she couldn't catch her breath and only closed her eyes.

"Not to mention the fact that the only way we will be able to actually see for ourselves how the disease works is by witnessing it first hand on your person." Rikei commented.

"That's...I..." Shikiyoku couldn't even waste breath on a scoff, spending the next two minutes letting Rikei continue to unhook her, Iketeru eventually joining to speed up the process.

Her heart rate finally slowed, the buzz of energy through her veins returning-_Smart demons. Revert me to more humanoid and my activity won't release my power-_and Shikiyoku expanded her lungs to try again.

"I can't switch on a whim."

Both of the other two demons paused and stared at each other and Shikiyoku actually wished she could tell their desires in that moment.

"I suppose we didn't think to ask of that." Rikei said as the two of them went back to work, Iketeru pulling the last of the patches away from her skin, the both of them stepping back to let her step off the treadmill.

"If you need incentive, I'm sure we can give it to you." Iketeru glanced around the room. "Or find it for you."

"The incentive is my peril." Shikiyoku crossed her arms over her chest.

Another exchange of glances between the other two.

"One order of peril coming up." Rikei gave a little shrug. 3

Each new demon was stronger than the first, leaving Hiei with no time to step back and catch a breath. His sword never stopped as it moved through the air, flames encasing the blade and his other hand readying for another, completely separate attack as he turned and skittered away from a blow that would have ended any it came in contact with.

And in the process of passing that demon, Hiei's blade had appeared to move just the slightest.

Before the pieces of that demon fell, three more replaced him, jumping from above to start the battle all over again.

And once more, he found he'd lost count of the demons. Except this time, he didn't start counting again.

He was too enraged to care.

~!**!~

"That's a neato trick there Shiela!"

"How long have you been doin' tha' lass?"

It had taken a full _hour_ for the pair to silence and give her enough thinking space to return to where she'd needed to be. A full _hour_ of senseless banter from one demon and encouragement from the other, the occasional tip thrown in here and there.

"I don't remember how long it's been anymore." she replied honestly. "And I don't do it on purpose."

A very quick string of words from the redhead, and a jubious laugh from the drunkard.

Akari's nose crinkled. She wished she couldn't smell the alcohol.

The larger demon suddenly turned serious, his mood swapping so fast even Jin silenced. "That's a serious matter. And you don't have it controlled yet." When Akari didn't reply, he leaned forward with his hands on his knees and eyes narrowing at her scrutinizingly. "Gettin' ya down to tha' Ninth will be a trifle difficult with that spirit of yours wanderin' like that."

Another pause from the larger demon. His eyes followed the mark on her jawline and his lips seemed to twitch in consideration.

"Got any other markings you'd like to show this ol' bloke?"

_Can I request a different crew? _*****

Yomi made an incoherent noise at Kurama's report.

"I haven't the faintest idea how she discovers them so _quickly_." Kurama was saying, "Though I did find a couple left behind that weren't too keen on her 'anarchy' stance. They've been put to work here accordingly."

"Good."

Kurama took another breath, "It does seem like Raizen isn't actively recruiting to his cause, but-" Kurama stared down at the paper in his hand and let out a little laugh. "But apparently he _has _killed off Yusuke."

~!**!~

"Is this really necessary?" There might have been a vein of annoyance pulsing on Shikiyoku's forehead if anyone bothered to look.

Rikei finished pulling on one of the straps around her ankle and stepped back.

"It will be easier to threaten your life, and for you to feel threatened, if you find yourself unable to move away from the threat." Iketeru walked around the table they had Shikiyoku laying out on her back over, checking each restraint at her wrists, her ankles, her stomach.

She shifted her head to watch him.

Another demon stomped into the room from somewhere behind her head and Shikiyoku could not see him.

"Where is she?"

"On the table."

The demon scoffed and Shikiyoku heard him approaching from her right, turning to look at him.

A lit cigarette was hanging from his lips, one that he would absently tip one direction or another with his tongue, but the thing had no smell except for the little swirl of smoke that would twirl upwards from the glowing tip when he stopped moving.

"Not very sporting." He grunted, eyeing her restraints.

"The object here is not to _be _very sporting, Ono." Iketeru sounded miffed. "You are to kill her."

"I know, I know. Doesn't mean I understand it." Ono started to climb onto the table.

"What...are you doing?" Shikiyoku finally asked, watching him as he planted his feet on either side of the restraint around her stomach and stood up.

"It's not very threatening if you can't see it, now is it?" Ono put his hands together, pressing his palms against one another and pulling them apart.

In a shimmer of energy, a double bladed war-axehead at the end of a polearm appeared and he grabbed the middle of the pole, hefting it over his shoulder as he took a long draw of the cigarette and then pulled it out of his mouth, eyeing her as if calculating how much force it would take to split her skull down the middle. And that is, in fact, the approach he intended to use, Shikiyoku could feel it.

Each side of the axehead was the size of Shikiyoku's torso. It wasn't going to take much more force than simply letting the weight of the thing do the job for him.

Which was the conclusion he appeared to come to as he flicked the cigarette to the floor and held the polearm in both hands.

His entire expression almost bored about the whole situation, he popped his neck and brought the axe up, Shikiyoku trembling as his desire to cut her in half just as he'd been told to do washed over her.

He gave a shrug and shifted his grip so that one hand sat just below the axehead and he swung at her, the axe passing swiftly through the air.

Shikiyoku's eyes widened and her skin burned savagely, etching deep scars into ashen-grey skin as her eyes darkened and she opened her mouth to snarl, straining at the straps that held her down.

With a tilt of his wrist as if it were the easiest thing in the world, Ono changed the direction of the blade so that it slammed into the table next to Shikiyoku's head, just barely cutting open a slice of the skin on her shoulder.

He grunted.

"Sorry about that." His eyes were on the blood that started trickling out from the wound.

A single tendril of energy shot out of nowhere and pierced through Ono's knee, shooting up from there to arc behind his back and jab into his shoulder.

The demon lost his balance and fell forward, Shikiyoku's eyes growing black as he neared her.

Iketeru and Rikei had been standing next to one another and they exchanged a momentary glance before turning back to the scene at the table.

"You know, I don't actually think she's kissing him." Iketeru noted. 3

Hiei leapt into the air and away from an attack he didn't recognize, his anger growing and boiling, creating literal sparks where flames threatened to form at the tips of his fingers. This particular group of demons- a total of fifteen if he counted correctly- were a particular pain in the ass to deal with. They'd gotten in more hits than any other demon had, and he couldn't even get close enough to strike, couldn't even pause long enough to gather the energy to summon the dragon, much less take an actual breath.

His eyes narrowed at the snickering demon he'd moved away from, and again he had to flit away from another attack, this one mid-air, which put him close enough to one of the demons to get an attack in. Which didn't do more than sever a limb.

These demons were weary of his speed, none of them able to block his sword once in range, but they did well in keeping him away.

He snarled, hand twitching as h-

Time suddenly seemed to pause and he blinked, feeling an odd sense of emptiness in his mind. All his anger suddenly disappeared as he took to analyzing it, the odd sense of silence in his mind that didn't seem… right.

And then time continued on, which he was reminded of by a blow to the stomach and another to the shoulder, a third to the knee and a fourth to the back of his head.

Before anything else could hit him, Hiei was out of their range, every inch of his body boiling with anger and his eyes darkening to a color they hadn't been in a very long time.

Something within him snapped, and he realized he could no longer feel Shikiyoku's connection, even if he hadn't really felt it as strongly as he had that first day.

And that thought sent the fire demon into a blaze unlike any other, pushing him over that edge.

The entire room erupted into roaring flames, everything in the enclosed space turning to ash and dust as he moved for the door. And any demon who entered for a fight was incinerated before they'd even known what was happening.

Because Shikiyoku wasn't in his head, and he was _getting out. _

And if she had been harmed, he was going to make sure and create his own personal hell for the demon responsible- if Shiki hadn't done so herself.

Except the _damn door won't budge._

~!**!~

Chu scrambled forward to sit next to her and threw his arm around her shoulders. "Don' give me that look Shiela! It was only a joke!"

Akari wanted nothing more but to drop this one into a shadow. Except Kurama's words kept echoing in her head, telling her not to do anything he wouldn't do.

_I hate you and your ridiculous logic, fox. Your stupid ability to keep me in line even when you're not here and-_

She took a deep breath, using a carefully steady hand to remove the arm from around her. "If we are not doing anything useful, I'm leaving."

Jin said something she didn't understand.

The other laughed.

She'd had enough. "Come get me when you have a real solution." She pushed herself to stand and moved for the door, even had it open before a large gust of wind swept in front of her and slammed it shut.

"We haven' even started yet lass!"

_Oh dear lord help me._

"Come have a seat again Sheila. We only got sidetracked for a little moment." There was a pause and Akari sighed. "We'll be gettin' ya to the Ninth before you know it!"

"You jus' gotta le' us do it our way!"

"We could send in a fighter, if that's what you want."

Akari gave another sigh. _No, I don't want to fight. _So she moved towards the pair again, sitting so that they created a little triangle, her eyes going to Jin. "Since the first two tries didn't help, what next?"

"We could try drinkin' on it, loosen you up a bit!"

Akari turned a glare to the bulkier demon, whose name she still didn't know. "Not happening."

"We'll stick to tha quicker methods firs', lass. Don' worry abou' him he's jus' a wee bit excitable!" *****

"I highly doubt I heard you wrong, Kurama."

"Apparently, Yusuke Urameshi is a distant descendant of Raizen, and killing him awoke Mazoku blood already running in his veins." Kurama finished.

Yomi remained silent for a moment.

"So, we are no longer dealing with _one _Raizen. Now there are instead _two_."

"It would appear that way, yes."

"Kamis help us all. You're dismissed, Kurama. In lieu of losing Shikiyoku to Mukuro and having two Raizen's walking around, I'm going to need some time to think."

Kurama stood up and left the room.

When he felt out for the rose seed he had given Akari, Kurama felt surprised to find her in a training room, albeit not the one with plant life growing in it.

_We can talk later._

His excursions actually left him bereft of strength and he had every intention of laying down and trying to get some rest.

~!**!~

Rikei wouldn't even get _near _her at first, and Iketeru had no plans of interrupting her meal.

So, the assistant started taking notes on the differences the form change had created, intending for them later to analyze what came about because she had switched and what was strictly disease related while Iketeru moved carefully around the table and started hooking her up to a set of machines, making certain he did not catch her attention by only hooking up what he could where he was able. 3

After a while, Hiei felt the flames around him seeping back into his body, peeling away from the room and his eyes locked on the door that was, well, locked. Rather sturdy too. And it made his lip curl and his nostrils flare. If it were possible, he'd probably be spitting fire at this moment.

Sadly, a fire demon's insides weren't fireproof, thus it was not a possibility.

To Hiei's chagrin.

He grit his teeth together as he realized no other demon was in the room, not even daring to make such an attempt, and as he took a second to check again, that anger returned when he found the same lack of Shikiyoku's bond within his mind.

So when he moved this time, it was purely out of reflex. His hands moved from his side, his sword, sheath and all, firmly fitted to his waist as he took a deep breath, a heat stirring in his core that he'd never once felt before this moment.

_I can't feel her, and they aren't letting me out._

He slowly pulled his shoulders back, his arms wide as if he were about to grab someone, and then his hands came together in one motion, both ablaze with a flame hotter than any he'd ever dealt with, and the moment his palms slapped together a white-yellow blast that he'd never achieved before roared to life, barraging the door with every ounce of flame within him and easily throwing the door from its hinges, the metal white-hot and sounding as if someone were cooking atop a stove top when it landed on some cloth or another. He didn't look, but he was certain that the metal had begun melting away.

The flame quickly disappeared as demons all around moved out of his way, the mark on his skin glowing and his eyes dark as he turned and moved in the direction he could feel the aura of his tear being. He was met with no resistance as he flitted through the halls.

The next door was easy to open from the outside, as it hadn't been locked, and he merely slid into the room, the only hint of his presence being the heat waves that rolled around him, his energy very keenly centered at his core.

"What… do you fools think you're doing?" He was not happy with the smell of blood, but his concern had lessened when he'd realized it wasn't enough to prove fatal. And that Shikiyoku was very much alive, just having switched.

That didn't mean he was _calm_, however.

~!**!~

"I feel a little spark on the air, Jin!" Another long laugh.

Akari growled at the pair in the room.

"You migh' consider slowin' down that talk of yours, bloke. Not everyone can keep up."

_Is that an insult?_

"Lass, close yer eyes and-"

"I'm gonna go get a drink! Want anything?"

"-look for tha' little silver cord we talked abou'."

Chu left without another word, taking it as a no. And Akari couldn't be more grateful, heaving a sigh and did as instructed. "You keep talking about a cord but I haven't seen it once," she grumbled.

"Qui' yer complainin' an' do it."

She wasn't sure if she liked that he could partially understand the atmosphere around her or not. She took another deep breath and began to walk around the room, forcing herself to a calm place in her mind. To the meadow, where she could lay and-

"Tha's it lass."

-lay with Kurama, Nabu running around in the distance and chasing insects, shouting at them to join.

"Open yer eyes. Is it there?"

Akari's eyes came open and she looked around the room, a small smile on her face at the thought of the meadow. And for a moment she didn't register the shimmering silver energy that seemed to link her to her sitting body a few feet away.

"If so, yer doin' it righ'. Follow it."

Akari moved with the slowly waving energy, stopping to the right of her body. Curious, she made to grab the cord, her hand circling it and-

Her eyes came open and she was staring at Jin, who smiled in triumph and wiggled his ears. "You did it lass! Now you know! It's gonna be a bi' difficult to ge' down, but until it stops happenin', yer se' to return when necessary! You jus' gotta remember to keep calm is all."

How long had they been in this room? Days? Weeks? And this was the only thing good to come of it.

"I thin' you deserve a good ol' snack!" From that moment on, his speech picked up in speed and his accent thickened, but with the wiggling of his ears and the movement towards the door, she took that to mean they were done.

_Where did Yomi find the crazies?_

She waited until the wind master was gone before following after, making sure to go the opposite direction- towards the furthest kitchen- to avoid the pair. _*****_

It had been a few days since Kurama returned without Shikiyoku and delegations on what the next step should be were in full swing.

As for himself, he had spent the last couple days with Akari in his arms inside his training room, though as he leaned up against the wall next to the door this morning to wait for her he had different plans for what was going to happen inside.

Because he had found out about a few newcomers on the compound.

And he thought it was high time they all had a meeting of their own.

~!**!~

"Heart rate inconsistent. Core readings are...going to take a moment." Iketeru glanced over the monitors.

Rikei looked up from his notes and raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose we should be thankful Ono has so much energy to steal."

"I think so." Iketeru walked over and tentatively placed a hand over her shin. "She's rather occupied. Her skin is almost clammy." He ran that hand down towards her ankle, keeping careful tabs of her reaction, but she continued draining the demon of his energy and paid him no mind. "The smoothness in her other form is marred by these...scars."

"I think those come from the process needed to change her."

Iketeru gave a nod and lifted his hand, walking back to the monitors.

"Still not picking up much from her core. But given the demon on top of her, the patch isn't exactly in an ideal location."

"You could move him."

"Funny."

Neither of them turned as they heard the door open, Hiei's footsteps, if not the giant leap in temperature, giving him away.

"Gouka." Rikei said in greeting, not looking up from his notes.

"Science." Iketeru replied in regards to Hiei's question, flicking a few switches as he read the screens before him. 3

Hiei moved further into the room, hands finding the pockets of his pants as his eyes focused on Shikiyoku, who was very busy taking her feast on a demon he didn't know nor care about. Because if he'd learned anything, it was that whoever attacked, _always_ was struck back. And they almost always died by her hand.

That helped a little in ebbing that anger again, and for the first time since he'd gotten into that inferno of anger, he realized how much energy he'd used- and how much he still had available.

_I've gained more._

_Hn._

"The more she takes, the worse it gets." Hiei suddenly said, tone even and emotionless. "The longer she's in that form, the sicker she becomes." _I don't like it. _

_But…_

…

_I don't like it._

"Once your friend dies, I'm taking over. Otherwise, you will too."

~!**!~

Akari had become accustomed to the early mornings, even going down to the kitchen and scouting out the bread box every time before going towards the room where Kurama waited. And really, she supposed her making him wait a little was fun for Yomi, since she was inciting more ire from the fox demon. Or, really, so it seemed.

So this morning, when she meandered down the hall with bread in her mouth, she was purposely taking her time, chewing as she walked.

And as she approached, she gave Kurama the most passive expression she'd ever used, as if she hadn't taken her sweet time. And she didn't say a word, since it was a charade she had to play.

A charade she hated playing.

…

_We're his damn soap opera…._

The thought almost had her giving in to amusement. _*****_

Kurama had the plants in the room give out a warning to those already inside and he drew back the foliage that had grown over the door as Akari walked towards him.

"You're late." Kurama told her. "Get inside."

~!**!~

Both of the demons in the room paused for a second before going back to what they had been doing.

"Don't mind us." Rikei commented.

"Thank you, in fact. You won't be in the way quite as terribly as Ono. Granted, Ono just collapsed on top of her like that and I'm sure you could at least-"

One of the machines beeped at Iketeru and he frowned, reading of a series of numbers that Rikei scribbled down.

"It's picking up core-rate now too. If I had to guess, she's just about drained him dry."

It was not two seconds later that Shikiyoku blinked, her eyes almost light enough to be considered their normal color, and she shifted her head, pulling her mouth away from Ono's and ending up looking to the right, away from where Iketeru and Rikei had set up their things.

"He tasted disgusting." She informed them bluntly as her hoarse voice rang out low in the room. "And because you did not wait, now you are going to have to unhook me and rehook me." 3

Hiei's first reaction was to scoff at the pair who had thought he meant he'd be leaving her in that form. His second reaction was to sneer, his mouth opening to give a snide remark, but closing again when he saw Shikiyoku's eyes come open and her head turn to the side.

And he blinked.

He'd never seen her eyes almost so clear as they were now, and he couldn't remember her being so calm about things. Then again, he couldn't really remember anything past the fact that every time she had switched, she'd been angrier than he'd ever seen her, or in pain of some kind.

Or she'd gone comatose quickly after her attack.

He couldn't exactly remember her being so lucid after feeding either.

….Was that something from the Consort thing, or was it because she wasn't as sick as she had been? Because of Kitoushi?

A scowl came to Hiei's face as the last of his anger ebbed away, replaced by calm calculations in his head.

She… _seemed_ fine, aside from the obvious fact that she'd changed and taken a demon's life.

The fire demon suddenly stepped forward, easily hefting the body of the one called Ono from her and dropping it to the ground unceremoniously. It wasn't like he felt sorry for the guy who'd attacked her.

Had he even been informed that he'd die?

...it might have been something Shikiyoku hadn't wanted to mention?

Internally he shrugged at himself.

"Get moving, before I change my mind and change _her_."

Because he wasn't sure about her current state and how long it would last.

~!**!~

Akari blew a huff of air from her nostrils and did as was told, moving for the door and pausing briefly when she felt other energies inside. Energies she hadn't felt from the outside.

She almost thought she recognized a few of them, but she couldn't exactly say who it would be, since she had grown familiar with most energies around here as Yomi's men.

So the moment the door shut, she turned to Kurama with a raised brow that asked 'what the hell is going on?' _*****_

As soon as the door closed behind them, the plants grew back over it, and instead of answering her question, Kurama only leaned forward, kissed her forehead, and started walking deeper into the room.

~!**!~

With the body lifted off of her, Shikiyoku took a breath and turned her head upwards as Rikei set down his things and moved to help the other demon start to remove her restraints.

The axe that had pierced her shoulder had disappeared when the last of Ono's energy left him.

Shikiyoku started grumbling, "I cannot remember the last time I actually got to finish a m-"

Blink.

There had been another voice in the room, but-

She turned her head and finally realized Hiei had come in at some point.

After a moment of staring at him, she frowned, "What are _you _doing here?" 3

Hiei's eyes narrowed at Shikiyoku's question, again testing for the connection and finding none. Nothing. Zilch. It was unsettling considering she was alive and well, if only changed forms. His lips twitched downwards until he had a scowl prominent on his features, accompanying the narrowed gaze.

"_I lost the connection." _

He wasn't about to say it aloud. Because it was easily known he was a telepath, but not many would know they had a mental connection such as the one he'd lost track of earlier.

"_Why else would I be here?"_

~!**!~

Akari gave a small groan and turned to follow after, wiping the bread crumbs from her hands onto her thighs as she walked. Then again, if this was the worst he was going to do when _she_ was going to start throwing demons left and right into random layers, then she'd deal with it.

Because she wasn't sure how he was going to react to what she was going to do.

But, by the way he'd relaxed, these people were friendlies. Not meant to keep a charade up in front of.

_But I wanted to lay around… __*****_

A portion of the foliage parted to let them pass and they were greeted with several words from the various demons sitting around, all of whom spoke at once upon their entry.

Kurama gestured to Akari and the demons all gave her some form of a grin or another as he said, "Most of you know this is Akari, but consider this my official introduction."

~!**!~

With one of her wrists now free, Shikiyoku lifted it from where it had been pinned against the table and flexed her fingers.

"_Lost? Perhaps you have. Broken, no. Do you really think we are so weak as that?"_ 3

Hiei's scowl deepened at her words and a brow twitched. When in the middle of battle and he suddenly couldn't feel her anymore, he'd simply acted out of instinct. Because here, he didn't know what these demons were capable of, and really, he didn't care to try them.

Except for the fact he blew an entire room into ash and-

_Not important._

He took a deep, calming breath.

"_...Hn."_

_(I was worried.)_

He shifted his stance a little, moving his weight from one foot to the other, feeling the slight breeze in the room move through the various rips, tears, and slices through his clothing and over various wounds that hadn't healed completely yet. He scratched idly at his face as if in thought, but really he suddenly felt…

Hm. What was that?

_(Mukuro won't be happy with the room.)_

_Heh._

_(Shouldn't have locked it.)_

"_This is what you do all day? Hook up to machines and bounce numbers around?" _

Because that didn't seem anything more than boring.

~!**!~

The moment the foliage moved out of the way, Akari was able to smell the scents of other demons in the area, the grass and such no longer cloaking their musks in any form. And two of them she recognized immediately, before she'd even looked at the group Kurama had lead her to.

She came to stand at Kurama's right, eyes roving over each demon in turn, pausing on the two she'd already met.

_I thought I was done with the drunk and the fast-talker._

_Apparently not._

_I hope they're not all crazy._

_I dunno how much more crazy I can take._

With the introduction, she raised a hand in a lazy wave. "I've already met Jin and Chu." Her eyes alighted on a demon in the group she knew she'd passed several times in the halls. "And Rinku."

The boy gave a grin. "Hiya!"

The other two gave their individual greetings, one too slurred for her to catch and the other too quick.

_This…._

She turned her eyes to Kurama.

_What's going on? __*****_

As the others intoned their greetings to Akari when she said their names, Kurama sat down, a chair of plant life forming underneath him that he leaned back into as he crossed one leg over the other.

"The others are Sazuka, Touya, and Shishiwakamaru. Former enemies on the battlefield, now allies and conspirators."

When Kurama gestured to the three he introduced, they each gave her a greeting and nodded at her.

"Any news, then, gentlemen?"

~!**!~

It was not that the connection between them had been broken, much like Shikiyoku had said, because she could still sense those moments where things passed between them.

It was only that her ability to _feel_, to _respond_, had been muted, for very little actually made it past her severe façade, not much stirred her emotions.

Of course, when he mentioned Mukuro not being happy with the room, her eyes flashed wickedly and she held no small amount of satisfaction at the knowledge.

_(Good.)_

She could go to hell for all Shikiyoku cared.

"_Of course it is boring. But it is also necessary. I expect to have to be in this form many more times before we make progress." _She looked over at him again, lowering her hand back onto the table as the other two demons continued unstrapping and unhooking her, and her gaze was blunt, if rather closed and unfeeling.

Via his telepathic link with her, she sent him an image of them laying on the bed in their rooms.

"_...I wish to relax with you." _3

There was a small spark in his mind that had the fire demon momentarily turning inward, searching for that connection again, and this time he found the connection before the feeling she'd sent was gone. And he realized it was still there, just… quiet. Muted, perhaps.

And that sent a new release of tension through his body, because it made him realize she could hear him, but he couldn't hear _everything_ from her. Or, rather, feel. Sense. Whatever.

And when she mentioned being in this form more often, he made a mental note to make sure and access his telepathy next time he felt the bond go mute, since he couldn't exactly feel what she was thinking at the time.

And then the image of them laying next to each other, not even sleeping, just laying there, was broadcast at the forefront of his mind. And he wanted nothing more than that in the moment.

How long had he been fighting for? He wasn't sure. It was hard to tell.

...And Mukuro may have to send people to repair the room he'd likely destroyed.

_Tch._

She shouldn't have locked him in there and expect him to keep it intact.

"_Me too," _he finally admitted, eyes closing. "_...how do you feel?" _

~!**!~

_Show off. _

Akari lowered herself to sit on the grass, eyes moving to memorize the three names with the three faces she didn't know. And after a moment, she found herself zoning into a conversation she hadn't realized had stirred.

"Yomi has been testing every demon who claims to use the Veil one by one by having us send a random demon to the Ninth Layer." Touya said calmly, eyes watching her for a moment before turning to Kurama. "But with the way things are now, he's the current underdog."

"I imagine the bloke's all shaken up now that Urameshi is training with the monks."

"And Yomi's current second in command has been looking for a reason to stick you in the spotlight." Rinku suddenly piped. "But I bet you already knew that. He doesn't like you very much since you're Yomi's favorite."

Akari gave a sigh, but didn't voice an opinion on anything. _*****_

"I know it's been a bit since our last meeting, so I'll go ahead and bring you all up to speed on what I was doing in my absence.

"There is actually a true heir for the throne in the Ninth Layer, and Yomi sent me to fetch her because he wished for her to challenge the right for the throne and then have her pass it to him. She has no desire for it so he expected her to comply. Mukuro got to her first because she wishes to keep her from both Yomi _and _Raizen, who would put her on the throne and leave her there. Mukuro has _also _recruited Hiei to her side, and has of late been picking up layer-walkers before we can get to them, so the lead that Yomi _did _have in regards to those numbers is dwindling. Slowly, of course, since he already snatched up a large portion and now finding such demons is few and far between, but the gap is closing.

"I have also since discovered that Yusuke has died."

~!**!~

"_...I...don't feel much." _Even as he asked the question, Shikiyoku turned inward, but was interrupted from her reverie by something Rikei said and her gaze lifted as she slowly sat up.

"If you expect me to run," Her expression darkened, "Then you had better find me more _fodder_. And since I do not think Mukuro wishes for me to thin any more the ranks of her top fighters, I might suggest we _wait _on that particular procedure." Shikiyoku carefully swung her legs over to the side Hiei stood on and let them dangle.

"Are you usually this lucid?" Rikei wanted to know, "I had been told people with the disease go out of their minds."

"I did go out of my mind." Shikiyoku replied archly, "For several years. And the answer to your question is _no_, but neither have I actually been allowed to finish a meal since my mind was restored."

The statement brought to mind Kitoushi kissing her, turning her back to 'normal.' And for once the memory of him stirred nothing inside her.

Iketeru stepped up next to her and took one of her arms in his hand, beginning to draw her blood. 3

Hiei's head tilted slightly to the side, his eyes watching Shikiyoku as he tried picking up anything more from her side of things and found nothing. It was… odd. And he didn't like it. Then again, he recognized that it was a part of this side of her, the lack of feeling things. It had been the thing she'd told him before he'd become her Consort. That in this form, she didn't feel the pain. At least, not near as much as she had. Why would it be any different about everything else?

He found himself lost in thought for a moment, thinking about that concept and still searching for that connection, ensuring he would recognize it later when this was repeated.

And suddenly, he wanted nothing more than a nap. Than to lay down in that room he hadn't been to in… some lengthy amount of time or another, with Shikiyoku, and just lay there until they both fell asleep.

In fact..

_(Hn.)_

He was going to wait a few minutes after he switched Shikiyoku back. And if no one came for him, then his mind would be made up.

Because dammit, he deserved a nap after that tirade. And being separated from Shikiyoku was taxing.

He was suddenly aware of another being outside the room, waiting. Hiei turned to look at the door, recognizing the presence as that of the Lieutenant. With a scowl, he moved towards the door, with every intention of coming back.

~!**!~

There was a moment during Kurama's little debriefing where Chu leaned to Jin, making some comment or another that sounded similar to, "The short bloke found a Sheila?" Of course, the redhead only glanced at Chu before turning forward again, listening to the rest of what Kurama had to say.

Akari herself…

Well, she hadn't known any of this either. And she hadn't asked Kurama during their days of laying around, because this was their escape from it for a few hours. In fact, she realized they hadn't done anything with the second necklace yet.

Because they had simply let the time pass with small talk and-

_Wait_.

Akari had to replay the last words Kurama had said in her mind, the others in the room going deadly quiet for a second before a few of the others began talking all at once, all in disbelief.

Akari only stared at Kurama. Then blinked once. Twice. And then she narrowed her eyes at him, waiting for him to continue because there was no way that was all of the information. Otherwise, he would've told her their friend was dead.

At least, she trusted him to do so.

Not to mention how easily he'd said that sentence. _*****_

Kurama rested silent for a moment in the chair he grew for himself, face divulging nothing as the allies of the former Spirit Detective clamored among themselves for a moment at the piece of information.

At the instant in which they began to die down, he took up again and they fell the rest of the way silent, "And risen again to join our ranks as a demon himself. Raizen killed him personally in order to activate the Mazoku blood passed down through the generations."

"So, now there are _two _Raizens walking around?" Shishi's eyes widened.

Kurama gave a little nod. "Now there are two Raizens walking around."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's upper lip trembled a little with the threat of a growl as she noticed the reason for Hiei walking off, but with Iketeru drawing blood and Rikei having come up with sensory equipment he held near her heart, there was no way for her to either stop Hiei from going or get down and threaten the newcomer herself.

Her irritation at the intrusion was strong enough for her to feel it filtering through the connection between them. 3

Hiei moved from the room, actually feeling the mental connection lighting with anger that wasn't his, but mirrored his own that had began to boil. He knew what she was thinking, and quite frankly, he had a few ideas in mind himself.

But he stepped calmly into the hall and turned to stand near the masked demon, eyes darkening a little. He almost made the demand of this being quick, but the demon spoke up first.

"_In light of recent events, you will have two days of free time to do with as you please, not including today. On the third, you will report to Mukuro."_

Hiei stared at the demon, eyes narrowing a little.

"_The king will be giving you your new task then. Do not make Mukuro wait, Gouka."_

_Tch._

Hiei watched the demon disappear from sight, and after a moment he turned and, on silent feet, strode back into the room, only stopping when he stood in front of Shikiyoku. And he said nothing, only standing, watching her calmly.

~!**!~

Akari could have laughed.

It was an odd turn of events, the spirit detective who'd fought demons _turning into _a demon. And for a moment, that was the only thing she thought about, was the fact that he was alive and kicking- in more ways than one.

Now, the fact that there were two Raizens…

When the fight came around, that would be a huge factor. And Yusuke could have changed too, personality wise.

Akari suddenly blinked as Nabu's voice rang in her head. "_Stripes!"_

Her lips parted into a small 'o' and her eyes widened, and suddenly she wished she could talk to Nabu. Ask him about the stripes he'd seen and what all he'd seen about Yusuke. Because the dog…

_Nabu had seen clues the whole time, and I brushed them away as his imagination._

Nabu had known, in his own way. And had told her repeatedly about the stripes on Yusuke's face and arms.

She'd have to remember to talk to Nabu about it later. _*****_

"Now." Kurama leaned forward a little, drawing the rowdy bunches' attention back to the present. "The question I have for you, for each of you, is where your loyalties actually lie. Should it come down to a battle, would you fight against Yusuke? Or Hiei? Would you stick by Yomi should it mean turning on your former allies?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku met Hiei's steady gaze with her own, turning to the two demons still standing over her.

"Hurry up." She didn't growl it like she would have growled something at the intruder, but her voice took on a little more gruffness than there had been in it before.

Rikei let out a noise of distaste, "Readings take a while, _woman_. Patience."

"You can get your readings _later, __**man**_."

"I'm getting them _now_." He sent his amber eyes in her direction and it quieted her after a moment until she actually broke the stare first and dropped her glare to the side.

"I'm sure you will return when you can." Iketeru finished his own work by her side and stood there for a moment, clearing her arm and reaching up to do the same to her shoulder. "But if you can manage to already be this way when you get here it will save some trouble."

Shikiyoku sent her eyes in the scientist's direction this time, "You worry about gathering enough food to make it worth my while and we'll see."

"Hmph." Iketeru turned away. 3

Hiei had been calm, had let his ire set aside and even almost dissipate as his eyes continued to meet Shikiyoku's gaze, finding that the color was very close to her normal green irises, and that they somehow had a calming effect despite her grumbled demand.

And then the demon had to speak up.

Instantaneously, that ire sparked again and Hiei's eyes cut to the demon who'd used the term in disrespect, glare narrowed and flashing with a silent threat. _Want your skin to melt from your bones? It's possible to happen. Rather fun to witness, actually. _

He half expected the other demon to pipe in, but his glare didn't turn away from the other when Iketeru seemed to step in as a type of median of the situation.

Which didn't really deter the fire demon.

At least when _he_ used it, it was not meant as disrespect.

~!**!~

Akari was pulled back to reality and away from her thoughts when Kurama spoke up again, his calm tone and smooth voice getting everyone's attention at once and bringing silence in the room. And at his question, she felt no need to answer.

She did, however, turn her eyes to the others. _Say you'll join Yomi. See what happens._

And she wasn't exactly surprised to find that each demon in the room looked at one another, gave a smile at the other, and then turned to Kurama, all with the same answer, all in unison.

"Yusuke."

Her lips twitched and suddenly she was smiling as each demon began listing reasons why they wouldn't turn on their allies, why their loyalties would remain to the team of once-were Spirit Detectives. Even the bitter one- Shishiwakamaru?- had ended up conceding, despite his original expression of consternation.

_Seems there's a new team in this war. I bet no one is ready for it either._

She watched the group for a moment before turning sparkling, amused eyes up at Kurama. _*****_

Kurama glanced down at Akari as the others continued talking over one another.

"Did you ever _really_ have any doubts about them?" Kurama asked her in a low voice, slight smile on his face.

~!**!~

The device beeped and Shikiyoku's hand shot out to curl around the wrist that held it when Rikei did not make a move to stop.

"Your test is _done_." Shikiyoku glanced meaningfully at the sensor before looking back up at the glasses-wearing demon.

He did not let her push his wrist away, continuing to press a few buttons at the screen of it.

"And there are three more-"

"Which can _wait." _Shikiyoku seethed.

Rikei's eyes flashed, "One of which will take _two days _to come back with results, just like the other one I just finished."

The device started whirring again, Rikei and Shikiyoku still locked down in a glare.

For a second time, Shikiyoku dropped her eyes away from his, releasing her hold on his wrist. 3

_It would be such an easy task to boil that skin away to nothing. _

After a few seconds of the banter between Shikiyoku and Rikei, Hiei found himself very strongly considering kissing Shikiyoku, just to end the testing and take their leave. He'd been standing, running, fighting for days, possibly weeks, and he was feeling rather temperamental considering how his day had been so far.

And perhaps the only thing stopping him from an attack was Shikiyoku herself, who conceded.

Which had him waiting not-so-patiently, watching every little thing the demon did as if searching for something foul and a reason to attack.

But for the time being, he waited.

~!**!~

Akari eyed Kurama for a few moments before letting out a little breath and shaking her head. She opened her mouth to speak, only to become aware of a demon nearing her, throwing his arm over her shoulders and tugging her in his direction.

And the absolutely disgusting smell of alcohol all over Chu. "Hey, how goes that projection Sheila?"

Akari crinkled her nose as his breath washed over her face. "Rocky, but better."

"I couldn' tell ya how to fix tha' problem o' yours, but at least you know how to get back now!"

She nodded, leaning a little away from him. "And I thank Jin for that."

The windmaster piped up, suddenly giving a slew of words she didn't catch other than "lass". _*****_

Where he had leaned forward to talk to the others, Kurama now had an elbow resting just above his crossed knee, the thumb of that hand holding his chin and his fingers underneath his nose.

...which effectively masked the chuckle that threatened to bubble past his lips when Chu grabbed Akari, the distaste on her face clear.

"Chu, I thought your solution to most problems was drinking more? Did that not work for her?"

~!**!~

It was something about his eyes, how unnerving, maybe unearthly, they were, that kept Shikiyoku unable to hold his stare when he turned it on her.

At the moment, he dutifully stuck to watching the sensory equipment in his hand, but at this proximity she once again picked up Rikei's scent, which seemed so like the young demon she watched get torn apart before her very eyes.

And like her remembrance of Kitoushi, the thought of Douji stirred nothing within her.

Just as the device sang out again, Rikei shifted it in his grasp and reached forward with both hands, taking Shikiyoku by her bare, scarred waist and lifting her down from the table to set her on the floor before turning away, murmuring data readings to himself. 3

Hiei had watched every little move of the demon who had incited his ire, up until the moment Rikei let Shikiyoku onto her own feet and turned away. And the fire demon took that to mean that all business here was done. Or, at the very least, all business Shikiyoku had been willing to finish for the day. And before the other could do or say something else to further irritate him, Hiei turned to Shikiyoku and placed his hands on either side of her face, quickly pressing his lips to hers to end this string of tests and ensure the sickness didn't get worse.

He didn't like it when she was in this form. And he _especially_ didn't like it now that they were here, and she'd be changed more often, and very likely at times when he wouldn't be here.

And then all at once his tension melted away and his brain focused on one thing**:** changing her back.

~!**!~

"I offered," Chu piped up, lifting his head so he could look at Kurama, "But she just wouldn' take it!"

Akari turned her head to send a narrowed stare at Kurama. _Don't. _

And then Chu was demanding her attention again, pulling her closer, producing a bottle from who knows where and holding it to her. "Try it, you migh' find you like it!"

"No, I'm fine."

"I'll drink if you do."

"No, really. I'd rather not." _*****_

"Ah, Chu, what problem are we solving _this _time by offering her a drink?" Kurama wanted to know, his face mirroring his tone in that it remained perfectly serious.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had been going to say something to the assistant, but having her face caught up by Hiei, not to mention being kissed, smothered whatever words had been bubbling up to cast in Rikei's direction.

For a second, she blinked at Hiei, feeling certain he wasn't just kissing her for the sake of doing it, but at the same time, neither was anything happening, so the thought did occur.

Her core tugged at her and her eyes closed, feeling the change starting to overtake her, a pleasant buzzing licking away at the scars until they were all gone, her mind restarting.

This time, however, upon reboot and blinking her eyes open again, when Hiei didn't immediately pull away, she felt the buzzing of her veins that had started as it always did when she woke to his lips against hers suddenly shift into a higher gear, deep red blush exploding across her cheeks as she jerked back from him all at once, blinded by the connection between them feeding back her own emotions at herself in a magnification. 3

Hiei had known the moment when the change had been complete, but a thought had crossed his mind, a small reminder, and he'd decided to hold himself there a few seconds longer, his eyes closed and his body suddenly going completely relaxed when he felt the return of the connection at full-blast.

And to be honest, he found himself quite amused when Shikiyoku jumped back, his hands releasing her cheeks and his arms falling to his sides as he calmly looked at her, no emotions clear on his face as he noted the bright red color to her cheeks. The elevated temperature there.

_(I was impatient.)_

His lips twitched a little and he turned away, already having a destination in mind.

_(And tired.)_

~!**!~

Chu didn't even look up, his fingers curled around the neck of the bottle and the bottom of it pointed at Akari in another offer. "She's too tense, mate. Gotta loosen 'er up a bit!"

Akari's fingers touched the bottom of the bottle and gently pushed it away from herself.

"Maybe she's tense because of _you_, Chu!" Rinku suddenly voiced, and Akari cast a thankful glance in the boy's direction.

"Nah, she's just nervous is all!"

Akari gave a sigh and turned a pleading look to Kurama. _Help me..._

"There are other ways to alleviate tension, you know." One of the others spoke, drawing Akari's narrowed eyes to the purple-haired demon that had given a comment she'd very much expected from someone like Youko. But he went on. "For instance, a good fight."

"Nah, what Sheila needs is to have a good time!"

Akari gave a long-suffering sigh and gave a little scoot away from Chu, bringing her closer to Kurama's leafy chair. _These people are going to be the death of me. __*****_

Kurama was absolutely no help. In fact, he found her uncomfortableness rather amusing given that he had known Chu for a long time now. Plus, if the demon really _were _to do something stupid, it would only take a look from himself to put a stop to whatever nonsense was going on.

Not to mention the fact that perhaps if Chu flirted with her around the compound on a regular basis it would further pull her out from Yomi's gaze, which was fixed rather firmly on Kurama.

So to speak.

"As long as we keep our ears and eyes open, I think between us all we ought to be able to keep rather close watch on everything going on here." Kurama turned to the rest of them, letting his eyes settle across the group. "It's good to have you with me."

~!**!~

It wasn't that Shikiyoku didn't hear Hiei, because she had not ever really _stopped _hearing him.

But that didn't mean she could move to follow him once he started walking away.

A long string of curses passed over her mind.

Her rate of breathing had increased as if she couldn't quite catch her breath, her scalp tingled madly, and there had been this bright flash of yellow behind her eyes that accompanied the surge in her energy and even when she blinked her vision did not clear at first.

"Ku...raku?" Rikei felt the flood of power as it briefly made his own core hitch, and the second portion of her title had come out hurried as he whipped around only to see she had returned to her other form, albeit with a few differences.

Iketeru was only slightly faster than his assistant, but they were both kneeling in front of her in a matter of a second as she blinked and jerked her head back and forth trying to clear her eyes.

Rikei checked her pulse, though he could _see _the vein at her jugular beating erratically, and placed his hand over her core, catching the feel for the flood of energy that already leaked out seemingly from her skin and altered her appearance, if only slightly. Hair shinier, skin beckoning touch, eyes brighter and gleaming when she opened them.

At the same time, Iketeru took a hold of her face in one hand and turned her head back and forth before reaching out to force an eyelid open, witnessing the shimmer that cascaded over her eyes and dilated her pupils.

"I'm...fine." Shikiyoku mumbled, trying to bat their concern away physically by fending them off with a wave of her hand, but they simply avoided her and continued.

The buzzing in her veins had not lessened in this time, nor had the blush across her face, and it was really _that _phenomenon which drew Rikei's attention. Because it did not seem to him a reaction to her heart beating faster, as the 'blush' remained only across her face and did not spread over her exposed neck or shoulders, or even on her ears.

"Really..." Shikiyoku murmured again, shaking her head to try and clear her eyes, going ahead and taking a step forward, but unsure on her feet and clutching at Iketeru's arm.

Realization dawned that Hiei had not _kissed _her, not on the lips anyway, since becoming her Consort, though all the other times he had pulled away once the shift finished.

And the feedback she was getting made the phrase '_multiply your joys' _echo somewhere in the middle of her mind as she stood there. 3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! BOOP! -Star_


	112. Episode 196

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

As Akari deals with the fast-talking Jin and the drunk Chu,  
Kurama shares a debriefing moment with Yomi,  
which includes a bit of information about Raizen,  
who has not been actively recruiting as Yomi and Mukuro have,  
having killed off Yusuke.

Being a far distant descendant of Raizen himself,  
the death activated the blood of the Mazoku within him,  
awakening Yusuke to his demonic heritage.

Jin manages to assist Akari in figuring out how to return to her body,  
and a few days later, she and Kurama return to their usual training room,  
but this time it is to a meeting of the minds.

Jin and Chu are there, as well as Rinku,  
Sazuka, Touya, and Shishiwakamaru,  
and it's quickly apparent that they are forming a sort of group,  
an alliance within Yomi's walls,  
one that decisively states that if it came down to it,  
they would not turn on their friends.

As Chu attempts to convince Akari to take a drink with him,  
Kurama turns out to be of no help, amused by the situation entirely.

~!**!~

Working in the labs with Iketeru and Rikei,  
Shikiyoku reveals to them that she cannot switch forms on a whim.  
This results in her being strapped to a table  
as one of Mukuro's higher ranking officers  
practically takes off her head without pause.  
The intention does force her change,  
and despite the fact that Ono does not follow through with the blow,  
his energy ends up as food for the now pain form Shikiyoku,  
who proceeds to 'kiss' him dry.

Meanwhile, Hiei has been stuck in the training room  
without the capability to tell how long or how many he's killed,  
consumed by a rage that momentarily drains away  
when all of a sudden he cannot feel his bond with Shikiyoku.

He erupts out of the room in a flaming fury,  
making his way to the lab in time to see  
Iketeru and Rikei doing little as she drains the energy from Ono.

Being allowed to finish her 'meal' affords Shikiyoku a bit of clarity,  
though when the pair of scientists imply she is to run more,  
she refuses. She would need more to feed on,  
and doubts Mukuro wishes to lose any other officers.

Rikei begins tests on Shikiyoku that will take days to get results from,  
and Hiei is given time off as he destroyed the room getting out of it,  
informed that he is finished with his 'training,'  
and he will report to Mukuro at the end of three days.

When she is finally lowered from the table,  
Hiei wastes no time in changing her back,  
but in his joy of being with her again,  
does not immediately pull away from their kiss,  
and Shikiyoku's energy reflects back at herself  
as the bond between them enhances her emotions regarding the gesture,  
and the power of it goes so far as to blind her with its intensity...

* * *

Hiei paused as he felt something new and extremely _bright_ surge through the connection, making him feel as if something had his head lighter and even tingling, his eyes blinking a few times from the brightness of the room and his core doing a funny little thing he didn't understand. As if that hadn't been enough, he felt an odd little shiver travel his spine from the new wave of whatever it was.

A moment later he realized it wasn't actually _him_ feeling it, but only the slight illusion that it _was_ his own emotion that filtered through the connection between himself and Shikiyoku. And he only realized after he'd heard the pair of scientists having a little fit over her surge of energy in the room.

The amount of amusement he suddenly felt filtering from himself to her was greater than any before, spreading his lips into a wide smirk very briefly before he gained control of his expression and turned around, watching her take the single step but move no further. He was also keenly aware of her grip on the nearest demon, and Hiei gave a small scoff.

He retraced his steps until he was standing over Shikiyoku again, looking down at her with amusement in his eyes but the rest of his expression neutral, unreadable.

And after a second he grew tired of waiting on the others to leave her, so he reached out with a swift hand and pulled her away from them by the wrist, close enough that when he turned, he could wrap his arm around her waist and heft her into the air, held against his waist and her feet dangling in front of him so she would be watching behind him as he continued to walk from the room.

_(I'm impatient and tired.) _He repeated, though his amusement did tinge the thought. (_And I'm not leaving you here any longer.)_

Because he'd noticed the separation made him feel even more temperamental. And without his tear gem, it was even worse than normal**;** he'd been struggling a little.

_(They can wait.)_

Or… rather…

_(They __**will**_ _wait.)_

~!**!~

Akari didn't miss Kurama's amusement and his lack of assistance, and she made sure to make a mental note for later. But the relief of Chu releasing her and turning his attention to Kurama had every muscle relaxing at once.

"When the blind bloke's got you all tied up in an office, Jin and meself will be helping Sheila here with her layers."

Akari gave a small sigh.

"We'll all be listening and watching, of course," came Touya's input as the demon sat back. "Most of us will be in the fighting rooms. I believe Yomi plans on using us as front lines against the other armies. And word gets around in those sanctions."

"Before long the lass'll be throwin' us all into the Ninth." Jin's ears gave a little twitch and he grinned over at her. "An' then we'll ge' to see our good ol' friend Urameshi again!"

It was hard for Akari not to give a little snort through her nose. _These people can go there themselves it seems, so I won't have to send them through the layers. _

_...Because if I have to send demons in mass amounts, it's not going to be easy to divide who goes where. __*****_

"And I will obviously continue my monitoring of the situation from my position as one of Yomi's closest advisors, but there will always be talk amongst the general ranks that I will never get wind of, no matter how close I may be to Yomi, so I would appreciate being kept abreast of any whisperings of note." Kurama finally leaned back again.

"In regards to a fight, should it ever come to a point where the war has erupted, there is of course always the off chance that we will not find ourselves near one another when the battle begins. In fact, I would likely encourage Yomi, as I am sure he has already considered, to place a layer-walker within each elite task force, so I am fairly _certain _we will not be near each other at all. We should plan for such a situation and what we will do about it when it occurs."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had no sense of awareness besides the rebound of tingling being fed back at her, so she only vaguely felt the hand on her wrist that began to pull her forward.

The action happened so fast that Rikei and Iketeru were left staring after the pair, neither of them willing to stop them.

Once jostled, Shikiyoku felt one of the necklaces tucked into the sports bra get jerked free and she reached up to snatch at it as it swung out to hang in the air.

By the time he had walked them out of the room, the buzzing had settled on Shikiyoku's bare waist, the touch of Hiei's arm wrapped around her skin almost feeling as if it called the rest of the tingling throughout her body and concentrated it only where he held her.

This did clear her vision a little, though she was still only left with hazey blurriness, but did nothing for the blush across her nose.

Once the door shut behind them, Rikei and Iketeru stood up from where they had squatted to attend to Shikiyoku and then watched the pair leave.

"That is hers, then?" Iketeru commented mildly.

"Appears so." 3

Hiei moved along the halls in silence, his mind roving over the odd feeling of energy that touched his arm around her and the sensation of little pinpricks of energy around his own waist, her emotions and reactions filtering through their connection between them. Giving his mind something to work over had his previous mood lifting rather quickly, his steps quieter with the lack of impatience in each step.

He had the door of their assigned room open in a single, swift motion, and he set Shikiyoku on her feet once inside the threshold as the door swung shut of its own accord. He didn't pause for longer than a second before continuing on through the room.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes slid up to Kurama, watching him for a few moments as the demons around her all took to thinking to themselves, a few aloud and others silent. _Don't do anything __**you**_ _wouldn't do, hm? _She continued to study the redhead for a few moments longer, expression unreadable as she thought.

_Well, you'd be doing it if the group liked it, yes?_

Akari shifted her weight around, pulling her legs tighter underneath herself and looking over each demon in turn. "You know, Yomi's going to have us send the troops probably all at once, right?" She refused to look up at Kurama this time, though her head did twitch in his direction a little as if she had trouble not doing so. "What do you think would happen if Yomi suddenly found himself short a few groups of fighters?"

Several pairs of eyes stared at her, as if waiting for an elaboration.

Others seemed to be mulling over her words.

"I mean, we _could_, if we so desired, toss our groups into… say… the sixth layer instead. It would also give all of us time to reconvene in the… Tenth Layer before we continue to the Ninth. It would hinder Yomi, if a little, and give us a better advantage at finding Yusuke." _*****_

Kurama considered Akari as she spoke, thinking through the short plan she appeared to have thrown together.

It wasn't..._unsound._

He really did feel as if Yomi would put each of them in charge of a small battalion, each according to how many they ended up being able to transport.

He was not sure how proficient each of them were, and if for example there were only five fighters assigned to each of them, the numbers were so insignificant he doubted they would have very much of an impact.

In fact, he had other reservations about the 'battle' Akari mentioned, centering around the rulers of the palace the three 'Kings' would try to invade-controlling emotions were a factor he did not think anyone else really knew about save perhaps Hiei, and Kurama only knew because of Youko getting the information from Shikiyoku-as well as the idea that had already been stirring in his head that the deciding aspect of the war would be the Kings themselves, for they were the strongest, and perhaps their highest ranking generals, or at the least the second strongest demon under them.

Because in the end, no matter how many demons each King may have, it would always come down to those three.

"The plan is good." Kurama nodded at Akari encouragingly, giving her a smile. "It would reduce the number of fighters in Yomi's army while also allowing us a chance to regroup and likely find Hiei and Yusuke faster."

~!**!~

Set upright and back on her feet, Shikiyoku took a cautious step forward.

The floor felt familiar enough. After all, she had paced the main room for _hours_.

After getting a sense of her location, Shikiyoku moved more confidently after Hiei, heading towards the back wall and for the door in the right side of it she knew to be there, the one that lead back into the bedroom.

...because even once he put her down, she found she still could not _see_. 3

Hiei wasted no time in crossing the floor of the main room to the door that lead to the bedroom, pulling it open with ease and continuing through, eyes set on the bed. It looked so comfortable and inviting and he wanted nothing more than to simply lay down, close his eyes, and wake up only to lay around a little while.

So without even glancing back at Shikiyoku, though he was aware she was following, he climbed to the far side of mattress, which was as comfortable as he'd expected, and rolled onto his back, following the motion with an arm moving to cover his eyes.

He took a deep breath in, aware of Shikiyoku's scent above all else and the sound of her footsteps nearby.

~!**!~

Akari let out a little breath between her lips before she turned to look at Kurama, giving a small shrug. "That doesn't mean we won't be scattered on the fighting plane though." She turned back to the group, Jin's ear wriggling at her and his smile growing. She momentarily thought he looked like a kid, but she turned her eyes away to the others.

"We could even use the Tenth Layer for cover until we find Yusuke and Hiei," Touya added. "Unless we _want_ to drop into the center of the fighting."

"What's all the effort for if we aren't going to have a bit of fun ourselves?" Chu countered, waving a hand.

_Yomi's going to be too preoccupied with Mukuro or Raizen to notice our absence at first._ _And even if he notices, I don't think he'd do anything about it until he was on top and had control._

She had an odd feeling in her stomach, and for a moment Akari tuned out of the conversation, unsure of what she was forgetting. She had already thought of Yomi testing her about being able to move to the Ninth layer, and had been working on that when away from Kurama. She considered the fact that other layer-runners would be transporting, and notice right away who went astray from the normal plan and set their sights on those who didn't go the right direction. Yomi would be preoccupied.

Her eyes turned to Kurama again. "Who runs the palace on the Ninth Layer?" _*****_

"Currently? Yomi has no knowledge of the usurper, only that centuries ago there was a ruling family and all but one of that family was wiped out by an invading force."

~!**!~

Funny how quickly her body remembered how to navigate without the use of her eyes-though she had this room well memorized-and for the first few steps in Hiei's direction her attention was tuned to the noise his feet made on the floor, as well as the sound of hers as she followed him, taking careful note of the echo and the vibrations.

Her thoughts briefly landed on Youko, on being blindfolded at all times when he came to her and figuring out how to sense her way along without the use of her eyes.

Once she felt herself pass through the door to the bedroom, she pause in place, trying to recall the layout as she heard Hiei's feet no long walking, the rustle of whatever covers lay over the bed becoming the primary noise.

She gave an amused huff as she took a step forward, thinking she did not remember any extraneous furniture in front of the door except the bed, which was several paces in.

The cloudiness of her vision coupled with the dim lighting in the room had her cringing a little and blinking as if that might help at first, but the impression she sent Hiei was seeing him burst into the lab earlier all bloodied and torn, his shirt ripped in places.

_(Not even going to bother cleaning yourself up before laying down?)_

Granted, Shikiyoku could still feel where she had been sweating from the run she took earlier, not to mention the fact that she had dried blood on part of her right side, from where she pierced Ono's leg and shoulder, the demon collapsing on top of her and bleeding over her skin.

Hiei _was _in worse shape than she, however. 3

Hiei got comfortable probably a little _too _quickly, his body sinking into the mattress and the heat from his natural body temperature radiating around the small area as if he didn't even notice. He didn't move his arm from his eyes to look at Shikiyoku, didn't even shift when he sensed the unspoken question.

To be quite honest, he hadn't cared.

_(In a minute.)_

He just wanted to relax, just for a moment.

~!**!~

Akari's head tilted to the side. "And what do _you_ know?" she elaborated, brow raised in curiosity as she scrutinized Kurama a little. She wasn't sure if he was deliberately giving them information Yomi gave him or if he simply didn't know.

Though, she wasn't really betting on the second option. _*****_

"Enough that if I thought Yomi would actually hear what I had to say I would advise him to give up on his so-called 'dream' of ruling this world." Here he turned to the others.

"It is a warning I would extend to each of _you_, however. Try as they might, I personally do not believe that the three Kings could successfully defeat the current ruler even if they teamed up together, so if the situation that Akari has provided a sound plan for us occurs, I myself will most definitely be seeking out Hiei and Yusuke first and foremost to at least share that same information with them and let them decide for themselves if they wanted to continue with this fool's errand."

Kurama shook his head a little.

It was possible their two friends will have had their own minds changed, to be advocates of their King of choice, but Kurama would not assume such until he spoke with them himself.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku knew very well the hybrid was likely to fall asleep where he lay, and likely spend his two days without so much as moving from his spot.

But that was his business.

Hers, at the moment, was to attempt to make it to the bedside, her own state of ickiness be damned.

It wasn't like she didn't _understand _why Hiei decided to rest first.

Picturing in her head the layout of the room, Shikiyoku slowly made her way forward, feeling eventually the curve of the end of the bed against her thigh and continuing to follow that towards the back wall for several more steps before leaning over to plant her hands on it and climb in, the tension at the back of her neck releasing.

Tripping and breaking her nose would have not put her in the best of moods.

She flopped down just shy of the edge and heaved a sigh, facing outwards so that she might better be able to tell when she regained her vision as the door she knew lay in the wall across from her would come into view. 3

If Hiei had any residual tension left, it melted away when he was fully aware of Shikiyoku laying on the bed. Her presence coupled with the quiet aura that he could sense rolling from the gems she wore around her neck made it that much easier to let out a long breath, but even harder to decide she was right and he needed to get up and do something about the mess he had become over the past few days.

If he weren't so relaxed he would've been irritated at the reminder of being locked in a room with endless fighting.

After another few moments he pushed himself up and was off the mattress in an instant, moving for a door that he assumed to be the bathroom.

~!**!~

Akari gave a small nod to Kurama, who confirmed what she'd already guessed. It also told her that she really, _really_ didn't want to be on the fighting field when it went down either. The demons around them each gave their own gesture of understanding before turning to one another and picking up conversation on different topics, some about the fights and others about things she didn't care to listen in to.

So, merely because she'd been lacking in doing so for the past two days, Akari shifted her weight around until she was comfortable where she sat, let her eyes close in concentration, and let the layers fold over herself. _*****_

"Jin, I know you've been out on scout patrol," Kurama caught the Wind Master's attention, "Have you _still _not come across any reports of energy-absorbing crazed demons?"

"Everybody be fit as a fiddle on this layer as far as I've been seein', Kurama. You know, and it be the strangest thing too. I've heard among others that do the rounds on the lowers? There be demons goin' out of their minds just about everywhere else. It doesn't be making no sense to my brain."

Kurama gave a little nod, "I think if either Raizen or Mukuro had any who were infected, the entire layer would know about it pretty quickly. And we haven't had any either."

"It could be something about this layer itself." Touya provided, giving a little shrug.

"Either that or there hasn't been anyone _sick_ that's made it down here." Rinku added, putting his hands behind his head. "I know _I _avoided this particular one like the _plague_."

"That was a terrible joke." Chu frowned at the boy.

Rinku just grinned.

~!**!~

Hearing Hiei get up, the bed was so large she didn't so much as _feel _him rise, out of habit Shikiyoku lifted her head and looked behind her, realizing after a second that she couldn't see him anyway and that he had already moved towards the door, leaving her frowning in the wrong direction before quickly laying back down again.

She had drained all the energy from her eyes, and even shimmered power across them again. And had come up with nothing for either. She saw the same darkness with her eyes closed as she did when they were open. 3

Hiei shut the bathroom door behind himself and took a moment to look around, eyes roving over the layout of the room briefly before he made a small sound to himself and began peeling off the torn, tattered, stained outfit he wore, tossing it to the side unceremoniously and pulling the shower door open.

Internally, he felt a bit of irritation rise at the lack of knobs and levers inside the shower, only the showerhead itself.

He passed a hand over the wall, as if he might be missing them, and instead was met with an automated voice. "Turn on?"

Hiei paused, brow twitching a little. _Obviously, or I wouldn't be standing here._

"Yes."

Just like that, the spray of water came to life, steam immediately rolling from the streams that fell to the shower floor as if it had been ready the entire time.

_Hn._

And when he stepped under the spray, he found himself hating this water more so than usual.

Perhaps that was because the bath house hot spring hadn't been so terrible.

~!**!~

Akari could feel it, the Ninth Layer. She knew it existed, because she could feel its presence as if it were hidden behind a secret doorway that she had yet to find, yet to open. And she pulled on that layer, as if pulling on a blanket, only to find it refuse her for the thousandth time since she'd been thrown onto the Eighth layer. She tried pushing her way through, and like every other time, found herself sitting right back where she'd been before moving to the inbetween.

She worked her jaw around a little before trying again.

And again.

And again.

Over and over until she was fed up with it, at which point she simply sat in the room with the other demons, none seeming to notice her back and forth movements, and taking a deep breath to calm herself.

And she tried one last time.

The result was the same, and this time she turned her eyes to her own shadow, which moved only when she did, considering it. She'd never tried getting to that layer through the shadows- hadn't ever had a reason to- and she wondered if it was even possible.

She pursed her lips in consideration, watching the shadow as it stared back at her almost curiously. She wasn't sure if Yomi would know, and if he did what he'd do about it. He could assume she would be using it in defense against the fox during their 'training session'.

Her lips puckered a little. _Dunno. _

After another second's hesitation she let the shadow move over her, swallowing her.

And just like with the layers, she hit a boundary that wouldn't let her cross, and she sat in the shadow for a few minutes in irritation. _This is stupid. __*****_

If the 'Crusnik,' as Youko had heard Kitoushi call it, was in fact some sort of virus that demons passed to one another, the fact that Shikiyoku was now on the Eighth Layer could very well mean Mukuro's troops began tearing each other apart.

_Us here. A plague there. _

Kurama wondered if perhaps Yusuke was able to talk some sense into his ancestral father.

_Perhaps that's what got the boy killed._

Kurama held back a laugh.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let her right hand fiddle with the sheets, her left folded underneath the pillow under her head.

She kept blinking as if that was going to help, reached up to rub her eyes even.

Then she heaved out a sigh and went back to smoothing her hand absently along the soft material of whatever covers were on the giant bed.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noted how nice they felt against her skin, given that a lot of it was still exposed.

She briefly wondered where the two scientists had hidden her clothing. Not that it mattered. She would just have to change the next time she went in there anyway. 3

Hiei was in and out of the shower as quick as possible, not even bothering to grab a towel as a short burst of heat took care of his problem within a moment. He looked around the room for a moment before grabbing his torn pair of pants and engulfing them in a short burst of flames. The stench from the process of ridding it of impurities had his nose crinkling briefly before the scent cleared, at which point the flames disappeared and he pulled them on again, the rips and tears here and there not bothering him.

He left the shirt on the edge of the tub and left the room, deciding he'd deal with _that _later, as it was a totally different challenge altogether. He wasted no time in moving across the room and crawling onto the enormous bed again, getting comfortable laying on his side to face Shikiyoku.

Now that he was clean, the covers on the bed were even _more_ comfortable, cool even.

~!**!~

Akari made a sound that echoed through the empty darkness of this realm, her arms crossing over her chest and her eyes closing, a vein at her temple pulsing a little. Never before had she tried to get to the Ninth Layer, and never before had she been denied access to a place through her shadows.

She looked around herself as if there may be answers floating along the empty void.

_One more try. _

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, silently asking the shadow to move her towards a shadow on the lowest layer, feeling it answer with a brief surge of energy and that energy beginning to encircle her like a breeze.

And again, nothing happened. No layer hopping, no new place to see. Nothing.

With a sigh, she resigned to asking the shadow to release her, to put her right back where she'd been. And within seconds, without even a surge of energy in her direction in response, she was sitting in the room with Kurama and the others again.

Briefly, she realized that from this room, she could likely move to the higher layers, even go to the first and find Nabu now that she had her energy. But just as quickly she recognized it as a not-so-wise decision, and she remained planted where she'd been set down.

Though, to say it didn't wear her out would be a lie. So much irritation on the matter and the absolute lack of advancements had her feeling discouraged, angry, and tired. Tired of being there. _Stupid. _But she took another deep breath and opened her eyes, meeting a blue gaze across from her briefly before giving a small smile at the wind master whose ears twitched at her. _*****_

"Yomi wanted the Heir to challenge the throne, right? To save his own skin should something go wrong?" Touya asked Kurama.

Kurama gave him a nod, "It essentially guaranteed him a second chance."

"What if the Heir didn't give up the throne?"

Kurama took a breath, "Getting her to go anywhere _near _the throne, much less _challenge _it would have required some serious blackmailing on Yomi's part in the first place. She has no desire for the title. I can assure you if she got far enough into Yomi's plan to be _on _the throne, she would more than willingly abdicated it for Yomi's usage."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku heaved out another sigh as she felt Hiei climb onto the bed behind her, the tips of her fingers still fidgeting with the covers at the edge of the mattress beneath her.

She didn't _see _him come out of the bathroom, though the water turning off and the slight whoosh of flames gave her indication enough that he was _planning _on reentering the bedroom.

And she could hear him walking out of it besides.

However, she made no move to turn around to face him, slightly upset that she wouldn't be able to actually look in his eyes anyway. 3

Hiei shifted only a little more until he had one arm under his head and the other resting on the covers, eyes watching the back of Shikiyoku's head for a moment before his eyelids became too heavy to keep open. So instead, he concentrated on the new connection between them, investigating it and observing what it could do, curious of its capabilities.

It reminded him a little of the bond they'd shared when he was her Champion, except it was… stronger. It revealed more of one another's innermost thoughts, even created a new form of communication that required no actual words, only the understanding behind the feelings and impressions that passed through the connection. And, in a way, it was more… visceral.

And through that kinship he felt an odd emotion slowly seeping through. Finding that he himself couldn't muster up the energy to move, whether it be himself or her, he instead made a small huff. (_You're too far away.)_

~!**!~

Akari's ears tuned into the conversation, though her eyes turned down to the grass underneath her. Sure, she'd grown up hearing stories about _why_ no one went to the Ninth and Eighth layers, and as such had avoided them on her own on most occasions. And if she'd ever visited the Eighth, she had never stayed very long, not even longer than half an hour.

And though she knew of the stories of a demon overtaking an entire family of royals on the Ninth, taking to ruling the layer as they pleased, she knew nothing else. And as Kurama spoke, she realized she didn't know who the heir to the throne was supposed to be.

Not that it mattered much to her- she was simply curious about the person who could've ended up here as well And she had no doubt Yomi would've pulled every trick in the book possible to get said demon here had Mukuro not beaten him.

"I've never heard of a demon not wanting a throne they were born to have." Chu commented with an amused air. "Most demons would jump at the opportunity to take back what's theirs in the first place."

Akari gave a shrug. "Family business sucks."

"Well, _I_ wouldn't want all those people watching me every day, waiting for me to tell them what to do or to kill me when they don't like what I say." Rinku added as a yo-yo zipped to life, rolling along the string he toyed with. "Though I wouldn't mind the money." _*****_

"It's...odd, to be sure, Chu. But we're not exactly talking about what most would consider your typical demon. In fact, she even went so far as to go to the very same man who massacred her family and stole her throne for _help_. Not revenge. Stranger still, he gave it to her. Though as I understand it his 'help' was a means to an end, which I think we can all agree is _very _demon-like behavior." Kurama smiled.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku shifted her eyes to the right, though it would have done her no good in any case even if she could see as her gaze pointed at the ceiling.

She could feel the salty grossness of her skin, the matted blood along her bare stomach and leg, and she stayed _right _where she was.

_(For good reason.) _3

Hiei gave a grunt of annoyance. A quiet one, but a grunt nonetheless, because when she shifted just the little she did. her scent moved around him, stronger than before. It was a frustrating thing, really, to have her so close and yet so far, and being unable to move her himself.

He repeated the sound to emphasize his point. (_You're too far __**away**__.)_

~!**!~

Chu gave a sound that was somewhere between a chuckle and a snort, sitting back and pressing the bottle of his drink to his lips, making no indication to continue that conversation. Akari turned her eyes to watch him as he leaned further back with each gulp, brows raising the further he went until his back touched the ground and he was out of drink. In that bottle, anyway.

She snorted and turned away from the bulky demon, rolling her eyes to the ceiling briefly before her gaze turned to look at each demon around her. An odd silence filled the room for a moment before several began speaking to one another at once all over again, as if they'd each been checking their internal clock for something before returning to what they'd been originally doing.

She turned her eyes to Kurama suddenly, blinking once at him before she began shifting a little, readying to stand. "If you've got that necklace on you, I think I'm going to go take a short nap," she said to him with a small smile. "I'm taking advantage of this room while I can." _*****_

Kurama set his gaze on Akari as the others around them continued speaking, appearing not to notice either of them.

"Of course." He mirrored her smile with his own and a portion of the plant-chair he sat in extended over his shoulder, producing a necklace that had been even further modified than the last time she used it. "Jin helped explain a little more in detail what was going on," He said as he retrieved it and held it out for her, "So I took the liberty of continuing to refine it."

The necklace had only three flowers on it now, each the size of a half-dollar coin, and the vine that they were attached to was a much more mellow color of green, and thinner as well.

~!**!~

_(I haven't __**showered**__. I'm all smelly. And gross.)_

And she had no intentions of going in that bathroom while blind, considering she did not bother to examine it earlier and thus had no knowledge of what lay beyond the door. 3

A third grunt.

_(You frustrate me.)_

Of course, Hiei didn't move either, instead taking in a deep breath of her scent and relaxing further. He.. supposed it would do to just have her there.

~!**!~

Akari looked at the necklace for a few moments before she pushed herself to stand and slid her hand through it, gently wrapping her fingers around the vine and lowering it to her side, eyes moving to Kurama again. "Thank you." She turned and moved around the group, Chu's eyes following her briefly as she passed behind his head and disappeared from sight of the group.

She moved a good distance away, far enough that she couldn't hear or see the group any longer, the plants moving briefly out of her way before closing up behind her as they usually did for her and Kurama. But she branched off, moving to a different section of the room, following the faint scent of roses until she saw a few budding in a little patch.

She stared at them for a few moments with a gentle smile before lowering herself to the ground, hands slipping the necklace over her head before she took to laying on her stomach, eyes closing. _*****_

"Why the penetrating stare, Ice Master?" Kurama only let his eyes watch Akari until she disappeared out of sight, taking note that Chu had watched her go and also keeping tabs on the blue-haired demon's location.

He may not have prevented Chu's flirting from earlier, but he wasn't about to let the demon follow her in this particular instance.

"You know the heir."

It wasn't a question.

A few of the others quieted down.

"I do."

"Is it Youko that knows or you?"

"Both. Actually."

"Who is she? What's her name?"

"Do we know her?" Rinku asked.

"I do not believe so. Jin took to chasing her for a while, but other than that I doubt anyone else here has even seen her except for Akari."

Jin frowned a little, knowing that he had chased many people, and many females, in his time.

Kurama's eyes glimmered with mirth, "You sent Hiei after her."

The Wind Master's mouth formed an 'O.'

"You're tellin' me that the demon who set me in circles tryin' tah catch up with her is the heir of the throne?" Jin rolled his eyes, "No wonder she was such a trouble to catch."

"I very seriously doubt those two things are related in any way at all." Kurama told him.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made an amused sound, smiling.

Hiei received both a feeling of 'good,' as well as, 'alright, fine,' from her portion of their connection as she turned over to her other side and inched a little closer, nose scrunching up as even just that much movement sent more of her smelliness into the air, a portion of her ponytail sticking to the back of her neck. 3

Hiei's lips twitched into a small smirk for the briefest of moments when the sound of her rolling over rustled the sheets and tugged the comforter a little away from him briefly, her scent wafting in the air even more so now than before and filling his nostrils. And he found this closeness much more manageable than before.

_(If it bothers you that much, go shower.) _His lips again tugged up in amusement. (_It's command activated and ridiculous.)_

~!**!~

Chu had watched the girl go before he moved, sitting up again but crossing his legs loosely in front of him, listening to the conversation that brewed. He could sense the fox demon's wariness about his own eyes watching the girl, and made keen note of it even as he pulled another bottle from his belt and took a swig, setting it in the space between his legs before speaking up.

"So what you're tellin' me is the Sheila who's in line for the throne is the Sheila with Hiei?"

Rinku sighed. "We already covered that. They're both with Mukuro, Chu."

"No, _with_ the little bugger._Together._"

The kid huffed and spun his yo-yo along the string again. "How should _I _know? It's none of our business anyway!"

~!**!~

Akari stretched her body out along the ground and propped her head up off the grass with both arms underneath her cheek, her eyes closed but visualising the roses her nose was pointed to, that same smile still on her face. If she hadn't known any better, she could have convinced herself she was alone in this room, or even alone in a field all her own.

Another deep breath and her mind was wandering away from the room, the scents of the plants around her and towards the things she _hadn't_ been able to accomplish as of late. Using the layers to go to the Ninth. Heck, even her _shadows_ hadn't been able to dump her on the desired layer, which left her more frustrated than anything else in the world.

But those thoughts would do her no good at the moment, and she had no desire to figure out the problem at that exact minute. She just wanted to forget for a little while, take a nap and wake up rested to start all over again.

And since she hadn't been using her nights for _actual _rest, she had been using her time in this room to relax and catch up on what she was throwing away.

So when her eyes came open and she was sitting crosslegged on the grass, she gave a groan that never left her lips. _*****_

~!**!~

Kurama felt thankful, not for the first time, that the fox was not privy to the conversation happening between Chu and Rinku, because there would be no hiding from Youko how amused the subject made him.

Masking anything that might give away what he actually knew, Kurama turned a quizzical look in Chu's direction.

"And what makes you think they're _together_?"

~!**!~

_(But I-)_

Shikiyoku shifted her gaze downwards as if unable to meet Hiei's stare, though she had no idea whether or not he was even looking at her currently.

_(-I haven't been in there yet.) _She grumbled. (_And it's too far away.) _3

Hiei made a small sound of amusement at her retort, but otherwise didn't reply to her. If she didn't want to, that was fine with him. It wasn't like her scent bothered him anyway, and what did it matter if she had a little blood on her? He'd had more than that on him and not cared.

And it wasn't like he'd ever cared before.

_(Suit yourself.)_

~!**!~

Chu gave a look at Kurama. "Why else would the kid be runnin' around with a woman?" He gave a shrug of nonchalance and Shishiwakumaru spoke up.

"If _he_ can find someone then _you_ still have a chance, even with that stench around you."

"Hey! My drinkin' keeps me goin'! My strength thrives on my drinkin'!"

~!**!~

Akari gave another grumble to herself and closed her eyes, imagining the silver cord Jin had taught her about. And after a few moments her eyes came open to see that cord waving slowly on the air, linking her spiritual form to her physical form. _At least it's easy now._

She moved to grab it.

Or, rather, she thought she moved to grab it.

A frown colored her features for a moment and she tried again, only now becoming aware of a weird sense of weight on her that prevented her from even twitching a muscle- aside from her expression, apparently.

…

_So much for easy. __*****_

~!**!~

Kurama still found it rather odd that Chu had placed Hiei with Shikiyoku, for as far as he could make out, the demon had no particular reason to group the two of them together.

For all they knew Mukuro could have offered Hiei an invitation in a manner completely unrelated to Shikiyoku herself.

Only Yomi had seen the letter that Kurama brought back from the failed retrieval mission.

His thoughts momentarily returned to Youko, and he gave a little mental tug to the place he could feel the fox existing, earning no response and letting out a sigh in his head.

"Funny how our friendly neighborhood fire demon has never shown any interest in that sort of thing before. I'm afraid I just can't picture it, Chu."

_Youko would kill me if he could hear this._

~!**!~

Not to mention the fact that she couldn't see a bloody thing at the moment.

Shikiyoku could picture where the bathroom door was in the wall, but the thought of having to feel her way around that room had her giving out a sigh of discontent.

As if it would produce a different result this time, she closed her eyes and stirred her core, sending energy into them and waiting until she could feel it glaze over them, and then opened them again to see...

Absolutely nothing.

Wonderful. 3

Hiei felt this odd sense of discontent, and for a moment he wasn't sure if it was his own or Shikiyoku's. But it kept his mind awake, despite his initial desire earlier to simply sleep. He became aware of her energy moving just a little in the atmosphere, as if she were manipulating it herself, and curiosity won over.

_(That makes your scent even stronger.)_

~!**!~

"I think you've had too much to drink," Rinku commented, who earned nods from several people around him. Chu frowned and gave a lazy shrug, hands folding around the bottle in his lap but not lifting it from where he'd placed it.

"Maybe you should leave some of that for when the fighting _actually_ begins." Touya added with a look.

This time, he turned to Kurama and gave a wide grin. "How strong do you think our pal Urameshi is by now, mate?" _*****_

"You mean now that he's reawoken as a demon? And taking into account he's sired by _Raizen_?" Kurama raised an eyebrow. "I think even Youko would find it a struggle at this point. If the fox would even bother with it."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku blinked, feeling the shimmer that cascaded over her vision, but having no luck actually _seeing_.

Hiei's comment made her pause.

_(...which scent?) _3

Hiei allowed his amusement to filter through the connection between them, his lips twitching a little at her pause, at her hesitant question. (_You. Your scent.) _He shifted a little, though no more than the way his shoulder was against the pillows before settling again. (_Smells the same as always, simply more potent.)_

~!**!~

"That would make for a mighty fine fight!"

"You couldn't even keep up with him when he was human! What makes you think you could keep up with him now that he's a demon?" Rinku pointed out, earning a glare from Chu, who quickly reached over and took the boy's neck in his arm, his other hand rubbing against his temple roughly.

"Say that again!"

"It isn't _my_ fault you're not as strong as he is! OW!"

~!**!~

Akari gave a sigh as she sat there, unable to move, her mind wandering away as her irritation slowly ebbed, leaving her to think over things she had been avoiding earlier. It wasn't like she had much of a choice now anyway.

She didn't know why she couldn't use the shadows to go down the one layer she needed to be. In fact, she had _assumed_ she could do so, and had fully planned on using it as a last resort should something happen with the layers. Now it seemed like she was out of options.

Her eyes came open to stare ahead, wheels turning.

And then she blinked.

_Can I do it like this? _She glanced out of the corners of her eyes at the cord leading her to her physical body. If she _could_ do it like this..

_I wouldn't be able to take anyone with me. It would be useless. _

She considered trying it anyway, but Kurama's words about the inbetween being the Veil had her stopping, reconsidering. If she could meet Takeo like this, then what would happen if she moved to what she now knew to be the Veil between this world and that of the dead?

She could run into that creature and-

_Nope. Not happening. I'm going to sit right here, and do absolutely nothing until I can figure out how to solve this __**new **__problem._ _*****_

~!**!~

As the mock-fight erupted, Kurama caught Jin's eye and signaled for the Wind Master to follow him, standing up from his seat and finally heading off in Akari's direction.

She was likely asleep at this point, and it would be a decent opportunity to check up on the status of both her and the necklace.

And considering Jin might be able to tell how far she had wandered, he thought it best for the red-haired demon to come along.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku wasn't sure she quite followed him.

She smelled _terrible _right now.

All...salty and...bloody.

And it wasn't even her blood, though she couldn't rightly decide if that would have made things better or worse.

_(Well, I suppose if it isn't all that bad…)_

She grinned, sending more energy into her eyes as she tested if perhaps _more _might help, but her grin faded a little when it did nothing. 3

Another flux of energy and Hiei was peeling his eyelids apart to look at her, finding a smile on Shikiyoku's face and her eyes staring ahead, as if she were looking through him or even not seeing the room at all, as if she might be thinking really hard about something important and carrying casual conversation at the same time.

Which didn't explain her energy flux.

_(What are you doing?)_

~!**!~

Jin's ears twitched a little as his smile grew at Kurama's little gesture, the wind around him picking up enough to carry him away from the group and follow after the fox demon- but not before causing a few disgruntled demons to straighten out their hair or clothing and turning to watch him go.

"What's going on?" one of the others asked as he passed.

Jin turned in the air and gave a wide grin, ears twitching even more as the air around him swirled lightly to keep him in place. "Just goin' to check on the lass an' see her spirit be doin' is all. Go about yer yammerin' and I'll be back before ya know it!" He didn't wait for a retort before following after Kurama again, moving through the air alongside the fox demon.

~!**!~

Akari took a deep, calming breath.

_I guess the shadows could have kept me from going. That wouldn't be the first time they've done it. _Though she knew if her shadow wouldn't let her pass, it would be for a good reason. They were her companions after all, and especially her personal shadow- it was the most important shadow of them all. It had gotten her out of some sticky spots here and there, especially when she'd been with Isamu.

Though she never really understood what caused the shadow to step in. If it were simply to keep her safe, it would've acted _many_ more times than it had in her lifetime. If it only reacted to her emotions, then why hadn't it snatched her from the air when Kurama had her against the ceiling?

_Maybe it's both?_

There really was no way for her to know the motives.

And really, there was no way for her to know what kept her from the Ninth Layer from the inbetween either.

_Rock and a hard place._

She gave a small snort to herself.

_At least this provides good thinking space. __*****_

With the plants under his feet guiding him, it didn't take particularly long to find Akari's body.

Which Kurama immediately noticed was missing a rather key component.

He resisted a sigh.

"Anything Jin? Is she still nearby?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku quickly adopted a smirk, saying the first thing that crossed her sensibilities.

_(Just testing something.)_

_(Smell any different?) _3

_(Different?)_

Hiei gave a scoff and let his eyes close again, too tired to press- if there even was anything to press about. (_Just you.)_

The fire demon took a breath in through his nostrils, and his mind was quickly void of all thoughts that were not filtering between the connection shared by he and Shiki. And, really, he was a little surprised he'd stayed awake so long, considering how exhausted he felt mentally and physically.

~!**!~

Akari blinked and turned her eyes to the side, watching the pair appear from the foliage, Jin floating on the air and Kurama looking down at her physical body. She gave a sigh, watching the wind master move to hover in the air a few feet over her head, the wind he produced moving through her.

"She hasn't moved a wee itty-bitty bit." Jin replied cheerfully to Kurama.

_That's because I can't. Just like I can't go through the layers and I can't use my shadows and-_

The wind gusted a little, and as if she thought it would affect her she gave a little flinch. "Right there!" The wind master finished, though he didn't move away from where he hovered. "How ya doin' lass?"

Akari grumbled something intangible, earning a joyful laugh. "It's too bad I can't hear what you're sayin', but I have a feelin' it wasn' very nice!"

_Shut up. __*****_

_Well, at least she's still in the area._

"My apologies, Akari." Kurama knelt down next to her body, scrutinizing the necklace. "You are likely unable to return because of the very thing we are trying to use to keep you inside in the first place."

Kurama slipped his fingers around the flowers on the necklace and tested it with his energy to make for certain nothing would happen to her if he removed it, and then he gently pulled the vines back over her head.

~!**!~

A small breath of air escaped Shikiyoku's lips when it felt as though Hiei would not say anything more and she let her energy recede back into her core, deciding it likely that her meddling with attempts at restoring her vision could be keeping him from sleep, which he obviously needed.

She wanted to get up, to go back out into the other room where she might not disturb him while she tried other things, but...

She didn't think that would go over well at the moment, and decided she might wait until he fell asleep. 3

Hiei felt Shikiyoku's energy ebb away and her scent on the air lessened significantly, lighter than before but still prominently there. And with lack of any important thoughts going through his mind and the lack of anything he might have to say to the person next to him at this very moment, it was very easy for him to let the darkness of sleep- which had been held back just at the edges of his consciousness- slowly seep into his mind and consume him altogether.

Blessedly, he didn't fall into an immediate dream or memory.

~!**!~

"It isn't like it's your fault, fox." Akari grumbled, wishing that she could shift around a little as her irritation had her feeling a little antsy. "Not like you would've known." _And even if you did I would've asked to try it anyway. _

A little huff escaped her nostrils, and all at once she felt the weight around her lift, which actually had her almost pitching forward before she caught herself and took to standing- floating?- a few feet away, staring at Kurama and Jin. She took a deep breath, lips twitching downwards.

She wasn't sure when, but the cord had left her sight, which meant she needed to concentrate again. So she took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, eyes closing and nostrils flaring as she concentrated on the scents in the area.

She wanted to sleep. To sleep and not wake up to the mess she didn't know how to fix, because if she couldn't get to the Ninth layer, she didn't know what would happen. She didn't want to have Yomi's spotlight on her again, when Kurama had worked hard to keep her from his line of sight, so to speak. _Heh._

_Wait. Calm._

Another deep breath.

This time, her hand moved without her having to look for the cord, grabbing at it and just as quickly feeling as if she were sucked into a vortex, which was always the tell-tale sign that she was returning just before she came to awareness in the usual fashion. She didn't open her eyes this time, because really, she _did_ want to sleep.

"It's not your fault," she grumbled to the fox demon. "I would've asked for another one anyway." _*****_

Kurama stood back up as soon as she spoke, giving her a small smile and turning to Jin.

"My thanks."

He considered the necklace in his grasp.

_Immovable. Closer this time too._

With a frown, he started manipulating the two outside flowers again as he stood there, almost as if he had forgotten where he was.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let her breathing steady out as if she meant to fall asleep herself, but her mind raced as she deliberated distanced herself from their connection so that her thoughts would not disturb him, Hiei's end having gained a sort of smoothness she associated with his sleep.

Blinded by her own power?

Well, the reflection of it at least.

_How irritating._

Though she couldn't readily admit she would have tried to stop Hiei even if she knew the result.

Her eyes opened, looking in the direction she could feel him laying.

_What's gotten into you?_

She remembered sitting there in pain form for a moment when he kissed her, which _never _happened, and then he kept the contact once she changed, which he had _never _done before now.

_And don't forget about the sweet snow incident._

Or about the fact that she found herself caught up in more hugs lately.

Not that she minded any of these things, but coming from Hiei they seemed...strange. Foreign.

_Wait, why was I thinking about this?_

_Right. The eyes._

Blinded.

_Why hasn't it gone away yet? _3

~!**!~

Akari shifted her head around a bit, adjusting her hair so it wasn't trapped between her ear and her arm before settling again, only for that hair to smack her a little when Jin lowered himself to sit near her, wind dying away once he was seated. She didn't open her eyes, but she did raise a brow at the wind demon.

She could feel him staring, and _that_ had her eyes opening after a minute. "What?" She mumbled out, the word coming out weird with the pressure of her cheek on her arms.

His ears twitched briefly before he shook his head at her.

"Wha-at?"

He looked up at Kurama after another moment. "I'll leave ya be to do what ya do!" And the gust of wind he sent at his quick exit had her sputtering air from her lips to scatter the hairs that had been blown into her face.

"He's an enthusiastic one." She didn't move, her eyes closing again. _*****_

"He is many things." Kurama replied absently, reaching up to spin something off of a vine that lowered itself in his direction. "Enthusiastic just happens to be one of them."

There were now only two flowers in his hand, though the one that had previously been in the middle had petals stained the color of the other.

Kurama lowered his hand and scattered what he held over the plant, taking both flowers in his fingers and starting to shift them into one.

~!**!~

Once she felt Hiei slept deeply enough that her movements would not wake him, Shikiyoku slipped off the bed and padded silently into the other room, closing the bedroom door almost all the way.

Walking over to where she knew the coffee table sat, Shikiyoku lowered herself to the floor, sitting criss-cross with her legs underneath the piece of furniture and facing the couch, which she knew lay somewhere on the other side of the table.

She proceeded to take careful stock of her vision, her eyes closed and her head slightly bent forward with her arms resting over the table, almost looking as if she could be asleep herself if not for the small occasional ripple of power as she sent probes of energy across her eyes for analysis. 3

~!**!~

Akari let out a breath, a small smile forming briefly before disappearing and leaving her with a neutral expression that could have easily been associated with simple sleepiness. Her thoughts again circled to things she'd been thinking about almost all day, but she forced herself to think of other things instead, because she knew she didn't have the answers to those problems. No use in brooding over things she couldn't control, right?

But she _could_, in that moment, smell the flowers nearby and the grass beneath her. She could hear the little rustlings of Kurama's hands and.. whatever they were doing, and his breathing as he worked. Part of her wanted to tell him not to worry about it at that moment, that it could be seen to at another time, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.

She could, however, use her energy to coax a nearby shadow into coming forth, her eyes coming open to see it move away from one of the roses. She unfolded one of her arms from under her head and held her hand out to the little dark mass, inviting it to slither along her skin, to twine between her fingers and coil around her wrist, her eyes following it as it played.

_Why, do you think, this is such a calming thing?_

The shadow paused briefly before giving a little tremor in place, answering with an _I don't know_, and returning to its calm movements around her hand and wrist, occasionally up to her elbow but never moving higher. And if one knew how to communicate with shadows, they would feel the slightest aura of cheer emanating from it.

_I'm not sure what to do, little one._

It didn't answer her. _*****_

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! _


	113. Episode 197

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Carrying Shikiyoku away from the concerned Iketeru and Rikei,  
Hiei only puts her down when they reach their rooms.

Though without her ability to see,  
Shikiyoku reaches back to the time when Youko was her Champion,  
where he kept her blindfolded for the majority of her days,  
and where she had eventually learned to see without her eyes.

As she lays down on the bed, Hiei goes to shower,  
returning to complain she is 'too far away.'  
Since she has not showered and still has another's blood on her,  
she does not move, waiting until he falls asleep  
before moving into the other room and attempting to test her vision issues.

~!**!~

The gathered fighters agree to continue to do as they're able,  
keeping their ears to the ground for any information,  
Jin and Chu also resolving to help Akari relearn how to move between layers.

Akari proposes her idea of moving demons to the _wrong _layer  
when the battle starts, and while Kurama thinks it will be of little consequence,  
neither does he find the idea unsound, and admits aloud that it's a good plan.

While the others muse over additions to the plan,  
Akari asks Kurama about those in the palace on the Ninth Layer,  
and the fox informs them that he does not believe  
any single one of the three would-be kings could actually  
manage to secure the throne for themselves as  
the current ruler is too strong.

While the others continue talking about the throne,  
Akari sits and tries to access the Tenth Layer to no avail.

Wishing to attempt to sleep while the safety of Kurama's room was afforded her,  
Akari takes the necklace Kurama offers and moves away.

Touya presses Kurama for the name of the Heir  
that Yomi so desperately wanted to have,  
and Kurama assures him that besides himself and Akari,  
Jin is the only one to have ever seen her,  
as he called upon Hiei to chase after her  
when he was unable to catch her himself.

Chu makes the connection that Hiei and the Heir are "together,"  
as he puts it, and Kurama finds himself amused that he did so.

Leaving the others to their discussion,  
Kurama and Jin head to where Akari fell asleep,  
finding that her spirit had once more left her body.

Once he removed the necklace from around her,  
allowing Akari the opportunity to return to herself,  
Kurama sits down to adjust it again as Jin leaves them...

* * *

It took several more minutes before Kurama was satisfied with the result, the single flower left on the necklace holding a star-burst of color from the center of it.

He pulled his gaze from the necklace, blinking and coming to the realization that he had not moved an inch since starting.

Letting the necklace dangle from his fingers over her face, Kurama sent Akari a smile.

"Falling asleep any time soon?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stretched her arms over her head and arched her back a little, unsure exactly how much time had gone by.

There didn't appear to be anything _wrong _with her sight other than the fact that she still saw nothing.

She collapsed out of the stretch back over the coffee table, staring blankly down at it for a second before bringing a hand up to rub at her eyes and letting out a groaning sigh.

_Irritating._ 3

~!**!~

Akari's eyes crossed as the necklace fell in front of her view, blinking once at the flower that hung in front of her face and blocked her sight of the shadow that she could still feel moving along her skin. She shifted, lifting the hand where the shadow played to accept the circle of vine and flower, a small smile of her own on her lips.

"I haven't decided yet," she admitted, giving a shrug and shifting so she lay on her stomach again with both elbows in the grass and her chin resting in one hand, the other lowering the necklace to the grass slowly before her eyes returned to the shadow that coiled around and around her fingers now. "Sorry for the trouble. If I knew how to control it completely, I would." Her tone was even, calm, simply stating a fact. None of her actual emotions on the matter came forth. _*****_

Kurama considered Akari for a moment before responding.

"Sorry for not dying, you mean? Hm. I think that's one apology I can most definitely choose not to accept."

A glimmer of a smile dancing over his lips, Kurama turned and started to walk away.

~!**!~

Without being cognizant of the motion, Shikiyoku reached up to the tear around her neck that had been jolted free from its hiding place when Hiei lifted her by the waist and toyed with the bauble. Her fingers appeared to be searching its surface for some sort of impurity or error, but the entire thing was smooth and perfect.

_I don't understand what happened._

She frowned.

That was likely what bothered her the most about the whole thing.

Sure, Hiei startled her with his kiss, and the connection rebounded the 'joy,' multiplied it so to speak, back at her face.

Fine.

But why did that create a lingering effect?

The hand that wasn't occupied with the tear rested on the table, Shikiyoku putting her cheek against her palm. 3

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched downwards into a frown. _That's not- ….whatever you say. _She gave a little huff and let her eyes close again, her energy now pulling the little shadow around in little twists and turns that left the energy within the being bubbling with joy. And she rolled over onto her back, holding that hand in the air and briefly casting a glance in Kurama's direction before turning back to the shadow.

It paused briefly, giving its own little pulse of energy at her before returning to winding around her fingers, slower now.

_He has his own things to do, little one. And I do too._ _*****_

The conversation back with the other demons turned to tactics. As well as intell.

Troop movement. Training. Strategy.

Kurama let them know Raizen's lack of layer-walker recruitment as well as Mukuro's advancement. She had nearly caught up to Yomi at this point.

"Why hasn't Raizen bothered, do you think?" Kazuka turned his eyes onto Kurama and a couple of the other conversations that had started died down.

"Because he doesn't need to."

~!**!~

_Sick and tired of not being able to-_

Shikiyoku grumbled to herself as she walked back into the bedroom, her stomach clenching in her body.

She remembered the rug at the last moment and raised her foot high enough to step onto it as she head for the box thing in the corner.

Her hand found the top of it and she felt her way down the front and side until she found the handle and gave it a tug, picturing in her mind the two loaves of bread sitting on the only shelf inside and reaching for the one with the purplish shade on the right.

Standing with the door open, she took a bite of the stuff and hardly noticed the exquisite flavor that actually set her energy buzzing below her skin, her scalp tingling without her direct notice.

She was still much too irritated.

Finding that even a single bite settled her hunger for the moment, she tossed the piece into the small fridge and turned to walk towards the bed, imagining Hiei laying there somewhere on the other side.

Still miffed, Shikiyoku crawled over the edge in the direction she felt Hiei, and she only stopped when one of her hands pressed into the bed and could feel the sinking portion of the covers near his back.

_What the hell am I supposed to do about this?_

More internal grumbling as she started to lay down behind him, facing him and sliding her right hand over his side to rest near his waist and burying her nose in the back of his neck.

The instant she settled down, her other arm folded underneath the pillow at her head and her eyes closed, she realized the irksome feeling that had been gathering ever since she sat down in the other room melted away and her entire body relaxed into the warm demon next to her.

Shikiyoku meant to analyze the phenomenon, but she couldn't quite remember why she was so upset in the first place.

Right as she neared actual sleep she found her lips had softened from their previous frown into a small smile and for the first time in a very long time, perhaps since before their separation, she shifted her head to replace the end of her nose with her lips, planting a brief, gentle kiss against the smooth skin at the base of Hiei's neck in thanks before her chin tilted back towards her chest and her forehead brushed up against that same space as she fell asleep. 3

~!**!~

Akari sat on top of the covers, tension between her brows and shoulders tense as her chest rose and fell with heavy breathing and her eyelids slid closed out of exhaustion, both physically and mentally. The last vestiges of energy she had left from her nightly attempt at getting to the Ninth Layer via shadows had been just as fruitless as before, despite her complete and utter disposal of every ounce of energy she had, leaving her just shy of tapping into life force energy just as the sun was beginning to shine its rays through the curtains of her room.

And she was _enraged_.

Not only had she _still _been unable to get to the Ninth, but the shadows had basically tossed her from them during her very last attempt. She had been tempted to try again, except when she'd tried to pull on her energy she'd felt actual _pain_ from scraping the bottom of the metaphorical barrel that held her energy. And it had taken her breath from her lungs very quickly.

Her fingers curled tighter around her ankles and she bowed her head, eyelids peeling open despite her exhaustion.

_Useless._

The single word had a long sigh leaving her, the little patience she still somehow had keeping her from growling.

And then she remembered that it was indeed _morning_. Meaning she had to get up and go.

So, mechanically, she unfolded her legs and swung them over the side of the bed, took a quick shower and dressed, and was out the door and moving down the corridors towards the training room.

She was _much_ later than normal, but quite frankly she didn't actually care except that it would take away her time with Kurama.

Time she would very likely be using to sleep, as she had been doing of late. It had become… habitual.

Were it not for her mood, she would have been dragging her feet past the demons that were leaving their quarters and readying for the day's duties. Had it not been for her mood, she wouldn't have glared at the demon who looked at her funny as he passed, as if finding her lack of energy odd.

And as she came in view of the training room and Kurama, she realized she wouldn't have to _act_ angry about being here, because she was already _angry. _Though, Yomi wouldn't know that it would be unrelated to the person she was _supposed_ to hate. _Heh. __*****_

As he had done previously, Kurama sat leaning up against the wall next to the door to the training room, patiently waiting for Akari to appear from around the corner at the end of the hall.

While he did take note on some level of her approach, in truth his mind was sorting through the latest meeting and the beginnings of a plan he felt formulating in his mind.

One that relied on the moves of Yusuke, which naturally made it a more volatile plan than the fox would have normally liked, but given the information their spies were feeding them of the lack of attention on Raizen's part in building his troops, Kurama was beginning to have suspicions of his own as to what 'father' and 'son' were really doing.

The nomenclature of the pair almost made Kurama snort audibly. He never would have imagined, or even guessed at really, the blood relation between the two.

Feeling Akari draw closer, Kurama pushed himself away from the wall and turned to the door without ceremony, placing his hand on the knob and swinging the door inward to enter the room.

~!**!~

While a vast majority of the next day was spent with Shikiyoku sleeping soundly next to Hiei, as the hours wore on into the late night she found herself more often than not drifting just below consciousness, inbetween the sleeping and waking world even into the early morning of the following day.

At that point however she had settled into the 'waking' side of the rest, though given how much time they had spent apart lately, she found within herself no desire to move.

Until something began itching at the back of her mind and she felt as if she was needed elsewhere.

Breathing a heavy sigh into the air around her, Shikiyoku's eyes came open as she analyzed the sensation.

The lab.

But she had been told her presence wouldn't be required until the day after.

Still called to her.

Blink.

_Dammit._

Beginning to work her way to the edge of the bed, she made sure to inform the connection between herself and the hybrid of her soon-to-be location, not wishing to truly interfere with his slumber, but also wanting her disappearance not to be the cause of any abrupt emotion, be it panic or otherwise. 3

~!**!~

Akari lumbered her way down the hall and followed Kurama into the room, not even glancing at him as she continued a step further, passing by him and briefly considering simply going on ahead and letting him catch up. However, she waited until the door was shut behind him before turning and reaching to him with a hand that curled around the sleeve of his shirt and tugged, the rest of her body turning away and pulling him along through the foliage.

And she didn't say a single word, because in that moment only two things were going through her mind: _Useless_ and _sleep. __*****_

Stepping aside to let Akari into the room, Kurama made no hesitation in shutting the door behind them, the foliage starting to creep across the entryway as he turned back to the rest of the room only to find that the moment he did so his started moving forward without exactly understanding why until the rest of his mind caught up and he realized Akari began pulling him along as soon as she was able.

He blinked at the back of her head as he freely followed after, allowing her to lead them wherever she wanted, though he wasn't quite sure at first what lead her to so quickly deciding to move through the room.

Upon evaluating her posture and flow of movement, coupled with the fact that he read both her mental energy and literal energy to be rather low, Kurama patiently stepped up to walk in stride with her, simultaneously extricating his sleeve from her grasp while reaching out his other hand to take hold of the one in which the material of his jacket had been clutched, saying nothing, but still continuing to head in whichever direction she chose.

~!**!~

Amusingly enough, it had almost been instinctual for Shikiyoku to _walk _out of the rooms instead of slipping between the layers of the fortress, despite the fact that while she could not see anything that did nothing to prevent the clarity of the map that Mukuro had implanted into her mind.

Something about attempting to traverse through the levels of the place in such a fashion while blind left her feeling unsettled, though to be fair she didn't even consider the option until she was already halfway to the labs.

Upon entering the laboratory she very quickly realized she had not taken care to memorize the floor plan and stopped just inside of the door as it swung closed behind her, making an expression of consternation as she paused.

Looking up at relatively the same time in her direction, Rikei and Iketeru exchanged a puzzled glance before Shikiyoku spoke up and drew their attention back to her.

"What is it? I thought I my presence would be unnecessary until the morrow." Shikiyoku did not make a move to come any further, instead adopting an irritated look and crossing her arms over her chest, letting her eyes rove into the general direction she heard the other two working.

Rikei and Iketeru looked at one another again before Rikei spoke up, slowly.

"I suppose while you're here we can continue with a few more things."

Shikiyoku felt her lips twitch unhappily, unsure how exactly she had felt the need to journey all the way here when _that _sort of response was the only thing she got.

Iketeru moved around to another portion of the room, "Of course, we'll need you to switch for us."

He picked up a knife from one of the tables and started walking towards her.

Shikiyoku frowned, "And how exactly are we planning to do that this time?"

"I suppose I can simply threaten you." Iketeru shrugged as he grew closer, "To be honest we hadn't prepared for your appearance, but it will have to do."

"Uh huh. You do remember that the reason I chose the two of you to work with just happens to be because I am unable to sense anything you desire? That does include the desire to kill me."

Iketeru came to a stop, giving the knife in his hand a thoughtful look.

"I hadn't exactly thought of that."

"I know."

Iketeru considered Shikiyoku for a moment, standing a few feet from her and taking special note of the fact that his approach did nothing to raise her concern, though she did raise an eyebrow, having heard Iketeru's steps halt.

The brown-haired demon narrowed his eyes a bit, lifting the knife from his side and waving it silently back and forth in the air.

No reaction.

Rikei had turned to watch by this time, and it was he who spoke up before Iketeru.

"Woman..." The word was hesitation, holding a sort of questionness that lended itself to the tone of the rest of his sentence, "I think being blind is more of a hindrance than being unable to sense our desires."

"It's possible." Shikiyoku allowed.

"You being blind or that being more of a hindrance?"

She blinked but gave no answer and Iketeru looked over his shoulder at the other demon who gave him a shrug.

A swooshing noise came from somewhere nearby Rikei and he pushed his glasses further up his nose as he moved over to a clear tube that seemed to extend down from somewhere above.

Unfolding the note that popped out from the opening, Rikei let out a single puff of amused air as Iketeru came up behind him.

Rikei showed him the contents of the piece of paper and Iketeru made a similar noise.

"I suppose that solves the problem for us."

"Indeed."

Without hesitation, Iketeru went back over to Shikiyoku and picked her up by wrapping an arm behind her back and hoisting her up to hold her side against his hip.

"Really?" She didn't struggle, arms and legs dangling towards the floor, annoyed to find herself in such a position and knowing there wasn't terribly much she could do about it.

Rikei pressed a few buttons on a nearby console and a large, clear portion of the floor behind him started to iris open until the circular opening was more than twenty feet across, at which point Iketeru tossed Shikiyoku into it before her brain had a chance to register whatever was going on.

_I shouldn't have left that damn room._

Without sight and thus unaware of anything going on, Shikiyoku could only pinpoint the sensation of free-falling through the air, working her jaw around and wondering what exactly this was supposed to accomplish.

Granted, most other thoughts in her mind vanished the instant she heard the roar from beneath her, the noise almost vibrating her bones.

That's when she realized she _could _feel the desire of whatever lie below her.

It really only had one, and that particular desire centered almost exclusively around consuming whatever had been tossed into its pit.

_Good. I was worried the day wouldn't get any better._ 3

~!**!~

For a very split moment when Kurama's sleeve was no longer in her grasp, Akari felt a groan begin to form in her throat. That sound was squashed just as quickly, however, when she felt the redhead's hand replace the material she'd been holding, and it instead became a long breath that she released from her lips.

The tension between her brows slid away, her expression becoming flat and unreadable and her mind just as quickly becoming blank. Her fingers curled around Kurama's in acceptance of the gesture as she walked, finding herself grateful he felt no need for words.

Or perhaps she was just grateful he didn't point out her dishevelment. Either way, the silence was a blissful, very calming thing.

She lead the way to, quite frankly, a random spot in the side of the room farthest from the door, not really having any certain destination in mind other than being where if another- such as Chu or Jin- entered, she herself wouldn't be interrupted if Kurama was needed.

Assuming his movements wouldn't wake her.

She came to an abrupt halt in an area that was dominantly grass, the foliage creating a little dome around and over the area with a diameter of what she estimated to be ten feet.

And it was perfect.

So Akari wasted no time in lowering herself to the heather and laying on her side, her grip on Kurama's hand not even loosening as she began to scoot about and get comfortable. _*****_

Continuing to say nothing, and in spite of receiving no verbal cues from her either, Kurama went ahead and followed Akari down to the floor, giving her hand a gentle, comforting squeeze once he faced her, eyes kind and waiting to see how exactly she planned on settling before he did anything more.

~!**!~

The day did not get any better.

However, the fact that she could not exactly do what the scientists intended, given her lack of vision, did in fact mean that she actually left the lab much sooner than if she had been able to see. There were certain tests that relied heavily on her vision, and others that she simply refused to do.

...she also refused them the honor of attempting to 'fix' her vision. That may or may not have been a large portion of the reason she left in such a hurry.

Once their attention shifted from the disease to her vision she found no reason to stay any longer.

She would have readily admitted that being related to the fact that Hiei presumably still lay on the bed in their rooms and while the tears she kept for him appeared to hold her anger at bay, they did not appear to have much say in 'irritability' or 'short-temperedness.'

It was these things Shikiyoku found herself grumbling about in her own mind, lost in her thoughts as she made her way back to the rooms.

So much so that it was not until she felt the back of her head smack against the wall behind her that she realized something rather quick on its feet had approached her from the front and planted hands on her shoulders to shove her into the wall.

Blinking, as if that would clear her vision or something, her face gave little reaction to the new position, save for a line appearing between her brows as she frowned, becoming aware of the warmth of the hands on her shoulders as well as the scent that she associated with Hiei permeating the air in front of her.

"_I told you where I would be."_

Other than a general feeling of unhappiness in the way the demon stood over her and the manner in which the hands pressed her into the wall, the only answer Shikiyoku received was a prompt kiss on the lips, at which her eyes closed-though it made little difference-as the burning which had ripped scars into her skins during her descent into the pit earlier became replaced with a tingling that started from her mouth and smoothed over the rest of her body.

Waiting patiently for the expected blackout, the warm lips that had found her own jerked away from her suddenly and the presence was gone just as she heard a trio of demons speaking in low voices turn the corner at the other end of the dimly lit hallway.

Her eyes flew open and she blinked once more into the darkness of her sight, feeling strangely divided in mind and body.

The demons thankfully turned down another hallway before reaching her, but Shikiyoku had pushed herself away from the wall, eyebrows drawn more deeply together than before and her lips pulled into a flat line, to begin walking in the direction of the rooms, unable to completely process the moment that had just occurred. 3

~!**!~

Akari paused briefly at the tightening of the hand around hers, glancing at Kurama for a moment before continuing about what she'd been doing and laying on her side, facing the redhead. She stilled for a second, mentally taking stock of the position and how comfortable it would be should she decide to stay this way.

And after a few beats she continued to shift, making a small sound of displeasure as a few muscles controverted with laying on her shoulder, the muscles taught from the way she'd sat all night long. So she shifted until she was on her back, letting the hand that held Kurama's rest on the grass calmly as she settled.

Once she decided it was comfortable, she gave a small tug at Kurama's hand, silently asking him to lay nearby, in the very least. _*****_

_Of course._

Kurama went ahead and stretched out next to Akari, laying on his side and bending an elbow behind his head as a pillow to prop his neck up.

Laying here would be more conducive to the thoughts rolling about in the back of his mind anyway, momentarily placed on hold once entering the room and noting Akari's tension.

He fully expected her to fall asleep, though he couldn't quite imagine himself doing the same. Too many things to consider.

"Blanket?" He murmured, eyes still considering Akari as she began to grow still.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made it back to the rooms without incident, her mind blank and hardly able to consider what had just happened, though she kept running a hand over the other arm, the smoothness of her skin feeling strange and deepening the frown on her face.

Once the door was shut, she turned to the rest of the room as she reached up to tuck a portion of fallen hair behind her ear, her fingers coming in contact with silky flower petals that until then she had nearly forgotten she wore: the adornment, the gift really, from Youko.

Almost instantly she recalled the bracelet around her wrist, nearly forgotten, and her eyes turned in the direction of her folded clothing on the couch to her left, knowing the three feathers in one of the pockets of her pants.

Without much consideration, she moved towards the pile and ruffled around in it until she pulled out the smooth, brown feathers and held them up to her face, imaging the earthiness of their color, which had matched the hair atop his head.

As with the bracelet around her wrist, the remembrance of the amulet wherein these feathers had once resided stirred nothing within her mind in relation to the giver of the gift, other than each givers face and the recognition that they were no longer among the living.

Shikiyoku moved to the other side of the couch and coffee table, folding her legs beneath herself as she sat down on top of her feet and let the feathers fall to the table one-by-one in a neat pile, reaching over to the bracelet and unhooking it, placing it next to them as she slipped the flower out from behind her ear and did the same.

Her elbow came up to the tabletop and she rested her face in her hand, picturing in her mind's eye the three objects at which she pointed her eyes but was in fact unable to see.

"_Such objects of affection will have to be taken into account, lover. It is not for you to decide whether you keep them or not. These gifts would mark you as in the attentions of another and it would likely be in your Consort's best interest to rid himself of any that are not from him."_

Renai was right, of course. While being 'courted,' for lack of better term, these baubles were only meant as constant reminders to the others that they were not alone. Now that only one stood Marked, it almost seemed insulting to bear what was given with the intentions that these gifts had been.

And while in her true form she likely could not so much as consider being rid of the last tokens of a pair of demons close to her heart that she would never see again, with her mind stuck as it was she found she held no true emotions in regards to any of them.

That did not mean, however, that she did not sigh and let her eyes slide closed. 3

For quite a bit of time, Hiei's mind had been battling between consciousness and the sleeping world, occasionally slipping from one to the other with vague thoughts and such here and there. for example, the first time he had become a bit aware he had noticed the lack of Shikiyoku's presence, but had also, on some level or another, known where she had gone without thinking about it. The second time, he was aware of the lack in her presence in his actual mind, the lack of feeling in the bond he knew to still be there.

But after that he didn't become aware of much else as he slipped back into the sleeping realm for just a little longer.

And then, seemingly out of the blue, his eyelids peeled open and he was blinking against the low lighting of the room, his internal clock telling him that it was near midday and he had no reason to move if he did not wish to do so.

Except, at the same time, he became aware of Shikiyoku's energy in the next room, and the complete lack of her presence within his mind again. The bond being completely silent had him shifting a little, slowly moving to stand and making his way across the room, pulling the door open and stepping only two feet into the other, staring at Shikiyoku calmly, almost curiously.

His eyes noted the way she sat in front of the small table and slowly slid down to see what she was leaning over, his eyes catching colors of objects he had, quite honestly, paid no mind to as of late. He hadn't had _time_ to look at them, much less remember what they were. So the fact that she had them lined up on the table had him curious of her thoughts.

He blinked and looked to her again.

And stared.

He held that stare on her for a bit, his mind waking up enough to realize that she _looked_ fine, but the kinship they had within their minds relayed absolutely _nothing _from her end.

So he continued to stare, suddenly very confused and unsure of what was going on.

_This is…. odd._

~!**!~

As soon as Akari stopped moving, her entire body seemed to give a sigh of relief and the tension in her muscles dissipated all at once, her spine flattening against the soft grass beneath and lending complete and utter satisfaction in the comfort of the quiet room. The earlier anger ebbed, dimming to a mild irritation that was slowly seeping away as well even as Kurama's quiet question floated on the atmosphere.

Her eyelids slid closed and her lips gave the barest twitch. "No, thank you."

And just like that, she was out like a light. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku did not expect the fire demon to emerge from the bedroom, though she was aware enough of his entrance that her eyes opened again and she turned in his direction, lifting her head from her hand.

The instant that she realized she had thought Hiei would come into the room from the main entrance, the momentary lightening of her features fell into neutral.

Not that he wasn't fast enough to do it, which had her all confused again as to how she really felt about _who _kissed her, though something inside her argued, certain that whatever had happened in the hallway had not originated from her actual Consort.

Which raised more uncomfortable questions than she really wanted to try and answer. 3

The exact moment that Shikiyoku turned to look at him, several things stood out to Hiei that had his mind jerking into full awareness and his eyelids sliding the rest of the way open, where they'd been half-lidded before. He studied her, noting the lack of emotion in their shared mental bond and on her expression, but the simultaneous lack in scars on her skin.

Instinct told him to kiss her and change her back, but rationality told him she had never actually _switched_.

Which meant she wasn't sick.

But he couldn't _feel _her and her expression was-

_Hng._

"This is _unacceptable_," he told her, his voice still heavy from sleep. He didn't _like_ that he couldn't read her without the Jagan. And, really, he was very tempted to access the Jagan just for that purpose here in this moment.

~!**!~

Akari settled very quickly into the dreamless world of sleep, her body going still and her breathing evening out before too long. And for a while, she didn't even so much as twitch a muscle, her lack of energy in every sense making her feel too tired to even move. She did however, after a good amount of time, eventually roll onto her side and into Kurama as she normally would have, resting against him with both arms between them and a small sigh leaving her in content.

And after that, she didn't move another muscle, her body relaxing into the redhead and allowing her sleeping state to deepen so that her energy may regenerate. _*****_

The only problem with the plan was in fact Yusuke hims-

Kurama blinked when Akari moved up against him, pulled back into his surroundings which he had to admit he wasn't particularly taking note of at that exact moment.

Giving her a little smile that her sleeping form could not see, Kurama took the arm not pinned against her holding her hand and lay it over her before returning to his previous thoughts.

~!**!~

-because even the consideration that there was some sort of Mock-Hiei running around, mimicking the Consort's position, troubled her deeply.

She blinked at him, still feeling strangely hesitant and uncomfortable, then suddenly was struck by his words, her immediate internal response moving across her mind strongly.

_(This is actually a solution.)_

She wasn't sick. The disease couldn't propagate. And this let her...

Her eyes fell to the coffee table where she knew the objects lay. 3

This time, the sound Hiei had _wanted_ to make earlier became vocalized, the small indication of unhappiness gruff with his sleepiness and, simultaneously, his unhappiness. And it was quickly followed by a firm, "No."

Because really, he was finding himself bombarded with too many thoughts at once, and his brain wasn't _quite_ awake enough to keep them from piling up and conjoining into a convulsed heap of confusion.

Shikiyoku was half switched, half not. And her reaction to his words had him suddenly thinking that it wasn't _intentional_. Meaning he wanted to go tell the _scientists_ that they'd better find another way, or he'd do away with them and demand Mukuro find others.

"No," he repeated, as if unsure he had actually spoken the word to her. "Find another way." _*****_

Shikiyoku looked back up in Hiei's direction at his second 'no,' face expressionless.

Technically it wasn't a permanent solution in any case as it didn't exactly get rid of the sickness and she no idea what would happen should she be threatened and in this strange state of between both forms.

Though it wasn't as if they wouldn't be able to discover the answers to those questions. That would require the other demon mimicking Hiei, and said realization led her back to frowning.

Because if she really thought about it, what reason would Hiei himself have of running off, as if kissing her were an embarrassment?

...he wasn't likely to be pleased about the prospect of some sort of copy running around. Not by any stretch of the imagination. 3

Hiei stared at Shikiyoku, as if his hardened glare would further solidify his rebuttal in her brain. Her lack of facial response to his words was unsettling in this form, where he should have been easily able to read her without the use of telepathy or the Jagan. Where he should have been able to-

_Wait._

His eyes narrowed at her a little, zeroing in on the stare she had pointed at him and realizing that it too wasn't _right. _Vaguely, he recalled a moment the day before where he'd noted her glassy-eyed stare, where he'd noticed she hadn't seemed to see the room around her.

She'd been _fine_ then, other than that.

Now, however, he wanted to _test_ that. So, slowly, quietly, and just so she wouldn't _hear_ him do so, the fire demon crept forward and slowly raised a hand in front of her face, a finger extended towards her nose. For a moment, he paused, his index finger less than an inch from her nose and his lips twitching in amusement because she _should_ notice, if she was able to see.

Which he highly doubted. _*****_

Whether he made noise or not, Shikiyoku could _feel _his presence coming closer, continuing to stare in his general direction, until she felt him stop moving, briefly wondering at what his intentions were.

_(Don't change me.)_

Because if he kissed her, she wouldn't be able to handle the thoughts at the forefront of her mind. 3

Hiei's smirk of amusement quickly vanished at the lack of reaction about his gesture, and instead was met with the strong sense that she didn't want him to change her. Meaning she really _couldn't_ see him. And that thought had his lips turning down into a deep scowl and lines forming between his brows.

_(You really __**can't **__see.)_

The thought solidified at the very forefront of his mind and his entire expression became perturbed. His entire _being_ was disturbed by it. She seemed fine and able to get around on her own, that wasn't an issue. The issue was that someone could easily do what _he'd_ just done, and come closer. While she would note their proximity, if they moved slow enough and were able to hide their desires, they could attack at any given time.

A sound reverberated at the back of his throat.

_(I don't like it. All of it.) __*****_

She wasn't about to admit to him being right.

So she couldn't see _exactly_. It had never been a problem before, not when Youko kept her blindfolded the vast majority of the time, forcing her to adjust otherwise.

And technically _he _was at fault for that, but surely it would fade with time. It was not something she felt any great concern towards.

More disconcerting was the half-way state, and right up with that was being forced back into her true self without first explaining the intent of the items laid out on the table next to her.

...trying to explain those, though...

Her eyes shifted to the side.

Strangely enough Shikiyoku wished she did not have to say it out loud. 3

So….

Halfway/Inbetween state of Shikiyoku, where he couldn't read her thoughts or emotions without the Jagan.

She was also blind.

Hiei's eyes traveled over her again, looking for anything else about her that was out of sorts in any way, shape, or form. And other than the shifting of her gaze, he saw nothing. And, really, he couldn't do much of anything about her current predicaments.

So his eyes traveled to the objects laying on the table in a neat line, eyeing them each in turn. Douji's bracelet. Taka's feathers. Youko's flower.

Two of those three objects were from demons she would never see again. Demons she had cared for. It was partly the reason he hadn't thought much about them, aside from the lack of time to do so. They were her objects, her possessions.

Youko's flower, while it smelled very much like Shiki herself, was however not very… _pleasant. _

And that was what his eyes locked on for a moment before turning to Shiki. And he didn't say anything, waiting patiently for her to explain what had her with them in front of her the way they were. _*****_

Shikiyoku pushed herself standing, casting one brief, blind glance down at the table where she knew she had placed the gifts.

"They are..." She took a deeper breath, finally looking away from them, "You may do with them what you will."

Leaving them there she stepped around him towards the bedroom door. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, his eyes following her unseeing gaze down to the objects and eyeing each one again curiously. And for a moment, he stared at the large flower that had previously been in her hair. A flower that he knew to smell of Shiki, to enhance her own natural scent. And while he enjoyed her scent, he also realized that to mean the fox had to have _sniffed at her_ in some way, shape, or form to memorize her smell.

And the mental image of the fox's nose in her hair was _very_ unpleasant.

His eyes shot up and to Shikiyoku as she passed, her words echoing in his mind for a moment. And just as quickly, he turned back to the flower, the mental image of Youko working hard on it and his nose in her hair ingrained in his brain and causing a corner of his lips to lift in disdain.

The flower was in flames very quickly following that thought, and in seconds it wasn't even a pile of ash.

The other two objects he eyed momentarily, blinking at them and suddenly realizing that he didn't _know_ what to do with them. One, because he knew they were the last vestiges of any tangible reminder of two demons she had cared for who she would never in her lifetime see again. One of which had been a very close companion of hers _long _before she'd met _him. _

Part of him didn't particularly care.

However, there was a part of him that recognized this to be a challenge for her. That if he destroyed them, he could potentially break her a little all over again. Recalling that heaviness after Kitoushi's death had him almost physically cringing**; **if he destroyed her only memoirs of Taka and Douji, would it be the same thing to her?

A voice in the back of his mind seemed to insist that he'd already made up his mind.

Silently, he turned away from the objects and followed after Shikiyoku.

He…

He wasn't sure he could bring himself to do it, even _if_ he particularly cared about those objects as he had the flower.

Because while he hadn't liked Taka, he just…

He didn't think he'd be able to, despite everything.

And Douji's bracelet? He wasn't sure that he particularly cared much about it.

So, as he closed the bedroom door behind himself, he decided that they would remain hers to do with as she pleased. After all, they were her memoirs.

_(The others….are yours.) __*****_

There was some part of her that found vague amusement in the fact that it appeared as if the flower went up in flames shortly after she left the room.

Shikiyoku had only made it to the bottom edge of the bed when she felt him enter the room behind her, sensing his answer as she stopped in place and stared blankly forward.

Renai's words echoed in her head.

It wasn't as if the other two would be coming back. Wouldn't that be the sole reason she would keep such things?

And truth be told, she didn't _want _others to look at her and automatically assume there were demons pursuing her in some manner or another. Because in the end she already had the one she wanted.

She half-wished he would have just burned them all. 3

Hiei followed Shikiyoku to the bed, letting her get comfortable first before he himself even decided to shift around in such an attempt. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to sleep now that his mind was so wide awake and had so many things to ponder over.

Half of him really wanted to go down to the labs and-

…

He _could_ threaten the scientists to change tactics. Because _this_ wasn't going to work. He didn't like it. It was too closed off and…

Unsatisfying.

_(Hng.)_

He paused, contemplating it as he sat on the edge of the bed.

He _could_ go.

But…

_(Hng….) __*****_

Given that he had already apparently 'given the items back,' when Shikiyoku shifted her eyes in the direction of the hybrid who sat down next to where she stood at the end of the bed, she found herself actually raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Problem?" 3

Hiei's thoughts went quiet after Shikiyoku's single-word question caught his attention, momentarily breaking his thought processes and leaving him considering her before he turned his eyes away, glancing very briefly at the door before letting them continue about the room in an almost calculating manner.

If he visited the scientists, he had a feeling they wouldn't particularly listen to him without proper convincing.

And Shikiyoku would likely be the same way, maybe.

But that didn't mean he couldn't _try. _It wasn't like he couldn't sway a demon's resolve. He'd grown rather skilled at that, after all.

But, was it essential and needing to happen _now?_

He would be busy for Mukuro tomorrow.

He glanced at Shikiyoku again, considering her for a minute. Again, that feeling of indecisiveness tugged at him, earning a mental groan, but otherwise he didn't move.

He could wait until morning. If she was still this way, then he'd visit the labs before departing.

_(Problem solved.) __*****_

"Hmph."

She didn't feel particularly convinced, neither was she sure about what 'problem' he had solved.

In any case she guessed it didn't matter and proceeded to crawl up on top of the bed to lay down. 3

There was a small part of Hiei that still considered actually going to the labs and getting it over with, but really he'd already settled on doing so in the morning if it was necessary. And that's what he'd stick to, since he'd be leaving at that time anyway and he wasn't sure when he'd be back.

His eyes followed Shikiyoku as she crawled onto the bed, his previous thought leaving him irritated with the reminder that they were there against their will.

Why couldn't they just have been left alone?

Oh well. What's done is done, he supposed.

He shifted and let himself lay on his back near the edge of the bed, still eyeing Shiki from the corners of his eyes. He _really_ didn't want to leave tomorrow. _*****_

Shikiyoku kept on crawling until she could plop down with her head on the pillow, which is precisely what she did, burying her face in it and laying there for a second until she slid her hands up underneath the pillow and turned her face to the side to let out a dissatisfied huff.

Whatever she was going to mutter at him, she only got so far as to manage a grumbled, "Flame-boy..." 3

Hiei lay on his side facing Shikiyoku after she stilled, taking to watching her with a raised brow as her lips opening and acting as if to form a string of words, but only seeming to get out the nickname. His brow rose higher and his lips gave the barest of twitches.

_(Yes?)_

He half expected her to fall asleep without answering, but wasn't quite sure if she would do so. _*****_

Shikiyoku's frown deepened for a second, and while she had the intent to let out a growl at him, it only hummed at the back of her tongue.

"That's not fair." 3

Hiei noted the deepening of her frown with the widening of his own lips, giving a small sneer at her as his stare grew in intensity. And he held that stare for a good few minutes before he realized there was no indication that she noticed, and realization hit him.

_(Oh.) _

_(Right.) __*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes came open as if it was going to make any difference, a slightly puzzled expression on her face.

"What?" 3

He didn't respond right away, his mind working for a bit as he thought about what she'd said, his sneer ever growing as he realized what she meant. And even a few minutes after realizing he didn't respond right away, but when he did it was with no small amount of amusement.

_(I forgot you can't use this for communication.) __*****_

"Tch." Shikiyoku turned her head so that her other cheek lay on the pillow, looking away.

Her irritation was not strong enough to float over their connection, as she would not have admitted to feeling uncomfortable since she could not converse with him as normal, so she did not actually get up as she considered doing, only closing her eyes as she faced the other direction. 3

The reaction he received was nothing more than what he'd expected, and sufficiently amused as he was, he rolled onto his other side so that his back was to her, indirectly saying he was done with the taunts. And while not being able to see her, it was very easy to fall back into the disdain towards the lack of emotion he could feel filtering through the bond.

Which made it a little difficult to lay there in amusement as he was trying so hard to do.

And he didn't _like _it. The lack of thought, of emotion, of feedback from the other end of the connection he knew she could read.

And he found the desire to _fix_ that growing ever the more. _*****_

There was a brief moment of time where the thought formed in Shikiyoku's mind that perhaps she shouldn't have killed the beast in the pit. Maybe she could have stayed down there and made friends with it.

Certainly had to have led to a better situation than the one she currently found herself in.

Assuming she could get past its overwhelming desire to consume her.

Possibly could have posed a problem.

But she wasn't sure if that was any worse of a problem than this one. She had half a mind to see if Rikei or Iketeru might be able to do something about this strange state.

The other half of her mind rationalized that they would simply want to run more tests for the fun of it. 3

He _really, really_ didn't like it.

Hiei almost made a sound out of displeasure as he rolled towards her again, all amusement from earlier gone and replaced with dislike of the emptiness in his mind. It was beginning to make him feel restless, as if she weren't even there.

_(Shikiyoku, turn to me.) __*****_

The fact that she actually attempted to respond to him in kind nearly made her flinch, but she didn't move at first, instead answering aloud with a sense of resignation in her tone as she practically sighed, "It's not like I can see you anyway. What does it matter." 3

Hiei's impatience grew and he released a small scoff, though he did feel a touch of amusement at the fact she'd pointed out and the point she'd missed. It reminded him very easily that she couldn't feel his desires in her 'pain form', which he assumed was what this was in most aspects.

"It has nothing to do with you _looking_ at me." His retort was calm and even. _*****_

Was that not part of the reason why she felt irritated in the first place?

"What _else _would it be?" She grumbled, burying her face in the pillow underneath her. 3

_Tch._

Hiei fought the sound of impatience as he took a moment to simply stare at her. "You're too far away. I don't like it." _*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes came open to stare emptily at the pillow that she could feel around her face, the slightest smirk turning one side of her lips upwards as she went ahead and turned her face towards him.

"Really. I'm fairly certain even without my sight I can tell how close we actually are." 3

Hiei wasn't sure if he should be amused or surprised by her lack of forethought on his motives. Personally, he thought it would have been obvious at that point. And for a moment he didn't move.

And then the silence he heard from the bond seemed to drag him into that impatience again and he scooted a little closer, grabbing her with one arm and tugging her just a bit in hopes that it would make the awkward angle easier to handle._*****_

Shikiyoku finally relented and shifted around to face him as he took a hold of her arm, keenly aware of the fact that she honestly had no idea what exactly he meant for her to do, only knowing that she could not be too far away.

"What do you want?" The question was eerily similar to another that she might have asked were she of sound mind _and _body, so it did not come out sounding nearly as harsh as the single worded version of the question did the first time. 3

Hiei paused when she spoke and took to eyeing her for a moment before he decided to answer. His answer consisted of moving forward, scooting himself closer and shifting his head so that when his lips touched hers, maybe it wouldn't be so _odd_ at this angle. After all, he was accustomed to standing over her every time he had to change her back.

And when his lips touched hers at that odd angle, he found himself hoping that it would work, because he had absolutely _no _idea what he'd do if this didn't switch her back _completely_ so that they may communicate their normal means. _*****_

She could hear Hiei shifting around, but it wasn't until the very moment he kissed her that she realized his intent the whole time had been to kiss her.

Which wasn't all that useful at that point.

However, within that same moment, her mind folded in on itself as her faculties shut down and the next thought in her mind when she awoke whirled around whether the previous kiss hadn't been long enough or hadn't worked because it wasn't _him_. 3

Well, to say it worked would be an understatement, because he felt the feedback from her end of the bond flood his mind much quicker than any of the other times he'd had to switch her, so by the time she regained her senses he pulled away and had his eyes closed.

Her thought that filtered through, however, had his eyelids sliding open again to stare at her in complete and utter confusion.

What other kiss?

Why would it-

_(What?) __*****_

Not that she particularly had any reason for wanting to hide anything from him, but as she started recalling the incident that occurred before she made it back to the room she drew closer to him and wrapped an arm over his neck as all of her previous uncomfortableness surfaced again.

Having to walk to and from the lab. Thinking it was him impatient for her return on the way back, but with her mind not being given a reboot she could shove it all aside to deal with the problem that had been prominent the longest.

_(Smelled like you. Warm like you. Your aura. Unsettling.)_

At least, unsettling now that she had a chance to think about it in her right mind. 3

Hiei's mind went blank for a moment as he took in what Shikiyoku was sharing, the arm around his neck very quickly conveying how perturbed she was by it- as if he hadn't already felt it himself. And as he stared at her, the explanation sinking in, the only thing he could think of was the pseudo Youko they had fought so long ago.

A being who had gotten away.

Meaning this being could either be that same demon, who someone very similar.

(…)

Miming _him._

(…)

Were it not for Shikiyokus hold on his neck, the fire demon would have been sliding from the bed and leaving the room with every intention of bloodshed. However, because of the grasp on him and the fear he could feel rolling from her, his boiling rage at the thought was… _set aside_ for later.

Because now there was a problem.

There was no way of knowing what the demon wanted or what it would do. If it was impersonating him, the demon could very easily be trying to weasel in while he's away and cause conflict. Do harm.

And he was _not_ okay with that.

And he was _not_ okay with being mimed.

His jaw flexed a little and his eyelids slid closed.

And in his mind he could only picture himself grabbing his blade and running it through said trespasser. _*****_

_(I...did not see him though. But he ran when others were coming as if something might have given him away.)_

She made the smallest sound of unhappiness, thinking of how she had attempted to speak with the demon via telepathy and chalking up the lack of response to wanting her changed _now_.

_(I don't know what to do.) _3

The urge to slide away and track down this problematic demon grew a little more with her growing discomfort, but for the moment he said nothing and actually began to think of ways that would quickly and efficiently distinguish the imposter from himself- assuming that demon also gained Hiei's own abilities as the fake Youko had of the true Youko.

But, surely no one could mimic a _Consort_ bond…

Right?

It would make sense if one could mimic the power of telepathy, as it would be a substantial thing like the Jagan.

The Consort bond, however, was unlike anything Hiei had ever felt before. It linked him directly to Shikiyoku.

Perhaps there was a way to utilize that…?

_(When you are approached by me, expect communication like this first. If no such thing is established- if I send nothing through the bond prior to physical contact- it is not me.)_

Surely that would do for now, yes? _*****_

_(O-Okay.)_

She tightened her hold around his neck, squeezing her eyes shut and trying not to consider what this demon hoped to accomplish.

Because whatever it was likely centered around her given the interest. Why else would one need to test and see if they could revert her?

...and Mukuro was going to make Hiei leave tomorrow, for who knows how long.

...perhaps she would be able to keep the other two in the lab busy with her until Hiei's return. 3

The fire demon went quiet, thoughts churning and anger burning just below the surface, tamed for the moment. He wasn't sure what a demon would want that would require them mimicking Hiei himself, but it would certainly do the trick in getting near her if said demon was able to do all he could too.

As Shikiyoku drew closer, his thoughts were put on hold and he wrapped his free arm around her middle in hopes that it would settle her unease, even if just a little. And it was perhaps this that had his anger of such a daring demon ebbing, his focus turning to her and continuing on the track of considering things that would both appease her and make such a situation easier to avoid. _*****_

The fact that the demon had run off sent Shikiyoku's thoughts circling back to her vision, feeling certain that perhaps said demon took advantage of her lack of sight, perhaps to test the authenticity of his transformation or whatever it was that had him capable of imitating her Consort.

She still could not decide if the only reason she did not return to her true form was because the demon was not in fact Hiei or because the kiss was cut short. Too many variables and too much silent cringing at the prospect of such an experiment, since in the end it would require the impersonator to truly come up with an answer of which she could be sure.

However, none of it would particularly matter if she could not _see _a difference, as she suspected there was one.

It...made the issue of her blindness slightly more of an immediately pressing matter.

And also brought to her attention that she had no such 'experiment' in mind to attempt to return her eyes to normal. 3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


	114. Episode 198

**A/N: **Hello once again, Fanficdotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Eventually Shikiyoku returns to bed,  
unable to understand her loss of vision,  
and the next morning she is unexpectedly called to the labs.

Since she cannot sense Iketeru or Rikei's desires,  
and is therefore unable to switch forms for them,  
she is subsequently tossed into a monster pit,  
but eventually leaves the labs when the pair of scientists  
take a more pointed interest in her lack of vision than anything else.

On her return, she is kissed by a demon she thinks is Hiei,  
and while she begins her switch back to normal,  
the process does not finish as the demon is frightened away.

In such a state where her body is whole,  
but her mind stuck in the blank nature of her pain form,  
Shikiyoku finally addresses the tokens she received from the would-be Consorts:  
the flower from Youko, the feathers of Taka, and the bracelet from Douji.

When Hiei comes out to see her with the objects on the coffee table,  
his instincts tell him to kiss her and change her form,  
but his eyes inform him she _is _changed.

After realizing she is stuck half and half,  
he very quickly comes to the conclusion she is also blind,  
but she begins to head for their bedroom,  
telling him he may do as he likes with the tokens.  
He burns Youko's flower, but leave the others for her.

Eventually, he kisses her and finishes the transition,  
finding out from her what had happened,  
and if she were not so obviously disturbed by it,  
now that her emotions were no longer held at bay,  
Hiei would have left to destroy the impostor.

He decides to set in place a fallback,  
that if he did not speak to her through the bond  
before physically contacting her,  
then she will know it is not him.

~!**!~

Finishing his adjustments to Akari's necklace,  
Kurama returns to the other gathered demons,  
and even into the next morning,  
where Akari meets him for 'training' back at the room,  
he is musing on the informal plan from that meeting.

When Akari grabs for his sleeve to pull him further into the room,  
Kurama shifts her hold so that their hands are together instead,  
and as she settles on the ground  
and the two of them end up on their backs next to one another.

In the midst of his further planning,  
Akari turns towards him in her sleep,  
and Kurama throws his arm around her and returns to his thoughts...

* * *

Kurama had woken her when he'd felt that the two of them had stayed in the training room as long as they could have, and they had parted ways just as silently as they had come together that morning. On her way back to her room, Jin had pulled her aside and for a good few hours, she'd tried moving between the layers _without_ the use of her shadows.

And as normal, she'd gotten nowhere, and her temper had flared all over again. When _they_ had parted ways, Akari had been just as mad as she had been at dawn.

Which, of course, lead her to where she was now: sitting criss-cross on her bed with her hands laced together tightly, her brows pulled down and darkening her features even more than the tenseness in her aura could have. Sweat rolled from her temple to her cheek and down her chin.

She fell through another shadow, and was immediately aware of the realm seemingly shimmering around her, straining as if it wasn't earning enough of her energy to keep it stable around her. And before she could even make another attempt at pushing through to the Ninth layer a twentieth time, she felt her energy completely and utterly dissolve, the last of it used to throw her right back onto the Eighth layer instead of trapping her inside the darkened mass.

Her teeth ground together as pain blossomed at her core, blooming and enveloping it until it was hard for her to catch her breath. Her shoulders slumped and her body sagged forward, head bowing and teeth grinding together in both anger and pain.

She hadn't even made it past two AM this time. She hadn't had enough energy to get through, hadn't had enough energy to _continue_ trying to get through. She was lucky the shadow hadn't decided to keep her within its depths for recuperation, she supposed, but really it only made her that much angrier that she had been tossed out.

A growl rumbled against her ribs and in her throat.

Slowly, she sat up and let her eyes open to take in the room around her, a hand wiping at the sweat that nearly rolled into her vision.

_Maybe if I try…_

The mere _thought_ of using her life energy had her core throbbing in protest.

And who knew how extensive _that_ pain would be.

…

And then _Kurama_ would easily deduce what she'd done if she showed up, pale and… whatever else would happen.

..._that_ would _never_ go well.

She gave a long-suffering, very impatient sigh as she straightened her spine. That would be where she drew the line**;** Kurama had enough to worry about. There was no use in her adding one more thing to his plate.

~!**!~

If Akari had been tired and angry before, then now she was completely _livid _and _exhausted. _Every ounce of energy was gone, because she'd used it as soon as she'd become aware of its return, and couple that failure with her continuing uselessness with the layers…

As she passed demons in the halls and stairways this morning, the denizens tended to skirt around her, their eyes following her until she was out of their sight and out of mind. A few groups of demons actually quieted, their talk of work and other things halting so that they could note her movement, apparently trying to decide if she had a vendetta or was simply going from point A to point B.

Halfway down the second staircase, however, she made eye contact with Chu, whose lips spread into a wide grin and hand reached out, bottle within his grasp but not in an offer. "I was just comin' to ge' you Sheila! The bloke's got a meeting with the king this morning, so until he's free it'll be jus' me, you, and Jin!"

She paused on the steps, coming to a stop next to him and staring at him for a moment. He seemed to take her silence as one of understanding, and he turned to lead her towards the very room she'd been heading the first time, offering the bottle in his hand to her.

"You're lookin' mighty tense there. This'll fix y-"

"No."

~!**!~

When Hiei had awoken, it was to his internal alarm yelling at him, telling him to get up and go. So, begrudgingly, he had parted ways with Shikiyoku and had followed a masked demon to Mukuro's office, where she had been standing, waiting for him with hands linked in front of her and silent presence bearing down on him.

"Hiei," the king begun, her eyes staring heavily at the fire demon from underneath her bindings, "you did well in your training." The fire demon didn't speak, didn't find a reason to reply even if he had wanted to. "Your task from here on is to gather demons who can traverse to the Veil and back, and recruit them to my cause."

She'd said a few more things, but really, Hiei only really cared about _what_ he was doing and _where_ she wanted him to pick up. And he had been very quickly dismissed, accompanied by the demon who had escorted him to the king.

And even as they were leaving, he realized he hadn't been told _when_ he would be allowed to return.

To which he assumed to mean he would only return when called upon, or when his _companion_ decided as such. _*****_

At first neither one of them had slept, each marinating in the midst of their own thoughts regarding recent events.

Hiei's departure the next morning felt a little rushed and it wasn't until Shikiyoku started to get out of bed herself that she realized she would have to make the trip to the labs on her own.

The prospect was daunting, but no less so than staying here and being by herself. Getting trapped in the room with someone that might not be Hiei.

Luckily her journey down to the labs remained uneventful.

Rikei and Iketeru were already there working, and while the first only gave her a glance, the second seemed to become aware of her irritation and drew closer when she stopped just inside the door.

"Any results?" She grumbled, hearing Iketeru moving nearby and quickly throwing up her hands in front of herself, "And if you're going to toss me in another pit at least warn me first this time."

"Will do." Iketeru found himself giving her a little smile, taking note that her vision had most obviously still not returned. The smile faded when he brought himself back to her first question. "And not exactly. At least not the kind of result we wanted."

Shikiyoku could hear and feel the demon take another step.

"I promise I'm only going to put you on the table." Iketeru assured her as he reached down to pick her up.

While he walked over to the table she had been strapped to a while back, he continued speaking, "The blood samples of both forms ended up being exactly the same, and they did not test for anything out of the ordinary when compared to my or Rikei's."

He gently set her down and turned away to another console, scanning the screen and scrolling through the information, exchanging a glance with Rikei.

"This coupled with the other information we've gathered from you-"

"-has led us to believe the source of the virus is located within your energy." Rikei finished, turning away from where he had been working and beginning to methodically hook Shikiyoku up to another machine.

She made a thoughtful sort of sound, allowing Rikei to take a hold of her arm as she sat there.

"And harvesting _that _is a bit of a different story." Iketeru continued. "We'll still need samples from both forms, and given your handicap we will have to employ use of Mukuro's creature pit again."

"Lovely." 3

Hiei's feet moved as quickly as possible, carrying him into the layers and finding purchase against the ebb and flow of them, his mind working hard to ensure he stepped in the right places so that the layers may push him at an even greater speed. At first, he'd forgotten that his mind had needed to be _blank_ to do this, that he would not be the one controlling such movements.

So he tried to silence his thoughts, the Jagan focused ahead on a demon he had locked onto some time ago- a demon that continued to evade simply because his energy was such that _enabled_ his escape.

Except every time he wanted to step from one layer to another, he'd realize he had missed the spot or the layers had not accepted him because his mind was constantly plagued with some thought or another.

Even now, as he found his mind blank, he readied to push forward.

Except he found himself thinking about the demon issue at the palace, and Shikiyoku being targeted.

Which lead to a growl from the fire demon and the complete and utter release of himself from the layers. They weren't helping his speed in any way. It was more work to try and force himself to concentrate than to simply run at his natural speed.

And with that thought, he glanced over his shoulder, realizing his _companion_ had been left behind for the time being.

And it was a very satisfying thought.

~!**!~

Akari stared at Jin unblinkingly, lips pulled into a thin line and brows furrowing further. A corner of her eye twitched just a little, and Chu's laughter grew louder. "If you'd just take a drink, Sheila, you'd relax! It might even help with your hard of hearin'!"

Jin smiled widely at her some more and said something or another, but just as always, his fast-talk seemed garbled to her, and she caught none of it.

"Jin, the layer thing isn't working." She fought the growl that threatened to verberate in her chest. "I just _can't_ get to the Ninth."

"It's because you're too tense Sheila. One drink and all your-"

"_No_, Chu."

"That anger isn't good for you!"

Akari's teeth gnashed together as she glared at the bulky demon, ignoring the twitching of Jin's ears and the wide grin he pointed at her. Apparently he found her impatience and anger funny.

"If you won't drink it, then _I _will!"

Akari didn't reply, shifting in the grass and pushing herself to stand. She'd had enough. "Thank you for the help, but it's not working. None of it is. I can't concentrate and-"

"Maybe you need to be gettin' you somethin' to eat, lass," came Jin's very slow suggestion. "Yer energy bein' all used up and all is goin' to leave you feelin' all _woo_ and you're likely to fall right over onto yer noggin." There was a pause in which Akari turned to move for the door. "By the time you ge' back, maybe Kurama will be done with the big man."

"Thanks."

"Sheila, don't forget to drink too!"

Akari ignored him as she moved from the grassy biome and out into the hallways. _*****_

It wasn't the first time Kurama felt keenly the absence of Youko.

The meetings had been more of the same thing, the same types of reports, the same strategies and plans turned over and over, and Kurama continued to wait for news from Raizen's Lands, about either him or Yusuke.

There was little that he didn't already know, or that he had not already guessed.

And for once the commentary of the silver-tailed fox might have been welcome if only to keep Kurama's mind occupied in an entertaining sort of fashion.

It was in such a mood that he entered into the training room, unsure if he was going there because he hoped Akari might still be there or because he thought perhaps the change of scenery might distract him.

~!**!~

Harvesting her energy was indeed a different matter entirely.

Rikei and Iketeru's knowledge was limited, believing that something like this had never been tried before.

They had built the machinery that would extract and process the energy, turning it into a form they could test, but it was a prototype. Very little of what was extracted became workable and as a result the amount of energy taken from her was vast.

It did allow for some interesting developments when they tossed her to the low-level demonic-monsters so she would switch, as apparently the energy of her other form was in fact a separate pool and she came out of it at full strength.

This meant they wouldn't have to wait for her to gain the energy back before they could extract it, which pleased both scientists.

It also meant that when she left the labs her brain was not capable of concern for being caught by the demon who accosted her the day before, the only coherent thought in her mind being the pathway that would take her back the quickest. Fortunately for her, she met with no trouble in any case.

Exhausted when she made it in the door, Shikiyoku barely had enough strength left to stumble over to the couch before she collapsed on the floor, and while she never really fell asleep, neither did she so much as move an inch where she lay. 3

Hiei stalled, standing in the epicenter of the city he had lost track of the demon in, the Jagan closing as a headache bloomed behind the third eye. He let his gaze travel around the area, looking for any sign of the demon he already knew to have blurred out of the silent area.

And the silence of the night time is what made it so easy to hear the demon that approached on normally silent feet, the presence hidden but not unfamiliar. "We should return." The demon's voice was heavy and slow, husky. "We will pick up here in the morning."

Hiei turned and followed after the demon that was traversing through the layers already, the fire demon blurring between one to another, and he found himself easily capable of traversing to the Eighth on his own, and even to the rooftop of the palace, though the demon next to him had to put a hand on Hiei's shoulder and guide him through the palace as had happened the first time Hiei and Shikiyoku had arrived.

He found it odd that Mukuro didn't seem to trust him with letting him use the layers around her palace.

But that thought was gone when he landed on the rock floor of the hallway that lead to the room he shared with Shikiyoku. It was replaced with, instead, the thought of the other demon mimicking himself, and the fact that such a demon could have-

His feet carried him down the hall and to the door, which he pulled open without ceremony and shut behind himself. His eyes landed on Shikiyoku, who lay on the couch, and he stared for a moment. He had thought that he'd return to this, to see her changed and have to change her back.

_(The couch isn't as comfortable as the bed.)_

He moved forward, his feet silently touching the floor beneath until he was standing at the edge of the couch. He wasted no time in scooping his arms under her, pulling her from the couch and turning to carry her to the bedroom.

He hadn't realized he'd been tense all day until that tension melted away.

~!**!~

Akari _had_ gone to the kitchen to get something to eat and drink. And despite the fact that there were demons inside readying to cook for dinner, they didn't seem to mind her raiding their refrigerators and rummaging through their cabinets. For once, she wasn't shooed from the room or barked at by the head demon chef.

In fact, said demon had even _offered_ her a few things.

Maybe he'd just figured that if she grabbed what she wanted, she'd be out of their way quicker.

She had grabbed several things and left as quickly as she could, and instead of going back to the training room with Jin and Chu, she decided she'd go back to her own room. Because, _who knew_ how long Yomi would keep Kurama in a meeting.

…

She didn't feel like waiting.

As she stuffed more bread into her mouth and nudged the bedroom door shut with her foot, she realized that her energy had actually begun to regenerate earlier today, she just hadn't _felt_ it. Which meant she could try again to get through the shadows and to the Ninth layer.

Except, her stomach growled.

…_After I finish eating. _

She got comfortable on the bed, dropping the different snacks and drinks, letting them spread out around her as she sat crosslegged against her pillows. She gave a yawn, but really, she didn't pay any attention to the lack of sleep.

Because she had too much to do. _*****_

Kurama sat back a little and shifted his legs around as he glanced over at Jin.

"Well, o' _course _we already said we would be on Urameshi's side. That needn't be a worry for yah."

"Even if he does do something stupid." Chu added, "It's not like we enjoy being ordered around any more than you do."

"The thought of he and Raizen coming up with some sort of plan is worrisome." Kurama admitted.

"I know what you mean." Jin agreed.

"Huh?"

Jin and Kurama looked over at Chu, who was obviously two sheets to the wind.

"Raizen?" Jin said slowly.

"Yeah."

"And Yusuke?"

"Yeah."

"Coming up with a plan together."

Chu blinked a little, seemed to understand, and quickly took another drink.

~!**!~

There was absolutely no resistance from Shikiyoku as Hiei picked her up, though she felt only half-awake when he started mentioning something about the bed being more comfortable.

Leaning her head against him as he moved along, she managed to mumbled, "'S too far." 3

Hiei was easily able to open the door to the bedroom and nudge it shut with Shikiyoku's feet, hearing the soft click of it before turning and sauntering to the bed, first laying Shiki atop the covers before crawling over her to lay on the other side of her, facing her. He stared at her for a moment before remembering what he'd been originally intending to do.

He reached forward with a hand and pulled her face towards him, to make sure she wouldn't turn away, and planted his lips on hers.

Because he didn't think he'd be able to sleep all that well when she was switched.

~!**!~

For the first time, Akari realized she hadn't been eating much in the past few days, and it was very obvious by the loud demand her stomach made when she reached for a small bowl of vegetables she'd procured from the kitchen.

And for a while, she only ate, making sure she got her fill of food and drink and occasionally taking stock of how much energy she had available. She wasn't surprised to find that eating something did indeed make her feel better, even curing a headache she hadn't realized she had until it was gone.

And by the time she _was_ full, there were two empty water bottles and various containers and plastics littering the top covers of the bed, all empty.

And she felt as if she could go for a run, were it not for the tiredness from lack of sleep.

She took a deep breath, and after a few silent moments without thinking about anything other than her own energy, she decided to pick up where she'd left off and slip between the layers again.

Her energy would build up, and hopefully it would be enough to utilize again. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku knew that there had to be a moment somewhere in the past where she felt this drained, but for the life of her she definitely couldn't recall it now.

She couldn't recall much of anything.

Vaguely she knew Hiei put her down, that he had taken his place on the other side of her, but she was so exhausted that she could feel little else floating across her mind.

That's why when he reached over to draw her closer, he was once more met with no resistance, though to be fair she had no reason to delay the transformation.

As his lips pressed against hers, his desire swept across her core and the nucleus fluttered as the change began, the usual tingling feeling blooming outwards as it always did until the ashen skin started to almost peel away, taking her scars with them.

However, the pumping of her typical energy into her body occurred at a much slower rate this time, and somewhere in the back of her head Shikiyoku immediately associated the sluggishness to the fact that she had not gotten a chance to recuperate, making the process painstakingly slow in comparison to what normally happened.

If she were coherent enough, she would have taken an interest in the process of her brain shutting down, as it would have been slow enough to track this time. Instead she only felt the edges of her mind starting to blacken into darkness as her body rebooted itself. 3

Hiei would have pulled away after a certain amount of time- purely out of instinct- but he actually found that he _knew_ the change would take longer, even without opening his eyes to look at her or relying on the bond between them to relay such information. And so, he maintained the contact until he was able to read the feedback from her end- which wasn't much.

And even then he didn't pull very far away. He only moved his hand away from her face, instead draping that arm over her side and resting his cheek on the pillow with only a couple of inches between their noses as he rapidly fell into sleep.

~!**!~

Hiei's eyes came open early the next morning, and for a moment he wasn't sure _why_ he was awake so early. His eyelids slid closed again and he shifted a little, aware of Shikiyoku next to him and not wanting to leave. He settled close to her once more, both arms around her and eyes closed, but his mind completely aware of his surroundings.

Slow to process, but aware nonetheless.

Even when he realized he'd woken before his internal alarm had sounded, he didn't so much as move an inch.

~!**!~

It was early. _Way_ early.

Actually, the truth was it was simply earlier than she had been leaving her room in the last few days. There was still _light_ in her room, but it wasn't near as much as, say, yesterday or even the day before. She was gathering trash in her hands from her "meal" the day before, crumpling up plastic bags and empty bottles and tossing them into a small trashcan near the door. The bowls she set aside- or, more accurately, she _tossed _them to the side, where they clattered against one another and fell to the floor anyway- to return to the kitchens later. The two unopened water bottles were left on the mattress for later.

She could _feel _the rings under her eyes just as easily as she could feel the simmering rage at herself for not being able to get to the Ninth Layer and the roiling disgust at the amount of uselessness that she'd become. And the fear that she wouldn't be _able_ to get there, and she'd be tossed to-

The mental image of the creature had her pausing and roughly rubbing a hand over her face. She dropped that hand to her side again and continued on, ignoring the very adamant protests of her muscles and the way her core practically _screamed_ at her for her extreme lack of energy and the agonizingly slow regeneration of it all.

The door to her sleeping quarters slammed shut behind her, and she was moving down the halls in her own bubble of intensity and darkness. And she really _really_ hoped she wouldn't be with Chu today. His drunken ramblings were not ideal for her definitive absence of patience.

Which was displayed as she took the steps down a level one at a time, stuck behind a demon who moved about as slow as an elderly human. But, the stairwell was so narrow that with the amount of traffic going _up _on her left, she couldn't _pass_ the annoyance in front of her.

_Move that large body down the stairs as if there's candy at the bottom, you-_

She cut the thought off with a growl. It would do her no good to be irrational.

By the time her feet hit the landing and the demon was going the opposite direction than herself, Akari's lips were curled up and she wasn't even looking to see if Kurama waited or not. In fact, she hardly noticed if he was even _there_ when her hand snaked out and turned the knob in a jerky motion, moving into the room and not even bothering to shut the door behind herself. _*****_

Nothing unusual was passing over Kurama's mind until Akari walked right by him without so much as acknowledging his presence, at which he pushed himself away from the wall and moved into the room after her, closing the door behind them and stopping after another step to consider her.

He realized they hadn't _talked _much lately, about anything. The typical scenario included sleep of all things, which Kurama rationalized for himself to be the best time to actually let himself slip away since nothing was getting into this room without his express say-so at this point.

That did mean, however, that conversationally he and Akari were not much company for one another, though he did not particularly think either of them wanted to talk about things that the other was aware of, at least in this case where the topics of conversation revolved around _Yomi_ and being _stuck_. Essentially at least.

The way she had been stalking down the hall in his direction did not go unnoticed, however. And neither did the dark expression, the sleepless eyes, or another number of other things he sensed without even asking.

"Akari..." He already knew she wasn't feeling well, "What's wrong?"

~!**!~

It had been nothing to just fall asleep almost as soon as Hiei switched her, and the sleep had been dreamless, and a deep one, her entire being needing the time to be able to replenish the energy she lost the day before.

Her eyes did not open the next morning, but something in the connection drew her out of slumber. When she searched out the reason, she found only that Hiei was no longer sleeping, but the realization brought the slightest tension across her body.

She was grateful to have gotten to spend the night next to him, given that previously she had gone several without him, but what other reason could he have for stirring than having to leave once more? 3

Hiei didn't move, mentally checking the internal clock that said he still had plenty of time to lay here for a few more minutes before getting up to shower and leave. And Shikiyoku's tension did not pass him by, as minescule as it was.

Which was the reason he had yet to move- aside from his own sluggish ability to waken his mind.

It had only been a few hours since he'd gotten comfortable, no more than six to be sure, no less than four.

He released a small breath and slowly retracted his arms from around Shikiyoku, every ounce of his being wishing to stay right where he was and tensing when he told himself he couldn't.

Though, he _assumed_ he would be back again tonight, perhaps if only to switch her back. He wasn't absolutely sure of Mukuro's motives in what she ordered for him. He wasn't even sure she had told his companion _when_ they would be returning, or if it was simply the other's choice.

There was no way of knowing, really.

_(Go back to sleep.)_

She needed it, after all.

He moved away slowly, calmly, forcing his brain to awaken as he moved off towards the bathroom.

~!**!~

Akari paused at the sound of her name being called, blinking once and slowly turning to look at Kurama with a heavy stare as she weighed his question. So many answers popped at the forefront of her mind one after another, most of which were petty complaints about something or another.

So for a minute or two, she stared at him, those thoughts making circles in her mind and creating a tirade of complaints, or irritation that mounted again.

She was tempted to say _Everything._

But really, it wasn't true. It was just… _her. _

She almost made the excuse that 'I am tired'. And she did open her mouth to say that, but what came out was completely different, as if her tongue worked against her brain.

"I just-" she made a sound of frustration, "-the Ninth Layer is denying me _all _access and my shadows are doing the same and-"

She took a breath, and her eyelids slid closed.

"I'm tired and Chu is adamant about me drinking and Jin talks too fast and the demon in the hall was slow and I'm just _mad_ because..."

She continued to go on, but really, it was much the same thing. Petty complaints about little things under her breath even as she turned and began to move through the foliage in the room. Really, she wasn't even aware she was still talking aloud, or that she had been actually answering someone's question just moments before.

She just wanted to sleep for a while and try getting to the Ninth again later. _*****_

Kurama patiently started following after Akari, and while he listened and heard every word that came from her mouth, his inward dialogue centered around her inability to traverse between the layers, wondering at what might have caused her to become incapable of doing so other than disuse. Besides the fact that his own personal reservations on the matter consisted of the truth being she didn't _want _to use that method of travel considering what she had seen.

The fact that she appeared to be sacrificing her own well-being in her efforts was likely the biggest thing that bothered him. After all, it wasn't as if they were in a hurry. She had no immediate need to rush that Kurama could see, and perhaps it was simply something that might take time.

He said nothing, only nodding where appropriate as he walked next to her.

~!**!~

_(Can't.)_

She grumbled something incoherent as he got up. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually been asleep when he wasn't there.

Granted, the extraction of her energy of the day before left her only letting her unhappiness filter through their connection instead of voicing a protest or even moving.

The words 'stupid' and 'sick of this' were hazily repeated across her own mind, though they were in relation to the situation more than anything else. 3

Hiei understood everything he felt filtering through the connection and felt it become his own emotions just as quickly, as if her thinking it reminded him of his own distaste for their situation. It had his mood going south very quickly, though he pushed away the thoughts for the time being so he could shower.

Which he did in record timing, by the way. He was in, cleaned, and out in what felt like no time at all, the water dissipating quickly from his skin before he dressed in another fighting outfit similar to the one before. So when he returned to the bedroom it was as if he'd only been gone about five minutes, and he moved straight for the little fridge, where he pulled out the red loaf of bread for himself and grabbed the purple for Shikiyoku.

He moved back to where he'd been laying earlier, though he sat on the bed and extended the purple colored loaf to her calmly.

He still had half an hour to sit here. He'd woken early enough to do just this.

~!**!~

After a few minutes of grumbling under her breath about anything and everything she could, Akari went silent and turned inward, grasping at absolutely _no _energy even though she had known it wouldn't have regenerated anything yet. With the way she'd been using it, she wasn't surprised.

But at the same time, it made her mad that she didn't have any.

Which was ridiculous considering she had just rationalized it.

_I'm exhausted and this sucks and I hate being here._

She came to an abrupt stop and her eyes focused on the foliage around her, deciding she didn't feel like venturing too far this time. She instead lowered herself to the ground right where she had stopped, quickly getting comfortable laying on her side and closing her eyes. It was at this point two things hit her:

One, she hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours.

Two, she was with Kurama, and had somehow _forgotten._

"I'm just _really _tired." Those words were nothing more than a grumbled admittance. _*****_

Kurama stood in place for a moment, considering the demon who had finally grown more quiet after laying down.

Had she actually spent all her energy attempting to move between? Is that why it was all gone?

He let out an almost inaudible sigh, "You shouldn't do that, you know."

~!**!~

By the time she felt Hiei returning to the bed, the weight and distribution shifting next to her, Shikiyoku was awake enough to at least open her eyes without the threat of them immediately protesting and falling closed again.

Granted, it wasn't as if she could see anything.

However, she did feel the intention of Hiei and as his arm shifted forward she lifted her own slightly, hesitating for only a second as she calculated the distance to his hand and reaching out to take the offering of food.

She scooted herself closer to him and lifted her head until she could place it in his lap, beginning to nibble at the edge of the small loaf. 3

Satisfied that Shikiyoku accepted the offering, Hiei's hand fell to his side as she shifted closer and rested her head on his crossed legs. He watched her curiously as he ate at his own bread, finding he didn't mind the taste even if bread wasn't his absolute favorite thing in the world. It was fresh and fulfilling, that was all that mattered to him.

As he sat in silence, a thought passed by the forefront of his mind and his lips gave a small twitch as he considered her for a moment.

In the end, he decided not to do it and continued eating instead.

_(How'd you use so much energy?)_

~!**!~

Akari stilled, her eyes closing and a breath leaving her lips in a small puff of air. And yet she was extremely aware of Kurama's eyes watching her. It had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end and her muscles tightening just a little around her shoulder blades.

And at his comment, her reply came swift and without actual thought, without actual permission to be said before she could analyze her own reaction about it.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I can do whatever I please, seeing as no one has stopped me." _*****_

"Perhaps someone _should_ stop you." Kurama replied mildly, still standing a few feet away, "Before you actually injure yourself. Or worse."

~!**!~

_(Oh!)_

The exclamation came as one that meant she had intended a moment ago to broach the subject, but had become distracted by the food.

_(The disease is not blood-borne.)_

She continued munching quietly.

_(We've discovered that much at least. Rikei or Iketeru, or most likely they both had a hand in it probably, devised a way of extracting energy as they believe via their other analysis and what I have been able to provide information-wise that if not in the blood, it possibly flows through the energy itself.)_

Shikiyoku closed her eyes, pausing for a moment and summing up the answer to his question with, (_The process is not very efficient.) _3

Hiei's brows rose high as Shikiyoku explained, his mind turning over the new information with curiosity and interest. He hadn't known someone could take another's energy and _store it_ for later. At least, that's what he assumed she was telling him.

He could only guess how it came about, however.

_(Interesting.)_

He was almost curious enough to ask how it was done, but part of him recognized that if she said it was a painful process, it might set off a little alarm in his head that would have him disapproving of it altogether.

So he left it be with that.

~!**!~

Akari released a sound akin to a scoff. "I'm not dumb enough to use _life energy_," she grumbled at him. She'd already thought of it, yes, but had quickly decided against it. It likely wouldn't do her any good anyway. "Also, it is no one's job to _look after_ me. You aren't my mother, Kurama." _*****_

Kurama raised an eyebrow at her, managing to stave off his initial reaction which was irritation and a bit of anger, both emotions being ones he knew would not serve him in any capacity in this situation.

However, there was no denying her near-admittance to having considered tapping into her life force, and that is what had Kurama giving his cool reply.

"In that case, I imagine you can take care of your own training today." Without another word he managed to calmly turn back around and leave the room.

~!**!~

_(That's certainly one word for it.)_

While the pair had not told her how long it would take to analyze the energy she produced for them, there had been no indication that she would not be needed or welcome again today and she had every intention of going down there.

...because while she had yet to run into the other Hiei again, the thought of whoever it was cornering her in the room still did not sit well with her.

None of her actual thoughts managed to drift between them, Shikiyoku could feel at least some of her distraught filtering through, accompanied rather quickly by an intentional apology as she tried to scoot nearer and let his closeness wash over her.

It did actually help a little and had her smiling as she relaxed into him. 3

Hiei raised a brow as he felt the unease that was fed to him through their connection, but he didn't really have a hard time guessing what it was that was bothering her. He simply continued to stare at her, sliding another chunk of the bread into his mouth as he sent a passive emotion through the bond that said she hadn't been bothering him.

As she shifted, he lifted his eyes to stare at the closed door of the room, vision going out of focus as his own thoughts crept to the forefront of his mind.

After a moment he realized he'd finished his own bread and he was left only sitting there, practically hearing the nonexistent ticking of a clock that told him time was passing and he would have to leave soon.

Not that he cared at the moment.

He simply let himself enjoy the moment he had, his eyelids sliding shut and his ears tuning in to the sound of Shikiyoku's breathing.

~!**!~

_That's cute._

The sarcastic thought was echoed by the sounds of Kurama's near-silent footsteps leaving her. And at that exact moment, her mood told her that it was probably best, despite the fact that she'd come here not only because she _had_ to, but because she had _wanted _to.

But that thought was long gone as she dove into the sleeping realm. _*****_

~!**!~

Really the only thing that was keeping her from completely enjoying the moment was the fact that she knew he was going to be leaving soon.

_(How much longer?)_

How much longer would they have to stay here? Never before in her life had Shikiyoku felt so impatient.

It wasn't a question that needed an answer, just a general complaint, followed by a frown.

_(I want you all to myself.) _3

Hiei's eyelids came open and he looked down at Shikiyoku, expression neutral. He turned inward again, checking the loudly ticking clock and restraining the feeling of irritation, because he felt _exactly_ as she did. He didn't want to part ways, to leave her to demons he didn't know nor trust. He didn't want to _share_ his company with anyone else.

Especially since they'd been so _comfortable_ the day they'd had to leave.

Internally, the alarm began to go off and he felt a scowl form on his face.

It was back to chasing demons. He'd rather just give them the ultimatum of _join or die_.

…

That wasn't such a bad idea. It would make the day pass quicker if he had someone to challenge, too.

_Tch._

His eyes focused on her again and he zeroed in on her expression.

_(I've spent all the time I can.) __*****_

As Shikiyoku slowly started to sit up, half-eaten bread in one hand, she let out a tiny sigh of resignation.

_(I know.)_

Though it didn't particularly matter since she could not see, her eyes stayed turned downwards at the bed, trying to keep her melancholy from him. 3

Hiei let his brows pull down just a little at her, giving a small sound of displeasure as he slid by her and from the bed, turning to stare at her again anyway. A deep breath and he felt his brows settle in their natural position again.

He was tempted to reach forward and pat her head, touch her hair or something, but in the end he only stared for a moment and turned his side to her, readying to leave.

_(I have time to walk you to the lab.)_

Perhaps it would put him a minute or two behind, but quite frankly, he didn't care. He'd much rather see her safe to her destination before he left. It would _definitely_ ease his mind for a few hours. _*****_

Shikiyoku let out a brief, low chuckle, remembering what she had told him a while back.

_(You shouldn't lie, fire-prince.)_

She started to get up off the bed, tucking away the jewels that bounced against her chest.

_(Especially with someone who can tell when you're lying.) _3

Hiei gave a scoff. He'd heard that line at some point or another, and while he couldn't rightly recall the first time she'd said it, it amused him all the more to hear it a second time. He turned and began moving towards the door, a hand twisting the doorknob and pulling it inward so she could pass first.

_(Hn.) __*****_

Shikiyoku went ahead and followed after him, weaving her way around the edge of the bed into the other room.

She paused after a couple of steps.

_(Do you...will you be back tonight do you think?) _3

Hiei kept moving ahead of her, eyes forward even as he registered her silent query. He pulled the front door open to reveal a busy hallway, pausing with his back to her and eyes watching the passersby.

His initial instinct was to say yes, that he assumed he would be. But he also knew that it could very likely be different this night, if things went in another direction.

But still, he remembered the demon actually _hunting him down_ to tell him it was time to go for the night. As if he valued a little sleep to get him through the next day.

Instead of answering, he sent the emotion of uncertainty, but backed it with the feeling that he wouldn't exactly agree to be gone for any certain length of time. _*****_

It was...more of a comfort than the last time at least.

As she started to move forward, somewhere in the back of her mind she began cursing the three would-be kings and their stupid war, and for dragging her into it.

_(I never should have left the Ninth Level.) _3

Hiei made a small sound and sent a disapproving stare over his shoulder.

_(And then where would you be?) _

The thought had him almost cringing.

_(It will be over. Hopefully after they kill each other.)_

He walked from the room and into the busy hallway, stepping to the side and one pace in the direction he needed to go.

_(We just need patience.) __*****_

Shikiyoku realized as soon as she thought it that she had not actually meant it.

After all, she really had been thinking _originally. _That she quite literally should _never _have left, which would put her all the way back to the day Kitoushi fell to the Hunters. Or thereabouts.

_(I hate waiting.)_

The statement was followed quickly by: (_I've been waiting my whole life.)_

As she closed the door behind herself, eyes looking in Hiei's general direction as she cast a small smile after him, she finished the declaration.

_(For you.)_

Though perhaps she had never realized it until recently.

And now she had to share.

Lame. 3

Hiei let out a single breath of amusement that, had it been echoed, would definitely have been classified as a snicker at her. He may not have heard her thoughts, but the general impression was all he needed to know at this point in time. He'd grown rather talented with deducing her general thoughts here and there.

You know, _when the bond was there._

_Heh._

_(Was it worth it?)_

He didn't wait for an answer, only turning and moving down the hall in the direction he should have already been going. And he was probably in the best mood he'd been in for a while. _*****_

_(You tell me.)_

She heard him start to walk off and merged herself in with the demonic traffic heading the way she needed to go, wondering what had everyone in such a rush. There were usually not this many demons around tearing up and down the dimly lit halls.

Greater numbers did mean less of a chance of running into the one impersonating Hiei, however. 3

~!**!~

Out of the blue, Akari's dreams had come to a halt and her eyelids had peeled open. She took a deep breath and was immediately aware that the presence in the room was not that of the person she had been expecting, and quickly remembered that he had left the room after she'd griped and..

_Well… that was smart, Akari._

"You awake now Sheila?"

_Oh… oh no.._

"You were lookin' mighty peaceful there for a bit. You're quite the cutie when sleepin'."

_Nooo…_

"I came in here to have a chat with the fox, but you was here all by yerself and I just couldn't leave ya here. Anyone could come bargin' in at any time!"

Akari's eyes shifted to look over at Chu, whose general scent she could not pick out from the foliage that had previously been hiding his musk. Her eyelids slid closed rather quickly after noting the bottle he lowered to the ground after a swig.

"At least you're gettin' yer rest Sheila. Can't have you bonkin' out now and again."

"Chu, could you… _not?"_

"Well, I mean I _could_, but where's the fun in that? I ain't hurtin' nobody, just enjoyin' a nice afternoon is all."

Akari sighed and rolled onto her back so she could push herself up into a seated position. She crossed her legs and turned to look at Chu again, annoyance very quickly filtering into her system again. _I'd been sleeping so well…_

"You're lookin' a bit tense."

_I'm not in the mood for your games._

"You alright there?"

She ran a hand over her face and released a heavy sigh. "Chu, I was _sleeping_ so _well."_

"You can always go back to sleep. I won't wake you."

_You already have._

"That tenseness is bad for you Sheila." When she turned to look at him, he was silently offering a bottle whose contents sloshed a little against the glass. "I know they say alcohol is a depressant, but it works wonders on the muscles."

"Chu, I-"

She paused, brows twitching.

"Or we could work on yer layers."

When she looked up at him again, he was watching her with a curious expression, as if he thought she didn't _need_ to "work on her layers". And a part of her thought he was _mocking_ her.

_If I drink, will you __**shut up**__?_

"Sheila?"

She suddenly reached forward, snapping the bottle from his hand, which he relinquished quickly, and tossed her head back, the bottle to her lips and the liquid burning her throat as she downed the last of what was inside.

When it was gone, she wiped at her mouth and extended the empty glass bottle towards Chu, not looking at him as she crinkled her nose a bit. It didn't taste.. _bad. _"Happy?"

When she was given no answer, she turned to look at him. His expression of surprise had a sneer stretching her lips.

"That was mighty fast, finishing off the bottle like tha'. I'm impressed, Sheila."

She scoffed and dropped the bottle to the grass.

"If you _want_ it, I have more."

She took in a deep breath and turned to look at him again, eyeing the two large bottles he'd procured from… somewhere. That breath was released in a sigh as she extended a hand to take one of the two. "If you'll shut up about it."

"That's the spirit!" _*****_

~!**!~

Oddly enough, it helped Shikiyoku to maneuver through the hallways when she had her head up instead of staring down at the floor like she wanted to do.

Everyone seemed to be out and about and it took all her concentration not to run into or be run over by anyone.

When she heard her name called, she did not stop, continuing to step around the other demons with which she occasionally brushed shoulders.

"Kuraku!"

The closer proximity of the voice confirmed what Shikiyoku likely thought anyway, which was that whoever wished to gain her attention would chase her down regardless of her reaction.

She did feel, however, that when the demon said her name louder that the others nearby started giving her second glances, as if they had not realized she walked among them.

Half of her found it uncomfortable, and the other half had her standing up straighter and tossing her hair over her shoulder as if they should have known the whole time.

A demon fell in step next to her.

"You should not be walking the halls without escort, Kuraku."

It came out chiding.

"I am usually not walking the halls."

"Oh? Is that so? What a pity, I'm sure. You should consider doing so more often."

She did not see it of course, but the demon cast his gaze around at the busy hallway.

"I imagine the corridors would be this crowded all the time should you grace them with your presence."

"You're too kind."

_Much too kind._

_What do you want?_

Strangely enough, Shikiyoku could sense nothing from him other than the honest-to-goodness desire to walk her to her destination.

Luckily for her she was not long in arriving, turning down the very next hallway and out of the main stream of demons.

She paused for just a moment when she reached out towards the door knob, turning her eyes in the demon's direction, knowing that he had stopped just short of her.

"...my thanks."

"Anytime, Kuraku. Should you have need of me, my name is Nikolai."

Shikiyoku gave him a nod and let herself into the lab. 3

~!**!~

It wasn't long before Akari was staring wide-eyed at a chuckling Chu, whose cheeks were flushed and he was leaning towards her, his breath floating to her nose, which she crinkled as she gave her own laugh. "Chuu," she began, voice breathy as she gave another laugh. "Tha's not how it works.."

He leaned closer and his intense stare bore into her own as she resisted leaning away. He watched her with avid interest. "You know Sheila, if the fox weren't after you already, you'd make a mighty fine chase."

She waved a hand in dismissal. "You're changing…" she paused, eyes wandering to the side for a moment, "..the subject."

"Oh! Righ'!" He leaned away and tipped his head back, bottle to his lips as he took several long swigs before pulling the bottle away and smacking his lips. "I say it's like this**: **I take you to the Ninth, and you ge' a good look around and try again!"

"No, Chu, _wrong_." She raised her half-full bottle to her lips and took her own swig, gulping loudly before lowering the bottle to her lap again, all ten fingers curled around the neck of it as she licked at her lips. "I _can't_ do it because-"

"Sheila, did you know your hair is super long?"

She burst into a stream of giggles as he reached forward, hand twitching as he tried to pet her hair, which she continuously leaned away from.

"No, _no_, Chu!"

"Am I gettin' close? I can't tell."

"Chu, stahp! I- I don't like being touched!" She batted his hand away with a sloppy wave of her hand again, missing each time she tried to wave him away.

"Ah, sorry Sheila!" He leaned away and gave her a sloppy smile. "I don' mean to invade yer bubble."

"You do it all the time." She lifted her bottle to her lips again, even as he spoke up.

"I mean no harm Sheila. It's a compliment, really!"

She lowered the bottle and held it in front of her face, inspecting it and its leftover contents, noticing that this bottle was also nearly empty too. She turned her glassy gaze to Chu, her expression turning bright and merry at his apology and her smile widening into a sloppy grin. She leaned forward and pat at his knee with one of her hands. "That's okay, I forgive you! Just.. Don't do it no more! Only one person-"

She paused, eyes gaining a faraway gleam.

She blinked three times before her eyes refocused again and she took to chugging the last of the bottle.

"Sheila?"

"I'm gonna go…" she paused as she dropped the now empty bottle on the floor, "...visit _Kurama."_

She turned to leave, stumbling to the door, only to pause and turn to look at Chu with a raised finger. "But," she made a face, "Don't tell Yomi."

"I got yer back Sheila!" The male yelled as he lifted a bottle in her direction. As she pulled the door open and passed Jin, she was pretty sure the other drunken demon had fallen over. And by the time she was past the windmaster and the doorway, she noticed nothing but the path ahead of her.

Not even the look on the redhead's face when she scuffled by him. _*****_

~!**!~

Being blind certainly had its advantages.

At least where Rikei and Iketeru were concerned in relation to the testing they were able to do with Shikiyoku.

Today, for example, she had done little else but sit on the table as she and the other two batted ideas back and forth.

There was in fact something different about the two energy samples, which Shikiyoku could have told them, but the difficult part was getting beyond what was simply 'different' and what was 'infected.'

And since they did not have a sample of her energy from _before_, really a lot of what they were doing was guesswork.

Rikei felt fairly confident the source of the virus lay in her energy though. And he continued attempting to narrow the tests down further and get them more specific while the three of them conversed. 3

~!**!~

Akari managed to, somehow, traverse the stairwell without falling, though she did stumble here and there and had to keep her hand along the wall to make sure she didn't get too far away from it. And she stumbled down three flights before she paused and realized she'd gone _too _far down and had to turn around and make her way back up one flight of stairs. Of course, she didn't stray from the wall, which lead her to occasionally stumbling into another demon actually going _down_.

Demons did glance at her when she stumbled on a stair and caught herself here and there, but otherwise they seemed to not mind her stumbling presence aside from the few she'd actually run into. Those, on any other day, wouldn't have been very funny.

So when she found herself looking at the door down the hall that she knew to have the redhead behind, she felt accomplished that she hadn't been stopped by Yomi or one of his henchmen.

And it was with that happy thought that she grabbed the handle of the door and tossed it open with gusto, and yet somehow it didn't slam into the wall when she released it. She took three steps into the room with eyes on the redhead, paused, held a finger in the air, and turned slowly and retraced her steps.

_Gotta shut the door…_

And so as quietly as she could manage, she did just that. _*****_

Kurama had retired to his room earlier that evening and after a long shower decided that he might as well attempt to get some semblance of sleep, but it was only a couple of hours later that his eyes opened to stare up at the ceiling of his room, puzzled momentarily as he could not find any particular reason why he awoke.

That is, until the door to his room was flung open from the outside.

Shifting around a bit, feeling no immediate danger, he propped his head up from the pillow a little by slipping his fist underneath the base of his neck, eyebrows raising as he could make out a demon he specifically remembered leaving to her own devices some time ago.

Curiosity conflicted with chagrin in his mind as he regarded her calmly from across the room, and as soon as she had the door closed he made sure to subtly get the seeds in the corners of his room growing so as to mask whatever was coming next.

Because if he was not mistaken, he could smell the alcohol on her breath from here.3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


	115. Episode 199

**A/N: **Hello once again for the first time in a very long time, fanfictiondotnet Lovelies!

Your friendly, neighborhood Star here with another chapter! Yes, I do realize it's been a super long time since the last chapter, hence why the "previously" portion of the chapter will likely be fairly explicit in detail this time around.

To be perfectly honest, CM and I haven't been writing nearly as often on our RP as we were in the past (I believe we had one session last month as opposed to the nearly daily sessions a year ago), however there is currently still quite a few chapters of backlog between where this story is and where we are currently.

For this reason, and because I've been so lacking in posting on the story (apologies!), I will be posting a chapter a day for the next week before likely reducing down to one per week as I was doing a while back. (At least until I start slacking again, eheh ^-^;; Either I'll start slacking or you all will be caught up, ha!)

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari continues to be unsuccessful in traversing the layers  
without the use of her shadows,  
Jin and Chu's assistance notwithstanding.

Chu continues to assert that drinking would help her,  
as her pent up anger about the situation is likely impeding her.

Youko still has not stirred within Kurama,  
having apparently gone dormant ever since  
Kurama refused Youko the ability to go after Shikiyoku  
and subsequently made her Consort bond with Hiei.

Kurama talks with Jin and Chu about siding with Yusuke,  
expressing concern about Raizen and Yusuke coming up with a plan.

Meanwhile, Akari eats and attempts to slip between layers on her own,  
the next day her overall demeanor causes Kurama concern,  
when the two of them end up meeting in his plant-covered training room again.

Akari expresses her anger and frustration about her circumstances  
when he asks, and she lays down to rest, her energy exhausted  
and her body in need of sleep.

After expressing concern about her and afterwards learning  
that Akari had considered using her life energy to try and go 'between,'  
Kurama ends up leaving Akari to her "training,"  
when she asserts it is no one's job to look after her.

When Akari later wakes, it's to Chu, much to her chagrin,  
and eventually she takes a swig from his bottle  
which turns into being the rest of the bottle in the one swig,  
in the hopes that he'll stop bothering her about drinking.

The rest of that bottle turns into another one  
which she finishes completely by herself,  
eventually finding herself in a drunken conversation with Chu  
in which the demon admits he'd be chasing her if the fox wasn't.

Akari decides in her haze to visit Kurama and leaves,  
eventually making her way to Kurama's room.

Kurama wakes just as she intrudes unannounced,  
and he quickly grows the sound-dampening seeds  
he placed about his room to their full form  
in preparation for whatever comes next,  
able to smell the alcohol on her breath  
from where he lay in bed, all the way across the room.

~!**!~

Hiei is summoned in the early morning to Mukuro,  
who informs him he has done well in his training  
and from now on will be pursuing demons  
that are able to walk the layers  
and bringing them back to the Mobile Fortress.

Shikiyoku heads down to the labs,  
Rikei and Iketeru informing her that they believe  
the Crusnik virus is located within her energy,  
not her blood like they had thought previously.

They begin harvesting energy from her directly,  
but the process is not refined, the machinery  
merely a prototype, and much of what they take  
is unusable for their purpose,  
resulting in the amount of energy they take from her being vast.

She returns to her and Hiei's rooms in pain form  
and exhausted, only making it to the couch before collapsing.

Hiei returns from his excursion for Mukuro  
and retrieves Shikiyoku from the couch,  
taking them both to bed in the other room  
before switching Shiki back to her normal form,  
the two of them falling asleep quickly after.

Hiei wakes early the next morning,  
preparing himself for his day and returning  
to eat breakfast with Shiki.

He asks her how she lost so much energy,  
and she explains scientists findings to him.

Too soon it comes time for him to leave  
and Shikiyoku heads down to the labs herself,  
though she is stopped along the way by Nikolai,  
a white-haired demon who insists she should not  
be walking the halls alone.

Nikolai escorts her to the labs and then takes his leave.

Being blind still, the scientists cannot do  
the sorts of testing they would like to do with her,  
the three of them batting back and forth ideas  
for the scientists have found that there is in fact  
something different about her pain form energy  
and her normal energy...

* * *

Shikiyoku stared down at the floor, mind wandering to her eyesight as she swung her legs back and forth a little where they hung down over the edge of the table.

She could hear Rikei rustling around with the equipment, Iketeru having been called out of the room both at Mukuro's behest as well as to retrieve a bit of machinery for their needs.

Having fully expected for the blindness to be a fluke, Shikiyoku's thoughts trailed back to the moment it had happened, recalling the source of the incident and managing to smile a little.

_Foolish demon._

She missed him.

_Damn you, Mukuro._

Whatever lightness on her face disappeared as the female's image crossed over her mind, complete with that same strange blankness that had accompanied the introduction, where normally there would be a presence and instead there was a distinct anti-presence.

Shikiyoku did not startle back when she felt the hand on her arm, knowing that it was likely the cloud she knew to be over her eyes was likely unsettling, and while she looked up out of habit, it was the faint scent of Douji that had her placing the hand as to belonging to Rikei.

"What troubles you, woman?"

The voice sounded a shade kinder than it usually did, and in response Shikiyoku found herself answering him in a similar manner.

"Many things." She admitted with a little sigh, "I am sorry to bother you with it."

"Mm." It was not exactly an answer, but the hand at her arm reached up to take a hold of her chin, turning her face this way and that as if inspecting her features. "Brooding does not suit you."

Shikiyoku tried not to scoff, "So I've been told."

"Perhaps you should take the sentiment to heart, then." Rikei murmured back at her.

"It is hard not to brood when there are a plethora of things to worry about."

"Worry? Here? In the relative safety of the fortress?"

"It is the 'relative' part that seems to be troublesome."

Rikei frowned and Shikiyoku only just realized that he had not let go of her yet, finding her eyes staring upwards as if into his face.

"What has happened?"

"I-" It was not that the admittance seemed trivial, but she also did not think it would be helpful for her to share such information with a demon who had Mukuro's ear. "I would rather not say."

Her gaze dropped again, suddenly feeling an uncomfortableness under his stare that she had not felt since she had lost her vision.

"Why do you look at me in such a way?"

Rikei's eyebrow raised questioningly, amused that she thought he was staring at her in any particular way.

"Should I be looking at you in some other way?"

His response brought a reddened color to her neck as she recalled another who had said as much the same thing when she asked.

"Your worry is ill placed." Rikei's voice sounded closer this time, "And your tension will cloud your thoughts."

It was as if he was reading her mind, for Shikiyoku had suddenly started to worry, all at once keenly aware of how she could feel nothing of the desires of this demon, which included what he intended to do about said 'tension,' as it sounded to her as if he certainly had something planned.

In the next moment she discovered what that plan was, for the demon kissed her, leaving her sitting in a sort of shocked freeze as the blush at her neck shot upwards to the top of her head and her core jolted with surprise, flashing yellow across her eyes.

Had she not been so utterly stock-still, she likely would have cringed, for the energy that scattered from the jolt felt as if it would blind her again with its brightness.

All at once Rikei had pulled away, leaving Shikiyoku blinking up at him as she realized the door to the labs had opened moments before and Iketeru's soft steps had entered.

As the energy cascading over her eyes began to face, she realized that with it her vision started to trickle back, like pin-pricks at first as she blinked, seeing Rikei's purple hair and thin-framed glasses still standing over her.

"Am I interrupting something?" Iketeru wanted to know.

The other two demons both looked in his direction, Rikei's expression having returned to that half-bored, neutral appearing look he always seemed to wear and Shikiyoku actually _seeing _Iketeru where he had stopped around the edge of one of the counters, some amusement or another glittering behind his eyes.

"Just returning her sight." Rikei shrugged off-hand, stepping back over to the other counter and leaving Shikiyoku saying nothing as Iketeru accepted the response and went to place the equipment in his hands next to the rest of what they were working on. 3

~!**!~

Akari's hand seemed to rove over the wooden door, as if unsure if it was actually shut or not. Her lips pursed together as she eyed the frame, finding that it was indeed locked, but what held her there a moment longer was a sudden remembrance.

And the remembrance of Kurama leaving her earlier and her being spiteful towards everyone had her giving a small pout at the door.

_I'mma fix it._

Her pout turned into an odd expression that was a mix between said gesture and the attempt to smile as she turned back to look at Kurama, who was laying on the bed. For a moment she considered that he _might _be sleeping, but she scuffled and stumbled her way to the foot of his bed anyway.

"Shhhh," she began, not wanting him to speak first. And as that sound dragged on, continuing rather loudly in the room, Akari took the liberty of crawling up from the foot of the bed, deciding rather quickly that she wanted to lay _on _him and not _with _him.

Or..

Er…

Was there a difference?

She paused briefly, both hands on either side of his legs and one knee propped on the mattress.

_Uh…_

She blinked once before the thought was gone, forgotten, and she continued crawling up and over Kurama, the sound of shushing him again filling the room as she slowly crawled her way up until she let her arms slide on either side of his head, her face finding the pillow to the left of his own and a hand coming up to cover his lips.

"Shhh," she repeated, quieter this time. "I-" She paused, giving a small breath that could have been a burp if she had allowed it to be, "I'm _showwy… _I was mean and angry and I felt useless and I don't wanna be mean and I don't want us to fight and be mad and…" She took a breath and let her hand slide away from his face to land on the pillow again. "I just want us to be _happy_, Kuwama…" _*****_

Kurama continued to watch Akari come further into the room, his expression remaining just about the same as it had been when she came in, even if the plants in the corners would hopefully have masked exactly _who _had just come in the room, since as far as he knew they were still attempting to keep Akari out of Yomi's line of sight where Kurama was concerned.

...or at least that's what _Kurama _was still attempting to do.

Akari appeared to have forgotten.

Which may or may not have had something to do with the fact that she had been drinking.

He couldn't deny that the chagrin did manage to become more tinged with amusement as she crawled up from the bottom of his bed, literally crawling _over _him, until she collapsed on top of his body.

Her continuous shushing also helped with the lifting of his mood, so that by the time she lay down his face had the lightest smile pulling up one corner of his mouth, thankful not for the first time that Youko was not around for this encounter.

~!**!~

Naturally, by the end of the day Shikiyoku sat scarred and grave on top of the table.

As if Rikei had planned on restoring her vision the whole time, they did several tests they had been putting off, Rikei having prepared for them.

It had not put her in a good mood.

_If I had known __**that's **__all it would take, I might have asked Hiei to just kiss me again._

Might.

Just as Iketeru pulled the last of the patches from her skin and she hopped down to leave, the door to the lab swung inwards and a small group of demons struck up a conversation with the other two that Shikiyoku took little notice of until she made her way through them only to find that they took their leave of Rikei and Iketeru and flanked her once she got out into the hall.

It was only actually at that moment she realized the availability of traversing between the layers of the fortress, but by that time the group had informed her of their intentions to escort her back and Shikiyoku simply kept walking, uncaring as to whether these demons truly did as they claimed to have been assigned to do.

She blocked them out, refusing to become a part of any conversation they tried to start with her and only humoring them insofar as to actually _walk _the way back.

Upon stepping into her room, she unceremoniously slammed the door in their faces and stalked back towards the bedroom, making her way to the bathroom as if to clean off the filth of their proximity. 3

~!**!~

Akari's thoughts trailed away for a moment as she gave a heavy sigh and her eyelids closed briefly. For a moment, she realized that he hadn't answered, and her eyelids came open again and she turned her face so she could stare at his cheek.

And as he continued to be silent, her thoughts picked up right where they had left off, as if they'd never stopped in the first place.

"I didn' wan' you to leave bu' I fell ashleep before I could shtop you and I know I was mean and made you mad but we don't _have_ to fight no more." She paused as she shifted, moving the hand that had previously been covering his mouth to scratch at her cheek, then resting that hand on his chest. Akari's finger began moving along his chest absently. "I was shtoopid and I just wan' you to know that I _like_ you and…"

_This scar is like mine. Just… smaller._

She pursed her lips as her finger continued to follow the trail along Kurama's chest.

"And... " _This one is weird. _"OH!" Her tone quickly dropped to a whisper and her index finger paused over his skin. "Don't tell Kurama, but I _really really really _like him. He's my favorite and the bestest person because even when I'm dumb and mean and deserve to be hung upside down from the ceiling, he comes back and hugs me and-"

Her finger had continued tracing scars, and this time the thought about such scars made her realize that he was without a shirt, and her finger paused and her eyes trailed up to look at the redhead, as if only just remembering she was laying on _him. _

"Are you…" Still whispering, she pursed her lips for a moment before continuing in an even quieter voice, "_You have no shirt on." _Another pause and her hand trailed further down his chest until it met the fabric of the blankets he lay under. "_Are you wearing…"_ Another pause as she contemplated, trying to remember what the garments were called.

Unable to think of the word, she spoke up again.

"Are you.. _naked? _I'm sorry I just kinda came in and you were sleeping too and now you're naked and-"

Another pause and her expression lit up, her eyes widening with wonder.

"What kind of _underwear_ do you wear? Boxers?" She grew a little louder. "Briefs? Tightie-whities?"

"..._Man thongs?" __*****_

There wasn't really much to say as Akari continued to ramble on in a fashion that Kurama very much recognized.

Inwardly, he was shaking his head at her, though he only watched her with eyes gleaming in the darkness as she started running a finger over his skin. He couldn't help but begin to make guesses with himself as to how long it would take for her to realize what she was doing.

...though he didn't exactly expect her to realize it _quite _like that. Nor was he certain he particularly wanted to follow her train of thought.

Especially when she started to assume he wasn't actually wearing anything.

Truthfully, he always wore some sort of sweat pants to bed, but there started to be this internal battle between what part of his mind took up the Youko side and himself, neither one winning out just yet and leaving him silent.

~!**!~

The shower was short-lived as the warm water pooled strangely over Shikiyoku's skin, more often than not gathering in the recesses of the deeper scars, a sensation she quickly grew more uncomfortable with than anything else she had experienced while in this form.

As Shikiyoku splashed colder water on her face, the steam from the shower filled the bathroom heavily, making her tired as the events of the day crept up on her.

Towel wrapped firmly around her body, when she opened the door to the bedroom the misty haze billowed out around her while she stepped forward, blinking sleepily.

For possibly the first time since arriving she threw back the covers of the bed as she started to crawl over to the middle of it to lay down, starting to pull the blankets and sheet back up but only getting them to her knees before just collapsing onto the pillow in a half-awake daze. 3

Hiei's sword flashed in the light of the streetlights, the sound of metal clashing with metal ringing loudly on the air as the fire demon tossed away the other's blade from himself. And, due to his opponent's lack in strength, the sword flew a good distance away, skittering across the ground.

The fire demon stood tall, eyes flashing with anger and impatience.

He could've been back two hours ago, were it not for this demon having caught his _companion's_ attention. Apparently, this one was known to have information.

All of which Hiei cared next to nothing about. Except this one had decided that _civilized conversation _was not on the agenda.

And Hiei was _livid_. His time had been wasted, he knew. This demon couldn't even actually run the layers like he could.

"Gouka."

Hiei didn't turn from the demon standing in front of him with hands raised and dark eyes. He only listened to the return of the other.

"We have no use for this one any longer. End it."

Hiei stared at the demon that twitched with those words, but didn't move.

"He is to die. He knows too much."

"If you think he knows more than the rest of this layer, then you're just as much a fool as he."

The fire demon gave a harsh glare at his previous opponent, who took a step back, whose mind was flooded with panic and whose mark on his neck stood out against his skin. It was obvious he wanted nothing more than to return to his mate.

Which Hiei understood. He wanted to return to Shikiyoku.

"You have wasted enough of my time as it is." His harsh words were meant for both demons, and before he earned a reply of any kind, he folded the layers over himself and moved to the Eighth Layer, landing atop the fortress and finding that he could actually move _through_ the layers inside the fortress as well.

Which he utilized with great speed, katana now sheathed and hidden beneath his cloak.

He landed just inside the room he wanted, finding himself staring at Shikiyoku who lay on the bed in nothing more than a towel. He didn't seem to care, or perhaps he didn't actually really even notice, but he _did _notice his own tension leaving just as soon as her scent hit his nose.

_(Still awake?)_

It was a gentle probing, one that would not wake her if she was not already as such. He did, however, move to the bed and quickly get comfortable atop the covers, wasting no time in pressing his lips to hers for the change.

...Because he'd have to do all of that again tomorrow. And it was simply exhausting.

~!**!~

Akari's lips spread wide in amusement and a small giggle left her. "Please no man-thongs. They're ugly and gross and they look so _terrible_." Her finger began moving along his skin again, as if the one-sided conversation needed no answer whatsoever. "You'd look best in…" _Uh…. In… _

_Er…_

_Maybe he doesn't wear any?_

She sucked in a breath.

"Do you go _commando?"_

She went quiet again, staring at him but not really seeing him, unsure if it was fitting for his personality. In the end, she decided she wouldn't find out unless she told her and-

Her finger found another scar. A jagged, rough-feeling one that marred a spot on his biceps. A frown quickly found itself on her features. "This one… is gonna be gone when you wake up one morning," she suddenly declared, voice surprisingly even considering how slurred her speech had been previously, almost as if she'd sobered up a little. "I don' like it."

Her digit continued to trace it, back and forth as if memorizing it.

"Itsh… it shtands out." She frowned, trying to remember if she'd seen him be struck there before.

And after a moment the image of Otento came to mind, followed quickly by a gash in that place that she had cleaned up one day. She frowned even more. "Its not allowed."

_How many did he get?_

"How many scars do _you_ have, Kurama?" she suddenly asked, eyes staring at him but not seeing him. "I have, like, a _ton_. And you've seen almost every one of them. Can I see all of _yours?_"

Pause.

"Wait, first, I'm _thirsty…" _She swallowed a little, suddenly wishing she had one of those bottles with her and a pout formed on her face again. Her lips pursed together and her brows pulled downward. "I want some…" _I dunno what it was…_ "I'm _thirsty_," she repeated, complaining in a grumble. "And it was _goooooood. _We could _share." __*****_

Thankfully it didn't seem that Akari needed Kurama to respond in order to continue talking, to keep holding the conversation.

Because really Kurama was having trouble _not _doing anything at that point.

That little part of him that decided to take Youko's perspective wouldn't _shut up_, regardless of how often Kurama insisted that he would not take advantage of the situation.

Besides, if he were ever going to do anything, he would certainly want Akari to remember it later. And not to have the memory tinged with drunkenness in any case.

"I think you have had quite enough to drink, beautiful." Kurama inserted quickly into her pause.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku sent Hiei an affirmative before she realized he couldn't hear it when she was like this.

She did not have long to wait, however, as he almost immediately lay down next to her without waiting for a response and kissed her.

Scars slipping away under his desire, when Shikiyoku finally reopened her eyes she lifted her arms to curl them around his neck while giving him a contented smile and slowly blinking once sleepily.

_(Always. Waiting for you.) _3

Hiei gave a small hum to Shiki as he pulled just far enough away to break the contact, his arm resting over her midsection as she curled her arms around his neck. His eyelids were quickly closed and whatever leftover tension had been there was gone now, replaced with content at being right where he'd wanted to be all day long.

He had _tried_ to keep her from waiting, honestly.

But that _demon_ had decided to draw out the evening longer than necessary.

He quickly banished the thought and pulled Shikiyoku closer, mind going blank rather quickly now.

_(Hn.)_

~!**!~

Akari gave a protesting groan. "But Chu had _so much_ of it.." She could still taste it in her mouth, and it made the want that much stronger.

But, he'd said no.

_Uuuuuugggghhhhh…_

"You're no _fun_." Her hand flattened against his chest, no longer tracing the scar as she took a deep breath in. "You shmell good." _Like always._

"Hey Kurama," she began again, eyes closing. "I feel uncomfortable… I wanna nap but…" She shifted around a little, groaning when the pants she wore constricted a little. Fighting-style clothing was not meant to sleep in. "It's annoying." _*****_

As if he wasn't already in an awkward position, her shifting around did nothing to help the little Youko imitator in his brain. Neither did her starting down the pathway of a subject that Kurama could just feel going nowhere good.

"I can always get up and retrieve you some water." Kurama tried to take the subject that might distract her, "_That _you will be allowed to drink."

~!**!~

Without being consciously aware of it, Shikiyoku breathed the smallest, silent sigh out of her nose, drinking in the features of the hybrid demon that drew her even closer than before, his actions causing a light blush to settle nicely across her cheeks.

She hadn't really _enjoyed _these moments of late, but the prickling along her skin told her that she was most definitely enjoying it _now_.

She still had that little smile coloring her features as she relaxed into his embrace, letting her eyes rove over his face for the first time in what seemed like forever, able to see him once more and finding that it did nothing to help how deeply she blushed, and also finding that she did not particularly care. 3

Hiei felt the warmth that heated Shikiyoku's cheeks, but in his tired state, he didn't think much of it. He did, however, notice the feeling of eyes watching him, and it kept him just aware enough of his surroundings to not allow him to fall into sleep yet. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered that she'd been blind earlier that day and seemed able to stare at him now with full intensity, and the thought amused him.

Slight curiosity pulled at his attention, but he did not voice it.

Nor did he remark on her staring, as he had no actual problem with it aside from it keeping him awake a little longer.

~!**!~

"_Nooooo_…" Akari complained, whining at the thought of him moving, and thus _her_ moving. Because she was quite comfortable where she lay, except-

"Kurammmaaaa," she began in a grouse, "you're trying to dishtract me doeshn't help my pants become comfy." She did still again, but she wasn't exactly happy with it. "Jusht _help me… pleeeaaasssseeeee." __*****_

"And how exactly is me _not _distracting you going to help your pants become comfy?"

~!**!~

After another moment, Shikiyoku closed her eyes and sank further into both Hiei's arms and the bed.

_(...I missed you.)_ 3

Hiei let out a small breath and sent his internal reaction through the bond to her just as his mind fell into sleep.

_(You too…)_

~!**!~

"I-" _What? _"I-unno.." She wasn't even sure she understood what he'd just said. Akari made a sound of distress. As the sound died away, she took in a large breath, and then huffed it out in a short puff of air that was very dog-like, and if she'd had ears they would have turned back for a moment.

She shifted a little, trying to lay in a position that might actually help her discomfort, but only achieving _more_ discomfort and she stilled just as quickly.

"Kur_amaa…"_ she complained some more. "Just help me take them _off!" _Another sound of distress, and her tone became pleading. "I'll leave you alone if you do itt… _please?" __*****_

As she shifted around on top of him, Kurama found himself pressing his teeth together and shutting his eyes, having to resist any number of things that he wanted to do to or with her that popped into his head as she moved.

Kurama was not positive she _would _leave him alone, even if he had any intentions of assisting her in _removing her pants._

_Youko might actually threaten to kill me when he finds out about this encounter._

"Your pants can stay right where they are, beautiful." As if it would help him, Kurama took the arm that wasn't still underneath his head and lay it over her shoulders. 3

"But… _Youko _would do it! That'sh why I'm ashking _you_, becaushe _he's _not here…" Akari paused, lips pursing in a pout and a whine verberating in her chest. She did quiet for a moment, however, when his arm draped over her shoulder, the warmth from that gesture distracted her. And, purely out of instinct, she returned the gesture with her arms coming up to make a rather pathetic attempt at wrapping around his neck, only managing to simply rest on either side of his cranium instead.

Her next words were a whisper. "Can I tell you a secret?" She paused, though not quite long enough for him to answer. "I _really _like Kurama. He makes me happy even when I don't wanna be." Another pause. "Don't tell Youko, but I…" _What's the word? _"I…" _Ehhh….._

"Hng.."

_It's right there…_

"Hey Kurama?" She decided to change the subject entirely all over again. "Do you think Nabu misses me? Because I miss Nabu, and I wanna go home. I don't like it here." _*****_

Really the only thing keeping Kurama from going insane was the fact that with every inhalation he could smell the alcohol on Akari's breath. It continuously reminded him of the mental state of the demon laying on top of him and managed to stave off any wants or desires he may have had.

Plus Youko wasn't yelling inappropriate things in his ear.

Kurama had not actually thought of Nabu in a long while, but felt unsurprised that Akari considered the subject. Hopefully the dog had found Kuwabara should he have been in need of assistance.

"I imagine he misses you very much, beautiful." Kurama murmured, thinking of how much he had missed her when she had very first left to visit her pack. 3

Akari didn't respond for a few minutes, her thoughts stalling as she gave a sigh, all former discomfort forgotten for the moment. Her eyelids squeezed together and she shifted her face closer to Kurama's, but didn't quite manage to get close enough to touch her nose to his skin as she wanted to. "I wanna go home."

She went quiet again, giving a heavy sigh.

"...will you call me beautiful again?" _*****_

"I would call you beautiful any time you like." 3

"I'll call _you _beautiful too if you wan' me to.." Akari felt her lips pull up in an odd smile. She went quiet again, this time opening her eyes to look at Kurama's face- or what she could see of it anyway. She smacked her lips a little as if she could feel the drink sliding down her throat again, except this time instead of wanting more, she found herself wishing the taste would go away.

"Hey Kurama," she began, but her trail of thought was gone just as quick, and she didn't continue. _*****_

Kurama felt his lips twitch upwards at the prospect of Akari calling him 'beautiful,' which amused him if only because while _she _had never called him that to his knowledge, it had been an adjective passed around the high school a lot once he started to grow out his hair.

When she did not continue, he prompted her.

"Yes, beautiful?" 3

Akari pursed her lips when Kurama goaded at her. She couldn't remember what she'd been about to say. "I dunno." She admitted with a small shrug. "I just like your name."

She blinked once, and realized that that was indeed the case.

"Ku_ra_ma. _Kur_ama. _Kur_am_a_. Kura_ma_." She pursed her lips as she thought of other ways to enunciate his name. "Kuwama." That last one had her giggling a little. "It's like a combo of you and Kuwabara…"

Another giggle.

"_Kuwama."_

A small snort.

"Ku...ra...ma… Kur...a...ma." She made a face.

"Shuichi." _That_ one had her giggling a little more. "_Shoo-ee-chee."_ More giggles that slowly died away as a small bubble of air made its way up her throat, which escaped her lips in a small sound. _*****_

Letting his eyes close as the female laying on top of him continued to keep herself entertained, the smile that had been only an echo before started creeping further up either side of his mouth.

"So, how much did you and Chu share? A bottle each?" The quantity seemed about right. 3

Akari made a sound as she tried to remember, blinking once and looking up at the redhead. "A bottle…" _how much was in the first? _"...and a half?"

That felt right…

The thought of it, however, was anything _but_ right. In fact, she felt a little disgusted with just thinking about it, and her throat felt dry. Her stomach gave a little roll as she became _very_ aware of the taste in her mouth.

The thick liquid, the burning sensation as it slid down her throat. The way it just _sat_ in her stomach. The aftertaste...

"Kurma," she began again, her eyes closing and arms moving closer to him. "I.." _...Don't feel so good. __*****_

_Aaaaand that's what I was waiting for._

Without hesitation, Kurama immediately shifted around, sitting up and starting to gather Akari into his arms, carrying her towards his bathroom where he set her down near the toilet.

Of course he could have rid her of the drunkenness from the beginning, it wasn't as if he did not have such knowledge of plants at his disposal, but now the girl would know her limit since she did not appear to have been aware of it up to this point.

He did plan on helping relieve her of any hangover. That was a simple matter of getting her rehydrated. 3

Maybe if she just lay still, it would-

The very moment Kurama was moving, Akari was protesting with a loud groan and flails of her arms. "Don't!" Her stomach pitched and rolled with the movements, and her skin suddenly felt clammy and sticky and gross. She stilled in his arms just before he lowered her to the floor, at which point she could feel the sickness traveling up.

Almost as soon as his arms left her on the tiled floor, she was holding her breath just long enough so that she could quite literally hug the toilet seat and lean over just far enough that when she did puke, it wasn't all over the floor.

And so she retched and heaved and puked until she had nothing but air leaving her, at which point she found her cheek resting on the toilet seat and her eyes squeezed shut, her nose crinkled and body trembling from the force of each retch.

_Gross.._

She leaned away from the toilet to slam the lid of it down while her other hand reached for the lever that flushed the disgustingness away. And, feeling gross and clammy and extremely disgusting, she pulled her shirt over her head, completely forgetting where she was but not that she had some of that sickness down her shirtfront.

She tossed the article aside with a pained groan and proceeded to lean onto the lid of the toilet again, eyes closed and a second groan leaving her. _*****_

Kurama waited patiently nearby as Akari emptied her stomach of the offending contents, making certain her hair stayed out of way until it appeared she had finished, at which point he only turned away long enough to fill a cup with water from the sink and squat next to her to hold it out.

"Drink this. It will help later." He gently moved aside a portion of her hair that had fallen to veil her face, offering the cup as he did so. 3

Akari's eyes came open and while she stared at Kurama, for a moment she didn't actually see him, and her eyelids slid closed again. _I don't wanna move. _Her stomach hurt and her head pounded, and had she had anything more in her stomach, she would have been retching again. Instead, her body only gave a little jolt as if she'd hiccupped, and another groan left her.

After another moment, she did push herself to sit up, though an arm remained on the lid of the seat to keep her upright as she wiped at her eyes and then reached for the cup, quickly downing the contents, finding her throat thanking her for the moisture and her stomach settling some more.

And now she felt exhausted.

_Never… drink with Chu again… __*****_

After dressing her in one of the shirts of his uniform, Kurama lifted Akari up from the floor again and carried her back to bed.

Throughout the night he woke her periodically to make sure she drank more water, though a few hours before dawn he went ahead and let the two of them sleep, finding that despite the interruption, the sleep he did get was sound and restful. 3

When Akari woke the next day, she was _extremely_ comfortable, the blankets over her warm and the pillow under her cheek even warmer. Her fingers gave a small twitch and she shifted just a little, before suddenly deciding it wasn't the best idea and that she didn't exactly feel 100%.

The first thought that came across her mind was that she wanted to go right back to sleep. And she tried to do just that, but instead she found a song on repeat in her head- one that _must _have been in a dream or something- and it wouldn't quiet down enough to allow her to slip back into consciousness.

So, instead, she let a finger tap to the rhythm for about thirty seconds before she realized the material underneath both her cheek and her hand was not indeed that of a sheet, and the warmth that radiated from it was not exactly…

It wasn't supposed to radiate heat.

The brief mental image of Chu sliding her a bottle had her cringing.

_Oh… Oh, no…. _

Eyes squeezed shut and mind creating a mantra of _please don't be who I think it is_, the hand on the _material_ gave a little squeeze, and then another before she realized it was a person's skin, a person's chest. And for the life of her, she couldn't remember anything from the day before other than drinking with Chu.

_Please __**no.**_

Quickly, she checked herself mentally and found that _she_ was indeed wearing a shirt. A large shirt that wasn't… hers… but a shirt nonetheless.

And she was also relieved to know she was wearing pants.

_Thank god I'm fully clothed… __*****_

Cruising just below consciousness, set to awaken at the first hint of stirring from Akari, Kurama let himself slowly rise away from sleep when he felt her move without the intention of leaving.

Granted, as soon as the fingers at his chest twitched as if to take his pectoral muscle in her grip, his lips pulled up at one corner as he resisted a chuckle.

If he had to guess, she likely thought him to be Chu.

_Would she really have gone to bed with him?_

"You don't recognize this?" Kurama let the muscle underneath her hand tense, having to try really hard to maintain a straight face, attempting to sound almost insulted at the idea that she might not. 3

She didn't _mean _for it to become an actual sound, but a small squeal peeled from her lips at the flexing of the muscles beneath her hand and she pulled away, her first instinct to roll as far away from this person as possible.

Needless to say, it took an extra moment before she actually registered the voice and what had been said, and while it was very comforting to know she had _not_ somehow ended like this with _Chu_, she still felt as if the metaphorical hackles were on end from the surprise.

Because how in the _hell _did she get _here?_

As she began to pull away nervously, her voice came out a strained comment, "_Please_ tell me… you have pants on…" _*****_

Kurama turned as she began to leave his side, letting his grip loosen so that she could do whatever she wished, but he leveled an even stare on her.

"Even if I did not, do you honestly think that I would take advantage of such a situation?" 3

As Akari rolled from atop Kurama and to his side, she became very aware of the larger shirt on her body and adjusted it so that she would not be uncomfortable, her eyes finally coming open to look at Kurama for a brief second before turning away when she caught his stare. She tried very hard to ignore the redness that bloomed on her face and neck, and the sound she made was not one of unsurity, but of embarrassment.

Had it been _Youko_ she'd woken up to-

She cringed visibly at the thought and quickly shifted gears.

"Where… is my shirt?" _*****_

"Drying." He immediately replied, leaving the other subject be. "In the bathroom. You made a mess of it last night and decided to discard it, so I lent you one of my own and cleaned yours. It should be close to dry by now." 3

_Gross._

She gave a sound that said she understood, but went quiet again as she struggled to remember anything after the first full bottle with Chu. And the effort had an ache growing behind her eyes, which she rubbed at after a moment.

_I'm just gonna…_

_...Go?_

That idea made a pit in her stomach and this time when her eyes opened, she was taking in her surroundings. With each inhale, she smelled Kurama's aroma dominantly, and she recognized that this room was not her own, nor that of the training room.

_Oh… no…_

Where her cheeks had been red before, they now turned pale.

_Oh no.._

"I.."

_Crap…_

"I messed up. I screwed up. We're screwed." _Yomi's gonna know… Why did I come down here and when did I come down here and…_

"I screwed us so bad… I can't believe…" She gave a loud groan. _I'm so stupid. __*****_

Kurama let out a protesting sort of sigh and turned to face her, gathering Akari up in his arms.

"I hope you know you owe me combat pay for this." He mumbled into her hair, changing the subject a little, "You were dead-set on me removing your pants and I just want you to know that I was good and didn't do it."

He paused for a split second.

"...even though I kind of really wanted to...a lot." 3

Akari made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a groan at Kurama's words, her entire being tensing with the new information the redhead delivered as he folded his arms around her and buried his nose in her hair. She didn't remember doing _any_ of that, and to say she was mortified at the thought was an understatement. And she repeated the same sound.

Her mind, completely blank and her nerves shot, supplied her with one retort that flew from her lips.

"What, want a treat? Sorry, I'm out of biscuits." _*****_

"You're _out_?" Kurama whined playfully, "But I was so _nice _to you. I even arranged it so that no one would ever know you were _here_." He pouted a little and huffed a little whine into her hair before grumbling, "You should rectify the lack of treats. As soon as possible." 3

"I-"

_Can't think, you pain in my rear. _

"-can't do that right now. I'm rather tied up at the moment."

_Tongue tied too. _

Akari went quiet, trying to gather her bearings and recover, because being told that you'd asked someone to _unclothe you_ was not something she was sure how to handle.

_Remember to repay him later… _

"Wait, so Yomi _doesn't _know I'm here?" _Thank the lord… _"So, what, are we just gonna lay here all day until it's safe for me to leave without him knowing..?" _I… dunno what to think about that, considering... __*****_

"Mm," Kurama made a pleased sound, "You know I had not actually considered the idea of having us lay here all day. I like it much better than the plan I came up with. Good thought."

He moved as if to settle down further onto the bed, burying his face in her hair and resting his cheek on her head, murmuring, "This is why I keep you around." 3

Akari opened her mouth to reply, found it shutting, and then reopening again as she searched for a way to rebut his decision. In the end, however, as he settled further into the mattress and brought her closer, she found that part of her that was thankful for this sudden normalcy, despite what he'd said and what she couldn't remember of the day before.

_Definitely remember to thank him later…_

"So, uh…" _How did I get here? _"Anything else I should… know?" She was tentative about the subject, but really… she felt it necessary, because she certainly wouldn't be remembering everything any time soon. _*****_

Deciding they could enact his portion of the plan perhaps the _next _night, Kurama closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of having her so close while she was of the right mind.

"Not particularly." He replied in another murmur, "Though I must say I had no idea you wanted me to remove your pants so badly. Next time ask me when you're of the right mind and I would be more than happy to oblige." 3

_Erk._

Akari gave a twitch that ran the entire length of her body, and her hands came away from where they had rested against his chest. She made a nervous sound and slowly tried to slide away, that same sound turning into a nervous laugh.

_Uh.._

"S-sure…"

_What do I say to that?_

"..._sure….." __*****_

Kurama let out a chuckle at her obvious uncomfortableness at the thought, refusing to let her actually move away from him.

"...I'll hold you to that." He said calmly, letting his breathing even out.

~!**!~

Days went by. Or so Shikiyoku assumed. It really was hard to tell when one was so far in the fortress that no outside light was available to gauge.

Each time Hiei left her, she would journey down to the labs, but as of late she had not gotten the opportunity to do so by moving inbetween.

_Someone _had mandated that she travel by foot, and with an escort of some kind or another, a few of whom she began to recognize and know by name.

Those few were the ones she could honestly tell were simply trying to get to know her, to test the waters with her, who showed interest in her person. The others? Several were actually only attempting to get with her in the most base and carnal sense of the word.

Okay, so really the truth was _rest _of them were trying to sleep with her save for those few whose intentions, while in the end likely had such a goal in mind, for now were concentrated on learning more about her. It was however getting harder and harder to dissuade the more forward ones from such advances.

Each session spent in the lab always ended with her in pain form, being led back to the room, and usually collapsing somewhere-the couch if too tired, the bed if she could make it that far-and starting to drift off to sleep, but never really managing it until Hiei reappeared.

After changing her back, neither of them had much to say as they almost immediately would fall asleep in each others arms, and so Shikiyoku did not get the chance to ever update Hiei on any progress that was being made as to curing her of the Crusnik that had invaded her body.

They had discovered thus far that the Crusnik were in fact within her energy-as opposed to the blood-and specifically that which she had access to while in pain form.

This made for some sort of plan to begin taking shape as to expel said Crusnik from her body, and led to Shikiyoku staying later and later as the days passed by, until even Iketeru and Rikei were gone and she was left there hunched over one of the counters, trying to work on the formulas they needed in order to make the idea work.

One such night she sat back a little in the stool, staring down at the pad of paper in front of her whose symbols and erased markings and scratched out portions were starting to blend together before her eyes.

Reaching up with the hand not holding the pencil, she rubbed her fingers just above her eyebrows, making a noise of unhappiness before planting her elbow back on the counter and putting her face in her hand to glare at the page some more.

She had reached a block in the formula, unable to come up with a workaround and having sat there for several hours trying every little thing she could come up with to get the result the next portion would require.

And now she had nothing, frustrated and irritated.

Clenching her teeth together, she growled.

The two emotions were nothing new. In fact she had become very well acquainted with them more and more recently, each night she returned to her room leaving her with darker thoughts than the night before that were only lifted by Hiei's presence.

There was no denying in her mind that when they were apart she found herself more susceptible to such things.

Granted, every other night she had arrived at their room in her other form, while this evening in particular she had not been required to switch.

She couldn't decide if that was more or less helpful to the work before her.

_Likely less since I can't think straight right now._

Letting out a sigh, she scratched out the error in the work in front of her and tried to tweak it, but came up with nothing and let out another noise of irritation. 3

Hiei landed within the fortress and made his way to the room he hadn't had enough energy to land in, the layers having unfolded from around him as soon as he'd landed on the fifth floor corridors. He could still smell the blood on his arm from where he'd earlier allowed a blow during a fight to land, if only to end the fight quicker when that blow allowed an opening in the other's defences. It had healed relatively quickly, but the dried and crusted blood still bothered him this night.

As did everything else.

He shut the door behind himself and looked at the couch, only half surprised to see Shikiyoku not laying along its cushions in exhaustion. He continued to the bedroom, and found much the same story**: **no Shiki. It looked as if she hadn't been in here since they'd parted ways that morning.

He moved for the bathroom, already aware that her presence was not inside. With a damp cloth in hand, he cleansed his skin of the offending blood before tossing the used material aside and moving back out the bathroom, through the bedroom and out into the halls again.

Because he refused to sleep without her by his side.

He moved through the silent halls, glad that no other demons roamed at this late hour as he made his way to the labs. It didn't take him too terribly long to travel down that way, pausing at the door to glance about until his eyes landed on a tense, but scarless Shikiyoku.

Curious, he moved into the room until he was standing behind her, looking over her shoulder at the paper she'd been staring at. His tension from the day was gone within moments of being within her company, and whatever impatience he'd felt at her lack of presence in their room melted away into genuine curiosity as he stared at the many numbers and abbreviated words on the paper that was crinkled from many erasings.

He didn't say anything, only watching.

~!**!~

Kurama's arms tightening around her did have Akari pausing, letting him draw her closer even if she still felt discomfort from his declaration. She took a deep breath, realizing that she'd done it to herself, and forced herself to relax into the redhead as he too relaxed.

...It was good to hear a chuckle from him, after so many days of saying nothing to each other aside from the remarks the day before.

"_I just want us to be happy…" _The words echoed in her mind, and somewhere she realized that it had been something she'd said to him in her drunken stupor the night before.

A small smile twitched at her lips and she let her arms move to encircle his neck, her eyes closing as all thoughts about discomfort gone. _*****_

Kurama smiled as she put her arms around him, deciding that now might be as good a time as any to run a few things by her that she may have missed or may not have heard about yet.

"I am uncertain as to how much you hear passed around the base, but our spies have reported that Raizen is making no effort to increase the numbers of layer-moving demons in his ranks."

~!**!~

Squeezing her eyes shut as tight as possible, when Shikiyoku opened them next it was as if several things fell into place and she sat up a little straighter, blinking at the page even as she started back at the beginning of the section she was adjusting and mentally working her way through the steps, though she already felt confident her sudden revelation had solved the problem.

It was only a beat later that she also realized the vast majority of her irritation had drained away, and somehow she could not completely attribute it to that feeling of satisfaction at discovering the correct answer to her current issue.

In that same moment, she became aware of a great deal of curiosity that she knew was not her own, and while she did not think the demon nearby meant to immediately remove her from the premises, that did not stop her from switching the writing utensil to her other hand to begin filling in the blanks and raising a finger between them.

_(Wait. Hold on. Don't move me yet.)_

As the answer started pouring out from her mind, she simultaneously reached out with her other hand that had been between them as if to stop his taking her and grabbed for whatever part of him was nearest, dragging him even closer.

_(In fact...c'mere.)_ 3

Hiei watched over Shiki's shoulder, brow raised and eyes roving over every inch of the paper as if he might understand what was going on if he stared long enough. And he noticed she wasn't going to be moving anytime soon, because her pencil began scratching along again, erasing the mistakes and correcting them before moving to the next problem.

He really hadn't felt the need for her to tell him not to move her. He hadn't intended to just yet, despite his exhaustion. After all, he hadn't gotten to see what she did around here much, especially as of late. And they never really had time to discuss it either, as they both usually went to sleep as soon as she was switched back and they were comfortable, before parting ways again in the morning.

When her fingers curled around the cloak near his hip and tugged him closer, he complied and took that last step that would bring his arm to touching her shoulder, his eyes never leaving the paper as if he might somehow understand after a while.

_(What's this?)_

~!**!~

Akari gave a small hum to Kurama as she settled, her lips pursing for a moment as she wondered what that would mean. Sure, she'd heard a few things here and there when she'd been _listening_, but most of the time she ignored the other denizens of this place. _Maybe I'll start listening for gossip more often._

"What do you think they're planning?" _*****_

"Personally? I can only make guesses at this point, but I feel confident Yusuke and Raizen are plotting _something_ and this is their way of communicating that to those of us who know of Yusuke." Kurama sniffed a little, his tone growing more self-important, "However, on a professional level, if anyone else asks I haven't the slightest idea what it means."

~!**!~

Mind clearer than it had been all day, Shikiyoku did not let go of Hiei's cloak even when he obliged and stepped up to her.

She could vaguely feel bits and pieces of what she knew would not translate as anything but nonsensical jargon to Hiei drifting over the connection as she continued filling in the blanks that would lead her to the next section of the formulas.

There was only a second of pause where she sat up a little, eyes scanning the work before a little smile tugged at her lips and she bent back down, finding the areas that had been closed to her that night unfolding in her mind before she even got to them, leading her right up to where she had intended to halt.

She felt his question filter between them and replied as she kept methodically undoing and redoing the work that blocked her for so long.

_(Right now? Conjectures. Guesswork. The Crusnik-the virus-are not in the blood, but reside in my energy. Attempting to cleanse something from the heart is relatively easy. Cleansing from the core has never been done before as far as we know.)_

Shikiyoku let out a little sigh.

_(It's been a while since we've even attempted a 'cure.' Nothing's worked so far. Now we're concentrating on removing the virus entirely, expelling it.) _3

Hiei took in the information passed to him little by little, his tired mind storing it away for later analyzation when it would make sense. He gave a short nod, not replying to her so he wouldn't distract her from her work. His ears listened to the scratching of the graphite and his eyes followed the lead across the paper, not minding that her grip on his cloak never even lessened.

If he didn't interrupt her, she would accomplish something more for her cure.

And he didn't mind waiting on her.

~!**!~

Akari's lips spread wide in a smile and a small laugh left her lips.

"And what are _you_ plotting, mister?" _*****_

"Me?" Kurama asked almost incredulously, "I haven't plotted a single thing in my entire life. Ask anyone."

~!**!~

It took a few minutes more for Shikiyoku to finally catch up to where the next portion of the steps would start, and even then she made further notes to herself about where to take it from there, only slowing down once when she let go of Hiei's cloak to make a noise of discomfort and rub her other hand at the back of her neck, leaving it there as she finished up.

Giving the page a final once-over, she leaned into Hiei and released a deep breath.

_(I'd been stuck on that one little part over half the day.) _

The emotion accompanying the admittance was a wry one, given that Hiei had appeared and essentially solved the problem in less time than it had taken to write it all out. 3

_(Hn.)_

He remained where he stood for a moment, still staring at the paper as she leaned into him, seemingly saying she was done for the night. He carefully turned and slid an arm under her legs, the other behind her back to support her as he lifted her from her stool and turned to carry her from the labs.

_(You're welcome.)_

He walked up the two flights of stairs necessary before he was moving down the long hallway to their shared room, managing to get the door open with the hand under her knees before closing it with her feet.

He wasted absolutely no time at all in moving for the bedroom and getting comfortable on the bed, arms still around her as he relaxed.

_(….Woman.)_

~!**!~

Akari's eyes came open and her brows raised. She pulled away enough to peer into the redhead's face with an expression that matched his tone, and she very deliberately turned her attention to herself with a tilt of her head.

"Akari, has Kurama ever plotted anything in his lifetime?"

She paused as her expression changed, turning mock cheerful. "Why, _yes,_ Akari, he _has!_ Too many times to count, actually!"

"Mm-hm, I thought so."

She ended the personal monologue with a nod of her head and a sound of confirmation as her eyes focused on Kurama again, expression serious as if waiting for him to challenge her. _*****_

Kurama's face appeared perfectly serious as she exchange words with herself.

"Anyone _besides _you. Asking yourself does _not _count as receiving an answer brings into question your sanity."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let her pencil fall onto the counter as she sensed Hiei's intention to lift her up, and she felt absolutely no need to protest such an arrangement, only wrapping her arms around his neck.

When they reached the door of the lab, she did get a small sense of hesitation in the back of her mind that disappeared almost as quickly as it had formed when she found there to be no escort that night.

Instead of wondering why they might not be there, she instead let her head rest against his neck as he carried her the rest of the way back to their rooms.

Shifting only a little to get more comfortable after he lay down next to her, she conveyed her curiosity as to his last word, unsure if he simply meant to tack it on to the end of his previous phrase or if he had something more he wished to say to her. 3

Hiei got comfortable very quickly, his body settling into the bed and his arms wrapping firmly about Shikiyoku as if he thought she might get up and leave even though he knew that was not the case by any means. His eyes closed and he was aware that she was unsure of his meaning behind the tack-on of the word, but the only thing he sent to her was mild amusement as his breathing evened out.

~!**!~

Akari's expression remained just as serious when Kurama spoke, and her first reaction was to say _you said __**anyone**__, _but instead a better idea came to mind, and her brow raised high as she took a breath.

"Chu, has Kurama ever plotted anything in his lifetime?"

Her expression changed into a sloppy grin and she took in a deep breath, her words coming out in a heavy accent that was weighed down with slurs from mock drunkenness. "Why, Sheila, I would bet my best bottle of liquor on it!"

She fought to force her expression neutral again as the next one popped into mind. "Youko, has Kurama ever plotted _anything_ in his lifetime?"

Her expression changed as if to mock the fox demon, and when she opened her mouth her tone was taunting, "Well, I don't know. If you-"

She stopped there, blinking as the voice in her head relayed the message she could just _hear_ the kitsune retorting with. One she had almost relayed on her own.

One she didn't like.

And she didn't speak another word, her lips clamping closed firmly and her eyes turning away from the redhead. _*****_

Kurama lowered his voice, adopting Youko's velvety tone as he leaned closer to Akari with a mischievous and teasing gleam in his eyes.

"-take off your pants for me I might tell you."3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


	116. Episode 200

**A/N: **Hello once again, Audience!

The best laid plans...

I fully intended for this chapter to be posted early yesterday because I *knew* I would not be home in time to make it work. Then a whole bunch of life happened and here we are with me going AUGH and apologizing, blaming my tire for popping and being super far from home when it happened last night, etc. Basically this just means you're going to get a chapter a day until next Tuesday as opposed to next Monday as I originally planned.

We've had more "episodes" than the anime for a long time (112) and while we don't currently have more "chapters" than the manga (175), being on episode 200 just seems kind of special to me. I dunno why since it's not particularly significant given our chapter number has only recently gotten over 100, but I suppose I just like round numbers lol.

Expect another chapter again tomorrow!

EDIT: I updated this chapter this evening because for some reason in the second half of the chapter the doc didn't copy/pasta our italic and bold markings from the google docs.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

A drunk Akari finds her way into Kurama's room,  
crawling up over him on his bed to lay atop him.

She apologizes for being angry earlier,  
in the midst of feeling scars upon his chest  
and being easily distracted,  
asking him what kind of underwear he wore.

Kurama manages to refrain from doing or saying anything,  
until Akari insists that she's thirsty and the two of them  
should drink something, which he asserts she's had enough.

As she wriggles on top of him,  
claiming she's uncomfortable in her clothing,  
and wanting Kurama to remove her pants,  
he tells her he could get her some water,  
attempting to distract her from the prospect of  
removing her pants, even if to get comfortable.

She rambles about missing Nabu and  
liking Kurama, and eventually says she doesn't feel good,  
at which point Kurama carries her to the toilet  
so she can puke.

She removes her shirt and collapses again,  
Kurama handing her something to drink to help  
and then dressing her in a shirt of his own.

Taking her back to his bed,  
Kurama continues nursing her throughout the night.

When Akari wakes up the next morning,  
at first she's afraid she slept with Chu,  
embarrassed even once she realizes it's Kurama.

She's even more upset with herself  
when she takes note of the fact that she was in Kurama's room,  
her and Kurama still having been attempting to keep her  
out from under Yomi's gaze.

Kurama reassures her, though insists he  
deserves combat pay,  
and after a moment she asks what all she did,  
only to blush harder at Kurama's retelling of her antics.

As they relax in bed together,  
Kurama tells Akari that Yomi's spies have reported back  
on the fact that Raizen appears to be doing nothing  
to increase the number of layer-walkers in his ranks.

Kurama thinks this is Yusuke's way of telling those  
that actually know the boy that he's plotting something,  
though he hasn't a clue as to what.

Akari asks Kurama what _Kurama _is plotting,  
and Kurama banters he hasn't plotted ever in his life,  
ask anyone.

Akari proceeds to mock-ask herself,  
and then Chu,  
and then finally Youko,  
acting the part of the other each time.

When she comes to Youko,  
her mock backfires as her impression ends up too perfect,  
with her version of Youko replying,  
'Well, I don't know. If you-'  
and then immediately stopping herself,  
hearing what exactly the kitsune would say,  
only to have Kurama lean closer and finish for her,

'-take off your pants for me I might tell you.'

~!**!~

Sitting in the science labs,  
brooding about her situation and how  
she misses Hiei,  
Shikiyoku finds her thoughts interrupted  
by Rikei, who questions her mood  
and what precisely has her in it.

She soon finds herself kissing him,  
though they themselves are interrupted  
by the abrupt return of Iketeru,  
but not before the jolt of surprise from Rikei's gesture,  
has returned Shikiyoku's sight.

The day ends with her in pain form  
being escorted back to her rooms by a group of demons  
and slamming her door in their faces  
as she goes to take a shower.

Hiei eventually returns to her as before,  
kissing her to change her form,  
and she takes to watching him for a moment  
before the both of them fall asleep.

Days go by, Shikiyoku forced to walk to the labs  
and being escorted there by various demons  
and then back again, exhausted and having Hiei return,  
change her back, and then two of them sleeping.

Her and the scientists begin making plans  
for trying to cleanse her energy of the Crusnik,  
the formulas for which Shiki spends hours working.

On one such occasion where she is frustrated  
by her inability to make the formulas work on paper,  
she is approached by Hiei,  
who did not find her in their rooms as usual  
and sought her out,  
and Shikiyoku finds that his presence alleviates her irritation,  
clearing her mind and allowing her to push through  
and finish up the portion of the formula  
that she had been working on all day.

Once she seemed done,  
Hiei carries her back to their room  
and to the bed where he falls asleep  
with her in his arms...

* * *

The pair of them slept through the night until Hiei felt the call in the morning and left Shikiyoku on her own, who moved out the door only a minute or so later only to find a trio of demons awaiting her.

Immediately she felt the tension set in as they each gave her luid looks when they thought she wasn't looking. Unfortunately, this particular group were all in the category of 'demons who would take her in the middle of the hallway should she give the slightest indication that she might let them.' Before she even got down to the labs her mood was foul.

The day only got worse.

Between running tests and attempting cures, one of which made her ill and left her puking for an hour, Shikiyoku kept trying to progress on the expulsion formula, only to find that she had simply _thought _she hit a wall the previous day, and today couldn't even make sense of the notes she wrote to herself last night.

At one point Rikei had come over to try and help, but that only led to a yelling match between the two of them and the other demon stormed out of the lab, leaving only her and Iketeru to take up the slack.

As the evening progressed into night, Shikiyoku glared almost angrily at the pages she had spread out before her, several crumpled up sheets littering her work space over which she had growled when one of the others tried to remove them.

There was honestly no point in even _trying _to think about the work as she felt so agitated that she spent more than half the time not even so much as reading what had been written down, only turning over the day's events with ever-increasing irritation.

The only comforting thought was that perhaps Hiei's day was going better.

When her thoughts turned to the Consort, she found a little of the barely-contained wrath lifting, the deep frown across her brow relaxing, if only just slightly.

Curious, Shikiyoku let her thoughts linger on him, thinking of his presence, his steadfastness. Letting her mind wander to the nights they spent together recently, imagining herself being gathered into his arms and-

It was about that time Shikiyoku _felt _herself being gathered up, turned around and sat onto the counter on top of her work.

Blinking and slightly confused at having been caught unawares, it was all she could do but stare up at the brown-haired demon who stepped up until he stood inbetween her knees, finding that his expression set a blush that spread down from her cheeks and almost skittered across the tops of her arms.

"You would think better if you were relaxed, Kuraku." Iketeru murmured.

Shikiyoku barely noticed the hand he placed on top of her thigh that quickly smoothed up her leg until it settled at the small of her back, because he had reached up with his other hand to where her neck met with her shoulders and his touch sent a tingle of her energy spreading upwards towards her scalp.

Her core fluttered as she stared at him, reminded strangely of Taka, and she felt her eyes begin to glimmer with power as Iketeru leaned down towards her face, a haze of energy starting to fill the air between them to embrace his body with a soft yellow glow that extended from her own to fill what little space remained.

And as it finished completely enveloping his body, their lips finally met, Shikiyoku coerced in place by her own power and left blinking at the demon as he closed his eyes. 3

Hiei's day had been _eventful_ to say the least. He'd gotten into too many scuffles to count, and had ended up with a good amount of injuries as a result. Accompanying those messy gashes and scratches and lesions alike, his cloak had also been torn in various places, the material looking tattered and dirty and as if it had been trampled into the dirt for several weeks.

Also, on top of that, his 'companion' had taken to ordering him through the most foolish of situations, which often lead to the fire demon getting tired of the other and leaving him behind in the layers only for said demon to return with something _else_ for him to do or for another demon to hunt down.

He couldn't remember the last time his blade had spilled so much blood in one long day.

It certainly hadn't been recently.

His feet landed in the first room of his and Shiki's shared space, and he was very keenly aware of the lack of presence in every room. He did, however, move through each room and check for her with his own eyes, just in case.

And her absence had his temper flaring just that much more. He didn't know why, but it just did.

So he moved slowly and with deliberate steps towards the labs, actually running into a few demons here and there despite the late hour. There were even a couple at the lab doors that he shooed away with a glare and a silent death threat.

He didn't care about what they were doing.

He pulled the lab doors open, his anger boiling beneath the surface.

_(Shiki, I-)_

Hiei halted in place as his eyes landed on the woman who sat on the countertop, her head tilted upwards and lips pressed to those of the scientist who stood over her with a hand at the small of her back. From her end of the bond, he began to feel an odd tingle along his skin, an itch beginning at his scalp and running along his skin in an odd buzz.

He didn't like it.

It made his mood sour even further when he realized that the feeling along his own skin was actually the feeling he'd felt when he'd made her energy react to his stare or whatever he'd done at those times. He couldn't exactly remember at this point in time.

He just knew that he didn't like it.

For the longest time now, he'd been the only one capable of bringing her energy about. And now _this one_ was doing it.

An eye twitched and the fire demon began to move forward, each step silent and deliberate until he came to a standstill near the pair, arms crossed and eyes staring unblinkingly, expression neutral aside from the glint in his stare.

~!**!~

A small sound reverberated in Akari's chest. They had both known what she was going to say. He didn't have to _actually _say it.

_Ugh._

She opened her mouth to make a remark, but found it snapping shut again and her eyelids slid closed.

She wasn't happy with the fact that she'd been so quick to come up with a reply the fox would undoubtedly give, as if she knew the fox demon more than she actually did.

...or as if she could _relate _to the kitsune.

_Nooo…_

"Shut up…" _*****_

"Why should I?" Kurama asked innocently, "Isn't that what he would say? Isn't that what _you _were going to say?" He gave her a crooked smile.

"Or is that part of the problem too?"

~!**!~

After a moment, Shikiyoku's eyes had fluttered closed once Iketeru was no longer looking at her himself, and she felt the waves of her energy rolling over her body from head to toe, leaving a shimmering sort of feeling tingling across her skin.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized how much she had forgotten about the energy of this form, as she could tell each pulse of her core, which sent another wave of power over her body, took her further into the moment until all she could feel was the power her scalp released into the air, as well as the hands of the demon and the sensation of his lips moving against her as he kissed her.

The thought to resist the energy did not so much as occur to her as she sat there, her fingers curling around the edge of the counter, her hands resting upon it on either side of her thighs.

But in a way, such a thought _couldn't _occur to her as the blush across her face deepened, her energy simultaneously beckoning herself and Iketeru to continue.

The arms at her sides twitched, wanting to remove themselves from the counter and circle the neck of the demon over her as if to pull him closer. 3

Hiei stood with crossed arms, his mood souring when no reaction was given to his arrival. In his mind, he took up a grumbling spree of anger that started first**:**

_I'm the only one who can make her energy do that. _

There was a pause as his mood continued to sour.

_You have her all day. This is __**my**_ _time. I only get a few __**hours. **_

Another pause.

_Why are you even kissing her? It's my job, and she isn't even switched. I see no scars, you fool._

Anger.

_(__**My. Time.**__)_

Hiei made a sound into the otherwise silent room, his anger voiced in a growl that was shortly followed with words. "Your time is up, lab rat."

~!**!~

Akari didn't answer Kurama, only burying her face in his chest where he couldn't see her expression as it turned sour. _I'm not like the fox. _

But the voice in the back of her head brought up what Kurama had enlightened her of the night before, and her core gave a little jolt.

_I'm not like the fox._

"No one asked you…" She grumbled into his chest, the words followed with a sound of discontent. _*****_

"Aw," Kurama intoned as if to be consoling, "Don't be such a sour-pup. And if it makes you feel any better, he can't hear you right now anyway."

~!**!~

Something that felt almost as if it were at the back of her head started grumbling incoherently, and Shikiyoku become just enough aware of it that her descent into her power paused, leaving her considering the sensation even if she did not break contact with Iketeru.

The sound of Hiei's voice had Iketeru breaking contact just enough with Shikiyoku that their lips were no longer touching, if only barely not, and as his eyes slid open to stare down into hers, she noted the separation and her eyes came open as well, her gaze gleaming with a power that held the both of them in place.

Her first coherent thought was to note that Iketeru was actually a good kisser, the second that she had not been kissed like that in a long time.

Iketeru's unblinking gaze had her blush growing redder, even as she felt the growling sensation at the back of her head growing louder.

Finally she blinked and glanced over, seeing Hiei standing nearer than any normal demon might in the situation, her eyes still glittering with energy.

_(Fire-prince.)_

The words were warm and calm as she looked at him with an expression that was the same. 3

Hiei heard the greeting, but noted very keenly that neither demon moved away, and a part of him really, _really_ considered just going back to the room.

Except he'd be _alone_ and very likely _unable to sleep_.

After all, this was _his time._

And this scientist was cutting into it.

_(This_,) he began with absolutely no patience whatsoever, an arm reaching out and grabbing at her to pull her away from the scientist and towards the door, (_is __**my**_ _time.)_

As he dragged her from the room, he made sure the door shut behind them.

_(You're with him all day. He's cutting into __**my time**__. He can wait.)_

~!**!~

His last words did indeed make her feel better. Immensely so, actually, and Akari relaxed.

_We'll just pretend that.. never happened._

She let out a long breath. "Good." _*****_

"And, I'm sure you'd like to know, he wasn't a witness to anything last night either." Kurama said the statement with a bit of a flourish.

He hesitated for a moment, thinking through what he had been about to admit after that.

"Actually he..." He let out a little breath and tucked his chin so that he could rest it on top of her head, continuing more quietly, "...he hasn't heard anything in a long while."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku did not audibly protest when Hiei pulled her away, and neither did Iketeru, though the second demon most definitely turned to watch her leaving.

There was a moment of a twitch when he first grabbed her and as she followed after him a rather dry thought occurred.

_(I suppose we'll just have to start earlier next time, then.) _3

He didn't like it.

But that didn't mean he'd _tell _her that.

Hiei merely let her get her say on the matter, deciding he didn't care at the moment. He was tired, his cloak was torn, he was sore here and there, and he wanted to _sleep_. With her. Because he had a feeling that even if he did get comfy, he wouldn't be able to shut down his thought processes without her nearby, and he wouldn't be able to sleep in the least bit.

So he didn't respond as he dragged her through the halls and up to their shared room.

~!**!~

_Oh yay!_

_Wait…_

_Not yay?_

_Eeehhh…._

Akari's response was delayed, unsure whether or not she was more excited that Youko wouldn't have anything over the last few days to use against her, or if she should feel more bemused about the fact that the lack of the kitsune's presence could diminish Kurama's own capabilities.

Though she had no reason to believe it was as such thus far.

…

She wasn't sure what to think.

"Why's that?" _*****_

Kurama considered the question, one he had asked himself several times since Youko fell asleep...or whatever he was doing. It was like no slumber Kurama ever remembered.

"He's..." Kurama stopped, picking up again in a different direction. "I...don't actually know."

~!**!~

As Hiei pulled her along, the energy that had been buzzing along her skin started to settle down once more, her core returning to its usual rhythm.

While she had not been able to feel Iketeru's desires, even with her energy surrounding him like that, she could read in his eyes and his body language as she was pulled away that the interaction had been more than meant as just a release for her tension, though that may have been the excuse the demon used to get close to her.

She considered with amusement how well it worked to in regards to relaxing her, of ridding her mind of the stress of the day.

Stupid scientist. 3

Hiei lead the way all the way up to their shared room in irritated silence, his single thought continuing to circle around and around in his head just behind the bond so it wouldn't be transmitted over and over again. He only released his grip on her wrist when the bedroom door was shut behind them, at which point he continued forward, stripping his cloak away and tossing it to the side as if he couldn't care less for its damage at the moment.

And he proceeded to climb onto the bed and lay on his side, eyes closing and trying to force his brain to shut up with the cycling thoughts and irritation.

Tch.

~!**!~

Akari didn't reply to Kurama, because there really wasn't anything she _could _say in regards to it. Especially since she found a deep gratitude for the timing, otherwise she wasn't sure what would have happened if she'd stumbled her way into this room drunk and Youko had been able to witness every bit of it. She could only imagine the uproar that the fox would have created…

Even if she didn't remember what she'd said or done.

"He'll come back. I don't see him being the silent one for too long." _He'd have too many remarks to make after a while… __*****_

"Akari," Kurama began, once more feeling hesitant before continuing on, "Do you recall the day I asked you to leave the training room? He...he has not spoken to me since after that day."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku felt surprised that Hiei had left her by herself at the bedroom door, and stood there for a second staring after him and blinking before she started forward again, getting herself onto the bed in front of him to lay facing him and scoot close.

At first she only meant to nudge her nose against the underside of his chin, but just as she did so she reached up and placed her hand over his heart, letting her nose stay in contact with his skin as she closed her eyes, feeling the marking under her fingers spreading its warm glow outwards.

The sensation had the side of her lips pulling upwards in a smile as she took a deep breath and let it out, relaxing into the bed fully. 3

Hiei was aware of the footsteps that brought Shikiyoku to the bed and even of the shifting of the mattress as she made herself comfortable. His eyes opened only for a moment when she came as close as she could, her nose brushing his skin and her hand resting over his core.

Where he had been rather temperamental before, he now felt as if the ever-growing glow of his markings purified those emotions, banishing them and leaving him relaxing exponentially. His body sunk into the bed and he proceeded to wrap his arms around the woman, all tension gone and all thoughts centered around the warm glowing that spread along his skin, accompanied by the quiet emotion that he felt transmitting from her to him.

He let out his own breath that was somewhere on the spectrum close to relief.

_(...My time…)_

~!**!~

Akari remained quiet for a few moments, thinking back to the day he referred to and remembering how nervous he'd made her. He'd gone from laughing at her idea of tic-tac-toe with shadows and flowers to tense in a millisecond, and then he'd ushered her from the room.

She hadn't asked what had happened.

Akari let out a breath and moved her fingers up to the base of Kurama's skull, beginning there with gentle movements of her fingers as she massaged at his skull. She wasn't sure why, really, she had decided to do so, but…

She didn't know what to say. It wasn't like she _liked_ the fox demon, much less _knew_ him well enough to say anything about it.

So she let out a small breath and simply let her fingers work at his skull. _*****_

Kurama's eyes had come open to stare blankly forward, thinking back to how the fox had insisted that it was necessary to leave right that moment, the night spent fighting Youko off as such an action would have meant the death of not only Akari, but his mother as well.

When he felt Akari's hand slip up the back of his neck, Kurama let his eyes close again, a hum of relaxation murmuring past his lips as he smiled and took to paying specific attentions to the motions of her fingers against his skin.

"...thank you."

~!**!~

Fortunately for Shikiyoku, the walk down to the labs the next day had her escorted by Nikolai and a friend of his, Fuushi, and the both of them were among those demons that were more interested in at first knowing more about her than simply drawing her away to a dark corner the first chance they could get.

Needless to say, she start out the work in the lab in a much better mood than the day before.

As usual, it didn't last very long.

The two scientists had managed to isolate the Crusnik from her pain-side's energy, finding that the 'virus' was not a virus at all, but held more sentience than any disease they had come across in their work.

"They're more like...nanites." Rikei tried to explain, "Nanobots. Given a directive and a purpose that drives them forward more thoroughly than simply reproducing, increasing their numbers within you."

"Unfortunately we have yet to discover what the directive is." Iketeru said as he drew closer with a syringe full of a strangely pulsing yellow substance to Shikiyoku, sitting on the usual table.

Shikiyoku's face did not betray any of her thoughts, but given that the harsh scars of her other form were cut across her skin, it wasn't really saying much.

She had been interested at first in how Iketeru might react when she came into the room, but the demon had shown no signs of the event the night previous, and it left her feeling calm if she was being honest, for without the ability to read his desires she had started the day out anxiously. His body language, however, gave her no indication that he felt anything to be out of the norm and did a good deal to rest her mind.

As Iketeru took her arm in hand, he slipped the needle into her skin and started injecting her shoulder with the contents of the syringe.

The size of the needle was nothing to scoff at and the entire time Iketeru pressed the thing further in she let out a harsh breath of displeasure, sending an unhappy glare in his direction.

"It. Hurts."

"I imagine it does." He replied, remaining unphased and continuing to empty the syringe until all of the energy was gone.

He stood over her for a moment, and like the first time he had injected her, she vaguely caught something stirring behind his eyes and had she not been in pain form she would have blushed.

As it was the edges of her eyes twitched as she felt the substance spreading into the rest of her.

They had managed to concentrate what they had extracted of her normal form's energy and were attempting to see how it would react to the activated Crusnik.

As Iketeru turned away to gather the third and final injection, a shiver ran down Shikiyoku's entire body and she reached for the clipboard sitting next to her on the table near her thigh and began working again at the formula as Iketeru prepared the last syringe. 3

Had Hiei worn his cloak today, it would have been torn bad enough to need to be _completely_ replaced, rather than simply patched up with the material. And had he had his tear gems, they would have fallen away from him during another scuffle, and there was no way of knowing what would have happened to them then. Had he not had his Jagan already accessed and tracking another energy, he wouldn't have been aware of the ambush that had ensued just inside the city walls on the Seventh Layer, and due to the combined powers of those demons he very likely could have actually _suffered_ severe consequences had he not been alert.

And after that attack of thirty or so high-level demons, he'd had no time to recover before tracking the layer-runner down all over again, who had put up quite the fight as well before he'd lost his life. Hiei hadn't been in the merciful mood.

And he sure was not in the merciful mood now, either, as his day had only gotten worse from there.

He moved into the bedroom and tossed his sheathed katana to the side, hearing it clatter and skid across the floor until it bumped into the wall and came to a stop near the door. When he was aware of no Shikiyoku in this room, he checked the bathroom and found it too vacant.

"_I suppose we'll just have to start earlier next time, then."_

The echo of Shikiyoku's words the night before had him snarling and turning, retracing his steps and positively fuming. _What part of __**my time**_ _do you not understand?_

He marched through the halls and down to the labs, any demons nearby scattering with a single glare in their direction. A glare that held only one warning and no mercy.

He pulled the door to the lab open, ignoring the tightening of the bandages around his arm and shoulder, the ones around his torso tightening a little when he took a breath in. His eyes landed quickly on the scarred, ashen-skinned Shikiyoku before roving over the scientists in the room, glaring at the needle that was brought into his view.

"You're done for the night." His tone was not one that would allow for debate as he moved forward, every intent being that he would scoop Shiki from where she sat and carry her away.

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched just a fraction at the sound she was rewarded from the male, and her fingers never paused as she released her own breath. He'd never brought something like that up to her before, and while she had been very tempted to make a joke about the kitsune, she had resisted simply because him _telling her_ about it was more than enough to let her know he was deeply concerned, perhaps disturbed, about the silence from the fox demon.

And she wasn't quite sure how to handle it aside from what she was doing now.

"Mm-hm," she hummed back at him, fingers moving a little higher up the back of his head. _Anytime. __*****_

Kurama's first reaction was to say something about her learning from the best, that being Youko, but he restrained himself if only because he was enjoying the attention too much.

"Have you ever been told how excellent of a distraction you are?"

~!**!~

Both Rikei and Iketeru glanced up for a moment upon the entrance of the fire demon into their territory.

And both of them almost immediately dismissed him, though only after blinking at him for a moment, only just now catching up with the time of night and realizing they'd been so keen on their current actions they had forgotten the late hour.

Rikei went back to studying the console in front of him, tracking the readouts from Shikiyoku's body as her true form's energy started coursing through her.

It appeared that the absorption of the energy was slower this second time, easier to track their manipulation by the Crusnik.

Iketeru went ahead and approached Shikiyoku, whose lip curled just a little as she pulled her arms out of her lap again, not eager to be pricked again.

"The injection has to be used as soon as possible," He told Hiei as he took a hold of one of Shikiyoku's arms, "Otherwise it becomes useless." 3

Hiei's eyes narrowed at the dismissal of his presence, and it took every single ounce of restraint he had left not to snarl and make a verbal threat to their lives. He did not pause in his deliberate steps towards the woman, but the moment he saw the needle being pointed at Shikiyoku and her lips curl, his own seemed to mirror that gesture with the male's words.

And he couldn't restrain the sound he made in anger as his hand shot forward, his mood too far south to care at all about restraint. He grabbed the needle in a swift motion quicker than any he'd made today, and without pause for thought he jabbed the needle into his own arm, dispensing every ounce of what was inside into his own body before tossing the needle back to the demon.

"There."

He proceeded to scoop up Shikiyoku, his anger driving him to leave the room before he actually decided to take their lives.

...It wouldn't do well in her cure research if she had no lab monkeys to do the work for her.

~!**!~

Akari flashed a small smile at Kurama, her fingers pausing briefly in their massaging to play with the strands of his hair instead. She tugged lightly through a tangle she found until it unraveled and she continued through the strand before letting her fingers find the base of his skull again where she resumed her massaging.

"Maybe here and there," she replied after a moment, her tone calm and her voice no louder than a murmur. "I've learned a few things in my time." Her lips spread into a wide smile. "It has its usefulness."

She continued about what she was doing with gentle attentiveness, wondering if there was a specific spot that would bring the most amount of satisfaction. _*****_

"You know," Kurama began in that same murmur, his eyes half-lidded as he stayed relaxed, "I will have to keep this in mind. Haven't had a chance for much _actual _time to ourselves." He briefly shifted his arms around her, his tone taking on just a hint of Youko, "I despise Yomi."

~!**!~

Where Iketeru had lifted his hand to insert the needle, suddenly he found his fingers without syringe, blinking at the place where it had been, his eyes widening when he turned to watch Hiei inject himself.

Rikei caught sight of the action as well and both scientists appeared to have their breath catch in their throat even as Hiei swept Shikiyoku off the table and out of the lab.

When Iketeru turned to Rikei, the first had his eyebrows raised to the second who wore a similar expression, something between anticipation and shock.

"That's...a rather interesting development." Iketeru commented mildly.

"I think it's _later _that will prove more interesting."

"It might not do anything."

"It could put him in a better mood."

"One can only hope."

Shikiyoku made sure that when Hiei gathered her up she had a firm grip on the clipboard she still clutched in one hand. She was in the middle of a portion that she had intended to finish that night before she went back to the rooms, but between the injections there had not been enough time to continue much so she felt further behind than she particularly wanted to be.

What with the more muted reactions, she thought that somewhere she might have been at least a little amused at Hiei's response to the scientists, though his interruption did mean that she would likely have to start the whole process again the next day.

The realization had her releasing a puff of air from her nose that was laced with distaste at the possibility. 3

Hiei seemed to almost glide through the hallways and up the stairs, his steps silent despite the fuming anger within. His hold on Shikiyoku, however, was not rough or harsh. In fact, his grip on her was just as it always was, enough to hold her up and get her from point A to point B without any delay.

And he didn't set her down again until the first door to their shared space was clicking shut behind him. His eyes noted the clipboard in her hand briefly as he set her on her feet, his eyelids closing as the pulsing vein in his temple slowed its erratic throbbing.

He let his anger from the day slide away, his attention turning to the fact that he was able to go to bed now, and that Shikiyoku was not held up in the labs anymore.

In fact, as those harsh emotions faded, he became aware of an odd sensation in his veins and a leftover sting where the needle had gone through his skin.

He quickly dismissed this however, and opened his eyes to look about the room. Oddly, everything seemed clearer, sharper in detail than before.

And whatever he'd been thinking about before now was no longer relevant.

~!**!~

Akari made a small humming noise at the back of her throat, acknowledging Kurama's declaration and the switch in demeanor that reminded her of the fox demon he'd just said was gone. _Hm._ "Well," she began in the same tone as before, "it also doesn't help that I've been using my days for sleeping and nights for-"

_Stupid layers. _

"-other things." She paused and gave a small sigh.

_My shadows aren't cooperating either in that respect.._

The thought had emotions attempting to break through the calm that had been created, and it took a moment to reign those in and lock them away in a box for later.

"Distractions are rather potent, no matter the source." _*****_

"Potent or important?" Kurama murmured, "Because...at the moment...I'm thinking it's both of those things."

It was a simple matter to let his mind for once focus on something other than their situation, on the strange actions of Raizen and Yusuke, and the impending conversation with Yomi and his staff about how-

_Nope. Being distracted._

…

_Mmm…_

~!**!~

As soon as she had been set down, Shikiyoku kept moving forward towards the other door, lifting up the clipboard in her hand and looking down at it, eyes scanning the page and starting to catch herself up with where she had been before leaving the lab, thoughts already stirring and picking up the previous mindset.

Considering that her choice for seating included the couch or the bed, she went ahead and went into the bedroom and crawled up over the end of it, making her way to the top where she propped the pillows up just enough that when she lay back down she could have the bottom edge of the clipboard resting on her stomach and still see the whole page. That's when she started writing again. 3

Hiei's eyes looked around the room in wonder, curious as to why it appeared sharper and more detailed than when he'd been in here earlier. Maybe it was just because he was calm now? He wasn't sure.

And when the fire demon became aware of Shikiyoku walking away from him, his eyes zeroed in on her back, watching her with avid interest as her hair bounced against her back and her steps gave a very slight sound in the room that was even quieter than her breaths.

Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he heard the voice of his dragon in his mind, saying, _Pretty Lady!_

It was after this thought that his eyes began to take note of every muscle that twitched as she moved, watching her until she was out of sight and in the next room.

He followed after her into the next room, and with each step and each beat at his core, the room sharpened even more and his mind focused on the sole desire to _see the pretty lady. _

He didn't even shut the door behind himself as he moved into the bedroom, pausing only briefly so his eyes could focus on the woman whose eyes were on a clipboard.

_No._

He sauntered forward, expression oddly neutral despite his sudden change in mindset, and he crawled up the bed until he was near enough to rip the clipboard from her hand and toss it across the room, hearing it clatter against a wall and drop atop the sword he'd tossed aside earlier. The space at her stomach that was vacated was quickly occupied again as Hiei brushed her hands to the side and sat his rear on her abdomen, his feet set against the mattress on either side of her and knees raised so that he may rest his elbows on them, his arms hanging in the space between his knees, hands almost touching her diaphragm.

_Pay attention to __**me. **__My time._

And he merely stared at her.

~!**!~

Kurama's question had Akari giving a thoughtful sound before she nodded once in agreement with the redhead, deciding he was right. And even as she was trying to distract him, she found herself _also_ being distracted by maintaining the smooth movements of her fingers and the calm serenity that had enveloped them.

Because if _she_ began to think of other things, she would forget what she was doing and likely let him fall into his earlier thoughts.

…

_Not gonna think about it._

"You know, I rather enjoy being a distraction," she suddenly admitted with a humoured smile. "It creates moments like _this." __*****_

"Well, as I have said, you're certainly rather good at it." Kurama had to resist adding something else about her learning from Youko. "And I should remember to take advantage of it more often."

_Not that we get the chance._

He let out a little sigh.

Not that he regretted pulling her out of the limelight by making it appear he was disinterested in her, as she was likely all the much safer for it, but it meant he unfortunately had not had the opportunity for _this_.

Why had he suddenly wanted her to know about Youko?

The thought skittered across the back of his mind.

It wasn't as if he had wanted to tell anyone before. In fact, it wasn't as if he had even considered letting anyone know.

Especially since Yomi would likely have a hayday with the information.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku only took notice on a subconscious level that Hiei even followed her into the room, but all her attention on the clipboard in front of her was abruptly put to a halt when she found the item no longer in her hand and the demon taking up the space where moments before she had it placed.

She heard the clatter of it against the floor, eyes briefly following its trajectory without initial understanding until Hiei's weight settled on her stomach and her gaze turned back up to him.

Interesting.

A single dark eyebrow lifted as she considered his face.

"Problem?" 3

Hiei stared down at Shiki, the same thought he'd had earlier passing by the forefront of his mind in the voice of his dragon, but as if he were hearing it from a distance. And even when Shikiyoku asked her one-worded question, he did not seem to have heard her either.

He raised a brow after a moment, staring down at her with more attentiveness- if it were at all possible. His answer came in the form of a shrug, as if to say _not anymore. _

Except when he stared down at her, he suddenly became aware of her scarred skin and the lack of color in her complexion, the muted green of her eyes.

_Oh, yeah._

He shifted his weight a little, but paused as the little dragon voice in his head spoke up again in remembrance of the day they'd been on Hanging Neck Island.

"_Pretty lady taste good!"_

His head tilted to the side as his eyes focused on her again, curiosity taking full control of his thoughts. Was it true? There was really only one way to find out.

Hiei leaned further forward until his nose was almost touching hers, but instead of moving to kiss her and change her as he had remembered he was going to do earlier, his mind focused entirely on the memory of the dragon's observation and he instead snaked his tongue out and just touched it against her cheek, pulling away after the contact and hiding his tongue behind his lips again.

_Hm…_

Well, it hadn't been wrong.

He stared down at her, suddenly giving a small jolt in his muscles as he remembered the _actual _reason he'd begun leaning towards her earlier. And he did so again, this time with the intention to change her back, a new reason surfacing.

_I wanna see her be shiny._

~!**!~

Akari's lips pulled up at the corners and she took to simply playing with Kurama's hair, finding it soft between her fingers and that the scent of flowers and other plant life stirred in the air with each motion of her hand. Her eyelids came open a little, about halfway, and she took to watching her fingers move through his hair, aware on some level or another that his thoughts had strayed.

"All you have to do is say the word," she murmured, thinking she wouldn't mind laying just like this when they were in the training room, doing nothing more than what they were doing now.

_You've done so much for me, and I've done nothing in return. It's… the least I could do…_

Again, she noted that he was brooding over something or another, and her fingers traveled through his hair slower this time, trying to coax him into letting those thoughts file away for another time.

"...you're adorable."

_Where did that come from? __*****_

Kurama's eyes came open and he blinked once slowly, expression softening and a small smile tugging at his lips.

"You really think so?"

~!**!~

While she took note of what little she could feel passing between them, Shikiyoku herself gave no reaction to the demon sitting atop her at that moment. Not even when he licked her cheek for whatever convoluted reason that she could not sense from him.

The second time he leaned down towards her, she calmly reached up to place her fingers over his lips, her severe expression unchanging save for a tiny twitch at the tops of her cheekbones as she considered him.

"Something's different. Or...wrong. Are you okay?" 3

Hiei paused, expression unchanging as he eyed Shikiyoku, his lips twitching against her fingers. _Wrong? _Nothing was wrong, he just-

"I wanna change you back." He paused, brows rising quickly. "Not that there's anything wrong with _this_," he gestured with a hand at her face, referring to her scars. "They're great, don't get me wrong, but you can't _sparkle_ like this." He sat back a little, letting his back rest against her thighs. "And if _you_ can't sparkle, then _I _can't sparkle. And I wanna sparkle, Shiki."

~!**!~

_Uh…_

_Yes?_

Akari's lips pulled up in a crooked smile as her eyes traveled to the redhead, an awkward grin slowly stretching her lips. She still wasn't sure what had made her say it.

"Is there another word you'd prefer?" _*****_

"Well, I mean," Kurama began loftily, his eyes leaving her as if thinking, "I am certain I could provide you with a few adjectives you could use."

He let his gaze slide back down to her, lips curling upwards.

"But I rather like all the ones you've come up with so far."

~!**!~

Sparkle? What on earth was he-

Wrong. Definitely the 'wrong' one. Something was wrong.

Shikiyoku sat blinking up at him, her fingers backing away from his lips just slightly and her confusion actually readable as her brows fought between frowning and appearing curious.

When had he ever said he _liked _her scars? For some reason she always thought he hated them.

_I..._

_I don't...3_

Hiei waited patiently for Shikiyoku to reply, and instead found himself seeing a twitch in her brows and an odd expression coming over her face. He recognized it as confusion, and took it as he hadn't explained properly. So, he took a deep breath and leaned forward, stopping just in front of her face.

"Can I _kiss you_ now? Because I don't like it. I can't feel you." He paused, blinking once. "I mean," he gave his body a little wiggle, his rear moving against her stomach to indicate what he was referring to, "I can feel you, but I can't," he pointed a finger in her face and made an odd circular motion, "_feel _you. And I don't like it."

Another pause.

"I'm gonna kiss you now. I hope you don't care because I'm gonna do it anyway."

And he closed the distance before she could even speak against it, his lips touching hers. _Change back so you can sparkle!_

~!**!~

Akari's lips twitched further upwards, curling into an expression of slight mischief as her fingers paused in his hair, hand lowering to rest on the mattress for the moment. She had _plenty_ she could use, and for a moment she went down a mental list of adjectives.

…

"I think I'll stick with that one for now," she finally said, tone light and expression cheerful as she gave a little shake of her shoulders and returned to playing with his hair. _*****_

Kurama made a little hum of agreement.

"I suppose I can't complain." He admitted, "It's a rather nice one of you to use after all."

He let his smile tilt into a smirk, eyes narrowing playfully, "You let me know if it changes, though."

~!**!~

Just as Hiei bent further to kiss her, the random frantic thought that right now she desperately needed to not switch back scattered any of her former concern as to Hiei's state of mind, but just as she opened her mouth to protest his lips met with hers and almost instantly she could feel the tingling sensation that heralded her change of forms. 3

Hiei pulled away after a moment and gave an eager nod of his head, lips tilted up in a crooked smirk of amusement. Now you gon' sparkle. He sat back and rested his elbows on his knees again, his back against her thighs as he waited patiently for her to change.

"Shiki," he spoke up after another moment. "Make _me_ sparkle."

~!**!~

_Uh-_

…

Akari stared at Kurama's expression for a moment with her hand paused in his hair and her expression unchanging. "Well, it's changed alright." She gave a shrug, but didn't continue on with her words as she made a face at him and took to playing with his hair again. *

"Mm, is that so?" He did not change how he looked at her. "Are you planning on sharing with the class any time soon? Or shall I attempt to coerce the answer from you myself?"

~!**!~

When she felt Hiei pull away, fully in her true form now, Shikiyoku kept her eyes squeezed closed, attempting to think about everything else except what was currently happening.

Specifically, she started reciting the next portion of the formula in the back of her mind, filling her thoughts with numbers and equations and trying very hard to ignore whatever it was that Hiei had just said. 3

Hiei's lips turned into a disappointed frown when Shikiyoku completed her shift back to her normal form, but she didn't open her eyes to look at him. The fire demon's brows came down over his eyes and his lips pursed together, waiting semi-patiently until he realized she was trying not to look at him on purpose.

He reached forward calmly with an index finger, poking at her cheek.

"Shikii…" His tone was unlike any he'd used until this moment. "Pay attention to me. I wanna see your shiny eyes." A pause. "The dragon and I agree that they're _pretty._"

~!**!~

Akari's nose lifted higher in the air a little at Kurama's challenge, but her lips turned into a grin. She purposely pressed her fingers to the base of his skull and began to massage again, methodically putting pressure here and there that was meant to have a calming effect on people.

And she did not answer him. *

"Challenging a fox, dog? Doesn't seem very smart of you." Kurama's eyes had slid back closed, but he let out a little breath, "Should I narrow my eyes at you again?"

~!**!~

There was no disguising the fact that her abdomen tightened underneath him, Hiei's pleading voice cutting through whatever semblance she had of holding herself together.

Between clenched teeth she barely let her lips part as her eyes stayed closed, "I'm...ignoring you." 3

Hiei gave a pout at the female, frowning at her as she admitted to ignoring him- not that he hadn't already guessed as much. _(Mean.)_

He opened his mouth to say something, and suddenly had an idea.

_He'd_ been kissing_ her_.

So now, it was _her_ turn!

…

Which brought his expression into changing. He scrunched his nose and squeezing his narrowed eyes shut, pursing his lips a little at her as he leaned towards her face, pausing and staying right there, making no sound whatsoever. He only waited for her to look at him.

~!**!~

Akari's grin became smug as her fingers worked at his skull.

If she had her tail at this moment, it would have been thumping loudly on the mattress in happiness.

"If you think that will get you anywhere, go ahead." *

Kurama let his eyes open again, "Oh, but I do."

Adopting the same expression as before where he narrowed his eyes he leaned down closer to her.

"Granted, it might be just as fun to make you _forget_ whatever adjective you had in mind."

~!**!~

Strangely enough she wasn't getting much feedback from him, though she felt his accusatory 'mean' when she admitted to ignoring him. And her immediate counter filter towards him.

_(Self-preservation.)_

Because really, if she actually thought about the position she was in, she felt as if her situation would only get worse.

Personally she thought her self-restraint was admirable, because heaven knew all she really wanted to do was-

_(Erk.)_ 3

"Shikiii-yokuuuu…." Hiei complained as he cracked an eye open to look at her. "You look at _them_ all day. Why won't you look at _me_?" He kept that same expression he wore, leaning a little away from her again but not leaning all the way back. "It's not _fair_."

~!**!~

"Mmm… is that so?"

Akari's eyes came open to meet the narrowed gaze aimed at her, her lips twitching into a gentle smile. Yes, that stare had an effect here too, but she'd try her best not to show it. "Well, if you _really_ want to know, that expression had the word _coltish_ coming to mind."

And while 'playful' was indeed the definition of that word she used, she didn't actually tell him the right word she'd been thinking. *

"I'll have you know I'm much more adorable than any silly horse."

~!**!~

It wasn't really all that hard to figure out what had Hiei in such a mood. After all, he had taken a rather concentrated injection of her energy and Shikiyoku found herself rather unsurprised at how the situation had been panning out.

"You forget," She started to say, her teeth still held together, "That_ 'they'_ are in their right minds, whereas, in this case, _you_ are not." 3

_"So?"_

Hiei huffed and sat back, crossing his arms over his abdomen and changing his expression into a mild pout. **_I. Don't. Like. It._**

_He stole my job._

Hiei made a sound of discontent.

_I don't like him._

~!**!~

Akari gave a huff of a laugh. "I guess you aren't full of spirit enough to take that word as it is." She paused, fingers and all. "Oh, right. You're more similar to an ass."

She made a happy little sound to herself and resumed the massaging of his skull. *

Kurama gave an over-exaggerated, dramatic scoff.

"As if. Donkeys have nothing on me."

~!**!~

For a second, Shikiyoku frowned, catching the impression of him not liking...something, and then knowing there were other things passing between them, but there were all things she found herself unable to pick up.

_(Don't like what?)_

She crinkled her nose and let out an unhappy little puff of air.

"I can't_ feel_ you." Her lips struggled not to pull into a smile as she wriggled a little bit underneath him. "I don't like it." 3

"You would_ feel_ me if you_ kissed_ me." Hiei commented loftily, nose rising in the air. "I do all the kissin' around here and I don't like it. You never kiss me."

He gave a huff.

"I do all the work around here."

_Hmph._

~!**!~

"Self-satisfied," Akari added, lips widening into an even broader smile. She would have said self-indulgent, but considering what he'd told her earlier, that was sure to become a trap she'd never be able to avoid. "Also, suave. I'll give you that one." *

"Hm. You know I'm starting to like this game more and more. You should tell me more about myself."

~!**!~

"That's not what I meant and you-ugh." Shikiyoku couldn't help the grunt of protest.

After a half a second she went on once she gave a long-suffering sigh, wondering how much longer she might have to endure this unfortunate torture, "Hiei, if I really thought that's how you felt about it I would have kissed you a long time ago." 3

"But I just _told_ you how I feel about it," Hiei protested, giving a huff of annoyance at Shikiyoku. "I wouldn't _lie_." He shifted a little bit, thinking about what she'd said a minute ago as best as he could.

_...Oh._

"Now you know how I feel when you're switched."

~!**!~

"I dunno, beautiful," Akari began, finding herself a little incredulous that she'd remembered that conversation from the night before, but not anything more, "I'm getting a little bored." *

"I would offer to spice it up a little, but I'm not sure if you would accept the offer."

~!**!~

_(Not fair. I don't like it.)_

"But...Hiei you're..." High? Drunk? Drunk.

"Hiei, you're not in your right mind at the moment. How am I supposed to take anything you say seriously?" 3

Hiei raised a brow at Shikiyoku, frowning at her still.

_I dunno._

He shrugged at her after a moment. "Good faith?"

~!**!~

Akari paused, entire body going still as her lips opened and a retort flew from her mouth before she could stop to think. "Well, I mean, you wouldn't be getting _combat pay_ this time around."

…

_Did I** seriously** just say that?!_ *

"I'm still waiting for that, by the way." Kurama told her, "This doesn't count."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku deflated a little as thoughts continued to pass over her mind and she finally relented and opened her eyes to look up at him.

The words tumbled out quietly from her mouth, "I'm...sorry you feel like you have to do all the work."

_(I didn't know you felt that way about it.)_ 3

Hiei's eyes turned down to Shikiyoku quickly, catching her gaze as she looked at him and holding it with a calm and level stare as she spoke. His brow twitched a little, but he didn't let it rise to show his amusement. After all, he hadn't really felt weighed down by it. Actually, he'd rather enjoyed it.

_Heh._

"You can fix it by _kissing_ me. All of it, at once!" His lips turned up in a smirk.

~!**!~

Internally, Akari was making a high-pitched sound of distress at herself for saying such a thing. Where had these comments started coming from anyway?

_Because Youko isn't listening?_

That thought had her almost vocalizing the high-pitched sound that echoed through her whole body.

"Don't think I'll forget." She finally said to Kurama, nose lifting higher in the air in a calm demeanor. "I'm fully aware of that, thank you." *

Kurama didn't say anything at first, only letting his gaze steady on her face for a moment after she spoke.

"...you're terribly adorable when you say something you immediately regret. You should do that more often too."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku raised a single eyebrow at him even as she felt her core start to shiver under the stare he gave her, spreading a familiar tingle along the underside of her skin.

"Is that so?" 3

"Yup. All of them, every problem, solved at once. All forgiven."

Hiei kept his stare steady, an odd feeling beginning to creep up the back of his head as he continued to stare. He reached a hand to scratch at the area, only to find that he actually recognized it this time, and it was his doing, not the lab monkey's doing.

Which had his smirk widening a little, even turning lopsided.

_My job._

~!**!~

_Erk._

Akari blinked at Kurama for a moment before sticking her tongue out at him, calm demeanor replaced with her current expression of childish defiance.

Which also quickly changed to mischief.

"You know, I'm starting to like this game more and more." Pause, eyes flashing briefly. "You should tell me more about myself." *

"I dunno, beautiful. I'm getting a little bored. Let me in charge and you may find yourself in the midst of a game you didn't bargain for."

~!**!~

A cascade of energy shimmered over her eyes without her direct say-so, under the influence of Hiei's stare, among the several other things he had said and done within the last few minutes.

Leaning up to prop herself on her elbows, her eyebrows rose a little.

"Are you certain that's what you desire?" 3

"As certain as I am that I couldn't count how many demons have died by my sword."

Hiei scrunched his face up again, nose crinkling and eyes squeezing shut, lips pursing together as he craned his neck forward in her direction.

~!**!~

_Tch. No fun._

Akari gave a shrug and pulled her hands from his hair, letting her arms simply rest around his neck and her hands rest against the base of his skull. Her fingers had begun to twitch a little as if to cramp up, but they hadn't, and she decided to wait before trying that again anyway.

Because it obviously wasn't giving her any advantage at this point.

_Stupid fox._

"Meh." *

"Was that you giving me permission? Because that kind of sounded like you giving me permission."

There was no denying the distinct impression that had Kurama been wearing Youko's ears they would have been standing at attention and pointed in Akari's direction.

~!**!~

_(Is that so?)_

Shikiyoku's expression faltered as he leaned forward, unsure exactly what face Hiei was attempting to make at her considering she had never seen anything quite like that face before.

"I don't know what you're doing." She admitted, "But you're too far away." 3

Hiei had just been about to protest the lack of movement from her when Shikiyoku spoke up, and his eyes came open to stare at her again, lips twitching in amusement.

He moved, beginning to lean forward with his lips pursing at her.

Except as he continued to lean forward, his eyes closed and he found himself in the next moment simply laying on her, head by hers and nose to her ear.

It was a rather uncomfortable position, considering the way his legs were folded still.

It took a few minutes of gathering strength before he shifted around and got comfy.

His next words were a whisper. "I'm closer… And I'm gonna lay right here… because you're warm."

A pause.

"Shiki… I had a bad day. I got hurt and mad and… will you kiss it to make it better?"

~!**!~

Akari's eyes came open and she stared at the fox, an immediate internal debate sparking. _Permission for what? I don't like that expression… but I like that expression…._

_No?_

_Yes?_

_Maybe?_

_**What** are you asking about?_

Her lips opened and her head moved in the indicator _opposite_ of the response she gave, to show her uncertainty. "...Yes…?" *

Kurama's eyebrows raised a little as she shook her head but _said_ yes.

He leaned a little closer, face a few inches from her own as he began to murmur, "You appear to be conflicted. And that just won't do. I'll ask again: are you giving me permission?"

~!**!~

He certainly would never have acted in such a way before their separation, would never have said such things, or quite possibly even had the capacity to feel such things, no matter how much of her energy they pumped into his veins.

Honestly, at first Shikiyoku could feel her whole body tensing, trying not to give in to her energy which beckoned her to respond to his sudden willingness by providing her with several actions or scenarios that he likely would have enjoyed given his state of mind.

And a sort of resistance grew stronger within her out of wanting him in his right mind should any of those scenarios play out, because in this situation she could see him filled with regret once the buzz of her energy within him wore off, which would in turn make her feel the same way, and make her feel guilty for having taken advantage of him.

As she reflected on her tension and her resistance, she started feeling amused since she could not say that she had not wished for this sort of connection or moment with Hiei since...since the beginning of their relationship even when he was only her Champion. And there were certainly no other demons in existence upon which she would exercise such restraint. She could almost hear Youko laughing at her predicament.

When Hiei leaned down closer to her and she noted his exhaustion taking over, she forced away what she really wanted to do in that moment when he collapsed against her and instead let his body weight take her back down onto the bed, shifting her arms until she no longer sat propped up by them and they only hung at her sides, and lay stock-still, unmoving. If this is how he desired to spend the night, she would..._deal_ with it.

It had her eyes sliding closed, fighting against natural instincts now enhanced by the energy that started to permeate the air around her, excited by his words and actions up to this point, and keenly aware of his breath from his nose caressing her ear where his head had come to rest next to hers.

Her teeth clenched together when he shifted around on top of her, presumably to get more comfortable, and even when he finally appeared to have settled she let out a shuddering breath of air.

Assuming he would be there until morning, Shikiyoku felt resolved that she would...deal with this. In much the same manner as she had been, which was by doing nothing. For him.

_**Only** for him._

As he began speaking, she felt her stomach underneath him tensing as she resist a laugh.

_Closer indeed._

She didn't think he had ever been _quite_ this close. Not of his own volition at least. ...not that this was_ purely_ of his own volition, considering her energy could still be blamed for it.

Her head tilted in his direction just a little at the last portion, more laughter threatening to bubble up from her lips.

_You have fire demon blood, how can** I** feel warm?_

She tried to ignore the shiver of pleasure his tone and breath sent down her spine, understanding all too well what made him think she felt warm. ...he felt very much the same to her in that moment.

Shikiyoku's arms twitched at her sides in the moment of silence, knowing that it was only her energy trying to coerce her into wrapping around him, holding him. Despite the fact that it was very much what she wanted to do.

Out of all the times he had used the nickname for her so far in the past few minutes, it was this time that sent her core fluttering another wave of energy into her veins and she let out a silent breath.

His words seemed almost childish, reminding her once again of how young he really was and how he had not gotten to be a child, and she felt her tension starting to slip until he asked again if she would kiss him, at which point any semblance of resistance melted away and she found herself giving in to her energy all at once. In that moment she made a tiniest sigh of protest, but went ahead and wrapped her arms around him.

Instead of exploding outwards, the sensation of letting go only released her energy rather calmly into the air around them like the sigh she had given, buzzing down her skin and over her eyes and moving to envelop the both of them in its soft yellow glow.

And she became aware of the feeling of him against her, that he had bandages wrapped around his torso which was pressed onto hers. She found herself more attentive to the soft breathing at her ear that sent more shivers down her spine, and every little thing had her accepting further the energy that beckoned her to relax and enjoy him being here with her.

Naturally, it all set her blushing, her energy moving around in the air about them, but her uncomfortableness had long gone the way of her tension.

One of her hands left him to move up and smooth back and forth over the bandages on his arm, ones she knew had not been there the day before.

Moments after he spoke up she responded in a murmur, "I would do anything for you, fire-prince. Anything you wanted." 3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


	117. Episode 201

**A/N: **Hello once again, Audience!

Here we are: another chapter.

Please feel free to review on anything in this or previous chapters that you'd like to comment upon. While I'm not particularly going through and editing things at this point, I've noticed myself some various inconsistencies while going back and reading in the past, so anything you feel is out of place, feel free to let me know.

Expect another chapter again tomorrow!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Still in Kurama's room with him,  
Akari and he continue their banter,  
laying around for the day.

Kurama reveals that the fox can't hear anything she says,  
admitting Youko has not been active for a long while.  
Akari is conflicted, and asks why,  
which Kurama replies that he doesn't truly know.

Akari attempts to comfort him with distraction,  
which mostly consists of massaging his scalp,  
as the two of them lament their station in life.

When Akari calls Kurama adorable,  
the two of them begin exchanging adjectives.

When Akari eventually allows Kurama to take over the "game,"  
he insists on having her permission to do so,  
even going so far as to ask her a second time,  
though the second time drawing himself very close to her,  
when she replies with an uncertain 'yes.'

~!**!~

Shikiyoku heads back to the labs the next morning,  
only to have a much worse day than before,  
yelling with Rikei and causing the scientist to leave in a huff,  
discovering that her agitation becomes slightly alleviated  
when she thinks on her Consort, Hiei.

Going further with those thoughts,  
she suddenly finds herself gathered up  
and set on the table by Iketeru,  
who steps up between her knees  
and insists she would be better served  
by having a relaxed mind.

Teasing her skin with his fingers,  
Iketeru kisses her at the last,  
her energy drawing the two of them  
even closer together.

Hiei's day has been equally as terrible,  
but this time when he storms into the labs  
with the intention of venting to Shikiyoku,  
he discovers her in the midst of kissing Iketeru.

He is unsure why it bothers him,  
only certain that it does,  
and he steps up to the pair and separates them,  
pulling Shikiyoku away with him  
and insisting that this was "his time,"  
dragging her back to their room.

She joins him in their bed,  
setting his markings aglow  
and easing the tension that he doesn't yet understand.

The next day the scientists inform Shiki  
that they believe the "virus" to be more like "nanobots,"  
with more sentience and drive than a simple virus.

Using her normal form's energy and injecting it  
into her while in pain form,  
they are tracking the change to the former  
by the latter when Hiei once more storms into the labs,  
sees Shikiyoku's distaste for her circumstances,  
and with little thought injects himself with the second needle  
upon being told it needed to be used or go bad  
before scooping Shiki from the table and stealing her away.

Her energy within him starts to have a strange effect  
on the hybrid, messing with his state of mind  
that at another point in time might have excited Shikiyoku,  
but creates a willingness she fears is completely manufactured,  
and refuses to act upon so as to prevent later regret.

Shikiyoku at first attempts to ignore Hiei,  
to no avail,  
as Hiei begins insisting he wants her to kiss him  
as she is "way behind."

Eventually Hiei ends up collapsed on top of her,  
wanting a kiss to make his bad day better,  
and Shikiyoku finally relaxes just a bit,  
wrapping her arms around him and  
embracing the yellow glow of her energy  
around their bodies, saying at the last,  
"I would do anything for you, fire-prince. Anything you wanted."

* * *

Hiei made a small sound as his mind fell closer to sleep, but remained aware enough that he wasn't quite there yet, teetering on the edge of sleep but not yet falling. He took a slow breath in, waiting for the contact he'd been trying to goad from her for a while now, only to find that while she _said_ she would, she hadn't actually _done so _yet.

His whispered protest came out like a whine.

"Shikiyokuu… You still haven't _kissed me_." Another long breath in. "I won't sleep until you kiiisss meee."

~!**!~

The closeness of Kurama's face in relation to her own had her breath momentarily hitching, her mouth opening a little as if to respond to his question a second time, but only releasing a breath as her internal debate grew louder.

_I dunno what you're asking of me._

_But…_

_I…_

_Uhh.._

_Stop looking at me like that._

…_..or… don't.._

_**I don't know!**_

Her mouth closed and she pursed her lips a little, making a small sound at the back of her throat that could have been a response if it had been voiced, but never quite made it due to her confliction. _*****_

Even though he knew the fox within him had not so much as stirred, somewhere in the back of his mind he took note of how much like Youko his current expression lent itself in being.

It felt somehow similar to a moment before where both he and the kitsune had been looking intently at Akari, the two of them speaking in tandem with one another, and yet he knew this time there was no Youko with which to stare.

Kurama had this vague feeling that one of those ears he sensed perked up atop his head twitched only slightly at her reaction, and he found he rather enjoyed this unintentional game almost as much as he thought he would enjoy the one he had intended to play.

"Fox got your tongue?"

~!**!~

Finally sitting in the midst of her energy, Shikiyoku could feel that his desire to kiss her was actually the only thing he wished of her at the moment and she let out a breathy chuckle.

Shifting her head so that she could face him, Shikiyoku planted a brief kiss atop Hiei's nose, pulling back to rest her head on the pillow to watch him. 3

Hiei felt his lips twitch at the contact of her lips on his nose, and his entire being felt satisfied for the moment. It wasn't _exactly_ what he'd had in mind, but it would do.

He made a sound of approval at the woman and his body relaxed further into hers. And while he was indeed aware of her eyes on him, it didn't seem to bother him as he let out a breath and fell the rest of the way into sleep.

~!**!~

Akari's lips came open once more, and she took a breath that was meant to be calming. The sound that came out, however, was one of confliction, still unsure. She made a face at the redhead and released that breath, then proceeded to stick her tongue from her mouth just enough to indicate it.

"Doesn't look like it…"

_But it definitely __**feels**_ _like it…_

_And I dunno how I feel about it.._

_Just like __**I don't know what you want. **_

_Auuuggghhh._

"You're a pain."

_He's about to make a comment. I just know it… __*****_

"Do you _want_ a fox to have your tongue?"

~!**!~

For Shikiyoku, the next few hours were spent thinking about her current predicament, unable to fully enjoy it because of her confliction about it, several thoughts running through her mind and all of them centered around the demon in her arms apparently high on her power.

With Crusnik, her pain form was able to assimilate the power and disperse it. Would Hiei be stuck like this? Would it eventually some how exit his system?

...simultaneously she found herself hoping both 'yes' and 'no.' 3

Hiei's sleep started out restful and dreamless, blissful considering his day's events. And as he continued to delve deeper into that very wonderful darkness, he let out a small sigh and his lips twitched in his sleep.

If one was paying attention, they would have noticed him mouthing the name of the person he lay on before going still and silent again.

And he would stay that way for a good long while.

~!**!~

Akari's eyebrows came down over her eyes, and she seemed to recede within herself a little at Kurama's teasing inquiry.

_...Depends. If __**you're**_ _the fox…_

The thought had all others scattering and a high-pitched sound echoing through her mind in confused embarrassment.

She made a very small sound at the back of her throat, but otherwise did not reply. _*****_

Kurama blinked once slowly, still staring down into Akari's eyes.

"Tell me something, beautiful...are you having fun yet?" 3

Akari's eyes focused on Kurama again, and she met him stare for stare as she regarded his question.

What would come of an answer?

"...that depends on _your_ definition of the word." _*****_

"I wasn't asking myself." He pointed out, "I was asking _you_." 3

She made the same sound in the back of her throat as before, conflicted. "I.." _yes? No? _"...I have a feeling this _isn't_ the game I supposedly didn't bargain for." _*****_

Another blink, "Why, whatever gave you that idea?" 3

…

"You."

…

"...are a pain." _*****_

"When have you ever heard me claim otherwise?" 3

_You're still staring._

_I.._

"...never?"

_I… dunno…_

_You're distracting._

"Have you ever been informed that you're great at distracting?" _*****_

"You know, as of late I can't recall having been told that at all." Kurama let himself give her a small smile, "Yomi doesn't know where my true talents lie." 3

_Is this a subject change?_

_...You're still staring. And now smiling._

…

"Good to know."

_I have no idea what I'm supposed to be talking about anymore. __*****_

Kurama didn't say anything for a moment before he finally admitted, "You know, I could do this all day." 3

_I bet._

"I'm.. sure you could."

Akari raised a brow at Kurama, staring at him but not really sure what else to do or say. In that moment, she was very aware of their proximity and of his stare, and it felt almost as if she wouldn't be able to move away even if she'd wanted to. _*****_

"I suppose-" He allowed, "The real question is if you'd let me." 3

_Uh…. I.. dunno…?_

_It isn't like I'd be able to __**stop **__you._

…

"You're having too much fun.." _*****_

"And you're not? Or is that why you have yet to stop me?" 3

Akari made a sound.

"You're…"

_Something else, you…_

"I-"

_Oh no._

"You are the most…"

_Irritating-_

"Captivating person I have ever-"

_Stupid-_

"-met."

_-Fox _*****

"You know, somehow that didn't really answer my question." Kurama appeared thoughtful for a moment before turning his gaze back onto her face, "I've been wanting to know if you're having fun too." 3

_I'm just gonna… say… _

"Uh, yes?"

_Because I can't think._

_...Jerk. _*****

"That's wonderful." He murmured, pausing for a moment, "I'm glad. Let me rephrase the other question."

The intensity of his stare shifted to a more gentle gleam.

"Would you trust me enough to let me pick the game next time?" 3

Akari blinked at Kurama as his stare lessened, allowing her to gather her thoughts and processes again, even for a moment. And with his question, she opened her mouth with a mumbled agreement.

_I.._

_But you were staring and I wasn't sure and.._

_It isn't __**you**__. It's that-_

She examined his expression.

_-that __**look**__. Makes me nervous. __*****_

"Oh, so you _do _trust me. Something else was wrong then. Should I take to staring at you some more? I liked that game as well." 3

Akari's mouth opened again, except this time the sound that came out was an odd sort of hesitation, her jaw hanging open just slightly and her eyes widening a little.

Just the _mention_ of the stare had her mental faculties shutting down.

_Uhh.._

"N-no?" _*****_

"I somehow get the feeling the question mark at the end of that word was meant more for yourself than for me." Kurama smiled at her again. "Should I ask again or should I just stare at you more?" 3

"Uuhh…"

_Neither. It's distracting!_

"No, to both of those."

_An __**actual **__coherent thought! __*****_

"Oh, well, if that's the case I suppose we'll just have to think of something else for me to do to keep us occupied." 3

"You do that."

_While I regain my senses. __*****_

Kurama's eyebrows rose a little, "You really want me to? I was being nice and suggesting we attempt to come up with something together. But if that's how you feel-" He let out a little half-hearted sigh, "I suppose I could just stare at you again." 3

Akari gave a half-hearted groan. "Noo, that's not…" _Uhhh…. _"Necessary." _That works. _"The staring, I mean." Her lips pursed together. _It will get me nowhere. _"I thought _you_ had another game in mind." _*****_

"Well I did, but I have to admit I found one that's likely just as fun as what I was planning." He gave a little shrug, "So it was easy to just have you let me play that one." 3

Akari stuck her tongue out at Kurama, making a face at him as she did so. _You're a pain. _

As she pulled her tongue back into her mouth, she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, so if he began staring at her again, she wouldn't see it and become…

_Stupid?_

_Flustered!_

That was the word she needed, though really, both worked. _*****_

Kurama raised an eyebrow at her as her face disappeared from his immediate sight and he glanced down at her.

"I suppose that's permission to start playing something else, since I can't look at you when you do that." 3

Akari huffed at Kurama through her nostrils, eyes closing as she refused to answer. She had yet to recover all mental faculties, and really, if he started staring at her again, she didn't think she'd regain them at all until he got bored.

...Which she'd never actually seen him get bored of such a thing… _*****_

Kurama finally let out a laugh when she didn't actually respond, and let his own eyes close.

"You're much too fun for your own good, did you know that?" 3

"And this is me _not _trying. Actually, I was trying _not to be fun." _Akari pointed this out in a mumble, her eyes closing. "You're just… impossible." _*****_

"Hm. That's a good one. I kind of like that one. It's much better than being called a pain all the time." 3

"You're a pain too," Akari quickly added, "it's just that 'impossible' is better in this situation than 'a pain' is, even if it _is _my go-to." She made a small sound of thoughtfulness. "Preposterous works too." _*****_

"No, I prefer impossible." Kurama quickly said upon hearing her latest addition. "You should just stick with that." 3

"How preposterous!" The word came out in a sing-song voice, Akari wriggling her toes a little as she hummed in amusement. "Absolutely inconceivable." _*****_

"As long as you're not talking about me," Kurama allowed with a little tilt of his head.

He let out a little puff of air from his nose, finding himself smiling again. 3

"I'm _definitely_ talking about you." Akari gave a second hum at him as she tried thinking of another word to use, except she'd run out of adjectives in that respect and was instead left with simply laying there, eyes closed and lips smiling. "Who _else_ would I be referring to?" _*****_

"You could have just as easily been referring to my preference for 'impossible' as being preposterous. Or inconceivable for that matter. I don't particularly see myself as either of those things." 3

"I dunno," Akari began, tone incredulous, "I feel like you could be pretty preposterous here and there. To _me_, anyway. It may vary for others." She poked at the back of his head teasingly. "You can be pretty silly." _*****_

"Silly? How ridiculous of you to suggest such a thing. Foxes may be many things, but _silly _is most definitely not one of them." Kurama huffed as if offended. 3

Akari's shoulders moved with a little laugh she gave at Kurama. "I beg to differ. You can't say you are not silly. I've watched you chase _butterflies." _

_With Nabu._

_...I miss Nabu. __*****_

"There is absolutely nothing silly about chasing evil butterflies. Ask anyone." His expression was perfectly serious. 3

"Oh yes, their crimes were being able to heal after having a tooth through their wings and looking _too cute_. How _evil." _

"_They were most certainly bad, Akari." _

_That's what Nabu would say. ...Silly dog. __*****_

It wasn't too difficult for Kurama to insert Nabu's voice after Akari's counter, one that would insist Kurama was right and that the butterflies needed to be caught for their crimes.

For a moment it had Kurama remembering the night before when Akari had mentioned missing the dog and he pulled her a little closer.

"You know, I can only imagine what kind of torture Kuwabara is putting him through right about now." 3

Akari made a small sound somewhere between a scoff and a huff, half amused half upset. "I think Eikichi would be the tortured one." The remembrance of the pup running through the apartment with a yowling cat after him had her giving a soft smile.

_I want to go home._

"He's going to find out soon that Nabu is very clever when it comes to taking food that smells good. He better hope he doesn't acquire steak." _*****_

"I was thinking more along the lines of you having trouble when you go back and discover that he and Kuwabara have been eating off the same plate. He'll be so spoiled you won't know what to do with him." 3

Akari made a sound that turned into a small laugh after a moment. "He's already spoiled. I don't share plates with him because he gets his own…. when I get the time to cook, I mean." She went quiet for a moment as she nuzzled her nose into the collar of Kurama's shirt, giving a small sigh.

"He didn't become obsessed with steak until Yusuke got hold of him. _Those_ days are super difficult." _*****_

"That sounds about like Yusuke." Kurama agreed.

He let out a little huff of amusement, "It's been interesting trying to guess what Raizen and he have been plotting." 3

"There is absolutely no telling." Akari gave a small shrug. "It could be very good, or very bad." _And only time will tell us which it is. __*****_

"I think it will depend on whose side you are on as to whether it's 'very good or very bad." Kurama added. "Having heard more about Raizen, it isn't all that difficult to see where Yusuke gets it though." 3

"Mmm."

_Hopefully with a king on his side, Yusuke won't be as dangerously impulsive._

"Two Raizen's running around is going to be… interesting when things get heated." Akari thought on that for a moment, considering what she'd actually overheard about the king once she'd started listening to the demons around her. From what she knew, the fights would really boil down to the kings and their highest-ranking officials.

…

"How high up are you in Yomi's ranks?" _*****_

"Not high enough to be his general. Which as I'm sure you've guessed is what it's going to come down to. I'm not terribly worried. What with Raizen not recruiting, the two of them have to be planning something else." 3

A weight she hadn't known she had been harboring was lifted from Akari's mind, and she gave a small sigh of relief. Even if they still had to fight- which she wasn't quite sure was going to happen the way she had originally imagined it- they all had a better chance getting out if they weren't high enough up on the ranks to be considered the top dog.

She herself would never be more than a simple lackey of transportation.

_...which I can't do…_

….

"Yomi can suck it." _*****_

"Is that so?" Kurama hummed thoughtfully, "You know I may not be his highest ranking official, but I certainly have the would-be king's ear. I could inform him of your stance should you like me to let him know." 3

"Pft. I mean, you can if you _want_, though I'm pretty sure _you_ wouldn't enjoy the trouble that would come of it. I know _I _wouldn't." She lifted her nose a little higher, before a thought occurred and she let her chin drop again. "Actually, trouble might be just the right amount of motivation…" _...the right motivation to get my shadows going and to get through the layers…_

_Then again… I couldn't even do it when-_

_I __**hate**_ _that thing. It's…_

_I don't want to see it._

"I take that back. I would prefer that remain between the two of us." _*****_

"Duly noted. If you change your mind, let me know. I'm sure he's just _dying _to know what you think of him." 3

"I'm sure he already knows. I've done my fair share of glaring in my time here. I've also cursed him, which I'm sure he's heard more than his fill of." _It's actually a wonder I'm not dead. _

…

"Takeo didn't like my cursing of his precious king. That was… eventful." _*****_

"I'll just be glad when all of this is over, no matter what happens, really." He felt as if he had reached that point, and would have gladly accepted in an instant Yusuke alternative without even asking first what it was.

_That's...that's pretty bad._ 3

Akari blinked and pulled a bit away from Kurama to look into his face, peering at him with a neutral expression. She blinked at him slowly, only once, and her lips pursed for a moment. She understood completely, and perhaps that is what had her staring at him.

Normally it was _her_ thinking those things and _him_ looking at her as if she were about to do something dumb.

…

_...I'm ready for this to end._

Her lips suddenly curled upwards in a mischievous smile. "Do I sense impatience?" _*****_

Kurama leaned closer to her, "Can you keep a secret?" 3

Akari's brows raised and her smile widened. For a moment, she only continued to watch him with that mischievous glint in her eyes and her teeth showing in a lopsided smile. She did, however, prompt him with a nod of her head after a moment. "Do tell." _*****_

"Youko's the one with all the patience." He paused for a beat. "And he's not here anymore." 3

_Ohp, there's another adjective._

_Stop that._

"That's rather _interesting_. I never would have thought so." Akari's lips spread to show her teeth a little more. "Anything else you wish to share with the class?" _*****_

"Well," He considered her question for a second, "I would be more than willing to let Yusuke and Raizen barge around this establishment if it meant we got to leave." 3

"Too bad they aren't here." Akari took a moment to imagine the scene, and it was a rather _interesting _one. Yusuke and Raizen tearing through the palace as Kurama and Akari simply took their leave. She had lost her will to fight this battle long ago**; **it wasn't truly hers, she'd just been tossed into it.

And while she could just as easily drop through a shadow and go home, she also knew that she would be hunted down if she did so. And if Yomi came out the victor in.. whatever Yusuke and Raizen were doing, then she'd be hunted until she was slaughtered.

…

_Hng.._

"I'm sorry for snapping at you yesterday, by the way." The thought had been random, but she felt she needed to say it despite the fact that they were laying the way they were. "I had gotten mad at myself for not being able to get to the Ninth Layer, and I just dumped it on you. It was wrong of me**; **you have your own worries and trials." _*****_

"Understandable, your frustration." Kurama murmured, mind quickly considering her issue.

Granted, her situation was rather unique, as he had not heard of any others able to move between layers, losing the ability, and then relearning it again, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she was hindering herself unintentionally, given the fright she had gotten.

"I would assist you, if you would ask." 3

Akari groaned. "But I'm so _comfortable._" Of course, she had considered asking the redhead about it, but really, she already had Chu and Jin for that simple reason. And it wasn't like they were doing anything _wrong_. She just couldn't get it. It wasn't working.

Then again, the only one of those two who knew she couldn't use her shadows for such a thing was the one who had been completely hammered when she'd said it.

…

Part of her wouldn't be surprised if Chu remembered that.

"Even my shadows won't let me through. That's why all my energy has been used up." Her tone was that of simple complaining, and she let out a breath of irritation at the thought. "It's dumb." _*****_

"Self-preservation." Kurama immediately provided. "You don't actually want to get through so they aren't letting you through."

He shifted closer to her, holding her tighter for a moment in a silent indication that he had no intentions of going anywhere. 3

_Self… preservation?_

Akari mulled over the words in her mind, turning them over and over again and again. A frown pulled her lips down- her shadows were not stemmed from within her. They wouldn't feed off of-

"_They will protect you when you feel your life to be in most danger."_

…

_But…_

If she didn't make it through, wouldn't that be more dangerous to her 'life' than actually being on the Ninth?

"_They do not see in black and white. They react only upon the one which they rely, and they make predictions based on your experiences. They are sentient beings, only understood by those who can control them. So, they protect those beings, seeing them as divine and precious. Without you, they would not know of their world. They would only be able to watch and follow the laws of this world. Shadow Wielders are not rare, but they are treated as if they are. To a shadow, a Shadow Wielder is necessary for life. Thus, they protect yours."_

Akari made a sound of discontent. Then, Mother had been telling her of her own power, explaining the relationship between herself and the beings she had once seen as useless.

_Surely they wouldn't deny me access because…_

_Because I don't know what's beyond this layer?_

…

Akari gave another groan and buried her face in Kurama's shirt.

_Stupid… I'm so stupid. __*****_

She may not have been able to use the inbetween place for travel at first because she had forgotten how, given that she only traveled through the shadows, but after her encounter with whatever creature she claimed to have seen on the other side, Kurama didn't find it particularly surprising that she didn't _want _to tempt fate.

"You know, to my knowledge you're the only person who has encountered anything while inbetween. And there are many people traveling through the layers all the time. In your specific case, you were dying. I suppose my word of advice to you would be to not die." 3

Akari probably would have laughed if her first thought hadn't been that that was _exactly _what she was trying to do- or not do, or whatever. Because she'd already known that, she'd already told herself that if she didn't get through, Yomi would likely kill her for her uselessness in the first place.

The scene played out in her mind, being unable to traverse the layers and opening her eyes to see a smiling Yomi, as if he'd known all along she'd be useless. And then being attacked, only to open her eyes and find herself right where she had been the first time, with the overly large creature-thing turning its head to look at her.

A shudder ran along her spine.

"I already knew _that_," she finally commented, expression blank and tone even. She didn't let her fingers play with Kurama's shirt as she wanted to, didn't let her nerves affect the way her muscles somehow remained lax or the way she lay. "It's kind of a _given_, Kurama." _*****_

"I meant not to die while you're inbetween. And what better place to not do something than when you're with me?"

Pulling Akari closer, Kurama folded the layers around them, staying between the Seventh and Eighth and letting out a deep breath as he shifted around on the bed beneath them, it feeling only a little strange from where they were, on neither layer at all. 3

…_?_

Before Akari could even form a coherent thought of confusion, or anything more than the general emotion of such that mixed with sudden nervousness, she felt an odd chill fall over her body as Kurama pulled her closer. Instinctively, her core gave a lurch and her arms tightened around the redhead, a small sound of displeasure squeaking past her lips as she felt the layers fold over her.

Instinctively, her eyes squeezed shut and she held her breath for a moment, before it was released through her teeth with an unvoiced threat to the redhead.

_I'm going… to murder you._

…_.assuming I don't become a statue…. __*****_

"Mm. Not quite as comfortable, I'll admit. But also completely harmless." Kurama noted. "And except for the threat of you choking me to death, I think we're actually perfectly fine."

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head where he could reach it, letting his nose rest in her hair. 3

"It doesn't seem to be working as well as I thought, considering you can still _talk_," came Akari's reply through her teeth, any semblance of control over her nerves from before shattered and leaving her just as she was, despite the kiss atop her head that was meant to be comforting.

And she didn't loosen her grip.

She wasn't even sure if she could. _*****_

"I don't think I would let you choke me anyway. That would be...counterproductive I imagine. Wouldn't want to leave you here all by yourself." He gave a little yawn as if he were tired and settling down for a nap. 3

Akari gnashed her teeth together at Kurama's insinuation, and after a moment she slowly let her grip around his neck loosen, though she didn't move any other part of her body. "You're a pain. Impossible. Asinine. Absurd. Cretinous." She could have gone on and on, but she instead went quiet and peeled an eye open to look at the odd inbetween layer around her, the bed they had been laying on now blurred and almost insubstantial.

_Pain in my backside, you are…_

"Stupid fox." _*****_

"Mm. Yes. Terribly idiotic. I'm also pretentious and particular. But _not_, I should remind you, 'preposterous' or 'inconceivable.'" He appeared to consider the words for a moment, then gave a little nod of finality. 3

"Pompous. Ostentatious. Prolix. Convoluted. Serpentine."

Akari took a deep breath and let it out as a huff through her lips, eyes narrowing as she looked beyond the redhead's shoulder. She tried to think of other words to call him by, but sadly, she found herself coming up blank now, lips twitching, unsure if to retain the frown or flatten out into a passive expression.

"Grandiloquent. Aureate. Baroque."

Another pause and she found more words tumbling from her lips.

"Crafty. Cunning. Clever. Devious."

…

"A pain." _*****_

"I must say I prefer the foxy adjectives to the flowery ones. I'm not feeling very foppish today. Too wily for that. Seems to be working out rather well for me though." 3

"Underhanded."

Akari let out a scoff at that word.

"Crooked. Guileful. Sagacious."

This time, when Akari sucked in a breath, it was because she was _genuinely_ out of adjectives, out of things to call him. She released the breath in a long sigh, finding her muscles relaxing after her little "tirade" of "curses". In the back of her mind, she recognized what he was doing, but didn't think on it.

Because it would shatter the calm that was beginning to creep back up her body.

"I don't like you." _*****_

"You don't have to like me, beautiful. I'm secretly a terrible person anyway." A pause. "Not-so-secretly. Not the point though. Not liking me has nothing to do with any of it. However, not liking me also won't get you anywhere." 3

Akari stuck her tongue out, the action accompanied with a slight humming sound that would indicate the gesture even if he couldn't see it. _You're a pain and I don't like you and…_

_Ugh. __*****_

Kurama let the silence wear on, forcing his breathing steady, hearing nothing while here inbetween other than the usual noises a body makes, a heartbeat, inhalation and exhalation, the occasional shifting as he grew more comfortable and let his thoughts ebb away other than the ones focused on the demon in his arms.

_I don't think sleeping here would be too bad. _3

Akari pulled her tongue back into her mouth and let herself lay there, her body eventually relaxing entirely as the calm aura around Kurama seemed to seep into her own system and force herself to feel the same. Her ears became attuned to Kurama's breathing as it evened out, creating a steady rhythm that she could easily focus on as time wore on.

She shifted very little here and there, where it would be necessary to grow completely comfortable with where she was at.

And after a while she released a sigh and let her eyes close, her nose finding Kurama's jawline and resting just close enough to let the tip of it touch his skin.

_...Thank you. _*****

Not that he had ever tried it before. Hadn't been a need.

"The trick will be seeing if you allow yourself to go the other direction with me." Kurama sighed the sentence out. "But I don't really think it was a specific placement that you were worried about." 3

Akari made a small noise of acknowledgement, considering Kurama's words for a moment. She wouldn't know if it worked or not until he tried it, considering she had such a hard time even getting _here. _Honestly though, if he'd gotten her _here_, she didn't think there would be much of a problem for him to get her to the Ninth.

It wasn't like there were any shadows within the inbetween that might bar her entrance, as they'd been doing from their own realm.

…

Actually, she wondered if _that_ would work if Kurama was with her then, too.

_Likely not._

"You're the driver." she mumbled out, eyes closed. _*****_

"Don't sound so pleased about it." Kurama teased, unwrapping the layers from around them and leaving the pair laying back out on the bed. "You're welcome to try." 3

Akari gave a little puff of air that bordered a scoff at Kurama, her lips turning upwards a little at his taunting as the feeling of the mattress sinking underneath their weight became prominent. She forced her mind blank, deciding she'd _have _to try it sometime, whether it be with him or when she's in her own room again.

Or with Jin and Chu.

…

She'd much rather figure it out here.

She took a deep breath and concentrated, trying to make herself duplicate that odd sensation of moving between the layers. While nothing immediately happened, she almost felt as if something in the back of her head prickled. _*****_

"If it helps," Kurama began patiently, "You can think about it in several different ways. You can slip between this layer and the next. Or you can fold them around you. You could metaphorically step sideways..." 3

"That last one sounds like I actually _have_ to move. And I'm quite comfortable," Akari grumbled, taking to thinking on the idea of the layers folding over her.

...Like a blanket.

_Yeah._

It had _felt_ like a cool blanket being tossed over them. Maybe a sheet? A thin, silky sheet that she'd only once ever lay under. It had been so comfortable and cool to the touch, and she'd-

_Focus, Akari._

The moment she told herself to focus, however, she realized the sensation began to slip away, and her eyes came open as if she could reach out and grab the metaphorical sheet that was sliding away.

She made a sound of discontent and imagined the sheet again, finding that it paused, as if waiting for her to tug on it again.

_I have no idea how I did that. __*****_

"It's why I said 'metaphorically.'" Kurama almost grumbled, "I wasn't about to let you move anyway."

"I tend to think of wrapping myself in them." He added. "Especially when I'm not moving." 3

The image in Akari's head that was produced from Kurama's addition had her blinking once, and almost laughing at the prospect. Her first image she found herself creating was one where the redhead simply twirled in place and disappeared, like an illusionist wooing a crowd of humans.

The second was closer to how _she_ wanted to be in that moment, where she imagined him taking a corner of a sheet and rolling across a bed until he was in a burrito-like wrap of blankets.

Both had her giving a snort.

_Don't get distracted._

Her eyes came closed again and she imagined taking that silk sheet she'd felt earlier and wrapping it around her body, around Kurama's as well, and creating a cocoon around them. And, surprisingly, she began to feel as if such a cool material was sliding up and over her arms, around her body.

She imagined pulling it tighter over herself.

And in the next second she felt the bed beneath her change, as if insubstantial, and her stomach gave an odd flop that said she wasn't comfortable with the way the mattress had almost just _dropped_ out from under them, when she knew it was not the case.

"...That's… going to take some getting used to… The shadows are so much easier to fall into…" _*****_

Kurama opened his eyes to see the usual blurriness that accompanied the inbetween, though he could feel the change before confirming it by sight.

"Well done, pup!" He praised, smiling at their surroundings, "Well done, indeed." 3

"It feels icky."

A chill ran up the back of Akari's head, prickling at her scalp at the sudden image in her head that had her briefly tensing before throwing it away. She knew there was no reason to fear this place at the moment, that the atmosphere was not the same. That the chill on her skin was not from power, but from existing on no real layer whatsoever.

...Which was chilling in and of itself…

"I can see why they call it The Veil." she suddenly commented. "It has a… similarity…" _The chill is kin, in a way. Subtle. Undesireable._

_...At least it isn't smothering. Or oppressive… __*****_

Kurama still looked about them a bit as Akari spoke.

"Supposedly the only thing separating the living from the dead." He gave a little huff of a sigh and cuddled closer to her. "We're just lucky you're so warm." 3

_I don't like it._

Akari made a sound akin to a scoff. "You're meaning to tell me that Takeo could be standing over my shoulder right now, and I couldn't kill him a second time if I wanted to?" She gave a pout. "What a shame." _*****_

Kurama chuckled, "We're not really sure how it works, but I suppose anything is possible."

He nudged the top of her head with his nose.

"I'm proud of you." 3

"I don't like it," she admitted, giving her shoulders a little shake as if to rid them of something sitting there. She gave a sigh and concentrated on the feeling of Kurama's nose in her hair, the hairs that quivered with his breathing. It made it easier to ignore the feeling on her skin.

Which reminded her that she was wearing one of his shirts, the sleeves falling up her arms.

"...Your shirt is comfortable." _Even though it's almost twice my usual size. __*****_

"That would be because it's twice your size." Kurama pointed out, tugging a little at one of the sleeves. 3

Akari pulled back a little, blinking up at Kurama a few times.

"Are you sure _you_ aren't a telepath?" _*****_

"I'm just extremely good at reading people." Kurama met her gaze evenly. "You should try it sometime. It isn't all that hard." 3

Akari gave a frown at Kurama and stuck her tongue out at him. "You mean how I've noticed _you_ won't kiss _me?" _She raised her brows at him and her nose lifted a little higher in the air. "I notice things, I just usually don't point them out, fox." _*****_

"Noticing things and reading people are two completely different areas of expertise." Kurama responded loftily. 3

"It's also easier for _you _to read _me_ because I never learned to hide my thoughts, thank you very much." Akari wasn't sure if she was making excuses or just being stubborn.

Probably both.

"You're a pain." _*****_

"That just sounds like an excuse." Kurama raised an eyebrow at her. "Besides, someone can hide their thoughts and still be completely readable. It's a matter of paying attention." 3

"Just like you avoided what I brought up by focusing on one half of what I'd said," she pointed out, expression turning almost curious as she refused to say anything more.

She hadn't _meant_ to bring it up, it had just been a random thought.

And now that she'd brought it up, she was curious as to _why_. _*****_

"Making excuses is rather different from avoiding a subject. The second requires the ability to manipulate a conversation while the first simply implants a reason as to why you aren't doing something. And it's usually a lame reason." He gave her a pointed look. 3

"You're adorable when you're desperately avoiding a conversation, did you know that?" She made a sound and her lips curled into a playful smile. "Actually, _cute_ works better here. That was a smooth subject change. I will see your effort to avoid a subject and fold my hand of curiosity for a better-dealing pot. You have a better poker face." _*****_

"Hm." Kurama grew thoughtful. "Add that to the list of adjectives of which I am never. I think the day you see me as desperate would be a dark day indeed." 3

Akari's eyes flashed in amusement at Kurama as the layers unfurled from around them, leaving them on the bed again. "I rather enjoy making lists. I do all of that on purpose."

She paused, suddenly raising a brow.

"_You_ know a lot of adjectives on _my _lists. Can I hear a few of the ones on _your _lists? I'm _dying _to know." _*****_

Kurama appeared to look thoughtful for a minute before he started speaking.

"Stubborn. Devious. Manipulative. Intelligent. Annoying. Jaded. Powerful." 3

She wasn't sure which word piqued her interest first, but somewhere during Kurama's little string of words, Akari's eyes had narrowed and she pursed her lips at him, searching his expression. _I didn't… specify __**who**__, I suppose... _

"I already know what _Yomi_ is like. Tell me something I _don't_ already know." _*****_

"Well, how about this one: Fun-loving. Jolly. Hyper. Excitable. Sunny..." 3

Akari's brows raised as she listened this time, thinking about the people she might know who fit such a description. Because there was _no way_ this was anyone like _Yomi._

"...Jin?" _Definitely not Chu. Loud wasn't there. __*****_

Kurama nodded, moving on to someone else.

"Soft-spoken. Smart. Smooth. Cool. Level-headed..." 3

Akari took to mulling over those adjectives for a moment, two or three people coming to mind as she considered each word carefully. For a moment, she couldn't decide after weeding it down to two off the top of her head.

"...I want to say Touya..?" _Maybe Yukina? __*****_

Another nod.

"Loud. Adorable. Easily distracted. Loyal. Smart." 3

"Kuwabara, Kazuma." Akari's lips twitched fondly as she thought about the carrot top. "He's.. somethin'." _*****_

Kurama shook his head, "While Kuwabara might be all of those things, that is not who I had in mind. Guess again." 3

_Oh, duh. He wouldn't call Kuwabara "adorable"._

"Nabu." _Silly me. _"Quite the adorable one himself. Very handsome too." _*****_

"That's much closer, I'll give you that. However, I don't see the older Nabu as 'loud' or 'easily distracted.' He was as a pup though, and that's what I had in mind." 3

"_Oh_, so you're doing past _and_ present. Good to know." Akari nodded her head once as if making a strong mental note about it. Her eyes lifted to Kurama again and she had a brow raised, waiting for him to go on. This was a rather entertaining game. _*****_

"Determined. Reserved. Impulsive. Loyal. Temperamental." 3

Akari's brows rose high again, thinking about the people she knew and their qualities. This one seemed a little tougher, as if she didn't really know this person. She pursed her lips in thought as she regarded Kurama.

_...I.. I don't know this one?_

"Gimme a hint?"

~!**!~

Hiei stared into the darkness of the room, eyes trained on the female whose face was mere inches from his. He'd woken at the normal time, but hadn't moved as he felt no reason to. No one was waiting for him outside the room, and no one seemed to be moving through the halls this morning.

So, he scooted his face a little closer to Shikiyoku's, his voice a breathy whisper.

"Shiki? Are you awake?"

She stirred at the sound of her name, and he quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. _*****_

Shikiyoku shifted around a little, pulled from her slumber by a voice she knew she recognized.

Replaying back the question, she shook her head a little and mumbled.

"Nooo." 3

"Oh, okay. Just checking." Hiei shifted a little again and rested his cheek on the pillow all over again, his eyes closing. "Tell me when you wake up."

And not a second later he fell asleep. _*****_

~!**!~

"How about...grumpy." Kurama smiled a little, imagining that he had given it away, but the adjectives had been a little vague given Akari hadn't much interaction with this particular person. 3

Akari's brows furrowed a little more as she considered the new word, momentarily unsure.

And then Nabu's voice rang loud and clear in her head, and Akari let out a joyful laugh.

"Hiei!"

~!**!~

When Hiei woke again, he could hear movement throughout the fortress, telling him he'd slept in quite a bit. His eyes were again on Shikiyoku, a finger extended towards her cheek but not yet touching it.

"Shiki…." Hiei whispered out for the second time this day. "Shikiyokuuuu…" He prodded at her cheek this time. "Wake uuup…" _*****_

Shikiyoku frowned, "I dun' wanna." 3

Hiei gave a mock frown.

"Shikii… I'm _bored_." Hiei continued to whisper, as if afraid someone might overhear. "And I can't sleep anymore…." He paused, blinking at her. "Shikii, _wake up." __*****_

Shikiyoku didn't pick up on Hiei's not-so-subtle stage whisper, shifting a little in place and saying, "Aren't you supposed to be...doing something? For, like, Mukuro?" 3

Hiei quickly reached out and gathered Shikiyoku's cranium in his arms, pulling her face towards his chest until he was smushing her nose into his bandages. His lips parted to issue a harsh shushing sound as one hand took to petting her hair.

"Shhhh!"

He paused to take a breath and return to his whisper. "Don't talk about it… or they'll come get me…. I think they forgot I'm here..!" _*****_

...

"Hiei...are you..." Shikiyoku opened an eye, but couldn't see much of anything where he had her pressed up against his bandaged chest.

She didn't even finish the sentence, instead letting out a tortured groan. 3

"Shhh! I don't want them to come get me. I wanna stay right _here_."

Hiei paused and took a breath, still petting Shikiyoku's hair as if to soothe her.

"Shiki."

…

"Shiki, _kiss me." __*****_

As if her energy wasn't already starting to tingle across her skin, in spite of the fact that she really felt as if this wasn't exactly _Hiei_, she felt her core give a little jolt.

"I...I did. I mean, I have. I already did." 3

Hiei made a sound. "Nuh-uh." He shook his head, taking in a small breath to speak in a harsh whisper again. "You didn' kiss me, like, ever." _*****_

Still smooshed against his chest, Shikiyoku felt her words coming out more mumbled than she intended, though her energy kept seeping into the air around her.

"I did so. Right before you fell asleep. If you don't remember that's your fault." 3

Hiei quickly made a shushing sound, hand stilling on the back of Shikiyoku's head as the sound died away again in the quiet room. The fire demon blinked three times before he drew in a breath, smelling her scent on the air that was thickening a little with her energy.

"But you didn't do it _right," _he complained, shifting gears just a little. "You know you _wanna." __*****_

Shikiyoku...couldn't actually deny either of his points, and the part of her brain that wanted to give into the energy that kept pouring out into the room continued affirming every little thing he said.

The other part felt strongly that if she gave in to whatever fly-by-night whims Hiei came up with, she would come to regret it later.

"All you said was that you wanted me to kiss you." Shikiyoku grumbled against his chest, her entire face pink with the blush of the situation. "And I did that." 3

Hiei gave a small scoff and released his grip just enough that if she wanted, she could pull away if she wanted to, but not without some protest or another from the fire demon. He kept his red eyes on her, blinking slowly here and there when necessary.

Despite his surprisingly neutral expression, his tone was what would usually accompany a pout. "_I've_ kissed _you_ many times. At least once a day for…" He paused, trying to do the math. "For a while now. You're behind."

He gave a little shrug of his shoulders and relaxed again.

He'd get one, _at least one_, sometime today. _*****_

Shikiyoku opened her mouth to answer and then closed it again, frowning.

Everything she could think to say she could also hear him arguing with her about.

"You've...never cared before. About me being behind." Shikiyoku shifted her eyes to the side, feeling the heat at her neck and cheeks. 3

"Well, I _did_, I just didn't know so until the lab monkey was-"

Hiei paused, scowling.

"I don't like it."

_(The lab monkey, I mean.)_

The fire demon gave a huff and rolled onto his back, keeping only one arm around Shikiyoku as his eyes moved to stare at the ceiling.

And all at once he shifted gears again.

"Shikiii, my bandages itch." _*****_

_(Lab monkey?)_

_(...oh.)_

It took a moment for Shikiyoku to follow.

Had that actually bothered him? She didn't think so at the time. Was he not as upset about his 'time' being cut into as he was Iketeru kissing her?

How was she supposed to know that?

Because, really, when had he _ever _expressed a desire for her to kiss him? Or even in the reverse outside of his 'job.'

Shikiyoku sat up and gave Hiei a glance.

"You didn't tell me you had a day off." It wasn't accusatory, only noting the fact.

_Speaking of, I probably need to get down to the labs. _3

"I didn't tell me I had a day off either." Hiei gave another shrug, lips twitching on a very minescule level before his expression turned neutral again. "I know nothing more than you."

…

"I think they forgot I was here. I hope so. I get tired of fighting. It's boring and I only get a few hours with you. I can't be a Consort if I'm not with you."

Another shrug.

"Shikiyokuu… I'm _bored._" _*****_

"...you're sure you're not just _late _for something?" Shikiyoku wanted to know, "I'm fairly certain that might be bad." 3

"I'd be dead if I was late," Hiei pointed out nonchalantly, turning his eyes onto Shikiyoku and watching her for a minute. "Shiki, you should kiss me." _*****_

"Well, I can't." She replied, starting to scoot over to the edge of the bed. "You're too far away." 3

Hiei's expression reflected confusion for a moment, and he was about to ask when he noted Shikiyoku moving away, to which he quickly reacted to by grabbing around her middle and pulling her back again, not registering her excuse until a second later.

"I'm closer now." He pulled her close enough that her shoulder touched the bandages around his torso, and he scrunched his nose at her in hopes to get the message across without saying it. _*****_

Stopped short of making it off the bed, Shikiyoku hadn't been expecting Hiei to grab her.

Without moving her head, the glance out of the corner of her eyes was quick to return forward and she frowned again.

_(What are you doing?)_

_(...oh.)_

Letting out a noise full of confliction, Shikiyoku turned swiftly and gave Hiei a quick kiss on his lips, slouching back the other direction as she felt her scalp tingling as her energy meandered further into the air. 3

Hiei brightened quickly thereafter Shikiyoku's compliance with his request, but that happy surprise dimmed when she pulled away just as quickly as she had the night before, a bit of disappointment setting in. He stared at her for a moment, expression neutral again as he considered her.

"No, that's not right." The fire demon made a sound of unhappiness. "You have to do it _right_." _*****_

"Right?" Shikiyoku questioned, almost letting out a dry laugh. "I kissed you. That's what you asked for."

...and yet she wasn't making any moves to get out of his grasp. 3

Hiei let out a sigh at Shikiyoku, one that was slightly disappointed and yet amused at the same time. Because now, he'd be getting _three_ if it went well. "You have to kiss me _right_." he repeated, turning to face her and staring at her intently. "It doesn't _count _if you don't do it _right." _He stared in silence. _*****_

Shikiyoku closed her eyes, no longer attempting to hold back the energy that was thrilling around them, as both Hiei's arms holding her and his continued insistence that she kiss him was making her core giggle in her chest.

And really it wasn't as if his actions _didn't _excite her, but with him acting so strangely she almost felt as if it would be taking advantage of his willingness, something that she could just see being an issue _later _when he returned to normal.

_If he returns to normal._

_..._

The thought that he might _not _return to normal had her tensing for a second, because no matter how much self-restraint she had gained-_when did I get so much and how did that happen?_-she knew there would be a breaking point when she couldn't resist his amiability. And then they would _both _be in trouble.

"Right?" Shikiyoku echoed, feeling a little confused. "A kiss is a kiss, flame-boy. That's what you asked for and that's what you got." She paused and clarified, "Twice now. Actually." 3

Hiei's expression remained much the same, patiently expectant as he stared point-blank at Shikiyoku, arms never removing from around her. For a moment, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to press on, or wait a while and try again. After all, he'd already been awarded more than he'd thought he'd get.

But that didn't mean he couldn't get _more._

_I want more. _

_(Because I like you.)_

_And this is fun._

He opened his mouth, sucked in a breath that almost turned into a sigh, and then said, "One more! To make sure you get on the right track for catching up!"

Pause.

"Shikiii, _kiss me."_ _*****_

It felt strange how sincere his admission to liking her felt as it floated through their bond. As if nothing that passed between them could be false.

_Just...heavily influenced._

_...by my energy._

Shikiyoku felt her lungs expand in a rather large sigh as she played back to herself the rest of what he had said.

_(Catching up?)_

_Oh boy._

_Please don't tell me he's been keeping count._

_**I **__haven't even been keeping count._

In the middle of deciding how exactly she was supposed to handle the situation she found herself in, a knock resonated from the outer door of their rooms, a knock that for the first time Shikiyoku felt relieved to hear.

"Hiei-" Shikiyoku tested his embrace by trying to pull away from him slightly, "I have to go. I'm supposed to be down in the labs this morning." 3

The fire demon slowly let his grip on her loosen, eyes moving to the door he had heard being knocked on, disturbing his moment of _almost _earning another little kiss. Theoretically, anyway.

He let her move away, hands dropping to his lap and a small pout causing his lips to jutt out a bit.

And then his mind was made up, and he too was standing, glancing briefly at the corner of the room where his cloak lie on the floor, torn and bloody from the days prior.

And he made to grab it, deciding he'd wear it anyway. Even if the holes were a bit breezy and slightly distracting.

Plus, it looked cool when the bandages underneath didn't hide the swirling mark on his skin that was shown in those holes.

Without another word, he made for the door. _*****_

A single blink and he was already leaving the bedroom, Shikiyoku still sitting on the bed with her mouth slightly ajar and what could have been a strangled sort of noise dying in her chest before it could reach her throat.

"Hiei-" She slipped off the covers, chasing after him and grabbing for his arm, "You should definitely go back to bed. And you should definitely not wear that until I mend it. Which I can do when I get back." 3

Hiei stopped mid-stride, turning his head to look at Shikiyoku expectantly, an eyebrow quirked as he glanced at the hand around his forearm. His eyes trailed back up, a thoughtful gleam in his eye.

"You're right."

He made a small shrug, easily causing the material to loosen around his shoulders, his free hand pulling it away from his body until he had to pull his arm from Shikiyoku to remove _that_ arm from the sleeve. His eyes flanced at the marking on that arm, pausing briefly as if admiring it.

_(My mark's too cool to cover up anyway.)_

"You don't have to fix it _as soon _as we get back." Another pause. "I want to see you work." _*****_

Whereas before Shikiyoku felt as if Hiei was more closed off to her than normal, this morning it almost felt as if he either couldn't control what filtered through their bond or he simply didn't care to censor himself.

Possibly both.

She blinked at him as he shucked off his cloak.

_We?_

_...o-ho, no._

"No, I-" She struggled not to groan, "I really think you shouldn't be going out right now."

Another knock at the door and she started to move in front of him to answer.

"It's boring work in any case. You'd be bored."

Thinking about how the routine of her day went, Shikiyoku most definitely did _not _want Hiei to witness everything that went on in the labs.

There were...certain things he didn't know yet that she hadn't quite figured out how to explain to him. 3

_That's not fair._

_I don't like being cooped up._

"I think I'd be bored sitting _here,_" Hiei said after a moment of thought, gesturing to the room even as he followed after her to the door. His expression remained much the same: unreadable, blank. His eyes, however, wandered every now and then as a new thought would cross his mind, some plausible enough to consider, others just brief observations he filed away for another time.

"I mean, I _can_ wait, and then be there in about ten minutes. _Or," _he paused, sending the impression of a shrug through the mental bond unintentionally. _(Either way.) __*****_

_Well...I mean...I guess he has to find out some time._

Shikiyoku set her hand on the door knob and turned it, swinging the door inward.

_...wasn't exactly how I planned it but-_

"Kuraku!"

More than one voice echoed the sentiment and left Shikiyoku blinking up absently at the demons gathered at the portal. Most of them had grins on their faces-rather idiotic ones-and while Shikiyoku recognized the faces as ones that had more than once escorted her down to the labs, they weren't ones she particularly _liked_.

Any one of them would jump at the chance to get her alone.

"I brought this for you, Kuraku." The one standing in the front held out some sort of package or another that Shikiyoku almost immediately dismissed were it not for the fact that she instantly realized she would be unable to get _rid _of the present before Hiei knew of it like she had been with all the others.

At the first one having already extended his gift, it left the ice broken for the others who had something with them to do the same, each speaking at the same time as the others a spew of words Shikiyoku had heard many times since the escorts had started.

There was more than one implication of 'mate-gift' in their little speeches, if they did not come right out and say it _exactly_.

Perhaps one of them did. She couldn't rightly say she was paying any attention, though her bored expression didn't seem to put a damper on their enthusiasm.

These were not ones she would so much as fancy having as a mate.

Without so much as saying a word, she took the gift stuck under her nose and tossed it uncaringly behind her as she always did, pushing through the small crowd forcefully, since they barely let her by, and proceeding to ignore every single one of them as she left them behind staring after her for the briefest of moments as she continued down the hall. 3

Hiei had let Shikiyoku stay ahead of him, which put him unable to see the door for a moment- or rather, the patrons outside the door- and in the perfect place to catch whatever it was that Shiki threw over her shoulder.

Which he did so easily, the scent on the little thing foul and offending in his opinion. Charged with some emotion or another that brought him to disgust.

His earlier cheerful demeanor switched so quickly that even the demons who had _seen him_ didn't notice until he too was pushing through the crowd.

And as he passed, various little boxes and things that they held in their hands went up in flames and smoke, slowly burning in a cinder that only he could extinguish.

And he paid no mind to any third degree burns on the hands holding those objects either.

"Let that be your one and only warning."

He didn't even glance back as he followed a few paces behind Shikiyoku. _*****_

"You know, that was much easier than what I'd been doing with them." Shikiyoku muttered as she felt Hiei come up behind her.

The troupe of demons were only momentarily deterred, and while they maintained more of a distance than normal, that is to say they were _feet _away from Shikiyoku rather than _inches_, they did turn to follow after her once she got passed them. 3

_(If they weren't Mukuro's…)_

Hiei was _very much _aware of the following predators, though his eyes remained steadily pointed forward, his ears trained on the footsteps behind him.

_...I'd kill them all in a cinder unlike any other._

Though, he had a feeling they'd been _put up to it._

Which wouldn't be surprising.

He stepped up to Shikiyoku's side, spine straight and steps deliberately matching hers. And while he _did _seem to have more patience than normal, since he had yet to issue another threat, he found it rather difficult to _not_ do just that, accompanied with a few more third-degree burns.

_I could have them __**fearing **__fire by the end of this trek._

_(What a sight that would be.)_

_To see them running and screaming._

_(Heh.) _*****

Shikiyoku glanced at the fire demon next to her out of the corner of her eye after a while, hearing the various lines of dialogue leaking through their bond and able to fairly easily guess at the entire conversation.

And for some reason, she kind of wanted quirkiness from earlier back.

_(You're not allowed to go to any such trouble, fire-prince. It's your day off.)_

At that, as they walked, she stretched up on the tips of her toes to plant a single, quick kiss on his cheek before facing forward again. 3

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


	118. Episode 202

**A/N: **Hello once again, again, Audience!

Fourth chapter in this series of (nearly) constant postings for a week. This one earlier than some of the others simply because I will be busy the rest of the day and wanted to get this one out lest I forget-or have a tire pop and be unable to, eheh.

Reviews are most welcome. Do remember that as we continue to steadily approach the "current" of what CM and I have written, interest from our readers is just as good of incentive for her and I to take time to work on the story as any incentive. Perhaps better even since we would not only be making time for ourselves to write on this-which is an enjoyable time for us both-but also for you all so that you may continue to enjoy the fruits of our labors.

Hope you enjoy!

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

At first Kurama's "game" mostly consists  
of staring at Akari in a way that makes  
her question everything she's ever known  
as well as making her unable to recall  
anything she's ever known.

Continuing to tease her with the intensity of his gaze,  
eventually he relents and the two keep bantering back and forth,  
talking among other things about how and what Yusuke  
is doing with Raizen.

Kurama offers to help Akari attempt to regain her  
ability to traverse the layers.  
He starts by pulling her inbetween with him,  
still laying upon the bed,  
but moving them between the Seventh and Eighth Layers.

Flustered, Akari distracts herself with adjectives,  
Kurama eventually talking her through  
until she manages to do it herself!

Eventually the game of adjectives  
turns into one where Kurama is using them  
to describe other individuals,  
with Akari guessing the individual.

~!**!~

With Shikiyoku's energy running through his veins,  
Hiei insists he won't sleep,  
even on top of her as he is,  
until she kisses him.

Eventually she relents only by kissing the tip of his nose,  
and he does slip into slumber.

Hiei wakes later in the day and bothers Shikiyoku  
until she too wakes up,  
him almost immediately starting to press her for a kiss,  
and reminded Shikiyoku of the predicament she's in.

While he may not have anything to do that day,  
Shikiyoku knows she is likely needed down in the labs,  
but doesn't get off the bed before relenting  
and giving Hiei a quick kiss on the lips.

A strong knock at the door  
calls Shikiyoku away to begin walking to the labs,  
and she attempts to get Hiei to stay in the room,  
but to no avail.

Those demons at the door  
are among those attempting to "court" her,  
and when they attempt to award her with gifts,  
Hiei burns the packages and things  
as he and Shiki move through the crowd  
towards the labs,  
Shikiyoku giving him an affectionate kiss on the cheek  
for his pains, but tells him not to go to any such trouble  
as burning the entire lot of them alive.

* * *

Hiei blinked once and sent his eyes to the corners, watching Shikiyoku from the corners of his eyes. His lips gave a slight twitch at her words. And, truth be told, he found himself a bit surprised with the kiss she awarded him with, his eyebrows quickly sliding up to hide in his hair and eyes glinting in the lighting a little.

A moment later, a sneer adorned his face.

_(It's working then.) __*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes narrowed slightly in thought as she rounded the last corner before the labs.

_(What's working?) _3

The fire demon gave no answer other than the deliberate turning of his eyes to the forward path, expression becoming completely unreadable again, ears still hearing the followers but not really actually _listening_ to them anymore.

They'd become irrelevant.

"I've not gotten to see you work yet."

_(I'm curious.)_

_And looking forward to it._

"You should _definitely_ kiss me again." _*****_

"I'll-" _Get right on it? Probably not the best thing to say in this situation. _"-think about it." She finished, trying not to smile and realizing that too much more of this...mood of his and she'd likely do anything he asked.

As usual, the door to the labs was not locked and as Shikiyoku approached, and the demons following her stopped, dispersing once she crossed the threshold.

Shikiyoku almost smacked her hand against her forehead as soon as she walked inside.

Both the scientists in the room looked up at her, noting the fire demon only in passing, and just as she meant to smack her forehead, Iketeru spoke up.

"You left your clipboard."

"I know, I know." Shikiyoku grumbled as she came farther into the room.

"Had you even made any progress?" The question was not _unkind_ really, just meant to point out that it was likely her clipboard wasn't going to be needed for the formulas on it. 3

Hiei stepped into the room behind Shikiyoku, making a point to not only slam the door in the faces of their pursuers, but to lock it as well, simply because he _could_. And he wasted no time in moving further into the room, easily finding a stool that would both give him the ability to watch what was going on, but be out of the way in case it was necessary.

"Nope," Hiei suddenly chimed, answering her question for her, "The lab monkeys depend on you."

_Not sure how I feel on that, though._

_(you never did make me sparkle either. Kind of a letdown.)_

_(...)_

_(Too bad.)_

He pulled the wooden stool out from underneath the counter and made himself comfortable with his back against the table, elbows propped up on the wooden surface behind him and eyes on the machinery in the room.

"If it helps, I remember a few things. I _had_ been watching, after all."

The stare pointed at Iketeru couldn't have been missed. _*****_

As Shikiyoku moved further into the room, Iketeru let his gaze rest on Hiei for a moment before he turned back down to the monitor he had been working at.

"That will depend on her, really. _She's _the one that has to remember."

In about the middle of the room against the farthest wall, a slightly raised circular platform starting lighting up just as Rikei shifted over and adjusted a few of the settings on another monitor in the wall next to the platform.

When Shikiyoku neared it, Rikei eyed her for a brief second before turning back to that same monitor.

"Strip."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Shikiyoku mumbled, having already begun pulling at her clothing.

Iketeru left his spot to stand next to Rikei, the two of them almost appearing to work in tandem at a set of several screens as a low humming noise started to fill the room, electricity silently running up through the cables coming from the floor and disappearing below the platform.

When the only thing left on her body were the two Koorime tear-necklaces, Shikiyoku stepped onto raised bit of floor as a large glass cylinder started to lower over it, hissing slightly when it attached to the platform.

Rikei had stopped his portion of the data entry to watch and make sure the process went smoothly, taking no particular notice of Shikiyoku's grumbling as she tucked a portion of her hair behind her ear and stood there as if she had done so many times before.

As as thick, grey mist swirled into the tube from both the top and bottom, Rikei went back to examining his screen, Shikiyoku's grumbles stopping as she began to disappear from view, though the glass tube had muted most of it.

A series of words passed between the two scientists in reference to the readings they were getting, and they both continued rapidly working where they stood. 3

Hiei had silenced simply because he didn't have anything more to say, shifting around just a little until he had another stool pulled in front of him and was comfortable with his feet propped up on its surface, one foot over the other and his arms crossing over his chest.

And in the short time he'd been looking away, Shikiyoku had disappeared into a glass tube that had begun to fill with a type of fog that kept her from his view. With calm eyes and a curious mind, he watched in silence, wondering how long it would be until he could actually convince her to sit with him instead of.. whatever this was. _*****_

It didn't take long for Rikei to move away from where he worked, though Iketeru continued taking tabs on the readouts.

Slowly the mist started to swirl away in much the same manner it appeared, and as the last of it was sucked away, the clear glass tube rose back up and Shikiyoku immediately clutched her hands at her arms and shivered as she stepped back down to the floor as Rikei walked back up and held out a similar set of exercise-type clothing as she had been wearing which Shikiyoku took from him and started to pull on.

Rikei crossed his arms over his chest and watched her impatiently, if appearing a little bored, as she dressed, on occasion her entire body quivering and impeding her progress.

While no part of her appeared damp, her hair seemed to hang more flatly around her shoulders and her skin had taken on more of a purple tint than before, somehow lending itself to a reaction to being cold.

"We have prepared another set of injections for you." Iketeru stated as his eyes continued to scan the monitor in front of him.

"My joy knows-" Shikiyoku stood back up, the 'clothing' leaving most of her skin bare and resulting in another shiver as she clutched her hands across herself again, "-no bounds."

"The other room will be ready for you in a moment." Rikei told her, finally turning away. 3

He supposed he hadn't been _listening_ earlier, before Shikiyoku had stepped out of his sight and into the tube of whatever it was that was hiding her from his sight. So, when that go, mist, _whatever it was_, began to clear up and he realized she was rather _bare_, he found his eyes wandering away to other parts of the room, taking in the equipment, the scientists, the-

One of which who was paying apt attention to Shiki as she dressed.

A lip twitched.

_(Lab rats.)_

Ruby eyes returned to watching Shikiyoku once the scientist had turned away, locking on the jewels for a brief moment before taking in the small rigors her body gave from the chill from whatever she'd had to be put in.

And while he _was_ curious, he decided to keep his question of 'what was that' to himself. _*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes flickered over to Hiei briefly at his comment, momentarily amused and wondering if his insults came because he did not like them or because he did not understand them.

A small portion of the floor gave a slight hitch and Shikiyoku turned her attention away, taking a step or two in that direction.

A door frame, sans an actual door, rose up out of the laboratory's floor, and when it stopped, giving another sort of hitch, an energy field crackled to life across it.

After a second, the field appeared to settle down into a steadiness that Shikiyoku recognized and it was just as she started to move for it that Iketeru left his station for one on the other side of the room and gave her a nod.

Rikei handed Shikiyoku a couple of things as he passed her and went to join Iketeru, and one of the devices she put directly over her core, attaching a smaller piece to the side of her neck that appeared to be part of a collar that she snapped together on the other side.

The other device had a portion that went into her ear, a wire curving behind it to her jaw and then ending in another small square that got placed at the front of her throat as she started to step through the doorway.

She did not appear out the other side of said 'door' as one might expect, and the door frame fizzled as the energy cut off and it began sliding into the floor once more.

"Are you in?" Iketeru wanted to know as he slid his fingers over a few buttons and the wall in front of him almost appeared to pull apart like a curtain, revealing what looked like a long, rectangular glass window one could look through, though it was only a projection. However, the projection filled almost the entire wall from ceiling down to the monitors where the two scientists stood.

"Yes."

Shikiyoku's voice sounded as if it came from some sort of speakers in the lab set up towards the ceiling.

As Rikei took up a position at some screens set up in front of the window-projection, he appeared to look down into another room as the image on the wall filtered until it was clear.

From his vantage point, Rikei was looking down into another of Mukuro's dark rooms, similar to the one Hiei himself had fought in the first few weeks after his arrival, though probably not as large. It was difficult to tell.

Shikiyoku stood roughly in the middle of it, looking as if she were no longer cold. She was most definitely starting to glow a soft yellow color.

"First wave." Rikei announced, running his fingers across a few keys.

A low rumble from within the room Shikiyoku stood appeared indicative of doors opening, but she only closed her eyes and extended her arms with a flourish, tendrils of energy immediately extending outwards with her motion.

The steps she began taking were similar enough to be compared to the dance she had done for the tribes, but the moves were different. Her energy may have started to swirl outwards from her body in the same thread-like fashion as those nights, but the essence of the dance was in no way the same.

As the initial attacker came into view, it was not difficult to figure out what Rikei meant by 'first wave.'

The demon brandished a spear and made straight for her with clear intention of attack, but just as the tip would have pierced her bare stomach, her eyes flew open, glimmering almost golden in the low light, and the demon stopped in place as a strand of energy circled around him, appearing to caress his cheek as his mouth fell open, agape, as she kept moving, eyes closing once more.

As six more demons broke out of the surrounding darkness, similar things occurred, though she was not point-blank with any of them, and with each subsequent demon that approached with ill-intent, more strands of energy spiraled outwards to wreathe about them and coax them to a stand-still.

Quickly taken in by the steps, Shikiyoku lost count of how many demons she stopped once they were in her energy's grasp, the room continuing to be flooded with more and more of them as one scientist or the other continued to call out wave numbers that each consisted of exponentially greater numbers of enemies than the last. There had to be hundreds. Thousands. Many more than she had ever danced for when among the tribal people of the Ninth Level.

Then again, she had been doing _this _dance every single day since the second week she and Hiei had arrived.

And she had also lost count of the weeks they had been here.

"_Everything you do here will be done to increase your power." _ Mukuro had said.

It appeared as if Shikiyoku was no exception to that rule.

"Wave one-two-six-zero." Iketeru warned her.

"Seven more waves than yesterday." Rikei murmured.

"Let's see if her pattern holds." Iketeru responded in kind.

She had begun to sweat long ago, and it covered her body in a slick sheen that seemed to only amplify the glow surrounding her more, a glow that licked into the air around her as she continued to move.

Not a single thought had passed over her mind during the entire process, but in her almost trance-like state she could not mistake the severe slowing of her core as she continued to pump out energy to stop her aggressors in their tracks.

Sluggishly another countless threads spiraled outwards, and as each wave had increasingly higher ranked demons, these ones came dangerously close before getting caught in her trap themselves, leaving her to have to maneuver carefully out from their surrounding bodies.

By this time, the room that had been dark before practically shined as if with daylight, the multitude of strands reaching every single body within the four walls.

When Shikiyoku tried to coax another set of tendrils, her core lurched within her and she nearly faltered.

Another two or three steps and she tried again, to the same effect.

In the lab, a small light had started blinking and was accompanied by a soft beeping noise and was the reason why neither scientist had released another wave into the room.

However, that did not stop Rikei from piping up with, "Next wave."

"Wait." Came Shikiyoku's immediate response.

"Are you into your life energy yet, woman?" He asked mildly as if they went through the same conversation every single day.

"No-"

"Next wave." Rikei's fingers moved over the keys with ease.

"Dammit, I-"

"Don't waste your breath." He seemed to almost cheerily give the advice.

Shikiyoku's mouth snapped shut as she made another pass by the demon who had nearly skewered her in the beginning.

She knew as well as they did in the lab that the beating of her core had slowed to dangerously low levels, hardly pulsing twice for every dozen steps or so she took.

When she heard the sounds of scuffling, of more feet approaching her, the momentary fear gripped her in such a way that had her core been beating normally, it would have given one of those hard lurches that almost always accompanied the burning shift for her.

In her desperation, she managed to release a few more strands of energy that caught the handful of stragglers dashing towards her that the scientists had released into the room.

Her core gave out another pump, sluggish in its beat, and like always she finally felt that wall spring up inside her, blocking her access to the life energy behind it.

Shikiyoku let out a little breath that was projected into the lab above.

"Now-" Rikei said, his voice bordering on _kind_, "-first wave."

His fingers passed over a different set of keys.

While only seven energy signatures entered the room as if starting over in numbers, unlike the original 'first wave' the power of this group seemed to pick up where the last wave left off, making these seven stronger than any others in the room.

They lost no time in zeroing in on Shikiyoku's position, speeding towards her in a manner that far surpassed even the final group.

There was no mistaking for her their desires. Whichever one of them killed her had been promised much, and each intended to make the fatal blow.

In a moment of desperation, Shikiyoku fought against the wall within her, her eyes flying open for the second time just as the demons drew close enough for her to see.

This time, with no other resources at her disposal, her core gave that sudden, lurching jerk that ushered in the shift in her forms and as that familiar burning sensation ripped across her body, leaving behind ash-grey skin covered in scars, the small light in the lab that had begun blinking and beeping minutes before stopped, the other sensors next to it filling up once more.

Out in the other room, the cheery yellow glow had darkened into an oppressive and dangerous one, casting shadows through which one could barely see.

Immediately, those demons already caught in the threads of energy began dropping to the floor, some of them writhing, most of them screaming as if they were in pain.

In the lab, Iketeru pressed a few keys and their noises were muted from the speakers, though the contorted expressions of their faces conveyed it all.

A shuddering breath from Shikiyoku came through the speakers instead now, one full of struggle, of her barely restrained hunger at the countless demons within her grasp.

"Focus." Rikei told her calmly.

Shikiyoku clenched her teeth together as she forced herself to continue the dance, the demons that had been approaching her now collapsed to the ground each with a yellowish-black strand of energy encircling them.

"Second wave." Iketeru announced.

It began all over again, but this time Shikiyoku could not sink herself down into the meditative trance that she had achieved in her other form. This time she could _feel _every struggle, every demon in her grasp as they were consumed by the pain she conveyed. This time she knew _exactly _how many demons her energy circled, knew _precisely _how many more entered the room each time another wave was announced into the ear piece she wore.

"Focus." Rikei said again at some point, his voice pulling her briefly from her desperate battle and making her realize that there had been a low growl rumbling deep within her chest as she fought against her instincts which begged her to end the lives of all those within her grasp.

The growl stopped for a moment as another shuddering, almost desperately anguished breath came over the speakers.

"She's only at wave twenty-two." Rikei noted.

"One more than last time." Iketeru allowed. "She's never been very good with restraint. You know this."

"I...haven't killed...you yet." The words were gravelly, seethed out between tightly clenched teeth.

Rikei gave the slightest shrug, "She's got a point." 3

While Hiei had been rather intrigued with the doorframe that slid upwards from the lab's floor, he had also been keenly aware of what it was, and its purpose. At least, _a portion_ of its purpose.

And while he didn't _like it_, he stayed silent, eyes watching Shikiyoku until she was out of his sight, and then his eyes turned to the projection that was provided by the scientists.

And he watched, keeping a mental count of every demon she faced, of every demon that was beckoned to a standstill in their attempt at attack. The sheer numbers had him sobering, his earlier glinting eyes now flat and hard, concentrating on the screen and the bond within that he could feel tethering him to her.

And every beat of fear that washed over him from her had not gone unnoticed.

He _knew_ this was for her cure.

And that was probably the _only_ thing that kept him from crossing the laboratory and putting a stop to this little show.

Especially when Shikiyoku had protested. And when he could _feel _a sense of alarm that came from neither himself nor Shikiyoku herself, but from what he could only describe as his sheer instincts, likely stemmed from their kinship itself. Which had given him pause for thought the _moment_ she had switched and taken to protecting herself in a different manner than before.

The fire demon was also careful to keep all of his own thoughts and emotions behind a barrier, so as to not distract the woman inside the fighting room.

Though, he did have to admit that her remark aimed at the scientist had his lips twitching in amusement.

"And you are draining her of her energy for what purpose?" Hiei finally asked the scientists in the room, merely out of curiosity of what was to come next. His tone was not harsh, nor was it biting. Merely… even.

Perhaps it was her lingering energy within himself that kept him calm in this moment.

Then again, who was to say?

~!**!~

Several days had gone by without incident. _A week? _Yeah, that sounded about right. It had been about a week ago that Akari had left Kurama's room after several hours of much needed down-time that _didn't _include naps. It had been a rather blissful evening, to do nothing but talk about various things that really didn't matter.

It had been the first time in a long time that they'd done that, she'd noticed.

And, of course, the day after that, Kurama had been deported out on a job for Yomi.

At least, that's what she assumed.

Nobody in this room actually _knew_ anything about his absence.

"You don't really believe that, do you Chu?"

"I mean, the bloke's a trusted advisor of Yomi's. Anything's possible, I suppose."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he'd be sent to Raizen's to meet with Yusuke. He would have told us first."

"And he certainly wouldn't have been sent alone." Akari sat back against the wall furthest from the door of the leafy room, hearing the third debate over the topic _today_.

"Who said he went alone?"

To say she was bored wouldn't quite explain it well enough. Her source of entertainment and _sanity _had been gone for a week now.

She smiled despite the topic, deciding to change gears.. "What happened to the _fun_ talk?"

"Coming up with strategies for battle isn't _fun_," Shishiwakamaru piped with his nose in the air.

"Mhm. Well, you guys can continue this fun debate without me. _I _am going to go find something to do that doesn't involve _sitting here."_

She stood and moved away from the group, sending a wave over her shoulder at the various words of departure sent her way.

And for the fourth time this week, she found herself thinking about _home_. _Nabu_ and that little bakery in the center of town they liked. _Ramen_, and Shyn's little shop. He was probably thinking she'd moved off somewhere.

_Rolls sound amazing right now._

_No. _

The last thought to herself was harsh, and she shook her head at herself as the door to the training room shut behind her and clicked closed. There was no use in her putting herself in Yomi's line of sight again, after Kurama had-

_But he's not __**here**_ _and there's nothing to __**do.**_

_**No.**_

She could almost _smell _the garlic-y, cheesy rolls that she so loved. It had her mouth watering, her stomach growling.

_It would be nice to walk around another layer for a while…_

As she shut the door to her bedroom, she again told herself no.

But to say her resolution wasn't crumbling would be a lie.

"So, we meet in the inbetween, the Tenth Layer, and then all pop up in the middle of the fight. Find Yusuke and Hiei, and make our own team!"

"We've talked about this already, Rinku. Its not that simple."

"That's because you're _making it difficult_."

Akari sighed as the battle waged on throughout the group. Yes, they were talking battle strategies. No, she wasn't technically listening to all of it. In fact, she could very easily guess what was about to be said next, word for word.

It was the same every day.

She tugged at the grass beneath and tossed it to the person on her left. Chu smiled at her, "Bored are we?"

She didn't respond, only pulling up more of the grass and tossing it in the opposite direction. Another heavy sigh. If someone were to ask her a question, she wouldn't even know it.

She'd given up on paying attention a long time ago.

It just wasn't _worth it._

Silently, she stood and relocated herself to another part of the room, where she continued to do nothing more than stare at the grass or flowers around her and wish she were anywhere else. _*****_

~!**!~

"It was _her _idea." Rikei noted, not looking up from his station.

"At the least, she is the one who came out and suggested it." Iketeru added, eyes fixed on the readings, announcing, "Wave twenty-three."

At least a hundred more demons were released into the room below.

Without pausing in his work, Rikei went on, "There is a possibility that _new _energy, energy that regenerates from the core, does not contain active Crusnik, and that they only become active because of the other _already _active Crusnik in the energy-"

"-which we are still inconclusive about since her injections were interrupted yesterday." Iketeru simply stated the fact as if it didn't particularly bother him that Hiei had stormed in and swiped the last needle, "She has been working on formulas in relation to the dance she used to do, the Odori Iro, attempting to change the original in severals ways: that she was not directly binding the demons, that she could release the energy while in pain form, etcetera. And ever since then, she has been daily attempting to put those formulas into practice-"

Rikei picked up the explanation again, "-and adjusting them as needed so that she can try again the next day. She has to 'drain' all of her energy from _both _pools, from both sides of her core, so that when the energy is regenerated it is with fully dormant Crusnik. The main issue now is, of course, the simple fact that before she manages to actually release all of her energy while in pain form she-"

A savage growl erupted from the speakers and Iketeru sighed as he flicked off the power to Shikiyoku's microphone and cut off the noise.

"-can't...stop herself...from feeding." Rikei finished, wearing a similar expression to the one Iketeru now wore.

Iketeru powered down the projection just as it started to become more shadowed by the dark energy in the other room and worked his jaw a little, knowing exactly what was going on in the other room at this point.

The demons in her power would be sucked dry, like they had every other day since they started. She'd go crazy with the hunger for a while until everything in the room was empty, and then she'd come out of it.

Where Iketeru put his elbows on the controls and planted his face in his hands, buzzing out air from his lips and waiting, Rikei crossed an arm over his chest and rested his other arm on top of it, his fingers covering his mouth in a thoughtful expression.

"The Crusnik is just too strong." Iketeru murmured.

Rikei didn't say anything for a moment. 3

Hiei shifted a little in his seat, eyes staring at the wall that the projection disappeared from, a thoughtful gleam in his eye. He could tell she'd come a long way simply by the way the scientists spoke about her while she'd been in there.

But she was still struggling.

And like most times she struggled, Hiei found himself unsure of what to do, and yet thinking that she shouldn't give up yet.

A slow blink.

"How many more waves do you have prepared?" He asked suddenly, mind working in a manner that very much resembled the ranking he'd been recently promoted to in Mukuro's little "army".

Another slow blink.

If they had enough demons, he wanted to keep her in there and try a couple of things.

~!**!~

Akari lay across her bed, her head hanging off the edge of it and hair brushing the floor below, eyes focused on the plain walls of the room and blood rushing to her brain. She could feel the redness growing across her cheeks and the headache beginning to form as she propped her right ankle on her left knee and rested both hands interlaced on her stomach.

Another two days had gone by, and she hadn't left this room _once. _

Simply because there was _nothing to do. _

She'd already tested the layers, and thanks to Kurama's guidance over a week ago, had been able to actually solve her problem pertaining to that mode of transportation, though it had been slower without him here.

She attributed it to how safe she'd felt with him there, and how unsafe she felt in the layers _without _him.

And of course, she'd rationalized it away by simply repeating what he'd said: "Don't die in between layers."

_Heh._

Also, with the most recent necklace of vine and flower that he'd made, she didn't have any issues with random… 'trips'.

Though she'd been tempted to take it off a few times, to be honest.

How had her days gone from super stressful to so boring so suddenly?

_This is stupid._

_I want to go home._

She pulled herself up into a sitting position, her hair becoming a mess behind her and her vision becoming little colored dots from the change in blood flow. Another second later, she was up and moving for the door, deciding she'd go see Yomi's gardens, and laugh at the ridiculous color coordinations again.

Even though the mental jokes about it weren't _near_ as funny without someone to listen to them.

Dinnertime, and the staff had actually allowed Akari to _help_ them cook dinner, which was time consuming in and of itself. Sure, with demonic speed, shopping herbs and vegetables was easy, but it still took time when there were so many of them to chop up.

Another handful of veggies in the soup, making a little mess as she went.

A gamey meat for the flavor-

_Plop. Plop. Plop._

A few more _sshhkk_s through a couple more veggies.

The dog demon plopped the last of the vegetables and herbs into the boiling soup at her right, the liquid sizzling a little when it splashed over and into the burner,

"Almost done yet?" The head chef called.

"Give it ten," she called back, tossing her ponytail a little when she turned to look over her shoulder. "I timed it to finish with Uwong's side dish."

"Perfect."

Akari turned back to stir the pot, staring at the mucky-colored contents.

_This is boring. And bland,_

"I'll be taking my leave now," she suddenly announced, pulling the spoon from the soup and resting it atop the metal rim of the pot. "Thank you for allowing me to spend some of my time here."

She returned to her room and resumed what she'd been doing before: staring at blank walls with blank eyes. _*****_

~!**!~

"We can always _make _more." Iketeru waved one of his hands nebulously before putting it back underneath his chin.

Rikei made a frustrated sort of noise, "If we could just...get _ahold _of one of the Crusnik. _Change _their directive, or...at least make it more manageable for her. They're not _completely _organic. They can't be. And even if they _are_, that doesn't mean we couldn't…" He let out another breath and then pushed his glasses farther up his nose, closing his eyes.

"I'm impressed, really." Iketeru admitted, though he sounded sort of bored about it. "The fact that she is able to suppress the directive for any amount of time is noteworthy." 3

Hiei made a sound of affirmation towards Iketeru's last commentary, though his eyes never moved away from the wall where the projection had been. He thought about the movements that he'd seen her use, the steps she'd taken, and he began thinking them over, mentally rewatching each step.

"Now that she has more energy, do it again."

Truth be told, he didn't think he would have much effect on the next outcome, but he sure did like to try. Because one never knew if it would work unless one tried.

~!**!~

Playing with her shadows had lost its touch.

No longer was she entertained by _anything_ around these parts. In fact, she'd much rather be fighting _Takeo _than laying in the darkness of the early morning hours of this room.

Wide awake at the time she _should have been _meeting Kurama for 'training'.

She groaned.

_This is stupid. I'd rather be in a prison cell. Or, hell, chains._

'_Be careful what you wish for.' _Of course the voice had to sound like Kurama's.

_Yeah yeah._

She sat upright and released the shadow back to its usual spot, wherever it had come from, and took to staring at the curtained window.

_It's probably daytime on the first layer. And Nabu is probably laying in the sun right now._

She let out a long breath.

_I want to lay out in the sun and eat some fresh-baked goodies and have a sundae and…_

What was it that was stopping her again?

…

She had two different means of getting to where she wanted to be, both being very easy to manage and quick to get where she wanted to go. It would be a simple matter of either dropping through a shadow or walking through the layers.

And she wouldn't be gone _long_…

She'd just…

Enjoy the park for a while.

Yeah, that.

And some cheesy bread too.

Maybe run home and grab something to keep her occupied on days like this while she was at it.

…

_I'll be quick about it… _

With that last thought, Akari slid away from the bed and grabbed a clean outfit, changing as quickly as possible.

She even took a moment to retrieve the rose seed from her pocket and set it on the bedside table, so she wouldn't lose it.

_I'll be back before anyone notices._

And with that, she folded herself into the layers. _*****_

~!**!~

"We can't." Iketeru replied. "She's gotta start out in her true form."

"Tried it the other way once. Didn't, heh, didn't work out so well." Rikei smirked just a little. "The steps were made for her true form and it doesn't really work the other way around." 3

Hiei gave a small twitch downwards of his lips in disappointment. _Too bad. _

_I guess I could get her clipboard for her. _

Suddenly, Hiei was on his feet and moving out the door, steps silent as could be as he crossed the lab. "I'll return shortly."

The door shut behind him, and he simply meandered through the halls, his destination being their shared room and the objective being to retrieve the clipboard he'd tossed into a corner the night before.

Because if he could get her to work next to him, then maybe he'd be able to _keep her_ next to him.

The earlier glint returned to his eyes, indicating mischief and amusement at himself and the idea.

~!**!~

As soon as the layers unfolded from around her, Akari raised her arms far above her head and took in a deep breath of the first layer air. The breeze was cool and inviting, indicating either late spring or early fall, she wasn't sure, and the sun's rays beared down on her almost as if it were summertime.

Midday. There were very few people on the sidewalks, most being at work or school it seemed.

And the copper-headed female wasted no time in turning and heading towards her favorite bakery, deciding that the trek there would be more than enough and she would return to Yomi's palace without much complaint other than the fact that she couldn't _stay here. __*****_

~!**!~

The pair of scientists only exchanged a brief glance as Hiei left the room, and Iketeru stood up, smoothing his hands down his lab coat before turning away from the screens.

Without him saying anything, Rikei knew the other was going to finalize preparations for the injections.

Rikei took the couple of steps over and flicked the sound system back on.

"You done in there, woman?"

He did not get a response for several moments, but eventually Shikiyoku replied.

"Yes."

Rikei set to sweeping his fingers over several different mechanisms, one of which made the door frame in the floor begin to rise and crackle with energy once more.

When the scarred and grey skinned she-demon stepped through, her face devoid of any emotion and her eyes that deadened green color, the door started to disappear into the floor again.

Gesturing to his left, Rikei started to move for another corner of the room with Shikiyoku close behind, beginning to remove the devices she had attached to herself earlier and tossing them onto a nearby table.

Just as Rikei stopped next to the treadmill and began sticking _other _wires and pads to her skin, Iketeru stepped up with the first injection and stuck it into Shikiyoku's arm, earning himself a dark glance from her that he readily ignored as he stepped away.

"Can't you figure out a better way of doing that?" She growled, reaching up and running her fingers over the muscle the needle had been in moments ago.

"If you have any ideas, we're all ears." Iketeru replied, coming right back up to her with another syringe.

He waited until Rikei helped situation her on the treadmill and just as the power came on and she started walking, Iketeru pumped her pure energy into her a second time, moving away as the machine started to speed up. 3

The fire demon sauntered through the halls with the clipboard in his hand and eyes forward, mind blank as he closed the distance to the lab again, fully expecting to see Shikiyoku when he entered.

And he wasn't disappointed.

though, he didn't exactly go to her side either. He simply returned to his earlier seat, feet propped up on the other stool as they had been before, the clipboard raised in the air near his face for a moment before dropping it to his lap. "I retrieved your things."

~!**!~

Akari reveled in the feel of the sun's warm rays on her skin and hair, warming her from the top her her head to the tips of her toes. If she'd had the capability, she would have switched into her animalistic form and simply lay out on the sidewalk until the sun went down.

It would have been very satisfying to do so.

But, she'd settle for an hour or so in the park,

After she got her snack, that is.

The bell to the little family-owned bakery rang as she pulled the door open, alerting the elderly couple who sat in the corner of their guest. She offered the pair a smile when they turned to greet her, one that she reserved specifically for the two.

There were pleasantries exchanged, a few questions about how the days were going and things of that nature, and then Akari had her bread in hand, paid, and took her leave, making sure to leave a little tip in the glass jar on the counter simply because she could.

And once she arrived at the park, she stretched near the tree she'd deemed as her favorite long ago, though remained out of the shade and instead in the direct sunlight of the warm day as she chewed on her little slice of heaven.

Why hadn't she done this earlier, again?

At the moment, she couldn't really remember. _*****_

~!**!~

Upon hearing Hiei's voice, Shikiyoku gave him a quick glance as she ran in place to see what 'things' he referred.

Almost _immediately _her eyes shot back forward to stare at the wall in front of her, the top of her lip twitching with a growl that did not actually sound.

_I don't want to __**see **__that damn thing._

Rikei noted her tension in the readings the wires were feeding him and looked up first at her, then over his shoulder at Hiei to see to what Shikiyoku had responded.

He gave out a low chuckle.

"She tends to rip the thing apart when she sees it after-"

A low growl cut him off and he noted Shikiyoku's narrowed glare.

Iketeru picked up with, "Actually, I was going to say this is the best her mood has been since-"

"Shut. Up." Shikiyoku worked her jaw around once, clenching her teeth together.

"Losing control tends to make her a bit put out." Iketeru continued, unphased by her threatening glance. 3

Hiei made as if to shrug, but only one shoulder really seemed to move, and it barely did that. _You're the one rubbing it in. _He crossed one ankle over the other and turned his eyes down to the scrawlings on the paper, memorizing each number, each letter, each sequence and searching for a trend so that he _might_ be able to do something other than sit there and wait for her to come retrieve the little thing.

He took the pencil and turned to a new page, rewriting everything Shikiyoku had written thus far, analyzing the numbers.

And while he knew _nothing_ of science, he did know about patterns.

And that was what he was looking for, simply because there was nothing else for him to do.

"Hn."

_Too bad we can't just lay around all day._

_Stupid illness._

_Stupid lab rats._

~!**!~

Akari stretched out as long as her body would let her, her arms over her head with her hands playing with the ends of her hair and her toes pointing out for a brief moment.

If she wasn't worried about keeping track of time, she'd take a nap.

Or hunt down Nabu.

_Kurama mentioned Kuwabara._

She wouldn't see it too out of the realm of possibility, if the dog got lonely enough.

_How long have I been gone for him?_

_Too long._

A heavy sigh left Akari's lips as her body went lax in the grass.

_Well, I got what I wanted._

_Might as well go back.._

She rolled to her side and tucked an arm under her head and let her eyelids slide closed.

Perhaps this hadn't been a good idea. She didn't get to find Nabu and spend some time with him, let him know she was okay or anything of the sort. It was sort of… depressing, really, to not get to see her best friend while she was here.

She gave another sigh and let the layers fold around her again. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku almost immediately began pulling wires off of her as soon as she felt the path beneath her begin to slow, and it took a lot of teeth clenching for her to not let out another growl at Iketeru when he came up to her again with the intention of sticking her again.

As she stopped in place and Iketeru plunged the needle in, Rikei reached over and stuck one of the sensory pads she had taken off back on her neck and she batted his hand away as he pulled back.

"Don't. Touch me."

"That's the only one we actually need you to have on while he does that and you removed it." Rikei replied, turning back down to his screen.

Shikiyoku grumbled something incoherent, but likely not very nice, as Iketeru stepped back to look over the other's shoulder.

Without the rhythmic pounding of her feet to concentrate on, Shikiyoku's thoughts rolled back around to the same subject they always did at this time of day.

The fact that she literally could not control herself was both unnerving and quite possibly the most frustrating thing she had ever experienced.

And it happened every _damn _time.

Their very existence made her blood positively scream to eliminate them while she was connected to those demons in that other room. And each time it happened, each time she lost it, she could never be sure if she would make it back to sanity or not. 3

Hiei only briefly glanced up from the clipboard to peer at Shikiyoku, gauging her with calm eyes and an unreadable gaze before turning to look down at the clipboard again, pencil scratching.

Yes, he was adding to what she'd already had, but on his own paper, so that if it were wrong- which he fully expected- she wouldn't have to erase his work.

Because he _did_ find a numerical pattern or two here and there.

"It'll work," he said after a moment, referring to Shikiyoku struggling, "It just takes time."

He pressed his lips together, pencil paused and glanced up briefly, staring at a small spot on the opposite wall for a moment as he tried to think before turning down again.

And he noted somewhere in the back of his mind that he could actually feel her anger at it through the usually muted bond.

~!**!~

Akari stood between the Seventh and Eighth Layers, momentarily considering attempting a trip to the Ninth, as she had actually yet to try _that_ just yet.

In the end, she decided to leave it for another time and let her feet instead land on the Eighth layer, standing in the very room she'd left earlier. There was light in the room now, meaning more time had passed than she'd intended, but she didn't really pay it any mind as she reached for the seed on the bedside table and slid it into her pocket.

She took a deep breath and turned, facing the door in consideration.

_Training room, or no?_

After a few minutes of debate, she decided to see who was in the usual meeting place. It only took three long strides to make it to the door, and a simple, fluid motion to pull it open.

Just as it clicked closed behind her, another in the hall called for her, and ass he approached, he never stopped moving by her. "If you will," he said, making a little motion with his hand to follow. _*****_

~!**!~

Just as Hiei spoke up, Rikei reached over to take off the sensory pad he had placed on her and she knocked his hand away before he could get to it, her eyes flashing.

_(__**You don't know what it's like**__.)_

She released a quick breath from her nose, trying to let the frustration that started to boil lower back into a simmer as Rikei left her alone to remove the rest of the equipment on her own.

Her next words were tinged with apology at having snapped at Hiei, feeling that her anger at...well everything in general at the moment, was filtering through their bond.

He had never been nearby after the...procedure.

"It's...frustrating. I...cannot control my actions." She stood in place for a moment, pausing and staring down at the floor, her fists clenching briefly at her sides before she stepped down off the treadmill and closed her eyes, reaching up to rub at the heart-shaped scar that circled her lips. 3

Hiei didn't so much as blink at the harshness that filtered through the connection, unphased by it and, quite frankly, unsurprised by it. He knew she was a person who did not take failure well, as most were. He also knew that she tended to blame herself in these occasions.

Thus, he didn't mind the snapping.

In fact, he could recall a time or two when he'd snapped at her.

Perhaps it had been long overdue?

The fire demon pulled another stool close to him, glancing up at her briefly before looking down again, in a silent invite for her to join him. If she did, she did. If she didn't, then she'd either continue on with tests if Hiei was satisfied with their work or he'd change her back.

He wasn't particularly worried, in any case.

She'd get it. It just seemed the progress was slow, from what he'd gathered.

"I found patterns," he said after a moment of silence, his pencil resuming the scratching along the paper.

_Though I doubt they actually mean anything. Coincidence._

_(I hate science.)_

~!**!~

Akari followed the demon through the halls, familiar with the path he took as if she'd taken it just yesterday. He lead her through three corridors, up four flights of stairs, and down six more corridors before coming to a halt, swinging a door inward and motioning for her to go inside.

Takeo had liked this room on days when they hadn't done any fighting for her 'training'.

"Since you will be transporting my troops before battle, I would like to test your reaction time to the layers," the larger male said as he shut and locked the door behind him. "That armor you're wearing is not necessary."

Akari glanced down at herself, eyeing the leather bodice that she'd worn every day since being locked away in this stupid place. And naturally, she complied, quickly untying and removing every little bit of the leather 'armor' she wore, letting it fall to the floor where she stood in a little pile.

The canine demon looked up and around the room, finding that the much larger demon had moved away and was now standing near a single machine in the center of the room, which she easily remembered to have been used for several different purposes- some mundane and harmless, others irritating, the rest rather unnerving.

"When you hear this sound," the other began, touching a button on the metallic console and causing a beep to resonate through the room from unseen speakers, "you will retreat to the layers. If you aren't quick enough- if you do not beat the timer I am setting- another sound will resonate that only _you_, a dog, can hear." He paused, looking up briefly to meet her gaze for gaze. "I rather like your 'spunk', as Takeo said it, so it's in your best interest to be quicker than that second sound."

Akari nodded.

"Good. There will be no warning, so between the first beeps, you will be dodging my throwing knives. The layers are only to be used when prompted, and dropping through a shadow will call for a shorter timer." He stepped around the device and moved to stand in front of it, creating a distance of about ten feet between him and herself as they stood in the center of the room.

Without warning, a few knives whistled by her ear, going unseen. She blinked, and moved only when her gut told her she was in the wrong place.

It seemed like forever before that beep resounded in the room the first time, but when it did, she pulled the layers over herself, making her surroundings blur. And if there had been a second noise in the room, she didn't hear it.

And for the rest of the day, this is where she was. _*****_

~!**!~

Funny how quickly one could get used to having someone else in their head all the time.

It wasn't as if Kurama had forgotten what it was like before the Dark Tournament.

For that matter, if he was being honest, he had spent a vast majority of his life _without _someone else inside his head.

But now, it just felt strange.

Whereas before he rarely felt Youko's presence, now he felt the fox all the time, it was simply that the demon never stirred.

And while Kurama knew logically he couldn't be dead, it wasn't exactly as if he was sleeping either.

As Kurama finally phased back down into Yomi's compound, exhausted and heading directly for his rooms, he wondered at Youko's semi-absence, which had actually been a main topic of thought during the time he had been gone.

Up until a few weeks ago, there had always been someone else to talk to, and while it was difficult to feel 'alone' when one could still feel another's presence, there was something strangely isolating at the abrupt lack of communication.

He had thought through the subject more thoroughly in the last few weeks, but even as he swung open the door to his room, shucking off his outer coat onto a nearby chair and letting the door shut behind him, his mind still buzzed in an attempt to approach his ideas in a different manner.

So, even when his body hit the mattress and his eyes immediately slid shut, he found himself continuing to turn the matter over in his head up until his consciousness gave up for him and he slept deeply.

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku looked across the room at Hiei, noting his silent offer of the seat next to him, she knew that were she not in her current state she would have at least chuckled at both his proclamation of 'patterns' and 'hate.'

Since neither Iketeru or Rikei had said anything to her, and each appeared otherwise engaged, she went ahead and moved towards him, her expression losing some of its intense harshness as she let a breath fill her lungs and released it.

Sitting down, she leaned closer to him to look over at his work, feeling slightly tired.

"Patterns?"

_(...I don't deserve your patience.) _3

The pencil didn't pause this time, scratching another number down, but leaving a large space where he didn't have a damn clue what was going on, only writing numbers where he saw patterns.

"Numerical ones." A pause as he erased. "Though whether it matters or not is for you to decide, since this is your work."

He went quiet again, pencil pausing on the paper as he came up blank. He hit a block, where he wasn't sure which way the pattern would go, which side of the fork in the road to take.

"i kept yours as it was. This is a different sheet of paper, just in case."

Still, nothing.

_(Also, do you not think such patience is to be rewarded?)_

At that, Hiei glanced at the corner of his eye to Shikiyoku, a yellowish glint flashing in his eye briefly before disappearing.

_(Do you wish to switch back, or do you need this form?)_

He turned back to his paper, pointing his pencil at what he'd written down. "The patterns are here, here, and here," he said, touching the lead to the numbers he indicated and then gesturing to their likes.

~!**!~

Akari had slept _very well_ thanks to the workout of the day before. She'd woken up feeling fully rested, refreshed, and a little less _bored_. She'd passed the little inspection of moving through the layers that had gone on all day long, had been dismissed, and then told to be up early by another demon on her way to her quarters.

Which is why she was up earlier than her usual time now, walking through the halls in her usual armor and fighting style clothes. She wasn't the _only _one in the halls, but there weren't very many others up and about either.

She wasn't surprised, however, when a guard pushed open the door to Yomi's meeting room, revealing an empty room save for the blind king at one end of the long table. He had his usual smirk on his face even as he sat back a little in his chair, turning his head as if he could look at her.

"You're rather early." He paused, as if thinking briefly to himself before continuing, "Have a seat."

As usual when these little meetings happened, which wasn't often, Akari took the seat furthest from the demon, sitting tall in the chair with spine straight and hands in her lap, eyes on the king patiently, not saying a word.

She hated that she couldn't read him. But, really, she hated _nothing_ more than she hated that smirk on his face. Dignified. Entitled. All-knowing. Arrogant. _Ridiculously-_

"I've noticed you've gained quite a bit of energy in your stay here, Akari. I can see your training with Kurama has improved your skills, despite your… _differences._" He paused, as if waiting on her to speak, then went on after a beat. "That energy has left you rather restless, I see. Your display yesterday told me that you have _plenty_ of energy to spend, and that you aren't spending enough of it here now, are you?"

_What do you want from me?_

"And I've decided that since you have so much energy and are so audacious as to try and sneak out of my palace, you will be put to work from here on out, _outside _of the palace."

_Oh…_

"Starting today, you will be sent out on various errands on Kurama's behalf, and he will stay here to do the more important work."

_**Oh**_…_._

"And let me make this clear to you," Yomi shifted forward in his seat just a fraction, no more than a hair, but he didn't have to in order to get the threatening atmosphere charged around her, "if you return with a failure, I will take the appropriate measures of punishment."

…_._

_Crap._

"Understood?"

Somehow, when Akari answered, her tone was even and there was no actual sign of her sudden distress, "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, for today," a demon appeared at her side, sliding a piece of paper into view with a profile of a female on the front, "this is who you will be tracking. You have forty-eight hours to either bring her in, or kill her. Mukuro is not to have another layer-runner."

She took the paper in her hand, reading it over briefly.

"You will be on your own."

_Well, crap…_

"You are dismissed."

Akari looked up from the paper very briefly at Yomi, and then wasted no more time in rising to her feet and folding the layers around her, disappearing from the fortress altogether and landing on the sixth layer to begin her man hunt. _*****_

~!**!~

Kurama shifted around in his chair a little, keeping his eyes on Yomi as he awaited the other demon to respond.

"Well, Kurama, I would certainly say that your efforts were appropriately fruitful." Yomi steepled his fingers together and leaned forward onto the conference table. "I've actually already taken the next steps necessary, so you'll be relieved of your duties for the moment."

_What? _

While he may not have been the highest ranked within Yomi's walls-though certainly through no fault of his own-such a dismissal was...felt...uncharacteristic.

"At least, you'll be relieved of _those _duties."

_Ah._

"We've had a handful of new recruits in and I'm going to leave it to you to handle their training."

"As you say."

"I think it might be best for everyone if you shuck away your human form, Kurama. These recruits might quicker know their place should it be the fox instructing him."

Kurama paused long enough that one of Yomi's ears twitched in the silence as the other demon awaited Kurama's answer.

"Youko is...indisposed."

This time Yomi considered the words for a moment before replying.

"Can I assume that is why he has not been present since your arrival."

_Not...exactly._

After all, Youko _had _been there when Kurama first got to Yomi's, the fox just hadn't really wished to get involved.

"Yes."

"I see."

Another minute of what Kurama could only assume was contemplative silence.

"In any case, you're to report to Training Room F from now on."

"As you say, Yomi."

~!**!~

_Patterns...hm…_

Shikiyoku leaned a little further over to take note of what exactly Hiei was motioning to, murmuring in the meantime, "Of course. But only because it's you. And I'd likely be too tired to do much of anything if I switched."

She frowned a little, her voice still low as she went on, "Patterns in this formula are usually sets of equations that are representative of specific steps I take, the steps having been reduced down into numbers, but-"

Something about the pattern _he _had found bothered her for a moment.

"-but _that_ step…" Shikiyoku reached over and flipped the pages on the clipboard a few times, her frown deepening. "I...I do not remember putting that step in...it's…"

_It's...everywhere._

It wasn't as if the handwriting wasn't her own. So the notion that one of the scientists had picked up her work was ridiculous. They didn't understand half of what she wrote anyway, though they could likely guess if given a moment.

_And it...it's…_

The slightest growl escaped from between her lips and she abruptly took the clipboard from Hiei and stalked over to where Rikei stood.

"What do you make of this?" She stuck it in front of him and pointed out the numbers in quick succession.

Without her explanation of what he looked at, it took the purple-haired demon a moment to figure out the significance.

Then his eyes widened slightly and he turned to look at Iketeru, who had just paused in his work to glance over his shoulder at them.

"They…" Rikei blinked, mind still trying to wrap around the concept, "The Crusnik...they're still…"

Iketeru had started walking towards them almost immediately and Shikiyoku held up the clipboard, though he only raised an eyebrow.

"The numbers. The patterns." Shikiyoku gestured at the papers a bit impatiently, "The ones my Consort found. I would not have put those in. Those steps are-"

A metaphorical lightbulb went on over Iketeru's head.

"Oh." He paused and blinked. "Oh! That's…" He turned and looked at Rikei who tilted his head a bit.

"If the Crusnik are somehow controlling you even when-"

"I remember when I worked on these," Shikiyoku started flipping through some of the papers in his hands, pointing at the patterns, "It doesn't matter what form I was in, _that _equation shows up. And it shouldn't- I can't-"

Iketeru picked up for her. "The problem...seems to be deeper than we originally thought. They're somehow rewiring you, in either form, your intentions being subverted and-"

"-creating a larger issue than the one we were originally tackling." Rikei's eyes widened with the notion.

Iketeru spun back around and went back to his station after handing Shikiyoku her clipboard, "It's possible that if we-"

Rikei did much the same, his hands fast moving over the keys in front of him, "And we could-"

Strangely enough, the two of them didn't even seem to need to explain just exactly what they were doing for the other to understand.

Left in the middle of the room by herself, Shikiyoku stared down at the clipboard for a second before starting to slowly move back towards Hiei to sit down, pulling a writing utensil off of a nearby table and beginning to flip from the first page to the newest blank one and copying things.

She scooted up into the stool next to Hiei, staring down at the pages. 3

Hiei had just touched the pencil to the paper when he registered her hand making a quick grab for the clipboard, and just as quickly lifted the graphite from the lined paper so there would be no streak across the work.

_I wasn't done._

The fire demon let his eyes follow after Shikiyoku, blinking only once as he registered that she'd been talking while he'd been thinking. He took a moment to replay what she'd said, and promptly adopted a slightly smug air as she brandished the scrawlings to the scientists.

He didn't know why, but _hearing_ her call him her Consort to another made it all the more… satisfying.

He found himself fighting a twitch at his lips.

He shifted around a bit, pulling his feet from the stool they'd been resting on and pushing the stool back to its rightful place, arms crossing over his chest again when he leaned against the table at his back once more.

_(See? Not bored.)_

…

_(Can I kiss you now?)*_

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


	119. Episode 203

**A/N: **Hello once again for the fourth time in a row, Audience!

Just another chapter here, nothing terribly special. I hope you've been enjoying this (mostly) daily update so far! The last of this will occur on the upcoming Tuesday since I missed a day, and then updates will likely go back to their usual once-a-week Monday schedule for a while, again either until I slack off or until we catch up, which the end is in much closer sight than you might imagine.

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Hiei and Shikiyoku make their way to the labs,  
Hiei still heavily under the influence of Shikiyoku's energy  
and wanting more kisses.

Shikiyoku gets into the routine of what she has been  
doing in the labs lately,  
which includes going into a different room  
and beginning to dance similarly to how  
she used to dance for the tribes,  
though this time the individuals she wraps  
with her energy are attempting to attack her  
and she is using her energy to stop them.

It appears as if she has been doing this for a while,  
as there are thousands upon thousands of demons  
who end up with her energy wrapped around them,  
but eventually she runs out of energy  
and ends up switching forms out of desperation,  
getting access to a completely new pool  
of energy but suddenly struggling with not  
killing those in her grasp while Hiei looks on.

Eventually she can hold out no longer,  
and consumes those within reach of her power,  
Rikei and Iketeru explaining to Hiei  
that they believe active Crusnik are slow enough  
to renew themselves in her pain form  
that if she could expel all of the energy of that side  
she would be cured, but she can never manage  
to get anywhere close before she feeds  
and ruins the whole process.

She comes back to the lab,  
Hiei having retrieved her clipboard from their rooms,  
and while she does more testing with the others,  
he looks at her formulas for patterns,  
dealing calmly with Shikiyoku's anger  
at being unable to control her actions.

When she finishes the testing for the time being  
and Hiei shows her a pattern he has found  
throughout her work,  
Shikiyoku appears to react strongly,  
showing the other scientists.

The pattern appears to be a step Shiki  
has not intended to leave in the formula  
as it is contrary to what she means to do in the dance,  
an indication that the Crusnik  
are somehow controlling her actions  
even while she is in her normal form,  
and not allowing her to release her energy as she means.

In return for his discovering,  
Hiei casually asks within their bond  
if he can kiss her now.

~!**!~

After Kurama and Akari spent the evening together,  
they were quickly sent back into their real lives,  
Yomi sending Kurama away from the compound  
for over a week,  
leaving the others behind to guess at what he was doing.

Another two days pass and Akari sits in her room  
bored and with nothing to do.

She decides to visit the First Layer,  
missing Nabu and wanting to laze a day away  
at the park instead of cooped up in her room.

She does not end up finding Nabu,  
but does waste some time with a bit of food  
and her favorite spot in the park  
before returning and heading to a training room.

She is called to a different room by a new individual,  
who begins some one-on-one training,  
and elsewhere on the grounds Kurama returns  
to collapse into a deep rest in his room.

The next day Akari ends up in front of Yomi,  
the would-be King informing her he was aware of her escapade,  
and has decided she will be sent after other layer-walkers  
her assignment to bring them back or kill them.

In Kurama's meeting with the blind demon,  
he is told that he will be in charge of training new recruits.

* * *

_Why had I thought that to be a good idea again?_

Akari fought back a sigh and rolled her eyes at herself.

_Can't go a week without being a stupid, dramatic kid._

She leaned back in the chair she'd taken occupance in, eyeing the demon across from her. The other female's ears stood at attention, not so much as even twitching when another sound somewhere else should have caught their attention.

"And if I want no part of this war?"

Akari gave a shrug. "I'm not sure that's really an option for you anymore. Think: If Yomi has sent me here, who's to say Mukuro won't send someone for you next- if the king hasn't done so already."

The other raised a brow. "I'd like to think I'm a pretty fast layer runner-"

"Not if _I _caught up. I'm, quite literally, probably the slowest demon to have been sent after you in that respect." _Then again, I didn't use my shadows._

"Will my life be guaranteed?"

The amount of restraint Akari had to use here was rather impressive, to be honest. The scoff wouldn't have been much help here, especially since she had to be back within the hour. "That depends on your own capabilities."

There was a silence.

And that silence stretched on.

And on.

And on.

Akari really, _really_ didn't feel like fighting anyone. Especially not another shadow wielding demon.

"And what would benefit me?"

This time, Akari's lips released the sound she'd earlier restrained. "If I knew that, I would have told you first. I'm just a lackey." She paused. "Though, I'm willing to bet you'll learn a great deal from this." _Assuming you live. Assuming __**we all **__live._

"And if I refuse?"

The tone the copperheaded female adopted was no longer patient, but dark and threatening. "You die."

_Because I'm not returning empty handed._

_I don't have the option anymore. __*****_

~!**!~

For a moment, Shikiyoku didn't respond, continuing to flip the pages back and forth until she had at least four or five different groupings of the formulas. She had placed stars on the original pages to indicate what she was copying, and as soon as she finished, she carefully went back over her copies, seeing nothing wrong with them and finally glanced over at Hiei.

Offering him the clipboard, she nodded down to the copied formulas.

"Take a look at these for me. Did I leave out the patterns you were talking about in the ones that I copied?" 3

Hiei waited patiently- or tried to anyway, and ended up repeating the question to himself as it wouldn't traverse the bond again- and watched as Shikiyoku starred a couple of pages and continued copying down numbers.

He wasn't very sure of what she was trying to do.

So, when she passed the clipboard to him, he took it without hesitation, eyeing the very same pattern that he'd seen before, the numbers staring him in the face when she asked if she left out the pattern.

_Ah._

_The virus is sentient._

_Controlling._

_Got it._

"No," he said after a moment, taking the pencil from her hand and circling the numbers he'd shown her earlier. "They're still here," he circled another, "here", and another, "Here," and one more, "here."

He leaned the clipboard in her direction for her to look at. And after a brief moment, he leaned it away again and flipped to a new page, beginning to copy down the formula again, minus the pattern.

Which left holes that made it seem incomplete.

But, that was probably only because he'd only ever seen it _with_ the patterns.

"Try copying down _my_ modifications."

_I want to test this._

~!**!~

A short nap and a short meeting with Yomi later, and Akari was out again, scouting the layers with an even _shorter _time frame than the first time. It had her on edge, wishing that it was just as easy as the last to hunt this one down.

Except this one wasn't a shadow wielder, and thus was harder to track down.

In fact, this demon had been marked down as a demon with the ability to _refill _things. Of course, the concept sounded harmless, unless one considered the ability of the other to refill a person's mind with doubt, anger, grief.

Or to refill a weapon storage of some kind.

Or even likely refill their own energy shortage.

Or endurance.

…

_Could be facing a potential super-demon. S class capabilities at least…._

She couldn't remember his _actual _classification.

She could only hope he was in the mood for a nice chat.

Okay, so he _hadn't_ been in the mood to chat, but he _had_ tried to ward her away by refilling the most _irritating _thing on the planet**:**

Her bladder.

_Wise guy._

She took a deep breath and moved to block the other's path anyway, expression one of impatience. She had _tried_ to tread lightly with this one, but with the thought of Kurama being with Yomi hanging over her head, she had decided that tiptoeing around wasn't really going to work in this timeframe.

She only had four hours left to either lead this one to Yomi, kill him, or die trying.

Which, to be honest, _none_ of those options were preferred.

Because she wasn't sure that even if she herself died, that kurama wouldn't still be-

"That's quite the trick you've got," Akari suddenly commented, realizing she'd been worrying after trying so hard to rid herself of those thoughts. "I'm not very sorry to say that you don't have much choice here. We all have our priorities, as I'm sure you understand."

"Yes, and mine have absolutely nothing to do with the three kings."

"Well then, I suppose we'll have to fight about it."

"If you live, I'll follow you to Yomi."

There had been a moment, a very brief instant in time, where she had genuinely panicked. A moment of weakness where Akari had thought that she'd have to return empty handed, and end up returning only to be informed about something Yomi had done to Kurama in retaliation for her failure.

And in that moment, she'd imagined the redhead strung to a tree, bloodied and hardly breathing. Scarred. Maimed. Unable to do more than simply breathe, and hardly even that. She'd thought very briefly on the scar she'd traced on his skin a couple of weeks before.

And then she had simply…

Lost it.

One moment, she'd been internally screaming at herself to not let the demon get away. She'd been struggling to remain on her feet, to stay conscious.

The next moment, she'd blinked away a darkness to find herself standing over a demon who looked like he'd been dragged through hell ten times over. In fact, she could very easily compare the wounds to the ones she'd remembered to have been inflicted on the very redhead she'd been worrying about some time ago.

And her own injuries? She wasn't sure how, exactly, but she was still standing, still had enough energy to actually pick up the hardly-breathing demon by his arm and fold them both through the layers.

And she felt absolutely no pain.

When she did land outside Yomi's door, to say the other slipped from her grasp would be almost a lie as he hit the tile in a large heap of skin and bones and blood.

A deep breath later, and she entered the room he'd deemed specifically for her returns, dragging the unconscious, half-dead demon behind her and creating a trail of crimson on the floor.

"The demon you requested, sir." Her voice was even, albeit a little gruff from her strenuous day.

The king looked up from whatever he'd been doing and seemed to stare at her for a moment. Had he had the eyes to see with, she would have noticed his sights turning on the fallen to her right.

"I left him alive, as requested."

His attention turned again to her for a brief moment before he turned down to resume whatever he'd been doing. "Good. The rest of the day is yours." He paused to lift a small remote and press a button. "Report here in the morning."

She took that as her dismissal, and for once, Akari actually bowed before taking her leave. _*****_

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku took the clipboard back from him and stared at what he had written down, she frowned.

"Well, I _can, _I suppose. But they're incomplete. I wouldn't be able to use them. I mean if you put-"

She stopped for a moment, realizing that she had started to copy what Hiei himself had written down, but when she reached the portion he left out she had started to fill in what had been written there before, as an answer to the missing portion.

_Dammit._

Her fingers tightened briefly on the pen she held poised just above the paper, blinking twice before resisting a growl and looking up to see what Iketeru and Rikei were doing.

They weren't paying the slightest bit of attention.

_Good._

Glancing at Hiei, Shikiyoku silently slipped the clipboard and pen onto the table behind them as she slid off the stool and put a finger up to her lips, her face its usual dark-neutral as she reached over with her other hand and grabbed for his wrist to pull him after her, quietly leaving the room before the other two scientists could notice.

There _may _have been the barest of onry gleams in her eyes as she quietly opened the door and lead them away from the lab. 3

Hiei had been watching, listening, with apt attention, and was, honestly, unsurprised by the writing utensil that paused, that Shikiyoku had begun to fill in the blanks he had purposely left out for simply this reason.

It seemed she was hard-wired to do… whatever it was.

Which meant that every step in her 'dance' had to be very carefully analyzed and refined. And then… _then_ Shikiyoku would have to figure out how to overcome whatever it was that the virus- was that a good descriptor anymore?- wanted her to do.

The fire demon had turned forward in the midst of his thoughts, so when Shikiyoku moved and grabbed hold of his wrist, he had to blink himself back into reality. His eyes met hers, staring into the muddy, darkened green that were her irises as he slid away from his chair just as silently as she had.

He nodded at her gesture that asked for silence, and let her lead him from the room without even a _thought_ about hesitation.

And as she pulled him along, he loosened her grip on his wrist so that he may grab that hand.

_I'll try to remember sooner about physical affections calming her. _

~!**!~

"Your blood pressure is elevated."

"Mm."

"And while you're healing as you should be, I'm surprised you're still conscious."

Akari repeated the little humming sound to the demon who she'd gone to for medical assistance. After all, she had to be up and moving tomorrow to do it all over again, and quite frankly, she didn't want a repeat of today.

"Your energy is stable, regenerating quite rapidly, might I add. Elevated adrenaline levels. Are you shaky?"

"No."

"Hm. Headache?"

She repeated the negatory.

"I say you should be fine come dawn. Nothing out of the normality, aside from the adrenaline. Still feeling the heat of your fight, I presume?"

"I guess." Akari slid from the countertop and let her feet touch the floor, shrugging away whatever question had just been asked. "Thank you for your time."

"Well, I'm here all day every day. You know where I am should you need assistance again tomorrow."

She nodded at the black-haired male who smiled patiently at her, his white coat rustling just a little with each step he took behind her. And when she turned to watch the door shut behind her, his charcoal eyes squinted with the smile before disappearing from view.

_I have a feeling I'll be seeing you a lot._

She turned and continued her way to her room, head up and eyes forward, spine straight. It was odd how the injuries scattered around her body did not hurt, that when gashes had been cleansed, she hadn't hissed in pain. Bruises that were already purpling didn't even seem to be there to her aside from their angry coloring.

She hadn't ever had such a tolerance for pain.

In fact, she was usually very susceptible to it.

And not feeling it rather unnerved her.

So, with the door to her quarters now shut and locked behind her, she resigned herself to laying face-down on the mattress with her arms and legs sprawled out, trying to remember what exactly had happened.

And the only thing she remembered before falling into sleep was the panic she'd felt before blacking out. _*****_

~!**!~

Once Shikiyoku was clear of the door, she glanced down at the hand Hiei had a hold of and her expression softened a little as she turned back to watch where they were going.

Which she realized she had only picked a direction _away _from the lab and hadn't necessarily been leading them back to their rooms. At that point she slowed down, not having a particular destination in mind whatsoever.

Shikiyoku spoke gruffly into the silence after a moment, "The...the Crusnik are...Rikei thinks they're more like nanites than a virus. That they have a specific directive and purpose more so than simply 'reproducing' as a virus will." 3

Hiei made a sound that said he'd heard Shikiyoku, but otherwise said nothing. He let his footsteps match hers, his eyes remaining forward as his mind turned over the information, as if he might actually know something that the others hadn't thought of yet. Of course, that wasn't the case- this wasn't his area of expertise. He preferred the fighting and the things that went along with that.

Not the medical things.

Never the medical or science-y things.

Hiei came to a stop after a moment, tugging on Shikiyoku's hand to pull her to a standstill as well, his eyes locking on her face.

"I don't like it."

_The virus, the darkness in your eyes, the inability to read you. I don't like it._

He tugged on her hand again, bringing her even closer so it would be easier to simply lean down and just _touch _his lips to hers.

~!**!~

Akari nodded at the blind demon, still sitting in the chair that occasionally swiveled with her movements. Her elbows remained on top of the table, her fingers laced under her chin as she eyed the other some more.

She felt rather… reluctant. Not with just being in this room, in this palace, on this layer, but about _everything_.

Twice now, it's happened.

Two different times where Akari felt a surge of anger at the prospect of returning with a failure over her head, and suddenly seeming to come to with no recollection of what had actually happened.

So, with Yomi now telling her she'd be out on _this one_ for a week, running down _several _demons and only returning when she had them all?

Yeah, she was a little apprehensive.

She almost felt like it was some sort of trap or test.

It sounded about right, to be tossed to something that would inevitably get her out of his way.

She nodded again, though she hadn't a clue what he'd said.

"I trust this is not out of your limitations."

"No."

"Then I will look forward to seeing your progress."

Akari stood and wordlessly left the room, the overly large door slamming shut behind her.

_Kill one, recruit five. Got it._

_This will be a rather entertaining week. __*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stopped when Hiei did, letting him turn her towards him, but her eyes were shifted to the side as if she didn't want to look up at him.

The emotion came with having an admittance of sorts.

"He...he's been trying to figure out what that directive is." She continued, "He thinks if we _know _it that we can _change _it." She paused, taking in a silent breath that made her tense for a moment before she released it and began speaking again, "I...haven't told him the directive." Her voice grew lower, "I know what it is. I've known what it is for a long time. It screams at me every time I'm in that room, every time I have all those demons in my grasp. It-"

She let out a scoff, "They're meant to keep the demonic race in check. That's why almost every single one of us has them in our energy even if we don't know it. Kit never figured out who put them there in the first place, but… Once they're activated, their only goal is to kill off as many demons as possible before they burn out whatever vessel they were in. That's why I was so sick when you found me. That's why I, and anyone else who gets them activated, loses their mind. It's that..._hunger_. Feeding staves off the sickness to an extent, makes it so we don't burn out as fast. But it's never enough-"

She cut herself off, eyes growing darker for a second as she slid them closed. 3

Hiei listened patiently to Shikiyoku, his thoughts paused briefly as he stared at her with calm eyes. His expression was rather calm considering the topic and his dislike for the object of conversation. He'd even begun to pull her into a hug until he noticed the darkening of her eyes and paused, knowing she needed a moment to reign it in.

If he were honest, he'd say that the so-called 'directive' was rather plain to see, as all she _wanted _to do in that form, with that energy, was kill and feed.

Which, he realized, didn't truly bother him.

The _illness_ and the _burning out_ is what he hated.

And his hatred for that had him pulling her closer anyway, releasing her hand to place his own on either side of her face and pull her eyes up to meet his- if she opened them again that is- just before he leaned forward with every intention of changing her back.

_(Divide pain and multiply joy, yes?)_

At least, that's what he remembered about this bond. _*****_

Shikiyoku let Hiei move her, but she forced herself still for a moment as she stood there with her eyes closed, struggling with herself.

_You __**just **__fed. You're fine. You don't need any more right now._

As she said though, it was never enough.

Finally she opened her nearly black eyes so she could look at him, trying to settle into the peacefulness his own gaze held, giving a little nod in response to his question. 3

Hiei could _feel_ it, the tension, the internal struggle she was undergoing. And while he himself remained just as he had been, he let an image pass through the bond- or telepathically, he didn't really know- of how he'd almost touched her nose the other day without her notice, and also allowed his amusement from that moment to filter through as well.

He thought it would be a good distraction.

and then he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers, wishing for nothing more than for her to change back, and to smile again. _*****_

After a second of looking up at him, Shikiyoku's gaze turned internal as she felt him beginning to share a memory with her, one that had her puzzled and not particularly understanding at first.

Granted, that meant the image did its job and it wasn't until the moment she felt him kissing her that she thought, _Duh. _

Before her mind went blank, as the scars began peeling away, she felt herself reaching up to gently rest her hands over his wrists.

While her pain form may have be sequestered away in a rather short amount of time, the pulse her core gave out once she switched was a slow one, and it took longer for her to reawaken, blinking wearily as she felt herself weaken.

There had not been much time that had passed since she released all of this form's energy and in any case it usually took a while to regenerate it all. Which is why she often fell asleep almost immediately once Hiei had come back from his duties.

_Is he still 'drunk?' I don't really remember. _3

Hiei pulled away only after he felt the chill that often accompanied her ashen skin become a warmth underneath his hands and at his wrists, his eyes opening to watch her calmly again.

His lips gave a very minescule twitch at a sudden thought.

"_That wasn't my reward."_

A pause.

"Your energy is still depleted." And while he'd just pointed out the obvious, it had meant to be the reason for what he did next.

He moved his hands from her face and instead lifted her from the floor, one arm behind her back and the other under her knees.

"They can do the rest for the day."

He turned and began moving for their room.

~!**!~

"You mean to tell me that a _King_ wants me?"

Akari stared at the demon who could be no older than she, and seemed to act _much_ younger. Almost like a middle-school human would act, which would put the demon to be…

Uh…

_Forty years? Maybe?_

"That's indeed what I just said," she repeated, blinking once at the other, whose smile widened and eyes lit up as if this were the best news on the planet. _I wish you wouldn't do that. You really have no idea._

"That's _awesome!"_

_You remind me of someone…._

"When do I begin?"

…_. _

"Miss?"

"Akari." She suddenly said, voice even. "My name is Akari. And we won't be returning just yet. You're to be keeping up with me, get some training on the way."

"_Awesome!_ I get to be with-"

The glare she directed at him had him pausing.

"Oh, uh. My name is-"

"Aiko. I'm aware." She turned to lead the other away from the building he'd been in, ignoring the commotion that commenced inside. After all, pubs at late hours always got rowdy.

"So, what will I be doing for this King?"

"That will be disclosed when you arrive."

"By the king himself?"

"By the king himself."

"Dude, I'm going to be _royalty! _I'll get to boss others around and…" He seemed to go on and on, never really silencing.

_Ah. You remind me of myself._

_Good luck then, bud. You'll need it._

_I'm not exactly an example to follow._

"So, what's my training?"

"First, you have to keep up."

"Wha-"

Akari bounded forward, taking off at a full-out sprint and folding the layers over herself to skip to the third. She didn't glance back to see if the other followed. She didn't have to, since he continued to yell at her to slow down.

_Maybe I should have hunted down the other one first and got that fight over with. __*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made an affirming sort of hum through her lips as Hiei picked her up, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she leaned forward.

_(Reward? What reward?)_

Before she settled with her forehead against his shoulder, she planted a kiss on his neck and then buried her face against him, feeling her body relax as she gave out a sigh. 3

_I suppose that will do for now._

Hiei didn't respond to Shikiyoku's question, only moving a step at a time down the halls in silence even as other demons around them moved around in anything but silence. He wasn't sure when he'd actually become a part of the crowd, but it seemed that no one paid them any mind for the time being, and thus the trip to the room was easy and uneventful.

The door swung itself shut slowly as he moved further into the room, deciding he'd take residence up on the couch. He himself wasn't tired, and the couch was large enough for them both to stretch across if they wanted.

Though, he decided to sit on one end of it and lay Shikiyoku along its length, her head on his thighs.

"_You still didn't do it right, by the way."_

~!**!~

"Miss?" There was a pause where Akari didn't answer Aiko. And he repeated his call, his tone confused. "_Miss?"_

She kept walking, attention on their surroundings.

"Mi-"

"Hush, Aiko. Listen." Silence ensued, broken only by the pair's footsteps in the dead grass. Really, for Yomi to ask for someone as unobservant as this one, she thought it would just be easier to kill him and tell Yomi it had to be done.

But she was also aware that that was not her normal train of thinking, that the past several weeks had had an affect on her.

Shadows all around her stilled, even when they should have been mirroring the moving of the branches in the howling wind.

"Akari_," _the other whispered, gaining her attention. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him, noting that his expression had gone from his earlier exuberance to focused, as if having realized they were being followed.

She quirked a brow.

"I don't like that smell."

"Good. That's your instincts telling you what I've known for a while."

She turned away and kept moving, now suddenly feeling rather tense about the area. They needed to get out, to make sure and avoid the energies she could feel in the distance- energies that felt heavy and _wrong_ in every way.

She'd never felt energy like that before.

So, when she realized that Aiko hadn't followed after her, she paused and turned around, staring harshly at the other. "Let's. **Go.**"

"But… people are _hurting_ and-"

"Aiko, you can't-"

"I can feel it and-"

_Got it. Healer. _"Would you like a premature death?"

Something nearby moved, and Akari was silent, listening, motioning for the other demon to come with her, to get moving. _I don't like it._

It reminded her a little of how it had felt in the inbetween, except…

Darker._._

She opened her mouth to issue a threat to the other, but didn't get it out. The words were cut short by the scent in the area growing stronger, and a new energy permeating the air in a sick, twisted way.

The color, she could see, was muddled and darkened, as if it were supposed to be another, brighter color. Perhaps a brighter red? She wasn't sure.

But every hair on the back of her neck was on end, and she was quickly moving between the layers and running to grab Aiko. The instant she had her hand around his arm, she pulled him into the layer as well and shifted gears, turning and running in the way they'd been going.

Only to realize the threat was following.

Using the layers.

And that made her core skip a little.

"You're going to do me a favor," Akari began in a growl to Aiko, trying to push her feet faster. "You're going to inform Yomi that the area of the five others is infected. Overrun. I'm not sure what with, exactly, but I don't want to be responsible for your death."

"Wha-"

"I won't need help. Just inform him of the circumstances."

She landed on the layer above the previous and promptly dropped the other into a shadow, sending him straight to Yomi's compound even as she herself continued to evade whatever was following.

Because it certainly wasn't a normal demon anymore. Not the way it hissed at her..._*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku let out another little sigh as Hiei put her down, coming to terms with the fact that _yes _he was still 'drunk,' and trying to decide how much she really cared about it at the moment.

As she shifted around for a second to get comfortable, she opened her eyes a little to look up at him.

_(Right? ...wha're you talking about?) _3

Hiei _thought_ his response, but it didn't really traverse the bond as he thought it would- which he obviously didn't notice as he sat back and rested one arm on the back of the couch and the other elbow upon the armrest.

His eyes stayed locked on Shikiyoku, watching her get comfortable with the slightest glint in his eye.

And randomly, he heard her voice in his head from earlier calling him her Consort, and that same pride from before swelled, causing his eyelids to slide closed in content.

~!**!~

She ran, and yet the other creature seemed very capable of keeping up. And, actually, there were moments where Akari swore she could see tendrils of energy shooting past her vision, by her face as if a weapon launched and barely missing its target.

And the threat felt _very_ real. Rather scary, actually.

She took a deep breath and a sudden sharp turn, enabling a small moment for her to get a look at her pursuer.

The demoness's long hair was filthy, its original color unknown due to the disgust within the locks. Her eyes were dark**;** if they had a color, she certainly couldn't see it. And the skin of this one was…

It wasn't right.

Almost as if the female had been in the water for too long and had a case of hypothermia.

The horns on her head? Covered in what Akari knew from experience to be blood and dirt. And they seemed to be peeling, shedding almost. As dead as she feared she would be.

And the tendrils of energy? They were actual bolts in the other's hands, and there were even a few that seemed to leak from her mouth in a smoke-like effect.

_What the hell is this?_

Akari turned away, deciding not to actually fight, but to flee. How could she defeat a foe who looked like _that?_ Her instincts told her she wouldn't win if she got close enough to actually fight.

Another sharp turn, and she let out a growl.

Whatever pain she _hadn't _felt the day before, she could _definitely _feel now as whatever energy was thrown at her struck her upper arm.

And when she tried to drop through a shadow, she learned she wasn't quite quick enough in calling for them. _*****_

~!**!~

As Kurama made his way around the room, correcting positioning here, instructing the next step there, he was most definitely aware of the avid conversation going on in whispers in the corner where a small group of demons was steadily getting larger as more of those in the area got distracted from what they were doing by the tale of the newest arrival.

Which had been retold at least twice by this point.

"And I _swear_, it just felt _weird. _Like, the demons were _there _and then suddenly their energy was _gone. _Completely. They didn't even know they were dying until they were suddenly dead."

Despite the seriousness of the subject, the kid's eyes were bright in the retelling, and it hadn't taken long for Kurama to figure out the demon had some sort of healing potential given the angle the story always seemed to take.

"What was it?" Another of the demons asked.

"Who was it?"

The kid gave a little shrug, obviously enjoying the spotlight, "I dunno, man. It started chasing us, though. And it-"

"Crusnik."

The entire group of demons gathered around the kid froze in place.

Kurama had approached without their notice and stood behind them in such a way that not a single one of them could have slipped away without being obvious about it.

"What?" The kid asked, his face contorting with confusion, having never heard the term before now.

"Crusnik." Kurama repeated simply. "The demon you came across was no longer a true demon, but a Crusnik. Demons who feed upon other demons."

"Woah."

The rest of the group may have remained silent, but it was easy to see that their eyes reflected the single word the kid managed to breathe.

"I'm sure most of you have realized or been told that it was never actually human _souls _we fed upon, but instead we process the energy of our food." Kurama let his eyes sweep the group before him. "After all, if we were only sustained by human souls, we would have died out a long time ago."

A couple of the demons nodded cautiously.

"However, it has never been said that we can sustain ourselves on one another. These Crusnik are-"

"Cannibals." The kid interrupted with a grimace of disgust.

Kurama tilted his head a little to allow the title. "-An exception." He finished.

He didn't have to turn around to realize that the rest of the training room had gone quiet, and that every single eye in the room was turned on him.

"How do we fight these Crusnik?" Someone behind him wanted to know.

Kurama shifted himself to take a single step back and look at the demon who spoke up.

"Fight them? You can't be serious."

"But that thing was a _layer-runner_." The kid emphasized, "And a heckuva lot faster than _me_. If that chick hadn't been there, I would have _had _to fight it."

"You don't _fight _Crusnik." Kurama gave the boy a steady glance.

As if taking his words as a challenge, the kid stood up a little taller.

"Yeah? Well, what if I have to?"

There were various other murmurs around the room, and Kurama let them simmer amongst themselves for a moment or two.

"What do I do?" The boy took a step closer to him, chin raising slightly in defiance.

"You run."

"And what if I can't run fast enough?"

"You run faster."

The boy made a frustrated noise, scoffing at Kurama's answers, but Kurama held his gaze on the other, sizing the kid up.

"You do not let them get close." Kurama advised. "You do not use your energy to hold them off. They feed on energy and it will only make them stronger and you weaker."

"Th-then-" The kid faltered for a second and in that moment looked more like the vulnerable youngling he was than the assertive storyteller he had been earlier. "-what _can _I do?"

Kurama blinked at him without answering at first.

"Do you truly wish to learn?"

He swallowed, finding himself unable to respond except by nodding a bit hesitantly.

Kurama gestured out to the training room. "Then you'd best come out of the corner and get to work."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku grumbled to herself for a second, poking Hiei in the leg.

_(I can't hear you. I don't like it. You're all...you're too...bubbly. It's getting in the way.) _3

Hiei made a sound at the back of his throat in amusement at Shikiyoku's admittance, a single eye opening to look down at her and the spot she'd poked.

"_I said, even though the kiss wasn't done __**right**__, I'll accept it. but you still have a long way to go before you catch up to my count."_

His eyelid slid closed again.

"_But we have plenty of time."_

~!**!~

_**Faster**__, Akari._

She gritted her teeth and pushed her legs to move faster, taking another turn as she tried to call yet another shadow, yet another form of transportation that would get her away from the threat, but it seemed to never really actually form.

And after a short illusion attempt, she'd realized that she wasn't doing anything to help herself.

Actually, the creature had gotten faster, was only a few paces behind her now. Hissing. Growling. Snarling.

_Well, at least Aiko got out._

She herself issued a growl as another strike hit her, and this time when her core skipped a beat with the strike, it was accompanied by pain. Pain that felt very similar to the days she'd used her energy up to the extremes.

Which is what made her realize why she couldn't call a shadow, or create an illusion.

And why the other kept getting faster.

This time, when she felt the panic arise, she realized there would be no moment where she'd suddenly black out and come too with a demon beneath her. There wouldn't be a moment that would somehow shut down all the pain she was feeling and take it away completely.

Because she could feel the blood running down her arm and down her back. And those two places hurt like _hell_. It burned, it ached, and it felt like-

_Focus._

_Get out alive._

She swallowed and pushed harder, trying to think as she avoided a fourth strike, that one aimed for her core. _Maybe if I…_

_Maybe if I use every ounce of energy in a shadow transport, it will work? Can it devour energy that fast?_

…

_Only a last resort._

_...kind of out of options._

Akari's eyes turned upwards, to the dead trees speeding by, trees that were dark and nothing but.. shadow.

_Maybe._

Really, it was her only option, it seemed.

So, with the infected demon hot on her heels, Akari leapt from the ground and to the trees, her core giving a protesting throb when every ounce of energy was gathered there. _Please work. _

And with fingers crossed, she poured her energy into that darkened area and leapt for her life, and was relieved when the darkness of that realm closed around her, welcoming her and shutting out the threat.

The next thing she knew, she was dumped out into the grass somewhere else, tossed from the realm with enough force that she rolled, coming to a stop in a small opening in a mountainside on a layer that smelled much more like… _home_. Except it was cold, and the wind howled, blowing snow and ice into the opening of whatever crevice she'd been thrown into.

_What luck I have._

And with that wry thought, her world went dark again. _*****_

~!**!~

Shikiyoku started to let out a low chuckle, but quickly turned it into a good-natured growl as she poked at his leg another time before resting her hand there.

_(You're pushing your luck, flame-boy. Keep insulting me about not knowing how to kiss and you'll find yourself in more trouble than you bargained for.)_

_(...I can't __**believe **__you're keeping count.) _3

Hiei almost gave a response, but for some reason or another, decided against it and settled for smug silence, his head resting back against the couch.

Well, the silence lasted for a moment, anyway.

"_Always have been." __*****_

Shikiyoku blinked a few times before answering.

_(I don't believe you.)_

_He's lucky I'm so out of it right now. Another insult to my kind and I wouldn't be able to be held responsible for my actions._

That time she did let out a small laugh. 3

"_Hn."_

Hiei suddenly realized that what he felt in that moment was not mere _content_, as per usual, but actual happiness with where he was sitting and who he was talking to. though, he did have to admit that it probably had something to do with the _who_ and not the _where._

"_You should laugh more." __*****_

Shikiyoku's initial response had her releasing an amused breath.

_You should give me more things to laugh about._

It wasn't necessarily true, but given _he _was the subject of her laughter, it was the first thing that popped into her head.

_(__**I **__should laugh more? I've laughed more than __**you**__. I've been keeping count. You're way behind, flame-boy.) _3

Hiei made a sound somewhere between a scoff and a huff, though it was in good nature. "_I don't laugh, Shiki." _He would have challenged her on keeping count, but really, he figured that if she'd ever heard him laugh- which he wasn't sure of at the moment anyway- then she probably _would_ remember it.

Simply because it was a rare thing. _*****_

Shikiyoku started shifting around until she could get her hands underneath herself and start crawling upwards until she could stick her face in Hiei's, her green eyes blank in the way she had learned from her other form, though her lips were stuck in the tiniest smirk that off-set her otherwise unreadable expression.

_(Is that so, flame-boy?) _3

Hiei's eyes had opened completely to watch Shikiyoku as she shifted around and began crawling closer, making the amused glint in his eye disappear and become replaced with a monumental amount of suspicion.

_I don't like it._

His eyes narrowed and his lips pressed into a hard line, and he didn't reply, unsure of her intentions. _*****_

Shikiyoku moved her face closer until the tips of their noses were just barely not touching one another.

_(How come __**I **__should laugh more, but __**you **_'_don't laugh,' hm?) _3

"_Your laugh is…" _he paused, unable to think of an appropriate adjective to describe the sound she made when she was happy enough to laugh. But, to be fair, it was hard to actually think when she had gotten so close.

"_Hn."_

His expression lightened, turning passive, almost bored, as he met her gaze for gaze.

"_I like your laugh." __*****_

_(Oh?)_

A single one of her eyebrows lifted.

_(And what if I like yours?) _At the last word, she nudged her nose against his briefly. 3

Hiei's eyes instinctively closed with the new contact, his nose scrunching just a little out of reflex. When he opened his eyes again, he made a point to raise a brow, just as she had, and let his lips accompany that raised brow with a single corner raised in a smirk.

And for a moment, he couldn't decide what to do.

He didn't have a reply to her, because he felt it would be fruitless.

And after a moment, he let his eyelids close and his head fall forward just a little, touching his forehead to hers. _*****_

Shikiyoku let out a hum of approval and did close her eyes.

_(Sweet. But not an answer. Should I just employ my own methods of laughter-extracting?) _3

"Hn."

Hiei's eyes came open and he leaned his head away again.

And when he met her gaze, it was with a spark of amusement in his eyes and a sidelong smirk of amusement at her. He tilted his head just a fraction to the side and simply… stared at her. Smirking. Both brows slightly raised.

Waiting. _*****_

Something flickered behind Shikiyoku's eyes, and her side-long grin widened a fraction, his candid stare almost immediately making a blush rise to her cheeks and up the back of her neck.

Without sufficient energy pulsing through her veins, that was just about all the stare did, however.

And before he made her a completely uncomfortable mess, she decided that his lack of answer was answer enough for her and she started tickling him, prodding her fingers up his ribs and watching him to see where exactly he flinched. 3

The very _instant _Hiei felt the evilness from the other end of the bond, his smirk disappeared and his stare turned to a narrow glare. And in the next second, her fingers were skittering around his torso in much the same manner that he remembered the Lur'Mog to do back at the Niiro Kaga.

Which had his entire body tensing and lips pressing into a very tight, white-lipped line.

A breath huffed out of his nostrils in little spurts as her fingers poked and prodded at the bandages around his abdomen, his eyes meeting hers in a show of defiance.

And then a huff from his lips.

and then some sound or another he didn't recognize followed that.

He reacted, albeit way slower than he should have, and quickly wrapped his arms about her upper arms and grabbed hold of his left wrist with his right hand, pulling her closer so that maybe, _maybe_ she wouldn't be able to keep doing that…

_Whatever that was. __*****_

For a second, Shikiyoku cuddled closer to Hiei, silly little smile on her face that belied nothing of her earlier, 'evil' actions.

Elbows still bend, however.

_(You're not doing it right.)_

_Not yet._

_Not quite._

Hiei's crude attempt at getting her to stop only lasted for the moment she nuzzled her cheek against him, and after that she promptly started tickling him again. 3

_No._

Hiei tried to hug her closer, but really, it didn't do much good, as her fingers still had free roam in a way. So the moment her fingers resumed what they'd been doing, another little sound escaped his lips and he tensed again, scooting a little further up the back of the couch as if to make his escape that way.

And then he released her, instead moving his hands and reaching for her wrists, taking hold and promptly stretching her arms over her head to keep her fingers away from his body.

And the stare he pinned her with was glinting with amusement, despite the odd sensation of tickling. _*****_

Shikiyoku's expression turned slightly more coy underneath the slow blush Hiei's stare instigated, tugging her arms down a little to test his grip.

_(Something __**wrong**__, flame-boy?) _3

Hiei didn't respond, his grip on her wrists remaining firm and unchanging, keeping them above their heads.

He merely continued to stare. _*****_

She leaned a little closer, satisfied that his hold on her wasn't going to slip, her eyes flashing.

_(Your attempts are __**fierce**__, but your experience is lacking.)_

Using his grasp as leverage, Shikiyoku lifted herself just enough to slide her legs out from where they were laying down the rest of the couch so that she could sit on his lap, her knees bent so that her feet were planted on either side of him.

For a moment, anyway.

Because she braced herself up against his hold and started tickling him with her toes right after that. 3

Hiei made the connection with what adjective she used and what it was meant to replace, and his eyes narrowed to slits. His gaze quickly turned to watch her move her legs, suspicions riddling his expression as if it were written on his forehead in permanent marker.

So yes, he saw the moment when her toes twitched and made contact with his torso.

And no, he didn't know what to do other than let out the sound he'd been holding back moments ago.

He was simply too stunned to withhold the laugh now.

And so he laughed, and his hands released their hold on her wrists altogether.

There really was nothing he could think of to stop it at this point. He was simply too stunned. _*****_

At first, her smile had only widened to see the stunned expression on his face, but once he started laughing, she found herself chuckling along with him before she stopped, leaning forward so her knees rested against the couch beneath them.

_(__**That **__is in fact doing it right, dear fire-prince.)_

She gently pressed a finger onto his nose with a calm smile and looked into his eyes for a moment, her lips starting to part as if she meant to say something aloud.

For a couple of heartbeats she said nothing, and only leaned farther forward to his left to plant a kiss on his left cheek amidst the markings that swirled there before pulling back and giving him that same smile. 3

The instant Shikiyoku's tickling came to a halt, so did his laughter, which turned into nothing more than little breaths through his lips as he regained control over his senses. His eyes remained closed, his nose crinkling a fraction when she touched it, but otherwise giving no response to her words nor the gesture.

Though, when he felt her shift, the weight distribution on the couch cushion changing just a little, he steeled himself for more.

Only to be pleasantly met with a gentle kiss.

His eyes opened and he took to staring at her again, his eyes holding an odd gleam of gentleness, though his lips held no smile.

Her smile, though…

_I like that one._

When she was genuinely happy, he could feel it now.

And that happiness reverberated through the bond, making him happy too. _*****_

This time his stare made her shift her eyes away, as if she couldn't quite take the expression she saw there.

An expression aimed at her specifically.

The edges of her lips tugged outwards in an almost bashful manner, as if embarrassed to be the subject or reason for such a look.

For a second her eyebrows flickered downwards, because when she looked down and to the left she noted that the objects that had been placed on the table were no longer there.

_I wonder if he burned them..._

The moment of differing moods did not last long in any case, her expression lightening back up almost immediately. 3

Hiei continued to watch Shikiyoku, his mind centered on the bond that continued to filter her happiness to him. And for the first time, he realized that they hadn't been interrupted, that they had the whole day if they so desired, and it wouldn't be spent sleeping away pain or regenerating energy.

Which suddenly had him thinking of sweet snow.

Which had him moving, placing his hands on either of Shikiyoku's hips and moving her to the side briefly so he could get up and move to the little cooler in the next room.

"_Don't move."_

He sauntered to the next room and quickly moved to the little cold box in the corner, pulling the door open to see the breads inside and a single tub of sweet snow hidden behind the loaves. With two spoons sitting atop it, Hiei grabbed what he needed- making sure to warm the spoons so they wouldn't stick to Shiki's hand- and proceeded to go back the way he came.

He made himself comfortable on the couch again, holding out one of the spoons to Shikiyoku and tilting the tub of strawberry flavored sweet snow for her to see.

"_Got it a couple of days ago." __*****_

Shifting off of Hiei, Shikiyoku obliged with no small amount of curiosity in her eyes as she watched him disappear into the other room.

She certainly recognized what he held in his hands readily enough, and while she accepted his offer of a spoon and scooted closer, she appeared to scrutinize the ice cream when he held it out.

"Hm."

_(You know, it looks like it's missing a couple of things.)_

She set the spoon down in her lap and grinned mischievously at him as she reached over and appeared to pull a strawberry out from his hair, moving that same hand to brush through her own and coming out with a second one.

Reaching towards her side with her other hand, she pulled out a small knife as well, crossing her legs underneath herself and beginning to slice the strawberries over the ice cream so that they would fall inside. 3

Hiei had the lid pulled from the tub of sweet snow just in time to shift it so she could cut up the strawberries she'd produced. Strawberries that he _still _didn't know where they came from.

Though, really, he found it rather fascinating.

Just as he had with her tickling trick a few minutes before.

And while she was still cutting, he had no reason to _not_ catch one of the chunks mid-air, tossing it into his mouth. and it was oh-so satisfying. _*****_

Shikiyoku cut up the two strawberries she had in hand until all but the stems were scattered across the top of the sweet snow.

When those stems were on the table, she calmly produced three more and offered one to Hiei as she stuck another in her own mouth. 3

Hiei took the offered strawberry and took a bite from the fruit calmly, savoring the flavor even as he dove his spoon into the sweet snow, swallowing the bite of the red fruit before sliding the spoon into his mouth. the cold made his teeth hurt a little and almost seemed to burn his tongue, but he liked it anyway.

it momentarily reminded him of the first time he'd tried it and how he'd almost spat it right back out.

_Hn._

His eyes turned to Shiki again, the strawberry placed between his teeth a second time. _*****_

With an air of serene calm, Shikiyoku cut the third strawberry over the sweet snow while holding the second piece of fruit between her teeth, feeling a bit of the juice leaking out of it and moving over her lip towards her chin.

Ignoring it for the moment, she leaned towards the coffee table to place the stem down next to the others and wiped first one side and then the other of the knife against her pants.

_(See something of interest?) _She didn't even have to look over to know he watched her. 3

curiosity took hold.

"_How many strawberries do you currently have with you?" _

_And where did you learn to tickle using your __**feet**__?_

…

He turned forward again, finishing off his strawberry and dipping his spoon into the frozen treat between them. _*****_

Removing the strawberry from her mouth, Shikiyoku picked up her spoon with her free hand and started to partake in the sweet snow as well.

With the same air of primness that she always tended to assume when he asked her about the strawberries, she let her nose lift slightly into the air.

_(I don't have __**any **__strawberries with me.) _3

Hiei made a sound of amusement at her retort, stuffing the spoon in his mouth and eyeing her from the corner of his eyes. He'd figure it out one day, he was sure.

It just wouldn't be _today. _

He rather liked the moment, more so than trying to solve the mystery.

"_You fascinate me." _And then as if he hadn't said anything, he continued on eating. _*****_

_(Is that so?)_

She answered as if she hadn't the faintest idea he thought such a thing, though really she felt rather pleased by his statement.

Without hesitation she put the rest of the strawberry in her hand into her mouth and seemingly pulled another from her hair, palming it as she reached in with her spoon to get more ice cream and used that hand to steady the tub. 3

"_M-mm." _The sound Hiei telepathically sent was one of affirmation, meant to go along with the admittance that, _yes_, he was intrigued with her and her antics, her tricks and gimmicks and all that. And he rather enjoyed them, the challenges she produced and how she always seemed to take him off guard.

And as he swallowed another spoonful of strawberry sweet snow, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye again.

"_Hn." __*****_

With that bite of sweet snow, and the spoon besides, in her mouth, Shikiyoku started slicing the strawberry in her hand into the tub.

In the middle of doing so, she paused for a couple of seconds, giving a bit of a frown down at the tub before letting her face even out again and continuing to cut the fruit.

_I don't want to go._

_You can't make me._ 3

If Hiei had seen the pause Shikiyoku made, he didn't indicate as such when his spoon delved through the sweet snow again, catching not only a scoop of the red treat, but a few chunks of the red fruit that fell to the tub as well.

His eyes remained on the tub, staring almost blankly as he realized he hadn't told Shikiyoku of his promotion in ranking yet. Not only had he not had the time to inform her as such, but a part of him hadn't _wanted _to tell her, to let her worry that he would now very much so be front lines in the battle that was drawing ever closer.

He hadn't told her that he was just under the second in command, even rivaling that spot.

And even now, he found himself unsure if he wished to tell her or not.

Because the moment was just so wonderful without the break in the peace.

His eyes slid to her again before turning down once more.

It could wait another few hours, he decided. _*****_

The second time Shikiyoku felt the itch, the need to go down to the lab, she actually pouted a little, placing the stem next to the others on the table and putting the small knife down near them before scooting closer to Hiei and leaning into him.

_They don't __**need **__me. _

_I wanna day off._

She scooped more ice cream out, making sure to get at least one slice of strawberry with it before putting it in her mouth. 3

Seemingly out of the blue, Hiei became aware of Shikiyoku's closeness and the sudden feeling that reverberated from her end of the bond, which drew his eyes to her again and scattered his thoughts entirely.

"_They're too dependent. Let them figure it out."_

The general understanding of her actually _unspoken_ thoughts was new, but something he wasn't genuinely surprised to find happening at random moments.

"_My time." __*****_

Shikiyoku chuckled a little at his last statement, resting her head on his shoulder as she put another bite of ice cream into her mouth.

_(They can't exactly run tests without me. It __**is **__kind of my body we're dealing with here.)_

She closed her eyes as the same call rang in her head again. 3

"_Yes, but that body is currently occupied."_

This time, when Hiei delved the spoon into the strawberry goodness, he left it there and leaned back just a little, eyes closing as the taste lingered in his mouth. _Very much worth the time to grab. _

"_As I said, __**my time**__." __*****_

_(Occupied?) _Shikiyoku snorted amiably. _(I'm not exactly __**doing **__anything at the moment.)_

On the next bite, she held the spoon backwards in her mouth and slowly drew it out over her bottom lip, giving a minute sigh of contentment as she did so. 3

"_If they need you that bad, they'll __**fetch**_ _you."_

He made a small sound of bemusement at the thought, though it wasn't a very loud sound. A small breath followed, akin to a sigh, as he let himself lean just a little towards her.

He'd been waiting for a day where they could relax.

"_You deserve a break too." __*****_

_(I think they would disagree. I deserve a break when I'm cured.)_

Another 'ring' in her mind.

A second one came quickly after that.

_(They're just going to keep bothering me.) _3

Hiei made another sound in the back of his throat. "_Your choice." Though I'll be going with you if you do go. _After all, he was still curious about the rest of the lab work, and had actually enjoyed watching.

Well, most of it anyway.

"_You decide." __*****_

_Well, what else am I going to do?_

She could feel the lab tugging at her again.

_I guess I should have __**told **__them not to bother me._

_...though slipping away without them noticing was rather entertaining._

Shikiyoku put the spoon in the tub and stretched her arms over her head.

_(I'll go. If only to tell them to stop bothering me.) _3

"_hn."_

He paused with the lid of the tub poised over the ice cream, his eyes turning to her suddenly, flashing just the slightest bit.

"_Will a kiss make it better?" __*****_

At the offer, Shikiyoku's eye brightened for a second as she opened her mouth as if to reply, then her expression suddenly changed, frowning over at him, her lips pursing together.

_(Stop making this difficult.) _3

"_**You're**_ _the one being difficult. It was a simple question." _Hiei turned away, sealing the lid on the ice cream and slowly moving away to replace it in the little box in the next room. "_Woman." __*****_

Shikiyoku narrowed her eyes at him.

_(__**I'm **__being difficult? You- It-) _

An irritated growl vibrated in her throat.

_(What are you doing? Sit back down and eat.) _

After a pause she went on.

_(But don't eat it all…) _3

"_I don't quite see the issue." _

Hiei paused only for a moment before he stood, pausing again as she demanded he sit down and eat more, before he continued moving without another moment's hesitation.

"_And if I want to save some for tomorrow? Or next week?" __*****_

_(Well, luckily for __**you**__, you have the freedom to leave this hell-hole and get some more.)_

Shikiyoku crossed her arms over her chest.

_(I'll be right back. If I wait any longer, my head is going to be constantly buzzing.)_

She started to phase through the layers, unwilling to take an risks in meeting someone in the hall on the way there. 3

Hiei had placed the ice cream into the little cold box in their bedroom by the time Shikiyoku had taken her leave. By the time the door shut, he was scoffing into the silence. _She didn't even answer my question._

And instead of following her as he had been planning to do, he instead planted himself right back on the very couch cushion he'd been sitting on earlier. _*****_

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


	120. Episode 204

**A/N: **Hello once again x5, Audience!

Another chapter in my week of apologetic posting for my neglect :D After this, you'll get two more chapters within the next two days and then I'll go back to my weekly chapter updates as before.

Ciao for now!~

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari has started her own king-mandated task  
of bringing back layer-walkers to supplement the army,  
spending the time threatening those she chased  
with death should they not come back with her.

Kurama remains Akari's main source of incentive,  
the female worried what might happen to him  
should she fail to do her job.

Yomi continues to send her out into the field,  
though after two missions of one demon only,  
this time informing her there were five  
and a sixth she was to kill,  
stating she should not return until finished.

The first, named Aiko, reminds her of herself,  
and she's stuck with the talkative lad  
while going after the rest.

She sends Aiko back to Yomi when the two  
of them end up running into a Crusnik,  
trying to distract the Crusnik into chasing her  
and ending up running for her own life.

Back at Yomi's compound,  
Aiko is found to be within Kurama's care,  
distracting the other demons that are  
supposed to be training by telling them  
the story of the strange demon  
that had been chasing him and Akari.

Kurama interrupts the conversation  
by informing Aiko that what he saw was a Crusnik,  
a demon that feeds upon other demons.

When Aiko demands to know how to fight one,  
Kurama insists the only thing to do is run,  
and failing that, run faster.

Aiko seems disheartened when Kurama  
informs him you can't fight back with energy  
for it only makes them stronger,  
and asks Kurama what can he do if not fight.

Kurama tells him to come out of the corner,  
join the others,  
and find out.

Elsewhere, Akari uses the realm of shadows  
as a last resort to try and escape,  
finding herself spit out on a mountainside.

Bereft of energy, she collapses unconscious.

~!**!~

Having found out that the Crusnik  
is controlling her even outside of her pain form,  
Shikiyoku attempts to thwart them  
by writing down the formulas minus  
the portions the Crusnik is making her insert,  
only to find that she is incapable of doing so.

Irritated with herself,  
Shikiyoku grabs for Hiei and silently leaves the labs,  
her Consort taking her hand instead  
in an attempt to comfort her with his touch.

As they pause elsewhere in the Mobile Fortress,  
Shikiyoku tells Hiei the scientists think the Crusnik  
are more like nanites than a virus,  
with a more specific directive within them  
than simple replication like a virus might have.

While the lab monkeys don't know that directive,  
Shikiyoku claims that the Crusnik are meant  
to keep the demonic race in check,  
that almost all demons have them within their energy,  
and when demonic numbers grow too great,  
it is the Crusnik's purpose to activate  
and cull those necessary to restore balance.

Unhappy with her distress,  
and the darkness in her eyes,  
Hiei kisses her and desires her change,  
triggering Shikiyoku's return to her true form,  
and then picking her up to take her back  
to their rooms, knowing her energy is still depleted  
from her earlier dance.

He sits on the couch with Shikiyoku's head in his lap,  
telling her that she still hasn't kissed him correctly,  
a sure sign her energy still resides within his body.

In the conversation following,  
where Shikiyoku warns him he shouldn't tell  
her things like that,  
she ends up tickling him when talk turns  
to him not laughing enough.

Shikiyoku makes a side-note to herself  
that the items she had placed on the table-  
Douji's bracelet and Taka's feathers-  
are no longer there.

Enjoying their companionship,  
the two eat 'sweet snow' together,  
with strawberries provide by Shikiyoku,  
and eventually Shikiyoku feels the labs calling to her.

Hiei asks if a kiss will make it better,  
and Shikiyoku leaves him before answering...

* * *

Shikiyoku dropped down a few floors before pushing off and hurtling herself through the fortress, landing in the labs seconds later.

"Took you long enough, wo-"

"I am coming here to specifically tell you that if you bother me again today, I will personally see to it that _you _are the next thing I feed upon."

Rikei and Iketeru blinked at her, not answering her for a second.

"Do I make myself clear?"

The other two exchanged a quick glance before Rikei turned away.

"I suppose-" Iketeru began, "That allowing you to have a day to yourself wouldn't be the end of the world."

"Wonderful. That's settled then." Shikiyoku turned to storm her way out of the room, "Don't call me again. It _is _a threat on your life if you do."

She flung open the door and without looking back slammed it shut behind her, crossing her arms over her chest for a moment before taking a deep breath and giving a little smile to the relatively empty hallway as she turned to begin walking back.

After a few steps, she snorted at herself and started to fold between the layers, but just as her vision started to blur, she stopped short, pausing, and then slowly undoing herself from their embrace.

Blinking in the direction of the other end of the hall, which lead to a much busier byway that bustled with demons moving back and forth with their business, Shikiyoku slowed took a single step and then another before breaking out into a quick run, sticking her head out into the larger passage and looking to the right.

_It...it can't be._

She searched for the pair of brown wings she had _thought _she saw calmly walking by, her eyebrows drawn together over her eyes.

When she spotted them, she wasn't sure if her heart dropped into her stomach or if her stomach was trying to leap out of her throat.

Quickly starting to move into the crowded hallway, Shikiyoku ducked and moved around the other demons, trying to keep sight of the back with the smooth feathers reached down almost to the floor.

Just as she thought she had reached a distance where the demon might be able to hear her call his name, going so far as to even take the breath to do so, the demon turned as another stopped him to talk and Shikiyoku stopped dead in her tracks, blinking again.

It wasn't the right profile.

Actually, from this angle, she wasn't really sure how she could have confused it for _him _in the first place.

The head was smaller, the body sleeker. And his nose wasn't right. Too sharp.

And those wings are much too dark anyway.

The longer she stood in place and stared, other demons barely paying much attention to the petite figure they were forced to brush passed, the easier it was to reprimand herself for ever thinking this demon could be anything other than who he _wasn't_.

"Kuraku!"

As Shikiyoku blinked again to clear her thoughts, she turned back to look behind her, seeing Nikolai smiling at her and coming up to join her.

"Wandering the halls by yourself again?" It wasn't entirely reprimanding, but he did cluck his tongue at her and shake his head a little once he stood over her, arms crossed and a crooked smile on his face. "You shouldn't do that you know. Not someone in your position."

"And what position would that be, exactly?" Shikiyoku wanted to know, covering up the discomfort of her previous thoughts with a knowing smile.

"Ah-huh." Nikolai gave a small laugh and glanced to the side with the beginnings of a blush coming to his cheeks.

"Nothing specific coming to mind?" She couldn't help the slightly more amused expression from forming on her face.

"You are entirely too witty for your own good, madam." He finally looked back down at her, grinning through his red cheeks.

He didn't have to answer the question; she could sense it without him saying.

"Unfortunately, I am otherwise engaged at the moment, dear one." She reached over and gently placed a hand on his arm, smiling up at him. "And I didn't exactly mean to walk around the place, so if you'll excuse me."

She removed her hand from him and stepped between the layers of the fortress, moving among them until she stood just inside the door of her and Hiei's rooms. 3

Hiei, with one leg crossed over the other and both arms on the back of the couch, had been watching the door right up to the moment that he felt an odd disturbance in the bond between himself and Shikiyoku. It had his eyes glassing over as he turned inward to reflect, analyzing the emotion as if to decode it and fix it.

But it wasn't a _huge_ deal. As in, she didn't seem to be in any danger. Only… distressed.

Which is why he stayed where he was.

And why his eyes remained glued to the door the very moment she blurred into the room.

He stared for a moment, sizing her up.

"_I assume they took it well." _

If she wanted him to know, she'd tell him about it- whatever the distress was about. _*****_

Shikiyoku sighed as she came further into the room.

_(About as well as could be expected, I suppose. They shouldn't bother me again in any case.)_

Moving back in the direction of the couch, Shikiyoku reached up and put a hand to her forehead for a moment before using that hand to clear the hair out of her eyes.

_I don't think I particularly want to leave the room at this point anyway._

She sat back down next to Hiei without saying anything else. 3

Hiei's unblinking gaze followed Shikiyoku as she moved to sit beside him, noting the hand to the forehead and the hesitation there before moving her hair from her eyes. His brows raised just a fraction, but he didn't actually inquire of her thoughts.

"_You're still behind." __*****_

Shikiyoku's next breath came out loudly through her nose in a fashion that expressed amusement.

Turning to look at him, her eyes narrowed playfully.

_(Would a kiss do for your reward as well? The fact that the Crusnik are actually sentient and controlling is a rather game-changing find.)_ 3

Hiei took a moment to mull that over, weighing his options. His eyes never left Shikiyoku's face, as if her expression might lead him to a better option that would _ensure_ more than one kiss.

Though he also figured that if he asked enough, she'd give in.

Occasionally.

He made a face.

"_Just this once." __*****_

Shikiyoku had the hardest time not rolling her eyes at his response, resorting to giving the slightest little shake of her head at his supposedly begrudging acceptance of her offer.

_(You're ridiculous.)_

She leaned forward and obliged him with what amounted to a short kiss on his lips, pulling away to shake her head again.

Regardless of the fact that she had no energy available to shimmer over her skin, Shikiyoku could just sense where it would be prickling at her neck and eyes and over the tips of her ears.

_Ridiculous. _3

Hiei took this as a victory.

"_But you like me anyway."_

He pointed that fact out with a smirk, turning forward after a moment and resisting his usual remark for the first time.

...Mainly because he hoped if he were nice about it, he'd get another. _*****_

_(Never said I didn't like you.)_

She grumbled it at him as she sat back into the couch and crossed her arms over one another.

_That was never the problem._

_(I said that you're ridiculous.) _3

The grumbled response was not the response Hiei had been hoping for, but then again, she was right. He turned his head to her just a little, enough that when he looked out the corner of his eyes, he could see her profile.

"_That is true."_

He paused.

"_I can be even __**more **__ridiculous."_

Another pause.

"_Wanna see?" __*****_

_(Wanna see what? You being more ridiculous?)_

Shikiyoku puffed a short breath of air from her lips in an attempt to remove part of her hair from her face where it had fallen with the abrupt settling she had done into the back of the couch.

_I deserve combat-pay for this. This is really hard._

_(I find the notion nigh impossible.)_

_Why did you have to go and inject my energy into your body? And why did it have to do __**this **__to you? Hng. _3

Hiei's eyes sparked to life, brightening and sparkling as his lips pulled into a crooked smirk She was challenging him, in her own way. "_Is that so?"_

With speed only he could accomplish, the fire demon had turned, leaned forward, and grabbed Shiki from the couch, hugging her tight and falling back so they'd be laying.

"_You're pouting."_

His hand ruffled her hair.

"_I don't like it." _

_...I don't think so anyway. __*****_

"Hmph." Shikiyoku didn't protest as he dragged her down, only scooting closer to him as if it were possible.

_(That wasn't me pouting. But I could pout for you if you want me to.)_

While it didn't have quite the same effect as when there was energy cascading over her eyes, she could still look at him up through her eyelashes with an actual pout, her lower lip protruding.

_(Why are you making this so hard?) _There was a twinge of whininess to the question as she huffed in a displeased fashion. 3

"_To be fair, it's my job. Partially. I also rather enjoy it."_

Hiei settled with his head on the armrest of the couch, hand taking to smoothing down Shikiyoku's hair without his direct notice.

"_Also might I add, that wasn't very effective." __*****_

The pout immediately disappeared and Shikiyoku turned her face down to grumble at him again.

_(__**You're **__not very effective.) _3

"_How witty." _*****

_(Shut up.)_

Shikiyoku closed her eyes, momentarily fighting back a grin until she let out another sigh of restraint.

_This is...not fair. What did I do to deserve this? _3

As requested, Hiei went silent, only staring at the ceiling overhead- as bland as it was- and let his hand continue to smooth down the back of her head. Over, and over again. It was rather calming, actually. It even had all of his thoughts melting away, so he could better assess whatever had disturbed her before.

Which he wasn't sure if that was still lying beneath.. whatever this was that she was feeling now.

…

"_Did you know you're my favorite?" __*****_

Shikiyoku's eyes came open from where she had come to rest against Hiei's chest, her hand inches away from the heart-shaped tattoo that swirled over his core.

_(Oh? And why would that be?) _3

"_Because on occasion, you sparkle." _

He hadn't even missed a beat.

"_Also, you're rather intriguing." __*****_

Laughing silently at his first proclamation, his second made her curious.

_(Am I? I had no idea.) _3

"_Hn."_

Hiei settled, hand stilling against the back of her head and his eyes closing. He thought for a few moments before something crossed his mind, and he decided now was better than any other moment to talk about it.

"_I'm Mukuro's General." __*****_

Shikiyoku glanced up at what she could see of Hiei's face before letting her gaze fall back down.

With his side of the bond not functioning properly-she really was only getting a pleasant buzz from him that reminded her keenly of how her own energy felt when it skittered along her skin-she couldn't tell how he felt about it, so for the moment her own reaction consisted of nothing drastic.

_(That's quite an accomplishment.)_

_Not that anyone could doubt your capabilities._

_(You should be proud.) _3

"_I loath them all."_

It was quite the bland tone he used, though whether that highlighted his distaste or took away from his point, he didn't know. He just knew he didn't like it here, didn't want to be here, or anything of the sort.

Just as quick, another thought passed.

"_Do you have the materials here to mend my cloak? I'm rather fond of it…" __*****_

Funny how most demons would have associated the raise in rank with the increase of their power and thus taken the promotion in kind.

Funnier still to her that Hiei seemed to want nothing to do with it.

She supposed he wanted to do something like that on his own terms, and not at the wish and whim of the would-be King Mukuro.

_(Uh-)_

She blinked, his question catching her off-guard.

Thinking back to the state in which the cloak had looked, she sent him a negative.

_(I could see about acquiring what would be necessary, if you like.) _3

"_If it comes to it, I could fetch the material, given the location."_

Hiei didn't care what Mukuro wanted him to do. If he wanted his own cloak mended, it would be mended, one way or another.

"_Yukina usually sews it together."_

'Usually' being when Shikiyoku wasn't around.

He scratched a little at his arm. "_She's usually knowledgeable on materials. I'm not." _*****

_(I can't see there __**not **__being someone around here that I could get the materials I required.)_

The problem would be what they would want in exchange for said materials.

_Ugh._

_(Have you seen her recently?) _3

"_...No." _It was a begrudging admittance, though he realized he could just as easily find her and ask of the material himself. It would likely be better than Shiki "exchanging" whatever she needed to in order to get said materials here.

…

_I loath them all._

"_I don't trust the trading system." _Again, a begrudging admittance. "_Ill find some, if you'll mend it." _Hiei concluded, eyes opening to look down at Shikiyoku. _*****_

_(Don't trust it?) _Shikiyoku shifted to look up at him, raising an eyebrow. _(It isn't as if the demons around here aren't reliable. And I'm sure none of them could ask something of me in return that I am incapable of handling.) _3

_The problem isn't your incapabilities. Rather, it's that you __**are**_ _capable._

_And I don't like it._

Hiei huffed out a breath. "_What's the fun in that?" __*****_

_(That's business.) _Shikiyoku shrugged. _(They have something I want, I can provide something in return.)_

_(You wouldn't know about the fun anyway. You're __**no **__fun, remember?) _3

"_Right, forgot."_

Hiei pulled Shikiyoku a little more, so her head would be at the crook of his neck and his arm around her waist to keep her from falling. "_I don't like it." __*****_

_(I know you don't like fun. Wasn't that what we were just talking about? That's no news to me.)_

Shikiyoku's expression remained completely devoid of emotion as if she were blandly stating something she was rather aware of and pointing out for the umpteenth time. 3

_Witty._

Hiei looked down at her for a moment before resting his head back again, eyes closing completely. He blew out a breath from his nostrils, but otherwise gave no reply. _*****_

Once he wasn't looking at her, she grinned.

_(See that? No fun. No fun, whatsoever. Honestly, I feel as if I've failed in my duties. I'm supposed to be teaching you fun after all.) _3

"_You know what other things you've failed in recently?" _Hiei goaded, resisting the slightest of twitches at the corner of his lips. "_Kissing me. Youre so far behind."_ He paused as a thought crossed the forefront of his mind, causing a slight scowl to form. "_You'll kiss labrats and lab monkeys, but not me. Pity,: __*****_

Finding the teasing having been turned on its head and instead aimed at her, Shikiyoku barely managed to resist a small groan, having hoped to distract Hiei from his new-found obsession with kissing her.

Or rather, with _her _kissing him.

_(That's...not fair, flame-boy.) _Shikiyoku almost let out a growl of protest. _(They didn't inject themselves with my energy like it was a good idea.) _3

"_First of all, __**Prince.**_ _**Fire Prince**__. Second, Never did I say I thought it was a good idea. Third-"_ Hiei paused, eyes coming open as he tried to remember his third point. He stared at the ceiling as if it might help.

"_Third," _he continued after a few good seconds, "_that should be even more of a reason to kiss me. You hate that needle and were tired and ready to leave. I made a solution." __*****_

His insistence upon being referred to as 'prince' had Shikiyoku fighting off a grin and scooting closer to him as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Her grip went a little slack as he went on and she buried her face further into his neck.

_(A solution that has led me here, saying this, 'Ask me to kiss you any other time and you know I would oblige.' You're not...you're not exactly in your right mind at the moment. Taking advantage of that would be unfair.) _3

_Hn. "I would likely stop asking if you did it __**right**_ _just once." __*****_

_(Uh huh. I somehow doubt that.)_

Struck for a moment by just exactly how _unfair _all of this felt, Shikiyoku did let out a breath laced with all of her pent-up feelings on the matter. 3

"_You're being unfair."_

Hiei let a small pout form on his features for a short moment before it disappeared, replaced with his usual expression of nonchalance. And with the huff he heard from Shikiyoku, he suddenly took to petting her head, his hand following the length of her hand before returning to the top of her head to start all over again. _*****_

_(__**I'm **__being unfair?) _Shikiyoku immediately protested, trying to ignore his attentions so that she could be rightly indignant. _(Do you have __**any **__idea how difficult this is for me?) _3

"_It wouldn't be difficult if you'd just admit you like it." __*****_

If she had been speaking to him aloud, it would have been through teeth tightly clenched together.

_(When have I ever said I didn't like it, __**flame-boy**__? That's not the point.) _3

"_Then I don't see the problem." _A pause. "_**Prince.**_" _*****_

_(The problem will be later.) _Shikiyoku grumbled. _(When you hate me.) _3

Hiei let out a rather loud scoff. "_Are you sure it isn't __**you**_ _who hates __**me**__?" _A thought occurred and his mood went south, "_Or is it that you like vermin more than your own Consort?" __*****_

_(What?) _Shikiyoku interjected, pulling away from him to look into his face. _(What does that- Why-) _She actually made a face, _(No. Of course not! What makes you say that?) _3

Shiki's denial didn't seem to phase Hiei very much, his pout remaining in place. "_Maybe one of __**them**_ _should be your consort." _He gave a small puff of air at her. "_Since you're happier kissing them." __*****_

Shikiyoku could feel her eyes twitching, all sorts of protests and arguments fighting across the plane of her mind.

_That's not true._

_Mostly._

_No, it's not true!_

_They're not...drunk._

_I'd rather you were in your right mind and-_

_Why are you making this so hard?_

She stared at him a moment longer.

_Fuck it._

She pulled at the back of Hiei's neck to bring his face forward and gave up, planting a brief kiss on his lips before leaning away again, her face immediately flushing as her eyes shifted to the side. 3

The sudden shift had Hiei's eyes opening wide, not actually having thought she'd give in. And, of course, his eyes closed right back- not that it mattered since she had pulled away before his eyes had been completely shut. _Pity._

There was a moment where he allowed silence to fill the atmosphere, a breath being let out through his nostrils.

And then he broke the silence.

"_Still didn't do it right." __*****_

While normally there would have been an accompanying shimmer flitting across her skin and cascading over her eyes, without any energy Shikiyoku was stuck feeling more foolish than usual, unable to hide behind or embrace that energy as she usually would have.

In contrast, she could feel that buzz constantly being fed to her through Hiei, but instead of comforting her, the sensation just had her on edge, a reminder that he wasn't acting as he might otherwise.

And yet that didn't stop her eyes from cutting back to Hiei's face and narrowing slightly.

_I've had just about enough of that._

_(Say that again, flame-boy.)_

And the intonation of the phrase held every nuance of '_I dare you' _within it.3

Hiei raised his brows at the feeling of the stare aimed at him, which had his eyelids coming open and his eyes falling to meet the fiery glare aimed at him. He stared at the bright green that shone at him in irritation and defiance, which had him readying for whatever she was about to say.

Which, might he add, was not what he'd been expecting.

_Well, you asked._

"_You. Didn't. Do it. Right." __*****_

_Oh __**hell **__no._

To be fair, Shikiyoku felt as if she had given the fire demon fair warning about saying such things. Being told the very thing she innately had a knack for wasn't done correctly made some portion of her mind snap.

_(You don't even know what that means.) _Shikiyoku informed him with sweet venom dripping from her words as she pulled him towards her once more, _(But you're about to.)_

_This _time when Shikiyoku reached Hiei's lips, she didn't move back as she had done before, and instead subjected him to what the humans were known to call a 'French kiss,' though demonkind tended to have other, slightly more interesting names for it.

What little energy she had actually rustled through her hair briefly, though she honestly did not have much going through her mind except to make for certain this impetuous _boy _got put in his place.

The fact that he had no earthly idea what to do made the immediate moment slightly more delicious for her, causing a sort of smugness to settle over her.

_That's what I thought._

She _purposefully _made sure that their kiss lasted longer than the one Hiei kept referring to, the one with Iketeru that the hybrid had walked in on.

_As __**if **__I'd want one of them to be my Consort. _

_As __**if **__I'm happier kissing anyone else._

_..._

_I only want __**you**__, fire-prince._

_And you may know it, you may have just said those things to get to this point...but do you really __**understand**_ _it yet? How very thoroughly you've captured me?_

When Shikiyoku finally released him, she found herself surprisingly calm, her expression gentle, if completely devoid of apology as for the moment she regretted nothing.

He'd pushed her far enough and she finally pushed back.

Her comment was laced with her own sort of coy impetuousness as she gave him the tiniest coquettish smile, lips barely curling at the edges, _(Was that satisfactory, my Consort? I do so hate disappointing you.) _3

To be honest, Hiei _had_ had a retort ready to fire back at her. He _had_ had something witty to say. But the thing is… She took him completely by surprise. He had gone stock still, his mind shutting down and all processes that required any train of thought also came to a stand still.

He didn't even blink. Not even when she pushed away.

He merely stared, completely and utterly shocked. Shell shocked? Yeah. That.

Her expression is what _kept_ him from recovering, what _kept _him from taking a deep breath and restoring all mental faculties. Though, what had just happened also had a huge part in it too.

So, even when she spoke, he didn't give her more than a simple blink- which took a good amount of effort, might he add. _*****_

An eyebrow arched at his silence, the prospect of having thrown the infamous Forbidden Child off his guard somehow completely satisfying in a way Shikiyoku had not felt in a long time.

Her lips twitched vaguely as she felt the reverberation of her own energy within him return to its usual buzz against their bond, though she had not noticed the surge directly while she had been kissing him.

Despite the desire to tease him further, Shikiyoku wasn't really certain he would be able to respond in a manner that would be worth the effort of any other comment she might make.

She simply let her smile be tease enough, eyes glittering as she knew, for the moment, she had won. 3

~!**!~

"Kuraku?"

"Hm?" Shikiyoku looked up from where she had been staring down at the clipboard in her hands and realized that it was not the first time her name had been called.

Instead of saying whatever he meant to say, Rikei stepped closer, stopping whatever he had been working on to slip the clipboard out from Shikiyoku's grasp.

She made a noise of protest and reached for it, but it was a simple matter to get it away and keep it away.

Rikei flipped a few pages back and forth before handing it back without saying anything, only giving Shikiyoku's face a searching stare before she cast her gaze down onto the clipboard again.

He didn't have to say a word. They both knew.

She hadn't done a single thing since coming into the labs.

All three of them had agreed it was likely in their best interest to keep Shikiyoku in her true form for now, until they had a better plan of attack for the Crusnik within her.

"If you aren't going to do anything productive, you might as well leave." Iketeru piped up from the other side of the room.

Shikiyoku kept her face down as Rikei briefly moved away before coming back and standing next to the stool she sat in. She leaned back into the table a little, glancing over at him out of the corner of her eye to see that he had relocated...whatever it was on which he worked and took to adjusting and fiddling with it again within her arm's reach.

"What troubles you, Kuraku?" Rikei asked quietly after a half a minute of busy silence crept by.

Shikiyoku blinked, realizing she had been staring blankly at the clipboard again, her mind out in the hallway she walked through yesterday where she had thought she saw Taka.

"And if you say 'nothing,' I'll make you eat the word." He added mildly.

Shikiyoku decided it was likely in her best interest not to ask him how exactly that would be accomplished.

"I thought I saw someone I used to know yesterday. Turned out it wasn't him." The words were said dismissively. Simply. She even shrugged a bit at the admittance. As if it didn't matter.

Rikei did not respond immediately, moving a hand up to press his glasses further up on his nose and brush part of his purple hair out of his eyes.

"And you're still thinking of the encounter."

It wasn't a question, and Shikiyoku knew she wouldn't have needed to answer it anyway.

"Perceptive little lab rat, aren't you?" She grumbled, toying with the writing utensil in her hand, setting the tip of it onto the edge of the paper and beginning to absently draw swirls up the sides and around the formulas.

Rikei cast a quick look in her direction, a single eyebrow raised at her, before turning his face back down.

"Perception is but one of my many gifts."

He hadn't said it any way other than as if he were stating the most bland of facts, but it still momentarily sent Shikiyoku's mind wandering back to the moment he had kissed her-his technique one such 'gift' of that she had no doubt-and she tensed briefly, keenly aware as always that she could not feel his desires, his intentions.

_And you know very well that if he so much as __**hinted **__at something you would jump on it._

Shikiyoku cringed down at her clipboard.

Resisting Hiei was hard. Even if he didn't particularly do or say anything, being faced with the constant pleasant buzz of her own energy through _him _drove her to the brink of insanity. And the scientist would be providing an outlet that would make such resistance easier for her.

The fact that Shikiyoku did not instantaneously have a sharp witticism to hand Rikei in return had the scientist looking at her again, noting the whiteness of her knuckles as the clutched the pen harder and made the swirls darker.

If she sat there in one place any longer, she was likely to do something she would regret later.

Shikiyoku abruptly rose from her stool, sliding off the front of it to the floor and half-tossing, half-placing the clipboard on the table behind her.

"I'm...going for a walk." She managed to say without clenched teeth, though she stalked for the door as if the words seethed out of her mouth.

"We likely won't call you back." Iketeru called as she passed through the door frame.

She paused when he spoke, gave him a curt nod, and left before she turned around and jumped one of them.

Taking a deep breath of the hallway air, Shikiyoku decided that in the end it was likely worse for her to constantly be around two demons from whom she received _nothing_. It was as if simply not knowing what they wanted made her wish to know, drag it out of them by any means necessary.

And perhaps her awareness of Hiei's, of _her_, energy bubbling pleasantly inside her yesterday as well as that very morning made it all the worse.

_Even my thoughts don't seem straight._

Rubbing her hand to her forehead, Shikiyoku actually stepped out into the hallway and began walking for the main corridor.

It wasn't as if she didn't _like _having Hiei goading her at every pause for a kiss, but she wanted him to do so _without _having to be under the influence of her energy. When he was in his right mind, and not in a state that she could not imagine lasting forever.

Stepping out into the other hallway, Shikiyoku hardly noticed the demons walking or rushing past her, though on some level she became aware that their desires were washing over a portion of her mind, ones that saw her as she moved by them featuring prominently even if she didn't acknowledge them.

At first Shikiyoku only let her feet continue moving, head down and her thoughts almost methodically, if absently, shifting through the desires around her.

By the time she glanced up, she wasn't in a portion of the Fortress she recognized, which amused her, and the faces she knew were fewer and farther between.

Unphased by this development, Shikiyoku took to looking at the demons that went by, glancing at them when they weren't directly looking at her.

The newer ones especially interested her, though she found that most of them knew _her _even if she had never seen _them. _That much was clear by how their desires shifted if they caught a glimpse of her.

_Well, I guess it could be worse. I could be bored out of my mind._

While she had not particularly bothered to take notice of the smells, which ranged from atrocious to barely tolerable, she caught a whiff of one that almost made her stop in her tracks, feeling slightly irksome as she glanced behind her, certain she would see the purple hair and dark glasses of Rikei following after her.

_I swear, if you-_

It was not Rikei's face that actually drew her feet to a stop, for he had not in fact followed her from the labs, but instead, turning into a different hallway several feet behind her, Shikiyoku would have _sworn _she had seen Douji.

Shikiyoku murmured apologies as a couple of demons behind her brushed into her when she stopped, but for another handful of seconds she did not move.

When she picked up her feet again, she was only half surprised to find that she was weaving through the demons around her so that she could go back in the other direction.

_It's just a lookalike. Like the Taka._

No matter what she told herself, she still found that she kept going until she reached the hall she had seen him disappear into, stepping out of the flow and into the much emptier corridor.

This one had doors on either side of it, much like the hall where the lab was, but instead of paying any attention to those doors, Shikiyoku's eyes extended upwards down the passageway until her breath caught in her throat.

_It can't be him, though._

_You watched him die._

Standing at one of the doors further down, far enough away that it still could have been a trick of the eyes, the demon she followed stopped just as she had once she stepped into the hall with him, and while she stared at him, for a moment he stared back, making time for Shikiyoku seem to stop.

Breaking the stare, he reached forward to put his hand on the door knob, turning it to open the door and step inside the room just as Shikiyoku started down the hall after him.

Beginning to move faster, certain that this was no ghost, Shikiyoku watched as his foot disappeared and the door shut behind him before she finally broke into a run, making it down the hall to fling the door inwards and step inside without another hesitation.

"You'd follow me into a library, but not into the grave, huh Shiki?"

The difference in lighting had Shikiyoku blinking to try and settle her vision faster, the door shutting behind her as she stepped further into the gloom, starting to tell that the walls in front of her were filled with books, a large table in the middle of the room with scrolls and tomes open across it.

A darker figure standing at the other end of the table stepped out from a row of the books, but as Shikiyoku started to move around one end of it, the demon moved in the same direction, and the both of them stopped to stare at one another from across the shorter sides of the table.

There wasn't any particularly clear thoughts going through Shikiyoku's mind while she stared with mouth slightly agape at what she logically felt for certain could _not _be Douji, but what evidence dictated _had _to be him.

He looked as he did the first time she had seen him, all awkward and lanky and not quite grown into his own body with his hair messily arranged on top of his head and around his face.

"I-" She blinked as if her eyes needed to clear further, but she could see him now as plain as the books around her.

His eyebrows raised as if he expected her to say more.

"I didn't mean for you to die." She managed to say lamely, having trouble managing all the emotions that started coursing through her mind.

"Of course you didn't." He scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just like you _didn't mean _to bring the Crusnik to the tribe. Or to get us killed. _Me _killed."

Unable to make sense of what was going on, tears started falling unbidden from Shikiyoku's eyes and she couldn't rightly explain why, only starting to shake her head and opening her mouth to speak but finding that she couldn't form any words.

Douji's chin rose a little higher, "Just like you _didn't mean _to get Taka killed."

Images were shooting past Shikiyoku's mind now, memories, first of Douji's bloody body torn apart by lur'mog. Then Taka pulling her into his embrace for the last time before she saw him in pieces on the ground.

Shikiyoku could only shake her head and continue trying to speak, instinctively taking a step back once Douji started to step around the other end of the table towards her.

"Or Otento."

He kept moving for her and she found she couldn't move any longer, unable to feel anything but all the grief and sorrow she had experienced the first time those demons had died.

Douji stuck his face in hers.

"Or what about Kit? I suppose you didn't mean to kill him either, did you?" 3

((I figured this would be the place to stick the beginning of what you needed for Akari, as well as setting up the scene for Hiei to fight Shigure. The next scene is going to be Rikei finding Shiki and going back to her and Hiei's rooms with her. If you get in the mood to write for Hiei after that point, Rikei would give up Shiki and say that he found her like this on the floor in one of the libraries. Shiki would definitely reach out for Hiei to transfer to him if he came close, but she'll be fairly inconsolable save for if he strokes her hair like Kitoushi did. I'd say that would at least calm her down a little and probably get her to eventually fall asleep, though she'll keep crying even while sleeping, but I don't think she'll be coherent enough to explain anything to him directly. That all is if you want to mess with it xD If you don't, I'll be back on the 22/23 of March and hopefully we can get a little RP in before we go to Arlingtoonnnnnnn. I'm sure I'll snap you later today/some tomorrow!))

BLARGH. BLARGH BLARGH-BLARGH. 3 ^-^

~!**!~

Rikei paid absolutely no attention to the passing demons as he walked the hallways, his head occasionally buzzing as if he were going to forget the reason he left the labs in the first place.

He gave out a little sigh and pushed his thinly framed glasses further up his nose, looking down one corridor and then another as he moved down the main passageway, barely noticing the low roar of the air around him as the crowded hall flowed with traffic.

While Iketeru may have told Shikiyoku they would not need her the rest of the day, they had actually stumbled upon what they thought might be a breakthrough for her condition, but of course they required the Second Kuraku herself in order to test it.

That had been several hours ago.

Another buzz rang in Rikei's head.

_I know, I know. I'm looking._

No one claimed to understand the inner workings of the Mobile Fortress, or why it could call to demons like this when they were needed. Some said it was the fact that Mukuro himself was chained to the thing, some said that it had originally been sentient itself, and with Mukuro's constant rage powering it-

It didn't particularly matter _how_, only that one should not be able to ignore such callings.

Which included Kuraku.

Which is what led the scientists to becoming concerned.

'Concerned' was perhaps a strong word. They needed her in order to get work done, and that's what had Rikei walking the halls trying to find her after going directly to her room and finding that neither her nor Gouka resided within.

Gouka not being there was easily explainable as everyone knew the Cursed Child was to be tested today to solidify his ranking as Head General of Mukuro's army.

But where else would Kuraku be?

The fact that Rikei was out looking for her did not appear to placate the buzzing inside his mind and his jaw flex momentarily in irritation.

As he turned another corner, he sent another unseen and unfelt extension of his energy through the walls from his feet, that energy feeling its way along wires and connections and asking the systems of the fortress if there were any hiccups, or rather anything out of the ordinary, something that was somewhere it shouldn't be.

Not a single one of the demons that walked by appeared to notice Rikei's energy moving outwards from his body, but given that it was almost as if his energy _was _a part of the walls and ceiling and floor, it wasn't unexpected.

Rikei knew better than anyone just how sentient the fortress actually was, and just how much it was powered by the chains the Demon of Rage wore that attached her to it.

Yes, _her_.

Not that it mattered either way to him, but her energy was so intertwined into the system that Rikei knew, as did Iketeru for his energy could work similarly, even if no one else did.

While the previous handful of times Rikei had stretched his energy into the system had come up blank-his energy could only go so far, which meant walking further and trying again-this time the patterns informed him of a demon that was rather of out place, and not being particularly productive.

Turning sharply in the direction of the readings, he let his energy lead him down a side hall, right up to a door he knew would open into one of the smaller libraries.

First glance did not turn up anything out of the ordinary, and by the second pass his eyes had adjusted and he caught sight of a portion of the floor that was darker than the rest.

He let out an impatient sigh of sorts and moved towards it.

"Woman, this is ridiculous. Get yourself off the floor."

There was no response.

"What are you doing? Sleeping? We need you. Get up." Rikei squatted down next to her, and as blinked and his eyes took in her curled up shape, her eyes staring forward seemingly at nothing, but water-no, _tears_-streaming down her face.

"Woman?" Rikei started to reach forward, his previously irritated expression starting to melt. "Kuraku?"

He expected her to flinch, maybe even just shift around when he placed his hand on her shoulder, but she did no such thing.

She didn't appear to even know he was there.

"Kuraku?" His pitch was lower this time, but more mellow as he shifted his hand on her shoulder, seeing if he might get her attention.

Rikei didn't think she had so much as blinked since he knelt down.

Glancing over his shoulder as if he might find someone else in the room that he missed, Rikei let out a patient breath and reached down to gather Shikiyoku in his arms, surprised to find that she immediately latched onto him as he started to rise, her arms tightening almost uncomfortably around his neck and her face burying itself at his collarbone.

He could feel his lab coat already becoming damp with her tears.

Drawing his energy more thoroughly out of the machinery around him, Rikei stepped inbetween the layers of the fortress and within a few more paces had himself within the walls of what he knew to be the Kuraku's rooms, knowing that such a state would be of no use to them within the lab.

Not wishing to intrude further, Rikei turned and moved for the couch nearby with every intention of putting her down for Gouka to more easily find later.

It seemed like a simple task, but unwinding her arms from around himself proved too much as her grip could not be shifted in any manner Rikei could see short of tearing them out of their sockets.

His eyebrow twitched as he stared down at the couch, standing over it with Shikiyoku still in his grasp.

Closing his eyes and letting out a restrained sigh, he made to sit down and wait, resigning himself to the inevitable.

_Not exactly how I pictured spending the rest of my day. _3

Earlier this morning, Hiei had been pulled away from his slumber by the most annoying sense of '_come here' _he'd ever felt. And to be honest, he'd known exactly what was going to happen, exactly what was planned for the day. he'd known that, eventually, he would be pitted against the current right hand man of Mukuro. She'd said as much herself when he'd returned after a night out.

That did not mean, however, that he was _prepared_ to fight the other- or even prepared to find out exactly _who _he would be fighting. And in his current state of never-ending thoughts (usually of something _not _pertaining to the matter at hand), it made it that much more difficult to understand that somehow, his life had taken a path right back to Shigure, who the fire demon had left behind so long ago after receiving the eye that put him ahead in any other fight.

Well, any other than this one, he assumed.

Even as Mukuro took her leave of the fighting space, Hiei wasn't sure how to go about this fight against the master of not only sword, but of the very advantage Hiei had been planning to utilize.

_I don't like it._

There had been words from the other, most of which went unheard by the fire demon, before the fight had begun.

A fight that went on for _hours, _with Hiei somehow knowing what Shigure was going to do seconds before Shigure acted, and the fire demon avoiding any substantial loss to himself.

_Hours_ of back and forth blocks.

_Hours _of getting absolutely nowhere.

_Hours_ of teeth-grinding, irritating equality.

_Hours _before Hiei decided to utilize his third eye.

And as one blade passed over another, the third eye taking its time in opening to the world, Hiei suddenly felt…

Clarity.

He could think properly, could see the room as it was, the situation as it could be.

And it took mere _moments_ to end it after that. To dismember Mukuro's right hand man, to sheath his sword and turn to the door with an expression that read a complete lack of interest.

And that expression was _very _difficult to maintain in the next few seconds where Mukuro entered the room.

Because the strangest voice seemed to speak to him. Almost telepathic, but… closer to home.

And the eye wouldn't _shut_.

"_Dude, she thought you'd die."_

The voice was very similar to onehe'dheardfromthe Dragon, likely even a replica.

But that wasn't what had the fire demon stunned and deaf to what the king was telling him. It was the realization that the third eye was _sentient_, and for once, not _angry._

_What?_

"_She said she's proud to announce you her right hand."_ A brief silence as Hiei tuned into the dismissal granted him. "_You should go find Shikiyoku."_

_Don't tell me what to do._

"_Grumpy."_

Hiei stepped around Mukuro, who turned to watch him go.

And the fire demon made a silent trek up several flights of stairs, the Jagan continuously saying random things here and there, making random observations, or even asking him when Hiei's next _kiss _was going to be- which completely derailed Hiei for a moment before he pushed the door open to his and Shikiyoku's room.

He paused while the door swung shut behind him, and it took a whole minute before Hiei was _certain_ he was seeing a scientist holding Shiki on the couch, and that the bond in his mind was in a disarray.

How had he not noticed?

Three long steps was all it took for Hiei to come to standing over the demon in the lab coat, his eyes on Shikiyoku. A beat later and he was reaching for her, not seeming to care that the other demon was the one holding her or that she had been clinging to him.

It didn't matter, really.

Because he could _feel _that she needed someone. He could feel the heaviness, the darkness.

Nothing else mattered. Just her.

"_She's in pain…. You should kiss the boo boo."_

_**~!**!~**_

Darkness had fallen several hours ago, but it was only now that Akari lowered herself to sit in front of a crackling fire, her hands extended towards the warmth and light that her eyes had focused on a while ago. In fact, she'd been rather out of it for a while now. Missing conversations, having to stop and turn back to the turn she'd been meaning to take.

The others either didn't notice, or didn't care. Or maybe they just didn't want to comment on it.

One long, slow blink against her burning eyelids told Akari that she needed sleep. One long, breathy sigh told her she was too stressed to stay awake another night. But the pit in her stomach told her that sleeping wouldn't be achievable. It told her that she was driving herself a little too hard, which was probably something _he _would get mad at her for anyway.

The thought made her lips twitch a little.

Didn't help much, though.

Another blink.

_Maybe he won't kill me for being stupid. I deserve it, but at least I'll be showing up to the fight with reinforcements._

That was a comforting thought, that the little group she'd gathered would help toss troops away from the main fight. It almost made her feel amused at the mental image.

Yomi likely wouldn't notice.

"Akari?"

The dog demon blinked again, the glassy haze over her eyes disappearing as she tuned into the nearest demon. It made her realize she'd been addressed several times.

"You know, going without sleep will interfere with your ability to think ahead, right? You'll need your wits about you, incase another one of those Crusnik show up." The words were no louder than a whisper, not loud enough to gain unwanted attention of the rest of the crew. A familiar voice that Akari wished wasn't here.

_I can't protect you anyway._

"I'll sleep, just not right now, Manami."

"This is actually a good area, Aka. We're the only ones around for miles."

"Hey, so when are we jumping into battle?" Chiho called from several yards away, sprawled on his back in the dirt.

"Whenever Yusuke and Raizen make their move." Akari replied, finally turning to look at the group of seven. Her hands fell to her lap, her eyes roving over the small demon who had asked of the fight. "I don't think it is as far away as you think."

"But it isn't closeenough for my liking, either."

Manami snorted. "At least _you _weren't the one grabbed by the Crusnik. You could be just as well off as my pack."

Akari heaved a sigh, knowing the inevitable retort from the other. "One night, can there be silence? Any more snide remarks Chiho and I'll toss you to a Crusnik myself."

"Tch." The demon rolled to his side.

Akari turned back to the yellow-orange flames that waved in front of her.

"How long have you guys known each other again, exactly?" Rowena suddenly piped, her small voice contradictory to her large build and stature as the female returned from the usual scope of the area.

"A long while," Manami replied with a calm smile. "Same pack. Practically sisters."

"And _you_ were the Alpha?"

The conversation seemed to fade out, Akari becoming deaf to her surroundings again as she wished not for the first time that she'd stayed in that stupid palace. It would be so much more desirable than constantly running from Crusnik. _*****_

~!**!~

"_It would be in your best interest that she returns, Kurama. But I don't think I really had to tell you that."_

_No, no you didn't._

Kurama's teeth clenched together slightly as he fought to maintain his outer appearance of calm as he practically stalked down the hallway.

It was not the first time Yomi's words had echoed in his head ever since the would-be King had called the former fox-thief into his meeting room all that time ago.

The 'King' had _graciously _allowed Kurama to requisition a few of the demon on the grounds to search for Akari, who had long before now gone missing.

_Graciously my ass._

_It was meant as sarcasm._

_It wasn't sarcastic enough._

_Your attempts haven't been good enough._

The thought resonated across Kurama's head.

_Which is why you're 'requisitioning' this next one._

_Indeed._

Kurama walked into the training room unannounced, barely taking note of the sounds of grunting or the smell of sweat as he made his way over to one demon in particular.

Akari being gone _this _long did nothing to ease Kurama's mind, of course, but as he now felt nothing drastic had happened to her, perhaps it meant she was attempting to plan something.

His irritation at not being a part of the plan flared briefly before he settled down again.

_Upset because it's out of your control, are we?_

"Jin, I've got a job for you."

~!**!~

As soon as the door to the room opened, Rikei made as if to stand up, momentarily forgetting the dead weight in his lap, but being reminded immediately upon shifting around, moving his legs underneath himself so that he might rise.

A small breath of neither irritation nor impatience left his nose as the purple eyes behind his glasses shifted to the top of the dark head that was curled up against the underside of his jaw, and while the grip around his neck was not a firm one, he refrained from so much as beginning to extract himself from the still immobile female who had held him in place so completely these past several hours.

The reaction from her was minimal, even as Rikei more than gladly allowed Gouka to remove her from his person, noting that had he tried to hand her off that she probably would have protested without the presence of her Consort first being announced.

Rikei stood as soon as he was able, brushing himself off and casting only a brief glance at the pair as he made for the door, pausing only when his hand was ready to turn the knob, unsure if Gouka cared to know the state he had found her in, or if it particularly mattered to the hybrid demon.

The shift of his shoulder as he reached forward for the knob facilitated his pause, feeling the wetness of the fabric that stuck slightly to the skin underneath as his arm moved.

Her tears had long ago swept down in rivulets over his lab coat and shirt.

"I found her like that." He said simply. "Alone in one of the libraries. On the floor."

Rikei turned the knob and started to open the door, saying one more word as he left.

"Crying." 3

Hiei had hefted Shikiyoku from Rikei with relative ease, sending his own presence through the bond by way of saying he was no intruder she need worry about. He turned his eyes to her face, which she promptly hid against his collarbone when she tightly wrapped her arms around his neck. He turned towards the bedroom, his own thoughts accompanied by the little voice from the Jagan almost blocking out his ability to catch what the scientist said over his shoulder.

Which had Hiei pausing only briefly before continuing about his way, nudging the bedroom door shut in tandem with the closing of the front door.

He wasted no time in positioning himself cross-legged on the bed, Shikiyoku on his lap and his arms supporting her weight.

_(What's happened?)_

His question was mild, only meant to be answered if she could do so, which he almost expected her _not_ to do.

And if she didn't answer, that was okay too.

_**~!**!~**_

Several more hours had passed, and only two of the eight were awake, one of them being Akari, the other being Makko, the demon best fit for fighting almost any threat that came about, and the only demon who preferred the night over the day. Perhaps that had something to do with his overly-round eyes and his striped tail.

She heard him sniff a little at the air.

And for the first time in days, he spoke.

"This.. _priority _that your friend keeps mentioning… is it really worth risking your life for?"

Akari blinked once at the pile of ash she was trying to bring back to life, the fire having died sometime when she'd fallen into an uneasy sleep. She looked up at the pointed nosed demon whose whiskers twitched in mild curiosity.

And for a while,they only stared at one another.

"Are your beliefs worth dying for?" She countered, turning back down to the rocks in her hands that she struck together again. "For Yomi?"

"I don't quite see the appeal in presiding over every layer, every demon alive."

"And you're still going along with this… why?"

"Your pack was slaughtered. My family was taken from me. It's the same story for many others."

"To be fair, the pack was taken by a disease." Akari countered, suppressing a yawn as she struck the rocks together one last time, causing a spark to catch against the wood and leaves.

A few minutes went by.

"You never answered my question."

Akari sat back, hands close to the flames that danced on the wind. "Indeed."

The other demon huffed, seemingly unsure if that was an answer to his question or simply an acknowledgement of her dismissal.

"Aka, _shhhh. _Your voice carries."

Akari glanced down at the hand that pat at her leg, then at Manami, who had rolled over in her sleep.

"You don't think the king wouldn't be aware of your leave, do you?" The other probed again, in a quieter voice.

AKari met the gaze on her, and for the first time in a long while, _smiled_. "I wouldn't bet against it, honestly." That smile disappeared quickly. _I'm betting on his reliance on Kurama. The king wouldn't do away with such an asset because of one renegade demon._

_And I'll bet on that til I die. __*****_

~!**!~

There had not been a single coherent thought, at least not one with any semblance of sentence structure, pass over Shikiyoku's mind since her encounter with whatever Douji had been in that library on the other side of the fortress.

A mild awareness of Rikei picking her up before she fell back beneath the sorrow, and a second time of the demon leaving her, but being pulled away by another set of hands.

The fact that it was Hiei, her Consort, did little to brush away the heavily clouded state of her mind.

She did little in the way of movement as Hiei left the couch towards their bedroom, save burying her face in his neck when she sensed him wanting to look her in the face.

But there was no stopping the tears.

Any other time and she might have thought she would have run out of tears, heaving dry sobs instead.

Not so.

Somewhere off in a distant place in her mind, Shikiyoku did in fact hear Hiei's question from where it floated across their deeply embedded connection.

The only sense she could make from it though was that it hurt too much to consider the answer, and something inside of her pulled away from their bond, where her shaken mind might accidentally overflow between them.

Because while she could do little else from within her darkened thoughts, she still remembered somewhere how he hadn't known what to do with her, and she still did not wish that upon him no matter what her circumstances. 3

Hiei sat on the bed for a good while, acutely aware of the withdrawal from her end and the lack of answer. And at the same time, how the heaviness seemed to get worse, the darkness growing darker, creating a storm just beyond the bond that he knew she was trying to keep from him.

Why, he didn't understand.

But the Jagan did pipe up again, and it took a lot of restraint to not let his irritation with that odd turn of events seep into the calm he was trying to keep within the bond. The reassurance meant for her.

So he let one hand move of its own accord, moving up to the back of her head and slowly stroking down to the ends of her hair as he felt the fabric of his cloak become wet in places where he knew her tears were falling.

_I don't like it.*_

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


	121. Episode 205

**A/N: **Hello once again for the last time in this short amount of time, Audience!

So, I was planning on posting one more time this 'week' to make up for the fact that I missed a day because life, but more life is about to happen this week. That is, I'm going to be especially busy the rest of this week and will not have time to get another chapter out to you.

My schedule will become exceptionally more clear after this upcoming Saturday, and I will at least make my best effort to post another chapter next Monday, and hopefully the second chapter that I still owe you the next day. After that, I will be planning on going to the once-per-week schedule as intended.

In other news, I don't have a note on it in the symbols guide below since I don't think it's come up so far, and if it has the occasions are few and far between, but there is a portion in this chapter where Mukuro is conversing with the Artificial Intelligence of the Mobile Fortress itself, to put it simply. The AI's dialogue is unique in that it is in italics, but has a hyphen at the end of it. Similar to how we have used a tilde in the past after italics to indicate the All-Fire "speaking," the AI doesn't so much speak in words exactly, and it's only because of Mukuro's close ties to it that she is able to translate the resulting code of information the AI feeds her into a sort of sentience that no one else would likely be able to understand.

Ciao for now!~

**Symbols Guide:**

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei

3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Shikiyoku and Youko/Kurama

~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

_As_ _a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts._

Unless it's used in a sentence like _this_, which merely indicates emphasis.

_(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei becomes Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the '__thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot be picked up by telepathy.)_

_"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."_

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!**

Akari has started her own king-mandated task  
of bringing back layer-walkers to supplement the army,  
spending the time threatening those she chased  
with death should they not come back with her.

Kurama remains Akari's main source of incentive,  
the female worried what might happen to him  
should she fail to do her job.

Yomi continues to send her out into the field,  
though after two missions of one demon only,  
this time informing her there were five  
and a sixth she was to kill,  
stating she should not return until finished.

The first, named Aiko, reminds her of herself,  
and she's stuck with the talkative lad  
while going after the rest.

She sends Aiko back to Yomi when the two  
of them end up running into a Crusnik,  
trying to distract the Crusnik into chasing her  
and ending up running for her own life.

Back at Yomi's compound,  
Aiko is found to be within Kurama's care,  
distracting the other demons that are  
supposed to be training by telling them  
the story of the strange demon  
that had been chasing him and Akari.

Kurama interrupts the conversation  
by informing Aiko that what he saw was a Crusnik,  
a demon that feeds upon other demons.

When Aiko demands to know how to fight one,  
Kurama insists the only thing to do is run,  
and failing that, run faster.

Aiko seems disheartened when Kurama  
informs him you can't fight back with energy  
for it only makes them stronger,  
and asks Kurama what can he do if not fight.

Kurama tells him to come out of the corner,  
join the others,  
and find out.

Elsewhere, Akari uses the realm of shadows  
as a last resort to try and escape,  
finding herself spit out on a mountainside.

Bereft of energy, she collapses unconscious.

~!**!~

Having found out that the Crusnik  
is controlling her even outside of her pain form,  
Shikiyoku attempts to thwart them  
by writing down the formulas minus  
the portions the Crusnik is making her insert,  
only to find that she is incapable of doing so.

Irritated with herself,  
Shikiyoku grabs for Hiei and silently leaves the labs,  
her Consort taking her hand instead  
in an attempt to comfort her with his touch.

As they pause elsewhere in the Mobile Fortress,  
Shikiyoku tells Hiei the scientists think the Crusnik  
are more like nanites than a virus,  
with a more specific directive within them  
than simple replication like a virus might have.

While the lab monkeys don't know that directive,  
Shikiyoku claims that the Crusnik are meant  
to keep the demonic race in check,  
that almost all demons have them within their energy,  
and when demonic numbers grow too great,  
it is the Crusnik's purpose to activate  
and cull those necessary to restore balance.

Unhappy with her distress,  
and the darkness in her eyes,  
Hiei kisses her and desires her change,  
triggering Shikiyoku's return to her true form,  
and then picking her up to take her back  
to their rooms, knowing her energy is still depleted  
from her earlier dance.

He sits on the couch with Shikiyoku's head in his lap,  
telling her that she still hasn't kissed him correctly,  
a sure sign her energy still resides within his body.

In the conversation following,  
where Shikiyoku warns him he shouldn't tell  
her things like that,  
she ends up tickling him when talk turns  
to him not laughing enough.

Shikiyoku makes a side-note to herself  
that the items she had placed on the table-  
Douji's bracelet and Taka's feathers-  
are no longer there.

Enjoying their companionship,  
the two eat 'sweet snow' together,  
with strawberries provide by Shikiyoku,  
and eventually Shikiyoku feels the labs calling to her.

Hiei asks if a kiss will make it better,

and Shikiyoku leaves him before answering...

* * *

This time, when Akari woke, there was light and sound all around. She shifted in the dirt and rolled to her opposite side, eyes staying closed as she registered the sound of the others moving around a little, preparing to keep moving as always.

She didn't want to get up. She could feel the lack of sleep down to her bones.

The thought that got her _up _and moving, however, was that of the Crusnik that they'd outrun the day before. Demons who were capable of tracking, just as well as Manami was.

She was sitting up in the next instant, heaving a sigh and glancing at the pile of ashes nearby, then up to the bustling group as they gathered their various weapons and belongings.

Manami chattering as always, Rowena chattering right along with her, and the others piping in whenever they wanted and generally acting like… well, like a functional _pack_.

"Manami," Akari piped suddenly, earning a slight jump from the female that whipped around, obviously not having known Akari had woken. "How's Mother?"

Manami blinked, then seemed to take on a faraway look. Her eyes glazed over and looked upwards as if recalling a memory. A nose twitch, an ear flick. After a moment, she blinked back to awareness with a smile. "Still behind her protective barrier, as she assured she would be. Her and the last ones from the pack are still strong."

"Good."

Akari pushed herself to stand and began to kick around the ashes, mixing the evidence of her fire with the dark soil beneath, erasing the mark of her presence easily. _Just in case. _

She turned and began her routine glance around the group, circling the seven others discreetly as they hefted their bags over their shoulders and chattered good-naturedly.

At least, until one of them turned to her with a curious brow. Hito's dark eyes stared at her, as if waiting for something or another.

"What?" Akari finally grumbled. "Can't a demon get reassurance of her surroundings?"

"What's she talking about?" Hito demanded, jerking a thumb at Manami, who stood nearby with a very small, sheepish smile. "About you not actually fighting with Yomi?"

Akari's brows rose and she glanced at Manami with a look that read '_seriously?'_

"I told you when you joined the group that I was _not_ an advocate for the king." She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight. "What do you not understand?"

"Why we are recruited?"

Akari released a small breath that was almost enough to be a laugh. And she spoke before Manami had a chance to say anything. "I never had the intention of asking you all to _die_ for a king who only uses his subjects as pawns. If that is the impression you received, I apologize. I just hadn't completely figured out how to tell you what I wanted to do yet. Also, I was making sure you all are able to keep up, especially with the Crusnik."

"I think we've proved our worth," Rowena spoke, earning nods from the others.

Manami opened her mouth, but akari's finger paused her. "I've been meaning to ask of you all to utilize your skills with the layers to help thin out the crowd when the fight brews. I and a few others have been chalking out a plan of tossing out troops from the Ninth layer and into the other layers, preferably as far from the fight as possible, to ensure that this _war_ come to a conclusive end with as minimal casualties as possible."

"Wouldn't that be putting _our_ lives on the line, when the kings find out our treason?"

"Not if they're too preoccupied with each other."

Manami held her hand up, and Akari was about to nod at her when Allys spoke up.

"And how did you get Yomi's approval to be out here in the first place?"

Akari gave a small sigh and turned to the dark-skinned female. "I was tossed out here with the intentions of recruiting for Yomi's cause, and ended up chased by a layer-running Crusnik demon. After landing myself in a cave with a narrow escape, I decided to do this myself. It isn't likely I'd be much of a threat to the king anyway, aside from the loyalty of one other, who isn't allowed to leave anyway."

"Your Priority that the dog keeps talking about?"

Akari smiled. "Perhaps. But that's beside the point."

"So you're asking us to join you in thinning the fighting crowd?"

Akari nodded.

And not a single one of them seemed phased by the request. _*****_

~!**!~

The Wind Master's ears twitched as he smiled a toothy grin down at nothing in particular.

The air swirled pleasantly around him like a long lost friend as he soared over the land, high enough that little below him had keen enough sight to spot him, much less make out who it was that flew above them.

Not to mention the fact that he was hiding himself within the jet stream itself.

He had the wind below him breezing along the surface as such a pocket of air might do, but unlike a normal wind, this one was searching for one little demon in particular.

Of course, when it found that demon, it also found _several _others, which Jin couldn't decide if he had been expecting or not.

More notable than the group _around _the lass, Jin took special note of one _not _around her. Specifically one the wind seemed to associate with a staleness that Jin knew meant the fellow was up to no good.

Landing as stealthy as the wind allowed one such as Jin, and taking care to remain unnoticed, Jin waved his hands and wiggled his fingers in a particular pattern that after which one second had the lurking demon peering at the other group, obviously trying to hear as much as he possibly could, and the next second had him flung mightly by the wind in an upwards direction, somewhere far behind Jin which had the Master immediately dismissing him as he knew the wind would have whatever fun it wanted with its newest acquisition before dropping him from a height no such demon would survive.

Composing himself, and knowing the surge of energy likely already altered the group in front of him of his presence, Jin allowed his face to turn grim as his own ears heard the topic of conversation while he began to approach openly.

And his somber expression did not change.

~!**!~

The intermittent sobs that punctured Shikiyoku's otherwise quiet crying did actually cease after a short time, her arms finally moving up from where they had been hanging limply down her sides to encircle Hiei's neck.

The flow of her tears lessened as she closed her eyes and let her senses take in her surroundings: Hiei's hand stroking through her hair, his other arm holding her firmly in his lap, the feeling of her forehead pressed up against his neck. His scent, the fiery cinnamon mixing with the cool cloves as she managed to take a breath without her lungs filling shakily.

But Douji's voice continued to echo in her mind, throwing accusations at her that reminded her of the carnage of the Northern Tribe, and of her closest friends dying by her own hands. 3

Hiei noted the very slight change in Shikiyoku, but knew it wasn't enough. The turmoil was still there. And quite honestly, a part of Hiei didn't know what to do. The Jagan, however, had plenty of ideas. And it was _very _distracting.

In fact, it kept insisting of one thing here and there, more so than the rest.

And actually, it had him thinking of the time he'd woken up to rambunctious laughter in the house on the first layer. Youko had been involved, and though Hiei didn't understand what had been going on, he distinctly remembered there being tension from her the hours before.

Which had been dissolved.

Perhaps the Jagan didn't have such a bad idea after all.

So, he tested it with a simple prod to Shiki's side.

_**~!**!~**_

There was silence for a moment while Akari glanced around the group, realizing after a minute that the hairs on the back of her neck were on end and that Manami's ears kept twitching back.

And said female's lips twitched as if to open, but did not do so.

Which is what had Akari's eyes turning to the forestry behind the girl, keenly aware of the sudden silence in the area. Silence that hadn't been disturbed before. Silence only disturbed by a breeze.

"I find it odd that you trust a group of strangers with your life. Telling us this plan with confidence that we won't tell the king the moment we step on his premises." Hito commented, breaking the silence, but not Akari's gaze from the trees.

"Well, to be honest, I was prepared to drop you into a shadow if I thought you'd so much as threaten what I have to protect." Akari said in a low voice. "And I assure you that you wouldn't return."

Manami made a sound.

And then an energy filled the area, a wind blowing leaves and grass wildly about very briefly. Her eyes widened only a little before she relaxed.

The others, however, were quick to take a stance meant for fighting.

Akari took three long steps forward, towards the demon she could now hear coming her way, the redhead stepping into her view with an odd expression on his face. Akari took to standing in front of the wind master, staring at him.

"I was wondering how long it would be before you were sent after me." _*****_

Jin nodded slightly at Akari's statement before tilting his head in the direction he came.

"Took care ah him for yah." He wouldn't quite meet Akari's eyes, moving his tongue around in his mouth as if he couldn't get the words he wanted to say to come together like he wanted. "He heard your little story there."

~!**!~

While a squeak didn't exactly sound as her side twitched away from Hiei's poking finger, an almost silent breath of air left her nose and Shikiyoku made a light, low noise of protest that grumbled somewhere in her chest causing her eyes to come open for a second as she blinked, unsure of what had just happened, before her lids came closed again. 3

Hiei's brows raised very slightly at the reaction he received, but cringed very slightly in the next moment at the amount of noise from the Jagan in his head that erupted in the next instant. And it was a few good long minutes before his mind was in silence.

And once Hiei had recovered from the onslaught of suggestions from the third eye, Hiei did indeed prod her again.

Several times.

And didn't stop.

_**~!**!~**_

Akari's eyes followed the direction Jin had nodded, before turning back to the others when she heard movement behind her. Manami stepped to her side, eyes filled with confusion and curiosity. Allys and Rowena eyed the redhead with wary eyes, and Hito, Makko, Haku, and Hana were all in defensive stances, weapons in hand. Akari gestured with a hand to lower their weapons before turning back to Jin.

"Thank you." She did not smile, though she thought it would have gotten her appreciation across better. She simply couldn't find it within herself to do so. "What's the word with Yomi?" She wasn't sure if he was avoiding saying something, or simply unsure of how to say it. So she carried conversation with questions that had been circling her mind for weeks. _*****_

At her mention of the blind demon, Jin appeared to resist a flinch, unable this time to hide how he refused to look at Akari directly.

"You...probably shouldn't worry about goin' back, lass." Where Jin normally spoke in an upbeat manner that few could follow, his words seemed more measured, almost cautious. "...there's nothing there for you now."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku didn't even realize that the moments following Hiei's original poke were the proverbial calm before the storm.

So as it was, she simply sat there in the silence, unable to do or feel much of anything except for the overpowering grey of depression.

At Hiei prodding her again, Shikiyoku's body jerked as before and finally her eyebrows frowned over her face.

_Stop it._

As he continued to poke at her, Shikiyoku could feel her teeth clenching together, though whether in irritation or amusement she had yet to decide, but she finally let out a quiet little growl as she dropped one of her hands from around his neck to bat at his own hand, trying to get him to stop or at least dissuade him from continuing.

When that did nothing, she finally pulled away from his neck just enough to see his arm as it moved around and sought out her twitching side.

With the hand that had been trying to wave him away, Shikiyoku attempted to grab for his wrist instead, frowning deeply and managing to make the one word she grumbled into two full syllables.

"Staah-aahp." 3

The twitching of the body on his lap was rather… amusing, despite the reason that called for such action. His expression, however, remained as passive as usual, his eyes looking down at her in a calm manner even as she pulled away and batted at his hand, even trying to grab at it.

Which he eluded, by the way. All it took was a flick of his wrist and it was free again, what with his lifetime of swordsmanship on his side.

And he prodded some more.

All the while looking at her with an expression that read '_I didn't catch that'._

_**~!**!~**_

Akari's brows raised. "I never intended to actually go back," she informed calmly, eyeing Jin with scrutiny that searched for meaning behind his words. Words that he continued with that sounded almost like…

She wasn't sure yet.

She scrunched her nose at him and was about to speak when Manami took a step closer, ears going backwards on her head and tail tucking closer to her backside, eyes on the windmaster.

And she just didn't get what was going on. _*****_

Jin initially opened his mouth as if to reply to Akari's admission, but appeared to be unable to decide how to respond and let his lips shut again.

His eyes briefly flicked over to the other dog demon who moved forward, but quickly returned to that spot on the ground a little beyond Akari at which he had found himself staring.

"I...be supposing that's good, then."

~!**!~

Her next word actually had the two syllables in it.

"Hi-ei." She protested again, frowning further as he manage to cause a quick huff of air to leave her lips.

She rested the side of her head on his shoulder so she could keep trying of his movements, still trying to find some sort of solace in his closeness but being unsuccessful as he continued tickling her and she continued half-heartedly trying to stop him. 3

Hiei raised a brow higher at the pronunciation of his name, but his fingers never even paused. He knew she was trying to hide, but quite frankly, he didn't think she needed to lay around for several days- even weeks depending on what had happened.

Because whatever had happened, she didn't deserve it.

And he wasn't going to let her mope.

So his fingers prodded some more, faster and skittering in different directions now.

_(Yes?)_

_**~!**!~**_

The dead silence in the area was almost deafening to Akari as she tried to comprehend what it was Jin was _not_ saying. Or saying. Whatever. She didn't seem able to fathom whatever it was, what with his lips pursing together and his eyes moving away from her like that.

And the silence grew on, not a single creature in the area even so much as shifting its weight.

She didn't know what made it click, really, but Akari blinked once.

And then again.

And her expression shifted. A pit hit her stomach and she felt as if her heart sunk to her gut.

"But he was an _asset._" The words came out barely more than a whisper, a breath that somehow became words. Words that seemed to echo in her mind, resonate within her core and accompanied with the mental image of the redheaded fox strung up in a tree, hardly breathing and covered only in his own blood.

She wasn't sure when Manami had pulled her into a hug, but she couldn't find the mental capacity to _tell _her limbs to move, to accept the gesture.

Not when the only words she could hear were in her head, accusatory, and aimed at herself. _*****_

Jin swallowed uncomfortably, turning his face away his time and feeling the bottom-most tips of his bangs shadowing his eyes a little.

"I...I asked Yomi to send me out. I think he knows that I was comin' tah look for yah." Jin murmured, "I just...I didn't want you to hear it from anyone else, yah know?"

~!**!~

There was an internal battle going on away from the bond: at one side of it Shikiyoku's amusement headed by the feeling of the tickling and at the other her irritation at him for doing so.

For a moment, the irritation flared outwards when she felt his inquiry float across the bond. She avoided responding in kind, afraid that if she did more would cross the bond to him than she was willing to allow.

"Stop it, flame-boy." Shikiyoku finally growled through clenched teeth as she batted Hiei's hand away for another time, starting to shift around to get free of his lap and away from his hands. 3

Hiei paused when she growled at him, his hand falling to the side briefly as he stared at her. After a few seconds, he blinked once and then began to lean forward, eyes closing and head moving for her shoulder.

And were it not for the _loud_ remarks ringing in his mind, he wouldn't have _missed_ and stuck his nose against her neck. _Oh well._

_(I apologize.) _He released a breath. _(We can nap…)_

His hands, however, both took to suddenly prodding at her again, his lips twitching in amusement.

_(If you survive another round.)_

_**~!**!~**_

Akari stared straight ahead, not really seeing Jin or hearing his words. The pit in her stomach only grew, and with that pit came a sense of horror, and… loss. Confusion. _He was Yomi's largest asset. _

_I'm not worth the fox's life. _

Akari blinked one more time, and this time she actually registered the sting of her eyes as that which indicated tears- how long had she been crying? Wait, how long had she been standing there?

Manami's hug got tighter, and all Akari could do was turn her face down into Manami's shoulder.

Because for the first time in a long time, she hadn't a clue of what to do with herself. All her motivation was simply… gone. Replaced by tears, disbelief, and the simple thought of doing absolutely _nothing_.

Actually, if Manami hadn't been holding her, Akari wouldn't have stayed standing. _*****_

Jin's stomach tightened again, but it had nothing to do with the supposed remorse of the foxy fellow losing his life.

He was trying not to laugh.

To be honest, he was proud of himself for having not smiled for the amount of time he had been standing there, though he had specifically needed to stop his ears just as they had been about to twitch.

_Being miserable is hard._

A puff of air escaped his lips when Akari turned towards the other doggie, a snicker that he couldn't quite dispel.

He figured the glare from that other doggie meant she thought he was laughing at the high-pitched whining noise that had started intermittently voicing out of Akari's throat.

It was in fact unrelated. The sound was rather pitiful really, nothing to make fun of.

It was just that...her face...when he-

Another puff of air and Jin's shoulders shook once until the image of Akari's initial reaction danced through his mind again.

"_...an asset."_

At her pronouncement of Kurama's so-called standing with Yomi, Jin finally threw his head back and laughed, first putting his hands on his hips, but then actually floating a few inches off of the ground as he wrapped his arms around his stomach when it began to hurt.

"Oh-ho! You shoulda seen yah face, doggie! _An asset. _Ah-ha!" He mimicked Akari's tone, but lost it again quickly thereafter, "Is that all Kurama is to Yomi? Oo-hoo, wait until he hears about how he's only _an asset_! That outta whip the poor ole foxy into shape! He's been such a sour-puss since you left! Hee-that is, sour-_fox._"

Jin's typical pattern of speech had returned, and while his words were broken up by hoots and hollers of mirth, they spilled out faster from his lips than any he had been using up to that point.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku almost felt surprised that Hiei let her go as easily as he did, and she scooted once away from him, just far enough that she would see and hopefully block his next attempt at tickling her.

Her hands, which were behind her and holding her up, flexed onto the blanket in preparation for another assault when Hiei leaned towards her.

Instead of more tickling, Shikiyoku's eyes widened when she found herself with his face suddenly stuck in the crook of her neck, his touch causing a body-wide flush that she could feel reddening her cheeks as she froze in place as if stunned.

In a knee-jerk sort of reaction, Shikiyoku actively examined the bond, half-wondering if he was still drunk, but just as she found that he no longer _buzzed _back at her when she check, his words permeated her mind and her muscles felt as if they tensed further.

She didn't quite expect him to continue, and so he managed to get a small squeak of surprise when he began tickling her once more, her arms giving out underneath her as she tried to reach for his wrists and only ending up landing on her back on top of the bed with a small poof of sound.

"S-" Her abdomen tightened, irritation starting to melt away into laughter as she struggled to get him to quit, "S-Stop it!"

As best she could, she began trying to scoot further away from him and his offending prodding. 3

Hiei _almost_ fell with her, _almost_ lost his own balance when Shikiyoku fell back onto the comforter of the bed. He did, however, catch himself just in time to continue his little assault on her rib cage and hips, searching for the most sensitive of spots and aiming for those.

_(I see no valid reason to stop.)_

_**~!**!~**_

The sound that suddenly filled the air was foreign, something Akari couldn't really understand. Really, she didn't even seem to register it.

Manami, on the other hand, had turned a dark glare onto the redheaded, one-horned demon who had huffed. Not once, but _twice._

And then he had the _gall _to laugh. Obviously, Manami put two and two together, and while Akari _did _seem to quiet, the shorter female didn't think her friend had actually _registered_ the situation at hand.

And the tension in the air was thick, the whole group seeming to find disgust in the little trick played here. Perhaps it was for their own reasons, since none of them really knew Akari like Manami did, but it didn't really matter since literal sparks flung here and there in the air.

And it was likely a good thing Manami was no fighter, and had no special prowess that could even _hint_ at such a thing.

Because she'd kill this one if she had the ability to do so.

"You think you're funny?" the girl growled, though she never stepped away from her friend. "Those who think death is a _joke_ deserves to be sent there themselves."

It was at that moment Manami realized Akari had gone silent, that the shaking of her friend's shoulders had stopped.

And she hoped like hell the girl had enough energy to send the wind demon into a pit. _*****_

Jin may have heard the other doggie, but the status of the most infamous kitsune thief being reduced to a mere _asset _kept drawing more giggles out of him even as he crossed his legs and floated about waist-height off the ground.

"Ah, hee hee, your kind be separatin' themselves, ha, from death so?" Jin said it as if he had heard of such a thing before, "The farther one stays away, the harder it is." He lost himself in another fit of snickers as he managed to get out, "'An _asset_,'" laughing heartily at the word and unaware that to someone who did not know the way of he and the other Masters and their pupils, he likely sounded rather heartless given the circumstances.

~!**!~

"Other than me-" Shikiyoku's words got cut off as she finally released a bark of laughter before scurrying backwards away from him, only barely managing to stop before she scuttled herself right off the edge of the bed.

She sat propped up like she had been a moment ago, breath just starting to become faster than normal as she eyed him, fighting against glaring at him for the moment. 3

Hiei continued to poke and prod, his speed ever increasing when he became sure of some of the more sensitive prodding areas.

_(I didn't catch that.)_

~!**!~

Akari had gone silent sometime in the middle of Jin's laughter, her brain telling her to shut up and pay attention. And, as time wore on, she realized she'd been _played_. _As if this was a game. _

And while Manami did speak up on her behalf, Akari didn't find it.. adequate for how she felt on the matter. Actually, she felt a lot of things, most of which she didn't understand.

Though anger was the _top_ contender.

And it very quickly grew to white-hot rage. Rage that produced a few more tears and a low, reverberating sound in her chest. A sound that had Manami's arms releasing her just as Akaris head lifted to glare at the wind master, who repeated a word that she'd said.

Which caused another emotion to rise, another on the list she didn't understand.

Which seemed to fuel that rage.

"The last two letters of that word being removed would be what I'd call _you_." A snarl accompanied every single word, every single syllable. And if there'd ever been any indication of the darkness she'd been struggling with over the past few months, it could very easily be seen in her eyes- though somehow, she didn't black out from it this time.

No, she'd rather _remember_ this one.

"You-" She couldn't think. "You-"

Nothing came to mind.

So she launched at him instead, fists flying and a very loud snarl filling the silence of the area quite nicely.

None of the others seemed to want to step in. _*****_

Akari's reaction sent Jin into further gales of laughter as she barreled for him without any sense of finesse or subtlety.

He let her attacks force him backwards in the air as he blocked them.

"Add an 'l' to the front of it and that's what I'd call _you_!" He crowed happily as her punches connected solidly with his arms as he refrained from deflecting them and simply let them hit.

~!**!~

"I-"

"You-"

Every time she tried to speak aloud, Hiei would earn himself another twitch until finally Shikiyoku phased between the layers and stepped away from the bed, ending up with her back against the closed door of their bedroom and breathing more heavily than before.

"Stop it." 3

Hiei paused to let his eyes follow the blur of the female that disappeared between the layers. He blinked once at her, as if asking '_what are you doing over there?'_

And for a moment, he righted himself on the bed, rocking from his knees to his rear until he sat, watching her.

He'd heard laughter.

She _appeared_ serious.

But she'd _laughed. _

It was… working?

His lips twitched upwards at one corner, creating a lopsided little sneer. And instead of verbally responding, he decided to do as the Jagan suggested.

Which was to _follow _her, with every intention of getting hold of her sides again.

~!**!~

AKari growled and snarled as she continued to hit Jin over and over again, knowing that while he was blocking them, he was indeed taking the hits, and letting her push him just as far as she wanted him to go.

If he hadn't been on _air_, she would have lead him to the nearest pond of acid.

Probably.

Highly likely.

"That _wasn't funny_!" She spat out, each word punctuated with a strike. And while she did go on with reasons as to why it wasn't funny in the least, she didn't seem to realize all of those reasons pertained to _her. _Reasons why _she_ didn't want him dead.

Which included, but was not limited to, the simple statement of: "I need that _stupid fox_!" _*****_

While he may have been letting her push him around, the wind was completely aware of Jin's positioning and he shifted his trajectory so that he wouldn't end up pinned against the nearest tree, or any other tree for that matter.

The fact that Akari seemed to think it was so _not _funny just appeared to make Jin laugh harder as she continued delivering punches that he kept blocking.

~!**!~

Something in his face, his expression, made Shikiyoku nearly flinch, but instead it lead to her phasing inbetween the layers of the fortress again, stepping backwards to that she would end up in the other room and taking a few more steps as she landed back on the floor so that she could watch and see if he actually intended to come after her.

She didn't think she could take anymore tickling without turning into a puddle of uselessness, subjected to laughing until it hurt and then probably laughing more. 3

Hiei knew the exact moment that Shikiyoku wanted to phase through the layers, to test the waters. How? Simple: The Jagan. The loud, chattering, encouraging third eye that had been rambling non-stop since he'd accessed it earlier that day was somehow giving him insight to what Shiki _wanted_.

And it made it that much easier for him to follow after her without a beat's hesitation, remaining between the layers and moving through the door, towards Shikiyoku when she was in his line of sight again.

Because _dammit_, she was going to be happy.

_**~!**!~**_

There was no telling how long Akari went at the useless task of _punching_ at the wind master, who only continued to laugh with each new reason she gave and avoid the strikes she _wanted_ to land the most.

But after an uncertain amount of time, she felt worn out, her muscles beginning to hurt and her motivation dimming enough that she came to a standstill, her arms falling to her sides and her head falling forward, eyes on the ground.

_That wasn't funny._

_I hate you._

"Go tell him I'm fine, and that nothing's changed with the plan aside from how I'll get there." Her tone was vastly different from before, changing from snarling anger to simple exhaustion. _I need a nap. _"Tell him if something happens, I'll find him. Otherwise, don't worry. I've got good help."

She lifted her head after a moment and gave a sigh.

"Don't expect any kind of payment for killing Yomi's guy after this. Your _laugh_ should be enough."

With that, she turned and began her trek back to the group. _*****_

Jin made no hesitation in following after Akari as she stalked away, the wind flowing through his hair as he flew next to her and did try to catch her eye, starting to speak in his usual fast lilt.

"Actually lass, it might'n be so bad an idea that you check in with that Yomi fellow. I mean, not to say that we weren't all a tad worried aboutcha, but-" Here he reached up and scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck, giving her a bit of a grin, "And I know he would never tell yah, he hasn' tol' anyone, but things'a been hard for the fox since you left. Yomi's done everythin' to 'im _but _physically tortured and killed him. And I'm sorry for the bad joke, but mebbe it was my way of coping abou' it, after all Kurama mi' be better _off _dead wi' the way things'a been. He's the one who's had the worst of it ever since yah didn' come back. I know the mind games a' be somethin' the fox is good at, mebbe likes 'em even, but there's only so much a fella can take before it starts to wear on 'im says I. A' this poin', even _Chu _has noticed. Been tryna get Kurama to drink somethin' whenever he sees him, bu' tha's the thing too, we don' even see him a' tha' much anymore." Jin took a quick breath to finish, "I ain' never seen him with circles under his eyes, always looks so put-together, yeah? Bu' he's nearly got 'em now. An' the longer it is, the worse it gets, thata much I knows for sure."

Jin gave a little sigh and actually looked a trifle upset at remembering.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes widened substantially as soon as she caught sight of Hiei's blurred figure coming at her from the other room.

Part of her had thought perhaps he would give in to her demands.

With the speed at which he shot for her, that part dried up and disappeared.

An 'ack' sort of noise escaped Shikiyoku's throat as she took a couple of backpedaling steps, saw that he wasn't going to stop, and then swirled inbetween the layers again, dashing off into the hallway and picking a direction in which to run, wondering if she might be able to seek refuge in the labs. 3

Hiei felt a sense of accomplishment from the reaction he'd received when Shikiyoku had seen him phase through the door and run toward her. It reassured him that perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea after all. That maybe he was doing this _right_.

So when she did turn and begin to run in a specific direction, his speed became quicker, getting a little closer to her, but not quite getting close enough to catch her.

Yet.

Though, when he realized where she was going, he did disappear from behind her, utilizing his great speed, and reappeared ahead of her with an expression that said she was making it too easy for him to predict where she was going.

Though there _was_ a certain gleam to his ruby eyes.

_**~!**!~**_

Akari ran a hand over her face the second she became aware of Jin following her, even so much as catching up to her and trying to get her attention. Which she ignored by keeping her eyes pointed forward.

_You wear me out._

A sigh ghosted past her lips as her hand fell to her side again, her ears hearing Jin's voice, but not really deciphering the words he spoke. Though she _did _make an effort to actually _hear _what he was saying.

She was pretty sure she had only begun to understand halfway through his tirade, because _mind games_ was the first thing she understood, which had her almost bristling. _Faking death isn't __**mind games**__. It's cruelty. _

Though, after the wind master went silent, Akari _did _replay what he'd said back to herself in her head, deciding that _understanding _what he had been saying was likely better than _assuming_ what he'd been meaning.

Which lead to another sigh. And a little bit of a pit in her stomach again.

_It hasn't been easy on me either, Jin._

"You realize if I go back, Yomi won't let me out of his sights, right?" She said after a moment, finally turning her eyes to look at Jin. "Meaning the plan would be really hard to keep from him at that point." She turned on the windmaster, stopping in front of him and crossing her arms over her chest. "I think Kurama could deal with the separation like this better than if I were under Yomi's thumb every second of the day."

Another pause that was given to a sigh.

"If you want, tell Yomi I was in an area surrounded by Crusnik, in an area too risky to maneuver and with very little ability to move. I can tell Kurama I'm fine."

She turned to walk away from him again, her hand finding her pocket and her fingers finding the seed she'd kept on her person. She'd been afraid she'd lose it, afraid that she'd drop it during an escape from a Crusnik or during a fight of some kind.

And she'd also been unsure if activating it was a good idea.

But she did so now, turning the seed into a rose that she carried at her side. And finally, she had an idea of what she'd do with it.

Her pace picked up a little, now filled with a sense of direction. _*****_

Jin blinked after Akari for a second, unsure why the female felt so strongly about this 'plan' that wasn't really much of anything. The only actual plan he knew of was making sure to find Yusuke once the fighting started. That's all that mattered.

What would throwing a few troops around be if Yusuke fired off one of his Spirit Gun attacks in their direction simply because they hadn't been quick enough to seek him out and get on _his _side?

Jin didn't exactly want to be on the receiving end of one of those.

He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

"I don't think the girl understands, yeah?"

The wind rustled around his floating form comfortingly.

"Kurama's in trouble because'a her and all for some plan that won't be all that important if you get right down to it, says I."

He pursed his lips.

"I didn't come here because of Yomi, yah know." Jin shouted after her, moving forward enough that she could hear him. "He'd just a' soon you don' come back so he can validate his torture 'ah Kurama."

Jin sighed, but made no more move to follow her.

"Kurama's changed, lass." He murmured to himself. "If you don' come back soon, there won't be anythin' left of him that you knew to return to, says I."

Another sigh and Jin lifted into the air, loathe to return to Kurama without Akari as it meant more trouble for the fox, but if she didn't want to come back that was on her hands, not his.

"I waddn't kiddin' when I said he'd be better off dead." Jin wasn't exactly talking to the winds that rushed past him as he shot off in the direction of Yomi's lands, beginning to phase between the layers in the meantime, but he was speaking out loud anyway. "Between Yomi and Youko, that boy is barely human now. Talks like Youko. Acts like 'im too. I bet his own mother wouldn't recognize 'im if not for that red hair."

~!**!~

It wasn't as if she sincerely thought either Rikei or Iketeru would help her. It's just that the labs were the first place that came to her mind after her and Hiei's rooms as a location in the fortress.

In the end, it didn't matter much anyway as Hiei thoroughly surprised her by zipping past and forcing her to veer off in another direction.

While she could feel his intent to cut her off just before he did so, the fact that he knew which direction she planned on heading seemed rather suspicious for the moment in which it took her to cut a quick right and dash off in the new path, though the thought left her moments after it occurred.

He also appeared rather self-satisfied about _something_, though she couldn't quite put a finger on what exactly.

The speed at which he passed her did well enough to remind her of how much slower she was than Hiei, and the thought made her heart skip a beat in either terror or anticipation as she knew just exactly what he planned on doing when he caught her.

That much he was broadcasting clearly.

_Cheeky little beast._

Even as she set her teeth and sped up to her fastest, the thought was said with quite a bit more affection than the nomenclature might imply.

Just as she made another turn, the fortress blurrier than even just being between the layers at the speed with which she traveled, Shikiyoku closed her eyes and dropped several layers, sensing the approach of a room in which she knew she could step off an incline and hit a greater speed.

She grinned a little in spite of herself as she unfurled from inbetween and dashed forward at a faster pace, moving back into the layers seconds later and trying to get a feel for the rhythm of the fortress, for it was foreign to her and almost seemed to have a life of its own.

The first couple of layer-steps she took after that initial one were as successful as expected, getting Shikiyoku the acceleration she expected.

Her breathing slowed into a steady rhythm, her feet feeling as though they merely flew along the ground instead of actually coming in contact with it, but as she closed her eyes the face of Douji appeared and she faltered the next step, her ankle twisting uncomfortably as she missed the window she knew she sensed from the layers much too late.

Eyelids opening again, Shikiyoku could hear the blood rushing in her ears, her mouth twitching involuntarily, and she so completely tripped up on the following step that her speed suffered, causing her to clench her jaw and try again. 3

Hiei wasn't sure _how _or _why_, but the Jagan had continued to feed him random tidbits of information about the female's intentions moments before he would notice the indications of such decisions within her steps, such as her turning away from him and cycling through the layers again.

And it made it that much easier to keep up, to stay on her heels and even follow what he somehow knew she was going to do next.

Like running with the layers.

He missed no step as he too took to running within the layers, though he did struggle with it.

Which, he realized she struggled too, missing one step.

And then another.

Which told him that she wasn't exactly in the mindframe he desired her to be in yet.

So he sped up and cut her off again, standing in her path with gleaming, bright eyes that he hoped would distract her from her own inner turmoil.

_**~!**!~**_

Had Akari had ears atop her head, they would have twitched in Jin's direction in acknowledgement of his voice, though her mind was a little slow on the uptake. She paused mid-stride and glanced over her shoulder at the floating demon, expression blank to veil the feeling of the pit getting deeper in her stomach.

While she'd thought of Kurama's mother- which she needed to check on soon- she hadn't exactly thought of how Yomi would be wearing the redhead down.

And yes, that admission was one she was ashamed of as it crossed her mind's eye.

And it's what had her steps slower as she continued moving towards the group she'd abandoned in her little fit of anger.

By the time she _found _the seven others, they were all standing shoulder to shoulder, arms crossed and eyes focused on her before she'd even made her presence known. And she'd changed gears.

"You," Akari's finger jabbed in the direction of one demon, "You, and you," she pointed at two others, "Change of plans. We're going to Yomi's."

Manami was the first to speak up. "And what about the rest of us?"

"I have a place for you to go, bunker down until I can find you."

"Is this because-"

"Manami, I'll explain later, okay? But for now, we're going to the first layer."

"The first?" Hana repeated. "To _hunker down?" _

"It'll keep you from Mukuro, yes?" Silence ensued, and Akari took that as cooperation. "Okay, then let's get moving."

Before too long, the group was in her little home on the first layer, and Akari was trying to keep her thoughts from making her tense. _*****_

~!**!~

Refusing to close her eyes again, they did appear to glaze over a bit as Shikiyoku tried to get a feel for how the layers were directing her again, still spinning herself up and down between them, if hesitating from trying to take another step to speed herself up.

_There._

Dropping once more, Shikiyoku's eyes widened a fraction of a second too late as she realized she had nearly run headlong into Hiei, who had passed her again to cut her off, but he disappeared from her sight as she fell back down through the layers only to once more misstep and not regain her previous speed.

Giving out a little resigned sort of sigh, she lamented the fact that she wouldn't be allowed to go _fast _today, much to her chagrin, and concentrated on trying to come up with _something _that would prevent Hiei from catching her.

...she wasn't getting any bright ideas, however. 3

Hiei was a little surprised when Shikiyoku almost ran herself right _into_ his body, unawares of his passing before it seemed. And she adjusted accordingly, as he figured she would, though he was a step behind her just as quickly.

And he wondered what would happen if he caught her.

"_And then let her go!"_

Well, the Jagan hadn't lead him astray yet, despite its oddly sentient presence within his mind.

So this time, Hiei got ahead of her, just enough to catch her around the waist as she sped by, his fingers quickly finding the sensitive areas he'd scoped out earlier that night.

~!**!~

"Akari, I should go with you, so when you go out again, you could find the group if they had to split up."

The dog demon set the little seed on the countertop before turning to the shorter dog, their eyes locking for a moment before Akari's eyelids slid shut and she shook her head. "Not happening. No use in _you_ being under Yomi's thumb."

Manami made a sound of protest, but didn't actually _say _anything.

"Just keep tabs on Mother, because when I get back, I'm going straight to her."

"Do you think Mother is able to keep up with a human's energy?"

Akari's gaze this time was fierce and filled with confidence. "You're asking that about the oldest demon around?"

The other huffed through her nostrils, her ears going back. "If it wasn't important, I wouldn't have asked it of her."

"Aka, you're going back for the fox, aren't you?"

Akari's eyes turned to the side for a moment before returning to Manami's face. "If the only _important_ thing I can do is show up, then I'll do it. I'm hoping Yomi will send me out here and there, though."

"You're betting on _hope?"_

Akari's smile was wry. "Isn't that what _you_ did when you hunkered down with Mother?"

Before the other could reply, Akari was moving through the layers, three other demons noticing her leave and following after in silence.

And within the hour, they were on the Eighth layer, standing just inside the palace. _*****_

~!**!~

"And our troops for the Southern front?"

"Are coming along just as we expected them to."

"That's wonderful, Kurama. I-"

Kurama blinked at the many eared demon who appeared to tilt his head just slightly to the side instead of completing whatever he had been meaning to say.

"Pity." Yomi murmured.

"Sorry?"

"It's only that I had hoped the other two units would be as far ahead as the Southern one," Yomi continued as if whatever he had just heard contributed to his observation.

"I believe that the methods I employed will work on whatever unit you decide to have me work with. There's be a drastic increase in productivity and we are seeing enhanced strength and speed, which I can only see continuing to rise in the future."

"Very good. I'm rather proud of you, High General."

Though Yomi could not see it, one of Kurama's eyebrows quirked upwards slightly.

"Did you really expect any less of me?"

"You know, when you first got here, I have to admit I was rather disappointed." He went on quickly as if to cut Kurama off from interrupting, leaning his elbows onto the table of the conference room, interlacing his fingers together and resting his chin on top of them. "But I will say each day you seem to be more like the demon I once knew."

"It's an improvement, certainly." Kurama replied with a straight face.

"Indeed." Yomi paused for a moment and Kurama knew the other demon had something else to say as he had not been officially dismissed as of yet. "Your mother is doing well."

Kurama's eyes flashed briefly, the muscles in his hand twitching as he fought to clench his fingers.

"Of course she is." He allowed his blithe reply to belie his momentary tension.

Yomi chuckled, fully aware of Kurama's attempts to hide the heartbeat that had been skipped.

"You're slipping, Kurama. Too much stress lately, is that it?"

"I haven't had a day off in months, Yomi. Forgive me my lack of restraint."

"Of course."

They danced this proverbial, conversational battle on a regular basis, and both knew the steps intimately by now.

"I have many other things that need doing, my king." Kurama rose up out of his seat, "As I'm sure you know."

"Quite." Yomi leaned back into his chair again, waving Kurama away.

Out of habit, Kurama gave the other demon a slight bow from the waist before turning away and exiting the room.

The two High Guard on either side of the door fell in step with Kurama as soon as he cleared the threshold with the door closed behind him, following Kurama down the hall.

Several strides down the hallway, Jin was leaning up against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

While initially his gaze had been pointed downwards, the Wind Master looked up as soon as he heard the first steps of the three demons near Yomi's conference room.

Having been away from the compound for a few days, it struck Jin anew how much different Kurama looked now then he had when the Wind Master first remembered encountering him here all that time ago. Older, yes, of course. After all, being a human of sorts, and one advancing through teenage years at that, that much was to be expected. He was taller, though he cut just as slender a figure as before.

His movements though, that was part of what left Jin blinking at him for a moment. Much too smooth, even for Kurama, and where once his face had carried a sort of softness, his eyes had hardened long ago, echoing the sharpness of an emerald gem to which they could be compared. Where once his resting expression had been kind at its neutral, everything appeared more sharp and severe than before, and Jin did not think it could all be attributed to the adolescent changes the teen was going through.

The two met gazes while Kurama was still far off, and the cold calculating stare under which Jin found himself would have set the Wind Master at a stumble to see such a look from his friend.

_Aye, we're still friends._

Jin let the smallest of smiles pass over his face, though he shook his head regretfully when he sensed Kurama's questioning expression.

Somehow the fact that the fox's avatar had taken to wearing his hair up out of the way only lended further to the narrowness of his face. Jin didn't think he'd ever get used to it.

The news did not seem to alter the avatar's mood in the slightest, only giving Jin a quick returning nod of thanks before turning into the next hallway and heading back for the training facilities.

As Kurama was left to his thoughts without the watchful eye of Jin following him, he knew exactly what the other demon conveyed silently: she was alive, she was not returning.

Kurama let the thought slide away as he continued down the hall, instead turning his mind onto more important matters.

After all, there was an entire world to enslave.

~!**!~

While once again Shikiyoku sensed Hiei's motives, she found that without the speed of stepping through the layers, she had no way of out-maneuvering him, and her first few curses at him as she struggled to free herself, fighting against his grip and his well-placed prods, quickly began melting away to becoming interspersed with barely contained laughter that she kept trying to stifle behind clenched teeth, even biting her lips to hold it back.

"Let. Me. Go." She managed to say between bouts of snickers and chuckles that she was having an increasingly difficult time keeping inside her throat, wriggling almost wildly against him in the hopes that she might get enough leverage to flee once more. 3

Hiei poked and prodded and tickled at Shikiyoku, who writhed in his grasp like an animal trying to get free of an unwanted embrace. And it made amusement form a fire in his irises.

Which fueled more poking and prodding.

However, the _instant_ she demanded to be let go through heavy breaths, he paused, blinking at her as if he hadn't been doing anything wrong.

_(If you say so.)_

And his grip loosened, letting her get free if she so desired.

...not that he wouldn't pursue her again in an instant.

~!**!~

It wasn't hard to figure out where to go once Akari was moving up the stairs, flanked by two male demons who each held a weapon in their hands, and a female trailing the others, all four silent and staring ahead.

She knew Yomi would likely be in the conference room, as he always was.

_I want you dead._

She let out a small breath as she climbed the steps up several more flights, her eyes ahead to the demons who moved out of the way of the small group taking up the majority of the staircase.

And when she reached the appropriate floor, she was instantly aware of the energies around her- both familiar and not. She quickly took tabs on where demons were, what they were doing, and where they were headed as she turned a corner, knowing whose path she'd cross.

Or, rather, two of them she knew, really, if the wind master decided to go the same way as Kurama.

It was only a few more hallways before the redhead was in her line of sight, and while her expression remained nothing more than that of purpose, she took in the person she almost didn't recognize- were it not for the red bangs falling over green eyes.

Actually, she'd almost thought it to be _Youko_ she'd seen.

But that wasn't quite right either.

And it made a little funny thing happen in her stomach as she passed, her eyes turning forward again.

_That isn't Kurama. __*****_

While the momentary pause Yomi had given had not exactly made sense at the time, as soon as Kurama sensed Akari's energy nearby the other demon's reaction fell into place in Kurama's mind.

"_Pity."_

_Ha._

As if she were just another lackey-demon of Yomi, Kurama paid her just as much mind as he would have any other such demon walking the hallways, which is to say he appeared to take no direct notice of her at all, instead continuing in the same direction as before, flanked by the High Guard and keenly aware as always of their presence.

Instead of making his way to the normal training chamber he occupied, as per Yomi's orders Kurama made sure he went into the one next to it, running the new procedures he would be implementing upon the demons within through his mind as if there were nothing else to think upon.

~!**!~

Sitting cross-legged on the ground of the large, dark Shackle Room of the Mobile Fortress and in full meditative state, Mukuro felt the closest thing to peace the Demon of Rage would likely ever achieve, being grounded by the Mobile Fortress as she was.

Her mind was almost completely free of thought, all her concentration and rage being channeled into the semi-sentient fortress itself, as if feeding off her nigh-unattainable power, and in such a state Mukuro was almost 'one' with the structure, able to feel each pulse of energy, each skitter of electricity, even the currently slow, lumbering movements of the legs as it cut a methodical path around her territory.

Such a deep connection also allowed her the receive other information that the living building fed her, such as the location of each and every troop within its walls.

While such an overload of information might have at one time in the distant past caused Mukuro to lose her mind with its intensity, her strength of body and spirit allowed her to analyze and file away the needlessly unimportant and only take direct note of anything out of the ordinary, such as the need for repairs on the second sector of the third floor.

As per her instructions, the fortress sent out a call to a handful of demons adequately prepared for the task, and just as she was mentally leaving said portion of the building, the fortress alerted her to some strange movements inside the walls.

Mukuro's good eye blinked open absently, though she saw nothing of the empty room around her or the restraints at her arms and legs that kept her rage in check by fueling the fortress with it. Instead, she saw blips of energy-demonic by the signature and most certainly one of her own-flitting about the fortress at almost impossible speeds, appearing on one floor and then disappearing only to reappear in almost the exact same moment on an entirely different floor, sometimes ten or twelve levels above or below the previous.

Further investigation and survey told her there were two such blips occurring, though their relation to one another, or even the fortress itself, completely eluded and baffled the would-be King.

Shifting a little, Mukuro pulled her robotic arm over to her stomach, disconnecting a portion of the manacle around her wrist and attaching it further up her arm underneath a panel she opened without missing a moment of the anomaly that even the fortress could not explain. It had never happened before.

With this new connection, Mukuro accessed more intimately the fortress' surveillance program, and just behind her cybernetic eye a few images, what little the fortress could provide her with, flashed directly into the circuits of her brain, but they did nothing to assist her in discovering the source of the disturbances.

_It is not an aggressive entity, self.-_

Mukuro responded in such a manner that expressed she heard the comment, even if she may or may not directly agree with it.

She could feel herself being pulled into the near-curiosity of the fortress, wanting to know as it did what was going on.

Further readings of the speed started being submitted, numbers beginning to run through their combined consciousness as fast as they were being calculated.

And even still, Mukuro and the partial A.I. could not quite keep up.

_Fascinating.-3_

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off!_


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